Out of the Friday Pan Into The Fire with New, Good, Borrowed Images

From: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PhilippinenseLL.jpg

Paphiopedilum philippinense
Lucien Linden & Emile Rodigas «Lindenia Iconographie des Orchidées»1898 (via Janitor of Lunacy)



From: http://ajourneyroundmyskull.blogspot.com/2009/09/artaud-in-full-bloom.html

Artaud in Full Bloom (1 of a collection at link)
"Where others present their works, I claim to do no more than show my mind." -- Artaud, The Umbilicus of Limbo (1925)
I covered Artaud only once before, in my 16th-ever post back in August 2007, which downplays how important his writings are to me. Read him at any time, but the younger and angrier the better.
From a letter to Paule Thevenin dated Feb. 24, 1948. Artaud died on March 4, 1948:
"I had a vision this afternoon -- I saw those who are going to follow me and who are still not completely embodied because pigs like those at the restaurant last night eat too much. There are some who eat too much and others like me who can no longer eat without spitting."



From: http://trixietreats.tumblr.com/post/187991044/ray-bradbury-forrest-j-ackerman-on-halloween

Ray Bradbury & Forrest J. Ackerman on Halloween (via DK Rising)



From: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wharepuni.jpg

Angas, George French, 1822-1886. George French Angas [delt]; J. W. Giles [lith].
Rangihaeata's celebrated house on the island of Mana called "Kaitangata". Shows a carved meeting house, called a wharepuni or wharenui , Māori, New Zealand, 19th century. (via Janitor of Lunacy)



From: http://pignouf-vintageposter.blogspot.com/2009/09/le-bon-martien.html

Le Bon Martien



From: http://bagger-ce.blogspot.com/2009/09/charlie-roberts.html

Charlie Roberts is a consummate collector of images, with an organizational system resembling the interior of a Whitman's Sampler. He perceives the world of people and things as a philatelist does, sifting through an unwieldy compendium of faces, hairdos, boots, magazines, art, animals, vehicles, potables, and foodstuffs, and then using gouache to depict portions of this array with varying degrees of fidelity. (source: flavorpill - Shana Nys Dambrot)



From: http://www.itsdeadlicious.com/2009/09/willy-deville-1953-2009.html

Willy Deville - 1953-2009
In Les Inrockuptibles. Janvier-Fevrier 1992.Interview by Serge Kaganski, photo by Renaud Monfourny.Ok I'm late but it's never too late right ?



From: http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/09/photo-of-the-day-hand-pull-noodles.html

Photo of the Day: Hand-Pull Noodles[Photograph: Rodney Chow ]
Noodles are a beautiful thing—watching them being made, even more so. This photo from Rodzillaaaaa on Flickr captures the art of whipping hand-pull noodles in mid-flight.



From: http://vaultofthebankrobber.blogspot.com/2009/09/fun-for-your-eyes.html

fun for your eyes.
A mask made out of masks. I could stare at this all day. Lots of cool little details.



From: http://nickdrake.tumblr.com/post/194186489/the-move

The Move



From: http://www.juxtapoz.com/11783-donald-roller-wilson

DONALD ROLLER WILSON
Porous Walker sez:"Deep in the Jungles of Arkansas, USA is a Nut Farm, Brenda's Nut Farm to be exact. Inside the gates of this Nut Farm lives & works my favorite artist in the world. Occassionally Donald Roller Wilson will share his newest works in the form of electronic mail, today was one of these days of joy, soon, I will travel to the Nut Farm to meet Donald Roller Wilson, until than, please familiarize yourself..." http://www.donaldrollerwilson.com
WHO REALLY REALLY KNOWS WHEN A HAPPY NEW YEAR ACTUALLY BEGINS?
COULD BE ONE BEGINS EVERY DAY.
SO, A HAPPY ONE TO YOU FROM ROLLER
(WHO WOULD LIKE TO YANK YOUR EAR - TO BEGIN WITH)...



From: http://lacontessa.tumblr.com/post/192659059/even-the-queen-of-the-galaxys-gotta-eat-via

Even the Queen of the Galaxy’s gotta eat…



From: http://lacontessa.tumblr.com/post/193224946/the-many-faces-of-mr-cash

The many faces of Mr Cash.
"Sometimes I am two people. Johnny is the nice one. Cash causes all the trouble. They fight."- Johnny Cash (via earnestlyhemingway)



From: http://rosadartle.blogspot.com/2009/09/franz-von-stuck-tilla-durieux-as-circe.html

Franz von Stuck - Tilla Durieux as Circe (1913)
He's lost out to Klimt in the reputation stakes, probably more because of Klimt's decorative qualities than through any fault of his own, but I prefer Von Stuck myself, as he seems to be hauling his images toward him from his dreams, rather than brushing them on to the canvas.
Google him to see what I mean.
Tilla Durieux was also painted by Renoir the next year, but he gave her hands like a pork-butcher which I am sure she must have hated.



From: http://tsutpen.blogspot.com/2009/09/future-is-now-3.html

The Future is Now #3
Platinum blonde alien with flying saucer phallus.

You are waayy behind on your Few Borrowed Good Images

From: http://mills.tumblr.com/post/175031184/dads-living-room-slightly-more-than-one-month

Dad’s living room, slightly more than one month after Katrina. Will and S. and I went to New Orleans to take photographs for insurance purposes.



From: http://community.livejournal.com/adski_kafeteri/1274994.html

Dennis Stock.Miles Davis.1958



From: http://pleasedontsqueezetheshaman.tumblr.com/post/176459586/saint-pizza-little-italy

Saint Pizza, Little Italy



From: http://theswingingsixties.tumblr.com/post/180341738/model-jackie-bowyer-in-christopher-robin

Model Jackie Bowyer in ‘Christopher Robin’ raincoat by Mary Quant, October 1963.


From: http://trixietreats.tumblr.com/post/181667339/lavventure-straordinarissime-di-saturnino

L’Avventure Straordinarissime Di Saturnino Farandola



From: http://sidterror.tumblr.com/post/186917658/rocknroll-is-so-great-that-everyone-in-the

“Rock’n’roll is so great that everyone in the world should think it’s the greatest thing that’s happening. If they don’t, they’re turds.” -- Lux Interior



From: http://poobah.tumblr.com/post/180773971/shoes-2-billy-poobahs-art-by-request

“Shoes 2” — Billy Poobah’s art — By request



From: http://i12bent.tumblr.com/post/181117478/gjon-mili-life-photographer-gene-krupa-jam

Gjon Mili, LIFE photographer…
Gene Krupa Jam Session
Drummer Gene Krupa performing at Gjon Mili’s studio. NYC, 1941



From: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stapelia_variegata00.jpg

Painting of Stapelia variegata by Robert Jacob Gordon (via Janitor of Lunacy)



From: http://www.pulpinternational.com/pulp/entry/Vintage-cover-for-Farewell-My-Lovely.html

Farewell My Lovely, Raymond Chandler. Possibly the greatest pulp paperback cover ever. This is a classic crime novel. It’s been reprinted many many times, but has it ever had as great a cover? I doubt it. (submitted by ScoreBaby.)



From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/qnonymous/1188125582/

monkey sword fight



From: http://nickdrake.tumblr.com/post/186836459/wrangler-advert-from-1960

wrangler advert from 1960/?



From: http://juliasegal.tumblr.com/post/186607404/emo-crayola-colors

Emo Crayola Colors



From: http://dobatseatcats.tumblr.com/





From: http://aksioma.livejournal.com/167423.html

Gershwin’s hands, by Grancel Fitz, 1929.



From: http://nickdrake.tumblr.com/post/187395347/girl-watching-1959

Girl watching 1959



From: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tiki1905.jpg

Painting the tattoo on a carved tiki at the Whakarewarewa model village ca 1905. (Part of collection "Cowan, James, 1870-1943 :Collection of photographs.ca 1860 - 1930")



From: http://nickdrake.tumblr.com/post/187265256/bo-diddley

bo-diddley

Jonathan Silvertown- An Orchard Invisible: A Natural History of Seeds.

Welcome to Texas Gardener’s Seeds, the weekly newsletter for Texas gardeners.
September 2, 2009

The garden reader:
Looking into the seeds of time
By William Scheick
University of Texas at Austin
Jonathan Silvertown. An Orchard Invisible: A Natural History of Seeds. University of Chicago Press, 2009. 216 pp. $25.00.

When observing plants, it's sometimes easy to leap to faulty conclusions. For instance, it's easy to surmise, on the basis of their sheer number, that seed-producing flora must have always dominated the plant kingdom.
Or, on the flipside of this mistaken impression, it's easy to think of the non-seeders, including ferns and mosses, as odd deviations from the norm. In fact, though, seedless plants once ruled our planet's oceans and lands, and the "magic trick" of encapsulating sea-like nutrients inside a seed emerged at some later point in time.
When impression-nurtured beliefs are unchecked by bedrock science, mischief can ensue. Consider the sixteenth-century belief that ferns produce seeds because all plants must grow from seeds.
Never mind that no one could see any fern seed.
There were answers for that, including a legend about what happened to fern flowers. According to this ancient legend, ferns did not contribute any blooms to the Christ child's manger. As a punishment for such "bad-seed" irreverence, ferns were deprived of their flowers and their seed became invisible.
This curse notwithstanding, ferns were still thought long ago to be valuable for various medicinal remedies, and their now-invisible seed was especially prized by the gullible. Some even believed that fern seed could make a person undetectable.
Of course, collecting the invisible fern seed was deucedly difficult.
In An Orchard Invisible Jonathan Silvertown doesn't mention the fern flower legend, but he succinctly explains how invisible fern seed was harvested: "Fern seed could be collected on the stroke of midnight on Midsummer Night's eve, but only by catching it as it fell from the plant onto a stack of twelve pewter plates. It would pass through the first eleven, but be trapped by the twelfth."
A quaint belief, indeed! But I've been around awhile and seen too much, and so I can't help but wonder whether, even today, empty seed packets labeled "Rare Invisible Fern Seed" might sell pretty well.
As the Jack-and-the-beanstalk story highlights, seeds do seem to be magical. Seeds, though, are actually down-to-earth devices far more complex and ingenious than represented in any fairytale.
In An Orchard Invisible Silvertown explores the history and science of this complexity. He ponders various seed-mysteries, such as nature's always unsuccessful repeated "attempts to break the habit of sex in plants." Cross-fertilization, it turns out, is inextricably interwoven with genetic variation, random adaptability, inherited mutation and chance survival.
Why, Silvertown also wonders, is the nutrient-thick coco de mer so large — the biggest known seed, in fact? It's easy but mistaken to believe that, as its popular name suggests, this "bizarre and wonderful monstrosity" floats to and germinates on distant beaches.
A Maldive coconut is not the only strange fruit feature. Silvertown finds even fruit coloration to be more mysterious than meets the eye. And he examines, as well, why seeds that fly awkwardly on single, unilateral wings vastly outnumber those that glide.
Silvertown suggests, too, that caffeine in a coffee bean possibly functions like a poison deterring the encroachment of nearby plants. But, he adds, if it's obvious why some seeds are poisonous, why are so many not?
The notorious suicide tree (Cerbera odollam) bears fibrous-shelled fruits, each with two lethal seeds. (Photo by William Scheick)

Silvertown doesn't mention it, but the world's most infamous, if understudied, poisonous seeds are found in the four-inch, fibrous-shelled fruits of the suicide tree (Cerbera odollam). The alkaloid toxin in the seeds of this tropical oleander relative has been implicated in numerous deaths — most of them decidedly not suicides.
Silvertown examines the place of unseen cheaters in our gardens. For example, while hardworking female yucca moths diligently collect pollen to fertilize the plant that will host their eggs, cheater moths skip pollen-collection and simply deposit eggs in fruit previously pollinated by the diligent moths. By colonizing already developed fruit unlikely to be aborted by a plant, these cheaters potentially jeopardize the entire symbiotic moth-yucca relationship — yet they somehow don't.
There aren't only selfish moths and wasps. Silvertown also puzzles over "selfish DNA" — free-agent "genes that jump around the chromosomes, sometimes playing havoc with the genome." Corn, for instance, is botanically notorious for its thousands of selfish DNA.
In An Orchard Invisible Silvertown "look[s] into the seeds of time," but unlike Banquo in Shakespeare's Macbeth, he is willing to speculate on the patterns behind "which grain will grow and which will not." The result is ample food for thought.