Then vs Now: the decline and fall, from an equine perspective

Then:

George Stubbs Lion Attacking Horse

George Stubbs A Lion Attacking A Horse was painted sometime around 1765… The horse is majestic but doomed, the lion, a ravaging monster. It’s Claude Lorraine meets Lord of The Rings.

Now:

Lion on Horseback

The shocking pictures come from the animal park at Xiamen in Fujian, south-east China, where the public seem to delight in humiliating circus-style stunts and have no regard for animal cruelty. Conditions are poor, with big cats including lions, tigers and leopards and other large animals including bears kept in solitary confinement in tiny cages.

So I see the fin was a little late this siècle.

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Anonymous Video: the outtakes!

Anonymous vs Scientology, the video, is a true masterpiece of anarchist art; simultaneously exciting, enticing, and intimidating, it leaves the viewer both appalled and attracted. Or at least it does if you’re the sum total of my circle of friends. So what if they all hated it! It’s MY circle, dammit, so I have super-voting shares, just like Conrad Black.

This is an anarchy and I run it.

In any case, like everything from the creation of humanity to the blogosphere on down, great art is not achieved without a few false starts. For those of you returning from the Anonymous VS Scientology showdown in London today, here is something to keep the buzz going:

the Anonymous vs Scientology video blooper reel!

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Pic o’ the day: Dragonfly

Dragonfly with Dew

by Martin Amm, via Neatorama

Nick Denton and Julia Allison: a portrait of the Dark Lord as a young Media Whore

Nick Denton Julia Allison

The New York media world is even more incestuous than we imagined.

Can this really be true? Is Nick Denton, the Dark Lord of Gawker Media, really nothing more than the sum of Julia Allison posts? It would explain so much, so very much.

With her shockingly revealing photomontage, Vangroover‘s very own Civixen, in her Gawker alter ego Hez, has dared to open the lid on Pandora’s very box, when most sensible people wouldn’t go near it without a full HAZMAT suit.

Who can we turn to for informed insight on the revolting details of this deal?

    RentYourSoul :

    Pierre Ayotte, noted in his press release as a “friendly upcoming Internet opportunist”–i.e. not The Devil Himself, just to be clear–would like to rent your soul for ten bucks a week.

    An esteemed German thought leader :

    Johann Faustus was born in Roda in the province of Weimar, of God-fearing parents. Although he often lacked common sense and understanding, at an early age he proved himself a scholar, mastering not only the Holy Scriptures, but also the sciences of medicine, mathematics, astrology, sorcery, prophesy, and necromancy.

    Blues legend Robert Johnson :

    Many have dubbed Johnson the father of modern rock and roll. Of all early bluesmen, Robert Johnson can be considered one of the more prolific. Although he did not live long enough to become as popular as many of the other earlier blues artists, his music has influenced a number of musicians who dramatically changed music history.

    Angelyne :

    I am everything glamorous and I love HOT PINK! I love pizza, chocolate, angels, and aliens, did you know they talk to me? I have many friends. Ooooh have you seen my art? Did you know I was almost the Governor of California? They would have had to make me a BUST by the Hollywood sign! I have thousands of fans and can’t seem to keep men off of me. You can buy my phenomonal self portraits! Join my fan club!

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eye of the storm

rainbow in Palm Springs

stolen from The Guardian

and a few lines from Julie Williams’ Coming Up Into the Light

You can only hunker down so long & then the wind dies

or rushes on to some other place to do its damage…

Or, you can think out of the box.