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But should I make it into a floatin' KSR machine?
Pedal trike with naugahyde fabric body.. add-on electric assist for the dry season on the shelf.. battery & motor off with quick releases. Ising glass snap-on windshield down, as was rag top. Stolen labor Day weekend 2002, found in recycling bin @ Davis Waste Removal June 2004, stripped..Davis P.D. had a junk drop off at DWR from their yard the afternoon I recovered it.......do the math. They even had a newspaper photo of it after I reported it stolen..... The body was boxed up & stored when it disappeared...
joy ride, anyone? will reassemble her one of these days.........
Truth is it is really more of a red gravel beach. A beautiful place to behold but not great for swimming. Access can be a bit difficult depending on the tide, flip flops not recommended.
1. R&R 038 is still coming. I'm waiting for the bookstore to publish the review first, but in the meantime I've continued on with posting my reviews.
2. The yellow rose I believe stands for the turning point in this book’s heroine’s life. That is why I used it in this photo, with a soft expression to represent Margaret before the change. Oh yeah and it’s not a real rose like I wanted, but it will do.
Elizabeth Gaskell
North and South
First published in Household Words (as a series) in 1855
This edition: Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1994
Cover design by Robert Mathias
Cover illustration: “My Daughter Elizabeth” by Frank Weston Benson
Margaret Hale is but eighteen years old when her life changes in every aspect. Having lived all of her life in a quaint home on the countryside of southern England, little has she yet been confronted with the changes arising in the country during this time, the mid-nineteenth century. When she and her parents move from their southern home to the northern town of Milton, Margaret is in for the cultural shock of a lifetime: Milton is bustling, its industrial growth a far cry from life on the countryside, with mills now becoming prominent in Margaret’s surroundings as opposed to the yellow roses of Helstone. The days in Milton are filled with battles between classes, unavoidable for gentle-natured Margaret, who soon finds herself in a turbulent clash of her own with Mr. Thornton, master of the mill.
Elizabeth Gaskell had a lot to tell; “North and South” is a complex novel which encompasses so many different themes.
Naturally, it is a romance story. Through bickering and frustration, Margaret and Mr. Thornton get to know one and other better, and slowly grow to understand the other. Some elements of are similar to Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”, where man and woman (Mr. Darcy and Lizzie of course) also misunderstand each other while increasing stubbornness threatens for them both to miss out on finding the best possible mate. “Pride and Prejudice”, though with serious angles at times, is a lot more gentle and witty. “North and South” is grim, sometimes downright tragic, and the romance of Margaret and Mr. Thornton faces the challenge of developing under darker circumstances, surviving because of a strong mutual passion.
Life in Milton is harsh, in the beginning too much so for the compassionate Margaret, whose heart is sometimes achingly big, but she comes of age in this novel, developing an open mind and learning to accept change when change is unstoppable, all the while never losing compassion for those she feels need it. She grows up, through loss and gain, and learns that life isn’t all yellow roses and countryside walks. Mr. Thornton in turn finds himself influenced by Margaret in going through changes of his own.
But what stands out the most about this novel is its function as a first-hand report on the rise of industrialism in England, and the problems that have started or grown as a consequence. Strikes leading to unnecessary violence... classes divided into rich or poor, where poor workers can no longer feed their children... and a struggling mill master trying to keep his own head above water in the meantime; there is no work if there is no mill.
What I have noticed is that the dialog between characters in this novel is sociologically valuable. Allowing characters to discuss the strike or poverty was an opportunity for Gaskell to show both sides of the debate of the social situation at the time and to create understanding with room for empathy. Gaskell proved herself to be remarkably intelligent. As I read, I’ve come to admire Elizabeth Gaskell, not just because I am an appreciative reader, but because I am a woman, too. She did us proud.
4.5/5
ofbooks.blogspot.com
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Copyright © Karin Elizabeth. All rights reserved.
R&R series © Karin Elizabeth. Do NOT copy and repost or reproduce the review or photo anywhere without my permission.
No group images or (admin) invites wanted in my comments. I will delete your comments.
I block assholes.
"But especially he loved to run in the dim twilight of the summer midnights, ... reading sounds as a man may read a book, and seeking for the mysterious something that called -- called, waking or sleeping, at all times, for him to come."
~Jack London, The Call of the Wild
Truth:
When I was eight, at my First Holy Communion, while everyone else was giving me bibles and crosses, my Uncle gave me a book of Jack London stories. I loved him for it.
Not long after that, he heard his own wild call. Yesterday, it finally caught up with him. He never got to Alaska or Montana like he dreamed of. He only got to the bottom of a bottle. Lots and lots of bottles. I hated him for it.
I never did learn that forgive & forget thing from my catechism. I did learn that there is indeed a law of club & fang, and that you can fight it. If you want to.
For Me Again Monday ~ truth or dare
But this time taken with the 500mm Russian mirror lens - for comparison to the Tokina... farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4530996693_3e0d5ff5a5_b.jpg
Cropped from original frame.
But I wonder where were you
when I was at my worst down on my knees
And you said you had my back
so I wonder where were you
When all the roads you took came back to me
So I'm following the map that leads to you
please please please watch it on youtube, it's a different version and i need the views for the contest!
and rate it a 5!
click here for the full contest version
it's for a scholarship contest thing. i know its not that great and that it's weird, but whatever.
10% of the judging is on how "popular" it is, which means how many views on youtube it has. weird. i know.
me and john worked on a video today. though it was fun, the video itself kinda failed. so i decided to make a tea remix.
...and i might just become obsessed with loading videos.
Seeing a lot of these caterpillars in the neighbourhood these days. Beautiful to look at, but they are wreaking havoc on these shrubs.
Two friends at Poseidon's Square in Handen. One with white shoes and black socks. The other with white shoes and black socks.
A fascinating but quite unflattering windlight (Places: Beach Cay Surreal) that Mai hasn't really explored before... It somehow says 'zen' and in a way complements 'final' Cat-Mai's new Rin skin. These pictures are mainly for comparison with the 'embryonic' Cat-Mai's 'Dancing Zen' set from a week ago.
Quizzy question: can you tell your Mai what has changed in Cat-Mai's face between the last set ('Cat's whiskers?') and this one? - I expect you'll be saying 'god, who knows' :) (big hint). Don't worry if you can't sweetie, because it's a very small and subtle change... Tell you when we meet again, beautiful and much-missed wife of mine ♥♥♥X
And you'll be wondering 'why so many pictures of Cat-Mai? ['I thought my wife hated selfies']... Well, your Mai is just trying to see how easy it is to get tired of this avatar, just as she long ago got a little tired of Slink-Mai.
But happily Cat-Mai does seem to have possibilities - her face remains interesting, like yours my love, in different hairstyles and lights [even unflattering lights like Beach Cay Surreal hehe] and the Catwa animations and expressions are worth every Linden-penny paid.
Finally, of course, your spendthrift vrouw is a Pro member now, with unlimited space on Flickr :) so she might as well take advantage of that extra perk.
Dropout sandwich with a chainstay plug.
The form of the chainstays is just a marvel to me. They didn't order that from their frame builder supply.
Here we go... at the airport headed back to Vancouver on @flyairnorth ✈️ This has been another amazing trip to the Yukon!! I'm sad to leave but I'll be back soon #FlyAirNorth #YukonCulinary #YukonCulinaryFestival #Yukon #Whitehorse #ExploreYukon #ExploreCanada #Festival #FoodFestival #VisitWhitehorse #YukonEats #YukonEvents
Oh those blue skies are very nice
but if you stop to think twice,
by clouds they are enhanced
and they keep us all entranced.
When fascination takes root
photographs we must shoot,
and with camera in hand
we will wander the land.
When we start to obsess
of cloudscapes to possess,
life takes on a new meaning
and there’s no time for cleaning!
The weather may be foul or fair
but there’ll still be clouds up there,
and we can take photo’s galore
then stop, to take just one more.
Of our collections we are proud
especially that elusive cloud,
and to catch an optical effect
can really make our day perfect.
© Jackie S Brooks 2011
Ok, I'm late. But I had some problems.
Here's the first batch of my Disney themed photos.
Obviously the little mermaid!
In these photo I want to use some photomanipulation... But not too much, or at least let's say I used really a tiny bit on these ones, for the other ones I'll see in the future.
I have a couple of other Little Mermaid photos (different from these ones, from another scene of the movie), but I don't know if I'll upload them... I don't want to spam too much.
So, what movie will be next? You guess!
The Oxford Canal at Jericho.
"Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream."
File name: 10_03_000826a
Binder label: Soap
Title: Fairbank's - Git out, we use nothing but Fairbank's soaps [front]
Date issued: 1870-1900 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 print : chromolithograph ; 11 x 8 cm.
Genre: Advertising cards
Subject: Men; Indigenous peoples; Caricatures; Household soap
Notes: Title from item.
Statement of responsibility: N. K. Fairbank & Co.
Collection: 19th Century American Trade Cards
Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department
Rights: No known restrictions.
Trust is earned
But once violated
It's difficult to regain
When do you trust?
Who do you trust?
You trust with your mind
You trust with your heart
You trust with honor
You trust with pride
You trust with expectations
But is putting trust in someone worth it?
Tell me, is it?
I've tried to trust
But ended up with betrayal
And cannot allow it to occur again
I opened my mind
Opened my heart
But only received
A shattered heart
Now I know not to trust so easily
Grim, morbid, but practical, cadaver collectors are a specialized kind of construct that sweeps battlefields after the fact and gathers up bodies so they aren't left to rot in the open air. Of course, it's only natural that some people would reprogram a few to help graverob...
...The paint master of this mini had a LOT of blood on it, but they removed it for budgetary reasons. It's fine either way, though.
This is an amazing image. Well not the image but the fact that it is even here.
I had one negative left in an open pack of 8x10 809 Polaroid material. I thought I would give my 8x10 Leonardo 3' pinhole camera a shot at it. My day started with a wonderful cup of Kona coffee and that was the last time anything went right.
Go to #12 if you would like the Reader Digest Condensed version.
1. In loading the Polaroid film holder I pushed the envelope to far and exposed the edge of negative about 3/4 of an inch, then buckled the edge, after about 3-4 tries got it loaded.
2. Found that you can not use the Leonardo "pressure plate" too thick with the wider Polaroid film holder but decided to try it anyway, grabbed my focusing cloth to drape over the film holder and back to help with potential light leak. (Why am I worried I already exposed the film to daylight)
3. Double checked my light meter to make sure that it went to f 256, f220 close enough. Didn't check the battery.
4. Camera flew to the floor of the Jeep just backing out of my barking space.
5. Got to the cemetery, chose my location. Set up the camera. Knew the exposure was going to be in minutes so was going to use my cell phone clock for a timer.
6. Meter doesn't have enough battery to give me a reading, but enough juice to blink at me and tell me the battery is low. Ok I'll guess. Used the meter to weight down the focusing cloth, no free rides here. Guessing 15 to 20 minutes exposure.
7. Cell phone - flat out like a lizard drinking. Guess the 3 minute charge I gave it the day before was not enough. Last resort use the clock in the Jeep.
8. Breeze kicks up.
9. Shoot it, head back to the shop to process it. Whacked the camera on the steering wheel getting back in the Jeep.
10. Loaded the positive about three times, not sure which slot it went in. Checked the instructions. Cat walks on processor.
11. Miracle out of scripture there was an image when peeled.
12. Incorrectly loaded negative, camera fell off car seat, got whacked on steering wheel, man handled the positive, no meter, no clock, wind kicked up. AMAZING that there is an image here.
Film: Polaroid 809 heavily expired, Scanned in grayscale.
19 minute exposure, + / - one minute, Timer complements of Jeep.
Camera: Leonardo 8x10 3" Focal Length, 012" pinhole lens
Image by: Leslie Lazenby, 28 Jul 2012
Maple Grove Cemetery, Findlay, OH
Not sure I should take credit for the image, I did every thing in my power to ruin it.
It never rains but it pours. Or in my case it is 3 weeks of cloudy nights followed by a week of clear blue skies. So sleep has been scarce.
This is a picture I took between midnight and sun up just before 6. I did a very quick processing (stacking images) this morning to see what I'd gotten.
And here it is. The Tarantula nebula (see the spider?) in the Large Magellanic cloud. For those of you in the southern hemisphere that's a faint fluffy wisp towards the south. For those of you in norther latitudes, at least you have an easy star to polar align with!
Took awhile but finally got this limited edtion booklet.
Came in an outer white envelope, then as you see a black envelope with a nicely printed ribbon surrounded it (with gold foil logo). The black envelope is open but gives you an option to seal it (although it would damage the envelope if you were to open again).
I ordered the Bricks on a Roll set about Feb. 5th and I thought maybe it'd be a cheap booklet. But to my surprise it's a nicely printed booklet on cardstock, with gold foil embossed 60 Years logo on front, a nice brief history through the decades inside, a Lego Periodic Table of Elements, Top 10 AFoL sets list and nicely packaged fold out instructions for an Arcade Console, Camera and 8mm Camera.
Was a little disappointed in regards to the instructions. I thought the booklet was going to have a lot more but only the three simple builds.
But, nonetheless it's a nice collectable for the Lego fan, a great introduction for any young or new builder into the hobby and a neat little extra for purchasing the Bricks on a Roll set.
I got #12,882 out of 15,000 booklets.
Yesterday, this was taken yesterday but for some reason not uploaded.
Ok so woke up and laid in bed with Ryan a bit. Then went to go make what turned out to be disaster cinnimon rolls lol. We cooked them for well over 22 minutes and they were still a gooey mess! We went to Hastings to pick up some movie for his boss. And then to the college to drop it off. Talked to Briia and a couple other people for awhile. Then Ryan took me to go get hay for the baby bunnies. Got Orchard Grass, it was the softest they had. He brought me back here. I edited up some photos. And guess what?! The furballs now all have their eyes open! Exciting! He came over after work and we hung out, go food, stuff like that. He started to feel sick so we took about an hour nap and then he left. PSN is still down, n I dont have a TV now cause Aiden was good and got it back lol damn, no Dead Space for me. So I finished City of Glass, I wish Deadline would come out already!!!! Something happened that was rather funny and irriating all at the same time that made me feel good about myself lol we wont go into that.
Anyway, went to bed with a headache in much appreciated darkness.
Sticky note. Ok so this is more of a joke than anything. On the way back from Ryans on the side of the road is a trailor park full of bright sea foam green trailors. I dont understand why in the world they painted them that color lol but hey Id live in one just to say I have lol.
I need more creative pictures, but my 365 has become so not fun anymore, sorry.
but it wasn't intentional....just didn't feel like re-doing it. i'm sitting on our "built-in" kitchen table...it came with the house... i liked it and still do...but sometimes i wish i'd had them make it so that it was movable...it's just sooo damn big and it's so often just the 3 of us. the design of this kitchen area could've been done better..but hey, i got a good deal and didn't have to do any "construction!"
I was here, mainly for lunch at the Black Horse, but also to revisit the church, which I seemed to remember on my previous visit we were here just after Sunday service, so not sure if I would find it unlocked.
Pluckley is a few miles off the A20 from Lenham, and on the edge of the downs, with fine views to the plain below.
And it was hot.
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A very pretty church of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century date. At the east end of the south aisle is the Dering chapel built in 1475 and separated from the church by two delightful screens - one contemporary with its construction, the other, nicely gilded, of 1635. There is an excellent crownpost roof in the nave and two modern stained glass windows. The east window represents Our Lord and the north window the Annunciation. They were designed by Francis Stephens and John Hayward in 1954. There is much emphasis in them on local objects, with oast houses and even Pluckley church clearly visible. In the nave are some brasses to members of the Dering family - all made in the 1630s by Sir Edward Dering in order to show his family ancestry! They bear dates from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and could easily mislead those without specialist knowledge.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Pluckley
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PLUCKLEY
IS the next adjoining parish southward, being written in Domesday, Pluchelei, and in other records, Plukele.
¶It is situated on the lower ridge of hills called the Quarry-hills; the parish is about two miles across, extending itself as far below the hills into the Weald, where the greatest part of it consists of that portion of Pevington allotted to it; as it does northward on the other side, where the river Stour bounds it; as it does again eastward, in which parts are the hamlets of Ford Mill and Proting street. The village and church of Pluckley, which latter is a boundary of the Weald northward, stand on the summit of the hill. Not quite a mile eastward is the mansion and park of Surrenden, finely situated on an eminence, having a most extensive variegated prospect towards the south-east, in a park beautifully cloathed with timber and rich pastures; a situation, says Weaver, so elegant that it compares with most that are, in rich pastures, healthful air, and plenty of both fewel and timber, in a very delicate and various prospect; and what should make it still more highly esteemed by the owner is, that from the time of the grant of it in the Conqueror's reign, by the archbishop, it has never been alienated, but has continued without intermission in the descendants of the same family to the present owner of it. Below the hill, in the Weald, there are several sorstals and hamlets, as Pluckley, Thorn, Dowle-street, &c. Near the latter, at Newland green, is a good house, the property and residence of Mr. Richard Ashbye. Further at the southern boundary of the parish is that branch of the river Medway which rises at Great Chart.
The soil of this parish is much the same as Egerton, Boughton, and other adjoining ones in the like situation on the summit of these hills, where the Quarry stone prevails, and is there very fertile both for corn and hops. Southward in the Weald it is alike a miry deep clay, covered with woods, broad hedge rows, and spreading oaks.
There is a fair held here on Whit Tuesday, for toys, and another on St. Nicholas's feast, Dec. 6, for cattle, but especially for hogs, which are brought hither in great numbers, and the price they bear at it is generally a rule for that of all the neighbouring country round about it.
THE MANOR OF PLUCKLEY was part of the antienty possessions of the see of Canterbury, and accordingly is thus entered, in the record of Domesday.
The archbishop himself holds in demesne, Pluchelei. It was taxed at one suling. The arable land is twelve carucates. In demesne there are two carucates and an half, and sixteen villeins, with seven borderers having eleven carucates. There are eight servants, and twelve acres of meadow and an half. Wood for the pannage of one hundred and forty hogs. In the whole, in the time of king Edward the Confessor, it war worth twelve pounds; when he received it, eight pounds; and now fifteen pounds, and yet it pays twenty pounds.
The church of Pevington, which was dedicated to St. Mary, was always accounted an appendage to the manor, and in the patronage of the lords of it. It was a rectory, and valued in the king's books at 5l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 11s. 4d. which tenths are now payable to the crown receiver.
The church becoming ruinated, was by archbishop Whitgist united to Pluckley, in 1583, and in a suit afterwards concerning the tithes of it, Copley, rector of Pluckley, versus Spice, it was agreed to withdraw a juryman, and to refer it to archbishop Abbot, who made his decree concering them in 1618. The church is now converted into a stable. The tradition here is, that on the division of Pevington among the three parishes as before-mentioned, the tithes of it were allotted to each of them accordingly; but what authority there is for it, I have never been able to learn.
John Hinde was presented to this rectory on June 23, 1584. The queen patron, bac vice. And John Craige, A.M. was presented to it on May 20, 1636. Patron the crown, by lapse, (fn. 3) but with what intent does not appear.
Charities.
WILLIAM HILLS, by will in 1589, gave towards the maintenance of three old persons, whose labour is almost spent, who have no weekly pay, lands in this parish, the annual produce of which is 81.
A PERSON UNKNOWN, more than 100 years since, gave towards the repairing of the church, lands called Parish-field, in this parish, of the annual produce of 1l.
THERE IS a school here for the teaching of reading and writing, supported by voluntary subscriptions. It was first begun by archdeacon Head, whilst rector of this parish, and is now principally supported by Sir Edward Dering and the Rev. Dr. Disney, the present rector.
The poor constantly relieved are about fifty-five, casually thirty-five.
PLUCKLEY is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Charing.
¶The church, which is dedicated to St. Nicholas, is a handsome building of sand-stone, consisting of two isles and two chancels. The steeple is a spire, in which are five bells. It is shingled, as is good part of the roof of the church, which appears to have been formerly all so. The south chancel of this church, dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary, belongs to the Dering family; it was rebuilt by Richard Dering, esq. of Surrenden, who died in 1481, in which he lies buried, as do his several descendants, as well as several of the family of Malmains. The monuments, as well as many of the gravestones of the former especially, still remaining with their brasses richly inlaid, on the pavement of it, as well as in the south isle. In the high chancel is a memorial for Nathaniel Collington, rector here sixty-three years, obt. Dec. 12, 1735; and within the rails for Mabella Austin, obt. 1711; on the left hand of the rails for Mabella Bettenham, widow, obt. 1710; and at the foot of them for Major Anthony Nowers, of this parish, obt. 1679.
This church is a rectory, the patronage of which was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and remains so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
It is valued in the king's books at 20l. 1s. 51/2d. and the yearly tenths at 2l. 0s. 13/4d. In 1588 here were communicants one hundred and four; in 1640, two hundred and thirty-seven, and it was then valued at one hundred and eighty pounds per annum.
The rector now takes his tithes by composition, which amounts to about three hundred pounds per annum. The glebe land is worth upwards of thirty pounds per annum. There are no tithes in this parish, but what are paid to the rector, nor have been time out of mind.
Archbishop Lansranc, in the time of the Conqueror, gave the tithes of the demesne lands of the lordship of Pluckley, which he had given to William de Pluckley, as has been already mentioned before, to the priory of St. Gregory, in Canterbury, which had been founded by him in 1084. Which gift was confirmed by archbishop Hubert.
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography provides
"Cassel, Sir Ernest Joseph (1852–1921), merchant banker and financier, was born on 3 March 1852 in Cologne, Germany, the youngest of the three children of Jacob Cassel (1802–1875) and Amalia, née Rosenheim (d. 1874). Jacob Cassel had a small banking business, founded by his father, Moses Cassel, which provided a modest but comfortable income. Since at least the late seventeenth century the Cassels had been active in financial affairs in the Rhineland; several of them were advisers or agents for the prince electors. Ernest had a brother, Max Cassel, born in 1848, who died in 1875, and a sister, Wilhelmina Cassel (later Schoenbrunn), to whom he remained close and who managed his household in England in later years. In later life Cassel gave entirely conflicting accounts of the atmosphere of his early home life and the truth is difficult to establish.
Ernest was educated in Cologne until the age of fourteen, when he started work with the banking firm of Eltzbacher. In 1869 he emigrated to Liverpool, where he is said to have arrived with a bag of clothes and a violin, and no evident promise of a job. He soon started work with a firm of German grain-merchants in Liverpool, but a little over a year later he moved to a clerkship with the Anglo-Egyptian Bank in Paris. The outbreak shortly afterwards of the Franco-Prussian War forced him, as a German subject, to return to England, this time to a clerkship at the London merchant bank, Bischoffsheim and Goldschmidt, where he was closely associated with Henri Bischoffsheim. This move was probably facilitated by an introduction from the powerful but mysterious European financier Baron Maurice de Hirsch. Cassel was linked with the independent and enterprising businessman until the latter's death in 1896, and he may have modelled his career on Hirsch's.
Early career and marriage
Within a year Cassel, aged only nineteen, had demonstrated his flair by rapidly saving the affairs of a Jewish firm in Constantinople in which Bischoffsheims had an interest. In 1874 he was appointed manager, at an unusually early age, at a salary said to have been £5000 a year, following a series of further highly successful negotiations, especially in connection with South American loans. In addition to his salary he obtained substantial commission from the rescue or liquidation of troublesome ventures on Bischoffsheims' behalf. Such activities gained for him international contacts through whom he became profitably involved on his own account in American and other overseas enterprises. When his father died in 1875, leaving Ernest a half share with his sister of RM 91,286 (£4500), Cassel could afford to settle more than his own half (£3000) upon his sister, who was now divorced, and her two children. When he married in 1878 he was able to put aside capital of £150,000.
In 1878 Cassel married Annette (d. 1881), daughter of Robert Thompson Maxwell, of Croft House, Croft, Darlington, and on the day of his marriage he became a naturalized British subject. His wife died of tuberculosis three years later, to his great grief. They had one daughter, Maud. Mrs Cassel had been converted to Roman Catholicism and by her wish Cassel, never devoutly Jewish, was received into the Roman Catholic church shortly after her death. His devotion to his new religion was never very evident, nor was his conversion widely known until, at his appointment to the privy council in 1902 he chose, to general surprise, to be sworn in on the Catholic Bible. He never remarried and is not known to have had any intimate relationships for the remainder of his life. He was known as a warm and sociable man, devoted to his daughter and to what remained of his family, and he sustained a number of close and lasting friendships. Margot Asquith described him as ‘a man of natural authority … dignified, autocratic and wise; with a power of loving those he cared for’. She added that ‘he had no small talk and disliked gossip’ (Adler, 328). Others who knew him less well described him as kind but cold. He was a very private man who left no intimate record of his life or feelings and destroyed most of his personal papers. After his wife's death his sister and her children, Anna (later Anna Jenkins) and Felix (later knighted, and a prominent barrister and Conservative assistant attorney-general) moved to live with him, and they adopted the name Cassel. First Wilhelmina and then Anna acted as his official hostesses.
Expansion of financial affairs
Thereafter Cassel's main preoccupations, other than his family, were with international finance and entry into high society. He increased his fortune vastly and rapidly through investment in the mining, transportation, and processing of Swedish iron ore (he was responsible for introducing the Gilchrist–Thomas processing technique into Sweden) and in the rapidly expanding American railways. In the early 1880s his association with Bischoffsheims was on a profit-sharing rather than a salaried basis, but he never formally became a partner. In 1884 he left the firm, though he continued to occupy part of their offices until 1898 while working on his own account. He did not join another finance house until 1910, preferring to work independently or to associate in consortia with other financiers for specific projects.
International finance in the fast-growing international economy of the late nineteenth century was risky, requiring a cool head, good contacts, and a shrewd capacity to keep on good terms with powerful people in many countries. At this Cassel was adept. He was known for the sharpness of his dealing and he aroused considerable suspicion, antagonism, and jealousy, though no proof of actual dishonesty was ever disclosed. His great wealth endowed him with a useful capacity for flexibility in his dealings when necessary. In Sweden, for example, he countered the hostility of influential men to the degree of economic power he wielded by allowing Swedish representatives to dominate the board of his company (the Grangesborg-Oxelsund Traffic Company Ltd) and by selling many of its fast-rising shares to Swedish bankers, politicians, and journalists at below the market price, though still at considerable profit. His enemies referred to these tactics as ‘Cassel's greasing system’ (Grunwald, 131). He played an important role in the economic development of Sweden.
At least as important in determining Cassel's great success as any dubious dealing in Sweden and elsewhere was his immense, unremitting capacity for hard work. He was constantly in touch with a multitude of simultaneous transactions, delegating effectively yet never losing control, always available for the key meeting or decision, yet rarely working from his office, constantly travelling among business locations or entertaining contacts. He never neglected to keep in contact with the world of influence wherever it was to be found, whether at the card table, the dinner table, or at Cowes. Also important was his capacity to choose shrewd people to assist him with his affairs or to run specific projects. From 1902 he employed the influential Reginald Brett, Viscount Esher, who was succeeded in 1904 by Sir Sidney Peel. He appointed the talented former public servant Sir Henry Babington-Smith to head the National Bank of Turkey in 1909. They remained close friends and associates and Babington-Smith was an executor of Cassel's will. But the essential ingredients of Cassel's success were his own keen observation and judgement of international and financial affairs, which drew on information from his huge range of contacts worldwide.
From his earliest days with Bischoffsheims, Cassel had been profitably involved with American enterprises, notably the disentanglement of the affairs of the New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio Railway. In the course of such activities he had become a close and lasting friend of Jacob H. Schiff of the banking house of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., through whom he became profitably interested on his own account in other American enterprises. One of his first operations after becoming independent of Bischoffsheims was the reorganization of the Louisville and Nashville Railway, which he carried through in conjunction with Kuhn, Loeb and with Wertheim and Gompertz of Amsterdam.
From the late 1880s Cassel's interests expanded into South America. He arranged the finances of the Mexican Central Railway for some time and in 1893 he issued the Mexican government's 6 per cent loan. In 1896 he issued the Uruguay government's 5 per cent loan. To a lesser extent he was also active in China, still concentrating on transport and mining, and also in 1895 issuing a 6 per cent government loan. Between 1890 and 1910 he was also involved in arranging loans for Japan, Egypt, Turkey, and Russia. He took relatively little interest in domestic investment, though he did play a part in financing the building of the London underground from 1894, through participation in the Electric Traction Company. However, this did not prove to be a profitable investment. From 1897 Cassel began a long and more rewarding association with Vickers, Sons & Co., the shipbuilding and armaments firm. He organized their purchase of the Barrow Naval and Shipbuilding Construction Company and of the Maxim Gun and Nordenfelt companies. For some years he underwrote the financial issues for Vickers and its subsidiaries.
Cassel was an early investor in gold and diamond mining in South Africa, and this was an important source of his increasing fortune in the 1890s and 1900s. In 1897 he agreed to finance the Aswan Dam and Asyut barrage on the upper Nile, another successful intervention in an underdeveloped economy. He later moved, also profitably, into financing the development of sugar production and marketing (through the Daira Sanieh Company) and also of railways in Egypt. In 1898 he established the National Bank of Egypt and the Agricultural Bank of Egypt, which played an especially important role in financing agricultural development. So also did the Société Anonyme de Wadi Kom Ombo, which he played a leading role in establishing for the purpose of irrigating the great desert plain from the Nile to Gebel es Silsila. A similar attempt to stimulate the economic development of Morocco by establishing the State Bank of Morocco, which Cassel reluctantly undertook in 1906 at the urging of the British and French governments, was less successful. The National Bank of Turkey, which he established in association with other London bankers at the urging of the Turkish government in 1909 with the aim of expanding British commercial and financial involvement in Turkey (in particular for the development of mineral resources), was also unsuccessful. It proved impossible to defeat the strength of French financial and commercial interests in Turkey.
Characteristically Cassel calmed the potential for opposition in Egypt by winning the friendship of the khedive of Egypt. He arranged for him to meet Cassel's other good friend, King Edward VII, in 1903 and in 1904, and he made him a loan of £500,000 at the low rate of 2.5 per cent, in return for commercial and land concessions. This infuriated the consul-general, Lord Cromer, who had encouraged Cassel's initial ventures in Egypt as a means of increasing British influence, but who had the thankless task of attempting to curb the khedive's expenditure. In 1903 Cassel also donated £341,000 to equip and operate travelling eye hospitals in Egypt. This may have been motivated by a desire to mollify opposition. His motives were probably mixed, as he also gave generously to philanthropic causes in Britain. Whatever the motive, the outcome was a major contribution to combating the ravages of eye diseases such as trachoma in poverty-stricken rural Egypt.
Cassel was suspected of demanding honours in return for services to governments and this was a persistent theme in London society gossip of the time. There is certainly an interesting congruence between his progress through the honours lists of the world and his financial services. He became KCMG in 1899, following his major Egyptian deals, and was sworn of the privy council in 1902, after the accession of Edward VII. He had been the friend and companion of the prince of Wales at racing and cards, and as Edward's financial adviser (in succession to Hirsch) he was reputed to be responsible for the surprising fact that Edward ascended the throne free from debt. He became a commander of the Légion d'honneur and received the British GCVO in 1906, following the establishment of the State Bank of Morocco. He was made GCB in 1909, following his agreement to a Foreign Office request to put a further £500,000 into the ailing Bank of Morocco. His collection of decorations, of which he was immensely proud, came to include: commander, first class, of the royal order of Vasa, Sweden (1900); the grand cordon of the Imperial Ottoman order of the Osmanieh, conferred by the khedive in 1903; the crown of Prussia, first class (1908); the grand cross of the Polar Star, Sweden (1909); the order of the Rising Sun, first class, Japan (1911); and the Red Eagle of Prussia, first class, with brilliants (1913).
High society, politics, and philanthropy
Cassel penetrated the élite with the same determination and with some of the same methods by which he achieved business success. From the time of his marriage he cultivated, at a succession of rented and, later, personally owned country houses, the social and political élites—on the hunting field, with the shooting party, at the racecourse, and at the card table. By the 1890s he was an accepted house-guest of the Devonshires at Chatsworth. He took up hunting despite a certain dislike of horses and his incompetence at riding them. He started to own and breed racehorses in 1889, and continued until 1894 in company with Lord Willoughby de Broke, and thereafter alone. Among the chief stallions owned by him were Cylgad and Hapsburg; among his mares were Gadfly, Sonatura, and Doctrine. He had some successes on the course, though the nearest he came to winning the Derby was to come second with Hapsburg in 1914. It took him thirteen years to achieve election to the Jockey Club, in 1908. The patronage of Edward VII enabled his entry to circles otherwise closed to a largely self-made German Jew, but it could not win him entire acceptance.
Some prominent politicians were more welcoming to Cassel. Both Randolph and Winston Churchill were his good friends, as were the Asquiths. Cassel's own politics appear to have been Conservative, but he was never active in the political world. Like other prominent financiers his advice was sought on financial matters by politicians of both parties and by civil servants. He was described in 1903 by Sir Edward Hamilton, joint permanent secretary at the Treasury, as ‘one of the representative men—Natty Rothschild, John (Lord) Revelstoke (the head of Barings) and Cassel, whom I now regard as my first counsellors’ (Hamilton diaries, BL, Add. MS 48658, 16 Nov 1903). Cassel was consulted by Sir Michael Hicks Beach and by Asquith when they were chancellors of the exchequer. Lloyd George dined with him while he held the office but was more reserved. A certain aloofness towards party politics was one of the keys to Cassel's business success; in 1909, at the height of the budget crisis, when the City was organizing against Lloyd George's proposed taxes, Cassel wrote to his son-in-law, Wilfred Ashley, stressing his ‘absolute loyalty to whatever government I happen to be serving, and if whoever happened to be in power could not be certain of this he would not give me, and I certainly would not wish, his confidence’ (Cassel to Ashley, 18 Aug 1909, Broadlands Archive, Cassel MS, folder X6). He did not sign the City's anti-budget petition, though he did cautiously arrange to shift funds to the United States to avoid the new taxes. He was an early, though anonymous, contributor to the Tariff Reform League. Also in the 1900s he opposed the City's Jewish-led boycott of Russian finance in retaliation for the persecution of the Jews. He argued that negotiation and alliance with Russia were more likely to mute their antisemitism than was a boycott.
Especially in his earlier years Cassel mixed widely in theatrical and artistic circles. Alma-Tadema and Burne-Jones were both grateful for his friendship and patronage. He amassed an impressive collection of old masters, including important works by Van Dyck, Franz Hals, Romney, Raeburn, Reynolds, and Murillo, and he acquired French and English furniture, Renaissance bronzes, Dresden china, Chinese jade, and old English silver. He gave away at least £2 million in charitable donations, including £200,000 in 1902 for the founding of the King Edward VII Sanatorium for Consumption at Fenhurst, near Midhurst, with a further £20,000 in 1913; £10,000 in 1907 to the Imperial College of Science and Technology; in 1909 a half share of £46,000 with Lord Iveagh for founding the Radium Institute; £210,000 in 1911 for setting up the King Edward VII British–German Foundation for the aid of distressed people in Germany; £30,000 for distressed workers in Swedish mines; £50,000 to Hampshire hospitals in memory of his daughter; in 1913 £10,000 to Egyptian hospitals; and £50,000 for the sick and needy of Cologne.
Despite his formal conversion to Roman Catholicism, Cassel still regarded himself as Jewish and devoted a considerable amount of money and effort to the international attempts of wealthy Jews to acquire a national home for Jews fleeing from Russia, a movement in which Hirsch had been prominent. During the First World War, Cassel gave at least £400,000 for medical services and the relief of servicemen's families. In 1919 he donated £500,000 for an educational trust fund which was used to establish a faculty of commerce at the London School of Economics, to support the Workers' Educational Association, to finance scholarships for the technical and commercial education of working men, to promote the study of foreign languages by the establishment of professorships, lectureships, and scholarships, and finally to support the higher education of women. He gave £212,000 for the founding of a hospital at Penhurst, Kent, for functional nervous disorders.
Personal grief, winding down, and death
In 1910–11 Cassel came to a turning point in his life, for a mixture of personal and political reasons. He felt great personal grief at the death of Edward VII, as well as losing much of his social and political influence, to the undisguised and often openly antisemitic glee of certain members of high society. The friendship between Edward and ‘Windsor-Cassel’ was close and strong. The two had met at the racecourse about 1896, possibly introduced by Hirsch, and were friends thereafter. They even looked somewhat alike: substantially built, bearded, and moustached in similar style.
Equally tragically, in 1911 his only daughter died after a long battle with tuberculosis. Cassel devoted much care to her in her last year. In 1901 she had married Lieutenant-Colonel Wilfred Ashley, grandson of the great earl of Shaftesbury and great-grandson of Lady Palmerston, through whom he had inherited Broadlands House in Hampshire. Ashley had been Conservative MP for Blackpool since 1906; he served as minister of transport in 1924–9, and was created Baron Mount Temple of Lee in 1932. He was on friendly terms with Cassel, who provided him with financial advice. After his daughter's death Cassel's affection centred upon his two granddaughters, especially the elder, Edwina.
Having decided to reduce the volume of his activity, in 1910 Cassel became a partner in the merchant bank of S. Japhet & Co., but he kept up independent interests and an office close to his sumptuous new home, Brook House in Park Lane. He had previously lived at 48 Grosvenor Square. Brook House had six marble-lined kitchens; an oak-panelled dining room, designed to seat one hundred in comfort; and the entrance hall was panelled in lapis lazuli alternating with green-veined cream-coloured marble and was described as the ‘giant's lavatory’ by Edwina's friends. Until his death Cassel lived there much of the time. He also had a flat in Paris, a Swiss villa (Villa Cassel, at Riederfurk, in the canton of Valais), another villa in the south of France, a stud farm at Moulton Paddocks, Newmarket, bought in 1899, and three country houses bought between 1912 and 1917. These were the Six Mile Bottom estate, Cambridgeshire, purchased in 1912; Branksome Dene, Bournemouth, bought in 1913; and Upper Hare Park, Cambridgeshire, which he acquired in 1917.
The more general curtailment of Cassel's activities may have been due to anticipation of that great disrupter of international finance, a major war. Certainly his personal investments were safely concentrated in North America by 1914. He was strongly aware of the danger of war with Germany as early as 1908. Between 1908 and 1912 he and the German shipowner Alfred Ballin made secret efforts to bring together German and British political leaders to try to avert conflict. When war came he made one of the largest contributions to the war loan and was a member of the Anglo-French financial mission to the USA in 1915, which resulted in a large American loan. Such activities did not prevent Cassel from suffering constant attack in Britain for his German birth, including an unsuccessful attempt to remove him from the privy council.
Thereafter Cassel confined his attention to a limited amount of American business and to racing and shooting parties with old friends, and he was cared for by Edwina. He died on 21 September 1921, sitting at his desk at Brook House, and was buried at Kensal Green cemetery, London, according to Roman Catholic rites. Shortly afterwards Edwina married Lord Louis Mountbatten (Earl Mountbatten of Burma), bringing Broadlands House, which she inherited, into the Mountbatten family. Cassel left an estate worth £7,333,411 gross (with a probate value of £6 million), most of it to his immediate family. He left small items from his art, china, and jade collections to a list of old and valued friends who included the Asquiths, Mr and Mrs Winston Churchill, Lord Birkenhead, Mrs Keppel, Lord Revelstoke, Lord and Lady Reading, and the marchioness of Winchester, as well as some banking friends."
Kensal Green Cemetery, London
Not a great photo, but a very rare and special moment. This was the only time I saw a Canadair CP-107 Argus patrol aircraft fly (and heard its distinctive drone - it was essentially a piston Britannia). Canadian Armed Forces 10726 from 415 Sqn, Summerside, Nova Scotia paraded over the Leicester Air Show on its way from Germany back home to Canada.
The last flight of an Argus was in 1980, and 10726 was broken up in that year.
Photo: Dick Gilbert, Leicester Air Display, 26 August 1979.
As we pack for our next trip, our camp cookware became an issue. Dating back from Cub Scout days, it was large and aluminum. Even when clean, rubbing your finger on it you would get a black oxide smudge. I didn't mind so much, but Jamie objected and suggested a new solution.
We settled on the GSI Pinnacle Dualist system. It included 2 insulated mugs with lids, 2 bowls, 2 telescoping foons and a hard-anodized 1.8L pot with strainer lid. The carry sack doubles as a wash basin.
The adverts stated that you could fit a backpacking stove and fuel inside the same kit. I was very dubious, but sure enough you can! We bought the Snow Peak Giga Power Stove with Piezo (self-starting). It sits on top of the fuel canister. This stove was so popular, that they were sold out and we got the one on display. They couldn't find the box with the hard case, but no worries: the GSI kit came with a soft carry pouch made just for this stove. All of it fits in the Dualist system.
Of course, the proof is in the pudding. Would this tiny stove really heat up enough water for two cups of water? In short, hell yes! It boiled two large coffee cups of water in 7 minutes. You can see in the photo that it is hot enough to make the nickel-plated stove stand glow red. And that was at maybe 1/8 of the valve open? WOW!
So, it was a bit spendy, especially since we already had stuff. However, this small kit replaces a huge aluminum set and a Coleman camp stove, in a package just a bit bigger than the propane fuel bottle for the camp stove. We got quality stuff that takes 1/10 the space and 1/50 the weight, and I am confident it will last for years.
Here is a "compare" shot for Apple White and Blondie Lockes.
They are blonde (apple a true blonde, Blondie.. a yellow blonde :p) and had blue eyes, but like in the picture the faces are so different.
Love each of them
Random purchases more often than not impress me. Such is the case with this particular piece.
It may not be apparent, but these days, I honestly don't game much, and I've never watched much anime. It was pretty expensive back in the old day, and now, I've got a lot on my plate. But, through exposure to the Internet, I pick up a few things here and there.
Kill la Kill, from the sounds of it, features buxom females dressed up in impossible outfits beating the crap out of each other, with the main hero questing to find the killer of her father, the owner of the other half of her weapon, combing to form a pair of scissors. Oh.. and blood.. lots, and lots of blood.
One of things I'm gonna have to put on my list o' shit to watch, though I hear there is a Nintendo Switch game coming out that might speed up my education.
The character design, as mentioned, is pretty unique, and from what I can tell Ryuki and Kiryuin, the leading characters, made it to multiple forms of merchandise, including some very popular Figma, to the point of being reissued yet still being sought after.
As luck would have it, I came across a loose sample of Ryuki, 99% complete except missing one clenched fist (and the box/inserts/fist holder if you care). Still, not bad for the $38 I paid.
Much like Caster, the overall product without a doubt exudes personality. While I'm not certain of the kind of character Ryuko is, something tells me that subtle and refined probably are not two words you'd use to describe her - maybe Kiryuin based on looks, but definitely not this one, though the both of them have fasincinatingly insane shoulder pads.
The set comes with the figure, three face plates (neutral, attacking, wincing), two weapons (really just the one weapon but in different forms), along with various hands and an articulated Figma stand.
Based on the Figma 2.0 platform, articulation is very good, and has the usual points of movement including chest compress and upper torso/waist movement, generally only hindered by the aforementioned shoulder pads. To me, it feels like this figure could have benefited from double jointed knees and elbows, particularly so that low to the ground exaggerated poses could be achieved.
Having no idea of the source material, I cannot really comment on how accurate the sculpt and body are in comparison to the source material. All I can say is that it looks damn good.. and that's not the underboob and skin talking. The contrast of black and pale skin is very sharp and photographs quite well. Based on other figures though, I wouldn't be surprised if her bust was about right, but her other curves have been underplayed.
Paint work top notch, and with so few colours, every paint blemish would stick out like a sore thumb. There honestly wasn't anything to complain about, possibly because the size of the details was relatively large compared to other figures I own, thus allowing for a crisp final product. Decal work is solid on the shoulder pads and the three face plates.
Build quality, again being Figma, no problems, unlike some other figures I've played with lately *cough* BRING ARTS *cough*. Nothing falls apart, joints are solid, and finishes are smooth.
What else can I say - I'm definitely a fan of the character design. It's just a sheer coincidence that all the parts from conception to release resulted in an excellent figure as well. While it remains to be seen whether or not I like the actual source material,
I'd definitely love to find her counterpart to complete the set.
But one's step entrance and one's low floor.
P-reg Stagecoach Hants & Surrey 32621 (P621 PGP), a Dennis Dart/Alexander Dash, leads R-reg Arriva Guildford & West Surrey 3100 (R310 CMV), a Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer, along Onslow Street, Guildford. Arriva do have a number of low floor P-reg Darts, but I had to settle for a P-reg and an R-reg.
32621 is on the 520, with 3100 on the 27. I'd seen 32621 arrive on the 520 with one person on board, and here it leaves again for Aldershot with no one on it. The next trip it did from Guildford, it also ran empty!
This is my last photo of 3100 before it was withdrawn.
Hi guys! My name is Wobble Pops, but mostly I just go by Wobbles. I was born July 10, 2017. I am a very sweet and very special boy who LOVES to be held and cuddled. I will kindly ask for attention to get pets, affection and love from my people. I am full of personality. You'll never meet another kitty like me. I am a fun boy who loves to play with all types of cat toys. When I was a kitten, I did not get to spend any time with other kitties my own age, so I did not learn all my manners very well. Sometimes, when I get really playful, I might nip too hard because I forget human arms are more delicate than my stuffed animal toys and other cats. So I would definitely do best in a home without little humans.
Everyone tells me that I am very special, but I don’t really think I am different from any other cat. When I was a very young kitten, I was in an accident; a little human closed a sliding door and I got caught in the way. Since the accident, I have not been able to use my rear legs, but I do not let that slow me down. My foster mom and dad did a lot of physical therapy with me and even got a wheelie cart for me. However, I'm not really a fan of the cart and am very happy being just the way I am. I get around just fine by myself, thank you very much. I tolerate baths, since I get them regularly, and I kind of enjoy the blow dryer. It’s nice and warm and gets me dry faster.
I may not be able to run and jump, but I still get around quite well and I can move fast when I want. I can move my rear legs and use them to help me get over small barriers, I just can't use them to stand longer than a few seconds, or to run and jump. I’m trying to learn how to use steps so I can get on the couch by myself (I can already get off the couch by myself). I get along very well with other cats, with cat-friendly dogs and even a chinchilla. I am just so happy to be alive and well and loved and cared for. Everyone tells me I am the happiest cat they know. I just want some yummy food and some nice people to give me lots of attention and to play with me too. As long as I have good food and get to cuddle and give you head rubs, I will keep being the happiest cat ever! Please give me a chance! I need a compassionate human to be my life companion. I promise to return your love tenfold.
Adoption fee: $60. Adopt a pair: $90. Fee includes testing, deworming, vaccinations, spay/neuter, microchip and 30 days of free pet insurance. Apply at www.pawsforliferescue.org
I’ve been wanting to take a city break in summer, rather than in the cold months for a while, so rather than heading for the Lake District for a week of toil on the fells when Jayne could get a week off, we took off from Liverpool for Paris. Flight times were nice and sociable but it meant we were on the M62 car park at a busy time in both directions – it’s a shambles! I’ve stopped over in Paris a dozen times – on my way to cycling in the Etape du Tour in the Alps or Pyrenees – and had a few nights out there. Come to think about it and we’ve spent the day on the Champs Elysees watching the final day of the Tour de France with Mark Cavendish winning. We hadn’t been for a holiday there though and it was a bit of a spur of the moment decision. Six nights gave us five and a half days to explore Paris on foot. I had a good selection of (heavy) kit with me, not wanting to make the usual mistake of leaving something behind and regretting it. In the end I carried the kit in my backpack – an ordinary rucksack – to keep the weight down, for 103 miles, all recorded on the cycling Garmin – and took 3500 photos. The little Garmin is light and will do about 15 hours, it expired towards the end of a couple of 16 hour days but I had the info I wanted by then. This also keeps the phone battery free for research and route finding – I managed to flatten that once though.
What can I say – Paris was fantastic! The weather varied from OK to fantastic, windy for a few days, the dreaded grey white dullness for a while but I couldn’t complain really. We were out around 8.30 in shorts and tee shirt, which I would swap for a vest when it warmed up, hitting 30 degrees at times, we stayed out until around midnight most nights. It was a pretty full on trip. The security at some destinations could have been a problem as there is a bag size limit to save room in the lifts etc. I found the French to be very pragmatic about it, a bag search was a cursory glance, accepting that I was lugging camera gear, not bombs around, and they weren’t going to stop a paying customer from passing because his bag was a bit over size.
We didn’t have a plan, as usual we made it up as we went along, a loose itinerary for the day would always end up changing owing to discoveries along the way. Many times we would visit something a few times, weighing the crowds and light etc. up and deciding to come back later. I waited patiently to go up the Eiffel Tower, we arrived on Tuesday and finally went up on Friday evening. It was a late decision but the weather was good, the light was good and importantly I reckoned that we would get a sunset. Previous evenings the sun had just slid behind distant westerly clouds without any golden glory. It was a good choice. We went up the steps at 7.30 pm, short queue and cheaper – and just to say that we had. The steps are at an easy angle and were nowhere near as bad as expected, even with the heavy pack. We stayed up there, on a mad and busy Friday night, until 11.30, the light changed a lot and once we had stayed a couple of hours we decided to wait for the lights to come on. This was a downside to travelling at this time of year, to do any night photography we had to stay out late as it was light until 10.30. The Eiffel Tower is incredible and very well run, they are quite efficient at moving people around it from level to level. It was still buzzing at midnight with thousands of people around. The sunset on Saturday was probably better but we spent the evening around the base of the Tower, watching the light change, people watching and soaking the party atmosphere up.
Some days our first destination was five miles away, this is a lot of road junctions in a city, the roads in Paris are wide so you generally have to wait for the green man to cross. This made progress steady but when you are on holiday it doesn’t matter too much. Needless to say we walked through some dodgy places, with graffiti on anything that stays still long enough. We were ultra-cautious with our belongings having heard the pickpocket horror stories. At every Café/bar stop the bags were clipped to the table leg out of sight and never left alone. I carried the camera in my hand all day and everywhere I went, I only popped it in my bag to eat. I would guess that there were easier people to rob than us, some people were openly careless with phones and wallets.
We didn’t enter the big attractions, it was too nice to be in a museum or church and quite a few have a photography ban. These bans make me laugh, they are totally ignored by many ( Japanese particularly) people. Having travelled around the world to see something, no one is going to stop them getting their selfies. Selfies? Everywhere people pointed their cameras at their own face, walking around videoing – their self! I do like to have a few photos of us for posterity but these people are self-obsessed.
Paris has obviously got a problem with homeless (mostly) migrants. Walk a distance along the River Seine and you will find tented villages, there is a powerful smell of urine in every corner, with the no alcohol restrictions ignored, empty cans and bottles stacked around the bins as evidence. There are families, woman living on mattresses with as many as four small children, on the main boulevards. They beg by day and at midnight they are all huddled asleep on the pavement. The men in the tents seem to be selling plastic Eiffel Tower models to the tourists or bottled water – even bottles of wine. Love locks and selfy sticks were also top sellers. There must be millions of locks fastened to railings around the city, mostly brass, so removing them will be self-funding as brass is £2.20 a kilo.
As for the sights we saw, well if it was on the map we tried to walk to it. We crossed the Periphique ring road to get to the outer reaches of Paris. La Defense – the financial area with dozens of modern office blocks – was impressive, and still expanding. The Bois de Boulogne park, with the horse racing track and the Louis Vuitton Centre was part of a 20 mile loop that day. Another day saw us in the north east. We had the dome of the Sacre Couer to ourselves, with thousands of tourists wandering below us oblivious of the entrance and ticket office under the church. Again the light was fantastic for us. We read that Pere Lachaise Cemetery or Cimitiere du Pere Lachaise was one of the most visited destinations, a five mile walk but we went. It is massive, you need a map, but for me one massive tomb is much the same as another, it does have highlights but we didn’t stay long. Fortunately we were now closer to the Canal St Martin which would lead us to Parc de la Villette. This was a Sunday and everywhere was both buzzing and chilled at the same time. Where ever we went people were sat watching the world go by, socializing and picnicking, soaking the sun up. As ever I wanted to go up on the roof of anything I could as I love taking cityscapes. Most of these were expensive compared with many places we’ve been to before but up we went. The Tour Montparnasse, a single tower block with 59 floors, 690 foot high and extremely fast lifts has incredible views although it was a touch hazy on our ascent. The Arc de Triomphe was just up the road from our hotel, we went up it within hours of arriving, well worth the visit.
At the time of writing I have no idea how many images will make the cut but it will be a lot. If I have ten subtly different shots of something, I find it hard to consign nine to the dark depths of my hard drive never to be seen again – and I’m not very good at ruthless selection – so if the photo is OK it will get uploaded. My view is that it’s my photostream, I like to be able to browse my own work at my leisure at a later date, it’s more or less free and stats tell me these images will get looked at. I’m not aiming for single stunning shots, more of a comprehensive overview of an interesting place, presented to the best of my current capabilities. I am my own biggest critic, another reason for looking at my older stuff is to critique it and look to improve on previous mistakes. I do get regular requests from both individuals and organisations to use images and I’m obliging unless someone is taking the piss. I’m not bothered about work being published (with my permission) but it is reassuringly nice to be asked. The manipulation of Flickr favourites and views through adding thousands of contacts doesn’t interest me and I do sometimes question the whole point of the Flickr exercise. I do like having access to my own back catalogue though and it gives family and friends the chance to read about the trip and view the photos at their leisure so for the time being I’m sticking with it. I do have over 15 million views at the moment which is a far cry from showing a few people an album, let’s face it, there’s an oversupply of images, many of them superb but all being devalued by the sheer quantity available.
Don’t think that it was all walking and photography, we had a great break and spent plenty of time in pavement bistros having a glass of wine and people watching. I can certainly understand why Paris is top of the travellers list of destinations
Il Cassaro dalla mia finestra
Pentax Spotmatic II - Fuji Sensia
[Soundtrack: Seeed - Walk Upright]
My love let we be together
and make a change for the better
outside is an easy weather
but inside I feel so cold.
Woh yoh how sweet tastes your lover
something new you must discover
shades of brutality
but still I walk upright
1. Verse (Demba):
I surf the world with "Dia" through the red sea
in double sence bubble plans someone calls me from far away
let me stay to hard my back for the day after.
where camels walk the sunspeed i ride the deserts heat
bringing ancient water overdubbed impressions lost in the way back in time.
Bridge
Laughter filled the air before you desided
dust is on you chair since we´ve been devided
cold is my face in the morning when I get up late
after a dreamless night.
My love let we be together
and make a change for the better
outside is an easy weather
but inside I feel so cold.
Woh yoh how sweet tastes your lover
something new you must discover
shades of brutality
but still I walk upright.
2 Verse (Frank):
You the only gial that make mi blood boil up hot.
My heart skip a beat, no wanna stay inna spot.
A girl like you me get once in a life
You´re leaving down here, on a dusty chair.
Everything is oh so grey the night don´t wanna become a day
Where are you ? OH
I always think of times we had before.
Come let us stay together
Bridge
Laughter filled the air before you desided
dust is on you chair since we´ve been devided
cold is my face in the morning when i get up late
after a dreamless night.
My love let we be together
and make a change for the better
outside is an easy weather
but inside I feel so cold
Woh yoh how sweet tastes your lover
something new you must discover
shades of brutality
but still I walk upright, walk upright...
In front of a camera, Asian girls like to flash the V sign. What does it mean? Some people say it means "peace" but my younger son says it just means, "I'm cute!"
Feel free to comment but only if you really want to do it. However, a honest comment is more than welcome.
I cannot promise to write any comment in response to each one of your reviews, favourites or group invitations.
Please, do not use my images without authorization, they are copyrighted.
Thank you !
Comenta la imatge sols si t'apeteix, en tal cas, un comentari de text sincer és més que benvingut.
No puc assegurar-te una resposta a cada comentari, favorits o invitacions a grups.
Per favor, no utilitzes les imatges sense autorització, tenen drets d'autor.
Gràcies !
Puedes comentar la imagen si te apetece pero no te sientas obligado. En todo caso, un comentario de texto sincero es más que bienvenido.
No puedo asegurar una respuesta a cada comentario, favorito o invitación.
Por favor, no utilices las imagenes sin autorización, tienen derechos de autor.
¡ Gracias !