#Custom Vanning Culture

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"THIS FLAG MACHINE WAVES OFF THE COMPETITION" -- THE EPITOME OF SUPER-SEVENTIES VANNING CULTURE.

PIC INFO: Spotlight on magazine coverage of "Old Glory" custom Dodge van, from the private collection of automotive twitter Jerry Wesseling, c. fall 1975.

PIC #3: Cover page to "RV Van World" magazine, featuring premiere coverage of Jerry Wesseling's "Old Glory" Custom Dodge Van, published October, 1975

Sources: www.pinterest.com/pin/487373990898128509 & Flickr.

[allegorypaintings]

Unconscious Patient (Allegory of Smell)

Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669)

Date: c. 1624-1625

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: The Leiden Collection, New York City, NY, United States

[surfer-roo01]

[stone-cold-groove]

There are custom vans, and then there are custom vans.

[ozizo]

Happy new year everyone!

I will do my best in artwork again this year. And I wish for peace.

CRAZY CAR ART　”HAKOSUKA VAN (VC10)”

For drawing inquiries, please send me message.

絵のご依頼はメッセージにてお気軽に��問い合わせください。

My web shops are here.

https://ozizo-z.wixsite.com/ozizo/shop

mame mame rock / (c)ozizo

[march-hare01]

By: jenny denny

[daddysmusicblog]

[absurdlylong-neckedmallard]

So I saw a car

Specifically, I saw a 2025 Buick Enclave. I saw it and realized, "Hey! That would make a cool panel van!" I got a picture of it, and then (a month or two) later, I put it into an AI image editor. One of the tools was "circle to delete." I circled and deleted the back door handles, the rear windows, etc etc etc. AI isn't perfect, but this basically gets the point across. I don't have money to buy and modify a 2025 Buick Enclave, but I almost hope someone actually does this. I know they probably won't, but anyway, here's the panel van picture, the original image, and a 1960 Chevrolet Apache panel van that it kinda reminds me of. Do with this what you please.

[whencyclopedia]

Meroë

Meroe was a wealthy metropolis of the ancient kingdom of Kush in what is today the Republic of Sudan. It was the later capital of the Kingdom of Kush (c. 1069 BCE to c. 350 CE) after the earlier capital of Napata was sacked c. 590 BCE. Prior to that date, Meroe had been an important administrative centre.

The city was located at the crossroads of major trade routes and flourished from c. 750 BCE to 350 CE. Meroe is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. As no one yet has been able to decipher the Meroitic script, very little can be said for certain on how Meroe grew to become the wondrous city written about by Herodotus circa 430 BCE, but it is known that the city was so famous for its wealth in ancient times that Cambyses II of the Persian Achaemenid Empire mounted an expedition to capture it. The expedition faltered long before reaching the city owing to the difficult and inhospitable terrain of the desert (and, according to some claims, may never have been mounted at all). Still, the persistence of the story of Cambyses' expedition suggests the great fame of Meroe as a wealthy metropolis.

The city was also known as the Island of Meroe as the waters flowing around it made it appear so. It is referenced in the biblical Book of Genesis (10:6) as Aethiopia, a name applied to the region south of Egypt in antiquity meaning "place of the burnt-faces". Although there is evidence of overgrazing and overuse of the land, which caused considerable problems, Meroe thrived until it was sacked by an Aksumite king c. 330 CE and declined steadily afterwards.

Egyptian Influence & King Ergamenes

While there was a settlement at Meroe as early as 890 BCE (the oldest tomb discovered there, that of 'Lord A', dates from that year), the city flourished at its height between c. 750 BCE and 350 CE. The Kingdom of Kush, founded with its capital at Napata, was ruled by Kushites (called "Nubians" by the Egyptians) who, early on, continued Egyptian practices and customs and, though they were depicted in art as distinctly Kushite, called themselves by Egyptian titles. The historian Marc Van De Mieroop writes:

Meroitic culture shows much Egyptian influence, always mixed with local ideas. Many temples housed cults to Egyptian gods like Amun (called Amani) and Isis, but indigenous deities received royal patronage as well. A very prominent Nubian god was the lion-deity Apedemak, a god of war whose popularity increased substantially in this period. Local gods were often associated with Egyptian ones: in Lower Nubia, Mandulis, for example, was considered to be Horus's son. Hybridity is also visible in the arts and in royal ideology. For example, kings of Meroe were represented in monumental images on temples in Egyptian fashion but with local elements, such as garments, crowns, and weapons. (338).

In time, however, these practices gave way to indigenous customs and the Egyptian hieroglyphs were replaced by a new system of writing known as Meroitic. The break from Egyptian culture is explained by the ancient historian Diodorus Siculus who writes that in the time before the reign of King Ergamenes (295-275 BCE), it had been the custom for the high priests of the Egyptian god Amun at Napata to decide who became king and to set the duration of the king's reign.

As the health of the king was tied to the fertility of the land, the priests had the power to determine if the sitting king was no longer fit to rule. If they deemed him unfit, they would send a message to the king, understood to be from the god Amun himself, advising him that the time of his rule on earth was completed and that he must die. The kings had always obeyed the divine orders and had taken their own lives for the supposed good of the people. However, Diodorus continues:

who had received instruction in Greek philosophy, was the first to disdain this command. With the determination worthy of a king he came with an armed force to the forbidden place where the golden temple of the Aithiopians was situated and slaughtered all the priests, abolished this tradition, and instituted practices at his own discretion.

The archaeologist George A. Reisner, who excavated the cities of Meroe and Napata, has famously questioned Diodorus' account calling it "very dubious" and claiming that the Ergamenes story was a national myth which Diodorus accepted as historical truth. Since there is no ancient evidence contradicting Diodorus, however, and since there was clearly a significant cultural break between Meroe and Egypt with Ergamenes' reign, most scholars today accept the account of Diodorus as either certain or something close to actual events.

Continue reading...

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

THE ULTIMATE "FLAG MACHINE" OF THE SUPER-SEVENTIES -- THE SPIRIT OF '76 ON FOUR WHEELS.

PIC(S) INFO: "As American As It Gets" -- Mega spotlight on a United States of America-themed custom Dodge van called "Old Glory," as featured in the pages of "RV Van World" magazine, published October 1975. Custom creation by Jerry Wesseling.

MINI-OVERVIEW: ""Old Glory is an old patriotic van with numerous trophies in its name. A man named Jerry Wesseling modified this Dodge van not only to win shows but also as his daily driver. Everything about this van screams "America," from the paint scheme to the huge amount of shiny chrome."

-- DODGE FORUM, "Old Glory is the Perfect Van for Independence Day," published July 6, 2017

Sources: https://dodgeforum.com/how-tos/slideshows/old-glory-is-the-perfect-van-for-independence-day-509846, Flickr, Pinterest, various, etc...

[starshideurfics]

Thirsty Thursday - Ring my bell, part 5

part 4

steddie, omegaverse, flagging/signaling culture, there’s plot now, in the smut, mdni 🔞

Eddie is surprised when he walks up to his dealing table and sees Chrissy Cunningham waiting in her cheer uniform. He considers turning around then and there, not wanting to risk her jock boyfriend coming to look for her and going all feral on him and bashing his face in. But he really needs to save his money, so turning down a paying customer isn’t something he can do.

He considers walking again when she startles so badly, but mostly he’s worried about her. She’s got blockers on, so he can’t scent much from her, but the tension in her shoulders tells him enough. The girl needs weed, or some xannies. All Eddie’s got on him is weed though, so it’ll have to do.

She’s still so jumpy, so Eddie hams it up, trips over himself to get her to laugh because laughter is easy. He shifts enough that the guitar pick he wears around his neck sneaks out from his collar.

Chrissy’s been fiddling with her own necklace—a padlock, just like Steve’s—and she asks, “What’s that one mean?” and then turning beet red. “Sorry, I just- You’ve always had the rings, didn’t think necklaces were your thing.”

��They’re not. But… Easy to keep a pick handy.” He pulls the chain forward, revealing the pendant it came with, the guitar pick a convenient excuse. Chrissy’s eyes go wide at the little anatomical heart, pierced with an arrow, and Eddie grins. “Gift from the prettiest omega I know.”

“Oh…” She shrinks in on herself again, and he knows he has to get her laughing.

“Second I scented him, thwp!” He clutches dramatically at his chest, mimes being shot through the heart and falls off the bench. Eddie pops back up. “It’s like he just gets me, about everything.” He tucks the necklace away, swings his legs back around the bench, and pulls out his lunchbox, offering her a discount on the already jacked up price for an ounce.

“Do you have anything… stronger?” Chrissy asks, glancing over her shoulder again, like she’s being watched.

“Not with me. Possession is 9/10s of the law or whatever, so best not to have anything too hard on me. And really, you should start with the weed.”

She nods, blue eyes so big in her face. “But, what if it isn’t enough?”

He pulls out a pen, writes down his number on her hand. “It’s spring break, so you can’t drop a note in my locker. Gimme a call, and I’ll see what I can rustle up.” He knows he’s got some Special K squirreled away, for in case Steve gets one of his bad migraines and he wants to sleep through it. “Or check the medicine cabinet—see if your mom’s got a secret Xanax script. One of those will melt your worries.”

“Okay, yeah. Thanks.” She smiles, and it looks real enough. She pushes herself up to standing.

“So do you want the weed?” Eddie joggles the baggie in front of her.

“Right, sorry! Yes, I do.” She reaches into the band of her skirt and pulls out a couple fives, trading him for the weed.

Eddie schools his face when he takes them from her. “Pleasure doing business. I hope it helps.”

“Me too.”

He watches her leave, the bills sitting close enough to her skin and sweat that they stink with her scent. Eddie thinks it’s vaguely fruity, but it’s too covered over in acrid fear that he isn’t sure at all.

💍💘🐽

Eddie sees Steve across the parking lot, the basketball game getting out the same time as Hellfire, and he has to clench his fist to keep from waving. He wants to run to him, kiss him, sweep him into his arms and deposit him safely into his van so they can drive home together.

Instead, he bids the guys goodnight and drives to Forest Hills alone. He beats Steve by more than 20 minutes, since he has to give Robin a ride home. Which means Eddie can do a modicum of cleaning, including rearranging the blankets and pillows on his bed to be a little more nest-like for Steve’s comfort.

Steve doesn’t knock, just comes straight in, and Eddie races to him. “Hey, Puppy, how’d the game go?” he asks, kissing him hello, waiting for an answer before going total horndog on him.

“Lucas scored the game-winning basket, so please have the guys congratulate him next week.” Steve has already complained about Eddie’s refusal to hold the game for Lucas, even took away his pussy privileges for a week until he’d groveled and explained how he had the entire year planned out, he couldn’t skip a week since he was finally graduating. This campaign was his baby!

And Steve liked the sound of Eddie graduating, so he was willing to forgive this one discretion.

“Of course, Stevie. And Erica held her own. You should be proud of your youngest.” He grins wide, and Steve fondly rolls his eyes.

“Please stop talking about the twerps like I birthed them.”

“But that’s what you want, isn’t it?” He sinks down to his knees, puts himself level with Steve’s crotch. “Want a pup of your own,” he murmurs, hand coming up to cradle Steve’s belly, “Right here.”

Eddie smells it when Steve slicks his pants, his sweetness sickly with his desperation for that little dream.

“Want you to shut up and fuck me already,” Steve moans, gripping Eddie by the collar and pulling him to his feet. He’s sloppy as he kisses him, and Eddie purrs.

He loves Steve and Steve loves him, and they both see their future together. He’s really getting sick of waiting for that future to start. But at least he gets to take Steve to bed right now.

🍃🍃🍃

The next morning, the basketball team wakes up in the shell of Benny’s Burgers. There’s blood and black on the ceiling, and Chrissy Cunningham’s broken body on the floor. It takes nearly an hour for the boys to stop screaming long enough to call the police.

Part 6

[thethirdromana]

I'm curious about something very brief that happens in Dracula, and the contemporary etiquette concerning it. In the final chapters, Mina receives 2 gifts. One is from her husband, his own gun, and then she gets a MacBook Air traveler's typewriter from Quincey Morris, who bought it for her. Like from a word from our sponsors, Mina stops to praise the inventor of it, talk about how useful and innovative this new technology is, and how much it will serve her to blog while traveling.

Then I remembered when I read a late Victorian etiquette manual (Manners And Customs of Polite Society) where it said that a a man should not give anything more expensive than small tokens and flowers to a lady, because it could be perceived as a bribe for her affections, but I presume that was about gifts while the lady is not engaged/married. I didn't come across something about women who are already married and getting more expensive gifts from men who are not family. Mina and Jonathan don't have a reaction that indicates that the gift-giving from Morris was improper (unlike, for example, when Mina points out that it is deemed "scandalous" that she's with Van Helsing on a carriage together). So I wondered if you know if it was acceptable for a male friend to go to somebody's wife and buy her something fancy? I know that slights to honor are emphasized in the etiquette stuff I have read, especially about men.

This isn't something I knew much about, but I found a couple of different etiquette books (both American, but I would be surprised if this differed much across the Atlantic).

(Hand-Book of Official and Social Etiquette and Public Ceremonials at Washington)

(Manners, culture and dress of the best American society)

Reading between the lines, I think this just translates to "don't give or accept gifts in such a way that signals you might be open to an affair". My best guess is that Quincey's gift is unconventional, but acceptable within the spirit of standard etiquette, if not within the letter.

I think it's also important to remember that etiquette manuals describe the ideal, not the norm. This is the equivalent of, say, the modern idea that if you want a serious relationship, you shouldn't have sex until the third date (do people still say that?). It's an outer bound on respectability but not necessarily what was usual.

Separately, on Mina's comment that her being in the carriage with Van Helsing is scandalous, I strongly suspect that for Mina and Van Helsing to share a carriage alone together is actually fine in isolation. I think the scandal that Mina is concerned about is the implication from them travelling together that they will then be spending the night together. If for some reason Van Helsing was escorting Mina to a hotel where she would be reunited with Jonathan for the night, my guess is that would be fine.

I might be completely wrong about this! (I am not an expert). But that feels more consistent with what I know about Victorian norms.

[stone-cold-groove]

Remember when you used to play with trucks? You still can. Dodge trucks and vans ad - 1977.

[ozizo]

Crazy Car Art 0230

Posters, stickers, shirts, and more items of this picture are sold in these web shops.

Redbubble

https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/158720284

Society6

https://society6.com/art/crazy-car-art-02308785696

Club T (日本)

https://clubt.jp/39418/945587

And more…

https://ozizo-z.wixsite.com/ozizo/shop

For drawing inquiries, please send me message. 絵のご依頼はメッセージにてお気軽にお問い合わせください。

original cartoon ”mame mame rock” / (c)ozizo

[blackcat419]

How different cultures in ASOIAF view cats pt. 1

In our world, culture and religion shape how we view animals, and for this post, specifically cats. An example of how cats a view differently in cultures can be seen in Islamic cultures and Romani Cultures. Because cats clean themselves often, they are viewed as clean by Muslims and can be kept with the family. But for Romani, because of the Marime which states that the genital region is a source of impurity, a cat licking its own lower regions this becomes unclean. Roma still keep pets but they generally don’t let them sleep in their bed or lick them. This is all contrasted by American culture where a pet is viewed as a member of the family and will be referred to as the baby or child of their owners and is allowed to sleep in bed with them.

It’s so interesting and I want to expand this to how Westerosi people see cats and what types of cats they keep.

Dorne

Dorne takes a lot of inspiration from the Arabic would and I think it only makes sense for them to have a similar view of cats.

Cats keeping themselves clean makes them the perfect pets for humans. Cats are also known to pray to the seven if given a seat in a sept (cats love prayer rugs and it’s really cute). Both religious and hygienic, cats are viewed as more sophisticated than other animals and thus are kept closer by their families.

The salty Dornish are best known for their love of cats with many ancient breeds residing in their homes. The green orphans will sail with a cat or two and give them a fish from the days haul. Cats are also seen as omens of good fortune and many shops have a resident cat. Septa also keep cats control pests and because they will sleep at the feet of the seven when their statue is warm. The Turkish Van and Turkish Angora are both old and rare breeds of cats that would flourish in Dorne.

The Sandy Dornish also enjoy cats. Because cats naturally retain more water than dogs, they are fitted to live in the desert. These cats are some of the more wild ones as it’s common for the domestic cat to mix is wild cats. During harsh sandstorms, the Dornish will wrap the cats up in a blanket to protect them from the elements. Cats are known to love this and scene request it when their is no sand storm. The Savannah cat is a cross between wild Serval and a domestic short hair cat.

The stony Dornish are less attached to cats than the Sandy or salty Dornish. Every house hold does have a cat and it’s common for cats to sleep in the room of their favorite person, but the stony Dornish believe that cats have some impurity to them because they lick their own genitals. Families will often perform a cleaning ritual on their cats by wiping them down with a wet cloth to cleanse them of impurity. Cats in stony Dorne are slender and very angular, making them great at slipping through stony hills and along steep walls. The Cornish Rex and Devon Rex are popular cat breeds.

The Iron Islands

Cats were a big part of Scandinavian culture. The goddess Freya had her chariot pulled by Norwegian Forest cats (also called fairy cats) and it was custom for a groom to give his bride a kitten as a wedding gift. For Vikings specifically, cats were kept to control the pests on ship.

Because the Iron Islands is more based on mythical Viking culture than historical Scandinavian culture, we can have some fun with the cats.

Ships are a big part of the iron islands culture, so each ship should have a cat or two. Perhaps to “bless” a ship before it sets off, a kitten is brought into the ship and makes it their own. I also see the Ironman have a very communal ownership of the cats. Fisherman will give the cats some of their catch as part of a good luck ceremony and people will set up small cat houses for them. They could also view a cat staying with you as a sign of good luck. But because of Thai communal ownership, it would probably be taboo to try and keep a cat to yourself. The iron islanders see a cat as not belonging to a person but to a ship or island.

Types of cats I think the iron islanders would have. Because they’re kind of weird, I think some weird breeds would fit. The Selkirk Rex is known for playing in water, being loyal to their human, and also have some curly fur!

The Andal Kingdoms

The Andals had a similar relationship to cats that Europeans had before the Black Death. For the Andals, cats were viewed as mainly pest control for their farms and cities. People rarely tries to socialize kittens when born which led to people believing cats were naturally aggressive.

It wasn’t until Maesters discovered that cats help prevent the spread of disease by killing rats that cats became a more popular household animal.

The reach was the first kingdom to become very found of the cat. They were perfect help for their farms and perfect pest control for old town. Old Town holds a celebration of cats each year to thank them for preventing extreme disease outbreaks from happening in the city. The Redwyne family is famous for breeding Persians cats that resemble the pugs they breed with short faces. Rich families have a few Persian cats that they dress up as little lords and ladies as an extra show of wealth.

In the storm lands and riverlands, cats are seen as antithetical to the land. The kingdom’s natural wetness drives cats away. Fisherman are often at odds with local cat populations as they fight over fish. Despite the general population’s disinterest in cats, they are a common staple at inns and bars as they keep rats away from the straw and wheat. Patrons consider seeing a cat with folded ears as a lucky charm that their stay at the inn will be a pleasant one.

I reached the max amount of photos for this post so we will continue with westerlands, the vale, north, beyond the wall, and valyrians!