Tinselman

Great Babylon

This Babylonian pillar, which now rests in the Louvre, is unbelievably huge. It's just one of many pillars that once held up an ancient temple in ancient Babylon.

Samurai Vader

The Darth Vader design is a cheat? Stolen from history? It can't be!

Ever since I was a kid, I've always loved the way that our favorite bad guy looked like a Samurai knight. During a recent visit to a weapons museum, I spotted a Samurai helmet that almost had me joining the dark side! (yes Darth, we can rule the galaxy as father and son!!!)

click helmet to enlarge

More Vader Fun:

• Vader Hot Air Balloon
• Vader Domed Ukrainian Architecture
• A Gazillion Painted Vader Helmets
• Vader Statue of Liberty

Sex Shop Grace

Suitcase sex shop, Xiamen street market. Below: wax museum figure, Xiamen

Design researcher, Jan Chipchase, travels the furthest corner of the globe for work and pleasure. From Campeche to Hukeng to Kyotera....

As a skilled photographer, Chipchase seems to enjoy focusing on the odd and often forgotten details of the world. You can see the world through his eyes on his Future Perfect blog.

Another backpack-around-the-world-with-camera source I continue to enjoy is a photo-book called Asia Grace, by Kevin Kelly. This unbelievable resource (with its accompanying website) is simply packed, from end to end, with the most amazing people and places on earth. One would almost swear that Kelly traveled back through ancient history to take some of these shots.

The Rugs of War – Part 2

Because of the overwhelming response to my Rugs of War post, I thought I should continue with some more edge-of-your-seat Rugs of War info. And as it turns out... both textiles and war are nothing new! Neither is the dramatic combination of the two.

Let's travel back to the middle ages... shall we?

The above stalwart warriors are lifted from the famed Bayeaux Tapestry, commissioned by Queen Matilda of France to depict the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Unlike the Afghan rugs, there are no M60's or Blackhawks, tanks or jets... but there's plenty of weapons and death! That same thing was around in the middle ages and, even back then, people wanted to commemorate it (and glorify it) in cloth.

War rugs don't just remain decorative; we wear them... as you can plainly see by the "Remember Pearl Harbor" scarf, at the top of this post. I can't help but admire the scarf – practically overflowing with patriotic American soundbites snatched from throughout U.S. history – one of them is bound to make you feel something.

The detail from the left is taken from a japanese kimono during the 1940's. In the design, one can clearly discern searchlights, seeking out japanese bombers in the night sky. Chilling.

You can find more info and images on propogandistic textiles at designboom.

The Rugs of War

I just encountered the most amazing rugs. At first blush, many of them have all the qualities of your typical persian styled rug – the saw-toothed borders, the repeating patterns, the decorative fringe – however, upon closer inspection, they're anything but typical.

The rugs are woven by Afghan women. Some are overtly illustrative, as in the bizzare and provoking depiction of September 11th, at the top of this page (look close... you can even see tiny people falling to their deaths!).

In other rugs (like the one to the left), the women have turned guns, tanks, jets and other weapons of war into decorative patterns and have created a folk-expression of what's it's been like to live with war for the past few decades, from as far back as the war with the Soviets to the current occupation by the U.S..

My favorite... this rug, welcoming the United Nations Troops to Iraq, reading, "Wel Come Unit Ednation Iniraq".

Update: For more info about war-textiles, see The Rugs of War – Part 2.

Click rugs to enlarge

• NPR – War Rugs Find Mixed Reception
• Warrug.com – Buy your own war rug

Essentially Improved

Military flight helmets from WWII through Vietnam

I'm fascinated by the stylings of the military. The guise is pure functionality but underneath that surface is a complex military aesthetic. I'm fascinated by the continued evolution of this design aesthetic, from as far back as the greeks all the way to modern day.

For a quick glimpse of it all, just take a quick browse through ebay (like I just did). The above helmets are from one seller "who has been asked by a widow to sell her husband's huge military collection." Wow! They're stunning.

As military technology does evolve, so do blogs. With this post, I am evolving (and hopefully improving) the Tinselman blog by enlarging the standard size for images. I'm getting tired of looking at these tiny pictures! So here it is... the first of many larger images to come. Enjoy! (And click image to enlarge)

Persistent Disparate Interchange

Justin Norman contacted me a few weeks ago. He and his brother Wesley were curious to see if they could creatively transform the Myst or Riven music into something very different from either Myst or Riven... using visuals.

Of course I told them to shove it up their collective asses.

And just when I was getting ready to call my hotshot lawyers and sue them for even considering such a thing, I settled down and suddenly warmed to the idea. I'm glad... because they ended up doing something that's just plain weirdly great. They decided on Catherine's Theme from Riven. I provided the music but their (very) short film is their concept and implementation.

Please watch!

And afterwords, stop by the brother's Shrieking Tree site.

Looming Comments

a

What a great discussion (in the previous post). Provoking and informative and passionate, and it seems to represent a large spectrum of what's felt about this historic time and how it continues to impact us.

Here's a sampling of some of the comments...

Armyguy quoted a number of Western statesmen who were directly or indirectly involved with WWII. I think it doesn't hurt to pay attention to their assessment of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki:*

b

General Dwight David Eisenhower, Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces in Europe said,

Japan was at that very moment seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face'... It wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing.

c

Admiral William D. Leahy, President Truman's Chief of Staff said,

The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons... In being the first to use it [the atomic bomb], we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages...

I was not taught to make war in this fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children.

Leahy also wrote,

The dropping of the first atomic bomb was an act of pure terrorism. It fulfilled no military purpose of any kind.

Paul Nitze, Vice Chairman, U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey said,

Certainly prior to 31 December 1945... Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.

Field Marshal Montgomery, Commander of all UK Forces wrote,

It was unnecessary to drop the two atom bombs on Japan in August 1945, and I cannot think it was right to do so .... the dropping of the bombs was a major political blunder and is a prime example of the declining standards of the conduct of modern war.

UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill said,

It would be a mistake to suppose that the fate of Japan was settled by the atomic bomb. Her defeat was certain before the first bomb fell.

All of that was from one reader. Thanks armyguy!

d

Daisuke Colson, another reader, says,

My grandma lived in Hiroshima. She's dead now, but luckily she was able to raise her children before she passed due to some unknown condition linked to radiation poisoning. Lucky, because otherwise I'd not exist! Grandfather lived in Nagasaki. He was lucky to be out of town during the time. Other Grandfather was in the American armed forces. Grandma cheered him on.

War, although tragic, is neither evil nor heroic. It's just an effect of human nature. The Japanese do not brag about wartime heroics, it's not a topic that is mentioned. In the fog of war, there were choices made during that time, that we can look back on and say "ahh, that was a mistake", but over all.. It played out the way it did.

No one says the American's were wrong. Most Japanese are very thankful of the generosity with which the American's treated them. MacArthur was a good man. Many Japanese knew they were in over their head during the war, but at the end they were left little choice, as the homeland was at stake, and there was fear of being taken over by a country like Russia which was viewed as ruthless. Japan is still paying it's dues to the countries it has invaded.

War happens. Japan had bad timing. The Atom bomb is an amazing power. It's amazing that man could create something like this. It was excessive, but understandable. -shrug-

Many cowardly, brave, barbaric, ruthless, compassionate..etc deeds have been carried out either inside of us, or by our ancestors at some point in time. It would not be a well thought out opinion that indicates otherwise, I believe. Unless you're not a participant of humanity. If so, I'd like to meet you!

e

There was a short comment from reader "none" that got me thinking. He said (amoung other things) that the bombs "jump started the Cold War." Could it all really have just been for a show of power? With the U.S.S.R. looming in the distance, did we just wanted to flex our muscle to show them how powerful we were? Maybe it had nothing to do with Japan; like the bully, beating up the skinny kid with his big new stick when he's really just out to scare the other bully (who's on his way, around the corner). Ah! But he never realizes that the other bully will just bring a bigger stick to school the next day!

Ralph Bard, Under Secretary of the Navy at the time, seems to be one of many who gives creedance to none's comment. He said,

In my opinion, the Japanese war was really won before we ever used the atom bomb. Thus, it wouldn't have been necessary for us to disclose our nuclear position and stimulate the Russians to develop the same thing much more rapidly than they would have if we had not dropped the bomb.

Thanks to everyone for your comments! I appreciated all of them!

a. Tinian island, August 5th, 1945. The tail of the Enola Gay is being edged back into position over the pit in which rests the Little Boy bomb.
b. Little Boy, in the pit, waiting to be loaded into the bomb bay.
c. Loading.
d. Hiroshima, from the Red Cross Hospital, about a mile from the center of the blast.
e. Photograph by U.S. Intelligence, to help analyze the destructiveness of atomic weapons.

• Prominent opposition to the A-bomb

* I check on a few of these quotes but not all of them.

Looming

In an flash, 10,000 civilians were killed in Hiroshima. In the days and weeks to come, thousands more would die. The hypocenter (the orange sphere) was triggered at about 600 meters above Aioi bridge. This miniature illustrates that exact point in time.

Here's another Hiroshima model, in striking before-and-after format...

 

 

Update: Thanks so much for all these great comments! Please keep it up! And just so you know, these miniatures do not overtly lay blame to one country or another. As far as I understand their purpose is more left up to the viewer, though there is text in one of the museums about the state of nuclear proliferation.

Here are some excerpts from the account of P. Siemes, survivor of the Hiroshima blast...

More and more of the injured come to us. The least injured drag the more seriously wounded. There are wounded soldiers, and mothers carrying burned children in their arms. From the houses of the farmers in the valley come word: " Our houses are full of wounded and dying. Can you help, at least by taking the worst cases?" The wounded come from the sections at the edge of the city. They saw the bright light, their houses collapsed and buried the inmates in their homes. Those that were in the open suffered instantaneous burns, particularly on the lightly clothed or unclothed parts of the body. Numerous fires spring up which soon consumed the entire district. We now conclude that the epicenter of the explosion was at the edge of the city near the Yokogawa Station, three kilometers away from us.

We take off again with the hand cart. The bright day now reveals the frightful picture which last night's darkness had partly concealed. Where the city stood, everything as far as the eye could reach is a waste of ashes and ruin. Only several broken skeletons of buildings completely burned out in the interior remain. The banks of the river are covered with dead and wounded, and the rising waters have here and there covered some of the corpses. On the broad street in the Hakushima district, naked, burned, cadavers are particularly numerous. Among them are the wounded who still live. A few have crawled under the burnt-out autos and trams. Frightfully injured forms beckon to us and then collapse. An old woman and a girl whom she is pulling along with her, fall down at our feet.

Update 2: I recommend the film The Fog of War, an insightful interview with Robert McNamara, who takes an honest and insightful look back on his life – WWII, Japan and the Cold War are especially interesting... and disconcerting.

Update 3: For a response to this post, read Looming Comments.

• Additional Photos of Museum
• General Tibbets and an Army of Ultramen – Previous post
• With God on Our Side – Previous post

Trencherous

Something has happened... either Gran Turismo has just been given a new bizarre twist or the roads of Germany have become inexplicably treacherous.

The second is closer to the truth. This magnificent saw-like beast is actually the world's largest trencher. Which is to say, she's an eating machine, devouring over 76,000 cubic meters of earth and coal every day! (And you should be impressed... because that's a lot of earth.)

To help you get a grasp on this, I present the Official Cubic Meter Comparision Chart (please click on links):

1. Water Tank – 15 cubic meters
2. Large Water Tank – 3750 cubic maters
3. Two Buildings – 93,300 (combined)

Of course our lovely beast doesn't do all this digging and eating on the roads of Germany. In these photos, she's simply traveling to her final destination. Wow... it would have been quite a site! Especially because, from nose to tail, she's almost 2.5 football fields in length! The trencher is on its way to an open air coal mine, where it can eat to its heart's content.

(click to enlarge)

(via: Pruned)

War + Pink = Peace

What is it with the color pink? It seems to be so heavily laden with meaning; tenderness, feminity, love, sex, warmth. Add all this up, throw it on a tank or any other weapon of war, and what do you get? Peace? That's right, peace. War (or tank) + pink = peace.

Let's apply our simple equation to a few real world tanks and watch the magic happen.

If you had taken a walk to the corner of Pages Walk and Mandala Way in London in 2002, you would have been greeted by the threatening view of a a large green/gray T-34 (a tank). There it is before you: a menacing ghost of battle, of death – a monster waiting (hiding) in the weeds. Children walk by quickly. Old men look away with hands over old wounds. And so you turn and leave and never return. Too bad. You will never see what is about to happen.

Later that same year the tank is painted pink by artist Aleksandra Mir and is dubbed Pink Tank. Instantly it is transformed. It becomes cute and small. Approachable, funny, sexy. Above all, it becomes a statement of peace.

And now people flock to the tank. There it sits, a virtual playground for graffiti artists, a work in perpetual
progress. A weapon transformed into a statement of peace, love and open mindedness...

London's tank was not the first to become pink. Perhaps the pink tank that started it all was Prague's tank No. 23. In 1968, the Soviets had just entered the Czech capital with loads of big mean T-34s. They mounted one up on a pedestal in the city square (just to let everybody know who was boss). And there it stood until 1991, after the fall of the Soviet empire, when David Cerny, a local artist, decided he that wasn't crazy about the whole thing. So he painted it pink.

The Czech Army had a difficult time figuring out what all of this meant but they knew they didn't like it and so they repainted green. Too late. This whole pink thing had already caught on big and parliament deputies re-repainted it pink, in support of David Cerny's original statement.

Cerny's pink tank was clearly something very un-Soviet. They were big and powerful but their residual tank became diminished and pink and pretty (flowery-pretty). In this case, our equation, again applied to a tank, became a powerful statement: powerful enough to get Cerny temporarily arrested and powerful enough to cause the stubborn Czech Army officials to eventually throw up their hands and remove the Soviet symbol (which was a delight to almost everyone).

Other Pink Tanks

It turns out that the symbol of a pink tank has become such a powerful statement that protesters will go to great extremes to come up with one, as can be seen in this parade (below), where those involved constructed their own fake tank. This is obviously second best; the contrast between the harsh realities of war and the color pink can be mostly lost.

War + pink may also equal Gay Pride. This equation is much more complex. I'm not even going to approach it...

And now for one of my pink tank favorites; the pink form-fitting blanket-wearing tank! I really love this one, it's absolutely weird and spectacular and it adds so much to the pink tank symbology. A hand knit blanket – here's something we cozy up under at night. It brings us warmth. Comfort. It has rich sentimental value and our maybe our grandmother has made it for us. We hold it and think of her. Negatives: the blanket can be easily destroyed or removed. Also, it takes a very time to crochet this sort of think; I can't imagine making one for a battleship. Or the Pentagon (though Christo did wrap the Reichstag with cloth and it was freakin' amazing)!

So What Can the Equation Do For Us?

If we like war, I suppose we should stay away from pink (no one's going to take a pink infantry very seriously). But if you don't agree with war, or a particular war, then you may want to get out your buckets of paint (or crochet hooks) and get to work! The equation works. It may even be as symbolically as powerful as tea+indian costumes+Boston Harbor=really pissed king (but probably not). War + pink = peace. So paint. And prepare yourself for the coming peace (keeping your pink fingers crossed).

The above image is of the USS Balao, painted pink for the Blake Edwards 1959 film Operation Petticoat, starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis (thank you, Alli).

Note: War + pink = peace is only a simplified equation. The real equation is much more complex but I'm not smart enough to figure it out. It involves levels of power and complexity of symbology. For example, a pink missle is effective but if the Little Boy atomic bomb were painted pink... this would practically yell and scream peace (though unfortunately, it would clearly be an act of vandalism). If we raise the bar even more, a pink oval office might instantly end any war. But a pink American flag? Though the flag may imply military strength, it also implies a complex mix of other things; coloring it pink might diminish all of these complex meanings, diluting any desired impact of the pink in the first place. Conclusion: one needs to be methodical when one is dealing with pink.

Note 2: The top-most Land Rover is the Pink Panther British Special Air Service's Desert Land Rover, one of the few real pink military vehicles I was able to find. Another was a flotilla of destroyers painted Mountbatten Pink in WWII. Know of anymore pink military vehicles? Let me know.

(many of these tanks came via the incomparable: boingboing)

Balancing on a Hair

You should know about this pagoda in Myanmar for any number of amazing reasons. First, it sits on a big rock. Second, as you can plainly see, the rock itself is totally gilded in gold and looks like a shot out of a some spectacular nonexistent sci-fi film.

More importantly still, the great rock of the Kyaik-htiyo pagoda is balancing on the precipice of a larger rock. And when I say balancing, I mean really balancing; the area of contact between the two rocks is unbelievably small. So please don't push...

However, barring any natural disasters, the pagoda probably isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The stone hasn't moved for hundreds of years; perhaps the single hair of Lord Buddha, upon which the pagoda is erected, is somehow keeping this gargantuan rock from slipping away...?

• Kyaik-htiyo – 3 large photos
• 1912 Photograph of Kyaik-htiyo

(via: geisha asobi)

Living on Water

Photos of floating houses from around the world... enjoy. (And if you've got other examples, please comment the links.)

(click photos to enlarge)

Wake Up America!

Sometimes I just can't think of a caption.

To read the fine print of the prophet's warning, click on the photo.

Reader Comment: Jena says,

hey! its the Happy Happy Happy Man!... i walk by him almost everyday and there is a picture of him on my wall. He lives in the Bay Area and is always on the UC - Berkeley campus or china town in SF (where i am guessing this picture was taken). although i don't agree with some of the things he says, he nevertheless leaves a smile on my face when i walk by him. he is known as the "Happy Happy Happy Man" because he starts his 'lectures' by saying "Happy Happy Happy" then follows up with something like "Bush is 666!"

Photo © 2006 Stoneth. All rights reserved.

Futurama Returns (again)

Isn't that auditorium just a bit imposing? So brave? So new? So crazy-humungous? It's Futurama, GM's brilliant propagandistic tool, used to convince a 1939 American public (and leadership) that the future should be full of lovely things like conquering nature and replacing everything that's old with things that are powerful and massively overwhelming (see above lovely building).

In reality, Futurama was about selling cars. The masses (that's us) were larely not going to buy cars until there were sprawling (multi-billion dollar) roads built from one side of country to the other. But who was going to build those sprawling highways? These mega-modern freeways of tomorrow. General Motors? No frickin' way! And so they sold the masses (us) on a bright big beautiful vision of a perfect tomorrow. Futurama was one of these sales tools. Next thing you know, the government was tearing up the train and trolley tracks and making Futurama a reality.

Who can be blamed for all of this? Some may argue we're better off. Regardless, the exhibit itself must have been a monumental feat. And an impressive ride! I found this video of the ride online but you may want to start a little less than halfway through (the beginning is boring).

• Futurama Post – May 26th, 2005
• Futurama Post – May 25th, 2005

Images from the Futurama movie

The Mythic Giant Forests of the West

In the 1840s, the fable of the giant sequoias was not to be believed. They were too tall. Too big around. The whole thing was as crazy as waterfalls that fell upwards... or solid gold mountains (which, believe it or not, were were some of the other tall-tales going around at the time).

So began a logical (and profitable) effort to prove the all the sequoia naysayers wrong, by cutting down the majestic trees and carrying them back East, where everyone could see just how real (and giant) they actually were.

The The General Noble Tree House (above) was one of these trees. It existed as gardener's shed on Washington's Capitol Mall until the 1930s.

More info at:
• Fall of the Forest Monarchs – The Union

Almost Robots

Sure, the sun is making these girls smile, but they're also happy because they're about to musically accompany the dance of a marionette at the famous Takayama Festival in Takayama, Japan. Throughout the day, multiple-storied floats are pushed through town. Every once in a while, a float stops and a large crowd gathers around and waits, staring up toward the top of the float. A respectful quiet ensues – more crowds gather. All at once, a lone marionette (or Dashi Karakuri) appears and, before it even begins to move, the crowd comes alive.

In a trip to Takayama, a few year ago, I was able to witness the festival and the spectacular marionettes. What struck me most was the reaction of the crowd. Whether a puppet made a subtle movement, or a quick spin, the assemblage would gasp, exclaim or applaud in continuous, corporate awe. Perhaps they knew how difficult the job is for the puppet masters, who bring life to the lifeless marionettes by "playing" and pulling a set of remote strings. More likely, the puppet shows were communicating some bit of rich meaning that flew right over my head.

When I returned from my trip to Takayama, my interest in Japanese mechanical puppets was provoked and I soon discovered other mechanical types of Karakuri – or early Japanese automata. Take a look... they're an amazing technology/art of the past.

More links on Karakuri:
• Stereoscopic Photography of Takayama Festival
• Animations of Takayama Puppets
• Takayama Photo Gallery
• Karakuri Kits for Sale