Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Constantine Palaiologos - The Hellenic Way of Battle and Death


Constantine Palaiologos
(8th February 1405 - 29th May 1453) 

 "surrendering the City is not in my power, nor in that of its other inhabitants; all of us, with a common will and purpose will die, with no regard for our lives."

 In response to Mehment's terms for surrender

 "In this battle you must stand firm and have no fear, no thought of flight, but be inspired to resist with ever more herculean strength. Animals may run away from animals. But you are men, men of stout heart, and you will hold at bay these dumb brutes, thrusting your spears and swords into them, so that they will know that they are fighting not against their own kind but against the masters of animals."

From his last speech before the Fall of Constantinople

 


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Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Lovecraftian Sites of New England



"These photographs were taken on several trips to New England by George R. Gifford and Donovan and Pamela Loucks. They represent several locations referred to by Howard Phillips Lovecraft in many of his tales and letters. You may either select a location from the image map below, or from the list that follows the map...."

To see more click here


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Thursday, May 17, 2018

Ghosts of The Past PART 2 - The Wolf House


 



Jack London wrote so many books about wolves and dogs that his friend George Sterling gave him the nickname 'The Wolf'. So when Jack started to build his dream house in 1911, it was only fitting that people would call it the 'Wolf House'.



Jack and Charmian never got to live in their home because one hot summer night in August 1913, spontaneous combustion started a fire in the house. Nobody was living near the house so the fire was quite advanced before anyone became aware of it. The Londons were sleeping in the Cottage about a half mile away and were awakened by a farm worker who saw the red glow in the sky. They got on their horses and rode to their beloved dream house. By the time they got there, the house was completely engulfed in flames and beyond saving. Although Jack vowed to rebuild the house, he did not live long enough to rebuild. Today, we have a beautiful ruin.



 



"All I wanted was a quiet place in the country to write and loaf in, and get out of nature that something which we all need, only the most of us don't know it.  This is to be no summer-residence proposition, but a home all the year round.  I am anchoring good and solid, and anchoring for keeps."
- Jack London 1913


 Article taken from : http://www.jacklondonpark.com

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Wednesday, May 9, 2018

In The 9th of May WE WILL NOT CELEBRATE!


"The truth cannot be stopped by lies or force. It will get through. The Jews will meet their Cannae at the end of this war. Not Europe, but rather they will lose. They may laugh at this prophecy today, but they have laughed so often in the past, and almost as often they stopped laughing sooner or later. Not only do we know precisely what we want, we also know precisely what we do not want. The deceived nations of the Earth may still lack the knowledge they need, but we will bring it to them. How will the Jews stop that in the long run? They believe their power rests on sure foundations, but it stands on feet of clay. One hard blow and it will collapse, burying the creators of the misfortunes of the world in its ruins."
 
 Joseph Goebbels  - Das Reich (January 1945)



Friday, May 4, 2018

The Villa Diodati



"A menagerie, with eight enormous dogs, three monkeys, five cats, an eagle, a crow, and a falcon: and all these, except the horses, walk about the house, which every now and then resounds with their unarbitrated quarrels, as if they were masters of it." 

— Percy Bysshe Shelley

In 1816, Lord Byron rented the manor known as the Villa Diodati, near Cologny, on Lake Geneva. The house already had solid literary credentials. Its original owner, Giovanni Diodati, had translated the Bible into Italian and French, and the poet John Milton (whom Mary would quote in Frankenstein) is said to have vacationed there in 1639.

Byron was joined that fateful summer by his personal physician, John Polidori, and his guests: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Godwin (soon to be Shelley), and Claire Claremont. It was here that ghosts stories were read aloud, and at the nearby guesthouse where she resided that Mary conceived of Frankenstein and first wrote these words that, slightly edited, would open chapter five of the book: “It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld my man completed…”

 The villa still stands. It is the square building, right of center, in the GoogleEarth image below.

Article taken from  https://frankensteinia.blogspot.com 

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