Hannah van Helsing

The quest for the holy chamber had exhausted our bodies and minds. Only a few of us were left of the fellowship that had set off a long time ago from a distant land in order to find it. Most of our brave men had payed the ultimate price to get us to where we were then; the long sought destination ahead.

This was the moment when suddenly the air got cold and darkness fell upon us, when evil powers reared up in their final and forceful attempt to prevent us from entering the chamber and bind them in their forgotten prisons for another thousand years.

The battle was almost lost when the reversal of fortune arrived to our salvation in person of Hannah van Helsing(*):

Photo by Tomer Jacobson (thetomer), March 2009.

Everything happened so fast, if it wouldn't have been for the Tomer and his lighting techniques beyond those of the forces of darkness, we wouldn't even have ever known who saved us!

So it only remains to say great model, holy lighting, unusual location = great shot! I like it very much (although I would have cropped it slightly tighter, but hey, it's van Helsing ;-) )!

If you like this shot too and would like to see a more of thetomer, check out his
website and his Flickr account. He has also got a blog, which is unfortunately (at least for me) in Hebrew only.

(*) Hannah is Gabriel's less famous - but actually more awesome - little sister.

Meet the Eggs!

Happy belated Easter everyone!

After lots of eating and lots of chilling out over the Easter weekend, I finally managed to post the family portrait of the Eggs. These guys are our relatives from a distant place, who came for a visit to York over Easter. Funny coincidence, now that I read their family name ...

Anyways, if you want to meet them, please visit the gallery on Flickr. Wally, the youngest of the lot, was keen to get his picture taken for my blog. Hence, here he is whishing a nice Easter and inviting you to meet his lot:

Photo by Martin A. Trefzer, April 2009.

And in case you want to do something a bit different (caution: addictive!) for Easter breakfast, check these Eggs Benedict out!

Bollywood meets National Railway Museum

When wandering around in York on one of the sunny weekends we tend to have lately, I watched a promo performance of Indian dancers on the market square.

Photo by Martin A. Trefzer, March 2009.

They were pretty good and when I talked to them I learned that they are a dancing ensemble from Birmingham and that there will be an Indian culture festival at the National Railway Museum in York, UK (4-17th April 2009). Being interested in music and dance, particularly in taking pictures of such performances, I was glad to hear about the festival.

So I will definitely pay the NRM a visit and try to get some colourful shots of Bollywood coming to the National Railway Museum!

Check out my older post about a belly dance performance at a festival in York.

The War of the Roses, a novel by Warren Adler

I could hardly believe it! The first comment I got on my post Wars of the Roses, was from Mr Warren Adler, the author of the novel 'The War of the Roses', on which the movie is based. Thanks for the comment Mr Adler!

First I thought this can't be really him, but the contents and style of his blog The Writer's Life and his website was pretty convincing ;-) ...

Well, my wife took this as a sign and immediately went to the public library in York, in order to borrow his novel. It was quite amusing for us when we learned that they do not have it, as we are talking about York as in Yorkshire, UK, home of the White Rose. I guess we'll have to check out Borders or Amazon ...

Wars of the Roses - or - Don't Mess with Roses!

Most people who hear or read 'War of the Roses' (while being born before 1979), probably think of Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas as Oliver & Barbara Rose who beat each other up in the bitter divorce battle in the dark comedy 'The War of the Roses'. Despite I have seen the movie a while ago, I honestly cannot recall whether I liked it or not ...

Well the historical background of the expression 'Wars of the Roses' goes back to the 15th century, when the House of York and the House of Lancaster fought a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England. The period between 1453 and 1487 where Henry IV and Richard of York clashed repeatedly has been particularly hot, although York and Lancaster have always fought repeatedly in conflicts before and afterwards.

The two symbols the 'White Rose of York' and the 'Red Rose of Lancaster' are still the symbols of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Nowadays people tend to be less likely to kill each other (at least in middle Europe) and the old conflict has turned into something more symbolic and rather peaceful, namely a sports competition between York and Lancaster, which encompasses 45 different sports disciplines and takes place between the 2-4th May 2009 (the first May weekend).

Way back in 1964, a guy called Sir Charles Carter, the then Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University, challenged his York counterpart, Lord James of Rusholme to a boat race. Over the years other disciplines were added to the boat race and lead to the quite popular sporting institution of the Roses.

So, what is your business with all this you might ask. Well I had the chance to take the pictures of three Athletes for the Roses promotion campaign of the Athletic Union of York University, and I think the posters and the brochure turned out quite well:

Photo by Martin A. Trefzer, March 2009.

Larger versions can be found on my Flickr account.

More information on the competition can be found at the Athletic Union of York.

In case you want to know more about the historical background I refer you once more to Encyclopedia Galactica, and Encyclopedia Movieaddictica.