#burial monds

[nowoolallowed]

Pair of Sandals - Met Museum Collection

Inventory Number: 22.3.21a, b Second Intermediate Period–Early New Kingdom, Dynasty 17-18, ca. 1580–1479 B.C. Location Information: From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Unfinished Temple ("Seankhkare") Valley, Pit Tomb MMA 1008/1016 (Mond 8), MMA excavations, 1920–21

Description:

These sandals, along with a second, similar pair (22.3.20a), were found in the chamber of a pit tomb used ultimately for the burial of a 21st Dynasty (ca. 1100 B.C.) charioteer named Itamun (see 26.3.1a, b). They come, however, from an earlier burial that was pushed aside for the tomb's new occupant.

The soles of the sandals are formed of tightly woven papyrus in narrow rows, with three outer bands defining the shape. The thongs are made of thicker strips of flattened reeds.

[ailichi]

Rien n’égale la beauté d’une inscription latine votive ou funéraire : ces quelques mots gravés sur la pierre résument avec une majesté impersonnelle tout ce que le monde a besoin de savoir de nous. C’est en latin que j’ai administré l’empire ; mon épitaphe sera incisée en latin sur les murs de mon mausolée au bord du Tibre, mais c’est en grec que j’aurai pensé et vécu.

Nothing matches the beauty of a Latin votive or burial inscription: those few words enscribed on stone sum up with an impersonal majesty all that the world has need to know of us. It is in Latin that I have ruled the empire; my epitaph will be carved in Latin on the walls of my mausoleum on the banks of the Tiber; but it is in Greek that I shall have thought and lived.

Marguerite Yourcenar, Les mémoires d’Hadrien

[sturmhondsdemjin]

Seven part one

He discovers Henry sleeps curled up on his side, his spine poking out in little sharp points that are actually soft if you reach out and touch them, very carefully so as not to wake him because he’s actually sleeping for once. In the morning, room service brings up crusty baguettes and sticky tarts filled with fat apricots and a copy of Le Monde that Alex makes Henry translate out loud.

He knows, objectively, he should pace himself. It’s only physical. But Perfect Stoic Prince Charming laughs when he comes, and texts Alex at weird hours of the night: You’re a mad, spiteful, unmitigated demon, and I’m going to kiss you until you forget how to talk. And Alex is kind of obsessed with it.

[...] and Alex is drunk and fucking transported, feeling every moment of twenty-two years and not a single day older, some kind of hedonistic youth of history.

There are a lot of days when Henry is happy to hear from him and quick to respond, a fast, cutting sense of humor, hungry for Alex’s company and the tangle of thoughts in Alex’s head. But sometimes, he’s taken over by a dark mood, an unusually acerbic wit, strange and vitrified. He’ll withdraw for hours or days, and Alex comes to understand this as grief time, little bouts of depression, or times of “too much.” Henry hates those days completely. Alex wishes he could help, but he doesn’t particularly mind. He’s just as attracted to Henry’s cloudy tempers, the way he comes back from them, and the millions of shades in between.

He’s also learned that Henry’s placid demeanor is shattered with the right poking.

It’s another thing Henry does—whipping out these analyses of what he reads or watches or listens to that confronts Alex with the fact that he has both a degree in English literature and a vested interest in the gay history of his family’s country. Alex has always known his gay American history—after all, his parents’ politics have been part of it—but it wasn’t until he figured himself out that he started to engage with it like Henry.

He’s starting to understand what swelled in his chest the first time he read about Stonewall, why he ached over the SCOTUS decision in 2015. He starts catching up voraciously in his spare time: Walt Whitman, the Laws of Illinois 1961, The White Night Riot, Paris Is Burning. He’s pinned a photo over his desk at work, a man at a rally in the ’80s in a jacket that says across the back: IF I DIE OF AIDS—FORGET BURIAL—JUST DROP MY BODY ON THE STEPS OF THE F.D.A.

It’s weird that the thing with Henry could make him understand this huge part of himself, but it does. When he sinks into thoughts of Henry’s hands, square knuckles and elegant fingers, he wonders how he never realized it before. When he sees Henry next at a gala in Berlin, and he feels that gravitational pull, chases it down in the back of a limo, and binds Henry’s wrists to a hotel bedpost with his own necktie, he knows himself better.

“Call it historical curiosity.” Except the truth is closer to the slight drag in Henry’s voice and the half step of hesitation before he speaks that’s been there all week.

“See, there’s a thing,” Alex points out. “You just told me that. You can tell me other stuff.”

“It’s hardly the same.”

He rolls over onto his stomach, considers, and very deliberately says, “Baby.”

It’s become a thing: baby. He knows it’s become a thing. He’s slipped up and accidentally said it a few times, and each time, Henry positively melts and Alex pretends not to notice, but he’s not above playing dirty here.

“Anyway, I don’t think I’ve ever said this many words out loud in a row in my entire life, so please feel free to put me out of my misery any time now.”

“No, no,” Alex says, stumbling over his own tongue in a rush. “I’m glad you told me. Does it feel better at all to have said it?”

Henry goes silent, and Alex wants so badly to see the shadows of expressions moving across his face, to be able to touch them with his fingertips. Alex hears a swallow across the line, and Henry says, “I suppose so. Thank you. For listening.”

“Yeah, of course,” Alex tells him. “I mean, it’s good to have times when it’s not all about me, as tedious and exhausting as it may be.”

That earns him a groan, and he bites back a smile when Henry says, “You are a wanker.”

[streampourvous]

Death Business (2023)

Regarder Death Business 2023 Film complet en streaming français VF et gratuit – The Burial (2023) le film en entier Basé sur des événements authentiques, le film met en scène Jeremiah O'Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones), qui, en tant que propriétaire d'une entreprise de pompes funèbres, sollicite l'aide du charismatique avocat Willie E. Gary (Jamie Foxx) pour préserver l'entreprise familiale. L'alliance improbable de ces deux hommes se révèle à la fois humoristique et édifiante, tout en dénonçant la corruption dans le monde des affaires et les injustices raciales qui sont au cœur de cette histoire. Read the full article

[alexisgeorge24]

14/04 (J1)

Départ à 1h00 de bercy pour Londres. Je découvre en chemin que ça sera par Douvres le passage de la frontière. Très long et fatigant comme trajet, douane et ferry obligent. Le retard de 1h me fait rater mon bus de Londres pour Edinburg et je dois prendre un train qui me coûte 95e ("lovely" comme ils disent). 16h après avoir quitté Sucy et enfin arrivé au super hostel (castle rock) d'Edinburg: déjeuner, douche, sieste. Puis bière en attendant Jessica qui me rejoint pour le week-end.

15/04 (J2)

Réveillés à 6h au hostel par des italiens qui parlaient fort, nous entamons la journée un peu de mauvaise humeur et après leur avoir cassé les dents. Mais on est vite consolés par la vue panoramique offerte par le sommet de la colinne surplombant la région "Arthur's seat". Puis nous avons enchaîné tarte, Dunbar's Close Garden, le Parlement (on nous nous sommes assis à la place des députés, plutôt au milieu pour n'ofenser personne), Holyrood Palace (où passe sa majesté en juillet généralement), New Calton Burial Ground (un parmis les 10aines de cimetières qui mettent mal à l'aise Jessica), le Calton Hill (belle vue avec imitation Parthenon), Dean Village.

Nous dormons dans un appartement partagé avec 4 autres chambres et une seule salle de bain.

16/04 (J3)

On maintient notre dynamique et visitons:

Castle Edinburg: perché sur un ancien volcan, symbole de la ville

National musem of Scotland: on pensait y voir son histoire mais finalement c'est un fourre-tout intéressant (et gratuit, comme tout les musées ici)

Greyfriars Kirk: encore un cimetière très charmant où je touche les fesses d'un arbre

Scottish National Gallery: belle collection de tableau

Puis pub avec burger, bière et vin (what else)

17/04 (J4)

Journée excursions en "banlieue" avec la visite du bateau Britania, palais flottant royal qui a navigué dans le monde entre 1953 et 1997; sans trop de surprise on remarque que les appartements de la reine sont légèrement plus spacieux que ceux des matelots. Puis changement de quartier ambiance campagne pour visiter le Château de Craigmillar (où y habitat Mary Queen of Scots, va falloir apprendre l'histoire...).

Puis on termine la visite de la ville avec le Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Ensuite Jessica rentre à Paris et je suis seul... L'aventure commence là pour moi.

18/04 (J5)

Réveil à 4h50 pour attraper le train pour Aberdeen, j'enchaîne avec un bus et je me trouve à l'entrée du parc Cairngorms. J'ai 15km à faire sur route avant d'atteindre le début du sentier mais au bout de 40min quelqu'un veut bien me prendre en stop, 2 heures de gagnées!

J'arrive donc au lac Loch Muick sous un soleil éclatant, je le contourne puis fait un AR au sommet Cac Càrn Beag. Au total 20km et 750m d+. Par contre j'ai les fesses irritées et ça m'inquiète pour les journées à venir...

Je trouve un spot ydilique pour le camp dans une mini forêt au bord du Loch Muick, je fais un tour de drone, me repose, mange et m'endore. Mais avant je regarde un épisode de The Last of Us (série avec des zombies) et je regrette...

19/04 (J6)

Réveil grandiose avant le levé de soleil devant le miroir d'eau qu'offre le Loch Muick (aucune attaque de zombie pendant la nuit mais j'ai quand même eu froid). Petit déjeuner et c'est reparti, le moral au max avec ce beau temps. Je rejoins la Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve la mâtinée par un col et des paysages magnifiques, c'est pas très haut mais les sommets vallonnés, la quasi absence d'arbre et les cours d'eau, donnent un très joli paysage, on dirait le Jura sans végétation (c'est pas flateur dit comme ça alors que c'était magnifique, mais c'est ce que je me suis dit sur le moment; c'est mon journal j'écris ce que je veux). Puis déjeuner, sieste et c'est reparti pour une boucle sans le sac qui me fait passer par les sommet Mayar et Driesh. Très beaux panoramas sur tout le parc et tous les sommets ronds semi enneigées. Bilan de la journée : 26km 1130 d+ (et les irritations du feceps se sont stabilisées).

20/04 (J7)

Réveil après une meilleure nuit (est-ce que je commence à m'adapter au froid ?!) et c'est répartie pour la rando, direction ligne droite pour atteindre le village de Braemar via le sommet Crow Craigies puis Loch Callater (Loch c'est lac obviousement). Il fait beau, bon, mon dos commence à s'y faire à mon sac, les paysages sont sublimes, je pue, la vie est belle. Évidement arrivé à Braemer je prends direct UNE BIÈRE, que je ne savoure pas, c'est elle qui me savoure. Bilan de la journée: 22km 630m d+

21/04

Réveil en Laponie, tout est gelé dehors, ma tante est recouverte de glace et je comprends mieux pourquoi je me suis pelé cette nuit. Il en faut plus pour atteindre mon moral, et la forme est toujours là avec ce soleil brille toujours. C'est parti donc pour rejoindre Aviemore en 2 jours. Bivouac dans une cabane le Corrour Bothy que je rejoins au bout de 22km. Comme j'ai encore de l'énergie je me fais un sommet (le devil's spot) pas loin en bonus. Et je ne m'y attendais vraiment pas, j'ai là la plus belle vue du Cairngorms. Bilan de la journée: 27km 750m d+.

On est 6 autour de la cabane, 3 en tente et 3 (dont moi) avec un spot dans le bothy. J'apprends en discutant avec les scots qui me tiennent compagnie qu'il y a plein de Bothy du genre sur la côte ouest des highland que je comptais justement faire après. Par contre un habitué du coin me dit que mon itinéraire de demain est super dur et quand il voit mon sac (et son poid) il éclate de de rire. Mais il me dit que j'ai un physique de militaire (merci) et que j'y arriverai. En effet je l'ai croisé en faisant le sommet bonus en mode sprint, donc je l'ai bien évidemment impressionné. Mais clairement je suis à la fois pas serein, et j'ai hâte de voir ce que "difficile" veut dire pour un Scot. Rdv demain pour savoir.

22/04

La nuit dans le bothy à été la meilleure car pas eu froid du tout. Petit déjeuner et c'est parti pour rejoindre Aviemore en passant par le plus haut sommet des Cairngorms, le Ben Macdui (1309m). Je précise que l'option la plus simple serait de passer par un col m'economisant 7km et 400m d+. Mais il fait beau et je suis toujours en forme (à part mes pieds). Finalement la montée du Ben Macdui était en effet bien plus compliquée que les autres rando dans la zone. Le chemin que j'ai emprunté (parmis les 3 en tout qui y mènent) ne figure sur aucune carte et c'était carrément du hors piste sur 20% de la monté. Mais c'est pas les Alpes, les sommets sont très arrondis et le hors piste se fait "facilement". Donc je pense que le monsieur qui a voulu me faire peur ne connaît que les montagnes d'Ecosse. La vue était bien évidemment belle mais un peu déçu, car étant donné l'arrondi du sommet, on n'a pas de vue plongeante au loin. Le devil's spot reste donc la vue #1. Au bilan: 29km 800d+

J'arrive à Aviemore et prends direct un bus pour Inverness, la capitale des highlands. Une fois sur place le processus "retour au confort" est lancé : lit, douche, bière, pizza, re-bière, re-bouffe, série télé, dodo.

[dubmill]

Mond mausoleum (Ludwig Mond, d. 1909), St Pancras and Islington Cemetery, Finchley, London; 28.9.2019

[narcoticwriter]

The Genshin Impact Cast & Their (Alleged) Crimes

You read that right. I'm going down the list of characters that are out and leaked/announced as of the date of the 2.7 livestream. This will include criminal charges, civil charges, and (of course) war crimes. I'm not sorry about this at all.

For legal reasons, if it wasn't obvious, this is a joke.

Before we move on, all of them will be slapped with aggravated assault preemptively because this is how the game works in general, but I will put this charge in some descriptions for emphasis.

(Thanks for the stroke of inspiration. You know who you are LMAO.)

Albedo: First-degree murder and unlawful experimentation as if Mond found out what freaky shit he was doing, he'd be mobbed and killed.

Aloy: Trespassing (do I tack on illegal border crossing too-)

Amber: Arson (unintentionally), civil misconduct, negligence

Arataki Itto: Disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, aggravated assault (that one time), vandalism

Barbara: Disturbing the peace (but not really lmao)

Beidou: Tax fraud/evasion, piracy (obviously), open container of alcohol (this is seriously a charge), probation violation, (legal) racketeering, smuggling

Bennett: Negligence, personal injury, the Torts law would have a ball with this kid

Chongyun: Trespassing, disturbing the peace (the ghosts would sue due to the yang energy)

Diluc: Willful killing, taking of hostages, willfully causing great suffering, extensive destruction and appropriation of property, killing a man already down (legit war crime), vigilantism, homicide, kidnapping, grand larceny, attempted involuntary manslaughter (there's more but this is getting long)

Diona: Malpractice, attempted poisoning

Eula: Disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace (Mondstadt hates her enough to waste tax dollars on this)

Fischl: . . . Indecent exposure (people really didn't like her in the lore)

Ganyu: I mean, if you wanna count war crimes from 2000+ years ago, I could tack on willful killing and the criminal charge of aiding in that regard, but other than that, she's pretty clean.

Gorou: Willful killing, aggravated assault, voluntary manslaughter

Hu Tao: Disturbing the peace, solicitation, harassment, kidnapping, attempted murder/burial of someone who is alive

Jean: Child labor maybe? Perhaps. Yeah. A charge of child labor is fair. And maybe a child soldier? They aren't in a war, but hilichurls are hostiles, right? Is solitary confinement considered child abuse-

Kaedahara Kazuha: Treason, espionage, rebellion/insurrection, inciting a riot/rebellion, civil disorder, illegal border crossing

Kaeya: Perjury, conspiracy, extortion, white-collar crimes, unauthorized disclosure of classified information, forgery, bribery, willful endangerment

Kamisato Ayaka: . . . I've got nothing. Literally nothing. I can't even put legislative misconduct, aid in a crime, or even complicity. She's innocent.

Kamisato Ayato: Extortion, racketeering, aiding and abetting, fraud

Keqing: She could get some class-action suits and some charges in terms of running the workplace, but other than that? No.

Klee: Arson, involuntary manslaughter (?), disturbing the peace, crimes against wildlife

Kujou Sara: 'Legal' extensive destruction and appropriation of property, 'legally' willfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial, 'legal' deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement

Kuki Shinobu: She actually tries to drop these charges. She went to law school, for goodness sake. Is being a lawyer a charge?

Lisa: Cruel and unusual punishment, use of torture, speculative disclosure of classified information per according to the Heavenly Principles

Mona: Tax evasion

Ningguang: Collusion, market, and price manipulation, monopolizing, and perhaps she'll also be held liable for whatever Beidou or Yelan does as she works with them

Noelle: If her scaring off Snezhnayan diplomats could be a charge for treason somehow, then sure

Qiqi: If she's technically not alive, does the law apply posthumously? Even if it does, she's done nothing wrong except maybe trespass on Jueyan Karst

Raiden Shogun: In the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Section 8, Paragraph 2, Points A, B, and C, I list off the following: (A) I, II, III, IV, VI, VII, VIII, (B) I, II, III, IV, XII, XIII, XIV, XXI, (C) III, IV

Razor: Is he even under the jurisdiction of the law?

Rosaria: Homicide, assassination, voluntary manslaughter, vigliantism, familicide

Sangonomiya Kokomi: Willful killing is a thing and she absolutely incited rebellion too, totally guilty, but despite being in a war, she didn't commit that many obvious war crimes besides those.

Sayu: Negligence, liability

Shenhe: Voluntary manslaughter, first-degree murder, aggravated assault

Shikanoin Heizou: Petty thievery, liability, negligence, bribery, misconduct

Sucrose: Aiding and abetting in unlawful experimentation

Tartaglia: Wanton murder, enforced disappearances of persons, torture, wanton killing, extortion, grand larceny, terrorism, intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population, threatening public officials, the entirety of Section A of the War Crimes clause (it goes on)

Thoma: Illegal immigration except the Kamisato Clan renders that nonexistent, so he's innocent

Traveler: Over the implied longevity of their existence, it is my personal belief that they have collected war crimes and criminal charges like Pokemon and have caught them all (but I'm not going as far as anything sexual or domestic because that's a line I won't cross)

Venti: Gliding under the influence, open container of alcohol, grand larceny, disturbing the peace, public intoxication

Xiangling: Crimes against wildlife, speculative intentional poisoning (contested), malpractice (?)

Xiao: Manslaughter, first-degree murder, willful killing, torture (of the psychological variety)

Xingqiu: He could be slapped with a harassment charge if Chongyun cared to bother, but some vigilantism is a thing

Xinyan: Disturbing the peace, indecent exposure (the majority of the public really seem to hate her)

Yae Miko: Mostly extortion, but if she wanted to run a pyramid scheme, so could do so with wild success

Yanfei: The one prosecuting the cast

Yelan: Extortion, kidnapping, solo racketeering

Yoimiya: Negligence, damage to public property, unintentional arson

Yun Jin: The only thing I can say is that I don't know what an opera singer would do that's illegal or anything that she'd do personally that would be illegal

Zhongli: Is it terrorism if he's the ruler that allowed it? Is it treason? Can he even be held to a variety of war crimes? All I know is that the charges of negligence and liability law against would be downright criminal in of themselves.

Bonus - Paimon: Harassment. That is all.

---

If you wanna slap some more charges I may have missed or even debate some of them with others, go ahead and go ham.

[camaradarulitos]

ROME—Few would argue how Valérie Bacot rationalized pulling the trigger that sent a fatal bullet into the back of her stepfather-turned-husband Daniel Polette's neck on March 13, 2016. She had earlier unsuccessfully tried to poison him with a sleeping pill, and she said she knew he was grooming their 14-year-old daughter for serial rape. She was tired of years of abuse and being pimped out to strangers in the family minivan, so she did what she thought she had to do.

“I took the gun,” she said in an emotional interview with Le Parisien ahead of her June 21 murder trial that could send her to prison for life. “There was a loud noise, the flash, the smell. I got out of the car, opened the door, he fell. I thought only of saving myself because I was sure he was going to kill me.”

Bacot then told her oldest children—who she says were borne of rape—that she had killed the monster they called their father. They admitted they helped bury his body in a forest. All the while, she packed dirt on the hastily dug grave—she said she worried he would come back to life. “The only thing I thought about was putting dirt on it,” she said. “Because I was afraid he would come out and kill us.”

The 40-year-old and two of her children were arrested in October 2017 when Polette's body was found after the mother of her son’s girlfriend, who had been involved in the hasty burial, turned her in. Since that time, more than 400,000 people have signed a petition to ask Emmanuel Macron for a presidential pardon that could save Bacot, though opponents say presidents have no place in the court of law. Interest in her case has galvanized those fighting against domestic violence, not just in France, but across Europe where, on average, one woman is killed every three days by an angry partner. A television interview in France ahead of her trial garnered 4.5 million viewers, and her horrific memoir Tout le monde savait or Everyone Knew is a national bestseller in France.

Bacot’s lawyers told The Daily Beast that they are “withdrawing from the media” in the weeks leading up to the trial to focus on her defense, saying, “We will neither give interviews nor make any statements during the several weeks to come.”

The case harkens back to Jacqueline Sauvage, another French woman who fatally shot her husband after years of abuse against her and her children. Sauvage won a presidential pardon after being sentenced to 10 years in prison for murder. Bacot’s supporters believe her case merits the same consideration, though in both cases, the women were failed by a system that did not protect them from years of documented abuse. In Bacot’s case, her children went to police more than once to try to help their mother, but police turned them away because they were minors.

“Even though she committed murder by killing her torturer, and taking into account the 25 years of suffering she suffered and endured in general indifference, it is her freedom that we ask for,” a spokesperson for the support group sponsoring the petition says.

Polette, a truck driver, married Bacot’s mother in 1992, and started grooming her immediately, insisting he put body lotion on her prepubescent body and on watching her bathe, according to her memoir. She says he then began raping her when she turned 12, after her first period. Bacot reported the rape to authorities through a teacher at her school and Polette was sentenced to four years in prison for raping his stepdaughter. All the while, her mother made her visit the man who raped her in prison. When he got out, he moved back in with Bacot’s mother and the abuse started once more. “Every night after school he would say ‘you go upstairs’ to me,” she said in the interview. “I knew what that meant.”

When she became pregnant at 17 with the first of four children he would father with his stepdaughter, her mother sent her off to live with the ogre. “My mother helped me pack my boxes,” she said. “At first I thought my mother didn’t know, but over time I realized she did, but never did anything.”

Several years into the relationship, they married. Then things got worse. Bacot says Polette had always physically abused and emotionally tortured her, but then he started threatening to kill her and the children with a gun, at times pulling the trigger as he pointed what she did not know was an unloaded gun at her head. “You’re lucky, it’s not today,” he would say. “There is nothing in it, but next time I will not miss.”

Then when money got tight, Bacot says Polette started to pimp her out of the family Peugeot minivan, speaking to her in an earpiece and threatening her the whole time not to ask the men who paid for sex for help.

Even that, she says, she could have tolerated. But shortly before she killed him, she said he asked their 14-year-old daughter how she was sexually. She knew exactly what would happen next. At that point, she knew she had to stop him.

Bacot knows she could spend the rest of her life in prison, but says it is better than the rest of her life with him. “I deserve to go to jail, a very long time, that’s normal. But this trial is not only mine but that of ‘the other,’” she told Le Parisien, referring to Polette. “I hope that I can be stronger than him and for once in my life win against him.”

Bacot’s story mirrors that of countless women who are prisoners in violent relationships, having been groomed to believe they cannot leave. “I have lived my whole life believing that I deserved it,” Bacot writes in her book. “That it was because of me.”

[moonstonediaz]

Let the Ghoul Times Roll

For 9-1-1 Halloweek 2021. Day 2: Ghosts

word count: 1.8k

read it on ao3

Eddie isn’t sure what he expected when Buck suggested a spontaneous weekend trip to New Orleans. Drinking all night on Bourbon Street? Sure. Tickets to a game at the Superdome? Sign him up. Eating their weight in beignets at Cafe du Monde? Who wouldn’t?

Eddie didn’t think twice before agreeing to one of his best friend’s many whims. But now that he finds himself facing a vast expanse of elaborate above-ground graves, he starts to wonder why he didn’t ask more questions before boarding the plane.

“Tada!” Buck spreads his arms wide in front of a small plaque that reads: SAINT LOUIS CEMETERY NUMBER ONE.

“Buck,” Eddie sighs, putting one hand on his hip, “please tell me you did not fly me two thousand miles to New Orleans just to visit a graveyard.”

Buck taps the plaque, a huge smile still plastered on his face. “Cemetery,” he corrects. “A graveyard refers to a burial ground within a churchyard.”

Eddie pinches the bridge of his nose. “Why do I get the feeling that you have about a hundred different facts ready to throw at me?”

“Because you know me so well.”

Buck swings an arm around Eddie’s neck and begins dragging him inside the cemetery walls. Eddie leans into Buck like it’s second nature, because it is, and resists the urge to wrap an arm around his waist.

“Fact number one,” Buck drops his arm as they cross the threshold, much to Eddie’s dismay, “built in 1789, this is the city’s oldest—and still active—cemetery.”

Eddie rakes his eyes over his surroundings. Dilapidated mausoleums and crumbling tombs tower over them; the haunted faces of statues that stand guard had certainly seen better days.

“You don’t say.”

“See this?” Buck pulls Eddie’s attention over to a concrete wall lined top to bottom with windows laid over with brick. “These are called wall vaults. Each of these bricked over sections are actually burial sites. And here, look!”

Buck crouches down and points to the ground. “See how this one is about half the size of the others?”

Eddie nods when Buck looks up at him, unable to hide his fond smile.

“Some of them are only partially visible like this because the rest are underground.” Buck stands and bumps his shoulder lightly against Eddie’s. “They used to be above ground. That’s evidence that New Orleans is slowly sinking.”

Eddie has always been interested in anything Buck has to say. He could recite the phonebook and Eddie would be enraptured by just the sound of his voice. But this is actually turning out to be a pretty interesting trip and they haven’t even made it far into the cemetery yet. Must have something to do with the company.

They walk deeper into the maze-like grounds, their shoulders or hands brushing every other step and sending thrills through Eddie everywhere they touch. Eddie’s happy to follow Buck around and listen to him prattle on with more facts and details about New Orleans tradition than should ever be allowed in his brain. They could be the last two people on the planet and Eddie would never notice; he would be too consumed by Buck’s presence to care. That’s probably why he doesn’t notice that they’re completely alone in the cemetery.

The sun is beginning to set when Buck starts slowing down. His steps come to a halt in front of an off-white, nondescript tomb that’s stacked three-high.

“They say,” Buck says in a low voice, turning to face Eddie, “that this is one of the most haunted cemeteries in the country.”

“Do they,” Eddie intones, unimpressed.

“Mhmm.”

“And who is supposed to be haunting us?”

Buck steps closer, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, and tilts his head so his lips are at Eddie’s ear. Eddie sucks in an audible breath, goosebumps ghosting over his skin as Buck whispers in his ear.

“You’re standing at her grave.”

A shiver snakes down his spine and he jumps back half a step, his nerves officially on edge. Buck steps to the side and sweeps an arm out at the plaque that reads:

MARIE LAVEAU

THIS GREEK REVIVAL TOMB IS

REPUTED BURIAL PLACE OF THIS

NOTORIOUS “VOODOO QUEEN”.

A MYSTIC CULT, VOODOOISM, OF

AFRICAN ORIGIN, WAS BROUGHT

TO THIS CITY FROM SANTO DOMINGO

AND FLOURISHED IN 19TH CENTURY.

MARIE LAVEAU WAS THE MOST

WIDELY KNOWN OF MANY

PRACTITIONERS OF THE CULT.

“They say her spirit wanders all throughout New Orleans,” Buck is at Eddie’s side again, facing the tomb with his arms crossed loosely over his chest. “But she’s also been seen here many times walking through the tombs. You can tell it’s her by the red and white turban she wears on her head.”

Buck turns his head to smirk at Eddie, which he matches with a raised eyebrow. But Buck’s expression changes then; his eyes widen slowly, focused on something just over Eddie’s head, his mouth agape.

“Oh my god. Eddie,” Buck gasps, tugging roughly on Eddie’s sleeve.

Eddie whips around just in time to see—

Absolutely nothing.

“Dammit, Buck!” Eddie gives him a hard shove and walks a few steps away to try and ease his heart rate back down.

Buck is doubled over, laughing so hard it’s silent. Eddie plants his hands on his hips and glares. “You’re an ass.”

“I can’t believe that got you!” Buck howls.

Eddie scrunches his face. “It didn’t–”

“It did!” Buck straightens, still laughing, and tries working his way over to Eddie who turned and is now walking away. “Oh, come on, it was funny. You don’t even believe in ghosts!”

That stops him. Eddie drops his shoulders and tilts his head back, waiting for Buck to catch up. “I’m taking your window seat on the flight back.”

“Lucky for you, I already gave you the window seat.”

Eddie was ready to be annoyed with him for the rest of the night, but it’s kind of impossible when he’s so thoughtful and selfless without even trying. He looks up at Buck fondly, a soft smile settling on his face. Buck tries ducking his head to hide his blush, but Eddie sees it anyway.

“Alright, come on,” Buck takes Eddie’s hand in his and tugs him forward. “We don’t want the Voodoo Queen to take you.”

Every one of his nerve endings have been vibrating with the need to touch Buck, so he grips his hand tighter.

“Wait, she doesn’t…actually take people, does she?”

Buck gasps in mock horror, a delighted smile spread over his features. “Edmundo Diaz, are you implying that ghosts are real?”

“No, I just—I mean…you know—I, uh…”

Buck graciously cuts off his incessant rambling, pulling him along to a different aisle. “She isn’t known to be aggressive, no. Only to those who insult her religion or her beliefs. Some people have been known to be scratched or pinched, some even shoved.”

Eddie isn’t sure what to say to that. He’s a skeptic, always has been, but there’s something about the atmosphere here in this towering city of the dead that makes him wonder what could be possible.

They’re still holding hands. Neither of them have made any attempt to separate and for that, Eddie is thankful. His stomach is so full of butterflies, he feels like a damn teenager. It would take an army of ghosts to get him to let go any time soon.

They walk like that, hand in hand, through the labyrinth of mausoleums and tombs, just as the sun sets and paints the entire cemetery in darkness. The only light comes from the occasional spotlight or vigil light along their path.

“Omnia Ab Uno,” Eddie reads as they stop in front of an impressively tall and gleaming white pyramid. “That’s, uh…interesting.”

“It means ‘all from one’ in Latin,” Buck says softly. Eddie tilts his head in question and Buck smirks. “This is Nicolas Cage’s tomb.”

Eddie turns his head back to the pyramid, eyebrows scrunched together. “Nicolas Cage is alive.” Then, a panicked look crosses his face. “Right?!”

Buck laughs and laces their fingers together. “Right. Remember what I said at the beginning of this date? It’s still an active gravesite. Anyone can buy a plot.”

“Really?” A date. A date. A date. This is a date.

“Yep, if you’ve got forty grand to spare, anyone can be buried here.” Bucks runs his thumb across the back of Eddie’s hand.

Eddie’s heart rate spikes and he’s suddenly very interested in the structure of the pyramid. He thinks he’s sweating. He probably is sweating—it’s south Louisiana in October after all.

“Would you want to be buried in a pyramid?” Eddie blurts and mentally kicks himself.

“Eh, I think I’ll pass on the above-ground structures,” Buck chuckles.

Eddie’s silent for a few moments. He doesn’t understand what’s wrong with him, why he’s so nervous all of a sudden. It’s his best friend; it’s Buck.

Because it matters, says a voice in his head.

Eddie remembers something from earlier and turns so his entire body is facing Buck, their hands still clasped. “Why is it so empty here?”

“Oh. You know. The…ghosts,” Buck fumbles, looking anywhere but at Eddie.

Eddie pulls at his hand, pulls him closer, and Buck finally looks down. Eddie’s eyes are soft, his eyebrows drawn together in question. That’s ultimately what has Buck folding like a lawn chair.

He sighs deeply, “Fine. I–I know someone, okay?”

Eddie nods, “Oh, sure. You know someone. In the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Yes, I’m following.”

Buck rolls his eyes, grinning. “I’m serious. They got me this special pass so we could come here after they closed.”

“...For our date.” Eddie watches him for any sign of backing out, but Buck only smiles bigger and moves closer.

“Yes. For our date.”

Buck drops Eddie’s hand only to cup his cheek. He leans in until their noses brush, waiting for Eddie’s reaction. Eddie’s breaths are shaky, but he’s not going to pull away. He tips his head back slightly and that’s all it takes before Buck is gently pressing their lips together. He moves his arms around Eddie’s waist and Eddie threads his fingers through Buck’s hair, deepening their kiss until they’re both breathless.

Eddie smiles against Buck’s lips, pulling back only to rest their foreheads together. “Did you just kiss me in front of Nicolas Cage’s pyramid tomb?”

Buck laughs and wraps his arms tighter around Eddie. “Yeah, I think I did.”

Eddie hums and cups Buck’s cheek gently in his hand. “Do it again.”

Buck does as he’s bid, slotting their bodies together from head to toe. Eddie never would have considered a cemetery to be romantic before tonight. He thinks he would fly four thousand miles to visit all the cemeteries if it meant he could keep kissing Buck like this.

[kyogre-blue]

Ruin classification, part 2 (lol)

Continuing from yesterday’s discussion of the mysterious architecture style that appears in the Golden Apple Archipelago, I found a few more places. The current list: 

Former Ha’ar Islands

Thousand Winds Temple 

Nameless Island (of Wind and Time)

Cape Oath

Windrise

Dragonspine (Sal Vindagnyr) 

near Ridge Watch

around Sal Terrae 

Yaoguang Shoal 

Guyun

Shrines of Depth

I’ll tl;dr my thoughts on this spread: Basically, there are two options here. One is that these places were built by different groups and they all simply learned this style from some original ancient civilization. We currently won’t have enough info to tell anything about this “proto-civilization,” so that would be the end of it.  

The other option is there was some civilization that spanned the entire eastern coastline of Mond and Liyue. Here is trying to explain them one by one, as a kind of narrative: 

Starting at Mond’s north-east coast, Thousand Wind Temple was built to pray for a respite from the cold, and Sal Vindagnyr’s lore mentions that it was founded by those seeking refuge from “snow and strife.” This is tangentially supported via the Sacrificial series being the only other mention of Imunlaukr. 

Going down south via the coast, you reach Windrise and then Cape Oath. Cape Oath is possibly connected to Pilos Peak, and I am assuming the Archipelago has the remains from that, when Venti yeeted it. I can’t imagine what they were doing over there, but it’s bound to be a big deal. 

Onward, you hit Sal Vindagnyr. Perhaps you can consider them the core civilization, which would tie into the Shrines of Depth that closed up after it fell. 

Ridge Watch, Sal Terrae, and then Yaoguang Shoal would then be the immediately surrounding areas west and southward of Sal Vindagnyr (future Dragonspine).  

And then Guyun is the south-most aspect of all this, though... and extremely puzzling one. 

Moving on to the boring rows of screenshots as proof of how bored I was. Let’s start by reviewing the quirks of this style. 

Fancy archway, note the three-pointed “mora” symbol in the center of the knot:

Bottom of pillars: 

Pillars inside pillars: 

Rocks walls have texture: 

“Stained glass” wall decor: 

Ugly tiles:

OK, so let’s move on to the very puzzling gameplay function of this style, Shrines of Depth. 

Top and bottom pillars are present, window design very similar to the wall decor. 

But the lore for Shrine keys: 

These Shrines of Depths sealed themselves off when the civilization that built them was lost. Keys lost deep within domains are able to break the seals. Or perhaps that, for a moment, these keys help the seals to forget all that they have lost.

This is very hmm because Morax let this “civilization” build on top of Guyun, which was only created when he sealed up a bunch of enemy gods. And it’s not like those archways washed up on Guyun. They are very clearly part of the landscape. 

On the other hand, the same stuff is present in Thousand Winds Temple, and also the nearby Wind and Time ruins. These temples are described in the Sacrificial weapon set, which says they were built while the war between Decarabian and Andrius was going on. But this set otherwise talks about the founding families of New Mond, so it should have been too long before Decarabian’s fall.....?

The other location discussed before is Cape Oath, which is connected to the now defunct Pilos Peak. This is presumably what Venti yeeted out to the Archipelago... 

Other locations: 

Windrise! Same bottom of the pillars, and there is another nearby structure with the same columns. 

Before you ask, this is the only area next to a statue of the Seven to be like this. 

Dragonspine (or rather Sal Vindagnyr):

It’s all over the place, really. They even have lanterns in the same style, which I haven’t seen anywhere else. 

However, worth noting is that the Mural Room, and the Mural Room alone, uses styling more similar to the Domains and World Boss arenas. Here is both the three point symbol in the knot and the four point symbol of the domains: 

Near Ridge Watch: 

And then, this one was very strange, around Sal Terrae: 

Now, I’m not too sure whether Havria’s actual location would count? 

Havria herself is associated instead with these chalices: 

And the one-time domain from Zhongli’s ch1 had a completely different design style (more Liyue-leaning, I would say). 

This same style also appears on the shore nearby, on the side of Dragonspine: 

(There’s a whole bunch of pillars and arches, I’m just too lazy to add even more images.) 

Now, this adventurer fellow, Wenze, has some interesting dialogue: 

Wenze: Hello, are you also an adventurer searching for the Abandoned City?

Wenze: Oh, you haven't heard? Somewhere beneath these ruins lies an ancient abandoned city.

Wenze: Rumors of such a place have circulated for many generations at the Adventurers' Guild, but nobody has found it yet.

Wenze: These ruins were once a city, too. But it was probably abandoned long before even the Archon War.

Wenze: It is said that beneath those two trees are buried the bodies of the last king of the ancient city and his enemy, who was also his true love...

Wenze: They perished together, but their burial separates them for eternity.

Wenze: The two trees that grew above the ruins once everything had turned to dust stand, just like them, face to face but separated...

I can never figure out which two trees he means? None of the trees there are particularly impressive or obviously paired together?? 

However, this dialogue makes it pretty clear those ruins can’t be the same civilization that built Thousand Winds Temple or on Guyun, since those definitely do not predate the Archon War. 

Unless.... Mihoyo are reusing the distinctive architectural style.... 

They wouldn’t... right? Right??

[miguelmarias]

TOP 2020

25/12/2020

 A)    Great movies made since 2015 seen for the first time in 2020: 

Buoyancy(Freedom;Rodd Rathjen, 2019)

Les choses qu’on dit, les choses qu’on fait(Emmanuel Mouret, 2020)

L’Île au trésor(Guillaume Brac, 2018)

Le Sel des larmes(Philippe Garrel, 2019/20)

Ghawre Bairey Aaj(Home and the World;Aparna Sen, 2019)

Undine(Christian Petzold, 2020)

Happī awā(Happy Hour;Hamaguchi Ryūsuke, 2015)

Netemo Sametemo(Asako I & II;Hamaguchi Ryūsuke, 2018)

Adolescentes(Sébastien Lifshitz, 2013-9/20)

Family Romance, LLC.(Werner Herzog, 2019)

Demain et tous les autres jours(Noémie Lvovsky, 2017)

Gamak Ghar(Achal Mishra, 2019)

Lunana:A Yak in the Classroom(Pawo Choyning Dorji, 2019)

Semina il vento(Sow the Wind;Danilo Caputo, 2020)

Objector(Molly Stuart, 2019)

La France contre les robots(Jean-Marie Straub, 2020)

Paris Calligrammes(Ulrike Ottinger, 2019/20)

Un film dramatique(Éric Baudelaire, 2019)

 B)    Great movies made before 2015 seen for the first time in 2020: 

Là-Haut, un Roi au-dessus des nuages(Pierre Schoendoerffer, 2003)

Pangarap ng Puso(Demons/Whispers of the Demon/Hope of the Heart;Mario O’Hara, 2000)

Les Films rêvés(Eric Pauwels, 2009)

La vida en rojo(Andrés Linares, 2007/8)

Come Next Spring(R.G. Springsteen, 1955/6)

Song of Surrender(Mitchell Leisen, 1948/9)

Adventure in Manhattan(Edward Ludwig, 1936)

Strannaia zhenshchina(A Strange Woman;Iuli Raízman, 1978)

Chastnaia zhízn(Private Life;Iuli Raízman, 1982)

Málva(Vladimir Braun, 1956/7)

Zhila-byla devochka(Once There Was a Girl;Viktor Eisimont, 1944)

The Unknown Man(Richard Thorpe, 1951)

Aisai Monogatari(Story of a Beloved Wife;Shindō Kaneto, 1951)

Practically Yours(Mitchell Leisen, 1944)

A Summer Storm(Robert Wise, 1999/2000)

Lettre d’un cinéaste à sa fille(Eric Pauwels, 2000)

Sombra verde(Untouched;Roberto Gavaldón, 1954)

Fantasma d’amore(Dino Risi, 1981)

Adieu, Mascotte(Das Modell vom Montparnasse;Wilhelm Thiele, 1929)

Mori no kajiya(The Blacksmith of the Forest;Shimizu Hiroshi, 1928/9;fragment)

Zwischen Gestern und Morgen(Between Yesterday and Tomorrow;Harald Braun, 1947)

Last Holiday(Henry Cass, 1950)

Dialogue d’ombres(Danièle Huillet & Jean-Marie Straub, 1954-2013)

Out-Takes from the Life of a Happy Man(Jonas Mekas, 2012)

Nice Time(Claude Goretta & Alain Tanner, 1957)

Aloma of the South Seas(Alfred Santell, 1941)

A Feather in Her Hat(Alfred Santell, 1935)

La Danseuse Orchidée(Léonce Perret, 1928)

Underground(Vincent Sherman, 1941)

Time Out(in Twilight Zone-The Movie)(John Landis, 1983)

Lackawanna Blues(George C. Wolfe, 2005)

Janie(Michael Curtiz, 1944)

Dernier Amour(Léonce Perret, 2016)

Jeunes Filles en détresse(Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1939)

Kisapmata(Blink of an Eye;Mike De Leon, 1981)

La Dernière Lettre(Frederick Wiseman, 2002)

The Lady of the Dig-Out(W.S. Van Dyke II, 1918)

Their Own Desire(E.Mason Hopper, 1929)

 C)    Very good movies made since 2015 seen for the first time in 2020: 

Zumiriki(Oskar Alegria, 2019)

Atlantique(Mati Diop, 2019)

J’accuse(An Officier and A Spy;Roman Polanski, 2019)

Richard Jewell(Clint Eastwood, 2019)

Alice et le Maire(Nicolas Pariser, 2019)

Contes de Juillet(July Tales;Guillaume Brac, 2017)

Dark Waters(Todd Haynes, 2019)

Ofrenda a la tormenta(Fernando González Molina, 2020)

Nomad:In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin(Werner Herzog, 2019)

Into the Inferno(Werner Herzog, 2016)

The Zookeeper’s Wife(Niki Caro, 2017)

Journal de septembre(Eric Pauwels, 2019)

La Deuxième Nuit(Eric Pauwels, 2016)

Kaze no denwa(Voices in the Wind;Suwa Nobuhiro, 2019/20)

Da 5 Bloods(Spike Lee, 2020)

Izaokas(Isaac;Jurgis Matulevičius, 2019)

A Metamorfose dos Pássaros(Catarina Vasconcelos, 2020)

Tabi no Owari Sekai no Hajimari(To the Ends of the Earth;Kurosawa Kiyoshi, 2019)

La Nuit d’avant(Pablo García Canga, 2019)

My Mexican Bretzel(Nuria Giménez, 2018-9)

Domangchin yeoja(The Woman Who Ran;Hong Sang-soo, 2019/20)

Öndög(Wang Quanan, 2019)

Hatsukoi(First Love;Miike Takashi, 1959)

Million raz pogivaet odin Cheloviek(One man dies a million times;Jessica Oreck, 2018/9)

The Two Popes(Fernando Meirelles, 2019)

Félicité(Alain Gomis, 2016/7)

Salt and Fire(Werner Herzog, 2016)

Ni de lian(Your Face;Tsai Ming-liang, 2018)

Qi qiu(Balloon;Pema Tseden, 2019)

River Silence(Rogério Soares, 2019)

Charlie’s Angels(Elizabeth Banks, 2019)

La boda de Rosa(Iciar Bollain, 2020)

Guerra(War;José Oliveira & Marta Ramos, 2020)

My Thoughts Are Silent/Moyi dumky tykhi(Antonio Lukich, 2019)

Namo(The Alien;Nader Saeivar;co-script-Jafar Panahi, 2020)

Los silencios(The Silences;Beatriz Seigner, 2018)

Terminal Sud(Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche, 2019)

Tu mérites un amour(You Deserve a Lover;Hafsia Herzi, 2019)

Les Misérables(Ladj Ly, 2019)

Padre no hay más que uno(Santiago Segura, 2019)

Honeyland(Tamara Kotovska & Ljubomir Stefanov, 2019)

Izbrisana(Erased;Miha Mazzini & Dusan Joksimovic, 2018)

This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection(Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, 2019)

Primero Enero(Darío Mascambroni, 2016)

Lahi, Hayop(Pan, Genus/Genus Pan;Lav Diaz, 2020)

 D)    Very good movies made before 2015 seen for the first time in 2020: 

Topaze(Marcel Pagnol, 1936)

The SIGN OF THE RAM(John Sturges, 1947/8)

Abandoned(Joseph M. Newman, 1949)

Bewitched(Arch Oboler, 1944/5)

La Femme du Bout du Monde((Jean Epstein, 1937)

The Outcast(William Witney, 1954)

Saadia(Albert Lewin, 1953)

Un monde sans femmes(Guillaume Brac, 2011)

Dishonored Lady(Robert Stevenson, 1947)

Always Goodbye(Signey Lanfield, 1938)

A Blueprint for Murder(Andrew L. Stone, 1953)

Bedevilled(Mitchell Leisen, 1955)

That Forsyte Woman(Compton Bennett, 1949)

The Miracle(Irving Rapper, 1959)

The Madonna’s Secret(Wilhelm Thiele, 1946)

The Town That Dreaded Sundown(Charles B. Pierce, 1976)

Grayeagle(Charles B. Pierce, 1977)

Barricade(Peter Godfrey, 1949/50)

Tomorrow is Forever(Irving Pichel, 1945/6)

David Harum(James Cruze, 1934)

The Vanquished(Edward Ludwig, 1953)

Keisatsukan(Uchida Tomu, 1933)

...Enfants des courants d’air(Édouard Luntz, 1959, short)

The Winds of Autumn(Charles B. Pierce, 1976)

Suddenly It’s Spring(Mitchell Leisen, 1946)

Uchūjin Tōkyō ni arawaru(Warning from Space;Shima Kōji, 1956)

Swiss Family Robinson(Edward Ludwig, 1940)

Ludwig der Zweite, König von Bayern(Wilhelm Dieterle, 1930)

Faithless(Harry Beaumont, 1932)

Botan-dorō(Peony Lanterns;Yamamoto Satsuo, 1968)

Ginza 24 chou(Tales of Ginza;Kawashima Yūzō, 1955)

Goodbye Again(Michael Curtiz, 1933)

Lines of White on a Sullen Sea(D.W. Griffith, 1909)

You Gotta Stay Happy(H.C. Potter, 1948)

Cave of Forgotten Dreams(Werner Herzog, 2010)

Riff-Raff(Ted Tetzlaff, 1947)

The Moon is Down(Irving Pichel, 1943)

The Bride Wore Boots(Irving Pichel, 1946)

Adventures in Silverado(Phil Karlson, 1948)

The Stolen Ranch(William Wyler, 1926)

Congo Maisie(H.C. Potter, 1940)

Marcides(Mercedes;Yousry Nasrallah, 1993)

Hell’s Five Hours(Jack L. Copeland, 1958)

Daniel(in Stimulantia;Ingmar Bergman, 1967)

Diên Biên Phú(Pierre Schoendoerffer, 1992)

Canyon River(Cattle King;Harmon Jones, 1956)

Dos Basuras(Kurt Land, 1958)

Smart Girls Don’t Talk(Richard L. Bare, 1948)

The Big Shakedown(John Francis Dillon, 1933/4)

Corvette K-225(Richard Rosson;p.,collab.Howard Hawks, 1943)

The Gay Deception(William Wyler, 1935)

The Invisible Woman(A.Edward Sutherland, 1940)

Rage in Heaven(W.S. Van Dyke II;collab.Robert B. Sinclair,Richard Thorpe, 1941)

Wild Side(Sébastien Lifshitz, 2004)

I bambini e noi(Luigi Comencini, 1970//7)

The House Across The Street(Richard L. Bare, 1948/9)

The Doughgirls(James V. Kern, 1944)

The Love Trap(William Wyler, 1929)

Torch Song(Charles Walters, 1953)

The Meanest Man in the World(Sidney Lanfield, 1942/3)

Cole Younger, Gunfighter(R.G. Springsteen, 1958)

Ballerine(Gustav Machatý, 1936)

Via Mala(Josef von Báky, 1945//8)

Sky Giant(Lew Landers, 1938)

Les Invisibles(Sébastien Lifshitz, 2012)

Promène toi donc tout nu(Emmanuel Mouret, 1998)

A Story for the Modlins(Una historia para los Modlin;Sergio Oksman, 2012)

Something in the Wind(Irving Pichel, 1947)

Spoveď(Confession;Pavol Skýkova, 1968)

Guilty Hands(W.S. Van Dyke II;collab.Lionel Barrymore, 1931)

Atto di accusa(Giacomo Gentilomo, 1950)

Suspense(Frank Tuttle, 1956)

This Is The Night(Frank Tuttle, 1932)

Escape in the Fog(Oscar ‘Budd’ Boetticher,Jr., 1945)

The Price of Fear(Abner Biberman, 1956)

Happy People:A Year in the Taiga(Werner Herzog, 2010)

Urok(The Lesson;Kristina Grozeva & Petar Valchanov, 2014)

Le Naufragé(Guillaume Brac, 2009)

Lili Marlen(Peter Mihálik;script.Dušan Hanák, 1970;short)

Deseo(Antonio Zavala Kugler, 2013)

  E)     Great movies that improved by new watchings: 

Shanghai Express(Josef von Sternberg, 1932)

The Best Years of Our Lives(William Wyler, 1946)

Till We Meet Again(Frank Borzage, 1944)

Man’s Favorite Sport?(Howard Hawks, 1963/4)

Along The Great Divide(Raoul Walsh, 1951)

Hondo(John V. Farrow, 1953)

Where The Sidewalk Ends(Otto Preminger, 1950)

Mrs. Miniver(William Wyler, 1942)

Driftwood(Allan Dwan, 1947)

‘Good-bye, My Lady’(William A. Wellman, 1956)

Touch of Evil(Preview version, 1975;not later ‘improvements’)(Orson Welles, 1958)

Le Crabe-Tambour(Pierre Schoendoerffer, 1977)

Unfinished Business(Gregory LaCava, 1941)

Madigan(Don Siegel, 1968)

Big Business(James Wesley Horne;s.Leo McCarey, 1929)

Putting Pants on Philip(Clyde A. Bruckman;s.Leo McCarey, 1927)

The Runner Stumbles(Stanley Kramer, 1979)

Yushima no Shiraume(Romance at Yushima;Kinugasa Teinosukē, 1955)

David Harum(Allan Dwan, 1915)

The Virginian(Cecil B. DeMille, 1914)

Island in the Sky(William A. Wellman, 1953)

All About Eve(Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950)

L’Eclisse(Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962)

The Roaring Twenties(Raoul Walsh, 1939)

The Plainsman(Cecil B. DeMille, 1936)

JLG/JLG-Autoportrait de décembre(Jean-Luc Godard, 1994)

‘Je vous salue, Marie’(Hail Mary;Jean-Luc Godard, 1984)

La Roue(Abel Gance, 1923)

They All Laughed(Peter Bogdanovich, 1981)

Innocent Blood(John Landis, 1992)

An American Werewolf in London(John Landis, 1981)

The Thing Called Love(Peter Bogdanovich, 1993)

Into the Night(John Landis, 1985)

The File On Thelma Jordon(Thelma Jordon;Robert Siodmak, 1949)

The Little American(Cecil B. DeMille, 1917)

In Our Time(Vincent Sherman, 1944)

The Hunters(Dick Powell, 1958)

Phase IV(Saul Bass, 1974)

L’Honneur d’un Capitaine(Pierre Schoendoerffer, 1982)

Backfire(Vincent Sherman, 1948//50)

Five(Arch Oboler, 1951)

Somewhere in the Night(Joseph L. Mankiewiz, 1946)

A Man Alone(Ray Milland, 1955)

Die Geiger von Florez(Paul Czinner, 1926)

Living on Velvet(Frank Borzage, 1934/5)

La Recta provincia(Raúl Ruiz, 2007//15)

La Noche de enfrente(Raúl Ruiz, 2012)

Carrie(Sister Carrie;William Wyler, 1951/2)

The Spiral Staircase(Robert Siodmak, 1945/6)

The Paradine Case(Alfred Hitchcock, 1947)

L’Amore(Una voce umana+Il Miracolo)(Roberto Rossellini, 1947/8)

The Heiress(William Wyler, 1949)

 F)     Very good movies watched again 

Bluebeard’s 10 Honeymoons(W.Lee Wilder, 1960)

The Five Pennies(Melville Shavelson, 1958)

Take a Letter, Darling(Mitchell Leisen, 1942)

Escape(Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1948)

Appassionatamente(Giacomo Gentilomo, 1954)

Así como habían sido(Trío)(Andrés Linares, 1986/7)

San Antone(Joseph Kane, 1953)

The High and the Mighty(William A. Wellman, 1954)

Taki no Shiraito(The Water Magician;Mizoguchi Kenji, 1933)

The Web(Michael Gordon, 1947)

The Buccaneer(Anthony Quinn;s.Cecil B. DeMille, 1958)

The Buccaneer(Cecil B. DeMille, 1938)

Desire Me(uncredited:George Cukor/Jack Conway/Mervyn LeRoy/Victor Saville, 1946)

Flaxy Martin(Richard L. Bare, 1948/9)

Swing High, Swing Low(Mitchell Leien, 1937)

Death Takes A Holiday(Mitchell Leisen, 1934)

Irene(Herbert Wilcox, 1940)

Beloved Enemy(H.C. Potter, 1936)

The Cowboy and the Lady(H.C. Potter, 1938)

Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam(Paul Wegener, 1920)

Mia madre(Nanni Moretti, 2015)

Hell On Frisco Bay(Frank Tuttle, 1955)

Stormy Weather(Andrew L. Stone, 1943)

The Milky Way(Leo McCarey;w.Harold Lloyd, 1936)

Pietà per chi cade(Mario Costa, 1954)

Repeat Performance(Alfred L. Werker, 1947)

Das indische Grabmal:1.Die Sendung des Yoghi,2.Der Tiger von Eschnapur(Joe May, 1921)

Julie(Andrew L. Stone, 1956)

The Member of the Wedding(Fred Zinnemann, 1953)

Winterset(Alfred Santell, 1936)

The Right to Romance(Alfred Santell, 1933)

As Young as You Feel(Harmon Jones, 1951)

You’ll Never Get Rich(Sidney Lanfield, 1941)

The Woman Accused(Paul Sloane, 1933)

Foma Gordeiev(Mark Donskoí, 1959)

The Parent Trap(David Swift, 1961)

High Wall(Curtis Bernhardt, 1947)

Mr. Lucky(H.C. Potter, 1943)

Un Marido de Ida y Vuelta(Luis Lucia, 1957)

The Safecracker(Ray Milland, 1957/8)

She’s Funny That Way(Peter Bogdanovich, 2014)

Oh...Rosalinda!!(Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1955)

Caribbean(Edward Ludwig, 1952)

Harper(The Moving Target;Jack Smight, 1966)

For You I Die(John Reinhardt, 1947)

Crashing Hollywood(Lew Landers, 1937/8)

Le Souvenir d’un avenir(Chris. Marker & Yannick Bellon, 2001)

Susan Slept Here(Frank Tashlin, 1954)

Bishkanyar Deshot(In the Land of Poison Women;Manju Borah, 2019)

Pollyanna(David Swift, 1960)

A Tale of Two Cities(Jack Conway;collab.Val Lewton & Jacques Tourneur, 1935)

Café Society(Woody Allen, 2016)

Shadow on the Wall(Patrick Jackson, 1949/50)

Tonnerre(Guillaume Brac, 2013)

Le Jouet criminel(Adolfo G. Arrieta, 1969)

‘Once more, with feeling!’(Stanley Donen, 1959)

The Shopworn Angel(H.C. Potter, 1938)

The Absent Minded Professor(Robert Stevenson, 1961)

Gavaznha(The Deer;Masud Kimiai, 1974)

[largeballz]

Poem for Myself on my Fiftieth Birthday

Never written a poem for yourself

have you, you daft old bugger? Well

here goes.

Dignified or messy deaths

come closer every time. Lament for the makars?

The living ones are being archived now

and the thought is chilling. Who reads us

anyway? A small scattered band of aficionados?

Callow students? Readers for the Scottish

Certificate of Education Examination Board?

Well-heeled professors of literature?

Burns would have laughed his head off.

It did come off when they disinterred him

for a more elegant burial.

Newspapers and TV are full

of former acquaintances and new names

presenting a melange somewhat similar

to that I touted too sincerely at their ages.

Each day the news is less new, more predictable,

just a habit.

And yet, and yet…

a spirited child, a calm intelligent friend,

uproarious and surrealistic situations, fools,

shysters, hustlers, the gamey lights of the demi-monde,

iridescent butterflies shimmering above the machair,

the panache with which our children live their lives,

a song, a poem, a breaking of the heart –

life-force or what have you, I’m in love with you.

And an arsenal of nuclear hardware

stashed half-a-mile away.

Children keep being born and growing up

and leaving. Life in its wild Heraclitan flux

moves faster, cash-in-hand for spending.

Booze, tobacco, entertainment, sex

and sometimes even eating lose their frisson,

become nearly inconveniences. Is this my climacteric?

More wakefulness. More solitude. More laughter.

More tolerance. Fewer extremes.

Less physical strength. Less time.

I monitor my changes like a hawk.

Family crises blow up in mushroom clouds

of ferocity and passion – and now I hesitate

before steaming in to shed my little light

on grief, and fear’s catharsis.

It often seems that I have known and experienced

too much – houses, cars, careers, countries,

battles, lovers, the tidal waves of marriages

and divorces, journeys through the night,

separations, hatreds, many self-deceptions,

a million bars and conversations, ideas,

political nonsenses, theories about this and that,

thousands of books and projects, religions,

philosophies, mysticisms, hallucinations, sleep,

dreams and tears and that hypnagogic state

where creativity stirs; breakdowns, self-witnessing

and the stopped mind; gradual changes

and sudden self-developments; complete

about-turns in other people’s lives and in my own;

the absolute exigencies of sheer

survival – and yet I know nothing at all

– who does?

The build-up of existential paradoxes

and mysterious synchronicities accelerates

until I pay less and less attention

they are all so self-pervading.

Manure, the Buddhists call all that,

in which one plants the seeds

of an anonymous simpler life

and a new way of being.

After the storm which shook my house

a dozen swans

fly over

crying among themselves.

I am entranced!

Where yesterday the grey and white Atlantic

crashed in huge breakers along the familiar shore

today three minute violet-starred jellyfish

bob gently inside a gentle wave

– how did they stick together through that carnage?

An otter, laughing, swims on his back.

Two eagles circle in the stark blue sky.

We drag down

our little boat and cross the sea-loch

through snorting porpoises and the oily slick

which means herring below. The land recedes.

Halfway across, the wind suddenly veers and rises.

Flurries of snow come thicker.

We steer into waves much higher than the boat.

On the other shore, laughing at my own jokes,

I slip on icy seaweed, break my wrist,

and instantly am a child again.

The roads are impassable. Happy birthday!

a long one but worth the read thank you poet anon <3