Archive for February, 2008

John Mueller points out in Dead and Deader that Rambo’s death tally has been rising steadily since it’s incept date in 1982. Extrapolating from this, we will see Sylvester Stallone at it again for the 8th time in 2035 at the tender age of 89. He will terminate just over 200 bad guys, but will have to watch his kill-balance, because his accomplices will be catching up with him. Team work is required though with a brisk killing pace of seven lethalities per minute (roughly one every ten seconds) after the first shot has been fired. No wonder the killing will have to start ten minutes before the movie starts, making the killing into an industrial process reminiscent of the Great War.

The prop from Beetlejuice.

Fallen for the charm of the band of friendly brigands. An explosion of gypsie music washed away the support act in one tenth of a second.

While miles of books wither away in bargain-limbo or mercilesly end up in the paper mill, the interest in fictional books seems to be quite a constant factor.

At times the smallest details, especially the most inconspicuous, give away a wealth of information about moments in time. Note, on these Liebig Chromos that everybody seems to be wearing a hat and a pipe, smoking away at will. Another detail is that every picture seems to contain at least one person milling about. Is it someone who has been asked to stand on a certain spot for the sake of composition, is it utter boredom or laziness that drives these folks to playing the part of onlooker quite ostensibly or is it an expression of a culture in which obviously constant supervision is needed to keep the work forces going.

“Die Insel-Bücherei ist für alle Freunde der Literatur und Kunst seit nahezu fünf Jahrzehnten ein Begriff. Der Treue zu sich selbst verdankt sie die Treue ihrer Leser. Ihre geschmackvolle, zeitlose Ausstattung und ihre zuverlässigen Texte aus der Literatur der Vergangenheit und Gegenwart haben sie zu einem Symbol für Lebendigkeit und Dauer gemacht.”

Fascinating to see how a simple but strong design concept has survived for more than 2000 titles since 1911. You’ll find covers on e-bay and on Herman Bresinsky’s collection page.