Lost Rembrandt

@porterflynn

Lezine was an ISB agent. #Survive2026

294 Folgt508 Follower437 Posts

Bluesky

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir porterflynn.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Apr 16

Another round of "if you stop punishing people for being x then more people will stop having to hide that they are x".

A graph showing the reported rate of left-handedness by year of birth showing a huge spike from 3.5 percent to 11.5 percent in the span of a generation (people born from 1910 to 1940. The graph levels off at 12 percent and stays constant to the end (people born in the year 2000).
Source: Survey data reports in "The History and Geography of Human Handedness" (2009).
It seems to imply if you stop punishing people for being different they stop trying to hide it.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 15

Oh, sorry. I forgot. There's no alt text on videos. I've described it in the alt text of this image from the video thumbnail.

Reply giving alt text to 1 minute 50 video from NASA of the result of a super computer simulation of how the moon likely formed. Two orange balls in a black void. The larger one is the proto earth, still molten. The smaller, Mars size planet races towards it and collides. It strikes off-centre sending an arching spray of thousands of glowing sparkling points of debris, each the size of a mega city, into space. The proto earth warps and wraps itself like a toddler in a blanket on a cold Sunday morning. The arc of debris curls and curves out and back toward the earth but in it we can now see two globules forming. A larger denser ball of the rogue planet's iron core and a smaller lighter object slightly further out. The gravity of the larger ball properties the smaller one forward. As the arc of glowing rocks folds back round the earth the larger mass is swallowed and sinks within the folding gelatinous earth. The smaller object, lighter and further away, is not consumed but is thrown wider and settles into a stable orbit. Though sped up the simulation still only covers a period of several hours. The remaining molten rocks rain down on the newly formed earth and moon.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 8

The school magazine has tributes from staff and pupils across decades, many crediting him with their later science and medical careers. Too many to Alt text. But I'll leave you with this from a pupil, "Mr Young's mischievous sense of humour could make even benzene rings seem interesting."

A sepia image of an older man with less hair than he started with, dark glasses, white shirt, black suit and tie. It makes you want to ask if he's seen Reservoir Dogs despite this being taken a decade before it was made. Behind him is a wall of student art. He is turning to the camera, pulled away from viewing the paintings. A kindness in his face that doesn't discount the chemistry teacher crouched behind the shades.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 8

Or it could be 4am I'm seeing double and none of that is true. But something indisputable, the teacher that gifted Grevile an Elliott and a Tolkien? Apparently a genuinely wonderful teacher who lived to age 91. Here teaching chemistry in the 50's

A black and white photograph titled 1954 Mr Young's Chemistry Class when he was still young. Rows of wooden benches covered in test tubes and stands. Tidy brylcreemed school boys wrapped in layers of shirts jumpers and blazers, heads down and focused. Behind them in a pool of light floats Mr Young, text book in hand.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 8

If you got this far grab a cup of tea and head back for the Alt text while I research Grevile's family tree.

A fade technicolour lobby poster for FIRST MAN INTO SPACE! A tiled room with 1950's scientific equipment to one side. Two people, B-movie beautiful, holding blue coffee cups. A military man on the right in khaki dress uniform with a chest full of ribbons. On the left a woman with dark hair with a camel yellow leather jacket over what appears to be a red leopard print blouse. White border with the title of the film in bright red letters US army type font. From their faces the man is either explaining something she already knows or telling her not to worry about something that is clearly about to go monumentally wrong.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 8

But seriously though, they don't make books like they used to.

A row of books. On the left, 1920's faded brown cloth covers, rough cut pages, the paper slip covers long since discarded. On the right, leather bound tomes glittering with gilt embossed embellishment, marbled eve pages so beguiling you'd forgive anyone for displaying them with the spines to the wall.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 7

Okay. It's close to midnight and I need to find a free trial on a genealogy site. Is this his grandmother or grandfather's school prizes from 1888? The book dedicated Xmas 1922, is it TO Constance? Is/was Jane the daughter of Grevile, or sister? I think he was married twice.

Inside 2 more old books. A beautifully vivid water marbled page in deep earthy red, orange and blue. A prize label, a sharp red line border. Exeter School. 1888. A prize for chemistry for J M Martin presented by Vilvague Fund. Vilvaque? Hard to tell. I'd take a closer look at the swirling Victorian handwriting but the stench of century old pipe smoke molassered into the pages doesn't invite lingering.

I have no idea what the second book smells like and with the page edging to chocolate brown in places with mold I'm going to assume roses.. it is inscribed With Mother's Love and Bear Wishes for Xmas 1922. (Yes Xmas. Save it for that relative that bristles that nobody says Christmas anymore).

Beneath the beautiful looping ink inscription scratched in biro is the name Jane Newson Smith .

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 7

I thought she might have eased off in 4th year but what looked to be a highly toxic 19th century red leather volume was her 1923 prize for maths. (My fingers are red. Maybe it's 20th century toxic instead. Going to scrub my hands).

Save as the previous labels but for form 4, summer 1924.

Is it arsenic in red dye or is that green books?

Soap and water. Lots of soap and water.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 7

It appears he got his brains from his mother. Constance Ruddock. He kept the books she received as school prizes in the 1920's from 3rd form to 6th form at Woodford school in Surrey. Languages, English, Science and Mathematics.

6 open books showing the inside cover. Each has a label printed in red ink. The school emblem and motto. Below with spaces that have been filled in with black ink the words Prize For. Form. Awarded to. Term. Principal. Each one is awarded to Constance and signed by the Principal Mary Worsley B.A. in 1922 and thence by A Walford M. A. The awards are for languages in third year and fifth year, and then Constance sprints into sixth year with prizes for Languages, Science, Maths and English.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 7

It's likely it was a gift as it is signed and has the same date from November '61 inside. The note from Murray Young for perfectly on the Eliot but would have to have been folded to fit in Farmer Giles.

Grevile Newson Smith's signature and the same date 2 11 61

The cover of Farmer Giles of Ham by J R R Tolkien. Below those blue letters in smaller type face - embellished by Pauline Diana Baynes. The illustration fills the page. A thick oak tree weaves miriad branches across the page and around the title. A squirrel sits on the crook where the trunk splits into branches. Every gap in the tree is filled with different birds. A peacock at the base, hen, crow heron owl phoenix. A nest atop with a mother and two chicks. Nestled on the left the moon and the right the sun both with human faces.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 7

There is also a copy of Farmer Giles of Ham. It was originally published in 1949, before Lord of the Rings. His copy is a first edition, second impression from 1957.

The inside page is an illustration in a medieval style. An ornate blue and white border, each corner a black and white disc depicting different mythical beasts. The page FILLED with a fire breathing dragon scattering a panicking army. One helpless soul standing frozen with fear in the path of the dragon. The scene is blue and white with splashes of orangy brown for the horses, bridles and flames. Black stars, bare black trees and the white ground speak of a chill so sharp or made men think tonight, together, they would be enough.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 7

(received not recorded but I guess he did sign it though)

Grevile Nelson Smith's signature and the date 2 11 61.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 7

He was attending Epsom College when he bought his set of Lord of the Rings in 1960 as a year later he recorded a copy of T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (presumably again from a teacher)

The cover of T. S. Eliot's cat book with two black and white cats standing and dancing like people, have in hand. One is wearing a bowler hat, the other a wide brimmed hat topped with huge colourful feathers. These are the only clothes they are wearing.

A page of headed note paper tape into the book by its corners. The top has the school's 4 digit telephone, crest and address printed in black. Below in blue ink, dated 2 11 1961, is written. For Grevile with all best wishes for this day and many more of them from R Murray Young.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 7

At age 7 he had a knack for maths and (if his teacher was right) an interest in trains.

A label pasted inside an old book. Printed in green letters at the top - Hillside School, Reigate Hill.

Typed in black ink below it reads - Form 1. Good work in Mathematics. G Newdon Smith. July, 1951.

The inside title page of the book. A Junior Teach Yourself Book. British Railways for Boys by Cecil J Allen. In the centre on a green background is a black and white drawing of a steam train roaring across the tracks, a plum of white smoke streaming across its back and into the distance.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 7

Eeeeeeeee!!!

The inside cover of a first edition of Tree and Leaf by J R R Tolkien. In black ink beneath the title in a Tolkien-esque squirl of letters is the author's signature.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 7

Spotted one of the 1st edition Lord of the Rings books poking up from under some dusty bibles. 1st edition set from 1960 (8th, 7th, 6th impression) all with maps but it was only when I got home I opened Tree and Leaf...

Tolkien books set out on an old grey sofa. 1st edition set of Lord of the Rings at the top. The covers creamed with age. Titles at the top author at the bottom in black, red then black. In the centre of each a small red eye in a deep black circle. Red flames encompass it like the Corona of the sun. Above a single jeweled ring, the flames licking up its sides.

Below are 2 more books. Parker green with a black title is Tree and Leaf. Next to it a copy of Farmer Giles of Ham, a cream cover with an ornate pale brown Art Nouveau and vivid blue letters for the title.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Mar 7

Finding a signed J R R Tolkien in a mixed Lot of books at an auction for £50 comes with some baggage.

A white circular dining table in a small apartment with clear plastic chairs (a vain attempt to make the space look bigger). The table is completely covered in stacks of books topped with post-it notes. A large plastic storage box is on the floor stuffed with even more books and more post-it notes. The books range from an early 1800's edition of Arabian Nights 1960's booklets on what to do if your plane crashes in the Arctic.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Jan 1

Happy New Year from 1925. (And a merry alt text).

The illustrated cover of the magazine La Vie Parisienne from Saturday 3rd of January 1925.
A clear deep blue alpine sky, a rugged mountain covered in deep snow. The foreground explodes with a competitive skier with the number 1925 in black on a white rectangle pinned across her chest. She is flying off the piste and looks to be jumping over us. She is 20's flapper Fabulous. Thin, and with short red hair peeping out under a pale brown beanie with matching thick wool leggings and cotton jersey. The jersey is pulled down over a knee length darker chocolate brown tartan skirt that matches the underside of her short pointed wooden skis sailing above us. Her arms are wide, holding thin rough bamboo ski poles gripped in huge white leather gauntlet gloves, making you think of early aviators risking everything in bi-planes held together with string. A long matching white scarf billowing from her neck adds to the effect. Her hip length open coat, the same pale earthen brown as her jersey, buttonless and edged with white fur like a high fashion Santa, flaps on the wind as she soars.
The title of the magazine "La Vie Parisienne" curves on an arc of warm pale red art nouveau lettering through the icy blue sky above our heroine. The whole scene bordered in two close thin red lines, matching the title, help the deep blue, crisp white and rich browns sing out. Towards the bottom left of the picture in small red handwriting are a few words in French. "A Leap into the Unknown". It is then you realise the tiny toenail black curls on the white piste behind our year 25 skier... They are not distant rocks, but birds. Birds circling far behind. And below.
You look to our skier's face for signs of panic. A warm smile, she is calm, happy, focused. Her arms aren't wide from losing control. She's showing off. Our new year is going to nail this. And she knows it.

Happy 2025 from 1925. You've got this.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Dec 24

To be fair, though 😁

A cartoon panel depicting two people, a research scientist and her male lab assistant. The scientist says "wait a minute. Autism spectrum people are over represented in research science. But... But that means...". "My god..." comes the reply from her assistant. The banner at the bottom reads in all caps. Autism causes vaccines.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Dec 23

if you see this, post a witch 🌘

A British postage stamp with an illustration titled TIFFANY ACHING - TERRY PRATCHETT'S DISCWORLD. The background shows rolling green chalk hills dotted with wild flowers and the occasional butterfly. Swifts dart in the sky above. It is a clear blue dotted with clouds wandering like dusty white sheep. The foreground is filled with the defiance of a small girl. Her left hand clenched in a fist, her right weilding a cast iron pan half her own height above her head and ready to strike. She is calm, and focused. On her right shoulder stands a Nac Mac Feegle. It looks like a man but stands just 6 inches tall with blue skin, red hair, wearing a kilt and holding a drawn sword. He knows he has hundreds of his family around him, ready to fight for this "wee hag" Tiffany, but he is the only one we will see. Tiffany Aching is a chalk witch. This is her home. She stares out towards us at an unknown horror. A horror that has made the worst, and possibly last, decision of it's life.

Lost Rembrandt@porterflynn· Nov 29

Or that it's basically a plant version of what humans did to wolves. Brussel sprouts are the chihuahuas of greens.