Category: Face Of The Day

Face of the Day

Tillmanmarkwilsongetty

"He might turn the speech into the usual denunciation of traitors and thought-criminals, but that was a little too obvious, while to invent a victory at the front, or some triumph of over-production in the Ninth Three-Year Plan, might complicate the records too much.

What was needed was a piece of pure fantasy. Suddenly there sprang into his mind, ready-made as it were, the image of a certain Comrade Ogilvy, who had recently died in battle, in heroic circumstances. There were occasions when Big Brother devoted his Order for the Day to commemorating some humble, rank-and-file Party member whose life and death he held up as an example worthy to be followed.

Today he should commemorate Comrade Ogilvy. It was true that there was no such person as Comrade Ogilvy, but a few lines of print and a couple of faked photographs would soon bring him into existence," – George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four.

(Photo: Kevin Tillman testifies on what his family was told about the death of his brother Patrick Tillman, who was killed during a friendly fire incident while serving in Afghanistan, during a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Capitol Hill, April 24, 2007 in Washington, DC. Patrick Tillman was killed during a friendly fire incident while serving in Afghanistan, but the military initially reported the death as part of and engagement with the enemy. The hearing is focused on misleading information from the battlefield. By Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Face of the Day

Allotmentmattcardygetty

John Day stands outside his shed on his plot on the Manor Garden Allotments at the heart of the 2012 Olympic site on April 11, 2007 in London, England. John has had an allotment on the site since 1972 growing vegetables for 35 years. Manor Gardens, bequeathed 100 years ago to be allotments ‘in perpetuity’ by their original owner Major Villiers, sit in the proposed North central section of the Olympic Park and are to be removed to make a footpath to the stadium. By Matt Cardy/Getty.

One small editorial comment: this really is the end of England.

Face of the Day

Morrisdancerchristopherfurlonggetty

A member of the Britannia Coconutters waits his turn to dance boundary to boundary in Bacup, on April 7, 2007 in Lancashire, northern England. Every Easter Saturday for over a hundred years the men have performed pagan dances to welcome Spring and ward off evil Winter spirits. The Coconutters derive their name from the time when coal miners would wear coconut shells on their knees for protection in the pits. Their blackened faces are to disguise them from evil spirits after the dance has finished and also reflects the coal mining traditions. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)