"WE" by Charles A. Lindbergh

"WE" by Charles A. Lindbergh
Originally uploaded by pantufla.

Blaine's Funeral - Died November 4th, 1884.

Blaine's Funeral - Died November 4th, 1884.
Originally uploaded by pantufla.

All seeing Eye

All seeing Eye
Originally uploaded by pantufla.

It Came from Outer Space is a 1953 Science Fiction 3-D film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, and Charles Drake. (from wikipedia)

The First Lady Aviator

The First Lady Aviator
Originally uploaded by pantufla.

"Madame the Baronesse Delaroche was the first lady aviator. She is a well-known
French sportswoman, and purchased for herself a Voisin biplane.
On the 3rd November, 1909, she, unaided, flew this machine for a distance of
about 1,000 yards, which incidentally is also the record for the first flight of
any amateur."

from Wills's Cigarettes Airships and Aeroplanes series (#50 of 50)

French Aviatress is Killed in Fall
Journal and Tribune,
Knoxville, Tennessee: Saturday, July 19, 1919,
Transcribed by Bob Davis - 9-4-03 Paris, July 18. - Baroness de La Roche, the French aviatress, was killed in an airplane accident at the aerodrome at Crotoy this afternoon. The baroness was flying with a passenger when the accident occurred.

The Tears of the Indians: Being an Hiftorical and true Account of the Cruel Maffacres and Slaughters of above Twenty Millions of innocent People Committed by the Spaniards In the Iflands of Hifpaniola, Cuba, Jamaica, &c. As alfo, in the Continent of Mexic

The Tears of the Indians: Being an Hiftorical and true Account of the Cruel Maffacres and Slaughters of above Twenty Millions of innocent People Committed by the Spaniards In the Iflands of Hifpaniola, Cuba, Jamaica, &c. As alfo, in the Continent of Mexic
Originally uploaded by pantufla.

Nazi Parade - by Boris Artzybasheff

Nazi Parade - by Boris Artzybasheff
Originally uploaded by pantufla.

Pine Street between Pierce and Steiner, SF

Pine Street between Pierce and Steiner, SF
Originally uploaded by pantufla.

cleopatra contemplating her death

cleopatra contemplating her death, originally uploaded by hymns for her.

A digital daguerreotype. Beautiful!

["The Ghost"], Anonyme, France, c. 1920

["The Ghost"], Anonyme, France, c. 1920, originally uploaded by yannickvigouroux.

Flickr pick of the day: CBGB Entrance, NYC

CBGB Entrance, NYC, originally uploaded by fotografik.

CBGB's is closing for good. Again. I say, "Rip it up and start again"!

Speach clips part one-Decline of the western civilization

Attention! Decline of Western Civilization

Maj. Gen. Horatio Gordon Robley & Maori heads

Maj. Gen. Horatio Gordon Robley & Maori heads, originally uploaded by pantufla.

At first, I thought the heads were cut out photos. But nope, they're real heads. WTF.
More on this image to come.

www.kirchersociety.org/blog/?p=560

Major General Horatio Gordon Robley’s ethnographic book Maori Tattooing has been the standard reference on Moko, or the Maori art of face and body tattooing, ever since it was published in 1896. Dover recently reprinted it. The above photograph of Major General Robley with his collection of tattooed Maoria heads comes from Medicine Man,a gorgeous book about Henry Wellcome’s museum of curios.

from the Athanasius Kircher Society's website

ROBLEY, Major-General Horatio Gordon

(1840–1930).

Soldier, artist, and collector.

Horatio Gordon Robley was born at Madeira on 28 June 1840, his father being a captain in the Indian Army. In 1858 he purchased an ensigncy in the 68th Durham Light Infantry. After a short period of training he joined his regiment in Burma where he remained for nearly five years. In 1860 Robley was sent home to England for a period of sick leave. Later in the same year he was present at the siege of Delhi; afterwards, at Rangoon, he assumed command of the guard of King Bahadur Shad.

In 1863 the 68th Regiment left Burma for New Zealand and, in the following April, Robley took his troops to Tauranga to join General Cameron's forces attacking Gate Pa. Here he remained for 19 months during which his amazing series of sketches of Maori life were executed. On 28 June 1866 Robley returned to England, purchased a captaincy for £1,100, and transferred to the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders. In 1880 he was promoted to major and served in Mauritius. Later he was sent to South Africa and saw service in Natal and Zululand. He then went to Ceylon where, in 1882, he wrote his regiment's history. Robley was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and, in 1887, retired from the Army with the rank of major-general.

In New Zealand Robley had many opportunities of demonstrating his talent for drawing. At Tauranga, he made a sketch from an eminence of the inland view to the south-west with such accuracy that the troops were able to outflank the enemy's position. In the Dominion Museum, Wellington, there are seventy paintings by Robley – a remarkable historical record of the military occupation of Tauranga and supplying besides many intimate and casual details of early Maori life. Some years later a selection of his sketches provided a basis for Cassells' publication Races of Mankind. In Burma, as in New Zealand, Robley took every opportunity to observe the people and to learn their language.

By a special process the Maoris were able to preserve the tatooed heads of chiefs, which Europeans purchased for museums, and many such heads found their way to Europe before the trade was suppressed. In his retirement Robley decided to acquire as many of these as possible, and at length built up a unique collection of 35 heads. In 1908 he offered them to the New Zealand Government for £1,000; his offer, however, was refused. Later, with the exception of five heads, the collection was purchased by the Natural History Museum, New York, for £1,250.

Of his two New Zealand books, Moko or Maori Tattooing (q.v.) is the more outstanding. “His acknowledged object,” it has been said, “was to put together a text to support the specialised record he had drawn of tattoo patterns and of his collection of dried heads. On these two subjects he regarded himself as an authority, a claim not to be disputed provided we bear in mind that his awareness was that of a curio collector, and not that of a scholar”.

Throughout his life Robley remained the same capable officer he had been in his youth. Always “a soldier with a pencil”, he was ever indulging his delightful creative hobby – sketching the new and the curious in the strange native peoples he contacted. It was after his retirement that his main contributions to our knowledge were made. In his history of the Maori tiki, Robley reveals himself as a visionary. Briefly, he relates the Biblical instruction

First Philadelphia Computer Music Festival

Above: Computer Music '79!

Here's a cool record of the 1978 First Philadelphia Computer Music Festival, featuring mp3s you can download of various
composers, playing on obscure synths like the RCA Cosmac, ALF, SSM, or NOTRAN. This record is a surprisingly late issue of traditional academic electronic music (think Columbia-Princeton). It is weird to hear old chestunts like the Mexican Hat Dance played on synths several years after Kraftwerk had written Autobahn and Cabaret Voltaire were unleashing electronic squalls in Sheffield. Anyway, a great find and a generous post.

First Philadelphia Computer Music Festival

Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance . Home | PBS

Above: Vasari: Cosimo I consults battle plans

First part of a great docudrama on pbs last night called "Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance". Sumptous period pieces and dramatizations of
a 15th century Sopranos-style clan--that is, if the Sopranos supported people like Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Boticelli, and Donatello as well as making deals and bumping off rivals. This family had major ups and downs, assassinations, triumphs, papal power, exile, and still found time to pour extravagant cash on the tender shoots of the Renaissance. There are lots of interesting historical details included, like how one of the Medici was fed a mixture of crushed jewels and pearls on his deathbed, or how the painter Boticelli, despite his sensual depictions of pagan mythology and physical beauty, succumbed to religious fanaticism and consigned some of his work to a bonfire. Even though the narrator strays a bit into Burgess Meredith territory with his breathy delivery, this show is an inspiring example of how history can be brought to stunning life. Highly recommended!

Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance . Home | PBS

1 Peso - Colombian Currency Gallery

Beautiful collection of images of Colombian paper currency.

NYPL Digital Gallery | Library for the Blind: Man with bags of mail

Above: Library for the Blind: Man with bags of mail,
"one days mail, free service, May 1926."

NYPL Digital Gallery | Detail ID 106146

In: New York Public Library Visual Materials > Lantern Slides > Branch Libraries > Branches > Library for the Blind
Library Division:

Humanities and Social Sciences Library / New York Public Library Archives
Subject(s): Lantern slides
Libraries -- New York (State) -- New York
New York Public Library
Notes
"one days mail, free service, May 1926," 5 copies.
Digital ID:106146NYPL Call Number:RG 10

NYPL Digital Gallery Image du Jour: Strong woman

Strong woman, originally uploaded by pantufla.

Originally uploaded by pantufla.

Image Caption:
Mlle. LeZetora : Colored lady athlete ; Heavy weight act.

In:
The college of life : or, Practical self-educator, a manual of self-improvement for the colored race forming an educational emancipator and a guide to success. Giving examples and achievements of successful men and women of the race as an incentive and inspiration to the rising generation, including Afro-American progress illustrated. The whole embracing business, social, domestic, historical and religious education. / by Henry Davenport Northrop, Joseph R. Gay, and I. Garland Penn ; embellished with hundreds of superb engravings. (published [c1900?])

Published Date:
c1900?

Library Division:
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture / Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division

Item/Page/Plate Number:
plate 5 after page 80

Specific Material Type:
Prints

Subject(s):
African American athletes
African American women

Additional Name(s):
Penn, I. Garland (Irvine Garland), 1867-1930 -- Author
Northrop, Henry Davenport, 1836-1909 -- Author
Gay, Joseph R -- Author

Collection Guide:
Africana & Black History

Digital ID:
1228817

NYPL Call Number:
Sc Rare 030-N (Northrop, H. D. The college of life)

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=575196&imageID=1228817&word=heavy&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&total=142&num=48&imgs=12&pNum=&pos=53

On meeting Lord P. Vickers Ridley-Tree, Baron of St. Amand, and being driven home by him in a taxi

Above: Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Hamlet

The other day I was listening to a lecture about Oscar Wilde. The speaker mentioned that one of Wilde's contemporaries was Max Beerbohm, the critic and essayist. Last night, inexplicably, I was driven home in a cab by a descendent of Beerbohm's-a man who, moreover, is apparently a Baron.
As outlandish as it may seem, I did some research, and it seems that my driver, Lord P. Vickers ("Vick") Ridley-Tree, is the son of the late Lord Paul Ridley-Tree (obituary, scroll down), a southern California Philanthropist who supported a wide range of charities. His origins are:

He was born to Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and [ed. Actress] Muriel Ridley in New York on December 29, 1917 while his parents were on an extended tour of the United States. His father passed away when Paul was only three months old. At the age of seven Paul was sent to school in Washington state until he graduated from college.

Now, do a quick search of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, and you'll come across 16 portraits in the English National Portrait Gallery. Here's one I like from another site. Beerbohm Tree was a successful victorian-era actor and theater manager, who founded the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1904.

So, Beerbohm Tree's grandson, Lord P. Vickers "Vick" Ridley-Tree, is a charming guy, tour guide, Anthropologist and one time Peace Corps member. He operates "Mountain Man Tours" in the Bay Area. His number is (415) 637-6220.

NYPL Digital Gallery Gem: American Slave Trade Print, 1822

Above: Portraiture of domestic slavery in the United States.

More on this image
More from the book

"American slave trade; or, An account of the manner in which the slave dealers take free people from some of the United States of America, and carry them away, and sell them as slaves in other of the states; and of the horrible cruelties practised in the carrying on of this most infamous traffic : with reflections on the project for forming a colony of American blacks in Africa, and certain documents respecting that project. "

by Jesse Torrey, Jun. Physician, London, 1822

More from Jesse Torrey
Burning of Capitol Seen as Divine Judgement