December 2011
32 posts
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The Girl From Rio
Vintage Film Advert for ‘The Girl From Rio’, 1927. Picture by Charmaine Zoe on Flickr.
Starring Carmel Myers, Walter Pidgeon. Directed by Tom Terriss.
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Monsoon Conversation
Photograph by anhtu, on Flickr.
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Tatra Bollywood Style
Tatra 603, four-door sedan, produced 1956–1962, assembled at Kopřivnice, Moravia, Czechoslovakia
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Outline
Father drank; mama
was good as good can be,
the kids grew up to join
the petty bourgeoisie.
The daughter's nouveau riche,
the son's idealistic views
have made him anchorman
for prime-time TV news.
Pa deceived the people,
Ma deceived papa,
the children, worldly-wise,
trust no one very far.
By Hando Runnel (1938- ), Estonian poet. Translated by Elmar Maripuu. From Walter M. Cummins (ed.),...
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Those Words I Said
I discovered that the word is a woman who can
Move mountains from their places,
Water from the seas,
Governments from their seats
And repeat the writing of history round the world.
From “Those Words I Said”, Nabil Janabi, Iraqi poet and dissident. (In Geoffrey Bould (ed.), Conscience Be My Guide - An Anthology of Prison Writings)
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Even when the French try to use flexibility to nudge the other side to...
– [From Elaine Sciolino’s La Seduction: How the French Play the Game of Life.]
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Waheeda
(Waheeda Rehman from the poster of the 1965 film, Guide, by Meanest Indian, on Flickr).
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Repair
(Professional Service Guaranteed! by Meanest Indian, on Flickr.)
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Village Art
Door stencils en route to Ranakpur, by Meanest Indian, on Flickr.
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R.I.P. Mario Miranda
Mario João Carlos do Rosario de Brit de Miranda (1926 - 2011). Indian cartoonist of genius.
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Alif Allah
الف اللہ چمبے دی بوٹی
alif allah chambe di booti
تے میرے مرشد من وچ لائی ہُو
te mere murshid mann wich laai - hu
نفی اثبات دا پانی دے کے
nafi asbaat da paani de ke
ہر رگے ہر جائی ہُو
har rage har jaai – hu
جگ جگ جیوے میرا مرشد سوہنا
jug jug jeeve mera murshid sohna
ہتھ جس ایہہ بوٹی لائی ہُو
hath jis eih booti laai - hu
پیر میریا - جگنی جی
peer meriya - jugni ji
اے وے الله...
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Epicure
My meat shall all come in Indian shells,
Dishes of agate, set in gold, and studded,
With emeralds, sapphires, hyacinths, and rubies...
My foot-boy shall eat pheasants, calvered salmons,
Knots, godwits, lampreys. I myself will have
The beards of barbels served instead of salads;
Oiled mushrooms; and the swelling unctuous paps
Of a fat pregnant sow, newly cut off,
Drest with an exquisite and...
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Madhubala
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Madhubala
मैं मधुबाला मधुशाला की, मैं मधुशाला की मधुबाला! मैं मधु-विक्रेता को प्यारी, मधु के धट मुझपर बलिहारी, प्यालों की मैं सुषमा सारी, मेरा रुख देखा करती है मधु-प्यासे नयनों की माला। मैं मधुशाला की मधुबाला!
(Harivanshrai Bachchan, ‘Madhubala’, 1936)
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Tika II
Delhi Street Art. C215: Tika II by Meanest Indian, on Flickr
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[Duke] Ellington was installed in a split-level honeymoon suite at the Taj Mahal...
– Naresh Fernandes, “Hot Jazz and the Cold War in 1950s Mumbai”, India Ink, New York Times blog, 3 November 2011.
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Ballet Beauty 2
Flora Fabbri in Jérusalem by Verdi, 1848, on Gallica.
Flora Fabbri made her debut at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice and danced throughout Italy during the late 1830s and 1840s, often partnered by her French husband Louis (or Luigi) Bretin. In 1845 she became a soloist at the Paris Opéra, appearing in La Sylphide, Paquita, and the divertissements in Verdi’s opera Jérusalem and...
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Operatic Beauty 5
Jeanne Sophie Charlotte Cruvelli (1826-1907) by Emile Desmaisons, via Gallica.)
“By September Verdi could inform De Sanctis that the first four acts of his new opera were complete; all that remained were the fifth act, the ballet and the scoring. (‘An opera for the Opéra is enough work to fell and ox. Five hours of music. Phew!’) Rehearsals began the following month only to be...
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Operatic Beauty 4
Eugénie Garcia (1815-1880) of the Théâtre National de l’Opéra-Comique, by Louis Jules Etex, via Gallica.
Jan. 7, 1838. Madame Manuel (Eugenie) Garcia, who follpws with eclat in the steps of her sister-in-law, Madame Malibran, made her debut last season at the great theatre of Parma, in the part of Amina, in the Sonnambula of Bellini. Her facility in speaking the French language, added to...
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Ballet Beauty
Fanny Elssler (1810-1884) of the Académie Royale de Musique, by Henri Grevedon, via Gallica.