Ernest Hemingway Action Figure
Found via Halloween kook: Baseball guy on Flickr, this is a hilarious action figure of literary figure Ernest Hemingway. Is it a DIY/MAKE or is it a production model?
This is a one-of-a-kind prototype of a 12″ action figure (doll) of Ernest Hemingway. It comes with a typewriter and a shotgun. A child can roleplay, pretending to roam in Africa, fish in Cuba, hunt in Michigan, and write the great American Novel. Much more fun then GI Joe and Barbie.
Salomé in Art & Painting
Fictional character Salomé lived in Judea between AD 14 and 71. Her Hebrew name is שלומית (Shlomit) means “peace” and was used as the typical “hello” greeting of the time. According to tradition, Salome was the stepdaughter of Herod Antipas (ruler of Judea), and danced before him on his birthday. This so delighted Herod that he promised her mother a favour, which was the beheading of John the Baptist.
Christian traditions depict her as an icon of dangerous female seductiveness, for instance depicting as erotic her dance mentioned in the New Testament, or concentrate on her lighthearted and cold foolishness that, according to the gospels, led to John the Baptist’s death.
Often the subject of fine art, below I have gathered as many examples of Salomé in painting or sculpture as possible, and arranged them chronologically. If you can think of any that I’ve missed, please leave a link in the comments!
Salome with the head of John the Baptist (1488) Tempera on Panel by Sandro Botticelli
Garth Nix - Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again
I just finished reading an enchanting short story by Garth Nix (Amazon Blog, titled Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again. It’s available for free as HTML on Baen’s website, so give it a read. Or if that’s too onerous, this PDF might help: Garth Nix: Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again.pdf.
I originally read the story published in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: 21st Annual Collection, almost the very last of the chilling tales in this volume, and in my opinion, by far the best. It won the Aurealis award for novella.
There is apparently a sequel novella titled Beyond the Sea Gate of the Scholar-Pirates of Sarskoe in Fast Ships, Black Sails which I’m dying to read, but it’s not available in Kindle format.
