"There are reasons why this film is obscure. It is, in the most charitable possible evaluation, a mess: Bowie has described it as "my 32 Elvis films rolled into one." And yet life on that ever-dwindling island of not-on-region-one DVD films is a harsh fate for any film and particularly for this one, which is at least as interesting as its cast suggests and a good deal more. You don't need to dig out the VHS player to watch Mick Jagger run an agency of gigolos in The Man From Elysian Fields—you shouldn't have to do so to watch Bowie play one. "
David Bowie's Lost 70s-era Weimar Berlin Movie: Just a Gigalo.
posted by The Whelk
on Feb 2, 2013 -
17 comments
The home front: Surrounded by barbed wire, sandbags and mud, this 60ft trench is barely distinguishable from those occupied by British soldiers fighting in the First World War almost a century ago.
The enormous dugout has been painstakingly recreated by an ex-history teacher in his back garden in Surrey, and the dedicated 55-year-old even spent 24 hours living in its confines with a team of volunteers as part of his efforts to experience life as a WWI soldier.
posted by ShawnString
on Nov 2, 2012 -
47 comments
A great deal of poetry was written about the Great War, much of it by soldiers in the trenches. Two period books of World War I poetry and poets are
The Muse in Arms and
For remembrance, available in a variety of formats at archive.org. There is also
The First World War Digital Poetry Archive which mostly has things from the most well-known authors, but many of these are available as scans of the original documents. (The interface is a little iffy on the DPA; click on a person, then use the search for "any poem" to get a full listing of what's available)
posted by curious nu
on Mar 22, 2012 -
9 comments
Born into War. In 1863, a 3 yr old John J. Pershing was
pinned to the floor by his mother to protect him from confederate raiders. In 1886, he left West Point for the western frontier, having been elected class president four years in a row. In 1890 he was
present at the Wounded Knee Massacre. In 1898 he
fought with Buffalo Soldiers in Cuba, commanding a black cavalry regiment at San Juan Hill. From 1898 to 1901 he was
fighting Philippine insurgents. In 1905 he served as an
observer in the Russo-Japanese War, arguably the first "modern" war. In 1906 Teddy Roosevelt
promoted him to Brigadier General, skipping over
862 senior officers. In 1916 he was
hunting Poncho Villa in Mexico. In 1917, Pershing was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Entire
American Expeditionary Force of WW1, in which he built an army almost from scratch, organizing, training, and supplying an inexperienced force that eventually numbered two million. 1919 saw Pershing promoted to the highest U.S. Army rank in history, "
General of the Armies", a position held previously by George Washington. Pershing lived to see Allied Victory before
his death in 1948.
posted by thisisdrew
on May 19, 2011 -
41 comments
"A pious, peaceful man,
York had fought his country's enemy only after great deliberation and had to be convinced that war was sometimes necessary."
1 On this day let us remember
Sergeant York.
1 Celluloid Soldiers: The Warner Bros. Campaign Against Nazism By Michael E. Birdwell.
posted by unliteral
on Nov 11, 2010 -
14 comments
As
Armistice Day approaches an exhibition reveals a hidden side to the horror of World War I.
It contains
previously unseen images of British servicemen who suffered terrible facial injuries in the conflict.
The exhibition also tells the story of one surgeon -
Harold Gillies – who through his efforts to help them became known as the father of modern plastic surgery.
WARNING: Some of the following images are of a very graphic nature.
posted by infini
on Nov 3, 2007 -
8 comments
WW1: Experiences of an English Soldier This blog is made up of transcripts of Harry Lamin's letters from the first World War. The letters will be posted exactly 90 years after they were written. "Dear Kate, Just a line to let you know I’m going on alright. We had an exciting time and this time up the line. We had only been in about six hours when fritz’s came over to us. We had an hour and a half of it but we beat them back and they lost a good many men too not many got back I can tell you. We lost #### (pencilled out –censored?) which I’m sorry to say and about #### wounded. I think the mug will be all right for Willie which Jack is getting for him. If you send me anything it will come in very nice the chocolate is very good I should like a bit of cake, if you could afford it really gets crushed so if it is not packed careful. With best love from Harry"
posted by feelinglistless
on Oct 7, 2007 -
6 comments
Triplane Madness presents photos of a large selection of triplane
(and quad- and quint- and more) experiments in avionics conducted in a wide variety of countries in the early days of aviation.
posted by mwhybark
on Dec 23, 2006 -
8 comments
The Great War: "People at the time experienced it differently. We may think they were misinformed and deluded, and perhaps they were, or maybe we have become incredibly cynical and mistrusting. What were once considered to be civic virtues are now thought to be quaint anachronisms at best or grand delusions at worst. Things change." The site proffers an incredible variety of popular-press articles and imagery concerning the unfortunate European events of 1914 to 1918.
posted by mwhybark
on Sep 1, 2006 -
40 comments
Last Post. Evan 'Darby' Allan, the last of Australia's 330,770 World War 1 veterans, was
buried with full state honours yesterday, closing one of the most dismal chapters in our history. Joining the navy at 14, Darby avoided the bloody horrors of the
Somme and
Gallipoli, which contributed heavily to the over
60 000 Australian war dead and 200 000 total casualties (from a population of only about 5 000 000), but he still played his part in what many historians suggest was the prime cause of 20th century totalitarianism, the second world war and the cold war. And it was all
so pointless. He seemed like a nice bloke, and the reportage has thankfully avoided most of the 'hero' bullshit (I don't think he would have approved).
posted by wilful
on Oct 25, 2005 -
40 comments
Concrete Ships Toward the end of the First World War, and during the Second World War, the United States commisioned the construction of experimental concrete ships.
posted by dhruva
on Oct 13, 2005 -
25 comments
