RANDOM WEDNESDAY: David Hoffman - Flying in 1979

via David Hoffman 

RANDOM WEDNESDAY: Corita Kent - stop the bombing (1967)

Source: Juxtapoz Magazine, Winter 2025

Alexei Navalny

A few months ago, I read a compelling memoir in The New Yorker about Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader and anticorruption activist who was poisoned and later jailed upon his return to Russia on January 17, 2021.

Navalny’s Prison Diaries chronicles his final years in captivity, offering a deeply personal and political reflection on his fight against Vladimir Putin’s regime. He recounts his near-fatal poisoning in 2020, his decision to return despite the certainty of arrest, and the fabricated charges that led to his imprisonment. Despite brutal conditions—solitary confinement, staged trials, and psychological torture—he remains defiant, seeing prison as the cost of his commitment to truth and democracy. His writings capture the mental toll of confinement, his resilience, and his belief that Russia will one day reclaim its freedom.

More than just a memoir, Navalny’s diaries serve as a call to action. He warns against complacency, stressing that authoritarian regimes don’t collapse on their own and that truth is the most powerful weapon against tyranny. Aware he may never be freed, he urges continued resistance, reaffirming his love for his family and country. 

Tragically, he died in prison on February 16, 2024, but his words endure as a testament to his courage and unwavering fight for justice.

by Owen Smith (@owensmithartist)

Source: 

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/10/21/alexei-navalny-patriot-memoir

Sojourner Truth

Subscribing to hardcover magazines in the digital era presents a challenge. Before the internet and social media, receiving a magazine in the mail was exciting—a moment to savor. Now, a magazine might be flipped through once and then set aside, waiting for a "later" that rarely comes.

Case in point: an issue of Smithsonian sat on my nightstand for a year before I finally found time to read it. When I did, one story stood out—Cynthia Greenlee's article, The Gospel of Truth (Smithsonian, March 2024). The piece explores the life and legacy of Sojourner Truth beyond the widely recognized phrase, “Ain’t I a Woman?”

Greenlee highlights Truth’s complex identity as an abolitionist, women’s rights advocate, preacher, and strategist who actively shaped her public image.

Born enslaved as Isabella Baumfree in New York in the late 1790s, Truth endured multiple sales, harsh treatment, and betrayal before walking away from enslavement with her infant daughter. She later made history by successfully suing for the return of her illegally sold son, Peter—one of the first legal victories of its kind by a Black woman in the U.S.

A deeply religious person, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth in 1843, dedicating her life to preaching and activism.

While her 1851 speech at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention cemented her legacy, Greenlee reveals how her words were later misrepresented. The famous refrain “Ain’t I a Woman?” does not appear in the earliest accounts. Instead, Truth’s actual speech likely centered on women's strength and biblical arguments against gender-based oppression.

Her activism extended far beyond that speech. She advocated for land grants for freedpeople, challenged segregation on Washington D.C.’s streetcars, and even met with President Lincoln. She also used photography strategically, selling portrait cards with the tagline, “I sell the shadow to support the substance.”

Greenlee’s article also explores modern efforts to honor Truth, from statues and memorials to an upcoming documentary. More than a historical figure, Sojourner Truth was a self-made icon who understood the power of shaping her own story—an inspiration that endures today.

Read the full article HERE.

Photo by Maddie McGarvey

Source:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/remarkable-untold-story-sojourner-truth-180983691/ 

RANDOM WEDNESDAY: The history of the world according to cats by Eva-Maria Geigl

via TED-Ed 

Happy LBJ Day!

 

"Name a Salad After Me."

Adam Ellis's cartoon brought a smile to my face.

While it might seem logical to associate the Caesar salad with the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, its origins trace back to Caesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant running a restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico.

If we turn the clock back over 2,000 years, we encounter various interpretations of Julius Caesar's final words. Perhaps the most renowned is the Shakespearian phrase that Caesar may have uttered to Lucius Junius Brutus: "Et tu, Brute?"

By Adam Ellis @adamtots

Nintendo Koppai

 

On September 23, 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi opened Nintendo Koppai, a shop that produced and sold hand-crafted flower cards known as hanafuda. During this time, the Japanese government had outlawed gambling cards except for Yamauchi's hanafuda. Demand for the cards increased, which led Yamauchi to mass-produce the hanafuda cards as well as offer lower-quality cards known as Tengu. 

In the 1900s, Yamauchi entered into an agreement with Nihon Senbai, a nationalized tobacco company, to market its cards at various cigarette stores throughout Japan. 

In the 1930, Sekiryo (Kaneda) Yamauchi established the company as a general partnership titled Yamauchi Nintendo & Co. Ltd. 

In 1947, Sekiryo founded the distribution company Marufuku Co. Ltd. A few years later, his successor grandson, Hiroshi Yamauchi, changed the name of the company to Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. and changed the name of Marufuku Company to Nintendo Karuta Co. Ltd.

In the late 1950s, Nintendo contracted with Walt Disney to incorporate the Disney characters onto the playing cards. A few years later, Nintendo became a public company and changed its name to Nintendo Co., Ltd.

The company released its first video game console, the Color TV-Game in 1977. Donkey Kong was then released in 1981, followed by the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console was released in 1985. 

Source: Wikipedia

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 3 in E♭ major, Opus 55

Music Appreciation

Ludwig van Beethoven is one of my favorite 19th Century composers, and perhaps one of my favorite composition is his Symphony No. 3.

The symphony was completed in early 1804 and first performed on April 7, 1805 at the Theater an der Wein in Vienna. By this time, Beethoven was starting to show symptoms of deafness.

German Conductor Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performed the complete symphony at the Musikverein in 2010.

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._3_(Beethoven)

R.I.P. Princess

While many nerds preferred the Princess Leia in the Alderaan gown and the iconic hair buns, I preferred the slave ensemble--have fun psychoanalyzing that, guys.

Princess Leia epitomized everything us geeks and nerds fantasized in a heroine--petite, strong, beautiful, feisty, and determined. She was a badass. And she was played by a woman who was the badass.

via das-sporking

Today indeed is a very sad day. I didn't want to believe it, at first. I thought it was just rumor. Then it slowly set in. Carrie Fisher passed away at age 60.

My heart aches with grief, because she to me and many fellow geeks and nerds was our Princess.

R.I.P. Princess.

UPDATED: George Takei's message to Trump regarding Internment Camps

Acting Appreciation

I rarely do post political entries; however, this does deal with the invitation for Donald Trump to watch the musical production, Allegiance.

Soon after the terrorist attacks in Paris, France and in San Bernandino, California in 2015, presidential candidate Donald Trump made some serious comments regarding Muslims and internment camps.

He stated that the U.S. should ban Muslims from entering the country, "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."

This then triggered the national communications director for the Council on American-Islamic, Ibrahim Hooper, to ask "Are we talking internment camps? Are we talking the final solution to the Muslim question?"

During an interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulous, Trump responded: "...what I'm doing is no different than what FDR. FDR's solution for Germans, Italians, Japanese, many years ago... this is a President that was highly respected by all, he did the same thing..." FDR authorized the internment of tens of thousands of Japanese ancestry and resident aliens in Executive Order 9066. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that incarceration without cause was illegal, and the internment camps were closed. Many Japanese Americans lost homes and businesses.

George Takei, best known for his role as Star Trek Captain Hikaru Sulu, posted a video message on his Facebook page inviting him to watch the Broadway musical loosely based on his experience in the internment camps, "If you want to see how tough it was from the comfort of your seat, you can be there with us in the camps and get a glimpse of what it was like for families like mine who were unjustly imprisoned thanks to a politics of fear much like the one you're campaigning on."

Donald Trump recently said he might have supported the internment camps of WWII. I felt I had to respond, and in the best way I could.
Posted by George Takei on Wednesday, December 9, 2015

EN ESPANOL

Bill Biggart: September 11th

Photography Appreciation

On my old blog, I wrote about my September 11th experience. 

As I mentioned before, my girlfriend at the time and I were seriously considering flying to the Big Apple from Buffalo the day before. Had we made the trip, we would have found ourselves deep in the middle of the chaos.

One photographer was deep in the middle of everything. Bill Biggart was an Irish-American freelance photojournalist best known for capturing the events that followed the attack on the World Trade Center. He was killed by falling debris from the World Trade Center North Tower.

Four days later, his remains along with this cameras and flash cards were discovered. His photos were used in the October 2001 issue of Newsweek.

You can read more about his story HERE.

via boonsborohsart

Sources:

http://www.billbiggart.com/911.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Biggart
https://boonsborohsart.wordpress.com/2012/11/13/bill-biggart-an-inspiration/

Memphis, Tennessee

Photos taken using the iPhone 5S.

Tupelo, Mississippi

Photos taken using the iPhone 5S.

Selma, Alabama

Photos taken using a iPhone 5S.

When bouffants were hot!

I came across an article in Austin Way by ESPN/Longhorn producer Ande Wall regarding a Sports Illustrated story of the 1960s Texas Track Club known for their bouffants.

To be honest, it was the track star Janis Rinehart who caught my attention. As reported in the article, the beautiful blonde won the 100-meter dash at the Texas Relays in 1963 and 1966.

You can read the original SI article HERE and Ande Wall's report HERE.

via m0iety

Sources:

http://www.si.com/vault/1964/04/20/612942/flamin-mamies-bouffant-belles
http://austinway.com/culture-post/how-the-bouffant-belles-changed-womens-sports
http://m0iety.tumblr.com/post/100541485417/flamin-mamies-bouffant-belles-was-a-texas-track
http://stag2.allure.com/beauty-trends/blogs/daily-beauty-reporter/2012/10/frivolities-and-trophies-exhibition-at-musee-du-quai-branly.html

Longhorn chicks were hot 70 years ago

In the 2014 premier issue of Austin Way, an article by Jane Kellogg Murray highlights women at the University of Texas during the World War 2. In the article, she discusses how the university actively recruited women to keep the school afloat. You can see the rest of her article HERE.

One thing is for sure, the women in this photograph are beyond hot.

via austinway.com

Babies in gas masks

There's been a lot of fear going around because of Ebola. The fear is more spurred because we don't know how exactly one gets Ebola. The only thing we know is that Ebola kills.

According to news agencies, the sale of gas mask and protective suits have increased in the past few weeks because of the fear of Ebola. You can see the articles HERE and HERE.

I came across a picture on Twitter of nurses carrying babies in gas masks. The photo was taken during the 1940s when Germany was bombing London. The British government issued millions of gas masks to its citizens in case German planes would drop gas bombs.

But would gas masks or hazmat suits protect a person from getting Ebola?  Craig Spencer followed Doctors Without Borders' strict procedures while treating Ebola patients, meaning he wore a hazmat suit. Yet, he still got Ebola.

Rather than invest in hazmat suits and gas masks, perhaps we should focus all our resources in finding a cure and mass produce the serum.

i.imgur.com

Sources:

http://www.iwm.org.uk/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/01/wwii-britain-gas-mask-photos_n_5424744.html

Tenochtitlan

According to legend, Tenochtitlan was founded when an Aztec tribe saw the prophetic image of an eagle perched on a nopal cactus eating a snake. 

Located on an island in Lake Texcoco, Tenochtitlan became the capital of the Aztec empire. In the mid-1500s, Tenochtitlan was destroyed and leveled by Spanish conquestadors. 

Lake Texcoco was eventually filled. The Aztec temple dedicated to the principal deity Huitzilopochtli was destroyed. The stones were then used to build the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary. 

Because of its massive size and due to the clay foundation and water table below, the cathedral is slowly sinking. Recently, while constructing an underground subway, city workers came across remains of Tenochtitlan. You can read another Aztec legend HERE.

Source: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenochtitlan

Tutankhamun

In 1922, archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter, with the financial support of English aristrocrat George Herbert, Earl of Carnarvon, discovered the tomb belonging to the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun.

We all know the story of King Tut.  He was the young pharaoh who died at a young age. That's the extent of our knowledge of his story.

Tutankhamun reigned over Egypt 3,350 years ago. He was a young king that was admired and respected by his people. Perhaps the reason for that respect was due to his knowledgeable advisers. 

The young pharoah ascended to the throne when he was nine years of age. He was wed to his half-sister, Ankhesenamun (daughter of Nefertiti). They had children but were both stillborn. 

It's still a mystery as to how Tutankhamun died. Recently, scientists believe he died of a combination of malaria and a broken leg. Regardless, the debate as to his death continues.

A few days ago, my parents took my son and I to the Tutankhamun exhibit at my alma mater--University of Texas Pan American in Edinburg. The exhibit showcased artifacts found in the young pharoah's tomb. It also contained the mummified King in his coffin; although, I question its authenticity.

Regardless, the exhibit provided guests a glimpse of Tutankhamun's life, death, and its discovery by Carter. 




Inside the Tutankhamun exhibit

The Pharoah's Curse

The Ritual Couch

Nefertiti, aunt to Tutankhamun

The anubis shrine guard King Tut's internal organs

Alabaster canopic chest held King Tut's internal organs

Golden Shrine and Tutelary Goddesses

The Pharaoh's coffin

Sources: Wikipedia; http://portal.utpa.edu/utpa_main/dess_home/admissions_home_new/visit_home/kingtut_home