Observing our obstriction...

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What a wonderful image. Seen HERE on the Twitter feed of BabelColour @StuartHumphryes 

The picture is outside Mansion House, London in 1919. The post was from Remembrance Day yesterday: "101 years ago today: 11am on Tuesday 11th November 1919, crowds in London observe the very first 2 minute silence for those killed in the Great War. The men have removed their hats out of respect for the fallen. (I originally coloured this photo for the Evening Standard in 2019)."

Observing our obstriction...

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What a wonderful image. Seen HERE on the Twitter feed of BabelColour @StuartHumphryes 

The picture is outside Mansion House, London in 1919. The post was from Remembrance Day yesterday: "101 years ago today: 11am on Tuesday 11th November 1919, crowds in London observe the very first 2 minute silence for those killed in the Great War. The men have removed their hats out of respect for the fallen. (I originally coloured this photo for the Evening Standard in 2019)."

Only Obama's olinguito...

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The story behind this famous selfie is HERE

Last month the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2013 was declared as "selfie". The word has become more popular with the ubiquitousness of smartphones but has in fact been around for over a decade (yes, before Facebook, YouTube and Twitter existed). Barely a month later the site Selfies at funerals closes up shop because Obama just put the cherry on the icing on the cake. The main reasons why the picture of Obama's selfie stands out are many as a great article in the New York Post makes clear and few that pay any attention at all can doubt Obama's narcissitic tendancy: "Days before the funeral selfie, the White House tweeted out a Pearl Harbor remembrance that consisted of a photo of Obama laying a wreath. Six days before that he honored Rosa Parks by tweeting out a picture of himself sitting on the bus she desegregated. Nine days before that he honored the anniversary of JFK’s death with a tweet of himself looking at the fallen president’s White House portrait." [Link NYP]. Santiago Lyon, vice president and director of photography at The Associated Press has another word for it: "Until the White House revisits its draconian restrictions on photojournalists’ access to the president, information-savvy citizens, too, would be wise to treat those handout photos for what they are: propaganda." [Link, NYT].



For those interested the Word of the Year shortlist (see first link above) was as follows: bedroom tax (the BBC's favourite); binge-watch, bitcoin, olinguito (Ows' favourite), schmeat (WTF?), showrooming and twerk (any perv's favourite).

Only Obama's olinguito...

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The story behind this famous selfie is HERE

Last month the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2013 was declared as "selfie". The word has become more popular with the ubiquitousness of smartphones but has in fact been around for over a decade (yes, before Facebook, YouTube and Twitter existed). Barely a month later the site Selfies at funerals closes up shop because Obama just put the cherry on the icing on the cake. The main reasons why the picture of Obama's selfie stands out are many as a great article in the New York Post makes clear and few that pay any attention at all can doubt Obama's narcissitic tendancy: "Days before the funeral selfie, the White House tweeted out a Pearl Harbor remembrance that consisted of a photo of Obama laying a wreath. Six days before that he honored Rosa Parks by tweeting out a picture of himself sitting on the bus she desegregated. Nine days before that he honored the anniversary of JFK’s death with a tweet of himself looking at the fallen president’s White House portrait." [Link NYP]. Santiago Lyon, vice president and director of photography at The Associated Press has another word for it: "Until the White House revisits its draconian restrictions on photojournalists’ access to the president, information-savvy citizens, too, would be wise to treat those handout photos for what they are: propaganda." [Link, NYT].

For those interested the Word of the Year shortlist (see first link above) was as follows: bedroom tax (the BBC's favourite); binge-watch, bitcoin, olinguito (Ows' favourite), schmeat (WTF?), showrooming and twerk (any perv's favourite).

Omnibus oldies...

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London 1927, a video posted by Tim Sparke on Vimeo. "Incredible colour footage of 1920s London shot by an early British pioneer of film named Claude Frisse-Greene, who made a series of travelogues using the colour process his father William - a noted cinematographer - was experimenting with. It's like a beautifully dusty old postcard you'd find in a junk store, but moving." (hat-tip Mice Height on BBBC).  Just made my day and it's only 8 a.m.

Omnibus oldies...

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London 1927, a video posted by Tim Sparke on Vimeo. "Incredible colour footage of 1920s London shot by an early British pioneer of film named Claude Frisse-Greene, who made a series of travelogues using the colour process his father William - a noted cinematographer - was experimenting with. It's like a beautifully dusty old postcard you'd find in a junk store, but moving." (hat-tip Mice Height on BBBC).  Just made my day and it's only 8 a.m.