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jurassicsunsets · 5 years ago

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Sponges in the fossil record

Welcome back to another fun-filled week here at palaeofail-explained, which is apparently sponge central now. Last week I wrote a bit about sponges and why they’re great. You might wanna read that now, because this post is going to build off of that!

(Image: The fossil demosponge Astylospongia, a roughly spherical sponge with a hollow in the middle. It’s been broken to reveal the interior. [Source])

Sponges are some of the first animals to evolve (Perhaps the first - a controversy that’s made a bit more complicated by the ctenophore problem, which we’ll hopefully get to in a future installment) (Oh, and they might make up a paraphyletic grade in the way that monkeys and fish do, meaning that we might be just advanced sponges!).

Where was I? Ah, yes. Sponges are some of the first animals to have evolved, and consequently, are some of the earliest animals to appear in the fossil record. Or perhaps i shouldn’t say appear, because the earliest sponge fossils we have are not of sponge bodies at all!

What’s preserved are steranes. Steranes are a type of organic compound—specifically, a type of lipid, or fat. They are a highly degraded form of sterols, which are organic molecules found in many living things, especially eukaryotes (things whose cells have a nucleus). Examples of sterols include cholesterol, as well as testosterone and estrogen.

(Image: Estrogen, a sterol. It consists primarily of a bunch of carbon atoms bound together in four rings. Put this in a rock for a few million years and you get steranes. Put it in a semi well-known palaeontology blogger and you get gender euphoria. [Source])

The particular sterol that’s of interest to us (besides estrogen) is called 24-isopropylcholesterol (gesundheit), and today it is unknown in any living organisms other than demosponges. What does it do? I don’t know. Ask a sponge chemist.

I mentioned before that sterols, when degraded, turn into steranes, and so we sometimes find examples of 24-isopropylcholesterANE in the rock record. This makes it an example of a molecular fossil. And what’s most exciting is that these molecular fossils are the earliest known evidence of animal life on the planet!

See, back about, oh, 700 million years or so ago, during the cryogenian period, the earth was covered in ice. Like, I mean, ALL OF IT. It’s a time in the history of the earth that we call “snowball earth”, and it’s a time when the Earth turned into the ice planet Hoth. But instead of tauntauns, there were only microbes living on Earth. And apparently, also sponges, as evidenced by molecular fossils.

(Disclaimer: there remains some controversy over these molecular fossils, and some possibility that they were produced by non-animals. I think they were most likely made by sponges, but time may tell.)

The earliest body fossils of sponges come from the next period after the cryogenian - the ediacaran, aka the age of pancakes.

(Image: Not a cellphone in sight, just rangeomorphs living in the moment. An Ediacaran scene with the pancake-like Dickinsonia in the middle, fern-like Charnia next to it, and a bunch of other things I don’t recognise around them. [Source])

This is all before the Cambrian Explosion, which you might have heard of before. The pancake guys lived a little less than 600 million years ago, but we’re not actually focusing on them. Rather, we’re focusing on the small shelly fossils that are around them. These are scientifically termed the Small Shelly Fossils.

(Image: Scanning electron microscope photos of apparent sponge spicules in the Small Shelly Fossils. These particular ones are actually from the early Cambrian, but still before the Cambrian Explosion. [Source])

As you might have guessed if you read that caption, the Small Shelly Fossils of the Ediacaran and early Cambrian include sponge spicules, which if you didn’t read the sponge overview, are what make up sponge skeletons. So that’s something that can’t be so easily contested as molecular fossils.

One early group of...animals?? that appear in the fossil record are the archaeocyaths. These are the kind of things you might have seen at a natural history museum, looked at for 0.5 seconds, and then moved on to look at the pretty trilobites. These displays don’t do them justice, because they’re pretty interesting little guys.

(Image: Stapicyathus, an archaeocyath from the Early Cambrian, in top view (left) and side view (right). It’s shaped a bit like an ice cream cone, or like a bunch of sticks bundled together. [Source])

If you have heard literally anything about archaeocyaths it’s likely that they are, quote, “the first reef builders”, and indeed they were. It’s rare to see them in the form I showed above; normally, you just get cross-sections through them.

Archaeocyaths are known exclusively from the Cambrian, and they occur on literally every continent. They’re used a lot for Cambrian biostratigraphy - in other words, correlating the fossils between different sites to determine how old they are.

What did archaeocyaths do? It’s hard to know for sure, but it seems like they had a hole in the middle and porous walls—a lot like sponges, so it’s assumed (with good reason, I think) that they filter-fed like modern sponges. They also built skeletons out of calcite (limestone), hence their reputation as “reef builders”. They seem to have been common in shallow, warm-water environments, where you might expect filter feeders to live.

One thing that’s peculiar about archaeocyaths, though, is that they start out entirely lacking pores, and occasionally will grow their skeletons to the point of entirely blocking off their pores. That’s strange for something that’s ostensibly living like a sponge, and it’s led some (i.e. the folks at Palaeos) to speculate that the structure evolved as a way for the earliest animal-like cells to live together, providing scaffolding for the cells to prevent them from being smothered. They make the case far better than I could, so it’s worth giving a read if you’re interested.

(Image: Generalised anatomy of an archaeocyath. Most of the details aren’t really important - what matters is they’re shaped kind of like an ice cream cone, with a hollow middle and porous walls. [Source])

Now we get to the tricky part: What are archaeocyaths?? They’re generally assumed to be animals, and sponges, but this is based mostly upon people not really being sure what else they could be. Having not studied them in depth, I myself have no clue, and I’ve gathered that the state of the literature seems to be “we have no clue”. They might be sponges. They might be some other group of animals. Heck, they might not even be animals. Maybe one day this’ll be illuminated with molecular fossils! It could be you! Whatever. I’m putting them in the sponge post for now.

(Image: A bunch of plus sign-shaped spicules clumped together on rock. [Source])

Once the Cambrian Explosion came in the mid-late Cambrian, actual real for-sure sponges got bigger and more recognisable. Those spicules in the image above belong to Protospongia, a sponge that lived in the Burgess Shale with your other favourite critters. It’s been referred to the hexactinellida, or the glass sponges, but I’m not sure how accurate that is due to spicules being notoriously convergent in different sponge groups.

(Image: Diagram of a stromatoporoid, looking like a lumpy lasagna. [Source])

Continuing the trend of “things you saw in a display cabinet and walked past” are the stromatoporoids, a group sponges from the middle palaeozoic ( about 300-400 million years ago). In fossils they’re normally seen in side view, but sometimes in top view as well. What’s more, we’re pretty sure they’re a group of demosponges. They made calcite skeletons, but palaeozoic forms lacked spicules. Mesozoic forms apparently had silica (quartz) spicules.

Anyway, they’re the next “reef builders” after archaeocyaths died out, though there were also corals doing their thing at this time. They did...normal spongy things, it seems. Just your normal sponge fare.

And....”normal sponge fare” is pretty much the rest of the sponge fossil record. They make different shapes, different skeletons, different sizes, live in freshwater, live in saltwater, live under antarctic ice, and generally just do...spongy things. I’ll leave you with one interesting example of a sponge fossil—evidence of the Boring Sponge Cliona, preserved as the holes it bored in the shell of a mollusc.

Many people look past sponges as being too “simple” or less interesting than the more familiar fish or mammals or dinosaurs, but I think that just because something is a Boring Sponge, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a boring sponge.

#palaeoblr #sponges #fossils #porifera #archaeocyatha #geology #cambrian #sunday long posts #spongs!

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ladysophy · 4 years ago

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Disclaimer: For entertainment purposes only. This is merely based on speculation by personality traits (that I know of), psychology and looking at their photos. There may be some inaccuracies in here and some parts are fictionalized. And remember kids, give credit where it’s due.

What career the GRF (of the Belle Époque area) could have worked in if they were commoners and lived in present times (minus the pandemic/lockdown):

Constantine: Somewhere in law enforcement, either a police officer (not the power tripper kind) or a detective or both. Possibly could have worked as a nightclub security guard during his university/uni years (and where he met his future wife Sophia) while going to school in the day during the late 1980s/early 1990s. Is very calm in very tense situations. Doesn’t strike me as a 9-to-5 person at all. Not very tech-savy either (to the annoyance of George and Alexander since he asks them the most questions on tech-related things). The last one in the family to get the latest new phone.

Sophia: Definitely healthcare related. Either as a registered nurse or nurse practitioner. Many of her instructors and some fellow students remarked on how she has the smarts to be a doctor (she excelled in Anatomy & Physiology, Microbiology and even Chemistry to Constantine’s astonishment), but Sophia had no interest to go to medical school. Believe it or not, she wanted to be a firefighter when she was in her late teens, but her family (especially her domineering eldest brother Bill) were against it. Gained a love for gardening from working part time as a florist while going to school and watching garden TV programs with her mother and younger sister Margaret. Constantine likes to help her with the garden (if he isn’t too busy at work). More tech-savy than her husband.

George: Possibly a software engineer with hobbies in reading nonfiction and art. Very studious. Can deal with the 9-to-5 workday more than his father and Alexander. Enjoys being alone in his apartment (when the neighbors aren’t playing loud music all night on the weekends). Not a huge TV person (to the despair of his father and Alexander). Watches the news a lot of the time and is usually up to date with domestic and international news. Alexander calls him the “News Anchor” to the amusement of the family except George. More than likely worked in a bookstore part-time during university/uni, but later quit after being forced to push out memberships to unwilling customers.

Alexander: Car mechanic for sure. Also could have been a programmer. Excelled in subjects relating to politics and international relations in university. Possibly worked in retail (that specializes in electronics) during his university/uni years. This is also where he met his wife Aspasia (when she was looking for a new laptop) and was at first annoyed when he wrote his number on the receipt! But she thought he was handsome and charming later on and gave him a call. And the rest is history. Alexander thought about being a DJ at one point in his teens, but his parents were against it.

Helen: Either beauty consultant (not a high-maintenance type) or interior designer. Many of her friends and family members said she should be a fashion designer, but Helen wasn’t interested. Very creative since she was a young girl. Worked in either MAC cosmetics (but was one of the few saleswomen who weren’t stuck up) or Sephora during her university/uni years. Is the fashionista of the family. Many female family members (including her mother) go to her for fashion and makeup advice.

Paul: Possibly a mechanical engineer with a love of history, sports and the outdoors. Played sports at his school in his teens and early 20s. Still does play sports and read on history when not working. Likes to travel (both for business and leisure).

Irene: Possibly a teacher or librarian. Played sports in her teens and in the first year of her university/uni. She gave it up to focus on her studies. Possibly worked part-time at a bookstore during her studies (like her brother George).

Katherine: Like Helen, something beauty or fashion related. Or even a receptionist who has advanced to an executive assistant in a corporate company. Like her parents (especially her father), she can do well in a tense and high-pressure environment due to her calmness. Also somewhat of a fashionista.

The family loved visiting England. The family loved visting England so much so that Constantine and Sophia rent a house in England every year. In fact, it’s actually where Constantine and Sophia first met.

#greek royalty #thoughts #theories #theory

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Star Wars: The Bad Batch Trailer Breakdown and Analysis

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

After their first appearance in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the off-beat clones from the Bad Batch squad are back with their own animated series on Disney+. Genetically modified away from Jango Fett’s original clone mold, the Bad Batch (aka Clone Force 99) members each have unique alterations that make them deadly efficient on the battlefield.

The last we saw of them in the Clone Wars, the Bad Batch added Echo, a clone modified with cybernetic parts by the Separatists, to their ranks and went off to continue fighting on behalf of the Republic. But The Clone Wars finale didn’t show what happened to the Bad Batch after Order 66. This seems to be where the new The Bad Batch animated series picks up.

Check out the trailer below:

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Here are some things we spotted in the trailer that might tells us where The Bad Batch is headed:

The Bad Batch’s ship heads toward Kamino, the home world of the clones. It first appeared in live action in Attack of the Clones, and appeared in The Clone Wars many times after that.

Next, we have shots of a couple more planets, possibly Prequel staples Geonosis and Coruscant, or new planets entirely.

The interior shots might be a training room, similar to the one we’ve seen clone cadets test their mettle in on The Clone Wars.

The Bad Batch have always had a bit of a strained relationship with the other clones, so to see them at the head of the army implies some kind of tension between the groups. At least Echo is there to provide a voice of moderation.

The following close-up is of Hunter, the leader of the group. His enhanced senses make him, well, just what his name suggests. He’s known for bringing a knife to a gun fight. Here, he’s facing off against a super cool lightwhip-wielding character. The lightwhip, a variant on the lightsaber, has appeared in Star Wars Expanded Universe material as a variant on the Jedi weapon for decades, ever since the villanous Lumiya wielded it in the classic Marvel Star Wars comics.

This particular take on the weapon might be from the High Republic era, as the gold filigree on the hilt evoke the Jedi aesthetic of that time period. The wielder might be a Zygerrian, a species of slavers who appeared in The Clone Wars — or another cat-like alien.

The next few shots showcase clone action in a variety of settings. This is sure to be a battle-heavy show. And the team doesn’t always work together; in the next shot Hunter seems to be on his own on the lower levels of Coruscant or another built-up planet like Corellia. Note Hunter’s bandana, which was inspired by the character of Billy Sole in Predator.

Next we get a brief shot of Wrecker doing what he does best (wrecking). The biggest member of the squad has a childlike blunt attitude. He also has a fear of heights, so this particular move where he falls from the sky might be a bit of a challenge for him.

While the Bad Batch worked for the Republic before, it seems that they, along with the rest of the galactic government’s clone forces, have been transitioned into the Galactic Empire after the end of Revenge of the Sith. It’s time to be bad guys. The shot of Emperor Palpatine claiming the new regime is ripped directly from Episode III.

There’s a lot of clone hardware showcased in this trailer, from each Bad Batch member’s unique armor to the Nu-class transports. These ships with folding wings are the predecessor to the Imperial Lambda shuttle seen in the Original Trilogy.

A surprise returning face! In a quick-draw contest with Hunter is Fennec Shand, the mercenary from The Mandalorian player by Ming-Na Wen. It seems like decades before she had a run-in with Din Djarin and Boba Fett she went toe-to-toe with one of the deadliest clones and lived to tell the tale.

Next up — it’s unclear whether this is the same battle or not — are some souped-up battle droids.

Now, this crashed ship looks new to me. Is that a Star Destroyer? Is it unfinished or modified? Crashed in the middle of an older battle or a new war wreck of the early days of the Empire? The scouts nearby overlooking the ship graveyard have a visual similarity to the Rebel scouts in A New Hope, but it’s far too early for organized rebellion.

Hunter uses his scope in a forested area before facing off against … a flame trooper? Is this show actually about rebel clones who decided not to join the Empire?

In a war-torn landscape, the Batch flees from a flying animal and its rider. Flying animals like this exist on the planet Polyneus, but since those don’t have a confirmed canon design it’s just as likely this is a different place. The manta ray-like anatomy has appeared several times in the series, including on Kamino itself.

Another battle scene focuses on Tech, the Bad Batch’s brains, and shows the Batch and Fennec facing off against Imperial stormtroopers. Another check mark on the “rebellion against the Empire” speculation list.

Hunter also gets to use his knife skills against stormtroopers, while Wrecker is doing some fighting without his helmet and armor, showing his missing eye.

The show is poised to give us a closer look at the transition from the Republic into the Empire from the clones’ point of view. The new Empire still has plenty of big battles to fight, and they’re deploying their AT-TEs, precursors to the AT-AT and a major advantage for the Empire’s forces.

Their fellow troopers aren’t the only opposing army the Bad Batch has to face. They’ll also have to take down these droids, who look like they might be a rogue’s bodyguards or some Separatist holdouts.

With the sizzle reel almost done, it’s time for tentacles. A monster has a hold of Wrecker. This could be a psychic interrogator like Bor Gullet from Rogue One or a more conventional critter. Either way, it’s liable to either squeeze, eat, or drown him.

The transition to the Empire wouldn’t be the same without Grand Admiral Tarkin. Clearly, the Bad Batch is ingratiated enough with the galaxy’s ruling power in this scene to get some commendations from the commander of the Death Star himself.

As with most Star Wars stories, there’ll be some droid action, too! Here are three astromechs ready to go. They’re new to me, but anyone recognize these folks?

Finally, the action ramps up with those droid troopers, an Imperial march on a planet of people of many species, and some impressive explosions. One of these brief flashes looks like it’s from the same scene earlier in the reel where Tech takes on some big droids.

The Clone Wars may be over, but The Bad Batch follows directly in its footsteps to tell the beginning of the Empire’s story from the troopers on the ground. Catch any details in the sizzle reel we missed? Shout them out in the comments!

The Bad Batch will premiere on Disney+, but doesn’t have a release date as of yet.

The post Star Wars: The Bad Batch Trailer Breakdown and Analysis appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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glasyasbutch · 4 years ago

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oc-tober day 18: vintage

from @oc-growth-and-development ‘s prompt list, please enjoy a list of craving’s favorite items that came through her family’s antiques shop in all the years she worked there.

1. A porcelain doll, a little pink tiefling in a white and blue dress. One of the doll’s horns had been chipped off, on the opposite side as her missing horn, like they were a set of long lost sisters.

2. A rocking chair with wicker back and sides, torn out at first but Daddy fixed it eventually. Once it was fixed and in the front room waiting to sell, if it was a slow enough day, Daddy would sit in the chair and let her climb in his lap and he’d read her a book.

3. An enchanted music box. The figure inside was an aasimar woman in flight, whos swooped and bobbed in a circle as a soft choir sang. When the key was placed in an turned, the box would run eternally until the key was removed again.

4. A spider broach with segmented legs that could be posed very realistically, and left on shelves and countertops all over the store to terrify the women in stuffy dresses who walked in.

5. A fully functional loom, complete with someone’s half-finished work that they couldn’t bear to unwind from the strings.

6. An almost complete set of china flatware, each plate, bowl, and cup hand painted with a snarling owlbear, mouth open to bite, as if it was trying to get to the food you placed on it before you could.

(6.5. He wasn’t technically vintage, but the older cat that wandered into the store one day and then just didn’t leave. They started calling him Turtledove.)

7. A pair of very bulky goggles that, when you held them up to your eyes, were enchanted to play a short (minute or so long) film. There were three different sets of lenses you could pull down, with three different films.

8. A set of pens designed for Draconic calligraphy. (The tips were curved in such a manner that ink flow could be easily halted - allowing for the very simplistic alphabet to still remain clear enough to understand even while embellished. The pen grips were also situated so as to be easy to control even with clawed hands).

9. A swing open locket, rusted shut. She figured contained a picture of someone’s long lost love, or maybe a lock of hair, or even a folded up note signed with a lipstick kiss if she was lucky. Sirris cracked it open eventually. It was empty inside.

10. An ornate wooden armoire, a bit taller than she was, cloudy mirrors lining the doors, carved filagree along the outside coming to an almost chapel-like peak, complete with hidden compartment in that chapel peak, due to a false (or probably just loosened with time) top panel to the interior.

11. A collection of books so large it could only be assumed it was part of the estate of someone dearly departed. Most were literature classics, some were histories or encyclopedias, a few very outdated textbooks. One of them was a collection of plays from the Seelie court in translation from the original Sylvan. Another was a book on runes and ciphers, margins heavily annotated with coded messages. Most interesting was a speculative celestial anatomy book, complete with illustrations.

12. A full set of plate armor, emblazoned with a family or city crest no one recognized, embedded with jewels. It seemed more likely to be ornamental, but bore the scars of battle. She and Sirris speculated quite a bit on who might have worn it, in what fight, and what could have caused them to give it up.

13. A stone table with a granite inlay in the face. The edges had very faint, almost unreadable through the dappling of the granite, carvings. There was also a little groove, about a half inch deep, running the full circumference of the table, with holes drilled in each corner. She was convinced, as any logical person would be, that this was a blood sacrifice table.

14. A lace wedding dress, dyed all black. If they weren’t barely turning a profit, she would’ve taken it from the shelves and put it right into her closet in the event she ever got married.

15. A ring that, if you turned the set stone 90 degrees, a little blade would pop out. She used it CONSTANTLY to get back at Sirris for stabbing her with his barbs, since she could never get hers to pop out.

16. A mostly decorative dagger, though still usably sharp. A silver blade, engraved with a light floral design down the flat, and a brass handle wrapped in worn, stained leather. The only thing she managed to grab from the ashes before she left.

#craving #oc-tober #thats one item for every year she worked there while having like. coherent memory #(so ages 5-20)

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sciencespies · 5 years ago

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New Feathered Carnivorous Dinosaur Found in New Mexico

https://sciencespies.com/nature/new-feathered-carnivorous-dinosaur-found-in-new-mexico/

New Feathered Carnivorous Dinosaur Found in New Mexico

A new carnivorous feathered dinosaur, coyote-sized with razor-sharp teeth and claws, has been discovered in New Mexico’s San Juan Basin. The small but formidable predator called Dineobellator would have stalked these open floodplains 70 million years ago.

Steven Jasinski, a paleontologist at the State Museum of Pennsylvania and lead author of the study in Scientific Reports, says Dineobellator is a new species from the Late Cretaceous (70-68 million years ago) that belongs to dromaeosaurid, a group of clawed predators closely related to birds. These rare fossils have features that suggest raptors were still trying out new ways to compete even during the dinosaurs’ last stand—the era just before the extinction event that wiped them out 66 million years ago. “This group was still evolving, testing out new evolutionary pathways, right at the very end before we lost them,” Jasinski notes.

The bones from this new specimen bear the scars of a combative lifestyle and suggest some unusual adaptations of tail and claw that might have helped Dineobellator notohesperus hunt and kill. The name Dineobellator pays homage to the dino’s tenacity and that of the local Native American people. Diné means ‘the Navajo people,’ while bellator is the Latin word for warrior.

“Due to their small size and delicate bones, skeletons of raptors like Dineobellator are extremely rare in North America, particularly in the last 5 million years of the Age of Dinosaurs,” says David Evans, a paleontologist at the Royal Ontario Museum and the University of Toronto, who wasn’t involved in the study. “Even though it is fragmentary, the skeleton of Dineobellator is one of the best specimens known from North America for its time, which makes it scientifically important and exciting.”

Dineobellator notohesperus outline and skeletal reconstruction.

(Steven Jasinski)

Over four field seasons between 2008 and 2016, Jasinski and colleagues unearthed 20 fossils from a single creature’s skeleton, including parts of the skull, teeth, fore and hind legs, ribs and vertebrae. Dineobellator’s forearms feature quill knobs, bumps found on the bones of dinosaurs or birds that reveal where feathers once attached. Like its relative Velociraptor, this newfound animal was about the size of a coyote or large barnyard turkey, Jasinski says, but probably punched above its weight as a predator.

The fossils indicate the dinosaur suffered a rib injury, but bone regrowth shows that it survived and healed. But this Dineobellator wasn’t so fortunate with an injury to its hand claw. “The hand claw injury doesn’t show any bone regrowth, so it looks like it happened either right at death or just before,” Jasinski says.

Dineobellator’s unusual features include its forelimbs, which appear to be an uncommon shape that would have maximized muscle power to make them very strong, a trait Jasinski suggests was accentuated by claws on both hands and feet. “Their grip would have been far stronger than what we see in the other members of this group,” he says.

Fossils from the animal’s tail also suggest an intriguing anatomy. Most similar dinosaurs have stiff tails reinforced with bones or tendons that would have helped with balance and aided running. “What these animals have … is a lot of mobility at the base of the tail where it attaches to the hips,” Jasinski says. “If you think about how a cheetah attacks, their tail is whipping all over the place because they have to change directions very quickly so it increases agility. That’s what this animal would have been able to do, that others in its group would not. It makes this animal agile and a very good pursuit predator.”

Reconstruction of Dineobellator notohesperus standing over a nest by Mary P. Williams

(Steven Jasinski)

Paleontologist Alan Turner, of the American Museum of Natural History and Stony Brook University, cautions that without a full skeleton, the remains are too fragmentary and scattered to make serious inferences about Dineobellator’s tail or claws. “A couple of vertebrae do give you a glimpse of what the tail looked like, but if you don’t have an entire tail, or the part of the backbone that the tail attaches to, I’d be reticent to make a definitive statement about tail mobility.” But, he says, this study fills in gaps for a period that’s lacking in samples and offers a glimpse into the dromeosaurs of the time.

David Evans echoed that point. “More complete fossils and comparative functional analyses are needed to demonstrate whether Dineobellator was a particularly strong or adept predator. Dineobellator shows us more skeletons are out there, waiting to be found,” he says.

Evans agrees with the study authors that the fossils in hand demonstrate that close relatives of Velociraptor were diversifying during the last days of the Age of the Dinosaurs. “Importantly, it shows that the raptors in the southern part of western North America were distinct from those in the north, and suggests these differences may have been driven by different local ecosystem conditions.”

Photo from the original discovery of Dineobellator notohesperus pointing out the hand claw among other bone fragments

(Steven Jasinski)

Other excavations have given scientists a reasonably good idea of the menagerie of animals that shared Dineobellator’s ecosystem, an open floodplain habitat in modern-day New Mexico that was growing increasingly distant from the receding shoreline of the Western Interior Seaway.

Ojoceratops, a horned beast very much like Triceratops, was fairly common as was long-necked sauropod Alamosaurus. “We have evidence of a small tyrannosaurid, something like T. rex but considerably smaller,” Jasinski says. “There are duck-billed dinosaurs, hadrosaurids, that are relatively common, there are lots of turtles, crocodilians have been common all over the place, and evidence of early birds there as well that would have been living with this thing.”

As for how Dineobellator and its kin fit in, Turner says that’s a matter of speculation. “Just size-wise, your average North American or Asian dromeosaur might be along the lines of foxes or coyotes,” he notes, adding that like those mammals, Dineobellator might have existed in substantial numbers as a kind of ubiquitous predator. “That sort of general predatory niche is probably where a lot of these dromeosaurs were falling out.”

While the individual Dineobellator in the study appears to have met a violent end it seems likely that it and its relatives also enjoyed their share of success. “They have sharp teeth and nasty claws on their feet,” Turner notes. “They aren’t these big intimidating things, but I still wouldn’t want to have a run-in with one.”

#Nature

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dillydedalus · 5 years ago

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january reading

why was this january at least 3 months long

unequal affections, lara s. ormiston (audio) this is jane austen fanfiction about an alternate version of the story where lizzy does accept darcy’s first proposal - their ensuing engagement, which (because lizzy doesn’t go off about how she feels about darc in this one) is full of unspoken conflicts and tensions & hella awks. the initial premise needed some suspension of disbelief but once i got over that i found it super enjoyable, pretty believable in terms of character interactions and interiority (darcy is a dick), funny & sweet. i don’t think i will necessarily start getting into JAFF now (tho goodreads rly thinks i should), but this was just. nice. wholesome. also now i want to reread p&p..... 3/5

lincoln in the bardo, george saunders (uni) ya know what i really liked this. this is about abraham lincoln mourning his young son willie during the civil war, not exactly a topic i’m particularly (at all) interested in, but the execution is so cool - it’s told partly thru fragments from historical records, books, letters (both real and imagined) and partly thru the voices of the many ghosts stuck in a kind of limbo in the graveyard, who are trying to get willie to move on, while they themselves desperately try to stay in limbo, bitter about what went wrong in their lives and in denial about their state. & it’s done really well, the polyphony and contradiction of the historical record (one chapter has a bunch of quotes about how ugly lincoln was & then the last is like ‘idk i thought he was kinda handsome’), and the ghosts are so sad & bitter & desperate & hopeful. 4/5

the steppe & other stories, anton chekhov (tr. from russian) bunch of short stories from 1880-1890s russia. to be honest, i found most of them pretty boring, although ‘the duel’ is pretty good, an interesting look at how sticking too closely to your worldview/ideology/morality will probably either make you a useless disaster person or a eugenicist douchebag. some of the other stories were okay as well, but overall: 2/5, i’mma stick with his plays

perfectly preventable deaths, deirdre sullivan teenage ocd witch book! this is a pretty good YA witchy horror book about twins who move into their new stepdad’s castle (yeah he has a castle) in a weird irish village where girls have been going missing for decades. creepy magical-ish things start happening (of course) & our narrator isn’t sure whether her sister’s new age-inappropriate boyfriend is just creepy, or creepy. i love the concept of ocd witchery & the atmosphere is really good as well, but the pacing is off, with slow build-up & a climax that happens way too quickly. also like can someone please say the word ocd it’s not gonna kill ya. 3/5

the priory of the orange tree, samantha shannon gonna be controversial here & say... yeah this should have been a duology. give the world some room to breathe, give the characters some room to breathe (give me another book w/ a cover this spectacular). anyway, this is a bigass book about eastern vs western dragon lore, a holy queendom (go sabran of inys!!), dragonriders, lesbian sword mages, how religion & historiography marginalises women, and magical trees. & like, okay, i wrote a lil thing right after finishing it about how i had some quibbles with it but enjoyed it overall but you know what? the more i think about it/let it sit the more complaints i have and the more annoyed/disappointed i get. 1) i liked all the characters fine, but none of them feel like they have any depth - i feel like i could sum all of the main characters up in like 3-4 words, and while i was rooting for ead/sabran, even this, the most central relationship of the book felt... surface-level. like, there were some big emotional moments but generally all i felt was like ‘good for her’ or ‘that sucks i guess’, 2) this world & its mythology is very much inspired by eastern vs western dragonlore so i understand the need to ground the fantasy world with real-world parallels but the extent to which some of the countries are literally just fantasy versions of real countries was... frustrating? irritating?? this is especially grating as, while inys is very clearly fantasy!britain, there is a lot of cool world-building (religion, aristocracy, history/myth) to make it more than that, while fantasy!japan and fantasy!china are literally just ... ‘what if japan but with dragons’. i did like fantasy!netherlands because at least you don’t see that a lot. 3) so much of the plot is just people travelling to different locations to get and transport different items but most of the travelling is cut short by some magical animal/being turning up and just transporting them in a cutscene.. 4) considering that this is all about dragonlore the dragons sure aren’t as important in the end as the three macguffins of power. 5) i loved so much about kalyba but not where it led, that said i want a kalyba-hawthorn-nurtha backstory. okay that’s it for now but like. idk. this had a lot of potential but the execution was just severely flawed. 2/5

trust exercise, susan choi this was super hyped, especially for a game-changing twist of some kind, but has a rather low rating on goodreads (3.18!) so y’all know i was intrigued. i’m not going to give away the twist because it is genuinely really cool if not really all that original, but this is a really clever & cool book about theatre kids, teenage dramatics, constructing your own narrative and what that excludes, elides, changes, and most of all consent & abuse (some very triggering depictions of sex/sexual abuse here). i really liked this, and am considering buying a copy so i can reread it. 4/5

soldiers of salamis, javier cercas (tr. from spanish by anne mclean) very meta novel about a writer called javier cercas writing a book (tentatively called soldiers of salamis) about a (real) falangist poet who escaped a mass execution & survived in the forest for a while with a group of republican deserters. ‘cercas’ researches, speculates, despairs, talks to roberto bolano (who compliments his previous books lol), and finally tracks down the man who he believes/imagines/hopes to be the soldier who let said fascist poet go, leading him to consider who really should be remembered & written about. made me think about that one poem about reading ezra pount that ends w/ a veteran saying ‘if i knew a fascist was a great poet, i’d shoot him anyway.’ interesting book altho i far prefer his book anatomy of a moment, one of the weirdest & most fascinating nonfic books i’ve read. 3/5

the stopping places, damian le bas (audio) damian le bas comes from a settled british romani family and, feeling somewhat unsure about his place in & connection to the community, he decided to go on a roadtrip through britain (+france) in a van to seek out the atchin tans or stopping places, starting with the ones his great-grandmother remembers from her childhood before the family became settled. he combines the travelogue with insights into romani culture(s) (mainly british) and history, as well as his own family history. it’s really interesting & engaging (the history&culture more so than the travelogue) and le bas narrates the audiobook himself & sounds like a cool dude. 3.5/5

confessions of a bookseller, shaun bythell bythell records a year of working as a second-hand bookseller, with an entry for every day. he talks about the impact of amazon, rude & weird customers (but also nice customers), his weird staff, and some of the books he’s reading. the look into bookselling in the age of amazon is pretty interesting but much of this is banal & repetitive, & if it wasn’t the perfect thing to read in little bits while at work i probably would have dnf’d it. 2/5

giacomo joyce, james..... joyce super short story by my man jamesy joyce that never made it out of manuscript (literal). not much to say about this - it’s interesting to see jj play around with themes while still working on portrait & thinking bout ulysses & the prose is nice, but the whole english tutor feels attracted to his student is a bit... eh. 3/5

#the books i read #one major disappoint but oh well :///#long post

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randyastle · 6 years ago

Text

Historical reading list

Hello, world. A while ago I made a list of history books to read that would take me chronologically from the Big Bang up to the present. I did it on a Word document and haven’t had time to compile the list on Goodreads, but I wanted to post it here as a stopgap for anyone interested. There’s a penchant towards my own heritage, which comes through the United States and Mormonism, with, for instance, at least one biography on every American President (through Obama). But I tried to be broad because as I read these I want to gain a broad understanding not just of history but of different global cultures today; hence so many titles dealing with religion or mythology in general. There’s a smattering of fiction thrown in there where it fits historically, like The Iliad, Divine Comedy, or Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and I have other reading lists dealing with topics like art, music, religion (outside of history, like books about Buddhism or Joseph Campbell essays), and contemporary work in natural sciences/conservation/mass extinction, so by and large books relating to those things don’t appear here, but I still hope it’s useful. 1. A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking

2. The First Three Minutes, Steven Weinberg

3. Lives of the Planets: A Natural History of the Solar System, Richard Corfield

4. From Dust to Life: The Origin and Evolution of Our Solar System, John Chambers & Jacqueline Mitton

5. Plate Tectonics, Stephen M. Tomecek

6. On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin (1859)

7. The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins

8. Prehistoric Life: The Definitive Visual History of Life on Earth, Dorling-Kindersley

9. Prehistoric Life: Evolution and the Fossil Record, Lieberman and Kaesler

10. Life: An Unauthorized Biography (newest edition), Richard Fortey

11. The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions, Peter Brannen

12. When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time, Michael Benton

13. Trilobite!, Richard Fortey

14. Squid Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods, Danna Staaf

15. Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy, Mark Witton

16. Dinosaurs: A Concise Natural History, David E. Fastovsky & David B. Weishampel

17. The Complete Dinosaur (second edition), M.K. Brett-Surman

18. Tyrannosaurus Rex: The Tyrant King, ed. Peter Larson and Kenneth Carpenter

19. Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea, Michael J. Everhart

20. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, Steve Brusatte

21. All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals, John Conway

22. Flying Dinosaurs: How Fearsome Reptiles Became Birds, John Pickrell

23. Feathered Dinosaurs: The Origin of Birds, John Long and Peter Schouten

24. The Origin and Evolution of Mammals, T.S. Kemp

25. Beasts of Eden: Walking Whales, Dawn Horses, and Other Enigmas of Mammal Evolution, David Rains Wallace

26. After the Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals, Donald R. Prothero

27. Walking with Beasts: A Prehistoric Safari, Tim Haines

28. Cenozoic Mammals of Africa, Lars Werdelin and William Joseph Sanders

29. The Ice Age: A Very Short Introduction, Jamie Woodward

30. Prehistoric America: A Journey through the Ice Age and Beyond, Miles Barton

31. Twilight of the Mammoths: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America, Paul S. Martin and Harry W. Greene

32. The Descent of Man, Charles Darwin (1871)

33. Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Human Origins, Ian Tattersall

34. Lone Survivors: How We Came to Be the Only Humans on Earth, Chris Stringer

35. How to Think Like a Neanderthal, Thomas Wynn & Frederick Coolidge

36. The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of Language and the Brain, Terrence W. Deacon

37. The Lost Civilizations of the Stone Age, Richard Rudgley

38. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari

39. The Dancing Universe: From Creation Myths to the Big Bang, Marcelo Gleiser

40. Primal Myths: Creation Myths Around the World, Barbara Sproul

41. A History of World Agriculture: From the Neolithic Age to the Current Crisis, Marcel Mazoyer

42. Across Atlantic Ice: The Origin of America’s Clovis Culture, Dennis Stanford & Bruce Bradley

43. Ancient Near East: A Very Short Introduction, Amanda H. Podany

44. The Epic of Gilgamesh (2100 BC)

45. Abraham: The First Historical Biography, David Rosenberg

46. A History of Ancient Egypt, Marc Van De Mieroop

47. Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many, Erik Hornung

48. The Search for God in Ancient Egypt, Jan Assmann

49. The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day, tr. Raymond Faulkner

50. The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs, Jan Assmann

51. The Family Haggadah

52. The Iliad, Homer (ca. 1180 BC)

53. The Odyssey, Homer (Fagle translation)

54. 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed, Eric Cline

55. Transformations of Myth through Time, Joseph Campbell

56. The Spirit of Zoroastrianism, Prods Oktor Skjaervo

57. In Search of Zarathustra: Across Iran and Central Asia to Find the World’s First Prophet, Paul Kriwaczek

58. Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, and Poet, Victor Ludlow (700 BC)

59. Rereading Job, Michael Austin (600 BC)

60. How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now, James L. Kugel

61. The Cambridge Companion to the Bible

62. Illuminating Humor of the Bible, Steve Walker

63. The Mother of the Lord, vol. 1: The Lady in the Temple, Margaret Barker

64. The Holy Bible, New International Version

65. The Art of War, Sun Tzu (500 BC)

66. The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome, Susan Wise Bauer

67. The Maya, Michael Coe & Stephen Houston (newest edition)

68. Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain, Ronald Hutton

69. Celtic Myths and Legends, Peter Berresford Ellis

70. Celtic Gods and Heroes, Marie-Louise Sjoestedt

71. Did God Have a Wife?: Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel, William Dever

72. The Oxford History of Greece and the Hellenistic World, John Boardman

73. D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths

74. Mythology, Edith Hamilton

75. Bulfinch’s Mythology

76. The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, Roberto Calasso

77. Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions, H.R. Ellis Davidson

78. Early Irish Myths and Sagas, Jeffrey Gantz

79. From Sphinx to Christ: An Occult History, Edouard Schure

80. Buddha (Penguin Lives Biographies), Karen Armstrong

81. Buddhacarita, Asvaghosa (ca. 500 BC)

82. Buddhist Scriptures (ca. 500 BC)

83. Ramayana (ca. 500 BC)

84. Mahabharata (ca 400 BC)

85. Ka: Stories of the Mind and Gods of India, Roberto Calasso

86. Tao Te Ching (ca 400 BC)

87. The Zhuangzi (446-221 BC)

88. Old Myths and New Approaches: Interpreting Ancient Religious Sites in Southeast Asia, Alexandra Haendel

89. The Rise of Athens: The Story of the World’s Greatest Civilization, Anthony Everitt

90. Democracy: A Life, Paul Cartledge (ca. 450 BC)

91. Histories, Herodotus (440 BC)

92. History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides (410 BC)

93. Meno, Plato (380 BC)94. The Republic, Plato (380 BC)

95. The Symposium, Plato (370 BC)

96. The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle (350 BC)

97. On the Soul (De Anima), Aristotle (350 BC)

98. Poetics, Aristotle (335 BC)

99. Alexander the Great, Philip Freeman (ca 330 BC)

100. Letters (to Herodotus, Pythocles, & Menoeceus), Epicurus (ca. 200 BC)

101. Analects of Confucius (ca 200 BC)

102. Dhammapada (a Buddhist text) (200 BC)

103. The Lotus Sutra (ca 100 BC)

104. Why Buddhism is True, Robert Wright

105. Cicero: Selected Works (Penguin Classics), Marcus Tullius Cicero (ca 63 BC)

106. Caesar: Life of a Colossus, Adrian Goldsworthy

107. The Conquest of Gaul, Julius Caesar (ca 50 BC)

108. The Aeneid, Virgil (19 BC)

109. Search, Ponder, and Pray: A Guide to the Gospels, Julie M. Smith

110. Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Reza Aslan

111. How Jesus Became God, Bart Ehrman

112. A History of the Devil, Gerald Messadie

113. Metamorphoses, Ovid (8 AD)

114. The New Complete Works of Josephus, Josephus

115. A New History of Early Christianity, Charles Freeman

116. The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels

117. The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The Revised and Updated Translation of Sacred Gnostic Texts Complete in One Volume, ed. Marvin Meyer

118. A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Karen Armstrong

119. Money Changes Everything: How Finance Made Civilization Possible, William Goetzmann

120. The Twelve Caesars, Suetonius (Penguin Classics tr. James Rives) (ca 140 AD)

121. Meditations, Marcus Aurelius (180 AD)

122. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians, Peter Heather

123. Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, Peter Brown

124. The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World, Bart Ehrman

125. The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World, Catherine Nixey

126. A History of Christianity, Diarmaid MacCulloch

127. Everyman’s Talmud (ca. 200)

128. Confessions, St. Augustine (397)

129. The Illustrated World Encyclopedia of Saints

130. The Silk Road in World History, Xinru Liu

131. Attila: The Barbarian King Who Challenged Rome, John Man (400s)

132. The Consolation of Philosophy, Ancius Boethius (524)

133. One Thousand and One Nights (ca 600)

134. The Civilization of the Middle Ages: A Completely Revised and Expanded Edition of Medieval History, Norman F. Cantor

135. Romance of the Grail: The Magic and Mystery of Arthurian Myth, Joseph Campbell ed. Evans Lansing Smith

136. Le Morte d’Arthur, Thomas Malory (1485)

137. The Making of the Middle Ages, R.W. Southern

138. Medieval Bodies: Life, Death and Art in the Middle Ages, Jack Hartnell

139. The Age of the Vikings, Anders Winroth

140. The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings, Lars Brownworth

141. The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion, Daniel McCoy

142. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, H.R. Elllis Davidson

143. Norwegian Folklore, Zinken Hopp

144. Holy Misogyny: Why Sex and Gender Conflicts in the Early Church Still Matter, April DeConick

145. Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes, Tamim Ansary (610…)

146. Islam: A Short History, Karen Armstrong

147. The Holy Qur’an

148. Mohammed and Charlemagne, Henri Pirenne (700s)

149. Beowulf (Heaney translation) (by 900s)

150. A History of the English Speaking Peoples, vol. 1: The Birth of Britain, Winston Churchill

151. The Tale of Genji, Lady Murasaki Shikibu (1000s)

152. The Sagas of Icelanders (1000)

153. Eleanor of Aquitaine: By the Wrath of God, Queen of England, Alison Weir (1100s)

154. Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales, ed. Stephen Knight & Thomas Ohlgren

155. Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography, Stephen Thomas Knight

156. Book of Divine Works, Hildegard von Bingen (1163)

157. The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition, C.S. Lewis

158. Money: The Unauthorized Biography: From Coinage to Cryptocurrencies, Felix Martin

159.Genghis Khan: Life, Death, and Resurrection, John Man (ca. 1200)

160. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, Jack Weatherford

161. The Secret History of the Mongol Queens, Jack Weatherford

162. Kublai Khan: The Mongol King Who Remade China, John Man

163. St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi, ed. G.K. Chesterton (1200s)

164. St. Francis of Assisi, Omer Englebert

165. The Poetic Edda (1200s)

166. The Prose Edda, Snorri Sturluson (1200s)

167. The Saga of the Volsungs, Jesse L. Byock (late 1200s)

168. The Travels of Marco Polo, Marco Polo (1200s)

169. Revelations of Divine Love, Julian of Norwich (1300s)

170. Outlaws of the Marsh, Shi Nai’an (1300s)

171. Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong (1300s)

172. Robert the Bruce: King of Scots, Ronald McNair Scott (early 1300s)

173. The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri (1320)

174. A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, Barbara Tuchman

175. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, Jared M. Diamond

176. Marriage: A History, Stephanie Coontz

177. The Future of Marriage, David Blankenhorn

178. The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer (1400)

179. The Civilizing Process, Norbert Elias

180. The Samurai: A Military History, Stephen Turnbull

181. 1421: The Year China Discovered America, Gavin Menzies

182. The Hundred Years War: The English in France 1337-1453, Desmond Seward

183. Joan of Arc: In Her Own Words (early 1400s)

184. History of Creativity in the Arts, Science, and Technology: Pre-1500, Brent Strong

185. The Illustrated History of the Sikhs, Khushwant Singh (late 1400s)

186. The Aztec, Man and Tribe (1400s-1521)

187. The Aztecs, Michael E. Smith

188. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, Charles Mann

189. 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, Charles Mann

190. Conquistador Voices, Volume 1, Kevin H. Siepel

191. Conquistador Voices, Volume 2, Kevin H. Siepel

192. In the Hands of the Great Spirit, John Page

193. Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance, Lisa Jardine

194. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, Jacob Burckhardt

195. The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall, Christopher Hibbert

196. The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli (1513)

197. Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson

198. Utopia, Thomas More (1516)

199. She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth, Helen Castor

200. The Reformation: A History, Diarmaid MacCulloch

201. Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World, Eric Metaxas

202. The Discoverers: A History of Man’s Search to Know His World and Himself, Daniel J. Boorstin

203. Michel de Montaigne: The Complete Essays (Penguin Classics), ed. M.A. Screech

204. Spice: The History of a Temptation, Jack Turner

205. The Age of Exploration: From Christopher Columbus to Ferdinand Magellan, Kenneth Pletcher

206. Journey to the West, Wu Cheng’en (1500s)

207. How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City, Joan DeJean

208. A History of the English Speaking Peoples, vol. 2: The New World, Winston Churchill

209. The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1440-1870, Hugh Thomas

210. The Life of Elizabeth I, Alison Weir

211. The Faerie Queen, Edmund Spenser (1590)

212. The Lodger Shakespeare: His Life on Silver Street, Charles Nicholl

213. A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599, James Shapiro

214. London: The Biography, Peter Ackroyd

215. Galileo: Watcher of the Skies, David Wootton

216. Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War, Nathaniel Philbrick (1620)

217. Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America, David Hackett Fischer

218. Art and Commerce in the Dutch Golden Age, Michael North

219. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, Edwin G. Burrows & Mike Wallace

220. The Thirty Years War: Europe’s Tragedy, Peter H. Wilson

221. Coming of Age in the Milky Way, Timothy Ferris

222. The Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes (1651)

223. Ethics, Benedict de Spinoza (1665)

224. The Scourge of Demons: Possession, Lust, and Witchcraft in a 17th-century Italian Convent, Jeffrey Watt

225. The Great Fire of London, Neil Hanson (1666)

226. Paradise Lost (1667)

227. The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678)

228. The Diary of Samuel Pepys (Modern Library Classics), Samuel Pepys ed. Richard Le Gallienne (late 1600s)

229. The Scientific Revolution, Stephen Shapin

230. The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution, David Wootton

231. Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton, Richard Westfall (1642-1726)

232. A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson

233. Ways of Knowing: A New History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, John Pickstone

234. Two Treatises on Government, John Locke (1689)

235. The Penguin Book of Witches (1692)

236. In the Devil’s Snare, Mary Beth Norton (1692)

237. Memoirs of Duc de Saint-Simon, 1691-1709: Presented to the King, Duc de Saint-Simon

238. Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift (1726) (and A Modest Proposal)

239. The Major Works (Oxford World’s Classics), Alexander Pope (early 1700s)

240. China: A History, John Keay

241. The Dream of the Red Chamber, Cao Xueqin (1700s)

242. Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio vol. 1 (1740)

243. Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio vol. 2

244. Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio vol. 3

245. The Story of Music: From Babylon to the Beatles, Howard Goodall

246. Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, Christoph Wolff (early 1700s)

247. A History of the English Speaking Peoples, vol. 3: The Age of Revolution, Winston Churchill

248. The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, Lawrence James

249. The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith (1759)

250. Candide, Voltaire (1759)

251. Treasury of North American Folk Tales, Catherine Peck

252. Crucible of War: The Seven Years’ War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766, Fred Anderson

253. Benjamin Franklin, Edmund S. Morgan

254. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

255. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman, Robert Massie

256. A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn

257. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith (1776)

258. Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius, Sylvia Nasar

259. Common Sense, Thomas Paine (1776)

260. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, Bernard Bailyn

261. The Radicalism of the American Revolution, Gordon S. Wood

262. 1776, David McCullough

263. The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson

264. History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution, Mercy Otis Warren

265. Washington’s Crossing, David Hackett Fischer

266. George Washington, A Life, Willard Sterne Randall

267. The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787, Gordon S. Wood

268. Washington: A Life, Ron Chernow

269. The Grand Idea: George Washington’s Potomac and the Race to the West, Joel Achenbach

270. His Excellency: George Washington, Joseph J. Ellis

271. James Wilson: Founding Father, 1742-1798, Charles Page Smith

272. The Constitution and Bill of Rights, James Madison

273. The Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (1788)

274. The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government, Fergus Bordewich

275. Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution, Jack Rakove

276. Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies, Erwin Chemerinsky

277. That’s Not What They Meant, Michael Austin

278. The Second Amendment: A Biography, Michael Waldman

279. That’s Not What They Meant About Guns, Michael Austin

280. Taming the Electoral College, Robert Bennett

281. Why the Electoral College is Bad for America, George C. Edwards

282. Faust, Goethe (1790)

283. The Ancien Regime and the Revolution, Alexis de Tocqueville

284. Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution, Simon Schama

285. The Rights of Man, Thomas Paine (1791)

286. A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Mary Wollstonecraft (1792)

287. A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

288. A History of Japan: Revised Edition, R.H.P. Mason

289. John Adams, David McCullough

290. Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams, Joseph J. Ellis

291. The Scramble for Africa, Thomas Pakenham

292. Alexander Hamilton, Ron Chernow

293. Alexander Hamilton: The Formative Years, Michael Newton

294. Alexander Hamilton: Writings (plus Farmer Refuted, Washington’s farewell address, & the Reynolds Pamphlet)

295. The Age of Reason, Thomas Paine (1804)

296. Jefferson and His Time, Dumas Malone

297. Thomas Jefferson, Willard Sterne Randall

298. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, Jon Meacham

299. American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, Joseph J. Ellis

300. Most Blessed of the Patriarchs: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination, Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter Onuf

301. Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson, Paul Finkelman

302. The Founding Foodies: How Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin Revolutionized American Cuisine, Dave DeWitt

303. The Journals of Lewis and Clark, Lewis and Clark (1806)

304. The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World, Andrea Wulf

305. A History of the English Speaking Peoples, vol. 4: The Great Democracies, Winston Churchill

306. The Cambridge Illustrated History of France, Colin Jones

307. France, a History: From Gaul to De Gaulle, John Julius Norwich

308. Napoleon: A Life, Andrew Roberts

309. The Brothers Grimm (1812)

310. James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic, Jack Rakove

311. James Madison: A Biography, Ralph Ketchem

312. The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies, Alan Taylor

313. The Naval War of 1812, Theodore Roosevelt

314. Bolivar: American Liberator, Marie Arana (ca. 1810s)

315. The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness, Harlow Giles Unger

316. The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century America, Jay Sexton

317. The English and their History, Robert Tombs

318. An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins, Grant Palmer

319. Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, D. Michael Quinn

320. Standing Apart: Mormon Historical Consciousness and the Concept of Apostasy, Miranda Wilcox & John Young

321. Nation Builder: John Quincy Adams and the Grand Strategy of the Republic, Charles Edel

322. John Quincy Adams: American Visionary, Fred Kaplan

323. John Quincy Adams, Robert V. Remini

324. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, Richard Bushman

325. Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery

326. By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion, Terryl Givens

327. Understanding the Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy

328. The Book of Mormon: Revised Authorized Version

329. The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, D. Michael Quinn

330. Banishing the Cross: The Emergence of a Mormon Taboo, Michael G. Reed

331. This Is My Doctrine: The Development of Mormon Theology, Charles Harrell

332. The Refiner’s Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, John L. Brooke

333. A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints vol. 1, B.H. Roberts

334. Garibaldi: Invention of a Hero, Lucy Riall (1834 revolt)

335. Road to the Sea, Florence Dorsey

336. Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times, H.W. Brands

337. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, Jon Meacham

338. Jacksonland, Steve Inskeep

339. Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville (1835)

340. Martin Van Buren: The Romantic Age of American Politics, John Niven

341. The Voyage of the Beagle, Charles Darwin (1839)

342. Incarnations: A History of India in Fifty Lives, Sunil Khilnani

343. Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Times, Freeman Cleaves

344. John Tyler: Champion of the Old South, Oliver P. Chitwood

345. Self-Reliance and Other Essays, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1841)

346. Fear and Trembling, Soren Kierkegaard (1843)

347. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845)

348. Woman in the Nineteenth Century, Margaret Fuller (1845)

349. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848, Daniel Walker Howe

350. Nightfall at Nauvoo, Samuel W. Taylor

351. A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints vol. 2, B.H. Roberts

352. Journey to Zion: Voices from the Mormon Trail, Carol Cornwall Madsen

353. 111 Days to Zion, Hal Knight

354. The Gathering of Zion, Wallace Stegner

355. A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints vol. 3, B.H. Roberts

356. The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants on the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60, John D. Unruh

357. So Far from God: The U.S. War with Mexico, 1846-1848, John S. D. Eisenhower

358. The Oregon Trail, Francis Parkman (1849)

359. The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream, H.W. Brands

360. Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau (1849)

361. The American Transcendentalists

362. The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America (James Polk), Walter Borneman

363. Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico, T.R. Fehrenbach

364. Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest, K. Jack Bauer

365. The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War, Andrew Delbanco

366. Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President, Robert J. Rayback

367. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852)

368. Walden, Henry David Thoreau (1854)

369. Franklin Pierce, Michael Holt

370. President James Buchanan: A Biography, Philip S. Klein

371. Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism, Terryl Givens

372. A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints vol. 4, B.H. Roberts

373. American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857, Sally Denton

374. America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink, Kenneth Stampp

375. The West Indies and the Spanish Main, Anthony Trollope (1860)

376. Charles Darwin: The Power of Place, Janet Browne

377. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, James McPherson

378. Centennial History of the Civil War, vol. 1: The Coming Fury, Bruce Catton

379. Centennial History of the Civil War, vol. 2: Terrible Swift Sword, Bruce Catton

380. Centennial History of the Civil War, vol. 3: Never Call Retreat, Bruce Catton

381. Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer, Fred Kaplan

382. The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln through his Words, Ronald White

383. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln

384. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Doris Kearns Goodwin

385. Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South, Stephanie McCurry

386. The South vs. the South: How Anti-Confederate Southerners Shaped the Course of the Civil War, William Freehling

387. Andersen’s Fairy Tales, Hans Christian Andersen

388. Matthew Brady’s Illustrated History of the Civil War

389. With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Oates

390. A Short History of Canada (6th ed), Desmond Morton

391. Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years, Carl Sandburg

392. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, Drew Gilpin Faust

393. Abraham Lincoln, Lord Charnwood

394. Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China, Jung Chang

395. Andrew Johnson, Annette Gordon-Reed

396. Biographical Supplement and Index, Harriet Sigerman

397. Mormon Sisters: Women in Early Utah, Claudia Bushman

398. Development of LDS Temple Worship, Devery Anderson

399. The Memoirs of Hector Berlioz

400. Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet, John C. Turner

401. Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900, Leonard Arrington

402. A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints vol. 5, B.H. Roberts

403. Grant, Ron Chernow

404. Grant: A Biography, William S. McFeeley

405. American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant, Ronald C. White

406. Complete Personal Memoirs, Ulysses S. Grant

407. Capital (Das Kapital), Karl Marx (first edition 1867, third 1894)

408. The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America, Louis Menand

409. Black Reconstruction, W.E.B. Du Bois

410. Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, updated edition, Eric Foner

411. A Nation Under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration, Steven Hahn

412. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown

413. Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America, T.J. Stiles

414. Rutherford B. Hayes, Hans Trefousse

415. Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche

416. Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future, Friedrich Nietzsche

417. Assassination Vacation (James Garfield), Sarah Vowell

418. Destiny of the Republic (James Garfield), Candice Millard

419. Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur, Thomas C. Reeves

420. King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa, Adam Hochschild

421. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Walter Rodney

422. More Wives Than One: Transformation of the Mormon Marriage System, 1840-1910, Kathryn M. Daynes

423. The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy, Carol Lynn Pearson

424. Selected Writings, José Martí (Penguin Classics)

425. Dawn of the Belle Epoque, Mary McAuliffe

426. Grover Cleveland: A Study in Character, Henry F. Graff

427. Manning Clark’s History of Australia: Abridged from the Six-Volume Classic, Manning Clark

428. The Making of Modern Ireland, 1603-1923, J.C. Beckett

429. Benjamin Harrison, Charles W. Calhoun

430. How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York, Jacob Riis (1890)

431. Greater Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898 to 1919, Mike Wallace

432. The History of Spain, Peter Pierson

433. Presidency of William McKinley, Lewis L. Gould

434. The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois

435. Theodore Rex, Edmund Morris

436. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Edmund Morris

437. Mornings on Horseback (Theodore Roosevelt), David McCullough

438. Marie Curie: A Life, Susan Quinn

439. The Shame of the Cities, Lincoln Steffens (1904)

440. Albert Einstein: A Biography, Albrecht Folsing

441. Relativity: The Special and General Theory, Albert Einstein (1905)

442. The Jungle, Upton Sinclair (1906)

443. The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism, Doris Kearns Goodwin

444. The Life & Times of William Howard Taft, Harry F. Pringle

445. The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve, Peter Conti-Brown

446. Americana: A 400-Year History of American Capitalism, Bhu Srinivasan

447. The War that Ended Peace: The Road to 1914, Margaret MacMillan

448. July 1914: Countdown to War, Sean McMeekin

449. The Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman

450. A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918, G.J. Meyer

451. Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History, Catharine Arnold

452. Woodrow Wilson: A Biography, John Milton Cooper

453. Women and the Vote: A World History, Jad Adams

454. Rise Up Women!: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes, Diane Atkinson

455. The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G. Harding in His Times, Francis Russell

456. A History of Russia (new edition w Mark Steinberg), Nicholas V. Riasanovsky

457. The Flight of the Romanovs: A Family Saga, John Curtis Perry and Constantine V. Pleshakov

458. Ten Days that Shook the World, John Reed

459. Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo,” Zora Neale Hurston

460. Coolidge: An American Enigma, Robert Sobel

461. Anything Goes: A Biography of the Roaring Twenties, Lucy Moore

462. Herbert Hoover, William Leuchtenburg

463. A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints vol. 6, B.H. Roberts

464. Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, Liaquat Ahamed

465. Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, David Kennedy

466. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, Walker Evans and James Agee

467. Black Elk Speaks, Black Elk

468. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom, Conrad Black

469. FDR, Jean Edward Smith

470. The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life and Legacy of Frances Perkins, Kirstin Downey

471. Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope, Jonathan Alte

472. Eleanor Roosevelt: Vol. 1, The Early Years, 1884-1933, Blanche Wiesen Cook

473. Eleanor Roosevelt: Vol. 2, The Defining Years, 1933-1938, Blanche Wiesen Cook

474. Eleanor Roosevelt: Vol. 3, The War Years and After, 1939-1962, Blanche Wiesen Cook

475. No Ordinary Time (FDR), Doris Kearns Goodwin

476. Alan Turing: The Enigma, Andrew Hodges

477. The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War, Andrew Roberts

478. Bloodlands, Timothy Snyder

479. Leningrad, Anna Reid

480. A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary

481. Churchill: Walking with Destiny, Andrew Roberts

482. Memoirs of the Second World War, Winston Churchill

483. The Destruction of the European Jews, Raul Hilberg

484. The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank

485. Night, Elie Wiesel

486. Hiroshima, John Hersey

487. Nuremberg Trials: The Nazis and Their Crimes Against Humanity, Paul Roland

488. Truman, David McCullough

489. Gandhi: An Autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi

490. The Life of Mahatma Gandhi, Louis Fischer

491. The Arabs: A History, Eugene Rogan

492. Mao: The Unknown Story, Jung Chang and Jon Halliday

493. Inside Red China, Helen Foster Snow

494. Red Star Over China, Edgar Snow

495. The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War, David Halberstam

496. An American Childhood, Annie Dillard

497. Eisenhower in War and Peace, Jean Edward Smith

498. The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA, James D. Watson (1953)

499. Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA, Brenda Maddox

500. Mississippi Trial, 1955, Chris Crowe

501. Sake & Satori: Asian Journals, Joseph Campbell

502. A Concise History of Germany, Mary Fulbrook

503. The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth and Corporate Power, D. Michael Quinn

504. Lost Legacy: The Mormon Office of Presiding Patriarch, Irene Bates

505. The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan (1963)

506. A Thousand Days (JFK), Arthur M. Schlesinger

507. An Unfinished Life (JFK), Robert Dallek

508. A History of Modern Africa: 1800 to the Present, 2nd ed., Richard J. Reid

509. The Years of Lyndon Johnson, vol. 1: The Path to Power, Robert Caro

510. The Years of Lyndon Johnson, vol. 2: Means of Ascent, Robert Caro

511. The Years of Lyndon Johnson, vol. 3: Master of the Senate, Robert Caro

512. The Years of Lyndon Johnson, vol. 4: The Passage of Power, Robert Caro

513. The Years of Lyndon Johnson, vol. 5: untitled/unreleased, Robert Caro

514. Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63, Taylor Branch

515. Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-65, Taylor Branch

516. At Canaan’s Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68, Taylor Branch

517. The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X & Alex Haley

518. The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin

519. Lakota Woman, Mary Crow Dog

520. The Bomb: A New History, Stephen Younger

521. This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age, William Burrows

522. A History of the Modern Middle East, 5th ed., William Cleveland

523. Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi, Katherine Frank

524. Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam, Fredrik Logevall

525. The Best and the Brightest, David Halberstam

526. Lessons in Disaster: McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam, Gordon Goldstein

527. To Destroy You Is No Loss: The Odyssey of a Cambodian Family, JoAn D. Criddle

528. All the President’s Men, Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward

529. Nixonland, Richard Perlstein

530. The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics, Bruce Schulman

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536. Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa, Antjie Krog

537. Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter, Randall Balmer

538. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, Robert A. Caro

539. President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime, Lou Cannon

540. 1983: The World at the Brink, Taylor Downing

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542. Lost Lives (the Troubles), David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeley, and Chris Thornton

543. Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America, Juan Gonzalez

544. As Texas Goes: How the Lone Star State Hijacked the American Agenda, Gail Collins

545. Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, Jon Meacham

546. First in His Class (Bill Clinton), David Maraniss

547. Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace, Gore Vidal (2002)

548. Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 11, 2001, Steve Coll

549. Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Peter Baker

550. Monument Wars: Washington, D.C., the National Mall, and the Transformation of the Memorial Landscape, Kirk Savage

551. The Formations of Modernity, Stuart Hall & Bram Gieben

552. Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress – and a Plan to Stop It, Lawrence Lessig (he wrote a sequel, same title with “2.0” in 2015)

553. All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis, Bethany McLean

554. Back to Work, Bill Clinton

555. Beyond Outrage: What Has Gone Wrong with our Economy and our Democracy and How to Fix It, Robert Reich

556. A Governor’s Story, Jennifer Granholm

557. Life, Inc.: How Corporatism Conquered the World and How We Can Take It Back, Douglas Rushkoff

558. Dreams from my Father, Barack Obama

559. Barack Obama: The Story, David Maraniss

560. The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama, David Remnick

561. Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President (Obama), Ron Suskind

562. Obama’s Wars, Bob Woodward

563. Hard Choices: A Memoir, Hillary Clinton

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565. The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency, Chris Whipple

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574. How Democracies Die, Steve Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt

575. The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, Jon Meacham

576. America: The Farewell Tour, Chris Hedges

577. A Call to Action, Jimmy Carter

578. I Am Malala, Malala Yousafzai

579. A Path Appears, Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn

580. The History of Creativity in the Arts, Science, and Technology: 1500-Present, Brent Strong

581. Brief Answers to the Big Questions, Stephen Hawking

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architectnews · 4 years ago

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Buffelsdrift Restoration, Ladismith

Buffelsdrift Restoration, Ladismith Conservation Architecture, Barn, Wine Store, South African Farm, Photography

Buffelsdrift Restoration in Ladismith

3 Feb 2021

Buffelsdrift Restoration

Architects in Collaboration: Jaco Booyens Architect & SAOTA

Location: Ladismith, South Africa

The restoration of the ensemble of heritage buildings on Buffelsdrift, west of Ladismith in the arid Klein Karoo region of the Western Cape, by SAOTA and Jaco Booyens Architect, a specialist in clay buildings, recently won the gold medal at the seventh edition (2019) of the international Domus Restoration and Conservation Award (www.premiorestauro.it) in Italy. The award recognises “excellence in the field of restoration, redevelopment and architectural and landscape recovery at an international level”.

The restoration involved a cluster of Cape buildings in a valley beneath the Swartberg mountain range, consisting of a main house and two barns, plus a store. A short way off is a flat-roofed building, typical of the Ladismith style, which was originally used as a wine store. Other structures on the property include a contemporary shed, a cottage further up a hill and a graveyard.

The house, barns and wine store were all restored. SAOTA director Greg Truen, who acquired the farm in 2016, notes that while minor additions and modern alterations had been made to the buildings, the original house, was “in good condition, considering” and that the barns were “fundamentally untouched”. In the main house, evidence of earlier refurbishments in the 1970s, were stripped out, while modern kitchen and bathrooms were inserted in an adaptive approach to conservation. A new pump house was added near the dam wall on the property. Its design and construction were an experiment in contemporary architecture using the same materials and techniques as the heritage buildings, including poured mud or “cob” walls, as well as brick vaulted roofs. The landscaping around the house took the form of a series of low terraces.

Licences to graze livestock on the land date back to the mid-1700s, and it is clear that it was farmed before the 1800s. The original circular farm was divided into smaller parts over the years. The main house on this portion on the farm dates back to 1852. The date and initials IWDV, Isak Wilhelm van der Vyver, are inscribed above the door. The Van der Vyver family was associated with Buffesldrift as far back as 1768, when they first leased the farm.

Incidentally, 1852 was the year in which Ladismith was proclaimed, unlocking growth and development in the area. Fruit trees, grapes and other crops were farmed in the valley, although by the late 1800s and early 20th century, crops were largely abandoned in favour of ostrich farming, which brought great prosperity as a result of the international ostrich feather boom. The collapse of the fashion for ostrich feathers, war and drought brought economic devastation, and the once-bustling valley was largely abandoned. Now olives are commonly farmed in the valley.

Hans Fransen’s seminal study, The Old Buildings of The Cape, records “three old buildings … all with Prince Albert-type end-gables (holbol with horizontal string courses)”. The main T-shaped homestead, he says, “has massive loft steps at the side and original holbol stoepbankies”.

He notes the inscription and dating above the front door of the main house which “tallies with the plaster-framed woodwork (although the halved front door with its small-paned fanlight and fluted and dentiled entablature looks much older)”.

Architectural historian Roger C Fisher, Professor Emeritus of Architecture, University of Pretoria, who visited Buffelsdrift, wrote an unpublished account of his observations, Buffelsdrift – An Anatomy of a Vernacular, in which he details aspects of its construction and history.

He says that a speculative reading of architectural fabric of the buildings led him to suspect that the house “was originally a simple longhouse thatched cottage” that was subsequently added to. The outbuildings, which probably predate the house, have “simpler rudimentary hol-bol gables with … semicircular pinnacles” and those of the “main body of the homestead are similar but more refined”. “The most decorative, strangely located to the rear of the house, is the central hol-bol (concavo-convex) gable of the T-wing where the kitchen is located, with its circular capping and string-moulded bottom chord, for which Fransen has coined the term ‘Prince Alfred Gable,’” he writes. He suspects that it dates to the time when the original thatch roof was replaced with corrugated iron “somewhere in the later nineteenth century”. Truen notes that gables of the main body of the house have semi-circular tops.

Fransen also points out the unusual shutter on the fanlight. Additional research by Booyens revealed that the lock on the front door was French, dating back to the 1700s. He had it restored by a specialist in Paarl. Various articles that appeared in the press over the years as the farm changed owners note that the original stinkwood doors and wardrobes in the main house remained intact.

The front section of the house consists of a central living room with a bedroom on each side. The T-section included a dining area. While the front section had yellowwood beams and ceilings, the rafters in T-section were exposed. A lean-to section with a fireplace had been added in one of the elbows of the T using sundried bricks. It was being used as a kitchen.

The house and barns had been constructed according to the usual technique used by Dutch settlers in the Cape, with walls of poured mud or clay, cast layer by layer about 700mm wide. “This method of construction – ubiquitously used by Dutch settlers, trekboers and later Voortrekkers – requires a source of clayey ground into which is added ‘a good proportion’ of sand and grit, possibly straw or dung, combined in a pit, all trod through by oxen-hooves in span,” writes Fisher (quoting William John Burchell’s Travels In The Interior Of Southern Africa).

He describes the technique in detail: “This mud must be “well-tempered”, sufficiently stiffened to be able to stand alone up to 300mm in height without slump. This was prepared at the same time as the foundations were being laid, and would leaven for about seven days, deemed ready when a ball made from it, when thrown to the ground, retained its shape. The cob was delivered to the builder on pitchforks, who then piled it in courses of about 300mm, all built over a good stone or slate foundation. Each layer was allowed to set and then paired to an even surface with a flat paddle, much as that used as a pizza oven shovel. The corners were laced through diagonally by saplings or braided cord at each layer to prevent the separating and bursting of the mud structure at this weakest point where the direction of the stresses of thrust changed. These stresses were consequent to the additional weight of the gable on the end wall, thereby creating shear while on the other was the thrust of the weight of the thatched roof.”

Once the walls were complete, they would have been finished with lime and sand plaster. Over the years this had been replaced with cement. Booyens notes that one of the biggest tasks of the restoration involved removing the cement plaster and re-finishing the walls with traditional lime plaster, which recaptured the undulating surface of Cape homes known to soften the bright karoo light. Where there was termite damage, the walls were filled in again with clay.

In some areas, when the cement plaster was stripped away, poplar-branch lintels were revealed, in many cases in pairs, which had been placed where doors were planned during construction. Fisher explains that this was done “to act as tension and compression members in the homogenised mud”. Booyens explains further that the doors would have been cut out below these “primary lintels”, probably after drilling a hole through the wall and using a cutting wire “like an igloo”. A finishing lintel would then have been added and the edges built up using sun-dried bricks manufactured on site.

Fisher notes that “a flat-arched opening at the eastern end was revealed, possibly indicating that that was the hearth, possibly with a kommyntjie or additional alcove cooking place with external chimney”. He adds that pine door frames “in all likelihood pre-manufactured” would have been imported. He also notes that sundried green bricks would have been “used for all the finer work as well as the gables, embedded in dagha (clay mortar)”.

Truen and Booyens opted to use a thin lime plaster on the interior walls between the central living room and the bedrooms on either side, not only expressing the original texture of the mud wall, but also, as Truen puts it, leaving “a little of that construction history visible, so you can get a bit of a story of how these building were put together”.

In the living space, the original yellowwood beams and ceiling were intact and could be restored. The timber floors, however, had rotted and were replaced with poplar planks, consistent with the originals, kiln dried in Oudtshoorn. The screed floors of the T-section, which was converted into a combined kitchen and dining area, bathroom and front stoep were all refinished using “stone pavers taken out of the veld”, as was the kitchen courtyard and front stoep.

The roof of the lean-to section had rotted away and a raw concrete slab was cast over it. It was converted into two bathrooms. Narrow slats for skylights flood the bathrooms and passage with natural light. A custom-made poplar vanity and shutters were added for privacy. In fact, poplar shutters were made for all the windows, which enhances the remarkable thermal qualities of the building. “Even on a very hot day, when temperatures can rise into the upper 30s and early 40s, the internal temperature is in the mid to low 20s and is very pleasant,” says Truen.

“All the extant door and window furniture and fittings have been refurbished and retained or re-instated,” adds Fisher. Beneath the corrugated iron of the roof, the beams, rafters and ropes used to tether the thatch, and even tufts of the thatching, remained. Fisher notes that “it was decided to reuse these and re-thatch the house, both for aesthetic and climatic comfort”. The thatch roof was reinstated by JNA Thatching, a company that, says Truen, has “historically done a lot of thatching in the Cape and knows these kinds of buildings very well”.

Where modern materials were introduced, they were carefully selected. The shower (in the recess originally used for a fireplace), for example, has been clad in terrazzo slabs, and in the kitchen, a contemporary island has been inserted, also clad in terrazzo. “We looked for a contemporary material that spoke to the original materials,” says Truen. The concrete and aggregate in Terrazzo resonate with the stone and cement paving. “The terrazzo felt like a way to work between the old and the new, where the new felt like it had some kind of genesis in the old,” says Truen.

The kitchen block also makes it possible to keep the kitchen and dining areas integrated, making it a central social space, while a 200mm raised barrier above the counter ensures that the food preparation area is unobtrusive. Appliances are stored below the counter. “There are no contemporary appliances sitting at higher levels other than this extractor fan,” says Truen. One of the only contemporary interventions was the addition of a double-sided fireplace between the kitchen and lounge area.

Recessed lights were used on the exterior walls to keep the walls unmolested by modern technology. Where lanterns were added, on either side of the front door, for example, and elsewhere on the main house, as well as on the wine store, they were custom made. Their design took cues from lanterns the legendary Cape modernist architect and restoration maestro Gawie Fagan designed for a wine cellar at Groot Constantia, one of Cape Town’s most famous historical wine farms. Fagan played a pivotal role in “figuring out a way to interpret Cape detailing and reference it in his modernist work”, explains Truen.

The landscaping of the sloped site was another significant undertaking, involving a contemporary approach to terracing at various heights, executed using traditional Cape building elements and materials. “We created a raised platform at the back of the building, so you can now come down a driveway and park at the back of the building and walk down the site towards the house and the wine store,” says Truen. On the upper level, a stone swimming pool has been added, filled with water from a borehole, which runs down a channel and ultimately to the dam. The pool, level with the paving, appears almost as a continuation of the paving itself. “It’s really just a place for the water to pause on its way to the irrigation system,” says Truen.

The more heavily trafficked areas are paved with stone from the surrounding veld, while the rest is surfaced with peach pips to create a neat uniform surface that in time will weather to the same colour as the thatch. These terraces are planted with olive trees, and vygies and other natural vegetation has also re-established itself. Fruit trees and beehives have also been introduced.

The Wine Store The outbuilding that is referred to as the wynkelder in reference to a time when grapes were grown on the farm, is a small flat-roofed structure that has restored and converted into a living unit. It was badly damaged and had been clumsily altered. An incongruous timber pergola and a brick fireplace had been added to the exterior. The fireplace, however, had delaminated from the wall and was collapsing. The walls were also badly damaged by termites and the floors and ceiling rotted.

When repairs began, it was discovered that the wine store had originally been a single-level building, and its parapet was raised in the 1970s to allow for another level so that it could be used as a house. “When we repaired the plaster, we could see that the bottom part of the building was made out of poured mud, and then as you go up, there are some sundried bricks, and then more contemporary bricks right at the top,” says Truen. A somewhat clunky staircase has also been added.

The repairs and restoration of the wine store involved reorganising the ground level so that it could function as a living area and kitchen, and locating the bedroom and bathroom on the mezzanine above. The ground floor was levelled and paved in stone harvested from the surrounding veld. The rotted upper floor was replaced with SA pine, which was limewashed. The roof upstairs was finished with poplar beams and a rietdak ceiling.

“We had to create a new stair between the levels,” says Truen. “Of course, that raised the question of how you insert new fabric into old fabric.”

Booyens designed a new self-supporting steel staircase as a contrasting contemporary insertion. “The staircase doesn’t touch the original structure of the building,” he says. It floats above the floor and is set slightly apart from the walls, connecting at a single point on the floor and at just one point on the mezzanine level. Its contemporary unichannel frame and intricately detailed American Oak treads, suspended by a system of cables, make for a subtle intervention. The modern decorative timber screen is similarly light, but clearly expressed as a contemporary addition, respecting the historical fabric of the building through contrast and a lightness of touch.

The two stone treads at the base of the staircase are also offset from the walls and the staircase, so that they and the staircase appear as “two loose elements inside the original building” as Booyens puts it.

The mezzanine level has a long, narrow en suite bathroom running the length of the front wall, which also contrasts with the historical fabric. It is accessed via a large cut-out between the bedroom and bathroom to facilitate the views to the orchard beyond. “And of course take advantage of the breeze and the natural light,” adds Truen. A curtain provides privacy when necessary.

The bathroom combines contemporary materials such as terrazzo cladding and a laser-cut metal ceiling with a long poplar table that runs the length of the wall in front of the windows, and poplar shutters. The contemporary materials are natural and honestly expressed, as Truen puts it, “nesting in quite nicely”, and engaging with the building’s heritage by expressing time as a continuum acknowledging the contemporary moment.

The exterior of the wine store has been painted pink partly in reference to the historical practice in the karoo of mixing lime to make a light red or pink colour, and partly in an exploration of some of the historical connections between Cape and Mexican architecture. This avenue of architectural dialogue was prompted by a number of trips Truen had made to Mexico as a result of international commissions there. He visited various traditional Mexican buildings, as well as some famous examples of Mexican modernist architecture such as Luis Barragan’s famous Cuadra san Cristobal. “A lot of the historical buildings in both countries are made in quite similar ways, using mud and stone and materials that were immediately available to them,” he says. “And, actually, they have quite similar landscapes.”

He was also interested by what he perceived as similarities between Cape and Mexican modernism. The work of the Cape and of Mexican modernists were both rooted in their respective vernacular architectures, and fused local materials and construction techniques with modernist approaches to forge a rich, sensual regionalist approach to modernist principles.

Both Mexican and Cape modernism were particularly sensitive to the climate and quality of light, which lent itself to the use of bright colours. Cuadra san Cristobal was painted shades of pink. Truen also draws a connection between the shutter door of the main house and Barragan’s modernist redeployment of similar doors and window shutters to moderate heat, light and privacy.

This dialogue between Cape and Mexican architecture is also evident in parts of the landscaping throughout the rest of the restoration project. The pool above the main house and the water channel that runs to the dam, for example, also take cues from Barragan’s use of water features.

Pump House The pump house is a new building constructed in response to the need for an irrigation building. “It was an opportunity to experiment and test some ideas we had to do with contemporary architecture built using traditional techniques,” says Truen.

The building forms a connection between the landscape and the dam wall. Its earth-coloured walls take their cue from the poured-mud walls of the heritage buildings. “It’s a technique somewhere between rammed earth and working with concrete,” explains Booyens. “You could almost say it’s a primitive form of working with concrete, but instead of concrete, we worked with mud.”

The walls are more than a metre thick, and have been left unpainted, expressing their materiality and blending with the landscape. The vaulted brick roof was an experiment in construction devised to simplify the expensive and highly skilled labour usually required to construct vaults. It involved creating a system of steel beams and a plywood template, and building the vault one row at a time, which proved both cost efficient and appropriate for the skills available locally. “When we took the shutter out, it stood up, because it was a real catenary arch,” says Booyens.

The rest of the roof is planted, and steel waterspouts cantilever far out from the walls so that water draining from the roof does not fall against the wall, a technique adapted from vernacular West African adobe architecture.

“For me it was a really interesting experience to go and find materials on site, and then build something that is so fundamentally in tune with the climate and performs so much better than any contemporary building,” says Truen. “There are definitely lessons there.”

Buffelsdrift Restoration in Ladismith, South Africa – Building Information

Location: Ladismith, South Africa Architects in Collaboration: Jaco Booyens Architect & SAOTA Contractor: Pro-Projects and De Kock Bouers Landscaping: Fritz Coetzee Interior Designer: ARRCC Bespoke Furniture: OKHA Thatching: JNA Thatchers Irrigation: Groen Karoo

Photographer: Adam Letch Copy by: Graham Wood

Buffelsdrift Restoration, Ladismith image / information received 030221

Location: Ladismith, South Africa

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clarrrise · 4 years ago

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SARAH LUCAS

“

Over the past thirty years, Lucas has created a distinctive and provocative body of work that subverts traditional notions of gender, sexuality, and identity. Since the late 1980s, Lucas has transformed found objects and everyday materials such as cigarettes, vegetables, and stockings into absurd and confrontational tableaux that boldly challenge social norms. The human body and anthropomorphic forms recur throughout Lucas’s works, often appearing erotic, humorous, fragmented, or reconfigured into fantastical anatomies of desire.

The exhibition will address the ways in which Lucas’s works engage with crucial debates about gender and power, along with the legacy of surrealism—from her clever transformations of everyday objects to her exploration of sexual ambiguity and the tension between the familiar and the disorienting or absurd.

“Sarah Lucas: Au Naturel” will feature some of Lucas’s most important projects, including early sculptures from the 1990s that substitute domestic furniture for human body parts, and enlarged spreads from tabloid newspapers from the same period that reflect objectified representations of the female body. Alongside the photographic self-portraits that Lucas has produced throughout her career, the exhibition features biomorphic sculptures including her stuffed-stocking Bunnies (1997–ongoing) and NUDS (2009–ongoing), the Penetralia series (2008–ongoing), and selections from her installations at the Freud Museum in London (2000) and the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2015). These works, which complicate inscribed codes of sexual and social normativity, have never been shown together in the United States. Lucas is also creating new sculptural works for the exhibition, which will be exhibited in an installation on the New Museum’s Fourth Floor.

The title of the exhibition, “Au Naturel,” is taken from a sculpture Lucas created in 1994, in which an assemblage of objects suggestive of sexual organs adorns a mattress that slumps in the corner as if it were reclining. In an art historical context, “au naturel” commonly refers to paintings of female nude figures, and literally translates from French as “in the nude.” Applying the term to Lucas’s greater body of work, the title speaks to the immediacy, intimacy, and directness of her images and speculates on the possibility of a natural state, perhaps without the limitations of established social structures and gender conformity.

Drawing on art historical references, cultural stereotypes, and tabloid culture, Lucas’s works take a demonstrative stance against puritanism, conformism, and misogyny with distinct irreverence and wit. The combination of these strategies results in a powerful evocation of the themes of death, sex, and religion as they continue to influence contemporary life.

The phallus — whose depiction in Western art has been one of the most persistent taboos since the end of the Classical era — is a ubiquitous form in her work. (You might think that she wants to equal the attention male artists have lavished upon female breasts throughout history.) Intercourse is frequently intimated, and a tender sarcasm is the prevailing tone. Titles can include profanities and other slang learned on the streets of Islington, the London borough where she grew up. Her materials are cheap and familiar: old furniture, toilets, cinder blocks, underwear, cans of Spam and the stuffed pantyhose. Cars, traditionally a male obsession, also figure in: variously crushed, bisected, burned or carefully collaged with a layer of cigarettes, as are other objects. Fruits and vegetables, kebabs and whole raw chickens do double service, portraying erotic body parts.

In contrast, there are the eggs, those perfect little female miracles, full of hope — and in Ms. Lucas’s favorite shade of yellow — with which she covered the interior of the British Pavilion during the 2015 Venice Art Biennale. In her work, fried eggs function as breasts or eyes; throwing eggs can half-seriously approach pagan ritual or figure in participatory performances, in which they’re smashed against gallery walls in Twomblyesque splatters. Ms. Lucas seems to see the yellow splats as female ejaculations, noting that in life, “men do that all the time with sperm.”

“

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/arts/design/sarah-lucas-new-museum.html

https://inferno-magazine.com/2018/06/15/sarah-lucas-au-naturel-new-museum-new-york/

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acsversace-news · 7 years ago

Link

After a brief hiatus, we’re back with another installment of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story delving further back into the unraveling of Andrew Cunanan. Perhaps more than ever before, ACS has provided an exact breaking point from when Cunanan went from merely a huckster to a full-blown threat.

Before we get into last night’s episode, we need to talk about what went down two weeks ago. The episode aired the same evening as the horrific tragedy in Parkland, Florida, and I just couldn’t bring myself to devote this much brainspace to such a violent story. However, the episode was particularly relevant to this season’s (and this website’s) thesis.

Focusing on the parallel coming out stories of Jeffrey Trail and Gianni Versace, the episode tackled visibility and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell with visceral storytelling punches. We witnessed Trail’s uneasy coming out while serving in the Navy, including rescuing a fellow officer suspected of being gay, attempting to cut out his own tattoo to avoid being identified from random hookups and culminating in an “anonymous” TV news interview.

At seemingly the same time, Versace sat down with The Advocate for a tell-all about living as a gay man with his partner, Antonio (Ricky Martin). Even with the contrast between the buttoned-up military world and the creative fashion world, both men share a struggle. Donatella tries to warn Gianni against doing the interview at all.

It’s a neat narrative bow that encapsulates this season’s theme. Not only did the shame, secrecy and stigma around both men’s sexualities create an enormous burden on both of their lives, but they likely played a significant role in their deaths.

From a storytelling perspective, it’s almost too neat a bow. I’ve griped before about how all the unknowns in these men’s stories have led to writers taking too many liberties. Sometimes it feels too salacious, while other times it comes off cheesy (like the ending of a Grey’s Anatomy episode). For example, the previous episode ended with Jeffrey’s answering machine playing messages from his family announcing the birth of his niece, unaware he was already murdered. In reality, Jeffrey’s sister gave birth before he was killed. It’s a small gripe, but it cheapens the overall product in a way The People v. OJ Simpson avoided.

On to this week, it feels as if we’re journeying further into speculative fiction.

It begins with Andrew returning home to a gorgeous oceanside home, fully appointed with outstanding views, gorgeous swimming pool, all the finest things. It’s not his, of course. It belongs to the older man, Norman, and Andrew is working for him as a live-in interior designer. It’s a year before any of the murders, and Andrew is preparing for a lavish birthday party.

His straight lady friend is there, curious (as are all of us) about the nature of his relationship with Norman, his feelings for David and how Andrew labels himself. To hear Andrew tell it, Norman is strictly professional, David (whom he recently shared a wonderful time in San Fran) is the love of his life and he doesn’t like labels.

He’s playing a dangerous game at this party. With so many people from different facets of his life all together in one place, the lies are bound to catch up with him, so Andrew is forced to shuffle around the party, making sure no one is left alone too long to start putting pieces together.

One person who already has Andrew figured out is Norman’s quippy friend. He mocks Andrew, telling him he’s “too lazy to work, too proud to be kept.” He also is quick to remind him that if that party, a mix of Andrew’s “friends” and Norman’s, is truly a room full of people that loves Andrew, “then that room is full of people that don’t know you.”

When Jeffrey arrives, Andrew immediately has some notes for him. First, here is a bigger, nicer gift to present to Andrew in front of David so David knows how loved he is. Also, here are nicer shoes. Oh, and one more thing, please lie to David about still being in the Navy because that sounds so much better.

By the time David makes his grand entrance, Andrew’s eyeballs might as well be full heart emojis. Andrew rushes over, so excited David made the trip from Minneapolis. He shows him around, but starts to get a little uneasy about how friendly David and Jeffrey are. Also, hey, look! It’s Lee Miglin! Let’s all take a group photo, Andrew!

After the party, Andrew confronts Norman about their relationship. Maybe it was seeing David that made Andrew realize what he was missing out on, but whatever the reason, Andrew wants to renegotiate the terms of their arrangement. He wants a larger allowance, first-class travel arrangements and to be the sole heir in his will. Norman ain’t having it.

He’ll up the living allowance, but there’s no way he’s budging on the rest. He’s no dummy. He already investigated Andrew and knows he’s not Andrew DeSilva. He knows all about Andrew’s real identity and past. He’s willing to provide for Andrew, but he’s not willing to play the fool.

This is not a good enough answer for Andrew. He picks up a chair and smashes it through the glass table on the patio before making a dramatic exit.

In a tiny, unglamorous apartment, Andrew gets a visit from Jeffrey. Apparently, Andrew “accidentally” sent a flirty little postcard to Jeff’s dad, essentially outing him. It’s definitely a threat, as Andrew gets more and more threatened by Jeffrey’s relationship with David. Speaking of which, Jeffrey wants to tell him that he’s found a job. In Minneapolis. Thanks to David.

Taking that news about as well as you’d expect, Andrew reacts by inviting David to Los Angeles for a lavish weekend. He’s booked a fancy hotel, fancy meals, fancy shopping, all under the auspices of working on a Hollywood set. The entire set up makes David profoundly uncomfortable. It’s obvious Andrew has feelings for him, and he shows David how much he cares the only way he knows how: Treating him like a kept man.

Back at the hotel, David can barely choke down his lobster dinner. In an attempt to forge an authentic connection with Andrew, David tries to get him to cast aside all these affectations and share something truthful. Even now, Andrew can’t do it. He’s still the heir to a pineapple fortune. He still had the master bedroom as a child. His mother still brought him lobster to school. David’s not buying it. He’s done.

Rejected and alone, Andrew hits the bar. He regales the bartender with tales of his romantic weekend and how David wants to spend the rest of his life with him. After giving the barkeep a hefty tip, he sidles up to the drug dealer/close-up magician who demonstrates how much more powerful his latest offering is compared to Andrew’s current fix using a big ol’ flame.

He’s not kidding. Andrew shoots the stuff and hallucinates (I think?) a meeting with Gianni Versace. Waking up back in his messy apartment, Andrew is desperate for another fix.

Back at the bar, a visibly strung-out Andrew can barely keep his lies straight. He tells the bartender that he and David were going to Paris! To see the Vatican! No, Rome! Rome! Because they’re saving Paris for the honeymoon! The bartender wants none of this mess. Andrew tries to get another hit from the dealer, but the time has come for him to pay his tab.

Andrew tries going back to Norman’s place, but in the state he’s in, Norman calls the cops.

Andrew has nowhere left to turn. He’s alienated Norman, Jeffrey, his drug dealer, the bartender. So he heads home. Actual home.

His mother welcomes him with open arms. She takes him to the bath and scrubs him clean, working hard to get him to smell like himself again, whatever that means. She’s proud of the life she thinks he’s made for himself. It’s heartbreaking to hear her recount how good it felt to tell another mother, someone who was much better off than their family, how successful Andrew had become.

As he leaves, he tells his mom he’s on his way to Minneapolis. “They have an opera house in Minneapolis?” she asks, wondering how his work assisting Versace with opera costumes will lead him to the Midwest.

“No, mom, I don’t think they do.”

This is the closest we’ve seen to Andrew being a sympathetic character. Though, watching this story in reverse, is it possible to view him in any kind of humanizing light after the horrors we’ve seen him commit? The strange stylistic choices continue to muddy the message of Versace. I’m starting to get very concerned about how this season will end. It’s looking more and more like a typical Murphy, American Horror Story-esque, heavy-handed finale.

What do you think of this season?

#acs versace #towleroad #2.05 #2.06 #recap #review #article #march 2018

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tabletoptrinketsbyjj · 7 years ago

Text

Trinkets, Books, 1: An eclectic library of dusty tomes, fictional textbooks, pocketbooks, paperbacks, hardcovers, booklets, leaflets and magical manuals. Paper leaves and the binding surrounding them can help define a character, kick off a subplot, fuel a fetch quest or simply serve as a generic macguffin. Commonly seen in video games such as Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, World of Warcraft and Skyrim, book items are a way to subtly world build while still handing out sellable loot. A wizard has a spellbook, a cleric has a holy text and now you have a trinket list.

A bestiary containing only several dozen different entries on one common animal, some of them offering mutually contradictory information.

A book of flumph grammar

A book of labelled “Magical Lore”, that contains a hollow interior compartment.

A book that gives you a powerful migraine whenever you try to read it. You are still unsure of what knowledge or story it holds.

A book that perfectly records the holder’s dreams when held while sleeping.

A book that you faintly remember from your childhood that you thought was lost for many years.

A book with a children’s fairy tale that change every time it is read.

A book with a harmonious mystery story, however whenever you turn the last page it takes you back to the middle of the story so you don’t know how it ends.

A botany book filled with dangerous misinformation.

A children’s storybook entitled “The Magic God’s Gifts”

---Keep reading for 90 more trinkets.

—Click Here for additional Book Descriptions to give these objects even more personality.

---Note: The previous 10 items are repeated for easier rolling on a d100.

A bestiary containing only several dozen different entries on one common animal, some of them offering mutually contradictory information.

A book of flumph grammar

A book of labelled “Magical Lore”, that contains a hollow interior compartment.

A book that gives you a powerful migraine whenever you try to read it. You are still unsure of what knowledge or story it holds.

A book that perfectly records the holder’s dreams when held while sleeping.

A book that you faintly remember from your childhood that you thought was lost for many years.

A book with a children’s fairy tale that change every time it is read.

A book with a harmonious mystery story, however whenever you turn the last page it takes you back to the middle of the story so you don’t know how it ends.

A botany book filled with dangerous misinformation.

A children’s storybook entitled “The Magic God’s Gifts”

A dark book with an imposing black sigil on the front cover. Every page is completely blank and untouched.

A detailed guide on the anatomy of rocks, with graphic illustrations of how geodes are conceived

A detailed guide on the anatomy of rocs.

A detailed guidebook to making pickled foods.

A diary belonging to a pleasure slave.

A diary of a man who claims to have been cursed to forever walk the earth, the writer is unidentified and the last few pages are missing.

A diary of a notorious philanderer that contains useful information on how to dress yourself quickly in pitch darkness without making a sound.

A durable handbook which contains the epic poem, The All-Knowing Winter Gods’ Legend

A graduate student’s first published copy of their thesis “A Report on the Kingdoms’ Ideological Treaties”. The dedication is made out to her friends and family.

A graduate student’s first published copy of their thesis “Similarities in the Uncommon Areas of Habitation of the Troll and the Dragon”. The dedication is made out to all of his colleagues and hired guards who died during the research portion.

A guidebook to making, changing and maintaining bowstrings. It’s filled with grammatical errors.

A handbook of etiquette and the courtly manners of nobles of an empire that fell.

A heavily smudged handbook entitled “A Tactical Comparison of the Shortbow and Spear”

A holy text of The Blessings of the Infinite Birth God

A holy text of The Wisdom of the All-Knowing Summer God

A journal filled with poetry hand-written in Primordial.

A journal recounting a famous battle that contradicts what is commonly thought about the event. It was written by a great sage who claims to have been present.

A journal that details the great adventures of a hero no one has heard of, complete with vivid descriptions of nonsensical creatures and terms, all written in messy handwriting, but with impressive diction.

A large blank tome that seems to be missing most of it’s pages.

A leather bound book with pages showing in detail how drow and demons couple to create Draegloth, in graphic detail.

A muddy book with a single phrase repeated over and over: “The gravesoil never washes away”

A pocket book of dwarven poetry

A pocket instruction manual depicting bizarre fighting stances of leaping, spinning and holding weapons by the wrong end.

A portfolio of dried pressed flowers, along with taxonomy descriptions of them

A reference tome and organizational guide of an abandoned library.

A romance novel written in undercommon titled “Just one Layer of Grey”.

A seemingly untouched copy of “An Encyclopedia of the Forgotten Notables of the Earldom”

A seemingly untouched copy of “The Muscular System of Griffins: New Speculations”

A seemingly untouched copy of The Latest Research Into The Circulatory System of Chimeras

A slightly out of date guidebook to foreign inns, taverns, and transportation

A small book entitled “Path to Forgiveness”, edged in gold filigree. Inside, some pages have been cut away to insert a small gold ingot and a handwritten note, stating “As agreed, three more once Jarl Khoral is crow pickings.”

A small empty book wrapped in a red velvet covering, embroidered with a the sign of an open hand.

A small handbook entitled “A Discussion of the Origins of the Stiletto, Knife or Shoe?”

A small nickel edged book with a hummingbird motif lock. If successfully unlocked, the book contains hand written essays on avian husbandry and training by the reputable (and deceased) Falconer Kothmai.

A small notebook full of drawings and sketches of the local area.

A small prayer book, the cover is stained with an unidentifiable slime.

A small water-damaged book labelled ‘The Genealogy of the Walpo Family.’

A terribly written novel whose plot seems to match events that have happened in the reader’s life.

A theatre playbook from a performance where many of the audience died in a suspicious fire.

A thick book comparing and contrasting various stories of myth and legend in an attempt to discover what is and is not true, entitled “The Legendary Facts Concerning the Forest God”

A thick journal bound in grubby fur filled with awful, highly disturbing sorcerous ramblings.

A thick research tome entitled “The Subtle War God’s Sanctuaries”, which goes into great detail over the various locations, defences, staffing and purposes of the sanctuaries.

A thick tome containing a modern transcription of an ancient prophecy predicting that the highest of the land will fall when the sky cries blood.

A thick tome entitled “Personal Transformations for Mages, Volume 3”

A tome filled with cryptic writings, all in Common, but with confusing terminology.

A torn, warped copy of “Evard’s Poetry: 100 Poems for the Aspiring Prince”.

A torrid romance novel entitled “The Infamous Priesthood and the Protector Goddesses”

A translation guide for a fictional language.

A wizard’s journal, recounting the tales of many arcane experiments.

A wood bound copy of The Codex of Advanced Alchemy

An orcish phrasebook containing only variations of phrases which include the words: food, enemy, and fight.

My Journey Among the Merfolk, A Landlubber’s Adventure: A book bound in otter leather whose writing only appears when it is submerged in water.

The diary of a prison guard with half of the pages written in a strange cipher.

The journal of a philosopher, full of wise sayings and anecdotes.

Tongues and Their Reading: A pocketbook of flame identification, used to tell magical flames from natural ones and much more.

A heavily smudged handbook entitled “Halberds and Slings: A Tutorial to Variations Thereof”

A seemingly untouched copy of “Similarities in the Social Hierarchies of the Unicorn and the Cockatrice”

The first publication of a graduate student’s thesis “Unicorns’ Child-Rearing Habits: An Examination”. In the dedication the author thanks her friends and family but especially her long suffering romantic partner. She goes on to say how she will be retiring form the field of unicorn research in order to focus on becoming more “intimate” with her fiancé and they will be married and have the wedding consummated as soon as a sober enough priest can be located.

A copy of “Current Studies of Centaurs’ Integument”, bound in what appears to be horse hide.

A book entitled “The Uncommon Areas of Habitation of The Roc” which is the third volume in a series of ten.

A blood spattered veterinary textbook entitled “An Examination of Hippogriffs’ Sensory Systems”

An engaging and sharp witted series of bound essays entitled “The State’s Legendary Literary Conflicts”

An incredibly dry book entitled “Excretory System of the Ettin and the Cockatrice: Similarities”

A dog-eared copy of “A Revolutionary Discussion of the Manufacture of the Falchion”

A surprising well written and engaging arcane spell book entitled “A Necromancer’s Guide to Abjuration, Protecting the living with the Dead”. The author has managed to work in a few humorous anecdotes and words of wisdom which balances out the otherwise grim subject matter.

A book entitled “A Comparison of the Sleeping Patterns of the Hippogriff and the Sea Serpent”, which has been signed by the author.

A mage’s handbook entitled “The Peacetime Use of Revised Transformation”, which outlines the way in which traditionally combat oriented transmutation and transfiguration magic can be repurposed into civil engineering and public works projects.

A wood bound copy of “The Capitol’s Economic Famines”

A thick tome entitled “Regarding the Forgotten Prophets of the Territories”

An action and adventure novel entitled “The Agents of the Winter Goddess”

A sturdy travel book entitled “Prayers to the Infallible Snow God”

A cheap pulp handbook in a shoddy binding entitled “An Expose of the Territory’s Infamous Poets”

A large atlas entitled “The Major Charges of the Frontiers”. Opposing pages have historical and modern maps, allowing the reading to easily compare the changes in borders, cities and natural resources.

A seemingly untouched copy of “A Revolutionary Tutorial on the Development of Shivs and Crossbows”

A mage’s handbook entitled “Practice Summonings for Apprentices”, that seems to be mostly advice, rules and guidelines on what not to do, rather than how to actually perform a summoning.

A blood spattered medical textbook entitled “The Methods of Locomotion of Minotaurs”

A bound collection of blueprints and architectural sketches entitled “The Temples Built for the Omnipotent Wind Goddess”

A bound collection of stories that aims to dispel the mythos around tales of local adventures and focus on the facts of their tales. It is entitled “An Encyclopedia of the Minor Heroes of the City”

A heavily smudged handbook entitled “A Concise Discussion of the Variants of the Glaive”

A mage’s tome entitled “A Treatise of Evocation”, that seems to be an in-depth contrast and comparison on the varying types of violent magical force that can be applied to a myriad of common creatures and materials. The tome provides conclusions as to which type of destructive magic works best against which objects, as well as situations where alternate types of energy could be efficient. For example, against frozen or extremely wet stones (Including stone building foundations), fire spells can be used to great effect, as the stone cracks and shatters once reaching a certain temperature causing objects around it to take damage as well.

A mage’s tome entitled “The Codex of Basic Abjuration” which explains the methodology behind how protections spells work and how various magic decides what is and is not harmful to the protected creatures. It is apparent that at some point a large amount of work went into creating spells that would protect a creature from being harmed by fire while still allowing them to feel warmth.

A copy of “An Overview of Goblins’ Integument”, bound in what very well be goblin leather.

A quickly and shoddily made handbook entitled “An Examination of the Recent Religious Assassinations of the Kingdom” which weaves a vague and confusing web of conspiracy theories around the deaths.

A bound collection of blueprints and architectural sketches entitled “Sanctuaries of the Spring Goddess”

A small handbook entitled “Minor Stories of the Birth Goddess” which seems to be a collection of lessons, procedures, herbal concoctions and advice in the field of midwifery concealed as stories and fables.

A wood bound book entitled “A Comparative Evaluation of the Wood Axe and Battleaxe”, which is incredibly boring despite it’s sharp and violent subject matter.

A strangely thick tome entitled “A Brief Comparison of Battleaxes and Tridents” which goes into incredible detail on the two radically different weapons.

A bound collection of blueprints and architectural sketches entitled “A Study of the Famous Architects of the Empire”

A bound collection of blueprints and architectural sketches entitled “The Sanctuaries of the Eternal Woodland Goddesses”

A thick historical tome entitled “The Literary Annals of the Capitol”, which is the fourth volume in a series of ten books.

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comicbookrearview · 8 years ago

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Uncanny X-Men vol.1 issue 294

X-CUTIONER’S SONG PART 1

It was February 1993 by the time this issue came out at newsagents in Australia, it was already four issues into collecting uncanny x-men. The cartoon had aired in America, i guess it was around this time it started on Australian TV in the morning before school.

This issue was poly-bagged (and this is where i learned the term, to this day only comic book kids will know what that is) with a Skybox X-Cutioner’s song trading card. Sure! What the hell, i’m a kid.. i like stuff.. i have no money so it helps if that stuff is free too!

Aw man.. it’s Xavier... 11 year old me: *Yawn.

THE COVER

The cover price is $2.25 Australian, pricey for ‘93, poly-bags must cost more to make because the last issue was only 1.80.. hey everyone, lets all hug and reminisce about when we could afford things!

The corner box lists the Australian price so the kid who learned about the whole speculators market a few years later will tell you this is already worth less than a “legit american copy”. The corner box was your standard head shots of the team members of this book, i wish they still did these today, not for any other good reason besides nostalgia, but it’s just an inconsequential thing that kids thought were cool, it complimented the logo i guess (shrug). Also what i miss is what i think is Marvel’s greatest ever company logo, before they changed it to hide that they were about comics and it was the M with the word comics scrawled through it.. c’mon, some graphic designer was really tuned into the demographic with this, i hope that paid for a wing on their house.

The image is by interior artist Brandon Peterson. We’ll talk about his art later on some but i do want to note that it displays the two most used depictions of eyes being drawn at the time. Grim and gritty shadowed over, serious, moody, dark. Or you have completely devoid of anything, “what i’m reacting to is so intense in some way that my eyeball has lost all pigmentation, my pupils are no longer there.. je suis mort”.

The image is an already cool AF Cable holding a big ass gun, standing over the smoldering body of a pupil less Professor X with a corresponding big ass hole in his chest, possibly made by the big ass gun, i can’t say for sure. What i can say for sure is that this was drawn by somebody with a better grasp on anatomy than the infamous creator of Cable, Rob Liefeld, because everything is in proportion, has been researched or well thought out, Cables gun is big, but not scientifically so big that he shouldn’t be able to hold it in the air even with the aid of a 90′s AF cybernetic arm. His pouches, which i’m guessing Peterson may have been loath to draw and are possibly an editorial edict, look as practical and functional as they can, they look full and in use. I know it’s cool to rag on Liefeld, I've nothing against the man, he’s genuinely earned his place in comic book history, but all i’m saying is if we had to endure accessories like this as staples of the genre at the time, effort like Peterson’s was the most correct way to go about things. Anyway, white background, cool, our focus should be solely on the jarring image the cover confronts us with.. the cover should make you want to read the book and tell me you didn’t suck in a room full of air and snatch this of the stands when it came out.

THE STORY

We start off with a splash page (we’ll talk about them on the whole in the art section) Warren Worthington III is taking his girl on a date. Where? Where would a guy in a tux with a bouquet of flowers and access to a limousine take somebody dressed in leathers and a white tee? To a concert in the park.

A peace rally in central park. Hey! I know central park, i know places geographically because i read comics and watch TV ... thanks world, screw you school I owe you nothing. We cut across to different pairings of x-men characters discussing either there feelings about Xavier's speech that is about to transpire or events in their personal lives that are happening or have happened in surrounding issues. Little asterisks direct us to the relevant issue if we’d like to catch up these ourselves. Thanks comics, it was actually very helpful back then to have a point of reference to call back to or to further our reading.. another thing comics seemingly have abandoned today (can anybody reading this tell me why?). These conversations give the characters their voice and straddle a good balance between the picture/word ratio an 11 year old wants to see in a comic book. Scott Lobdell only got better at this as time went on but read through this issue and you’ll find he did so well to cram in foreshadowing, back story, character and truth into those speech bubbles, the man, i feel, has been forgotten in a way since the 90′s, his talents seem under appreciated.

Another thing he does well is to control pace and actually build towards events, we’re four pages in before the title card/opening credits/ splash page hits us and it happens after a third page so you have to turn the page for a reveal, it’s not given away by accidentally glancing over to page 3, no, page 4 is the perfect place for these pages. What is the reveal? Two anti-mutant terrorists are planting explosives to violently disrupt the peace rally, making bigoted slurs and all until BRRZT... BRRZT ..Cable shoots them both in their mother effing backs, stops to reveal himself and pose for the camera and ...what... HE’s got dibs on Xavier? Uh-oh.

We’re left hanging as we’re then shown Cyclops daydreaming as he waits for Jean Grey. His telepathic girlfriend walks in on him fantasizing about teammate Psylocke.. yes Scott.. that’s why Jim Lee re-designed her as such, we all did that. This sequence takes on different meaning at each age that i’d read this issue. 11 year old me sort of got it, teenage me got it but didn't completely get it and adult me wold get conflicting emotions about getting it. See, Scott Lobdell could write soap opera with merit. Same goes for the next scene where Iceman and Colossus in their civilian identities are doing the x-mansions grocery shopping. Because the x-men weren't the Avengers and were always more relate-able because they did things actual people did when they weren't superheroing. Everyone can relate to a supermarket run. I probably coerced my mum to buy me this very issue while she was on said supermarket run. My man at the time Gambit is interacting with storm, this is what i thought was cool at the time kids. A roguish (no pun intended) charm, a trench-coat over a singlet top and shorts... the undercover exercise look, was all the rage in the early 90′s.. look it up..go.

Then we cross to a sidebar of other x-team, X-Factor, preparing to watch the concert. Lobdell writes them with all the spirit, voice and character that Peter David, who was writing the hell out of X-Factor at the time, did.

So lets re-assess, so far Lobdell has shown us Archangel on date, Professor X and Lila Cheney, Bishop and Rogue, Storm and Gambit, Cyclops, Jean, Iceman and Colossus and name dropped Beast, Forge,and Psylocke AND shown us X-Factor. And i’m still on the edge of my seat already because of the ominous way Cable has been introduced. This is how you write a team book that’s going to have it’s reach into a 12 part cross over. We aren’t even at the catalyst event yet. Scott Lobdell, again ladies and gents, Scott Lobdell.

Suddenly...

Cyclops and Jean are ambushed by ex-X-factor teammate Caliban. We’re given a page of Cable in the crowd as the tension builds, we cross BACK to the action away from the concert we’re colossus and iceman are attempting to join the Caliban/Cyclops/Jean fracas until they’re ambushed by War and Famine... um.. the characters, they aren’t suddenly having an existential crisis with the actual concepts, and then we’re back to Xavier. Who’s giving an inspiring speech about race relations that is extremely relevant 25 years on. This again is a great example of Scott Lobdell’s talent to shift from fever pitch to still and thought provoking in a manner of pages. Even the layout of pages 18 and 19 are in contrast to each other while being at the same time relevant to what the written words are saying.

And then...?

BRAM... “CHARLES!!!!!”

Cable takes his shot, shooting Xavier from the crowd, and even though you knew it was coming (It’s on the cover remember), it’s still a shock, it still jars the reader. Lobdell slaps you in the face and shakes you, but doesn't let you catch your breath as we’re back immediately to battle with Caliban and the side battle with War and Famine (the people not the concepts).. the action has reached it’s fever pitch. Both battles end abruptly and as a reader you’re thrown into total confusion with this three pronged attack of events in succession so by the time you’re back to the chaos of the concert you’re in the same emotional state as the characters should be.. reacting to these overwhelming events that have just unfolded.

In a nice nod to the theme of the issue on race, something Lobdell also writes well and treats with detail and respect, it’s revealed that Archangel is wearing an image inducer to blend in with the crowd, speaking in a subtle and layered way on identity. He springs into action, or reaction, going straight for Cable as some of the other characters we’ve seen in this issue race to the Xavier’s side. The situation is dire. Cable eludes Archangel by teleporting out. (”Celebration bound” you absolute asshole, Cable). And then we’re taken to the current whereabouts of another team, X-Force, who are Cables charges and are just now witnessing the news footage of events and we’re left on a cliffhanger with them.

The executioners song has begun.

THE ART

Brandon Peterson, i’m assuming, was given the art duties on this title because his style was similar enough to Jim Lee’s. I don’t mean that as an insult, it stands enough on it’s own so that the two can be distinctive of each other but at least the influence or some of the stylistic tropes are there.He does extremely well at adapting to the pace of the writing in the book and he moves the story sequentially very well. I hadn't realized he more or less has 6 splash pages in this issue, but they’re used well and effectively at the right times to visually tell the story and give the right moments weight and impact. A hallmark of the early 90′s culturally and in artistic meaning, was the mullet, and Peterson’s mullets are right up there with the Bagleys, Romita Jr’s and Lims of their day. Another 90′s thing to do for some reason, and it would only get more pronounced through out the 90′s, was the tendency to use a characters trademarked logo when their name is being shouted out, see the point where Archangel soars towards Cable. How would that sound i wonder? Bucking the trend at the time, Peterson’s expressions aren’t just blank or gritted teeth. Faces in a panel are reacting to what is happening in that panel logically. Also characters aren't just dressed in some stock depiction of clothing. Only Jamie McKelvie, i feel, has a knack for capturing the clothing and trends of the exact minute, but Peterson’s characters dress to reflect their personalities, even Gambit (discussed above) and with only the exception of Rogue, who’s civilian outfit is a rejected costume idea with a military green X-jacket that she’s torn the logo’s off (I’m on to you Rogue). Bishop is dressed like the militant tightwad that he is, Cyclops is fathers day catalog K-mart. Jean is Danielle Steele non-descriptive female actress. Archangel is rich guy wears suits. Iceman is swinging single guy, Colossus is drab, loose fitting artist. I used to wonder why nobody wore brands in comics or dressed like people i knew but they wouldn’t. You wouldn't get the visual idea of their character in one glance if they all wore street brand hoodies and designer jeans. Peterson is also really good at slightly playing with convention and perspective. Larger than life moments like Caliban bursting through a ceiling or Colossus and Iceman changing form and charging into action are embellished by exceeding the borders and constraints of the panel.

So that’s it for this issue.

Thanks for reading if you’ve read it through. I’d love to talk about it more with any of you, these posts are also on the twitter link if I've done it correctly. The Instagram account is where i share photos of the tattered issues I've just danced down memory lane with and i’m hoping to get up a curated playlist of things relevant to this review on the YouTube channel in time. (Just give it time).

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ecotone99 · 4 years ago

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[SF] Nuptial Rupture - A sex hex complex of ominous promise.

I am changed into a woman, as if born a girl. I am at my own wedding, set in a huge Gothic cathedral, being escorted up the aisle by my father, who is identical to my real dad. As he cradles my arm I savour my new form, snug beneath my tailored gown. My trim shoulders and narrow chest bear a pair of pert breasts, held high by my brassiere. My slim, supple waist blooms into a broad, flexible pelvis atop of my voluptuous thighs that brush the heavy drape of my luxurious dress. My whole physique, my total spirit, frames and contains my precious flower of maidenhood. My diminished height is below my papa's stature, when as a guy I stood several inches above. My compact proportions give me superior balance and prim poise as I glide on tiny, precise feet. But surveying the scene I mark a number of incongruities. It appears to be night, as all the stunning stained-glass windows on the right of the church are darkened. However, those opposite are illuminated by a milky lambency of solemn lunar luminescence that pours through, displaying their colours in tenebrous tints and casting dramatic shades across the crowded congregation. The vast temple is further lit by a dense parade of heavy candelabras mounted along the side walls whose multitude of flickering flames, excited by the slight but swift draughts flitting through the cavernous interior, beget grotesque shadows that dance in frenetic parodies of stiff reality. My exquisite attire, of the most lavish silk, is a shimmering black, not the usual virgin white. It is decorated with delicate lacework of iridescent green, vivid against the pervading dim hues. I am holding an elegant posy of ebony roses, and as I ponder whether such flowers naturally exist a sharp prick from one of their thorns cuts deep into my left ring finger. The ambience reverberates with the polished tones of the building's impressive organ. Its noble ranks of silvery pipes can just be distinguished through the murky aspect, their lofty orders flanking the apse. These play an intricate fugue of eerie counterpoints, executed with demonic virtuosity. Their diminished and augmented harmonisations never resolve, slipping through endless thematic variations that leave a sinister impression with their always implied but never completed cadences. The numerous guests are a fascinating array of people I have known in my previous life, family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues and even enemies. They are each at the age I knew them best, caught in time-warps of various durations. I am disappointed that they are in common garb rather than the smart costume one would expect for this hallowed occasion. I am further perturbed that they are engaged in muted conversation, leaning towards their neighbours with heads bowed in surreptitious whisper, creating a vulgar atmosphere that jars the regal, haunting music. I turn to my father for reassurance, but he just gives me a mischievous wink with a wry smile, as if it's a clever joke. He is whistling a silly little tune which seems to be Sousa's "The Liberty Bell", commonly known as the theme from Monty Python's Flying Circus. As I ruminate these bizarre circumstances I become aware of the groom and his best man, their backs towards me. Suddenly I realise the gravity of my situation. I am about to be united in holy conjugality, to whom I know not. The thought of consummating my vows with a man fills me with terror. I feel trapped in the intrinsic bondage of my dream femininity, nauseated to the core of my still masculine will. My confused emotions receive another jolt as I draw level to my future husband and discover he is my true male self and his attendant is his and my brother. They are both decked in tuxedo and black tie, instead of the expected morning suits. My initial relief upon recognising myself as such changes to utter disgust at the incestuous alliance about to be sanctified. Then my attention is drawn to the sound of pitiful weeping. I turn to view my mother, sitting on the front pew. She has grown obese, far larger than I've ever seen her. She is stuffed into a gaudy frock and outrageous hat, her corpulent figure adorned with a superfluity of tacky beads, cheesy broaches and other glitzy jewellery. As she bawls into her handkerchief I speculate whether her lachrymose exhibition has a flavour of bitter desperation in place of the wistful joy one would hope for. Next to my distraught mum are my four bridesmaids, who are my previous persona's current and past girlfriends. They look beautiful in their matching crimson robes. But they too are chatting among themselves, perched on the edge of their bench in a scrum. I hear the serpentine hisses of their secret susurrations punctuating the garbled noise and perceive them flashing suspicious glances at me before resuming their huddled conference. Throughout this freakish ceremony I could not fail to espy the presiding minister, looming motionless before the alter. He is wearing a capirote and full-length vestment, both the same striking red as the girl's gowns. He towers with confidence, and I experience a subtle anxiety at his inscrutable presence. As the uncanny toccata halts, at last finding a concordant conclusion, I again catch my dad's face, who just clicks his tongue and raises his eyebrows before humming "Yakety Sax", that frivolous refrain from the Benny Hill Show. I spin my head to regard my familiar fiancé, but he too gives me an expression of cheeky humour. Meanwhile the officiating priest begins his service in a commanding, stentorian voice, its ghoulish sonority projecting over the buzzing chatter. He proclaims:

"Through dark stark glum we come

To humbly mark

Fit witness this true union

Share their new joyful ploy

Confessing via dire odds God's blessing."

"Marriage is the bridge to grace

Through which the switch of gender flows

Tenderly shows in love above reality

The sinful glove of fantasy."

"That gift will lift the rift

Spill the sap at rapture pure

Capture bound tight wound

Right founded reckoning

From sombre beckoning."

"Yet let shy vows arouse

Those chosen by the law

Restore the primal state

Before chimeric fate."

He pauses, before demanding, "If anyone can show just cause why this couple cannot be joined together in matrimony, let them speak now or forever hold their peace." At the finish of this categorical directive everything goes quiet. My heart palpitates as my soul is wracked with overwhelming guilt that twists the sinewy essence of my vital substance. But then, after an excruciating moment of pregnant silence, the chapel is rocked with the teeming roar of hysterical laughter. In a condition of shock, unable to digest what is happening, I examine the location to see that one and all are howling in manic merriment. Even my mother is bursting her sides, shaking like an accordion as she shrieks like a frenzied hyena. My ladies-in-waiting are giggling with sprightly glee, their features glowing like ripe cherries. My father, husband-to-be and brother are bent over double in extreme amusement, convulsing themselves inside out. Only the diabolical pastor remains unmoved, posed like an impenetrable statue. My universe falls apart. I am melting, my torso shrinking away under the tight grip of my bodice. My skin is shrivelling like a deflated balloon, hanging limp from my contracting skeleton. My eyes are slipping from their sockets, turning into watery slime. My teeth are loosening, detaching from my mushy gums. My bowels are disintegrating, descending through my dissolving anatomy. The world rises as I sink into the earth, a pool of protoplasmic sludge leaking beneath my hem, oozing across the floor. Finally my consciousness dwindles, fading into fuzziness, emptiness, nothing.

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