“Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean”

Noir | the last episode

Inspired by John Adams, Larry Beinhart, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Howard Hawks, Carl Hiaasen, Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston, Elmore Leonard, John Zorn | Headline quotes from novels by Raymond Chandler and Larry Beinhart | Thanks to all the bloggers who supported this project with their comments here and there, and at Toy Photographers | Special thanks to my wife for her patience with a husband who vanished into the dark only to reappear after hours, and for her helpful hints and questions | For the whole story, please klick the Noir link!

Waiting For the Penny to Drop

When Paula announced Thursday’s Special was Waiting, I immediately thought, “waiting for the penny to drop.” I could not get rid of the phrase until this morning when the penny finally did drop – with a little help from my wife. She also helped me out with an Irish penny, rendering this picture a bit more ironic, though it is for you to decide if is to be seen politically.

In line with my other pictures from this series, I would just like to add that we have the same phrase in German: “Warten, dass der Groschen fällt,” a Groschen being 10 Pfennig, which was our small change before Pfennige and pennies became cents.

Down These Mean Streets a Man Must Go

DSC07659+rm

DSC07685+rm

The little guy looked like someone I knew. Someone I knew from the times when most everything I had to do was reading detective stories, and writing about them. And figuring out how we all know what detectives look like without ever having seen one (it’s not the most public or popular occupation in Germany; detectives are shabby people in department stores waiting to snatch the occasional sock thief).

Well, the hat and the coat rang a bell, and I suspected there must be a gun, too. As chance would have it, there was also a very intriguing project suggestion at 100% Stuck in Plastic: Come up with three toy photographs in a narrative sequence, or, as ME2 put it: “3 images. An introduction, a cliffhanger, and an ending.” As things go, this ending may not necessarily be where the whole story ends…

Ah, and just one more thing: I set up a page where you will be able to see the story unfold (and probably change): Down These Mean Streets a Man Must Go.

In Over Their Heads

dsc07454-k

To be in over one’s head, lit. bis über den Kopf drinstecken, equiv. etwas wächst jemandem über den Kopf, fig. (English phrase) to be involved in a difficult situation that you cannot get out of

…and while I look at this picture, a German classic comes to mind: Der Zauberlehrling (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. It is about this magical broom not quite obeying the apprentice… Follow this link for this poem and its English translation.

Finestre

dsc06198-k

dsc06285-k

dsc06145-k

dsc06036-k

Fenster und Fassaden is Christina’s Magical Motto of the Month. And this time, I just seized the opportunity to show some windows (Fenster) I collected during our last trip to Italy, mainly in and around Lucca. I am always fascinated by glass and by the many shapes and designs of windows people come up with.

Please check out the other façades and windows at episoden.film! There are always great contributions to be seen there – and while Christina’s blog is in German, pictures know of no language barrier.

Against All Odds

dsc07384-k

This was the original idea:

Jemandem den Boden unter den Füßen wegziehen, lit. to pull the ground from under sb’s feet, equiv. to pull the rug from under sb’s feet, fig. (German phrase) to threaten someone’s existence

…but it also looks like this guy is standing up on the cobblestone against all odds, so this also seems to be an appropriate contribution for the Weekly Photo Challenge.