#Pre-WWII Camera

[dancuny]

Arsen Camera

When I first started collecting cameras, I was drawn to colored cameras, like the Kodak Beau brownies, the Rainbow Hawkeyes, Kodak Petites, and other brand colors or odd and unusual-looking cameras. I also like cameras with bold designs or odd or unusual faceplates on box cameras. I've always liked cameras with a bit of color or pazazz, as opposed to the more common black box or folding camera, which has black bellows. Heck, I still have many Kodaks and other brands with red bellows, which I prefer.

 I got a bug about purchasing another Gelto gold-finished camera a while back. I've owned a few in my camera-collecting life but sold them, and soon after doing so, I regretted that I did. I can remember looking on eBay and coming across a seller who was selling a couple of Gelto cameras, hoping that one of them was the gold version. However, the price for both was really low, so I pulled the trigger and purchased both what I thought were Gelto cameras.

 Upon the arrival of the package, I eagerly anticipated two distinct Gelto cameras. However, as I unveiled the contents and examined them closely, I was taken aback. One of the cameras was indeed a Gelto, but the other I had yet to anticipate, an Arsen camera. This unexpected discovery piqued my curiosity, prompting me to delve into the origins and features of the Arsen camera. To my surprise, I learned that the Arsen is a cousin of Gelto, which is produced by the same company.

The Company:

The Gelto, Arsen, and a few other cameras were made by camera maker Tōa Kōki, who might have been called Takahashi Kōgaku in the company's early years. The company was based in Tokyo. The earliest document with the Tōa Kōki name is from 1939, so it's unclear what the former name was. There were advertisements in 1937 and 1938 that have Gelto Camera Werke, but there's no record that was the actual name.

 Before WWII, Tōa Kōki introduced the Gelto cameras in late 1936 or early 1937. They were a 3x4 format camera with 127 size film and a telescoping lens focused on a helicoid. Tōa Kōki survived WWII and was one of the 17 early members of the Optical and Precision Instruments Manufacturers' Association in Japan. Production of the Gelto cameras resumed in 1946.

From all my research, the Arsen camera was introduced in 1938 and was sold through Ars, which was Ars Seiki Kōgyō and the owner of the publication Ars Camera. It is the belief that's where the name of the Arsen camera originated from. Production of the camera ran through 1944. The Arsen camera had a different film format, 4x4, but still utilized 127 film. Another unique feature of the Arsen camera was that it used an "auto-stop" mechanism in the film's advance.

 By 1952, Gelto was now advertised by  Shinwa Seiki and was still based in Tokyo. It's not documented when the company ceased production, but it's assumed they closed soon after 1952.

My Camera:

My Arsen camera is 3.75" wide by 3.25" tall by 2.25" deep with the lens retracted and 2.75" deep with the lens extended. My camera weighs 15.5 oz. so the camera is relatively small, compact, lightweight, and easy to carry around. ARSEN is embossed into the leather on the left side of the camera. My camera has a metal lens cap, which a previous owner painted black, and it is difficult to read "Arsen" through all the scratches screwed to the camera body with a small chain is how the camera was originally sold.

The camera has an Anastigmat Grimmel 50mm f4.5 lens mounted in a retractable tube that you extend to take photos and then push back for transport. The lens aperture ranges from f4.5 to f22. To set the aperture, you rotate a ring on the back side of the lens tube to the desired aperture. 

 The shutter speeds on the Arsen camera go from 1/250 down to 1/5 sec. along with "B" for bulb exposure and "T" for timed exposure. The shutter speed settings are located on a ring on the outside of the lens tube, which you rotate to set the desired speed. ARSEN is written along the bottom of the camera, under the lens, and on the same faceplate as the shutter speeds. Also on the film tube is the helicoid focus. An arm rotates to focus the lens from 0.5 meters to infinity. The focus marker is on the ring the lens pulls away from. There is also a "stop" on the focus ring, so you cannot move the focus ring past the minimum focus distance and infinity.

Like most cameras, you'd think the baseplate comes off to load film into it, but on the Arsen camera, the baseplate only contains the serial number (my serial number is 26725) and tripod socket. The camera is loaded by removing the top of the camera.

 A locking lever with a turning key is on the top of the Arsen camera. Lift up the turning lever and turn from "L" to "O" to unlock the top from the camera body. Lift the top off the camera to expose where you load the film. The film advance knob is on the right side of the camera, so you need to take the empty spool from the left out of the camera. The camera loads similarly to a Leica, where you need to start to load the film onto the take-up spool before you put both the take-up spool and roll of film into the camera. 

Sliding both the unexposed film on the left and the take-up spool with some of the film's rolled paper backing onto the take-up spool, sliding the paper backing into the small slot behind the lens. It's easy, but it is something that could be more intuitive. Holding both the roll of unexposed film, the take-up spool with some of the paper backings rolled onto it, and trying to slide both into their slots and the paper backing into a small slot behind the lens took me a few tries, but it happened.

 Once the film is in the camera, you open the door covering the back window and wind the film until you see the number 1 in the window. The camera does have a film auto stop built into the winding mechanism. Just to the right of the viewfinder on top of the camera is a small lever you must pull out to let the camera advance to the next frame. I needed to pull this lever several times until I got to frame number 1. This will need to be done to rotate the winding knob to advance the film to the next frame. There is also a frame counter on the top of the camera just to the left of the winding knob.

 Also on the top of the camera is the small viewfinder, which is easy to view through, and an accessory shoe. The shoe is for a flash attachment or accessory rangefinder if you want a more critical focus on the camera instead of using your best judgment on guessing distance.

My results:

I loaded the last roll of 127 film into my Arsen camera and took it with me when I took my dog for a walk around the block. As I pulled the lens away from the body, I started to turn the lens, and it came out of the lens mount. I was getting ready to take my first photo and I have the lens loose still on the camera. I got the lens back onto the camera but lost a few shots of the film. I was also still determining where the proper settings would be regarding the focus of the lens, but I guessed. After processing the film, there were images, but still determining if the focus or lack of focus could be attributed to the mounting of the lens in the field. Most likely, it's not where it should be, and the camera actually performs better than what these photos show.

Conclusion:

The Arsen camera isn't rare or unusual, but like many cameras in my collection, it's fun to use. That's something I enjoy about trying, and using so many different cameras is how they all work just a bit differently, so it's all about how you feel and how easy it is to use. This camera was very average. Other than the auto-stop with the film advance, there's nothing earth-shattering about the camera, but still fun to shoot.

 This is the last camera review before the holidays. For all my Christian friends, Merry Christmas; my Jewish friends, Happy Hanukkah; and my African American friends, Happy Kwanza; and for all others, Happy Holidays. May you be healthy and enjoy it with friends and family

 Until next week, please be safe.

[mastersoftheair]

"Masters of the Air detail: Part 2-Dave Littleton

"[...] Dave is a lifelong WWII aviation enthusiast who has worked on a lot of other films in the past. He has a passion for the B-17 that goes back to his childhood. So much so that he has built a super accurate cockpit, from scratch over 20+ years, using a lot of original parts and equipment. The rest he made by hand. He brought his cockpit to the studio, and it was wonderful for sure.

"Dave worked pre-production, hand in hand with BGI, the company that made a lot, if not most, of the B-17 props and the two full-size aircraft. He gave them the drawings, photos and answered their questions. I think he was instrumental in the success of so many aspects of MOTA.

"I was asked to come over to teach the aircrew how to look like they could pilot, navigate, drop bombs, shoot guns, radio work etc., which ended up being a lot more than that. Dave let us use his cockpit for the flight training and top turret gunner/engineer duties.

"The pilots and engineers went through initial training in Dave’s cockpit and then we would rehearse for the specific scenes.

"I thought that some of the actors might have had some sort of prior knowledge of flying from gaming or flight simulators, but this was not the case. None of them had any concept of flying which was perfectly okay. I had to sit them down in a chair and teach them the very basics of the flight controls and how they are used. Grabbing an imaginary control wheel and had their feet on imaginary rudder pedals. Making sure they used the rudders first and then aileron as you would in a heavy tail wheel aircraft.

"We then progressed into Dave’s cockpit to teach them the myriad of engine controls and their basic function. Later when we had a specific scene, we would go through the procedures whether it be takeoff, landing, engine shutdown etc. Just having them know where to look on the panel for power changes, checklist, formation flying etc. worked out well. The “kids” did a fantastic job and it shows in the episodes.

"The biggest item to try and get across to the actors was being a cohesive flight crew. Remember that the original guys had been flying together for a while and that was an important aspect of their training for the filming. There is nothing sweeter than flying with someone for a while where you get to know each other and anticipate what the other needs before he asks for it. We trained the pilot, copilot and engineer together for takeoff so the pilot would be pushing the throttles with the copilot backing him up, doing the fine tuning, and the engineer in between them doing his part too. The copilot or flight engineer reaching down for the prop controls during power changes as this would differ from one flight crew to another. Same with running the checklist as the engineer and even crew in the back are participating over the interphone. And these details made the final cut and it looked great. Okay, I may be biased…

"Dave’s cockpit was so very helpful for the training because it was on the floor and was easily accessible. The main cockpit used for filming was on a gimbal 20 feet in the air! With Dave’s cockpit, I could lean in from a side window and instruct with all three crew in place. The various directors could also come up to each side and see and direct how they wanted the scene to go. It would give them ideas on camera angles to set up.

"The other aspect of Dave’s wonderful cockpit was its authenticity and detail. He used so many original parts that it is as accurate as could possibly be. Dave wanted it used as much as possible but frankly was a bit shy about this. Not having ever been known for being shy, I really wanted it used for as many close ups as possible and pushed for this. As a result, you can see Dave’s awesome detailed handiwork in MOTA especially in the close-up scenes showing the magneto switches, electrical, primer use and so much more.

"Dave and I were basically the only two on set who had extensive knowledge of WWII aviation and B-17 information. We were constantly being asked questions and were helping lots of different departments. He and I split up the advising since there were several units filming at the same time. We were both out in the field to start mostly at Abingdon where the full size BGI aircraft were. When the volume or studio started ramping up, I stayed there training and rehearsing while Dave continued the field work. We were trying our best to keep things realistic and authentic, but we were spread really thin.

"Dave took off a lot of time from his day job to do this project, as did I, but with the production over runs, COVID etc. he had to go back to work and sadly missed the last few months of filming. We sure missed Dave, especially out in the field, although he was always available by phone and still helped out as much as he could..." - (Taigh Ramey on Facebook)

[joesalw]

I just read this and now I feel like I need to read this book 🤪😅

"My only conspiracy theory is that the "englishness" aura of folklore specifically happened when she got her hands on Joe' great grandfather journals during the pandemic and connected with him on a spiritual level.I read his biography, William had a mental breakdown, ran away to the countryside and composed a symphony staring at his pre raphealites paintings, folklore is in the same category of shit you spill when you're living with a secret Rossetti collection in isolation. Essentially they were ghost-hunting.

The book is available for free on Internet Archive, it's called "The Innumerable Dance: the life and work of william alwyn"It's hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time, it starts with the biographer talking to doreen - HUGE composer and his second wife - clearly putting William on a pedestal and then cut to his son (Joe's Grandpa):"Well, no. Actually, he was lazy. And a cunt. Lowkey attention whore. Too delulu to recognize both of his wives were way better than him" and "Doreen was the worst thing to happen to me in WWII. She's also a simp" - not in a misogynistic way, because they were in somewhat good terms, very matter-of-factly.It's hard to explain but every single person depicted is borderline unhinged and funny. Joe's dad makes an appearance but it's more in a "jim staring at the camera in disbelief like it's the office". William's mom Ada forced him to go into music very early on, she was also a witch and would do séances.Then you read William's journal passages and he such a mess?After reading, I do start to wonder if Joe being those levels of guarded comes from his entire generational trauma already being in public domain"

interesting

[kornwulf]

Old 120 cameras are honestly hilarious to use in a modern context. My inheritance from my great Grandmother was a pre-WWII Kodak Vigilant Six-20, a thoroughly unremarkable consumer-grade, middle-of-the-road folder, but it takes 6x9 centimeter negatives. It's basically butting up against what would be considered large format. Sure, you only get 9 shots per roll, but that doesn't particularly matter when you're shooting the photographic equivalent of a bazooka. It's got an incredibly slow, completely uncoated 105mm lens (top speed of f/6.3) and a shutter that cannot go any faster than 1/100, but that barely matters when you barely need to blow up the negatives.

In a more recent development in my film photography journey, while helping clean out the library at my old high school, I found a Yashica-A Twin Lens Reflex (in a literal bucket, underneath a bunch of obsolete computer equipment), which I was then given for my service. It's again, not a *great* camera, missing a lot of more comfortable Quality of Life features and has clearly been dropped several times, but it's got a nice, bright viewfinder with an excellent focus indicator, and I've taken some spectacular photos with it in spite of the fact I essentially have to guess my exposure every time

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | The Killer (Woo, 1989)

I usually opt to watch classic Hong Kong action films in their original language whenever possible, but this time around I opted for the English dub, mostly because I'd seen the movie a bunch of times before and I thought it would be fun to hear all the samples used in Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, where excerpts from this film are used to create the album's emotional landscape, a gesture that John Woo was apparently moved by. English dubs of foreign films are not always the most graceful, but in this case, I think the bluntness of the English dialogue actually works because of the strength of feeling that runs through this. Emotion bursts out of this movie like an arterial wound, like a body flying through the air, like a dove taking off in flight, like a bullet from a gun. John Woo has a handful of movies that are credible contenders for the greatest action movies of all time. Which one is my favourite changes on any given day, but this one feels the most purely cinematic.

Woo is an admirer of Jean-Pierre Melville, whose Le Samourai arguably provides the inspiration for this movie. On a surface level, the movies couldn't be more different. Melville is a minimalist. Woo is a maximalist. Melville wrings suspense from stillness and patience. Woo gets his impact from movement, both of the camera and what he puts in front of it. Melville composes his frames with the precision of an architectural drawing. One imagines him bringing out his mathematical instruments to map out the clean and rigid lines. Woo creates his images like acts of violence. One imagines him throwing paint onto the canvas.

But like the heroes of Woo's film, they are perhaps not so far apart. Both films are about heroes conducting themselves with honour in unfavourable circumstances, Melville's sentiments informed by his experience in WWII, and Woo's informed by the political context of pre-handover Hong Kong. One imagines Woo doing like Danny Lee, putting on music and sitting in a chair until he achieved emotional oneness with Melville through the power of montage.

"I wish I could have a friend like you." "You will. In the next life."

(A final note: I do find it interesting that in a movie that gets so much of its impact from its use of colour that Chow Yun-Fat spends much of it wearing earth tones. I suspect Woo chose his wardrobe to recede in contrast, so that Chow's emoting would stand out even more.)

[banterbears]

Just my personal onion

I'm not going to get into any debates or arguments about anything but I think when pro genAI people argue against its energy consumption ("it doesn't use as much as __") they tend to forget the very important fact that all consumer-focused genAI models concentrate on one thing and one thing only: infringing on copyrights and peoples' works (writing, photography, art, video) with Zero Consent.

Like that's what you're defending. I don't care if you think the energy consumption is minimal, the fact of the matter is you're championing machine learning models that specifically are stealing people's work (again without consent) and poisoning the internet (and real life) just because you like using it to create Content that you didn't previously have access to because you didn't want to invest the time or money into actually working on that skill.

I honest to god do not care what arguments supporting genAI might be (because almost all of it is "it's actually not AS bad of theft/energy usage" as people sensationalise it to be) because all you're doing is encouraging the usage of genAI to misinform, steal, and ultimately discourage people from wanting to create authentic art (since you're just going to steal it/use it to train your models without their consent)

genAI is not the same as machine learning tools that people implement within closed systems to speed up their processes; and the more you champion and endorse it, the more tech start-ups and investors are going to push their companies to make their own programs and models. As much as you want to say "it could be used for good actually," the reality of it is that it will do astronomically more harm than any good it can possibly do right now. Yeah maybe years down the road it'll actually be implemented for good purposes (can't think of any off the top of my head since it's only ever been used to cut corners and cheat people out of jobs by stealing what other people have already created), but that's like saying fascists were right to experiment on prisoners of war in wwii if it meant scientific progress was ultimately made.

And let me be clear this the same as the fear that cameras would replace painters, or that movies would replace stage plays; because those inventions/innovations didn't rely solely on the literal 1:1 replication of other people's pre-existing work to become a legitimate medium and were actually transformative.

[jlkauffman]

Just got a new (to me) camera! The Minolta Autocord!

It’s likely a pre-war model as far as I can tell based on the strap lugs. They changed to a proprietary snapping knob design after WWII.

I loaded it up with some 35mm 500T taped to some backing paper as it’s the cheapest film thus my preferred film with which to test cameras and took some shots of Penny sleeping on her bed.

Success! I think maybe the film was wrinkling weird in the camera hence the weird focus. But very pleased on the whole with this one!

[momopeachchild]

Any historical fiction novel has a woman facing away from the camera -- either her back solidly to the camera, or quarter turned, either in a city, or a library. If it’s pre-WWII it’s probably a woman’s legs, her stockings her shoes on cobble stones. If it’s turn of the century prairie dresses and boots, or dirty orphaned children. LIke..I can identify time period by book cover aesthetics, not because the clothes depicted are accurate to the time period.  Historical romance however is a nightmare and good luck guessing any time period based on the gross new digital drawing take over of the pretty canvas that used to be. 

look i dislike the corporate artyle book cover trend as much as the next person but we cant pretend every book looking the same is something new. if you stepped into a bookstore in 2013 there would be approximately 57 books whose cover art consisted of a girl in a ballgown with her back half-turned to the camera photoshopped into a vaguely fantasy-like landscape. i was 11 years old fighting for my life to find the right maximalistic girl and her single-adjective book title we cannot forget the horrors i went through please be respectful of my experiences

[michaelcosio]

WWII ERA GERMAN LUFTWAFFE PILOT, RADIOMAN & GUNNER TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT FILM

Oct 14, 2021

This silent German educational film presents "a cross section of the rebuilding of the German air force" shows the roles played by pilots, radiomen and gunners in the service of the German Luftwaffe. It was made by the Reich information ministry with a script written by Swiss filmmaker Dr. Martin Rikli and filmed by Erwin Bleek-Wagner (who later filmed war films including "Campaign in Poland"). The background on this film is well known: although it was formally banned from producing aircraft and training pilots in large numbers by the Treaty of Versailles, in the mid-1930s Hitler's Germany quickly began to assemble an air force and made great strides in aviation technology. This film uniquely shows some of the training of the men recruited for the Luftwaffe, and was doubtless used in German schools to foster an interest in the service. At :48, training biplanes are seen lined up at an airfield. At 1:10 the film introduces Adolf Hitler and says, "Our Fuhrer, who we owe for the fact that we have an air force once again." At 1:18, Adolf Hitler himself is seen reviewing assembled air troops along with chief of the Luftwaffe Hermann Goring. At 1:35, Brigadier General Walther Wever (identified by his armband) is shown, the pre-WWII Luftwaffe commander, who died in an aircraft accident in 1936. The aircraft behind him are Junkers Ju 86 monoplane bombers (also used as civilian airliners). At 2:19 some basic training of cadets is shown -- shouldering arms. The plane visible at 2:29 in the background is a hulking Dornier Do 23. Next, target practice is shown by cadets, followed by instruction on how a radial aircraft engine operates. At 3:03, cadets are shown how a plane's horizontal stabilizer works. The airplane shown is a Bücker Bü 180 Student. At 3:24, a Focke-Wulf Fw 44 Stieglitz biplane is shown in flight and doing acrobatics. Starting at 4:17, the rear gunner or observer position is examined with shots of gunner positions in aircraft. An Arado biplane, possibly a modified Arado Ar-66, is shown with a rear gun position. At 5:07 the rear gunner, in his role as observer, takes photographs with an aerial camera. At 5:20, a rare shot of a Heinkel He 70 Blitz ("lightning"), a German mail plane and fast passenger monoplane aircraft. Here it is used for reconnaissance, with photos being shot by an observer in the rear. Starting at 6:00, photographic interpretation is shown, with photos being studied by magnifying glass. At 6:25, training biplanes are shown doing formation flying, and the commentary notes that training results in better pilots who "give the enemy no chance." What appears to be a shot down aircraft or wreck is seen at 7:30. At 7:45, balloons are blown up and used for target practice. At 8:26, the massive Do 23 is pushed out of its hangar. Gunners are shown moving into the aircraft and mounting machine guns. At 9:40 bombs are loaded into the wing. At 10:28 a Ju-86 is shown in flight. At 11:05, the aircraft's lower gun position is shown. At 12:06, naval biplanes and float planes are shown including Arado AR-96 type. At 12:35, anti-aircraft flak gunners are shown. At 13:21, naval anti-aircraft guns are shown. At 14:12, radio operators are shown using a field transmitter and, at 14:21, a field telephone.

Disclaimer:

This historic German film was produced during WWII as propaganda in support of the National Socialist regime. It is presented in its original form as an historical document so that students, educators, researchers and the general public can see how the Nazi regime justified its criminal activities. The political symbols of the regime, including the flag, swastika and eagle, may appear on screen. Periscope Film absolutely condemns the Nazi regime and affirms that it committed grave atrocities, war crimes, and crimes against humanity before and during WWII. These include the tragic, mass extermination of millions of innocent civilians. We preserve these films in part so that these terrible events and victims are not forgotten.

"Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." -- Winston Churchill

from PeriscopeFilm II

[bisluthq]

Why am I just finding out that there's a book, an actually biography, about Joe's great grandfather with passages of his diary and apparently Joe's grandpa kind of roasts him and he also kind of ran away with a mental breakdown. Did you know about this? I read this comment and now I feel like I have to read this book

"My only conspiracy theory is that the "englishness" aura of folklore specifically happened when she got her hands on Joe' great grandfather journals during the pandemic and connected with him on a spiritual level.I read his biography, William had a mental breakdown, ran away to the countryside and composed a symphony staring at his pre raphealites paintings, folklore is in the same category of shit you spill when you're living with a secret Rossetti collection in isolation. Essentially they were ghost-hunting"

"The book is available for free on Internet Archive, it's called "The Innumerable Dance: the life and work of william alwyn"It's hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time, it starts with the biographer talking to doreen - HUGE composer and his second wife - clearly putting William on a pedestal and then cut to his son (Joe's Grandpa):"Well, no. Actually, he was lazy. And a cunt. Lowkey attention whore. Too delulu to recognize both of his wives were way better than him" and "Doreen was the worst thing to happen to me in WWII. She's also a simp" - not in a misogynistic way, because they were in somewhat good terms, very matter-of-factly.It's hard to explain but every single person depicted is borderline unhinged and funny. Joe's dad makes an appearance but it's more in a "jim staring at the camera in disbelief like it's the office". William's mom Ada forced him to go into music very early on, she was also a witch and would do séances.Then you read William's journal passages and he such a mess?After reading, I do start to wonder if Joe being those levels of guarded comes from his entire generational trauma already being in public domain"

idk why you’re only finding this out now because we here at bisluthq read this book during quarantine when we were doing a weird fucked up book club that included reading everything available about the Kushners (who are so awful lol).

[xylophonetangerine]

Epistemic status: Half-assed “research” and I straightened some bends (☡ → ～) for brevity and comedic effect. Look it up yourself! What am I, a historian?

Do you know about the neo-nazi Kalergi plan conspiracy theory? It’s one of those hilariously complicated brain-worm induced conspiracy theories that Central European neo-nazis start believing in after they read one too many posts full of blatantly false esoteric knowledge. Imagine a theory-obsessed Twitter communist but instead of inventing new reasons to call people racist they’re inventing new ways of being racist.

So basically in the early 20th century there was this Austro–Japanese guy called Richard Nikolaus Eijiro, Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi who advocated for Paneuropeanism and racial integration to reconcile his wish to be fascist with being biracial. (This is my interpretation! He never supported fascism but it was the new hotness at the time, especially amongst the noble and leisured classes of Europe. More on this below.)

Fast forward about a century and now a bunch of fucking racist nazis think that the EU is a secret conspiracy to commit “white genocide” by forcing racemixing … somehow? Whatever it is that they’re doing doesn’t seem to be working. Get on it, Angela Merkel von der Leyen!

The neo-nazi beliefs in this supposed “Kalergi plan” stem from Kalergi’s utopian vision of European peoples living in harmony with one another with a customs union and a common currency (see, EU). Wikipedia says that in his 1925 book Practical Idealism he said that “Eurasian–Negroid[s]”, would replace “the diversity of peoples” and “[t]oday's races and classes” with a “diversity of individuals” which is basically the modern ideal of universal human rights and personal freedom expressed in a very pre-WWII race-sciency way. Neo-nazis saw this and went insano-mode thinking that universal homogeneity of racial admixture and phenotype was definitely the endgame when the European Coal and Steel Community was set up in 1950 to ease international trading of the coal needed to power the racism factories during European reconstruction. Kalergi’s ideas obviously remained quite marginal and obscure during his lifetime because that was not actually the endgame of the ECSC or any other EU precursor or the EU because we’re all fucking racist!

European scholars, officials, and politicians have retrospectively recognised him as being ahead of his time and laying foundations for the EU. And now that there’s a lecture theatre named after him in some German university or something that’s definitive proof to the nazis that this thing that is obviously not happening is happening and they’re doing it in Brussels or Strasbourg or somewhere!!

Now, about the fascism. When I read about Kalergi I get a strong feeling that he was influenced by fascism. It sounds counterintuitive because he was against racial agitation and antisemitism but it seems pretty obvious that he wanted sweeping geopolitical changes in a very similar way to his fascist contemporaries (i.e., not communism!). Maybe you could call it reverse-Strasserist third-positionism. So yeah, it’s pretty funny actually how it’s essentially ethnonationalism but we’re all one big people :)

Hmm, that sounds just like the EU actually… Wait, are we exploiting and being racist to people outside of our little special boys’ club? Oh no. Shut it down. Cut the cameras! How do I turn this off?!

[iso3200net]

Monochrome summer: a memorial

Summer 2018, a completely different time, a completely different world - pre-pandemic, pre-everything.

Here's a memorial probably in honour of fallen heroes during WWII, in the middle of Tkon, Croatia. August 2018.

There's literally no information about this memorial on the internet, and that's a shame.

Taken with Pentax 645 medium format film camera, and smc Pentax‍-‍A 645 45mm F2.8 wide-angle lens, on Ilford Delta 100 film. Developed in Adox FX‍-‍39 II, 1‍+‍9 dilution, for 9‍:‍30 min at 20‍.‍5‍°‍C. Scanned with Canon CanoScan 8800F flatbed scanner, using VueScan.

[fandomfluffandfuck]

Stucky Masterlist P.3

Started: 1/2/22

Updated: 7/27/23

Part 2

Puppy Steve In Rut

Daddy Steve & His Sex Acts For Every Mood

Steve Accidentally Buying Lingerie That Looks Like The Winter Soldier's Combat Uniform

Extended Thoughts On Steve In Lingerie & Feeling Feminine

Cautiondonotmicrowaveme's HC on Bucky & His Teeny Tiny Swimsuit

Buckitty & Puppy Steve In The 40s ft. @/possibleplatypus

Steve Gets His Crack Waxed "For Bucky"

Big Sub Steve's Cleavage Does Big Damage

Big Sub Steve Mattress Humping w/ a Gif Example

Alpha Male On The Outside, Whiny, Subby Mess On The Inside

More CEO Steve & Escort Bucky

Blushy Steve At A BDSM Munch

Twice The Lingerie, Twice The Trouble

CEO Steve Blowing $$$ On Lingerie

Big-Sub!Steve Being Bratty & Cockwarming

Sugar-daddy!Steve & Stripper!Bucky + CEO!Steve & Escort!Bucky

Bucky's Birthday Gift

Omegaverse Chastity Belt Play

Captain America!Steve & Modern-Silver!Bucky

Omega Bucky's Thick Thighs

Steve's Itty Bitty Waist

Subby Top Bucky Being Worn Out

CEO Steve's 1st Time In Panties

Bucky In A Crop Top P.2

Playboy Bunny Steve

Can Steve Get Hoarse?

Lavender Steve's Fruity Photoshoot

Steve's Post-Serum Libido Meta

@/maddiewritesstucky inspired thick cheerleader!Bucky & quarterback!Steve

"Coming In Hot" Sneak Peak

Bucky's Self Image Feels, Trying To Feel Better

Roofer!Steve And Customer!Bucky AU

More Roofer And Customer

Bucky & Steve Playing House As Kids

Buckitty After His Heat

More Bunny Steve

Werewolf Steve On A Leash

Bucky & Steve's Favorite Foods

Okay But What If Not One Sub But Two!?

Big, Buff Omega Steve w/ A Primal Kink

My Various Bottom (and Sub) Steve Fic Ideas

Sub Steve Gooning

Steve Coming Home From A Mission

Daddy Has To Go When Bucky Is Still Coming Down From Subspace

Sub Steve & Sub Bucky w/ Two John's

Was Bucky Sexually Abused By HYDRA? How Does That Effect His Relationship w/ BDSM?

Doorbell Camera Footage Caught Makeouts

Winter Soldier Bucky & Nomad Steve (ft. Metal Arm Kink & Subby Steve)

Nomad Steve Meeting Bucky In Wakanda

No Nut November But 👏Stucky👏

Omegaverse Scent Kink

Bucky Making Steve Cum In His Suit

Reverse Sugar Daddy Au?

Steve's Manslut Workout Clothes

Thoughts About Steve's (Hairy) Tits

(Football AU) Bucky Sending Steve Dirty Pictures

Omorashi + Rope Bondage

Deep Throating + Steve's Pretty Lashes

Commander Rogers In Lingerie

Steve And Bucky Literally Have Cold Feet

More Cold Feet Thoughts

What If Bucky Stayed w/ Steve On The Shore?

Anon Provided Sculptor Steve

Steve's Love & Guilt

Wakandan Bucky And Nomad Steve Ruining Younger Steve

Big!Sub!Steve Sounding And Omorashi

WWII Bucky Giving Steve An Accidental Hand-Job

BIG Titty Bucky's Tank Tops

Nomad Steve Being Very Vocal & Very Much A Bottom

Pleading Anon Provided Naughty Sugar Baby Steve

Steve's Prewar Heart

Pleading Anon Provided Sub Steve Falling Into Subspace Slowly

Pleading Anon Provided Aphrodisiac Chocolate

Get Hit Or Get Dicked--A Big Sub Steve Dilemma

Pleading Anon Provided Pre-War Hickies

Blow Job Dialogue

Anon Provided Puppy Play ft. MUZZELS

Steve's Loose Sweatpants

Puppy Alpha Steve

HTTM Bucky & RSDR Steve + Spanking

Submissive Alpha Steve Being Punished

Inexperienced But Eager Bottom & Sub Steve

Well, It Ain't Gonna Fuck Itself

Touch Starved Massage

Steve Choking On WWII Bucky's Fingers

Puppy Alpha Steve Fisting Dom Omega Bucky

Bucky Painting Steve's Face Then Licking It Off

Wrecked Baby VS Composed Sir

Steve Gets Filled With Eggs

Anon Provided Omegaverse Beach Day

Sub Alpha Steve Getting Choked

But... What If... Pony Play?

Daddy Steve & Baby Bucky Collectively Losing It Over An Afternoon, Casual Blowjob

Bucky Hypnotizes Steve To Get Hard, Soft, & Cum On Command

How Did Bucky Get Steve Hypnotized?

Optometrist Medical Kink

@/sail-not-drift's additions to optometrist medical kink

More Omegaverse Beach Shenanigans

Part 4

[laresearchette]

Saturday, October 08, 2022 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT? CURSED FRIENDS (Premiering on October 21 on Much at 10:00pm) THE DISAPPEARANCE OF CARI FARVER (TBD - Lifetime Canada) PUMPKIN EVERYTHING (TBD)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

CRAVE TV 44 CATS (Season 2, Episodes 1-52) MECHA BUILDERS (Season 1, Episodes 1-26) THE RACCOONS SPECIALS THE RACCOONS (Seasons 1-5) SESAME STREET (Season 52)

GRAND SLAM OF CURLING (SN360) 12:00pm: National - Women’s Quarterfinals (SN1/SN360) 4:00pm: National - Men’s Quarterfinals (SN 360) 8:00pm: National - Semifinals

MLB BASEBALL - WILD CARD GAMES (SN1) 12:00pm: Rays vs. Guardians - Game #2 (SN) 4:00pm: Mariners vs. Jays - Game #2 (SN) 7:30pm: Padres vs. Mets  - Game #2 (SN1) 8:30pm: Phillies vs. Cardinals  - Game #2

PRE-SEASON NHL HOCKEY (SN Now) 2:00pm: Predators vs. Sharks (TSN4) 7:00pm: Red Wings vs. Leafs (SN Now) 7:00pm: Devils vs. Bruins

WOMEN’S RUGBY WORLD CUP (TSN) 2:00pm: Match of the Day (TSN3) 7:30pm: United States vs. Italy (TSN/TSN3) 10:15pm: Japan vs. Canada

CFL FOOTBALL (TSN/TSN3/TSN5) 4:00pm: Lions vs. Argos (TSN/TSN5) 7:00pm: Elks vs. Blue Bombers

W5 (CTV) 7:00pm: Royal Retreat; Smoked

MLS SOCCER (TSN4) 7:30pm: CF Montreal vs. DC United (TSN/TSN4/TSN5) 10:00pm: Whitecaps FC vs. Austin

ABSOLUTELY CANADIAN (CBC) 8:00pm: Hodan's Story; The Photographer:  Hodan Nalayeh returns to her birth country of Somalia to spread light; Faye Schulman survived the Nazis because she could operate a camera and became one of the only known Jewish partisan photographers of WWII.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (CTV) 8:00pm: After an experimental program turns him into a supersoldier, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), now known as Captain America, leads the fight against Red Skull's evil HYDRA organization.

BIG FOOD BUCKET LIST (Food Network Canada) 8:00pm: Dutch Dutch Baby

YELLOWSTONE ROMANCE (W Network) 8:00pm: When Olivia learns her best friend intends to marry a breeder and leave the city, she decides to organize a bachelorette party at a ranch in the countryside. Fate soon strikes when Olivia finds herself falling for the owner of the ranch.

THE KILLER IN MY FAMILY (CTV Drama) 8:00pm/9:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE): Fred and Rose West committed at least a dozen horrific murders over two decades. Fred's brother and niece reveal how his heinous crimes affected the family. In Episode Two, Richard Ramirez raped and tortured over 25 victims and killed over a dozen. His niece tells her story and reveals how his terrible crimes affected the family.

AN AUTUMN ROMANCE (Super Channel Heart & Home) 8:00pm:  A woman tries to save a small, historic hotel from developers, but she soon realizes that the man she's falling for is behind the hotel's development plans.

SOUL ON ICE: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE (CBC) 9:00pm: The unknown contributions of black athletes in ice hockey.

SINS OF THE AMISH (Lifetime Canada) 9:00pm/10:15pm (SERIES PREMIERE):  A group of Amish survivors and experts expose the private world of Plain communities and the abuse fueled by their customs; forbidden from engaging with outsiders, one brave survivor reports family members to the police, which culminates in a trial.

WOLF (Crave) 9:00pm: Believing he's a wolf trapped in a man's body, Jacob and his animal-bound peers undergo increasingly extreme forms of curative therapies. However, once he meets the mysterious Wildcat, their friendship blossoms into an undeniable infatuation.

ZERO CONTACT (Starz Canada) 9:00pm:  Connected by their devotion to the late founder and tech titan Finley Hart, five people must work together to shut down his most secret invention, a machine that is either the solution to mankind's problems or the end of life on Earth.

THE RIGHTEOUS (Super Channel Fuse) 9:10pm:  Grappling with grief and struggling with his faith, a man encounters an enigmatic stranger who has sinister intentions.

PICTURE PERFECT ROMANCE (Super Channel Heart & Home) 9:30pm: Zoey Ross gave up on love and her passion for wedding photography after her fiance, Todd, left her at the alter five years ago. When a childhood friend insists that she be their wedding photographer, she reluctantly accepts and finds herself again.

[greatmuldini]

[expect he has lost most of his shirt by now and some nice whip weals will add to charm of back view]

Blacklisted by Senator Joseph McCarthy for alleged "anti-American activities" and unable to work in Hollywood, Joseph Losey along with dozens of like-minded actors, directors, and creative personnel fled to Britain in the 1950s. Since before WWII, the trans-Atlantic relationship between the two entertainment industries had been a complicated one but in the prevailing climate of disintegration and consolidation, the influx of major (and minor) Hollywood talent was warmly welcomed. The Rank Organisation cultivated a reputation for going on indiscriminate spending sprees but invariably found itself having to release its expensive acquisitions for lack of meaningful employment.

Among the post-war Rank recruits, content creators were the exception, and this affected the quality, if not the quantity, of the Organisation's cinematic output. When Joseph Losey finally did receive his first assignment, to direct The Gypsy and the Gentleman, it bore the hallmarks of a case in point: no records have as yet emerged that would explain the somewhat eccentric choice, for the politically left-leaning Losey, of a lavish costume piece about the demise of a weak-willed nobleman at the hands of his ruthless gypsy lover - unless one is inclined to see in the material a parable of Western decadence, as Marxist observers have done.

While a strictly ideological interpretation produces interesting speculative conclusions, perhaps the more productive approach is a purely visual one: dismissive of the subject-matter and unable to shape the material to his liking, Losey never attempts to explain his characters or their motivations. The result is a very deliberate focus on the process of telling the story rather than why it is being told, and Losey turns to the expertise of the painter and art school teacher Richard MacDonald to direct what he would later describe as a study in style. Losey and MacDonald subsequently collaborated on a number of films but it is in the development of The Gypsy and the Gentleman that their idea of "pre-design" begins to emerge.

And concrete shapes are Richard MacDonald's primary concern: long before the cast arrived for initial rehearsals in June of 1957, MacDonald was creating actual three-dimensional spaces (rather than trompe-l'oeil, i.e. painted, theatrical backdrops) for a quasi-authentic Regency environment. Faithfully executed by the Pinewood workshops, the sets delivered exactly what the director had ordered: a static tableau of period décor, unlikely to interfere with the dynamic action of the living, breathing human beings assembled to animate the scenery. Ideally, it would have been assumed, they would somehow combine to form a meaningful whole. The dynamism of the human component and the critical role of capturing the perfect - moving - image is not lost on MacDonald. From the final shooting script of 12 April 1957 he prepared a frame-by-frame storyboard pre-visualizing camera angles, editing suggestions and emendations where the script omits important visual clues.

The final dramatic coach chase in SCENE 226 lacks precisely such clues. It has Jess and Belle racing after the vehicle containing Deverill's sister Sarah - and their last hope of swindling the young woman out of her rightful inheritance. Jess deftly dispatches Sarah's fiancé before catching up to Belle's commandeered coach. The script describes how Jess clings to the back of the coach, then climbs over the top and joins his partner on the box, taking the reins from her. Translating the verbal instructions into "actionable" images, the sketch artist is faced with crucial choices: whose point of view will we be sharing, where are we in relation to the characters, what are the characters doing and how are they doing it?

In MacDonald's concept the camera follows the coach and allows us to watch Jess, from a slightly elevated vantage point and at a medium distance, which frames his figure framed atop the speeding coach. His technique, crouched low on his stomach, and the fact that he is moving with a natural ease and grace suggests he has done this before: Jess knows what he must do to get what he wants. The "savage" man's essential virility (in stark contrast to Deverill's effete decadence) is sketched out by MacDonald in a few sparse pen strokes not of his face but of his obviously well-endowed body in the act of taking control. We do not need, indeed it would be beside the point, to read his face for signs of physical strength and determination, which are required in the situation and which Jess does have in abundance.

MacDonald would have drawn his inspiration from the characterizations of Jess throughout the script, but he goes above and beyond the written word where continuity is less than assured and actions must and will have visible consequences. Following the coach man's ferocious use of the whip against his attacker, MacDonald's instinct is to zoom in on the gory details - with a flair for unflinching hyper-realism only the true aficionado would have appreciated had the sequence been filmed as planned. Unfortunately for the aficionado, in the finished film the coach man no longer wields his whip, and the only drastic imagery we are being exposed to is the crude back projection footage that has taken the place of MacDonald's charming back view proposal. Ultimately, of course, only those images that make the transition from sketchbook to screen will live to tell the tale.

Making those life-and-death decisions is the director's prerogative; his omnipotence however does not extend beyond the telling of the tale: Joseph Losey does not choose his fictional characters, nor does he decide what happens to them. His selection criteria are practical rather than ideological, aesthetic rather than commercial - or they would have been, in an ideal (fictional) world. The bold proposals of his draughtsman may have presented Losey with a variety of stubborn obstacles, but an equally plausible explanation for the use of conventional studio footage in place of the more experimental tracking shot could be post-production objections to the pre-designed perspective. Scenes could have been rewritten and re-enacted at the behest of unhappy Rank executives, to add close-up shots of the actors' bankable faces amid the racing carriages.

Beyond the promise of commercial appeal it is an intriguing question to ponder whether the studio inserts offer valid or even valuable alternatives to the aesthetic aspirations of MacDonald's narrative. In the end, the project proves its own premise: art may exist for art's sake but no such claim has ever been made for style. As a medium in search of its message, Joseph Losey's visual and perhaps visionary experiment remains strangely incomplete, a promise unfulfilled.

[chicago-geniza]

ok so stefania opens her dybbuk review by saying "że dramat Anskiego, na którego tle został film zrobiony, jest przesiąknięty romantyzmem Dziadów, romantyzmem Wyspiańskiego -- *o tym wiemy wszyscy.*" this is the line people point to when they say she's dismissing the play's jewish specificity, trying to impose polishness on a yiddish text. but i now "know" stefania quite well; she wouldn't make a claim that "everybody knows this" unless a critical consensus had been reached among the majority of ~reputable theater reviewers. she states it like this is "received wisdom" or "common knowledge," not an original observation; it has to reflect an opinion that respectable people have put in print. (also: we have not even touched on the issue of translation, or andrzej marek's polish-language production in łódź circa 1925.) ergo, a cursory search turns up boy's review of the vilna troupe dybbuk “pre-premiere” in 1920 warsaw, which opens like this:

“Element buntu i marzenia, udrapowany romantycznie, wciela tutaj młody jeszybotnik (uczeń wyższej szkoły rabinackiej) Chonen, myśliciel, kochanek, indywidualista, młodzieniec noszący na czole piętno fatalności.”

i am going to find as many reviews as i can, following this hunch, because my “Everybody Is Wrong About Stefania’s Dybbuk Review” paper has metastasized into “probably a monograph about attempts to ‘build bridges’ between polish & yiddish theater/film during the interwar period, the role of translation & cultural translation, the role of aesthetics, set design, & in this case, camera angle, to ‘visually’ translate in a sense-for-sense way what the audience loses in an unfamiliar language, & the discursive function of romanticism-->oh no! WWII happened! you’ve lost access to the cultural context in which this discourse was taking place! now you’re trying to revive it in order to recover the polish/jewish past, but you’re just using dybbuk possession to talk about dead jews as poland’s guilty conscience!”