Heavenly Bodies

Good news everyone! Paul Koudounaris, author of The Empire Of Death (aka The Bone Chapel Book I haven't actually finished because I get so distracted with the pictures that I forget to read the text; and which I may or may have not recommended to everyone from my mother to bloggers I've never met), has just released a new book, the awesomely - and ironically - titled... Heavenly Bodies.

Following on the success of his book The Empire of Death , which has attracted a global cult following, Paul Koudounaris brings the catacomb saints out of the darkness with this astonishing volume, which includes arresting images of more than seventy spectacular jeweled skeletons and the fascinating stories of dozens more, accompanied by rare archive material. This is the first time that some of these incredible relics both intriguing historical artifacts and masterpieces of artistic craftsmanship in their own right have appeared in a publication, with Koudounaris gaining unprecedented access to photograph in some of the most secretive religious establishments in Europe. This will be essential reading for goths, art historians and everyone in between.

Allow me a moment of mindless fun as I giggle at that last line. Goths! Art historians! Buy this book! Everybody else! Buy this book too! Buy one, get disbelieving stares from all your friends free! A swell addition to any coffee table! A sure conversation-starter!

But hey, in complete seriousness now, if you're the slightest bit interested in bone chapels and ossuaries and martyrs and the general prettiness you see in these images, I say give this man and his books a shot. So far I can only speak for The Empire Of Death, but honestly? In all its larger-than-A4 gold-embossed hardcover beauty? Best 23€ I've ever spent.

xx

EDIT: There is a small, but great interview with Paul Koudounaris right here. Yay for people who acknowledge that there is, in fact, quite a bit of misogyny in art history!



[images: Amazon]

Obligatory Fall Post

I don't remember Autumn being like this when I was younger. Back then, it was a crisp, cold season, and by the time September rolled around I was donning my pressed white shirts and jumping on maple leaves to make them crack under my shiny new back-to-school shoes.

Now it's different. Or maybe it's the fact that I don't walk down that particularly street anymore, maybe it's the fact that my contacts with nature have shifted from a handful of trees in a sidewalk to a property that shifts from yellow to green as soon as the rains start. I wear sleeveless tops and rainboots. The air is thick, humid, the mosquitoes form faint little clouds a few meters above the grass, and everything smells both a little dead and very much alive. A year ago I wouldn't have been able to identify the smell, but you can teach your nose a few tricks with a handful of macerating bones.

(and now that I'm thinking about it, decomposition smells the way it does EXACTLY because something a little dead is being devoured by thousands of very much alive... other somethings)

I guess, like everybody else on the internet, I really love Autumn. It's just that summer feels so... lifeless to me. So bland. Autumn revives everything back for a few weeks before we plunge straight into Winter. It's reassuring.

It's also the season for us to relax in dog-related matters - Bo's flybite wounds start to heal as soon as the temperatures drop. It was our second summer together and we tried everything to keep the flies away from his ears, to no avail. The vet sympathised and recommended a few more tricks, but it was the same old mess as last year. Good thing Bo is a complete doll and won't mind us cleaning his ears and applying all sorts of strange-smelling ointments on him.







And if it looks like I post too many pictures of Bo, that's because Crude's shots usually end up looking like this:



I try, guys. I try.
xx

The Evil League Of Evil Steam

Steampunk convention in Porto (and Barcelona, and Madrid, and Vienna, and so on... it's the Euro Steam Con after all) this past weekend. I had to ditch my fancy outfit at the last minute due to an unfortunate lack of time to finish it, but apart from that, I'd say it was a very successful event. Cupcakes happened, short films happened (Aurora, applause for effort and use of budget; Invention Of Love, DON'T TURN YOUR WOMEN INTO MACHINES GODDAMNIT; The Tale Of Mr Rêvus, evidence that a cute critter is the easiest way to get people to like your movie; and a few scenes from Airlords Of Aria), fun discussions happened, and we may or may not have planned to invade the Vatican.

Not a lot of pictures, because for better or worse I'm still battling my short story from last week - and due to the sheer effort, the visual side of my brain has shut down for the time being. I used to be such a good multitasker... I wonder what's happened.

Dont' say "the internet".
xx

Medievalesque

The good thing about taking a blog hiatus, I believe, is that you always end up with a backlog of photos of somewhat interesting-looking events to write about. Today's post will be one of those attempts at catching up, and I hope you will forgive my somewhat clunky writing - but my verbal skills are very much finite, and at the moment, I'm directing them all towards finishing a short story. It's part western part steampunk part creature feature, and I may or may not be able to finish it before the deadline. Check back in October. The plot thickens!

Anyway. Back in July, I went to a medieval fair with a small army of friends. It'd been years since I'd gone to one, and it was a pretty fun experience. We set off on Monday morning, spent the day around the fair (and because my comrades were in costume, people kept stopping us to ask questions, thinking we were part of the staff...), attended the tournament after dinner (cue in screaming for our favorite knight on our side... and for the lady knight on the enemy side), camped overnight, had breakfast on Tuesday in a nearly empty café while the city still slept (at 10am... I don't know either), enjoyed the rest of the day, and finished our stay with a fancy foot bath and a cup of mint tea in the middle of nowhere.

I am 99% sure we will rinse and repeat next year. More photos after the non-existent jump, and man, I really need to get rid of my 18-55mm lens, it pales in comparison to the 55-250mm.


















Thank you for reading, and apologies for my sporadic posting... guess I'm still getting used to this whole new university-less schedule. I think I will aim for one post a week for the time being, until I get everything figured out.

Have a wonderful week!
xx

I'm Back!

I told you I'd come back to see you once university was over, and... indeed, here I am, and there it is. It's a little weird to think of myself as a Criminology graduate now, but hey, if I take it one step at a time, I'm pretty sure I'll get there eventually.

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with a image-HEAVY post of the months we spent apart.


We begin with this stag beetle, found dead under a tree. I didn't really know the proper way to pin it, but I knew I wanted to show off the wing, so I improvised.


Back then I was still locked inside, studying for my final exams.


My mother grew up in France, so while she does have a huge collection of (now vintage) records... they're all french singers. Ah well!


New jars I got for a few cents each, and my little box of baby teeth on top.


I don't think you've been formally introduced to my tiny little bird skeleton? First attempt at cleaning bones last summer... it could have gone better, but I was really proud of myself back then.



And finally, first attempts at butterfly lockets. The second one, I've been using pretty much non-stop. I love it.



Then the supermoon happened.


Bo was a really photogenic dog, as usual...



...and we took him, along with Crude, for the first serious walk of the season. The puppy couldn't quite contain his enthusiasm. (remember him at six weeks? look how much he's grown!)


Crude also enjoys long swims in the creek that separates our property from the neighbour's. He comes out filthy every single time, but really, so do we when we walk in there.


With Bo, in the midst of cleaning the aforementioned creek. This dog doesn't really get along with summer, so he spends most of his time standing in the water, very still, just cooling down. I've done that too, it's really effective.



Random sunset shots.


Random shot of a vertebra my sister and I found, I think, as we were picking strawberries. It looked pretty clean, but still I decided to macerate it in a jar... the water turned light pink after a few days, and it's currently dark orange.


Also, there was this tiny tiny grasshopper, and while I was struggling to get the focus right, it turned right towards me. It was the cutest.


My grandfather rescued a couple of baby doves, and we had them in the apartment for the first few days, back when they still couldn't eat on their own. Right now, they're fully grown, and have their own little (right, little... I'll show you one of these days) home in the country house.


I'm not too fond of ice cream (this one was actually my dad's), but I had to snap it just for the looks of it.


This photo chronicles the beginning of the slow, slow decline of my camera's auto-focus feature. I don't wear my glasses at the beach (so, you know, I can't actually SEE what I'm shooting) and it's not like I can use manual focus and the screen either (glare, loads of it)... so without auto-focus, yeah, no beach pictures for me.


But fear not, because we found an antique fair right by the boardwalk, with plenty of secondhand books to keep me entertained.


No, really, my auto-focus is dead.


Though this one kind of got away.


The end of August took me right back to my university town, to pack up and say goodbye (more like see you later) to the sights and sounds of these past four years.


I discovered a type of ice cream I actually did love.


Aaaaaaand I shot the last sunset from my university apartment. We returned the key a few days ago, so I guess those walls will be seeing a new tennant very soon. I hope they enjoy the place as much as I did.

So what about you, readers, friends, family, etc? How was your summer, and what are your plans for fall?
xx