Sunday, August 24, 2014

distant star

Erupting star / Hubble Space Telescope

Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I'm gazing at a distant star. 
It's dazzling, but the light is from tens of thousands of years ago.
Maybe the star doesn't even exist any more. 
Yet sometimes that light seems more real to me than anything.

Haruki Murakami [South of the Border, West of the Sun]

Thursday, August 21, 2014

το όνειρο του άδη



τ' όνειρο του άδη
είν' ο ουρανός

αλκίνοος ιωαννίδης [τού έρωτα σημάδι, 1999]


Monday, August 18, 2014

Woodstock

Country Joe McDonald - 45 years Woodstock

Well, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
Yeah, he's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
Gonna have a whole lotta fun.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Yeah, come on Wall Street, don't be slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of its trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Well, come on generals, let's move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Now you can go out and get those reds
'Cause the only good commie is the one that's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, and don't hesitate
To send your sons off before it's too late.
You can be the first ones in your block
To have your boy come home in a box.

And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Country Joe MacDonald [I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag, 1965]



Wednesday, August 13, 2014

φως

Solar eruption, NASA/SDO


Και πάνω ο ήλιος μια πηγή
μια κόκκινη κηλίδα
λάβα το φως αιμορραγεί
να κάψει ό,τι είδα

Δημήτρης Παπαχαραλάμπους [Νυχτερινό, 2007]


Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Battle of Kursk

German Wehrmacht Panzer IIIs and IVs in the battle of Kursk


The Battle of Kursk was a World War II engagement between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front near Kursk (450 kilometres southwest of Moscow) in the Soviet Union during July and August 1943Hitler thought that a victory here would reassert Germany's strength and improve his prestige with allies who were considering withdrawing from the war. It was also hoped that large numbers of Soviet prisoners would be captured to be used as slave labour in Germany's armaments industry. The Battle of Kursk was the first time a German strategic offensive had been halted before it could break through enemy defences and penetrate to its strategic depths.


Soviet KV-1 heavy tanks prepare to counter-attack


 Tiger tank of the German Wehrmacht

Kursk metro station in Moscow


Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Requiem


Ρέκβιεμ για τους ηττημένους.
"Αντι-ηρωικός" πίνακας του Βασίλι Βασίλιεβιτς Βερεστσάγκιν (Васи́лий Васи́льевич Вереща́гин), στην πινακοθήκη Τρετιακόφ στη Μόσχα. Σπαρμένος ο κάμπος με κορμιά.