J O S T A M O N

Still when alone I recollect the smile
Which tasted nectar-sweet upon her lip;
I see the fastenings of her braided hair
Slip from their place, and see the garlands slip;
The wandering gaze, the string of pearls which rests
Kissing a pair of full uplifted breasts.

From Love Lyrics, by Amaru, Bhartṛhari & Bilhaṇa, translated by Greg Bailey & Richard Gombrich. Clay Sanskrit Library, 2005.

From Three Satires, by Nīlakaṇṭha, Kṣemendra, and Bhallaṭa, translated by Somadeva Vasudeva. Clay Sanskrit Library, 2005.

The Emperor of the Sorcerers, by Budhasvāmin, translated by Sir James Mallinson. Clay Sanskrit Library, 2005.

The Old Constellation by The Halifax Pier. The daughter of an old colleague of mine was a member of this band. Don’t know if it is still going strong or not…

Coronation Procession in Oxford Street, 1953 by Kenneth Wynn (From Museum of London blog.)

Champagne Coast by Blood Orange. Sounds a bit like Prince. Bring back the 1990s, I say.

Entrance into the Kiev-Pechersky Lavra, Kiev. 

Jewish girls, Samarkand. Photo by S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky (between 1905-1915). Original in the US Library of Congress.

Entrance gates to the Royal Tomb in the Bahauddin Mosque, Bukhara. Photography by S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky (1910-1915). The original is in the US Library of Congress.

Chinese-style architecture of the Market, Nizhny Novgorod, circa 1913. Of the several the buildings in the Bazaar, of interest are the Chinese-inspired ones designed by Auguste de Montferrand (1786 - 1858). (The overall aspect of the market remained neoclassical, however).

Here traders from Asia would sell their wares. Especially popular were teas from China. Unfortunately, these buildings are not extant today.

The studio of August Karlovich Hoffman (1890-1900s) in the house of K.M. Iodlovsky on the Grand Street. Very little documentary evidence of the Old Irkutsk before the big fire of 1879 exists, other than the copious photographs by this man. He worked in Irkutsk from 1858 to 1906 and his pictures reveal the appearance of this Siberian town from nearly 150 years ago.

Picture from Old Irkutsk.

Botanical street and Sunni mosque. Tiflis. (1889).

Massage in old Tiflis. Photograph from Golem.

Doorway in Old Tiflis. Behind such doors are preserved white marble staircases and wrought-iron railings. (Picture from Fototerra.ru)

Georgian noblewoman.