The Beautiful Gianni Morandi

No confessions are necessary - you know I'm addicted to Italian pop songs of the sixties.

And when the song is delivered by a total hottie like Gianni Morandi ...

... then my addiction ...

.... is complete ...

You'll know 'Parla piu piano' - used much later in 'The Godfather' ...

Now in 'Non son degno di te', beware - because in this second offering, you may be more than mildly distracted ...

... by the truly Olympic gold medal winning beehive ...

... which - curiously, or maybe not so curiously - reminds me of the Leaning Tower if Pisa.

Enjoy!

Recalcitrant Pumps III - The Experience Evolves

Before re-posting this one let me say there was obsolutely no set up whatsoever involved - life can just be strange like this - blogger's word of honour, which should settle the matter - LOL!

I've done two some might be tempted to say quirky posts over the last couple of years - 'Recalcitrant Pumps' (19 November 2007) ...

... and 'Recalcitrant Pumps 2' (20 July 2008) ...

... to put on record a recurring and somewhat surreal experience. One that usually happens on the way to my favourite Kings Cross cafe for a morning latte, and perhaps this may turn out to be significant?

Well, there was a recurrence this morning, which I instinctively knew would require another post.

As I wandered home, naturally my mind was racing with all sorts of angles - from Marcel Duchamp's 'objets trouvés', such as his 1917 urinal as a fountain ...

... to the more obvious foot fetish implications ...

On a mundane and surface level, of course this particular sighting suggests the aftermath of a night of wild partying ...

... and the inherent complications of getting home in the morning ...

But I'm open to other interpretations - cos I'm a guy with less than rigid and fixed opinions.

So, guys, does this say something about me and what I attend to?

Or do you reckon there are there other forces at work here?

Magical Dali in Far Western China

A few years back, I was wandering round far western China, as you do, and I happened across the ancient local capital of Dali. In fact the city was the centre of both the Bai kingdom of Nanzhao (8th and 9th centuries) and the Kingdom of Dali (937-1253).

The approach by boat across Erhai lake past an island temple heralded something special ...

So when I landed ...

... I headed off in the very highest spirits to the city gate ...

... and, almost a daze, just wandered round the narrow streets ...

... crowded with old buildings ...

... and shops ...

When I poked my nose into this alley way leading to the courtyard of a home, the inhabitants invited me in for tea - the magic continued to be woven!

I'd heard there was a temple complex in the nearby hills ...

... and when I arrived all was shrouded in mist ...

... the magic was not letting up!

Walking back down to Dali, I by chance wandered into the rarest temple of all in the Peoples' Republic - one still functioning for religious observance ...

... and replete with resident monks ...

... who had just in fact completed their daily laundry.

The magic was still in top gear!

Back in town, I was feeling more than a bit fazed. A couple of travellers began chatting to me and everything cleared quite quickly - I realised I hadn't spoken at any length for a couple of weeks and that this had led to the disorientation.

Having perked up, my new friends and I followed this group of women ...

... to what turned out to be the local market day ...

One of by new companions couldn't resist this trio of older men just calmly watching life go by ...

As you'll have noticed, everyone but everyone is dressed in traditional clothing.

The people in this region belong to one of China's (92) minority groups - and dress as they do to demonstrate themselves as separate and different from the Han majority.

A bit of reading back in Australia confirmed the development of a movement in the area for local autonomy.

Into The Tardis Again - Berlin, 1900

Paul in NY just made some slight and wistful noises about my 'Berlin in 1900' post on the old blog - it was more than enough to provoke an instant re-post here!

Time to time travel again - I've already buckled up my seat belt and am set to go!

This particular journey is the result of seeing a most poignant piece of footage - Berlin between 1900 and 1910, just before the carnage that was World War One.

People seem prosperous and confident, a world of such seeming certainties - the ultimate calm before the storm.

There's the hustle and bustle of the streets - just a slice, across the social spectrum, of ordinary people going about their daily business ...

And images of individual people, close-ups of shadowy often unsuspecting figures, frozen in time ...

... people about whose lives I can't help speculating about!

There are snatched impressions of old and new forms of transport ...

... and famous landmarks ...

Brandenburg Gate

There are examples of new social activities, such as bicycling ...

... and new jobs, like directing traffic ...

...and those minuscule usually unrecorded commonplace business activities, such as paying for a cab ...

Finally, there's a bunch of folk out on that new-fangled contraption, the bicycle - performing a cute though perhaps not-quite-Busby-Berkley-standard routine for the camera ...

So, without delay, to the video ...

... which I hope you'll like.