Aggressive, complicated, sharp as a diamond.

sahb4, a photo by simonhenry700 on Flickr.

Julie loved Tubby and he showed her the sort of vulgar respect he reserved for his favourites. She was fascinated by his books and toy soldiers. He'd read all the books and enjoyed the soldiers, but he had no proprietal feelings towards them. He'd brought both collections from Alex Harvey. They had identical tastes, he said, and Alex got bored with it all, needed some money and sold it for its market price.
He was a classic mixture, Alex. Aggressive, complicated, sharp as a diamond, Glaswegian. Dead now. What can you say? We were trying out some work together just before died. His Jacques Brel stuff, which he growled in a kind of Mississippi Clydeside, never sounded more sardonic, and he could shout out a blues with the best. Another Star Club vet.
Not always an easy man to work with, Alex had read more books than the British Librarian.

-Michael Moorcock, 'King of the City,' page 73 (2000)

The people's servants

The

GREAT SHERMAN CIRCUS

and troupe of

EDUCATED HORSES

Will pitch thier tent and give exhibitions in the following cities and towns on the following dates:

Lebanon, 6th                  Eugene, 13th
Albany, 7th and 8th        Salem, 15th, 16th
Halsey, 9th                     Fair Grounds during
Harrisburg, 11th                  the week
Junction City, 12th          Portland, 23th, 20th

Dates to follow the above in Oregon and Washington Territory will be published in this advertisement as soon as necessary to notify the public.

The people's servants,

C. & J. SHERMAN, Prop'rs and Managers

-September 12, 1882

[Y'know, the first time I saw this little illustration and read this little ad, I was like "Educated Horses... AND a man in a tutu! Nostaglia, TAKE me AWAY!" Then I (sadly) realized it was just the horse's tail. Also impressive: that horse is running with its stomach about a foot off the ground.]

a true sign of culture in decline

moorcock, a photo by matt_really on Flickr.

"He wondered by these people embraced family life with such relish.
Perhaps their peculiar tribal habits, their vague liberalism, their inactive agrement about what angered or disgusted them, were means of maintaining a status quo to which they were as committed as any of their more frankly rapacious contemporaries. He had grown impatient with their discussions about H-Bombs, vivisection, dying fish, Women's Rights and clubbed seals while they ate and drank as much in an afternoon as people living a few hundred yards away could buy in a fortnight. He started telling them this. Their hypocritcal posturing was a true sign of a culture in decline. When he informed his wife he was voting conservative in last year's election she had decided they were incompatible and made him leave." (Michael Moorcock, 'Mother London', 1988)

Pearlized Pink and Orange

Marc Bolan, a photo by Miss-Dandy on Flickr.

I like how some elements of this photo undermine the professional rock star photo lighting and color of this glamour shot. Namely, the pillow on the rocking chair and (especially) the window. What is that out there? Someone's garage?

Let me try

Neverread and thought lost

Was rooting through the attic and found my copy of Hammett's "The Thin Man." I started reading this ten years ago but ran away when the constant inebriaism made me uncomfortable (I know, strange! but true).

After spending the last year and a half acquainting myself with books of the well-written type, I've been dabbling in 'classics' (Moby Dick)*, some of which I would rather call 'adventure' novels and some would call 'boys adventures' (Treasure Island, Captain Blood). So it seems quite conveniently timed to be going through a box at this juncture in my reading life and come across 'The Thin Man.' So much so that it might leap the que and be the follow up when I finish 'Moby Dick'.

-d.d.

* Tip of the hat to Mr. Collision for getting me thinking about books I've never read.

Decontextualized (3)

I'm not talking to you. Here, you can talk to Mr. Cup here, he'll listen. He'll give a damn.

Decontextualized (2)

not a good script.

Decontextualized (1)

"worst magic trick ever."

The Pirate Planet

This Dr. Who story has the battle royal between K9 and Aviton, a robot dog and a robot... parrot.

Great stuff about hollow planet-eating planets, too.