More from @QuintusCurtius

QuintusCurtius

@QuintusCurtius

Apr 21

The Dogon people's militia in Mali probably has the most hardcore drip out there. Part post-apocalyptic, part tribal, part unclassifiable. Here are some photos.
Thread.

1. Man with a--yes, you guessed it--flintlock rifle. I'm willing to bet it works, too.

2. Machete.

3. This picture needs no description.

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QuintusCurtius

@QuintusCurtius

Mar 19

Henrique Alvim Correa's nightmarish illustrations for H.G. Wells's novel, "The War of the Worlds." A thread.
In 1903, at the age of 27, Correa completed a set of drawings for the novel. He contacted Wells personally and asked his permission for their use in his book. Wells liked Correa's work more than that of the current illustrator, Warwick Goble.
They have achieved classic status. I like Goble's work as well, but Correa's images have a grainy, sinister patina that Wells found more suitable to the tone of his novel. A considerable amount of Correa's work was lost in the turbulence of the Great War and the Second World War.

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QuintusCurtius

@QuintusCurtius

Mar 12, 2023

1. Religion is a fundamental human activity, and attested from the very dawn of history. It persists, despite a thousand obstacles, because it serves basic psychological needs, and because societies have found it a useful advocate for public order and private morals.

2. Cut it down, and it grows anew. Ikhnaton tried to suppress the faith of Amon, but as soon as he died, the faith returned. Buddha's religious career was helped by the atheism prevalent in the India of his time.

3. The French revolutionists in the 1790s tried to repress religions, but failed, and Napoleon restored it to prominence. America has alternated between Great Awakenings (e.g., the 1740s), to the rationalistic deism of the Founding Fathers, back to the religious revivalism...

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QuintusCurtius

@QuintusCurtius

Jan 13, 2023

Scams, frauds, and con jobs seem to be everywhere. Time to get wise to the techniques and hallmarks of the scammer. Both short and long con. Consider it part of your self-defense training.

I'm going to list the best movies about scams and cons, in no special order.

1. The Sting (1973). Maybe the grand-daddy of all scam movies, and it works every time. Redford and Newman team up to hit a mark who definitely has it coming. The movie covers all stages of the long con: the hook, the frame-up, and the sting.

2. House of Games (1987). David Mamet's genius has never been more obvious. A ring of scam artists think they've found an ideal mark, but end up getting more than they bargained for. Ricky Jay's wizardry contributed much of the content.

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QuintusCurtius

@QuintusCurtius

Oct 31, 2022

Thread.

1. What was great about the original novel "All Quiet On The Western Front" was its sense of quiet, meditative, stoic sense of dignity and restraint.

It was old school. It was anti-war without TRYING to be anti-war.

2. The book derived its power from the stark simplicity of its descriptions, the beauty of its prose, but most of all, from the sense of LOVE and COMRADESHIP between the characters. The vivid portrayals of guys like Kat, the old scrounger, the stolid Tjaden, and

3. ...even the cowardly Himmelstoss (whom they beat up). Just like "Storm of Steel," there is no politics in this book. No speeches. No lecturing. No whining. No overt displays of sentimentality. In other words, it used descriptive power to get its points across.

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