beauty | Karavansara

8 October 2017
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

Dark-haired beauties in red

Giovanni Boldini http://www.tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica.com I will not make it to the art exhibit in the Royal Palace of Venaria, dedicated to the work of Giovanni Boldini.
Time is short, money is tight, and one needs to make choices.
The up side is, thanks to the web, it is easy to create our own art exhibit – granted, it’s not the same as the real thing, but it’s still better than sitting in front of the local bar, waiting for death (which seems to be the usual pastime hereabouts).

Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) was a weird chap – and is portrayed here by the side with Marquess Casati and another guy during a masked ball. Boldini is the one that does not fit in. Continue reading →

25 October 2016
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

Sheri Tepper’s Beauty

1001098 I’m saddened to learn of the passing away of writer Sheri S. Tepper.
Her novel Beauty was one of the most striking fantasy novels I ever read, and her talent was absolutely wonderful, as was her commitment to telling important stories.
She will be missed.

Beauty is a strange mix of science fiction and fantasy¹, that speaks about the human need for beauty, and humanity’s loss of the sense of beauty through time.
And a lot of other things.
A revisionist fantasy that is both chilling and inspiring, it is highly recommended.

it is not science-fantasy… it is a fantasy novel that includes a time machine and a vision of the end of humanity in a technological meltdown. ↩

27 May 2013
by Davide Mana 2 Comments

Sheila and the Dragon Lady

Sometimes a photograph is enough.

It started with the wonderful – and costly! – reprints of Milton Caniff‘s Terry & the Pirates strips.
A classic of exotic adventure, a masterpiece of comic art.
Considering the extravagant price tags observed in the local “friendly” comicbooks store, I was thrawling through the web looking for cheaper deals.

The web being what it is, I soon found the Columbia Terry & the Pirates serial from 1940 – which is available in streaming through YouTube.

And in the movie serial Terry, there’s the Dragon Lady.
And she looks like this.