Plants...



Chionodoxa:
Flowering bulb: a hardy plant that grows from a bulb and flowers in early spring. Native to: Europe, Asia. Genus Chionodoxa.
[Late 19th century. < modern Latin < Greek khion "snow" + doxa "glory"]
This plant consists of five or six hardy, perennial bulbs native to the high alpine meadows of Turkey. These plants are commonly known as 'Glory-of-the-Snow' [or Snow Glory] because they bloom in the snow of their native habitats. Chionodoxa thrive where temperatures dip down as low as -30º F.

---
When Simon died he thought he was fated
To come back in a team of mean oxen
But alas, he was reincarnated
In freezing temperatures as chionodoxa

Sketchbook...



The Bearskinrug Sketchbook is fun to both look at and navigate through.

Painting...



Gary Baseman is on his own wild planet and that's why I like him. [It's quite possible I have linked to this artist before - but not this particular site.]

Illustrations...



Jordin Isip uses dark characters in stark landscapes and a bit of humor.

Comic & Movie...



Diabolik the Italian 'fumetti' was hugely popular in the 1960's. The movie Danger: Diabolik by Italian B-movie director Mario Bava has just come out on DVD and is more than worth a look; especially if you like trippy, campy [dubbed] comic book movies. It's got a terrific score by Ennio Morricone.

Groovy, man.

Gallery of Diabolik fumetti images page.

Poetry Icon...



Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass exhibit at the Library of Congress website.

William Eggleston

More at the Getty site.

Signs...



Japanese warning signs. There are over 170 of these original and interesting signs.

Painting and Illustration...



Mark Ulriksen specializes in figurative work that blends humor with psychological insight.

Illustrations...



Charles Harper did fabulous serigraph silkscreen prints.
A few more prints located at Scrubbles.

Posters...



American Style Posters from the Smithsonian. [Via Plep]

Painting...



Andrew Brandou has a wild imagination. [Via gmtPlus9]

Movie Posters...



Italian Movie Posters.
[This is one of my favorite Robert Altman pictures]

Maps...



Olde Maps at the Library of Congress [indirectly via Life in Present]

Illustrations...



Mark Atomos Pilon paints cycloptic characters. [via PCL]

Poetry...sort of



A while back I arranged Jean Luc Godard interview excerpts into poetry. I noticed that he often uses odd phrasing that worked pretty well in poetry form.

The latest Sight and Sound magazine has an interview with Godard and again, as I read his words, I notice that they are ripe for turning into poetic form.

Here are a few of his words rearranged:

I, a man of the image,
Was pleading on behalf of the other,
Like the Bosnian who pleads
On behalf of the Serb.
I was pleading in the name
Of the text.

*******

I called it Notre musique:
Theirs,
Ours,
Everybody's.
It's what makes us live,
Or makes us hope.
One could say
'Our philosophy'
'Our life',
But 'Our music'
Is nicer
And has a different effect.

*******

Critics have said it's anti-American.
But in the 'Marines' Hymn'
Which we've heard hundreds of times in American films,
They say,
"If the army and the navy
Ever look on Heaven's scenes
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States marines."
People say,
'It's just words.'
It's not.

*******

The majority of films today
Are filmed without using the camera
As an investigative tool -
Instead of drawing on this analytical power during filming,
People substitute a great mass of explanation:
'I meant to do this.'
'I meant to do that.'
Whereas a scientist or chemist
Who uses a microscope needs that microscope.
And when Hawks filmed Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant,
He needed a camera to do it.
He wasn't writing a book.

*******

The manufacturers,
Even the critics, say:
'It's great!
Everyone can make cinema!'
No,
Not everyone can make cinema.
Everyone can think they're making cinema,
Or say, 'I make cinema.'
But if you give someone a pencil
It doesn't mean they're going to draw
Like Raphael
Or Rembrandt.

Film Stills...



Silent Film Still Archive.
[via Exclamation Mark]

Posters...



Wiktor Gorka was one of the great Polish poster artists.

Dolls...



Kelly Haigh

[defunct link].

Deborah Butterfield
Google images of her work