January 16, 2019

The best thing about this mural is the way the cigarette smoke...

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... continues beyond the door onto the wall and around the corner.

I framed the image from a Google street view in Alicante, Spain.

69 comments:

Meade said...

To me the best thing is the way her top is falling off.

traditionalguy said...

Cigar-Ettes started out as a French street walker’s signal that she was a working girl. No wonder women smoking in public was seen as low class. Cigars are the best part of Toxic Masculinity.

tim in vermont said...

Ditto.

Doggone that girl wearing nothing but a smile
And a towel in the picture on the billboard in the field near the big old highway
Sleepy headed painter said the girl wasn't real better get the (kwee) on my way
On Route 66 from the billboard to Chicago
You'll find tiny pieces of my heart scattered every which a way
Shattered by the girl wearing nothing but a smile
And a towel in the picture on the billboard in the field near the big old highway
. - Girl on the Billboard

Coconuss Network said...

Interesting art and better yet, they look to still be in business which is contrary to many of the shops in Brooklyn these days who are boarded and out of business.

Jake said...

I would have said the way the cigarette smoke wafts.

mccullough said...

The smoke matches her eye shadow. Well done

rehajm said...

Banksyish the smoke is.

¡Que tetas! the rest of it is.

gilbar said...

Meade said... To me the best thing is the way her top is falling off.

don't forget the Flaming Red Hair

Rob said...

Spanish mural garners praise.

tcrosse said...

The source of the smoke which wraps around the corner disappears when the door is open.

mccullough said...

Much more effective than the Gillette ad.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Must be a strong wind coming from her left.

It looks like a great mural around the corner. I like the character on the man's face.

Alicante is great city. The water is warmer than most other beaches in Spain because the area is not very deep.

stevew said...

"To me the best thing is the way her top is falling off."

Good but for me it's more about the idea that it is ABOUT to fall off.

Great mural.

Fernandinande said...

It's part of the Expendeduria Numero chain. They sell enough tobacco to kill a million people!

PM said...

I'm triggered by smoke and cleavage.

Kevin said...

The best thing about this picture is it's from a country that still openly allows the sale of tobacco products.

Ralph L said...

disappears when the door is open

The store isn't open during the day? Perhaps this is the red light district as Tradguy says.

Bob Boyd said...
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tcrosse said...

The store isn't open during the day?

Siesta.

cubanbob said...

Years ago when I smoked and travelled a lot to Alicante on business those cigarettes were real lung busters, harsh terrible tobacco. As for boobies, back then if you wanted to see kilometers of titties, one traveled up the road to Benidorm. The Ft Lauderdale of Europe at the time. A five kilometer long tan sand beach where you could have hopscotched on bare tities of the young German and Swedish college girl students and office clerks the length of the beach. Followed by a lovely seafood paella with a good Albarino in one of the beachside restaurants with a good strong espresso and a Marlboro red.

Smilin' Jack said...

The best thing about this mural is the way the cigarette smoke doesn't stink.

buwaya said...

Firming up plans to purchase a Spanish piso(flat).

This is a wonderful site - https://www.idealista.com/

Jupiter said...

Meade said...
"To me the best thing is the way her top is falling off."

Yeah, that's kind of the way I saw it, too. Raises an interesting question. I have read that the best way to sell things, to men or to women, is to show them a picture of an attractive woman. I know how I respond to such pictures, with a combination of appreciation and desire that is not entirely pleasant, because of an undercurrent of frustration. Nonetheless, it holds my attention, even though the desire cannot be satisfied. But I wonder what the effect is on women.

buwaya said...

Many of the family, including my mother, used to work for the old Spanish tobacco monopoly, Tabacalera. At one time it would control most Philippine tobacco production, as a near-monopsony and a power in Northern Luzon, and this persisted into the 1960's-70's. Long since privatized and sold off, consolidated and reconsolidated.

It used to own chains of Spanish tobacconists/convenience stores as well, I don't know if this one is a descendant of those too.

Tabacalera was founded in 1636 btw. A lot of Spanish things are remarkably ancient.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

No. It’s her cleavage.

gahrie said...

But I wonder what the effect is on women.

Envy.

Howard said...

It's what you don't see below the bottom of the door. I'm surprised that Hannah would point out the smoke which is an obvious cheap trick. The best things in art are those that are not depicted explicitly but those that exist in the mind of the viewer and are projected. In this case it is very stimulatory for triggering excitable boys

buwaya said...

One explanation for the Nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil War was that, though the Spanish Republic retained the bulk of the urban population, the institutional core of the armed forces and the state bureaucracy, the Nationalists early on controlled two critical assets -

The wine producing regions of Jerez and la Rioja. They had the bulk of wine production. The Spanish Republic suffered from a terrible wine shortage.

Tobacco. The Republic likewise suffered a terrible tobacco shortage, while the Nationalists retained the traditional channels of tobacco imports, and took care to permit enough to come in. There was substantial tobacco smuggling across the fronts.

Jupiter said...

gahrie said...
"Envy."

You think so? Not so sure. Of course, we need to consider that women don't all respond in precisely the same way. I suppose there is a small minority of women whose response is similar to my own. But -- one time a bunch of guys I played music with were going to a strip club, and the singer, who was the lead guitarist's long-time girlfriend, wanted to come along. Well, why not? So she was sitting there in the middle of the gang of us, and she and the stripper started a conversation. Very strange, and extremely exciting, for everyone present, I think. There was something going on between them -- and us -- that had nothing to do with envy.

tcrosse said...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Corbyn's vote of no confidence has failed in the Commons. What next?

Fernandinande said...

We refused that a white person with dreads performed as part of our two comedy evenings (Snowflake Comedy Club and the humor party engaged). ...

We live in a society where systemic racism is well present** and where the spaces where people who are marginalized and marginalized can feel safe are very rare."

**racism is the reason they kicked out a white comedian having the wrong race for his hair-do. Their own racism is a reaction to the racism of Those Bad People Who Are Not Us, so it's OK.

Bay Area Guy said...

"I'm triggered by smoke and cleavage"

"Smoke and Cleavage" would be a good name for a bar/restaurant.

rhhardin said...

Not exactly giving up on Hollywood but I notice I have ten unopened DVDs on the table that will soon go into the maybe-someday-but-not-now box.

French movies with English subtitles seem to be the best bet these days. Latest "In Harmony" (En Équilibre 2015) Cecile de France, two people help each other out.

Refreshing lack of moral instruction. No tits that I recall.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Google Street View: We could call this "accidental photography". Very nice job AA with choosing the framing and, I assume, cleaning up the color, contrast, and so on.

When I was (briefly) in a BFA photography program in the '70s, one of the instructors had us expose a roll of 35mm film, rewind it, and make 36 more pictures on top of the first.

Even though I went through this exercise only 2 or 3 times, there was at least one good area to be found in each roll, generally comprising 2 or 2-1/2 frames randomly overlapped. I printed a few of them, the prints and negatives now regrettably lost.

It was an interesting outcome at the time, but it is not the way I work these days.

Big Mike said...

I’m a romantic, and I would not care to kiss a girl whose mouth tastes like an unemptied ash tray.

buwaya said...

"I’m a romantic, and I would not care to kiss a girl whose mouth tastes like an unemptied ash tray."

You are much younger than I am. In my day at least half the girls smoked, and it seems these were disproportionately the prettiest. You would have been quite constrained in your opportunities for kissing.

And though never a smoker myself, I don't recall anything disgusting in kissing a girl who smoked.

tcrosse said...

"Smoke and Cleavage" would be a good name for a bar/restaurant.

"Smoke and Cleavage" would be a good sequel to Tennessee Williams' "Summer and Smoke"

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

what are the risks of second-hand cleavage?

The Godfather said...

@Meade: Did the Earth move for you?

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

tabacos y tabucos

Big Mike said...

@buwaya, I'm in my seventies. In the days of my misspent youth I only ever had one girlfriend who smoked, and at that time I was a pipe smoker.

madAsHell said...

When they roll the door up in the morning, her tits fall out of her dress.

tim in vermont said...
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tim in vermont said...

Somehow, having gone to college in the ‘70s, the smell of cigarette breath and the smell of trim seem to go together. I never smoked, but the only times I ever complained about a girl’s breath basically, it meant that the relationship was over for other reasons.

Jay Elink said...

So, Althouse, wanna 'splain why you bleat on and on about "toxic masculinity", and want (white) men to shape up in their attitudes toward women and their sons, and AT THE SAME TIME you endorse Ashley Madison, a prostitute/adultery site?

How many marriages have been broken up when the wife discovers what her loving hubby has been up to? How many kids in such marriages have been made FUBAR by the resulting divorces?

C'mon, defend having that ad on your website. Give it a shot.

Dare you.

Double dare you.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“So, Althouse, wanna 'splain why you bleat on and on about "toxic masculinity", and want (white) men to shape up in their attitudes toward women and their sons, and AT THE SAME TIME you endorse Ashley Madison, a prostitute/adultery site?

How many marriages have been broken up when the wife discovers what her loving hubby has been up to? How many kids in such marriages have been made FUBAR by the resulting divorces?

C'mon, defend having that ad on your website. Give it a shot.

Dare you.

Double dare you.”


Hahaha, Jay Elink, it’s your own internet viewing that determines which ads you see on any given site.

madAsHell said...

@Jay Elink. Own goal much??

Jupiter said...

You know, Jay, the "women" at Ashley Madison are actually bots. So the only real danger is financial.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

I get ads for 3d printing. I would love to hear how Althouse defends that.

My suggestion to Jay is to cut on the How to Cheat and porn sites.

Hagar said...

It will be interesting to see what kind of a show impresario Donald J. Trump puts on to take advantage of Pelosi's challenge on the "State of the Union" occasion.

buwaya said...

Hmm - my Althouse ads are -

- A bleeding gums rinse
- A gun-self defense legal defense outfit

Nothing so exciting as an adultery agency.

I don't have bleeding gums (yet) nor do I own a gun.
I wonder how the algorithm came up with those.
They used to be better at this I think.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

son of a gun.
I guess that explains all the philanthropic agency ads we're getting

Chris N said...

I knew it was Spain after a quick glance and the 'Tabacos.'

There was a few block industrial zone in Alicante, near the waterfront, and that night it was absolutely crawling with hookers and johns. No cops.

Me and two guys from our Salamanca study abroad program had taken our rented Clio and drove around the South of Spain Alicante-->Malaga-->Sevilla--Merida (Roman Ruins) back to Salamanca.

We were a little surprised how open it was and we pulled up to a lady of the night and she kept saying 'quieres algo' but in a southern accent and with less than a mouth full of teeth.

Is there some etiquette? Some kind of process? What are the risks here? Is there a pimp nearby? This is not kosher. I sure didn't want to go through with anything, frankly, and I didn't want some other dude in car getting into anything.

'Estamos bien. No pasa nada.' We're good, but you gave us a memory just standing there, sweetheart. We were a bit drunk. Godspeed.

narciso said...

Makes you wonder where kraus has been searching I get Russian and Arabic themed ads and sometimes incomprehensible ones.

Not Sure said...

Don't have an OED handy, so making do with M-W's definition of mural:

1 : of, relating to, or resembling a wall
2 : applied to and made integral with a wall or ceiling surface

From the Latin for wall, murus.

Clearly, the painting's surface is a door, not a wall. So this is not a mural, but a janual.

Jay Elink said...

madAsHell said...
@Jay Elink. Own goal much??

*************

Sorry, but I've never been to that or any other site offering such services.

BUT, as I mentioned the other night, I've seen the naked female selfies at Bing images, and reported them here as evidence that women are soliciting male attention, so that's probably how I was ensnared.

narciso said...

You just happened to note those selfies, jay?

chillblaine said...

This is a remarkable image, and actually, just looking at it is sensory overload. For real. Anyway, thank you Althouse and Meade and fam. This is so great, being here. Just being goofy, and enjoying this company. Wow. Truly. Ok fam, see you in the funny papers when I run for President. Peace. Shalom. L'Chaim!

chillblaine said...

The Best Movie Ever Made is called, "Gravy." It's on a weighty subject, that is, what should I put on my pasta or what's a better movie thematically than the movie, "Stripes," which is the best war movie ever conceived. Winger. Ok,well, Nancy is going to consult her astrological tables as to the time for my milk and cookies, then, off to bed.

chillblaine said...

Blue Rose which is the first time I have ever seen one.

chillblaine said...

He said trim. Hey how's winter Olaf

Clyde said...

Does anyone else see the points on the sides of her hair as subliminal devil horns?

exhelodrvr1 said...
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rehajm said...

Why are lefties are embracing socialism? One reason could be they need new narratives since all the things they told us about market economies were lies. Take Obama’s tax rates don’t matter par example. Well it turns out eliminating the SALT deduction has housholds are abandoning high tax states and moving to Florida. NYC and Greenwich hardest hit. Florida sales up double digits in many markets. A $1 million income household can pay for a $2 million home in Florida with just the tax savings.

People respond to incentives.

rehajm said...

Also Jack Bogle died. One of the most important people ever for individual investors and reducing wealth inequality, though MSM will never give him credit.

Tank said...

Prager was talking to Nigel Farage yesterday who use the term BRINO for the deal May proposed.

narciso said...

One of the last sane ones, his son doesn't follow suit:

https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/278820/norman-podhoretz-making-it-89

Jupiter said...

narciso said...
"You just happened to note those selfies, jay?"

Yeah, come clean, Jay. Cis-het, aren't you?

Jupiter said...

BTW, I can't believe you guys don't use ad-block. Once in a while mine stops working, and all of a sudden all this useless garbage appears all over the screen. I have to restart the browser.