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Annawon Weeden: a Mashpee Wampanoag, with ancestry from the Narragansett; Pequot & other eastern woodland nations. FMI: www.myspace.com/annawon
Shinnecock Reservation, Hamptons , NY; Labour Day Powwow: 2007.
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Shinnecock Tribe
Rte 27-A, Montauk Hwy
Southhampton, NY 111968
631-283-6143
State recognized; (no BIA office liason - seriously ridiculous!)
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Shinnecock Indian Nation: An Ancient History and Culture.
Since the beginning, Shinnecock time has been measured in moons and seasons, and the daily lives of our people revolved around the land and the waters surrounding it. Our earliest history was oral, passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, and as far back as our collective memory can reach, we are an Algonquin people who have forever lived along the shores of Eastern Long Island.
Scientists say we came here on caribou hunts when the land was covered with ice. But our creation story says we were born here; that we are the human children of the goddess who descended from the sky. It was she, the story goes, who caused the land to form beneath her feet from the back of Great Turtle, deer to spring forth from her fingertips; bear to roar into awakening, wolf to prowl on the first hunt. It was she who filled the sky with birds, made the land to blossom and the ponds and bays to fill with fish and mollusks. And when all was done, the Shinnecock, the People of the Shore, appeared in this lush terrain. We are still here.
As coastal dwellers, we continue to prize the bounty of the sea, the shellfish, the scaly fish, which for thousands of years provided the bulk of our diet. We were whalers, challenging the mighty Atlantic from our dugout canoes long before the arrival of the big ships, long before the whaling industry flourished in the 19th century.
In the 1700's, we became noted among the northeastern coastal tribes for our fine beads made from the Northern quahog clam and whelk shells. The Dutch, who arrived on our shores before the English, turned our beads (wampum) into the money system for the colonies.
The Shinnecock Nation is among the oldest self-governing tribes of Indians in the United States and has been a state-recognized tribe for over 200 years. In 1978, we applied for Federal Recognition, and in 2003, we were placed on the Bureau of Indian Affairs' "Ready for Active" list.
Traditionally, decisions concerning the welfare of the tribe were made by consensus of adult male members. Seeking to shortcut the consensus process in order to more easily facilitate the acquisition of Indian lands, the Town of Southampton devised a three member trustee system for the Shinnecock people. This system of tribal government was approved by the New York State legislature in February of 1792. Since April 3, 1792, Shinnecock Indians have gone to the Southampton Town Hall the first Tuesday after the first Monday in April to elect three tribal members to serve a one- year term as Trustees. In April of 2007, the Shinnecock Indian Nation exercised its sovereign right as an ancient Indian Nation and returned to one of its basic Traditions: it bypassed the Southampton Town Hall and for the first time since 1792 held its leadership elections at home, where they will remain.
The Trustee system, however, did not then and does not now circumvent the consensus process, which still remains the governing process of the Shinnecock Indian Nation. Major decisions concerning the tribe are voted yea or nay by all eligible adult members, including women, who gained the right to vote in the mid-1990s. Also in that period, the Shinnecock Nation installed a Tribal Council, a 13 member body elected for two years terms. The Council is an advisory body to the Board of Trustees.
Today, we number over 1300 people, more than 600 of whom reside on the reservation adjacent to the Town of Southampton on the East End of Long Island. While our ancestral lands have dwindled over the centuries from a territory stretching at least from what is known today as the Town of Easthampton and westward to the eastern border of the Town of Brookhaven, we still hold on to approximately 1200 acres.
With modest resources, we have managed to build a community to help us better meet the demands of an ever expanding and intrusive world. In addition to the Shinnecock Presbyterian church building and its Manse, our infrastructure includes a tribal community center, a shellfish hatchery, a health and dental center, a family preservation and Indian education center, a museum, and playgrounds for our children. Also on our list of recent achievements is the design and development of an official Shinnecock Indian Nation flag and an official seal.
Our skilled craftspeople and fine artists find employment within the Tribe as well as the surrounding area. The number of tribal members holding advanced degrees in law, business, medicine, social sciences and liberal arts continues to grow, and tribal members hold positions of responsibility in all areas, including teaching, banking and counseling, both within and outside the Shinnecock community.
One of the earliest forms of economic development that the Shinnecock Nation undertook was to lease Reservation acreage to local area farmers for their crops, mainly potatoes and corn. While the project did bring in a small income for the Tribe, the resulting damages from pesticides leaking into the ground water and polluting our drinking water supply were enormous. We had great expectations for our shellfish hatchery (Oyster Project) but brown tide and general pollution forced it to close before it had the chance to develop into the business enterprise it was planned to be. In the summer of 2005, the Tribe began reseeding parts of its waterways with oysters, and celebrated a renewal harvest of Shinnecock chunkoo oysters at the Tribal Thanksgiving Dinner, November 2006.
At the present moment, the Shinnecock annual Powwow is the economic development project of record for the Shinnecock Nation. Revived in 1946 as a benefit for our church, the Powwow has evolved into an event that hosts thousands of visitors. But we are at the mercy of the weather. For the past two years, rainstorms have forced us to drastically revise our budgeting plans. We are now exploring Indian Gaming as a means of attaining the much needed self-sufficiency that will enable us to perform the sacred duties laid out for us by the Ancestors — to protect, manage and maintain the Shinnecock Indian Nation.
By Bevy Deer Jensen
Shinnecock Nation Communications Officer
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For more information on the Shinnecock Nation, please visit: www.shinnecocknation.com/
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photography: a. golden, eyewash design, c. 2007.
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UPDATE: April 14, 2009 ---> See Annawon's portrayal of Metacom (King Philip) in PBS's "After the Mayflower" episode of "We Shall Remain" here: www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/the_films/episode_1_a...
---> BIO HERE: www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/behind_the_scenes/epi...
---> Behind the Scenes Images HERE: www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/behind_the_scenes/pho...
---> Heard on Set Interview HERE: www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/behind_the_scenes/hea...
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Better large on black.
While I was back at my parents house over Christmas I went for a walk around town, and realised just how much has changed since I was a kid. New housing estates, re-worked roads, school's changed almost beyond recognition...
This is a little lane where I used to play as a kid, just off the road from my parents house. It doesn't lead anywhere, and was built at the same time as the little housing estate I lived on - in case it was ever expanded. It never was, so it never did lead to anything other than fields and was overgrown for as long as I've known it. It was a long enough lane that we had a number of "bases" built in it, and I fell out of the trees a couple of times whilst expanding our little tree-house hideouts. We always called it "creepy lane", and while the entrance to it is no longer as overgrown as it once was - I'll be damned if this isn't as creepy now as it was in my imagination as a kid.
Mingle Media TV Red Carpet Report team were on the red carpet for the World Premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the El Capitan Theatre, the TCL Chinese and the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, opens in theaters December 18, 2015
For video interviews and other Red Carpet Report coverage, please visit www.redcarpetreporttv.com and follow us on Twitter and Facebook at:
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About Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The May 25, 1977 theatrical debut of Star Wars --- on a scant 32 screens across America -- was destined to change the face of cinema forever. An instant classic and an unparalleled box office success, the rousing "space opera" was equal parts fairy tale, western, 1930s serial and special effects extravaganza, with roots in mythologies from cultures around the world.
From the mind of visionary writer/director George Lucas, the epic space fantasy introduced the mystical Force into the cultural vocabulary and it continues to grow, its lush universe ever-expanding through film, television, publishing, video games and more.
Visit Star Wars at www.starwars.com
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"At length, as the sun draws near the horizon, the great drama of the day begins. Slowly the myriad of details have come out and the walls are flecked with lines of minute tracery...Stronger and sharper becomes the relief of each projection...A thousand forms, hitherto unseen or obscure, start up within the abyss, and stand forth in strength and animation. All things seem to grow in beauty, power, and dimensions. What was grand before has become majestic, the majestic becomes sublime, and, ever expanding and developing, the sublime passes beyond the reach of our faculties and becomes transcendent." --Clarence Dutton, 1882
What are we? little specs on in this ever expanding universe or are we something greater? What if the universe was made for us, what if our dreams are just realities somewhere else. I believe the universe is filled with life, just because we cant see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. We are like the ladybirds and caterpillars that live in our gardens, the universe is the garden in which we live and maybe someday we will see it for what it really is.
At the beginning of 2014 GB Railfreight, the ever expanding Europorte owned company, took over the running of the WBB sand trains operating out of Middleton Towers a sand terminal outside Kings Lynn, Norfolk on what was once, before Dr Beaching ovcoruse, the Kings Lynn to Hunstanton railway line extending from the town of Kings Lynn out through the wilderness into Hunstanton a small peaceful coastal town on the wash and now only served by road vehicles the sand trains such as this one traversing what's left of the branch after travelling down to Kings Lynn the contract used to be operated by DB Schenker UK however was lost around the same time GB Railfreight picked up a large number of NDS (National Delivery Service) work on departmental trains across the UK including 6M73 Doncaster Up Decoy to Toton and 6K50 Toton to Crewe Basford Hall also previously operated by DB Schenker UK. The contract remains to be operated by the workhorse of UK Railways the Class 66 diesel locomotive one of the most common sights on the UKs railways no other locomotive type coming close to the number's of Class 66 operational today with most railfreight operators running the class a General Motors JT42CWR locomotive with EMD710 power pack. The sand trains run up from Middleton Towers through Kings Lynn, March and Peterborough before joining the East Coast mainline and running to Doncaster we're the trains run up to ether Monk Bretton, Goole Glassworks or Barnby Dun glassworks this train heading for Monk Bretton glassworks in Barnsley with Class number 66713 leading the train here up through Doncaster.
19th Century Courthouses.
After full self-government in South Australia in 1857 the new government spent its money cautiously. In terms of public infrastructure they mainly built gravel roads, courthouses and police stations, and later in the 1870s public schools and railway lines and stations. The 19th century was an era of low government spending. Fortunately many of the courthouses, designed to impress and give the impression of the solidness of government and police keeping, have survived albeit with vastly different uses. Thus the Courthouse in Two Wells (1876) is now a craft shop, Balaklava Courthouse (1913) is now an art gallery, Georgetown Courthouse (1879) is now a residence, Laura Courthouse (1878) is now an art gallery and Port Pirie Courthouse (1882) is now used as state government offices.
Gladstone Gaol.
The first Gladstone township was laid out by Matthew Moorhouse (former Protector of Aborigines) in 1872 as a private town, but a Government town was proclaimed next to it as 'Booyoolie' in 1875. The two towns merged but it was not until 1940 that the name of 'Gladstone' was officially adopted for both towns. The town was named after William Gladstone (1809-1898) a 19th century British Prime Minister. The town developed rapidly with the arrival of the railway in 1877 from Port Pirie which separated the two growing townships. Settlement occurred in the district after the government resumed much of the original Booyoolee lease land in 1869 and put it up for public auction in 1871. In Moorhouse’s town east of the railway line is the old butter factory and the original school building. West of the railway yards, with its three gauges, you can see the newer school (1929) and Grubbs Cordial Factory. Gladstone High School was one of the first rural high schools opening in 1913. Grubbs Cordial Factory has been operating continuously since 1876 but with various owners. The Grubb family were not the founders but they have been running the factory since 1914. Note the architectural style of the two banks in the Main Street of Gladstone. Both were built in the same period; one in the traditional Greek classical style with Doric columns with volutes on top and a clearly defined pediment across the roof line; the other was built in stripped classical style with no ornamentation and some remnants of classical features only. The Gladstone Courthouse was built in 1878 and it became a major regional Courthouse as it was situated mid-way between Laura and Georgetown. It was attached to the local police station. The land for the police station was purchased by the government for £120 in December 1877. The Gladstone Police Station and Court opened in March 1878. Laura and Georgetown petitioned for their own Courthouses which were duly erected in 1878 and 1879 respectively. The Courthouse in Georgetown cost nearly £1,100. The Gladstone Courthouse closed as a court many years ago. The growth of the town was further hastened with the establishment of the Gladstone Goal.
Gladstone has some fine old buildings including the two banks mentioned above .They both opened in 1937. Along the Main Street is the old Post Office which has been modernised and changed from its original appearance. It opened around 1880. The hotels include the Gladstone Hotel built in 1875 and the Commercial Hotel which was erected in 1879; and the oldest hotel is the Booyoolie Hotel built in 1873. Finlayson’s Butter Factory with its signage was built around 1890 for a skating rink and converted to a butter factory in 1922 which operated into the early 1980s partly because it produced butter for Broken Hill. The town has several fine church including the Anglican Church which was the Pro Cathedral for the Anglican Diocese of Willochra for many years. It was built in 1891. Amateur Anglican Church architect William Mallyon, manager of a Port Pirie bank designed the transept, sanctuary and chancel which was added in 1890 and although he designed the tower at that time it was not erected until 1928. The Diocese of Willochra was based in Gladstone from its inception in 1915 and the nearby Bishops House was completed in 1923. In 1999 the Diocese moved its headquarters to Port Pirie and made the church of St Peter and St Paul the Anglican Cathedral. The Anglican Sunday School hall next to the church was built in 1909. The Catholic Church is on the hill near the primary school on West Terrace on the northern fringe of the town. It was built in 1928 when the original church of 1881 became a hall before it was demolished in 1951. A Wesleyan Methodist Church opened in Gladstone in 1876. This small Wesleyan Church was connected to the current Methodist, now Uniting Church, in 1922. The former Bible Christian Methodist Church at 32 High Street was built in 1876. Upon Methodist churches Union in 1900 it was left vacant until 1919 when the Masons purchased it for £120 for use as the Masonic Hall which it still is. The funds from the sale of the church to the Masons helped fund the new 1922 Methodist church. Next to the now Masonic Temple is a grand two storey house dating from around 1900 with a small cupola on an arched entry porch. It is just south of the old Police Station and Police Court room. From here you can turn left into Fourth Street and left again into Sixth Street to reach St Albans Anglican Church. Behind the 1960s Council Chambers in Cross Street is the stone gable faced Soldiers Memorial Hall built in 1921.
Gladstone Goal was built between 1879 and 1881 at a cost of over £21,000. Tenders were called and Sara and Dunstan of Burra won the tender for its construction. Its design was based on the model prison of Bristol in England. Slate for the flooring was transported from Mintaro and stone was quarried locally for both the cell blocks and the high external prison yard walls. It was intended for debtors and inebriates and seldom housed more than 20 prisoners at any one time from when it opened in 1881 until it closed in 1939. Both men and women were incarcerated in Gladstone gaol and the first gaol keeper was Mr Pollet who had been the keeper at Redruth gaol in Burra. When opened it could accommodate 86 prisoners but with a later expansion this increased to around 200 prisoners. But given that it seldom accommodated more than 20 inmates why did they ever expand it? Criminals from around the Mid North charged with serious crimes like murder were also housed in this prison awaiting their trials. Gladstone gaol closed in 1939 and during World War Two from September 1939 to 1940 it was used to inter Italians and Germans of suspect loyalties. Then from 1942 until 1943 it was used by the Army as a Military Detention barracks. In 1953 it reopened for convicted youth offenders so that they were separated from the hardened criminals of Yatala gaol at Northfield. It opened with 90 youth offenders in 1953. Its peak year of operations was 1969 when it held 130 youth offenders. It finally closed as a youth prison in 1975. Prison life was never easy. The daily routine of the Gladstone Gaol in the early years was as follows:
7.00 am - Prisoners woken and served breakfast in their cells.
7.30 am - Leave cells, empty toilet buckets and shower.
8.00 am - Parade in exercise yard and work details issued.
11.30 am - Collect lunch and return to cells.
1.00pm - Return to work assignments.
4.15 pm - Finish work and shower. Collect evening meals from the kitchen and return to cells.
9.00 pm - Lights out. Prisoners were allowed to have visitors once a fortnight and write one letter a week and their work assignments included making metal buckets, making mops, metal garbage tins and working in the prison vegetable gardens and orchard.
NEW RELEASE! Autumn food and drink items for this fall as part of our ever expanding "Autumn Harvest" collection. We have a delicious arrangement for a Pumpkin soup meal, Apple cider with pumpkin chocolates on a wood cut tray, intricate carrot cake stands, and trays of yummy ice cream cone treats, topped with little candy pumpkins. Many of these are touch givers offering hand props with eating, drinking or hold animations with our temporary rezz feature.
Find 5 of these on offer this weekend as part of our Secret Sale Weekends deals.
Discounted $50 to $99
Along with many other items to match at 50% off at our store landing point.
From Sept 28th to 30th
Find our booth setup here at our store entrance:
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aurora%20Vale/172/91/38
** Find even more autumn items in our outdoor area at the store, on display.
Klick here for a large view!
Shanghai is the largest city in China in terms of population and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with over 20 million people. Located on China's central eastern coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the city is administered as a municipality of the People's Republic of China with province-level status.
Originally a fishing and textiles town, Shanghai grew to importance in the 19th century due to its favourable port location and as one of the cities opened to foreign trade by the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. The city flourished as a center of commerce between east and west, and became a multinational hub of finance and business by the 1930s. However, Shanghai's prosperity was interrupted after the 1949 Communist takeover and the subsequent cessation of foreign investment. Economic reforms in 1990 resulted in intense development and financing in Shanghai, and in 2005 Shanghai became the world's largest cargo port.
The city is an emerging tourist destination renowned for its historical landmarks such as the Bund and Xintiandi, its modern and ever-expanding Pudong skyline including the Oriental Pearl Tower, and its new reputation as a cosmopolitan center of culture and design. Today, Shanghai is the largest center of commerce and finance in mainland China, and has been described as the "showpiece" of the world's fastest-growing economy.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Early Warning Observation Outposts were constructed in response to the ever-expanding reach of Wun'Tux raiding parties.
The stations are constructed in a modular style; the hub of the outpost contains an advanced sensor suite and the command and control aspects. The three 'spoke' modules contain living quarters and cargo storage.
These modular components can be switched out in times of need - EWO Outposts can support hospital modules, ship maintenance and extra defensive measures.
The Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum is a volunteer-operated aviation museum located in and around the World War II-era watch tower (control tower) at the former RAF Dumfries. It is located two miles north east of the centre of Dumfries, Scotland, where it was in service from June 1940 until 1957, when it closed. The museum, founded in 1977 by the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Group, has a collection of aircraft, both civil and military, aero engines, artefacts, and a small, but "ever-expanding collection of memorabilia honouring airborne forces".
I've been shopping again! This time a package came in from Wicked Temptations... one of the dresses it contained is Fantastically Tight, shiny lycra spandex tube style shirred minidress with a silver back zip.
I think this has to be the shortest minidress in my ever expanding collection!
What do you think? Short Enough?
To see more pix of my legs in short dresses and other tight, sexy and revealing outfits click this link:
Doel, The Village That Does Not Want to Disappear
Doel is a small, 700-year old village in the Belgian polder on the left bank of the river Scheldt. It is located at a ferry boat trip's distance from the city/port of Antwerp. Although Doel is only a very small village, its skyline is well known throughout Belgium and the Netherlands because it hosts a nuclear power plant with two giant cooling towers.
By the early sixties, the ever expanding port of Antwerp had outgrown available docklands on the Scheldt's right bank and the Antwerp Port Authority started to build an extensive network of docks, interconnecting channels, and locks at the left bank, to the south of Doel. In the early 1970s, the Port Authority ignored farmers' and villagers' protests and started to expropriate houses in several polder villages, hereby sacrificing local rural communities to industrial and economic interests.
Because of the port's northbound expansion plans, which also threatened Doel, the authorities proclaimed a "house building freeze", obliging young married couples to leave the village and settle elsewhere for lack of available housing. As a result, the village began to decline. Successful actions by protest groups and local politicians in the late seventies, however, managed to temporarily put a halt to the Port Authority's voracious northbound expansion plans and Doel experienced well over a decade of renewed hope and revival. Thanks to the ferry service, the cosy polder village even became a flourishing tourist attraction.
Yet, its survival dreams were relatively short-lived. As of the mid-nineties, plans for a new dock and two container terminals again tightened the industrial noose around the community's neck. In 1998/99, the Flemish regional government signed the village's death verdict by approving the construction of two new container terminals. The first, Deurganck dock, has been operational since 2005. It is located just south of Doel. According to initial plans, the second terminal (Saeftinghe) was to be built a few years later. If ever it materializes, it will wipe Doel off the map.
This utterly gloomy prospect led many disillusioned villagers to "voluntarily" sell their houses to a semi-public expropriations company. Although the government promised to keep the village intact until 2007, this company refused to temporarily rent vacant houses to candidate dwellers, preferring instead to let the properties go to ruin. This premeditated process of neglect undermined the village's chances of survival and caused the number of inhabitants to drop from 900 to 300-400. By the end of 2005, however, the plans for the second container terminal that would definitively wipe Doel off the map were shelved for an indefinite period. This sparked renewed hopes that the expansion of the port may stop at the village's southern border.
Since 2005, young though mostly responsible squatters have come to the village and settled in deserted houses, in defiance of the expropriations company's rental stop. They restored some houses to a habitable status. By now, many of these "newcomers" have positively contributed to the village's viability and social life. Following media reports in 2006 on social tensions, abuses of utilities, and health hazards, the local district authorities decided to regularize the situation of all well-intentioned squatters, to oust troublemakers and to demolish dilapidated houses. Because of these developments, there was again a glimmer of hope…but on 23 March 2007, the Flemish Government decided that Doel will be demolished anyway as of 2009, even if the Saeftinghe terminal never materializes …
In June 2008, inhabitants received an official letter notifying them their houses should be evacuated by 1 September 2009.
( source : www.doel2020.org/ )
Actually, this little big goof is getting bigger all the time. The increase in caloric intake plus the huge decrease in activity brought about by his cancerous leg equals an ever-expanding waist line. Let's just say the puppy is far from twice Bogart's weight now. Yep, he's rather ROUND now. But he loves to eat, one of the few pleasures Bogart has left in life. Who are we to take that away at this point?
[SOOC, f/1.6, ISO 160, shutter speed 1/640, -2/3 EV]
WW&F Volunteers give a hefty heave on the push-poles of the WW&F Museum's Queenpost Turntable in the Sheepscot Yard, as they spin B&SR #7 for an upcoming display later in the afternoon. The large, yellow structure in the background on the left if the museum's car barn, where most of the wooden rolling stock is housed when not in use. This ever-expanding railroad yard is located just off of Rte. 218, on Cross Road in Alna, Maine, about 4.7 miles north of Wiscasset.
Kurt Weiser is Professor in Ceramics at ASU. Follow link below.
art.asu.edu/ceramics/index.html
In the hands of Kurt Weiser, (b. 1950) the centuries-old tradition of china paint on porcelain is given new life. Weiser’s sumptuous, provocative teapots and jars, resplendent with lush jungle scenes, can be both alluring and unsettling. Detailed depictions of tropical splendor become wayward reveries as radiant colors and subtle distortions transform classic porcelain vessels.
Weiser, trained in ceramics at the Kansas City Art Institute and the University of Michigan, originally worked in an abstract, non-representational style with minimal surface decoration. While director of the Archie Bray foundation in Helena, Montana from 1977-88, he began to feel limited by this approach and contemplated new ways of working. Around 1990, he took the first step towards his current style when he covered a porcelain teapot with intricate botanical imagery using black and white sgraffito. After making a series of visits to Thailand, where he was inspired by the region’s luxuriant, intensely colored flora and fauna, a black and white palette no longer satisfied him. Seeking to capture Thailand’s richness, he began to experiment with China paints. Soon his skill as a colorist became an indispensable element of his work.
With the introduction of color into his work, Weiser also began to indulge his narrative impulses by incorporating figurative elements, drawn both from fantasy and art history, into his jungle scenes. Weiser’s figures, often nude and distorted across the planes of his vessels, move through steamy, Eden-like landscapes, interacting with the natural world they encounter. Themes of lust, predation, scientific curiosities, and the vulnerability of both man and nature abound in these scenes, resonating curiously with the cultivated vessel forms and refined medium Weiser has chosen.
Although Weiser has worked in this style for more than ten years, his work continues to evolve. The technical challenge of the overglazing process he uses, which requires multiple firings for each vessel and careful attention to the order in which colors are applied, forces him to thoroughly consider each piece he creates. Through refining this method of working, he has learned to take full advantage of the three-dimensionality of his surfaces by extending his scenes to fully encompass each vessel. In his recent work, he says that the softened, amorphous forms of his vessels should blend with their seamlessly painted surfaces so that the pots fade from view and “the painting is the three dimensional reality” floating in space as would a dream or reverie. Whether Weiser’s work is interpreted as three-dimensional painting or sensuously decorated porcelain, the pots he creates are among the most vivid and decadent of modern ceramics, providing a distinctive contribution to the ever-expanding medium.
Awards
1999 Arizona Commission on the Arts, Artist Fellowship
Regents Professorship A.S.U.
1998 Asian Cultural Council, Artist Fellowship
Research and Creative Activity Award, A.S.U.
1992 Artists Fellowship: National Endowment for the Arts
1990 Artists Project Award: Arizona Commission on the Arts
1989 Artists Fellowship: National Endowment for the Arts
1986 Artists Fellowship: Montana Arts Council
Education
1976 M.F.A. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
1972 B.F.A. Kansas City Art Institute, Missouri
1967 Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, Michigan
Museum Collections
Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, Montana
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe
Carnegie Mellon Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Ceramics Monthly Magazine, Columbus, Ohio
Charles A.Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, Wisconsin
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
The George M. Gardiner Museum of Art, Toronto, Canada
Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri
Hamline University, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Helsinki Museum of Applied Arts, Helsinki, Finland
Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, Arizona
Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina
Muscarelle Museum of Art, Williamsburg, Virginia
Museum of Contemporary Ceramics, Shigaraki, Japan
National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
National Museum of History, Republic of China, Taipei, Taiwan
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University, Logan, Utah
Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon
Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, Providence, Rhode Island Schien-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art at Alfred University,
Alfred, New York
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska
Valley National Bank, Phoenix, Arizona
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England
Washington University Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri
Winnipeg Art Museum, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Yellowstone Arts Center, Billings, Montana
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2001 Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
2000 Garth Clark Gallery, New York
1999 Working His Way Around China, Montgomery Museum of Art, Montgomery, Alabama
1998 Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
1996 Garth Clark Gallery, New York
Joanne Rapp Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
1995 Garth Clark Gallery, New York
1994 Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles
1993 Garth Clark Gallery, New York
Joanne Rapp Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
1992 Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles
1990 Garth Clark Gallery, New York
1986 Lawrence Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Salem Art Association, Salem, Oregon
1985 White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, Oregon
Paris Gibson Square, Great Falls, Montana
1984 Yellowstone Art Center, Billings, Montana
Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Aspen, Colorado
Lawrence Gallery, Portland, Oregon
1983 Brentwood Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
Hand and Spirit Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
The Craftsmen’s Gallery, Omaha, Nebraska
1982 Surroundings Gallery, New York
The Craftsmen’s Gallery, Scarsdale, New York
Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles
1981 White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, Oregon
This Swift was new St. Helens Corporation(248), in 05/1971, becoming Merseyside PTE 248(St. Helens series) when the St. Helens undertaking passed to MPTE control on 1st. April 1974 under local government re-organisation. It is seen here on display at the now ceased Trans-Lancs Rally, Heaton Park, Manchester, on 04/09/2005. This popular event was last held in 2019. This was due to COVID-19 and the now ever expanding summer fairground. This Swift has since received Merseyside PTE livery of Verona green and cream.
The camera being a Pentax MZ-M with the film being a Jessops Colourslide.
I would request, as with all my photos, that they are not copied or downloaded in any way, shape or form. © Peter Steel 2005.
The Hertford family’s association with Hertford House began in 1797 when the 2nd Marquess of Hertford bought the leasehold of the building. The 2nd Marchioness was a great hostess, and in the first decades of the nineteenth century Hertford House was much visited by fashionable London society. The 3rd Marquess preferred to live at his other London residences, Dorchester House and St Dunstan’s Villa, and the 4th Marquess, who lived most of his life in Paris, used the building largely as a store for his ever-expanding art collection. The 4th Marquess died in 1870 and his supposed illegitimate son, Richard Wallace, bought Hertford House from the 5th Marquess in the following year. Wallace, who had been brought up in Paris by his father and grandmother, moved into Hertford House in 1875 only after extensive alterations to the building had been carried out. He died in Paris in 1890, but his widow continued to live at Hertford House, aided by her secretary John Murray Scott, until her death in 1897.
Between 1897 and 1900 the former private residence was converted into a public museum. Galleries replaced the stabling, coach-houses and smoking room as well as some private rooms on the first floor. Many substantial changes have been made since the museum opened in order to make it a welcoming place for successive generations of visitors.
Construction worker contemplates the tangle of scaffolding that will become the Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex on Church Street in downtown Toronto. This is the newest building of the ever-expanding Ryerson University campus.
www.ryerson.ca/fcs/daphne-cockwell-health-sciences-comple...
Finally had a chance for another small photo session to capture some of my models which have been made over the past few months and missed during previous opportunities.
Please enjoy my ever expanding array of vehicles and emergency services.
-Trial model of an emergency vehicle from another country,
note. I was running low on certain parts at the time and/or couldn't find them quick enough, so some interesting techniques were used.
Today's story and sketch "by me" we are at the ever expanding area of Wonder
World known as the "ATV" Experience Park, which has just opened this new area
the (The Monster Machine Park), for larger all terrain vehicles.
The first thing you will notice is this area of the former Central Florida
Gator Filled Swamp, it has some new Blue Ridge Mountains, which
were until last week located in Kentucky. More on the story of just how
Knobby and his cousin Big Billy Gofish, could move Five Square Miles of the
famous Mountains to Wonder World in just two weeks , (we know it was with some
help from Big Billies Extraterrestrial Mountain Moving Technologies company,
but that is a story for another time.
Knobby Gofish founder and developer of Wonder World, has been overseeing the expansion of the Park, (you see him in the rear of this sketch, driving the
Marscat all terrain mini track grader) giving the area a few minor touches.
Above is one of the many Park Rangers watching a young Martian customer,
having a great time driving one of the new B&R Monster Machine ATV's.
Be sure to check back to this official Wonder World blog, and we find out
how Big Billy and Knobby Gofish's, Earthly things Adviser (Rescue Randy),
Plan on Swapping a large section of the (Smokey Mountains) to locate here,
and replacing them with Gator filled Swamp.
Randy who has many Appalachian Girl friends believes, the folks are going to
enjoy not having to run up and down the Smokies chasing Possum's, and will
surly have fun raising Gators.
But that to is a story for another time, till then taa ta
the Rod Blog.
A beautiful blue Hosta, one of the best in our opinion. We brought three of them over from Hadspen Gardens, England, as tiny plants, now we keep evacuating the neighbouring plants from the ever expanding beauties.
Finally had a chance for another small photo session to capture some of my models which have been made over the past few months and missed during previous opportunities.
Please enjoy my ever expanding array of vehicles and emergency services.
-Trial model of an emergency vehicle from another country,
note. I was running low on certain parts at the time and/or couldn't find them quick enough, so some interesting techniques were used.
Raw shots of one of my home areas, Briar Cliff. It's my ever-expanding little roleplay area or neighborhood for some of my personal characters who are all connected in some way and know each other. I like how it's turning out and each home or room suits the different personality of the character who inhabits it. Kind of a new experiment for me, as I usually do standalone skyboxes, so I'm having alot of fun! (Note: Yeah, the unicorns don't fit - they're imaginary friends from one character's childhood, lol, so only she can 'see' them)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Art Show Opening Post-It Show 5 June 19 - July 7, 2009
Reception: Saturday, June 19, 6:30
Giant Robot Gallery 437 East 9th Street Between 1st Ave. & Ave. A, in the East Village New York, New York 10009
(212) 674-GRNY (4769) | grny.net
Giant Robot is proud to present Post-It Show 5 at GR2. Curated by artists Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson, the show is slated to feature roughly 1,000 works by noted contributors for only $20. These pieces will be on standard-sized 3" x 3" Post-It notes. (Larger sizes of 4" x 4" and 6" x 6" will cost a bit more.) The pieces will be cash-and-carry.
Thus far, the ever-expanding list of contributors includes the following:
Trevor Alixopulos, APAK, Andrice Arp, Scott Bakal, Melinda Beck, Mike Bertino, Tim Biskup, Jon Boam, Pakito Bolino, Michelle Borok, Aaron Brown, Jude Buffum, Chris Buzelli, Christine Castro, Martin Cendreda, Kris Chau, Louise Chen, Marcos Chin, Chris Clayton, Tim Cochran, Eric Collins, Jen Corace, Matt Curtius, Kelsey Dake, Eleanor Davis, Vanessa Davis, Nathan Doyle, Seth Drenner, Susan Fang, Korin Faught, Nina Frenkel, Shannon Freshwater, Matt Furie, Nick Gazin, Frieda Gossett, Katherine Guillen, Peter Hamlin, Jon Han, Jaime Hernandez, Andrew Holder, David Horvath, Patrick Hruby, Rama Hughes, Mari Inukai, Yellena James, Hellen Jo, Nathan Jurevicius, Andrea Kang, Dan-ah Kim, Hawk Krall, Lamour Supreme, Travis Lampe, Blaise Larmee, Sarah Lavoie, Jesse LeDoux, Dongyun Lee, Eli Lehrhoff, Bill Main, Jacob Magraw-Mickelson, Ben Marra, Ted McGrath, Mark Allen Miller, Mike Miller, Brendan Monroe, Mark Murphy, Andrew Neyer, Tru Nguyen, Anders Nilsen, Saejean Oh, Saelee Oh, Martin Ontiveros, Sidney Pink, Luke Ramsey, Ron Rege, Jesse Reklaw, Martha Rich, Joe Rocco, Brooks Salzwedel, Anna See, Raymond Sohn, STO, Deth P. Sun, Gary Taxali, Team Macho, Gina Triplett, Twerps (Greg Mishka), Edwin Ushiro, Jing Wei, Steven Weissman, Gillian Wilson, Calvin Wong, Jaime Zollars
A reception for Todd, Watson, and many of the artists will be held from 6:30 - 10:00 on Saturday, June 19. For more information about the artists, the show, GR2, or Giant Robot magazine, please contact: Eric Nakamura Giant Robot Owner/Publisher eric@giantrobot.com (310) 479-7311
New to Stagecoach East London in 2001, this ALX200 bodied Dart passed to McColl's in 2011 for the launch of their new service 20. By the end of 2012 it became part of the ever expanding McGill's network when the company purchased McColl's bus service side. It is captured here leaving ASDA in Dumbarton whilst on the short route 208.
Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura, located in Dumfries in Dumfries & Galloway, is the largest museum in the region. The museum has extensive collections relating to local and history from the pre-historic era. The museum also has the world's oldest working Camera Obscura. Admission is free, however a small fee applies for the Camera Obscura.
Collections
The museum's collections cover all material relating to the natural history and human pre-history of the region, from geology to dress, folk material, archaeology and early photographs.
Notable artefacts include:
A cast of the skull of Robert the Bruce as well as femur and foot bones.
A Bronze Age cist burial including the remains of a 35-year-old man from the beaker people.
A large collection of Roman and Celtic stone crosses and funerary monuments.
A replica of the first bicycle, as designed by Kirkpatrick Macmillan.
The photographic archive of Dr Werner Kissling.
Personal items belonging to Thomas Carlyle
Fossil reptile tracks from the local Permian sandstone including Corncockle Quarry.
History
Originally built as a four-storey windmill on Corbelly hill, the highest point in Maxwelltown, in 1798, the site was purchased by Dumfries and Maxwellton Astronomical Society in 1834. Over a two-year period the tower was converted into an Observatory, and with advice from polar explorer Sir John Ross, a telescope was purchased from a Mr Morton of Kilmarnock. With its completion in 1836, unfortunately the observatory missed the arrival of Halley's comet; however, it was used in this role until 1872.
The main hall of the museum was built in 1862, and housed the collections of the newly founded Dumfries and Galloway Natural History & Antiquarian Society. In 1981 a major addition of a new gallery, shop, search room and offices for curatorial staff was added. In 2011 the exterior of the windmill tower was refurbished.
Camera Obscura
The camera obscura is currently the oldest working example in the world, and has been in continuous operation since 1836. The instrument, based in the top level of the windmill tower, offers a complete 360° panorama of the surrounding landscape. The image is projected onto a focusing table below, and operated using a simple rope mechanism. In order to protect the instrument it is only operated during the summer months and on days when weather conditions are clear. The museums photographic expert for thirty years was Werner Kissling who donated his photos to the museum when he died.
Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, 25 miles (40 km) from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the historic county of Dumfriesshire.
Before becoming King of Scots, Robert the Bruce killed his rival the Red Comyn at Greyfriars Kirk in the town in 1306. The Young Pretender had his headquarters here towards the end of 1745. In the Second World War, the Norwegian Army in exile in Britain largely consisted of a brigade in Dumfries.
Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South. This is also the name of the town's football club. People from Dumfries are known colloquially in Scots language as Doonhamers.
History
Early history
No positive information has been obtained of the era and circumstances in which the town of Dumfries was founded.
Some writers hold that Dumfries flourished as a place of distinction during the Roman occupation of North Great Britain. The Selgovae inhabited Nithsdale at the time and may have raised some military works of a defensive nature on or near the site of Dumfries; and it is more than probable that a castle of some kind formed the nucleus of the town. This is inferred from the etymology of the name, which, according to one theory, is resolvable into two Gaelic terms signifying a castle or fort in the copse or brushwood. Dumfries was once within the borders of the Kingdom of Northumbria. The district around Dumfries was for several centuries ruled over and deemed of much importance by the invading Romans. Many traces of Roman presence in Dumfriesshire are still to be found; coins, weapons, sepulchral remains, military earthworks, and roads being among the relics left by their lengthened sojourn in this part of Scotland. The Caledonian tribes in the south of Scotland were invested with the same rights by an edict of Antoninus Pius. The Romanized natives received freedom (the burrows, cairns, and remains of stone temples still to be seen in the district tell of a time when Druidism was the prevailing religion) as well as civilisation from their conquerors. Late in the fourth century, the Romans bade farewell to the country.
According to another theory, the name is a corruption of two words which mean the Friars' Hill; those who favour this idea allege that St. Ninian, by planting a religious house near the head of what is now the Friars' Vennel, at the close of the fourth century, became the virtual founder of the Burgh; however Ninian, so far as is known, did not originate any monastic establishments anywhere and was simply a missionary. In the list of British towns given by the ancient historian Nennius, the name Caer Peris occurs, which some modern antiquarians suppose to have been transmuted, by a change of dialect, into Dumfries.
Twelve of King Arthur's battles were recorded by Nennius in Historia Brittonum. The Battle of Tribruit (the tenth battle), has been suggested as having possibly been near Dumfries or near the mouth of the river Avon near Bo'ness.
After the Roman departure the area around Dumfries had various forms of visit by Picts, Anglo-Saxons, Scots and Norse culminating in a decisive victory for Gregory, King of Scots at what is now Lochmaben over the native Britons in 890.
Medieval period
When, in 1069, Malcolm Canmore and William the Conqueror held a conference regarding the claims of Edgar Ætheling to the English Crown, they met at Abernithi – a term which in the old British tongue means a port at the mouth of the Nith. It has been argued, the town thus characterised must have been Dumfries; and therefore it must have existed as a port in the Kingdom of Strathclyde, if not in the Roman days. However, against this argument is that the town is situated eight to nine miles (14 km) distant from the sea, although the River Nith is tidal and navigable all the way into the town itself.
Although at the time 1 mile (1.6 km) upstream and on the opposite bank of the Nith from Dumfries, Lincluden Abbey was founded circa 1160. The abbey ruins are on the site of the bailey of the very early Lincluden Castle, as are those of the later Lincluden Tower. This religious house was used for various purposes, until its abandonment around 1700. Lincluden Abbey and its grounds are now within the Dumfries urban conurbation boundary. William the Lion granted the charter to raise Dumfries to the rank of a royal burgh in 1186. Dumfries was very much on the frontier during its first 50 years as a burgh and it grew rapidly as a market town and port.
Alexander III visited Dumfries in 1264 to plan an expedition against the Isle of Man, previously Scots but for 180 years subjected by the crown of Norway. Identified with the conquest of Man, Dumfries shared in the well-being of Scotland for the next 22 years until Alexander's accidental death brought an Augustan era in the town's history to an abrupt finish.
A royal castle, which no longer exists, was built in the 13th century on the site of the present Castledykes Park. In the latter part of the century William Wallace chased a fleeing English force southward through the Nith valley. The English fugitives met the gates of Dumfries Castle that remained firmly closed in their presence. With a body of the town's people joining Wallace and his fellow pursuers when they arrived, the fleeing English met their end at Cockpool on the Solway Coast. After resting at Caerlaverock Castle a few miles away from the bloodletting, Wallace again passed through Dumfries the day after as he returned north to Sanquhar Castle.
During the invasion of 1300, Edward I of England lodged for a few days in June with the Minorite Friars of the Vennel, before he laid siege to Caerlaverock Castle at the head of the then greatest invasion force to attack Scotland. After Caerlaverock eventually succumbed, Edward passed through Dumfries again as he crossed the Nith to take his invasion into Galloway. With the Scottish nobility having requested Vatican support for their cause, Edward on his return to Caerlaverock was presented with a missive directed to him by Pope Boniface VIII. Edward held court in Dumfries at which he grudgingly agreed to an armistice. On 30 October, the truce solicited by Pope Boniface was signed by Edward at Dumfries. Letters from Edward, dated at Dumfries, were sent to his subordinates throughout Scotland, ordering them to give effect to the treaty. The peace was to last until Whitsunday in the following year.
Before becoming King of Scots, Robert the Bruce stabbed his rival the Red Comyn at Greyfriars Kirk in the town on 10 February 1306. Bruce's uncertainty about the fatality of the stabbing caused one of his followers, Roger de Kirkpatrick, to utter the famous, "I mak siccar" ("I make sure") and finish the Comyn off. Bruce was subsequently excommunicated as a result, less for the murder than for its location in a church. Regardless, for Bruce the die was cast at the moment in Greyfriars and so began his campaign by force for the independence of Scotland. Swords were drawn by supporters of both sides, the burial ground of the monastery becoming the theatre of battle. Bruce and his party then attacked Dumfries Castle. The English garrison surrendered and for the third time in the day Bruce and his supporters were victorious. He was crowned King of Scots barely seven weeks after. Bruce later triumphed at the Battle of Bannockburn and led Scotland to independence.
Once Edward received word of the revolution that had started in Dumfries, he again raised an army and invaded Scotland. Dumfries was again subjected to the control of Bruce's enemies. Sir Christopher Seton (Bruce's brother in law) had been captured at Loch Doon and was hurried to Dumfries to be tried for treason in general and more specifically for being present at Comyn's killing. Still in 1306 and along with two companions, Seton was condemned and executed by hanging and then beheading at the site of what is now St Mary's Church.
In 1659 ten women were accused of diverse acts of witchcraft by Dumfries Kirk Session although the Kirk Session minutes itself records nine witches. The Justiciary Court found them guilty of the several articles of witchcraft and on 13 April between 2 pm and 4 pm they were taken to the Whitesands, strangled at stakes and their bodies burnt to ashes.
Eighteenth century
The Midsteeple in the centre of the High Street was completed in 1707. Opposite the fountain in the High Street, adjacent to the present Marks & Spencer, was the Commercial and later the County Hotel. Although the latter was demolished in 1984–85, the original facade of the building was retained and incorporated into new retail premises. The building now houses a Waterstones Bookshop. Room No. 6 of the hotel was known as Bonnie Prince Charlie's Room and appropriately carpeted in the Royal Stewart tartan. The timber panelling of "Prince Charlie's room" was largely reinstated and painted complete with the oil painted landscapes by Robert Norie (1720–1766) in the overmantels at either end of the room and can still be seen as the upstairs showroom of the book shop. The Young Pretender had his headquarters here during a 3-day sojourn in Dumfries towards the end of 1745. £2,000 was demanded by the Prince, together with 1,000 pairs of brogues for his kilted Jacobite rebel army, which was camping in a field not one hundred yards distant. A rumour that the Duke of Cumberland was approaching, made Bonnie Prince Charlie decide to leave with his army, with only £1,000 and 255 pairs of shoes having been handed over.
Robert Burns moved to Dumfriesshire in 1788 and Dumfries itself in 1791, living there until his death on 21 July 1796. Today's Greyfriars Church overlooks the location of a statue of Burns, which was designed by Amelia Robertson Hill, sculpted in Carrara, Italy in 1882, and was unveiled by future Prime Minister, Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery on 6 April 1882. Today, it features on the 2007 series of £5 notes issued by the Bank of Scotland, alongside the Brig o' Doon.
After working with Patrick Miller of Dalswinton, inventor William Symington intended to carry out a trial in order to show than an engine would work on a boat without the boat catching fire. The trial finally took place on Dalswinton Loch near Dumfries on 14 October 1788. The experiment demonstrated that a steam engine would work on a boat. Symington went on to become the builder of the first practical steamboat.
20th century and beyond
The first official intimation that RAF Dumfries was to be built was made in late 1938. The site chosen had accommodated light aircraft since about 1914. Work progressed quickly, and on 17 June 1940, the 18 Maintenance Unit was opened at Dumfries. The role of the base during the war also encompassed training. RAF Dumfries had a moment of danger on 25 March 1943, when a German Dornier Do 217 aircraft shot up the airfield beacon, but crashed shortly afterwards. The pilot, Oberleutnant Martin Piscke was later interred in Troqueer Cemetery in Dumfries town, with full military honours. On the night of 3/4 August 1943 a Vickers Wellington bomber with engine problems diverted to but crashed 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) short of the Dumfries runway.
During the Second World War, the bulk of the Norwegian Army during their years in exile in Britain consisted of a brigade in Dumfries. When the army High Command took over, there were 70 officers and about 760 privates in the camp. The camp was established in June 1940 and named Norwegian Reception Camp, consisting of some 500 men and women, mainly foreign-Norwegian who had volunteered for war duty in Norway during the Nazi occupation in early 1940. Through the summer the number was built up to around 1,500 under the command of General Carl Gustav Fleischer. Within a few miles of Dumfries are the villages of Tinwald, Torthorwald and Mouswald all of which were settled by Vikings.
Dumfries has experienced two Boxing Day earthquakes. These were in 1979 (measuring 4.7 ML centred near Longtown) and 2006 (centred in the Dumfries locality measuring 3.6 ML ). There were no serious consequences of either. There was also an earthquake on 16 February 1984 and a further earthquake on 7 June 2010.
Like the rest of Dumfries and Galloway, of Scotland's three major geographical areas Dumfries lies in the Southern Uplands.
The river Nith runs through Dumfries toward the Solway Firth in a southwards direction splitting the town into East and West. At low tide, the sea recedes to such an extent on the shallow sloping sands of the Solway that the length of the Nith is extended by 13 km to 113.8 km (70.7 mi). This makes the Nith Scotland's seventh longest river. There are several bridges across the river within the town. In between the Devorgilla (also known as 'The Old Bridge') and the suspension bridge is a weir colloquially known as 'The Caul'. In wetter months of the year the Nith can flood the surrounding streets. The Whitesands has flooded on average once a year since 1827.
Dumfries has numerous suburbs including Summerhill, Summerville, Troqueer, Georgetown, Cresswell, Larchfield, Calside, Lochside, Lincluden, Newbridge Drive, Sandside, Heathhall, Locharbriggs, Noblehill and Marchmount. Maxwelltown to the west of the river Nith, was formerly a burgh in its own right within Kirkcudbrightshire until its incorporation into Dumfries in 1929; Summerhill, Troqueer, Lochside, Lincluden, Sandside are among other suburbs located on the Maxwelltown side of the river. Palmerston Park, home to the town's senior football team Queen of the South, is on Terregles Street, also on the Maxwelltown side of the river.
Queensberry Square and High Street are the central focal points of the town and this area hosts many of the historical, social and commercial enterprises and events of Dumfries. During the 1990s, these areas enjoyed various aesthetic recognitions from organisations including Britain in Bloom.
Dumfries got its nickname 'Queen of the South' from David Dunbar, a local poet, who in 1857 stood in the general election. In one of his addresses he called Dumfries "Queen of the South" and this became synonymous with the town.
The term doonhamer comes from the way that natives of Dumfries over the years have referred to the area when working away from home. The town is often referred to as doon hame in the Scots language (down home). The term doonhamer followed, to describe those that originate from Dumfries.
The Doonhamers is also the nickname of Queen of the South who represent Dumfries and the surrounding area in the Scottish Football League.
The crest of Dumfries contains the words, "A Lore Burne". In the history of Dumfries close to the town was the marsh through which ran the Loreburn whose name became the rallying cry of the town in times of attack – A Lore Burne (meaning 'to the muddy stream').
In 2017 Dumfries was ranked the happiest place in Scotland by Rightmove.
Located on top of a small hill, Dumfries Museum is centred on the 18th-century windmill which stands above the town. Included are fossil footprints left by prehistoric reptiles, the wildlife of the Solway marshes, tools and weapons of the earliest peoples of the region and stone carvings of Scotland's first Christians. On the top floor of the museum is a camera obscura.
Based in the control tower near Tinwald Downs, the aviation museum has an extensive indoor display of memorabilia, much of which has come via various recovery activities. During the second world war, aerial navigation was taught at Dumfries also at Wigtown and nearby Annan was a fighter training unit. RAF Dumfries doubled as an important maintenance unit and aircraft storage unit. The museum is run by the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Group and is the only private aviation museum in Scotland. The restored control tower of the former World War II airfield is now a listed building. The museum is run by volunteers and houses a large and ever expanding aircraft collection, aero engines and a display of artefacts and personal histories relating to aviation, past and present. It is also home to the Loch Doon Spitfire. Both civil aviation and military aviation are represented.
The Theatre Royal, Dumfries was built in 1792 and is the oldest working theatre in Scotland.
The theatre is owned by the Guild of Players who bought it in 1959, thereby saving it from demolition, and is run on a voluntary basis by the members of the Guild of Players. It is funded entirely by Guild membership subscriptions, and by box office receipts. It does not currently receive any grant aid towards running costs.
In recent years the theatre has been re-roofed and the outside refurbished. It is the venue for the Guild of Players' own productions and for performances from visiting companies. These include: Scottish Opera, TAG, the Borderline and 7:84.
The Robert Burns Centre is an art house cinema in Dumfries. The Odeon Cinema, which showed more mainstream movies, closed its doors in mid-2018 due to the local council refusing to allow Odeon to relocate, forcing them to close.
The Loreburn Hall (sometimes known colloquially as The Drill Hall) has hosted concerts by performers such as Black Sabbath, Big Country, The Proclaimers and Scottish Opera. The hall has hosted sporting events such as wrestling. The new DG One sport, fitness and entertainment centre became the principal indoor event venue in Dumfries in 2007, but in October 2014, it closed due to major defects being discovered in the building. However, the refurbished building reopened to the public in the summer of 2019. The Theatre Royal has also reopened following renovation work.
With a collection of over 400 Scottish paintings, Gracefield Arts Centre hosts a changing programme of exhibitions featuring regional, national and international artists and craft-makers.
Dumfries Art Trail brings together artists, makers, galleries and craft shops with venues accessible all year round.
There are a number of festivals which take place throughout the year, mostly based on traditional values.
Guid Nychburris (Middle Scots, meaning Good Neighbours) is the main festival of the year, a ceremony which is largely based on the theme of a positive community spirit.
The ceremony on Guid Nychburris Day, follows a route and sequence of events laid down in the mists of time. Formal proceedings start at 7.30 am with the gathering of up to 250 horses waiting for the courier to arrive and announce that the Pursuivant is on his way, and at 8.00 am leave the Midsteeple and ride out to meet the Pursuivant. They then proceed to Ride the Marches and Stob and Nog (mark the boundary with posts and flags) before returning to the Midsteeple at 12.15 pm to meet the Provost and then the Charter is proclaimed to the towns people of Dumfries. This is then followed by the crowning of the Queen of the South.
Since 2013, Dumfries has seen the annual Nithraid, a small boat race up the Nith from Carsethorn, celebrating the town's historical relationship with the river.
The region is also home to a number of thriving music festivals such as the Eden Festival (at St Ann's near Moffat), Youthbeatz (Scotland's largest free youth music festival), the Moniaive Folk Festival, Thornhill Music Festival, Big Burns Supper Festival and previously Electric Fields at Drumlanrig Castle.
Queen of the South represent Dumfries and the surrounding area in the third level of the country's professional football system, the Scottish League One. Palmerston Park on Terregles Street is the home ground of the team. This is on the Maxwelltown side of the River Nith. They reached the 2008 Scottish Cup Final, losing 3–2 to Rangers.
Dumfries City VFC are a virtual football club from the town.
Dumfries Saints Rugby Club is one of Scotland's oldest rugby clubs having been admitted to the Scottish Rugby Union in 1876–77 as "Dumfries Rangers".
Dumfries is also home to a number of golf courses:
The Crichton Golf Club
The Dumfries and County Golf Club
The Dumfries and Galloway Golf Club
Of those listed, only the Dumfries and Galloway Golf Club is on the Maxwelltown side of the River Nith. This course is also bisected into 2 halves of 9 holes each by the town's Castle Douglas Road. The club house and holes 1 to 7 and 17 and 18 are on the side nearest to Summerhill, Dumfries. Holes 8 to 16 are on the side nearest to Janefield.
The opening stage of the 2011 Tour of Britain started in Peebles and finished 105.8 miles (170.3 km) later in Dumfries. The stage was won by sprint specialist and reigning Tour de France green jersey champion, Mark Cavendish, with his teammate lead out man, Mark Renshaw finishing second. Cavendish had been scheduled to be racing in the 2011 Vuelta a España. However Cavendish was one a number of riders to withdraw having suffered in the searing Spanish heat. This allowed Cavendish to be a late addition to the Tour of Britain line up in his preparation for what was to be a successful bid two weeks later in the 2011 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race. Cavendish in a smiling post race TV interview in Dumfries described the wet and windy race conditions through the Southern Scottish stage as 'horrible'.
DG One complex includes a national event-sized competition swimming pool.
The David Keswick Athletic Centre is the principal facility in Dumfries for athletics.
Dumfries is home to Nithsdale Amateur Rowing Club. The rowers share their clubhouse with Dumfries Sub-Aqua Club.
The town is also home to Solway Sharks ice hockey team. The team are current Northern Premier League winners. The team's home rink is Dumfries Ice Bowl. Dumfries Ice bowl is also recognised as Scotland's only centre of ice hockey excellence, and trials for the Scottish Jr national team are carried out at this venu.
Dumfries Ice Bowl is also home to two synchronised skating teams, Solway Stars and Solway Eclipse. In addition, Dumfries Ice Bowl is also home to several curling teams, competitions and leagues. Junior curling teams from Dumfries, consisting of curlers under the age of 21, regularly compete in the Dutch Junior Open based in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands. In 2007, 2008 and 2009 a Dumfries-based team have been the winners of the competition's Hogline Trophy.
Dumfries hosts three outdoor bowls clubs:
Dumfries Bowling Club
Marchmount Bowling Club
Maxwelltown Bowling Club
Dumfries hosts cycling organisations and cycling holidays
The most significant of the parks in Dumfries are all within walking distance of the town centre:-
Dock Park – located on the East bank of the Nith just to the South of St Michael's Bridge
Castledykes Park – as the name suggests on the site of a former castle
Mill Green (also known as deer park, although the deer formerly accommodated there have since been relocated) – on the West bank of the Nith opposite Whitesands
There are many buildings in Dumfries made from sandstone of the local Locharbriggs quarry.
The quarry is situated off the A701 on the north of Dumfries at Locharbriggs close to the nearby aggregates quarry. This dimension stone quarry is a large quarry. Quarry working at Locharbriggs dates from the 18th century, and the quarry has been worked continuously since 1890.
There are good reserves of stone that can be extracted at several locations. On average the stone is available at depths of 1m on bed although some larger blocks are obtainable. The average length of a block is 1.5m but 2.6m blocks can be obtained.
Locharbriggs is from the New Red Sandstone of the Permian age. It is a medium-grained stone ranging in colour from dull red to pink. It is the sandstone used in the Queen Alexandra Bridge in Sunderland, the Manchester Central Convention Complex and the base of the Statue of Liberty.
c. 1906 Valentine & Sons Postcard No. 101,850 - General Inspection, Aldershot, Nova Scotia
(20 April 1905) - LINK to a newspaper article - The New Aldershot Camp at Kentville - www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-mail-the-new-alder...
(31 August 1905) - LINK to a newspaper article - Officers For Opening of the Aldershot Camp - www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-mail-officers-for-...
The photo for this postcard was taken on Sunday - 17 September 1905 - the opening of the Aldershot camp...here is a newspaper article on this event...
(20 September 1905) - The Camp was never - So Clean or So Healthy and Bids Fair to Be a Record One. Sunday opened with splendid weather at Aldershot camp the threatening clouds disappeared before a west wind which died away to, a calm before 10 a. m., when the camp was all energy and movement getting ready for divine service parade. Already the public began to arrive in carriages and on foot, presenting a moving panorama of color effects, novel and dazzling. Amid the lively music of several bands, regiment after regiment formed into a hollow square, the centre of which was occupied by the division staff In front of whom were five chaplains, choir and the massed bands of the 13th battalion. Photographers and others took snap-shots here and there probably remembering the proverb: "The better the day, the better the deed" and no doubt many an officers' and private's face will be printed and toned without their consent. At 10:20 the service began under the direction of the senior chaplain, W. G. Lane, of the 93rd Cumberland regiment; Chaplains Wallis, of the 75th Lunenburg regiment, and McQueen, of the 94th Cape Breton regiment, took part, .and Chaplain E. B. Moore, of the 69th regiment, preached in a forcible manner on "Duty," the whole service being much enjoyed by both military and civilians. The inspection at the close of the service by Lord Aylmer and staff gave satisfaction as did the march back to the tents by men hungry and expectant. The march was very creditable, especially the diagonal movement of the 92rd Cumberland regiment, which was done with the steadiness of veterans. The 75th showed marked improvement over former years on the drill ground - in fact all show a decided advance and a more intelligent grasp of what is required of them than heretofore, which must be pleasing to the officers in command. So far the conduct of the troops is excellent. It is to be expected that with such a large body of men assembled, mistakes will be made - there are a few who need to reform for their own sake and the honor of their regiments - yet we must not complain in view of the general Improvements.
The camp Itself was never so clean as now, the men never so healthy, sickness being practically nil, disorder in Kentville not as it used to be. This is due to the vigilance of commanding officers and the staff, whose hands are busy and burdened. If things continue as they have begun, this will be a record camp and a high mark to reach in future years. LINK to the complete article - www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-mail-no-disturbanc...
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Valentine and Sons of Dundee were once Scotland’s most successful commercial photographers. In 1907, at the height of the postcard revolution, the photographs they published showed scenes from around the world. Often regarded as only postcard publishers, Valentines produced images in various formats including fine early photographic prints.
The Valentine company was founded in Dundee by James’s father, John Valentine, in 1825. After learning the daguerreotype process in Paris in the late 1840s, James added portrait photography to the family business in 1851. By the 1860s the company had begun to cater to the growing tourist industry by producing photographic prints with views from around the country. After James’s death in 1880, his son William Dobson took over the ever-expanding business.
Valentine & Sons printed its first postcards in 1898. Canadian production began between 1903 and 1906 with offices established first in Montreal and then Toronto. The earliest Canadian postcards published by Valentine and Sons were monotone black, collotype views showing the scenery along the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway north of Lake Superior and in the Rocky Mountains.
At Valentine’s the greeting card gradually replaced the picture postcard. What remained of a card making empire was sold to Hallmark Cards Inc. in 1980.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------In his history of Camp Aldershot published in 1983, Brent Fox writes that when it was moved from Aylesford Plain to its current site, “there was little in what became the new training ground.” There was the old Kentville racetrack near the gate, a carding mill on the north-east edge, a sawmill and adds Fox, “several farms were evident (on the grounds) at the turn of the century.”
Fox writes that between 1903 and 1907, the federal government purchased land for what was to become the new Camp Aldershot, the boundaries eventually becoming what they are today by the latter year. However, Steam Mill resident Harlan Adams tells me he was born in 1922 on his father’s farm on what is now the military camp ground; and it appears that from what he remembers, the current camp originally was much smaller than it is now.
George Adams owned land where Peach Lake is now and Harlan tells me spent the first decade of his life there. He describes the farm as situated on the long forgotten Garret’s or Garret Road, part of which is now North Aldershot Road. This road turned west into the camp grounds and eventually ran south-west to Brooklyn Street. Garret’s Road was connected to Lakewood Road by Reid Lane, also long forgotten, which is now a continuation of North Aldershot Road.
The Adams farm stood beside Garret Road, which was named after a man by that name who had a sawmill in this area. Near the farm was a small pond in a marshy area and a brook that was eventually dammed to form Peach Lake. The Adams farm consisted of most of the land around Peach Lake and it joined property owned by Clayton Crocker on the west or south-west and by Hughie McGregor on the north. Near George Adams along Garret Road were two farms, one operated by George Sherman, the other by his son, Fred. “There were other houses on what is now the Camp right out to the main road,” Harlan said.
Even though it contradicts what Brent Fox outlines in his history, Harlan is positive that his father’s farm and the farms of the Shermans and others were located inside the current boundaries of Camp Aldershot and weren’t part of the original grounds. In fact, he remembers the year the farms were expropriated by the federal government so the camp could be expanded. “It was in 1941,” he said. “The government gave us the choice of tearing down our house or moving it. We decided to move it.” LINK - edwingcoleman.com/category/history-columns/history-2005/
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The Valentine & Sons' Publishing Co., Ltd.
The earliest Canadian postcards published by Valentine & Sons were uncoloured collotypes of scenery along the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway north of Lake Superior and in the Rocky Mountains. Typically, Valentine postcards have a 6-digit serial number (###,###) on the view side with the initials “J.V.” in a circle adjacent to that number. The main series of numbering begins with a Halifax card as no. 100,000 and ends (as far as we know) with a postcard of Toronto as no. 115,981. There are also two short runs of numbers in the 400,000 range that are found on some cards from the Yukon Territory and a longer run of views from various parts of Canada that begins at 600,000 and continues past 602,000.
100,000 – 1905 (July)+
101,000 – 1906 (August)
102,000 – 1907 (January)
Link to everything you wanted to know about the - Valentine & Sons Publishing Co. - torontopostcardclub.com/canadian-postcard-publishers/vale...
69th Regiment of the Militia
Twin cities usually grow up together. For Hong Kong and its dark alter ego Shenzhen, the relationship is something more akin to step-twins. Shenzhen was virtually decreed into existence: in 1980 Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping clicked his fingers and invited the people of dynamic, British-owned Hong Kong to make something of the 3.5 sq km stretch of fishing villages and rice paddies just over the border. What arose was a kind of twisted sister, a town of skyscrapers and sweatshops, laissez-faire business and institutionalized lust. Shenzhen is where Hong Kongers go to make love and make money, and a magnet for people from all over impoverished China, who sneak or bribe their way in. (Two-thirds of the population doesn't have a residency permit.) It's a city of big-time crime, beggar syndicates, drug trafficking, restaurants serving lobster sashimi to mafia-entrepreneurs and a home to what the Hong Kong government says is a half-million illegitimate children. The population now totals 4 million, and the economy is growing at 31% a year. Call it China's Tiajuana.
Hong Kong is now a part of China with its own laws, a set-up known as "one country-two systems." Nowhere is the demarcation more striking than at its border with Shenzhen a line that Hong Kong people can cross freely but most mainlanders can only gaze at. The one-way traffic has become a nonstop flood: up to 200,000 people a day, 100 million crossings a year, numbers likely to triple by 2010. (Currently the border is open 16 hours a day; some want it to be 24/7.) Hong Kong businessmen have poured $15 billion into 70,000 firms in the border province of Guangdong, much of it for the manufacturing that once drove the Hong Kong economy. Office workers are escaping Hong Kong's ludicrous rents by moving to Shenzhen and accepting a 45-minute commute across the border.
Shenzhen is Hong Kong's parallel universe: it has the energy of the megapolis across the border, the patented southern Chinese get-ahead ethos and a towering respect for the power of a buck. But thanks to loose laws, loose women and dirty officials, you can get anything you want: cheap labor, even cheaper Prada bags, pirated DVDs, ecstasy pills, one-night stands. (And people from across the border spent $846 million last year, 10% of Hong Kong's total retail trade.) But once inside this looking- glass world, nothing is quite the genuine article. The Louis Vuitton bags are made in Guangdong; many of the impressive skyscrapers are empty; the women are lovely, but that beauty might have been bought from Shenzhen's army of plastic surgeons. Even the money, Shenzhen's raison d'etre, is suspect: local buses alone collect $160,000 in fake coins every year. Shenzhen has all the license, 24-hour fun and behind-the-set tragedy of the world's worst border towns albeit one with skyscrapers and a blizzard of cash.
The Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, as the city is officially known, is literally at Hong Kong's border. After immigration, a visitor walks across a narrow bridge spanning a stinking, black canal the first whiff of something rotten in the air and steps directly into a city overeager to offer its wares. The first building to confront new arrivals is a six-storied, mirrored monument to China's status as the world's counterfeit capital. Shops display perfect replicas of Armani suits, Gucci handbags, Nike trainers, Rolex watches, Cartier jewelry, as well as racks of pirated videos and discs. Outside, televisions air graphic advertisements for clinics offering breast enlargements and other cosmetic surgeries.
The city is filled-to-bursting with goods and services for women. That's because there are four women to every man. Some have come to be close to Hong Kong businessmen wanting a conveniently located partner. Others have followed the money to the nightclubs, bars and brothels that have popped up all over town. In 20 years, they have produced an estimated 520,000 bastard children, thousands of whom are fighting for Hong Kong residency. Last year, the All China Women's Federation described the rise in the number of second wives as "a time bomb.
China is trying to crack down on corruption: the former head of Shenzhen's customs, Zhao Yucun, faces the death penalty for taking $1.2 million in bribes. At the same time, triads are muscling out independent operators all over the place. Working both sides of the border, gangs own perhaps half the nightclubs and bars in Shenzhen, often reportedly in partnership with officers of the People's Liberation Army and the Public Security Bureau. They are into everything that pays: car theft, gambling, prostitution, kidnap for ransom and even, astonishingly, petrol. The bulk of the bribes received by convicted customs chief Zhao came from smuggling gasoline. The racket worked like this: a tanker anchors in international waters and waits for motor launches to gather round. An auction follows, and the buyers smuggle the fuel to shore in barrels to sell to the nearest state-run station, no import duty paid.
And then there are drugs: south China's triads run a virtual drug superhighway from Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle via China to Hong Kong and then to anywhere in the world. In mid-April, Vancouver customs officials found 42 kg of heroin with a street value of $64 million stuffed inside cans of pineapple chunks. (The contraband had been canned in Guangdong and shipped through Hong Kong.) Every weekend night, tens of thousands of Hong Kong nightclubbers rip through an ever-expanding number of Shenzhen dance halls where ecstasy, ketamine and ice are freely available and thrillingly cheap. E sells for $10 and tranquilizer pills, which cost $4 in Hong Kong, can be bought for 10 cents. In the past three years, seizures of these drugs have risen tenfold. In a single weekend in March, police in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong jointly raided 10,000 bars and nightclubs, arresting 1,411 people and seizing 307 kg of ice and 47,747 ecstasy pills. But Hong Kong police concede they're unable to stop the flood of drugs from across the border, which are often hauled back by teenagers to pay for their weekends.
But desperation is only a tile in the gaudy Shenzhen mosaic. Most only see the opportunities, the money flow, the hope reflected from the city's new skyscrapers. These days, in fact, most migrants from elsewhere in China stop at Shenzhen and no longer try to sneak into Hong Kong. Proof is apparent at the modest chain- and barbed-wire fence separating the two cities in the Mai Po marshes, west of Lo Wu. This may be the most closely controlled internal border in the world. But five policemen on mountain bikes, plus three on video surveillance, are able to handle the job of patrolling 4 km of a wire barrier they concede can be scaled in 12 seconds. The number of captured illegal immigrants fell from 16,000 in 1991 to 9,000 last year.
Indeed, the border is becoming a dangerous blur. A few August's ago, Yu Man-hon, an autistic 15-year-old boy, slipped away from his mother in Hong Kong and found his way to Lo Wu. Detained on the mainland and interrogated back in Hong Kong, he nevertheless crossed into Shenzhen without identification papers or even the power of speech. His parents are still looking for him. Just a few steps from his hometown, Shenzhen had swallowed him.
Character Creation
The Silver Surfer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character also appears in a number of movies, television, and video game adaptations. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in the comic book Fantastic Four #48, published in 1966.
The Silver Surfer is a humanoid alien with metallic skin who can travel through space with the aid of his surfboard-like craft. Originally a young astronomer named Norrin Radd on the planet Zenn-La, he saved his homeworld from the planet devourer, Galactus, by serving as his herald. Imbued in return with some portion of Galactus' Power Cosmic, he acquired vast power, a new body and a surfboard-like craft on which he could travel faster than light.
Now known as the Silver Surfer, he roamed the cosmos searching for planets for Galactus to consume. When his travels took him to Earth, he met the Fantastic Four, who helped him rediscover his nobility of spirit. Betraying Galactus, he saved Earth but was exiled there as punishment. In the alternate continuity of Earth X and Universe X, Shalla-Bal, Norrin's lover and the empress of Zenn-La, is depicted as joining him as a second Silver Surfer, both serving as the twin heralds of the second Galactus Franklin Richards.
In 2011, IGN ranked the Silver Surfer 41st in its "Top 100 Comic Heroes" list. The Silver Surfer was portrayed by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne in the 2007 film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
Jack Kirby commented on the character's creation during an interview stating "My conception of the Silver Surfer was a human being from space in that particular form. He came in when everybody began surfing — I read about it in the paper. The kids in California were beginning to surf. I couldn't do an ordinary teenager surfing so I drew a surfboard with a man from outer space on it."
The Silver Surfer debuted as an unplanned addition to the superhero-team comic Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966). The comic's writer-editor, Stan Lee, and its penciller and co-plotter, Jack Kirby, had, by the mid-1960s, developed a collaborative technique known as the "Marvel Method": the two would discuss story ideas, Kirby working from a brief synopsis to draw the individual scenes and plot details, with Lee finally adding the dialogue and captions. When Kirby turned in his pencil art for the story, he included a new character he and Lee had not discussed.
As Lee recalled in 1995, "There, in the middle of the story we had so carefully worked out, was a nut on some sort of flying surfboard". He later expanded on this, recalling, "I thought, 'Jack, this time you've gone too far'". Kirby explained that the story's agreed-upon antagonist, a god-like cosmic predator of planets named Galactus, should have some sort of herald, and that he created the surfboard "because I'm tired of drawing spaceships!" Taken by the noble features of the new character, who turned on his master to help defend Earth, Lee overcame his initial skepticism and began adding characterization. The Silver Surfer soon became a key part of the unfolding story.
Following the Surfer's debut, Lee and Kirby brought him back as a recurring guest in Fantastic Four #55–61, 72, and 74–77 (ranging Oct. 1966 – Aug. 1968). The character made his solo debut in the backup story of Fantastic Four Annual #5 (Nov. 1967).
Beginning in August 1968, Lee launched the solo title The Silver Surfer. John Buscema was penciller for the first 17 issues of the series, with Kirby returning for the 18th and final issue. The first seven issues, which included anthological "Tales of the Watcher" backup stories, were 72-page (with advertising), 25-cent "giants", as opposed to the typical 36-page, 12-cent comics of the time. Thematically, the stories dealt with the Surfer's exile on Earth and the inhumanity of man as observed by this noble yet fallen hero. Though short-lived, the series became known as one of Lee's most thoughtful and introspective works.
Following his series' cancellation, the Surfer made sporadic appearances as a guest star or antagonist in such comic books as Thor, The Defenders, and Fantastic Four. Lee remained partial to the Surfer, even asking other writers not to use him as a general rule, and with Kirby collaborated on a seminal 1978 graphic novel starring the character, the only original story featured in the Marvel Fireside Books series.
After a 1982 one-shot by writer-artist John Byrne (with scripting by Stan Lee), the Surfer appeared in his second solo ongoing title in 1987.
Initially written by Steve Englehart, the series was to be set on Earth and one issue was completed under this premise before Marvel agreed to let Englehart remove the long-standing restriction regarding Silver Surfer being imprisoned on Earth. This first issue was shelved and a brand new first issue was written, to set up this plot twist; the original first issue would ultimately be reprinted in Marvel Fanfare #51. The series marked the first Silver Surfer stories not written by Stan Lee, a fact which Lee was openly unhappy about. He explained:
"After I gave up Spider-Man then someone else did Spider-Man, and someone else did the Fantastic Four and Doctor Strange and the X-Men and all of them. I felt that it was kind of nice for me to have been the only writer of the Silver Surfer, so I felt a little bit disappointed when somebody else did it. I would have liked to have been the only person. Had I known they were absolutely going to have the book done, I would have found the time to do it myself. I didn't really have time but I would have made the time, rather than have anybody else do it. ... this is not at all a criticism of Steve [Englehart] or of Marshall [Rogers, artist on the series], it's just that it's one book that I would have liked to have always done myself."
Englehart introduced many villains for Silver Surfer, as well as featured space politics involving Surfer's homeworld Zenn-La, which was caught in the middle of a renewed Kree–Skrull War. However, issues regarding Englehart wanting to use his Avengers character Mantis as Silver Surfer's companion, as well as editorial refusing to let him use Thanos or other concepts conceived by Jim Starlin, led Englehart to leave the book with issue #31. Starlin took over as writer with issue #34 after several fill-in issues, and incorporated Thanos, Adam Warlock, and Drax the Destroyer into the series.
Under Jim Starlin and later Ron Marz, the series would receive acclaim and sales boost due to Silver Surfer's involvement with Starlin's Infinity Trilogy, with George Pérez and J. M. DeMatteis also having brief writing stints on the series as well. Additional artists included Tom Grindberg, Ron Garney, and Jon J. Muth, as well as periodic guest spots by John Buscema. The title experienced great initial success which allowed Marvel to push the character into other media, including a 1990 video game, 1992 trading card set, and 1998 animated series, as well as spinning off a variety of other comics series including Cosmic Powers, Cosmic Powers Unlimited, Captain Marvel vol. 2, and Star Masters. It ran 146 issues, through 1998. The next year it was followed by the two-issue miniseries, Silver Surfer: Loftier Than Mortals.
A two-issue Silver Surfer miniseries (later collected as Silver Surfer: Parable), scripted by Lee and drawn by Moebius, was published through Marvel's Epic Comics imprint in 1988 and 1989. Because of inconsistencies with other stories, it has been argued that these stories actually feature an alternate Silver Surfer from a parallel Earth. This miniseries won the Eisner Award for best finite/limited series in 1989.
A new ongoing Silver Surfer series began in 2003, focusing on the character's alien nature and messianic allegory. It lasted 14 issues. The Surfer later appeared in an issue of Cable & Deadpool and has been reunited three times with the superhero group the Defenders. In 2006–2007, he starred in the four-issue miniseries Annihilation: Silver Surfer and co-starred in the miniseries Heralds of Galactus, both part of the Annihilation fictional crossover.
In 2007, the Silver Surfer starred in a four-issue miniseries Silver Surfer: Requiem by writer J. Michael Straczynski and artist Esad Ribic. The first issue was released May 30, 2007 to coincide with the character's first movie appearance. Published under the Marvel Knights imprint, Silver Surfer: Requiem portrays the character upon learning that he is dying as the silver shell he is encased in is deteriorating.
This was followed by the four-issue miniseries Silver Surfer: In Thy Name, by writer Simon Spurrier and artist Tan Eng Huat.
After an appearance in the "Planet Hulk" storyline in 2006, the Surfer was featured in its spin-off series starring the Hulk's son Skaar in 2008, both written by Greg Pak.
The Silver Surfer received a sixth volume, an eponymous 5-issue miniseries written by Pak, debuting in February 2011. He was also a core cast member in The Thanos Imperative (2010), Annihilators (2011), and Fear Itself: The Deep (2011). Beginning in 2011, the Silver Surfer began appearing regularly in The Mighty Thor and a new volume of Defenders, both written by Matt Fraction.
In March 2014, Silver Surfer volume 7 began as part of All-New Marvel NOW! by writer Dan Slott, artist Mike Allred, and colorist Laura Allred. In January 2016 Silver Surfer volume 8 began with a special 50th-anniversary edition expected release in March 2016.
In 2019, a 5-part mini-series titled Silver Surfer: Black was released featuring art from Tradd Moore in collaboration with writing from Donny Cates. The series is an extension of a Guardians of the Galaxy storyline in which the Surfer was sucked into a black hole and ejected into unfamiliar space territory. This run follows the Surfer as he traverses the spaceways on a journey back home.
Silver Surfer later plays an important role in King in Black storyline. With the help from Hugin and Munin, Surfer helps Enigma Force to enter Earth and chose Eddie Brock/Venom as a temporary Captain Universe, to aid his fellow heroes against Knull and his army.
Fictional Character History
Norrin Radd lived on the peaceful planet Zenn-La (Deneb System, Milky Way Galaxy). The Zenn-Lavians effectively eliminated the plagues commonly associated with human life on Earth, such as hunger, disease, crime, and war. The result of their quest for advancement and scientific discovery, in effect, created a Utopian society. Norrin's parents were Jartran and Elmar Radd. Jartran was a scientist, and Norrin followed in his footsteps, constantly studying. Unable to cope with what Zenn-La had become (a society that had devolved into hedonism and, in essence, become directionless), Norrin's mother Elmar committed suicide when he was very young. Norrin always blamed himself for this.
After his mother's passing, Norrin was nurtured by his father to become a great man. When Norrin entered manhood, his father was implicated in the theft of ideas belonging to another scientist. When Norrin confronted his father, he admitted negligence. Disgusted by his father's actions, Norrin completely withdrew from him. Depressed by his indiscretion made public and the apparent lack of support from his son, Jartran committed suicide.
Much like his mother and father, Norrin also dreamed of a society that had more substance. He believed that no goals were left to be achieved on Zenn-La. He was filled with discontent and often went to the museum to watch holograms of Zenn-La's past that revolved around their wars and space travel. This often troubled his girlfriend, Shalla-Bal. She believed they had all they could ever want together, but Norrin always dreamed of more.
One day, their peaceful existence was threatened by the presence of Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, who subsists on the energies provided by entire planets. The Council of Scientists let Norrin use a spaceship to approach Galactus and plead on behalf of the planet. Seeing the hopeless situation of his home planet, Norrin Radd volunteered servitude to the Devourer of Worlds in order to spare Zenn-La from obliteration. Galactus accepted. Given a fraction of the Power Cosmic, and shaped by fantasies Norrin Radd entertained as a child, Galactus transformed Norrin Radd into the Silver Surfer. The Silver Surfer's main task was to find planets with the energy to satisfy Galactus's hunger.
Over time it became more difficult to find planets without life on them. Knowing Norrin Radd would resist taking a life, Galactus deliberately altered Norrin's mind to repress his moral compass, allowing Norrin Radd to more efficiently carry out the grim task of finding suitable planets to feed upon.
A decidedly introspective character plagued by the sins of his past, Norrin Radd forever seeks redemption, endeavoring to carry out justice throughout the universe.
The Silver Surfer’s introduction begins with the Surfer bringing Galactus to Earth. In turn, Galactus was confronted by the Fantastic Four. Ben Grimm’s girlfriend, the blind sculptress Alicia Masters, managed to reach Norrin Radd’s more human side, ultimately awakening his conscience that Galactus managed to suppress for many years. The Surfer turned on his master much to Galactus' surprise. The Surfer was easily dispatched by Galactus and Reed Richards ultimately managed to repel Galactus with the Ultimate Nullifier.
In reprisal for the Silver Surfer’s rebellious actions, Galactus created an energy barrier that would prevent the Silver Surfer from leaving Earth. No longer will he venture into space or be a witness to the universe's far-reaching wonders, his heart’s desire since he was a small child.
Trapped on Earth
The Surfer’s earliest contact with humanity was routinely met with fear. Entire countries reacted aggressively when the Surfer simply flew overhead, firing weapons of mass destruction at him. It seemed the Surfer would lead a life fraught with fear and rejection from Earth no matter what the circumstances. Occasionally, when he tried to help certain individuals on Earth, this too resulted in mistrust and fear. One of his worst experiences came from trying to assist Doctor Doom who tricked the Surfer and stole his cosmic powers. After his powers were returned, he had a hard time trusting any humans. He seemed a lost soul. Although they were ungrateful, the Surfer continued to protect humanity from great threats, all the while contemplating their savage and strange behavior.
Eventually, the Silver Surfer became a hero on Earth and began to rediscover his own very human feelings, thanks in large part to blind sculptress Alicia Masters. He fought alongside many of Earth's heroes and joined the superhero group, the Defenders. He even began to trust again and eventually formed friendships with some of earth’s heroes he worked alongside, specifically Doctor Strange. But this was only temporary - the Silver Surfer was not meant to be confined to such a small space.
But the Surfer longed to be free of his prison, to soar infinite space as he was meant to. The Surfer made repeated attempts to escape the impenetrable barrier Galactus placed around the planet. He once traveled through time to try to escape the insanity of Earth and did so successfully, only to find himself in a future where all civilizations had been destroyed. Faced with choices of being free in a dystopic, future Earth society or returning to Earth to live among a group of people who hated him, he chose the latter. He attempted to escape with the help of physicist Al Harper, but this failed as well. He was allowed to leave the barrier by Mephisto, only to find that Mephisto had kidnapped his love Shalla Bal therefore compelling his return to Earth once again to find her, while Mephisto reveled in his frustration.
Years later, with the help of Reed Richards, he successfully escaped. His first action was to go home, to Zenn-La. When he arrived, he found the paradise of Zenn-La destroyed and the residents claiming it to be the Surfer's fault. Galactus had returned and consumed the energies after the Surfer betrayed him. When he tried to find Shalla Bal, he learned she was kidnapped by Mephisto once again. In order to save Shalla Bal he returned to Earth, only to become trapped there once again. This would not be the last time Mephisto attempted to use Shalla Bal against the Surfer and he next tried to get the Surfer to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D., but eventually failed once again.
Free at Last
With the Fantastic Four's help, he was able to escape the barrier. The Silver Surfer made peace with Galactus when he saved his current herald, Frankie Raye, from the Skrulls. Galactus lifted the barrier and the Surfer was free to roam the spaceways once again, something he had long yearned for since his confinement. He wished to never return to Earth, the home of his imprisonment, ever again.
Once the barrier was lifted, the Surfer immediately thought of Zenn-La and his love Shalla Bal. He returned to find that after breaking his promise to Galactus to serve him, Galactus had returned to Zenn-La and consumed its energy. But the residents managed to escape his wrath and rebuild, with the help of Shalla Bal and the Power Cosmic he had granted her when Mephisto brought her to Earth to torment the Surfer. He proposed to Shalla Bal, now the Empress of Zenn-La, but she declined. With no place to truly call home, the Surfer returned to space.
Surfer then was attacked by the Elders of the Universe. With the help of Mantis, he learned of their plot to kill Galactus and destroy reality. Together, the already powerful beings had gathered the Infinity Gems. He managed to stop their plot with the help of Mantis and Frankie Raye. Eternity admitted to Galactus that if not for the Surfer's help, the universe may have been destroyed. But this turned out to not be the end of the Elders' threat to Galactus, as Death would not allow the Elders Galactus consumed to die. This meant that they survived inside Galactus making him very ill. With the help of Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman, they traveled to the Magick Realm to retrieve the Infinity Gems. In-Betweener interfered and traveled back to Galactus to kill him. Instead, he sent Galactus back to Magick Realm. Silver Surfer appealed to Chaos and Master Order of what the In-Betweener had done and they freed the Elders from a very angry Galactus.
Alignment with the Skrulls
The Surfer soon found himself in the middle of the Second Kree/Skrull War. At first, he remained neutral but through a Skrull trick, he ended up joining their side. He had helped the Super Skrull to escape the Eternals and helped to restore the Skrulls shape-shifting powers. The Kree knew of the trickery, but could not simply forgive the Surfer and made him their enemy. He was uneasy with his alliance when Reptyl joined their side and the Super Skrull was killed. Empress S'byll proved to not be as treacherous as most Skrulls after all and she and the Surfer attacked Hala themselves and defeated Nenora, the Supreme Leader. A truce was made between the races and the Surfer again soared the universe alone.
First Meeting with Thanos
The Surfer then met his next threat and one of his worse enemies, Thanos. Thanos was resurrected to kill half of the universe. He proved to be a very powerful and intelligent being. He faked his death so that the Surfer would not meddle in his affairs while he sought out the Infinity Gems. Thanos has the Surfer imprisoned on Dynamo City to further preoccupy him. After his escape, he met up with Thanos who had the Infinity Gauntlet. He stole the Surfer's soul and kept it in the Soul Gem. He meets Adam Warlock in the Soul World and, with his help, is able to free himself.
Infinity Gauntlet
With Thanos now in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet, he thought himself a god. To please Death, he instantly wiped out half of all life in the universe. The Surfer traveled to Earth to gain the help of any hero he could find. He was able to gather the help of Doctor Strange, the Avengers and some of Earth's mightiest heroes. Adam Warlock exited the Soul World and was best suited to lead the heroes against this growing threat.
The Surfer had a special part in Warlock's plans. While Thanos was distracted by Earth's heroes and the gathered cosmic deities, the Surfer was to take the Gauntlet from Thanos. When the time came, he was noticed and failed to capture the gems from Thanos. After the gauntlet is taken by Nebula, the heroes need Thanos' help to get it from her. The Surfer will not accept this and attacks Thanos. Doctor Strange makes a dimension for them to fight in to settle it with each other. They battle medieval style with limited powers and the Surfer emerges victorious but refuses to kill Thanos. When he turns his back, Thanos attacks him and the Surfer yields. The heroes eventually gained control over the gauntlet and it went to Adam Warlock.
During the Infinity Gauntlet, the Surfer faces many trials and tests. In the realm of perception the Surfer was able to destroy the demons of guilt, denial and doubt he harbored throughout his lifetime. He was able to get forgiveness for his past associations with family and love. He was also able to forgive himself. The only ones to not forgive the Surfer are the millions he brought death to as Galactus' herald. The guilt for this was something the Surfer never knew since Galactus had blocked that in his mind. He had Galactus turn the guilt in his brain back on and the Surfer could almost not bear it. He overcame this. In another reality he was able to defeat the Shadow Surfer, the dark side of himself, to finally become whole.
Infinity War
When the Silver Surfer learned Galactus had traveled back to Earth he was instantly concerned. He met Galactus who was seemingly abducting Doctor Strange. He tried to stop him and Galactus pitted Nova against him. Doctor Strange stopped their battle and told the Surfer he was willing to help Galactus and that the Surfer should help as well. They were able to trace the source of energy fluctuations that Galactus was concerned about and traveled toward their origin. This is the beginning of the Infinity War.
The Surfer and Nova succeeded in protecting the ship. After this, the Surfer played a little part in defeating the Magus and fought with Earth's heroes against their evil counterparts, the doppelgangers. Magus was eventually defeated by Adam Warlock with the brilliant planning of Thanos.
The Silver Surfer learned of Galactus' dismissal of Nova in a harsh way - by being attacked by his new herald Morg. Morg soundly defeated the Surfer and left him unconscious. The Surfer knew this new herald to be unworthy of the Power Cosmic but was unable to face him alone. In addition, Galactus blocked his energy from all former heralds, making him nearly impossible to find.
Surfer gained the assistance of Firelord despite their previous differences. Together they found Nova and resurrected Air-Walker. They all gained the cooperation of Terrax also, after battling him. Together all the former heralds of Galactus came upon Morg. Terrax realized instantly that they together were still no match for Morg, who had recently augmented his powers further through a mystical well. He suggested the Surfer speak to Galactus. The Surfer approached Galactus, but he would not listen and became frustrated with the Surfer's constant meddling. Galactus and the Surfer fought and naturally Galactus emerged the victor. The Surfer was able to finally reach Galactus by telling him that although he could kill him and all his former heralds, someone will replace them to fight the evil that is Morg. This would go on forever. Galactus agreed to remove Morg's cosmic powers.
The Surfer arrived back on the battlefield to find nearly all the heralds downed by Morg's might. Nova managed to seemingly kill Morg, but it was all a sham and Morg attacked her when she turned her back. Nova died in the Surfer's arms. The Surfer was furious but before he could get to Morg they were stopped by Galactus. He removed Morg's Power Cosmic, but he still remained a powerful enemy. The heralds fought him and the Surfer still refused to help kill him, not wanting to sink to Morg's level. The Surfer tried to stop him, but Terrax kills Morg. At a loss, the Surfer said a few words and sent Nova's body into a nearby sun. He regretted that he would never see her again.
While the Surfer searches for Terrax, he comes across Ganymede, who believes him to be one of Tyrant's servants. After a brief battle, the Surfer convinces her that he knows nothing of this one called Tyrant. She tells the Surfer of Tyrant's threat to the universe. Fortunately, the trail the Surfer was following to Terrax also seems to be leading to Tyrant.
Upon arrival at Tyrant's Fortress, they are attacked by Tyrant's robotic guards, which the Surfer easily dispatches. But Tyrant has plans for them and appears and easily defeats them both. When the Surfer awakens he is attached to an energy-draining device along with Ganymede, Gladiator, Beta Ray Bill, Terrax, and to his surprise, Morg. Tyrant is siphoning their energy for himself and to power his colossal ship.
The next victim of Tyrant is brought in to be attached to the machine, the Surfer's friend the Jack of Hearts. Rather than be captured, Jack releases the energy in his armor and is able to free Tyrant's prisoners. They engage Tyrant, with the exception of Morg and Terrax, who fight each other. Even their combined might is not enough to stop Tyrant, who only stops the battle upon the arrival of Galactus. Galactus allows Tyrant to keep Morg in exchange for the release of the others. The Surfer asks why he would deal so lightly with Tyrant, but Galactus replies he will deal with him at a time of his choosing. The Surfer then takes the others to safety.
Infinity Crusade
When the Goddess uses the power of 30 cosmic cubes, she gains control of some heroes susceptible to her message. This begins the Infinity Crusade. She manages to brainwash the Surfer into becoming one of her Holy Guard to help create a universe without evil. At first. he is a faithful follower until she asks him to begin an attack on the remaining heroes of Earth. He refuses to fight his friends and breaks her control over him. This causes his companion and fellow member of the guard Firelord to turn on him. The Surfer does not wish to harm Firelord but he does what he must to stop the Goddess and her plot.
On his way to warn the heroes, he is brought by Thanos to his ship. He agrees to aide Thanos, as the Surfer is instrumental to Warlock and Thanos' plan. He is to be a diversion for the attack on Goddess' planet Paradise Omega. He attempts a dangerous mission to absorb more energy than he ever has from the Sun, becoming a living bomb. Absorbing all this power made him lose his mind and Drax helped to guide him to the moon. He is able to destroy the moon of Paradise Omega and cause the distraction.
The Surfer survived the blast and fell to the planets surface unconscious. He awoke being attacked by Holy Guard members Storm and Wonder Man. Once his power returned he defeated them and tried to get them to realize they followed a madwoman. They remained faithful to the Goddess, but left the Surfer without any further confrontation after he healed Wonder Man's injuries. After the defeat of the Goddess, the Surfer is relieved by her plans being foiled, but at the same time remorseful of the return of evil and violence into the universe.
Blood and Thunder
After having met Beta Ray Bill while they were both held captive by Tyrant, the Surfer flew to find him and help aid him against a crazed Thor. He found Bill beaten by Thor and stopped him from killing him. The Surfer then took on the Thunder God and fought a hard battle, but was defeated. Adam Warlock then intervened and saved the Surfer. Together they assaulted Thor, but to no avail. The Surfer and Warlock were nearly killed. Luckily, Warlock showed the ability to control the Surfer's board since they had shared each others souls during the Infinity Gauntlet.
They sought the aid of Dr. Strange and together they all tried to stop Thor from destroying Asgard. They eventually sought the assistance of Thanos, who helped fight Thor while the Surfer fought the Dark Valkyrie. The Surfer defeated her and Thanos was able to trap Thor in an energy field. With the help of Doctor Strange and the Infinity Watch, they were able to stop Thor's madness.
Down to Earth
The Silver Surfer once again returned to Earth to go to Rick Jones' wedding. He went to inform the Fantastic Four of Nova's death. After a scuffle with the Human Torch, he agreed to help the Four find a seismic anomaly deep in the Earth. Through the caverns under Monster Island they discovered the source, that seemed to lead them right where it wanted them. Deep in the Earth, they find Nova, alive and well. Back at Four Freedoms Plaza, tests confirm that it is indeed his former love. They leave to soar the stars together.
Nova leads the Surfer to many places. They discover a hidden treasure of myth together and Nova tries to convince him to accept their riches. He turns the treasure into sand when Terrax tries to take it from them. Nova then tries to convince the Surfer to take the Champion's mystical wristlets to increase his power, but instead he destroys them. When Nova is kidnapped by some slave traders, the Surfer acts to save her and finally realize his love for her. When he pledges to her to be with her, Nova changes into her true form- Mephisto. Again he uses love to try to defeat the Surfer and is now in possession of the Surfer's soul.
He brings the Surfer to Hell and tells him to make himself comfortable. The Surfer still has hope and tries to fight for his freedom. He is shown that his parents souls are in the possession of Mephisto, which pushes him over the top. He does something he pledged never to do and kills Mephisto. He releases his parents souls, but again finds himself alone. Mephisto, living and well, is greatly satisfied over the outcome of his manipulations.
The Curse of the Power Cosmic
After the events with Mephisto, the Surfer returned to Zenn-la for the only comfort in his life, Shalla Bal. But to his surprise she had found a new lover, the Surfer's half-brother Fennan Radd. He soon realized that his great cosmic power has only brought him sorrow and met with Galactus. He asked Galactus to remove his power, but Galactus refused, telling him he is important to the universe. The Surfer sought out other means to have his power removed.
In space he comes across a planet that he once helped to destroy. He becomes suicidal, planning to use every last ounce of his Power Cosmic to destroy the world and it's memory. He soon decides it would be better to go out using his powers for good and travels to the planet Lathkolas, which has advanced technologically and in the process destroyed it's own ecology. He uses his Power Cosmic to grow life on the planet as he did on Zenn-La. But he loses control of his power and advances the planet billions of years in a matter of moments. In the end, the planet and all life on it is dead. This is more than the Surfer can handle and he losses control of his emotions.
He begins to fight violence with violence, in the process severely beating the Super Skrull. He finally comes to his senses and travels to a planet called Tanus, that is in total anarchy, and tries to help them. Soon, a ship from Earth arrives and inside of it Doctor Doom. He makes a deal with the Surfer to take the suffering away from these people in exchange for his Power Cosmic. The Surfer agrees and Doom's machines are able to siphon all his energies, leaving him still silver, but mortal. Doom then destroys the planet, claiming the people no longer suffer. The Surfer is now powerless and is taken captive.
It is revealed that this is not Doctor Doom himself, but one of his Doombots that set out to get the Surfer's power right after Doom had lost the Power Cosmic the first time. The robot now plans to kill his master and the Fantastic Four, but first he plans to kill the Surfer, ejecting him into space. Legacy arrives on the scene and uses every ounce of his power to revive the Surfer. Upon his revival his powers are restored and he chases after the Doombot, siphoning his power back from it and destroying it.
Immediately after this, the Surfer senses his former master is in danger. He leaves Legacy behind to go to Galactus' aide. He arrives to Galactus' ship to find that Galactus and Tyrant are having their long-awaited battle. Morg has found the Ultimate Nullifier, which he is using to torture Tyrant. But the Nullifier is about to have it's energy unleashed. Galactus tells the Surfer to leave the ship before he is destroyed. The Surfer does not wish for his former master to be destroyed, but Galactus insists. The Surfer barely escapes before Galactus' ship is destroyed along with Galactus and all aboard.
The Star Masters
Upon hearing the intergalactic transmission that Quasar is responsible for the deaths of hundreds in a peaceful organization known as the Charter, he goes to investigate. He finds Beta Ray Bill and together they seek out Quasar. Once found, the Surfer can instantly tell that Quasar speaks the truth and did not commit this heinous crime. Together they become the Star Masters to find the true culprit.
They soon find they have two problems: the Charter's Cosmic Commandos are after Quasar and a massive asteroid is about to collide with Earth. With the Commandos being no match for the Surfer, he is able to concentrate on the asteroid. With his knowledge of the barrier Galactus erected to imprison him there, he is able to use it to destroy the asteroid. But inside lies a tiny black hole that would also destroy Earth. It is stopped by Beta Ray when he transports it out of Earth's path.
Two of the Commandos, Morfex and Xenith, soon ally themselves with the Surfer and the Star Masters and they continue their search for the one responsible for the deaths and the attack on Earth. When they enter the Charter's ship, known as the Hub, they are ambushed and captured. They are thrown in the Cauldron of Conversion to die, but Quasar is able to protect them.
After their escape, the Surfer goes to find Beta Ray Bill, who disappeared after being thrown in the Cauldron. He goes to Asgard to find Bill dead. With Odin's help, the Surfer is able to resurrect Bill, but with part of his Power Cosmic. They return to the others where Bill is able to communicate with the contents of the Cauldron. It is a sentient virus that will destroy any race that has become a part of it.
Through this they learn the truth and the one behind the plot is the Axi-Tun leader Lord Votan. After Quasar is cleared of his charges, they travel to Tun to detain Votan. But he is not going down without a fight, and uses his power to sap their wills and capture them. Tana Nile uses her powers to transfer the remaining will power of the Surfer and the others to Quasar, who is able to escape. Together they are able to defeat Votan.
Planet Hulk
The Surfer was next controlled for fighting in the Red King's arena on Sakaar against the Hulk (who was sent out in space by the Illuminati). The Hulk, recognizing that the Surfer was his friend, destroyed the obedience disc that controlled him. The Silver Surfer was free and used his power cosmic to destroy the other alien gladiator's obedience disc to escape the arena.
When Norrin offered The Hulk to take him back to earth, he declined because he wanted to liberate Sakaar from the Red King's tyranny. The Surfer sensing the destruction of Xandar assisted in relief efforts of nearby planets until summoned by his former master, Galactus.
Annihilation
During the events of Annihilation, the Silver Surfer became aware of the invasion of his universe after the destruction of Xandar. He was able to save Air-Walker from the Seekers, who were trying to capture all of Galactus' Heralds for their leader Annihilus. He met up with Firelord and Red Shift but they were soon met by Stardust. Galactus had summoned the Surfer. He left to speak with his former master.
Galactus told his former Herald of the recent freeing of Aegis and Tenebrous from Kyln, two of his adversaries from early in universal history. Galactus asked Surfer to stand with him as his Herald once more. The Surfer accepted and his power increased and augmented, he was quickly tested by Ravenous, agent of Annihilus. The Surfer dispatched him easily.
Shortly thereafter Tenebrous and Aegis ambushed Galactus and his herald, striking them both down. The Annihilation Wave arrived and picked up the pieces, taking both Galactus and the Silver Surfer prisoner. Silver Surfer was held in a stasis sphere while the Power Cosmic was drained from both him and his master through technology given to Annihilus by Thanos.
After killing Thanos, Drax realized that he had no one to unlock the machine that kept Galactus captive because Thanos had set the power levels on the machine to his own level so that no one could unlock it. He than discovered the Silver Surfer was also being held in stasis. He freed the Silver Surfer while hoping that the Surfer still had enough power left to outmatch Thanos' power level that was set on the machine. The Silver Surfer was severely weak at the time but he still succeeded in overpowering the machine (this may be due to his latest power increase Given to him by Galactus), this was a great accomplishment for the Silver Surfer. Galactus than decimated the Annihilation Wave.
After this the Surfer went to Aegis and Tenebrous in an attempt to hold them at the Crunch until Galactus arrived. He was no match for them and they quickly brought him to near death. In a risky maneuver, he surfed the energies of the Crunch and was able to kill Aegis and Tenebrous with it. Nearly dead, Galactus healed the Surfer, amazed that the Surfer could accomplish such as task. The Silver Surfer continues to serve as Galactus' Herald alongside Stardust.
The New Fantastic Four
When Stardust found an energy source to fulfill their masters hunger, the Silver Surfer used his great tracking abilities to locate the source, who was hiding it from them. The source turned out to be Epoch, the protector of cosmic awareness. But there was a problem, the Fantastic Four needed Epoch, who they believed had stolen the body of their friend, Gravity.
At first, the Surfer was not interested in what they had to say, but after a brief battle with the Black Panther, who had temporarily taken Mr. Fantastic's spot on the roster, he decided to listen. He offered them time to retrieve their friend, but Epoch was to be fed to his master. After speaking with the Thing, the Surfer explained that he had come to the realization that Galactus is beyond good and evil and the Surfer planned to do anything necessary to feed his master.
It turned out that Epoch had taken Gravity in order to resurrect him as Protector of the Universe. But Gravity would not allow Epoch to be consumed and neither would the Fantastic Four. When Black Panther arrived back to the battle, he was equipped with a device similar to Doctor Doom's that siphoned the Surfer's Power Cosmic. His hand to hand abilities were no contest for the Black Panther and he was defeated.
With the heralds of Galactus beaten, they still had no hope of defeating Galactus. Instead, Gravity used all the power Epoch gave him to feed Galactus, who restored the Surfer's power and agreed to spare Epoch.
His tracking abilities were needed once again, this time by the Fantastic Four that just battled with him. They needed him to follow the trail of the contrasepsis, the creatures that fix repairs in reality. The trail lead to Eternity's plane of existence where they found the problem and what was causing Eternity's death and the abundance of contrasepsis. The Surfer helped fight the endless hordes while Doctor Strange preformed surgery on Eternity to save him.
Fall of Orbucen
After two stars suddenly went out without notice, the people of Orbucen realized the sign of fate: Galactus was drawing near their planet. Their worst fears materialized as the Silver Surfer arrived at the planet, scouting it for his master’s needs, not long afterward. Five days after the extinguishing of the two starts, Galactus arrived in Orbucen and begun setting up his equipment.
Once Richard Rider, a.k.a. Nova answering to Orbucen’s distress call arrived there, Galactus’ siphons had already penetrated the planet’s crust, a fore sign that the planet’s end drew nearer with each passing moment. In an attempt to help the people of Orbucen in every way possible, Nova assisted in the evacuation of the planet and the embarking of the population in arks, all the while stumbling upon Harrow, the shadow that life casts, a mysterious parasitic organism that filled its hosts with homicidal tendencies.
After containing Harrow, Nova was informed that the moment Galactus’ feeding process begun, an electromagnetic disruption reached critical level, simultaneously causing a malfunction in all the arks that would drive Orbucen’s people to safety. Knowing there was no time to repair it, Nova set course to persuade Galactus to refrain from consuming the planet, for a few hours, at least.
Galactus did not even notice Nova’s pleading, but the same could not be said for the Silver Surfer, who almost immediately grabbed Nova by the neck, and their battle commenced. At first, due to the Surfer’s swift attack, Nova was unaware of what hit him, but he soon regained composure and tried to reason with him; the Surfer however, showed no intention of stopping. After a relatively short fight in which Nova found himself outclassed, the duo finally landed on Orbucen again, at which point, the Surfer gave his reasoning: he did not wish his master to see him fraternizing with “lower” life forms, and took the fight away in order to speak to Nova, freely.
Expressing his respect for him, the Surfer advised Richard to leave the planet. Nova explained the situation with the malfunctioning arks to the Surfer, who simply locked the drive tech and made the ships operational again by merely blinking, much to Nova’s astonishment. The Surfer then once again advised Nova to drive the arks to safety and then abandon the planet, for his own good.
Later on, after realising Harrow had escaped and went on yet another killing spree, Nova wasted precious time attempting to stop him, and as a result the electromagnetic disruption from Galactus’ instruments became too intense for him to open a stargate, and escape. In an act of despair, Nova rushed into Galactus’ vessel from within the energy siphons. Inside the vessel, he detected once again , and located his physical body for the first time in a floorboard. After a short fight, the Surfer appeared, freed Nova from Harrow’s clutches, and revealed Harrow’s presence to Galactus’ who in return disintegrated Harrow, as a punishment. Galactus spared Nova, by teleporting him and the Surfer five light-years away from Orbucen. The Surfer bid Nova goodbye, but also advised him to refrain from crossing paths with him, or Galactus in the future, before returning to his master once again.
Godhunter
After the consummation of his home planet by Galactus, and the death of his people, Beta Ray Bill decided to pursue the Great Devourer, and put up a complex scheme in order to defeat him: seeing that his power was lilliputian in comparison to Galactus’ might, the cunning Bill decided to attempt and destroy the planets Galactus chose for consumption, in order to eventually starve him. That lead to an inevitable conflict, at first with Stardust, and, eventually with the Silver Surfer himself, whom Galactus dispatched to take care of Bill’s nuisance, after Bill destroyed a planet named I’Than IX.
The Surfer pursued Bill’s ship, Skuttlebutt, all the while trying to reason with Bill. Bill, finally emerging from his ship, refused to hear to the Surfer’s pleadings, and attacked him, hammering him away. The Surfer swiftly recuperated, using his trusted board in order to stun Bill, and then quickly managed to overwhelm Bill in hand to hand combat, while expressing his sadness for having to fight his old friend and comrade.
After persuading Bill to submit, the Surfer tried, once again, to reason with him, and explain that while he could understand Bill’s loss concerning Corbin, Galactus was a force of nature. Skuttlebutt subtly following their exchange from afar, took advantage of the Surfer’s hesitation during his conversation with Bill in order to strike and enable Bill to run away.
Later on, Bill crossed paths with the Surfer again, in an unexplored planet, while Bill was trying to locate Galactus once again. Bill’s initial strike was repelled by the Surfer, who, this time, refused to do more than simply speak. Hesitantly, Bill accepted to listen to him. Expanding on their earlier conversation, the Surfer outlined the events that occurred during Annihilation, and how Galactus’ power was so diminished, that it would not be long before his life would end, taking the sheer number of his pursuers into account. The Surfer also revealed that if Galactus’ existence where to end, all the life within forty-two light-years would cease to exist. Bill reluctantly accepted to permit Galactus to feed in order to sustain himself. It was at that time that the people of I’Than and their assembled fleet attacked the weakened Galactus, Surfer and Stardust, and were near-victory until Bill himself intervened and helped the Devourer complete his sustaining process revitalize himself and destroy the opposing fleet. After the event, Galactus and Bill came to a mutual understanding, and Galactus dispatched both his heralds to find him new planets to feed upon, once again.
Return of the Silver Savage
Upon learning of the Old Power of Sakaar, the Surfer travels to the planet in order to warn the residents of Galactus' coming. If Galactus were to consume the planet, he may not need to feed for millennia and billions of lives will be spared. On the planet he finds Skaar, the son of Hulk, about to destroy the world. Skaar had obtained the Old Power for himself and saw that to save Sakaar, all life must be wiped out.
The Surfer stops him before he can do this, and with his Power Cosmic, returns the Old Power to the planet. But to do this, the Surfer used much of his power and Skaar is able to put an obedience disc on him. The Silver Savage is now a slave of Skaar, who rides with the Red King to destroy the forces of Axeman Bone. In the battle, the Surfer still worries for innocent lives and tries to persuade Skaar to help save them, but Skaar is only interested in killing Axeman. Only then does Caiera come from the Old Power and try to stop Skaar's destructive path. She gains control over the Surfer's obedience disc and has him show Skaar what it is to be a god.
The Surfer fuses himself with Skaar and brings him to Galactus. Skaar, acting as herald, tries to stop Galactus from consuming Sakaar, only to watch in horror as Galactus does so anyway. The Surfer then sends Skaar back to Sakaar, explaining that this is only a vision of things to come. But Skaar still refuses to evacuate. He planned to use the Old Power and force more than Galactus can handle into him, making Galactus hungrier than ever. Realizing that showing Skaar what will happen did not change Skaar, Caiera opens a portal and sends Skaar away from the planet. There will be no evacuation, and Galactus had arrived.
In her last moments, Caiera is able to get some of the ancient stone ships into the sky and save as many as she can. Galactus consumes Sakaar, his hunger absent and he falls into a deep sleep. But before Skaar goes through the portal, he shoots out a beam of the Old Power into Galactus as promised, waking him and making him crave the Old Power. The Surfer tries to calm Galactus, but with a gesture he sends the Surfer across the universe, having enough power to no longer need a herald. The Surfer begins to warn other worlds with the Old Power to prepare for the coming of Galactus.
The "Death" of Galactus
Galactus eventually released the Old Power from his being and the Silver Surfer once again returned to his side as herald. On Earth, the Surfer discovered something disturbing - the corpse of Galactus buried beneath the surface. He was immediately able to trace some possible suspects - Mr. Fantastic and the other members of the Fantastic Four. The Surfer informed his master and went to the Baxter Building to speak with Richards.
Mr. Fantastic revealed that the Galactus he buried was from the future and was killed by the New Defenders and brought back through time to create the Galactus Engine. Using Galactus' power to save the remaining inhabitants of their world, it caused Galactus' death. In order to prevent this future death, Galactus sent the Surfer to summon more involved as they planned to go to Nu-World and question those involved.
The Thanos Imperative
Sensing the coming danger to the universe, the Surfer preceded Galactus to an area known as the Fault, a massive fissure in space caused by the War of Kings. On the other side of the Fault was a twisted, undead universe known as the Cancerverse. With help from the Magus, the inhabitants began their invasion into the universe with their goal being to remove death from the universe and rewrite reality.
While Galactus, the Celestials and many other abstract cosmic beings lined the edge of the Fault, the Surfer teamed up with his old friend Quasar and Nova to help assist in the defense of the universe. But things were about to get much worse, as the Cancerverse had it's own version of the extremely powerful Galactus Engine.
While the abstracts continued their fight at the Fault, Nova recruited a party of the universe's heaviest hitters, including the Silver Surfer, to face the evil leader of the invasion - a corrupted version of Captain Mar-Vell, known as Lord Mar-Vell. Nova Prime and the Surfer, along with Ronan, Gladiator, Beta Ray Bill and Quasar rushed Mar-Vell's location. The Surfer showed his impressive powers by easily defeating two of the most powerful members of the Revengers at the same time - Iron Man and Thor. He faced Mar-Vell himself along with Nova, but Mar-Vell blasted a hole through Surfer's board and easily defeated Nova. Their battle was eventually cut short when Mar-Vell became aware of the Avatar of Death's location. As he departed, he created a massive explosion to destroy his enemies.
Quasar was able to protect the other heroes from their deaths and the Surfer returned with the others to continue the battle at the Fault. When Death returned to the Cancerverse, she destroyed it's inhabitants, causing the universe to collapse on itself, thus closing the Fault. The Surfer then attended a memorial service on Hala for those who were lost in the battle.
Chaos War
Again, the universe was in danger of complete obliteration. The evil god Mikaboshi planned to destroy all of reality by defeating and taking the power of all the gods and skyfathers of the universe. Hercules, recently resurrected, formed a new God Squad. Needing more power for their team, he used his new powers to summon Galactus and the Silver Surfer. The Surfer was enraged, as Galactus was just about to feed and now he was on Earth, a planet the Surfer has saved many times. Luckily, it seemed Galactus agreed to help with this great threat and remain with the team, which included Thor, Daimon Hellstrom, Sersi and others.
When they faced Mikaboshi, he's power proved to be far greater than anticipated. Even the gods he controlled shared in his great power, giving Zeus the ability to topple even the mighty Galactus. The God Squad was forced to retreat.
The Silver Surfer was among other members of the squad that were halted in their escape and trapped between realities. All that remained - including Hellstorm, Sersi, and Venus - were all in between mortal and god, which the Surfer deemed no coincidence. They ended up in Takamagahara, the land of the Japanese gods, where Mikaboshi had originally been trapped. They began to form a plan to trap him once again, but he sent his minions and opened the gate to his former prison, releasing the evil inside.
The team was nearly trapped in nothingness, but the Surfer resisted and helped the other members to resist as well. Again, their power was not enough and they were forced to retreat, the Panther God of Wakanda seemingly sacrificing himself to help them escape.
Back on Earth
After the events of Chaos war, Silver Surfer takes Galactus to Sol (our sun) to feed and rejuvenate, thus removing one billion years out of the sun's life span. He visits Earth and observes the usual chaos while contemplating his role in events passed and his inability to feel human emotions. Flying over Mexico, he witnesses a couple about to get shot down by military men for stealing money. He intervenes, subduing the men and healing the woman from the brink of death but is unable to save the man. The O.A.S first contact squad of the Mexican military are alerted of his presence and send Suzi Endo to initiate a diplomatic greeting. However, the High Evolutionary arrives and attacks the Surfer, leeching him of his precious Power Cosmic. Left powerless and fragile in his human state, the Surfer is taken into custody by the Mexican government and is put under the care of Suzi Endo. He awakens strapped to machines, nearly driving him mad as he is used to flying free amongst the stars, but Suzi creates a diversion and the Surfer escapes from his bonds.
They escape the facility on a land-skimmer and briefly share a kiss as Norrin remembers his usual emotions towards Shalla Bal given Endo's remarkable resemblance to her. They find the High Evolutionary who has taken one of Galactus' Star Spheres and has begun terraforming the desert into a lush jungle before they can enter it. They find themselves threatened by the ever-expanding jungle which threatens to kill those inside it. Norrin is reminded of his early days as the Silver Surfer and the way pre-sentient life on a planet seemed to bond to each other and gain sentience when faced with danger. He shares another kiss with Endo and tells her it is his job to stop the madness the High Evolutionary has started and his to do alone. She convinces him that she can help and arranges a diversion to get them on the ship. Once inside Endo tries to find a way to the High Evolutionary but is somehow imbued with the remaining portion of his power cosmic.
The High Evolutionary appears and tells Norrin how all his life he has brought death and destruction under a supposedly right cause. He then shows- with the appearance of the old man who has been saved and renewed after receiving a portion of his power- how his Power Cosmic can be used to create and restore life instead of tear it down. He requests the aid of a herald to aid him in his cause - bring life to dead worlds. Norrin declines but to his surprise he sees the invitation was not directed to him but to Suzi. She accepts.
Norrin did not trust her judgement. He felt the Power Cosmic was his burden to bare. With this he rams Suzi out of the star ship to the jungle below in a fall that is sure to kill them both. Luckily, she makes use of her new powers and develops wings and lands them in the jungle where the other survivors are. She tells him the Suzi he knew is no more and joins the High Evolutionary as they move to the moon. Frustrated, Norrin takes his anger out on a pack of mutant wolves that recently appeared and convinces the rest of the survivors to flee. He is rescued by the Future Foundation and the Mexican military who destroy the jungle with help from Sue Storm. They use a Future Foundation craft to go to the moon where High Evolutionary has begun wide-scale terraforming on the moon.
In space, Reed devises a plan to separate the newly bonded Power Cosmic from Suzi back to Norrin. The plan works and most of the Power Cosmic is given to Norrin. He is once again transformed to the Silver Surfer and confronts Suzi ... with a kiss. Somehow, his powers have been restored but his emotions remain intact. Unused to these emotions, he nearly turns on his friends who are trying to stop Suzi and the Evolutionary from their task, which will surely do great damage to the Earth.
When Galactus awakens from his rejuvenation, he plans to feed on the Moon. Realizing that his duty will always be that of Galactus' herald, he is forced to chose between those emotions and continuing to serve cosmic consonance. He chooses the latter, taking the remaining Power Cosmic from Suzi and departing with his master. He leaves behind a single flower for her and Reed tells her that as long as he has known him, the Silver Surfer has never been as happy as he was when he was with her.
The Annihilators
The Surfer joins a group of "cosmic police," the Annihilators. Their plan is to fight cosmic-level threats to the galaxy. It is surprising that Galactus would let his Herald go gallivanting off on his own adventures when he is supposed to be looking for planets for the Devourer to eat, but in any case, he fights with them in their first adventure against Klobok, a Skrull seeking to bring the Dire Wraiths back from Limbo. During this mission, Silver Surfer combined his energy manipulation powers with those of Quasar and Ronan to fuse 2 stars.
It is unclear whether this story arc occurs before or after the High Evolutionary storyline. In any case, it must be before the Galactus Seed, since he is not shown to be weakened even when he is fighting at such a great distance from Asgard. It must also be before the Annihilators: Earthfall series, since he is apparently no longer part of the group at that time, presumably because during Earthfall, he is tethered to the World Tree.
Powers and Abilities
In order for Norrin Radd to perform his duty as his herald, Galactus gives Norrin Radd a fraction of his cosmic powers. Possessing him with the Power Cosmic, which is the core from which his other abilities manifest from, Silver Surfer can manipulate the 4 fundamental forces of the universe (electromagnetism, gravity, strong nuclear force and weak nuclear force), by varying degrees. He is one of the most powerful Heralds of Galactus, and the most powerful member of the Annihilators. Tyrant once said that Silver Surfer was the most powerful member of a group that included Gladiator, Beta Ray Bill, Terrax and Morg, and Ikonn considered him an Alpha plus-level threat, just like Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator and Quasar.
Invulnerability
The Silver Surfer's skin is nearly impossible to penetrate, capable of withstanding extreme pressures and temperatures. He can travel through the core of a star and even through black holes without injury or disorientation. He has also been able to withstand punches from She-Hulk without any damage or pain, as well as attacks from the likes of Thor, Hulk, Beta Ray Bill, Namor, Wonder Man, Vision, the Thing, Drax, Korg, Abomination, Champion, Durok, Blastaar, Ravenous, Nova Prime, Quasar, Firelord, Terrax, Morg, Ronan, Super-Skrull, Cable with his powers fully unleashed, Iron Man and Human Torch well enough.
Regeneration
The Silver Surfer can regenerate parts of himself with the Power Cosmic, including his board, at will.
Super Strength
The Power Cosmic gives the Silver Surfer incredible strength. At a baseline, the Silver Surfer can lift/press more than 40 tons. He has frequently exhibited the ability to significantly boost his physical prowess, and enhance his strength to levels enabling him to fight the most powerful beings in the universe including Thor, the Hulk, Thanos and Beta Ray Bill.
Phasing
The Surfer has the ability to phase through solid objects though not turn outright intangible. This is done through his use of matter manipulation on solid objects/barriers or using his ability to travel through self-made spatial portals.
Stamina
The Silver Surfer does not need to breathe and can survive in any environmental condition (miles underwater, the heart of a star, the rigors of outer space, etc.). He does not need to eat or drink to sustain himself but he sometimes does to chose to do so. The Surfer rarely needs rest and can go for years without tiring.
Energy Absorption
The Surfer's skin is designed to absorb various energies from beta particles to any energy wavelength on the electro-magnetic spectrum (from infrared energy to visibile light, to quantum radiation). He is constantly being charged from hundreds of nearby stars and energies from distant galaxies. He can change this absorption into reflection if he chooses. The Surfer has also absorbed so much energy from a sun before, that he turned into a living bomb.
Blast Power
The Surfer can absorb and tap into ambient cosmic energy into his body at will and allowing him to use these energies at different forces. The Surfer could also channel energy through his hands also known as energy beams that can destroy a planet. He can use various energies for offensive purposes as well. He can create large blasts or beams down to the subatomic level.
Energy Manipulation
The Surfer can use energy to create force fields and shields. He can solidify energy to imprison enemies. He can manipulate the energies around him to make space travel possible for beings around him that can not survive in space. He can also control gravity.
Matter Control
The Silver Surfer can rearrange matter to create other objects of importance by rearranging molecules. He can also change the state of matter, such as changing solids into gas. Matter Transmutation helps the Surfer escape traps and prisons and can also be used to make an enemies weapons inactive.
Super Speed
The Silver Surfer's board allows him to move at rates of velocity far beyond that of lightspeed. He has even demonstrated the ability to enter the time stream at his own volition and ability.
Flight
The Silver Surfer flies through the atmosphere of any planet, as well as through the rigors of outer space. He is capable of complex aerobatic manueverability, while also being able to turn, stop and accelerate without any loss of control. He typically uses his surfboard, but has been occassionally observed to fly without the use of it.
⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽
_____________________________
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
Secret Identity: Norrin Radd
Publisher: Marvel
First Appearance: The Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966)
Created by: Stan Lee (writer)
Jack Kirby (artist)
The Silver Surfer has been seen:
Gladiating with The Hulk in BP 218 Day 100!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/27495953978/
Hitting the beach in BP 2020 Day 230!
YJ05PXE VDL DB250LF/Wright Pulsar Gemini ex konectbus and now part of the ever expanding Vision Bus aka UK Coachways and seen working the 535 from Belmont to Bolton.
Raw shots of one of my home areas, Briar Cliff. It's my ever-expanding little roleplay area or neighborhood for some of my personal characters who are all connected in some way and know each other. I like how it's turning out and each home or room suits the different personality of the character who inhabits it. Kind of a new experiment for me, as I usually do standalone skyboxes, so I'm having alot of fun! (Note: Yeah, the unicorns don't fit - they're imaginary friends from one character's childhood, lol, so only she can 'see' them)
EV Experience Zandvoort 2023
The Geely brand umbrella is ever expanding. In Western Europe, it already consists of the Volvo, Polestar, Lynk & Co, LEVC (London taxis), Lotus, Smart (50/50 with Mercedes-Benz) and now Zeekr.
Smart was recently reinvented with the launch of the #1. The brand's focus shifted from tiny city cars to compact electric crossovers. The new Smart #3 is even bigger than the more upright #1 and is only slightly smaller than the Mercedes-Benz EQA.
Although the car was designed by Mercedes-Benz, the car was developed by Geely and the car is also made in China. The technology is therefore comparable to, for example, the new Volvo EX30.
Lahore is ever expanding, mercilessly eating away any village or town that comes in its way. Many towns and villages like Niaz Beg, Hanjarwal, etc, which were historically well outside the city are now deemed as part of Lahore. However, even after being incorporated by the phenomenon that is Lahore, such places have managed to retain their past, culture and identity as something that is different from the city itself, and that is what makes this new city of Lahore so interesting and endearing. Whereas most of these settlements do not predate Lahore and were never historically as significant as Lahore, there was nonetheless one such locality, which is believed to have existed even before Lahore did. Its significance chronologically exceeds that of Lahore. This town is Ichhra.
In the popular culture Lahore’s origin is tied to the Hindu mythologies. There are historians who argue that before the walled city of Lahore became Lahore, Lahore actually was the locality of Ichhra. A very interesting observation is presented to substantiate the thesis. Mostly what we find in the appellations of the doors of a walled city is that the gates are named after the city which they face. The Delhi darwaza of Lahore is named so because it faces Delhi, so is the case with the Kashmiri darwaza. There has been some controversy regarding the name of the Lohari darwaza. It is argued that the Lohari darwaza points towards Ichhra. Lohari could be a primeval name of Lahore in this case, and Ichhra would be that historical city of Lahore.
This is a plausible contention according to the British Gazetteer of Lahore, because they argue that two of the oldest Hindu temples are found in Ichhra, viz. Bheeru da asthan and Chand Raat. Sadly, the latter has been lost but the former still looks over the city. However, the question that arises is that on what premises the British say that this temple is one of the oldest temples. The architecture of the building does not suggest this nor do the folk tales.
The temple is on the Ferozepur road behind the Shama stop. In fact the Shama and the Sheesh Mahal cinemas stand today where once the huge pond of the temple was. According to Maulana Noor Ahmad Chishti, there once lived a man called Godar during the tenure of Shah Jahan. He used to handle the accounts for Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of the Emperor at Benaras. When the prince had an auditor analyze the accounts, it was learned that the accountant had been stealing from the treasury. On this the prince gave the man capital punishment. Legend has that as Godar lay in the prison waiting for his turn to go to the gallows, a man appeared before him. This man asked him to close his eyes and he did as he was told. When he opened his eyes, he found himself at the exact location where today the tall, cone-shaped structure stands. It was a Sunday. The man who had brought Godar here, was sitting on a camel and he was standing next to him. In utter amazement, he asked the man who he was? The man replied that he was Bheeru after which he disappeared.
Bheeru is derived from the Sanskrit word of Bherv, which means Bogey-man. Bheeru is an incarnation of the Lord Shiv-Rudar, who is the Hindu deity of destruction. Shiv-Rudar travels on a dog, and the fear that he excites is such that even the witches and the ghosts are afraid of him. He is usually found near the cremating grounds.
Godar was a follower of Bheeru, and after the miracle, he demarcated the spot, where Bheeru stood, and started his search in the city. He ended up at Shah Alami, where he started living near the Pari Mahal. After adjusting in the new city, he one day gathered a few Hindus and took them to the spot. There he narrated to them the story of Bheeru, after which the spot became known as Bheeru da asthan. He along with other followers made it a regular practice to visit the spot, and present it with garlands, as a token of their reverence. In this way seeds were sown for this place to become a site for one of the most sacred Hindu temples in Lahore.
Later, during the tenure of Ranjit Singh, the mother of his concubine Mora once fell sick. She was diagnosed to have been affected by djinns. Mora was informed that one of the descendants of Godar practiced magic, and he would be able to rid the body of the intruders. According to tradition, she summoned him, and he was able to cure her mother. As a reward for his services, Mora ordered all the villages that were granted to her by the Regal to bring forth a cart of bricks for the construction of a proper temple at the asthan of Bheeru. Bricks from all the hundred villages that fell under her sway came forth. Besides the bricks the total expense for the construction of the present day temple was around 1400 rupees. This temple was further extended by Ram Chandar, the nephew of Sanwal Mal, who was a minister of the Ranjit Government. Besides him contributions were also given by Raja Lal Singh.
There is a big main gate which is followed by a corridor for the entrance to the edifice. At the end of the corridor is another gate. The corridor is around 3 yards wide and 13 yards long. It is embellished by arches on both the ends. Flanking the entrance are rooms. A ground used to follow the entrance whose dimensions were recorded to be 17 x 11 yards. Now however the ground has been taken over by refugees from the other side of the border and new houses have sprouted everywhere. This corridor was added by Raja Lal Singh.
The area east from here was the Langar Khana, where people were given free food. In front of this is the octagonal platform upon which the temple stands. There was also a well next to it. On each side of the temple are arches (mehraab like structures). East from here is another enclosed place where now houses stand. There is a big door here that opens towards the temple. Next to it is a platform where there are 8 samadhis. During the riots following the Babri mosque incident in Ayodha, like other temples in Lahore, people tried to bring this temple down too, but since it was made of strong material, it luckily survived.
Even though the story of Godar is hard to believe there is no doubt that the present day shape of the temple was given to it during the tenure of Ranjit Singh. One plausible reason as to why this temple is called ancient by the British is that the spot where the temple now stands must have been the site of a primordial temple, which has now given way to a modern construction. It is said that a lump of mud signified the holy place before the temple, making it reasonable to believe that some sort of building existed here before this one, and later on the story of Godar was explained for the inception of the temple.
For the early riser there is some wonderful light on offer early doors during the high summer months. Here R265LGH makes a colourful scene very early one morning a few weeks ago in Arlesey, Herts. This vehicle was new in London but has spent time in the North East before becoming part of the ever expanding Landmark coaches based not far from this photograph.
WHY 'TRON'?
In Glasgow, the name 'Trongate' first appeared around 1560. It referred to the “tron”-- the beam with which trading goods were officially weighed when they entered the city walls. For the next three hundred years, this area came to be at the heart of the city’s mercantile and financial activity-- hence Merchant City.
A church was originally built on the site now occupied by the Tron Theatre in 1529. The eye-catching blue-faced clock tower of this structure is still part of the modern Tron building, and one of Glasgow’s most recognizable landmarks.
THE HELLFIRE CLUB & THE DARK SIDE OF GLASGOW
In 1793, Glasgow's notorious Hellfire Club set the Tron building on fire (in an effort to see which members could--literally--stand the heat), destroying it save for the steeple, which was incorporated into a replacement structure by the architects, James and Robert Adam-- still the basis for the Tron as it exists today.
Unfortunately, the destruction of the building was a portent of things to come. The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century did much to change the character of the East End and drove the more monied residents further West, carried by the ever-expanding rail network. In the East of the city, new forms of entertainment established themselves: drinking shops, free-and-easies, dance halls and penny theatre. Known as the 'dark side of Glasgow', a newspaper reported 200 'houses of ill fame' in the area and the Leigh Kirk alone had 20 brothels within its close. The Britannia Panopticon opened nearby, along with a number of other music halls and wax works including the Metropole, once managed by Stan Laurel's father.
TRON RE-BORN
For the next few centuries, the Tron fell into a period of disuse, until the formation of the Glasgow Theatre Club in the late 1970s. In 1980 the Club took over the building at a rent of £1 per annum, and after little more than a year the Tron Theatre was off to a flying start with a full programme of visiting companies and jazz in the bar on Sundays (a tradition we continue right up to the present day!) However, facilities were meagre and development continued side by side with the artistic programme: in 1982 the main auditorium was opened and in 1984 Faynia Williams was appointed the first Artistic Director of the Tron.
In 1992 the building was developed still further and again in 1995, thanks to European Regional Development Funding. Throughout this time, the Tron continued to establish itself as a powerhouse of new writing and dynamic productions. Leading artists to emerge from the Tron around this time included Maureen Beattie, Ewan Bremner, Peter Capaldi, Alan Cumming, Craig Ferguson, Forbes Masson, Peter Mullan, Eddi Reader, Siobhan Redmond and Elaine C Smith. The Tron became known not only for its theatre but also for its lively bar and restaurant which became a regular hangout for the Glasgow art world.
A CULTURAL HUB FOR A NEW GLASGOW
In 1996, when Michael Boyd left to become Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Irina Brown took over as the second Artistic Director of the Tron and, with the advent of the National Lottery Fund, staff set to work on a proposal to completely upgrade the Tron. In 1996, £5 million was awarded for the refurbishment and improvement of the entire building. The re-development project was funded by the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund, Strathclyde European Partnership and Glasgow City Council. One year later, the Tron once more became a building site, with performances continuing in the Victorian Bar and, after December 1997, occasionally in the re-opened box office. The new Tron Bar on Chisholm Street opened in November 1998 and finally, in July 1999, building works were nearing completion and the Tron officially re-opened.
Now, the modern re-development brilliantly juxtaposes the historical elements of the Tron building with spectacular new spaces, including the Changing House studio theatre and the refurbished Tron Bar+Kitchen. The new building received the Glasgow Institute of Architect's People's Choice Award 1999, was shortlisted for the Regeneration of Scotland Award 1999, and was also awarded a commendation by the Civic Trust.
[Tron Theatre Website]
Retrofuturism is a broad definition, that's ever expanding because of free thinking enthusiasts. That being said, retrofuturistic fashion is exploding across multiple genres. And it's fashion takes leather to "new/old world/alternative world" possibilities. In point of fact, Steampunk fashion is often wearable art. Be it Steampunk, Renaissance Festival or Cosplay, the classic appeal and distinctive look of leather works. And, it works well.
About this photo: "Four Ladies of Adventure"
Fashions by "Leather Mystics", Medford,Oregon
Arizona Renaissance Festival, Apache Junction, AZ
Additions to my ever expanding Bottle Cap Collection. Nearly all of these came from friends, so thanks.
Notes on origins or taste encouraged.
Trades or donations welcome.
I recognize some of those megalomaniacal male tendencies you are describing, and why wouldn’t I (DUH!)? I know that ‘lost boy’ behaviour. It’s even attractive until one reaches a certain age, then it slopes off through unfortunate, and heads downhill rather swiftly towards downright tragedy. Applying the brakes at that stage is no party, let me tell you. Sometimes I feel as if I had been worn down up to the knees, a would-be demi-legged, own-trumpet-blowing, Falstaff, (if only those Jesuits had gotten hold of me) but then this isn’t about me. All these men searching for mammys, what can I say other than sorry about my gender, and thank Yahweh that I am a cis-gender homo (can I call myself that anymore?).
I think you can tell that I have arrived at the point that I am at, now, not at all sure what I am, or am not, permitted to call myself. I fear that I, at last, know what and who I am, but I am not at all sure if being that is acceptable in an evolving world. Luckily, we will all be dead soon enough. Now that’s something to really look forward to for the terminally bewildered. I like the idea of ‘A Death’ as the inflexion point of this ‘Comedy’ we are constructing. I have that funny death story to tell yet properly. That one where Jeffrey suddenly shot upright, screaming at his parents who were quibbling over what to watch on the TV. He screamed fiercely at them “I’m dying, I get to choose the video!”. It was gloriously well said. I do love the tyranny of the dying. I do love the abject tyranny of the victim (my specialty). Feck it, I will go the whole hog. I do love tyranny. I also love saying ‘Feck’, when everyone understands that you are insinuating another vowel in the place of that ‘e’. I love that feck is proper and Irish, a softening of that blow, liked a dropped ‘h’, that sort of softening and lilting.
He chose 'Singing in the Rain' and collapsed back into bed raving madly about having to make three different types of pies to prepare for some party or other in his head.
I did my job. I pressed the button and released more morphine, through the catheter in his chest, awash in the 'poor meeees'.
mea culpa, mea culpa,
mea máxima culpa.
Later, I made a drawing about his wonderful, life-affirming, self-assertion. I photographed myself beside it, the drawing that is, but discovered, whilst looking at it later, that I seemed to have disappeared.
I guess that's how things go. (Secretly, I love removing myself (with photoshop), but don't tell anyone).
John: A fine eulogy, full of life.
Ruin: I want to reply to this, a little later. I might even have to go into the third person, to get a little distance from the answer, and what it means. This will be an important part of 'the book'. I am putting this here as a sort of commitment.
Anyway, to start, another extended version of this 'story' begins under this photo (the title in parentheses below) below this. It starts with “I’m dying, I get to choose the video”, about halfway down. But I now want to write something a lot more personal, a lot more 'private' perhaps. So far I have been writing about what I call the 'Wild Geese', a recognised phenomenon in Irish history and culture. Now I want to talk about something a little more close to home. and that's the cuckoo gene. That born out of desperation taking up domicile in the 'nests' of other birds, that type of 'taking over'. I think of it slightly relative to that 'banquet idea' that excess, like a pheasant being stuffed with a quail, and the quail in turn being stuffed with a starling, or any smaller bird, that decadence. Anyway, I want to look at that goose initially stuffed with a cuckoo, that idea of the self as a desperate exploiter, but also looking at it as a survival strategy, a Darwinian ploy, even. I am still brewing it in my head, so it will stutteringly along.
‘On Universal Innocence and The Forgiveness of Freckles’.
But back to Geese and cuckoos.
‘The Rôti Sans Pareil Is 17 Birds Stuffed Inside Each Other and It Is Delicious’. So ran the headline.
"The recipe calls for a bustard stuffed with a turkey stuffed with a goose stuffed with a pheasant stuffed with a chicken stuffed with a duck stuffed with a guinea fowl stuffed with a teal stuffed with a woodcock stuffed with a partridge stuffed with a..."
There is a sort of madness there, manifesting, perhaps, one of the reasons we don't deserve to be here at all. Not that deserving has anything to do with it anyway.
Chickenman, Wild Geese, and now Cuckoo, this sounds like I am on a type of fowl trajectory. Here's to soaring, or swansonging, or attempting both, even!
John: The cuckoo was a popular metaphor in the 1950's, quite possibly in response to the aftermath of WWII and your revival gifts greater depth. One of the explorations of Bernard Malamud and Saul Bellow was the impossibly undermined reconstruction of male identity, no matter what roots they sought to revive. The cuckoo, with its echo of cuckold, the returners from war rewarded with the ghost of doubt of paternity, puts all into those same murky depths of identity which artists equally embrace or flee. As ancient mythology evidences, we have always had a need to understand and belong. Post wars and natural disasters our need for the perceived solidity of information is greatly enhanced.. Technically, having a family formed of my partner's and her ex's three daughters, I am a cuckoo.
Apart from the actual people (greatly rewarding) I have also wondered if I was defying my sense of unbelonging by consciously electing to be the cuckoo, which, unlike artist, is I believe a choice.
Ruin: Yes, that would be true, that returning soldier thing. I would guess it has always been the case, have soldiers not been returning since time immemorial? I didn't make the connection between cuckoo and cuckold, a 'duh!' moment for me. Of course, it is there. I particularly like the cuckold personage. If I was going by the evidence of Reddit, or wherever, cuckolding seems to be enjoying a huge revival in the fetish world currently. I would guess it was all part and parcel of dealing with the diminished, and further diminishing, male, that area of 'twixt and 'tween being generated by an excess of hormone disruptors now in the environment (in plastics and whatever). But I have a whole theory about that relative to the possibility of the human animal evolving from sexual reproduction to bifurcatory splitting, that laboratory assisted dividing known as cloning, the copying of the self, whilst we are at that point of the Y chromosome being, apparently, at 3% of its former glory. Scientists tell us that it appears to be stable at 3%, but infinity is funny like that relative to stability.
The only place we would differ on here is that "unlike artist", which I am pretty sure we might partially agree on anyway. I don't see making art (or writing, even), any form of communication really, as a 'choice'. I see it both as an instinct and a compulsion, and for the most part a disruptive nuisance, an itch. I would have to fight very hard to resist it, that scratching called art making or communicating. I would have to go totally against my 'natural' self.
But this is something I will continue to work out until I no longer can, compulsively, this awful/wonderful itch. I like writing here, simply because it is immediate communication, and sometimes the feedback like yours is invaluable. There is this idea that writing needs to be done alone, like art, but I don't think that is necessarily 'true'. I think you have to work it out the best way you can, and there are no rules.
When I quote you, should I call you John Seven, or just John.? I have been calling you John, but thought I should ask. As in "John: A fine eulogy, full of life." Would you prefer John Seven?
John: Well, I don't know what went wrong with my sentence construction there, as I intended to state that artist is not a choice (nor a guarantee of quality). Now amended. Regarding my name - John used to be the skinhead universal form of address, as in "Y'want bovver Jon?"
It was also, in the the year I was born, the Mohamed, Muhammad, Muhamad, or Mohammad of its day, the most common male name in the world. In its many forms - Ian, Iain, Ifan, Sean, Shaun, Shane, Jens, Jean, Joan, Johan and so on.
I am happy with whatever you choose.
Ruin: I guessed we were on the same page relative to art, or writing, this 'fever' to communicate, is uncontrollable. It’s not a choice at all. But I feel the same about this cuckoo behaviour and this catfishing too. I see them both as survival manoeuvres, generated mostly out of desperation. Anyway, that's the point I will be starting from for this 'chapter'. I will be using the text generated here, and pulling it through the pronoun mangle, writing it in the third person, to get some distance, some overview.
Blimey, he realised, his behaviour had been stark raving cuckoo. He found it as difficult to think about as to write about this, but felt in the writing of it, that some liberation might be found there. The working out of it was going to have to be in the present, but there would be references and stories that harked back to his ‘Wild Goose’ history, his wandering, his running away. He knew too that he was going to have to stop playing with words, stop trying to entertain, this was not the way to go. By this he meant that “meself” as opposed to myself, that ‘cod Irish’, that “at all, at all”. That would naturally fall away anyway, as he moved away from childhood, as he learnt to speak, to communicate, even. His leaving Ireland was, in a way, his learning to talk. Before that period, he had been that oft-described stuttering, nervous, entity, floundering between church-generated guilt, and maintaining his secret, that abuse, that incest, that familial interference that could only serve to completely sunder him from family, and any semblance of security, of a feeling of belonging or of ever having been nurtured. It was nobody’s fault. Those who haven’t been nurtured have no idea how to nurture, and similarly those who have never been protected have no way of knowing how to proffer protection. Both his parents had, in their turn, being abandoned as children. It was all they knew. This was somehow part-and-parceled in with the history of that emerald island, that history of hundreds of years of abuse. That this abuse caused Irish literature to blossom, in that foreign tongue, English, is one of those creative offshoots of abuse, one of those ‘miracles’, as his mother used to say, describing anything good or beneficial, a silver-lining around those multi-generational deadening clouds.
He was angry, sad, and excited when he discovered that he had to leave to survive, that he had to give up everything, and everyone he had ever known, and set out alone for that pagan land, on the other side of the Irish Sea. Looking back, he liked that this cuckoo also described a sort of madness, other than the survival instinct it became somewhat renowned for, it also described that ‘stark raving’ idea, that there had always been this connection we humans make about this misunderstood creature, and its development of certain Darwinian characteristics generated by its struggle to survive.
Stealing somewhat from the title of the book by Mr. Foster Wallace (of the multiple footnotes on footnotes), he suspected that he had come to that point where he might, at last, ‘Consider the Cuckoo’.
John: This riffing on a thought, expanding out to discover surprises and similarities is a thing of wonder.
Ruin: It's a bit strange to be working it out in 'real time' here. I am literally working it through in my head as I write it. It becomes a self-justification, of sorts, I guess. I will tie it in, somehow, to the main theme. I am coming out of that chapter which has to do with childhood, and heading towards London, via a year in Liverpool, that age-old Irish route, through Aristophanes 'The Birds', from which the expression 'Cloud Cuckoo Land' comes, through Mr. Darwin, on the way towards New York, and 'Rack and Ruin'.
But yes, he was heading for ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’, only in as much as it was to be totally unfamiliar, there was the madness there of difference, a way of thinking that was foreign to everything he knew. The old rules just didn’t apply, but there were also new rules to learn.
On Universal Order
Or blessed lack thereof.
Dear Rack,
I suspect we have both had our moments with each other, compassionate and understanding, and the opposite. I have never felt particularly worthy, but that’s a universal, some dreadful leftover from a hideously insecure childhood, neglectful parents, absent alcoholic father and abusive uncle, all that palaver, that stuff of amateur melodrama, probably endemic, commonplace even, on that little emerald jewel called ‘home’. The thing is, or the pedestrian tragedy is, that you don’t really realise what you are carrying with you when you set off into the world alone, when you put on your walking shoes, you have no idea what your coping mechanisms are, how skew-whiff they might be relative to a world out there, a place that has most likely generated another type of abuse, a foreign variant, one which you have no experience of at all. It’s not unlike our beloved Omicron, another spiked battering ram, something that you might survive or not.
Yes, it’s the same old same old, those ‘Wild Geese’ setting off, full of youthful energy and dreams of conquest, already weighed down by their own undoing. Compassion was easy for me when we met. You had, apparently, fallen at the first hurdle, or so it seemed. I was very wrong about that. Wrecked Rack was phoenix-like. I didn’t know that then, though that constant re-igniting can work a certain ruin on the old cadaver. I notice a chemical smell in my urine, and I was wondering if you do too. We are now part chemical; a bit liked our beloved de Selby’s part bicycle, part human. We have been absorbing chemicals now for decades, and you even two decades more than I have. One cannot help but wonder how they have an effect on our very DNA, our day-to-day thoughts, our moods and our hopes, or despairs. But, butt, chicken butt, as I like to say, I have decided to make their influence positive. We are hybrid, a new man, and woman, a chemically enhanced super-breed of survivors.
How’s that for famous last words?
We are like no one else, though this is true of everyone. Now we have the added in-put of our screens, our hard-drives and external devices, all brain-enhancers and exploitable. These are our external memories, as that innate ability to remember slopes off, and it’s nothing less than a frigging ‘Universal Superhighway’. Nobody has had that before, though I would question as to whether this is a recurring phenomenon, forgotten but recurring, on an infinite ever-expanding loop (call me loopy). Heloise and Abelard could have done with a bit of that, but they managed anyway, so how can we not rape and pillage the universe with this magnificent, unimaginable, tool at our disposal? The only thing that holds us back is our massive insecurity, and our excuses. But the proffering of these to each other, the unashamed exposing of them, is the beginning of this Knausgaardian ‘struggle’, and we have been doing this for almost 30 years. We have the capacity to cross germinate, to percolate Sontag’s ‘Camp’ through Knausgaard’s, and the other tyrant’s, ‘Kampf’, that tragedy and camp comedy combined. I would like a little more of that ‘fun’ back, the laughing at the absurdity of it all combined with the realization of what we wrought, and how blindly reactive it was, and we were.
It would be wonderful to laugh, and scream, together again.
"But I wonder if you share my feeling that to write anything sufficiently accurate and engaging, and actually get it over all the hurdles of publication, and risk the ultimate disappointment of remaindering ... Oh, I could not do it now."
No, I have no intention of 'publishing', or even presenting what I am writing and thinking about, other than on Flickr. I find that I do things in 4-year traunches. The idea is just to sort out some of the mess I made, that cacophony of images I generated whilst trying to understand.
I am looking for where I didn't manage to communicate, although some of it ended up in museums (with appropriate puffing out of chest). A 4-year traunch/tranche is a challenge, a challenge because of age and the dragging of another 'fatal' disease along, with one, through a pandemic. Blissfully, science has intervened, yet again, somewhat offering respite, temporarily, from the Horsemen. I got that second Astra Zeneca yesterday, but am still jealous of those enjoying the intervention of the MRNA vaccines into the livestream of their DNA. If we are going to be so interfered with in that way, I want to be one of the first, on that cutting edge of the glorious new Science religion (that I love)! I would have loved to have been the Musk of death, that space pioneer and not the smell. Although, one appears to have missed that boat, along with many others, for now. But there is an acute awareness of their fetlocks and broomsticks, of those aforementioned Horsemen, that is, and their Woo and Woe.
Publishers, Bookshops, Museums and Galleries are over. Didn't you get the memo?
At the same time that remainder bin is essential. It is, more or less, where we all end up, the good and the bad, those who write with clarity and those who lick and salve their purple wounds in public.
You know that I love Purple, in a hate purple sort of way. Don't start me on Orange.
I'm not sure when this became the Natalie Bell Building but I guess it makes sense to give it a name to distinguish it from the other parts of Tate Modern such as the Turbine Hall, the Switch House and the Tanks.
More photos from various Museums and Galleries around the world : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/albums/72157608768742010
From Wikipedia : "The galleries are housed in the former Bankside Power Station, which was originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of Battersea Power Station, and built in two stages between 1947 and 1963. The power station closed in 1981. In 1992 The Tate Gallery at the British National Art Museum proposed a competition to build a new building for modern art. The purpose for the new building would help with the ever-expanding collection on modern and contemporary art. In 1995 itwas announced that Herzog & de Meuron had won the competition with their simple design. The architects decided to reinvent the current building instead of demolishing it. The Tate modern is an example of adaptive reuse, the process of finding new life in old buildings. The building itself still resembles the 20th century factory in style from the outside and that is reflected on the inside by the taupe walls, steel girders and concrete floors.
The façade of the building is made out of 4.2 million bricks that are separated by groups of thin vertical windows that help create a dramatic light inside. The history of the site as well as information about the conversion was the basis for a 2008 documentary Architects Herzog and de Meuron: Alchemy of Building & Tate Modern. This challenging conversion work was carried by Carillion. The southern third of the building was retained by the French power company EDF Energy as an electrical substation (in 2006, the company released half of this holding)."
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© D.Godliman
Here's another recent addition to my ever expanding minidress collection! This one is an really clingy and snug fitting one shoulder metallic wet look red minidress with side shirring and I've matched it up with Osé Angel seamless pantyhose and my fabulous open toe platform pumps with the 5½" heels.
I think it looks super and I hope you do too!
To see more pix of my legs in short skirts and other tight, sexy and revealing outfits click this link:
So this was my second "night in" and it's fair to say life has been very rocky at times since last time. But we're surviving and I'm (Nicky) still alive (just) and very much enjoying and embracing being me, so things could be worse haha.
BTW I know the photos are very samey (is that even a word..?) and I need to have a bit more variety, I'll see what I can do in the future... That said I'm loving this new top from Boden :)
Oh and I've added more to my ever expanding bio/life story if you're interested in knowing more :)
World War II in the southwest
The Wehrmacht had hurried from victory to victory in 1939 and 1940 and had beaten even the "indomitable archenemy" France in only six weeks. In this delirium of victory, military efficiency seemed unlimited, and even an opponent overwhelming by its territorial size, such as Soviet Russia, seemed militarily vincible to those responsible.
Alsace and Lorraine were now occupied territories under German administration. Due to the border proximity to Baden Robert Wagner was appointed interim administrator of Alsace. His "cultural policy" consisted of a Germanization of Alsace: prohibition of the French language, names had to be Germanized, monasteries were closed, many people of Baden, especially teachers, were transferred to Alsace.
In Natzweiler, the Struthof concentration camp became the prison of many Southern Germans and of even more French citizens. The own population was not spared. Germans living in Alsace, who did not want to return home to the Reich in 1918, were also interned. The victory in the campaign in France made the military leadership blind and let them act irrationally: The lost "Battle of England" led to no rethinking, but the General Staff now assumed that England by the destruction that had been inflicted on it sooner or later would withdraw from the war. Only with the battle for Stalingrad and the associated insight to lose the war against Soviet Russia, the mood in the population changed. At the same time since 1940, the consequences of the war had also returned to the German Reich.
The air raids of the Allies first on Baden cities such as Karlsruhe and Mannheim, then the ever expanding due to technical progress ("radar") bombing hit especially the civilian population. Until 1943, the strong air defense in southern Germany and deception maneuvers such as the military dummy of the Stuttgart Central Station in Lauffen am Neckar and the fog in the river valleys had avoided effective attacks. The armaments industry had now been bombproof in railway tunnels or other safe places, so most attacks were directed against infrastructure such as bridges, roads, railroad stations, and railway lines. Württemberg was only from mid-1944 - when the front had moved close enough to the Reich's borders - increasingly target of the Allied attacks. In July attacks destroyed Stuttgart, Pforzheim and Heilbronn were particularly hard hit. Here the sacrifice and destruction rates are quite comparable to those in Hamburg or Dresden.
Shortly after the Polish campaign, however, the war had already shown its true face when, despite all the victory imagery the rigorous management of food and other everyday goods had already been introduced. The war was felt very early on the table. Hunger as in the First World War had to be avoided as doctrine from the First World War by the regime absolutely, which was also achieved for the most part. In Germany, people starved only after the capitulation.
After the Wehrmacht had been defeated in the Battle of the Bulge in the west and the Red Army advanced in the east, the military end of the Second World War on European soil became apparent. In last despair and megalomania, the Gauleiter organized the "Volkssturm". All men between 16 and 60 should oppose the "enemy". Miserably equipped and hardly trained, the "Volkssturm" was only one thing: cannon fodder for the advancing Allied armies. In these "last days of April", people in town and in the country fiercely struggled for further action. The functionaries of the NSDAP fled from the approaching front. By executing the "Nero Decree" (The Nero Decree (Nerobefehl) was issued by Adolf Hitler on March 19, 1945 ordering the destruction of German infrastructure to prevent their use by Allied forces as they penetrated deep within Germany), ie destroying important local infrastructure from bridges and roads to the water supply to the factories, the Allies should, according to Hitler's ideas, only remain "scorched earth". In many places brave people resisted this order and paid with their lives: In Brettheim, the farmer Friedrich Hanselmann, who buried the provided for the Volkssturm rocket-propelled grenades in the village pond, together with the mayor and the Ortsgruppenleiter (local group leader) by Max Simon, the commander of the XIII. SS Army Corps, was shot under martial law. In Heilbronn, the Kreisleiter (district leader) Roland Drauz those had shot who raised the white flag as a sign of surrender.
The occupation of southwestern Germany
Occasionally, Wehrmacht and Waffen SS units made fierce senseless resistance: The battles for Oedheim in the Kochertal, Waldenburg, the Battle of the Bottwartal, and the battle for Crailsheim are particularly well-known, that the fast-moving American troops due to the fierce defense for some days even had to give up until enough troops were delivered. After the last German troops were annihilated in these battles, the American troops were able to advance quickly into the rest of Württemberg. Four days after the second Battle of Crailsheim, they were in Ulm. The French troops approached from the west: Karlsruhe, Mannheim and Heidelberg were occupied at the beginning of April. The borderland situation made it almost impossible for Baden to defend itself against the Allies, which is why - apart from the positions in the Black Forest - no significant fighting took place here.
After the French troops had taken Mühlacker, they were faced - as with the Americans - with German troops (the 64th Army Corps) in northwestern Wuerttemberg. After a three-week battle, the last German troops surrendered. The Black Forest was occupied at this time. Now the French pushed forward from the north to Stuttgart and further via Tübingen to Hohenzollern quickly south, where they occupied Friedrichshafen as the last Württemberg city on 27 April 1945. After the suicide of Hitler in the leader's bunker and the occupation of all of Germany, the German army leadership capitulated unconditionally on May 8, 1945. The Second World War was over.
Der Zweite Weltkrieg im Südwesten
Die Wehrmacht war 1939 und 1940 von Sieg zu Sieg geeilt und hatte sogar den „unbezwingbaren Erzfeind“ Frankreich in nur sechs Wochen geschlagen. In diesem Siegestaumel erschien die militärische Leistungsfähigkeit unbegrenzt und auch ein aufgrund seiner territorialen Größe übermächtiger Gegner wie Sowjetrussland schien den Verantwortlichen militärisch besiegbar.
Elsass und Lothringen wurden nun zu besetzten Gebieten unter deutscher Verwaltung. Aufgrund der Grenznähe zu Baden wurde Robert Wagner zum Interimsverwalter des Elsass bestimmt. Seine „Kulturpolitik“ bestand aus einer Germanisierung des Elsass: Verbot der französischen Sprache, Namen mussten eingedeutscht werden, Klöster wurden geschlossen, viele Badener, vor allem Lehrer, wurden ins Elsass versetzt.
In Natzweiler wurde das Konzentrationslager Struthof Gefängnis vieler Süddeutscher und von noch mehr französischen Staatsbürgern. Auch die eigene Bevölkerung wurde nicht geschont. Im Elsass wohnende Deutsche, die 1918 nicht „Heim ins Reich“ kehren wollten, wurden ebenfalls interniert. Der Sieg im Frankreichfeldzug machte die militärische Führung blind und ließ sie irrational handeln: Die verlorene „Schlacht um England“ führte zu keinem Umdenken, sondern der Generalstab ging nun davon aus, dass England durch die ihm zugeführten Zerstörungen über kurz oder lang aus dem Krieg ausscheiden würde. Erst mit der Schlacht um Stalingrad und der damit verbundenen Einsicht, den Krieg gegen Sowjetrussland zu verlieren, änderte sich die Stimmung in der Bevölkerung. Gleichzeitig waren seit 1940 die Kriegsfolgen auch ins Deutsche Reich zurückgekehrt.
Die Luftangriffe der Alliierten zunächst auf badische Städte wie Karlsruhe und Mannheim, dann der sich aufgrund technischer Fortentwicklung („Radar“) ständig ausweitende Bombenkrieg trafen vor allem die zivile Bevölkerung. Bis 1943 hatte die starke Luftabwehr in Süddeutschland und Täuschungsmanöver wie die Scheinanlage des Stuttgarter Hauptbahnhofs in Lauffen am Neckar sowie der Nebel in den Flusstälern effektive Angriffe vermieden. Die Rüstungsindustrie war mittlerweile bombensicher in Eisenbahntunneln oder anderen sicheren Orten untergebracht worden, so dass sich die meisten Angriffe gegen die Infrastruktur wie Brücken, Straßen, Bahnhöfe und Eisenbahnlinien richteten. Württemberg wurde erst ab Mitte 1944 – als sich die Front nahe genug an die Reichsgrenzen verschoben hatte – verstärkt Ziel der alliierten Angriffe. Im Juli zerstörten Angriffe Stuttgart, besonders schwer sollte es Pforzheim und Heilbronn treffen. Hier sind die Opfer- und Zerstörungsraten durchaus mit denen in Hamburg oder Dresden zu vergleichen.
Der Krieg hatte aber bereits kurz nach dem Polenfeldzug sein wahres Gesicht gezeigt, als trotz aller Siegesmetaphorik schon die rigorose Bewirtschaftung von Lebensmitteln und anderer Güter des täglichen Bedarfs eingeführt wurden. Der Krieg war also schon sehr früh auf dem Tisch zu spüren. Hunger wie im Ersten Weltkrieg musste als Lehre aus dem Ersten Weltkrieg durch das Regime unbedingt vermieden werden, was auch größtenteils gelang. Gehungert wurde in Deutschland erst nach der Kapitulation.
Nachdem die Wehrmacht in der Ardennenschlacht im Westen geschlagen worden war und im Osten die Rote Armee vorrückte, zeichnete sich das militärische Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges auf europäischem Boden ab. In letzter Verzweiflung und Größenwahn organisierten die Gauleiter den „Volkssturm“. Alle Männer zwischen 16 und 60 Jahren sollten sich dem „Feind“ entgegenstellen. Miserabel ausgerüstet und kaum ausgebildet war der „Volkssturm“ nur eines: Kanonenfutter für die heranrückenden alliierten Armeen. In diesen „letzten Tagen im April“ wurde in Stadt und Land heftig um das weitere Vorgehen gerungen. Die Funktionäre der NSDAP flüchteten vor der herannahenden Front. Durch die Ausführung des „Nerobefehls“, also das eigenhändige Zerstören wichtiger örtlicher Infrastruktur von Brücken und Straßen über die Wasserversorgung bis hin zu den Fabriken, sollte den Alliierten nach Vorstellungen Hitlers nur „verbrannte Erde“ bleiben. Vielerorts widersetzten sich Mutige diesem Befehl und bezahlten mit ihrem Leben: In Brettheim wurden der Bauer Friedrich Hanselmann, der die für den Volkssturm vorgesehenen Panzerfäuste im Dorfteich versenkte, zusammen mit dem Bürgermeister und dem Ortsgruppenleiter durch Max Simon, dem Kommandeur des XIII. SS-Armeekorps, standrechtlich erschossen. In Heilbronn ließ der Kreisleiter Roland Drauz diejenigen erschießen, die die weiße Flagge als Zeichen der Kapitulation hissten.
Die Besetzung Südwestdeutschlands
Vereinzelt leisteten Verbände der Wehrmacht und der Waffen-SS verbissen sinnlosen Widerstand: Besonders bekannt sind die Schlachten um Oedheim im Kochertal, um Waldenburg, der Kampf ums Bottwartal und die Schlacht um Crailsheim, das die schnell vorrückenden amerikanischen Truppen aufgrund der heftigen Verteidigung sogar für einige Tage aufgeben mussten, bis ausreichend Truppen nachgeführt waren. Nachdem die letzten deutschen Truppen in diesen Kämpfen aufgerieben waren, konnten die amerikanischen Truppen rasch ins restliche Württemberg vorstoßen. Bereits vier Tage nach der zweiten Schlacht um Crailsheim standen sie in Ulm. Aus Westen näherten sich die französischen Truppen: Anfang April waren Karlsruhe, Mannheim und Heidelberg besetzt. Die Grenzlandlage machte eine Verteidigung Badens gegen die Alliierten fast unmöglich, weshalb es hier – bis auf die Stellungen im Schwarzwald – zu keinen nennenswerten Kämpfen kam.
Nachdem die französischen Truppen Mühlacker eingenommen hatten, stellten sich ihnen – ähnlich wie bei den Amerikanern – deutsche Truppen (das 64. Armeekorps) im Nordwesten Württembergs entgegen. Nach einem dreiwöchigen Kampf ergaben sich die letzten deutschen Truppen. Der Schwarzwald war zu diesem Zeitpunkt besetzt. Nun stießen die Franzosen von Norden her nach Stuttgart vor und weiter über Tübingen nach Hohenzollern rasch nach Süden, wo sie Friedrichshafen als letzte württembergische Stadt am 27. April 1945 besetzten. Nach dem Selbstmord Hitlers im Führerbunker und der Besetzung ganz Deutschlands kapitulierte die deutsche Armeeführung am 8. Mai 1945 bedingungslos. Der Zweite Weltkrieg war zu Ende.
www.landeskunde-baden-wuerttemberg.de/zweiter_wk_suedwest...
space, a precise balance & dynamic flow that never misses a beat. Has the sun ever failed to follow the moon? Has light ever failed to arise out of darkness or darkness to diminish light? Everything has a time, a season, a place...this too shall pass ~LP
Loneliness is the name of the disease in the ever expanding grabs in a world of commerce and social cold !!
Einsamkeit ist die neue Volkskrankheit in einer immer ärmeren sozialen Welt des Kommerzes und ewigen Wachstums.
recently resealed by casey waters is this 9th plate daguerreotype of an older woman wearing spectacles. She looks how do i put this plain lol and a cooking and cleaning type of lady but who knows :) I like her nice addition to the ever expanding elder collection
The first horse stables built at Camp Petawawa...
Petawawa split ring postmark on the back from the 17th June 1909.
Valentine & Sons Postcards / Petawawa - Petawawa related postcards (12 postcards) produced by Valentine & Sons:
These were first printed in 1907 - they had several printings and were sold until 1913. The backs of these postcards changed with the various printings (blank backs, A.B. Petrie, Guelph, blue ink - this was used on the first printing, sage green, etc.) The earliest date I have seen on these postcards is 21 June 1907 (A.B. Petrie Guelph / blue ink) - so the photos for these postcards must have been taken in 1906.
#102,585 - Gun laying with Chrometer (need)
#102,586 - Laying Gun with Clinometer
#102,587 - Loading Gun
#102,588 - Heavy Artillary
#102,589 - Gun Layer's Competition
#102,590 - Engineer's Wagon
#102,591 - Battery Firing
#102,592 - Observation Point
#102,593 - Army Service Corps Ovens
#102,594 - Stables & Water trough
#102,595 - Camp Commandant's Headquarters on Hill
#103,775 - The Royal Canadian Riffles at Pettewawa, Ont.
Valentine and Sons of Dundee were once Scotland’s most successful commercial photographers. In 1907, at the height of the postcard revolution, the photographs they published showed scenes from around the world. Often regarded as only postcard publishers, Valentines produced images in various formats including fine early photographic prints.
The Valentine company was founded in Dundee by James’s father, John Valentine, in 1825. After learning the daguerreotype process in Paris in the late 1840s, James added portrait photography to the family business in 1851. By the 1860s the company had begun to cater to the growing tourist industry by producing photographic prints with views from around the country. After James’s death in 1880, his son William Dobson took over the ever-expanding business.
Valentine & Sons printed its first postcards in 1898. Canadian production began between 1903 and 1906 with offices established first in Montreal and then Toronto. The earliest Canadian postcards published by Valentine and Sons were monotone black, collotype views showing the scenery along the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway north of Lake Superior and in the Rocky Mountains.
At Valentine’s the greeting card gradually replaced the picture postcard. What remained of a card making empire was sold to Hallmark Cards Inc. in 1980.
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CENTRAL CAMP PETAWAWA, ONTARIO -- By J.C. Campbell and C.D. Sayles - In February 1905 the Minister of Militia, Sir Frederick Borden, assured the Annual General Meeting of the Artillery Association (assembled in Ottawa) that a suitable camp ground and artillery range would be provided during the year. His announcement was received with warm applause. In 1905 the Royal Canadian Horse and Garrison Artillery trained at the new Central Camp which was located near Pembroke, Ontario beside the Ottawa River. A total of 73,364 acres comprised the Camp. A number of militia field batteries also took advantage of the Camp's training facilities. The facility was established as a summer camp in 1905 and as a permanent camp in 1906. It officially opened on July 16, 1906. Further training followed in 1906 when the R.C.H.A., R.C.G.A., a heavy battery from Quebec, the Royal Canadian Engineers, and some militia batteries also attended. Five field brigades and an independent battery did the whole of their annual training for 1907 at Petawawa. It should be remembered that 1908 saw the celebration of the Quebec Tercentenary in which Canada's military played an important role, resulting in much less activity at the Central Camp. A cavalry brigade, seven infantry battalions, and a Western contingent were in attendance. At the Royal Review on July 24, 1908 there were 12,422 officers and men on parade. Field artillery from Hamilton were included. For the next three years training fell off considerably owing to Militia Department financial constraints. In 1912 with Colonel Sam Hughes head of the Militia Department, activity at the Camp increased dramatically, with brigades and field batteries numbering over 5,000 officers and men receiving their annual training. This had been increased to sixteen days for each individual per year. In 1913 training was restrained because of the prohibitive cost of transporting the more distant batteries. In that year much training was carried out locally with the 3rd and 11th Brigades at Aldershot, N.S., and the 4th Brigade at Sussex, N.B. The 25th Lethbridge Battery trained at Sarcee, Alberta, while the 13th Winnipeg and the 26th Regina Batteries concentrated at Camp Sewell, Manitoba. The summer of 1914 was the busiest time at Petawawa since its founding. Over 10,000 officers and men practiced combined manoeuvers which came very close to active service conditions. Despite the diversity of training at Petawawa, it will always be remembered as an artillery camp.