12/12/72
March 7, 2014 9:55 AM   Subscribe

Photos from a Surrealist Ball at Château de Ferrières, one of the Rothschild family’s gigantic mansions. There is no such thing as the Illuminati.
posted by philip-random (75 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
No, there is no such thing as the Illuminati. Let's not feed the Infowars crowd.
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:57 AM on March 7, 2014 [5 favorites]


The dismembered dolls and broken skulls as table decor are enough in themselves to make me want to throw one of these parties, but sadly I know it could never be as well realized as this, even overlooking the real diamonds for tears business.

Isn't Dali's presence there so meta that it makes your head explode? I think he would have been better represented by a body double throwing cats out of windows.
posted by janey47 at 10:02 AM on March 7, 2014 [8 favorites]


METAFILTER: If you’ve never heard of this term before you have a long way down the rabbit hole to go. Once you decide to swallow the red pill, and you will, your entire belief system will be shattered and will require rebuilding. Everything you thought you knew about the world and your role in it will go out the window. You will have no choice but to accept your life for what it has been up until now, that of a subservient and obedient slave. This is the first step of your awakening. Once the truth is learnt it cannot be forgotten. The feeling is liberating knowing you have broken free of the shackles that bind you.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 10:02 AM on March 7, 2014 [5 favorites]


The page uses the term "MK" or "MK culture" repeatedly. What does that mean?
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:03 AM on March 7, 2014


MK Ultra.
posted by marienbad at 10:04 AM on March 7, 2014


Mortal Kombat. This was a while ago so they were probably referring to the first game.
posted by 2bucksplus at 10:08 AM on March 7, 2014 [26 favorites]


What, you guys don't do this?
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:13 AM on March 7, 2014 [8 favorites]


with tears made from real diamonds"...
posted by SkinnerSan at 10:15 AM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


Isn't that Audrey Hepburn?
posted by cazoo at 10:17 AM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]


Isn't that Audrey Hepburn?

Survey says yes.
posted by Iridic at 10:18 AM on March 7, 2014


That photo of Baron de Rede wearing the multiple faced mask is really striking.

Great find, thanks for sharing.
posted by yasaman at 10:19 AM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'm not sure, but in this photo, I think someone wearing an inspired mannequin-head hat is giving Jaime Lannister a handy.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:20 AM on March 7, 2014 [7 favorites]


If you are interested in rich people hijinks in the seventies, I highly recommend The Beautiful Fall: Fashion, Genius and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris. It's....well, it's a rather loosely structured book which is primarily about the people around Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld from the very beginnings of their careers through the nineties. A lot of it is pretty sad, actually, but there's certainly some lively descriptions of parties.
posted by Frowner at 10:21 AM on March 7, 2014 [5 favorites]


I love that they censored the mannequin's chest.
posted by Skorgu at 10:22 AM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]


Plus: exposed me to some pretty pictures of people being weird.

Minus: obsessed with Satanic conspiracy theory bullshit.

Plus wins by a hair, I like. If only rich people were still this entertaining.
posted by idiopath at 10:25 AM on March 7, 2014 [3 favorites]


Why does the "mannequin-cadaver type thing" have pixelated boobs? That's not a real woman in a "mannequin-cadaver type thing" costume is it?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 10:28 AM on March 7, 2014


If I was that rich and powerful I'd make it my hobby to drop signs that get conspiracy theorists salivating into everything I do. Fully adopt a public persona of "lizard person disguised as a man who is trying and not quite succeeding at hiding it". "Leak" a memo to my publicist with strict demands to never be seen by anyone on the night of the new moon and always leave the lights off in my house on those nights. Buy real estate in locations that make occult symbols when connected by lines on a map. Hire a body double to make public appearances in different locations with impossible amounts of travel time in between them, like I'm in New York for a press conference and twenty minutes later in Berlin for a live in-studio television interview. Have a publicly known ebay username and always buy up the creepiest stuff, and also just random oddball items so people are like "what is the occult significance of that tea kettle?"
posted by jason_steakums at 10:31 AM on March 7, 2014 [43 favorites]


If Salvador Dali and Audrey Hepburn were both Illuminati members, then I feel pretty okay about the Illuminati. They can secretly legislate my reality any time.
posted by Iridic at 10:33 AM on March 7, 2014 [15 favorites]


Boy, this website sure looks antisemitic, based on a couple of queries into their search engine. Not sure we should be sending traffic here.
posted by jenkinsEar at 10:34 AM on March 7, 2014 [5 favorites]


It has always been a dream of mine to have a party like this, complete with exotic drugs and kinky orgies happening in a back room, all elegance and debauchery and masks and intrigue. This just reaffirms my conviction that throwing that kind of party (or even just attending one) would be crazy expensive and therefore will almost certainly never happen to me.

Good thing I live in New Orleans; at least we have Mardi Gras, which is the poor man's closest equivalent and has a lot else to recommend it besides.

I didn't read any of the satanic conspiracy-theory stuff, mind you. I was just looking at the pictures. What glorious weirdness!
posted by Scientist at 10:40 AM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]


If I was that rich and powerful I'd make it my hobby to drop signs that get conspiracy theorists salivating into everything I do.

Oh my sweet lord, I think you've just explained the Koch brothers! If you wanted to fuel the wildest most off the wall conspiracy theorists of 21st century America where would you more effectively pour your billions than into the Tea Party movement! Hell, what could be more dada than the GOP hopefuls in 2012 (and especially their favorite!!)?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 10:41 AM on March 7, 2014


Boy, this website sure looks antisemitic, based on a couple of queries into their search engine. Not sure we should be sending traffic here.

hmmm?

well, it is called HangTheBankers. Where there's hatred of bankers, anti-semitism is seldom far behind. Yet I can't help but feel that illumination is always good. Don't avoid something seemingly toxic. Throw some light on it, see what's actually there, and what goes scurrying away.
posted by philip-random at 10:51 AM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


Can we please not have websites called 'hangthebankers' posted on MeFi? I know this community has never had a problem getting rid of disturbing links/sites, so let's not stop now...

I don't particularly feel like I deserve to be hanged for working hard in an office...
posted by jjmoney at 10:54 AM on March 7, 2014




Where there's hatred of bankers, anti-semitism is seldom far behind.

I'm not really sure this is universal. As much as I often disagree with the Occupy movement, I haven't heard a whole lot of jew-baiting out of their encampment.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 10:58 AM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


Just don't read the stupid captions and you'll be fine. (That green apple is from Magritte, not the Garden of Eden y'all mouth-breathing David Icke fans!)
posted by kozad at 11:05 AM on March 7, 2014 [9 favorites]


Where there's hatred of bankers, anti-semitism is seldom far behind.

What era do you hail from, time traveler?
posted by ook at 11:10 AM on March 7, 2014 [4 favorites]


If I was that rich and powerful I'd make it my hobby to drop signs that get conspiracy theorists salivating into everything I do.

Her name is Lady Gaga.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 11:12 AM on March 7, 2014 [8 favorites]


What era do you hail from, time traveler?

Most of history, unfortunately.
posted by Justinian at 11:14 AM on March 7, 2014 [3 favorites]


Where there's hatred of bankers, anti-semitism is seldom far behind.

What era do you hail from, time traveler?


Most recent time I heard the connection explicitly stated was about a year ago in casual conversation with a retired academic at a coffee shop on Vancouver Island.

I regret how I stated that by the way. I didn't mean to make it so inclusive. I mean, I hate bankers -- some of them anyway, the big deal kind who can't help but profit massively from war, tragedy, misery etc.

But yeah, my experience has been that, particularly when you're getting anywhere near a David Icke type rabbit-hole, the Jewish conspiracy bullshit starts to feel inevitable.
posted by philip-random at 11:18 AM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]


Where there's hatred of bankers, anti-semitism is seldom far behind.

What era do you hail from, time traveler?


Seriously, this connection is so enmeshed in the threads of antisemitism, it's nearly impossible to unravel.
posted by Sophie1 at 11:21 AM on March 7, 2014 [3 favorites]


BIRDCAGES = ILLUMINATI
posted by Flunkie at 11:29 AM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]


Photos from a Surrealist Ball at Château de Ferrières, one of the Rothschild family’s gigantic mansions. There is no such thing as the Illuminati.

Waaay, waayy anti-semitic. I think this post needs a deletion or rewrite.
posted by Ironmouth at 11:36 AM on March 7, 2014


Yeah, I loved the pictures but had to close off because of the anti-Semitism - maybe this should be flagged?
posted by mumimor at 11:44 AM on March 7, 2014


I liked the photos, but that website...is there any non-Illuminati obsessed, non-anti-semitic website with them? The sources links on the post are not promising either.
posted by yasaman at 11:46 AM on March 7, 2014


Is the feeling that this page shouldn't be linked to at all, or because I referenced Rothschild and Illuminati in my wording? A connection which I personally feel to be absurd, by the way.
posted by philip-random at 11:49 AM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


There seem to be plenty of pages, on the web, that have the same content and don't make my skin crawl.

This one has plenty of text: http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/08/27/a-surrealist-parisian-dinner-party-chez-madame-rothschild-1972/

This one seems to have a few extra images:
http://www.themysteryworld.com/2013/09/1972-rothschild-surrealist-dinner-party.html

There are lots of others, easily locatable through a reverse image search.
posted by Dreadnought at 11:52 AM on March 7, 2014 [8 favorites]


Good catch Dreadnought. I agree entirely with your point.
posted by dougzilla at 11:57 AM on March 7, 2014


There seem to be plenty of pages, on the web, that have the same content and don't make my skin crawl.
This one has plenty of text:


... except, check out the comments on that link. Indeed, here's the first one:

Nothing says evil like the Rothschild's in fact they exude it, their very being speaks of the greed humanity can achieve. Oh whats that have over 900 billion in various accounts (like they'd disclose the true amount) your so famous! All the while 3 billion people live in absolute squalor poverty and misery. If ever there was a people that deserved dragging into the street and set aflame it's them, the day will come. Lets not even mention the evil semi-satanic affairs they and those like them are tied into, up to but not only including child sacrifice.

Which confirms me in my thinking that anything remotely "Rothschild" opens a can of ugly worms. Which I seem to have done here. The question being, do we just jam them all back in the can ... or maybe talk about it?
posted by philip-random at 12:02 PM on March 7, 2014


Flagged the OP, hope mods can switch it out to the Messynycchic page or something. Let's not get down with sites that reference ZOGs please.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:04 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


If switching the links is a solution, the one to go with is Dreadnought's second option (World of Mysteries) ... as it seems to be thus far comment free.
posted by philip-random at 12:15 PM on March 7, 2014


except, check out the comments on that link

Ouch. I see what you mean.

Incidentally, while we're on the topic of the International Jewish Conspiracy... does it strike anyone that this is about the least plausible conspiracy theory in all of crazytown? You couldn't get most people in my shul to agree with themself about their own name. Could you imagine us secretly governing the global economy?
posted by Dreadnought at 12:20 PM on March 7, 2014 [4 favorites]


Which confirms me in my thinking that anything remotely "Rothschild" opens a can of ugly worms. Which I seem to have done here. The question being, do we just jam them all back in the can ... or maybe talk about it?

Yeah, I had to do some research into the Rothschilds' business stuff for work a while back (navigating the tangle of all their businesses and their relationships to each other was tedious, to say the least), and ran into a ton of this stuff. I'd be trying to find a decent image of their family crest or whatever and run headlong into dozens of sites about how it's full of Satanic or Illuminati symbols.

If you want to discuss the can of ugly worms, then I think this post needs better framing and more information. As it is, it's just about the photos and the novelty of the party, so I think going with the World of Mysteries link is best.
posted by yasaman at 12:22 PM on March 7, 2014


That's just what the bolsheviks want you to think, Dreadnought!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 12:22 PM on March 7, 2014


Wow, I in no way ever, ever, ever, would want to fan the flames of antisemitism or ugly tribal hatred of any kind!!! but I have to admit.. sorry don't smack me for this please... I find all this illuminati conspiracy shit *enormously* comical and it really makes me laugh a lot and I love the chance to spend a little time in zany-you-just-can't-make-shit-like-this-up-folks land... it gives a crazy extra does of piquancy to these lovely photos, of wonderfully civilized people having fun on a very exquisitely rarefied plane... oh and also bankers, whoever they maybe and ignoring the issue of their putative historical-tribal allegiances not even considering the entire Asian banking world (are confucians in league with the devil too?)... are *absolutely without doubt* participating in the terrible oppression and enslavement of the vast majority of the human race.. not anything new.. it's been around since before Darius.. who probably threw fantastic parties... (I'll go back to my shed now...)
posted by anguspodgorny at 12:30 PM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]


thanks for that anguspodgorny --

it certainly speaks to the spirit of why I posted the thing in the first place. But I am guilty of not checking out HangTheBankers better. That is a rather lame-brained (at best) clusterf*** of "proof". I guess I just assumed that something called HangTheBankers would have more of an Occupy slant and didn't dig any deeper.

Next time ...
posted by philip-random at 12:40 PM on March 7, 2014


It has always been a dream of mine to have a party like this, complete with exotic drugs and kinky orgies happening in a back room, all elegance and debauchery and masks and intrigue ... Good thing I live in New Orleans; at least we have Mardi Gras ...

If you live in NO and want exotic drugs and kinky orgies, then I think you want Southern Decadence.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:44 PM on March 7, 2014


If switching the links is a solution, the one to go with is Dreadnought's second option (World of Mysteries) ... as it seems to be thus far comment free.

Just the framing of the post, stating "one of the Rothschild family’s gigantic mansions. There is no such thing as the Illuminati."

That's frankly, anti-semitic, even if not intended to be so. Linking the Rothschilds, the go to target for anti-Semitic right-wing Europeans for centuries to the "illuminati" is basically saying "Jewish bankers are running everything." It may not be intended, but it is a cultural trope of the right wing and dare I say it, the Nazi Party.
posted by Ironmouth at 12:45 PM on March 7, 2014 [4 favorites]


Oh look, photos from Hannibal Lecter's childhood
posted by The Whelk at 12:45 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


you guise, as great as these pictures are, what is even greater is the most popular post on that site:

http://www.hangthebankers.com/bill-gates-admits-to-chemtrails/
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 12:49 PM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]


bad rothschilds, good rothschilds, and i logged in to mention one of the latter. she was jacqueline piatigorsky, married to the renown cellist gregor piatigorsky, and she was the patroness of the student chess club of los angeles, where i was a member before many of you were born, and a strong player in her own right, ranked about 5th among american women.

one day, my dad expressed to the club's executive director a willingness to contribute some money to this worthwhile institution. the ED (also an amazing story) said no thank you, we've got that all covered. dad said oh? the ED asked him, do you know what mrs. piatigorsky's maiden name is?

we're not quite in that league financially.
posted by bruce at 12:52 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


Ironmouth, I think philip-random was trying to disclaim the illuminati component of the post, even while wanting to post those amazing pictures. He didn't draw the 'connection' between the Rothschilds and the illuminati, the posted article did.

Having said that, the article is obviously antisemetic and (with apologies to anguspodgorny) the creepy and threatening vibe that a lot of us are getting off it outweighs the undoubtedly comical levels of crazy.

I actually love talking about the world of conspiracy theory. But it's one of those discussions that has to be tackled carefully: these ideas have spilled over into wholesale murder well within living memory. That means if and when it comes up, I'd say it has to be addressed firmly.

Does this mean we have to be totally po-faced about it? No; laughing at antisemites is, in my view, a good thing. It punctures their pomposity and makes them less powerful. But serious or comical, we need to address it head on pretty much every time it comes up. Setting their views casually along side an interesting post on another topic sounds a false note and ruins the enjoyment for people who might feel threatened by real-life crazy conspiracy theorists.
posted by Dreadnought at 12:58 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


It's hard to enjoy amusing conspiracy theory craziness once you get to know how much far-right-wing anti-Semitic extremism usually lies a click or two behind it. :\

This page being no exception.
posted by edheil at 1:00 PM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]


On the topic of the Baron de Redé, Strange Flowers has more here, here and here. More here at the Esoteric Curiosa and a piece on the super fabulous Baroness Pauline De Rothschild here.
posted by octobersurprise at 1:14 PM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]


Mod note: Swapped the link per discussion up thread.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:40 PM on March 7, 2014 [3 favorites]


so what do people talk about at these parties anyway?
i love the pictures, love the idea, but sometimes pictures are better than reality.

I mean let's say I get invited to one of these parties. I get dressed up wearing a mink coat and have an old-timey phonograph on my head, with purple pants, golden shoes and gloves.

So i arrive and meet a charming group of folks. What exactly do we talk about? The weather? Our favourite baseball team? Stupid small-talk chitchat? Or maybe one just gets super stoned at the entrance and let whatever happens happens?

I haven't been to a party in ages, let alone a fun one, so someone fill me in?
posted by bitteroldman at 2:12 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


I can only imagine that there were moments where it really got to Dali that everyone else at any particular party expected him to do something outrageous. Like, it's really got to be tough to be always on as much as people expected of that guy.
posted by jason_steakums at 2:28 PM on March 7, 2014


I can only imagine that there were moments where it really got to Dali that everyone else at any particular party expected him to do something outrageous. Like, it's really got to be tough to be always on as much as people expected of that guy.

I agree with you, jason_steakums, but I also think Dali absolutely relished that sort of attention. A good chunk of his art was simply being himself, and I believe he thrived on that sort of attention and notoriety.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." - H. Thompson
posted by mosk at 2:39 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


Wait! Wait! Consider me ignorant... Are you folks saying that 'Illuminati' is a code word for 'anti-semitism ahead'? Never would have guessed. Seen plenty of hand wringing over the Rotschild's and never realized there was a down with the Jews aspect. Wow... Am I understanding this correctly?
posted by artof.mulata at 2:46 PM on March 7, 2014


Yeah it's not always a code-word but it's a VERY FREQUENTLY one. Thats what make Alex Jones and the ilk odd, he'd have followers going "Oh by lizard people who mean jews." and he'd go "No I mean literally lizard people."
posted by The Whelk at 2:53 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


What exactly do we talk about?

Oh you know, yachts, the islands, Sao Schlumberger, which Niarchos is screwing who. That sort of thing.
posted by octobersurprise at 2:55 PM on March 7, 2014


"It's hard to enjoy amusing conspiracy theory craziness once you get to know how much far-right-wing anti-Semitic extremism usually lies a click or two behind it. :\"

I guess I'm the oddball in the whole "finds conspiracy theories interesting", mostly because I came to know them by studying far-right extremist groups and their ideologies. It originally began as a way to fight against neo-nazi skin-heads attempting to recruit people I knew in the punk/goth scene, and led to a whole bizarre rabbit-hole of crazy woowoo nutters who probably need therapy more than anything else. Then I found the whole Sub-genius movement, and the High Weirdness By Mail stuff and they had catalogued a vast swath of the absolutely batshit stuff out there, and almost all of it links back to a lot of post-WW2 reactionary stuff, and weird groups like the John Birch Society among other oddball groups. Then there's the Lyndon Larouche level of nutters, and that just goes way wacky on it's own.

This is one of the reasons why Glenn Beck and Alex Jones are definitely in the right-wing camp. They start off by "revealing" all these conspiracies, and whether they know it or not, they are basically reading "The Protocols of The Elders of Zion" like it isn't a completely fabricated anti-semetic hoax from Russia (pre-Communist Russia, at that). The only real conspiracy is people who keep this shit alive trying to push it off on others as facts to hide their own bigotry.
posted by daq at 2:55 PM on March 7, 2014 [5 favorites]


ARGH I meant Ickle not Jones up there. Jones is straight up neo-nazi.
posted by The Whelk at 2:59 PM on March 7, 2014


This just reaffirms my conviction that throwing that kind of party (or even just attending one) would be crazy expensive and therefore will almost certainly never happen to me.

Ignore the conviction and throw the party. Doing things is how you end up having lived a fantastic life.
Step one: Don't shoulder it all. Split the work and costs between 3-10 people who similarly feel that there haven't been enough exotic balls in their life recently or at all. (There is typically not a shortage of people who want exciting things to happen.)

Not only does the group mean you have a much greater budget, it also means the costs get slashed, so the effective budget gets even larger - because Person X has access to a great location, person Y works at a design shop and can do elaborate invitations for next to nothing, persons A, B, and C all do arts and can create or adapt setpieces, or discretely coordinate or help guests who are struggling to figure out what to wear, etc etc. Use the resources and abilities of the group. (Figure out ways to gain benefit from resources that initially don't seem to be relevant or useful or are forgotten.)


So i arrive and meet a charming group of folks. What exactly do we talk about?


Heh, perhaps (if organizing the party) you can start the night with an ice-breaker scavenger hunt, but the "items" to be found tend not to be items so much as interactions, achievements, mid-game team swaps, etc. thus building the intended theme/atmosphere?
posted by anonymisc at 3:23 PM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]


Wait, the Rothschilds are a Jewish family? I can't tell from Google because it is conspiracy-confusing searches. This is like when I was little and some adult explained to me that the Jews controlled Hollywood, and then had to slowly explain how Jewish surnames and Elis island immigration changes worked, and eventually gave up when I was trying to figure out how Scottish clans worked, because the idea that white people who looked interchangeable to me at that time could tell each other's secret origins by their names was just amazing. This actually explains some of those weird jokes and stories about them I've heard - they were anti-Semitic.
posted by viggorlijah at 3:33 PM on March 7, 2014


the Rothschilds are a Jewish family?

Yeah, the Baron was imprisoned by Vichy and his first wife died in a Nazi camp.
posted by octobersurprise at 3:48 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


Oh hi Martin Chatwin's Mom.
posted by weston at 4:28 PM on March 7, 2014


Twelfth picture down: the Fifth Doctor, ever the gentleman, attempts to look the lovely Sekura (surname and clan name both unpronounceable by humans) in the eyes as he attempts to gently rebuke her sexual advances and warn her of the several Gruuuuak drones hidden in the chandeliers. "My eyes are up here," she responds with a sly smile. "My lower face is a decoy filled with irritating fluid to ward off predators." "Why would a lifeform evolve to trick creatures into biting such an important area as the neck?" thinks the Doctor. "The poor species must been genetically engineered. Oh well, I can smack a genetic scientist upside the head later." It is now on the Doctor's list. The Doctor has the longest list anyone will ever write, mentally or otherwise.

Look what you made me write, surrealists.
posted by BiggerJ at 7:39 PM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]


Count me in as another one who didn't know that the Rothschilds were Jewish (not that I ever gave it that much thought), or that Illuminati conspiracies were coded antisemitism.

Glad to see that the link was changed, even though the resulting conversation has been fascinating.
posted by kanewai at 10:20 PM on March 7, 2014


Watching True Detective, it's very hard to not be freaked the shit out by the pictures with the antlers.
posted by hypersloth at 2:30 AM on March 8, 2014


There's a passing reference to the Rothschilds in Grand Illusion that makes it clear they were Jewish. It was also the first time I'd ever heard of the Rothschilds. [/derail]
posted by pxe2000 at 5:31 AM on March 8, 2014


Fnord
posted by clvrmnky at 11:53 AM on March 8, 2014


anonymisc: LOVE your party idea! And I really hate parties! LOL!

Amazing. I'm another one rather innocent of the antisemitic baloney. I didn't know Rothschilds were Jewish, nor that the Bavarian Illuminati were supposed to be Jewish. (I think the word 'Bavarian' threw me off).

I'd heard the nonsense about the Jews controlling the banking world. Given the power of that family, it isn't a difficult leap to say such a thing, but then it's about that family, not their entire ethnicity.

Love the photographs, I am extremely tickled by surrealism ("tickled" chosen quite carefully. It delights me!).
posted by Goofyy at 1:28 AM on March 9, 2014


I hate conspiracy-theory Nazis. Not only are they Nazis, but they're fucking spoilsports too.

Also, anyone who thinks, "ahaa!! the conspiracy-theory leads to anti-Semitism trope is a false flag perpetuated by the illuminati!!!" It doesn't matter. However far down the hole you go you will eventually reach a place populated by such vile and inexplicable hatred that you'll be wishing for the illuminati to be in charge anyway.
posted by fullerine at 3:44 AM on March 9, 2014


I can only imagine that there were moments where it really got to Dali that everyone else at any particular party expected him to do something outrageous

To understand Dali and his set a little more I suggest the rather different ''Sex, Surrealism, Dali and Me''
Here is a little vignette from a 1969 lunch party :
Prior to their arrival in Cadaqués, the Hollywood stars had been indulged to a superlative display of Dalì genius at a lunch party at the Restaurant Gare de Lyon in Paris. With them that day were various members of Dalì's Divine Court: Gala, his muse, coiffed and rouged like a ventriloquist's dummy; Prince Dado Ruspoli, famed as having the largest penis in Europe; Princess Nanita Kalaschnikoff, with her celebrated Louis XIV profile; the collector Sir Edward James; painter Léonor Fini and the unimaginably gorgeous Amanda Lear who, like Léonor, could not paint, as Kirk Douglas learned from his host, because genius is only found in the balls.
'Paint is about time, space and balls. And Amanda doesn't have any,' said Dalì, bringing his palms together as if in them he held two bricks.
Kirk, nonetheless, kept his hand buried in the mysterious dark places below Amanda's mini-skirt and Léonor Fini, magnificent in a sorcerer's robes sewed with magic symbols, stood with arms raised:
'Genius,' she screamed. 'Is in the slit.'
'Who is that woman?' asked Yul Brynner.
'Léonor Fini,' whispered Sir Edward.
Yul shrugged. 'She can sit on my face whenever she wants''
It was routine for the Divine Court, but a mesmerising if dangerous world for Carlos Lozano, a 20 year old dancer in the musical Hair who would spend the next twenty-five years as a confidante of Salvador Dalì.
posted by adamvasco at 4:26 AM on March 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


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