Passengers
on a bus crossing the Westminster Bridge in London on Monday. A 24-hour
strike on the Underground forced commuters onto crammed buses, while
thousands of others walked for hours to get to and from work.: photo by Toby Melville/Reuters, 9 January 2017
El lugar era la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras; la hora, el atardecer. Todo (como suele ocurrir en los sueños) era un poco distinto; una ligera magnificación alteraba las cosas. Elegíamos autoridades; yo hablaba con Pedro Henríquez Ureña, que en la vigilia ha muerto hace muchos años. Bruscamente nos aturdió un clamor de manifestación o de murga. Alaridos humanos y animales llegaban desde el Bajo. Una voz gritó: ¡Ahí vienen! y después ¡Los Dioses! ¡Los Dioses! Cuatro a cinco sujetos salieron de la turba y ocuparon la tarima del Aula Magna. Todos aplaudimos, llorando; eran los Dioses que volvían al cabo de un destierro de siglos. Agrandados por la tarima, la cabeza echada hacia atrás y el pecho hacia adelante, recibieron con soberbia nuestro homenaje. Uno sostenía una rama, que se conformaba, sin duda, a la sencilla botánica de los sueños; otro, en amplio ademán, extendía una mano que era una garra; una de las caras de Jano miraba con recelo el encorvado pico de Thoth. Tal vez excitado por nuestros aplausos, uno, ya no sé cual, prorrumpió en un cloqueo victorioso, increíblemente agrio, con algo de gárgara y de silbido. Las cosas, desde aquel momento, cambiaron.
In our dreams (writes Coleridge) images represent the sensations we think they cause; we do not feel horror because we are threatened by a sphinx; we dream a sphinx in order to explain the horror we feel. If this is so, how could a mere chronicle of its forms transmit the stupor, the exaltation, the alarm, the menace and the jubilance which made up the fabric of that dream that night? I shall attempt such a chronicle, however; perhaps the fact that the dream was composed of one single scene may remove or mitigate this essential difficulty.
The place was the School of Philosophy and Letters; the time, toward sundown. Everything (as usually happens in dreams) was somehow different; a slight magnification altered things. We were electing officials: I was talking with Pedro Henríquez Ureña, who in the world of waking reality died many years ago. Suddenly we were stunned by the clamor of a demonstration or disturbance. Human and animal cries came from the Bajo. A voice shouted “Here they come!” and then “The Gods! The Gods!” Four or five individuals emerged from the mob and occupied the platform of the main lecture hall. We all applauded, tearfully; these were the Gods returning from a centuries-long exile. Made larger by the platform, their heads thrown back and their chests thrust forward, they arrogantly received our homage. One held a branch which no doubt conformed to the simple botany of dreams; another, in a broad gesture, extended his hand which was a claw; one of the faces of Janus looked with distrust at the curved beak of Thoth. Perhaps aroused by our applause, one of them -- I know longer know which -- erupted in a victorious clatter, unbelievably harsh, with something of a gargle and of a whistle. From that moment, things changed.
It all began with the suspicion (perhaps exaggerated) that the Gods did not know how to talk. Centuries of fell and fugitive life had atrophied the human element in them; the moon of Islam and the cross of Rome had been implacable with these outlaws. Very low foreheads, yellow teeth, stringy mulatto or Chinese mustaches and thick bestial lips showed the degeneracy of the Olympian lineage. Their clothing corresponded not to a decorous poverty but rather to the sinister luxury of the gambling houses and brothels of the Bajo. A carnation bled crimson on a lapel and the bulge of a knife was outlined beneath a close-fitting jacket. Suddenly we sensed that they were playing their last card, that they were cunning, ignorant and cruel like old beasts of prey and that, if we let ourselves be overcome by fear or pity, they would finally destroy us.
We took out our heavy revolvers (all of a sudden there were revolvers in the dream) and joyfully killed the Gods
Jorge Luis Borges: Ragnarök
En los sueños (escribe Coleridge) las imágenes figuran las impresiones
que pensamos que causan; no sentimos horror porque nos oprime una
esfinge, soñamos una esfinge para explicar el horror que sentimos. Si
esto es así ¿cómo podría una mera crónica de sus formas transmitir el
estupor, la exaltación, las alarmas, la amenaza y el júbilo que tejieron
el sueño de esa noche? Ensayaré esa crónica, sin embargo; acaso el
hecho de que una sola escena integró aquel sueño borre o mitigue la
dificultad esencial.
El lugar era la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras; la hora, el atardecer. Todo (como suele ocurrir en los sueños) era un poco distinto; una ligera magnificación alteraba las cosas. Elegíamos autoridades; yo hablaba con Pedro Henríquez Ureña, que en la vigilia ha muerto hace muchos años. Bruscamente nos aturdió un clamor de manifestación o de murga. Alaridos humanos y animales llegaban desde el Bajo. Una voz gritó: ¡Ahí vienen! y después ¡Los Dioses! ¡Los Dioses! Cuatro a cinco sujetos salieron de la turba y ocuparon la tarima del Aula Magna. Todos aplaudimos, llorando; eran los Dioses que volvían al cabo de un destierro de siglos. Agrandados por la tarima, la cabeza echada hacia atrás y el pecho hacia adelante, recibieron con soberbia nuestro homenaje. Uno sostenía una rama, que se conformaba, sin duda, a la sencilla botánica de los sueños; otro, en amplio ademán, extendía una mano que era una garra; una de las caras de Jano miraba con recelo el encorvado pico de Thoth. Tal vez excitado por nuestros aplausos, uno, ya no sé cual, prorrumpió en un cloqueo victorioso, increíblemente agrio, con algo de gárgara y de silbido. Las cosas, desde aquel momento, cambiaron.
Todo empezó por la sospecha (tal vez exagerada) de que los Dioses no
sabían hablar. Siglos de vida fugitiva y feral habían atrofiado en ellos
lo humano; la luna del Islam y la cruz de Roma habían sido implacables
con esos prófugos. Frentes muy bajas, dentaduras amarillas, bigotes
ralos de mulato o de chino y belfos bestiales publicaban la degeneración
de la estirpe olímpica. Sus prendas no correspondían a una pobreza
decorosa y decente sino al lujo malevo de los garitos y de los lupanares
del Bajo. En un ojal sangraba un clavel; en un saco ajustado se
adivinaba el bulto de una daga: Bruscamente sentimos que jugaban su
última carta, que eran taimados, ignorantes y crueles como viejos
animales de presa y que, si nos dejábamos ganar por el miedo o la
lástima, acabarían por destruirnos.
Sacamos los pesados revólveres (de pronto hubo revólveres en el sueño) y alegremente dimos muerte a los Dioses.
Jorge Luis Borges: Ragnarök
In our dreams (writes Coleridge) images represent the sensations we think they cause; we do not feel horror because we are threatened by a sphinx; we dream a sphinx in order to explain the horror we feel. If this is so, how could a mere chronicle of its forms transmit the stupor, the exaltation, the alarm, the menace and the jubilance which made up the fabric of that dream that night? I shall attempt such a chronicle, however; perhaps the fact that the dream was composed of one single scene may remove or mitigate this essential difficulty.
The place was the School of Philosophy and Letters; the time, toward sundown. Everything (as usually happens in dreams) was somehow different; a slight magnification altered things. We were electing officials: I was talking with Pedro Henríquez Ureña, who in the world of waking reality died many years ago. Suddenly we were stunned by the clamor of a demonstration or disturbance. Human and animal cries came from the Bajo. A voice shouted “Here they come!” and then “The Gods! The Gods!” Four or five individuals emerged from the mob and occupied the platform of the main lecture hall. We all applauded, tearfully; these were the Gods returning from a centuries-long exile. Made larger by the platform, their heads thrown back and their chests thrust forward, they arrogantly received our homage. One held a branch which no doubt conformed to the simple botany of dreams; another, in a broad gesture, extended his hand which was a claw; one of the faces of Janus looked with distrust at the curved beak of Thoth. Perhaps aroused by our applause, one of them -- I know longer know which -- erupted in a victorious clatter, unbelievably harsh, with something of a gargle and of a whistle. From that moment, things changed.
It all began with the suspicion (perhaps exaggerated) that the Gods did not know how to talk. Centuries of fell and fugitive life had atrophied the human element in them; the moon of Islam and the cross of Rome had been implacable with these outlaws. Very low foreheads, yellow teeth, stringy mulatto or Chinese mustaches and thick bestial lips showed the degeneracy of the Olympian lineage. Their clothing corresponded not to a decorous poverty but rather to the sinister luxury of the gambling houses and brothels of the Bajo. A carnation bled crimson on a lapel and the bulge of a knife was outlined beneath a close-fitting jacket. Suddenly we sensed that they were playing their last card, that they were cunning, ignorant and cruel like old beasts of prey and that, if we let ourselves be overcome by fear or pity, they would finally destroy us.
We took out our heavy revolvers (all of a sudden there were revolvers in the dream) and joyfully killed the Gods
Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986): Ragnarök, from El hacedor, 1960; English version by J.E.I.
A man walks along a snow covered A93 which is currently closed to vehicles in Spital of Glenshee, United Kingdom: photo by Jeff J Mitchell, 13 January 2017
A man walks along a snow covered A93 which is currently closed to vehicles in Spital of Glenshee, United Kingdom: photo by Jeff J Mitchell, 13 January 2017
UK - The sun sets over snow-covered moorland above the village of Diggle in northern England. By @oliscarff #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 January 2017
UK - A man walks his dog alongside Huddersfield Narrow Canal in snowy conditions in the village of Marsden. Photo @oliscarff: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 13 January 2017
Waves crash into the sea wall at Seaham Harbour as Scotland and the North of England were covered in a blanket of snow while the east coast was braced for a storm surge at Friday lunchtime: photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Wire, 13 January 2017
Waves crash into the sea wall at Seaham Harbour as Scotland and the North of England were covered in a blanket of snow while the east coast was braced for a storm surge at Friday lunchtime: photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Wire, 13 January 2017
UK - Waves smash into the barrier along the promenade at high tide at Walton-on-the-Naze. By @lealolivas #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 January 2017
A portable toilet in floodwaters at a vineyard in Forestville, Calif., on Wednesday. Rain and snow have pounded the region, bringing much needed water to a drought-stricken state.: photo by Justin Sullivan, 11 January 2017
A portable toilet in floodwaters at a vineyard in Forestville, Calif., on Wednesday. Rain and snow have pounded the region, bringing much needed water to a drought-stricken state.: photo by Justin Sullivan, 11 January 2017
In the dream she asked me if I could
Macedonia - A flock of birds rest of the frozen surface of the Dojran Lake on January 11. Photo @RAtanasovski: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 13 January 2017
A shower system, #belgrade #migrants #refugees: image via Marko Drobnjakovic @xmd101, 13 January 2017
A portable toilet in floodwaters at a vineyard in Forestville, Calif., on Wednesday. Rain and snow have pounded the region, bringing much needed water to a drought-stricken state.: photo by Justin Sullivan, 11 January 2017
A portable toilet in floodwaters at a vineyard in Forestville, Calif., on Wednesday. Rain and snow have pounded the region, bringing much needed water to a drought-stricken state.: photo by Justin Sullivan, 11 January 2017
Clark Coolidge: What About It?
In the dream she asked me if I could
take her to Socket and that's where
it gets complicated because I knew
she meant Woonsocket and I also knew
she meant an actual socket
I knew how to get to
Clark Coolidge: What About It? from Life Forms Here, 2017
Macedonia - A flock of birds rest of the frozen surface of the Dojran Lake on January 11. Photo @RAtanasovski: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 13 January 2017
A shower system, #belgrade #migrants #refugees: image via Marko Drobnjakovic @xmd101, 13 January 2017
Italy - The village of Corigliano Calabro, in the Calabria region, after snowfall in southern Italy today. Photo Alfonso Di Vincenzo: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 13 January 2017
INDIA - A Kashmiri muslim mother and son sit inside a mud house on the outskirts of Srinagar following a snowfall. By @TauseefMUSTAFA #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 January 2017
A worker handles an inflatable chicken, bearing a likeness to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and produced ahead of the Lunar New Year of the Rooster, at a factory in Jiaxing, China: photo by Qilai Shen/Bloomberg, 13 January 2017
A worker handles an inflatable chicken, bearing a likeness to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and produced ahead of the Lunar New Year of the Rooster, at a factory in Jiaxing, China: photo by Qilai Shen/Bloomberg, 13 January 2017
President-elect Donald J. Trump points at a reporter at a news conference held in the Etiquette Room at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Wednesday: photo by Damon Winter/The New York Times, 11 January 2017
President-elect Donald J. Trump points at a reporter at a news conference held in the Etiquette Room at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Wednesday: photo by Damon Winter/The New York Times, 11 January 2017
Rex W. Tillerson, the nominee for secretary of state, arriving by shuttle launch from an Arctic oil drilling platform for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday: photo by Stephen Crowley/The New York Times, 11 January 2017
Rex W. Tillerson, the nominee for secretary of state, arriving by shuttle launch from an Arctic oil drilling platform for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday: photo by Stephen Crowley/The New York Times, 11 January 2017
GABON - View of an off-shore oil rig, off the coast of Port-Gentil at sunrise. By @JustinTallis #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 January 2017
President Hassan Rouhani, left, and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran on Tuesday touched the coffin of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who helped found the Islamic republic. Mr. Rafsanjani died on Sunday at the age of 82: photo by Reuters, 10 January 2017
A member of the Iraqi special forces shouts during a battle on Sunday against Islamic State militants in a neighborhood of Mosul: photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/Agence France-Presse, 8 January 2017
A member of the Iraqi special forces shouts during a battle on Sunday against Islamic State militants in a neighborhood of Mosul: photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/Agence France-Presse, 8 January 2017
IRAQ - An Iraqi member of Rapid Response Division stands in a street in Mosul's al-Sahiroun neighbourhood during #MosulOffensive. By @dilkoff: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 January 2017
An #Iraqi special forces soldier shoots at an #IslamicState #ISIS #drone in #Mosul #Iraq @dilkoff @AFPphoto: image via SundayTimesPictures @STPictures, 10 January 2017
IRAQ - An Iraqi T-72 tank heads to the frontline near the Fourth Bridge over Tigris River connecting eastern and western Mosul. By @dilkoff: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 10 January 2017
IRAQ - An Iraqi army soldier smokes a cigarette as he monitors IS group positions in Mosul's al-Sahiroun neighbourhood. By @dilkoff: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 January 2017
Iraqi federal police officers demonstrate their skills at a Police Day event in Baghdad on Saturday: photo by Karim Kadim/Associated Press, 7 January 2017
Iraqi federal police officers demonstrate their skills at a Police Day event in Baghdad on Saturday: photo by Karim Kadim/Associated Press, 7 January 2017
Bangladeshi Muslim devotees offer prayers on the first day of the three day Islamic congregation in Tongi, north of Dhaka, Bangladesh: photo by AP, 13 January 2017
Bangladeshi Muslim devotees offer prayers on the first day of the three day Islamic congregation in Tongi, north of Dhaka, Bangladesh: photo by AP, 13 January 2017
Bangladeshi Muslim devotees offer prayers on the first day of the three day Islamic congregation in Tongi, north of Dhaka, Bangladesh: photo by AP, 13 January 2017
Bangladeshi Muslim devotees offer prayers on the first day of the three day Islamic congregation in Tongi, north of Dhaka, Bangladesh: photo by AP, 13 January 2017
Catholics pulling the carriage of the Black Nazarene, a statue of Jesus Christ, in Manila on Monday: photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters, 9 January 2017
Catholics pulling the carriage of the Black Nazarene, a statue of Jesus Christ, in Manila on Monday: photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters, 9 January 2017
A Careto de Lazarim at a winter masquerade gathering in Salsas, Portugal, on Saturday. The traditional gathering signifies the renewal of fertility and life, and an end of winter.: photo by Daniel Ochoa De Olza/Associated Press, 7 January 2017
A Careto de Lazarim at a winter masquerade gathering in Salsas, Portugal, on Saturday. The traditional gathering signifies the renewal of fertility and life, and an end of winter.: photo by Daniel Ochoa De Olza/Associated Press, 7 January 2017
MACEDONIA - The Vevcani Carnival marks the beginning of the New Year according to the Julian calendar. By @RAtanasovski #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 January 2017
WEST BANK - Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces following a demonstration in the village of Kfar Qaddum. By Jaafar Ashtiyeh #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 January 2017
WEST BANK - Palestinian protestors during clashes clash with Israeli security forces following a demonstration in the village of Kfar Qaddum. By Jaafar Ashtiyeh #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 January 2017
#Jerusalem A Palestinian shepherd tends her flock by a section of #Israel’s border wall near Al Za’im checkpoint. By @oballity @AP_Images: image via Photojournalism @photojournalink, 13 January 2017
INDIA
- Villagers take part in a community fishing event during the Bhogali
Bihu celebrations at Goroimari Lake in Panbari. By @#BoroBiju: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 January 2017
INDIA - Hindu devotees take a holy bath in the Bay of Bengal at the mouth of river Ganges in Sagar Island. By @Dibyangshus #GangasagarMela: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 13 January 2017
India - #GangasagarMela A sadhu - Hindu holy man - smokes cannabis on Gangasagar Island on January 13. Photo Dibyangshu Sarkar: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 13 January 2017
Sadhu offers blessings to foreign #tourist at transit camp in Babughat on the way to #GangasagarMela in #Kolkata: image via All India Radio News Verified account @airnewsalerts, 7 January 2017
Sitting inside #Kalighat Metro Station, #Kolkata, the #GangaSagarMela pilgrims look amused by urban 'duniya'. #Calcutta #Makarsankrati: image via Sangeet Kothari @SangeetKothari, 13 January 2017
Over a million take holy dip at #GangaSagar on #Makarskranti #GangasarMela: image via We For News @WeForNews, 13 January 2017
#GangasarMela: image via TopYapsHindi @TopYapsHindi, 13 January 2017
SRI LANKA -A Buddhist lights incense sticks during Poya, a full moon religion festival, at Kelaniya Temple in Kelaniya. By Ishara S Kodikara: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 January 2017
#GangasarMela: image via TopYapsHindi @TopYapsHindi, 13 January 2017
Nepal - Hindu devotees gather to bathe in the Shali River on the outskirts of Kathmandu today. Photo @PrakashMathema: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 12 January 2017
SRI LANKA -A Buddhist lights incense sticks during Poya, a full moon religion festival, at Kelaniya Temple in Kelaniya. By Ishara S Kodikara: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 January 2017
Curious
Leopard prowling the streets of Mumbai: photo by Nayan Khanolkar, 15 January 2016 via Wired, 17 January 2017
A Majestic Leopard Accidentally Takes a Selfie in the Streets of Mumbai: Charley Locke, Wired, 17 January 2017
At precisely 3 am on January 15, 2016, a leopard snapped a selfie. The fact it did this is not unusual; wild animals take a surprising number of selfies. What’s noteworthy here is the leopard snapped its selfie in Mumbai.
The big cat was prowling Aarey Colony, a neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, when it tripped Nayan Khanolkar's camera. The cat looks almost as surprised as Khanolkhar was. “When I
saw a picture of the leopard with a look of inquiry in the direction of
the camera, I realized it was special,” he says.
Khanolkar, a native of Mumbai, began photographing urban leopards after one of the big cats killed a seven-year-old in
2013. He started in Aarey Colony, which sits at the edge of Sanjay
Gandhi National Park -- which covers 40 square miles and hosts more
than 1,000 species, including leopards. It isn’t unusual for them to explore adjacent neighborhoods.
Still, the animals are sly and surreptitious, and difficult to
photograph. Khanolkar started his hunt by identifying several locations
where leopards often pass through Aarey Colony. For this photo, he set
up an infrared motion sensor in an alley, attached a Nikon D700 to a nearby
building, and positioned three strobes at various points throughout the
area. Khanolkar visited the spot every few days to check his trap.
After four months of waiting, he captured a stunning leopard creeping
through the scene.
Khanolkar hopes his photos prove leopards can live alongside humans,
even in a thriving metropolis like Mumbai. After all, the leopards were
there first.
Thought-provoking
scenes of Mumbai leopards in #PlanetEarth2, a complex story #WPY52
winner Nayan Khanolkar was determined to capture: image via Discover WPY @NHM_WPY, 11 December 2016
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