Sunday, November 30, 2008

Monet Lane In The Poppy Fields

Monet Lane In The Poppy Fieldsjasper johns Target with Four FacesLempicka Andromeda INeiman French Connection
The Shadow of the PastThe talk did not die down in nine or even ninety-nine days. The second disappearance of Mr. Bilbo Baggins was discussed in Hobbiton, and indeed all over the Shire, for a year and a day, and was remembered much longer than that. It became a fireside-story for young hobbits; and eventually Mad tragic, but hardly an untimely, end. The blame was mostly laid on Gandalf.‘If only that dratted wizard will leave young Frodo alone, perhaps he’ll settle down and grow some hobbit-sense,’ they said. And to all appearance the wizard did leave Frodo alone, and he did settle down, but the growth of hobbit-sense was not very noticeable. Indeed, he at once began to Baggins, who used to vanish with a bang and a flash and reappear with bags of jewels and gold, became a favourite character of legend and lived on long after all the true events were forgotten.But in the meantime, the general opinion in the neighbourhood was that Bilbo, who had always been rather cracked, had at last gone quite mad, and had run off into the Blue. There he had undoubtedly fallen into a pool or a river and come to a

Friday, November 28, 2008

Neiman Olympic Pole Vaulting

Neiman Olympic Pole VaultingNeiman Olympic JumperNeiman Olympic HurdlerNeiman Olympic Gymnast
once had many farms, cornlands, vineyards, and woods.Forty leagues it stretched from the Far Downs to the Brandywine Bridge, and fifty from the northern moors to the marshes in the south. The Hobbits named it the Shire, as the region of the authority of their Thain, and a district of well-ordered business; and there in that pleasant comer of the world they plied their well-ordered living, and they heeded less and less the world Greenfields, S.R. 1147, in which Bandobras Took routed an invasion of Orcs. Even the weathers had grown milder, and the wolves that had once come ravening out of the North in bitter white winters were now only a grandfather's tale. So, though there was still some store of weapons in the Shire, these outside where dark things moved, until they came to think that peace and plenty were the rule in Middle-earth and the right of all sensible folk. They forgot or ignored what little they had ever known of the Guardians, and of the labours of those that made possible the long peace of the Shire. They were, in fact, sheltered, but they had ceased to remember it.At no time had Hobbits of any kind been warlike, and they had never fought among themselves. In olden days they had, of course, been often obliged to fight to maintain themselves in a hard world; but in Bilbo's time that was very ancient history. The last battle, before this story opens, and indeed the only one that had ever been fought within the borders of the Shire, was beyond living memory: the Battle of

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Lawrence Alma-Tadema The Soldier Of Marathon

Lawrence Alma-Tadema The Soldier Of MarathonLawrence Alma-Tadema The Parting KissLawrence Alma-Tadema The Flower MarketLawrence Alma-Tadema The Finding of Moses detail
forehead with the back of his hand. He looked like an old man. Then he set off on the steps again into the darkness to recover more bodies.
he must. Harry moved toward Neville, who was bending over another body.
   Harry took one glance back at the entrance of the Great Hall. People were moving around, trying to comfort each other, drinking, kneeling beside the dead, but he could not see any of the people he loved, no hint of Hermione, Ron, Ginny, or any of the other Weasleys, no Luna. He felt he would have given all the time remaining to him for just one last look at them; but then, would he ever have the strength to stop looking? It was better like this.

   He moved down the steps and out into the darkness. It was nearly four in the morning, and the deathly stillness of the grounds felt as though they were holding their breath, waiting to see whether he could do what
"Neville."

Heade Orchid and Two Hummingbirds

Heade Orchid and Two HummingbirdsHeade Orchid and Hummingbird near Mountain WaterfallHeade Newburyport MeadowsHeade Magnolias on a Wooden Table
swung its club again and its bellows echoed through the night, across the grounds wehere bursts of red and green light continued to illuminate the darkness.

"The Whomping willow," said Harry, "go!" Somehow he walled it all up in his mind, crammed it into a small space into which he could not look now: thoughts of Fred and Hagrid, and his terror for all the people he loved, scattered in and outside the castle, must all wait, because they had to run, had to reach the snake and Voldemort, because that was, as Hermione said, the only way to end it--

He sprinted, half-believing he could outdistance death itself, ignoring the jets of light flying in the darkness all around him, and the sound of hte lake crashing like the sea, and the creaking of the Forbidden Forest though the night was windless; through grounds that seemed themselves to have risen in rebellion, he ran faster than he had ever moved in was he who saw the great tree first, the Willow that protected the secret at its roots

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Monet Poppy Field In A Hollow Near Giverny

Monet Poppy Field In A Hollow Near GivernyMonet Pond at MontgeronMonet Palazzo da Mula at VeniceMonet London Houses of Parliament at Sunset
Is this the moment?" Harry asked weakly, and when nothing happened except that Ron and Hermione gripped each other still more firmly and swayed on the spot, he raised his voice. "Oi! There's a war going on here!"

Ron and Hermione broke apart, their arms still around each other.
   It was clear, as the three of them stepped back into the corridor upstairs, that in the minutes that they had spent in the Room of Requirement the situation within the castle had deteriorated severely: The walls and ceiling were shaking worse than ever; dust filled the air, and through the nearest window, Harry saw bursts of green and red light so close to
   "I know, mate," said Ron, who looked as though he had recently been hit on the back of the head with a Bludger, "so it's now or never, isn't it?"

   "Never mind that, what about the Horcrux?" Harry shouted. "D'you think you could just – just hold it in until we've got the diadem?"

   "Yeah – right – sorry –" said Ron, and he and Hermione set about gathering up fangs, both pink in the face.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Abrishami Tender Shoulder

Abrishami Tender ShoulderAbrishami TASTE OF TUSCANYAbrishami Sun SwingAbrishami Spring Dream
And there was still Nagini, who must remain close now, no longer sent to do his bidding, under his protection...

 But to be sure, to be utterly sure, he must return to each of his hiding places, he must redouble protection around each of his Horcruxes... A job, like the quest for the Elder Wand, that he must undertake alone...

 Which should he visit first, which was in most danger? An old unease flickered inside him. Dumbledore had known his middle name... Dumbledore might have made the connection with the Gaunts... Their abandoned , perhaps, the least secure of his hiding places, it was there that he would go first...

 The lake, surely impossible... though was there a slight possibility that Dumbledore might have known some of his past misdeeds, through the orphanage.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Lorrain Landscape With The Marriage Of Isaac And Rebekah

Lorrain Landscape With The Marriage Of Isaac And RebekahLorrain Landscape with the finding of MosesLorrain Landscape with Shepherds the Pont MolleLorrain Landscape with Rest in Flight to Egypt
Maybe he's lying," Harry said, opening his eyes again. "Griphook. Maybe Gryffindor

didn't take the sword. How do we know the goblin version of history's right?"

"Does it make a difference?" asked Hermione.
sure he gets it then. I'll keep my word." "But that could be years!" said Hermione. "I know that, but /he/ needn't. I won't be lying... really."
"Changes how I feel about it," said Harry.

He took a deep breath.

"We'll tell him he can have the sword after he's helped us get into that vault -- but we'll be

careful to avoid telling him exactly /when/ he can have it."

A grin spread slowly across Ron's face. Hermione, however, looked alarmed.

"Harry, we can't --"

"He can have it," Harry went on, "after we've used it on all of the Horcruxes. I'll make

Friday, November 21, 2008

Knight View Of A Chateaux

Knight View Of A ChateauxKnight A French River LandscapeKnight A French River Landscape At SunsetParrish Parrish Tolornia
Ron stopped shouting. There was a sound of movement close by them, then Harry saw a shadow moving closer.

"Harry? Ron?"

"Luna?"   Hermione screamed again from overhead, and they could hear Bellatrix screaming too, but her words were inaudible, for Ron shouted again, "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"    "Mr. Ollivander?" Harry could hear Luna saying. "Mr. Ollivander, have you got the nail? If you just move over a little bit . . . I think it was beside the water jug." She was back within seconds.

"Yes, it's me! Oh no, I didn't want you to be caught!"

"Luna, can you help us get these ropes off?" said Harry.

   "Oh yes, I expect so. . . . There's an old nail we use if we need to break anything. . . . Just a moment . . ."

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Dupre The Harvesters

Dupre The HarvestersRobinson Bridge near GivernyRobinson House with ScaffoldingDupre Le Dejeuner de Faneuse
Obsession?" said Hermione in a low fierce voice, when Harry was careless enough to use the word one evening, after Hermione had told him off for his lack of interest in locating more Horcruxes. "We're not the one with an obsession, Harry! We're the ones trying to do what Dumbledore wanted us to do!"
up on her.    Even the mystery of the silver doe, which the other two insisted on discussing, seemed less important to Harry now, a vaguely interesting sideshow. The only other thing that mattered to him was that his scar
   But he was impervious to the veiled criticism. Dumbledore had left the sign of the Hallows for Hermione to decipher, and he had also, Harry remained convinced of it, left the Resurrection Stone hidden in the golden Snitch. Neither can live while the other survives…master of Death…Why didn't Ron and Hermione understand?

"'The last enemy shall be destroyed is death,'" Harry quoted calmly.

   "I thought it was You-Know-Who we were supposed to be fighting?" Hermione retorted, and Harry gave

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Li-Leger Weatherprint_ Orchid Lines I

Li-Leger Weatherprint_ Orchid Lines ILi-Leger Weatherprint_ Garden Dance ILi-Leger Water Garden IILi-Leger Water Garden I
He seemed a charming boy to me," babbles Bathilda, "whatever he became later. Naturally I introduced him to poor Albus, who was missing the company of lads his own age. The boys took to each other at once."
 And what ideas they were. Profoundly shocking though Albus Dumbledore's fans will find it, here are the thoughts of their seventeen-year-old hero, as relayed to his new best friend. (A copy of the original letter may be seen on page 463.)
 They certainly did. Bathilda shows me a letter, kept by her that Albus Dumbledore sent Gellert Grindelwald in the dead of night.

 "Yes, even after they'd spent all day in discussion --- both such brilliant young boys, they got on like a cauldron on fire --- I'd sometimes hear an owl tapping at Gellert's bedroom window, delivering a letter from Albus! An idea would have struck him and he had to let Gellert know immediately!"

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Miro Dog Barking at the Moon

Miro Dog Barking at the MoonMiro Chanteuse Melancolique (Melancholic Singer)Miro Carnival of HarlequinCraig Yellow Geraniums
wizard who's against You-Know-Who ought to make helping Harry Potter their number-one priority."

"Hard to help a boy who's vanished off the face of the earth," said Dirk.
caught and killed him without publicizing it?" "Ah, don't say that, Dirk," murmured Ted.    There was a long pause filled with more clattering of knives and forks. When they spoke again it was to discuss whether they ought to sleep
   "Listen, the fact that they haven't caught him yet's one hell of an achievement," said Ted. "I'd take tips from him gladly; it's what we're trying to do, stay free, isn't it?"

   "Yeah, well, you've got a point there," said Dirk heavily. "With the whole of the Ministry and all their informers looking for him, I'd have expected him to be caught by now. Mind, who's to say they haven't already

Monday, November 17, 2008

Guido Reni Baptism of Christ painting

Guido Reni Baptism of Christ paintingGuido Reni reni Aurora paintingFrancois Boucher Madame de Pompadour painting
Angrier than ever, he proceeded to grope in the bottoms of the vases and baskets of dried flowers, but was not at all surprised that the locket was not there. He gave the office one last sweeping look, and his heart skipped a beat. Dumbledore was staring at him from a small rectangular mirror, propped up on a bookcase beside the desk.

   Harry crossed the room at a run and snatched it up, but realized that the moment he touched it that it was not a mirror at all. Dumbledore was smiling wistfully out of the

front cover of a glossy book. Harry had not immediately noticed the curly green across his hat – The his chest: "by Rita Skeeter, bestselling author of Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?"

   Harry opened the book at random and saw a full-page photograph

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Thomas Kinkade Lombard Street painting

Thomas Kinkade Lombard Street painting
Thomas Kinkade Lakeside Manor painting
baby was zooming in and out of the picture on a tiny broom, roaring with laughter, and a pair of legs that must have belonged to James was chasing after him. Harry tucked the photograph into his pocket with Lily's letter and continued to look for the second sheet.

   After another quarter of an hour, however he was forced to conclude that the rest of his mother's letter was gone. Had it simply been lost in the sixteen years that had elapsed since it had been written, or had it been taken by whoever had searched the room? Harry read the first sheet again, this time looking for clues as to what might have made the second sheet valuable
Thomas Kinkade almost heaven painting
toy broomstick could hardly be considered interesting to the Death Eaters… The only potentially useful thing he could see her was possible information on Dumbledore. It seems incredible that Dumbledore – what?

"Harry? Harry? Harry!"

"I'm here!" he called, "What's happened?"

Friday, November 14, 2008

Thomas Gainsborough River Landscape painting

Thomas Gainsborough River Landscape paintingThomas Gainsborough Mr and Mrs Andrews paintingSandro Botticelli Madonna and Child painting
When did you do all this?" Harry asked as Ron stripped off his robes.

   "I told you at the Burrow, I've had the essentials packed for days, you know, in case we needed to make a quick getaway. I packed your rucksack this morning, Harry, after you changed, and put it in here. . . . I just had a feeling. . . ."

"You're amazing, you are," said Ron, handing her his bundled-up robes.

   "Thank you," said Hermione, managing a small smile as she pushed the robes into the bag. "Please, Harry, get that Cloak on!"

   Harry threw his Invisibility Cloak around his shoulders and pulled it up over his head, vanishing from sight. He was only just beginning to appreciate what had happened.

"The others – everybody at the

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Ford Madox Brown Romeo and Juliet painting

Ford Madox Brown Romeo and Juliet paintingTheodore Robinson Girl at Piano paintingPierre Auguste Renoir At The Theatre painting
No, it'll be because thirty-one days are up," said Hermione at once. "They can't keep the objects longer than that unless they can prove they're dangerous. Right?"
 Ron looked around at Harry and Hermione, to see Hermione giving him a stop-talking-now! sort of look, but the damage was done; Scrimgeour looked as though he had heard exactly what he had expected, and wanted, to hear. He swooped like a bird of prey upon Ron's answer.    "If you were not very close to Dumbledore, how do you account for the fact that he remembered you in his will? He made exceptionally few personal bequests. The vast majority of his possessions -- his private libr
   "Would you say you were close to Dumbledore, Ronald?" asked Scrimgeour, ignoring Hermione. Ron looked startled.

"Me? Not -- not really... It was always Harry who..."

  

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Leonardo da Vinci Leda painting

Leonardo da Vinci Leda paintingLeonardo da Vinci Female Head paintingThomas Kinkade Victorian Christmas painting
I have a close friend named Norm who is a great photographer and a great person in general … recently he was telling me that all he does is work.
That might sound familiar to some of you — I’ve certainly been there at different points in my life, although these days I have to say that I’ve found a pretty good balance between all the important things in my including work, family, and other things I’m interested in.
Norm asked me to write a post about work-life balance, because although I think Norm is pretty happy with his life, he’s interested in expanding hibeyond work. I think it’s an interesting question that most of us have to address at some point or other.
Work *Is*, To Some Extent
The first thing to point out is that work isn’t separate from life — it’s a part of it. For some people, it’s not a fun part of , but for others, it’s a passion. Either way, it’s a part of our lives, good or bad.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Lord Frederick Leighton paintings

Lord Frederick Leighton paintings
Mark Rothko paintings
said he still tinkers with new ideas and is busy designing four new amplifiers and two new guitars for Gibson, including a model that beginners can afford but still fall in love with.
"Most of the people that I know that have a guitar love that guitar like they do their wife," he said.
Paul will perform at a tribute concert Nov. 15 that caps the American music Masters series. He will be joined by a legion of guitar virtuosos, including Slash, Duane Eddy, Billy Gibbons and the Ventures.
"I'm very grateful to the generation that came after me and picked up the instrument and carried on with it," Paul said. "If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be where I am."
Montague Dawson paintings
Plenty of people start blogging with the hope of making some money off their expertise. But it can be difficult to turn a profit on : until you’ve built up a significant readership, you can expect only a few cents worth of Google revenue. There are certainly easier ways to earn money about your area of expertise.
There are plenty of sites that will pay for your short articles, although several have some drawbacks. The upfront payments are often pretty low, but many will pay you a portion of revenues — and they get far more

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema In the Tepidarium painting

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema In the Tepidarium paintingMarc Chagall I and the Village paintingMarc Chagall Birthday painting
none of whom had lifted or thrown a stone. Mishal, snow-white now, was too enfeebled by her illness to rally the marchers; Ayesha, as ever, refused to dispute. "If you turn your backs on God," she warned the villagers, "don't be surprised when he does the same to you." words, only your interpretations of them. Why such indirection? Why not simply quote?" "He speaks to me," Ayesha answered, "in clear and memorable forms."
The pilgrims were squatting in a group in a corner of the large mosque, which was painted lime-green on the outside and bright blue within, and lit, when necessary, by multicoloured neon "tube lights". After Ayesha's warning they turned their backs on her and huddled closer together, although the weather was warm and humid enough. Mirza Saeed, spotting his opportunity, decided to challenge Ayesha directly once again. "Tell me," he asked sweetly, "how exactly does the angel give you all this information? You never tell us his precise

Friday, November 7, 2008

Raphael Saint George and the Dragon painting

Raphael Saint George and the Dragon paintingPablo Picasso The Old Guitarist paintingPablo Picasso Girl Before a Mirror painting
the time. Searching for clues -- _what is to be done?_ -- he stalks the city streets.
Somewhere he sees a television set through an evening window. There is a woman's head on the screen, a famous "presenter", being interviewed by an equally famous, twinkling Irish "host". -- What would be the worst thing you could imagine? -- Oh, I think, I'm sure, it would be, oh, _yes_: to be alone on Christmas Eve. You'd really have to face yourself, wouldn't you, you'd look into a harsh mirror and ask yourself, _is this all there is?_ -- Gibreel, alone, not knowing the date, walks on. In the mirror, the adversary approaches at the same pace as his own, beckoning, stretching out his arms.
The city sends him messages. Here, it says, is where the Dutch king decided to live when he came over three centuries ago. In those days this was out of town, a village, set in green English fields. But when the King arrived

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Leonardo da Vinci original picture of the last supper painting

Leonardo da Vinci original picture of the last supper paintingGeorge Frederick Watts Pablo and Francesca paintingFrancisco de Goya The Quail Shoot painting
looked in his direction, dreaming of being the one to possess it and so, in a sense, become it, as when in the footsteps the child who touches the one who's _it_ ("on it", today's young Londoners would say) takes over that cherished identity; as, also, in the myth of the Golden Bough. London, its conglomerate nature mirroring his own, its reticence also his; its gargoyles, the ghostly footfalls in its streets of Roman feet, the honks of its departing migrant geese. Its hospitality -- yes! -- in spite of immigration laws, and his own recent experience, he still insisted on the truth of that: an imperfect welcome, true, one capable of bigotry, but a real thing, nonetheless, as was attested by the existence in a South London borough of a pub in which no language but Ukrainian could be heard, and by the annual reunion, in Wembley, a stone's throw from the great stadium surrounded by imperial echoes -- Empire Way, the Empire Pool -- of more than a hundred delegates, all tracing their ancestry back to a single, small Goan village. -- "We Londoners can be proud of our hospitality," he'd told Pamela, and she, giggling

William Bouguereau Dante and Virgil in Hell painting

William Bouguereau Dante and Virgil in Hell paintingPiet Mondrian Avond Evening Red Tree paintingTalantbek Chekirov Tender Passion painting
apologize to them for the interruption," she ordered the eunuchs, "and say that in the circumstances, no charge will be made."
They were her last words. When the alarmed girls, all talking at once, crowded into the throne room to see if the worst were really true, she made no answer to their terrified questions, are we out of work, how do we eat, will we go to jail, what's to become of us, -- until "Ayesha" screwed up her courage and did what none of them had ever dared attempt. When she threw back the black hangings they saw a dead woman who might have been fifty or a hundred and twenty-five years old, no more than three feet tall, looking like a big doll, curled up in a cushionladen wickerwork chair, clutching the empty poison-bottle in her fist.
"Now that you've started," Baal said, coming into the room, "you may as well take all the curtains down. No point trying to keep the sun out any more."

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Pablo Picasso Studio with Plaster Head painting

Pablo Picasso Studio with Plaster Head paintingPablo Picasso Les Demoiselles dAvignon paintingPablo Picasso Crucifixion painting
temptation of the prophet, and his choice of the path of purity and not that of base compromise. "It is a film," the producer, Sisodia, informed _Ciné -Blitz_, "about how newness enters the world." -- But would it not be seen as blasphemous, a crime against . . . -- "Certainly not," Billy Battuta insisted. "Fiction is fiction; facts are facts. Our purpose is not to make some farrago like that movie _The Message_ in which, whenever Prophet Muhammad (on whose name be peace!) was heard to speak, you saw only the head of his camel, moving its mouth. _That_ -- excuse me for pointing out -- had no class. We are making a high--taste, quality picture. A moral tale: like -- what do you call them? -- fables."
"Like a dream," Mr. Sisodia said.

Monday, November 3, 2008

George Frederick Watts The Denunciation of Adam and Eve painting

George Frederick Watts The Denunciation of Adam and Eve paintingGeorge Frederick Watts The Creation of Eve paintingGeorge Frederick Watts She shall be called woman painting
When he went to the zenana, Mishal refused to see him, but her mother, barring the doorway, handed Saeed a second note on scented blue notepaper. "I want to see Ayesha," it read. "Kindly permit this." Bowing his head, Mirza Saeed gave his assent, and crept away in shame.
o o o
With Mahound, there is always a struggle; with the Imam, slavery; but with this girl, there is nothing. Gibreel is inert, usually asleep in the dream as . She comes upon him under a tree, or in a ditch, hears what he isn't saying, takes what she needs, and leaves. What does he know about cancer, for example? Not a solitary thing.
All around him, he thinks as he half--dreams, half-wakes, are people hearing voices, being seduced by words. But not his; never his original material. -- Then whose? Who is whispering in their ears, enabling them to move mountains, halt clocks, diagnose disease?

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Johannes Vermeer Allegory of the Faith painting

Johannes Vermeer Allegory of the Faith paintingUnknown Artist warmth by volk paintingUnknown Artist Volk Warmth painting
Now, sitting up in bed with a thumb instead of a bottle, his secret and his hangover banging equally painfully inside his head (he had never been a drinking or a secretive man), Jumpy felt tears coming on once again, and decided to get up and walk himself around. Where he went was upstairs, to what Saladin had insisted on calling his "den", a large loft--space with skylights and windows looking down on an expanse of communal elms, now us_, Jumpy reflected. _Maybe the trees were a warning_. He shook himself to banish such small-hour morbidities, and perched on the edge of his friend's mahogany desk. Once at a party he had perched, just so, on a table soggy with spilled wine and beer next to an emaciated girl in black lace minidress, purple feather boa and eyelids like silver helmets, unable to pluck up the courage to say hello. Finally he did turn to her and stutter out some banality or other; she gave him a look of absolute contempt and said without moving her black--lacquer lips, _conversation's