TheBaronOfFratton

At last - tenure! Forgive me, I know this is a supreme self-indulgence, but I wanted to mark my 100th post in an appropriate fashion. I'm aware 100 is slim pickings around these parts - but I'd like to think that my contribution has been less Hump, Bump and Crunk and a bit more... substantial? Ah, but where to start? Well, at the beginning, always a good place to start. Models bought me here - naturally - I'm all about the beauty and losing myself in glamour. Real life knocks at the door relentlessly - despite my attempts to keep it at bay. This place can be a haven... with the right company. Therefore, really this is a THANK YOU to all those who have supported me here, and my idiosyncrasies. I know I am an acquired taste - but if I hadn't had any positive responses then I probably wouldn't have posted anymore: So, to sweetandlow - my initial defender. Thank you my dear, it was nice to know that someone would look out for me on my very first post. And the first to offer me the hand of friendship - won't forget that! Good to see you still fighting the fight out there. That sterling gentleman, and scholar: Sam12. The person I can rely on for a decent debate on those VS lovelies. Always a pleasure, Sir. My heavy-lidded, hispanic, hermanita (and always with the praises) - AnaBBarrosFan. Te quiero! That other "copper-topped cutie" and titian temptress - my muse and eternal flame, Ophelia Immortal Of course there are many others: The Joker, who gave me an A+; the friendly Fery and MattLoveModels and my fellow Stones fan nothingless; Alisa who said such sweet things; Joe>Average - who called me 'poetic' but today; and, naturally, the irrepressible IrenistiQ! And last. but certainly not least, my 'partner-in-crime' in the land of the bizarre - that Mistress of Mischief: penny-dreaddful. I may well be the ringmaster at THE ODDITORIUM - but she is my star-attraction: the reason they come to the Big-Top. Thanks for keeping this fledgling thread alive, penny - infancy is a dangerous time..! Plus the reasons for coming here in the first place, those DAMN fine models: NATASHA BEHATI ANA INGUNA MAGDALENA CINTIA Listen - I hear that Oscar music starting. As ever, I have hung around too long. I joined Bellazon in early 2007, but didn't post until much later - and then only briefly. Now I'm positively garrulous. Perhaps the next 100 posts will happen much sooner... But I shan't bother you then. Oh, you people..! Keep the posts positive. Keep the standards high. Thanks again for supporting my threads - ALL OF YOU, and responding to my posts (on most occasions!!!). And, well... Those blokes in the dinner suits have wandered onto this stage to drag me off - no doubt someone else needs their turn in the spotlight. OK. I'm off. Besos para todo. :lullaby: (the Boxing Bohemian?!?!) XXX

Let me conclude THE ODDITORIUM's current sojourn in the land of dogs - with a brief piece on our most prized canine exhibit. Sam was the three-times winner of the WORLD'S UGLIEST DOG competition - winning his final trophy but two days before his death in November 2006. Whilst I'm sure he was sweet, and his owners no doubt loved him (oh, but how we all think our babies are the prettiest, no?) and his farts smelt of roses, etc... ...he truly was SPECTACULARLY ugly: Bless you Sam - you'll always be remembered here...

I have to say - these are FANTASTIC! They truly evoke the Pirelli calendars of the late 60's/early 70's era. Everything is pitch-perfect: from the wardrobe, the location, to the styling (and, of course, the model). Do you know what the campaign is for? Tori has that sort of 'timeless' quality anyway. She has looks that never really go out of fashion, no? But I think these are the best I've seen from her. (Y)

Don't fret - the dog-cops are professional: And dog justice is swift:

Were they these WISE GUYS??? "Yeh? Me an' my dawgs are gonna take ya down - down to MoFo Chinatown -if yooz mess wit us.."

I agree. She has a certain feline quality to her - it hints of mischief! There, behind the eyes... And in this picture from Ellemagazine(UK), she looks like the delectable (and naughty) Princess Aura - played by Ornella Muti in Flash Gordon. A very formative moment in the young Baron's filmic experiences: I'm increasingly enamoured!

Yes - because this is not disturbing in the slightest !! Put's these sort of films into a whole new context though: Anyway, I'm not going to indulge this particular line of enquiry. Seems to me, whenever insect/arachnid sex takes place, it always ends up with the male getting killed and/or eaten But, I suppose, what a way to go!!! ...And, maybe, this cross-breeding might just have taught THEM a thing or two as well: Vive La Difference

But look at the JOY they bring - Awwww!

OK, maybe this one IS scary: But - please remember, these unfunny bastards are just trying to make a living the only way they know how... COME ON - help out a terrifying, attention-seeking, misfit today!

COULROPHOBIA - the fear of clowns. It has been exploited - ever since that memorable scene in Poltergeist - but these aren't 'special' scary clowns; these are just... not funny:

Oh, penny - I WILL This gem is an advert for the opening of a new Mcdonalds in India... It is not right.

Hey this guy's a bit special isn't he? I'm sure there's a perfectly rational explanation for his skin tone. Listen! I can here voices... Can you hear them? Distant. Small, tiny voices, but getting - yes - getting louder... Getting... Closer... one of us one of us one of us one of US one OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US...

It is not easy - to need to do things differently - and there are long dark nights of the soul where I question the sagacity of my choices... But there is no BS involved.

What both? Tonight??

Alas, I'm also getting a little long in the tooth for this lifestyle - however, I resent it being called "delusional". Who knows how it will pan out; and if society will finally triumph? But perhaps that is the romantic in me..! I never made out that my "boxing bohemian" ways should be considered archetypal of a 'Romantic Lover' either. But they are my ways; and I do place myself in that camp. Also, I have not read that book so I can't comment - which I suppose rewards your reasons for mentioning it in the first place. Still, it is good to know that my posts continue to irk you whenever our paths cross...

Romance surely is the very absence of choice. It is feeling as opposed to rational thought. The question presumes that the man can control his thoughts - between some stoic 'reality' or into unchecked dreams - that he can choose to be one or the other... This is about love, no? Romance is artistic expression of innermost desire - it's exaggerated - and sometimes ludicrously so. Me, I'm all for the love. Otherwise what's the point? But I'm not talking flowers and chocolates, shall I compare thee to a summer's day, "let me hold your hand" cliches. Romance is more than that. People who have read my posts before know that I'm not averse to flowery language (still too 'rococo' for you SympathysSilhouette? ), but that isn't what this is about. Romantic love ignores custom and convention; the norms of life. A 'Romantic Lover' is not some fey, poetry spouting fop - welling up at chick-flicks and content to stare into his lover's eyes forever... Rather he is melancholy, with a wanderlust, and a rejection of the establishment. A 'Real Man' pays the bills, sure. He will make certain your kids get into the right school. He will buy you the aforementioned flowers and chocolates - the tenets of 'supposed' romance - on the necessary calendar dates. He may even defend your honour in a fight - but only in the sense that you have been wronged and society has his back on this occasion. He has no exclusivity on physical strength, on being able to open up jars, or - if the situation demanded it - carrying a tiny kitten out of a burning building. He is good, honest, hard-working, decent. He is a provider. He is loving - of course. AND HE WILL DO YOU GOOD - don't get me wrong. But maybe, just maybe, he is a little...dull??? If you want that: fair play to you. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind here. Just trying to find the essence of the difference. So - the 'Romantic Lover'? Romanticism, as a movement, in all the arts was about this thing called "feeling". Passion, emotion, desire. The 'Romantic Lover' can have the same background as the 'Real Man' - he is not necessarily physically different. Perhaps he may dress up as Lord Byron, have long cascading curly hair, and spout poetry - but that is an affectation, it bears little relevance to the actual character trait. No, rather he simply acts on these "feelings" - instead of accepting societal boundaries. Intoxicatingangel makes an excellent point - Western society wants the man to be the (conventional) man. He is not to show emotion - except maybe when his first baby is born (but then only briefly - after which he must go about handing cigars to other men and shaking hands briskly). The 'Romantic Lover' puts feelings ahead of all else. That's the simple fundamental difference. I've been lucky enough to have had a family that accepted my rather more 'bohemian' approach to life. My rejection of a lot of societal norms has landed me in periodic "spots-of-bother", and they have welcomed me back with open arms. Likewise I was lucky to have a grandfather who was (albeit briefly) a professional boxer. You do need to be able to look after yourself should you choose the road less travelled So I'm wanting the whole thing. Of course love can be the most painful experience in the world. But only because it can be the most glorious. That's what I want - and what I want in my partners: The most ludicrously heart-breaking escapades counter-balancing the sheer brilliance of that moment. The pain and the anger. The ball-crushing, lip-splitting, bloodied fist of passion. Heading down those old dirt roads of who-knows-what. The joy of the big "Fuck-You" to everyone else and disappearing from the radar. Tangoing in the madrugada. Looking her in the eye and simply saying "I'd do anything for you" and mean it, not in a flouncy "I will draw my love for you in heaven" affected way - but just in the simple truth - let's do it and see where it takes us... I appreciate that my way won't put bread on the table, or keep the heating on over the winter. And maybe your dad won't hand over the business to me on his retirement either - but I never asked for that anyway. And, of course, there are large gaps of introspection and worrying about the practicalities of this existence - society is insidious. But ultimately I couldn't contemplate the narrow world-view of the 'Real Man', I couldn't 'not' question... It doesn't make me less of a man; it doesn't mean I can't change a light-bulb. Or have a fight with anyone who says otherwise...

And this is rum, eh? IST DIE KUNST?

But, thankfully, there are a few good cats to keep the felines in check: PROTECT AND SERVE

And then there's this fella...

OR IF THEY'RE FAT "You know what, screw this exercise nonsense - I'm just gonna sit here, watch me some TV and scratch myself..."