Hi, my beloved readers... Here we go again! Long time since I last wrote in this blog of mine! Lack of inspiration maybe? Hm... Maybe! The thing is, I've checked the other blogs and it seems that a lot of people's not writing as much as they used to write, before! So, maybe it's not only me... who knows!
And I must say that I'm not really in a writing mood today either, but I felt the call of duty this morning, and that's why I'm here! Well... maybe there's something I want to talk about, now... Surely you've noticed in the streets already... In the shops, over your head... well: everywhere! You've noticed, so, that Christmas time's coming again! And this is the point of my today's post...
Origins, tradition... Old fashioned words, nowadays. Shops, sales, buy, buy, BUY! Yes... that's Christmas in these days, or at least it seems so! Christmas lights are set every year sooner and sooner... and maybe in the end people will celebrate Christmas wearing short sleeve T-shirts, in summertime... And if this early Christmas happens also in every single part of our Earth... maybe those who live in the Southern Hemisphere will end celebrating it in their winter... Curious thing, huh?
I'm not a family man, as you may know by now. So, I don't care about family meetings on Christmas day... I didn't do that in the past and I'm not doing it now... I don't celebrate Christmas either... I just watch and think about it... It's not about celebrating that Christ birth... I'm not Cristian either... But these are important days for a lot of actual cultures (Jews have their Hannukah) or ancient (Egiptians believed that, before new year's eve, there was a bad period... between the end of a cycle and the beginning of the next)...
So, no more spirituality? No values anymore? Streets are packed with people, shops are crowded, and it seems that crisis is conviniently hiding in a secret place, to let everyone buy more stuff without feeling guilty about it... What do you think? Actual Christmas was invented by Harrod's?
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
A Violet from Mother's grave...
Hi again, my dear readers... Even if I look like a man in his mid-thirties I’m growing old and forgetful at the same time... Can you believe I forgot to post this last November 9th? Unbelievable!
It can be a normal day for you... Maybe’s the birthday of one of your friends or stuff like that... But not a special day for other reasons! Not a public holiday, not a long weekend... But, for good old Jack, 9th of November is a very special day... Indeed! Because, 120 years ago, my last victim passed away… Mmm… I can still remember how beautiful Mary Kelly looked wandering in Whitechapel streets… She was… fancy! Because Victorian whores were not like nowadays whores, vulgar and nasty! She was so much younger than my other “friends”, only 25… And prettier than the other, too: Blue eyes, red hair, nice smile… She even had all her teeth, which was quite unusual then… and sometimes even today!
It can be a normal day for you... Maybe’s the birthday of one of your friends or stuff like that... But not a special day for other reasons! Not a public holiday, not a long weekend... But, for good old Jack, 9th of November is a very special day... Indeed! Because, 120 years ago, my last victim passed away… Mmm… I can still remember how beautiful Mary Kelly looked wandering in Whitechapel streets… She was… fancy! Because Victorian whores were not like nowadays whores, vulgar and nasty! She was so much younger than my other “friends”, only 25… And prettier than the other, too: Blue eyes, red hair, nice smile… She even had all her teeth, which was quite unusual then… and sometimes even today!
So, since it was my farewell act, I did the best I could with her delicate body... And the nice thing was that I didn't have to do that in the streets, where's easy to get caught... Because I killed her in her own room... She was living with her husband in one of those rooms in Miller's Court... Number 13, If I remember correctly... And, luckily, one of the glasses of a window next to the door was broken, and I managed to enter by opening the door from the inside, through that hole... What happened next is History! You can just check that out in The Times website, where you can read any edition of The Times since it was created, in 1785! Here's the link to that 10th November edition of the newspaper.
But, just in case you fancy reading right now, just check Dr. Thomas Bond's notes taken in situ:
"The body was lying naked in the middle of the bed, the shoulders flat but the axis of the body inclined to the left side of the bed. The head was turned on the left cheek. The left arm was close to the body with the forearm flexed at a right angle and lying across the abdomen.
The right arm was slightly abducted from the body and rested on the mattress. The elbow was bent, the forearm supine with the fingers clenched. The legs were wide apart, the left thigh at right angles to the trunk and the right forming an obtuse angle with the pubes.
The whole of the surface of the abdomen and thighs was removed and the abdominal cavity emptied of its viscera. The breasts were cut off, the arms mutilated by several jagged wounds and the face hacked beyond recognition of the features. The tissues of the neck were severed all round down to the bone.
The viscera were found in various parts viz: the uterus and kidneys with one breast under the head, the other breast by the right foot, the liver between the feet, the intestines by the right side and the spleen by the left side of the body. The flaps removed from the abdomen and thighs were on a table.
The bed clothing at the right corner was saturated with blood, and on the floor beneath was a pool of blood covering about two feet square. The wall by the right side of the bed and in a line with the neck was marked by blood which had struck it in a number of separate splashes.
The face was gashed in all directions, the nose, cheeks, eyebrows, and ears being partly removed. The lips were blanched and cut by several incisions running obliquely down to the chin. There were also numerous cuts extending irregularly across all the features.
The right arm was slightly abducted from the body and rested on the mattress. The elbow was bent, the forearm supine with the fingers clenched. The legs were wide apart, the left thigh at right angles to the trunk and the right forming an obtuse angle with the pubes.
The whole of the surface of the abdomen and thighs was removed and the abdominal cavity emptied of its viscera. The breasts were cut off, the arms mutilated by several jagged wounds and the face hacked beyond recognition of the features. The tissues of the neck were severed all round down to the bone.
The viscera were found in various parts viz: the uterus and kidneys with one breast under the head, the other breast by the right foot, the liver between the feet, the intestines by the right side and the spleen by the left side of the body. The flaps removed from the abdomen and thighs were on a table.
The bed clothing at the right corner was saturated with blood, and on the floor beneath was a pool of blood covering about two feet square. The wall by the right side of the bed and in a line with the neck was marked by blood which had struck it in a number of separate splashes.
The face was gashed in all directions, the nose, cheeks, eyebrows, and ears being partly removed. The lips were blanched and cut by several incisions running obliquely down to the chin. There were also numerous cuts extending irregularly across all the features.
The neck was cut through the skin and other tissues right down to the vertebrae, the fifth and sixth being deeply notched. The skin cuts in the front of the neck showed distinct ecchymosis. The air passage was cut at the lower part of the larynx through the cricoid cartilage.
Both breasts were more or less removed by circular incisions, the muscle down to the ribs being attached to the breasts. The intercostals between the fourth, fifth, and sixth ribs were cut through and the contents of the thorax visible through the openings.
The skin and tissues of the abdomen from the costal arch to the pubes were removed in three large flaps. The right thigh was denuded in front to the bone, the flap of skin, including the external organs of generation, and part of the right buttock. The left thigh was stripped of skin fascia, and muscles as far as the knee.
The left calf showed a long gash through skin and tissues to the deep muscles and reaching from the knee to five inches above the ankle. Both arms and forearms had extensive jagged wounds.
The right thumb showed a small superficial incision about one inch long, with extravasation of blood in the skin, and there were several abrasions on the back of the hand moreover showing the same condition.
On opening the thorax it was found that the right lung was minimally adherent by old firm adhesions. The lower part of the lung was broken and torn away. The left lung was intact. It was adherent at the apex and there were a few adhesions over the side. In the substances of the lung there were several nodules of consolidation.
The pericardium was open below and the heart absent. In the abdominal cavity there was some partly digested food of fish and potatoes, and similar food was found in the remains of the stomach attached to the intestines."
Both breasts were more or less removed by circular incisions, the muscle down to the ribs being attached to the breasts. The intercostals between the fourth, fifth, and sixth ribs were cut through and the contents of the thorax visible through the openings.
The skin and tissues of the abdomen from the costal arch to the pubes were removed in three large flaps. The right thigh was denuded in front to the bone, the flap of skin, including the external organs of generation, and part of the right buttock. The left thigh was stripped of skin fascia, and muscles as far as the knee.
The left calf showed a long gash through skin and tissues to the deep muscles and reaching from the knee to five inches above the ankle. Both arms and forearms had extensive jagged wounds.
The right thumb showed a small superficial incision about one inch long, with extravasation of blood in the skin, and there were several abrasions on the back of the hand moreover showing the same condition.
On opening the thorax it was found that the right lung was minimally adherent by old firm adhesions. The lower part of the lung was broken and torn away. The left lung was intact. It was adherent at the apex and there were a few adhesions over the side. In the substances of the lung there were several nodules of consolidation.
The pericardium was open below and the heart absent. In the abdominal cavity there was some partly digested food of fish and potatoes, and similar food was found in the remains of the stomach attached to the intestines."
Yes... I took her heart! And if you want to take a look to her body after my visit, you just have to follow this link... I was raised in politeness, and I don't want to scare you with dead woman's pictures... unless you want to look at them... So, here's the link. And here's her Death Certificate:
And... when remembering that 9th of November another 9th of november came to my mind... One with acts I unfortunately witnessed... And I'm referring to that nazi Kristallnacht (or Night of Broken Glass), in which 92 german Jews were murdered and almost 30.000 were deported to concentration camps... That was the turning point of Nazi's actions against Jews and... Well, you know the rest!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Rest In Peace...
...Because breaking up is never easy! ;-)
The Vandals - My girlfriend's dead
I once had a girlfriend,
But then one day she dumped me and everywhere
I'd go people would ask me where she was.
I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all my girlfriend's dead.
I say it's leukemia or sometimes bulimia
Or a great big truck ran her over
And chopped off her head.
I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all she's dead.
I guess there's a part of me that likes the sympathy
Or the looks on their faces when I tell them how
She passed away.
I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all she's dead.
(My girlfriend's dead)
My girlfriend's dead you see,
It's a total lie, but it's easier on me
Than having to admit that she likes someone else.
(My girlfriend's dead)
My girlfriend's dead you know,
Please change the subject or I am going to go
Jump off a building and join her in heaven.
I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all she's dead.
I once had a girlfriend,
But then one day she dumped me and everywhere
I'd go people would ask me where she was.
I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all my girlfriend's dead.
[x2]
The Vandals - My girlfriend's dead
I once had a girlfriend,
But then one day she dumped me and everywhere
I'd go people would ask me where she was.
I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all my girlfriend's dead.
I say it's leukemia or sometimes bulimia
Or a great big truck ran her over
And chopped off her head.
I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all she's dead.
I guess there's a part of me that likes the sympathy
Or the looks on their faces when I tell them how
She passed away.
I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all she's dead.
(My girlfriend's dead)
My girlfriend's dead you see,
It's a total lie, but it's easier on me
Than having to admit that she likes someone else.
(My girlfriend's dead)
My girlfriend's dead you know,
Please change the subject or I am going to go
Jump off a building and join her in heaven.
I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all she's dead.
I once had a girlfriend,
But then one day she dumped me and everywhere
I'd go people would ask me where she was.
I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all my girlfriend's dead.
[x2]
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Vi Veni Veniversum Vivus Vici
The time has come to talk about that movie I was thinking about the other day while writing about "From Hell"... Because tomorrow, my dear readers, is a very special day indeed...
"Remember, remember, the 5th of November... Gunpowder Treason and plot... I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason should be forgot!".
In the night between the 4th and the 5th of November 1605 (403 years ago), some English Catholic revolutionaries tried to execute the Gunpowder Plot... Their idea was to blown up, literally, The Houses of Parliament, killing King James I and his family, besides some aristocrats too, because English Catholics weren't not much tolerated in that ages... So, long story short, Guy Fawkes, a.k.a. Guido Fawkes (because he fought as a mercenary in the Spanish Tercios in Netherlands) was caught when he was placing several gunpowder barrels in the basements of the House of Lords, in The Parliament... The King had been adviced before that, thanks to an anonymous letter he received, probably written by one of the conspirators who didn't want innocent people to get killed because of that "Boom stuff". So... Guy Fawkes was locked up in the Tower of London, tortured and killed...
"Remember, remember, the 5th of November... Gunpowder Treason and plot... I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason should be forgot!".
In the night between the 4th and the 5th of November 1605 (403 years ago), some English Catholic revolutionaries tried to execute the Gunpowder Plot... Their idea was to blown up, literally, The Houses of Parliament, killing King James I and his family, besides some aristocrats too, because English Catholics weren't not much tolerated in that ages... So, long story short, Guy Fawkes, a.k.a. Guido Fawkes (because he fought as a mercenary in the Spanish Tercios in Netherlands) was caught when he was placing several gunpowder barrels in the basements of the House of Lords, in The Parliament... The King had been adviced before that, thanks to an anonymous letter he received, probably written by one of the conspirators who didn't want innocent people to get killed because of that "Boom stuff". So... Guy Fawkes was locked up in the Tower of London, tortured and killed...
And since then, to remind the inhabitants of that Perfidious Albion how traitors are treated even in their own homeland, in the United Kingdom they celebrate the "Bonfire Night", very similar to that Spanish traditional St. Joan's night, in which they set bonfires in the streets and burn stuffed dummies representing G. Fawkes, denominated simply "guys"...
Ok, ok, let's stick to the plan! I'll talk about one movie I certainly like... I'm referring to "V for Vendetta". This movie's based on another graphic novel by Alan Moore, with the same name. And, even if there's some differences between the movie and the novel I like both of them...
In V for Vendetta, settled in a non-distant future, England's ruled by an authoritarian government, which tries to control what people hear, talk, and above all, think. Evey (Natalie Portman) is one of those who live in fear, trying to get the shackles off her feet in order to be free... One night she meets a strange man... A man dressed with a black cape and a black hat too, clutching several knives, who wears also a Guy Fawkes mask and refers to himself as, simply, "V" (Hugo Weaving). V's planning to tear down that awful goverment by blowing up The Houses of Parliament, just like Guy Fawkes tried to do in the past...So, as I don't want to spoil you the end of the film, if you like it... watch it!
About the film... It's not very similar to the great novel which inspired it. In fact, Alan Moore disinherited himself of the film before it was released... But it has some good points too! Nice soundtrack and cinematography (indeed!) and, above all, a perfect representation of the character of V! Wugo Weaving did a great interpretation of a character without face! How? With his voice and gesticulation... So, that's why is good to see this film in English!
I love the character of V... and, just like him, I enjoy listening to some classical music too... And there's a magnificent piece of Tchaikovsky, used also in the film, called "1812 Overture". The last movement of that Overture's used in the last scene of the film... And I'd like to show it to you... So, I'll tell you what:
OPTION I: I've seen the film already and I want to delight myself watching the end of the film again, including music...
OPTION II: I haven't seen the film, so don't screw its end! Upload something else in order I can see what the fuck are you talking about!
Enough for today, I guess... And don't forget: Freedom! Forever!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Nerds or Artists?
See what some folks can do with enough time, patience and 280.591 post-it sticky notes!!! Nice, isn't it?
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