Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Rembrandt Saskia As Flora

Rembrandt Saskia As FloraRembrandt Samson And DelilahLord Frederick Leighton OdalisqueLord Frederick Leighton Nausicaa
do our best!'
'Um. I didn't translate that properly. Um. They don't think we're any good. They don't mean to be offensive, sir. They just don't think we'll be allowed to get anywhere, sir.'

'Ow!'
'Sorry about that, captain,' said Carrot, who was walking like an inverted L. 'After you. Mind your head on the—'
'Ow!'
'Perhaps it'd be 'Someone thumped the wall pretty hard just here,' said Carrot.
'Could have happened at any time,' said Vimes.
'No, sir, because there's the plaster dust underneath best if you sat down and I'll look around.'The workshop was long and, of course, low, with another small door at the far end. There was a big workbench under a skylight. On the opposite wall was a forge and a tool rack. And a hole.A chunk of plaster had fallen away a few feet above the ground, and cracks radiated away from the shattered brickwork underneath.Vimes pinched the bridge of his nose. He hadn't found time to sleep today. That was another thing. He'd have to get used to sleeping when it was dark. He couldn't remember when he'd last slept at night.He sniffed.'I can smell fireworks,' he said.'Could be from the forge,' said Carrot. 'Anyway, trolls and dwarfs have been letting fireworks off all over the city.'Vimes nodded.'All right,' he said, 'so what can we see?'

Monday, April 27, 2009

Thomas Kinkade Courage

Thomas Kinkade CourageThomas Kinkade City by the BayThomas Kinkade Blessings of ChristmasThomas Kinkade Beyond Summer Gate
expression. 'The cook always does a mixed grill of a Wednesday night. No-one ever eats the black pudding. So it's round the kitchens, see,Vimes crossed to the hole in the wall and peered inside. A couple of Assassins glanced at Dr Cruces and reached nonchalantly towards various areas of their clothing. He shook his head. His caution woof woof, beg beg, who's a good boy then, look at the little bugger, he looks as though he understands every word I'm sayin', let's see what we've got here for a good doggy . . .'He looked embarrassed for a moment.'Pride is all very well, but a sausage is a sausage,' he said. 'Fireworks?' said Vimes.Dr Cruces looked like a man grasping a floating log in a choppy sea.'Yes. Fireworks. Yes. For Founder's Day. Unfortunately someone threw away a lighted match which ignited the box.' Dr Cruces suddenly smiled. 'My dear Captain Vimes,' he said, clapping his hands, 'much as I appreciate your concern, I really—''They were stored in that room over there?' said Vimes.'Yes, but that's of no account—' might

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Thomas Cole Kaaterskill Falls

Thomas Cole Kaaterskill FallsClaude Monet Vetheuil In SummerClaude Monet The LuncheonClaude Monet SunflowersClaude Monet Poplars
Nanny?”
“Yes, love?”
“I don’t understand. She was your friend but you don’t seem ... well... upset?”
“Well, I’ve buried a few husbands and one or two kid-
291
Terry Pratchett
dies. You get the hang of it. Anyway, if she hasn’t gone to a better place she’ll damn well be setting out to improve it.”
“Nanny?”
“Yes, love?”
“Did you know anything about the letter?”
“What letter?”
“The letter to . If you wishes to marrie her, then starte arranging matters without delae, because if you just proposes and similar she will lede you a Dance because there is noone like Magrat for getting in the way of her own life. She does not Knoe her own Mind. You aere Kinge and you can doe what you like. You muste present her with a Fate Accompli. PS. I hear there is talk aboute making witches pay tax, no kinges of Lancre has tried this for many a Year, you could profit from their exam-ple. Yrs. in good health, at the moment. A FRIEND (MSS).”Verence.”“Don’t know anything about any letter to Verence.”“He must have got it weeks before we got back. She must have sent it even before we got to Ankh-Morpork.”Nanny Ogg looked, as far as Magrat could tell, genuinely blank.“Oh, hell,” said Magrat. “I mean this letter.”She fished it out of the breastplate.“See?”Nanny Ogg read:“Dear sire. This is to inform youe that Magrate Garlick will bee retouning to Lancre on or aboute Blind Pig Tuesday. Shee is a Wet Hen but shee is clean and has got Good Teeth

Friday, April 24, 2009

Pop art art on fire

Pop art art on firePop art another lazy afternoonPop art trane in blue
chimed together now in Magrat’s head.
Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen. ..
From ghosties and bogles and long-leggity beasties...
My mother said I never should...
We dare not go a-hunting, for fear...
And things thatclever as them, as light as them; we are animals.
Chilly wind soughed in the forest beyond the town. It had always been a pleasant forest to walk in at nights but now, she knew, it would not be so again. The trees would have eyes. There would be distant laughter in the wind.
What they take is everything.
Magrat spurred the horse into a walk. Somewhere in the town a door slammed shut. go bump ...Play with the fairies in the wood...Magrat sat on the horse she didn’t trust and gripped the sword she didn’t know how to use while the ciphers crept out of memory and climbed into a shape.They steal cattle and babies...They steal milk...They love music, and steal away musicians...In fact they steal everything.235Terry PratchettWe’ll never be as free as them, as beautiful as them, as

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida Port of Valencia

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida Port of ValenciaJoaquin Sorolla y Bastida Arrival of the BoatsJoaquin Sorolla y Bastida Valencian Scene
Terry Pratchett
No one ever said elves are nice.
Elves are bad.

“Well, that’s it,” said Nanny Ogg, as the witches walked out over the castle’s drawbridge. “Well done, Esme.”
“It ain’t drop the word to the Mountain King. The dwarfs and trolls’ll take it off our hands like a shot. No more problem.”
Granny ignored this.
“There’s something else,” she said. “Something we haven’t thought of. She’ll still be looking for a way.”
They’d reached the town square now. She surveyed it. Of course, Verence was king and that was over,” said Granny Weatherwax.“You said yourself they can’t get through now. No one else round here’s going to try any magic at the stones, that’s sure enough.”“Yes, but it’ll be circle time for another day or so yet.Anything could happen.”“That Diamanda girl’s out of it, and you’ve put the wind up the others,” said Nanny Ogg, tossing the lamb bone into the dry moat. “Ain’t no one else going to call ‘em, I know that.”“There’s still the one in the dungeon.”“You want to get rid of it?” said Nanny. “I’ll send our Shawn to King Ironfoundersson up at Copperhead, if you like. Or I could hop on the old broomstick meself and go and

Monday, April 20, 2009

Thomas Moran Colburn's Butte, South Utah

Thomas Moran Colburn's Butte, South UtahThomas Moran Cliffs of the Upper Colorado riverThomas Moran Cliffs of Green River
Three million.”
“Hop in,” said Ridcully
Casanunda threw his stepladder into the coach and then peered into the gloom.
“Is that an ape asleep in there?”
“Yes.”
The Librarian opened one eye.
90Half an hour later Ridcully owed the dwarf $8,000.
“But I put it on my visiting card,” Casanunda pointed out. “Outrageous liar. Right there.”
“Yes, but I thought you were lying!”
Ridcully sighed and, to Ponder’s amazement, produced a bag of coins from some inner recess. They were large coins and looked suspiciously realistic and golden.
Casanunda might have been a libidinous soldier of for-tune by profession but he was a dwarf by genetics, and there are some things dwarfs know.
“Hmm,” he said. “You don’t have “outrageous liar” on your visiting card, by any chance?”
“No!” said Ridcully excitedlyLQRD6 ft/VD LftD/£6“What about the smell?”“He won’t mind.”“Hadn’t you better apologize to the coachman?” saidPonder.“No, but I could kick him again harder if he likes.”“And that’s the Bursar,” said Ridcully, pointing to Exhibit B, who was sleeping the sleep of the near-terminally overdosed on dried frog pills. “Hey, Bursar? Bursssaaar? No, he’s out like a light. Just push him under the seat. Can you play Cripple Mr. Onion?”“Not very well.”“Capital!”

Thursday, April 16, 2009

William Bouguereau The Wave

William Bouguereau The WaveWilliam Bouguereau RestWilliam Bouguereau The Rapture of Psyche
voice of theophany rumbled off the distant mountains.
III. Do I Hear Any Objections? No? Good.
The cloud had by now condensed into a shimmering golden figure, as tall as the Temple. It leaned down until its face was a few feet away from Brutha, and in a whisper that boomed across the Place said:
IV. Don't Worry. This Is Just The Start. You and Me, Kid! People Are Going To Find Out What Wailing and Gnashing Of Teeth Really "How about `Think for Yourself'?" said Urn, staring in horrified fascination at the manifestation.
"No," said Simony. "Try something like `Social Cohesiveness is the Key to Progress.' "
"Can't say it rolls off the tongue," said Urn.
"If I can be of any help," said Cut-Me-Own-Hand-Off Dhblah, from the crowd, "something of benefit to the convenience food industry would be very welcome."
"Not killing people. We could do with one like that," said someone else.Is.Another shaft of flame shot out and struck the Temple doors. They slammed shut, and then the white-hot bronze melted, erasing the commandments of the centuries.V. What Shall It Be, Prophet?Brutha stood up, unsteadily. Urn supported him by one arm, and Simony by the other."Mm?" he said, muzzily.VI. Your Commandments?"I thought they were supposed to come from you," said Brutha. "I don't know if I can think of any . . .The world waited.

Alphonse Maria Mucha Morning Star

Alphonse Maria Mucha Morning StarAlphonse Maria Mucha Monaco Monte CarloAlphonse Maria Mucha Medee
yeah. They were burdened by all the food and water they had to carry," said Om bitterly. "How lucky for us we haven't got any."
Brutha glanced at Vorbis. He was walking unaided now, provided that you gently turned him around whenever you needed to change direction.
But even Om had to admit that the tracks were some comfort. In a way they were alive, in the same way that an echo is alive. People had been this way, not long ago. There were other people in the world. Someone, somewhere, was surviving.
Or not. After an hour or"Might be useful."
"Against who?"
"Might be useful."
An hour later the lion, who was limping after Brutha, also arrived at the grave. It had lived in the desert for sixteen years, and the reason it had lived so long was that it had not died, and it had not died because so they came across a mound beside the track. There was a helmet atop it, and a sword stuck in the sand."A lot of soldiers died to get here quickly," said Brutha.Whoever had taken enough time to bury their dead had also drawn a symbol in the sand of the mound. Brutha half­expected it to be a turtle, but the desert wind had not quite eroded the crude shape of a pair of horns."I don't understand that," said Om. "They don't really believe I exist, but they go and put something like that on a grave.""It's hard to explain. I think it's because they believe they exist," said Brutha. "It's because they're people, and so was he."He pulled the sword out of the sand."What do you want that for?"

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Andy Warhol Pink Cow

Andy Warhol Pink CowAndy Warhol Ingrid with HatAndy Warhol Flowers 1964Tom Thomson Woodland WaterfallTom Thomson The Pool
, you decide to go and stir them up a bit and then . . . a tortoise. It's like going to the bank and finding the money's been leaking out through a hole. The first you know is when you stroll down looking for a handy mind, and suddenly you're a tortoise and there's no power left to get out.
Three years

Brutha was counting the flashes of light off the desert. "It's a good thing I had a mirror, yes?" said the captain hopefully. "I expect his lordship won't mind about the mirror because it turned out to be useful?"
"I don't think he thinks like that," said Brutha, still counting.of looking up at practically everything . . .Old Ur-Gilash? Perhaps he was hanging on as a lizard somewhere, with some old hermit as his only believer. More likely he had been blown out into the desert. A small god was lucky to get one chance.There was something wrong. Om couldn't quite put his finger on it, and not only because he didn't have a finger. Gods rose and fell like bits of onion in a boiling soup, but this time was different. There was something wrong this time . . .He'd forced out Ur-Gilash. Fair enough. Law of the jungle. But no one was challenging him . . .Where was Brutha?"Brutha! "

Monday, April 13, 2009

Leonardo da Vinci Female Head

Leonardo da Vinci Female HeadLeonardo da Vinci AnnunciationThomas Kinkade Seaside Village
spoke to him in the desert," said Brutha. "You must remember. He was eight feet tall? With a very long beard? And a huge staff? And the glow of the holy horns shining out of his head?" He hesitated. But he'd seen the statues and the holy icons. They couldn't be wrong.
"Never met sure I would have remembered one hundred and ninety-three chapters."
"What did you say to him, then?"
"As far as I can remember it was 'Hey, see what I can do!' " said the tortoise.
Brutha stared at it. It looked embarrassed, insofar as that's possible for a tortoise.
"Even gods like to relax," it said.anyone like that," said the small god Om."Maybe he was a bit shorter," Brutha conceded."Ossory. Ossory," said the tortoise. "No . . . no . . . can't say I-”"He said that you spoke unto him from out of a pillar of flame," said Brutha."Oh, that Ossory," said the tortoise. "Pillar of flame. Yes.""And you dictated to him the Book of Ossory," said Brutha. "Which contains the Directions, the Gateways, the Abjurations, and the Precepts. One hundred and ninety­three chapters.""I don't think I did all that," said Om doubtfully. "I'm

Joseph Mallord William Turner Portsmouth

Joseph Mallord William Turner PortsmouthJohn Singer Sargent Lady AgnewLord Frederick Leighton Solitude
was wandering around the walls, giving them the occasional prod. There had to be some good reason why they didn't fall down, but if there was it didn't lie in the realms of civil engineering.
'Are you looking for Rincewind?' said Coin.
Conina frowned. 'How did you guess that?'
'He told me crouch, her knuckles whitening.
'It is true,' said Coin. 'Everything I say is true. It has to be.'
'I want to-’ Conina began, and Coin stood up, extended a hand and said, 'Stop.'
She froze. Nijel stiffened in mid-frown.
'You will leave,' said Coin, in a pleasant, level voice, 'and you will ask no more questions. You will be totally satisfied. You have all your answers. You will live happily ever after. You will forget hearing these words. You will go now.'some people would come looking for him.'Conina relaxed. 'Sorry,' she said, 'we've had a bit of a trying time. I thought perhaps it was magic, or something. He's all right, isn't he? I mean, what's been happening? Did he fight the sourcerer?''Oh, yes. And he won. It was very ... interesting. I saw it all. But then he had to go,' said Coin, as though reciting.'What, just like that?' said Nijel.'Yes.''I don't believe it,' said Conina. She was beginning to

Friday, April 10, 2009

Paul Cezanne A Modern Olympia

Paul Cezanne A Modern OlympiaLaurie Maitland Autumn SongWilliam Bouguereau Yvonne
pointed irritably to a half-open stone doorway just ahead of them.
'I want to look up there,' she said. 'You just put your hands together for me to stand on, right? How do you manage to be so useless?'
'Being useful 'It's a bucket,' said Conina flatly, giving it a push.
'What, of scalding, poisonous -?'
'Whitewash. Just a lot of old, dried-up whitewash.' Conina jumped down.
'That's grandfather for you,' said Creosote. 'Never a dull moment.'
'Well, I've just about had enough,' Conina said firmly, and pointed to the far end of the tunnel. 'Come on, you two.'always gets me into trouble,' muttered Rincewind, trying to ignore the warm flesh brushing against his nose.He could hear her rooting around above the door.'I thought so,' she said.'What is it? Fiendishly sharp spears poised to drop?'No.''Spiked grill ready to skewer -?'

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Jean-Honore Fragonard the lock

Jean-Honore Fragonard the lockJean-Honore Fragonard le jourJean-Honore Fragonard l'aurore
'They'll try to take us alive,' she said.
'Oh,' said Rincewind weakly. 'Good.'
Then he remembered something else about Klatchian slavers, and his throat went dry.
'You'll - you'll be the one they'll really be after,' he said. 'I've heard about what they do-’
'Should I know?' said Conina. To Rincewind's horror she didn't appear to have found a weapon.
'They'll throw you in a seraglio!'
She shrugged. 'Could be worse.'
'But it's got all 'Robe, dress. You better hope they know the difference.'
A hand like a bunch of bananas with rings on grabbed Rincewind's shoulder and spun him around. The captain, a Hublander built on generous bear-like lines, beamed at him through a mass of facial hair.
'Hah!' he said. 'They know not that we aboard these spikes and when they shut the door-’ hazarded Rincewind. The canoes were close enough now to see the determined expressions of the rowers.'That's not a seraglio. That's an Iron Maiden. Don't you know what a seraglio is?''Um ...'She told him. He went crimson.'Anyway, they'll have to capture me first,' said Conina primly. 'It's you who should be worrying.''Why me?''You're the only other one who's wearing a dress.'Rincewind bridled. 'It's a robe-’

Vincent van Gogh The potato eaters

Vincent van Gogh The potato eatersVincent van Gogh The Bedroom at ArlesVincent van Gogh Couple in the Park,Arles
tanned golden the general effect was calculated to hit the male libido like a lead pipe.
Rincewind hesitated, and lost a splendid opportunity to keep quiet. From the top of the stairs came a thick trollish voice:
"Ere, I guard appeared at the top of the stairs. Their leader beamed down at the room. The smile suggested that he intended to be the only one to enjoy the joke.
'Don't nobody move,' he suggested.
Rincewind heard a clatter behind him as more guards appeared at the back door.
The Drum's other customers paused with their hands on assorted hilts. These weren't the normal city watch, cautious and genially corrupt. These were walking slabs of muscle and thed you can't go freu dere-'She sprang forward and shoved a round leather box into Rincewind's arms.'Quick, you must come with me,' she said. 'You're in great danger!''Why?’'Because I will kill you if you don't.''Yes, but hang on a moment, in that case-’ Rincewind protested feebly.Three members of the Patrician's personal

Monday, April 6, 2009

Paul Gauguin Manao tupapau

Paul Gauguin Manao tupapauPaul Gauguin Mahana No AtuaPaul Gauguin Les Alyscamps
Then he stood up, in one quick movement. The servants backed away hurriedly.
He reached out with the speed of a snake and grasped a robe, pulling its empty hood level with his eye sockets.
DO YOU KNOW WHY THE PRISONER IN THE TOWER WATCHES THE
FLIGHT OF BIRDS? he said.
It said, Take your hands off me . . . oops . . .
Blue flame flaredIt went on for a long time and then stopped.
Death lowered the scythe, and examined himself. Yes, all there. Once again, he was the Death, containing all the deaths of the world. Except for - For a moment he hesitated. There was one tiny area of emptiness somewhere, some fragment of his soul, something unaccounted for . . . He couldn’t be quite certain what it was.
He shrugged. Doubtless he’d find out. In the meantime, there for a moment.Death lowered his hand and looked around at the other two.One said, You haven’t heard the last of this.They vanished.Death brushed a speck of ash off his robe, and then planted his feet squarely on the mountaintop. He raised the scythe over his head in both hands, and summoned all the lesser Deaths that had arisen in his absence. After a while they streamed up the mountain in a faint black wave.They flowed together like dark mercury.

Thomas Kinkade End of a Perfect Day

Thomas Kinkade End of a Perfect DayThomas Kinkade Beacon of hopeThomas Kinkade The Sea Of Tranquility
SQUEAK.
The rat was crestfallen. The Death of Rats laid a bony but not entirely unkind paw on its shoulder.
Squeak.
Tile rat nodded same direction.
You could stop a trolley by turning it over, when its wheels spun madly and uselessly. The wizards saw a number of enthusiastic individuals trying to smash them, but the trolleys were practically indestructible - they bent but didn’t break, and if they had even one wheel left they’d make a valiant attempt to keep going.
‘Look at that one!’ said the Archchancellor. ‘It’s got my laundry in it! My actual laundry! Darn that for a lark!’
He pushed his way through the crowds and rammed his staff into the trolley’s wheels, toppling it over.sadly. It had been a good life in the forge. Ned’s housekeeping was almost non-existent, and he was probably the world champion absent-minded-leaver of unfinished sandwiches. It shrugged, and trooped after the small robed figure. It wasn’t as if it had any choice. People were streaming through the streets. Most of them were chasing trolleys. Most of the trolleys were full of whatever people had found a trolley useful to carry - firewood, children, shopping.And they were no longer dodging, but moving blindly, all in the

Thursday, April 2, 2009

John William Waterhouse waterhouse Ophelia

John William Waterhouse waterhouse OpheliaJohn William Waterhouse Hylas and the NymphsJohn William Waterhouse Waterhouse Ophelia
Anyone could see there had been a mistake. He’d known all along it had been a mistake.
He tossed the ?
Obviously it was something you had to be born to. Death saddled his horse and rode out and up over the fields. The corn rippled far below, like the sea. Miss Flitworth would have to find someone else to help her gather in the harvest.
That was odd. There was a feeling there. Regret? Was that it? But it was Bill Door’s feeling, and Bill Door was . . . dead. Had never lived. He was his old self again, safe where there were no feelings and no regretsoveralls in a corner and took up the robe of absolute blackness.Well, it had been an experience. And, he had to admit, one that he didn’t want to relive. He felt as though a huge weight had been removed. Was that what it was really like to be alive? The feeling of darkness dragging you forward?How could they live with it? And yet they did, and even seemed to find enjoyment in it, when surely the only sensible course would be to despair. Amazing. To feel you were a tiny living thing, sandwiched between two cliffs of darkness. How could they stand to be alive

Peter Paul Rubens Samson and Delilah

Peter Paul Rubens Samson and DelilahJohn William Waterhouse Waterhouse NarcissusJohn William Waterhouse The Lady of Shalott
Well, stop it if you want to, I’m sure. I only keep it wound up for the company.’
Bill Door got up thankfully, stepped gingerly through the forest of ornaments, and grabbed the pinecone shaped pendulum. The wooden owl glared at him and the ticking stopped. at least in the realm of common sound. He was aware that, elsewhere, the pounding of Time continued none the less. How could people endure it? They allowed Time in their houses, as though it was a fiend.
He sat down again .
Miss ‘Running around as if he’s never seen grass before.’
HE LIKES GRASS.
‘And you like animals. I can tell.’
Bill Door nodded. His reserves of small talk, never very liquid, had dried up.
He sat silently for the next couple of hours, hands gripping the arms of the chair, until Miss Flitworth announced that she was going to bed. Then he went back to the barn, and slept.Flitworth had started to knit, ferociously.The fire rustled in the grate.Bill Door leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling.‘Your horse enjoying himself?’PARDON?‘Your horse. He seems to be enjoying himself in the meadow,’ prompted Miss Flitworth.OH. YES.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Thomas Kinkade The Spirit of New York

Thomas Kinkade The Spirit of New YorkThomas Kinkade The Rose GardenThomas Kinkade Sunset on Lamplight LaneThomas Kinkade Sunday OutingThomas Kinkade Studio in The Garden
Yes, and then there’s sacred items,’ said the Senior Wrangler.’?~your? basic undead chunkles into dust as soon as look at ‘em. And they don’t like daylight. And if the worst comes to the worst, you bury them at a crossroads. That’s surefire, that is. And you stick a stake in them to make sure they don’t get up again.’
‘With garlic on it,’ said the Bursar.
‘Well, yes. I suppose you could put garlic on it,’ the Senior Wrangler conceded, reluctantly.
‘I don’t think you should put garlic on a good steak,’ said the Dean. ‘Just a little oil and seasoning.’
‘Red pepper is nice,’ said the Lecturer in Recent Runes, happily.
‘a keen guardian of the law in Ankh-Morpork would be to patrol the streets and alleys, bribe informants, follow suspects and so on.
Sergeant Colon played truant from this particular school. Not, he would, hasten to say, because trying to keeping down crime in Ankh-Morpork was like trying to keep down salt in the sea and the only recognition ?~ony? keen guardian of the law was likely to get was the ?eort? that goesShut up,’ said the Archchancellor.Plop.The cupboard door’s hinges finally gave way, spilling its contents into the room.Sergeant Colon of the Ankh-Morpork City Guard was on duty. He was guarding the Brass Bridge, the main link between Ankh and Morpork. From theft. ??? came to crime prevention, Sergeant Colon??? ~fest to think big.??? ras a school of thought that believed the ??? to get recognised as