Music: vernacular of the soul


dj

Friday, February 29, 2008



Stray-7379's Mobile post sent by dejanae411 using Utterz Replies.  mp3

edit: the bootleg karaoke crap
should be right above this crap im writing now
sound quality's bad
but you can hear enough for u to make fun of
theres a bootleg pause where i had to pickup a call on the other line
you'll survive

nyway
somebody betta do this crap
IVENT hon?
yeah that means you
Rah-shan. u aint got nothing betta to do
Minerva. you need a new post so.....
you too
yeah you
don't look behind you
you know perfectly well what i mean

rosewood

aint caught it yet but i heard it's good
i have to get up on that


somebody needs a few anger management classes
i woulda so shown him what a smartass really was


ordered some new shoes on ebay today
them craps betta fit


whatis this world coming to?





fast ass lil kids
damn
they aint got no shame eitha
all out in the street and shit
they sure as hell getting more action in than i ever have

describe urself in three words self-proclaimed lunatic
wat is a phrase you use often ? bootleg
have u ever done a family tree? i've tried. hmmmmm i quickly gave up
when's the last time you went to a family reunion? never been to one actually
what's your favorite theme song? Animaniacs/DarkWing Duck
the best cartoon ever? Gargoyles. i swore i was gon marry Goliath
your most prized possession? dont really have one. I guess if i could only take one hting with me, the bible would be it.
your favorite book? too damn many to even try to name one.
your favorite old school dance? ever seen Beat Street? nuff said
your favorite music video? here's a hint

favorite villain? Hannibal Lecter
what's more entertaining flavor of love or i love new york?? dint really watch either
how many people have you had sex with?zilch
where is the weirdest place you have ever had sex? n/a
what's the nicest thing you have ever done for a stranger? givem some cash i had on hand, cared, said God bless
what is your biggest fear? not living up to my potential
whats the worst thing you have ever done while drunk? n/a
what do you regret the most? letting my shyness stop me from doing some pretty cool stuff
what's the weirdest place you've ever been? sitting atop a donkey on some mountain in Haiti
have you ever had a threesome?ha
what's your funniest memory?ill get back to yall on this one
what's the meanest thing you've ever done to a friend? ignored their phonecalls

Thursday, February 28, 2008

mic check . mic check.1,2, 1, 2

im feelin blah
gotta draft goin
ima finish that up- lata tonight

my phone is actin a damn fool
I tried to do an utterz crap to atleast post something
but alas
twas not to be

TASK:
bootleg tag
post an UTTERZ of u singing a Michael Jackson song
ask atleast 2 other folk to do the same
in honor of that Thriller 25th anniversary crap

answered questions and my karaoke crap is goin up lata tonight
after i get back from a bootleg play
peace folk

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

tag attack-pictionary

i may be just a bit narcissistic but this time it was at the request of a fellow blogger via what i affectionately call a tag attack *pained smile*
IVENT. you're lovely. really. u are *grimace*



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qucifer inspired a sistah




















can you tell i was bored?

Ever saw the movie Frailty with Matthew McConaughey?

i caught it last night
quite interesting
_________________________________________________

i have a tendency to picture people naked
ima blame it on my bootleg art classes
_________________________________________________

If someone were to slap you for absolutely no reason at all would you retaliate or walk away?


now its gon depend on
the age of the slapper
my relationship with the slapper
the current mental state of the slapper

If all that aint a factor.....

i do the incredulous sinister laugh thing
crack my neck
crack my fingers
then crack a bitch's head open
_______________________________________________


Say you're at work and a disgruntled employee starts shooting...however you're on the side of the room he isnt targetting.
He's shooting at the exit where the greatest concentration of people are.

* Do you duck and hide? for sure. meanwhile i'm surveying my surroundings and tryna find me an out as soon as possible
* Attempt to run? not towards the exit where he's shootin. If i think there's anotha out im headed there right quick
* Or take a chance and run up on him and attempt to take him out?what the fuck i look like? Steven Seagal? get the hell outta here
___________________________________________

question session:
describe urself in three words
describe me in three words
wat is a phrase you use often ?
have u ever done a family tree?
when's the last time you went to a family reunion?
what's your favorite theme song?
the best cartoon ever?
your most prized possession?
your favorite book?
your favorite old school dance?
your favorite music video?
favorite villain?
what's more entertaining flavor of love or i love new york??
how many people have you had sex with?
where is the weirdest place you have ever had sex?
what's the nicest thing you have ever done for a stranger?
what is your biggest fear?
whats the worst thing you have ever done while drunk?
what do you regret the most?
what's the weirdest place you've ever been?
have you ever had a threesome?
what's your funniest memory?
what's the meanest thing you've ever done to a friend?

i'll answerem tomorrow
answer however many u want
but im giving u the side eye if u answer less than three. *smile*.....*grimace*

Monday, February 25, 2008



Stray-7659's Mobile post sent by dejanae411 using Utterz Replies.  mp3

weaves and tangled webs

I took out my weave yesterday
My real hair,lol, is natural
Went natural bout a year and half ago and havent looked back since
I know some people hate it but i love shrinkage
mattafact i cut bout two inches off cuz it was lookin a lil funny after i washed it
stretched out my hair is a lil past shoulder length in the back, lil short of shoulder length on the sides and chin length in the front
u can kinda see the kinks in these pics



I could make up some shit about how im always posting my profile becuz of safety issues or whatever but a bk chick is gon be dead honest
my profile just looks betta
im not a photegenic chick
and noone quite believes you when you say "I look betta in person"lol

I love me some Law and Order
allofthem but especially SVU so you know i had to catch the marathon today on TNT
So if you ever caught it, youd know that they often pull stories from the headlines.
maaaaan The bootleg Abner Louima case came on today.
They switched out quite a few stuff of course but it was recognizable
It brought back so many memories.
I can remember so clearly the outrage in my father's voice and face when we were talkin bout the case
man.on the real everytime i closed my eyes and pictured that shit i saw my dad's face.
I think everybody and their momma knows about the horrific details of the precint incident
Sad thing is these cops probably did that before just never been caught
They made threats to his person
Hospital was told his injuries were sustained as a result of rough homosexual sex
thank God for the nurse who made a call to the Internal Affairs Department of the NYPD
It's scary how little control you have over ur life situations sometimes
or should i say it's crazy how other folk can rip choices from you
I know too much bout the corruption in the police department and the justice system to even pretend to think that the "truth will set me free"
Im especially afraid for the black men in my life bcuz they're the ones most likely to end up in some situation not of their making
You know what really fucked with my head??
The fact that the main suspect had a black girlfriend who he was planning on marrying
I cant even imagine finding out that the man im planning my life with could do that sick shit


They say we all have the capacity to commit evil deeds
Average folk, apparently, when given power over others are quick to demonstrate that supposed superiority
History has proven this to be true time and time again
I would hope that my moral compass wouldnt allow me to turn in to someone that could torture somebody
Im reminded of this quote i first heard on law and order (i told yall thats my show)
"Those who fight monsters should take care that they never become one. For when you stand and look long into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you." ~ Frederich Nietsche

by the way
i got mad love for the popo
just cant stand the power hungry bastards who wanna use a badge as a front for their criminal activity

Friday, February 22, 2008

so yall get to actually hear my voice today
i know yall are geeked(dont pay the bootleg lisp any mind)
nyway
Rashan i know i said ur name wrong
get over it
u aint say dejanae right eitha but i forgave u
honestly tho
it just doesnt role off the tongue like ruh-shawn does
i will try to say it right

im apparently too stupid to figure out utterz correctly cuz i made a profile and everything but it wasnt workin so i said fuck it and just posted as a regular ole josephine
(ok so the bootleg voice post is at the end of this one.enjoy or cringe.watev)
ima go eat and return with a bootleg post


did you get punished for breaking curfew?
i got the stern talk

do you remember where you were when you got your first kiss?
bootleg kiss in the courtyard in third grade
can you remember the name of your first girlfriend/boyfriend?
Ross
Where were you the last time you got drunk?
never happened
what's the most embarassing thing that happened to you in public?
falling off the stage during a dance performance
for those of you who are married (or have been, engaged, watev) where were you when you proposed or got proposed to?
N/A
what's different in your life from this time last year?
Ima year older tho not necessarily wiser
Where'd you find your keys the last time you lost them?
the pockets of the sweats i wore the day before
Do you ask for directions when you think you're lost?
yep
where were you when you heard about the world trade centers being hit?
sitting in my AP biology class praying for something interesting to happen. that is definitley not what i had in mind
are you more into voyeurism or exhibitionism?
voyeurism it is. Can i watch?
do you share your bedroom with someone?
nope. unless you count the ghosts of former residents
what about the bathroom?
uh. gotta share with the fam
ever gone to a restaurant or public place with unisex bathrooms?
uh huh
what names do you find attractive?
names with hard sounds like k's and g's
did/do you make fun of very ugly people?
only if the ugly reaches past the physical
what was the last big change in your life?
moving in with pops
how many times a week do you wash your hair?
2/3
What would be your long-term survival plan for a lengthy prison sentence?
ima shank the biggest bitch in there on day one.just out the blue.folk gon think im too crazy to try to fuck with me
ever have a gigapet?(im showin my age here)
yep.junior high
What genre(s) of music do you believe are totally without redeeming value?
whatever genre of music this shit falls under (and dont say hip/hop)

what the fuck is Yahhh trick Yahhh?
Why is that shit getting airtime?

too smart for BET? just maybe
________________________________________________



Stray-7659's Mobile post sent by dejanae411 using Utterz Replies.  mp3

Thursday, February 21, 2008

lemme find out

If you had to name your child after a body part, what would their name be? Phalanx
When's the last time you ran?
yesterday. ran a few bootleg laps
You're producing a television show, what would it be called? what's the show about? nah playa. reality show where players try to reform their ways
You're coming out with a self-titled cd. wats the name? genre?
love u to abstraction, soul
If you had a food named after you what would it be?
4mula1 burger
You're opening your own restaurant. What's it called?
Ambrosia
You're starring in a porno. What's the title?
Dirty Diana-Dominatrix Delight
What's your stripper/dancer name?
jerk chicken.lol
You write a book on relationships. What's the title?
I pray for Wisdom, Love, And Patience (cuz if I pray for Strength, I'll straight beat a negro to death)
You tape a documentary. what's it called?
aint nobody worryin. on the homeless crisis
You come up with an alter ego for entertainment purposes. What's the name? mclaren
You develop a martial arts move? wats it called?
slaying mantis
if you were in a scary movie would you be one of the survivors in the end?
definitely. I'd stay my ass in a public place in full view of folk. What he gon do? kill everybody? well....then again. Watev. i'm living thru the shit. No running to the attic. no running into the forest. no going to investigate shit.
if not, how would you die?
u aint heard. I AINT DYING
finish the sentence: death is biding its time til it appears at my door, scythe in hand and all
Do you sew?
i can sew on a button. thats about it
Whats the strangest thing you've swallowed?
a quarter
Have you ever spray painted something?
yep tap shoes,some bootleg graffitit, set scenery, mural
Do you ever think your coworkers may be trying to poison you?
yep
What is the next big purchase you plan to make?
textbooks
What is the last dream you had?
cant remember it clearly. it was off some i am legend meets terminator meets sesame street mess
Where were you born?
Kings County hospital
When do you want to get married?
by 50
Do you or have you ever owned a gun?
nope
how many credit cards do you own?
none
mad-dad's questions
What's up with all the color pics? You an alien?
no smartass. just been abducted by a few
Im just tryna get my bootleg starvin artist on. colors. i like.

How long do you work out each day?
on average, an hour
do you ever freaking sleep?
eventually. usually nod off around 5,6 on a school night
how much longer you in school?
grimace. hopefully two more years them ima throw up them deuces
Give me some examples of Haitian cuisine. Not a question...Can you give me some examples of Haitian cuisine?
What the hell i look like? Go google that shit. You know i don't cook
Fresh. i aint forgot ur question but ima have to go into some deep shit with that one so....it's gonna come.eventually




ur turn

did you get punished for breaking curfew?
do you remember where you were when you got your first kiss?
can you remember the name of your first girlfriend/boyfriend?
Where were you the last time you got drunk?
what's the most embarassing thing that happened to you in public?
for those of you who are married (or have been, engaged, watev) where were you when you proposed or got proposed to?
what's different in your life from this time last year?
Where'd you find your keys the last time you lost them?
Do you ask for directions when you think you're lost?
where were you when you heard about the world trade centers being hit?
are you more into voyeurism or exhibitionism?
do you share your bedroom with someone?
what about the bathroom?
ever gone to a restaurant or public place with unisex bathrooms?
what names do you find attractive?
did/do you make fun of very ugly people?
what was the last big change in your life?
how many times a week do you wash your hair?
What would be your long-term survival plan for a lengthy prison sentence?
ever have a gigapet?(im showin my age here)
What genre(s) of music do you believe are totally without redeeming value?

answer at least 5 this time k
(Let's see who can follow directions *cough* all-mi-t *cough*)
i should get back to my random, schizo, tourette's inspired, blog writin self tomorrow....maybe

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

front street? howd my shit get there?

ok
ima return to edit this after i hit the gym
right now
my brain is fartin something awful

so im tired
u gon do the work
answer these questions:

has anyone given the coolin out corner a listen?
if you were an inanimate object, what would you be?
If you had to name your child after a body part, what would their name be?
When's the last time you ran?
You're producing a television show, what would it be called? what's the show about?
You're coming out with a self-titled cd. wats the name? genre?
If you had a food named after you what would it be?
You're opening your own restaurant. What's it called?
You're starring in a porno. What's the title?
What's your stripper/dancer name?
You write a book on relationships. What's the title?
You tape a documentary. what's it called?
You come up with an alter ego for entertainment purposes. What's the name?
You develop a martial arts move? wats it called?
if you were in a scary movie would you be one of the survivors in the end?
if not, how would you die?
finish the sentence: death is_____________________


i'll answer them lata

try to answer at least 3 questions k?

and any questions u wanna ask a bk chick
go 'head

Monday, February 18, 2008

trail mix

im too lazy to think right now so i just went back and took snippets from past posts and put them here
hence the trail mix

My Prerogative.nuff said


In The Closet
Naomi was a bad bitch in this vid


love
is just
a word sometimes


yes only
just
a word

said in the heat of passion
to be forgotten in those still moments after bodies stop shaking

a phrase told to a nine year old girl by her father
whom she hasn't seen since her last birthday
heart, soul
aching

used to soften the blow of a fist to the chest
thud not loud enough to mask the sound of her
spirit breaking

cuz love is just a word sometimes

_____________________________________________________

I may be just a lil too old to be afraid of the dark
Maybe afraid is too strong. Just uh ummmm anxious???Like i'll look into the shadows and logically i know its a plant but that shit looks an awful lot like an alien and it wouldn't kill me to run past it real quick just in case it did turn out to be an alien. Yao Ming???
..............................................
Speaking of aliens,
i think i was ready to believe my cousin when she said i had been kidnapped by aliens and experimented on because
1 I had that faint line running down my stomache thing
2 i'd get migraines often
3 they would sometimes be accompanied by ringing in my ears
4 i was a weird child
5 i always felt outta place

me being abducted by aliens really didn't sound that farfetched to me
I mean it was on Unsolved Mysteries sheesh
.................................................
Why aren't there more anatomically correct dolls damnit???!!!

Ken is walking around without a wee wee

Ain't it bad enough that Barbie is a doctor/lawyer/astronaut/police officer/NASCAR driver/rapper, (yes i said rapper. This heifa has had more than 90 jobs) they couldn't give dude a dick. i mean he deserves at least that right? ain't even askin for no balls. The penis will do.

lookin like Mrs. Bobbit got ahold of him. It's sad really.
..................................................

i want to adopt my first child
i love kids
they usually love me back (except for this one lil boy wit psychotic tendencies. Don't really care if the serial killers of tomorrow don't like me tho. On second thought...)
Although technically i can cook, i'd rather shoot myself in the foot first
or have you cook for me
..................................................
Two years ago I was on the 2 train headed for class at BMCC when this homeless lady stepped on. I'm tellin you i never seen grown folk act so dumb. Okay she smells, are you surprised? Well apparently some people were. Now you ain't gotta stand there if the odor is too foul for you to stand. watever. just move and leave it at that. But no. Grown folk wanna act like thay reverted back to the third grade. Snickering, laughing, making snide comments. Now i wanted to straight up smack somebody up in that bitch. While all this is happening, she just stands there staring straight ahead as if she can't hear what they're saying. On the real. I felt so bad for her (like on a whole nother level type shit cuz i always feel sympathetic for the homeless). Anyway my stop is coming up soon and i'm thinking i gotta do something like i wanna redeem her faith in people type shit. I'm broke as hell and only have a twenty on me (mind you i didnt eat anything yet and i was gon be in classes all day) so i struggled with if i should give it to her or not (that may sound wrong, but fuck it i was hungry and tired and about to spend the better part of my day up in that school building stomache growling and shit). while im having this conversation with myself she sits down in an empty space near some folk and man their faces. smdh. So i looked at her one last time and thought " u dumb motherfucker here you sit thinkin bout a 20 and a few hours without food. bitch please. that ain't shit compared to what she's going thru". Stop is coming up so i stand up go to where she's seated lean over and ask her : "what's your name?"
Sherrie she whispers. Man that shit broke my heart. I say "God Bless Sherrie" and slip the twenty into her hand while i shake it. Man. She she started tearing up. That "Thank You" i got was the most meaningful thank you of my life. i didn't even think just hugged her and said take care and rushed my ass out that train before i broke down. Just barely made it through the doors before the tears fell. What really struck me was the air of dignity she had despite her circumstances. So i'm sending out a prayer that wherever Sherrie is, she's okay.
.......................................................
I don't need to hear bout lil junebug's first day of kindergarten. I'm just sittin here on the bus tryna get off in five stops so i can get home. You decided to sit ur old ass next to me (when the bus is practically empty) pull out ur wallet and tell me bout your grandson.Why? And i can't even catch an attitude wit ur old ass cuz ur ancient relic self might have a heart attack. See this fake smile that's not reaching my eyes?? That's me humoring you. Get the damn message and shut the hell up!!! Finally my stop is here. Oh hell naw. Why is this old lady bout to get off too??!!Please God, be a hip injury so i can make a hasty retreat.
........................................................

Do you know all the words to the COPS themesong?
does anyone?
bad boys bad boys what u gonna do what u gonna do when they come for you
ummm
ricky nah ricky nah ricky
ricky nah ricky nah rick ron rick
those are the words cuz i say so

so i actually listened to the words
what the hell is: You chuck it on that one
You chuck it on this one
You chuck it on mother and You chuck it on you father
You chuck it on you brother and You chuck it on you sister
You chuck it on that one and you chuck it on me


What the hell they chuckin???!!!

...........................................

Friday, February 15, 2008

Come and get it Mr. Munch

ima sexy, gangsta, shit-talkin, profanity-spewing, lewd, tomboy, spiritual, intelligent freaky virgin
and it's all good
Some people can't reconcile the shit i say with.....
the shit i say
That's folk problem
They like to compartmentalize folk too much
they hear virgin and they think MCluvin or something
(but come on Mcluvin had himself a lil sexy going on)
Then the question they inevitably think and some are dumb enough to ask:
What's wrong with you?
No motherfucker. What's wrong with ur ass?
you see that crap at the top there?
(now's when you take the time to actually scroll up and read the crap thats written in that header)
alias: Morph
always what?: outta line
my motto:FUCK THE BOX!!!

She think her shit is the hope diamond or something? Sure do. Pussy is a friggin commodity that i plan on giving only to the highest bidder. Don't front. We all giving up something to get something. Now i aint no gold-digger cuz i for sure will mess with a broke niggah. No joke niggahs tho.
Meaning:
I don't need a thug
just an assertive, intelligent, charming,
cool as shade brotha
I don't need a balla
However, i need a man
doing for himself
all that he can
and if he ain't got it now
he best have a plan
to make sure he's got it lata
and trust
i aint no hata
i will have his back
when he's going thru those days
and congratulate when he's making that paper

You know how some people like to put their best foot forward when they're tryna get to know someone they're tryna get to know better?
ummm
I usually end up doing the opposite
Not that i go outta my way to be a psycho bitch or nothing
i just am
and don't bother tryna hide it. cuz honestly that's just too much fuckin work.

I have a problem being nice. I've said this before. I just can't be 'normal' nice. I've gotta be sarcastic and witty and shit

I can't take a sincere compliment for shit
uncomfortability level reaches code orange

I place a HIGH premium on personality
NO i really do

You see this man right here



He might could get it

I don't even mind that that pose is mad suspect
He is like THAT


John Munch: I was never much into sports. My hospital basketball coach said I looked like a retarded gazelle with a spastic disorder. Mr. Daley. Real loving guy.

If he's anything like his character on Law and Order
Ima jump that skinny jewishboy
with his conspiracy theorist, liberal, cynical, sarcastic, witty, sexy ass

i can feel somea yall hating
just dont
u mad u aint as cool as my man Munch is all
get over it



he really needs to leave that pale ass, old ass, bland ass chick alone and come get him somea this
i might even consider going thru the pain of getting a brazilian wax for this man
that's sayin a lot (maybe too much.lol)
Munch. im waitin for u yahear?

Wrinkles in Time-Words Are Never Enough

Execution of a Viet Cong Guerrilla [1968]


This picture was shot by Eddie Adams who won the Pulitzer prize with it. The picture shows Nguyen Ngoc Loan, South Vietnam's national police chief executing a prisoner who was said to be a Viet Cong captain. Once again the public opinion was turned against the war.
By Eddie Adams


The lynching of young blacks [1930]

This is a famous picture, taken in 1930, showing the young black men accused of raping a Caucasian woman and killing her boyfriend, hanged by a mob of 10,000 white men. The mob took them by force from the county jail house. Another black man was left behind and ended up being saved from lynching. Even if lynching photos were designed to boost white supremacy, the tortured bodies and grotesquely happy crowds ended up revolting many.
By Lawrence Beitler


Soweto Uprising [1976]

It was a picture that got the world's attention: A frozen moment in time that showed 13-year-old Hector Peterson dying after being struck down by a policeman's bullet.
By Sam Nzima



Hazel Bryant [1957]

It was the fourth school year since segregation had been outlawed by the Supreme Court. Things were not going well, and some southerners accused the national press of distorting matters. This picture, however, gave irrefutable testimony, as Elizabeth Eckford strides through a gantlet of white students, including Hazel Bryant (mouth open the widest), on her way to Little Rock's Central High.
By Will Counts


Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire [1911]

The Triangle Shirtwaist Company always kept its doors locked to ensure that the young immigrant women stayed stooped over their machines and didn't steal anything. When a fire broke out on Saturday, March 25, 1911, on the eighth floor of the New York City factory, the locks sealed the workers' fate. In just 30 minutes, 146 were killed. Witnesses thought the owners were tossing their best fabric out the windows to save it, then realized workers were jumping, sometimes after sharing a kiss (the scene can be viewed now as an eerie precursor to the World Trade Center events of September, 11, 2001, only a mile and a half south). The Triangle disaster spurred a national crusade for workplace safety.
Phan Thi. Kim Phúc [1972]



Phan Thi. Kim Phúc known as Kim Phuc (born 1963) was the subject of a famous photo from the Vietnam war. The picture shows her at about age nine running naked after being severely burned on her back by a napalm attack.
By Huy..nh Công Út


Kent State [1970]

The news that Richard Nixon was sending troops to Cambodia caused a chain of protests in the U.S. colleges. At Kent State the protest seemed more violent, some students even throwing rocks. In consequence, The Ohio National Guard was called to calm things down, but the events got out of hand and they started shooting. Some of the victims were simply walking to school. The photo shows 14-year-old Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the body of Jeffrey Miller who had been shot by the Ohio National Guard moments earlier.
By John Paul Filo


Tiananmen Square [1989]

This is the picture of a student/man going to work who has just had enough. The days leading up to this event thousands of protesters and innocent by standers were killed by their own government because the Chinese people wanted more rights. He tries to stop the tanks in Tiananmen Square by standing in front of them and climbed on the tank and hitting the hatch and yelling, the tank driver didn't crush the man with the bags as a group of unknown people came and dragged him away, we still don't know if the man is alive or dead as the Chinese government executed many of the protesters involved. China is still controlled by a communist regime, but while there are strong willed men like this the country still has hope.
By Jeff Widener


Thích Qua?ng ?u+'c [1963]

Thích Qua?ng Ðu+'c was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who burned himself to death at a busy Saigon intersection on June 11, 1963. His act of self-immolation, which was repeated by others, was witnessed by David Halberstam, a New York Times reporter, who wrote:



" I was to see that sight again, but once was enough. Flames were coming from a human being; his body was slowly withering and shriveling up, his head blackening and charring. In the air was the smell of burning human flesh; human beings burn surprisingly quickly. Behind me I could hear the sobbing of the Vietnamese who were now gathering. I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think.... As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him."
By Arthur Sasse


Nagasaki [1945]

This is the picture of the "mushroom cloud" showing the enormous quantity of energy. The first atomic bomb was released on August 6 in Hiroshima (Japan) and killed about 80,000 people. On August 9 another bomb was released above Nagasaki. The effects of the second bomb were even more devastating - 150,000 people were killed or injured. But the powerful wind, the extremely high temperature and radiation caused enormous long term damage.



Hiroshima, Three Weeks After the Bomb [1945]

Americans -- and everyone -- had heard of the bomb that "leveled" Hiroshima, but what did that mean? When the aerial photography was published, that question was answered.



And here is a ground view of the destruction.



Dead on the Beach [1943]

Haunting photograph of a beach in Papua New Guinea on September 20, 1943, the magazine felt compelled to ask in an adjacent full-page editorial, "Why print this picture, anyway, of three American boys dead upon an alien shore?" Among the reasons: "words are never enough . . .
By George Strock


Buchenwald [1945]

George Patton's troops when they liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp. Forty-three thousand people had been murdered there. Patton was so outraged he ordered his men to march German civilians through the camp so they could see with their own eyes what their nation had wrought.



Anne Frank [1941]


Six million Jews died in the Holocaust. For many throughout the world, one teenage girl gave them a story and a face. She was Anne Frank, the adolescent who, according to her diary, retained her hope and humanity as she hid with her family in an Amsterdam attic. In 1944 the Nazis, acting on a tip, arrested the Franks; Anne and her sister died of typhus at Bergen-Belsen only a month before the camp was liberated. The world came to know her through her words and through this ordinary portrait of a girl of 14. She stares with big eyes, wearing an enigmatic expression, gazing at a future that the viewer knows will never come.




V-J Day, Times Square, [1945]

or "The Kiss", at the end of World War II, in US cities everybody went to the streets to salute the end of combat. Friendship and unity were everywhere. This picture shows a sailor kissing a young nurse in Times Square. The fact is he was kissing every girl he encountered and for that kiss, this particular nurse slapped him.
By Alfred Eisenstaedt


Casualties of war [1991]


Image of a young US sergeant at the moment he learns that the body bag next to him contains the body of his friend, killed by "friendly fire".

The widely published photo became an iconic image of the 1991 Gulf war - a war in which media access was limited by Pentagon restrictions.
By David Turnley


The Falling Man [2001]

The powerful and controversial photograph provoked feelings of anger, particularly in the United States, in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The photo ran only once in many American newspapers because they received critical and angry letters from readers who felt the photo was exploitative, voyeuristic, and disrespectful of the dead. This led to the media's self-censorship of the photograph, preferring instead to print photos of acts of heroism and sacrifice.

Drew commented about the varying reactions, saying, "This is how it affected people's lives at that time, and I think that is why it's an important picture. I didn't capture this person's death. I captured part of his life. This is what he decided to do, and I think I preserved that."9/11: The Falling Man ends suggesting that this picture was not a matter of the identity behind the man, but how he symbolized the events of 9/11.



U.S. Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima [1945]

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is a historic photograph taken on February 23, 1945, by Joe Rosenthal. It depicts five United States Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising the flag of the United States atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

The photograph was extremely popular, being reprinted in thousands of publications. Later, it became the only photograph to win the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in the same year as its publication, and ultimately came to be regarded as one of the most significant and recognizable images of the war, and possibly the most reproduced photograph of all times.
By Joe Rosenthal


Lunch atop a Skyscraper [1932]

Lunch atop a Skyscraper (New York Construction Workers Lunching on a Crossbeam) is a famous photograph taken by Charles C. Ebbets during construction of the GE Building at Rockefeller Center in 1932.

The photograph depicts 11 men eating lunch, seated on a girder with their feet dangling hundreds of feet above the New York City streets. Ebbets took the photo on September 29, 1932, and it appeared in the New York Herald Tribune in its Sunday photo supplement on October 2. Taken on the 69th floor of the GE Building during the last several months of construction, the photo Resting on a Girder shows the same workers napping on the beam.



Here's a rare image by the same photographer showing the workers sleeping on the crossbeam.



Migrant Mother [1936]

For many, this picture of Florence Owens Thompson (age 32) represents the Great Depression. She was the mother of 7 and she struggled to survive with her kids catching birds and picking fruits. Dorothea Lange took the picture after Florence sold her tent to buy food for her children. She made the first page of major newspapers all over the country and changed people's conception about migrants.
By Dorothea Lange


Omayra Sánchez [1985]

Red Cross rescue workers had apparently repeatedly appealed to the government for a pump to lower the water level and for other help to free the girl. Finally rescuers gave up and spent their remaining time with her, comforting her and praying with her. She died of exposure after about 60 hours.
By Frank Fournier


A vulture watches a starving child [1993]

The prize-winning image: A vulture watches a starving child in southern Sudan, March 1, 1993.
Carter's winning photo shows a heart-breaking scene of a starving child collapsed on the ground, struggling to get to a food center during a famine in the Sudan in 1993. In the background, a vulture stalks the emaciated child.

Carter was part of a group of four fearless photojournalists known as the "Bang Bang Club" who traveled throughout South Africa capturing the atrocities committed during apartheid.

Haunted by the horrific images from Sudan, Carter committed suicide in 1994 soon after receiving the award.
By Kevin Carter


Biafra [1969]

When the Igbos of eastern Nigeria declared themselves independent in 1967, Nigeria blockaded their fledgling country-Biafra. In three years of war, more than one million people died, mainly of hunger. In famine, children who lack protein often get the disease kwashiorkor, which causes their muscles to waste away and their bellies to protrude. War photographer Don McCullin drew attention to the tragedy. "I was devastated by the sight of 900 children living in one camp in utter squalor at the point of death," he said. "I lost all interest in photographing soldiers in action." The world community intervened to help Biafra, and learned key lessons about dealing with massive hunger exacerbated by war-a problem that still defies simple solutions.
By Don McCullin


Misery in Darfur [2004]

It's an image which depicts a depressed, shoulders-down figure of a child in a cluster of what remains of her family.

The very weather-beaten arm of her mother goes over her left shoulder and there are the very small weather-beaten hands of the child, who is about five or six, clinging on to this one piece of security that she has, which is the weather-beaten hand of her mother.

The mother is not in the image, she's in the background. But then slightly further in the background you see the other hands of her brothers and sisters as they wait in this village.
By Marcus Bleasdale


Tragedy in Oklahoma [1995]

The fireman has taken the time to remove his gloves before receiving this infant from the policeman.

Anyone who knows anything about firefighters know that their gloves are very rough and abrasive and to remove these is like saying I want to make sure that I am as gentle and as compassionate as I can be with this infant that I don't know is dead or alive.

The fireman is just cradling this infant with the utmost compassion and caring.

He is looking down at her with this longing, almost to say with his eyes: "It's going to be OK, if there's anything I can do I want to try to help you."

He doesn't know that she has already passed away.
By Chris Porter


How Life Begins [1965]

In 1957 he began taking pictures with an endoscope, an instrument that can see inside a body cavity, but when Lennart Nilsson presented the rewards of his work to LIFE's editors several years later, they demanded that witnesses confirm that they were seeing what they thought they were seeing. Finally convinced, they published a cover story in 1965 that went on for 16 pages, and it created a sensation. Then, and over the intervening years, Nilsson's painstakingly made pictures informed how humanity feels about . . . well, humanity. They also were appropriated for purposes that Nilsson never intended. Nearly as soon as the 1965 portfolio appeared in LIFE, images from it were enlarged by right-to-life activists and pasted to placards.
By Lennart Nilsson