Daily Batman: A second form and countenance substituted, that bore the stamp of lower elements in my soul

“Batgirl” by dream4girl on the d.a.

I not only recognised certain of the powers that made up my spirit, but managed to compound a drug by which these powers should be dethroned from their supremacy, and a second form and countenance substituted, none the less natural to me because they were the expression, and bore the stamp of lower elements in my soul.

(Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1886.)

Daily Batman: Still I’d like to express my thanks

“Batman v. Turkey” photographed by sltaylor on the flickr, 2008.

Got no checkbooks, got no banks,
Still, I’d like to express my thanks
I’ve got the sun in the morning
And the moon at night.

And with the sun in the morning
And the moon in the evening
I’m all right.

“Batgirl resting” by Aubery Mirkwood on the d.a.

Sunshine gives me a lovely day,
Moonlight gives me the Milky Way.
Got no heirlooms for my kin,
Made no will but when I cash in
I’ll leave the sun in the morning
And the moon at night.

And with the sun in the morning
And the moon in the evening
I’m all right.

I’m all right.


(Irving Berlin. “I’ve Got the Sun in the Morning.” Annie Get Your Gun. 1946.)

Daily Batman: Got my sea legs back

The trial which had me so tied up in knots has ended better than I could have hoped. I celebrated a friends’ Thanksgiving with my closest friendohs. I attended my cousin’s wedding in San Antonio and feel grounded and affirmed being surrounded by friends and family in the past few weeks. I also ruminated long and hard and ultimately gained finality in a drawn-out situation that I hated, and I feel, in the grand summation, a whole lot less like I’m walled up in a castle behind thorns. Whew. I have my sea legs back, and I am ready to resume sailing steadily along this journey. Prepare for a post parade.

Daily Batman: Art of the cover

1927 Life magazine cover by Cole Phillips, via She blogged by night.

Special thanks to fantastic and talented Mr. Joe Chapman for the link.

Daily Batman: Never too old

I had to report for Jury Duty last week. I wore a Catwoman shirt. Didn’t really think about it ’til I was already at the courthouse, but then I concluded that anything which made me look less mature, trustworthy, and respectable could only work to my advantage, as I distinctly did not want to be seated on a jury.

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

(C.S. Lewis.)

I consider this self-evident on a daily basis but it’s still nice to read from such a beloved source. That C.S. Lewis has not had his own month around here yet is an absurdity and a crime. January, maybe. December is already lined up.

Daily Batman: Bat tat, too — running out of herself edition

via.

When her feet fly over the gopher holes and hummocks, past the tangle of chokecherry bushes and the edge of the marshy slough? In that difference she runs out of herself, out of her skin. Into freedom.

And then there are the dishes.


(Aritha Van Herk, In visible ink: crypto-frictions. The Writer as Critic III. Ed. Smaro Kamboureli. NeWest Press: Edmonton, 1991. 159-60.)

Normally when you see this quote, it is incompletely cited and quite chopped up to read, “She runs out of herself, out of her skin. Into freedom.” Go ahead and google it and you’ll see what I mean. The lines are very optimistic when taken out of context; when viewed in the passage’s entirety as originally intended by Ms. Van Herk, not so much, yes?

There are always dishes. There is no way around it.

Daily Batman: Sk8 or die edition

Normally I hate it when people do stuff for attention but I support this guy completely. It takes some stones to do that. I like it. Something about his face is less self-aware than I’d expect. Maybe in the backstory he is doing this for charity because he has a huge heart in addition to nice thighs. (Just come with me, okay?)

Daily Batman: An appeal to the essence of being

“Catwoman” by MissAgentCooper on the flickr.

Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being.

(Albert Camus.)

Daily Batman: Exeunt, or … ?

“If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character, would you slow down? Or speed up?”

(Chuck Palahniuk.)

Daily Batman: Accidentally on purpose

via RinEatsZombies on the deviantart.

A lady is one who never shows her underwear unintentionally.

(Lillian Day.)

Around ten, eleven years ago my friendohs Big Ben, Master Beatie, and I used to have Commando Fridays. I think it was Fridays. In case you’re not conversant with the term, “commando” means skipping on skivvies. Obviously, I’d wear jeans or long shorts on these Commando Fridays — this wasn’t something we did from a skank/mimbo (male bimbo) perspective, it was just a little freedom fighting Downtown. I haven’t gone without wearing underwear in a really, really long time. It’s such a secret and rebellious transgression. Huh. Something to put on the to-do list?

Daily Batman: Laughter and tears, frustration and exhaustion

Photographed by Nicolas Silberfaden.

Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.

(Kurt Vonnegut.)

Shared the Batgirl photograph in this series in July and thought it was a goodly time for the Catwoman shot. I had a little bit of a weepy day, just kind of processing recent events which I’ve of course been dodging because it involves difficult introspection about Big Shit vis-a-vis life and death. But my chin’s back up and I look forward to a lot of laughter tomorrow as the Cappy comes in to town on a use-it-or-lose-it leave for a Very Special Episode of “How E. Got Her Groove Back.”

Special thanks again to Gordon Fraser for the heads-up on the article from which the pictures come.

Daily Batman: Heroes and Villains

by celphaneflwer on the deviantart.

Life is not simple, and people can’t be boxed into being either heroes or villains.

(Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn.)

Daily Batman: Asphinctersayswhat?

“Draw Batgirl” meme result by Jennifer Wang, aka mao on the lj.

We must not allow ourselves to be deflected by the ‘feminists,’ who are anxious to force us to regard the two sexes as completely equal in position and worth.

(Sigmund Freud.)

Asphinctersayswhat? Yeah. Thanks for the warning, coke-addled misogynist.

via comicallyvintage on the tumblr.

Since Batgirl’s a superhero and librarians are perceived as being innocuous, there’s no way that any of the other characters are going to be able to make the connection, right? And if the opposite of Batgirl is a librarian, what does that say about librarians? That in order to be a bad ass, they must literally transform themselves?

via Bruna Künzler on the fotolog.

Regardless of whether or not Batgirl was reinforcing popular stereotypes about librarians, she was definitely empowering a whole lot of young girls. In 1998, Yvonne Craig talked about the role that her character played in young girl’s lives:

I meet young women who say Batgirl was their role model. They say it’s because it was the first time they ever felt girls could do the same things guys could do, and sometimes better. I think that’s lovely.

“batgirl” by Saint Julia 88 on the da.

In the 60s and onward, Batgirl became a symbol of women’s empowerment. In 1972, she appeared in a public service announcement for the United States Department of Labor, in which she advocated for equal pay for women.

(“From the Library: Batgirl!” McAllister, Ashley. Bitchmedia Community Learning Library, Bitch magazine website. August 15, 2010.)

And here is that PSA:

Dig Robin’s “Holy Discontent!” exclamation.

I am for accepting equality and undenigrated respect for all. But it is true that there have been men I’ve met who do not share my view and to whom I do not consider myself equal: in those cases, I consider myself infinitely their superior.

Daily Batman: Unlikely li’l G — Give this kid all your G.I. Joes

via lookatthisfrakkinggeekster on the tumblr.

Error: Student is too cool for school. (Beep, beep, beep — smoke starts coming out of the Unlikely G detector, holy cats, have we got a live one!) Give him all your G.I. Joes and that milk money you’ve been telling your mom you were spending on 2% but really you’ve been squirreling it away for the arcade. Yes, he knows.

Dopest kid ever.

Daily Batman: Vinyl vision

via WFMU’s Ichiban on the blogger. Official site of WFMU.

Photo for the Thor-Ables’ “Batman and Robin,” the B side of their “My Reckless Heart” single. The A side was a remake of a song one of the band members, Willie Davis, had already recorded in 1958. Two singles, four songs in all, were released by the Thor-Ables on Titanic Records, 1962. The Thor-Ables named themselves after the two-stage rocket launching mechanism. End fragmented backstory.

/ end

Daily Batman: Not the mark of weakness, but of power

Photographed by Nicolas Silberfaden.

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief…and unspeakable love.

(Washington Irving.)

Special thanks to Gordon Fraser for sending me the link to the article from which this picture comes.

Daily Batman: Get down with your crazy self

Bats in the belfry.

via and via.

There is no genius free from some tincture of madness.

(Seneca.)

Hey. I’m home from going home and after I post up a few things, I will work back through the comments. I hope you have all had an illuminating, fascinating, orgasmic last ten days and I am totally willing to hear all about it whether you have or have not. It feels good to be back!

Daily Batman: Patron saint advice set in the mouth of my least favorite character

Mixing up a tall glass of sugar-free haterade, right over here.

“Channeling Harley Quinn” m/u and photograph by very talented RaenaValentine on the da.

Why slap them on the wrist with a feather when you can belt them over the head with a sledgehammer?

(Katharine Hepburn)

God, I hate this character so much. But Katharine Hepburn rocks. And the quote does work really well with this conceptual shot of the good doc.

Still — hate.

Daily Batman: Pussy cat, pussy cat

anonymous hottie dudded up like Jul-Newms via hyc on the tumblr

Pussy cat, pussy cat
Where have you been?
I’ve been to London
To look at the Queen.

Pussy cat, pussy cat
What did you there?
I frightened a little Mouse
Under her chair.

(Mother Goose)

Daily Batman and Flashback Friday: First Showdown! edition, sort of feat. Monica Bellucci and Claudia Schiffer

Portions of this post originally appeared on November 18, 2009 and on November 20, 2009.

First there was Claudia. Then there was Monica.

From November 18, 2009:

Topless Claudia Schiffer in Catwoman mask by Mario Testino for German Vogue (June, 2008).

Winner winner, chicken dinner! I said goddamn, Claudia Schiffer. Haters to the left.

Internet, I am going to let you knock off early and go home for the rest of the day, because you have truly outdone yourself. Great hustle.

Several days later:

Wow, guys. Monica Bellucci and my fave photographer, Ellen Von Unwerth, are seriously giving the topless Claudia Schiffer Catwoman by Mario Testino of several days’ ago a real run for its money for the internet’s Best [Batman] Picture Ever contest.

Monica Bellucci, photographed in Catwoman mask and leather bodysuit by the stellar and magnificent Ellen Von Unwerth for “Bella Bellucci,” a feature in Vogue España, June 2006.

While Monica’s cleavage is always impressive and, of course, her face is basically the most beautiful on Earth, I’m still giving the advantage to the Mario-Claudia collaboration for toplessness. Better luck next time, Team Monica-EVU!

TODAY:
I’ve brought them both back for this very special Flashback Friday because it’s a tiime for a bat couture Showdown!: Model Citizens as Catwoman edition.

Top: Monica Bellucci photographed by Ellen von Unwerth ; Bottom: Claudia Schiffer photographed by Mario Testino.

And ladies, please remember that in my mind, you are both winners. Pick your feline femme fatale poison below!