Singerie.

Allegorie der Tulipomanie [Allegory of Tulip Mania], by Jan Brueghel the Younger, 1640s. A satirical commentary on speculators during the time of “Tulip Mania”, an economic bubble that centered around rare tulip bulbs. — Source.

Singerie — from the French for “Monkey Trick” — is a genre of art in which monkeys are depicted apeing human behaviour. Although the practise can be traced as far back as Ancient Egypt, it wasn’t until the 16th century that the idea really took off and emerged as a distinct genre. Some of its most famous champions include the Flemish engraver Pieter van der Borcht (whose 1575 series of singerie prints were widely disseminated), Jan Brueghel the Elder, and the the two Teniers brothers, David Teniers the Younger and his younger brother Abraham Teniers. Into the 18th century the genre saw great popularity in France, particularly in the guise of the “singe peintre” (monkey painter), which offered up a perfect parody of the art world’s pomposity. With monkeys, along with apes, being our closest cognates in the animal world, they proved the perfect medium for the satirising of society, which so often thinks itself “above” the animal kingdom.

Kwakzalver [Quack], by Pieter van der Borcht (I), ca. late 16th century. A charlatan doctor sells a cure (seemingly for hangovers, though perhaps for hair loss) — Source.

You can see much more Singerie at The Public Domain.

The Anvār-i Suhaylī (Lights of Canopus).

A beautiful Simurgh looks on as Phoenixes burn in their nest. This, and the images to follow, are from the beautiful Anvār-i Suhaylī or Lights of Canopus. From The Public Domain:

The Anvār-i Suhaylī or Lights of Canopus — commonly known as the Fables of Bidpai in the West — is a Persian version of an ancient Indian collection of animal fables called the Panchatantra. The tales follow the Persian physician Burzuyah on a mission to India, where he finds a book of stories collected from the animals who live there. Much like in the Arabian Nights (which actually uses several of the Panchatantra stories), the fables are inter-woven as the characters of one story recount the next, with up to three or four degrees of narrative embedding. Many of the fables offer insightful glimpses into human behaviour, and emphasise the power of teamwork and loyalty: one passage describes how a hunter catches a group of pigeons in a net, only for them to be saved by a mouse who gnaws through the rope. The version celebrated in this post hails from nineteenth-century Iran and is particularly notable for its exquisite illustrations — scenes of tortoise-riding monkeys, bird battles, conversing mice, delicate purple mountains — 123 in total. The artist behind the images is not mentioned, but the creator of the equally elegant nasta’liq style writing which they serve, is named by The Walters Art Museum (who hold the manuscript) as one Mīrzā Raḥīm.

And from The Walters Art Museum, where you can see the whole manuscript in .pdf:

Walters manuscript W.599 is an illuminated and illustrated copy of Anvar-i Suhayli (The lights of Canopus), dating to the 13th century AH/AD 19th. It is a Persian version of Kalilah wa-Dimnah (The fables of Bidpay). It was completed on 26 Jumadá I 1264 AH/AD 1847 by Mirza Rahim. The text is written in Nasta’liq script in black and red ink, revealing the influence of Shikastah script. There are 123 paintings illustrating the text. The Qajar binding is original to the manuscript.

Husayn Va’iz Kashifi (died 1504-1505) (Author)
Mirza Rahim navadah-i Mirza Amin Afshar (Scribe)

1264 AH/AD 1847 (Qajar)

Best friends?

Oh, one of my favourite stories, and one that is much older than I thought.

Another beautiful Simurgh!

Those mice, always rescuing everyone.

Yet another rescue by a mouse. They must have been adored by everyone. :D

You can see many more images at The Public Domain, or download the .pdf of the whole manuscript via The Walters Art Museum.

Kangaroo Island.

From David, who notes: This is a lighthouse on Kangaroo Island. Other photos show remnants of a machine room and store as well as the jetty where supply ships docked. Goods and people were hauled up via a flying fox. It was a long way from the jetty to the top. The lighthouse is still operational, but like most these days, it is fully automatic. Click for full size.

© David, all rights reserved.

No Miss Piggies! Unattractive!

Let’s take a look at Mr. No Unattractive Fatties:

Via Twitter.

We should all know that looks aren’t all that, and most people aren’t obscenely rich and have the option to completely remold their faces and figures, and to attempt to offput aging through various methods, some very questionable, like that of vampire wannabe Thiel. Apparently, President Pinchpork seems to think he’s devastatingly attractive as he is. Whether or not a person is intellectually engaging, has a sense a humour, is kind, and so on, those things matter. Looks? Not so much. Not that eye candy isn’t nice, what’s not to enjoy? There are plenty of people who make a living being eye candy, for everyone’s enjoyment. If that’s not your job though, then looks should not have jack shit to do with anything, while your actual abilities to do your job competently, that should matter.

RANCHO PALOS VERDES (CBSLA.com) — Trump’s exclusive Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles perched in picturesque Rancho Palos Verdes is now at the center of bias accusations. In legal documents first published by the LA Times, former staffers here unleashed a slew of ugly allegations against Trump in a lawsuit that has since been settled.

Among the accusations: Trump fat shamed employees at the golf club’s restaurant and demanded they be given the boot because of their weight.

A former catering director said this about the billionaire real estate mogul:

“I had witnessed Donald Trump tell managers many times while he was visiting the club that restaurant hostesses were not ‘pretty enough’ and that they should be fired and be replaced with more attractive women.’

Another staffer also said she was told to fire someone because they were too heavy:

“Mr. Stellio told me that I should do this because Mr. Trump doesn’t like fat people and that he would not like seeing (her) when he was on the premises.”

Staffers also reported fearing Trump’s wrath, so they replaced middle-aged hostesses at the restaurant with younger, more attractive women when Trump was visiting.

I wonder, given President Pinchpork’s hatred of fat, what the hell he sees when he looks in the mirror.

Trump’s organization called the claims totally bogus in the following statement:

“The allegations in the lawsuit were meritless. We do not engage in discrimination of any kind. The statements made by a group of former disgruntled employees are far from an accurate portrayal of what it is like to work at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles.”

Let’s go back to the recent past for a moment:

Alicia Machado, who won the Miss Universe pageant in 1996, was photographed in May of this year in Los Angeles. Credit Emily Berl for The New York Times.

Alicia Machado, who won the Miss Universe pageant in 1996, was photographed in May of this year in Los Angeles. Credit Emily Berl for The New York Times.

This is the woman Trump called “Miss Piggy” “Miss Housekeeping” and “Miss Eating Machine”.  Wanting women to be walking skeletons is in no way reasonable, especially when those making such demands tend to be more than a bit well padded. It’s not as though President Pinchpork is demanding all the men who work for him be model level attractive and to be of sufficient thinness. So as far as the statement goes, I’ll issue an unequivocal bullshit. Pinchpork is a walking, talking horror show when it comes to womens’ bodies and clothing choices, and it’s not as though girls don’t have enough shit hurled at them from day one on that level. Men don’t need this sort of crap either, nor do they need anyone encouraging them to be judgmental assholes of shallowness. All my hopes to those suing.

Full story here.

Scent of Geranium.

Scent of Geranium from Naghmeh Farzaneh on Vimeo.

Absolutely wonderful.

Immigration is a new chapter in one’s life, a chapter with unexpected events that can take one’s life down paths different from the one imagined. This film is an autobiographical account of the director’s experience with immigration.

‘Scent of Geranium’ is this week’s Staff Pick Premiere! Read more about it here: vimeo.com/blog/post/staff-pick-premiere-scent-of-geranium