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The main page of her dominatrix fetish sex tour is a blog style layout with pictures and free movie clips which all have a description describing the scene. Whenever Kiana has updates added to her members'area, a post is made on the main page so that you know exactly how often the site is updated and with what type of content. There are also links where you can purchase the video or DVD directly for various scenes she describes on the main page.
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Behind Kink is a documentary-style site providing 'An Inside Look at a Forbidden World of Kink.' Compiled from the adult BDSM chat sites flying the Kink banner'Hogtied, FuckingMachines, WaterBondage (really worthy of note for its dark, surreal scenarios involving water), WiredPussy, WhippedAss, and several others'and contributions from other sources like HouseofGord, and directors Princess Donna, Lew Rubens, Sir C, Shine Louise Houston, and even Vivid-Alt's Malachi Ecks, we're given a peek behind the curtain at the work that goes into creating unique bondage/BDSM presentations through thousands of photos and dozens of video clips.
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César Alfred Simar (* 29. Mai 1879 in Lille; † 23. Oktober 1934 in Meudon) war ein französischer Radrennfahrer.

Schon im Alter von 15 Jahren wurde César Simar Profi-Radrennfahrer; sein Entdecker war der spätere Steher-Weltmeister Constant Huret, für den er auch als Schrittmacher arbeitete. Er war auf den Radrennbahnen vieler Länder zuhause, fuhr oft auch in Deutschland, im Winter 1899/1900 startete er bei Rennen in Argentinien. Er nahm an den Olympischen Spielen 1900 teil und gewann das 25-Kilometer-Rennen der Profis, das allerdings offiziell nicht als "olympisch" gewertet wird.

Der größte Erfolg in Simars Karriere war der Titel des Vize-Weltmeisters der Profi-Steher bei den UCI-Bahn-Weltmeisterschaften 1904 in London, hinter dem US-Amerikaner Robert Walthour. Er startete bei vier Sechstagerennen und wurde im Jahr 1900 Dritter des New Yorker Sechstagerennens, gemeinsam mit dem Schweizer Jean Gougoltz. Damit waren die beiden die ersten Europäer, die bei einem US-amerikanischen Sechstagerennen auf dem Podium standen. 1905 wurde Simar Dritter der französischen Steher-Meisterschaft. Zudem gewann er zahlreiche "Große Preise", darunter z. B. 1905 den "Großen Preis vom Rhein" in Köln.

In den 1930er Jahren wurde in Paris das Steherrennen um den Prix César Simar ausgetragen. 1936 war der Sieger André Raynaud, der wenige Wochen später Steher-Weltmeister wurde.

Einzelnachweise

Literatur
 Rad-Welt. Sport-Album. Ein radsportliches Jahrbuch. 5. Jg., 1906, , S. 31 f.

Weblinks

 museociclismo.it

Radsportler (Frankreich)
Bahnradfahrer
Geboren 1879
Schrittmacher im Radsport
Franzose
Gestorben 1934
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
January 24, 2023 January 24, 2023 Keith Read
Diments Are Forever: A Tale of Spies in Swinging London
"Adam Diment is 23. His hero, Philip McAlpine, is based on himself. That is to say he's tall, good-looking, with a taste for fast cars, planes, girls and pot."
So wrote the London Sunday Times in 1967, upon the release of Adam Diment's first novel, The Dolly Dolly Spy. It's a brisk spy thriller that taps into the swinging London era, full of Carnaby Street fashion, Soho cool, and wild slang. But it turns out that the London Sunday Times had it backward; it was Adam Diment, the author, who was based upon Philip McAlpine, the character. Or somewhere in between. Adam Diment was, when the book came out, a shaggy-haired, dope-smoking, free-love cat who wrote the counterculture equivalent of James Bond. Philip McAlpine, the hero of The Dolly Dolly Spy, did indeed bear a striking resemblance to Diment, both physically and philosophically. But how much of Diment was the real deal, and how much had been carefully crafted behind the scenes, molding a bland but willing Frederick Adam Diment into Adam Diment, swinging thriller writer and man of mystery—exactly what was needed to market the book and its equally popular sequels?
And then, after becoming the toast of swinging London, Adam Diment vanished.
It was such an abrupt and, at least to those who did not know Diment, unexpected departure from the public eye that some assumed he'd been murdered, or committed suicide, or perhaps been spirited away in the night to a seaside village full of quirky people who knew too much and needed to spend time wearing cardigan sweaters and running down the beach away from giant balloons. Some reported he was a casualty of drugs, or that he attained enlightenment. He was spotted on the beach in Ibiza and living with a mysterious Cuban-English model at a remote Italian villa. Backpackers caught sight of him in Cambodia and India. Was he living in Zurich, reeling from some shady financial fraud? Was he a student at UCLA? Was he a farmer in Kent? How had a young man who, before his 25th birthday, had written such popular books, who had more book deals and writing deals and movie deals in the works—how had such a young man so totally vanished?
Had Diment not written espionage novels, his disappearance probably wouldn't have attracted as much attention. Literature is full of authors, even popular authors, who come and go in the blink of an eye, never to be heard from again, without generating so many theories as to their fate as have arisen about Adam Diment. That he was young, with moddish good looks and impeccable style, and was making the scene with a parade of beautiful young women and hip celebrities made his disappearance all the more puzzling. Who would walk away from that life? Surely there must be more to the story. Something incredible. Maybe even something sinister.
Or maybe there's not.
Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
High Spy
"This espionage racket is spreading like mould, I thought. Soon I won't have a friend left who's not in the racket."—Adam Diment, The Great Spy Race
I don't remember how Adam Diment first came to my attention. Born in the 1970s as I was, I was not on the Adam Diment bandwagon in the 1960s, though that bandwagon was huge. The Dolly Dolly Spy sold over a million copies in its first year, was translated into seventeen languages, and netted Diment the single biggest advance ever given to an unpublished author. He toured the US and UK and was fêted at every stop, except for the ones where squares showed up to heckle his flamboyant attire and long hair. But even those encounters only fueled the fire of his popularity.
Back when I first heard about Diment, sometime around 2014, the path to learning more about him was straight and narrow. one did an internet search and ended up at Rob Baker's website, Another Nickel in the Machine. His 2009 post, "The Disappearance of the Author Adam Diment," was, at the time, the most complete account of the strange legacy of Adam. Baker's own research and the many comments left by former friends and business acquaintances of Adam Diment still serve, to this day, as the ideal starting point for anyone interested in Diment's story. Between 2009 and 2015, most articles about Diment paraphrased Baker's. In 2015, John Michael O'Sullivan, writing for Esquire UK, took the next step. He pored over the comments on Baker's article and tracked down everyone he could find who might provide insight, confirm or disprove rumors, and hopefully lead him to the elusive Adam Diment.
On his surreal odyssey, O'Sullivan spoke to former friends, colleagues, and girlfriends of Adam Diment, including Suzie Mandrake, one of Diment's frequent partners in crime and a remarkable story in her own right. O'Sullivan spoke to publishers, publishers' assistants, and Diment's old roommate, Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice, who went on to write lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita. He talked to backpackers, hotel clerks, and others whose ship passed in the night with Adam Diment. He spoke to relatives. He got close to what was most likely Adam Diment's home, only to find an open front door and an empty house. He tracked Diment to a hotel in Cambodia, only to have the conversation with the front desk go from,"Yes he's here," to" Sorry, he just left," in the blink of an eye.
O'Sullivan's article was posted to the Esquire UK website in November and appeared in the December 2015 print issue. Between Baker and O'Sullivan, they represent the first and last word on the strange saga of Adam Diment. While I will recount pieces of it, I suggest that you go to those two sources. They're the ones who did the leg work and deserve the accolades.
What has often been mentioned only in passing are the Philip McAlpine books themselves. Much that is written about them is, in my opinion, a bit off. Three of them—The Dolly Dolly Spy, The Great Spy Race, and The Bang Bang Birds—were published in 1967 and '68. The fourth, Think, Inc., came out in 1971. They are not comedies, nor exactly are they spoofs, though many articles refer to them as such. Diment was contracted for two more Philip McAlpine books, which never materialized since the author dematerialized. They certainly contain satire, but the books are pretty grounded despite their fanciful attire, and in the case of Think, Inc., surprisingly bleak. They are also snapshots, if exaggerated—like Adam Diment himself—of life in London during the 1960s.
Although inevitably compared to Ian Fleming and James Bond, Diment and Philip McAlpine have more in common with The IPCRESS File, Donald Hamilton's Matt Helm, and the morally grey antiheroes of John Le Carre. That none of the books has been in print for decades contributes to people who write about them relying on hearsay and second-hand knowledge. They are available on the second-hand market, but the second-hand market being what it is, that means you could be seeing prices anywhere from $2 to $40 for a paperback.
Let's begin our journey through the psychedelic world of Diment and McAlpine by doing what I just complained about: writing about James Bond.
EON Productions/Promotional shot by Arthur Evans
Bond vs. the Brit Beat
"McAlpine is the most modern hero in years. He's hip, he's hard, he likes birds and, sometimes, marijuana."—The Daily Mirror
There's no one event that sparked the era known in retrospect as swinging London, but the book to which I refer to most often as a concise history of the era, Shawn Levy's Ready! Steady! Go!, names three players that served as major flashpoints: David Bailey, Mary Quant, and the Beatles (Terence Stamp, Michael Caine, and the Rolling Stones get in on the fun as well). Bailey was a fashion photographer who eschewed norms and famous models in favor of searching London clubs and streets for more contemporary, realistic models. He happened upon a young woman named Jean Shrimpton, photographed her, and turned her and her look into the face and style of the era. Mary Quant was a young fashion designer who wanted to make cool, affordable clothes for kids who had some—but not much—money and fewer inhibitions than their parents. She opened a shop, designed her own clothes, and invented a thing called the miniskirt. And the Beatles became the fucking Beatles.
All spy fiction is viewed through the lens of James Bond. Ian Fleming's creation cast a long shadow, and EON's cinematic version casts a longer shadow still. When we look back on the legacy of James Bond, we tend to think of the series as the apex of cool, despite the forays into "attitudes of the time" around the portrayals of women and minorities. We do the same thing for other retro icons: Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley…Perry Como. OK, maybe not Perry Como. But a slew of other things that came to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s are regarded fondly as pretty cool.
This state is one that can only be arrived at when the tastes of an era are far enough removed from their actual era that they become compressed and without nuance; what was cool in the 1960s was cool in all of the 1960s, to all of the people, regardless of age or race or whether it was early or later '60s. The passage of time make bedfellows of such diverse things as Martin Denny, Honeybus, and James Brown. And James Bond. Bond was, and still is, usually defined as cool—if a tad out of step with modern moral sensibilities. However, had I been a twenty-something in the late '60s, it's likely I wouldn't have felt the same way. If I had been that age at that time, I suspect I would have been very much into the swinging London scene. I suspect that in large part because I am, now.
At the beginning of the 1960s, England was still colored—drably—by post-War austerity. But the young generation was sick of the "make do with less" attitude, especially as movies showed off how abundant things were in the United States. So British youth rebelled, first in the form of Teddies pilfering second-hand shops for cheap Edwardian finery, and then in the 1960s by a new wave of mods, freaks, and hipsters. Pretty soon, a whole population was designing their own clothes, opening their own shops, forming their own bands, and rejecting the classic tweed-and-bowler-hat image. Dr. No, the first James Bond film, was released in October 1962, and in its own way it was as much a rebellion against austerity as the miniskirt and Please Please Me, the first full-length Beatles LP, released in March 1963. Bond was brash and had swagger, everything the older English generation was afraid they'd lost after WWII. The movie was colorful and packed with sex and violence, the tolerance for which in British film was being pushed by cult movies such as Beat Girl (1959)—the score for which, incidentally, was composed by John Barry, the same man who would write the music for Dr. No and many subsequent Bond films.
Bond may have been a form of rebellion against post-war austerity, but it wasn't the same type of rebellion as what was brewing on Carnaby Street, in the nightclubs of Chelsea, and the shops along King's Road. James Bond was no young kid struggling to get by on a low wage. Economic depression wasn't something that touched 007, especially in the movies. Bond didn't so much embrace new morals as he did openly celebrate the sin in which the British upper class had always indulged. He was an attempt to reclaim British world prominence that in the real world had been passed to the Soviet Union and, Britain's rebellious upstart child, the United States.
By the release of Goldfinger (1964), James Bond was openly mocking the youth movement, commenting to a young woman while staying in Miami's expensive Hotel Fontainebleau, "My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perignon '53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That's just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs!"
To this day, that line is regarded as the most hopelessly square thing James Bond ever said. But it wasn't entirely wrong of Bond to say that. If 007 during the Connery era (as well as in Fleming's original novels) was a way for Britain to reclaim a bit of past glory, then James Bond was also an anchor for older Brits who weren't in tune with what was brewing down on Carnaby Street. The revolution being built by the likes of Bailey, Shrimpton, Quant, and the Beatles would result in no less an impressive cultural conquest for England—the Beatles, after all, would topple a king (Elvis Presley)—but this sort of British glory wasn't what the older generation had in mind. Bond assured them they weren't alone in disapproving of all the racket.
At that point, the paths of James Bond and swinging London diverge. But they also remain tangled, as pop culture often is. One of the key players in the career of the Beatles was Sir George Martin, who was also one of the key players in soundtrack production for the James Bond films, a partnership that began when he produced, hilariously enough, the soundtrack for Goldfinger. The Beatles lightheartedly spoofed some iconic Bond scenes in their films A Hard Day's Night and Help! A scene in A Hard Day's Night was shot in Le Cercle, the casino that serves as the location for our first glimpse of Bond in Dr. No. That scene also features an appearance by actress Margaret Nolan, who later gives Bond a poolside massage in…wait for it…Goldfinger. In 1973, a former Beatle would record a James Bond theme song, and another would marry a Bond girl in 1981.
As the world entered the back half of the 1960s, the anti-war movement sparked by Vietnam manifested in one form or another nearly everywhere. The kids were not all right, and they were not interested in what their parents thought was cool. Sinatra, suits, cocktails, James Bond—no thanks. Instead, it was flash clothes, hash, and psychedelic rock. In that atmosphere, a well-dressed British spy who can't abide the racket of something as innocuous as the Beatles (let alone more far-out jams — what would 007 do if confronted by the Stooges?) would have seemed uncool indeed. That line of thinking is what led Australian actor George Lazenby to abandon the role of James Bond after a single film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Lazenby is often made fun of for growing his hair out and, in the midst of doing the publicity rounds for the film, declaring James Bond to be dead, a relic of the previous generation.
But he was, to a degree, correct. What was Bond in the era of Vietnam? What was cool about a smug secret agent drinking fancy cocktails and wearing expensive clothes when the youth were running wild in the street, wearing miniskirts and jeans? They were smoking dope instead of drinking Martinis, and listening to the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds and even more out-there underground acts. What was Bond when the spy genre was exploring darker territory (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The IPCRESS File) or making fun of it all (Our Man Flint, the 1967 Casino Royale)? Can you imagine that dude showing up at 2i's Coffee Bar or checking out that crazy dude Jimi Hendrix at Bag O Nails? There were still a lot of Bond fans, and even a lot of younger Bond fans, but he was increasingly out of step with a large chunk of the population. But was it a chunk of the population Bond needed to be in step with? Did he need to loosen up? Or would that lead to something ridiculous, the equivalent of Daniel Craig showing up for a mission in Nike Dunks, joggers, and a Supreme t-shirt (wait…is Supreme still cool???).
No Swinger is Called Fred
"Only bits of London are swinging, very small bits – nobody could delude themselves into thinking Barnet is swinging."—Adam Diment, The Great Spy Race
Enter into this candy-colored scene Adam Diment, whose name was coincidentally close to the name of the main character in the 1966 TV show Adam Adamant Lives!, about an Edwardian adventurer (Gerald Harper) who is frozen in time and reawakened in the 1960s, taking to the streets of swinging London with a mod sidekick (Juliet Harmer). Born Frederick Adam Diment (he later dropped the Fred since, as he said himself, "no swinger is called Fred") in 1943. he was the son of a sailor who switched to farming. Diment studied at Lancing College, West Sussex, which is also where he started writing. He also briefly studied at the Royal Agricultural College. Diment's entry into the world of writing was by way of low-level grunt jobs in the publishing and advertising business (much like Jimmy, the angry young mod in the 1979 movie Quadrophenia). He ended up rooming with a former Lansing classmate, Tim Rice, who was struggling to make it as a lyricist. By this time, Diment had fourteen finished manuscripts, all rejected by every publisher that had seen them.
The flat the two lads leased was owned by a man named James Leasor, author of a popular espionage book from 1964 called Passport to Oblivion (adapted as an audio drama in 2019, starring…George Lazenby). Inspired by Leasor, or at least by Leasor's success, Diment decided to try his hand at the spy fiction game. He immersed himself in Fleming and Len Deighton, whose 1962 novel The IPCRESS File would seem to have the biggest influence on Diment. A film adaptation was released in 1965. Like Adam Diment's books would be, The IPCRESS File was positioned as an anti-Bond, albeit one produced by a Bond producer (Harry Saltzman), with Bond's set designer (Ken Adams), and starring one of the most important up-and-coming faces around swinging London: Terence Stamp's flatmate, Michael Caine.
Tim Rice had an agent named Desmond Elliot, referred to in at least one newspaper as a "dapper little elf." Elliot was well along the road to becoming a legend in the publishing business. Diment asked his roommate to slip Elliot a new manuscript, The Runes of Death. Elliott, famous for spotting new talent, agreed to meet Diment. Exactly what Adam Diment was when he walked into Desmond Elliot's office is something about which we can only speculate, though Suzie Mandrake described him in O'Sullivan's Esquire UK article as "still quite green and a country boy" and "quite anorak." Diment was as country around the edges as Sean Connery when he landed the role of 007.
Suzie Mandrake is one of the greatest untold subplots in the Adam Diment saga. She was one of his earliest London friends, a co-worker of Diment's at the advertising agency Connell, May & Stevenson. She introduced him around, and when he became famous, went on tour with him. The two were often photographed together, including for a series that appeared in Life magazine. O'Sullivan describes Mandrake as a "society deb, cave dweller, artist's model, adult film starlet." The comments section on Baker's article contains nearly as many people looking for info on or reminiscing about Mandrake as are Diment. Yet information on her remains difficult to come by, with most mentions of her name being in conjunction with the role she played in Adam Diment's story (the character of Veronica in The Dolly Dolly Spy is reportedly based on her). In 2015, she was not as elusive as Adam Diment. But it seems she is always asked about Adam, and rarely about herself. That's a shame. I mean, "cave dweller"???
While Elliot negotiated a knock-out deal for Diment with publisher Michael Joseph—whose only revision (or so the lore claims) to the book was to change the title from The Runes of Death to the "hipper" The Dolly Dolly Spy—he also got to work on Diment himself, who seemed willing to go along with whatever, especially after fourteen unsuccessful manuscripts. Whatever Adam Diment walked into Desmond Elliot's office, it was "Adam Diment" who walked out. Elliot, who passed away in 2003 before the revival and thus was never interviewed by any of the 21st-century Diment sleuths, liked what he saw in The Runes of Death, and he liked the raw material he had in Adam Diment who, though he may have been rough around the edges, was still young and good looking. Elliot could make him into something. After all, Sean Connery had been a Scottish hick before director Terence Young got a hold of him and molded him into the James Bond we see on screen.
With money from his advance on the book, as well as Elliott's investment, Diment was decked out in the finest and most outrageous London fashion. According to Mandrake, Diment's Elliot-approved attire was a bit over-the-top even for swinging London. As O'Sullivan quotes her in his Esquire UK article, "the only other people I saw dressed like that were the likes of Jagger." Press releases shaved a few years off of his real age. Although he reportedly resided in London's hippest neighborhood, it later (much later) came out that he probably never lived in Chelsea, and instead spent his time at the decidedly less-hip address of a flat at 28 Tregunter Road, Fulham. He got an Aston Martin, grew his hair long, and became a fixture in London's hippest nightclubs, surrounded by London's hippest women, including Suzie Mandrake and, later, the most mysterious figure in a story full of mysterious figures: a Cuban emigre and model known only as "Camille."
Espionage books were hot, but most of them were written for, or at least from the viewpoint of, an older crowd. But here was Adam Diment, looking more like something from the back of an album cover than a book cover. And just as importantly, here was Philip McAlpine, the protagonist of The Dolly Dolly Spy and a secret agent quite unlike any the world had seen.
Swing, Spy, Swing
"Mostly concerned with a very wicked air charter firm. Read it when you feel about 18: it will save you finding out for yourself what smoking 'pot' is like."—H. R. F. Keating, The Times
Although Diment is frequently compared (or juxtaposed) to Ian Fleming and McAlpine to James Bond, the closest parallel to The Dolly Dolly Spy is the nameless, faceless everyman spy in Len Deighton's The IPCRESS File. He even has more in common with the jaded company men of John Le Carre novels than with 007. Like Deighton's unwilling spy or Donald Hamilton's "pressed into service against his will" agent Matt Helm, Diment's Philip McAlpine is blackmailed into being a spy. He's a low-level but unusually competent employee at an industrial security firm when he catches the eye of MI6. He's forced into the spy game when he's threatened with imprisonment for possession of hashish. He has no love for the job. In fact, he proudly thinks of himself as a coward. He despises the bureaucratic authority figures who make intelligence work their game. But he's also kind of good at it.
He finds himself in the employ of a strange take on Bond's M character, or Harry Palmer Major Dalby. But where both of those men are stern British military types, Diment's spymaster, Rupert Quine, is a campy, flamboyant popinjay of the green velvet and yellow ruffled shirt variety. If The Dolly Dolly Spy was made into a movie today, Quine would be played by Tom Hollander. He frequently refers to hapless hipster McAlpine as "sweetie" and "honey." His foppish affectations shroud a keen (if twisted) mind and sadistic streak. If M eventually becomes James Bond's father (or mother) figure, then Quine is McAlpine's S&M dungeon mistress. He's more than happy to threaten McAlpine—as well as friends and family—with murder, rape, whatever unsavory act will pressure McAlpine into playing ball.
In The Dolly Dolly Spy, it's prison for McAlpine and his sister. With no choice other than jail time, McAlpine agrees to become a contract employee for Quine's shady intelligence unit with an overly complicated name: CI-6 NC/NAC (meaning they operate in non-communist, non-aligned countries). His mission is to infiltrate a charter airline company that runs clandestine operations for just about every intelligence organization in the world. Initially, McAlpine's assignment is a pretty sweet gig: get hired, do his job, get a suntan, collect his pay, and occasionally let Quine know what's happening. They even let him bring his favorite girlfriend, Veronica, with him to the charter company's posh Ibiza headquarters, giving the two young modsters ample chances to recline around pools, smoking weed and soaking up the sun while wearing white jeans or bikinis. But McAlpine is no idiot. He knows he wouldn't be drawing such a large salary from Quine if something a lot more dangerous wasn't in store for him.
New York Times reviewer Anthony Boucher wrote that Diment was "a happy answer to my recent 'plaint about the lack of really young writers in the suspense field. The Dolly Dolly Spy introduces Philip McAlpine, an agent who smokes hashish, leads a highly active sex life, kills vividly, uses (or even coins) the latest London slang, and still seems a perfectly real (and even oddly likable) young man rather than a reflected Bond-image." Diment's prose is breezy and stuffed with slang but never at the expense of easy reading. More importantly, it doesn't sound false, as can often be the case. If there's anything truly camp about The Dolly Dolly Spy, it's Rupert Quine, but given how many strange people have been employed by British Intelligence over the decades, the mincing, threatening, madly-attired Quine seems at least somewhat plausible.
Ruffled collars and Chelsea boots aside, Diment plays it straight. McAlpine was a character many more people—especially young people—could relate to, living a life more recognizable (and more attainable) than James Bond's but more fun than the bland existence of Harry Palmer. Philip McAlpine sounds outré, and one can be forgiven for expecting a campy, over-the-top sort of romp, but McAlpine is a believable character who gets involved in a pretty believable scheme (at least by the standards of espionage fiction). McAlpine harbors no love for his profession, but he's not bad at it. He is an accomplished pilot and, after a bit of training, adept with firearms and all manner of tradecraft. He proves able despite being tossed into the deep end.
Given the initial description of McAlpine, one could be forgiven for expecting some sort of send-up of the spy genre (Austin Powers comes up in discussion almost as often as James Bond), even though they're no more outrageous—sometimes considerably less so—than books taken much more seriously in the genre. I mean, no one calls Fleming's You Only Live Twice a spy spoof, but it has a villain with a face deformed by syphilis who spends his days stomping around a poisonous garden while clad in a suit of samurai armor. Nothing in Diment's novels is as absurd as that.
Her Majesty's Secret Stash
"I think the sexy spy's going out of vogue, don't you, Bill, darling?"—Adam Diment, The Dolly Dolly Spy
As the story goes, the only thing Adam Diment's publisher wanted to be changed about the draft of the novel the aspiring young writer handed him was the title, The Runes of Death (an allusion to McAlpine casting runes to see what fate had in store for him, even though he didn't believe in supernatural powers). The Dolly Dolly Spy is a better title, more in line with what everyone wanted from it. The book was a huge success. Diment was swept up in a media blitz the likes of which is normally reserved for rock stars. As far as anyone could tell, Adam Diment was Philip McAlpine. He appeared surrounded by celebrities and fans, an attractive young woman on each arm, at all of London's hippest spots. He jet-setted in support of the book and even popped up in a Life magazine pictorial about swingin' London. How much of what fans saw was Diment and how much was crafted persona remains hazy and, really, unimportant. It was the sort of life James Bond himself might lead, had 007 listened to psychedelic rock and hung around the streets with go-go girls in miniskirts and body paint. If James Bond was fashion photography before David Baily and Jean Shrimpton, then Diment was everything that came after.
The success didn't go unnoticed. The Dolly Dolly Spy was optioned by United Artists (home of James Bond). David Hemmings (who cemented his counterculture cool in Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow Up) was tagged as the likely star. Diment met Hemmings, the two were photographed together for Life, and it seemed like the perfect pairing. Unfortunately, United Artists' zeal was soon tempered by the realization that they'd have to either take a major risk or make major alterations when it came to McAlpine's love of hash. Censors would come down hard on a pro-weed hero. Taking away his joints would undermine Philip McAlpine.
As United Artist struggled with the project, which ultimately fell apart and never went into production, Diment wasted no time getting to work on a second novel. The Great Spy Race came out in 1968, followed that same year by The Bang Bang Birds. The Great Spy Race picks up very soon after the first book, with McAlpine still an unwilling employee of Quine's bizarre intelligence outfit but nearing the end of his contract. When he's sent on what seems to be a routine assignment, he finds himself set up to become Quine's representative in a competition for spies being mounted by an eccentric billionaire and former spymaster. The prize is a piece of intelligence so juicy that the top spy agencies of the world all send participants. Up against such big guns, McAlpine considers himself absurdly outclassed, but since it's his life on the line, he taps into all his skills and cunning to come out on top, or at least make a good show it things.
The Great Spy Race is a slim novel with a slim plot, easily read in a single go. It's sort of like one of those martial arts tournament movies that were so common in the 1980s and '90s, with a bunch of outlandish characters and fighting styles all thrown together. McAlpine gets to adventure his way through the espionage underworld, indulging in all of the sleaziest tricks of the spy trade in a series of thrilling locations, including Ibiza and the French Riviera. Even more so than The Dolly Dolly Spy, Diment's second novel is more about style and attitude than plot. It's more absurdist than The Dolly Dolly Spy, but I still wouldn't call it a comedy. Cheeky satire, maybe? I've seen McAlpine compared to George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman series. They share a certain cynicism toward authority, but Flashman is truly a villain. Philip McAlpine is a decent guy whose survival instinct has been goosed. He can be, but rarely is, ruthless.
In The Bang Bang Birds, McAlpine is pressured into service again, this time on loan to the Americans, who want him to infiltrate a chain of ultra-high-end swingers clubs that have been collecting top-secret information from tipsy, loose-lipped politicians and scientists. American intelligence workers, in the eyes of McAlpine, are a hopelessly square and uptight bunch headed up by the perpetually enraged, crew-cut General Eastfeller. Eastfeller, predictably enough, can barely tolerate McAlpine's shaggy haircut and moderately outlandish clothing. McAlpine enjoys teasing his belligerent ally, but only up to a point, as Eastfeller is the type to make good on his threats. Again, the relationship between agent and superior is different. There's none of the fatherly warmth of M. Even the bitterest spy of them all, Matt Helm, gets along better with his boss. McAlpine, Eastfeller, and Quine all genuinely hate one another.
Both The Great Spy Race and The Bang Bang Birds were as popular as The Dolly Dolly Spy. Adam Diment was riding the crest of a wave—straight out of the limelight and toward destinations unknown.
Coming Down Off Its High
"I'm getting a little tired of the character now."—Adam Diment
Rumors started that Diment had fled to Rome after being caught up in a bit of currency swindling. However, as much as it's framed as a puzzle, it's no mystery why a young man in the late 1960s, especially one playing the role of a London hipster but who is really just a farmer at heart, might tire of success and want a few moments to himself—or if not to himself, then to himself and whatever lady he happened to invite along. That lady, as the rumors have it, was a mysterious Cuban ex-pat named Camille, to whom he dedicated The Bang Bang Birds and with whom Diment traveled either to Rome or Zurich, possibly both. There's no verified account of his time away from the London spotlight, but over the years, friends who knew Diment during his sojourn in Rome remember that he and Camille spent most of their time sunbathing on rooftops. If the price of sunbathing with a Cuban beauty in the villas of assorted Italian friends is the price one pays for stepping away from publicity, well then, it seems fair enough.
During his sabbatical from the prying eye of the public, Diment wrote his fourth book, Think, Inc., published in 1971. There was a certain bitterness and a touch of melancholy in the three previous books, despite their garish clothing and wild situations. With Think, Inc., that dark streak becomes the defining characteristic. It's more cynical. It's more violent. The candy-colored fantasy of the previous novels gives way to a bleakness that is almost on the level of Le Carre, though with more sex and style than the average George Smiley tale. The previous three had been enjoyable larks, but Think, Inc. is denser, with more complex characterization and some obvious growth on the part of McAlpine, who has gone from swinging ladies man to a more mature, more depressed man.
By 1971, the swinging London of McAlpine's heyday had all but faded. Adam Diment's interest in celebrity was fading along with his celebrity. The summer of love was over, exhausted. Vietnam was still raging. When asked what the scene in London was like by the character Charity, with whom McAlpine falls in love, the hip young spy replies, "'Coming down off its high." He's unceremoniously dumped by Quine's intelligence organization after a mission goes awry, turned out into the cold with nothing in the way of protection from the many enemies he made during the course of duty—many of whom immediately set their gunsights on poor Philip McAlpine. What's more, Quine ferrets out all of McAlpine's bank accounts and seizes his hard-earned pay, leaving the reluctant spy broke and with a lot of targets on his back.
He ends up in Italy, where he grows a beard (just like George Lazenby), cuts his hair short, ditches his Carnaby Street finery, and tries to stay off of everyone's radar. As is usually the case, though, the past isn't the past, and McAlpine is kidnapped by an independent criminal organization called Think, Inc. Although they're more polite about it than Rupert Quine, Think, Inc. doesn't give McAlpine much of a choice. With few options, he joins up.
However, it turns out the criminal pursuits of Think, Inc. and its boss, Faustus, often have more righteous aims than the legitimate intelligence work McAlpine did for Queen and country. Among the members is Charity, a black radical who white America and Europe have given more than enough reason to live outside of the law. She and McAlpine fall for one another. A significant change in McAlpine, and in this books, is that he becomes pretty contemplative about life, and about Charity, ruminating frequently on the emptiness of his life and the desire to settle down with Charity and get away from a life of crime and violence. McAlpine was always a down-to-earth, relatable character, but Think, Inc. really leans into his vulnerability.
His first assignment is rather harmless: kidnapping a famous starlet—a plan she herself concocted and contracted Think, Inc. to execute so she can get out of an exploitive contract with a Roman film company. It's easy-breezy, and McAlpine is thinking that between this sort of work and the company of Charity, maybe Think, Inc. isn't such a bad temporary gig. Unfortunately, the good times don't last. Their next mission, a gun-running job in the Greek Islands, turns into a gory disaster. Half of the team is wiped out, and McAlpine barely escapes. Things go downhill quickly, as the next job—hijacking a plane full of gold—goes even worse, leaving just about everyone else, including Faustus, dead. Charity is badly wounded, and the novel ends with McAlpine dragging her onto the plane and making a desperate take-off.
That's the last we ever see of Philip McAlpine…and Adam Diment.
Requiem for a Secret Agent
"I don't want to be writing McAlpine when I'm 27!"—Adam Diment
As McAlpine flies off into an ambiguous future, it's easy to see Adam Diment's own departure from the scene in the pages of the book. 1971 and Think, Inc. was the last anyone in the public heard from Diment. He never wrote another book. He never did another interview. The abruptness of his disappearance caused rumors to flow. That he was dead. That he was in trouble over drugs or some financial scam. That he simply grew weary and disillusioned with fame. That he had been spotted in Nepal. In Switzerland. And finally, that he had packed it all in, bought himself a farm in Kent, and lives there to this day, quietly tending his garden and avoiding any sort of publicity. Diment and McAlpine understood one of the most important rules of cool: don't overstay your welcome. In 1975, the Observer Magazine wrote an article titled, "Whatever Happened to Adam Diment?" The article concluded that "Diment now lives in Zurich, shunning publicity, and has no plans to write a new book." He didn't surface to confirm or deny.
The same year Think, Inc. was released to mediocre response, Diamonds are Forever was released to much the same. Connery's return as James Bond sparked interest, but it didn't do much to help the overall health of the franchise. Roger Moore debuted in the role in 1973's Live and Let Die (with a theme song by former Beatle Paul McCartney) to mixed reception. 1974's The Man with the Golden Gun fared even worse. Critics lambasted the film (to be fair, was nothing new for a Bond film), and bad word-of-mouth poisoned the box office. Producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman didn't like each other. Creative differences and financial trouble led to Saltzman selling his share of what looked to be a sinking ship anyway. Broccoli decided to give it one more go and, if the next film failed, fold up the tent and let the James Bond franchise retire.
Pre-production was disastrous, and the franchise was tangled in legal issues. But in the end, they stitched together a bombastic blowout in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me. Exhausted from years of social turmoil, political upheaval, and economic uncertainty, audiences in 1977—including a young Keith Allison (me, not the drummer from Paul Revere and the Raiders)—were hungry for The Spy Who Loved Me's blend of over-the-top action and Roger Moore's smirking lounge lizard take on the character. It pulled the Bond films out of their nosedive. It was also the first Bond film I saw in the theater, and a life-long love was sparked. It was a different time and a different approach, but in 1977 James Bond was cool again. What's more, over a decade removed from Goldfinger, not many people had a problem liking James Bond and the Beatles—without earmuffs.
Adam Diment didn't trumpet his departure from the party. Partially manufactured the persona may have been, but he learned a thing or two about being cool. Today, he's still not hungry to relive last night's party. Friends and relatives have made comments over the years that confirm he is leading a quiet life in the countryside, but none of them have betrayed his trust. And to date, no reporter or fan has successfully scored an audience with the elusive Adam Diment.
John Michael O'Sullivan begins his Esquire UK article with the sentence, "Mysteries are only mysteries if you want them to be." In the end, the mysterious disappearance of Adam Diment wasn't that mysterious. What he did and where he went in the aftermath of his popularity remains the stuff of tantalizing half-memory and rumors, but Diment's eventual "fate" isn't the mystery it seemed like it might have been. However, it's a different thing to meet the man. In that effort, O'Sullivan was unsuccessful. O'Sullivan got close but, ultimately, was unable to track him down.
And perhaps that is how it should be. Rather than demanding more, perhaps we should just let him be. Perhaps instead of demanding more of Philip McAlpine, we should be happy with what we have. There are four books out there, each one very entertaining. McAlpine might be more obscure than James Bond, Harry Palmer, or George Smiley…but isn't that part of being a spy? Leave him out there, a globe-trotting international man of mystery relaxing with a puff of hash on some unknown beach, free at last from the endless demands heaped upon him by the Rupert Quines of the world.
"The Extraordinary Case Of The Missing Spy Novelist," John Michael O'Sullivan, Esquire UK (Nov., 2015).
"The Disappearance of the Author Adam Diment," Rob Baker, Another Nickel in the Machine (Aug. 2009).
"Adam Diment," Bear Alley (Jan. 2012)
"Adam Diment Was a Swinging 60s Icon and the Prince of British Spy Fiction—Until He Disappeared," Luke Poling, CrimeReads (July 2021)
Ready, Steady, Go! : Swinging London and the Invention of Cool, by Shawn Levy. 2003, Harpercollins Publishing.
"The Man With The Golden Gun Almost Ended James Bond Movies," Ben Aldis, ScreenRant (March 2020)
Tagged 1960s, Espionage
Creature from Black Lake

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


We hear so much about 'being present', and are told 'be here now', or 'the power is in now'. But what does that really mean and how can you do it?
To be fully present is quite simple, but not always easy. It takes commitment and practice. Our minds have a tendency to drift anywhere other than right here, right now. Being present means that your awareness is fully in the moment you are in. You are not worrying about the future or thinking about the past. The present moment is where your life is happening at any given time. The past is an illusion. The future is an illusion. The past no longer exists, and the future never exists. They are simply concepts. All that is real is whatever is happening now.
To cultivate your ability to be present, start by practicing being a witness, not a participator, of your own thoughts. One of the best techniques for this is meditation. Another is self-hypnosis. Or you can just tell yourself that you are not your thoughts, and imagine them passing by like clouds. If you give your thoughts your energy (attention), they will tempt you to go back to living in the past or future.
Focus on whatever you are doing in this moment. Keep your thoughts and actions on the task at hand. This could be feeding the dog, brushing your teeth, putting laundry away. Keep your mind focused on now vs. memories of the day behind you or the time ahead of you. Simply be in the moment.
The word hypnosis is derived from the Greek word for sleep. However hypnosis is not at all the same as sleep. Hypnosis is a deeply relaxed, trance-like state, where awareness and focus are acutely enhanced. In this state the conscious mind is suppressed and the subconscious mind is revealed.
During hypnosis, the body is released from conscious control. Breathing becomes slower and deeper, the pulse rate slows down, and the metabolic rate falls. The body may feel very heavy or unusually light, and the awareness of physical pain and unpleasant symptoms tends to alleviate. Some people report that hypnosis feels very similar to the first five minutes upon falling asleep.
During hypnosis, the conscious mind is on the back burner, and the subconscious is at the forefront. The subconscious governs our habits, perceptions, beliefs, and deeply rooted thought patterns. The hypnotist is thus able to suggest concepts and lifestyle adaptations, the seeds of which become firmly planted in the subconscious. The conscious mind allows us to analyze, problem-solve and get through the day, but it's the subconscious that is ultimately in control. Most people go through each day entirely unaware of their inner programming, and come to believe they are out of control of making important changes in their lives. This is because the conscious and subconscious speak different languages. To make lasting change, the subconscious must be directly accessed, and hypnosis is one of the best known ways to achieve this. For example, have you ever tried to talk yourself out of a habit or an irrational fear, and this only makes it seem worse? You may really want to get over it, however you will continue to fail as long as your fear or behavior is held at the subconscious level, preventing you from succeeding. The more you think about it on a conscious level, the bigger it will seem in your mind. Progress is only possible through reprogramming the subconscious so that unhelpful thought patterns, beliefs, and habits are eliminated or altered, and new, beneficial ones are created.
What problems can be treated with hypnosis?
People typically seek hypnosis to reprogram subconscious patterns, which leads to overcoming irrational fears, phobias, addictions, anxiety, negative thoughts and suppressed emotions. Hypnosis can be applied to many psychological, emotional and physical disorders. It is also helpful in relieving pain and recovering from injury or surgery.
Hypnosis is a natural state that you go in and out of through each day, so the answer to this question is yes. Common examples of a hypnotic state are daydreaming, and "highway hypnosis", which is when you are driving and find yourself suddenly at your exit without remembering getting there.
Can a hypnotist make you do silly things?
Absolutely not. During hypnosis, you are in complete control, awake and relaxed. Nobody, including a hypnotist, is able to make you do something you do not want to do. This may not seem true if you have ever been to a stage hypnosis show. The truth is that people do silly things for a stage hypnotist because they have volunteered to go on stage, and they expect the hypnotist to ask them to do these things. If they really do not want to do something the hypnotist suggests (hit another person, for example), they would reject the suggestion. During hypnosis used for therapeutic purposes, the client has the same choice and free will to reject suggestions they do not want.
How long does hypnosis last?
Most changes made as a result of hypnosis are permanent. There are times when the work needs to be reinforced at a later time, which is easily done.
How do you choose a hypnotist?
Some people are referred to hypnotists, but if not, then an internet search in your area will help you find your options. Hypnosis is very personal work, so it is important to choose a hypnotist with whom you feel comfortable. It is also important that whomever you choose has legitimate qualifications and professional training in hypnosis.
There are times that we avoid doing something, and end up feeling worse because we are avoiding. There could be a number of reasons for this type of behavior. We may avoid doing something because it seems overwhelming. There are times we may avoid something that seems undesirable, yet necessary, to do. Sometimes we may avoid taking action due to uncertainty of the outcome. These are just some out of many reasons we may be avoidant. Whatever the case, avoiding often leaves us feeling bad about ourselves in some way (guilty, incapable, weak, etc.). What can we do about this? Old habits may be tough to break, yet it is certainly possible to change our reactions and behaviors. One way out of the habit of avoiding is to take one step at a time. Let's say you are avoiding a project that seems terribly overwhelming. Avoiding is the opposite of action, so breaking the cycle of avoiding means to take action. Any action. Write down the main steps for completing the project, in as much detail as you are comfortable with. Remember, all projects are a series of small steps. Decide that you will take the first step, and do it as soon as possible, no matter how you feel about it. Proceed through each step in this way, until you get to the end and complete the project. The formula is to decide what action is necessary, and to just do it. When you take action, you are empowering yourself, which will continue to get stronger with each action you take. No matter what the reason that you are avoiding something (overwhelm, having to do something undesirable, uncertainty, etc.), decide that you do not want to feel bad about yourself, and take an action no matter how you are feeling. This is the path forward to greater self-empowerment. You can also give yourself a reward each time you overcome the desire to avoid.
Anxiety is defined as a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. Feelings of anxiety can lurk in the background, or they can seem to pop out of nowhere. Either way, anxiety is unpleasant and its causes are not always easy to pinpoint.
There are methods based on yoga and meditation that are helpful for managing anxiety. Since our emotions are directly reflected in our breathing (think about how you breathe when you are angry or upset), we can directly impact how we feel through controlling our breath. Thus, one method of controlling anxiety is to examine and control the breath. To do this, close your eyes, and focus your attention on your breath. Notice its rhythm. Notice its texture. Notice if it is deep or shallow. Slowly, begin to intentionally deepen and lengthen your inhales and exhales, without forcing it. The idea is to take deeper breaths, but not so deep that you feel light headed. Breathe this way for 1-2 minutes and notice how your feel as a result. To learn more about this technique, a certified yoga instructor would be able to help.
Similar to our breath, the way we hold our bodies reflects our thoughts and feelings. Anxiety causes the body to tense up. A second method that helps control anxiety is a regular relaxation practice. If you have ever gone to a yoga class, you may have experienced a guided relaxation at the end of class. Two relaxation techniques that can help with anxiety are tension/relaxation, where specific areas of the body are intentionally tensed and relaxed, and progressive relaxation, where muscular tension is intentionally relaxed sequentially from head to toe. This may be done alone, with an instructor, or by listening to a recording. Click here for a guided relaxation recording.
When practiced on a regular basis, the three methods described help to control anxiety, and reduce its impact on the body and mind. For more information, please contact us.
Have you ever wanted to make a change or accomplish something, but gave up because it seems too overwhelming? You may feel that is unique to you, however the truth is that most people go through this from time to time, and sometimes quite regularly. This often happens when we think of accomplishments in a black and white, or all or nothing way.
We use a technique that we call the Ten Percent Rule. With this, instead of thinking of a change, accomplishment or goal as all or nothing, we help our clients think of improvement in ten percent segments. So rather than perceiving 100% improvement as the only option for success, they shift their definition of success to be a ten percent improvement. What follows is another ten percent, and another, so there is always continuous improvement.
So, the next time you are feeling overwhelmed with completing a task or making a change, ask yourself "how can I make a ten percent improvement right now?", and notice what answers your mind comes up with.
What you focus on will grow. In other words, what you think about determines how you feel. The first step in learning how to harness the power of your mind is to become aware of what you are thinking about throughout the day. One way to do this is notice how you are feeling at any particular point in time – for example, sad, happy, frustrated, free, etc.
Once you put a label on how you feel, then ask yourself what you are thinking about. This exercise will clue you in to what your habitual thoughts are and how they make you feel. This is the first step to self-awareness and making impactful changes in your life.
Do you ever get stuck in your head, wrapped up in endless thinking that leads you nowhere but more confused than when you started? Or it may lead you down a path of sadness, fear, anger, or another negative emotion. Most of us know that thinking over and over about an unsolvable problem is useless and a drain on our energy. Then why do we do it, and how can we stop? As human beings, we are wired to want to figure things out. When there is something that is unexplainable, our brains sometimes don't know how to handle it. That's how our thinking can work against us. The way through this is to learn to let go of useless thinking patterns.
There are various methods to do this. One very effective way is through meditation. Meditation is the process of focusing the conscious mind (the part of us that thinks and analyzes), on one point of focus. This is similar to giving a kitten something to play with so she doesn't climb up the curtains. With our minds, this keeps the thinking part on one object so that we can become a silent observer of our thoughts. Over time we can see more clearly our thinking patterns, and be in a position of power to change them.
Another effective method is hypnosis. In hypnosis, the conscious, thinking part of our minds is on the backburner, and our subconscious is at the forefront. In this state we can teach ourselves to literally let go of thoughts we don't want to keep thinking about. Then, when in a conscious state, we can re-access the hypnotic experience and let go of unhelpful thinking patterns.
Your mind is powerful. Through meditation and hypnosis, you can harness its power to make positive changes in your life.


Are you feeling discomfort or pain in the back of your mouth? Has your gum erupted and become swollen? Chances are your wisdom teeth are about to set it.
Wisdom teeth are the last set of teeth that people get in their teen years or early twenties. Wisdom teeth are essential to the mouth but not needed. In most cases wisdom teeth have to be removed because they are misaligned, but they can also remain in your mouth if they are properly aligned.
Most dentist will recommend that your wisdom teeth be removed before they are actually fully developed. This is done to prevent the future pain that occurs during the development stage.
Before your wisdom tooth extraction, the surrounding tissue will be numbed with a local anesthetic and you will be given a sedating medication. Then the procedure will begin. After your wisdom teeth have been removed your gums will be stitched to help the gums heal quicker.
Once the local anesthetic wears off it is normal to experience bleeding of your gums, face swelling and chronic pain. Your dentist may prescribe pain medications and antibiotics to help alleviate the pain. Your dentist may subject you to a complete liquid diet until all the numbness has gone away. Also, you should continue to brush your teeth, but try to avoid the area where the extraction was done. After you've finished brushing you should also rinse your mouth with warm saltwater, this will help expedite the healing process.
Wisdom teeth development and extraction can be a very painful process. It is important make your dentist aware of any dental problems you are having in order to treat and prevent a later occurrence.
Always remember, every tooth in your mouth is more valuable than a diamond!


The 40 Days of Community five-session devotional—part of the Living with Purpose small group Bible study by Rick Warren—is a dynamic individual or small group study that will help you learn how to fulfill God's five purposes for your life.
40 Days of Community will deepen your understanding of how God uses community for your own good and growth, as well as help you cultivate deeper relationships with those around you. Learn to fulfill God's purposes … discover how we are better together. This 40-day Devotional Journal is designed for use with the 40 Days of Community Participant's Guide and 40 Days of Community DVD.


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Q: TCPDF don't display image with writeHTML this question seems an evergreen on TCPDF...
I have an issue that's driving me crazy.
I have an html code that I use as "template" for my PDF, here I have my company logo.
Everything works fine on localhost (Windows), but when I move online, the image is not shown.
Pay attention: I don't get any error (ie the Unable to get image error) on my PDF the image is simple blank!
Infact if I click on the PDF on the position where the images it's supposed to be, I can select it, and Adobe enables the option "Copy image".
Obviously the image exists, is here, and permission are correct.
If I try to surf there, or view the generated HTML page, everything is fine.
This is the PHP code:
$pdf->SetMargins($params->get('pdfMarginLeft', 15), $params->get('pdfMarginTop', 27), $params->get('pdfMarginRight', 15));
$pdf->SetHeaderMargin(PDF_MARGIN_HEADER);
$pdf->SetFooterMargin(PDF_MARGIN_FOOTER);

$pdf->SetAutoPageBreak(TRUE, PDF_MARGIN_BOTTOM);

$pdf->setImageScale(PDF_IMAGE_SCALE_RATIO);
$pdf->SetFont('helvetica', '', 8);
$pdf->AddPage();

$pdf->writeHTML($html, true, false, true, false, '');

$pdf->lastPage();

Then this is my HTML code (I just skipped everything except the image):

I've tried with the url (relative and absolute) and with the path (relative and absolute), the problem still occurs.
Any ideas?

A: As things are working locally so you may try changing the image type from png to jpg and check after modifying your code accordingly and uploading the jpg on the server.

A: This wasn't your problem, but it's a possible solution for people with a similar issue in the future. Please make sure the HTML attributes have double quotes.
$html = ""; // This will not work

$html = ''; // This will work

A: You can convert image type "jpg/png" to base64.

this may help you !

A: In my case, I tried every solution above to no avail. It turned out I was missing width and height attributes. Adding those in, and using a root path ended up working for me:

A: In my case IMG tag not working until I write full path to file
Not working

Working (localhost example)

A: It is also posible add image data inline as base64:

A: I implemented a str_replace for the image src, and that works ok now.
$html = str_replace("../images", $_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] . '/images', $html);

A: I had to 'resave' the images:
$image = 'images/logo_example.png';
imagepng(imagecreatefrompng($image),$image);

Then it worked.

A: Not really an answer but as everybody is trying to add a "brick" here is a very strange detail I'm facing:
I have small "strips" of HTML that I put, one after other on a page.  If I put the first one, which has 2 png and a small text, on the file, the png are visibles on the PDF.
If I put the second one, which has 2 png and a small text, on the file, the png are visible on the PDF.
Now, if I put the two, ONLY the first one as the images. The second one as blank picture. If I change the picture of the second strip, images became visible.
Detail: 1st and 2nd strips are using the same images!
Notice this seems to happened ONLY with PNG image. So it seems there is a bug and you can't have two time the same PNG image on a page. Using JPG solve the problem.

A: I had the same problem, locally it was working and on server blank image. I found out that htaccess password was the problem. I've put .htaccess file with the row Satisfy any to the folder with pictures and now it is working.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


French artist Auguste Toulmouche (1829 – 1890) loved to tell stories. But instead of putting quill to paper, he put brush to canvas.
His paintings share the academic style of the Académie des Beaux-Arts that dominated French art in the mid 19th century.
Playing in Toulmouche's favor was a trend that lent itself to storytelling—a move towards greater idealism. Although painted in the mid-Victorian era, his themes were often set in the Regency revival and late Georgian periods.
Let us examine 12 paintings from Albert Toulmouche … and the stories they tell.
With the prevalence of mobile technology today, it is very hard for us to imagine a time when people relied on letters as their primary means of communication across distance.
Dropping the envelope at her feet, this beautiful lady was obviously keen to open the letter from her lover in a hurry.
Moving near the light of the window, she remains standing. If it were bad news, would she be so hasty?
The letter probably has sweet words for her eyes only—and her corner position in the room gives her the privacy she needs.
Not all news is good news, as the young lady above might be finding out. She's left the letter on the table and turned away from it, as if rejecting its message.
Yet again, it could be bad news from her sister. What story do you think the painting tells?
This young lady is not at all sure she's doing the right thing. In an age when many marriages were for social standing or financial security, marriage for love was something more akin to dreams than reality.
If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield … and all the others equally well married, I shall have nothing to wish for.—Mrs Bennett, Pride and Prejudice.
There are such beings in the world, perhaps one in a thousand, as the creature you and I should think perfection, where grace and spirit are united to worth, where the manners are equal to the heart and understanding; but such a person may not come in your way, or, if he does, he may not be the eldest son of a man of fortune, the near relation of your particular friend, and belonging to your own county.
Families were large, but life was precious. Children died young and mothers were lost during childbirth. Cholera, consumption, and smallpox didn't care how much money people had—they took the lives of rich and poor alike.
The period theme of Toulmouche's paintings was a time of war. Many a young handsome officer would have fallen in battle.
Grieving and consolation touched everyone at unexpected times.
Novels helped fuel the hopes and dreams of readers. Have you felt this way when reading—so moved that you had to pause and contemplate the moment?
The 18th-century view that reading contemporary novels was a time-wasting leisure activity gave way to 19th-century ideals on their ability to educate.
While Jane Austen's novels critiqued the life of the British landed gentry, by the mid-1800's, the most widely read novel in England was the anti-slavery Uncle Toms Cabin of 1852 by American Harriet Beecher Stowe.
A good book and an afternoon nap. Doesn't get much better than that, does it?
It was an age when meal times were strictly adhered to. Breakfast would have been eaten early, leaving a long wait until evening for the main meal of the day.
The Duchess of Devonshire reported having a "sinking feeling" mid-afternoon. We've all felt that way, haven't we? Now we can top-up with countless energy snacks and drinks, but the Duchess had another idea—afternoon tea.
Notice also the chinoiserie screen behind the ladies, reflecting the importance of Chinese motifs in Western culture.
It was a time when keeping up appearances was critical to maintaining social standing.
But perhaps Auguste Toulmouche was using parody to message a decadent Victorian audience.
Romanticism—an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement of the first third of the 19th century—initiated a surge of enthusiasm for all things Greek, including Greek mythology.
In Greek mythology, Narcissus was fixated with his own physical appearance and disdained others around him. Nemesis, the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris, attracted him to a pool where he fell in love with his own reflection. Unable to take his eyes of his own image, he lost the reason for living and died, staring at his reflection.
Here's an interesting painting. The lady is warming her hands and feet at the burning fire, but taking care not to let the heat tinge her complexion with redness. Another reason that made the fan such an indispensable accessory for the 19th-century lady.
Is there more to this story? Is she burning a love letter … ?
What are friends for but to listen to our stories and grievances? The lady on the right seems genuinely concerned for her friend, or perhaps they are sisters.
The painting reminds us that simple pleasures like a stroll in a park or garden, and sharing polite conversation in good company, are some of the best things in life.
But back to that clock. During the 19th century, pendulum clocks were some of the most accurate timepieces in existence. Any household that could afford one depended on it.
Conceived by Galileo Galilei in around 1637, the daily life of the 19th century revolved around the pendulum clock.
Hope you enjoyed our time together, strolling through Auguste Toulmouche's little storybook of history.


text:
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Fall is just around the corner. It's a time of cooler temperatures, shorter days, and pumpkin-flavored everything. Arguably, one of the best parts of the season is fall fashion. Every spring, the biggest names in fashion debut their fall and winter looks during Fashion Week. Here are six of the biggest trends that will be everywhere this fall.
Plaid is not a new pattern by any means, but it's back in a big way for fall fashion. Plan to see plaid applied in different ways though, like asymmetrical across a dress or plaid head-to-toe in varying shades. Fendi and Stella McCartney put some unique plaid ensembles on display in their Fall 2018 shows.
All red everything. Expect to see head-to-toe red looks this fall. Both Oscar de la Renta and Mother of Pearl, among other designers, debuted red looks in their runway looks this year. You can combine different shades of red, or you can you wear the same shade.
Animal print is once again in style this fall. But, there's more to this trend then just leopard print. Experiment with zebra, tiger, even ocelot printed clothing. Michael Kors, Calvin Klein and Victoria Beckham showcased some animal-inspired looks for fall.
Big shoulders are back. 80's inspired fashion is the biggest expected trend this fall. Marc Jacobs debuted an '80s-hued color-blocked look, and Miu Miu brought back acid-washed jeans and soft leather jackets. Neon is also on trend this fall, rounding out the '80s look.
Pile on the layers. This functional fashion trend is back in for fall. Balenciaga and Prada showcased some over-the-top layers for their Fall looks. There are many ways to utilize this trend, from shirts layered under a bustier with a cardigan and a jacket on top, to a logo sweater with a silk scarf and two separate parkas.
Fashion is drawing inspiration from the American West for fall looks. Cowboy-inspired booties, suede fringe, and Western patterns are all in style this year. Chloé, Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini and Louis Vuitton were just a few of the designers who featured Western looks for their fall collection.