BLOODLESS photos on Flickr

12

Since its "official" formation in 2020, the international community has had few opportunities to observe the Songun People's Army (SPA) in actual "hot" conflicts. The relatively bloodless incursion into Mongolia during the fall of 2015 saw the successful overthrow of the democratically-elected and pre-western government. However, this operation was conducted almost completely by Chinese troops controlled by Beijing, with only cursory liaison officers from the other nationalities in the Songun union representing their own governments. Select special operations forces and "little green men" were deployed in very limited number to support Yugoslav and other pro-communist partisans in the Second Eastern European War, but the vast majority of Hanoi's massive military structure stayed home in their barracks. Ironically, the last time either the Chinese or Vietnamese armies fought a large-scale conflict was against one another in the late 1970s. Thus, the main body of the SPA remains untested to this day, despite Hanoi's willingness to deploy their ground and naval forces worldwide to back up friendly regimes.

In these photos released from an SPA training event, Songun infantry dismount from a ZFB-07 scout car and practice clearing a number of decrepit buildings. Until a section of the simmering cold war goes hot, glimpses of exercises like this will remain all we have regarding the secretive nature of the Songun People's Army.

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Another joint upload with Matt, showing off our SPA troops. And huge props to Magnus for letting us borrow his larger MLS dio for a few minutes!

Woman On Her Knees Posing With Chair. by Steve Hammond

19 14

Woman On Her Knees Posing With Chair.

Progressive personalitatem a governess of surprising thinking deep,

strikes a emocional pose,aware of thy stares returned,

her ascertaining ways edstaþelian her to a symbolist establishment,

she is ahora ,and shalle always be,

thy influential revolutionary confronting looms,

associating thy douceur ,to a bloodless chosen passage never sailed,

to assume thy posa,with thee sexuality fire,

thy deliberate perfectionnement,is her conviction of a internal hostile existence led,

such a φυσικός sensation just to consider her omnipotent wink,

leagues of eifersüchtig men,undertake only to receive a heart of decay,

a wink, a tough, perhaps even a sonreír,

shalle set thee trifle ones to air,

off to thy encompassing glistering ombres that can't be seen,

she tosses her cheveux then flees with thee muses of steals,

loves vexing clamantes chance, bring her back to hence,

never a thither or verloren ,

unlace thyself mujer of harmonious oh!

tired standing που επιθυμούν for another sight.

Steve.D.Hammond.

Faccombe: Money and Power by hapsnaps

11 20

Walking along the path from Pilot Hill towards Walbury Hill, the Berkshire County Top, on the left can be seen the Faccombe Estate. This is owned by Arthur Landon, son of the White Sultan of Oman, the mysterious Brigadier Tim Landon, a sort of modern day Lawrence of Arabia, who in 1970 helped to organise a bloodless coup to depose the Sultan in favour of his son and bring the country into the 20th Century. Landon then had a rich patron and was able to buy the village of Faccombe on the Hampshire/Berkshire border. On the left of the photo is a wind turbine, a new one recently installed to replace the original, which was one of the first in Britain, built to generate electricity for the 650 acre farm. Here is a link to a close up view of the turbine: www.flickr.com/photos/theparkie/8243240910/

See other photos in the first comment box.

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

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clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

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"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

Roça Porto Real on Príncipe Island, São Tomé & Príncipe by inyathi

15

Despite their proximity to the west coast of Africa these islands were apparently entirely uninhabited when Portuguese navigators João de Santarém and Pero Escobar arrived on Saint Thomas’s day the 21st of December 1470. The Portuguese quickly settled the islands and were soon importing slaves from the mainland to work in their newly established sugar plantations. The sugar produced here was of poor quality compared to that from elsewhere and from the beginning of the 19th century was replaced with coffee this crop was in turn largely replaced by cocoa. Slavery in the islands’ plantations or roças carried on until 1875 when it was abolished and replaced with a system of contract labour this did not significantly improve the lives of the island’s labour force and the Portuguese continued to import labourers from their mainland colonies. At the beginning of the 20th century the plight of the plantation workers reached the outside world, protests from the Aboriginal Protection Society and the Anti-Slavery Society, prompted William Cadbury to send an agent to the islands to investigate. Possibly to protect his company's own commercial interests and to allow time for them to establish their own plantations in the Gold Coast (Ghana) he chose not to act for some years, until after he visited the Islands in 1909 to see for himself. Cadburys and other chocolate companies then started a boycott of Cocoa from the Islands. However little changed for the people who remained as virtual slaves.

In 1953 descendents of former slaves known as Forros fearing they would be conscripted and forced to work on the plantations protested at Batepa, Portuguese troops attacked the protesters and in the massacre that followed over 1,000 Forros may have been killed. This event sparked the establishment of a liberation movement however despite the Batepa Massacre, unlike in Portugal’s mainland colonies there was no war for independence. Following Portugal’s bloodless Carnation Revolution in 1974 the islands demanded their independence and this was granted the following year.

Although STP's independence had been achieved peacefully the Portuguese plantation owners fled abandoning their plantations and the islands. Soon afterwards the roças were nationalised by STP’s new Marxist government many of them fell in to disrepair during this period.

Bloodless by Matt.CN (closed, moved to mattn_photography)

12 1

Am Mìle Rìoghail, Dùn Èideann by Rhisiart Hincks

72 13

Royal Mile, Caeredin/ Edinburgh ----- "...a jarringly bloodless account of the conflict is given by political leaders in countries like the US and UK, one that seems to omit the sheer fact and number of the deaths and resorts instead to an almost surreal language that calls for “every possible precaution” to protect civilian life. UN officials, not known for intemperance, now lose their cool and use the strongest terms possible, in what seems to be a direct result of this weird insistence on not calling reality what it is. The day before the truce, Gaza authorities put the death toll at 14,532." ----- Look at this post on Facebook www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/27/war-gaza-le...

IN CELEBRATION OF OUR PEOPLE POWER REVOLUTION by bestandlastphotographs

102 100

WE ARE CELEBBRATING THE 29TH YEAR OF EDSA PEOPLE POWER REVOLUTION THAT OUSTED THE DICTATOR FERDINAND MARCOS. THE LEADERS THEN WERE EX PRESIDENT FIDEL RAMOS, THEN THE DEPT. OF DEFENSE MINISTER JUAN PONCE ENRILE. THE PEOPLE MASSED IN FRONT OF CAMPS AGUINALDO AND CAMP CRAME. THE CAMPS WERE SWAMPED WITH PEOPLE. IN JUST 4 DAYS, THE DICTATOR ESCAPED BY A US HELICOPTER AND A US MILITARY PLACE BOUND FOR HAWAII. WE HAD A FRIGHTFUL DAYS AND NIGHTS AND I STILL REMEMBER ON THE LAST DAY, I SAID GOODBYE TO MY FAMILY AND WENT OUT WITH A FLASHLIGHT, BOILED EGGS AND MADE A VOW TO GO TO THE MOUNTAINS. I HAD MY GUN WITH ME AND SEVERAL BOXES OF AMUUNITION. BUT WHEN I RODE MY CAR AND WAS DRIVING TO EDSA, I HEARD THE NEWS THAT THE DICTATOR MARCOS HAS FLED THE PALACE AND EVERYBODY WERE SO HAPPY THAT WE ALL STOOD STILL AND PRAYED. LOVE LIVE PEOPLE POWER, THE BLOODLESS REVOLUTION. I OFFER THESE RED PASSION VNE FLOWERS TO PAY HONOR TO THE MILLIONS WHO GATHERED AT EDSA AND WERE PREPARED TO DIE FOR FREEDOM. LONG LIVE PEOPLE POWER 1989.

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

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"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

Qi Bo's photos on Flickr Hive Mind

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

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"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

Strong Arms and Sturdy Hearts by Ronald S. Coddington

12

Carte de visite by Amy & Lemer of Harrisburg, Pa. On June 26, 1863, the Army of the Potomac crossed the river for which it is named into Pennsylvania. The move placed it on a collision course with Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army, the main body of which had crossed during the night of June 24-25.

Also on the 26th, Pennsylvania Gov. Andrew Curtin issued a proclamation that announced the presence of the enemy on the state’s border and calling for 60,000 emergency troops to muster for 90 days of service. During the days that followed, citizens formed 28 infantry regiments and several independent companies and batteries. The infantry regiments were numbered from 28 to 60.

Four days later, on June 30, the Pennsylvanian pictured here stood up to defend is state. He is 19-year-old Henry W. Evans. On July 2, 1863, while battle raged in Gettysburg, he mustered into Company A of the 49th Pennsylvania Militia Infantry at Philadelphia.

Pvt. Evans and his comrades saw no hostile action during their three months in uniform. Samuel P. Bates, author of the landmark series of volumes History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, recognized the contribution of these men when he wrote, “The bloodless campaigns of the militia may be the subject for playful satire; but in the strong arms, and sturdy hearts of the yeomanry of the land, who spring to arms at the moment of danger, and when that danger has past, cheerfully lay them down again, rests a sure guarantee for the peace and security of the country.”

Research about his life and service is in progress.

I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

Qi Bo's photos on Flickr Hive Mind

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

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"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

dettaglio del Gruppo del Laocoonte - probabile copia marmorea eseguita tra I secolo a.C. e I secolo d.C. di un originale bronzeo del 150 a.C. - Museo Pio-Clementino dei Musei Vaticani by raffaele pagani

39 4

Laocoön and His Sons - a probable marble copy executed between the 1st century BC and I century AD of an original bronze of 150 BC - Pio-Clementine Museum of Vatican Museums

Il gruppo statuario raffigura la fine di Laocoonte e dei suoi due figli Antifante e Timbreo mentre vengono stritolati da due serpenti marini

The statuary group depicts the end of Laocoonte and its two sons Antifante and Timbreo while being crushed by two sea serpents

With tongues flickering in their mouths red,

They like the twin killing stings in their head.

We fled away all bloodless for fear.

But with a braid to Laocoon to tear

They start attacking, and his two sons sing

First the other serpent latched on like a ring,

And with their cruel bite, and sting they fell,

Of tender limbs took many a sorry morsel;

Next they the priest invaded both to entwine,

Whence with his weapons did his body pine

His children for to help and rescue.

Both they about him looped in knots through,

And twice circled his middle round about,

And twice folded their scaly skin but doubt,

About his crown, both neck and head they scrag

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

9

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"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

This image is taken from United States Naval Medical Bulletin Vol. 8, Nos. 1-4, 1914 by Medical Heritage Library, Inc.

12

Go to the Book with image in the Internet Archive

Title: United States Naval Medical Bulletin Vol. 8, Nos. 1-4, 1914

Creator: U.S. Navy. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

Publisher:

Sponsor:

Contributor:

Date: 1914

Language: eng

Table of Contents

Number 1

Preface v

Special articles:

The application of psychiatry to certain military problems, by W. A.

White, M. D 1

Schistosomiasis on the Yangtze River, with report of cases, by R. H.

Laning, assistant surgeon, United States Navy 16

A brief discussion of matters pertaining to health and sanitation,

observed on the summer practice cruise of 1913 for midshipmen of the third

class, by J. L. Neilson, surgeon, United States Navy 36

Technique of neosalvarsan administration, and a brief outline of the

treatment for syphilis used at the United States Naval Hospital, Norfolk, Va., by

W. Chambers, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 45

Some notes on the disposal of wastes, by A. Farenholt, surgeon, United States

Navy 47

The medical department on expeditionary duty, by R. E. Hoyt, surgeon, United

States Navy 51

A new brigade medical outfit, by T. W. Richards, surgeon, United States

Navy 62

Early diagnosis of cerebrospinal meningitis; report of 10 cases, by G.

F. Cottle, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 65

Comments on mistakes made with the Nomenclature, 1913, Abstract of patients

(Form F), and the Statistical report (Form K), by C. E. Alexander, pharmacist,

United States Navy 70

Classification of the United States Navy Nomenclature, 1913, by C. E. Alexander,

pharmacist, United States Navy 75

On the methods employed for the detection and determination of

disturbances in the sense of equilibrium of flyers. Translated by H. G. Beyer,

medical director, United States Navy, retired 87

United States Naval Medical School laboratories:

Additions to the pathological collection 107

Additions to the helminthological collection 107

Suggested devices:

A portable air sampling apparatus for use aboard ship, by E. W. Brown, passed

assistant surgeon, United States Navy 109

A new design for a sanitary pail 111

Clinical notes:

A case of paresis, with apparent remission, following neosalvarsan, by R.

F. Sheehan, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 113

Case reports from Guam, by E. O. J. Eytinge, passed assistant surgeon, United

States Navy 116

Stab wound of ascending colon; suture; recovery, by H. C. Curl,

surgeon, United States Navy 123

Perforation of a duodenal ulcer, by H. F. Strine, surgeon, United

States Navy 124

Two cases of bone surgery, by R. Spear, surgeon, United States Navy 125

Editorial comment:

Brig. Gen. George II. Torney, Surgeon General United States Army 127

Medical ethics in the Navy 127

Medical officers in civil practice 128

Progress in medical sciences:

General medicine. —Some anatomic and physiologic principles concerning

pyloric ulcer. By H. C. Curl. Low-priced clinical thermometers; a warning. By.

L. W. Johnson. The value of X-ray examinations in the

diagnosis of ulcer of the stomach and duodenum. The primary cause of

rheumatoid arthritis. Strychnine in heart failure. On the treatment of

leukaemia with benzol. By A. W. Dunbar and G. B. Crow 131

Surgery. — Surgical aspects of furuncles and carbuncles. Iodine

idiosyncrasy. By L. W. Johnson. Rectus transplantation for deficiency of

internal oblique muscle in certain cases of inguinal hernia. The technic of

nephro- pyelo- and ureterolithotomy. Recurrence of inguinal hernia. By H. C.

Curl and R. A. Warner 138

Hygiene and sanitation. —Ozone: Its bactericidal, physiologic and

deodorizing action. The alleged purification of air by the ozone machine. By E.

W. Brown. The prevention of dental caries. Gun-running operations in the

Persian Gulf in 1909 and 1910. The croton bug (Ectobia germanica) as a factor

in bacterial dissemination. Fumigation of vessels for the destruction of rats.

Improved moist chamber for mosquito breeding. The necessity for international

reforms in the sanitation of crew spaces on

merchant vessels. By C. N. Fiske and R. C. Ransdell 143

Tropical medicine. —The transmissibility of the lepra bacillus by the

bite of the bedbug. By L. W. Johnson. A note on a case of loa loa. Cases of

syphilitic pyrexia simulating tropical fevers. Verruga peruviana, oroya fever

and uta. Ankylostomiasis in Nyasaland. Experimental entamoebic dysentery. By E.

R. Stitt ... 148

Pathology, bacteriology, and animal parasitology. —The relation of the spleen

to the blood destruction and regeneration and to hemolytic jaundice: 6, The

blood picture at various periods after splenectomy. The presence of tubercle

bacilli in the feces. By A. B. Clifford and G. F. Clark 157

Chemistry and pharmacy. —Detection of bile pigments in urine. Value of the

guaiacum test for bloodstains. New reagent for the detection of traces of

blood. Estimation of urea. Estimation of uric acid in urine. By E. W. Brown and

O. G. Ruge 158

Eye, ear, nose, and throat. —Probable deleterious effect of salvarsan

on the eye. Effect of salvarsan on the eye. Fate of patients with

parenchymatous keratitis due to hereditary lues. Trachoma, prevalence of, in

the United States. The exploratory needle puncture of the maxillary antrum in

100 tuberculous individuals. Auterobic organisms associated with acute

rhinitis. Toxicity of human tonsils. By E. J. Grow and G. B. Trible 160

Miscellaneous. —Yearbook of the medical association of

Frankfurt-am-Main. By R. C. Ransdell 163

Reports and letters:

Notes on the Clinical Congress of Surgeons. By G. F. Cottle, passed

assistant surgeon, United States Navy 167

Number 2

Preface v

Special articles:

Report of the fourteenth annual meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society,

by J. R. Phelps, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy. 171

Typhoid perforation; five operations with three recoveries, by G. G.

Holladay, assistant surgeon, Medic al Reserve Corps, United States Navy 238

A satisfactory method for easily obtaining material from syphilitic

lesions, by E. R. Stitt, medical inspector, United States Navy 242

An epidemic of measles and mumps in Guam, by C. P. Kindleberger, surgeon,

United States Navy 243

The feeble-minded from a military standpoint, by A. R. Schier, acting assistant

surgeon, United States Navy 247

The Towne-Lambert elimination treatment of drug addictions, by W. M. Kerr,

passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 258

Medical experiences in the Amazonian Tropics, by C. C. Ammerman, assistant

surgeon, Medical Reserve Corps, United States Navy 270

United States Naval Medical School laboratories:

Additions to the pathological collection 281

Additions to the helminthologieal collection 281

Suggested devices:

An easy method for obtaining blood cultures and for preparing blood

agar, by E. R. Stitt, medical inspector, and G. F. Clark, passed assistant surgeon,

United States Navy 283

Humidity regulating device on a modern battleship, by R. C. Ransdell, passed

assistant surgeon, United States Navy 284

Clinical notes:

Lateral sinus thrombosis, report of case, by G. F. Cottle, passed

assistant surgeon. United States Navy 287

Twenty-two cases of poisoning by the seeds of Jatropha curcai, by J. A.

Randall, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 290

Shellac bolus in the stomach in fatal case of poisoning by weed

alcohol, by H. F. Hull and O. J. Mink, passed assistant surgeons, United States

Navy 291

A case of pneumonia complicated by gangrenous endocarditis, by G. B. Crow,

passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 292

Progress in medical sciences:

General medicine. —On progressive paralysis in the imperial navy during

the years 1901-1911. By H. G. Beyer. An etiological study of Hodgkin's disease.

The etiology and vaccine treatment of Hodgkin's dis

ease. Coryncbacterium hodgkini in lymphatic leukemia and Hodgkin's disease.

Autointoxication and subinfection. Studies of syphilis. The treatment of the

pneumonias. Whooping cough: Etiolcgy, diagnosis, and vaccine treatment. A new

and logical treatment for alcoholism. Intraspinous injection of salvarsanized

serum in the treatment of syphilis of the nervous system, including tabes and

paresis. On the infective nature of certain cases of splenomegaly and Banti's

disease. The etiology and vaccine treatment of Hodgkin's disease. Cultural

results in Hodgkin's disease. By A. W. Dunbar and G. B. Crow 295

Surgery- Interesting cases of gunshot injury treated at Hankow during

the revolution of 1911 and 1912 in China. The fool's paradise stage in

appendicitis. By L. W. Johnson. The present status of bismuth paste treatment

of suppurative sinuses and empyema. The inguinal route operation for femoral

hernia; with supplementary note on Cooper's ligament. By R. Spear and R. A.

Warner 307

Hygiene and sanitation. — A contribution to the chemistry of

ventilation. The use of ozone in ventilation. By E. \V. Brown. Pulmonary

tuberculosis in the royal navy, with special reference to its detection and

prevention. An investigation into the keeping properties of condensed milks at

the temperature of tropical climates. By C. N. Fiske and R. C. Ransdell 313

Tropical medicine. —Seven days fever of the Indian ports. By L. W.

Johnson. Intestinal schistosomiasis in the Sudan. Disease carriers in our army

in India. Origin and present status of the emetin treatment of amebic

dysentery. The culture of leishmania from the finger blood of a case of Indian

kala-azar. By E. R. Stitt 315

Pathology, bacteriology, and animal parasitology. —The isolation of

typhoid bacilli from feces by means of brilliant green in fluid medium. By C.

N. Fiske. An efficient and convenient stain for use in the eeneral examination

of blood films. By 0. B. Crow. A contribution to the epidemiology of

poliomyelitis. A contribution to the pathology of epidemic poliomyelitis. A

note on the etiology of epidemic

oliomyelitis. Transmutations within the streptococcus-pneumococcus

group. The etiology of acute rheumatism, articular and muscular. By A. B.

Clifford and G. F. Clark 320

Chemistry and pharmacy.— Centrifugal method for estimating albumin in

urine. Detection of albumin in urine. New indican reaction A report on the

chemistry, technology, and pharmacology of and the legislation pertaining to

methyl alcohol. By E. W. Brown and O. O. Ruge. . 325

Eye, ear, nose, and throat. —The use of local anesthesia in

exenteration of the orbit. Salvarsan in

ophthalmic practice. The effect of salvarsan on the eye. Total blindness

from the toxic action of wood alcohol, with recovery of vision under negative

galvanism. Furunculosis of the external auditory canal; the use of alcohol as a

valuable aid in treatment. Local treatment of Vincent's angina with salvarsan.

Perforated ear drum may be responsible for sudden death in water. The indications

for operating in acute mastoiditis. Turbinotomy. Why is nasal catarrh so

prevalent in the United States? By E. J. Grow and G. B. Trible 330

Miscellaneous. — The organization and work of the hospital ship Re d’

Italia. ByG. B. Trible 333

Reports and letters:

Correspondence concerning the article "Some aspects of the

prophylaxis of typhoid fever by injection of killed cultures," by Surg. C.

S. Butler, United States Navy, which appeared in the Bulletin, October, 1913

339

Malaria on the U. S. S. Tacoma from February, 1913, to February, 1914.

by I. S. K. Reeves, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 344

Extracts from annual sanitary reports for 1913 345

Number 3

Preface vii

Special articles:

Economy and waste in naval hospitals, by E. M. Shipp, surgeon, and P.

J. Waldner, chief pharmacist, United States Navy 357

The new method of physical training in the United States Navy, by J. A.

Murphy, surgeon, United States Navy 368

A study of the etiology of gangosa in Guam, by C. P. Kindleberger,

surgeon, United States Navy 381

Unreliability of Wassermann tests using unheated serum, by E. R. Stitt,

medical inspector, and G. F. Clark, passed assistant surgeon, United States

Navy 410

Laboratory note on antigens, by G. F. Clark, pasted assistant surgeon,

United States Navy 411

Prevention of mouth infection, by Joseph Head, M. D., D. D. S 411

The Medical Department at general quarters and preparations for battle,

by A. Farenholt, surgeon, United States Navy 421

A bacteriological index for dirt in milk, by J. J. Kinyoun, assistant

surgeon, Medical Reserve Corps, United States Navy 435

Brief description of proposed plan of a fleet hospital ship, based upon

the type auxiliary hull, by E. M. Blackwell, surgeon, United States Navy.. 442

The diagnostic value of the cutaneous tuberculin test in recruiting, by

E. M. Brown, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy, retired 448

United States Naval Medical School laboratories:

Additions to the pathological collection 453

Suggested devices:

A sanitary mess table for hospitals, by F. M. Bogan, surgeon, United

States Navy 455

A suggested improvement of the Navy scuttle butt, by E. M. Blackwell,

surgeon, United States Navy 455

Clinical notes:

Malaria cured by neosalvarsan, by F. M. Bogan, surgeon, United States

Navy 457

A case of rupture of the bladder with fracture of the pelvis, by H. F.

Strine, surgeon, and M. E. Higgins, passed assistant surgeon, United States

Navy. 458

Clinical observations on the use of succinimid of mercury, by T. W.

Reed, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 459

Points in the post-mortem ligation of the lingual artery, by O. J.

Mink, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 462

Notes on the wounded at Vera Cruz, by H. F. Strine, surgeon, and M. E.

Higgins, passed assistant surgeon. United States Navy 464

Case reports from the Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, N. H., by F. M.

Bogan, surgeon, United States Navy 469

Progress in medical sciences:

General medicine. —The mouth in the etiology and symptomatology of

general systemic disturbances. Statistique m£dicale de la marine, 1909. By L.

W. Johnson. Antityphoid inoculation. Vaccines from the standpoint of the

physician. The treatment of sciatica. Chronic gastric ulcer and its relation to

gastric carcinoma. The nonprotein nitrogenous constituents of the blood in

chronic vascular nephritis

(arteriosclero-iis) as influenced by the level of protein metabolism.

The influence of diet on hepatic necrosis and toxicity of chloroform. The

rational treatment of tetanus. The comparative value of cardiac remedies. By A.

W. Dunbar and G. B. Crow

Psychiatry. —Abderhalden's method. Precis de psychiatric Constitutional

immorality. Nine years' experience with manic-depressive insanity. The pupil

and its reflexes in insanity. By R. F. Sheehan.

Surgery. —On the occurrence of traumatic dislocations (luxationen) in

the Imperial German Navy during the last 20 years. By H. G. Beyer. The wounding

effects of the Turkish sharp-pointed bullet. By T. W. Richards. Intestinal

obstruction: formation and absorption of toxin. By G. B. Crow

Hygiene and sanitation. —Relation of oysters to the transmission of

infectious diseases. The proper diet in the Tropics, with some pertinent remarks

on the use of alcohol. By E. W. Brown. Report of committee

upon period of isolation and exclusion from school in cases of

communicable disease. Resultats d'une enquete relative a la morbidity venerienne

dans la division navale d'Extreme-Orient et aux moyens susceptibles de la

restreindre. Ship's hygiene in the middle of the seventeenth century- Progress in

ship's hygiene during the nineteenth century. The origin of some of the

streptococci found in milk. On the further perfecting of mosquito spraying. By

C. N. Fiske and R. C. Ransdell

Tropical medicine. — Le transport, colloidal de medicaments dans le cholera.

By T. W. Richards. Cholera in the Turkish Army. A supposed case of yellow fever

in Jamaica. By L. W. Johnson. Note on a new geographic locality for balantidiosis.

Brief note on Toxoplasma pyroqenes. Note on certain protozoalike bodies in a

case of protracted fever with splenomegaly. The emetine and other treatment of

amebic dysentery and hepatitis, including liver abscess. A study of epidemic dysentery

in the Fiji Islands. By E. R. Stitt

Pathology, bacteriology, and animal parasitology. — The best method of staining

Treponema pallidum. By C. N. Fiske. Bacteriological methods of meat analysis.

By R. C. Ransdell. Primary tissue lesions in the heart produced by Spirochete

pallida. Ten tests by which a physician may determine when p patient is cured

of gonorrhea. Diagnostic value of percutaneous tuberculin test (Moro). Some

causes of failure of vaccine therapy. A method of increasing the accuracy and

delicacy of the Wassermann reaction: By A. B. Clifford and G. F. Clark

Chemistry and pharmacy. —Quantitative test of pancreatic function. A comparison

of various preservatives of urine. A clinical method for the rapid estimation

of the quantity of dextrose in urine. By E. W. Brown and O. G. Ruge

Eye, ear, nose, and throat. —Intraocular pressure. Strauma as an

important factor in diseases of the eye. Carbonic cauterization "in the

treatment of granular ophthalmia. Ocular and other complications of syphilis treated

by salvarsan. Some notes on hay fever. A radiographic study of the mastoid. Ear

complications during typhoid fever. Su di un caso di piccola sanguisuga

cavallina nel bronco destro e su 7 casi di grosse sanguisughe cavalline in

laringe in trachea e rino-faringe. By E. J. Grow and G. B. Trible

Reports and letters:

American medico-psychological association, by R. F. Sheehan, passed assistant

surgeon, United States Navy 517

Report of 11 cases of asphyxiation from coal gas, by L. C. Whiteside,

passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 522

Extracts from annual sanitary reports for 1913 — United States Naval

Academy, Annapolis, Md., by A. M. D. McCormick, medical director, United States

Navy 523

U. S. S. Arkansas, by W. B. Grove, surgeon, United States Navy 524

Marine barracks, Camp Elliott, Canal Zone, Panama, by B. H. Dorsey, passed

assistant surgeon, United States Navy 525

U. S. S. Cincinnati, by J. B. Mears, passed assistant surgeon. United States

Navy 526

U. S. S. Florida, by M. S. Elliott, surgeon, United States Navy 527

Naval training station, Great Lakes, Ill., by J. S. Taylor, surgeon, United

States Navy 527

Naval station, Guam, by C. P. Kindleberger, surgeon, United States Navy

528

Naval Hospital, Las Animas, Colo., by G. H. Barber, medical inspector, United

States Navy 532

U. S. S. Nebraska, by E. H. H. Old, passed assistant surgeon, United States

Navy 533

U. S. S. North Dakota, by J. C. Pryor, surgeon, United States Navy. .

534

Navy yard, Olongapo, P. L, by J. S. Woodward, passed assistant surgeon,

United States Navy 536

U. S. S. San Francisco, by T. W. Reed, passed assistant surgeon, United

States Navy 537

U. S. S. Saratoga, by H. R. Hermesch, assistant surgeon, United States Navy

538

U. S. S. Scorpion, by E. P. Huff, passed assistant surgeon, United States

Navy 538

U. S. S. West Virginia, by O. J. Mink, passed assistant surgeon, United

States Navy 539

Number 4

Preface V

Special articles:

Some prevailing ideas regarding the treatment of tuberculosis, by

Passed Asst. Surg. G. B. Crow 541

The Training School for the Hospital Corps of the Navy, by Surg. F. E. McCullough

and Passed Asst. Surg. J. B. Kaufman 555

Khaki dye for white uniforms, by Passed Asst. Surg. W. E. Eaton 561

Some facts and some fancies regarding the unity of yaws and syphilis,

by Surg. C. S. Butler 561

Quinine prophylaxis of malaria, by Passed Asst. Surg. L. W. McGuire 571

The nervous system and naval warfare, translated by Surg. T. W.

Richards. 576

Measles, by Surg. G. F. Freeman 586

Smallpox and vaccination, by Passed Asst. Surg. T. W. Raison 589

Rabies; methods of diagnosis and immunization, by Passed Asst. Surg. F.

X. Koltes 597

Syphilis aboard ship, by Passed Asst. Surg. G. F. Cottle 605

Systematic recording and treatment of syphilis, by Surg. A. M.

Fauntleroy and Passed Asst. Surg. E. H. H. Old 620

Organization and station bills of the U. S. naval hospital ship Solace,

by Surg. W. M. Garton 624

United States Naval Medical School laboratories:

Additions to the pathological collection 647

Additions to the helminthological collection 647

Clinical notes:

Succinimid of mercury in pyorrhea alveolaris, by Acting Asst. Dental Surg.

P. G. White 649

A case of pityriasis rosea, by Surg. R. E. Ledbetter 651

Emetin in the treatment of amebic abscess of the liver, by Surg. H. F. Strine

and Passed Asst. Surg. L. Sheldon, jr 653

Salvarsan in a case of amebic dysentery, by Passed Asst. Surg. O. J.

Mink. . 653

Laceration of the subclavian artery and complete severing of brachial plexus,

by Surg. H. C. Curl and Passed Asst. Surg. C. B. Camerer 654

Malarial infection complicating splenectomy, by Surg. H. F. Strine 655

A case of gastric hemorrhage; operative interference impossible, by

Passed Arst. Surg. G. E. Robertson 656

Operation for strangulated hernia, by Passed Asst. Surg. W. S. Pugh 657

A case of bronchiectasis with hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy,

by Passed Asst. Surg. L. C. Whiteside 658

Editorial comment:

Systematic recording and treatment of syphilis 665

Progress in medical sciences:

General medicine. —A note of three cases of enteric fever inoculated

during the incubation period. By T. W. Richards. The modern treatment of

chancroids. The treatment of burns. By W. E. Eaton. Experiments on the curative

value of the intraspinal administration of tetanus antitoxin. Hexamethylenamin.

Hexamethylenamin as an internal

antiseptic in other fluids of the body than urine. Lumbar puncture as a special

procedure for controlling headache in the course of infectious diseases.

Cardiospasm. Acromion auscultation; a new and delicate test in the early

diagnosis of incipient pulmonary tuberculosis.

Diabetes mellitus and its differentiation from alimentary glycosuria.

The complement fixation test in typhoid fever; its comparison with the

agglutination test and blood culture method. By C. B. Crow.. 671

Mental and nervous diseases. —A voice sign in chorea. By G. B. Crow.

Wassermann reaction and its application to neurology. Epilepsy: a theory of

causation founded upon the clinical manifestations and the therapeutic and

pathological data. Salvarsanized serum (Swift-Ellis treatment) in syphilitic diseases

of the central nervous system. Mental manifestations in tumors of the brain.

Some of the broader issues of the psycho-analytic n movement. Mental disease

and defect in United States troops. By R. Sheehan 6S1

Surgery. — Infiltration anesthesia. War surgery. Tenoplasty; tendon transplantation;

tendon substitution; neuroplasty. Carcinoma of the male breast. Visceral

pleureotomy for chronic empyema. By A. M. Fauntleroy and E. H. H. Old 6S8

Hygiene and sanitation. — Further experiences with the Berkefold filter

in the purifying of lead-contaminated water. By T. W. Richards. Experiments in

the destruction of fly larvae in horse manure. By A. B. Clifford. Investigation

relative to the life cycle, brooding, and tome practical moans of reducing the

multiplication of flies in camp. By W. E. Eaton, Humidity and heat stroke;

further observations on an analysis of

50 cases. By C. N. Fiske 693

Tropical medicine. — The treatment of aneylostoma anemia. Latent dysentery

or dysentery carriers. Naphthalone for the destruction of mosquitoes. Emetin in

amebic dysentery. By E. R. Stitt 704

Pathology, bacteriology, and animal parasitology. —Meningitis by

injection of pyogenic microbes in the peripheral nerves. The growth of pathogenic

intestinal bacteria in bread. Present status of the complement fixation test in

the diagnosis of gonorrheal infections. Practical application of the luetin

test. By A. B. Clifford and G. F. Clark 707

Eye, ear, nose, and throat. — Misting of eyeglasses. By E. L. Sleeth.

The treatment of ocular syphilis by salvarsan and neo salvarsan. The moving

picture and the eye. Treatment of various forms of ocular syphilis with

salvarsan. Rapid, painless, and bloodless method for removing the inferior

turbinate. Hemorrhage from the superior petrosal sinus. The frequency of

laryngeal tuberculosis in Massachusetts.

Intrinsic cancer of larynx. Treatment of hematoma of the auricle. By E.

J. Grow and G. B. Trible 709

Reports and letters:

Care of wounded at Mazatlan and at Villa Union, by Medical Inspector S.

G. Evans 713

Medico-military reports of the occupation of Vera Cruz 715

If you have questions concerning reproductions, please contact the Contributing Library.

Note: The colors, contrast and appearance of these illustrations are unlikely to be true to life. They are derived from scanned images that have been enhanced for machine interpretation and have been altered from their originals.

Read/Download from the Internet Archive

See all images from this book

See all MHL images published in the same year

Memories of Fall (1687, a year before the bloodless, glorious fun) by Dimi Sahn

15

live in the real world

rikenon 105mm f/2.8

SAM_1687rt

Thrilling Wonder Stories / December 1937 by Michael Studt

8

Thrilling Wonder Stories / Heft-Reihe

> Ralph Milne Farley / A Month a Minute

> Raymond Z. Gallun / Red Shards on Ceres

> John W. Campbell, Jr. / The Tenth World

> Robert Moore Williams / Beyond that Curtain

> Paul Ernst / The Mind Magnet

> Edmond Hamilton / When Space Burst

> Henry Kuttner [Will Garth] / The Bloodless Peril

cover: Howard V. Brown (cover illustrates "The Mind Magnet")

Better Publications, Inc. / USA 1937

Reprint: Comic-Club NK 2010

ex libris MTP

www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?61691

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Stories

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

9

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"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

Bangladesh / বাংলাদেশ by Hugo Carriço

28 1

officially the The People's Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali: গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ Gônoprojatontri Bangladesh) is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma (Myanmar) to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south. Together with the Indian state of West Bengal, it makes up the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. The name Bangladesh means "Country of Bengal" in the official Bengali language.

The borders of present-day Bangladesh were established with the partition of Bengal and India in 1947, when the region became the eastern wing of the newly formed Pakistan. However, it was separated from the western wing by 1,600 km (994 mi) of Indian territory. Political and linguistic discrimination as well as economic neglect led to popular agitations against West Pakistan, which led to the war for independence in 1971 and the establishment of Bangladesh. After independence the new state endured famines, natural disasters and widespread poverty, as well as political turmoil and military coups. The restoration of democracy in 1991 has been followed by relative calm and economic progress.

Bangladesh is the seventh most populous country and is among the most densely populated countries in the world with a high poverty rate. However, per-capita (inflation-adjusted) GDP has more than doubled since 1975, and the poverty rate has fallen by 20% since the early 1990s. The country is listed among the "Next Eleven" economies. Dhaka, the capital, and other urban centers have been the driving force behind this growth

Geographically, the country straddles the fertile Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta and is subject to annual monsoon floods and cyclones. Bangladesh has the longest unbroken sea beach in the world in the Cox's Bazaar. The government is a parliamentary democracy. Bangladesh is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the OIC, SAARC, BIMSTEC, and the D-8. As the World Bank notes in its July 2005 Country Brief, the country has made significant progress in human development in the areas of literacy, gender parity in schooling and reduction of population growth.

However, Bangladesh continues to face a number of major challenges, including widespread political and bureaucratic corruption, economic competition relative to the world, serious overpopulation, widespread poverty, and an increasing danger of hydrologic shocks brought on by ecological vulnerability to climate change.

History

Remnants of civilization in the greater Bengal region date back four thousand years, when the region was settled by Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman, and Austro-Asiatic peoples. The exact origin of the word "Bangla" or "Bengal" is unknown, though it is believed to be derived from Bang, the Dravidian-speaking tribe that settled in the area around the year 1000 BC.

The kingdom of Gangaridai was formed from at least the seventh century BC, which later united with Bihar under the Magadha, Nanda, Mauryan and Sunga Empires. Bengal was later part of the Gupta Empire and Harsha Empire from the third to the sixth centuries CE. Following its collapse, a dynamic Bengali named Shashanka founded an impressive yet short-lived kingdom. Shashanka is considered the first independent king in the history of Bangladesh.

After a period of anarchy, the Buddhist Pala dynasty ruled the region for four hundred years, followed by a shorter reign of the Hindu Sena dynasty. Islam was introduced to Bengal in the twelfth century by Arab Muslim merchants and Sufi missionaries, and subsequent Muslim conquests helped spread Islam throughout the region.

Bakhtiar Khilji, a Turkic general, defeated Lakshman Sen of the Sena dynasty and conquered large parts of Bengal in the year 1204. The region was ruled by dynasties of Sultans and land lords Bhuiyan for the next few hundred years. By the 16th century, the Mughal Empire controlled Bengal, and Dhaka became an important provincial centre of Mughal administration.

European traders arrived late in the 15th century, and their influence grew until the British East India Company gained control of Bengal following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The bloody rebellion of 1857, known as the Sepoy Mutiny, resulted in transfer of authority to the crown, with a British viceroy running the administration. During colonial rule, famine racked the Indian subcontinent many times, including the Great Bengal famine of 1943 that claimed 3 million lives.

20th century

Between 1905 and 1911, an abortive attempt was made to divide the province of Bengal into two zones, with Dhaka being the capital of the eastern zone. When India was partitioned in 1947, Bengal was partitioned along religious lines (for the majority Muslims), with the western part going to India and the eastern part joining Pakistan as a province called East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan), with its capital at Dhaka.

In 1950, land reform was accomplished in East Bengal with the abolishment of the feudal zamindari system. However, despite the economic and demographic weight of the east, Pakistan's government and military were largely dominated by the upper classes from the west. The Bengali Language Movement of 1952 was the first sign of friction between the two wings of Pakistan.

Dissatisfaction with the central government over economic and cultural issues continued to rise through the next decade, during which the Awami League emerged as the political voice of the Bengali-speaking population. It agitated for autonomy in the 1960s, and in 1966, its president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was jailed; he was released in 1969, after an unprecedented popular uprising.

In 1970, a massive cyclone devastated the coast of East Pakistan, killing up to half a million people, and the central government responded poorly. The Bengali population's anger was compounded when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose Awami League won a majority in Parliament in the 1970 elections, was blocked from taking office.

After staging compromise talks with Mujib, President Yahya Khan arrested him on the early hours of March 26, 1971, and launched Operation Searchlight, a sustained military assault on East Pakistan. Yahya's methods were extremely bloody, and the violence of the war resulted in many civilian deaths . Chief targets included intellectuals and Hindus, and about ten million refugees fled to neighbouring India. Estimates of those massacred throughout the war range from three hundred thousand to 3 million.

Before his arrest by the Pakistan Army, Sk. Mujibur Rahman formally declared the independence of Bangladesh and directed everyone to fight till the last soldier of the Pakistan army was evicted from East Pakistan. Awami League leaders set up a government-in-exile in Calcutta, India. The exile government formally took oath at Mujib Nagar in Kustia district of East Pakistan on April 14, 1971 with Tajuddin Ahmad as the first Prime Minister.

The Bangladesh Liberation War lasted for nine months. The Bangladesh Forces formed within 11 sectors led by General M.A.G. Osmani consisting of Bengali Regulars and Mukti Bahini conducted a massive guerilla war against the Pakistan Forces with all out support from the Indian Armed Forces. Jointly the Mitro Bahini achieved a decisive victory over Pakistan on December 16, 1971, with Indian Armed Forces taking over 90,000 prisoners of war.

After its independence, Bangladesh became a parliamentary democracy, with Mujib as the Prime Minister. In the 1973 parliamentary elections, the Awami League gained an absolute majority. A nationwide famine occurred during 1973 and 1974, and in early 1975, Mujib initiated a one-party socialist rule with his newly formed BAKSAL. On August 15, 1975, Mujib with most of his family members were assassinated by mid-level military officers. On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court awarded death penalty to 12 convicts. Five condemned killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were hanged early on January 28, 2010 at Dhaka Central Jail amid tight security. Apart from the five executed, six are on the run and one died.

A series of bloody coups and counter-coups in the following three months culminated in the ascent to power of General Ziaur Rahman, who reinstated multi-party politics & founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Zia's rule ended when he was assassinated in 1981 by elements of the military. Bangladesh's next major rulers General Hossain Mohammad Ershad, who gained power in a bloodless coup in 1982 and ruled until 1990, when he was forced to resign after a massive revolt of all major political parties and the public, joined with pressure from western donors (which was a major shift in international policy after the end of communism).

Since then, Bangladesh has reverted to a parliamentary democracy. Zia's widow, Khaleda Zia, led the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to parliamentary victory at the general election in 1991 and became the first female Prime Minister in Bangladesh's history. However, the Awami League, headed by Sheikh Hasina, one of Mujib's surviving daughters, clinched power at the next election in 1996 but lost to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party again in 2001.

On January 11, 2007, following widespread political unrest, a caretaker government was appointed to administer the next general election. The country had suffered from extensive corruption, disorder and political violence. The new caretaker government has made it a priority to root out corruption from all levels of government. To this end, many notable politicians and officials, along with large numbers of lesser officials and party members, have been arrested on corruption charges. The caretaker government held a fair and free election on December 29, 2008. Awami League's Sheikh Hasina won the elections with a landslide victory and took oath of Prime Minister on January 6, 2009.

Geography and climate

Bangladesh is in the low-lying Ganges–Brahmaputra River Delta or Ganges Delta. This delta is formed by the confluence of the Ganges (local name Padma or Pôdda), Brahmaputra (Jamuna or Jomuna), and Meghna rivers and their respective tributaries. The Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna to eventually empty into the Bay of Bengal. The alluvial soil deposited by these rivers has created some of the most fertile plains in the world. Bangladesh has 58 trans-boundary rivers, making water issues politically complicated to resolve – in most cases as the lower riparian state to India.[48] Most parts of Bangladesh are less than 12 m (39.4 ft) above the sea level, and it is believed that about 50% of the land would be flooded if the sea level were to rise by 1 m (3.28 ft).

In south east Bangladesh experiments have been done since the sixties to 'build with nature'. By implementing cross dams, the natural accretion of silt has created new land. With Dutch funding, the Bangladeshi government began to help develop this new land in the late 1970s. The effort has since become a multiagency operation building roads, culverts, embankments, cyclone shelters, toilets and ponds, as well as distributing land to settlers. By fall 2010, the program will have allotted some 27,000 acres (10,927 ha) to 21,000 families.

The highest point in Bangladesh is in Mowdok range at 1,052 m (3,450 ft) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts to the southeast of the country.

Straddling the Tropic of Cancer, Bangladeshi climate is tropical with a mild winter from October to March, a hot, humid summer from March to June. A warm and humid monsoon season lasts from June to October and supplies most of the country's rainfall. Natural calamities, such as floods, tropical cyclones, tornadoes, and tidal bores occur almost every year, combined with the effects of deforestation, soil degradation and erosion. Cox's Bazar, south of the city of Chittagong, has a beach that stretches uninterrupted over 120 kilometres (75 mi).

In September 1998, Bangladesh saw the most severe flooding in modern world history. As the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Meghna spilt over and swallowed 300,000 houses, 9,700 kilometres (6,027 mi) of road and 2,700 kilometres (1,678 mi) of embankment 1,000 people were killed and 30 million more were made homeless with 135,000 cattle killed, 50 square kilometres (19.3 sq mi) of land destroyed and 11,000 kilometres (6,835 mi) of roads damaged or destroyed. Two-thirds of the country was underwater. There were several reasons for the severity of the flooding. Firstly, there were unusually high monsoon rains. Secondly, the Himalayas shed off an equally unusually high amount of melt water that year. Thirdly, trees that usually would have intercept rain water had been cut down for firewood or to make space for animals.

Bangladesh is now widely recognized to be one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Natural hazards that come from increased rainfall, rising sea levels, and tropical cyclones are expected to increase as climate change, each seriously affecting agriculture, water & food security, human health and shelter. It is believed that in the coming decades the rising sea level alone will create more than 20 million climate refugees.

Other infos

Oficial Name:

গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ

Gana Prajatantri Bangladesh

গণ প্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ (Gôṇ Prôjātôntrī Bāṁlādeš)

Independence:

Declared March 26, 1971

- Victory Day December 16 1971

Area:

147.450km2

Inhabitants:

150.790.000

Language:

Arakanese [mhv] 200,000 in Bangladesh (2001 Johnstone and Mandryk). Population includes 150,000 Marmar, 35,000 Rakhain (SIL 2002). Southeast, Chittagong Hills area. Marma is in the hills and Rakhine along the coast. Alternate names: Marama, "Maghi", "Mogh", "Magh", Mash, Marma. Dialects: Marma (Morma), Rakhine (Rakhain, Yakhain). Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Lolo-Burmese, Burmish, Southern

Assamese [asm] Alternate names: Asambe, Asami. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bengali-Assamese

Bengali [ben] 100,000,000 in Bangladesh (1994 UBS). 211,000,000 including second-language speakers (1999 WA). Population total all countries: 171,070,202. Western. Also spoken in India, Malawi, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA. Alternate names: Banga-Bhasa, Bangala, Bangla. Dialects: Languages or dialects in the Bengali group according to Grierson: Central (Standard) Bengali, Western Bengali (Kharia Thar, Mal Paharia, Saraki), Southwestern Bengali, Northern Bengali (Koch, Siripuria), Rajbanshi, Bahe, Eastern Bengali (East Central, including Sylhetti), Haijong, Southeastern Bengali (Chakma), Ganda, Vanga, Chittagonian (possible dialect of Southeastern Bengali). Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bengali-Assamese

Bishnupriya [bpy] 40,000 in Bangladesh (2003). Alternate names: Bishnupuriya, Bisna Puriya, Bishnupria Manipuri. Dialects: Rajar Gang, Madoi Gang. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bengali-Assamese

Burmese [mya] 300,000 in Bangladesh (2001 Johnstone and Mandryk). Area bordering Myanmar. Alternate names: Bama, Bamachaka, Myen. Dialects: Bomang. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Lolo-Burmese, Burmish, Southern

Chak [ckh] 5,500 in Bangladesh (2002). Most in Arakan Blue Mountains, Baishari, Banderbon, South, Nrrkhinsorithan, Bishar Chokpra. Alternate names: Sak. Classification: Unclassified

Chakma [ccp] 312,207 in Bangladesh (2000 WCD). Population total all countries: 612,207. Southeast, Chittagong Hills area, and Chittagong City. Also spoken in India. Alternate names: Takam. Dialects: 6 dialects. Chakma of India understood with difficulty. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bengali-Assamese

Chin, Asho [csh] 1,422 in Bangladesh (1981 census). Chittagong Hills. Alternate names: Sho, Shoa, Khyang, Khyeng, Qin. Dialects: Chittagong, Lemyo, Minbu, Saingbaun, Sandoway, Thayetmyo. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Kuki-Chin-Naga, Kuki-Chin, Southern, Sho

Chin, Bawm [bgr] 5,773 in Bangladesh (1981 census). Chittagong Hills. Alternate names: Bawn, Bawng, Bom, Bawm. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Kuki-Chin-Naga, Kuki-Chin, Central

Chin, Falam [flm] Alternate names: Hallam Chin, Halam, Fallam, Falam. Dialects: Chorei, Zanniat. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Kuki-Chin-Naga, Kuki-Chin, Northern

Chin, Haka [cnh] 1,264 in Bangladesh (2000 WCD). Alternate names: Haka, Baungshe, Lai. Dialects: Klangklang (Thlantlang), Zokhua, Shonshe. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Kuki-Chin-Naga, Kuki-Chin, Central

Chin, Khumi [cnk] 1,188 in Bangladesh (1981 census). Alternate names: Khumi, Khami, Kami, Kumi, Khweymi, Khuni. Dialects: Khimi, Yindi (Yindu), Khami, Ngala. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Kuki-Chin-Naga, Kuki-Chin, Southern, Khumi

Chittagonian [cit] 14,000,000 in Bangladesh (1998 H. Ebersole). Chittagong Region. Also spoken in Myanmar. Alternate names: Chittagonian Bengali. Dialects: Rohinga (Akyab). Not inherently intelligible with Bengali, although considered to be a nonstandard Bengali dialect. A continuum of dialects from north to south, with a larger religious distinction between Muslim and others. An ethnic Bengali Muslim who speaks the Muslim variety of Chittagonian Bengali and was born in Arakan state, Myanmar, is called a 'Rohinga'. The dialect is intelligible to those born in southeastern Bangladesh. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bengali-Assamese

Darlong [dln] 9,000 in Bangladesh. Population total all countries: 15,000. Also spoken in India. Alternate names: Dalong. Dialects: Also reported to be related to Tipura. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Kuki-Chin-Naga, Kuki-Chin, Central

Garo [grt] 102,000 in Bangladesh (1993). Northeastern, Mymensingh plains, Tangail Shripur, Jamelpur, Netrakara, Sylhet, Dhaka. Alternate names: Garrow, Mande. Dialects: Abeng, Achik. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Jingpho-Konyak-Bodo, Konyak-Bodo-Garo, Bodo-Garo, Garo

Hajong [haj] Alternate names: Haijong. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bengali-Assamese

Ho [hoc] Alternate names: Lanka Kol. Classification: Austro-Asiatic, Munda, North Munda, Kherwari, Mundari

Indian Sign Language [ins] Classification: Deaf sign language

Khasi [kha] Very few speakers of standard Khasi. Moulvibazar District, near Fenchuganj, Madhabkunda, Barlekha, Goalbari, Fultala, Alinagar, Islampur, Khajori, Rashidpur, Satgoan, Kamalganj, and Alinagar; Sylhet District, near Jaflong, Tamabil, Jaintiapur and north of Raipur; Hobiganj District. Alternate names: Kahasi, Khasiyas, Khuchia, Kyi, Cossyah, Khassee, Khasie. Dialects: Khasi (Cherrapunji), Lyngngam (Lngngam). Classification: Austro-Asiatic, Mon-Khmer, Northern Mon-Khmer, Khasian

Koch [kdq] Alternate names: Koc, Kocch, Koce, Kochboli, Konch. Dialects: Banai, Harigaya, Satpariya, Tintekiya, Wanang. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Jingpho-Konyak-Bodo, Konyak-Bodo-Garo, Bodo-Garo, Koch

Kok Borok [trp] 100,000 in Bangladesh (2001). Alternate names: Tripuri, Tripura, Tipura, Mrung, Usipi. Dialects: Jamatia, Noatia, Riang (Tipra), Halam, Debbarma. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Jingpho-Konyak-Bodo, Konyak-Bodo-Garo, Bodo-Garo, Bodo

Kurux [kru] Alternate names: Kurukh, Uraon, Oraoan. Classification: Dravidian, Northern

Megam [mef] 6,872 (2000 WCD). Northeastern Bangladesh. Alternate names: Migam. Dialects: Called a dialect of Garo, but may be a separate language. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Jingpho-Konyak-Bodo, Konyak-Bodo-Garo, Bodo-Garo, Garo

Meitei [mni] 15,000 in Bangladesh (2003). Sylhet. Alternate names: Meithei, Meithe, Mitei, Mithe, Meiteiron, Manipuri, Kathe, Kathi, Ponna. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Meitei

Mizo [lus] 1,041 in Bangladesh (1981 census). Mizo Hills, Chittagong, Sylhet. Alternate names: Lusai, Lushai, Lushei, Sailau, Hualngo, Whelngo, Lei. Dialects: Ralte, Dulien, Ngente, Mizo, Le. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Kuki-Chin-Naga, Kuki-Chin, Central

Mru [mro] 80,000 in Bangladesh (2002 SIL). Population total all countries: 81,231. Southeastern, Chittagong Hills; 200 villages. Also spoken in India. Alternate names: Murung, Mrung, Maru, Niopreng. Dialects: Lexical similarity 13% with Mro Chin. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Mru

Mundari [muw] Alternate names: Munda, Mandari, Munari, Horo, Mondari, Colh. Dialects: Hasada', Latar, Naguri, Kera'. Classification: Austro-Asiatic, Munda, North Munda, Kherwari, Mundari

Pankhu [pkh] 2,278 in Bangladesh (1981 census). Population total all countries: 2,512. Bandarban, Rangamati, Kagrachori, and some in Malumghat and Chittagong. Also spoken in India, Myanmar. Alternate names: Pankho, Panko, Pangkhu. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Kuki-Chin-Naga, Kuki-Chin, Central

Pnar [pbv] 4,000 in Bangladesh (2002). Along the India border in the northeast; Sylhet Division, Sylhet District, near Jaflong, Tamabil, Jaintiapur, and north of Raipur; Moulavi Bazar District, near Fenchuganj, Madhabkunda, Barlekha, Goalbari, Fultala, Alinagar, Islampur, Khajori, Rashidpur, Satgoan, Kamalganj. Classification: Austro-Asiatic, Mon-Khmer, Northern Mon-Khmer, Khasian

Rajbanshi [rjb] 12,916 in Bangladesh (2000). Northwest regions of Bangladesh. Alternate names: Rajbangsi, Rajbansi, Tajpuri. Dialects: Bahe. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bengali-Assamese

Riang [ria] 1,011 in Bangladesh (2000). Chittagong Hills. Alternate names: Reang, Kau Bru. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Jingpho-Konyak-Bodo, Konyak-Bodo-Garo, Bodo-Garo, Bodo

Sadri, Oraon [sdr] 165,683 (2000 WCD). Throughout Rajshahi Division; in Chittagong Division, Moulvibazar and Hobigani districts; and Khulna Division, Jhenaidah District (Jhenaidah Thana, Moheshpur Thana), Kushtia District (Mirpur Thana), Magura District (Magura Thana). Dialects: Borail Sadri, Nurpur Sadri, Uchai Sadri, Mokkan Tila Sadri. The dialects listed may need separate literature. Inherent intelligibility of 7 Sadri varieties on Borail ranges from 70% to 93%; of 8 varieties on Nurpur from 78% to 94%. Lexical similarity of 14 Sadri varieties with Borail Sadri ranges from 88% to 97%. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bihari

Santali [sat] 157,000 in Bangladesh (2001 Johnstone and Mandryk). Ethnic population: 42,698. Alternate names: Hor, Satar, Santhali, Sandal, Sangtal, Santal, Har, Sonthal. Dialects: Karmali (Khole), Kamari-Santali, Lohari-Santali, Paharia, Mahali (Mahle) Manjhi. Classification: Austro-Asiatic, Munda, North Munda, Kherwari, Santali

Shendu [shl] 1,000 in Bangladesh (1980 UBS). Chittagong Hills. Also spoken in India. Alternate names: Khyen, Khyeng, Khieng, Shandu, Sandu. Dialects: Close to Asho, Khyang, Thayetmo, Minbu, Chinbon, Lemyo, Mara Chin (Lakher). Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Kuki-Chin-Naga, Kuki-Chin, Southern, Sho

Sylheti [syl] 7,000,000 in Bangladesh. Population total all countries: 10,300,000. Ethnic population: 8,000,000 or more. District of Sylhet, Sunamgani, Habigani, Moulvibazar. Sylhet is about 100 miles north of Dacca. Also spoken in Australia, Canada, India, Italy, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, United Kingdom, USA. Alternate names: Sylhetti, Sylhetti Bangla, Sileti, Siloti, Syloti, Syloty. Dialects: Close to Bengali, Assamese. Lexical similarity 70% with Bengali. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bengali-Assamese

Tangchangya [tnv] 17,695 (1981 census). Chittagong Hills. Alternate names: Tanchangya. Dialects: Close to Chakma. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bengali-Assamese

Tippera [tpe] 100,000 (2001 Johnstone and Mandryk). Chittagong Hills. Alternate names: Tippera-Bengali, Tipperah, Tipra, Tipura, Triperah, Tippurah, Tripura. Dialects: 36 dialects. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Unclassified

Usui [usi] 4,010 (1981 census). Chittagong Hills. Alternate names: Unshoi, Unsuiy, Ushoi. Dialects: Close to Tippera. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Unclassified

War [aml] 16,000 in Bangladesh (2003 SIL). Population total all countries: 28,000. Along the India border in the northeast; Sylhet Division, Sylhet District, near Jaflong, Tamabil, Jaintiapur, and north of Raipur; Moulavi Bazar District, near Fenchuganj, Madhabkunda, Barlekha, Goalbari, Fultala, Alinagar, Islampur, Khajori, Rashidpur, Satgoan, Kamalganj, Alinagar. Also spoken in India. Alternate names: Amwi, Waar. Dialects: War-Jaintia, War-Khasi. Probably distinct from War, a dialect of Khasi in India. 75% intelligibility of Khasi by War-Jaintia. Jirang is similar, and may be a dialect. Lexical similarity 70% to 75% between War-Jaintia and War-Khasi; War-Jaintia dialect 41% to 45% with Pnar (from scant data), 35% with standard Khasi. Classification: Austro-Asiatic, Mon-Khmer, Northern Mon-Khmer, Khasian

Capital City:

Dhaka

Meaning of the country name:

From Bengali/Sanskrit, Bangla referring to the Bengali-speaking people, and Desh meaning "country", hence "Country of the Bengalis". The country previously formed part of colonial British India. Bengali culture spans a wider area than that of the state of Bangladesh: the culture extends into present-day India (in Assam (Boro Peoples), Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal, and Jharkand.

East Pakistan (former name): the name used when Pakistan comprised both modern-day Pakistan, or "West Pakistan", and modern-day Bangladesh — "East Pakistan". See Pakistan below (note that the name "Pakistan" comes from an acronym of the country's various regions/homelands; Bangladesh or its regions do not feature as part of the acronym.)

Note; the river Ganga leaves the plains from Hindustan of the Indo-Gangetic Plain of South Asia into Bangladesh forming the Ganges Delta (Bengal Delta) the biggest in the world, also known as the Mouths of the Ganges opening up into the Bay of Bengal near the Sunderbans (National Parks of India), a natural habitat shared by Indo-Banga inhabitants for Indian Wildlife; Home of the Royal Bengal Tiger both the National animal of Bharat and Bangladesh (Independent Bengal).

Description Flag:

The national flag of Bangladesh was adopted officially on January 17, 1972. It is based on a similar flag used during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. This flag depicted a map of Bangladesh over a red sun. The map was later deleted from the flag, most likely to simplify the design. The current flag resembles the flag of Japan, except that it has a green field instead of a white one. A red disc is on top of the green field, offset slightly toward the hoist so that it appears centered when the flag is flying. The red disc represents the sun rising over Bengal, and also the blood of those who died for the independence of Bangladesh. The green field stands for the lushness of the land of Bangladesh

Coat of arms:

Was adopted shortly after independence in 1971.

Located on the emblem is a water lily, that is bordered on two sides by rice sheaves. Above the water lilly are four stars and a three-leaf clover of tea leaves. The water lilly is the country's national flower, and is representative of the many rivers that run through Bangladesh. Rice represents its presence as the staple food of Bangladesh, and for the agriculture of that nation. The four stars represent the four founding principles that were originally enshrined in the first constitution of Bangladesh in 1972: nationalism, secularism, socialism, and democracy.

National Anthem: :আমার সোনার বাংলা), Amar Shonar Bangla (My Golden Bengal)

Bengali

আমার সোনার বাংলা

আমার সোনার বাংলা,

আমি তোমায় ভালবাসি।

চিরদিন তোমার আকাশ,

তোমার বাতাস

আমার প্রাণে বাজায় বাঁশি।

ও মা,

ফাগুনে তোর আমের বনে

ঘ্রানে পাগল করে--

মরি হায়, হায় রে

ও মা,

অঘ্রানে তোর ভরা খেতে,

আমি কি দেখেছি মধুর হাসি।।

কি শোভা কি ছায়া গো,

কি স্নেহ কি মায়া গো--

কি আঁচল বিছায়েছ

বটের মূলে,

নদীর কূলে কূলে।

মা, তোর মুখের বাণী

আমার কানে লাগে

সুধার মতো--

মরি হায়, হায় রে

মা, তোর বদনখানি মলিন হলে

আমি নয়ন জলে ভাসি।।

Transliteration

Amar Shonar Bangla

Amar shonar Bangla,

Ami tomake bhalobashi.

Chirodin tomar akash,

Tomar batash,

Amar prane bajae bãshi.

O ma,

Phagune tor amer bone

Ghrane pagol kôre,

Mori hae, hae re,

O ma,

Ôghrane tor bhôra khete

Ami ki dekhechhi modhur hashi.

Ki shobha, ki chhaea go,

Ki sneho, ki maea go,

Ki ãchol bichhaeechho

Bôţer mule,

Nodir kule kule!

Ma, tor mukher bani

Amar kane lage,

Shudhar môto,

Mori hae, hae re,

Ma, tor bôdonkhani molin hole,

Ami nôeon jôle bhashi.

English

My beloved Bengal

My Bengal of Gold,

I love you.

Forever your skies,

Your air set my heart in tune

As if it were a flute.

In spring, O mother mine,

The fragrance from your mango groves

Makes me wild with joy,

Ah, what a thrill!

In autumn, O mother mine,

In the full blossomed paddy fields

I have seen spread all over sweet smiles.

Ah, what a beauty, what shades,

What an affection, and what a tenderness!

What a quilt have you spread

At the feet of banyan trees

And along the banks of rivers!

O mother mine, words from your lips

Are like nectar to my ears.

Ah, what a thrill!

If sadness, O mother mine,

Casts a gloom on your face,

My eyes are filled with tears!

Internet Page:

www.bangladesh.gov.bd

www.bangladesh.com

www.virtualbangladesh.com

www.bangladeshtourism.gov.bd

Bangladesh in diferent languages

eng | arg | ast | bre | cat | cor | cym | dan | est | eus | fin | fra | ina | ita | jav | jnf | nld | nor | rup | sme | spa | srd | swa | swe | vor | wln: Bangladesh

dsb | hrv | hsb | slv | szl: Bangladeš

afr | fao | lim: Bangladesj

crh | gag | tuk: Bangladeş / Бангладеш

deu | ltz | nds: Bangladesch / Bangladeſch

ces | slk: Bangladéš

csb | pol: Bangladesz

fry | hun: Banglades

ind | msa: Bangladesh / بڠڬلاديش

kaa | uzb: Bangladesh / Бангладеш

kin | run: Bangladeshe

aze: Banqladeş / Бангладеш

bam: Bangiladɛsi

bos: Bangladeš / Бангладеш

epo: Bangladeŝo

frp: Banglladèch•e

fur: Bangladesj

gla: Bangladais; Bangla Dais; Bangla-deis; Bangladeis

gle: An Bhanglaidéis / An Ḃanglaidéis; An Bhangladéis / An Ḃangladéis

glg: Bangladés; Bangladesh

glv: Yn Vangladesh

hat: Bangladèch

ibo: Baṅladesh

isl: Bangladess

kmr: Bangladêş / Бангладеш / بانگلادێش

kur: Bengladeş / بەنگلادەش; Bengladêş / بەنگلادێش

lat: Bangladesa; Bangladesia

lav: Bangladeša

lin: Bángaladɛ́si

lit: Bangladešas

lld: Bangladesc

mlg: Bangladesha

mlt: Bangladexx

mol: Bangladeş / Бангладеш

nrm: Baunglladèche

oci: Bangladèsh

por: Bangladesh; Bangladeche

que: Banklades

rmy: Bangladeš / बान्ग्लादेश

roh: Bangladesch

ron: Bangladeş

scn: Bangladesci

slo: Bangladesx / Бангладеш

smg: Banglodešas

smo: Panikalatesi

som: Bangaala-Dheesh

sqi: Bangladeshi

tet: Bangladexe

ton: Pengikolotesi

tur: Bangladeş

vie: Băng-la-đét

vol: Bängalän

wol: Banglaades

zza: Bengladeş

alt | bul | che | chm | chv | kbd | kir | kjh | kom | krc | kum | mkd | mon | oss | rus | tyv | udm: Бангладеш (Bangladeš)

bak | tat: Бангладеш / Bangladeş

abq: Бангладеш (Bangładeš)

bel: Бангладэш / Banhładeš

kaz: Бангладеш / Bangladeş / بانگلادەش

srp: Бангладеш / Bangladeš

tgk: Бангладеш / بنگلدش / Bangladeş

ukr: Банґладеш (Bangladeš)

ara: بنغلادش (Banġlādiš); بنغلاديش (Banġlādīš); بنجلادش (Banglādiš); بنجلاديش (Banglādīš)

fas: بنگلادش (Banglādeš)

prs: بنگلدیش (Bangladēš)

pus: بنګلدېش (Bangladeš); بنګلادېش (Banglādeš)

snd: بنگلادیش (Banglādeša)

uig: بانگلادېش / Ban’gladésh / Бангладеш

urd: بنگلادیش (Banglādeš); بنگلہدیش (Banglâdeš)

div: ބަނގްލަދޭށް (Baṅgladēŝ); ބަންގާޅު (Bangāḷu)

heb: בנגלדש (Bangladeš); באנגלאדש (Bânglâdeš)

lad: באנגלאדיש / Bangladesh

yid: באַנגלאַדעש (Bangladeš)

amh: ባንግላደሽ (Bangladäš)

ell: Μπανγκλαντές (Mpangklantés); Μπαγκλαντές (Mpagklantés); Μπαγγλαντές (Mpagglantés); Μπάγκλα-Ντες (Mpágkla-Ntes)

hye: Բանգլադեշ (Bangladeš)

kat: ბანგლადეში (Bangladeši)

hin | nep: बांग्लादेश (Bāṁglādeš)

mar: बांगलादेश (Bāṁglādeŝ)

ben: বাংলাদেশ (Bāṁlādeš)

guj: બાંગ્લાદેશ (Bāṁglādeš)

ori: ବାଂଲାଦେଶ (Bāṁlādeš)

pan: ਬੰਗਲਾਦੇਸ਼ (Baṁglādeš)

sin: බංගලි දේශය (Baṁgali Dēšaya)

kan: ಬಾಂಗ್ಲಾದೇಶ (Bāṁglādēša); ಬಾಂಗ್ಲದೇಶ (Bāṁgladēša)

mal: ബംഗ്ലാദേശ് (Baṁglādēš)

tam: பங்களாதேஷ் (Paṅkaḷātēš); வங்காளதேசம் (Vaṅkāḷatēčam); வங்க தேசம் (Vaṅka Tēčam)

tel: బంగ్లాదేశ్ (Baṁglādēš)

zho: 孟加拉 (Mèngjiālā)

jpn: バングラデシュ (Banguradeshu)

kor: 방글라데시 (Banggeulladesi)

dzo: བངྒ་ལ་དེཤ་ (Baṅg.la.deṣ.)

mya: ဘင္ဂလားဒေ့ရ္ဟ္ (Bʰĩgálàdéš)

tha: บังคลาเทศ (Bâṅkʰlātʰēt)

lao: ບັງກະລາແດັດ (Bâṅkalādæt); ບັງກາລະເທດ (Bâṅkālatʰēt)

khm: បង់ក្លាដេស (Băṅklādes)

Bloodless, I by Frank Topel

8 1

The exit that wasn't one

Bloodless Giraffe Hunt (Unblutige Jagd auf Giraffen) (1911) print in high resolution by Moriz Jung. Original from the MET Museum. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel. by Free Public Domain Illustrations by rawpixel

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Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 4.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com.

Moriz Jung (1885–1915) was born in the Czech Republic and later moved to Vienna to study art with Alfred Roller, Carl Otto Czeschka and Bertold Löffler. Whilst studying he published a book of coloured woodcuts called 'Freunden geschnitten und gedruckt'. He also created signage and posters for Cabaret Fledermaus and the Wiener Werkstätte. He tragically died at the young age of 29 durring World War One in a battle at the Carpathian mountains in East Galicia. We have digitally enhanced some of his woodcuts, linocuts, lithographs and book images. They are available to download and use under the CC0 license.

Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: https://www.rawpixel.com/board/1330676/moriz-jung-woodcuts-artworks-i-high-resolution-public-domain-images?sort=curated&mode=shop&page=1

Twisted Tangled Tree, Toledo Zoo & Aquarium, Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, USA. by PHOTOGRAPHY by DM & DBM.

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The Toledo Zoo & Aquarium, located in Toledo, Ohio, is a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), valid through September 2023. The Toledo Zoo & Aquarium houses over 10,000 individual animals from 720 species. The Toledo Zoo & Aquarium currently participates in over 80 species survival programs. It has over 57,000 members and hosts over 1 million visitors a year.

The Toledo city board believed a zoo was required to make the city a tourist destination. The Toledo Zoo began in 1900, when a woodchuck was donated by Carl Hillebrand to Peter Mettler and the Walbridge Park. By the end of its first year, the Toledo Zoo had a collection of 39 animals, most of which were donated. The park was unprepared for these donations and was forced to use temporary housing such as ravines and boxes for exhibits. In November 1901, the Toledo Zoo nearly lost its entire collection when the winter housing for the animals caught fire. As a result, in 1907, the Toledo Zoo built its first brick building for housing animals, known as the Lion House. During the early years at the Toledo Zoo, most animals were acquired through donations and circuses, and, due to a lack of proper housing, animal escapes were common. In June 1913, the Toledo Zoological Society (TZS) was founded to spur development, with William H. Roemer serving as the first president. By 1916, the Toledo Zoo had grown to a population of 471 animals. In 1922, a change to the organizational structure of the zoo occurred when Percy Jones, the TZS president, created the role of Zoo Director, also known as the Curator of the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium. Frank Skeldon was the first curator for the zoo. Jones and Skeldon pushed the zoo towards national recognition.

By the 1920s, the Toledo Zoo created its first strategic plan, which called for new buildings. This plan was based on in-depth study of the eight most successful zoos around the world. The architectural style used in their plan was inspired by the Spanish architecture from the city's namesake, Toledo, Spain. By 1924, they had completed the first building of their master plan, the Elephant House. In order to maintain funding for the zoo, Jones had brokered a deal with the City of Toledo so that it could be managed similar to the Bronx Zoo. The Toledo Zoo became a public/private venture in 1926, allowing financial support from the city while leaving operations in the hands of the TZS. This change led to the formation of the Board of Managers, which was five city officials and four TZS members. In 1928, they completed their second building, the Herbivora (Giraffe House). On Christmas Day 1927, the Carnivora Building was opened to the public, after ground breaking was done by Kermit Roosevelt. In 1929, the Toledo Zoo completed its last building prior to the WPA Era, the Primate House.

During the Great Depression, the Toledo Zoo was able to take advantage of government programs to provide labor. With the remainder of their master plan nearing completion, Skeldon, Jones, and Colonel John S. Shelter brokered a deal with the federal government to use depression-era relief efforts to create jobs. In 1934, construction began on the first Works Progress Administration (WPA) building in the zoo, the Reptile House. Federal funding would only cover labor costs, so the Toledo Zoo had to salvage parts from unused structures. Skeldon created multiple agreements which allowed the Toledo Zoo the right to salvage as long as they cleared the land. In the end, the Toledo Zoo was able to salvage all the stonework, lumber, radiators needed to begin construction of the Reptilia (Reptile House). The Reptile House was officially opened in September 1934, to house over 485 reptiles and amphibians. The same day, groundbreaking took place for the next two relief effort buildings, the Museum of Science and the attached Amphitheater. In July 1936, the outdoor Amphitheater was completed, followed closely behind by the indoor theater in October 1936, and the Museum of Science in May 1938. As the depression continued, more buildings were added to the zoo. The Aves (Aviary) started construction in 1935, and was officially opened to the public in May 1937. Like other WPA buildings, it was also built from salvaged material, but was the first building in the nation to use glass block for walls. The final WPA project to open was the Aquarium. An example of creative architecture, the aquarium was built in a curved manner to be the rear wall of the Amphitheater, increasing acoustic viability. Started in 1935, the building was not opened for use until June 1939 and upon its opening it held many honors. It was the first public aquarium in the state of Ohio, the largest fresh water aquarium in the world, and the 30,000th completed WPA project in the state. All of these structures remain in use at the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium today, and it may be the largest collection of these Depression Era relief buildings still in place today. Additional WPA projects at the zoo included new entrances, the Anthony Wayne Subway, and a wall dividing the Amphitheater from the zoo.

At the end of the WPA era, with the passing of Percy Jones and Frank Skeldon in the 1940s, the Toledo Zoo was ushered into a new post-war era. In 1946, the Toledo Zoo had begun to invest in amusement with a ridable miniature railway. In honor of the 50th anniversary in 1949–1950, the Toledo Zoo launched their current publication, Safari Magazine. Since 1948, the Toledo Zoo had lacked a permanent director. It was not until 1953 that Philip C. Skeldon, Frank Skeldon's son, was appointed as the new director of the Toledo Zoo. Under his guidance with the board, the Toledo Zoo set off to launch a new master plan, which included new attractions including Wonder Valley (a petting zoo), more open air "bar-less" exhibits, and entertainment rides such as a merry-go-round and a helicopter amusement ride. In 1953, the Toledo Zoo housed 3,537 animals. By the end of the 1950s, the Toledo Zoo had created new pens, a gibbon run, and new exhibits along the northern edge of the zoo. A highlight was the indoor trout run, thought to be the only one in America, opened in 1959. In 1963, they continued to expand with the development of interconnecting water pools for water fowl and a pond for flamingos. During the 1960s the Toledo Zoo created educational Talking Storybook Kiosks that would play with the use of a plastic key. The 1960s also sent the Toledo Zoo on safari to South America to help celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Toledo Blade. It was during that safari that the staff of the Toledo Zoo were able to capture 75 new species for display. In the 1970s, the Toledo Zoo, in conjunction with the Toledo Board of Education, created a Natural Resources and Horticulture class as well as a class in animal care. Other additions in the 1970s included Cheetah Valley, Monkey Mountain, concession buildings, and the animal care center. The final part of the master plan was completed with the multi-level sea lion enclosure that allowed for underwater viewing and four new bear grottoes.

At the beginning of the 1980s the Toledo Zoo faced a potential closure. With an agreement created by Jones, the zoo was financially tied to a city in a financial crisis. Massive layoffs ensued and a staff of 70 was reduced to 24. With a passage of a zoo levy in November 1980, they were still left in the face of probable closure. The levy was for capital improvements only, so the money could not be used on animal care, staff members, or other items needed to run the zoo. As a result, the Museum of Science and the conservatory were closed. To add to the problems, Skeldon was set to retire at the end of the year, and they had not yet found a replacement director. In January 1981, William "Bill" Dennler accepted the position and became the director of the Toledo Zoo. A proposal for payroll increase was denied and by the end of 1981, the Toledo Zoo only had 15 full-time employees. With the support of the board members, staff, donors, and citizens, the zoo was able to raise enough money to keep their doors open. At the same time, a study by the Toledo Area Governmental Research Association reported that the zoo should become a private, non-profit organization. Taking this advice on April 1, 1982, the Toledo Zoo was removed from the Board of Members that was created and handed exclusively to be operated and funded by the Toledo Zoological Society. The TZS also worked with the Ohio Legislature which allowed them to work on the county level, and be able to add levies to the Lucas County Ballots to help finance the zoo's needs. With these changes taking place, the Toledo Zoo was starting a revival. By 1982, the Greenhouse/Conservatory had been renovated and reopened to the public and the Museum of Science was back in operation. The WPA buildings were carefully restored, and in 1983 a children's zoo was opened. The Aquarium had two major incidents occur during the 1980s. In 1982, the Aquarium caught fire, killing 104 fish as well as destroying much of the building. Later in 1987, a tank had cracked sending 20 tons of water rushing out. Toledo Zoo broke ground on their African Savanna exhibit, which included the first ever Hippoquarium in 1986, and the rest of the savanna opening from 1987 to 1989. Because of the success of the Hippoquarium exhibit and a hippo birth caught on tape, the Toledo Zoo was given an opportunity to exhibit two giant pandas on loan from the People's Republic of China. The panda pair arrived in May 1988 and were exhibited through October 1988. This was the first year that the zoo had over a million people attend in one year. The loan was challenged by the World Wildlife Fund, as well as the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, through a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service. Additional lawsuits followed, but the loan of the pandas remained intact and the lawsuits were settled. This outcry of debate dissolved the relationship with the People's Republic of China, and it was not until 1998 that they allowed another loan of pandas to the US, via the San Diego Zoo. In 1994 the zoo again exceeded 1 million visitors with their exhibit DinoRoars!, and again in 1998 with the reopening of the Aviary as well as the introduction of the primate forest. During their regrowth they also created a children's park, a pavilion for events, a catering department, an Emmy Award-winning show called Zoo Today, and re-purposed many of the WPA era buildings. The Carnivora was relaunched as the Carnivore Cafe in 1993, they re-purposed the original Rare Mammal Building into the Kingdom of the Apes, altered the Elephant House to be an events center, and expanded their land across the Anthony Wayne Trail to their now Northern Campus. In 1997, to connect the two parts of the zoo, the Toledo Zoo erected a pedestrian bridge. The Northern Campus which had previously been parking area opened the Arctic Encounter Exhibit in 2000.

After celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Toledo Zoo, the zoo faced controversy after the death of a female sloth bear by dehydration in 2000. After investigation, the zoo was fined by the FDA and was required to put into effect an animal reporting system to better track any issues on animal concerns. The Toledo Zoo opened the Africa! exhibit in 2001 and a wolf exhibit expected to be finished the following year. By 2003, the Toledo Zoo breeding programs took off, with the births of sloth bears, elephants, tigers, and other animals. The successful birth of the African elephant was historic as there had only been 12 births in the US since 1995. In 2006 the zoo hired a new director, Anne Baker. By 2007, the Toledo Zoo unveiled another 10-year master plan of improvements for their grounds, which would include a butterfly house, a new children's area, adjusting the elephant enclosures, and renovating and redesigning the WPA built aquarium building, which was estimated to take seven years. In 2010, the Toledo Zoo made more environmental changes with the creation of a SolarWalk, which consisted of a 1400-foot walk way constructed with solar panels to help with the energy needs at the Toledo Zoo. In 2012, the zoo hired a new director, Jeff Sailer. The year 2014 marked the opening of penguin beach, flamingo key, and other exhibits. It was also the last year it would be known as the Toledo Zoo. In 2015, the Toledo Zoo finished the Aquarium project, and officially changed their name to the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium. The projects at the zoo have continued with the redesigning of the Museum of Science from 2017 to 2019. Upon breaking ground, ProMedica donated $3.5 million to the project. In 2018, the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium reopened their underground subway crossing during the Lights before Christmas.

Toledo is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 270,871, making Toledo the fourth-most populous city in Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. Toledo is the 84th-most populous city in the United States. It is the principal city of the Toledo metropolitan area, which had 606,240 residents in 2020. Toledo also serves as a major trade center for the Midwest; its port is the fifth-busiest on the Great Lakes.

The city was founded in 1833 on the west bank of the Maumee River and originally incorporated as part of the Michigan Territory. It was re-founded in 1837 after the conclusion of the Toledo War, when it was incorporated in Ohio. After the 1845 completion of the Miami and Erie Canal, Toledo grew quickly; it also benefited from its position on the railway line between New York City and Chicago. The first of many glass manufacturers arrived in the 1880s, eventually earning Toledo its nickname as "The Glass City". Downtown Toledo has been subject to major revitalization efforts, including a growing entertainment district. Toledo is home to the University of Toledo.

The region was part of a larger area controlled by the historic tribes of the Wyandot and the people of the Council of Three Fires (Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa). The French established trading posts in the area by 1680 to take advantage of the lucrative fur trade. The Odawa moved from Manitoulin Island and the Bruce Peninsula at the invitation of the French, who established a trading post at Fort Detroit, about 60 miles to the north. They settled an area extending into northwest Ohio. By the early 18th century, the Odawa-occupied areas along most of the Maumee River to its mouth. They served as middlemen between the French and tribes further to the west and north. The Wyandot occupied central Ohio, and the Shawnee and Lenape occupied the southern areas.

When the city of Toledo was preparing to pave its streets, it surveyed "two prehistoric semicircular earthworks, presumably for stockades." One was at the intersection of Clayton and Oliver Streets on the south bank of Swan Creek; the other was at the intersection of Fassett and Fort Streets on the right bank of the Maumee River. Such earthworks were typical of mound-building peoples.

According to Charles E. Slocum, the American military built Fort Industry at the mouth of Swan Creek about 1805, as a temporary stockade. No official reports support the 19th-century tradition of its earlier history there.

The United States continued to work to transition the area's population from Native Americans to Whites. In the Treaty of Detroit (1807), the above four tribes ceded a large land area to the United States of what became southeastern Michigan and northwestern Ohio, to the mouth of the Maumee River (where Toledo later developed). Reserves for the Odawa were set aside in northwestern Ohio for a limited time. The Indian signed the treaty at Detroit, Michigan, on November 17, 1807, with William Hull, governor of the Michigan Territory and superintendent of Indian affairs, as the sole representative of the U.S.

More American settlers entered the area over the next few years, but many fled during the War of 1812, when British forces raided the area with their Indian allies. Resettlement began around 1818 after a Cincinnati syndicate purchased a 974-acre (3.9 km2) tract at the mouth of Swan Creek and named it Port Lawrence, developing it as the modern downtown area of Toledo. Immediately to the north of that, another syndicate founded the town of Vistula, the historic north end.[13] These two towns bordered each other across Cherry Street. This is why present-day streets on the street's northeast side run at a slightly different angle from those southwest of it.

In 1824, the Ohio state legislature authorized the construction of the Miami and Erie Canal, and in 1833, its Wabash and Erie Canal extension. The canal's purpose was to connect the city of Cincinnati to Lake Erie for water transportation to eastern markets, including to New York City via the Erie Canal and Hudson River. At that time, no highways had been built in the state, and goods produced locally had great difficulty reaching the larger markets east of the Appalachian Mountains. During the canal's planning phase, many small towns along the northern shores of the Maumee River heavily competed to be the ending terminus of the canal, knowing it would give them a profitable status. The towns of Port Lawrence and Vistula merged in 1833 to better compete against the upriver towns of Waterville and Maumee.

The inhabitants of this joined settlement chose the name Toledo:

"but the reason for this choice is buried in a welter of legends. One recounts that Washington Irving, who was traveling in Spain at the time, suggested the name to his brother, a local resident; this explanation ignores the fact that Irving returned to the United States in 1832. Others award the honor to Two Stickney, son of the major who quaintly numbered his sons and named his daughters after States. The most popular version attributes the naming to Willard J. Daniels, a merchant, who reportedly suggested Toledo because it 'is easy to pronounce, is pleasant in sound, and there is no other city of that name on the American continent.'"

Despite Toledo's efforts, the canal built the final terminus in Manhattan, one-half mile (800 m) to the north of Toledo, because it was closer to Lake Erie. As a compromise, the state placed two sidecuts before the terminus, one in Toledo at Swan Creek and another in Maumee, about 10 miles to the southwest.

Among the numerous treaties made between the Ottawa and the United States were two signed in this area: at Miami (Maumee) Bay in 1831 and Maumee, Ohio, upriver of Toledo, in 1833. These actions were among US purchases or exchanges of land to accomplish Indian Removal of the Ottawa from areas wanted for European-American settlement. The last of the Odawa did not leave this area until 1839, when Ottokee, grandson of Pontiac, led his band from their village at the mouth of the Maumee River to Indian Territory in Kansas.

An almost bloodless conflict between Ohio and the Michigan Territory, called the Toledo War (1835–1836), was "fought" over a narrow strip of land from the Indiana border to Lake Erie, now containing the city and the suburbs of Sylvania and Oregon, Ohio. The strip, which varied between five and eight miles (13 km) in width, was claimed by both the state of Ohio and the Michigan Territory due to conflicting legislation concerning the location of the Ohio-Michigan state line. Militias from both states were sent to the border, but never engaged. The only casualty of the conflict was a Michigan deputy sheriff—stabbed in the leg with a penknife by Two Stickney during the arrest of his elder brother, One Stickney—and the loss of two horses, two pigs, and a few chickens stolen from an Ohio farm by lost members of the Michigan militia. Major Benjamin Franklin Stickney, father of One and Two Stickney, had been instrumental in pushing Congress to rule in favor of Ohio gaining Toledo. In the end, the state of Ohio was awarded the land after the state of Michigan was given a larger portion of the Upper Peninsula in exchange. Stickney Avenue in Toledo is named for Major Stickney.

Toledo was very slow to expand during its first two decades of settlement. The first lot was sold in the Port Lawrence section of the city in 1833. It held 1,205 persons in 1835, and five years later, it had gained just seven more persons. Settlers came and went quickly through Toledo and between 1833 and 1836, ownership of land had changed so many times that none of the original parties remained in the town. The canal and its Toledo sidecut entrance were completed in 1843. Soon after the canal was functional, the new canal boats had become too large to use the shallow waters at the terminus in Manhattan. More boats began using the Swan Creek sidecut than its official terminus, quickly putting the Manhattan warehouses out of business and triggering a rush to move business to Toledo. Most of Manhattan's residents moved out by 1844.

The 1850 census recorded Toledo as having 3,829 residents and Manhattan 541. The 1860 census shows Toledo with a population of 13,768 and Manhattan with 788. While the towns were only a mile apart, Toledo grew by 359% in 10 years. Manhattan's growth was on a small base and never competed, given the drawbacks of its lesser canal outlet. By the 1880s, Toledo expanded over the vacant streets of Manhattan and Tremainsville, a small town to the west.

In the last half of the 19th century, railroads slowly began to replace canals as the major form of transportation. They were faster and had greater capacity. Toledo soon became a hub for several railroad companies and a hotspot for industries such as furniture producers, carriage makers, breweries, and glass manufacturers. Large immigrant populations came to the area.

Toledo continued to expand in population and industry, but because of its dependence on manufacturing, the city was hit hard by the Great Depression. Many large-scale Works Progress Administration projects were constructed to re-employ citizens in the 1930s. Some of these include the amphitheater and aquarium at the Toledo Zoo and a major expansion to the Toledo Museum of Art.

The postwar job boom and Great Migration brought thousands of African Americans to Toledo to work in industrial jobs, where they had previously been denied. Due to redlining, many of them settled along Dorr Street, which, during the 1950s and 1960s was lined with flourishing black-owned businesses and homes. Desegregation, a failed urban renewal project, and the construction of I-75 displaced those residents and left behind a struggling community with minimal resources, even as it also drew more established, middle-class people, white and black, out of center cities for newer housing. The city rebounded, but the slump of American manufacturing in the second half of the 20th century during industrial restructuring cost many jobs.

By the 1980s, Toledo had a depressed economy. The destruction of many buildings downtown, along with several failed business ventures in housing in the core, led to a reverse city-suburb wealth problem common in small cities with land to spare.

Several initiatives have been taken by Toledo's citizens to improve the cityscape by urban gardening and revitalizing their communities. Local artists, supported by organizations like the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo and the Ohio Arts Council, have contributed an array of murals and beautification works to replace long standing blight. Many downtown historical buildings such as the Oliver House and Standart Lofts have been renovated into restaurants, condominiums, offices and art galleries.

On the evening of August 1, 2014, the city of Toledo issued a warning to citizens advising against the use of city water, leaving more than half a million people suddenly without water. A bloom of toxic blue-green algae had formed directly over Toledo's water intake pipe, which was situated a few miles off shore in Lake Erie. Because of the algae bloom forming just above the pipe, the water being pumped into Toledo showed levels of harmful bacteria that made the water unsafe to interact with. On August 3, the Ohio National Guard was brought in to deliver over 10,000 gallons of water to citizens due to a rapid depletion of bottled water locally. The warning against using water lasted nearly three days, finally ending late on August 4.

In 2018, Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc. invested $700 million into an East Toledo location as the site of a new hot-briquetted iron plant, designed to modernize the steel industry. The plant was slated to create over 1,200 jobs. Construction was completed in 2020, as planned.

Toledo is located at 41°39′56″N 83°34′31″W (41.665682, −83.575337). The city has a total area of 84.12 square miles (217.87 km2), of which 3.43 square miles (8.88 km2) is covered by water.

The city straddles the Maumee River at its mouth at the southern end of Maumee Bay, the westernmost inlet of Lake Erie. The city is located north of what had been the Great Black Swamp, giving rise to another nickname, Frog Town. Toledo sits within the borders of a sandy oak savanna called the Oak Openings Region, an important ecological site that once comprised more than 300 square miles (780 km2).

Toledo is within 250 miles (400 km) by road from seven metropolitan areas that have a population of more than two million people: Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Chicago. In addition, it is within 300 miles of Toronto, Ontario.

Lucas County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is bordered to the east by Lake Erie, and to the southeast by the Maumee River, which runs to the lake. As of the 2020 census, the population was 431,279. Its county seat and largest city is Toledo, located at the mouth of the Maumee River on the lake. The county was named for Robert Lucas, 12th governor of Ohio, in 1835 during his second term. Its establishment provoked the Toledo War conflict with the Michigan Territory, which claimed some of its area. Lucas County is the central county of the Toledo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

On August 20, 1794, near the site of the present-day town of Maumee, American forces led by General Anthony Wayne won a decisive victory over allied Indian forces at the Battle of Fallen Timbers after years of conflict in what was known as the Northwest Indian War. The defeat of the Native forces resulted in the opening of the entire Northwest Territory for white settlement. Northwest Ohio was occupied chiefly by villages and bands of the Odawa people, who had trading relations with the French at Fort Detroit since 1701. Other Odawa were located in southeast Michigan and further north on the peninsula. They ceded much of that territory in the Treaty of Greenville but retained control of lands along the Maumee River until after the War of 1812. The last Odawa band, that of Ottokee, grandson of Chief Pontiac, left the Maumee River area for Kansas in 1839.

Lucas County was established in 1835. At that time, both Ohio and Michigan Territory claimed sovereignty over a 468-square-mile (1,210 km2) region along their border (see Toledo War). When Michigan petitioned Congress for statehood in 1835, it sought to include the disputed territory within its bounds. In response, the Ohio General Assembly formally organized part of the area as Lucas County, naming it after the incumbent governor of Ohio, Robert Lucas.

Ohio is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ohio borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the west, and Michigan to the northwest. Of the 50 U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area. With a population of nearly 11.8 million, Ohio is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated state. Its capital and largest city is Columbus, with other large population centers including Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Akron, and Toledo. Ohio is nicknamed the "Buckeye State" after its Ohio buckeye trees, and Ohioans are also known as "Buckeyes". Its flag is the only non-rectangular flag of all U.S. states.

Ohio derives its name from the Ohio River that forms its southern border, which, in turn, originated from the Seneca word ohiːyo', meaning "good river", "great river", or "large creek". The state was home to several ancient indigenous civilizations, with humans present as early as 10,000 BCE. It arose from the lands west of the Appalachian Mountains that were contested by various native tribes and European colonists from the 17th century through the Northwest Indian Wars of the late 18th century. Ohio was partitioned from the Northwest Territory, the first frontier of the new United States, becoming the 17th state admitted to the Union on March 1, 1803, and the first under the Northwest Ordinance. It was the first post-colonial free state admitted to the union and became one of the earliest and most influential industrial powerhouses during the 20th century. Although it has transitioned to a more information- and service-based economy in the 21st century, it remains an industrial state, ranking seventh in GDP as of 2019, with the third-largest manufacturing sector and second-largest automobile production.

Modeled on its federal counterpart, Ohio's government is composed of the executive branch, led by the governor; the legislative branch, consisting of the bicameral Ohio General Assembly; and the judicial branch, led by the state Supreme Court. Ohio occupies 15 seats in the United States House of Representatives, the seventh-largest delegation. Its politics has been described as moderate; the state is known for its status as both a swing state and a bellwether in national elections.[21] Seven presidents of the United States have come from Ohio, earning it the moniker "the Mother of Presidents".

The history of Ohio as a state began when the Northwest Territory was divided in 1800, and the remainder reorganized for admission to the union on March 1, 1803, as the 17th state of the United States. The recorded history of Ohio began in the late 17th century when French explorers from Canada reached the Ohio River, from which the "Ohio Country" took its name, a river the Iroquois called O-y-o, "great river". Before that, Native Americans speaking Algonquin languages had inhabited Ohio and the central midwestern United States for hundreds of years, until displaced by the Iroquois in the latter part of the 17th century. Other cultures not generally identified as "Indians", including the Hopewell "mound builders", preceded them. Human history in Ohio began a few millennia after formation of the Bering land bridge about 14,500 BCE – see Prehistory of Ohio.

By the mid-18th century, a few American and French fur traders engaged historic Native American tribes in present-day Ohio in the fur trade. The Native Americans had their own extensive trading networks across the continent before the Europeans arrived. American settlement in the Ohio Country came after the American Revolutionary War and the formation of the United States, with its takeover of former British Canadian territory. Congress prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory which presaged Ohio and the five states of the Territory entering the Union as free states. Ohio's population increased rapidly after United States victory in the Northwest Indian Wars brought peace to the Ohio frontier. On March 1, 1803, Ohio was admitted to the union as the 17th state.

Settlement of Ohio was chiefly by migrants from New England, New York and Pennsylvania. Southerners settled along the southern part of the territory, arriving by travel along the Ohio River from the Upper South. Yankees, especially in the "Western reserve" (near Cleveland), supported modernization, public education, and anti-slavery policies. The state supported the Union in the American Civil War, although antiwar Copperhead sentiment was strong in southern settlement areas.

After the Civil War, Ohio developed as a major industrial state. Ships traveled the Great Lakes to deliver iron ore and other products from western areas. This was also a route for exports, as were the railroads. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the fast-growing industries created jobs that employed hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Europe. During World War I, Europe was closed off to passenger traffic. In the first half of the 20th century, a new wave of migrants came from the South, with rural whites from Appalachia, and African Americans in the Great Migration from the Deep South, to escape Jim Crow laws, violence, and hopes for better opportunities.

The cultures of Ohio's major cities became much more diverse with the blend of traditions, cultures, foods, and music from new arrivals. Ohio's industries were integral to American industrial power in the 20th century. In the late 20th century, economic restructuring in steel, railroads, and other heavy manufacturing, cost the state many jobs as heavy industry declined. The economy in the 21st century has gradually shifted to depend on service industries such as medicine and education.

Bloodless hunting 010cHDR_TmDa by FulAnd

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Kvothe the Bloodless by Kadigan Photography

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The right hand is strong; the left hand is clever.

Bloodless hunting 001TmDa by FulAnd

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Open-air exhibition of photos by Bence Máté

Roça Porto Real on Príncipe Island, São Tomé & Príncipe by inyathi

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Despite their proximity to the west coast of Africa these islands were apparently entirely uninhabited when Portuguese navigators João de Santarém and Pero Escobar arrived on Saint Thomas’s day the 21st of December 1470. The Portuguese quickly settled the islands and were soon importing slaves from the mainland to work in their newly established sugar plantations. The sugar produced here was of poor quality compared to that from elsewhere and from the beginning of the 19th century was replaced with coffee this crop was in turn largely replaced by cocoa. Slavery in the islands’ plantations or roças carried on until 1875 when it was abolished and replaced with a system of contract labour this did not significantly improve the lives of the island’s labour force and the Portuguese continued to import labourers from their mainland colonies. At the beginning of the 20th century the plight of the plantation workers reached the outside world, protests from the Aboriginal Protection Society and the Anti-Slavery Society prompted William Cadbury to send an agent to the islands to investigate. Possibly to protect his company's own commercial interests and to allow time for them to establish their own plantations in the Gold Coast (Ghana) he chose not to act for some years until after he visited the Islands in 1909 to see for himself. Cadburys and other chocolate companies then started a boycott of Cocoa from the Islands. However little changed for the people who remained as virtual slaves.

In 1953 descendents of former slaves known as Forros fearing they would be conscripted and forced to work on the plantations protested at Batepa, Portuguese troops attacked the protesters and in the massacre that followed over 1,000 Forros may have been killed. This event sparked the establishment of a liberation movement however despite the Batepa Massacre, unlike in Portugal’s mainland colonies there was no war for independence. Following Portugal’s bloodless Carnation Revolution in 1974 the islands demanded their independence and this was granted the following year.

Although STP's independence had been achieved peacefully the Portuguese plantation owners fled abandoning their plantations and the islands. Soon afterwards the roças were nationalised by STP’s new Marxist government many of them fell in to disrepair during this period.

On Linden, when the sun was low, All bloodless lay the untrodden snow, And dark as winter was the flow Of Iser, rolling rapidly. -- Thomas Campbell #chamounixmansion #chamounix #fairmountpark #Philly #winter by lowlova

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Season5: Eps16 - Sin in the City 7 (photo story) by APPark

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Yuri: *grips the edge of the counter until her knuckles go bloodless* “Why do you think Fin will be able to aid you in this particular affair.”

Kumi: “You know why. He was in the military for years. He did things, saw things, knows things…if anyone can help us, it’s him.”

Yuri (flatly): “No. You are being stupid.”

Kumi: “You can’t stop me. I’m calling him.” *whips out her phone, begins searching her contact list*

Yuri (forcefully): “Kumi. No. If you ask this of him, he may well decide to go himself. Are you prepared for the consequences, if that possibility comes to fruition?”

Kumi: *stares at Yuri defiantly, as she hits the ‘call’ button on her phone* “I’ll put it on speaker, so you can voice your reservations. That’s the best I can do.”

Yuri: *hisses* “It is a nearly twelve hour time difference! You will wake him up!”

Kumi: *crosses her arms, face hard* “I’m doing it, so you might as well shut up about it.”

Yuri (angrily): “You selfish, short-sighted—”

Fin: *voice thick with sleep* “Aye.”

Yuri: “Oops! We are so sorry, Finley! We accidently called you by mistake. Go back to sleep.” *attempts to end the call*

Kumi: *snatches the phone out of Yuri’s reach* “Fin! We need your help.”

Fin: *hiss of fabric, as he sits up in bed, whispers* “Kumi? Yuri? Whit’s the matter? Is it Mags? Emma? Why are ye callin’ me so blewdy early? It’s 2 AM.”

Yuri: *shoots Kumi a killer ‘I told you so!’ look*

Kumi: “Mags is fine. Well, as fine as she can be under the current circumstances. So is Emma. I need to ask you for a favor.”

Fin: “Go on.”

Kumi: “I need a specialist that can go in, assess the situation in Japan, and extract Satoru safely.”

**Several beats of silence buzz across the connection**

Fin: *mutters* “Bleedin’ hell. Hold on.” *more fabric rustles, as he attempts to rise from bed quietly*

Feminine Voice (sleepily): “Where’re you going? What’s happening?”

Fin: “Nothin’ tae worry aboot, lass. Go back tae sleep. Juice need tae take this call.”

Feminine Voice: “At 2 in the frickin’ AM? If we weren’t out in the middle of nowhere, I’d assume this was a call of the booty variety and bounce your balls into next week.”

Fin: *growl of laughter* “As if I’d have the energy for anyone else after ye’re done with me.”

Feminine Voice: *purrs* “Giddy-up, buckaroo! Save a horse, ride a cowboy.”

Kumi: “Erin! Is that Erin?!”

Fin: “Aye.”

Kumi: “Why, Fin, you dirty, dirty dawg! *face breaks into a smile for the first time since entering the kitchen* You’re sleeping with my best friend.”

Fin: *sound of a door shutting, dryly* “Was sleepin’ with her, aye, until you called an’ woke me up. Now, did I hear you properly? You want me tae find you a ‘specialist.'”

Kumi: “Yes. To get Satoru back, so Mags isn’t as wigged out and can concentrate on the miraculous wonder that is being knocked up.”

Fin: “Whit makes you think I can help you?”

Kumi: “Can’t you?”

Fashion Credits

**Any doll enhancements (i.e. freckles, piercings, eye color changes) were done by me unless otherwise stated.**

Kumi

Bikini: Sekiguchi – Momoko – Beach Rodeo

Cover-up: Mattel – Barbie Collector – Beach Baby Marissa

Belt: Mattel – BFMC – Dawn to Dusk Barbie

Earrings: IT – Fashion Royalty – Exotic Fire Veronique

Sunglasses: IT – Fashion Royalty – Going Public Eugenia

Shoes: IT – NuFace – Great Pretender Lilith

Doll is a Nu.Fantasy Wild Wolf Kumi transplanted to a NuFace body.

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

Qi Bo's photos on Flickr Hive Mind

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

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"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

The Sultans Palace, Muscat by David Gill

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Sultan Qaboos came to power in 1970 following a bloodless coup. When he came to power there was very little in the way of modern facilities or infrastructure, few schools, hospitals or even paved roads. He has transformed the country and today all Omanis have access to schooling, electricity, potable water, hospitals etc.

Chalcosoma, Jan Fabre, (Chalcosoma est un genre de grands coléoptères, parmi les plus grands des scarabées-rhinocéros que l'on trouve dans le Sud-Est asiatique) Maison de la Culture de Namur, Namur, Belgium by Claude

12 7

Exposition "Facing time" Félicien Rops/Jan Fabre, Namur, Belgium

Dix-huit autoportraits en bronze composent cette série dans laquelle Jan Fabre interroge la métamorphose et la relation au temps. Exprimant toujours sa fascination du monde animal et son goût de la transformation, Fabre pare ses têtes de cornes, ramures, oreilles, etc. se joue de son âge - il se représente, tantôt jeune, tantôt âgé - et varie ses attitudes. L’artiste crée ainsi une galerie de portraits à nulle autre pareille. Comme l’écrit Bernard-Henri Lévy dans le catalogue qui accompagne l’exposition, Fabre « affirme son goût de l’autoportrait, de toutes les formes de l’autoportrait, en gloire ou dérisoire, en bronze ou en cire, exsangue, pendu, grimaçant, tirant la langue, animalisé ou déifié, vibrant de sa lumière intérieure ou vidé de tout éclat, portrait de l’artiste en satyre, en sphinge, en maître ancien, en oiseau, en Christ ou en volcan, en Jésus ou en Jésuve, oeil fendu ou langue verte, cadavre en éruption, tronche ou faciès, oeil de hibou, bousier - tout, oui, absolument tout, plutôt que ce monde gris, étouffant et, surtout, si sot où l’on appelle "narcissisme" l’affirmation par un sujet de son être-sujet et par un artiste de son irréductible singularité. ».

Eighteen bronze self-portraits make up this series in which Jan Fabre questions metamorphosis and relationship to time. Always expressing his fascination with the animal world and taste processing, Fabre bumper horns heads, antlers, ears, etc. plays of his age - he is, sometimes young, sometimes old - and varies attitudes. The artist creates a portrait gallery like no other. As written by Bernard-Henri Lévy in the catalog accompanying the exhibition, Fabre "says his taste for self-portrait of all forms of self-portraiture in fame or ridiculous, bronze or wax, bloodless, hung, grimacing, tongue out, animalized or deified, vibrating its inner light or emptied of brilliance, portrait of the artist as satyr, in sphinx in old master, in bird, Christ or volcano in Jesus or Jesuve, split green eye or tongue, body erupting

face or facies, owl eye, dung beetle - all, absolutely all, rather than this gray world, stuffy and especially so foolish when one calls "narcissism" the assertion of his being a subject-subject and by an artist of his irreducible singularity. ".

Remembering And Forgetting by Harold Stetson

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One day they would make a park there, with neat lawns and smooth black roadways, and there would be marble statues and bronze plaques to tell the story in bloodless prose. Silent cannon would rest behind grassy embankments, their wheels bolted down to concrete foundations, their malevolence wholly gone, and here and there birds would nest in the muzzles. In the museums and tourist-bait trinket shops old bullets and broken buckles and twisted bayonets would repose under glass, with a rusty musket or so on the wall and little illustrated booklets lying on top of the counter...The town and the woods and the ridges and hills would become a national shrine, filled with romantic memories which are in themselves a kind of forgetting, and visitors would stand by the clump of trees and look off to the west and see nothing but the rolling fields and the quiet groves and the great blue bank of the mountains.

Bruce Catton, "Glory Road"

November 20, 2010

Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg USA

IMG_9675 pstuned 1a lrc then working 5. Tweak of an earlier post

Texture courtesy of skeletalmess

www.flickr.com/photos/skeletalmess/3668428864/in/set-7215...

The Netherlands - Haarlem by Michael Kemper

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Niederlande - Haarlem

Haarlem (Dutch: [ˈɦaːrlɛm] predecessor of Harlem in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropolitan areas in Europe; it is also part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area. Haarlem had a population of 162,543 in 2021.

Haarlem was granted city status or stadsrechten in 1245, although the first city walls were not built until 1270. The modern city encompasses the former municipality of Schoten as well as parts that previously belonged to Bloemendaal and Heemstede. Apart from the city, the municipality of Haarlem also includes the western part of the village of Spaarndam. Newer sections of Spaarndam lie within the neighbouring municipality of Haarlemmermeer.

Geography

Haarlem is located on the river Spaarne, giving it its nickname Spaarnestad (Spaarne city). It is situated about 20 km (12 mi) west of Amsterdam and near the coastal dunes. Haarlem has been the historical centre of the tulip bulb-growing district for centuries and bears its other nickname Bloemenstad (flower city) for this reason.

History

Haarlem has a rich history dating back to pre-medieval times, as it lies on a thin strip of land above sea level known as the strandwal (beach ridge), which connects Leiden to Alkmaar. The people on this narrow strip of land struggled against the waters of the North Sea from the west, and the waters of the IJ and the Haarlem Lake from the east. Haarlem became wealthy with toll revenues that it collected from ships and travellers moving on this busy north–south route.

As shipping became increasingly important economically, the city of Amsterdam became the main Dutch city of North Holland during the Dutch Golden Age. The town of Halfweg became a suburb, and Haarlem became a quiet bedroom community, and for this reason Haarlem still has many of its central medieval buildings intact. Many of them are now on the Dutch Heritage register known as Rijksmonuments. The list of Rijksmonuments in Haarlem gives an overview of these per neighbourhood, with the majority in the old city centre.

Middle Ages

The oldest mention of Haarlem dates from the 10th century. The name probably comes from "Haarlo-heim". This name is composed of three elements: haar, lo and heim. In Old Dutch toponyms lo always refers to 'forest' and heim (heem, em or um) to 'home' or 'house'. Haar, however, has several meanings, one of them corresponding with the location of Haarlem on a sand dune: 'elevated place'. The name Haarlem or Haarloheim would therefore mean 'home on a forested dune'.

There was a stream called "De Beek", dug from the peat grounds west of the river Spaarne as a drainage canal. Over the centuries the Beek was turned into an underground canal, as the city grew larger and the space was needed for construction. Over time it began to silt up and in the 19th century it was filled in. The village had a good location: by the river Spaarne, and by a major road going south to north. By the 12th century it was a fortified town, and Haarlem became the residence of the Counts of Holland.

In 1219 the knights of Haarlem were laurelled by Count Willem I, because they had conquered the Egyptian port of Damietta (or Damiate in Dutch, present-day Dimyat) in the fifth crusade. Haarlem received the right to bear the Count's sword and cross in its coat of arms. On 23 November 1245 Count Willem II granted Haarlem city rights. This implied a number of privileges, among which the right for the sheriff and magistrates to administer justice, instead of the Count. This allowed for a quicker and more efficient judiciary system, more suited to the needs of the growing city.

After a siege from the surrounding area of Kennemerland in 1270 a defensive wall was built around the city. Most likely this was an earthen wall with wooden gates. Originally the city started out between Spaarne, Oudegracht, Ridderstraat, Bakenessergracht and Nassaustraat. In the 14th century the city expanded, and the Burgwalbuurt, Bakenes and the area around the Oudegracht became part of the city. The old defenses proved not to be sufficiently strong for the expanded city, and at the end of the 14th century a 16½-metre high wall was built, complete with a 15-metre wide canal circling the city. In 1304 the Flemish threatened the city, but they were defeated by Witte van Haemstede at Manpad.

The City Hall on the Grote Markt, built in the 14th century, replacing the Count's castle after it partially burnt down. The remains were given to the city.

All the city's buildings were made of wood, and fire was a great risk. In 1328 nearly the whole city burnt down. The Sint-Bavokerk was severely damaged, and rebuilding it would take more than 150 years. Again on 12 June 1347 there was a fire in the city. A third large fire, in 1351, destroyed many buildings including the Count's castle and the city hall. The Count did not need a castle in Haarlem because his castle in The Hague (Den Haag) had taken over all functions.

The count donated the ground to the city and later a new city hall was built there. The shape of the old city was square—this was inspired by the shape of ancient Jerusalem. After every fire the city was rebuilt quickly, an indication of the wealth of the city in those years. The Black Death came to the city in 1381. According to an estimate by a priest from Leiden the disease killed 5,000 people, about half the population at that time.

In the 14th century, Haarlem was a major city. It was the second largest city in historical Holland after Dordrecht and before Delft, Leiden, Amsterdam, Gouda and Rotterdam. In 1429 the city gained the right to collect tolls, including ships passing the city on the Spaarne river. At the end of the Middle Ages, Haarlem was a flourishing city with a large textile industry, shipyards and beer breweries. Around 1428, the city was put under siege by the army of Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut. Haarlem had taken side with the Cods in the Hook and Cod wars and thus against Jacoba of Bavaria. The entire Haarlemmerhout wood was burnt down by the enemy.

Spanish siege

When the city of Brielle was conquered by the Geuzen revolutionary army, the municipality of Haarlem started supporting the Geuzen. King Philip II of Spain was not pleased, and sent an army north under the command of Don Fadrique (Don Frederick in Dutch), son of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba. On 17 November 1572 all citizens of the city of Zutphen were killed by the Spanish army, and on 1 December the city of Naarden suffered the same fate.

On 11 December 1572 the Spanish army besieged Haarlem; the city's defenses were commanded by city-governor Wigbolt Ripperda. Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer, a powerful widow, helped defend the city together with some three hundred other women.

During the first two months of the siege, the situation was in balance. The Spanish army was digging tunnels to reach the city walls and blow them up; the defenders dug in turn and undermined the Spaniards' tunnels. The situation worsened on 29 March 1573: the Amsterdam army, faithful to the Spanish king, controlled Haarlemmermeer lake, effectively blocking Haarlem from the outside world. An attempt by the Prince of Orange to destroy the Spanish navy on the Haarlemmermeer had failed. Hunger in the city grew, and the situation became so tense that on 27 May many (Spanish-loyal) prisoners were taken from the prison and murdered; the Spaniards had previously gibbeted their own prisoners of war.

In the beginning of July the Prince of Orange assembled an army of 5,000 soldiers near Leiden to free Haarlem. However, he was prevented from accompanying them in person and the Spanish forces trapped them at the Manpad where they were decisively defeated. On 13 July 1573, after seven months of siege, the city surrendered. Many defenders were slaughtered; some were drowned in the Spaarne river. Governor Ripperda and his lieutenant were beheaded. The citizens were allowed to buy freedom for themselves and the city for 240,000 guilders and the city was required to host a Spanish garrison. Don Fadrique thanked God for his victory in the Sint-Bavo Church. However, the terms of the treaty were not kept, with the Spanish soldiery plundering the townspeople's property.

Despite Haarlem's ultimate fall, the fact that the Haarlemers had been able to stand for seven months against the whole Spanish array inspired the rest of Holland to resist the invaders, and their prolonged resistance allowed the Prince of Orange to prepare and arm the rest of the country for war. Some 12,000 of the Spanish army had fallen during the siege.

Great fire

The city suffered a large fire in the night from 22 to 23 October 1576. The fire started in brewery het Ankertje, near the weighhouse at the Spaarne, which was used by mercenaries as a guarding place. When they were warming themselves at a fire it got out of control. The fire was spotted by farmers, who sailed their ships on the river. However, the soldiers turned down all help, saying that they would put out the fire themselves.

This failed, and the fire destroyed almost 500 buildings, among them St-Gangolf's church and St-Elisabeth's hospital. Most of the mercenaries were later arrested, and one of them was hanged on the Grote Markt in front of a large audience. Maps from that era clearly show the damage done by the fire: a wide strip through the city was destroyed. The combined result of the siege and the fire was that about a third of the city was destroyed.

Golden age

The fire and the long siege had taken their toll on the city. The Spanish left in 1577 and under the Agreement of Veere, Protestants and Catholics were given equal rights, though in government the Protestants clearly had the upper hand and Catholic possessions once seized were never returned. To restore the economy and attract workers for the brewing and bleaching businesses (Haarlem was known for these, thanks to the clean water from the dunes), the Haarlem council decided to promote the pursuit of arts and history, showing tolerance for diversity among religious beliefs.

This attracted a large influx of Flemish and French immigrants (Catholics and Huguenots alike) who were fleeing the Spanish occupation of their own cities. Expansion plans soon replaced plans of rebuilding the destroyed city walls. Just like the rest of the country, the Golden Age in the United Provinces had started.

Linen and silk

The new citizens had a lot of expertise in linen and silk manufacture and trading, and the city's population grew from 18,000 in 1573 to around 40,000 in 1622. At one point, in 1621, over 50% of the population was Flemish-born. Haarlem's linen became notable and the city flourished. Today an impression of some of those original textile tradesmen can be had from the Book of Trades document created by Jan Luyken and his son.

Infrastructure

In 1632 a tow canal between Haarlem and Amsterdam, the Haarlemmertrekvaart was opened, the first tow canal in the country. The empty areas in the city that were a result of the fire of 1576 were filled with new houses and buildings. Even outside the city wall buildings were constructed—in 1643 about 400 houses were counted outside the wall.

Having buildings outside the city walls was not a desirable situation to the city administration. Not only because these buildings would be vulnerable in case of an attack on the city, but there was also less control over taxes and city regulations outside the walls. Therefore, a major project was initiated in 1671: expanding the city northwards.

Two new canals were dug, and a new defensive wall was constructed (the current Staten en Prinsenbolwerk). Two old city gates, the Janspoort and Kruispoort, were demolished. The idea that a city had to be square-shaped was abandoned.

Cultural life

After the fall of Antwerp, many artists and craftsmen migrated to Haarlem and received commissions from the Haarlem council to decorate the city hall. The paintings commissioned were meant to show Haarlem's glorious history as well as Haarlem's glorious products. Haarlem's cultural life prospered, with painters like Frans Hals and Jacob van Ruisdael, the architect Lieven de Key and Jan Steen who made many paintings in Haarlem.

The Haarlem councilmen became quite creative in their propaganda promoting their city. On the Grote Markt, the central market square, there's a statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster who is allegedly the inventor of the printing press. This is the second and larger statue to him on the square. The original stands behind the city hall in the little garden known as the Hortus (where today the Stedelijk Gymnasium school is located).

Most scholars agree that the scarce evidence seems to point to Johann Gutenberg as the first European inventor of the printing press, but Haarlem children were taught about "Lau", as he is known, well into the 20th century. This legend served the printers of Haarlem well, however, and it is probably for that reason the most notable Dutch history books from the Dutch Golden Age period were published in Haarlem; by Hadrianus Junius (Batavia), Dirck Volkertszoon Coornhert (Works), Karel van Mander (Schilderboeck), Samuel Ampzing (Description and Ode to Haarlem), Petrus Scriverius (Batavia Illustrata), and Pieter Christiaenszoon Bor (Origin of the Dutch wars).

Beer brewing

Beer brewing was a very important industry in Haarlem. Until the 16th century, the water for the beer was taken from the canals in the city. These canals were connected to seawater, via the Spaarne and the IJ. However, the canal water was getting more and more polluted and less suitable for brewing beer. A place 1.5 km (0.9 mi) south-west of the city was then used to take fresh water in.

However, the quality of that water was not good enough either. From the 17th century, a canal (Santvaert) was used to transport water from the dunes to the city. The water was transported in barrels on ships. The location where the water was taken is called the Brouwerskolkje, and the canal to there still exists, and is now called the Brewers' Canal (Brouwersvaart).

Haarlem was a major beer producer in the Netherlands. The majority of the beer it produced was consumed in North Holland. During the Spanish siege, there were about 50 breweries in the city. In 1620, the city had about one hundred breweries.

There was another epidemic of the Black Death in 1657, which took a heavy toll in the six months it ravaged the city. From the end of the 17th century, the economy in the city worsened for a long time. In 1752, only seven breweries remained, and by 1820 no breweries were registered in the city. In the 1990s, the Stichting Haarlems Biergenootschap revived some old recipes under the Jopen beer brand that is marketed as a "Haarlem bier." In 2010, Jopen opened a brewery in a former church in central Haarlem called the Jopenkerk. In 2012, Haarlem gained another local brewery with Uiltje Brewing in the Zijlstraat, which specializes in craft beer.

Tulip centre

Since the 1630s, Haarlem has been a major trading centre for tulips, and it was at the epicentre during tulip mania, when outrageous prices were paid for tulip bulbs. From the opening of the Leiden-Haarlem canal Leidsevaart in 1656, it became popular to travel from Rotterdam to Amsterdam by passenger boat rather than by coach. The canals were dug for passenger service only, and were comfortable though slow. The towpath led these passengers through the bulb fields south of Haarlem.

Haarlem was an important stopover for passengers from the last half of the 17th century and through the 18th century until the building of the first rail tracks along the routes of former passenger canal systems. As Haarlem slowly expanded southwards, so did the bulb fields. Today, rail passengers between Rotterdam and Amsterdam in spring can see blooming bulb fields on the route between Leiden and Haarlem.

18th century

As the centre of trade gravitated towards Amsterdam, Haarlem declined in the 18th century. The Golden Age had created a large upper middle class of merchants and well-to-do small business owners. Taking advantage of the reliability of the trekschuit connection between Amsterdam and Haarlem, many people had a business address in Amsterdam and a weekend or summer home in Haarlem.

Haarlem became more and more a bedroom community as the increasingly dense population of Amsterdam caused the canals to smell in the summer. Many well-to-do gentlemen moved their families to summer homes in the Spring and commuted between addresses. Popular places for summer homes were along the Spaarne in southern Haarlem. Pieter Teyler van der Hulst and Henry Hope built summer homes there, as well as many Amsterdam merchants and councilmen. Today, boat travel along the Spaarne is still possible and has become a popular form of tourism in the summer. In the 18th century, Haarlem became the seat of a suffragan diocese of the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht.

French rule

At the end of the 18th century, a number of anti-Orange commissions were founded. On 18 January 1795 the "Staatse" army was defeated near Woerden. During the night preceding 19 January, the same night that stadtholder William V of Orange fled the country, the various commissions gathered and implemented a revolution. The commissions changed the city's administrators in a bloodless revolution, and the next morning the city was "liberated" of the tyranny of the House of Orange. The revolution was peaceful, and the Orange-loyal people were not harmed. The Batavian Republic was then proclaimed.

The French army entered the liberated city two days later, on 20 January. An army of 1,500 soldiers was provided with food and clothing by the citizens. The new national government was strongly centralised, and the role and influence of the cities was reduced. The Batavian Republic signed a mutual defense pact with France and was thus automatically at war with England. The strong English presence at sea severely reduced trading opportunities, and the Dutch economy suffered accordingly.

19th century

The textile industry, which had always been an important pillar of Haarlem's economy, was suffering at the beginning of the 19th century. Strong international competition and revolutionary new production methods based on steam engines already in use in England dealt a striking blow to Haarlem's industry. In 1815, the city's population was about 17,000 people, many of whom were poor. The foundation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in that year gave hope to many who believed that under a new government, the economy would improve and that export-oriented economic activities, such as the textile industry, would recover.

In the beginning of the 19th century, the defense walls had lost their function, and architect Zocher Jr. planned a park on the location of the former defense line. The city walls and gates were demolished, and the bricks were reused for construction of factories and workers' homes . Haarlem became the provincial capital of North Holland province in the early 19th century.

In the mid-19th century, the city's economy slowly started to improve. New factories opened, and a number of large industrial companies were founded in Haarlem by Thomas Wilson, Guillaume Jean Poelman, J.B.T. Prévinaire, J.J. Beijnes, Hendrik Figee, Gerardus Johannes Droste, and G.P.J. Beccari.

Cotton mills

The Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (NHM or Dutch Trade Company) was founded by King Willem I to create employment opportunities. As one of the cities in the western part of the Netherlands with the worst economic situation, three cotton mills were created in Haarlem under the NHM-program in the 1830s. These were run by experts from the Southern Netherlands, whom the NHM considered better at mechanical weaving through the local expertise of Lieven Bauwens.

The contract winners were Thomas Wilson, whose factory was situated north of what is today the Wilsonplein, Guillaume Jean Poelman, who was in business with his nephew Charles Vervaecke from Ghent and had a factory on what today is the Phoenixstraat, and Jean Baptiste Theodore Prévinaire, who had a factory on the Garenkokerskade and whose son Marie Prosper Theodore Prévinaire created the Haarlemsche Katoenmaatschappij in 1875.

These cotton factories produced goods for export, and because the Dutch government levied heavy taxes on foreign cotton producers this was a profitable business for the NHM-factories, especially for export to the Dutch East Indies. The programme started in the 1830s, and was initially successful. However, after 1839 when Belgium split away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the protectionist measures for the Dutch East Indian market were removed, and the business began to flounder. When the American Civil War reduced the import of raw cotton significantly after 1863, the business went sour. Only Prévinaire was able to survive through specialisation with his "Turkish Red" dye. The Prévinaire "toile Adrinople" was popular.[ Prévinaire's son went on to create the Haarlemsche Katoenmaatschappij, which made a kind of imitation batik cloth called "La Javanaise" that became popular in Belgian Congo.

Train and tram

In England in 1804, Richard Trevithick designed the first locomotive. The government of the Netherlands was relatively slow to catch up, even though the king feared competition from newly established Belgium if it would construct a railway between Antwerp and other cities. The Dutch parliament balked at the high level of investment needed, but a group of private investors started the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij on 1 June 1836.

It took three years to build the first track on the railway, between Haarlem and Amsterdam along the old tow canal called the Haarlemmertrekvaart. The ground there was wet and muddy. On 20 September 1839, the first train service in the Netherlands started. The train had a speed of about 40 km/h (25 mph). The train service gave the Beijnes company, and indirectly the whole economy of Haarlem, a strong boost, and the effects of this can be seen in the Haarlem railway station, now a rijksmonument. Instead of more than two hours, Amsterdam was now only 30 minutes away.

The old passenger service by trekschuit along the Haarlemmertrekvaart was quickly taken out of service in favour of the train service, which was quicker and more reliable. In 1878, a Beijnes-made horse tram started servicing passengers from the railway station to the Haarlemmerhout woodland park, and in 1894, the Eerste Nederlandsche Electrische Tram Maatschappij (ENET) was founded with cars built by Beijnes and became the first Dutch electric tram, which ran in Haarlem from 1899 onwards.

Water management

Though the old trekvaart was closed for water traffic after railway development, it is still possible to travel by boat from Amsterdam to Haarlem, via the ringvaart or the North Sea Canal. Pleasure boating in the summer has become an important Haarlem tourist attraction, though it is not possible to travel all of the original canals as in Amsterdam. The creation of new land in the Haarlemmermeer polder from 1852 onwards meant that the city could no longer refresh the water in its canals from the Spaarne river. The increase in industry worsened water quality. In 1859, the Oude Gracht canal stank so badly in the summer that it not only forced visitors away, but posed a public health threat due to cholera outbreaks. It was filled in to create a new street called the Gedempte Oude Gracht.[11] The periodic cholera outbreaks had not been new, but they had been increasing. In 1591, the city fathers had ordered excavation to build the Verwulft, a wide bridge over the Oude Gracht connecting the north and south portions of the Grote Houtstraat. Such "overclosures" can still be seen in other Dutch cities, such as the Nieuwmarkt in Amsterdam.

Expanding borders

From 1879, the population of the city almost doubled in thirty years, from 36,976 to 69,410 in 1909. Not only did the population grow, but the city was expanding rapidly, too. The Leidsebuurt district was incorporated into Haarlem in the 1880s. A small part of the (now defunct) municipality of Schoten was incorporated in 1884 because the council of Haarlem wanted to have the hospital (Het Dolhuys) inside the municipal borders. This hospital was situated at "het bolwerk" on Schoten's territory.

Early 20th century

In the beginning of the 20th century, the city expanded north. As early as 1905, an official plan was presented by the Haarlem municipality for expansion. However, the surrounding municipalities did not agree, and it would take 25 years to come to an agreement. On 1 May 1927, the municipality of Schoten became part of Haarlem, as well as part of Spaarndam, Bloemendaal and Heemstede. The population increased at once with 31,184 citizens.

In 1908, a renewed railway station was opened. The tracks were elevated, so traffic in the city was no longer hampered by railway crossings. In 1911, Anthony Fokker showed his plane de Spin to the audience in Haarlem by flying around the Sint-Bavokerk on Queen's Day.

Later the expansion of the city went southwards (Schalkwijk) and eastwards (Waarderpolder). In 1932, Vroom & Dreesmann, a Dutch retailer built a department store at Verwulft. Many buildings were demolished, except one small chemist's shop on the corner, "Van der Pigge", who refused to be bought out and which is now encapsulated by the V&D building. They are therefore also called "David and Goliath" by locals.

Haarlem in World War II

From 17 to 21 September 1944, parts of Haarlem-Noord (north of the Jan Gijzenvaart) were evacuated by the Germans to make way for a defensive line. The stadium of HFC Haarlem, the football club, was demolished. Hundreds of people had to leave their homes and were forced to stay with other citizens.

From 22 September 1944 to the end of the war, there was gas available only two hours per day. Electricity stopped on 9 October. The German occupiers built a thick, black wall through the Haarlemmerhout (in the south of the city), as well as at the Jan Gijzenvaart in the evacuated area. The wall was called Mauer-muur and was meant to help defend the city.

In February 1944, the family of Corrie ten Boom was arrested by the Nazis; they had been hiding Jews and Dutch resistance workers from the German occupier throughout the war.

During World War II, the Dutch heroine Hannie Schaft, who worked for a Dutch resistance group, was captured and executed by the German occupation just before the end of the war in 1945. Despite her efforts and those of her colleagues and private families such as the Ten Booms, most Haarlem Jews were deported, the Haarlem Synagogue was demolished, and the Jewish hospital was annexed by the St. Elisabeth Gasthuis. Several Haarlem families, whether they were politically active in the NSB or not, suffered from random attacks, as the Haarlem writer Harry Mulisch described in his book De Aanslag. Haarlemmers survived during the Hunger Winter by eating tulip bulbs stored in sheds in the sandy fields around the city.

Post-World War II

After the war, much of the large industry left the city, such as the banknote printing firm of Joh. Enschedé. The centre of industry and shipping shifted towards Amsterdam. Though the population had been decimated by starvation, a new wave of immigrants came to the city from the Dutch former colonies in Indonesia. This brought some government funding for building projects. In 1963, a large number of houses was built in Schalkwijk.

Miscellaneous

Local beer

Beer brewing has been a very important industry for Haarlem going back to the 15th century, when there were no fewer than 100 breweries in the city. When the town's 750th anniversary was celebrated in 1995 a group of enthusiasts re-created an original Haarlem beer and brewed it again. The beer is called Jopenbier, or Jopen for short, named after an old type of beer barrel.[

Harlem, Manhattan

In 1658, Peter Stuyvesant, the Director-General of the Dutch colony of Nieuw Nederland (New Netherland), founded the settlement of Nieuw Haarlem in the northern part of Manhattan Island as an outpost of Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam) at the southern tip of the island. After the English capture of New Netherland in 1664, the new English colonial administration renamed both the colony and its principal city "New York," but left the name of Haarlem more or less unchanged. The spelling changed to Harlem in keeping with contemporary English usage, and the district grew (as part of the borough of Manhattan) into the vibrant centre of African American culture in New York City and the United States generally by the 20th century.

Lautje, statue on the Grote Markt

On the main square, the Grote Markt, stands a statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster, nicknamed 'Lautje' by locals. Laurens Janszoon Coster is credited with being the inventor of a printing press using movable type, since he's said to have invented it simultaneously with Johannes Gutenberg, but only some people believe this. In the past, the statue was moved a couple of times. It once stood at the other side of the square and even perched at the Riviervismarkt, near the Philharmonie.

Universities

The group of universities SRH opened a campus in Haarlem in 2022 on the site of the former Cupola prison.

Meat advertisement ban

In September 2022, the Haarlem municipal council adopted an ordinance prohibiting advertisements for meat and fossil fuels in public spaces because of their climate impact. The ordinance took effect in 2024, making Haarlem the first city in the world to ban such advertisements.

(Wikipedia)

Haarlem ist eine Stadt in der Region Kennemerland-Süd und die Hauptstadt der Provinz Nordholland, Niederlande. Die Stadt liegt am Fluss Spaarne, was ihr den Beinamen Spaarnestad eingebracht hat. Die Gemeinde Haarlem zählt 168.655 Einwohner (1. Januar 2025, CBS) und ist Sitz von zwei katholischen Bischöfen, einem des altkatholischen Bistums Haarlem und einem des römisch-katholischen Bistums Haarlem-Amsterdam.

Geografie

Haarlem liegt am nordwestlichen Rand der „Randstad“. Die Gemeinde grenzt im Uhrzeigersinn an die Gemeinden Velsen, Haarlemmermeer, Heemstede und Bloemendaal. Östlich liegen Amsterdam (19 km) und der Flughafen Schiphol (13 km). Die Häfen von IJmuiden liegen im Norden und die Nordseeküste ist ca. 7 km westlich von Haarlem.

Die Stadt hat eine wichtige regionale Funktion. Ihr primäres Versorgungsgebiet ist der nördliche Teil von Südholland, Bollenstreek, Zuid-Kennermerland, IJmond und ein Teil vom Haarlemmermeer.

Die Gemeinde Haarlem ist aufgeteilt in fünf Stadtteile, neun Viertel und vierzig sogenannte „buurten“, was so viel bedeutet wie Nachbarschaften.

Geschichte

Haarlem entstand als Geestsiedlung an der Spaarne und entwickelte sich auf dem Verbindungsweg von Süd nach Nord. Die Stadt wurde Residenz der Grafen von Holland. Graf Wilhelm II. von Holland verlieh Haarlem 1245 Stadtrechte. Ein Kontingent der Bürger von Haarlem hatte früher in diesem Jahrhundert, 1217–1219, unter Graf Wilhelm I. mit mehreren Schiffen am Fünften Kreuzzug teilgenommen. Daher findet sich bis heute ein Schwert und ein Kreuz im Stadtwappen, die an die legendenhaft verklärten Leistungen dieser Haarlemer Kreuzfahrer während der Belagerung von Damiette in Ägypten (1218) erinnern sollen.

m Jahr 1429 bekam die Stadt das Zollrecht. Das spätmittelalterliche Haarlem kannte Textilherstellung, Schiffbau und viele Bierbrauereien. Der Reichtum ging zu Ende durch einen etwa dem deutschen Bundschuh-Aufstand ähnelnden Bürgerkrieg namens „Hoeker und Kabeljau-Streit“ (Hoekse en Kabeljauwse Twisten) und den Aufstand der Käser und Bäcker (Kaas- en Broodvolk). Im Jahr 1573 fiel die Festung nach einer monatelangen spanischen Belagerung durch Don Fadrique (Sohn des bekannten Herzogs von Alba). Nach dem Vertrag von Veere zogen sich die Spanier 1577 zurück, nachdem Protestanten und Katholiken gleiche Rechte erhielten. Flämische und französische Immigranten brachten der Stadt eine neue Blütezeit (Leinenweberei, wie auch in Leiden).

1658 gründete der Holländer Petrus Stuyvesant Nieuw Haarlem an der Ostküste Nordamerikas. Später wurde Nieuw-Haarlem als Bezirk Harlem Teil der Stadt New York.

Im 19. Jahrhundert wurden die Stadtbefestigungen geschleift und als Park gestaltet. 1839 fuhr der erste niederländische Zug zwischen Haarlem und Amsterdam.

1927 wurde die Gemeinde Schoten eingemeindet. Teile der Gemeinden Bloemendaal, Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude und Heemstede wurden ebenfalls eingemeindet. So wurde Haarlem zur fünftgrößten Stadt der Niederlande nach Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag und Utrecht.

Nach der Erfindung der Buchdruckerei, in deren Frühzeit der Haarlemer Laurens Janszoon Coster eine wichtige Rolle spielte, bekam Haarlem eine bleibende Reputation als Druckerstadt. Die älteste Tageszeitung wird noch immer in Haarlem gedruckt. Im Jahr 1656 erschien zum ersten Mal de Oprechte Haerlemse Courant, die heute unter dem Namen Haarlems Dagblad firmiert. Die Firma Johan Enschedé ist eine bekannte Spezialdruckerei, die auch für das Ausland u. a. Geldscheine und Ausweisdokumente herstellt. Hinzu kommt die Tradition als Stadt der Schriftsteller.

Religion

Das größte Gotteshaus der Stadt ist die Grote Kerk genannte St.-Bavo-Kirche. 1578 wurde an dieser Kirche die Reformation eingeführt, heute ist sie evangelisch-unierte Pfarrkirche.

Wenige Jahre nachdem das Utrechter Domkapitel aus eigenem Recht einen ersten Erzbischof der Alt-Katholischen Kirche gewählt hatte, wurde Hieronymus de Bock 1742 erster alt-katholischer Bischof von Haarlem. Seither ist das Bistum Haarlem eines der drei Bistümer der Alt-Katholischen Kirche der Niederlande. Kathedrale ist die Kirche St. Anna und Maria.

Das Bistum Haarlem der römisch-katholischen Kirche wurde am 5. März 1853 errichtet. Am 1. Januar 2009 erhielt es den neuen Namen Bistum Haarlem-Amsterdam. Bischofskirche ist die St.-Bavo-Kathedrale.

Sehenswürdigkeiten

Bakenesser Kirche

Große oder St.-Bavo-Kirche

St.-Bavo-Kathedrale

Großer Markt

Janskirche, ehemalige Klosterkirche des Johanniterordens, heute Archiv der Provinz Nordholland

Vleeshal (Fleischhalle, eine Markthalle aus der Renaissance)

Amsterdamse Poort, östliches, letztes erhaltenes Stadttor (Richtung Amsterdam), Teil der mittelalterlichen Befestigung, im 14. Jahrhundert erbaut

Philharmonie mit Cavaillé-Coll-Orgel (bis 2002 Concertgebouw Haarlem)

Haarlem ist bekannt für seine vielen malerischen Hofjes (von reichen Bürgern zur Versorgung älterer alleinstehender Frauen gestiftete Wohnhöfe) aus dem 17. und 18. Jahrhundert

Hauptwache Haarlem

Museen

Frans Hals Museum

Teylers Museum am Spaarne-Ufer (gegründet 1778) ist das älteste Museum der Niederlande. Es ist aus einer Privatsammlung entstanden und folgt dem Konzept einer Wunderkammer

Corrie-ten-Boom-Museum

(Wikipedia)

gone... by "Béla" YXE

4 15

a bloodless exit ... happens often as they easily jump the meter high fences... not my victim, just saw it and stopped to record the 'final pose".

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

8

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

Qi Bo's photos on Flickr Hive Mind

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

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"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

7

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

Qi Bo's photos on Flickr Hive Mind

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

Grandpa in Mostar 1965 by Tijana&Dragan Čajetinac

13 25

View On Black

Explored: Jan, 29, 2009 #275

Mostar rains / Mostarske kise

i loved a certain svetlana in mostar one autumn

if only i knew whome she was sleeping with now

i'd chop her i'd chop her

if only i knew who was kissing her now

i'd knock his i'd knock his

ah if i knew who picking apricots

still unripe in me

i was telling her you are a child you are green

i was telling her everything

and she wept on my hands at may words

i was telling her you are an angel you are a devil

your body is ripe don't pretend to be a saint

and all night blue rains were raining over mostar

there was no sun no birds there was nothing

she asked me whether i had a brother what i studied

whether i was a croat whether i love rilke she asked everything

she asked me if i could do the same with every girl god forbid

she asked me in a low voice if i loved her

and blue rains were falling over mostar

she was luxuriously white in the dark od the room

but she wouldn't give she wouldn't

or she didn't dare devil knows

it is autumn that dead autumn in window-panes

her eyes a bird her thighs a doe

she had a mole a mole she had i dare not say

she had a mole small and violet or so it seems to me

she asked me if i was a croat if i had a girl

if i loved rilke she asked me everything

while in the window like christmas bells of my childhood water

drops rang

and a night song softly along downtown

hey suleman mother's son

she spread her years upon the floor

her eyes were full ripe peaches

her breasts were warm as puppies

i told her she was stupid she was putting on airs

svetlana svetlana do you know this is the atomic age

de gaulle gagarin and such nonsense i told her everything

she wept she wept

i took her to the bazaar dives

i toke her everywhere

i hid her in caves carried her to a balcony

under bridges we played hide and seek the neretva a filly

under an old bridge i spoke of crnjanski

how marvelous he is how marvelous

i drew her knees in wet sand

she laughed so merrily so innocently like first lilies

i took her to mosques karadjoz bey dead too dead

under his heavy tomb

so shantich's grave she carried some flowers cried a little

like a women

i took her everywhere

it is this summer now

i am now quite different i write some poems

in a newspaper half a column gor pero zubac and nothing more

and all the night blue rains were falling over mostar

she was luxuriously white in the dark od the room

but she wouldn't give she wouldn't

od she didn't dare devil knows

that sky those clouds those roofs

the pale sun of the hungry boy over mostar

i can't forget

nor her hair her small tongue like a strawberry

her laughter which could hurt like a curse

that player in the chapel on the white fill

god is great she said he will outlive us

nor those heavy blue rains

oh autumn her barren autumn

she spoke of films of james dean

she spoke about everything a bit sadly a bit pathetically

or karenina

she said clyde griffiths could not

hurt a fly

i laughed you are stupid he is a murdeerer you are a child of

but those streets those news-boys selling the latest edition of

liberation

those half withered grapes in shop-windows i can't forget

that bitter barren autumn over mostar those rains

ske kissed me all night long and caressed me and nothing more

i swear by my mother we did nothing more

after that summers came again rains came again

only one short letter from ljubljana why there

those leaves on pavements those days

i can't i don't know how

to erase

she writes she asked me what i do how i live if i have a girl

whether i ever think of her and of that autumn of those rains

she is now the same she swears by god quite the same

shall i believe her shall i laugh i cursed christ a long time ago

and i don't quite love her whether she swore or not

it must be so lies are worthlees

i talked to her of lermontov chagall i told her everything

she carried with her on old zweig's book read in the afternoon

her hair was threaded with summer the yellow colour of the

sun a little of the sea

first night her skin was also somewhat salty fish asleep

in her blood

we laughed at the boys who were jumping from bridges for

cigarettes

we laughed because it was not summer and thay were jumping

they are real children

she said they could die they could get pneumonia

then her long too long silences came

i could freely think about anything explain spinoza

for hours i could look at others at leisure throw stones

down rock i could also go somewhere go far away

i colud have died alone on her breasts more lonely than anyone

i could have turned into a bird water a rock

i could have done all this

her fingers were long weak bloodless but quick

we played lady-bird and hide and seek

svetlana get out you are under the rock i am not blinde

i am not stupid come up don't hesitate you'll be beaten

when it was her turn i could flee into the river itself she would

find me

she smells me immediately she says she knows me well

i never belived her she may have peeped through her fingers

she liked chestnuts we picked them round about

she carried them to the room hung them on threads

she loved roses those autumn roses i brought her

when they withered she would put them into a tin

i asked her what she thought oh this world whether she belived

in communism

whether she would like to be natasha rostova i asked her

everything

sometimes stupid questions i know that only too well

i asked her whether she'd like a small son blond say

she jumped from enthusiasm yes yes

and all of a sudden she was overpowere by grief like dead fruits

she mustn't she mustn't she wouldn't do that for her life

do you hear him he thinks it's so easy as if i had fallen from

jupiter

who then is that zubac pera that he should be that mn and

not somebody else

by no means he thinks he is at least brando or such a one

i told her you are stupid you are clever you are a devil

you are an angel i told her everything she believed nothing

you men are born liars you are rascals

she said everything

and blue rains were falling over mostar

i really loved that svetlana one autumn

if only i knew who she was sleeping with now i'd chop his

i'd chop his if only i knew who was kissing her now

i'd knock his i'd knock his alas if only i knew who

was picking apricots still unripe in me

Pero Zubac, 1965

________

Translation:

Pero Zubac: Mostar rains

First published: Weekly magazine 'Telegram', Zagreb, October 1965.

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

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"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

8

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

Qi Bo's photos on Flickr Hive Mind

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

6

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

Qi Bo's photos on Flickr Hive Mind

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

7 1

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

Qi Bo's photos on Flickr Hive Mind

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

Wien, 1. Bezirk (the art of listed palais respectively hotel buildings in the core of downtown Vienna), Kärntner Ring/Dumbastraße/Bösendorferstraße (Palais Württemberg/Hotel Imperial) by Alfred Lex

6 1

After the annexation of Austria (14th March 1938), Adolf Hitler stayed at the Hotel Imperial (apartment 103). To ensure the safety of the Führer, a subterranean bunker was built in Dumba Street. However, the construction did not take place in the conventional manner. For reasons of space, the street was simply dug up and the bunker was built into the excavation and connected to the hotel. The connecting passage, which still exists today, was covered with beige wall tiles. On the evening of March 14, 1938, Hitler arrived in Vienna, the masses jammed in front of the Hotel Imperial. Speakers said the leader was too tired to talk to them, but people continued to wait. Shortly after 7 pm, Hitler stepped onto the balcony and delivered a speech, which arose from his speech in Linz and his speech which he was supposed to deliver the next day on Heroes' square. Only then does the assembly dissolve. On 15 March 1938 Hitler received at the Hotel Imperial Cardinal Theodor Innitzer. He had proclaimed on March 13, not unlike that of the German bishops in 1933: "The Catholics of the Viennese Archdiocese are requested to pray on Sunday, 13th March, to thank God the Lord for the bloodless course the great political upheaval and to ask for a happy future for Austria. Of course, all orders of the authorities willingly and gladly be followed. "The church bells rang in honor of Hitler and the church towers were flagged with swastika flags. The meeting of Hitler and Innitzer, initiated by Papen and Seyss-Inquart, Hitler served to show that he expected the church to cooperate, that it applied to the state to be a bulwark against Bolshevism. Innitzer signaled to Hitler willingness to cooperate, he requested to safeguard the liberties evidenced in the Concordat of the church and the influence on youth work. For March 18, 1938, he convened a conference of bishops.

During the Nazi era politicians of the Axis powers descended in the Hotel Imperial. One of the guests of the leader was the "Duce" Benito Mussolini. He had to enter the hotel on September 13, 1943 (after his release by Skorzeny) through the supplier's entrance because he was on the run after the Allied invasion of Italy.

During the Allied occupation (1945-1955), the hotel was subject to the provisions of the so-called Zone Agreement in the Interallied Zone and was used by the Soviet military administration until 17 September 1955 as its headquarters. In addition to the US and British headquarters, the first meetings of the Allied Council took place at the Hotel Imperial before this and other parts of the Allied Commission were transferred to the House of Industry (3, Schwarzenberg square 4, April 1946-July 1956, Stalin square 1). After the occupation the hotel was renovated until 1958.

Since then, it has been chosen by the Republic of Austria as a lodging for state guests (eg King Ibn Saud, Shah-in-Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, Nikita Khrushchev, Josip Tito, King Bhumibol of Thailand with wife Sirikit, Queen Elisabeth II of England, Richard Nixon, Georges Pompidou, Mohammed Anwar-as-Sadat), but also by prominent business people and artists (for example, 1959 Otto Preminger, 1960 Walt Disney, Bruno Walter and Otto Klemperer, 1961 Mario del Monaco and Renata Tebaldi, 1964 Alfred Hitchcock). Since 1977 the hotel belongs to the group of "cca-hotels" ("City & Country Hotels in Austria" of the "Vereinigte Österreichische Hotel AG").

Between 1988-1994 the hotel was redeveloped to the plans of the Roman CIGA architect Papiri (master builder Straka) at a cost of 300 million schillings and designed according to the historical model of 1866. The new roof construction allows a later expansion of the attic, the entrance hall has been largely reconstructed.

The Hotel Imperial created its own (square) cake ("Imperial Cake/Imperialtorte").

Nach der Annexion Österreichs (14. März 1938) logierte Adolf Hitler im Hotel Imperial (Appartement 103). Um die Sicherheit des Führers zu gewährleisten, wurde in der Dumbastraße ein unterirdischer Führerbunker errichtet. Der Bau erfolgte jedoch nicht in der herkömmlichen Weise. Aus Platzgründen wurde die Straße einfach aufgegraben und der Bunker in die Baugrube hinein gebaut und mit dem Hotel verbunden. Der Verbindungsgang, der heute nochvorhanden ist, wurde mit beigen Wandfliesen verkleidet. Am Abend des 14. März 1938 traf Hitler in Wien ein, vor dem Hotel Imperial stauten sich die Massen. Lautsprecher teilten mit, der Führer sei ‚zu müde’ um zu ihnen zu sprechen, doch die Menschen harrten weiter aus. Kurz nach 19 Uhr trat Hitler auf den Balkon und hielt eine Rede, die sich aus seiner Linzer Ansprache und seiner Rede, die er am nächsten Tag am Heldenplatz halten sollte, speiste. Erst danach löst sich die Versammlung auf. Am 15. März 1938 empfing Hitler im Hotel Imperial Kardinal Theodor Innitzer. Dieser hatte – in seiner Reaktion nicht unähnlich jener der deutschen Bischöfe 1933 – am 13. März verkünden lassen: „Die Katholiken der Wiener Erzdiözese werden ersucht, Sonntag, 13. d., zu beten, um Gott dem Herrn zu danken für den unblutigen Verlauf der großen politischen Umwälzung und um eine glückliche Zukunft für Österreich zu bitten. Selbstverständlich möge allen Anordnungen der Behörden gerne und willig Folge geleistet werden.“ Die Kirchenglocken läuteten zu Ehren Hitlers und die Kirchtürme wurden mit Hakenkreuzfahnen beflaggt. Das Zusammentreffen Hitler-Innitzer, in die Wege geleitet durch Papen und Seyss-Inquart, diente Hitler dazu darzulegen, dass er sich erwarte, dass die Kirche kooperiere, dass es für den Staat gelte, ein Bollwerk gegen den Bolschewismus zu sein. Innitzer signalisierte Hitler Kooperationsbereitschaft, er erbat die im Konkordat der Kirche verbrieften Freiheiten und den Einfluss auf die Jugendarbeit zu waren. Für den 18. März 1938 berief er eine Bischofskonferenz ein.

Während der NS-Zeit stiegen auch Politiker der Achsenmächte in dem Hotel Imperial ab. Einer der Gäste des Führers war der "Duce" Benito Mussolini. Dieser musste das Hotel am 13. September 1943 (nach seiner Befreiung durch Skorzeny) durch den Lieferanteneingang betreten, weil er sich nach dem Einmarsch der Alliierten in Italien auf der Flucht befand.

In der Zeit der Alliierten Besatzung (1945-1955) befand sich das Hotel durch die Bestimmungen des sogenannten Zonenabkommens in der Interalliierten Zone und wurde von der sowjetischen Militärverwaltung bis zum 17. September 1955 als Hauptquartier benützt. Neben dem US-amerikanischen und dem britischen Hauptquartier fanden auch im Hotel Imperial die ersten Sitzungen des Alliierten Rates statt, bevor dieser und andere Teile der Alliierten Kommission in das Haus der Industrie (3, Schwarzenbergplatz 4; April 1946-Juli 1956 Stalinplatz 1) verlegt wurden. Nach der Besatzungszeit wurde das Hotel bis 1958 renoviert.

Seither wird es seitens der Republik Österreich zum Logis von Staatsgästen gewählt (beispielsweise König Ibn Saud, Schah-in-Schah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, Nikita Chruschtschow, Josip Tito, König Bhumibol von Thailand mit Gattin Sirikit, Königin Elisabeth II. von England, Richard Nixon, Georges Pompidou, Mohammed Anwar-as-Sadat), aber auch von der Wirtschaftsprominenz sowie Künstlerinnen und Künstlern (beispeilsweise 1959 Otto Preminger, 1960 Walt Disney, Bruno Walter und Otto Klemperer, 1961 Mario del Monaco und Renata Tebaldi, 1964 Alfred Hitchcock). Seit 1977 gehört das Hotel zur Gruppe der "cca-Hotels" ("City & Country Hotels in Austria" der "Vereinigten Österreichischen Hotel AG").

1988-1994 wurde das Hotel nach Plänen des römischen CIGA-Architekten Papiri (Baumeister Straka) mit einem Kostenaufwand von 300 Millionen Schilling generalsaniert und nach dem historischen Vorbild von 1866 gestaltet. Die neue Dachkonstruktion ermöglicht einen späteren Ausbau des Dachgeschosses, die Eingangshalle wurde weitgehend rekonstruiert.

Das Hotel Imperial kreierte eine eigene (viereckige) Torte ("Imperialtorte").

www.wien.gv.at/wiki/index.php?title=Hotel_Imperial

Chalcosoma, Jan Fabre, (Chalcosoma est un genre de grands coléoptères, parmi les plus grands des scarabées-rhinocéros que l'on trouve dans le Sud-Est asiatique) Maison de la Culture de Namur, Namur, Belgium by Claude

13 2

Exposition "Facing time" Félicien Rops/Jan Fabre, Namur, Belgium

Dix-huit autoportraits en bronze composent cette série dans laquelle Jan Fabre interroge la métamorphose et la relation au temps. Exprimant toujours sa fascination du monde animal et son goût de la transformation, Fabre pare ses têtes de cornes, ramures, oreilles, etc. se joue de son âge - il se représente, tantôt jeune, tantôt âgé - et varie ses attitudes. L’artiste crée ainsi une galerie de portraits à nulle autre pareille. Comme l’écrit Bernard-Henri Lévy dans le catalogue qui accompagne l’exposition, Fabre « affirme son goût de l’autoportrait, de toutes les formes de l’autoportrait, en gloire ou dérisoire, en bronze ou en cire, exsangue, pendu, grimaçant, tirant la langue, animalisé ou déifié, vibrant de sa lumière intérieure ou vidé de tout éclat, portrait de l’artiste en satyre, en sphinge, en maître ancien, en oiseau, en Christ ou en volcan, en Jésus ou en Jésuve, oeil fendu ou langue verte, cadavre en éruption, tronche ou faciès, oeil de hibou, bousier - tout, oui, absolument tout, plutôt que ce monde gris, étouffant et, surtout, si sot où l’on appelle "narcissisme" l’affirmation par un sujet de son être-sujet et par un artiste de son irréductible singularité. ».

Eighteen bronze self-portraits make up this series in which Jan Fabre questions metamorphosis and relationship to time. Always expressing his fascination with the animal world and taste processing, Fabre bumper horns heads, antlers, ears, etc. plays of his age - he is, sometimes young, sometimes old - and varies attitudes. The artist creates a portrait gallery like no other. As written by Bernard-Henri Lévy in the catalog accompanying the exhibition, Fabre "says his taste for self-portrait of all forms of self-portraiture in fame or ridiculous, bronze or wax, bloodless, hung, grimacing, tongue out, animalized or deified, vibrating its inner light or emptied of brilliance, portrait of the artist as satyr, in sphinx in old master, in bird, Christ or volcano in Jesus or Jesuve, split green eye or tongue, body erupting

face or facies, owl eye, dung beetle - all, absolutely all, rather than this gray world, stuffy and especially so foolish when one calls "narcissism" the assertion of his being a subject-subject and by an artist of his irreducible singularity. ".

Like Crazy .... by Qi Bo (Ezio Famà)

9 1

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

Qi Bo's photos on Flickr Hive Mind

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

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"U sciccareddu", from the Sicilian "the little donkey", is a pyrotechnical-animal mask, once present in many village feasts in the Messina area, today it is found only in a limited number of centers, among these is the town of Casalvecchio Siculo , a small town in the hinterland in which there is another animal figure, that of the "camiddu", in Sicilian "camel", and of his camel driver (see a photographic story of mine made earlier in this regard). The feast of the "sciccareddu-little donkey" sees a young man of the village wearing a metal supporting structure, on which takes place a whole series of fireworks: this represents with no little imagination the donkey (this year it was the "Camel driver" of the "camiddu-camel"feast which is always celebrated in Casalvecchio); the young man who carries this metal castle on himself, protects himself abundantly from pyrotechnic fires, which form "crazy wheels" in correspondence with the "four limbs", pyrotechnic fires that involve symbolic-ritual suggestions of ambiguous meaning, is the life against death, the light against darkness, the fear and the desire to challenge it, without ever forgetting the horrifying-ancestral aspect of the "beast", which represents the dark unknown evil, which always hovers over people's lives. There are those who have hypothesized that this asinello-monstrous-orrify is a very meek animal too, once very common and omnipresent in the Sicilian districts, so that the fears that it could generate are simultaneously suppressed by being a well-known animal and very meek.

This "sciccareddu-little donkey" with its load of pyrotechnic-crazy fires-bengal fires, and other crackling devilries, challenges and is challenged by all present, young and old coming also from far away, there is who looks but remaining well sheltered, many others instead challenge him, as in a bloodless bullfight, where some unlucky person can receive a few small burns (like myself, who found himself with some small burns in his legs, and a lens-protection filter, it was almost melted-burned in several points, now useless, but withe the lens without problems.....! :o)) .......).

“u sciccareddu”, dal siciliano “l’asinello”, è una maschera pirotecnica-animalesca, un tempo presente in molte feste paesane del territorio messinese, oggi la si ritrova solo in un numero limitato di centri, tra questi il paese di Casalvecchio Siculo, piccolo centro dell’entroterra nel quale si trova un’altra figura animalesca, quella del “camiddu”, in siciliano “cammello”, e del suo cammelliere (vedi un mio racconto fotografico fatto in precedenza in merito). La festa dello “sciccareddu-asinello” vede un giovane del paese indossare una struttura portante in metallo, sulla quale prende posto tutta una serie di giochi pirotecnici: questo rappresenta con non poca fantasia l’asinello (quest’anno a dargli vita è stato il “cammelliere” della festa del “camiddu-cammello” che si festeggia sempre a Casalvecchio); il giovane che porta su di se tale castello in metallo, si protegge abbondantemente dai fuochi pirotecnici, che formano delle “ruote pazze” in corrispondenza dei “quattro arti”, fuochi pirotecnici che comportano suggestioni simbolico-rituali dal significato ambiguo, è a vita contro la morte, la luce contro le tenebre, la paura e la voglia di sfidarla, senza mai dimenticare l’aspetto orrifico-ancestrale della “bestia”, che rappresenta l’oscuro ignoto male, che aleggia sempre sulla vita delle persone. C’è chi ha ipotizzato che tale asinello-mostruoso-orrifico è pur sempre un animale molto docile, un tempo comunissimo e onnipresente nelle contrade siciliane, per cui le paure che esso potrebbe generare sono contemporaneamente soppresse dall’essere un animale ben conosciuto ed in definitiva molto docile.

Tale “sciccareddu-asinello” col suo carico di fuochi pirotecnici-girandole pazze-bengala, ed altre diavolerie scoppiettanti, sfida e viene sfidato da tutti i presenti, giovani e meno giovani provenienti anche da lontano, c’è che vuole assitere rimanendo però bene al riparo, molti altri invece lo sfidano, come in una corrida incruenta, dove qualche malcapitato può rimediare qualche piccola bruciatura (come il sottoscritto, che si è ritrovato con qualche piccola bruciatura alle gambe, ed un filtro proteggi-obiettivo che, me ne accorsi successivamente, era quasi fuso-bruciato in più punti, oramai inservibile, con l’obiettivo però salvo….! :o)) …).

Screaming Skin by Karishma Singh

18 16

Two souls dance to a darkened rhythm

Searching their way through a bloodless prism

A private emotion, its unholy sacrifice

Binging out burning rage, for fiery sins.

As silence breaks through screaming skin...

Hands pressed against sliding glass windows on a rainy afternoon...

Before Photoshop and other editing programmes - Danny Hennesy in the of Danny Hennesy X-mas picture on postcard trick retouched photo before digital image editing (but post Stalin) by Danny Hennesy

8 1

it might be hard for people these days to imagine that the was a time before editing tools of the digital kind all around us... this is me as a youngling a picture taken of me holding my own head in my hand which I used as a Christmas card and sent to fiends and friends alike...

this is the original photo without the Christmas greetings... well the original photo of my hand since the pic of my mug is another photo taken by me, a kind of double-self-portrait...

Peace and Noise!

~ heavenly horses ~ by desbah allison

9 30

I can't control this flesh and blood

That's wrapped around my bones

It moves beneath me like a river

Into the great unknown

I stepped onto the moving stairs

Before I could tie my shoes

Pried a harp out the fingers of a renegade

Who lived and died the blues

And his promise made was never clear

It just carved itself in me

All I saw was frost inside my head

On the night he said to me

Someday we'll live like horses

Free rein from your old iron fences

There's more ways than one to regain your senses

Break out the stalls and we'll live like horses

We're the victims of the heartbreak

That kept us short of breath

Trapped above these bloodless streets

Without a safety net

I stood in line to join the trial

One more customer of fate

Claimed a spoke in the wheel of the wagon train

On the road to the golden gate

On the flat cracked desert I jumped ship

It just made sense to me

I've spent too long in the belly of the beast

And now I shall be free

[Duet with Luciano Pavarotti:]

I can't control this flesh and blood

That's wrapped around my bones

It moves beneath me like a river

Into the great unknown

I stepped onto the moving stairs

Before I could tie my shoes

Pried a harp out the fingers of a renegade

Who lived and died the blues

La promessa non fu chiara

S'erra solo impressa in me

Vidi solo il gelo dentro me

Quella notte dise a me

Vivrem comme cavalli

Liberi dai recinti di ferro

Che piu non voglio

Rinnegare i sensi

Su dai fuggiam

Vivrem comme cavalli

We're the victims of the heartbreak

That kept us short of breath

Trapped above these bloodless streets

Without a safety net

I stood in line to join the trial

One more customer of fate

Claimed a spoke in the wheel of the wagon train

On the road to the golden gate

Nel deserto la nave abbandonai

Per me aveva senso

Son stato troppo tempo nella bestia

Ed ora saro libero

Someday We'll live like horses

Free reign from your old iron fences

There's more ways than one to regain your senses

Break out the stalls and we'll live like horses

Someday

Liberi dai ricenti di ferro

Che piu non voglio

Rinnegare i sensi

Su dai fuggiam

Vivrem comme cavalli

* Live Like Horses * ~ by Elton John feat: Luciano Pavarotti

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw_gEpGqnqQ

our oh my lord, it's the nicest day so far this year uniforms by hannah collette

13 28

collette-

top - gap (actually a birthday gift to arlo)

skirt - that same target one she loves

tights - gap from grandma

shoes - sparkly from target

me-

top - urban outfitters

necklace - sulu designs (i heart susan)

jeans - hudson from habitat

shoes - poetic license from habitat

arlo -

top - gap (another of her birthday presents)

skirt - denim made by me

tights - old navy

shoes - sparkly from target

Свята Вечеря (Holy Supper) by Calakmul

9 33

I can tell you with absolute certainty that 100 years ago today this oven would have been fired up all day long.......January 6th is Ukrainian Christmas Eve.

Here is a bit of insight into what Christmas Eve must have been like back then:

Ukrainian Christmas festivities begin on Christmas Eve (January 6th) and end on the Feast of the Epiphany. The Christmas Eve Supper or Sviata Vecheria (Holy Supper) brings the family together to partake in special foods and begin the holiday with many customs and traditions, which reach back to antiquity. The rituals of the Christmas Eve are dedicated to God, to the welfare of the family, and to the remembrance of the ancestors.

With the appearance of the first star which is believed to be the Star of Bethlehem, the family gathers to begin supper.

The table is covered with two tablecloths, one for the ancestors of the family, the second for the living members. In pagan times ancestors were considered to be benevolent spirits, who, when properly respected, brought good fortune to the living family members. Under the table, as well as under the tablecloths some hay is spread to remember that Christ was born in a manger. The table always has one extra place-setting for the deceased family members, whose souls, according to belief, come on Christmas Eve and partake of the food.

A kolach (Christmas bread) is placed in the center of the table. This bread is braided into a ring, and three such rings are placed one on top of the other, with a candle in the center of the top one. The three rings symbolize the Trinity and the circular form represents Eternity.

A didukh (meaning grandfather) is a sheaf of wheat stalks or made of mixed grain stalks. It is placed under the icons in the house. In Ukraine, this is a very important Christmas tradition, because the stalks of grain symbolize all the ancestors of the family, and it is believed that their spirits reside in it during the holidays.

After the didukh is positioned in the place of honor, the father or head of the household places a bowl of kutia (boiled wheat mixed with poppy seeds and honey) next to it. Kutia is the most important food of the entire Christmas Eve Supper, and is also called God’s Food. A jug of uzvar (stewed fruits, which should contain twelve different fruits) and is called God’s Drink, is also served.

After all the preparations have been completed, the father offers each member of the family a piece of bread dipped in honey, which had been previously blessed in church. He then leads the family in prayer. After the prayer the father extends his best wishes to everyone with the greeting Khrystos Razhdaietsia (Christ is born), and the family sits down to a twelve-course meatless Christmas Eve Supper.

There are twelve courses in the Supper, because according to the Christian tradition each course is dedicated to one of Christ's Apostles. According to the ancient pagan belief, each course stood was for every full moon during the course of the year. The courses are meatless because there is a period of fasting required by the Church until Christmas Day. However, for the pagans the meatless dishes were a form of bloodless sacrifice to the gods.

The first course is always kutia. It is the main dish of the whole supper. Then comes borshch (beet soup) with vushka (boiled dumplings filled with chopped mushrooms and onions). This is followed by a variety of fish - baked, broiled, fried, cold in aspic, fish balls, marinated herring and so on. Then come varenyky (boiled dumplings filled with cabbage, potatoes, buckwheat grains, or prunes. There are also holubtsi (stuffed cabbage), and the supper ends with uzvar.

The text was obtained here - www.brama.com/art/christmas.html

More on Ukrainian Christmas Eve - www.ukrcdn.com/2010/01/04/an-introduction-to-ukrainian-ch...

Poem Catacombs 1 by James Paul Kneubuhl

12

You might say poetry is like a camera of the mind. But please, decide for yourself. Would you believe me if I told you that most of these, particularly the shorter ones, practically wrote themselves? I can hardly believe it myself sometimes, but I figure as long as the verses keep coming I'll keep writing them down, because it's never far from my mind that the tap could turn off as suddenly and mysteriously as it turned on in the first place. I'm filling up all three sections as I go along, so these were not written in the order in which they appear.

NOTE: Somewhere, at some point, I saw a poem rendered in an archaic format where they capitalized the first word of every line, regardless of gramatic propriety. My adopting that practice could, I guess, be interpreted as an attempt to align my poems with something archaic.

WATCH MY FLOWERS

Alas, now’s your season

of returning to the soil.

You flowered, bloomed,

matured, then withered.

Now nature begins its

process all over, some

younger thing dreaming

of lasting forever. As I

watch my flowers thrive

and decline, their cycle

just going much quicker

than mine, I’m reminded

it’s all natural and there’s

no reason to feel I asked

for it, that this somehow

is punishment.

GARDENING TIPS

Unlike Jack’s beanstalk

Something that’s going to grow big

Won’t get that way overnight

It has to dig its roots in

To hold steady against the wind

Even something that’s

Growing without you knowing it

Always starts out

Tiny, just trying to

Get its head above ground

You can crush it if you like

Another one will come along

Eventually

But maybe not in your garden

TWO FACES OF DRAMA

Our drama puts television to shame

No, I’m not trying to blame

Just saying cast me as your friend

For a change or cast me

Anywhere you like, but

Just be aware that the role

Of villain doesn’t come as naturally

To me as it may appear and

Had I a whole new show based

On an epic for the common man

Where love saves the day

Directed by God, produced at

Heavenly Studios, suitable for all ages

A timeless classic that would charm

Even the Middle East and beguile even

Roger Ebert, it would be my most sincere

Wish that you would play my lead

PUP

Oh Pup, just to convince you

That you matter is worth

Whatever it takes but

Couldn’t we keep

The drama on TV

And the fireworks indoors?

YOU HAVE ONE NEW MESSAGE

Pup, I was going to put this in a bottle,

Seal it up and throw it in the sea

But the problem with a message in a bottle is

Pirates might find it and know who to rob

Cops might find it and have me committed

My enemy might find it and destroy it for malice

Lesbians might find it and destroy it on principle

Monkeys might find it and wipe their butts with it

Some hundred year old granny in Idaho

Or mahus in Michigan might find it, think it’s about them,

And dance merrily around the room singing,

“I’m his Pup! I’m his Pup! I know he wants me to give it up!”

(Groan) Oh no I don’t…

A whale might swallow it and it’ll end up in someone’s sushi

Or it might float right to you, only to be scooped up

In your loving hands and tossed unread in the trash

Cause you care so much for the environment

Or it might slip between the tectonic plates on the bottom

Of the sea and cause an earthquake which causes a tsunami

Which is bad for the economy so then you

Might not find a job and it’ll all be my fault

(Sigh) Don’t know why I worry about this stuff

In my past life I was a sheepdog

I suspect

And I digress – there was a message

Yes, between every line, only a wish

That wishes could have magic.

Like the magic that’s changed me lately

Into someone who

Really wishes he could get a message to you.

Do you believe in magic, Pup?

PUP VISITS THE POPE

Pup, if I were the Pope, it’s you I would bless

In the five things about you that I like the best

That would be your beauty, your intelligence,

Your talent, your spirituality and your sexuality.

If a Pope is not supposed to bless these

Qualities, especially the last, then perhaps

We should start a religion of our own?

BLUE BUNNY

The name Blue Bunny gives me strange visions

And it really bothers me when I see it used as a

Brand name. It sounds like a Bunny wailing on

A saxophone in the middle of a dangerous bridge

In New York or a Bunny fighting crime in a Superman

Costume or a Bunny who misses his sweetheart

Who’s gone home to take care of her Bunny Mother,

Or an NYPD Bunny struggling to resist corruption

Or some Bunny who pools colors with the Red

Bunny and White Bunny to make a Bunny American

Flag to display Bunny patriotism. Or far worse, a

Bunny at the Playboy Club painted all blue like

Goldfinger encased Pussy Galore in gold in the

James Bond movie. Hindus portray Krishna as

Colored blue, seducing milkmaids with his flute.

Must we now face a Bunny with Krishna skin?

It's not what the name Blue Bunny does to my

Imagination that bothers me, it’s that most people

Will see it and think it's completely normal. This is

All just a Bunny conspiracy if you ask me.

(NOTE: There's a real ice cream company called Blue Bunny. The name obviously made an impression.)

WHALES

If whales wore Walkmans and liked

Reggae then at sea there would

Be Bob Marley and the Whales.

Whales need the deep like reggae

Needs its bass. I wonder what

It's like for whales to argue?

How do whales resolve conflict?

When they restore harmony

Do they jump out of the sea

For joy, splashing tidal waves

Surfers love and causing a

Tsunami in Japan? Or

Ram a battleship for fun?

I shouldn't superimpose

Human attitudes on whales

But if they have a better

Attitude they are welcome

To superimpose on me.

When you hear that happy scree

With the faintest of echoes

Of Bob Marley, it's two whales

Back in harmony again.

WHALES 2

Nuff ya snide remarks

Bout how we're big like

Whales. Yeah, so we're big,

So what? Big in love.

Big in devotion.

Dangerous big in

Attraction. Big in

Spirit. Big courage.

Big like Rock Candy

Mountain for someone

We're sweet on. Big in

Ancestry. Big in

Generosity.

Even big in our

Humility when

We want things made right.

Say we're big like whales

In all the above.

REPUBLICANS

Republicans must feel a love like

The kind I feel for you, that’s why

They’re such shameless thieves.

It takes finances, public or otherwise,

To keep a sugar bowl always full.

Republicans must go into flights of

Ecstasy imagining their love’s touch,

That’s why they’re so unscrupulous

About who else loses out as long as

It’s not them. Republicans must be

Devoted family men, that’s why

They don’t mind living off others’

Labor, it leaves them more time to

Expand their families. Republicans must

Take great pleasure in pleasing the

Object of their affection, that’s why

They have no empathy left over for

The rest of the nation. Will I vote

Republican this year? I doubt it, even

Though I can relate to their motives.

MYTH OF THE WORM

In the realm of the spirits, there’s a big

Worm that comes along and eats negative

Emotions. But like all things in the realm of

The spirits, there’s a catch. You have to call

The worm. The worm is by nature a happy

Creature, but someone whispered in his

Ear, “You eat s**t”, and his first response

Was, “I suppose I do, but that’s my job and I’m

Happy to do it. I’ll eat your guilt, your shame,

Your pain, your sickness, your regrets, you

Name it.” But this someone, who was jealous

Of the good job the worm happily did for

Everyone, insisted, “You eat all these terrible

Things so that makes you terrible too. You

Are filthy and bad and everyone hates you.”

Now this really messed the worm up because

He’d it had never entered his mind that those

Whose negative emotions he made meals of

Would hate him for doing that. Feeling rejection

For the first time, the worm applied logic and

Reason to the situation. “If I stop eating all

These terrible things,” he told himself,

“Maybe people won’t hate me but will love

Me like I always believed they did.” So the

Worm stopped eating all the negativity, and

Consumed positive emotions instead. How

Do you suppose this effected the people?

Not only were their negative emotions piling

Up to the point of drowning them, but their

Positive emotions seemed to be gone as

Fast as their faith could produce them.

Many people assumed the worm must

Have abandoned them out of hatred, or

That it must have been evil all along.

This in turn only justified the worm’s recent

Conclusion that the people held him in

Contempt. No one bothered to ask the worm

Why he wasn't doing what he'd always done,

Because after all, who wants to acknowledge

Some lowly worm? And so the situation remains

To this day. The worm cannot understand

Why people don’t hold him in higher esteem

Even after he stopped the behavior he was

Told made them dislike him, and by now the

Thought of ever performing his old function

Again doesn’t even cross his mind. Meanwhile

The people have to deal with disposing of their

Own negative emotions, which they were never

Very good at to begin with, and this explains why

There’s so much pain inside people and why they

Cause so much pain to each other. Actually, this

Isn’t the whole story. Some people remember

The worm as their friend, and before they

Drift off into the realm of the spirits they

Send thoughts to the worm saying they

Hope he’s all right, and how they appreciated

The help he used to give them. When these

People wake, it’s as if their negative emotions

Were never even there.

ASHTRAY

In those movies where Bogart

And Bacall were setting the template

For romance that we’d all feel

Inclined to follow decades later,

Bogart and Bacall were puffing away

Which leads me to wonder what

Their kisses must have tasted like.

ASHTRAY #2

Favorite guitar player, nervous smoker

Smoking to stave off the pangs of

Being hooked on harder stuff. Hard

Living, hard partying, hard loving, hard

Rocking. All this hardness fortifies the

Lungs against the decay and disease

Most mortals would suffer trying to

Emulate their favorite guitar player.

Or he’s just too lost in the music to

Notice he’s choking. Too busy jamming.

How can I be fucking up my lungs, he

Says, when the magical vibrations make

My whole body blend with the infinite

Universe? Favorite guitar player

Hasn’t died yet from the hard stuff

Or even the cigarettes, in fact he’s

Rocking still, though looking a little

Worse for wear and tear. Maybe if

You make your million just playing

Guitar and looking cute your body

Really becomes one with the infinite

Universe and nothing can kill you

Except your fans looking bored.

But for the rest of us mortals who’ve

Yet to stumble into that ridiculously

Lucky state – don’t try this at home.

HAPPY

I don’t want to be happy,

I want to be insanely happy.

Everyone says pigs can’t fly.

Well I want to be that pig

Who wakes up one morning with

Wings and forms a one pig

Air Force patrolling the war

Zone, deciding the battle on the

Side of the righteous. Soaring

Over cities, leaping over oceans

Transcending my pig identity.

I want to be that frog who

Proves every male of my

Species is really a prince just

Lacking a kiss. I want to be the

Rat who rides on the back of

The tiger. I want to sound the

Trumpet that tumbles down

Walls. I want to explode like

A bomb bringing love instead

Of death. If I can’t indulge in

Any of this insanity, if it’s not

Asking too much, can I at least

Not be as depressed as my

Sane mind says I should be?

AMERICA

America, land of many faces

Where so many feel faceless

America, land of history

Where so many feel forgotten

America, why are you imploding

From within? America, you

Were born so that men could

Be free of kings, but you’ve

Spawned a whole class of

Kings who can let the rest

Of us eat cake for all they care.

America, you freed the slaves but

Your working men and women

Might as well be slaves to the

Taxman, insurance companies,

Mortgages and landlords. In the

Land of the free, when was the

Last time anything was free?

And in the home of the brave,

The brave are sacrificed to a

Variety of insanities regularly.

America, you’re my identity,

My whole idea of what a

Country is supposed to be.

That’s why if you were a temple

I’d swear someone needs to

Chase out all the money changers.

(NOTE: Yes, I have heard of Allen Ginsberg. He's not the only one who's written a poem talking to America, is he? Still, seeing the above several years later makes me feel like I'm such a ripoff...)

JIMMY REED

The drunker he sounds the better.

The more songs he sings in the same key the better.

The more one of his songs sounds like

All of the others the better.

The dumber his lyrics the better.

The more his drummer can’t find

The beat the better.

The more out of tune he sounds

The better. The slower he drags

The better. I should hate

Jimmy Reed’s music with a passion,

But no, some nights it’s the only

Thing that can make me feet better.

The critic in me is driven half insane

That Mr. Reed can take every musical

Flaw possible and make it all come out

Just fine, so pleasing to the heart, soul,

And some lower regions even if his voice

Sounds like a goat’s plaintive bleating.

Damn, I sure couldn’t do that. His music

Makes me feel drunk when I haven’t

Touched a drop. Drunk on emotion –

Jimmy Reed just feels it and all the

Niceties he can take or leave (mostly

Leave). So the more he plays his

Harmonica like he doesn’t know

How to play it the better, and the

More his band sound like they’re

All going to fall asleep and collapse

In the middle of a take the more

I think this guy is just priceless.

(NOTE: After that glowing recommendation, how can you not want to download a Jimmy Reed song or two to hear for yourself what I’m talking about? I recommend “You Got Me Crying”, “Honey What’s Wrong”, “Bright Lights, Big City”, or “Honest I Do”. )

CLEAR

Wish the sun would melt the

Fog along this path. Never clear.

Following the path into the gray

Area where the truth hides. Truth

Likes to stay unclear sometimes.

CYCLE

These long drawn out silences

I don’t mind so much, but

I know it won’t be long before

I jump back in the hustle. No,

It’s not just a dance, it’s having

To work for anything to come

Your way. Working hard I can

Handle, but I know it won’t

Be long before I seek out the

Silence once again, all the while

Knowing it’s one long cycle of

Aloneness.

SPECTACLE

The ancient Romans could be quite

The showmen. There’s this one story I

Heard about how they led a blind poet

Into the arena as the opening act

For that day’s gladiator matches.

The led him to a high mound in the

Middle of the arena floor and said

Please entertain us with your wonderful

Poetry. So off went the poet, reciting for

All he was worth, feeling justifiably

Righteous to finally be given the audience

He’d always felt entitled to. While he

Was reciting as if given the voice of the

Gods, since he was blind he didn’t see

The arena floor filling with water till

His mound was surrounded, nor the

Hungry crocodiles being set loose.

You know what happened next, and

There’s never been a Super Bowl half

Time show that’s entertained the

Assembled sports fans like that

Roman opening act with the blind poet.

Then, as now, poets were considered

Little more than a side show for athletes.

And even then poets were too arrogant

To recognize the big trouble you’re asking

For if you mix poetry with sports.

PROFILE

My astrological profile says

Cancers tend to over-think

So ok, I’m not going to think.

I will stop thinking right in the

Middle of this poem…. Hmm.

La de da… Hmm, hmm, hmm…

(Sings to self) I’m Jumping Jack

Flash… SHHH! Sorry. (Thinks to

Self) Hmm, yeah the quiet is

Kinda nice… SHHH! Ok, ok.

(Hears Ravel’s Bolero) Hmm…

Nice… (Thinks to self) I’ll bet

It’s really quiet when you’re

Dead… SHHH! OK, ok, quiet

The mind, Zen mind, empty

Mind, tranquility, transcendence,

Mellow… pleasant… pleasure…

She has the most wonderful tits…

(Uh, what was that?) F**K!!!

(Snaps out of it) I just had the

Most gnarly thought!!! My

Profile was right.

OBITUARY

Obituary is creeping me out. Someday

Will someone write one for me? Will it

Be a tale of scattered accomplishments

Amidst a Disneyland of f**k-ups? Will I

Go to my grave without you knowing

How you turned on a certain light in

My life? NO F**KING WAY!!!

TWO WORD POEM

Yes. Period.

ENTITLEMENT

If you thought sex lust was bad, try blood lust.

Not just a crime of passion or some perverted

Sense of self-preservation. Foresight to load

The weapons and wear a bulletproof vest

Indicates clear pre-meditation. Not just wanting

To die, but wanting to kill, and not just one.

Blood lust, like you’re entitled to your revenge,

Or at least your fleeting moment of superiority.

Monkeys can be vicious, but mankind has it

Over them because of a sense of entitlement.

Dinosaurs stomped all over everything else,

But they never claimed it was their divine right.

It’s no wonder we had to invent a divine image

Of ourselves – look how wantonly destructive,

Ugly, cruel and selfish man can be under certain

Circumstances. It’s like Cain and Abel – just the

Slightest sense of one being wronged and brother

Murders brother. it’s like Adam and Eve, given

Everything but having to find out what happens

When you break the rules. It’s like Lucifer, who

Wasn’t satisfied just as God’s favorite but hungered

To himself be God. Entitlement seems like such a

Harmless little word, but when you feel entitled

To all you want, it's easy to forget how to be happy

With how much you already have.

HERETIC

No, I’m not really a heretic when it comes to

Christmas – gifts large and small gratefully

Accepted! Occasionally even given too! But

Once I met a genuine cynic who opined that

Christmas was all a bunch of falsehood, and the

Best argument I could muster on the spot was,

If you don’t give people an occasion when they’re

Expected to be at their best, then they tend quite

Naturally to be at their worst. He looked at me like,

Yeah right, and I felt like a pretty lousy knight in

Shining armor when it came to defending the

Honor of Christmas. But I sincerely meant it when

I told him people need a reminder it’s just nice to

Be nice – this was the Reagan era after all - and

Even if you don’t get it, why worry, just relax and

Enjoy the weird songs and funny costumes. At the

Same time, much as I hated to admit it, I could see

Where the cynic was coming from. If you came from

Mars and looked at Christmas you might think it has

More to do with Santa than with Christ. But that’s

Jesus for you – even at his own birthday party he says,

It’s great if you spare me a thought or two, but mostly

I want you to focus on each other.

ULYSSES

You really find out who your friends are

When you’re dead. Ulysses returned home

When no one expected him to, only to find

His so-called friends all trying to marry his

Wife, take his lands, claim his fortunes. He

Had to pose as a beggar so they wouldn’t

Assasinate him on sight, so thoroughly had

They already dishonored his memory. He must

Have thought to himself, so much for being

The hero. Now I have to slaughter those who

Once honored me just so I can walk in my

Own door. By the time Ulysses was finished,

Some thought he was a murderous bastard,

But history has been kinder.

RIVER

Sometimes the river is raging, looks

Like it might overflow, even cause

Some damage(but that’s pretty rare).

Sometimes the river gets so low you

Wonder if it will dry up (but it never

Does). Sometimes the river is too

Full of debris, fallout from other

Misfortunes, careless abandonments,

Things considered worthless. Given

Time, the river just moves it all down

The line, always accepting the dirt

While always cleaning itself. Most

Of the time the river just flows,

Providing a path, providing respite,

Taking life where it needs to go. If

I was your river I’d carry you to the

Sea, kiss you goodbye, and then

Wait for the next time you fall from

The sky so we can do it again.

BUSKER

Buskers are those guys and occasional gals

Who stand in a corner in a crowded place

Singing songs with an open guitar case or

Maybe a hat for people to throw them a coin

If they want to. I don't have the guts to be a

Busker, although you never know, guts

Sometimes reveal themselves in ways

You weren't quite expecting. Anyway, I was

Just daydreaming about busking, thinking

It's too bad that's the only way some people

Can get their song heard. But isn't that

Really what a song's for, just to distract

Someone out of the blue long enough to

Show the singer some sympathy? I know

My poetry doesn't necessarily suggest

Music, but it's trying to do the same thing,

That is to distract you in some way that

Makes you go, "Of course!" And you don't

Even have to toss me a coin.

CANDLE

Rain, wind, fair weather, whatever,

The candle's still in the window.

Symbolic of a certain torch. It's

Habit now. The way may look

Foggy, even impossible, but

You never know what difference

Even a little candle can make.

REASONABLE

i wish we could be reasonable with

Each other. Reasonable means in

Full consideration of your reasons

And in full consideration of mine.

Reasonable may not seem so sexy

Or so passionate in and of itself and

Yet, if you enjoy being reasonable

With someone, then who better to

Enjoy everything else with?

UNIVERSE

Something seems very wrong in my

Universe. The Gods, all forces of nature,

All want things their own way. The more

Kind and forgiving Gods feel taken for

Granted, insulted and abused. The

Jealous Gods feel toyed with, and will

Not rest till they exact payback. The proud

Goddess forgets that others have their

Pride too. The nurturing Gods look at

The conflict that should never have been

A conflict and silently weep. The hopeful

Gods clash with the hardness of the Gods

Who can't comprehend the depth of their

Own selfishness. No wonder I can't sleep.

WARM AND LOVING

I am more than simply the sum total of

How much I hurt, so I"m going to take a

Warm and loving approach to all of this

Because bullshit still hurts but now I

Know it's just bullshit and maybe in your

Poker game bullshit trumps warm and

Loving, but not in mine. It was a risk to

Ever reach out to you at all, knowing what

I know about you. I thought you were

Worth it, cause you still made me feel

Something warm and loving. If I'm left

Feeling like a disposable diaper, my

Intentions were still good, as much as

You may try to color them otherwise for

Your ego's convenience. While you give

Me little choice but to say goodbye, I

Think I'll still keep the warm and loving

Part of myself alive for someone else

Looking for someone warm and loving.

MIRROR

How quickly it crumbles when you’re given the

Option of the easy way out. If you insist on casting

Me in the worst possible light, careful, that light

Might hit a mirror.

FOR OUR BONUS ROUND

Name this highly common

Human condition in which

You can get insanely angry

At someone because

You like them.

TWO PARADIGMS

Some girls insist on building trust slowly

While others will wonder what’s taking

You so long. Then you get the kind of

Girl that does both, pretty much at the

Samoa time, and gets very unhappy

About whichever of the two paradigms

You’re not following.

RESPONSIBLE

Well, if nothing else, at least I don’t

Have to feel responsible anymore.

Responsible for trying to make up

For any pain I may have caused.

Responsible for trying to be a friend.

Responsible for trying to show I’m

A gentleman. Even responsible for

Trying to show someone who’d speak

To me, even if she couldn’t be certain

I was listening, that I would answer.

You know, self-imposed responsibilities

Like that. But when I find someone

Who’s worth trying to be responsible

For, at least I’ll have had some practice.

TOO TENDER

In a world as harsh as this one sometimes is,

Can there really be such a thing as too tender?

What’s tender? Many things, like the part of

Ourselves that knows instinctively love is all

That really matters. Like the nurturing, patient,

Confident belief that if you do right, then the

Right thing will sooner or later prevail for you.

Between people, tender is that tingle inside

When you and the one who touches you

Deepest in your heart recognize each other,

And in doing so renew one another over and

Over, endlessly. But is there such a thing as

Too tender? Yes, just as there’s such a thing

As too tough. Tenderness needs toughness

To protect it from the many evils and

Jealousies that would crush it, while

Toughness needs tenderness as its

Reason to be strong, its point in facing

All the problems. Too much of one can

Make it harder for the other, but when

Tenderness and toughness work

Together , they form a foundation

That can’t be shaken by troubles

Or undermined by time.

J & J

Instead of following his pride into his

Own personal oblivion, if Judas had

Asked Jesus to forgive him, Jesus

Would have done it, right? That’s

What it’s all about – have a heart

And stay in the right no matter what

Happens. But in his own moment

Of weakness under the Roman lash,

You wouldn’t have blamed Jesus for

Feeling like stringing Judas up himself,

Would you?

ROCKET SCIENCE

What goes around comes around. As you sow,

So shall you reap. Do unto others as you would

Have them do unto you. Do the crime, do the

Time. Fool me once and shame on you – fool

Me twice and shame on me. Same people you

Misuse on your way up, you might meet up with

On your way down. Is any of this stuff rocket

Science to you? Translated: if you want me to

Be your friend, all it would take is for me to be

Certain you’re my friend. It’s not like I want to

Put you though some humiliating submission,

Unless that’s a role you’d get off on acting out.

BATS

Bats fly right side up but hang upside

Down, so they see things both ways.

You don't have to tell the bats that

There's a whole different way not just

Of seeing things, but of understanding

Things too. Anything is very close to

Its opposite, depending on your view.

That frown of yours is a smile upside

Down. That pain is joy waiting to turn

Over. That sadness is happiness looking

For a way to bloom.That emptiness

Reminds you what fullness is for.That

Friend is an enemy who hasn't realized

It yet. That love is really hatred forming

Itself, like a catepillar still in a cocoon.

And so on and so on, opposites doing

Their balancing dance. What would one

Be without the other? Like day never

Getting its rest when night arrives for

Its watch, or like night never finding

Its way home when day returns with

Its light. All of this is true, or else an

Opposite truth if you turn it upside

Down. Just ask the bats.

MISTAKE

If this was all a mistake, it was a mistake in

Service of something that didn’t seem like

A mistake. Such, perhaps, is the nature of

Mistakes in general. The thin line separating

Whether this was a mistake or not is simply,

Did anything get through?

PEARL HARBOR

There’s a certain kind of idiocy that comes

Maybe too naturally, like when you react to

Someone emotionally rather than logically,

Even if they’re someone who makes every

New day seem like an emotional Pearl Harbor

In some big or small way. And no matter how

Many wounded battleships, hysterical sailors

Trying to swim to shore through the burning

Oil on the water, and craters from bombs

They leave behind in what you thought was

The safest harbor of your heart, as soon as

They give even the slightest hint they’re

Coming around to your way of thinking,

You’re all, “Ok, let’s just pretend that

Premeditated attack was simply a bump

On the long highway to happiness.” I hope

The next one to make such an idiot out of

Me at least lets me give something to her

That she can be idiotically happy about too.

MOUSE

Hello little mouse. Back again for another nibble?

You try so hard to give every appearance of not

Needing what I have to give, yet you keep coming

Back. It’s ok little mouse, I’m not going to confront

You about it. You know it’s my pleasure to always

Leave something for you. You never say thank you,

But knowing something I do gives someone else

Something to feel good about or at least take some

Interest in makes it worthwhile to carry on doing it.

But mouse, it makes so little sense how you turn

So surly when you know I can see you. And God

Forbid I should try speaking directly to you without

This filter - then you start freaking as if I've invaded

Your space, screech your perturbed mouse screech

And bolt. And I think gee, you've only been reading me

For almost a year. What kind of mouse household

Bred those brazen manners of yours? At times you've

Come dangerously close to convincing me your're

Really a stunted growth rat, but I always let it go

Because even when rude you're amusing, not to

Mention the only muse to inspire me at the moment.

So whatever you’re comfortable with, little mouse,

Whatever pointy pose you care to assume as part

Of your ritual, it's fine with me and it doesn’t have to

Change, at least not yet. Until I find another who

Appreciates my gifts even more that you do, there

Will probably be something here for you when

You come around. You could even surprise me

And share your own thoughts sometime, but I

Know better than to expect that from a mouse.

WEAK

Macho psychology says it would be really

Weak of me to forgive you. A real man,

After all, has to slap some sense into his

Bitch, bend her over for some punishment,

And maybe even then still tell the ho to take

A hike. None of that’s really my style, mama's

Boy that I am, but truthfully, it's more of a

Concern to me that YOU would take my

Forgiving you as a sign of weakness, as if

In the doorway to your heart I’m just a

Door mat. Is that what you’d do? I don’t

Know. Maybe you’re just afraid of looking

Weak too. No one wants to ever look weak,

Even though if we were really as strong as

We pretend we are, our lives wouldn’t be

Such a lonely mess. So really, I don’t care

If it makes me look weak, even to you.

Truth is, you’re already forgiven. You

Might have to do some work to get me

To ever trust you, but if you try you might

Find it’s easier than you think.

CUT OPEN

The new McDonalds uniforms

Make me feel like I’ve checked

Into a hospital where Ronald is

Surgeon General. Let me out of

This Surgery Ward! I’ve been cut

Open by clowns quite enough,

Thank you. No wonder your

Hamburgers are tasting strange.

TV

Like a TV I have more than one

Story going on at the same time

I show you the one you want to see

But you know there’s more than

Meets the eye Like a TV I’m always

Trying to sell you something and

Convince you it will do wonders

For your happiness. Like a TV I

Try to capture your fancy and

Imagination, take you on a little

Adventure exploring the wonders

Of nature like a TV I try to show

You what’s really going on in

The world, even if I coat the truth

To make it easy to digest at dinner

Like a TV I’ll still be your friend even

When you don’t mind your manners

Like a TV I just like the way you push

My buttons and turn me on.

DIPLOMACY

Diplomacy can feel so awkward when

Working through an unspoken cold war

Where as a matter of national integrity

Neither side will concede culpability

Diplomacy can seem silly when

You have to pretend there’s no history

And start again fresh like strangers

(With very fixed ideas about each other)

But diplomacy’s so necessary when

Hurt feelings have hardened into policy

And walls have gone up to give the illusion

Of protection from the source of pain

As both sides carry on functioning

Like someone missing a limb

Cause they’re suffering for something

The other side once meant to them

While this isn’t an invasion, let’s

Think back to the time when my

Country was part of yours and

Yours was part of mine. While I

Don’t wish to convey blame in

My tone, my friend, must we keep

Carving stupidity into stone?

ASTRONOMY FOR DUMMIES

I took Astronomy for Dummies

Subtitled Science for Chimpanzees

We studied the Big Bang Theory and I

Daydreamed the Universal Mind must have

Match-made two galaxies that really

Wanted to blend. Such was their chemistry

That when they finally found their way in

To one another the explosion

Opened up worlds of possibilities….

Like us, descended from galaxy dust.

When I shared this analysis with a

Classmate she laughed and said

Some boys think to be an astronaut

All you have to do is polish your rocket

In private.

ZEUS

Maybe the ancient Romans

Thought prowess with their balls and

Poles brought them closer to their

Gods up on Mount Olympus.

These are the same ones who fed

The first Christians to lions.

Still, we light pagan fires

Using their ritual torch,

Watch today’s gladiators

Televised in bloodless sport.

Zeus must find this amusing,

And it sells a lot of beer.

SCURRYING

Any gesture I make to reach

Out sends you scurrying to the

Nearest Bible. Take me to church

With you and see if a bolt of

Lightning strikes me when I enter.

See, nothing. It’s cause my sins have

Been sins of omission, of lost

Direction, never an embrace

Of darkness, even if sometimes

I couldn’t find the light. Now I

Only believe in you. If your

Love is a river, baptize me.

Speak the holy word from your heart.

If you really think I’m savage

You must be my missionary

Duty calls you to save this lost

Sheep you seem to think is a wolf.

MIRAGES

Monks used to wander out into the

Desert seeking enlightenment. The

Vast empty space, they say, mirrors

The emptiness of pure consciousness

Where truth and wisdom hide in

Obscure corners. Whether these

Monks found revelations or just

Dehydration all depended on their

Luck and wits, but the main thing was

To make that leap of faith, to place

Your whole existence in the hands

Of the one you believe in. Nowadays

Those who can’t find a real desert

Sometimes wander into a personal

Wilderness instead, but like the monk

They’re on a search too. I wandered

Into a desert of the heart by chance

More than choice, and I know I’m

Not in it any more but you can’t

Leave behind what you learned there.

Unlike a monk, I haven’t emerged from

My wilderness with any kind of holiness,

Just a curious tendency to find the holy

In the ordinary.

BROKEN TOY

Someone’s broken toy out in the rain

A doll missing a few limbs, missing

Its dress, its shoes, its hair, its package

Dolls, so I’m told, remind little girls

Of all the things in life we hold dear

Remind them someday they’ll be mommies

Holding children not much bigger than

Someone’s broken toy out in the rain

We’re geared to take good things for granted

Plenty more toys where that one came from.

OLD SOLDIER

Old soldier, still fighting the same

Old war. I never felt defined by the

Outcome, only felt it was my duty

I had to take seriously, for without

My dedication to service who could

Be dedicated to me?

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