T. S. Eliot - Lit Tattoo
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
If - Rudyard Kipling
If
by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Umm Kulthoum Necklace
A model displays a pearl necklace belonging to the late Egyptian diva Umm Kulthoum (1904-1975) in Dubai, 29 April 2008. The necklace was sold for over $1.3 million during a Christie's auction in Dubai Tuesday. (AFP) Click here or on image to enlarge
The pearl necklace of the Arab World's most famous music icon, Umm Kulthoum (1904-1975), is seen on display during a preview of an auction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 28 April 2008. The necklace was a gift to the ailing singer at the end of her life from the late ruler of the UAE Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. (AP)
The natural pearl necklace once owned by Egyptian diva Umm Kulthoum (1904-1975) is seen on dispaly at Christie's auction house in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, 23 April 2008 ahead of next week's auction. The necklace, which was made in around 1880, features nine rows of pearls with multi-coloured enamel and white stones, and will be auctioned in Dubai on 29 April 2008. (AFP)
Click here or on image to enlarge
An employee at Christie's auction house cleans the stand holding the natural pearl necklace once owned by Egyptian diva Umm Kulthoum (1904-1975) in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, 23 April 2008. (AFP)
Click here or on image to enlarge
A woman looks at the natural pearl necklace once owned by Egyptian diva Umm Kulthoum (1904-1975) during its display in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, 23 April 2008. (AFP)
Click here or on image to enlarge
A woman looks at the natural pearl necklace once owned by Egyptian diva Umm Kulthoum (1904-1975) during its display in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, 23 April 2008. (AFP)
Click here or on image to enlarge
A natural pearl necklace once owned by Arab singer Umm Kulthoum (1904-1975) is displayed by a member of staff at Christie's auction house, in London, 18 April 2008. The necklace was a gift to the singer from Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late founder and ruler of the UAE, and is expected to fetch
$80,000-120,000 (£40,000-60,000 or euros 50,000-75,000) when it is auctioned in Dubai on 29 April 2008. (AFP)
Bahraini MPs Seek To Stop Haifa Show
Bahrain's Islamist-dominated parliament on 29 April 2008 approved an urgent motion asking the government to ban a performance by Lebanese singer Haifa Wehbe, known for her sexy looks and revealing outfits, and who is seen here during the filming of her video clip "Wawa" in Beirut, 17 April 2006. The move came despite assurances by organisers that the Lebanese superstar would dress modestly during the show, timed to coincide with Labour Day
on Thursday.(AFP)
• Click here to enlarge
on Thursday.(AFP)
• Click here to enlarge
Monday, April 28, 2008
Zeina Zaki Fashion
A model displays a creation from the collection of Iraqi designer Zeina Zaki during a fashion show at the Bridal Exhibition in Dubai, 25 April 2008. (AFP)
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Caramel - Nadine Labaki
Caramel (Arabic: Sukkar Banat), the first feature film by Lebanese director/actress Nadine Labaki, is a 2007 Lebanese film. The film premiered on May 20 at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, in the Directors' Fortnight section. It ran for the Caméra d'or.
• Songs from the film Caramel:
• Trailer (Youtube)
• Sukkar Ya Banat (Youtube)
• Mrayte Ya Mrayte (Youtube)
• Trailer (Youtube)
• Sukkar Ya Banat (Youtube)
• Mrayte Ya Mrayte (Youtube)
Caramel film still | Click here or on image to enlarge
Caramel film still | Click here or on image to enlarge
Caramel film still | Click here or on image to enlarge
Caramel film still | Click here or on image to enlarge
Lebanese director/actress Nadine Labaki speaks during an interview with Reuters about her newly released film Caramel in a production house in Beirut, 30 August 2007. (Reuters)
Click here or on image to enlarge
Lebanese director/actress
Nadine Labaki
Salman Rushdie On The Enchantress Of Florence
Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie talks to Harriett Gilbert about his sumptuous new novel The Enchantress of Florence which includes deft interweaving of complicated plots and intrigues, magic and wisdom.
(The Word - BBC)
His Books - Robert Southey
His Books
by Robert Southey (1774-1843)
My days among the Dead are past;
Around me I behold,
Where'er these casual eyes are cast,
The mighty minds of old:
My never-failing friends are they,
With whom I converse day by day.
With them I take delight in weal
And seek relief in woe;
And while I understand and feel
How much to them I owe,
My cheeks have often been bedew'd
With tears of thoughtful gratitude.
My thoughts are with the Dead; with them
I live in long-past years,
Their virtues love, their faults condemn,
Partake their hopes and fears;
And from their lessons seek and find
Instruction with an humble mind.
My hopes are with the Dead; anon
My place with them will be,
And I with them shall travel on
Through all Futurity;
Yet leaving here a name, I trust,
That will not perish in the dust.
Dome Thru Wall
The famous icon of Madinah, the green dome of Prophet Mohamed's Mosque, taken using a Nokia N95. Some editing done using PS.
• Source: alsay
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Let's Call Him Plumed Lizard
Isabel Allende
Isabel Allende, one of Latin America's foremost female writers, reads from her new memoir, The Sum of Our Days.
(The Guardian)
• Related Link:
California dreaming
Heavenly Beauty
All dreams for a new life | Click here or on image to enlarge
Heavenly beauty | Click here or on image to enlarge
• Source: Shah Baba
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Beauty Of Nature - Stephen B Whatley
Beauty of Nature (2008) by Stephen B Whatley
Click here or on image to enlarge
Tulips & an Iris photographed by Stephen B Whatley in front of his landscape painting Towards Botany Bay - which can be seen below.
Photographed February 8, 2008 & dedicated to Mary (...in whose memory the flowers were bought, February 6, 2008)
Click here or on image to enlarge
Tulips & an Iris photographed by Stephen B Whatley in front of his landscape painting Towards Botany Bay - which can be seen below.
Photographed February 8, 2008 & dedicated to Mary (...in whose memory the flowers were bought, February 6, 2008)
Towards Botany Bay (1995) by Stephen B Whatley
Click here or on image to enlarge
Click here or on image to enlarge
• Source: Stephen B Whatley at Flickr
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Romanticism
Wanderer Above The Sea
Of Fog (1818) - Oil on canvas
by Caspar David Friedrich
(1774-1840)
Romanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution. It was partly a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature, and was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature.
The movement stressed strong emotion as a source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as trepidation, horror, and the awe experienced in confronting the sublimity in untamed nature and its qualities that are "picturesque", both new aesthetic categories. It elevated folk art and custom, as well as arguing for a "natural" epistemology of human activities as conditioned by nature in the form of language, custom and usage... • Romanticism (Wikipedia)
• Related Link: Romantic Circles
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Featured Video
Granada on the
Classical Guitar
Music video of Agustin Lara's "Granada", featuring Maestro Jerard on the classical guitar and salsa dancers Rony Medrana and Dinora Barragan. Directed by Braddon Mendelson.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Still Life Compositions - Tony Murphy
Daffodils, Tulips & Apples
by Tony Murphy
Nightcap by Tony Murphy | Click here or on image to enlarge
Lantern - Old Cairo
Lantern - Old Cairo
The geometric designs in the window and lantern are typical of Islamic art. This one can be found on the Amr Ibn Al-As Mosque, the oldest mosque in Egypt, constructed in 642 AD.
• Source: chuha
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Sandstorm Engulfs Baghdad
An Iraqi woman walks in the middle of a sandstorm that engulfed the Iraqi capital,
17 April 2008. (AFP)
