this blog is a visual notebook of inspirations for a group of bandit bloggers. we post things we see and like. our lives don’t revolve around singular topics and neither does our blog. sorry! nothing is in-or-out of context here. enjoy xx
now this was a real love story with a real tragic ending. not like the shit they write up in hollywood. the romanov family from left to right: olga, maria, nicholas II, alexandra, anastasia, alexei, and tatiana at the livadia palace in 1913
exterior of the livadia palace in 1913
part 1 of 3
the romanov dynasty, and russias involvement in WWI against germany, ended with the arrival of lenin from switzerland, who was assisted by russias enemy, germany herself. ironically tzar nicholas of russia and germany’s monarch kaiser wilhelm II, who were at war with one another, were actually related (first cousins – don’t ever expect loyalty from any royal or rich man). after the arrival of lenin and the abdication of the russian monarch, the family was put under house arrest… but with in month of the revolution the entire family was shot at point blank in the basement of the house they were sent to in the north. this included the beautiful 4 daughters and nicholas’ young son alexi. from what i gather they were perhaps the best of monarchs… that is when you compare autocrats and dictators of the time. very sad and tragic life indeed, especially for the children who were completely innocent. by uh
after his wife committed suicide, with a gunshot to her heart, stalin, the great dictator of russia, lived a lonely and isolated life.
with his wife, nadya
mozarts piano concerto no. 23
stalin and his beloved daughter svetlana alliluyeva
afraid of his own circle, and them afraid of him. imprisoning and committing to death, many of his very own relatives he became even colder after tanya’s death… he would escape the kremlin to his isolated private country home in the woods, dacha, guarded by 100’s of special forces. inside, no one was allowed, except his illiterate, but loyal governess. he slept in the day time and seldom at night, in various rooms in the house, and always on the couch with his shirt as his pillow. i found it fascinating and very melancholy to learn that in this house, often alone and yet all powerful, stalin (meaning steel/man) isolated from his people, family and the world, would listen repeatedly to his favorite song, mozart’s piano concerto no. 23 in a major, k. 488: II. andante… now that’s one fuckin’ state of mind… by uh
this animation should be all it takes to knock some sense into the nutty minds of everyone suffering from being blinded by the current pseudoscientific trend. it’s about time we have a renascence of the age of enlightenment where empiricism and scientific rigor overcomes the mumbo jumbo of ufo-logists and parapsychologists. if anyone is still “skeptic” towards the skeptics after seeing the video, please rewind and see it again. if still in doubt… choose your own punishment and buy one of the two following items: why people believe weird things or the $530 spiritual nourishment. by kt
an audio of thomas stearns eliot reading his 1920 piece gerontion. the poem represents the view of a “gerontic” or elderly man and his modernist views on religion and sexuality amongst other topics. although the line “thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season” is a metaphor for age, i thought it would be rather fitting for this peculiar new york weather we’ve been having. plus, i cannot think of a more satisfying way to hear eliot read than by the genius himself. by sv
photograph of sitting bull (the indian one with feathers, but not actually from india) and buffalo bill (the white guy with a fake looking stache, looking very custer like) in 1895 by william notman
“fight no more forever” –chief joseph
according to chief sitting bull … it was a “good day to die”… but it turned out he didn’t have to, it was general custer’s last stand! ken burns: “the battle of little big horn–a good day to die”
ken burns is an incredible, world respected documentary director, and this series is yet another example of his thorough research and amazing story-telling. an apt post for columbus day… happy shopping, but just take a moment to pause in respect of the true natives of this land… and if you enjoy this be sure to look up the documentary by ken burns on the history of jazz, amazing as well. by xy
what happened to edward snowden? terminal F documentary
i was looking up london fashion week and the latest on lady gaga, and came up with this awesome video of byonce that then, of course, took me to this rare behind-the-scenes clip of an old reality show with baby kendall jenner, when i randomly stumbled upon this downer, which basically ruined my day! but you know what, us millennials know how knowledge is like the awesomest asset, so i thought why not… ill give like 5 seconds of my precious time… and here’s the blah blah about the film:
“the documentary, made by german investigative journalist john goetz and danish documentary filmmaker poul-erik heilbuth, tells edward snowden’s story from the moment he left the US for hong kong to his arrival to terminal F at moscow’s sheremetyevo sirport in 2013. snowden was granted temporary asylum in russia in 2013 after spending a month in the Terminal F of the sheremetyevo international airport. having received a three-year residence permit in 2014, he continues to live in russia.”by xy
this is the 3rd time we are embedding this film and it keeps getting taken down (!) you may want to search it on youtube if and when this 3rd copy is taken down again
although “bitter lake”, a film by adam curtis, was produced by the BBC, the content of the film was rather too much for its audience to publicly promote. therefore the film remained in the back logs of their press efforts, and therefore seldom seen.
here is your chance to delve into the history of afganistan, the taliban, and the role saudi arabia and north america played in their faiths. its the story of how the islamic state (IS) was created and why. how fixing one problem, like the spread of communism, could cause to spearhead another one, like the spread of an extremist sect of wahabism (a version of islam created by the saudi elite).
this was achieved by exporting, funding and supporting this ideology to afganistan and beyond. it was done at a time when an evil entity was supported to bring down yet another enemy. of course today we are left to manage the monster we helped create. a good film to see for anyone interested in world affairs, beyond what fox news has to offer. by ac
the can surely can: damo suzuki killin’ it on stage
early kraftwerk rockpalast
if you like electronic music here are the godfathers before it all started. early kraftwerk experiments using home made machines and instruments
diggin’ the scene in the 1970’s rockpalast
the can concert : soest 1970
the audience was dumb founded, going between “can i get the f#@ck out” and “i’m gonna kill the guy on the flute”
you gotta look at this post not as entertainment, but rather as your “duty”. remember history class in 7th grade? yes it’s torturous, but in the name of art, evolution and experimentation, here are two devastatingly difficult concert you must submit to watching. if nothing, just to accept the future generations experiments in the highly intellectual world of music and art. just look at that acclaimed work of today’s giants, like kenya east or lady gogo, and ponder for a moment of what they have contributed to our world. (pardon our sarcasm).
kraftwerk include: florian schneider (flutes, synthesizers, electro-violin) and ralf hütter (electronic organ, synthesizers) met as students at the robert schumann hochschule in düsseldorf in the late 1960s, participating in the german experimental music and art scene of the time, which the british music press dubbed “krautrock”.
the can constructed their music largely through collective spontaneous composition—which the band differentiated from improvisation in the jazz sense—sampling themselves in the studio and editing down the results. bassist/chief engineer holger czukay referred to can’s live and studio performances as “instant compositions”. i think you can see that! by rb
the story of ford GT40 is an incredible one. and yes that is steve mcqueen next to the MKIV with taped-up front lights. they did that to protect the headlights from flying debris during the day to limit maintenance in the 24hr race. winner of le mans, bagging 1st, 2nd and 3rd position against ferrari in 1966 is the stuff of legends. if you don’t know about the story of ford and ferrari’s feud, it is worth checking this out. here’s a conclusive look at the ford gt models starting with the prototype. anyone with further knowledge is encourage to make corrections in the comments or just email us to update. that would be much appreciated, as we couldn’t find a single site showing the range of models. thanx.
1964-1965 GT40 108
above and below: henry ford II in the ford GT40 108 prototype roadster back in the USA in 1965
one of the earlier (i believe 1964) ford GT40 models on the race track
in 1964 ford attended the lemans but all cars fell behind ferrari due to repeated pitstops credited to massive gas consumption of the mega powered ford engines. finally all ford GT40’s dropped out due to mechanical failure and ferrari as usual took home 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize.
1964 official results “24 heures du mans” otherwise known as “le mans 24-hour race”
1st place – ferrari 2nd place -ferrari 3rd place -ferrari
1964-1965 GT40 MKI
notice the bat mobile wings on this GT40 i had never seen that myself. like back in 1964 ford did not manage to win or even complete the race with its GT40 prototypes.
1965 official results of the le mans 24-hour race
1st place – ferrari 2nd place -ferrari 3rd place -ferrari
1966 GT40 MKII-MKI
this was the decisive year for henry ford the II and his GT40’s, by now ford had various improved versions of the GT40 MKII and MKI’s in the race driven by australian drives bruce mclaren and chris amon amongst others
the number 5 GT40 in gold and pink livery. in 1966 ford managed to win lemans for the first time, in positions 1, 2 and 3 finally taking vengeance on ferrari for all that enzo ferrari had done to henry ford the II. (more on that story here)
the #2 for GT40 in black white with gold rims driven by bruce mclaren and chris amon (the 24 hr race requires drivers to take turn as its a continues race for 24 hours)
the #2 car finishes first ahead of the other 2 fords.
having wounded ferrari ford had to come back to lemans with a bigger gun. the MKIV was born
but ford wasn’t going to take any chances aside from the 4 GT40 MKIV’s there was also a MKII entered into the race
and the race was on…
ford once again took 1st place but this time ferrari was on its tail on position 2 and 3. the aerodynamic MKIV did not stand up to the test as well as the MKII’s did back in 1966, but winning lemans in 1st place is major accomplishment 2 years in a row for a company known for making mass production models Ts.
1967 official results of the le mans 24-hour race
1st place – ford 2nd place – ferrari 3rd place – ferrari
1968 back to GT40 MKI again
the revised ford GT40 MKI in gulf livery
car number 9 driven by pedro rodriguez and lucien bianchi wind the race
this is also the year actor steve mcqueen films the feature “le mans” using a modified GT40 to mount the camera on
1968 official results of the le mans 24-hour race
1st place – ford again 2nd place – porsche 3rd place – porsche
1969 GT40 MKI
troubles for ford
and yet… ford wins first again for the 4th year in a row… and where is enzo ferrari?
the story and the cars that came out of that story are simply legend and carry with them more than just beauty and power but an attitude of a man bent on making a point. now how can any one not love that? recently a GT40 used by steve mcqueen sold for an unbelievable price of $11,000,000, what a steal. by dd
massively personal and poetic film. based on a book by edmundo desnoes and directed in 1968 by tomás gutiérrez alea (IMDB) during the turmoil of social change in cuba. it is unfortunately his one and only good film, but how many can you do in a lifetime anyway? don’t ask why the titles are in japanese… by dd
a visual collective outlet of inspiration
