Mister Scribbles

This is the first known photograph of a human.  This is Paris in 1838.  There are two people visible, a man having his shoes polished and a bootblack who is more indistinct.  This photo is reversed to show the view as Daguerre would have seen it, as all daguerreotypes are backwards.   This is the Boulevard de Temple, and in 1838 was known as the Boulevard of Crime because of all the penny dreadful type theaters.  Much of it was destroyed when Baron Haussmann did his thing.  Some have thought the man was standing at a water pump but this apparently is a bootblack at work. Close examination shows other people.  Two women and a pram. Child and dog across the street. Childs face in window.  I got all this off of Mashable, written and curated by Amanda Uren and Chris Wild. http://mashable.com/2014/11/05/first-photograph-of-a-human/ Aujourde' hui.  I started wit...

Two days after Christmas, and I went crabbing in the bay.  I got bored with this like everything else in my life right now so I finished it just to say I did some damn thing creative today.  I also threw all the crabs back.

This superior drawing is known as the "Madonna of Stalingrad".  It was drawn by Lt. Kurt Reuber, a doctor and a protestant pastor.  It measures 3' by 4', and is charcoal on the back of a Soviet map.  It reads, running down the left side, Christmas at the siege, Fortress Stalingrad, Light, Love, Life.  It was flown out by his battalion commander (why was an officer leaving, his place was with his men) on what Wikipedia says is the last flight out but I dispute that.  Could be, though.  Reuber died in a work camp.  He drew another before his death.  The original is on display at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial church in Berlin. The Prisoner's Madonna.  Reuber. The Germans starved their POW's to death, by policy.  The Russians then starved their German prisoners to death, by policy.  Of the 91,000 6th Army prisoners, 6000 would return home a decade later. 'The Eastern Front was the armies of two mass murderer...

The Laguna Madre, I mean Little Bay.  The Laguna is on the other sided of the dark strip in the background. A dog. A boy. Un flambeaux. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah where needed! steve @_livingdog - Instagram  

This terrifiying image is by Captain Zepto.  He is another of the people I admire as artists on FurAffinity.  This is a Bibirensis, a parasite that invades a host body.  It kills the host than uses the body as a vehicle until it is to badly damaged for further usefulness.  It is carrying a cane made partly from the skull of an earlier victim.  Nasty! Behold Epovunos, the Tundra Warden.  While not known for killing, he is believed to extinguish any fire he comes across, to the consternation of travelers in the region.  Such fires can hardly be relit, and the place will not support fire again.  He wanders the tundra of his homeworld, and if damaged will repair himself with roots, grass and trees.  A skeleton in space.  Victim of some act of war, catastrophe, or accident?  This is a scene I have often thought of.  What would other beings think of this when they came across it?  Al...

Graffo sent me this picture of a moose.  Well, if he says so. steve @_livingdog - Instagram  

Peter Francisco.  Believed to be the son of a high ranking official of the Portuguese empire, he was found wandering the docks at City Point, Virginia in 1765.  It is thought that he and his sister were kidnapped to be held for ransom.  Why the parents were not contacted or what the hell happened is not part of this essay, nor does it matter.  This is one of the most remarkable fighters in history. He was apprenticed as a blacksmith and grew to be 6' 8" and weighed some 280, big for the day.  Ha ha!  Big anywhere and anytime.  But we are talking about the size of the fight in the dog, not the other way around. He was adopted by Judge Anthony Winston, an uncle of Patrick Henry, and raised as his son. In 1776, at the age of 16, Peter joined the 10th Virginia, and was soon noted for his aggression and ability.  That such a large fellow survived volley firing argues a lot of luck, but, as will be shown, luck was the least of it. As no...

Pierre Auguste Cot, "Spring".  I would throw away the rest of my life and the good opinion of my family if I could ravage the girl in this picture.  I am not asking permission. Fragonard, Happy Accidents of the Swing. I swear I was in my thirties before I realized what was going on here.   No wonder the ladies gave up on me. Boucher.  La Odalisque.  Dear me... Fragonard.  Woman Reading. Boy oh boy,  I'd like to fuck her! Well, if you insist, Madame.... Delacroix. Lucky old Pluto. Bernini.

Will Eisner still stuns, inspires, and amazes after all this time.  The bulk of his greatest work was in the forties.  The above is from the Spirit, possibly the most innovative comic strip of all time. These were re-printed in the seventies, which I why I know about how good he was.  I have this one.  He  was stunningly cinematic and could sum up a story with a few deft lines.   I should not have said that about the bulk of his work in the forties.  He was great his entire and very prolific life.  It was his work on the Spirit in the forties that got him known. I guess it is obvious why I like him so much. Long before "The French Connection".  (note-some of these he drew in the seventies for the re-print collections.  So what)? Innovation is not the word for it.  I always wanted to look like Denny Colt, if I couldn't look like Jack Dempsey or Fred MacMu...