#tour de france 2003

[halothanic]

“you don’t wanna get mixed up with a guy like me.. i’m a loner, dottie, a rebel..”

this is probably my favorite thing i’ve ever drawn, bc it truly comes from the heart. pee-wee’s big adventure has been one of my top five films since i'd seen it as a kid, and i love it and laugh more each time i watch it, which is why i jumped at the opportunity to draw this poster for one of my favorite theaters that sold out at their screening a couple days ago! i couldn't be more proud or pleased.

i put a lot of work into the concept and details! pee-wee's costumes are in order of appearance, and of course, as said at the bottom, it's based on kraftwerk's tour de france cover, due to his dream in the opening scene. what could be better than combining an excellent album and film? i can’t put into words how much he impacted my personality, decor taste, and sense of humor so i’ll leave it at a simple “thanks for everything, pee-wee”! without you, i would have never started to feel comfortable being, in total seriousness, a silly little guy.

i have pee-wee stickers for sale in my shop, which i just resurrected, and will be listing this print, as well as a couple others, in the near future!

[1337wtfomgbbq]

[mudwerks]

(via Elektro Kardiogramm - Kraftwerk (2003)

[mychameleondays]

Kraftwerk: Tour De France 2003 (12″)

EMI/Kling Klang 12EM 626/07243 552 689 6 9

Released: July 7, 2003

[astyrra]

we’re switching internet providers this month so i downloaded our internet usage history going back to 2003

its really interesting to look at, you can tell exactly when i got into neopets and when i got tumblr bc the internet use goes up each time

[gratisdiamanten]

NO SHORTCUTS TO HEAVEN:

Or, Lance Armstrong buys himself a gun.

No Shortcuts to Heaven, Billy Graham, Decision Magazine (2005). // Lance Armstrong is treated for testicular cancer, Linda Armstrong Kelly (1996). // Psalm 138:6 ESV. // Stalker, Andrei Tarkovsky (1979). // Lance Armstrong crashes out of Stage 5 of the Amgen Tour of California, Associated Press (2010). // Recycling Religion: Lance Armstrong’s Postmodern Spirituality of Suffering and Survivorship, William J. F. Keenan (2014). // Lance Armstrong is treated for testicular cancer, Linda Armstrong Kelley (1996). // Lance Armstrong during the 91st edition of the Tour de France, Tim de Waele (2004). // Recycling Religion: Lance Armstrong’s Postmodern Spirituality of Suffering and Survivorship, William J. F. Keenan (2014). // For Stacy (photo and excerpt), Lance Armstrong, Recovox News (2010). // It's Not About the Bike, Lance Armstrong (1999). // Lance Armstrong in a youth BMX race ca. 1982, Linda Armstrong Kelly, Sports Illustrated (2013). // Lance Armstrong: It Wasn’t Legal but I Wouldn’t Change a Thing, Reuters (2019). // Lance Armstrong getting a medical check up before the Tour de France, Franck Fife (2003). // Effects of erythropoietin on cycling performance of well trained cyclists: a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial, Jules A. A. C. Heuberger et al., The Lancet (2017). // Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866). // Luke 9:25 ESV. // Lance Armstrong at a victory procession for the Tour de France, Peter de Jong (2005). // Lance Armstrong climbing Alpe d'Huez, John Allen (2000). // It's Not About the Bike, Lance Armstrong (1999).

[homomenhommes]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … March 27

1878 – Henry Davis Sleeper (d.1934) was an American antiquarian, collector, and interior decorator best known for Beauport, his Gloucester, Massachusetts, country home that is "one of the most widely published houses of the twentieth century."

Henry Davis Sleeper was born in Boston. He was grandson of Jacob Sleeper, one of the founders of Boston University as well as a clothier and manager of a real estate trust.

Henry's education appears to have been by private tutors due to ill health as a child, and it is unclear as to whether he was ever formally educated.

Sleeper was introduced to the Eastern Point in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in the spring of 1906 by the Harvard economist A. Piatt Andrew, who later served in the U.S. House of Representatives, who had built a handsome summer mansion, Red Roof, on a rock ledge above the harbor.

Sleeper was much taken by the location and immediately decided to build a little further along the ledge from Red Roof. He purchased the land on Eastern Point in Gloucester on August 13, 1907.In the fall of 1907, construction of Beauport, Sleeper's relatively modestly scaled Arts and Crafts-style house, began and was sufficiently finished to receive A. Piatt Andrew as a house guest in May 1908. As property flanking Sleeper's became available, Beauport was expanded several times until 1925, often in response to events or important experiences in his life.

In 1918, Sleeper became the U.S. Representative of, and a major fundraiser for, the American Field Service, an ambulance corps founded by A. Piatt Andrew early in World War I. While Andrew served in the battle zones, Sleeper crisscrossed the Atlantic with supplies and funds, and worked closely with the French military. France awarded him the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor.

Sleeper had never married and left no direct descendants. His relationship with Andrew, also a lifelong bachelor, was intense, and may have been a sexual one as well.

Sleeper died in Massachusetts General Hospital of leukemia on September 22, 1934, and is buried in his family's plot in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Watertown and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Andrew wrote the memorial tribute published in the Gloucester Daily Times.

Beauport House was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2003. In 2008, due to new information on Sleeper's life emerging, the decision was made to acknowledge his homosexuality in tour guides of Beauport, "not to define Sleeper but to contextualize him."

Portrait of de Maistre by Jean Shepeard

1894 – Roy de Maistre CBE (d.1968) was an Australian artist of international fame. He is famous in Australian art for his early experimentation in "colour-music", and is recognized as the first Australian artist to use pure abstractionism. His later works were painted in a figurative style generally influenced by Cubism. His 'Stations of the Cross' series hangs in Westminster Cathedral and works of his are hung in the Tate Gallery, London and in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. He was very close friends with the Australian writer Patrick White.

From his family's very prominent position in Australian society, he helped to make modern art fashionable in Sydney in the late 1920s, or at least as fashionable as it could be., but the anti-modernist criticism he received following his first one-man exhibition in Sydney convinced him that his art could not flourish in Australia.

The Footballers

In March 1930 he left Australia to live permanently in London. He held one-man shows at the Beaux-Arts Gallery, London (1930); in the studio of his colleague Francis Bacon (1930); at Bernheim Jeune, Paris (1932); Mayor Gallery, London (1934); and at Calmann Gallery, London (1938).

In 1936 de Maistre met the 18 years younger novelist Patrick White. The two men never became lovers, but firm friends. In Patrick White's own words "He became what I most needed, an intellectual and aesthetic mentor". They had many similarities. They were both homosexual; they both felt like outsiders in their own families (for example de Maistre's family disapproved of his painting and described it as 'horrible'); as a result they both had ambivalent feelings about their families and backgrounds, yet both maintained close and life-long links with their families, particularly their mothers. They also both appreciated the benefits of social standing and connections; and Christian symbolism and biblical themes are common in both artists' work.

de Maistre's portrait of Patrick White

Patrick White dedicated his first novel Happy Valley (1939) to de Maistre, and acknowledged de Maistre's influence on his writing. He even went to St Jean de Luz during the writing of the novel under encouragement from de Maistre. In 1947 de Maistre's painting Figure in a Garden (The Aunt) was used as the cover for the first edition of Patrick White's The Aunt's Story. Patrick White also bought many of de Maistre's paintings for himself. In 1974 Patrick White gave all his paintings by de Maistre to the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

In 1940 de Maistre started work for the French Section, Joint War Organization of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St John, London. In 1942 he was posted to Foreign Relations Department, British Red Cross Society. During this time de Maistre scarcely painted. After World War II, however, he had become an artist of the establishment. He had no trouble selling his paintings, and continuing to accept private commissions for society portraits. He died in 1968 in London.

Denton Welch: Self-portrait

1915 – Maurice Denton Welch was an English writer and painter, admired for his vivid prose and precise descriptions.(d.1948)

Welch was born in Shanghai and spent his childhood in China — he recorded this in his fictionalised autobiography of his early years, Maiden Voyage (1935). With the help and patronage of Edith Sitwell and John Lehmann this became a small but lasting success and made his reputation. It was followed by the novel In Youth is Pleasure (1943), a study of adolescence, and by Brave and Cruel (1949). An unfinished autobiographical novel A Voice through a Cloud was published posthumously in 1950.

Welch did not set out to be a writer. He originally studied art in London with the intention of becoming a painter. At the age of 20, he was hit by a car while cycling in Surrey and suffered a fractured spine. Although he was not paralysed, he suffered severe pain and complications, including spinal tuberculosis that ultimately led to his early death.

He met his companion, Eric Oliver, in November 1943 while he was convalescing. Oliver was a farm-worker living in Maidstone, and was a regular visitor. He acted as nurse for Welch, then his secretary, and finally as his literary executor when Welch died at the age of 33.

His literary work, intense and introverted, includes insightful portraits of his friends. He continued occasionally to paint; there is a fine self-portrait (in the National Portrait Gallery), and some line illustrations in the first editions of his books.

What is clear from Welch's writing is that his chief limitation is also his chief virtue: his focus on himself. For his time and place, Welch's novels are surprisingly suffused with homosexuality. His examination of the people around him, very thinly disguised in the novels, and his exploration of his own homosexual feelings and responses to the world show Welch to be a writer of consequence, if an over-looked one.

William S Burroughs cited Denton Welch as the writer who most influenced his own work, and dedicated his novel The Place of Dead Roads to Welch.

It may be that his most lasting work will be his posthumously published Journals, in which he is frank about his homosexuality.

1943 – The Netherlands: A group of resistance activists led by Willem Arondeus, a gay man, dress as German soldiers, infiltrate the citizen registration building, and destroy it, hindering the Nazi German effort to identify Dutch Jews. The attack inspires similar ones throughout The Netherlands. Arondeus was a Dutch artist and author who joined the Dutch anti-Nazi resistance movement during World War II. Arondeus was caught and executed soon after his arrest. He was openly gay before the war and defiantly asserted his sexuality before his execution. His final words were "Let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards".

1963 – Dave Koz is an American smooth jazz saxophonist.

Dave Koz was born in Encino, California to Jewish parents. Although he is Jewish, Koz plays both Christmas and occasional Hanukkah songs at his concerts. He attended William Howard Taft High School in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California performing on saxophone as a member of the school jazz band. He later graduated from UCLA with a degree in mass communications in 1986, and only weeks after his graduation, decided to make a go of becoming a professional musician.

Within weeks of that decision, he was recruited as a member of Bobby Caldwell's tour. For the rest of the 1980s, Koz served as a session musician in several bands, and toured with Jeff Lorber. Koz was a member of Richard Marx's band and toured with Marx throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. He also played in the house band of CBS' short-lived The Pat Sajak Show, with Tom Scott as bandleader.In 1990, Koz decided to pursue a solo career, and began recording for Capitol Records. His albums there include Lucky Man, The Dance, and Saxophonic. Saxophonic was nominated for both a Grammy Award and an NAACP Image Award. In 1994, Koz began hosting a syndicated radio program, The Dave Koz Radio Show (formerly Personal Notes), featuring the latest music and interviews with who's who in the genre. Dave co-hosted The Dave Koz Morning Show on 94.7 The Wave, a smooth jazz station in Los Angeles for six years. He decided to leave the show in January 2007 and was replaced by Brian McKnight. In 2002, Koz started a record label, Rendezvous Entertainment, with Frank Cody and Hyman Katz.

In an April 2004 interview with The Advocate, Koz came out publicly as gay.

Blake McIver Ewing - Then and Now

1985 – Blake McIver Ewing also known as Blake McIver and Blake Ewing, is an American singer-songwriter, actor, model and pianist. He was known for playing Michelle's friend, Derek, on the sitcom Full House. Ewing also portrayed the role of Waldo in the 1994 feature film version of The Little Rascals, and voiced Eugene on Hey Arnold! during its 5th season. He is currently one of the hosts of the Bravo series The People's Couch.Ewing co-wrote and performed the song "Along the River", the end credit song for the film End of the Spear. He has contributed his work to the It Gets Better Project, citing his own experiences as a gay teenager as his motivation. His debut album, The Time Manipulator, was released in May 2014. Throughout 2013 Ewing worked as a go-go dancer in Los Angeles. "The tips were good. In fact, I raised so much money, I was able to finish my record — mission accomplished."

Ewing was nominated for an Ovation Award for his role as "The Little Boy" in the Los Angeles production of Ragtime. He is a graduate of UCLA.

Blake released his equality anthem "This Is Who We Are" on July 14, 2015 and works as a host for AfterBuzz TV.

Blake Mciver Ewing has apparently done a lot of growing up over the years and is now a living his life as a proud gay man. He is also a regular fixture on "The People's Couch," providing witty commentary about television shows and viral clips alongside openly gay entertainer Scott Nevins.

"When I was 14 I came very close to becoming a gay teen suicide 'statistic' but I then turned to music, my piano, my loved ones, and discovered that it does in fact get better," the actor noted in a YouTube description of him performing a poignant anti-bullying song. "But that being said, I believe we must raise awareness to protect the LGBT teens who are still being physically and verbally assaulted and fear for their lives every day. We also have a responsibility to end this suicide epidemic."

2009 – Japan acknowledges its nationals same-sex marriages to foreigners from countries or states where same-sex marriages are legal.

[aurevoirmonty]

La France, la Russie et les traîtres.

Il est parfaitement naturel que des opposants politiques placent leurs espoirs dans une puissance étrangère voisine, surtout quand celle-ci correspond à leurs idéaux. Il ne s’agit pas de "trahison", mais d’une réaction parfaitement saine. Au XVIe siècle, par exemple, les catholiques français ne juraient que par l’Espagne ; au siècle suivant, les protestants français ne juraient que par l’Angleterre, et un noble français réfugié en Allemagne en 1792 souhaitait tout naturellement la victoire des armées autrichiennes. Rappelons aussi qu’en 1870, les républicains se sont levés comme un seul homme à la chambre des députés pour applaudir à l’annonce de la défaite des armées de l’Empereur Napoléon III, parce que l’instauration de la république devenait enfin possible, grâce à Bismarck et à l’armée prussienne. Pour une grande partie des sympathisants de la droite nationale, la Russie réactionnaire de Vladimir Poutine représente aujourd’hui une force qui aimante les énergies et qui vivifie les espérances. Tout est parfaitement logique. Parce que oui : des millions de patriotes français souhaitent de toutes leurs forces que ce régime cosmopolite s’effondre le plus vite possible. C’est ainsi : les Européens cultivés et conscients de certains enjeux eschatologiques comprennent que l’intérêt national ne peut se concevoir sans l’idée que l’on se fait de la nation. En clair : une France qui serait peuplée à 80 % de mulâtres ne serait plus la France. Nous ne souhaitons pas la destruction de l’Occident mais l’anéantissement des forces cosmopolites qui se servent de l’Occident pour détruire toutes les communautés encore libres sur cette terre. On se souvient qu’en 1999, les "méchants" désignés par les démocraties étaient les Serbes, qui refusaient de céder leur terre historique aux musulmans du Kosovo : ils ont été copieusement bombardés. En 2001, c’était au tour de l’Afghanistan ; en 2003, ce fut l’Irak ; en 2007, on se souvient que les intellectuels mondialistes nous poussaient de toutes leurs forces à faire la guerre à l’Iran, mais le morceau était trop gros à avaler. Puis il y a eu la Libye en 2011, la Syrie en 2012, et Daech en 2015. Toutes ces guerres menées par les démocraties n’ont jamais correspondu pas aux intérêts des peuples occidentaux mais uniquement aux intérêts du mondialisme. Quant aux terroristes de Daech, ils avaient suivi une logique de vengeance parfaitement naturelle : « Vous nous bombardez, vous tuez nos enfants ; nous allons par conséquent porter la guerre sur votre sol ». Si les Hollande, les Fabius et compagnie avaient laissé le président syrien Bachar el-Assad gérer la menace islamiste locale, nous aurions sans doute évité les attentats sanglants de 2015-2016. Mais l’ennemi prioritaire des mondialistes à ce moment-là était Bachar el-Assad, et non les islamistes de Daech. Pourquoi ? Le tweet le plus explicite du moment reste celui de François Hollande, président de la république française ; c’est un collector, qui date du 16 novembre 2015 : « Nous éradiquerons le terrorisme pour que la circulation des personnes et le brassage des cultures demeurent possibles. » Voilà. C’est bien cela, leur objectif : le brassage des cultures, l’ouverture des frontières et le métissage généralisé sur toute la planète. Depuis 2005, je n’ai cessé de citer tous ces intellectuels, tout au long de mes livres. Une fois que l’ennemi est défini, tout est extrêmement simple, et il devient impossible de se retrouver dans le même camp que les bellicistes les plus enflammés que sont les BHL, Glucksmann, Cohn-Bendit, Macron, Le Maire et compagnie. Depuis le 24 février 2022, c’est donc maintenant à la Russie de tenir le rôle du grand méchant ; et tout est mis en œuvre une fois de plus pour nous pousser à la guerre.

[gwendolynlerman]

Deutschribing Germany

Sports

Germany ranks fourth in the Olympic Games medal count, having won 922 medals in both Summer and Winter Olympic Games since 1896. The country has hosted international sports events such as the 1936 and 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin and Munich, the 1936 Winter Olympic Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and the 1974 and 2006 FIFA World Cup. It will host the UEFA Euro 2024.

Soccer

Soccer is the most popular sport in Germany. The Bundesliga (“federal league”) is the top professional soccer league. Clubs such as FC Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach, RB Leipzig, SV Werder Bremen, and VfB Stuttgart take part in it. The most successful team is Bayern Munich, having won thirty-two Bundesliga titles.

The German men’s national soccer team won the Olympic Games in 1976, the World Cup in 1954, 1974, 1990, and 2014 and the UEFA Euro in 1972, 1980, and 1996. The women’s national team is also a world power, having won the Olympic Games in 2016, the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2003 and 2007 and the UEFA Women’s Euro in 1989, 1995, and 2001, making Germany the only country to have won both the men’s and women’s World Cup and European titles.

Handball

Germany, together with Denmark, is regarded as the birthplace of handball, as the first match took place in Berlin. The men’s national team has won the Olympic Games once, the IHF Wold Men’s Handball Championship three times, and the EHF Euro twice. The most successful team in the Handball-Bundesliga is THW Kiel.

Basketball

The most successful clubs in the Basketball-Bundesliga are Alba Berlin, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Brose Bamberg, and USC Heidelberg. Notable German basketball players include Dirk Nowitzki, Elias Harris, Linda Frölich, Shawn Bradley, and Tim Ohlbrecht.

The German men’s national basketball team has won only one international gold medal at the 1993 Eurobasket, as well as one silver and two bronze medals. The women’s national team has won only one medal in international competitions, a bronze one at the 1997 Eurobasket.

Ice hockey

Germany has hosted the Ice Hockey World Championships seven times and the Ice Hockey European Championships four times. The men’s national team has never won an international competition, but has won seven silver medals, and is ranked seventh in the world.

Motorsports

Germany is one of the leading motorsports countries, having manufactured countless race winning cars. Notable Formula One champions include Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, and Sebastian Vettel.

The country hosts the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, a sports car racing series based in Germany, with rounds in other European countries. Since 1995, only German car brands are allowed to compete.

Winter sports

Germany is also very successful in winter sports, being the only country in the world to have four bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton tracks. It has won more medals in bobsledding than any other country in the world, if those won by East and West Germany are included.

The country also dominates biathlon, luge, and skeleton thanks to athletes such as Sven Fischer and Uschi Disl in biathlon, Felix Loch and Natalie Geiseberger in luge, and Anja Huber and Kerstin Jürgens in skeleton.

Notable skiers include Tobias Angerer in cross-country skiing, Martin Schmitt in ski jumping, Eric Frenzel in Nordic combined, and Katja Seizinger in alpine skiing. Claudia Pechstein is renowned in speed skating and Katarina Witt in figure skating. 

Tennis

The two most successful German tennis players of all time are Boris Becker and Steffi Graf. The former won six Grand Slam titles, and the latter won twenty-two, becoming the only tennis player to win all four Grand Slam titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same year.

Cycling

Jan Ullrich is one of the greatest riders, together with Tony Martin in individual time trial races and André Greipel among road sprinters. Germany has hosted the start of the Tour de France four times.

[idolsummons]

Records of Professor William Jones: 2019

Before reading over the below notes of Professor Jones, it is recommended to revise his records from both 2001 and 2003.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Will,

I am absolutely delighted to hear that you, Catherine and Jacob will be spending your holiday in France next year. I am so excited at the thought of seeing you again, and getting to meet your beautiful wife and son.

I think Alice is excited about having a boy around her age about, even if she doesn’t really show it, but, well, you know how teenagers are!

Keep in touch and let me know what your plans are. Maybe I can be your tour guide around Paris!

Alice sends her regards, in those words.

Sylvie

I have not returned to Europe since those fateful months back in 2001. Admittedly, as much as I would have loved to return, time simply got away from me; with my teaching career, the engagement and marriage to my beautiful wife and then the birth of our son, I found no time for such sojourns to other countries, even in the name of furthering research in the field. I am grateful, at least in this small part, that this particular field is not one which is of great interest to others.

Although, yes, this is to be a holiday with my family and the chance to spend time with an old friend, I do hope there will be some time in which I can further my research into La Cour de la Lune. Much time has passed since my last visit, of course, and I have formulated new theories in regards to the uncovering of information. I can only hope Sylvie is enthusiastic of being of some help - and perhaps the young Alice, who has spent her entire life within the congregation, will have some insight that even her mother does not possess!

Sylvie,

Rest assured that I am just as delighted as you are about the thought of seeing you again. As soon as I know of our plans, I will send you an email with regards to them so as to not delay the process.

Catherine and Jacob also send their regards, not in those words.

Will

P.S. The thought has just struck me as to how much technology has evolved since our first contact. It is almost amazing that we still write to each other in a way that anyone would consider old fashioned now!

Monday, January 21, 2019

Catherine is not particularly delighted about my plans to research the occult while we spend our family vacation in France. How lucky I am to have such a wonderful and understanding wife, though! We have come to an understanding that I might spend some downtime on my research, as long as I spend most of the time with herself and Jacob. I am, of course, amicable to this proposal; if there is one thing more important than my research, it is spending time with my beautiful family.

Thursday, February 14, 2019

I must apologise for the quality of my writing in this entry, for my hands cannot stop shaking after having read the most recent letter I have received from Sylvie. I will allow the letter to do the talking, lest I fill the page with nonsensical scribblings.

Will,

I must apologise. I will not be able to accompany you, Catherine and Jacob when you come to visit in the coming months.

I have made the decision to give my life to Vh’thra on the next new moon, falling on the 6th of March.

I understand that you might be saddened by this news, but you needn’t worry. My soul will be back in the hands of Vh’thra, and one day I might be reborn anew.

Alice will remain well and safe. She is a young woman who can make her own choices, but I understand she will continue to live among the others in our congregation. Of course, I will support her no matter which path her life might take from the moment I am no longer with her.

There will be no need to mourn me; rather, celebrate that I am one with my dear Vh’thra once more.

I wish you all the best with your family, research and any endeavours the future might hold.

Sylvie

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

I never did respond to the correspondence Sylvie had sent.

The next letter I received was on this day, though it is in a markedly different hand than the letters which I had received before it.

Mr Jones,

I felt as though it was my responsibility to inform you that my mother, Sylvie Delecroix, sacrificed herself to Vh’thra some few hours ago on this day, the 6th of March, 2019.

If you wish to continue the correspondence you had with my mother with me instead, I will happily answer any queries you might have. Likewise, I have been informed of your impending visit to France and that I should meet you if you so desire. For the purposes of preparation, I will be using my mother’s email address. For anything which is not of an urgent nature, please continue to write.

I have taken and sent photos both for your research and as proof. I hope you find them useful.

Regards,

Ms Alice Delecroix

I feel violently ill doing so much as recounting the contents of the accompanying images.

The images were numerated so that I might view them in the correct order. Though I have included the images in this bundle, I implore anyone in their right mind to not view these images. I have provided written descriptions for those curious.

The first image depicts a semi-clothed, seated Sylvie. She is being marked by a robed figure in symbols which I have come to learn over the years represent various ideas and creatures which relate to La Cour de la Lune. These symbols in particular relate to Vh’thra, defined by their long and pointed shapes.

The second image, which is particularly close, depicts Sylvie with the same lack of clothing, now laid upon the stone table. Unlike sacrificed beasts I have been sent images of over the years, Sylvie’s hands and legs are unbound. It appears that a robed figure is carving markings into her skin with a sacrificial blade. Blood has already begun to pool to the surface of her skin.

The third image is taken from a distance, behind other members of the congregation. It appears that a hooded figure has the same sacrificial blade which had been used to carve into Sylvie’s skin high above his head. It’s difficult to tell, given the distance, but Sylvie doesn’t appear to be struggling or distressed.

In the fourth image, Alice seems to have gotten to the front of the crowd. The blade is lodged well between Sylvie’s ribs. Although he is hooded, part of the executioner’s face can be seen. He, just like Sylvie (who now smiles towards the camera, or rather, her daughter), appears to be at peace.

The fifth image, like the second, is taken closer. Alice’s finger has partially obscured the lens, but this is just as well - it means that I have been spared seeing a friend dismembered.

I cannot bring myself to respond to Alice’s letter tonight. How can a child remain so calm in the face of their only parent being taken from them, particularly of their own choice? How can she take photos of the acts, and do so well enough that they are not blurred or otherwise obscured (except for in one very lucky situation)?

Is this the toll spending one’s entire life in a cult takes?

Thursday, March 28, 2019

I still feel ill and my hands still shake, if that is not proven by this entry. Sleep evaded me last night, and in those small moments when I did begin to drift, the images I had viewed burned themselves into my mind once more.

Thankfully, Alice has asked for correspondence by email for the time being, sparing me the trouble of having to write coherently by hand at the very least.

I try not to think about how she can so casually use the email address of her deceased mother, particularly in the present day when it is so common for people to have addresses of their own.

Ms A. Delecroix -

I must specify the Ms Delecroix I write to, otherwise I will feel like I am speaking to a recently deceased friend -

I thank you for the notification of your mother’s passing. Under ordinary circumstances, I would say that I am sorry for your loss, but I understand that is not what your mother wanted, nor what you believe. I hope that her soul finds its place among us again soon.

I would also like to thank you for the photos you sent.

They are grotesque, but do they not aid me in my research?

Please see below for details of the holiday I will be taking to France along with my wife, Catherine, and my son, Jacob.

…

Not too long after I send this email do I receive a response back.

Mr Jones,

Please keep in mind what I said about emails being for urgent matters only. I might be young, but I do appreciate receiving and sending handwritten letters much more than a soulless email.

To bring an end to this line of conversation - do not waste your worry or your pity on my mother. I hope for her to be among us once more soon enough.

I look forward to meeting you in Paris next month.

Kind regards,

Ms Alice Delecroix

Though I am curious to meet the child Alice of whom I have heard so much, I swear that my heart is no longer beating in my chest.

I cannot help but fear the person I am soon to meet.

[theuniversitychallengereview]

I wrote a blog called No Spoiler last year, about how easy it had been for me to avoid spoilers for the previous day's episode of The Challenge, and how that was an oddity in our information-dense, social-media flooded lives. Well, on Tuesday I innocently logged onto Twitter, having missed this week's episode due to my Book Club, and had the result spoiled for me. It was my own fault - as I said in the other post, when you log on to a Twitter account which is specifically for University Challenge then that is the kind of fire you are playing with. 

For the past few weeks, I've been watching the Netflix Tour de France documentary with my girlfriend. With no prior interest in the sport of cycling she really got into it (and really loved Wout van Aert, which did make me a bit jealous, but who doesn't?). Despite the fact that it was about last year's Tour, the result of which has been known for nearly a full twelve months, and despite the fact that we watched several stages of this year's race together, she made it to the final episode with no knowledge (besides her correct inclination that there was no way redacted would be coming back from such a large deficit going into the final few days) of the overall victor. 

What's the moral of this story? Nothing particularly profound, just that its interesting how siloed our consumption of things is. If I had to estimate, I'd say that I read/heard the fact that cyclist A beat cyclist B in the 2022 Tour de France more than a hundred times in the past month, but if you're not looking out for something, or if your personal Internet isn't pre-programmed to show you it then this sort of thing is far easier to avoid. 

It would be pretty funny, I think, if I did go ahead and not review this week's episode, but I've already spent a while looking up cool stats and I don't want to waste them, so with that in mind; here's your first Starter for Ten.

You can watch the episode here before reading my review...

Birkbeck were regulars in the early years of the Paxman era, appearing six times in the first nine series, culminating with victory in 2003, after which they weren't seen for seventeen years. Oxford Brookes, meanwhile, have only been on five times in total, making the quarter-finals twice.

Brookes skipper Manton buzzes early on the first starter, but he's wrong, and McMillan swoops in for Birkbeck to steal the points. An easy bonus set on films nets them a full house, before Manton makes up for his earlier mistake with epiphany. They grab a hat-trick on the Biafran war, but remain behind thanks to the incorrect interruption.

Another from McMillan stretched the Londoner's lead, but Gardner hit back for Brookes to keep things tight. McMillan is then able to give one of the coldest possible UC answers of all time when asked to complete the phrase written on Woody Guthrie's guitar, 'This machine... kills fascists". Rajan shows off his cricket credentials, scolding Birkbeck for mistaking a doosra for a googly, and demonstrating the bowling action at his desk. 

The first picture starter continues the ping-pong nature of the game so far, with Broadbent, eyebrows plastered in a kindly frown, quickest to recognise the Togo flag. He blitzes the bonuses too to tie the game. Two more consecutive starters for Brookes open up the biggest lead of the game, but Birkbeck fought back through Huntley and McMillan. 

It looks like no one knows the musical on the music starter, but Chadha guesses Funny Girl after hearing the lyric 'good for a laugh', which is excellent quizzing. After the bonuses we're back level, at 110 each. 

The scoring has been going at quite the clip and doesn't let up in the second half. Brookes get a couple to go ahead again, but three in a row from Birkbeck nudge them back in front. No one is allowed to build up too much momentum though, and Broadbent buzzes rapidly with games console to regain the advantage for Brookes. Its an absolute basketball match of a quiz, but who is going to be the one to score the dagger?

McMillan puts Birkbeck five points clear, and skipper Chadha gives Taylor Swift (an answer for the second time this series) to put the game beyond Brookes.

Birkbeck 220 - 205 Oxford Brookes

Phew! You can definitely see the effect of Rajan's quicker questioning here. 

This was the first match with a combined score of 400 or more since Durham thrashed Strathclyde 360-55 in 2018. You've got to go back to 2014 for the last match where both teams scored more than 200, when Trinity beat Manchester 285-205 in the quarters.

So despite the fact I think the average score is going to be a bit higher this series than in recent history, Oxford Brookes can count themselves supremely unlucky, and will definitely be returning as high-scoring losers. 

See you tomorrow for Southampton vs Christchurch

[1337wtfomgbbq]

Alexander Vinokourov and Jan Ullrich, Tour de France 2003.

[tsoi45]

Kraftwerk - Tour de France Soundtracks (2003)

Gonna be honest - until I came across Kraftwerk's Tour de France, the bleep-bloop sounds of German men-machine had never clicked for me. Their music had always sounded like half-outdated predictions of what technology would be like in the year 2000 or the theme to some local evening news program. It still does - but I have now learned to love the robot.

It was my fascination with concept albums that led to me falling head over heels for Tour de France. In fact, I would go so far as to call this a "hyper-concept album", as each and every lyric, song title, every single time signature and instrumental down to the very minute, singular sound effect, contribute to the euphoric feeling of braving through l'Enfer du Nord down through the Champs-Élysées. From the exhalations of an exhausted cyclist in the title track to the pre or post-race medical trials of Elektro Kardiogramm and the even more clinical Vitamin (which to me evoked the advertising of energy / health drinks that surges with the Tour), every piece of imagery here serves a purpose, showcasing the huge business, and the sport, of the Tour.

But it's not just the cycling and the vitamin drinks. As is their trademark, Kraftwerk have always had an obsession with the creeping influence of technology on tradition. Take the lyrics to Etape 2, where in just four robotically-sung verses you get a vision of the shiny futurism that the Tours of the future now encompass:

Information from Radio Tour Transmissions from the television Reporting from a motorbike Camera, video and photo

Gone are the days where cyclists were only seen by French fans and passers-by - the vision of the Tour Kraftwerk presents is ultra-connected, broadcast worldwide with cameras pointing at each pedal, fans connected to the radio, to the television, seeing photos, watching videos - at every moment new updates flooding the screens of millions. It's been incredible to look at footage of the original 1903 Tour de France and, with this album in mind, comparing it to the world of today - to see how in less than a century, the athletic men-machine of our dreams became real.

If this album doesn't make you feel in awe of the hyper-technological age we're living in, let it at least inspire you to go out and go for a pedal. For the robot.

[squideo]

How Peugeot Caused an Advertising Stampede

In this series, Squideo has examined the best ways to turn advertising content into gold. Now that we’ve broken down the eight key ingredients, it’s time to dive deep into some examples of stellar advertising. This week, the advert in question was picked by Squideo’s Account Director, Adam Shelton.

When asked why this Peugeot advert had become his favourite, Adam said: “It accomplished everything an advert is meant to. It’s memorable, it’s unique and it keeps the product front and centre. Plus the bit with the elephant is hilarious.”

The Peugeot Roars

You don’t need to be a driver to have heard of Peugeot. You’ll have encountered this French brand from buying your first bicycle to equipping your kitchen. Peugeot was founded in 1810 – over 200 years’ ago – by the Peugeot family who retained majority shares in the automotive company until 2014. Peugeot manufactured a vast variety of products in its early years, from hand-held saws to pepper grinders.

Eventually they branched out into bicycle production, car manufacturing and motorcycle making. Amazingly, they still continue to make kitchen tools under Peugeot Saveurs. Cycles Peugeot and Peugeot Motorcycles are also still on the go, and they make vehicles for motor racing events under Peugeot Sport. Up until 1986, they even had their own cycling team which won ten titles at the Tour de France.

Like many car manufacturers, Peugeot have acquired other brands and ownership of this company has changed hands repeatedly. In the 20th century, Peugeot took over Hotchkiss, Chenard-Walcker, Citroën and Chrysler Europe. As of 2021, Peugeot is owned by Stellantis – a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation which was created after the merger of major American, French and Italian manufacturers. A member of the Peugeot family is part of Stellantis’ senior management, demonstrating the power and influence Peugeot has built and maintained since 1810.

2 Fast 2 Peugeot

Created by Euro RSCG of Milan-Italy, The Sculptor was released in 2003 to critical acclaim – winning numerous international awards. The car promoted in the advert, the Peugeot 206, was released in 1998 as a replacement of the 205 model. Within ten years, the 206 had become Peugeot’s best-selling car.

The advert was so popular that fifteen years later the BBC show Top Gear recreated it in celebration of the Peugeot 206’s anniversary. On its twentieth anniversary, Peugeot also released a recreation of the advert with the Peugeot 208 replacing the 206. To accomplish this, several months were spent at Ajeenkya D Y Patil University in 2002 where engineers painstakingly converted the Hindustan Ambassador.

In the advert, a motorist turns his Ambassador – an iconic Indian car that started life as a Morris Oxford – into a Peugeot 206. Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., who has since gone on to become the director of Netflix’s first Dutch film, The Sculptor is considered one of the best car adverts of all time.

According to the award-winning Creative Director Adrian Holmes:

“A film I’ve always loved is a commercial for the Peugeot 206 called ‘The Sculptor’, made by Euro RSCG Milan in 2002. You must know the one – the young Indian guy who gets an elephant to sit on his old jalopy (amongst other methods) so that it ends up looking like the car of his dreams. Everything about it – the story, the editing, the music, the casting – is simply frame perfect. Apart from anything else, it stands as a monument to the brave and imaginative client who said ‘yes’ to such a wonderful and daring piece of work.”

Peugeot Rides Again

The 206 went on to be Peugeot’s best-selling model of all time, and one of the most popular cars ever made. Like the product, the advert selling it also swept the award boards in 2003: winning at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

From the car’s release in 1998 to 2003, the year of The Sculptor’s release, sales of the Peugeot 206 increased by 146 percent. But why was The Sculptor such a big hit?

Real Renovations

The protagonist of the advert starts out with a Hindustan Ambassador and ends up with a Peugeot 206: the car of his dreams. The audience's expectation, after seeing the Ambassador destroyed, is that a pristine Peugeot 206 would be rolled out at the end. But that doesn’t happen. This car is dented, pummelled, bashed… there’s nothing pristine about it. Yet the protagonist still gets the attention of everyone who sees his new (old) car.

The fact that this advert really turned a Hindustan Ambassador into a Peugeot 206 is part of the reason this advert became so memorable. If they’d used CGI or switched out the car, the advert would have been like any other that uses a product swap.

International Intrigue

The name Peugeot forms an instant connection to its heritage: the brand is undeniably French. Setting the advert in French countryside or on Parisian streets would be predictable. Instead, The Sculptor is set in an Indian city. Why? To show that the car belongs anyway. Can be desired by anyone. It has international appeal.

The setting is also the home of the Hindustan Ambassador, India’s most popular car which was manufactured from 1957 to 2014 and called the “King of Indian Roads.” Once it fell out of production, the car became wildly collectable – but eleven years earlier in 2003 they were still easy to come by. A popular everyday car; much like the Peugeot 206. Stylistically, however, they’re worlds apart which is what made this a great before and after choice. The 206 was meant to be a new design for a new millennium, leaving behind the boxy style of the 20th century.

Mood Music

The advert plays to the song Heaven Is A Place On Earth by Raja Mushtaq, later remixed as Husan by Bhangra Knights. This bhangra dance song ended up charting, made it on Now That’s What I Call Music! 55, and sold over 20 million copies. Bhangra dance music is a non-traditional Punjabi music originating in British-Asian communities. It first emerged in the 1970s, seeing a resurgence in the 2000s that Peugeot got ahead of with its music choice. 

This upbeat song only briefly appears after the protagonist successfully converts his Hindustan Ambassador into the Peugeot 206 and the non-traditional bhangra music symbolises the successful alteration of the vehicle.  

Content Worth Gold

What do you think? What made Peugeot’s The Sculptor advert so successful? Watch the full advert below and let us know in the comments.

Get in touch with the Squideo team today to find out how we can improve your advertising strategy with video production, motion graphics, social media management and much more!

[thebusylilbee]

" Lorsque les Etats-Unis décidèrent d’envahir l’Irak, en 2003, sur la foi d’un mensonge d’État (les armes de destruction massive inexistantes qu’était censé posséder Saddam Hussein), le camp atlantiste se rassembla comme un seul homme autour du président américain George W. Bush. Tony Blair et José Maria Aznar, alors Premiers ministres du Royaume-Uni et d’Espagne, y allèrent de leurs encouragements. D’autres montèrent dans l’armada en se faisant plus ou moins discrets. Un seul chef d’État occidental osa dire « Non » avec courage, fermeté et détermination : Jacques Chirac.

Gaullisme ?

Fidèle en cela à la geste gaulliste, le président de la République de l’époque sut percevoir les dangers inhérents à une invasion qui allait anéantir un pays et déstabiliser une région déjà transformée en baril de poudre. Nul n’oubliera le discours mémorable alors prononcé à l’ONU par Dominique de Villepin, ministre des Affaires étrangères, salué par des applaudissements, fait unique dans cette enceinte.

Vu avec le recul du temps et de l’expérience, on pourrait avoir le sentiment qu’une telle prise de position allait de soi. Il n’en est rien. Au contraire, c’est à cette époque qu’est né un nouveau sport que l’on pourrait appeler le « french bashing » de l’intérieur, par référence à ce dénigrement antifrançais qui avait alors fleuri des deux côtés de l’Atlantique.

En 2003, nombreux ont été ceux qui ont pris la réaction élyséenne avec des pincettes. La liberté de ton dont ils aiment se réclamer a les limites de l’atlantisme flamboyant. Critiquer la Russie, que l’on n’oublie jamais d’assimiler à son passé soviétique, oui. Décrire la Chine comme le futur impérialisme dominant, pas de problème. Mais dénoncer l’Amérique, fût-elle néoconservatrice et empêtrée dans les conséquences guerrières des théories fumeuses sur le « choc des civilisations », cela vaut illico presto l’accusation d’«anti-américanisme primaire », pour reprendre une formule chère à Bernard-Henri Lévy. [...]

Dans la famille politique de Jacques Chirac, l’embarras fut de mise. A preuve, la gêne exprimée par Nicolas Sarkozy. Du jour où il devint à son tour président, relayé par ses séides intellectuels, il fit tout ce qui était en son pouvoir pour se démarquer, persuadé que son prédécesseur avait commis le pire des crimes : s’affranchir de l’Amérique. A croire que le simple fait de critiquer les États-Unis revenait d’office à être un suppôt de Ben Laden et un coresponsable des attentats du 11-Septembre. Un peu comme si l’on avait accusé de francophobie les penseurs américains, ou britanniques, ayant pris fait et cause contre la guerre d’Algérie.

Atlantisme

Ce raisonnement absurde visait à faire oublier que Nicolas Sarkozy était entouré d’une camarilla de petits soldats qui ont cru à la fable des prétendues « armes de destruction massive » de Saddam Hussein, à l’image d’un Bernard Kouchner, ou d’un André Glusksmann (le père de Raphaël), à une époque où Barack Obama, lui, n’y croyait pas.

Pour ces gens-là, Jacques Chirac avait donc tout faux en 2003. André Glucksmann, Pascal Bruckner et le réalisateur Roman Goupil avaient publié une tribune commune dans Le Monde où ils écrivaient : « Que Saddam parte, de gré ou de force ! Les Irakiens, Kurdes, chiites mais aussi bien sunnites respireront plus librement et les peuples de la région en seront soulagés ». De son côté, BHL était un peu plus hésitant, avant de dire lors d’une intervention aux Etats-Unis : « J'étais opposé à l’administration Bush quand elle a décidé d’entrer en guerre contre l’Irak. Mais aujourd’hui, nous y sommes, nous devons désormais finir le travail ». Des personnages susnommés, seul Pascal Bruckner fera son mea culpa.

Pour nos amis atlantistes, il était évident que la France s’était « mise hors jeu », qu’elle s’était« ridiculisée ». Tony Blair, en revanche, était salué comme un « véritable chef d’État ». A de rares exceptions, la plupart des partis politiques français critiqueront le choix de Jacques Chirac, certains n‘hésitant pas à dénoncer un « nationalisme des imbéciles ».

Grâce à Wikileaks, on apprendra ensuite que des dirigeants du Parti socialiste s’étaient rendus à l’ambassade américaine à Paris pour exprimer leurs désaccords avec la position officielle de la France. Le 29 mai 2006, Pierre Moscovici, chargé à l'époque des relations internationales du PS, promit qu'un gouvernement socialiste se montrerait plus proaméricain que celui de Dominique de Villepin. Quelques jours plus tard, le 8 juin, Hollande, premier secrétaire du PS, regrettait devant l'ambassadeur des États-Unis que Chirac ait fait de « l'obstruction gratuite » face au président américain. Quand il s’agit de sombrer dans l’atlantisme, certains sont imbattables. "

ptdr le Parti Socialiste ???? Putain de vendus heureusement qu'ils ont crevé ceux là

[transeuropexpress]

if i see one more mfer say they dont like tour de france its over for you bitches. in fact if i even see a comment anywhere which implies there used to be another comment disparaging Kraftwerk’s 2003 release Tour de France Soundtracks it’s so over for all of u. listen with me. we r on a tandem bike now.. et la course est lancée….