Noctilucent clouds, Kuresoo bog, Soomaa National Park, Estonia: photo by Martin Koitmäe, 2009
Noctilucent clouds, Kuresoo bog, Soomaa National Park, Estonia: photo by Martin Koitmäe, 2009
The Mower to the Glo-worms
I
Ye Living Lamps, by whose dear light
The Nightingale does sit so late,
And studying all the Summer-night,
Her matchless Songs does meditate;
Female Glow Worm (Lampyris noctiluca) in field grass, Princes Risborough, Bucks.: photo by Timo Newton-Syms, 2007
II Ye Country Comets, that portend
No War, nor Prince’s funeral,
Shining unto no higher end
Than to presage the Grasses fall;
Contrail across tail of Comet 2004/F4, seen from Cactus Flats: photo by The Starmon, 2004
Ye Glo-worms, whose officious Flame
To wandring Mowers shows the way,
That in the Night have lost their aim,
And after foolish Fires do stray;
Laser beam directed toward the centre of the Milky Way from Yepun laser star guide facility at ESO Paranal Observatory, Chile, crossing the southern sky and creating an artificial star at 90 km. altitude in Earth's mesosphere: photo by ESO/Yuri Beletsky, 2010
Laser beam directed toward the centre of the Milky Way from Yepun laser star guide facility at ESO Paranal Observatory, Chile, crossing the southern sky and creating an artificial star at 90 km. altitude in Earth's mesosphere: photo by ESO/Yuri Beletsky, 2010
Your courteous Lights in vain you wast,
Since Juliana here is come,
For She my Mind hath so displac’d
That I shall never find my home.
Glow-worm heaven [Lampyris noctiluca swarm], Waitomo Caves, Waitako, New Zealand: photo by milkthebasic, 23 October 2006
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#FoundinArea51 The walrus and the eggman: image via Loeb Ottomi @Loeb_Ottomi, 1 April 2017
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#foundinarea51The REAL Sean Spicer! #TheyLive #clone #bodysnatcher #spicer #scifi #horror #news: image via bestofbad @badmovieman, 1 April 2017
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Nabaa, 10-year-old, sits on her bed at a hospital in Erbil, Iraq, Saturday, April 8, 2017. Since she got struck by mortar shrapnel in Mosul just over a week ago, 10-year-old Nabaa has not been able to speak. A shard in her skull damaged part of her brain and doctors aren’t sure if she’ll ever be able to speak again.: photo by Felipe Dana, AP, 8 April 2017
The girl's family had been forced to flee their home in the northern Iraqi city because fighting was raging around them, government artillery and helicopters were bombarding their neighborhood, and their food supplies were running out, said Nabaa's mother, Umm Abdul-Rahman.
But as they neared Iraqi military lines the night of March 31, mortars hit, wounding Nabaa and her two brothers, 7-year-old Basem and 11-year-old Abdul-Rahman. The mother said she saw three others lying wounded on the ground after the strike but she didn't know their fate.
The family is among a large number of civilians who have been caught in the middle of what appears to be a far more brutal battle over the western half of Mosul than the preceding fight for the east.
In the west, Iraqi government forces trying to wrest back the city from Islamic State fighters are relying on heavier firepower, including extensive barrages with mortars, rocket launchers and some improvised systems without guidance mechanisms.
While the east was retaken by Iraq's special forces, much of the fighting in the west is done by militarized police units that have less experience in urban battle. Iraqi forces recaptured the east at the end of January and moved against the west in mid-February.
"They see resistance and implement a carpet-bombing approach to advance. They do this to reduce their own casualties. This is disastrous for the civilians," said Col. Ahmed Shawki, a military analyst and retired Iraqi army officer based in the northern city of Irbil.
At the same time, IS fighters in some cases are preventing civilians from leaving, keeping them in harm's way as shields.
The number of casualties is hard to establish because only some of the wounded reach hospitals and most of the dead are buried immediately. At least 300 people were killed in western Mosul up to the beginning of April, according to the U.N. The World Health Organization says 1,683 wounded civilians were referred to hospitals between February 18 and April 8. Johannes Schad, a doctor in West Irbil Emergency Hospital, said that about 60 percent of the victims have blast injuries, mostly from shelling.
Some 1,600 civilians were killed or wounded during the 100 days of fighting to recapture Mosul's less densely populated east. Dr. Shalan Ali, the Health Ministry official in charge of Ninevah province, thinks up to a thousand have already been killed in the west.
The worst single attack came on March 17, when an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition hit a building in the New Mosul neighborhood, killing more than 100 civilians who were sheltering inside. The U.S. military is investigating the strike, and officials say IS militants — who have been seen elsewhere forcing civilians into buildings to use them as shields — may have played a role.
The shelling in western Mosul has been much more intense than in the east.
One police artillery unit based outside the city said they alone fired up to 200 shells a day. Police Lt. Col. Younis Sultan Jadalla told The Associated Press that they use drone footage to choose targets and only fire if there are no civilians nearby.
Drone footage taken by the AP in the Dawasa neighborhood of western Mosul on April 5 shows entire streets reduced to rubble, with deep craters dug up by airstrikes. By comparison, eastern Mosul was generally preserved, with damage mainly concentrated on individual buildings and road junctions.
Basem Mohammed, a resident of western Mosul's Nablous neighborhood, said IS fighters had a position in a nearby park from which they fired at Iraqi forces. In an apparent response from government forces, his street was hit by mortars on March 8, with shells hitting his neighbors' houses, wounding several people.
He was wounded in the leg by mortar fire a week later, as he and his family fled.
FILE - In this Friday, March 24, 2017 file photo, civil protection rescue teams work on the debris of a destroyed house to recover the body of people killed in an airstrike during fighting between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants on the western side of Mosul, Iraq. The fight for western Mosul is proving more brutal and destructive than the battle for the city’s eastern sector, and Iraqi civilians are being caught in the middle.: photo by Felipe Dana, AP/ File, 24 March 2017
IS militants, too, are shelling the areas that have slipped out of their control.
Among their victims is Nashwan Jamal, 25, who was hit on March 11 in the Tel Alruman neighborhood, four days after it was taken by Iraqi special forces. Jamal, his brother and a friend were sitting on the roof of their home when a mortar landed, wounding him in the leg.
Several people who escaped western Mosul told the AP that IS forbade people to leave. Omar Marwan said IS fighters told people on his street that they had planted a bomb so that they wouldn't flee.
"They told us, stay in the house, you can't get out. One of them even said, you have to stay until it is destroyed. No one can leave," said Alaa Hassan, 27, from the New Mosul neighborhood. "We tried to escape when they were busy fighting. But then we ran into them and they shot at us."
Alaa Hassan's wife was killed in the March 17 airstrike, and his 4-year-old daughter, Hawra, was badly burned.
Hawra's grandmother, Alia Ali, said the militants would not let them leave even after the airstrike on their house. "I went to them and told them we have a burned child and we need to take her out and they said no. They said, you have to stay here with us. And you will die here with us." They reached Iraqi lines two days later.
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Hawra, 4-years-old, who was badly burned in the March 17 airstrike in western Mosul, sits on her bed at a hospital in Erbil, Iraq, Saturday, April 8, 2017. The fight for western Mosul is proving more brutal and destructive than the battle for the city’s eastern sector, and Iraqi civilians are being caught in the middle.: photo by Felipe Dana/AP, 8 April 2017
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Hawra, 4-years-old, who was badly burned in the March 17 airstrike in western Mosul, lies on her bed at a hospital in Erbil, Iraq, Saturday, April 8, 2017. The fight for western Mosul is proving more brutal and destructive than the battle for the city’s eastern sector, and Iraqi civilians are being caught in the middle.: photo by Felipe Dana, AP, 8 April 2017
Members of the Iraqi counter-terrorism service forces advance towards the Sekak neighbourhood in Mosul. Photo Ahmad Al-Rubaye #MosulOffensive: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
Members of the Iraqi counter-terrorism service forces advance towards the Sekak neighbourhood in Mosul. Photo Ahmad Al-Rubaye #MosulOffensive: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
Displaced Iraqis mourning relatives killed by IS fighters as they tried to flee their homes in Mosul are welcomed by relatives. Photo Ahmad Al-Rubaye: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
Fruit and vegetables are displayed for sale at a food stall at Whitechapel Market in east London. Photo @lealolivas #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 12 April 2017
Craftswomen demonstrate carpet weaving at the annual Lok Mela festival (the Folk Festival of Pakistan) in Islamabad. Photo Aamir Qureshi #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
A snack vendor carries a basket of items for sale as he looks for customers on a street on the outskirts of Islamabad. Photo @farooqnaeem1: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
Six killed in Indian Kashmir poll violence. Photo @TauseefMUSTAFA: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
I woke up not knowing if I would make it to see the sunset. @Abdi1144 on life in #Mogadishu: image via AFP Correspondent @AFPblogs, 11 April 2017
Huge fire destroys France's Grande-Synthe migrant camp. Photo Philippe Huguen: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
Living through hell but unable to tell of it
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Nabaa, 10-year-old, sits on her bed at a hospital in Erbil, Iraq, Saturday, April 8, 2017. Since she got struck by mortar shrapnel in Mosul just over a week ago, 10-year-old Nabaa has not been able to speak. A shard in her skull damaged part of her brain and doctors aren’t sure if she’ll ever be able to speak again.: photo by Felipe Dana, AP, 8 April 2017
Bombardment in Iraq's Mosul takes heavy toll on civilians: Balint Szlanko, AP, 10 April 2017
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Since she got struck by mortar shrapnel in Mosul
just over a week ago, 10-year-old Nabaa has not been able to speak. A
shard in her skull damaged part of her brain and doctors aren't sure if
she'll ever be able to speak again.
The girl's family had been forced to flee their home in the northern Iraqi city because fighting was raging around them, government artillery and helicopters were bombarding their neighborhood, and their food supplies were running out, said Nabaa's mother, Umm Abdul-Rahman.
But as they neared Iraqi military lines the night of March 31, mortars hit, wounding Nabaa and her two brothers, 7-year-old Basem and 11-year-old Abdul-Rahman. The mother said she saw three others lying wounded on the ground after the strike but she didn't know their fate.
The family is among a large number of civilians who have been caught in the middle of what appears to be a far more brutal battle over the western half of Mosul than the preceding fight for the east.
In the west, Iraqi government forces trying to wrest back the city from Islamic State fighters are relying on heavier firepower, including extensive barrages with mortars, rocket launchers and some improvised systems without guidance mechanisms.
While the east was retaken by Iraq's special forces, much of the fighting in the west is done by militarized police units that have less experience in urban battle. Iraqi forces recaptured the east at the end of January and moved against the west in mid-February.
"They see resistance and implement a carpet-bombing approach to advance. They do this to reduce their own casualties. This is disastrous for the civilians," said Col. Ahmed Shawki, a military analyst and retired Iraqi army officer based in the northern city of Irbil.
At the same time, IS fighters in some cases are preventing civilians from leaving, keeping them in harm's way as shields.
The number of casualties is hard to establish because only some of the wounded reach hospitals and most of the dead are buried immediately. At least 300 people were killed in western Mosul up to the beginning of April, according to the U.N. The World Health Organization says 1,683 wounded civilians were referred to hospitals between February 18 and April 8. Johannes Schad, a doctor in West Irbil Emergency Hospital, said that about 60 percent of the victims have blast injuries, mostly from shelling.
Some 1,600 civilians were killed or wounded during the 100 days of fighting to recapture Mosul's less densely populated east. Dr. Shalan Ali, the Health Ministry official in charge of Ninevah province, thinks up to a thousand have already been killed in the west.
The worst single attack came on March 17, when an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition hit a building in the New Mosul neighborhood, killing more than 100 civilians who were sheltering inside. The U.S. military is investigating the strike, and officials say IS militants — who have been seen elsewhere forcing civilians into buildings to use them as shields — may have played a role.
The shelling in western Mosul has been much more intense than in the east.
One police artillery unit based outside the city said they alone fired up to 200 shells a day. Police Lt. Col. Younis Sultan Jadalla told The Associated Press that they use drone footage to choose targets and only fire if there are no civilians nearby.
Drone footage taken by the AP in the Dawasa neighborhood of western Mosul on April 5 shows entire streets reduced to rubble, with deep craters dug up by airstrikes. By comparison, eastern Mosul was generally preserved, with damage mainly concentrated on individual buildings and road junctions.
Basem Mohammed, a resident of western Mosul's Nablous neighborhood, said IS fighters had a position in a nearby park from which they fired at Iraqi forces. In an apparent response from government forces, his street was hit by mortars on March 8, with shells hitting his neighbors' houses, wounding several people.
He was wounded in the leg by mortar fire a week later, as he and his family fled.
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FILE - In this Friday, March 24, 2017 file photo, civil protection rescue teams work on the debris of a destroyed house to recover the body of people killed in an airstrike during fighting between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants on the western side of Mosul, Iraq. The fight for western Mosul is proving more brutal and destructive than the battle for the city’s eastern sector, and Iraqi civilians are being caught in the middle.: photo by Felipe Dana, AP/ File, 24 March 2017
Much of the destruction is wrought by Iraqi and coalition air power.
An analysis of bombing in western Mosul between March 8 and 25,
conducted by Human Rights Watch and using satellite imagery, identified
780 impact sites that may have been caused by large, air-delivered
munitions, resulting in the destruction of hundreds of buildings. The
analysis called the destruction comparable in intensity to the
Russian-Syrian air attacks on Aleppo in September and October last year.
IS militants, too, are shelling the areas that have slipped out of their control.
Among their victims is Nashwan Jamal, 25, who was hit on March 11 in the Tel Alruman neighborhood, four days after it was taken by Iraqi special forces. Jamal, his brother and a friend were sitting on the roof of their home when a mortar landed, wounding him in the leg.
Several people who escaped western Mosul told the AP that IS forbade people to leave. Omar Marwan said IS fighters told people on his street that they had planted a bomb so that they wouldn't flee.
"They told us, stay in the house, you can't get out. One of them even said, you have to stay until it is destroyed. No one can leave," said Alaa Hassan, 27, from the New Mosul neighborhood. "We tried to escape when they were busy fighting. But then we ran into them and they shot at us."
Alaa Hassan's wife was killed in the March 17 airstrike, and his 4-year-old daughter, Hawra, was badly burned.
Hawra's grandmother, Alia Ali, said the militants would not let them leave even after the airstrike on their house. "I went to them and told them we have a burned child and we need to take her out and they said no. They said, you have to stay here with us. And you will die here with us." They reached Iraqi lines two days later.
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Hawra, 4-years-old, who was badly burned in the March 17 airstrike in western Mosul, sits on her bed at a hospital in Erbil, Iraq, Saturday, April 8, 2017. The fight for western Mosul is proving more brutal and destructive than the battle for the city’s eastern sector, and Iraqi civilians are being caught in the middle.: photo by Felipe Dana/AP, 8 April 2017
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Hawra, 4-years-old, who was badly burned in the March 17 airstrike in western Mosul, lies on her bed at a hospital in Erbil, Iraq, Saturday, April 8, 2017. The fight for western Mosul is proving more brutal and destructive than the battle for the city’s eastern sector, and Iraqi civilians are being caught in the middle.: photo by Felipe Dana, AP, 8 April 2017
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Members of the Iraqi counter-terrorism service forces advance towards the Sekak neighbourhood in Mosul. Photo Ahmad Al-Rubaye #MosulOffensive: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
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Members of the Iraqi counter-terrorism service forces advance towards the Sekak neighbourhood in Mosul. Photo Ahmad Al-Rubaye #MosulOffensive: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
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Displaced Iraqis mourning relatives killed by IS fighters as they tried to flee their homes in Mosul are welcomed by relatives. Photo Ahmad Al-Rubaye: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
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A car bomb is seen as Iraqi counter-terrorism service forces advance
towards Matahen neighbourhood during #MosulOffensive Photo A.
Al-Rubaye: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
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In Hammam al-Alil, near Mosul, soldiers and displaced meet at the spa Photo @gharabli_ahmed: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
People stand on a rooftop near damaged apartments after an explosion at the police headquarters in Diyarbakir. Photo @pironic2121 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
Syrian children play outside their homes in the Ismetpasa neighbourhood in the Turkish capital Ankara. Photo @AdemAltan3 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
A Syrian man who lost his leg during the war sits outside his home in Ondergazi neighbourhood in Ankara. Photo @AdemAltan3 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
A cat looks on over a general view of the Golden Horn, in Istanbul, Wednesday, March 15, 2017.: photo by Lefteris Pitarakis/AP, 15 March 2017
A woman is seen through a military battle position from a wall at the U.N buffer zone that divided the south, Greek Cypriot, and the north, Turkish Cypriot breakaway controlled areas in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, April 11, 2017. Against the backdrop of Turkey's referendum on expanding presidential powers, talks aimed at reunifying ethnically divided Cyprus were restarted today with rival leaders hoping to claw back diminished trust and lost momentum after a two-month halt. Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup mounted by supporters of union with Greece.: photo by Petros Karadjias/AP, 11 April 2017
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People stand on a rooftop near damaged apartments after an explosion at the police headquarters in Diyarbakir. Photo @pironic2121 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
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Syrian children play outside their homes in the Ismetpasa neighbourhood in the Turkish capital Ankara. Photo @AdemAltan3 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
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A Syrian man who lost his leg during the war sits outside his home in Ondergazi neighbourhood in Ankara. Photo @AdemAltan3 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
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A cat looks on over a general view of the Golden Horn, in Istanbul, Wednesday, March 15, 2017.: photo by Lefteris Pitarakis/AP, 15 March 2017
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A woman is seen through a military battle position from a wall at the U.N buffer zone that divided the south, Greek Cypriot, and the north, Turkish Cypriot breakaway controlled areas in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, April 11, 2017. Against the backdrop of Turkey's referendum on expanding presidential powers, talks aimed at reunifying ethnically divided Cyprus were restarted today with rival leaders hoping to claw back diminished trust and lost momentum after a two-month halt. Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup mounted by supporters of union with Greece.: photo by Petros Karadjias/AP, 11 April 2017
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A newly arrived refugee child from South Sudan sleeps on a dirty floor
at the Ngomoromo border post, on Ugandan side. Photo @ikasamani #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
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A
child plays inside a destroyed vehicle in the opposition controlled
town of Thonyor, in Leer county. #SouthSudan Photo @AlbertGFarran: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
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A local community volunteer carries a sack of seeds distributed by the
ICRC in the opposition controlled town of Thonyor. Photo @AlbertGFarran: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
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Severe #hunger, even in inhospitable climates, would be unthinkable without #war: image via AlbertGonzalesFarran @AlbertGFarran, 11 April 2017
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Fruit and vegetables are displayed for sale at a food stall at Whitechapel Market in east London. Photo @lealolivas #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 12 April 2017
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Craftswomen demonstrate carpet weaving at the annual Lok Mela festival (the Folk Festival of Pakistan) in Islamabad. Photo Aamir Qureshi #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
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A snack vendor carries a basket of items for sale as he looks for customers on a street on the outskirts of Islamabad. Photo @farooqnaeem1: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
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Six killed in Indian Kashmir poll violence. Photo @TauseefMUSTAFA: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
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I woke up not knowing if I would make it to see the sunset. @Abdi1144 on life in #Mogadishu: image via AFP Correspondent @AFPblogs, 11 April 2017
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Huge fire destroys France's Grande-Synthe migrant camp. Photo Philippe Huguen: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 11 April 2017
bleeding through the roof
In this photo taken on Friday, Feb. 3, 2017, water comes from the roof inside the abandoned Alfa Romeo car factory, in Arese, near Milan, Italy.: photo by Luca Bruno/AP, 3 February 2017
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In this photo taken on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, the word 'recession' is seen written on the reception desk at the abandoned Hotel Americ in Carpiano, near Milan.: photo by Luca Bruno/AP via AP_Images, 11 April 2017
In this photo taken on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, a bed is leaning to the ground inside the former telephone room of the abandoned Hotel Americ in Carpiano, near Milan, Italy.: photo by Luca Bruno/AP, 3 November 2016
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1 comment:
The Mills Brothers: The Glow-Worm (1952)
Mills Brothers: Glow-Worm (live, 1957)
Shine little glow-worm, glimmer,
Shine little glow-worm, glimmer,
Lead us lest too far we wander
Love's sweet voice is calling yonder
Shine little glow-worm, glimmer,
Hey, there don't get dimmer,
Light the path below, above
And lead us on to love!
Glow, little glow-worm, fly of fire,
Glow like an incandescent wire,
Glow for the female of the species,
Turn on the A-C and the D-C;
This night could use a little brightnin',
Light up, you li'l ol' bug of lightnin',
When you gotta glow, you gotta glow,
Glow little glow-worm, glow!
Glow, little glow-worm, glow and glimmer,
Swim through the sea of night, little swimmer,
Thou aer-o-nau-tic-al boll weevil,
Il-lu-mi-nate yon woods primeval;
See how the shadows deep and darken,
You and your chick should get to sparkin',
I got a gal that I love so,
Glow little glow-worm glow.
Little glow-worm, turn the key on,
You are equipped with tail light neon;
You got a cute vest-pocket Mazda
Which you can make both slow or "Fazda";
I don't know who you took a shine to,
Or who you're out to make a sign to,
I got a gal that I love so,
Glow, little glow-worm, glow.
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