rare beauty in the North…
She’s the finest lady on earth
A glance from her, the city falls
A second glance leaves the whole nation in ruins
There is no city or nation that has been
More cherished than a beauty like this

From House of the Flying Daggers.

The author was Li Yannian, the royal musician in Han dynasty. And the beauty in this song was Madame Li, who was Li Yannian’s sister. He wrote this famous song to Hanwu Emperor in order to recommend his sister to the emperor.

There’s something about Broadway that brings out the ham in everyone.

Boreas is the Greek deity of the cold north wind.  When Boreas blows, the world freezes.

The bag here if from the hair salon down the street.  The hair obviously styled.  The nose bright red.   A sacrifice to Boreas is about to be made by pulling the hood over the lovingly styled locks.  Winter is pitiless in imposing his domain.

Anything sufficiently complex develops parasites.   A parasite is not necessarily a negative term.   The human body would die without many of its parasites.  Perhaps artists are parasites, and we are all parasites as children.

Bottle and can deposits have led to the proliferation of “canners.” people who retrieve empties in order to get the nickel deposits.   This is one of those hard working Chinese grandma’s, a very diligent and hard working one in our neighborhood, as you can see.   I have never before been able to get a satisfactory shot of her.  Her face is always stone cold and consciously invisible.

Another perspective this can remind us of, is that the majority of people ever born have not existed in the cash economy, and there are many people even in a wealthy city like New York who live on the borderline of the cash economy.

There are also much savvier people who drive around and pick up things on the street of much greater value.  They can, it is rumored, make substantial livings.   This is the result of human ingenuity reacting to our affluence.

http://www.ediblegeography.com/five-cent-redemption/

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/02/gathering-recyclables-with-redemption-star.html

In the ancient world, even after the Roman Empire became officially Christian, it was very common to believe in the magical power of jewels to bring health, length of life and to ward off the Evil Eye.

Invictus