Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.

Archive for May 30, 2014

Nine European Kings; May 20th, 1910.

This photo was taken at the funeral of British King Edward VII, May 20, 1910.

"So...what do you all think about having a little tussle with the French in a couple years?" "Only if the Russians join in..."

“So…what do you all think about having a little tussle with the French in a couple years?”
“Only if the Russians join in…”

Standing from Left –

Haakon VII, King of Norway
Ferdinand I, Tsar of Bulgaria 
Manuel II, King of Portugal
Wilhelm II, German Emperor 
George I, King of Greece 
Albert I, King of the Belgians

Seated from the Left –

Alfonso XIII, King of Spain
George V, King of Great Britain
Frederick VIII, King of Denmark

Philippe Petit on a cable between the WTC towers; ca. 1974

 

4Pn9d

Life should be lived on the edge of life; you have to exercise rebellion:

to refuse to taper yourself to rules, to refuse your own success,

to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge,

and then you are going to live your life on a tightrope.

q

I really really enjoyed the documentary  Man on Wire from a historical aspect; but Petit was a bit of an ass. In the end, he seemed like he just sort of abandoned his friends once he got recognition. His one buddy got banned for life from the US and he didn’t seem to care, and as soon as he got released rather than go visit his girlfriend he shacked up in a hotel with some random girl for a couple of days. Ugh!

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*On 9/11/2003, Petit wrote the most poignant eulogy for the Twin Towers. It draws upon a lesson he learned in coping with the death of his young daughter in the 1990s.

photos


“Bandit’s Roost” off Mulberry Street, New York City; ca. 1887

The guy in the foreground on the right looks exactly like Matt Damon to me.

There’s even a guy in the window throwing gang signs.
Makes you wonder where that trend started.

The opening part of this scene from ‘Gangs of New York’ was based off of this photo.