Blood Milk

The above images are from a new favorite blog called Bloodmilk, do check it out she has some amazing creations on display. ^_^

Visiting the Stigmatics of South Tyroll

...In the 1840s there was a steady flow of foreign tourists and pilgrims to the idyllic valleys of [South Tyrol] ... solely to visit two women who were said to have received spontaneously bleeding wounds (stigmata) on their hands, feet, or head like those caused to Jesus Christ when he was nailed to the cross and forced to wear the crown of thorns. One of the two women was Maria Domenica Lazzari (sometimes spelled Lazzeri), and the other was Maria von Moehrl (also called Mörl). The former was known as L'Addolorata (the woman of pain), the latter as L'Estatica (the woman of ecstasy), for reasons which will become clear.

On this Good Friday -- the holiday commemorating Jesus Christ's death by crucification -- why not take a moment to consider the medio-religious condition of stigmata, ie. spontaneous bleeding (mostly found in the female persuasion) on the hands, feet, and/or head, mimicking the wounds caused to Jesus Christ when he was nailed to the cross and forced to wear the crown of thorns?

All of the above text and images are drawn from two recent fascinating posts on the Wellcome Library blog; To read the full articles, click  here and here.

Happy Good Friday!

Images, top to bottom:

1. Maria Domenica Lazzari. Coloured engraving, ca 1840. Wellcome Library no. 260i
2. Maria von Moehrl. Watercolour by L. Giuditti after L.G. de Ségur, 1846. Wellcome Library no. 708243i
3. Maria Domenica Lazzari. Watercolour by L. Giuditti after L.G. de Ségur, 1846. Wellcome Library no. 708242i

Via morbidanatomy

Silent Hill: Downpour

Here are some screen shots from the new Silent Hill game coming out... it looks so scary and atmospheric, I can't wait to turn all the lights off and play! ^_^

Church of the Sign

Church of the Sign in Teploe near Village Vasil'evskoye-Soymonovo, Klin Raion, Moscow Oblast, Russia, built in 1797. 

Evidence of recent visits from the faithful

Remnants of a Fresco

Partially collapsed vault

Bell tower

Baby birch trees trying to get a better view

Source

Chateau PR

Tucked away in the forests of northern France, sits Chateau PR, long abandoned and forgotten. Photos by Martino Zegwaard. 

Impending Doom

By Abysmal Dawn

MT Psychiatric Hospital

coffin

This is Martino Zegwaard's gorgeous set on MT psychiatric center, an exquisite, decaying building that amazingly has been untouched by vandals so far...and hopefully will stay that way (hence the anonymous title here). Zegwaard writes:

"This relatively small psychiatric center is listed as one the most haunted places of the county. At least fenced off for over a decade the decay in here is beautiful. The building itself is about to collapse and you really have to watch your step. Parts of the floor are moving as you walk over it. This place is a must-see, despite the risks that come with the building. It has it all, wheelchairs, coffins, a dentist chair and a lot more stuff."

Dentist chair

beautiful decay

Photos and info source

Castel du CJ

The beautiful and practically untouched abandoned Castel du CJ in Spain. This set is by Martino Zegwaard. 

sweet dreams...

Epic fireplace

Sucker Punch Sucks

Sucker punch, what happened to you? You had all the ingredients to be pretty bad-ass, instead you really fizzled out into a lame, offensive, and above all very boring flick. I am disappointed in you. Mainly I just wanted to sucker-punch this movie in the face. SPOILER ALERT:


The movie is centered around Babydoll, an orphaned girl (or supposedly, we are told, a twenty year old woman, going on twelve) who is forced into an insane asylum where she is repeatedly raped by the orderlies in a dirty bathroom, and is scheduled to be lobotomized in a few days. 


To escape this grim reality, Babydoll escapes to a fantasy world...of sexual slavery in a PG rated brothel, where the girls are forced to dance for the clientele at night, and by day attend some kind of strange ballet school for wayward girls. It turns out Babydoll has a hypnotic, entrancing dance which sends her into a kind of trance and yet ANOTHER fantasy of the sci-fi, steam-punk, monster/robot fighting variety. 


Sadly even in this world, there is no entertainment to be found for the viewer, with the clumsy stunt fighting, banal dialogue and lack of audience investment in any character whatsoever. The entire movie seems to be a vehicle for skimpy insane asylum costumes and even skimpier brothel/ professional bad-ass attire. I can appreciate the artistic style and beauty of Snyder's cinematography, but in this case, it just wasn't enough to pull through. 


Sucker Punch really dropped the ball in almost every conceivable area: dialogue, character development, stunts, plot, motivation...the list goes on! For me, the hardest part to stomach was the pseudo-feminist message of "you have all the weapons you need, now fight!" 


One can only assume that the film-makers intended for there to be some sort of empowering going on here...even though these "weapons" are their bodies and sex appeal, and every single attempt the women make to alter their surroundings or defend themselves are met with violence and death.  The only place these chicks kick ass is in their dreams, and even in those dreams they are taking orders from an older male commander. 


Sadly, big guns and swords alone do not empowered women make. But don't worry ladies, you can always escape into your fantasy world and wait for things to get better while you are crying and giving lap dances. 

Don't wake me

"I can dive," Sophia said. "Do you know what it feels like when you dive?"
Of course I do," her grandmother said. 
"You let go of everything and get ready and just dive. You can feel the seaweed against your legs. It's brown, and the water's clear, lighter towards the top, with lots of bubbles. And you glide. You hold your breath and glide and turn and come up, let yourself rise and breathe out. And then you float. Just float." 

Tove Jansson "The Summer Book."