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From my set entitled “Pansies”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607213822856/
In my collection entitled “Goldenrod”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760718...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The pansy or pansy violet is a plant cultivated as a garden flower. Pansies are derived from Viola tricolor also called the Heartsease, 'Johnny Jump Up', stepmothers flower, or ladies delight. However, many garden varieties are hybrids and are referred to as Viola × wittrockiana but sometimes they are listed under the name Viola tricolor hortensis. The name "pansy" also appears as part of the common name of a number of wildflowers belonging, like the cultivated pansy, to the genus Viola. Some unrelated species, such as the Pansy Monkeyflower, also have "pansy" in their name.
Pansy breeding has produced a wide range of flower colors including yellow, gold, orange, purple, violet, red, white, and even black (dark purple) many with large showy face markings. A large number of bicoloured flowers have also been produced. They are generally very cold hardy plants surviving freezing even during their blooming period. Plants grow well in sunny or partially sunny positions in well draining soils. Pansies are developed from viola species that are normally biennials with a two-year life cycle. The first year plant produce greenery and then bear flowers and seeds their second year of growth and afterwards die like annuals. Because of selective human breeding, most garden pansies bloom the first year, some in as little as nine weeks after sowing.
Most biennials are purchased as packs of young plants from the garden centre and planted directly into the garden soil. Under favourable conditions, pansies and viola can often be grown as perennial plants, but are generally treated as annuals or biennial plants because after a few years of growth the stems become long and scraggly. Plants grow up to nine inches (23 cm) tall, and the flowers are two to three inches (about 6 cm) in diameter, though there are some smaller and larger flowering cultivars available too.
Pansies are winter hardy in zones 4-8. They can survive light freezes and short periods of snow cover, in areas with prolonged snow cover they survive best with a covering of a dry winter mulch. In warmer climates, zones 9-11, pansies can bloom over the winter, and are often planted in the fall. In these climates, pansies have been known to reseed themselves and come back the next year. Pansies are not very heat-tolerant; they are best used as a cool season planting, warm temperatures inhibit blooming and hot muggy air causes rot and death. In colder zones, pansies may not persist without snow cover or protection (mulch) from the extreme cold.
Pansies should be watered thoroughly about once a week, depending on climate and rainfall. To maximize blooming, plant food should be used about every other week, according to the plant food directions. Regular deadheading can extend the blooming period.
The pansy has two top petals overlapping slightly, two side petals, beards where the three lower petals join the center of the flower, and a single bottom petal with a slight indentation.
Stem rot, also known as pansy sickness, is a soil-borne fungus and a possible hazard with unsterilized animal manure. The plant may collapse without warning in the middle of the season. The foliage will flag and lose color. Flowers will fade and shrivel prematurely. Stem will snap at the soil line if tugged slightly. The plant is probably a total loss unless tufted. The treatment of stem rot, includes the use of fungicides such as Cheshunt or Benomyl , which are used prior to planting. Infected plants are destroyed (burned) to prevent the spread of the pathogen to other plants.
The plant should be watered every other day, and watering should never be missed for more than three days. The plant should never be over watered.
Leaf spot (Ramularia deflectens) is a fungal infection. Symptoms include dark spots on leaf margins followed by a white web covering the leaves. It is associated with cool damp springs.
Mildew (Oidium) is a fungal infection. Symptoms include violet-gray powder on fringes and underside of leaves. It is caused by stagnant air and can be limited but not necessarily eliminated by spraying (especially leaf undersides).
The cucumber mosaic virus is transmitted by aphids. Pansies with the virus have fine yellow veining on young leaves, stunted growth and anomalous flowers. The virus can lay dormant, affect the entire plant and be passed to next generations and to other species. Prevention is key: purchases should consist entirely of healthy plants, and pH-balanced soil should be used which is neither too damp nor too dry. The soil should have balanced amounts of nitrogen, phosphate and potash. Other diseases which may weaken the plant should be eliminated.
To ward off slugs and snails, sharp, gritty sand can be laid, or the soil can be top-dressed with chipped bark. The area should be kept clean of leaves and foreign matter, etc. Beer in little bowls buried to the rims in the flower beds will also keep slugs and snails at bay.
To combat aphids, which spread the cucumber mosaic virus, the treatment is to spray with diluted soft soap (2 ounces per gallon).
Entitled: (Front view) Example Of A Coiffure On A Tartar Or Manchu Female, who is wearing a long sleeved quilted garment. The hair is wrapped around a flat strip of wood. Peking, Pechili Province, China [1869] J Thomson [RESTORED] Extensive repair work to the sleeves and face, the background was simply stripped, adjustments in contrast and tonality.
Here's another John Thomson classic (albeit with extensive restoration), found again within Wellcome's fantastic collection of his work. Thomson has continued to enthrall people after a century; his work has recently returned to China, where many Chinese for the first time are seeing the essence of their forebears through his eternal artistry. Wellcome's Thomson collection can be found here:
library.wellcome.ac.uk/node267.html
This girl actually appeared in several of Thomson's pictures. It was apparent that he spent some time in photographing a team of Manchu models both in their natural surrounds and in front of a portable backdrop. In essence my personal suspicion is that his process was remarkably similar to a modern day photo shoot. Of course, he didn't have electronic flashes or digital film, but instead had to look under a dark cloth at an upside down reversed image on a dim matte glass plate. Photography in those days was genuinely a monumental undertaking.
As a amateur historian, I know that retouching is a blatant taboo. However, as a photographer and artist looking at a beautiful girl, I found the urge to clean up the image too much to resist. I started simply wanting to remove the big smudge off her forehead, and before I knew it, I was already reconstructing her sleeves, LOL...
The original unretouched image can be seen here:
www.flickr.com/photos/ralphrepo_photolog/3974179434/
Imagine that; being captivated and enthralled by a woman that's probably been dead for over a century. I guess some beauty is indeed timeless.
Entitled Chinese punishment, whipping a lawbreaker [c1900] Attribution Unknown [RESTORED]. The photograph was cleaned of defects, and had contrast and tone adjusted.
"But first, ...thirty stokes with the big paddle!!!" is often heard on Chinese period dramas, ostensibly depicting how the Qing courts of yesteryear meted out punishment, or how judges "encourage" criminal confessions. Bastinado (also Bastinade, Bastinada - an alteration of the Spanish 'Baston' meaning 'stick') is a description of the whipping, flogging, paddling, or caning of a person's feet or legs; but can also include the buttocks; while the accused are held supine on the ground or face down across a punishment rack. Used for centuries around the world, this too, was one of the many corporal punishment techniques that the Qing routinely dealt out in order to maintain civil obedience.
The Bastinadoist (ie the one who delivers the repeated blows) is generally someone who is specially trained to inflict slow but grinding punishment, even up to the point of death after many hours of torturous paddling. The technique was readily described and amply pictured in various prints that detailed Chinese culture to Europeans.
Mural entitled "A Vapor" by Noé Barnett aka @nb.artistry, seen at 2201 NW 1st Avenue in the Overtown area of Miami, Florida.
The artist states: "This wall, like all of my current work, is centered around the fragile nature of life and in essence is a memento mori. A reminder that we will all die and a hopeful message to remind the viewer to live life to its fullest in the present. Light and Life are my two main muses The life element is an obvious one. But the light is a bit more cryptic. The text “A VAPOR” was inspired by James 4:14 and only shows up under the cover of darkness, with a direct light, such as a camera flash or flash light shone at it. You’re literally forced to shine a light in the darkness, in order to see the message. This is a method of working that I will hopefully continue to push, and I have so many ideas on how to do so in the upcoming year."
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Rise" designed by Chuck Tingley for Artworks Cincinnati seen at 1919 Elm Street in Cincinnati, Ohio. This mural was created in partnership with Cincinnati’s Rhinegeist Brewery and showcases the beauty of the brewing process.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
I decided to make another group, entitled ''Obscure Imported Car'', which is completely unrelated to this photo, as I currently don't have anything suitable, but I wanted to make the group. I'd be very grateful if you guys would check it out and add some of your photos. I've written a brief description of the group, which may or may not make sense;
I've aimed to create a group containing photos of obscure imports, which I would define as a vehicle sold new in one country, and then exported to another after being sold and used in its country of origin. One common example would be a Nissan March, sold and used in Japan, and then exported to the UK. Somewhat confusingly, I'd also happily accept a car made in one country to be sold somewhere else, that is then re-imported, such as an American specification Mercedes seen in Germany. I hope that makes sense. The obscurer the better, but I'll accept any photo of a second hand import.
www.flickr.com/groups/2772692@N23/
Thanks!
About the Transit: I photographed this utter shed of a Transit a few months ago, assuming it was abandoned, but recently I saw it again in a different location, so it must somehow be in use!
Mural entitled "La Muerte no Acaba Nada" by José Garcia Cordero, seen at 228 NE 59th Street in the Little Haiti area of Miami, Florida.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Entitled: The Amazing Spider-man 2
Spider-man, and all related names, images, etc. are property of MARVEL LLC. and The Walt Disney Company. All rights reserved.
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Montblanc Elizabeth I Patron of Arts 2010 fountain pen.
1/4 You Tube vid: youtu.be/DWN22eyQ64A
Montblanc Elizabeth I writing instrument seriously tempted my pocket book but MAC preferred another holiday trip to a warm climate.
Limited Edition 4810 and Limited Edition 888
Montblanc's Patron of Art Edition has annually honoured a legendary benefactor of the arts and culture since this special writing instrument line was originally conceived in 1992. This year’s edition is dedicated to an all time great cultural force - Elizabeth I. Regarded the most successful monarch to ever ascend an English throne, under Elizabeth's astute and skillful rule, England "came of age" and, witnessing groundbreaking achievements, was transformed from a "remote backwater" to a globally dominant imperial power. Great battles were won. The New World - or the "Americas" - was discovered and the English Renaissance reached its zenith because of Elizabeth's artistic patronage.
Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I - Limited Edition 888
Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I - Limited Edition 4810
The "best educated woman of her generation..." Elizabeth was "passionately" interested in the arts and her "luminous" court stimulated some of the greatest artistic achievements of all time. William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe flourished during her reign as did the poet Edmund Spenser, the painter Nicholas Hillyard and the English composers William Byrd, John Dowland and Thomas Tallis.
Elizabeth I was also a gifted writer and the 2010 Montblanc Patron of Art Edition is therefore composed of two writing instruments conceived with sumptuously striking and clever adornments celebrating her intellect and inimitable regal flair. Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I, limited to 4810 pieces and limited to 888 pieces, will debut in April 2010 and May 2010, respectively. And, as their presentation has always been associated with the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award - which annually celebrates contemporary arts and cultural patrons - the Patron of Art Edition continues a story linking a historical figure with future talent.
Elizabeth I - A Legend in her Own Lifetime
Centuries after her death, Elizabeth I (1533 - 1603), is still considered as one of England's "most popular and influential rulers". She was born at Greenwich Palace on 7 September 1533 to Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, although her arrival was greeted with "surprise and displeasure", by the Court. The "failure" to produce a son for King Henry jeopardized Queen Anne’s life due to her husband's obsession with conceiving a male heir. Charged with adultery, she was beheaded in May 1536.
A retinue of governesses raised the young princess Elizabeth and though she was shunned by her father, Catherine Parr, the "remarkable" sixth and last wife of Henry VIII, oversaw the education which groomed the future queen for greatness and the Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I will celebrate their special bond. Under the Cambridge scholar Roger Ascham, Elizabeth studied the classics, read history and theology and became fluent in six languages - Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish and German. Her love of music and, skill as a musician, developed from the 60 instrumentalists who resided at Hatfield House, her childhood residence. From age 11, she composed prayers and poems and, when jailed for suspected treason against Mary I, her cousin in 1554, she etched onto a glass prison window a two-line verse with a diamond.
Upon ascending the throne on 15 January 1559, Elizabeth's writing focussed on government matters. She wrote powerful speeches, such as that which she delivered at Tilbury in Essex where English troops had gathered to prepare for Spanish invasion in 1588. Brandishing a silver breastplate over a flowing white velvet gown she arrived on horseback demonstrating the "courage and leadership the English expected" of a monarch - but had never been displayed by a female - and declared to the troops: “I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman but I have the heart and stomach of a king and of a King of England, too".
Nine days later, the defeat of the Spanish Armada proved England's "finest hour". Elizabeth's popularity reached a level no "English woman had enjoyed as a public figure" and she attained supreme power comparable to a "biblical and mythological figure". Her grand mode of dress overawed her subjects while the flourishing of her Renaissance court stimulated new literary, artistic and musical achievements. "Theatres thrived", and, as Shakespeare elevated the English language to its highest level of development, England’s literacy rate soared. Elizabeth attended the debut of Shakespeare's romantic comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. Numerous works were dedicated to her including poet Edmund Spenser's masterpiece The Fairie Queen. Composers William Byrd, John Dowland and Thomas Tallis also toiled at her court.
The discoveries of adventurers Sir Francis Drake, who circumnavigated the world in 1580, Walter Raleigh's exploration of eastern Venezuela in 1594 and Humphrey Gilbert’s conquering of Newfoundland for the English throne in 1583, spearheaded a new age expansion by the end of Elizabeth's reign. Upon her passing on 24 March 1604, the pioneering monarch, it is said, "departed this life mildly like a lamb, easily like a ripe apple from the tree".
The Limited Edition Celebrating the Elizabethan Age
Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I 4810
The design and adornments of the Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I 4810 reflects the life, reign and heraldic regalia of Elizabeth I. Hand engraved on the 18 K gold nib is a bejewelled gold crown which she brandished ascending the throne in 1559. Lacquer barrel and cap signify the spots which appear on an ermine cape, part of the traditional coronation attire which Elizabeth also flaunted. While an ivory coloured Montblanc emblem tops the cap, the clip descends from gold plated Tudor Rose. This "double rose" motif became England’s floral emblem after Henry VII, Elizabeth's grandfather, commandeered it as the symbol of the Tudor Dynasty upon taking the crown from Richard IIII in 1485. The green cabochon embellishing the gold-plated cross upon the clip also reflects the bejewelled cross upon Elizabeth's crown.
Encircling the gold plate band adorning the cap - as well as the cone - is an elegant interlaced pattern inspired by the pretty needlework sleeve Elizabeth conceived for a prayer book she created especially for her stepmother, Catherine Parr, as a New Year's gift in 1544. Entitled The Mirror of the Sinful Soul, it was Lady Elizabeth's own English translation of the French verse originally composed by Queen Margaret of Navarre. A friend of Anne Boleyn, the French Queen gave the original manuscript to her and the religious poem was also a favourite of Catherine Parr’s. Today, Elizabeth I’s handmade book is owned by the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library. Etched by gold plated cap ring is "Video et Taceo" - or "I see and I keep silent". This maxim of Elizabeth I signified her moderate political views and cautious approach to foreign affairs.
Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I Limited Edition 888
This 750 solid gold fountain pen features a barrel and cap in precious lacquer. Hand engraved on its 18 K gold nib is a bejewelled gold crown in which Elizabeth I ascended the throne in 1559. Topping the cap is the Montblanc emblem rendered in shimmering mother-of-pearl. The clip descends from a solid gold Tudor Rose while its embellishment - a princess cut green garnet - reflects the bejewelled crown. The intricate interlaced motif, derived from the needlework cover of The Mirror of the Sinful Soul, beautifies the solid gold cap and barrel. Elizabeth I's "Video et Taceo" maxim is embossed upon the cap ring.
Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award
Celebrating Past and Present
The Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award is presented in 11 countries and represents an exemplary bond forged between past and present and, since its inception in 1992, this merit has been directly linked with the Patron of the Art Edition. The prize, therefore, combines a tribute to an historic patron of the arts while acknowledging a contemporary one. By recognizing the importance of private patronage, the award conveys to the public its crucial role in fostering the arts and culture.
Each recipient of the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award is chosen by an international jury of artists and receives financial support of € 15.000 in each country for a cultural project of their own choice. Montblanc also presents the honoree and the jury members with the precious Patron of Art Edition. Sought after by collectors around the world, Montblanc's Patron of Art Edition are writing instruments that will last a lifetime. And like every Montblanc writing instrument, these exceptionally handcrafted fountain pens have been created with the highest demand of craftsmanship that has made Montblanc the benchmark for writing culture.
Prized by connoisseurs and avid collectors, the Montblanc Patron of the Art Edition is a commemorative keepsake meant to be passed down through generations. Manufacturing tools, specially developed for the making of every Montblanc Limited Edition, are destroyed at the end of each production run. As a consequence, these intricately handcrafted pens are collector’s items. Limited Editions produced between 1992 and 2000, for example, have sold at auction for sums greatly exceeding their original retail price, ranging from (US) $ 2,200 to (US) $35,000. And nine years after its 1992 debut, Montblanc Patron of the Art Lorenzo de Medici sold at Christie’s in New York for more than six times its initial cost of (US) $1,292.00, ultimately fetching (US) $8,225.00.
Mei Boa-Jiu, China:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mei_Baojiu
www.flickr.com/photos/gregsu/14914200150/in/photolist-uiq...
Mei Baojiu (Chinese: 梅葆玖; pinyin: Méi Bǎojiǔ) (29 March 1934 – 25 April 2016)[1] was a contemporary Peking opera artist, also a performer of the Dan role type in Peking Opera and Kunqu opera, the leader of Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe in Beijing Peking Opera Theatre. Mei's father Mei Lanfang was one of the most famous Peking opera performers. Mei Baojiu was the ninth and youngest child of Mei Lanfang. For this reason, he was called Baojiu, since in Chinese, jiu means nine.[2] Mei Baojiu was the master of the second generation of Méi School descendant, he was also Mei Lanfang's only child who is now a performer of the Dan role of the Peking Opera.[3]
Mei Baojiu: 梅葆玖
Born: 29 March 1934. Shanghai, China
Died: 25 April 2016 (aged 82) Beijing, China
Occupation: Peking opera artist
Parents: Mei Lanfang (father), Fu Zhifang (mother)
From childhood, Mei had learned Peking Opera from many artists. Mei Baojiu's first opera teacher was Wang Youqing (王幼卿), the nephew of Wang Yaoqing (王瑶卿), who had been the teacher of Mei Lanfang. Tao Yuzhi (陶玉芝) was his teacher of martial arts, while Zhu Chuanming (朱传茗), the famous performer of the Dan role type in Kunqu opera, taught him Kunqu. After that Mei learned the Dan role from Zhu Qinxin (朱琴心). Mei's regular performances of traditional opera include The Hegemon-King Bids His Concubine Farewell, Guifei Intoxicated (貴妃醉酒), Lady General Mu Takes Command (穆桂英挂帅), The story of Yang Guifei (太真外传), Luo Shen (洛神), Xi Shi (西施), etc. Mei has made significant contributions to cultural exchanges and promoting Peking Opera culture. Meanwhile, he also trains more than twenty students, such as Li Shengsu (李胜素), Dong Yuanyuan (董圆圆), Zhang Jing (张晶), Zhang Xinyue (张馨月), Hu Wenge (胡文阁) (the only male student),[4] Tian Hui (田慧), Wei Haimin.[5]
Biography:
Mei Baojiu as a child
In the spring of 1934, Mei Baojiu was born at No. 87 Sinan Road, Shanghai.[2] Because of his comely appearance and delicate voice, his father decided to send Baojiu to learn Peking opera and hoped that Baojiu could make contributions to Méi School. Baojiu himself also showed great interest as well as gifts in Peking opera in his early life. In 1942, Mei Lanfang and his wife Fu Zhifang (福芝芳) invited Wang Youqing (王幼卿), the disciple of famous Dan role performer - Wang Yaoqing (王瑶卿), from Beijing to teach Baojiu as his first qingyi teacher while requesting Zhu Chuanming (朱传茗), one of the most prestigious performers of the Dan role type to teach Baojiu Kunqu Opera. When Mei Lanfang was free from work, he also gave directions to his son himself.[6]
When Baojiu was ten years old, he played Xue Yi (薛倚) in San Niang teaches the child (三娘教子) as his first performance in Shanghai. At the age of twelve, together with his sister Mei Baoyue (梅葆玥), Baojiu acted in Yang Silang Visits His Mother (四郎探母). Being a Qingyi (青衣) performer, he started giving performances of the Legend of the White Snake, The Story Of Su San (玉堂春) and some other traditional plays for charity since the age of 13. He also performed in Wu Jiapo Hill (武家坡) with Baoyue (梅葆玥) at the same time. When Baojiu was 16, he took part in the national tour of the Mei Lanfang Troupe, and toured the country with the troupe. Usually, Baojiu performed for the first three days, and Mei Lanfang performed plays in the rest, sometimes they also performed cooperatively, such as in Legend of the White Snake. Baojiu played the part of Xiao Qing the green snake, while his father played Bai Suzhen the white snake.[6]
Mei Lanfang used to make suggestions to Baojiu in order to make the performance of Baojiu perfect when Baojiu was young. Once, after watching the play The Story Of Sue San (玉堂春), in which Baojiu performed, he came to Baojiu and suggested that Baojiu change the way of acting the spoken parts. He mentioned that it was the most exciting time when the heroine, Sue San, got the Senior judge. For this reason, Baojiu should speak infectiously, he should speak faster and faster to create tension.[7]
Baojiu also got a chance to share the stage with some prestigious senior performers, such as Xiao Changhua (萧长华), Jiang Miaoxiang (姜妙香) and Yu Zhenfei (俞振飞).[8]
Due to the guidance of the actors from the earlier generation, Mei Baojiu's acting greatly improved and hemade a great effort to promote Méi School as well.[9]
In 1961, after Mei Lanfang died, Baojiu took over the position of the leader of Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe. During this time, he acted in some other well known plays, such as The mulan (木兰从军), Return of the Phoenix (凤还巢) and Lian Jinfeng (廉锦枫). However, after 1964, almost all performance of traditional plays was forbidden, according to central government regulations. For this reason, Baojiu was forced to do recording and stage lighting related work.[10]
Fourteen years later, in 1978, Baojiu returned to the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe and came back to stage. He reformed the troupe and rearranged many traditional plays like Yuzhoufeng the Sword(宇宙锋), The story of Yang Guifei (太真外传), Luo Shen (洛神), Xi Shi (西施) as well as Royal pavilion (御碑亭) at the same time.[11]
From 1981 to 1984, together with his sister Mei Baoyue and descendants of other schools, he participated in the performance of a series memorial activities to commemorate his father. Making the eight-hour long play lasts for only three hours, he also rearranged The story of Yang Guifei in the late 1980s.[12]
In 1993, led by Baojiu, the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe visited Taiwan and gave elaborately prepared performances to the public. He has made significant contributions to cultural exchanges and promoting Peking Opera culture.[13]
Baojiu cultivates more than twenty students, such as Li Shengsu, Dong Yuanyuan (董圆圆), Zhang Jing (张晶), Zhang Xinyue (张馨月), Hu Wenge (the only male student), Tian Hui (田慧), Wei Haimin (魏海敏). In the last twenty years, he mainly focused on training these students.
As a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Mei Baojiu put forward a proposal on introducing Peking Opera into elementary schools in 2009.[14]
In March 2012, at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Mei put forward a proposal on introducing the form of animation into Peking Opera in order to make more teenagers be interested in Peking Opera.[15]
On 26 March 2012, Mei received his Ph.D. from J. F. Oberlin University in Japan.[16]
On 31 March 2016, Mei was hospitalized because of bronchospasm. He died on 25 April 2016, at the age of 82.[17]
Famous plays:
Like his father, Mei Baojiu acts Dan role in the following classic Peking opera plays. The Hegemon-King Bids His Concubine Farewell tells the sad love story of Xiang Yu and his favourite concubine Consort Yu when he is surrounded by Liu Bang’s forces. Mei plays the role of Consort Yu. Shang Changrong (the 3rd son of Shang Xiaoyun) once played the role of Xiang Yu as Mei's partner.
Guifei Intoxicated, also named Bai Hua Ting (百花亭), is about Yang Guifei. In this play she drinks down her sorrow because she is irritated by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang breaking his promise. Based on Mei Lanfang’s original work, Mei Baojiu adapted this play for The Great Concubine of Tang (大唐贵妃), a contemporary Beijing opera with historical motif in 2002. Mu Guiying Takes Command, a classic Yu opera was adapted by Mei Lanfang in 1959, and he acted the leading role the same year in celebration of the 10th anniversary of PRC.
Cooperating with famous Yu opera master Ma Jinfeng (马金凤), Mei Baojiu performed this play in the Shuang xia guo style (双下锅), which means different forms of opera performed in one play.[3]
Family:
Mei Baojiu's mother, Fu Zhifang (福芝芳), the second wife of Mei Lanfang, bore 9 children, but only 4 of them survived.
Mei Baojiu is the youngest child in his family. His eldest brother, Mei Baochen (梅葆琛) (1925-2008), was a senior engineer in Beijing's Academy of Architecture (北京建筑设计院). His elder brother, Mei Shaowu (梅绍武) (1928-2005), was a researcher of the Chinese academy of social sciences institute of the United States (中国社会科学院美国研究所) and the president of Mei Lanfang Culture-art Seminar (中国梅兰芳文化艺术研究会). His elder sister Mei Baoyue (梅葆玥) (1930-2000) was a performer of the Laosheng role type in Peking Opera, and performed together with Mei Baojiu sometimes. Mei Baojiu is the only heir to the Meipai Qingyi (梅派青衣).[3][18]
Mei Baojiu's wife is named Lin Liyuan (林丽媛), she is the consultant of Mei Lanfang Troupe. They have no children.[19]
References:
^ Mei Shaowu (梅绍武), Mei Weidong (梅卫东), Biography of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳自述) :Appendix - studies (附录：年谱简表)
^ a b Wu Ying (吴迎), From Mei Lanfang to Mei Baojiu (从梅兰芳到梅葆玖) Page 50
^ a b c "梅氏家族 (May Family)". Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
^ "胡文阁被梅葆玖"看"得紧紧的(组图) (Mei Baojiu keeps a close watch on Hu Wenge (photo))". 9 January 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
^ "梅葆玖简介 (About Mei Baojiu)". July 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
^ a b Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page93
^ Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page 96
^ "梅兰芳的剧照 Mei Lanfang snapshot". Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
^ Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page92 - 93
^ Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page110
^ Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page112-113
^ Xu Beicheng (徐北城), Mei Lanfang and the 20th century (梅兰芳与二十世纪) :chapter 10. the Dance of Mei (第十章：梅之舞)
^ Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page113-121
^ "Mei Baojiu". 11 March 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
^ "Mei Baojiu". 7 March 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
^ "Mei Baojiu". 29 March 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
^ "京剧大师梅葆玖去世享年82岁 世间从此再无"梅先生"". people.cn. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
^ Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page84 - 90
^ "About Mei Baojiu". 29 March 2012. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
Martine Franck, France:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martine_Franck
Martine Franck (2 April 1938 – 16 August 2012) was a British-Belgian documentary and portrait photographer. She was a member of Magnum Photos for over 32 years. Franck was the second wife of Henri Cartier-Bresson and co-founder and president of the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation.
Martine Franck
Photo of Martine Franck.jpg
Franck in 1972, by Henri-Cartier Bresson
Born: 2 April 1938 Antwerp, Belgium
Died: 16 August 2012 (aged 74) Paris, France
Occupation
Documentary and portrait photographer
Spouse(s): Henri Cartier-Bresson (m. 1970; died 2004)
Children: 1
Contents:
Early life:
Franck was born in Antwerp[1] to the Belgian banker Louis Franck and his British wife, Evelyn.[2] After her birth the family moved almost immediately to London.[2] A year later, her father joined the British army, and the rest of the family were evacuated to the United States, spending the remainder of the Second World War on Long Island and in Arizona.[3]
Franck's father was an amateur art collector who often took his daughter to galleries and museums. Franck was in boarding school from the age of six onwards, and her mother sent her a postcard every day, frequently of paintings. Ms. Franck, attended Heathfield School, an all-girls boarding school close to Ascot in England, and studied the history of art from the age of 14. "I had a wonderful teacher who really galvanized me," she says. "In those days she took us on outings to London, which was the big excitement of the year for me."[4]
Career:
Franck studied art history at the University of Madrid and at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris. After struggling through her thesis (on French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and the influence of cubism on sculpture), she said she realized she had no particular talent for writing, and turned to photography instead.[5]
In 1963, Franck's photography career started following trips to the Far East, having taken pictures with her cousin’s Leica camera. Returning to France in 1964, now possessing a camera of her own, Franck became an assistant to photographers Eliot Elisofon and Gjon Mili at Time-Life. By 1969 she was a busy freelance photographer for magazines such as Vogue, Life and Sports Illustrated, and the official photographer of the Théâtre du Soleil (a position she held for 48 years).[6] From 1970 to 1971 she worked in Paris at the Agence Vu photo agency, and in 1972 she co-founded the Viva agency.[2]
In 1980, Franck joined the Magnum Photos cooperative agency as a "nominee", and in 1983 she became a full member. She was one of a very small number of women to be accepted into the agency.
In 1983, she completed a project for the now-defunct French Ministry of Women's Rights and in 1985 she began collaborating with the non-profit International Federation of Little Brothers of the Poor. In 1993, she first traveled to the Irish island of Tory where she documented the tiny Gaelic community living there. She also traveled to Tibet and Nepal, and with the help of Marilyn Silverstone photographed the education system of the Tibetan Tulkus monks. In 2003 and 2004 she returned to Paris to document the work of theater director Robert Wilson who was staging La Fontaine's fables at the Comédie Française.[7]
Nine books of Franck's photographs have been published, and in 2005 Franck was made a chevalier of the French Légion d'Honneur.[8]
Franck continued working even after she was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2010. Her last exhibition was in October 2011 at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie. The exhibit consisted of 62 portraits of artists "coming from somewhere else” collected from 1965 through 2010. This same year, there were collections of portraits shown at New York's Howard Greenberg Gallery and at the Claude Bernard Gallery, Paris.[9]
Work:
Franck was well known for her documentary-style photographs of important cultural figures such as the painter Marc Chagall, philosopher Michel Foucault and poet Seamus Heaney, and of remote or marginalized communities such as Tibetan Buddhist monks, elderly French people, and isolated Gaelic speakers. Michael Pritchard, the Director-General of the Royal Photographic Society, observed: "Martine was able to work with her subjects and bring out their emotions and record their expressions on film, helping the viewer understand what she had seen in person. Her images were always empathetic with her subject." In 1976, Frank took one of her most iconic photos of bathers beside a pool in Le Brusc, Provence. By her account, she saw them from a distance and rushed to photograph the moment, all the while changing the roll of film in her camera. She quickly closed the lens just at the right moment, when happened to be most intense.[9]
She cited as influences the portraits of British photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, the work of American photojournalist Dorothea Lange and American documentary photographer Margaret Bourke-White.[8] In 2010, she told The New York Times that photography "suits my curiosity about people and human situations." [10]
She worked outside the studio, using a 35 mm Leica camera, and preferring black and white film.[2] The British Royal Photographic Society has described her work as "firmly rooted in the tradition of French humanist documentary photography."[11]
Personal life:
Franck was often described as elegant, dignified and shy.[12][13][14]
In 1966, she met Henri Cartier-Bresson, thirty years her senior, when she was photographing Paris fashion shows for The New York Times. In 2010, she told interviewer Charlie Rose "his opening line was, ‘Martine, I want to come and see your contact sheets.’" They married in 1970, had one child, a daughter named Mélanie, and remained together until his death in 2004.[2]
Throughout her career Franck, who was sometimes described as a feminist, was uncomfortable being in the shadow of her famous husband and wanted to be recognized for her own work. In 1970, the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London planned to stage Franck's first solo exhibition: when she saw that the invitations included her husband's name and said he would be present at the launch, she cancelled the show. Franck once said that she put her husband's career ahead of her own. In 2003 Franck and her daughter launched the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation to promote Cartier-Bresson's photojournalism, and in 2004 Franck became its president.[8]
Franck was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010, and died in Paris in 2012 at 74 years old.[2]
Publications:
Martine Franck: Dun jour, l'autre. France: Seuil, 1998. ISBN 978-2-02-034771-6
Tibetan Tulkus, images of continuity. London: Anna Maria Rossi & Fabio Rossi Publications, 2000. ISBN 978-0-9520992-8-4
Tory Island Images. Wolfhound Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-86327-561-6
Martine Franck Photographe, Musée de la Vie romantique, Paris-Musées/Adam Biro, 2002. ISBN 978-2-87660-346-2
Fables de la Fontaine (production by Robert Wilson), Actes Sud. Paris, 2004
Martine Franck: One Day to the Next. Aperture, 2005. ISBN 978-0-89381-845-6
Martine Franck. Louis Baring. London: Phaidon, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7148-4781-8
Martine Franck: Photo Poche. France: Actes Sud, 2007. ISBN 978-2-7427-6725-0
Women/Femmes, Steidl, 2010. ISBN 978-3-86930-149-5
Venus d'ailleurs, Actes Sud, 2011
ExhibitionsEdit
La vie et la mort, Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France, 1980[citation needed]
Martine Franck Photographe, Musée de la Vie romantique, Paris, 2004[citation needed]
Les Rencontres, Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France, 2004[citation needed]
ReferencesEdit
^ Phaidon Editors (2019). Great women artists. Phaidon Press. p. 141. ISBN 0714878774.
^ a b c d e f Leslie Kaufman (22 August 2012). "Martine Franck, Documentary Photographer, Dies at 74". New York Times. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
^ Tori (21 August 2012). "'Magnum has lost a point of reference, a lighthouse, and one of our most influential and beloved members – Martine Franck". Film's Not Dead. Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
^ Grey, Tobias (21 October 2011). "Martine Franck's Curious Lens". ProQuest 899273270.
^ Bussell, Mark (8 June 2010). "Martine Franck's Pictures Within Pictures". New York Times. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
^ Wallace, Vaughan (20 August 2012). "Martine Franck: 1938 – 2012". Life magazine. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
^ Magnumphotos
^ a b c Hopkinson, Amanda (19 August 2012). "Martine Franck obituary". Guardian. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
^ a b Childs, Martin (29 August 2012). "The Independent". The Independent. Independent Print Ltd.
^ Bussell, Mark (8 June 2010). "Martine Franck's Pictures Within Pictures". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
^ Laurent, Olivier (17 August 2012). "Magnum Photos member and photographer Martine Franck has died". British Journal of Photography. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
^ Gill, A.A. (2008). Previous convictions: assignments from here and there (1st Simon & Schuster trade pbk. ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. p. 90. ISBN 978-1416572497.
^ Walker, David (17 August 2012). "Photographer Martine Franck dies". Photo District News. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
^ "Wife of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Martine Franck, dies at 74". Art Media Agency. 20 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
External linksEdit
Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation
New York Times "Martine Franck's Pictures Within Pictures"
Martine Franck 1991 catalogue of Taipei Fine Art Museum, with the pencil painting of Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Dr. rer. pol. Arend Oetker, Germany:
de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arend_Oetker
Arend Oetker was born on March 30, 1939 in Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and studied business administration and political science in Hamburg, Berlin and Cologne as well as Marketing at Harvard Business School. He received his doctorate in 1966 from the University of Cologne.
Dr. Arend Oetker, Managing Partner of Dr. Arend Oetker Holding, is Honorary Chairman of the Board and majority shareholder of the food company Hero AG, Deputy Chairman and major shareholder of KWS Saat AG and chairman of the board of Cognos AG.
Furthermore, Dr. Arend Oetker is actively involved as president of the German Council on Foreign Relations (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e. V.), board member of the Confederation of German Employers‘ Associations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände e. V.) and honorary member of the Federation of German Industries (Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e. V.). He has received a number of accolades in the field of visual arts and music.
Dr. Arend Oetker is married and has five children.
Dr. William Mong Man Wai, Hong Kong:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mong
William Mong Man-wai GBS (Chinese: 蒙民偉, 7 November 1927 – 20 July 2010) was the chairman of the Shun Hing Group, the distributor of Matsushita products (National, Panasonic, Technics) in Hong Kong.
He attended La Salle College in Hong Kong. Mong Man-wai died from cancer on 20 July 2010, aged 82. Many buildings in Hong Kong universities are named after him.[1]
Award received:
Gold Bauhinia Star
honorary doctor of the University of Hong Kong
honorary doctor of the Tsinghua University (2007)
honorary doctor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Giulio Mogol, Italy:
Giulio Rapetti (born 17 August 1936), in art Mogol (Italian pronunciation: [moˈɡɔl]), is an Italian music lyricist. He is best known for his collaborations with Lucio Battisti, Gianni Bella, Adriano Celentano and Mango.
Career:
Mogol was born in Milan. His father, Mariano Rapetti, was an important director of the Ricordi record label, and had been in his own time a successful lyricist of the 1950s. Young Giulio, who was likewise employed by Ricordi as a public relations expert, began his own career as a lyricist against his father's wishes.
His first successes were "Il cielo in una stanza", set to music by Gino Paoli and sung by Mina; "Al di là", a piece that won the 1961 Sanremo Festival, performed by Luciano Tajoli and Betty Curtis; "Una lacrima sul viso", which was a huge hit for Bobby Solo in 1964. Another famous song from 1961 was "Uno dei tanti" (English: "One among many") which was rewritten by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1963 for Ben E. King and released under the title "I (Who Have Nothing)".
In addition to writing new lyrics in Italian for a great many singers, Mogol also took it upon himself, in years in which familiarity with the English language in Italy was still sparse, to translate many hits from overseas, especially film soundtracks, but also works of Bob Dylan and David Bowie.
In 1965, he met Lucio Battisti, a young guitarist and composer from the Latium region of central Italy. Mogol's lyrics contributed to Battisti's initial success as an author, in megahits such as "29 settembre", and led him to undertake the role of producer as well, as happened with the song "Sognando la California", which Mogol himself had translated from the signature number of The Mamas & the Papas, "California Dreamin'", and with "Senza luce" ("Without light"), an Italian rendering of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum.
In 1966, Mogol, overcoming resistance from his record label, convinced Battisti to perform his own songs. The lyricist's intuition would have one of the most rewarding outcomes of the history of Italian music, as Battisti, after a halting start, would explode as a singer, becoming one of the most successful artists in the panorama of Italian music. In the same year, Mogol left the Ricordi label to create his own with Battisti, called Numero Uno, which brought together many celebrated Italian singer-songwriters. The pair wrote songs as well for Bruno Lauzi and Patty Pravo. Their greatest chart success came from the songs written for Mina in 1969–1970.
In 1980, Mogol broke the artistic relationship with Battisti, and successfully continued his independent career as a lyricist with the noted singer-songwriter Riccardo Cocciante, with whom he wrote the texts for some successful albums, first in the series being "Cervo a Primavera".
Mogol (2007)
Lately, he began his collaboration with Mango, co-writing successful songs like "Oro", "Nella mia città", "Come Monna Lisa" and "Mediterraneo".
Mogol has formed a stable partnership with Adriano Celentano; his songs for Celentano are scored by the Sicilian singer-songwriter Gianni Bella. This collaboration has produced the delicate song "L'arcobaleno", included in the CD Io non so parlar d'amore, which is considered dedicated to Battisti, who had recently died. Mogol has also collaborated with singer-songwriter Jack Rubinacci.
Mari Natsuki, Japan:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari_Natsuki
Junko Nakajima (中島 淳子, Nakajima Junko, born 2 May 1952), more commonly known by her stage name Mari Natsuki (夏木 マリ, Natsuki Mari), is a Japanese singer, dancer and actress.[1] Born in Tokyo, she started work as a singer from a young age. In 2007, Natsuki announced her engagement to percussionist Nobu Saitō, with their marriage taking place in Spring 2008.
Mari Natsuki
MJK 08427 Mari Natsuki (Berlinale 2018).jpg
Mari Natsuki (2018)
Born: Mari Natsuki. 夏木 マリ. 2 May 1952 (age 67) Tokyo, Japan
Nationality: Japanese
Other names: Junko Nakajima
Occupation: Singer, dancer, actress
Natsuki has participated in musical theatre, including that of Yukio Ninagawa. She provided the voice of Yubaba in Spirited Away, played the young witch's mother in the Japanese TV remake of Bewitched and has twice been nominated for a Japanese Academy Award. Natsuki played the character Big Mama in the Japanese version of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots[2] and has also acted in television dramas, such as the 2005 series Nobuta o Produce, playing the Vice Principal, Katharine.
Contents:
Film:
Otoko wa Tsurai yo series:
Tora-san, My Uncle (1989)
Tora-san Takes a Vacation (1990)
Tora-san Confesses (1991)
Tora-San Makes Excuses (1992)
Tora-san to the Rescue (1995)
Tora-san, Wish You Were Here (2019)
Onimasa (1982)
Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983)
Kita no Hotaru (1984)
Jittemai (1986)
Death Powder (1986)
Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Boku no Ojisan (1989)
The Hunted (1995)
Samurai Fiction (1998)
Spirited Away (2001)
Shōjo (2001)
Ping Pong (2002)
Okusama wa Majo (2004)
Sugar and Spice (2006)
Sakuran (2007)
Girl In The Sunny Place (2013)
Isle of Dogs (2018)
Ikiru Machi (2018)
Vision (2018)
Dai Kome Sōdō (2021), Taki
Television: Yoshitsune (2005), Carnation (2011), Montage (2016), Meet Me After School (2018)
Video Games: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Big Mama) (2008), Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Katherine Marlowe) (2011)
Japanese dub:
Live-action: Feud (Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange)), The West Wing (C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney))
Animation: Moana (Tala)
References:
^ Mills, Ted. "Apple Music Preview. About Mari Natsuki". music.apple.com. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
^ Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots: MGS4 Voice Cast Announced Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
Changjae Shin, South Korea:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Chang-jae
Shin Chang-jae (born 1953/54) is a Korean billionaire businessman, Chairman and CEO of Kyobo Life Insurance Company.
Shin Chang-jae
Born: 1953/1954 (age 65–66)[1]
Nationality: Korean
Alma mater: Seoul National University
Occupation: Chairman and CEO, Kyobo Life Insurance Company
Net worth: $2.3 billion (June 2015)[1]
Spouse(s): married
Children: 2 sons
Early life:
He is the son of Shin Yong-ho, who founded Kyobo Life Insurance Company in 1958.[1] he has a doctorate from Seoul National University.[1]
Career: Kyobo Life Insurance Building, Seoul
He trained as an obstetrician and worked as a professor at the Seoul National University medical school.[1]
He has been Chairman and CEO of Kyobo Life Insurance Company since 2000.[1] In June 2015, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$2.3 billion.[1]
Personal life: He is married with two sons and lives in Seoul, South Korea.[1]
References: ^ a b c d e f g h "Shin Chang-Jae". Forbes. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
Patrick Charpenel, Mexico;
Patrick Charpenel will be the new executive director of El Museo del Barrio in New York.
Charpenel is a Mexico City–based curator who has worked extensively in Mexico as well as internationally. He organized a Gabriel Orozco retrospective at the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City in 2006 and an exhibition of work by Franz West at the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo in 2009. He also oversaw the Art Public section for the 2009 and 2010 editions of Art Basel Miami Beach.
Charpenel served as the executive director of Museo Jumex, the private museum in Mexico City of ART news Top 200 collector Eugenio López Alonso. (Charpenel resigned from his post in 2015 amid the controversy over the cancellation of a Hermann Nitsch show.) Charpenel is also a writer and a collector of “a heterogeneous group of works” that focuses on such interests as “the structure of the global economy and the extension of artistic experience into the social sphere.”
Patrick Charpenel is an art historian and collector currently working as an independent curator in Mexico City. He holds a graduate degree in philosophy. Charpenel has curated numerous exhibitions including Franz West, Tamayo Museum, Mexico City, Mexico (2006); Sólo los personajes cambian, Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey, Mexico (2004); Inter.play, Moore Space, Miami, Florida (2003); Edén, Jumex Collection, Mexico City, Mexico (2003); and ACNÉ, Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City, Mexico (1995). He has numerous critical texts published in catalogues and magazines.
2018 Bienvenidos a El Museo del Barrio!
We are excited to announce the appointment of our new Executive Director, Patrick Charpenel. El Museo del Barrio is thrilled to have Charpenel join the institution’s leadership and we look forward to seeing what he will bring to the legacy of this museum.
YouTube: youtu.be/l1Amlj49bt8
Laura Garcia-Lorca de los Rios, Spain:
Gloria Giner de los Ríos García (28 March 1886 – 6 February 1970) was a Spanish teacher at the Escuela Normal Superior de Maestras and the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. The author of innovative manuals dedicated to the teaching of history and geography,[1] she, together with Leonor Serrano Pablo [es], developed the educational "recipe" that they called "enthusiastic observation". They also worked to change the androcentric canon of geographical studies to include women.[2]
Gloria Giner de los Ríos García
Born: 28 March 1886 Madrid, Spain
Died: 6 February 1970 (aged 83) Madrid, Spain
Resting place: Civil Cemetery of Madrid [es]
Occupation: Teacher
Spouse(s): Fernando de los Ríos
Children: Laura de los Ríos Giner [es]
Parents: Hermenegildo Giner de los Ríos [es] (father), Laura García Hoppe [es] (mother)
She lived in exile during the Francoist Spain era, forming part of the intellectual elite that carried out educational, philological, literary, legal, and cultural work. Her family had close connections to that of poet Federico García Lorca.
Biography:
Gloria Giner de los Ríos García was born in Madrid on 28 March 1886. The daughter of Laura García Hoppe [es] and Hermenegildo Giner de los Ríos [es], she spent her childhood and adolescence in Madrid, Alicante, and Barcelona, cities where her father held the Chair of Philosophy. After finishing high school in 1906 and teaching in 1908, she completed her training by attending classes at the Institución Libre de Enseñanza and taking courses in art, pedagogy, and philosophy.[3] In 1909, she was promoted to the Escuela de Estudios Superiores de Magisterio [es].[1]
Marriage, family, and social life:
On 1 July 1912, Giner married Fernando de los Ríos, who had obtained the Chair of Law at the University of Granada. It was in this city that the couple took up residence, and in which Gloria was a teacher at the Normal School, by right of consort at first, and later in her own position.[3] A year later, their daughter Laura de los Ríos Giner [es] was born. In Granada, the Ríos Giner family became friends with the García Lorca family, with Manuel de Falla, and with Berta Wilhelmi and her husband Eduardo Domínguez. Wilhelmi had been in contact with the Institución Libre de Enseñanza and had organized some community schools in Almuñécar.[4] With her collaboration, Giner organized the education of her daughter Laura and other children, including Isabel García Lorca [es], in order to separate them from Granada's private education system.[3]
Laura de los Ríos and Isabel García Lorca:
Federico García Lorca was one of the select circle of friends of the Ríos family. He dedicated the poem Romance sonámbulo to Fernando and Gloria,[5] and was the one who introduced their daughters, Laura de los Ríos and Isabel García Lorca. The friendship between the latter was very intense and lasting. They became sisters-in-law when Laura married Federico's younger brother Francisco [es]. In an interview, Isabel Garcia Lorca recalled:
Gloria Giner was an extraordinary being. Well, of character, I think there was a certain similarity in all of them, some high moral tension. People a little demanding with what others did and what they could do. They were like that down deep, including my mother.[6]
Laura, in another interview, told of her mother's life in Granada:
My mother attended her classes every day...in the afternoon she prepared her classes and helped my father. She translated from German, the language my father and a German teacher in Granada had taught her. She also translated from French, which she knew very well, from Greek and Latin...lovingly and intellectually my parents were a very well-matched marriage.[7]
Professional career:
In 1931, the Provisional Government of the Republic appointed her husband Minister of Justice, and in December, Minister of Public Instruction. Giner told her daughter, "I'm not going to give up my career and live as a minister."[8] Nonetheless she performed some ceremonial functions and accompanied her husband on trips through Spain.[3] In 1932 she was on leave as a teacher at the Normal School, but continued teaching at the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. In 1933, after her husband resigned from government office, she rejoined teaching by accepting a position in Zamora. For three courses she lived alone in a hotel room three days a week, returning to Madrid for the rest of the week.[8] In Zamora, as in Granada, society shunned her for being the wife of a socialist and not attending religious services.[7]
Exile:
At the end of September 1936, Fernando de los Ríos was appointed ambassador of Spain to the United States, a position he held until March 1939. Gloria Giner moved to Washington, D.C. with her daughter, her mother, and a nephew of her husband. Fernanda Urruti, Fernando's mother, would later join them. In Washington, Giner was invited to several meetings that Eleanor Roosevelt organized in the White House.[3] During the Civil War, Fernando de los Ríos was separated from his professorship at the University of Madrid. In 1939, the Franco government definitively separated him from his chair and dismissed him.
Fernando de los Ríos taught at The New School for Social Research in New York, an institution founded to welcome European intellectuals who emigrated for political reasons.[5] Giner was a professor at Columbia University.[3][9] The Ríos-Giner family lived in exile in the United States, which did not recognize Spanish Republican exiles and subjected those who wanted to enter to immigration laws. However, university students and artists were exempt from the rigid immigration quota, provided they were endorsed by US citizens or claimed by a university. Gloria was one of the exiled academics who passed through American universities and formed an intellectual elite.[10]
In 1942, her daughter Laura married Francisco García Lorca, younger brother of the poet Federico, in the Mead Chapel of Middlebury College, where both were professors at the Spanish School.[11] The couple had three daughters, and the family lived together in a New York apartment. In addition to preparing classes, writing poems, and working on the publication of her works, Giner took care of her three granddaughters, took them out for walks and, if necessary, took them on the bus and subway in New York.
In 1949, Fernando de los Ríos died. Over 50 personalities of politics and culture attended the funeral. José de los Ríos – the younger brother of Fernando and Francisco García Lorca – presided over the dual family. Fernando's wife, mother, and daughter stayed at the house during the funeral, in accordance with Spanish custom at the time.
Return to Spain:
Gloria Giner returned to Spain with her daughter's family in 1965. She died in Madrid on 6 February 1970.[12] She was buried in the Civil Cemetery of Madrid [es], and her husband's remains were reinterred there alongside hers on 28 June 1980.[13]
Teaching methods:
Gloria Giner and her great friend Leonor Serrano Pablo [es] worked together on the teaching of geography in order to connect with students.[14] Giner defended the formative capacity of the plastic arts "as a real basis for the teaching of history in the first years of the formation of the culture of the child". Her 1935 book Cien lecturas históricas became a prominent text for educational reformers inspired by the work of Rafael Altamira.[1]
With Altamira and Maria Montessori as references, they developed didactic methods that, in Serrano's words, revolved around "enthusiastic observation". This consisted of teaching geography in dialogue with the students, strengthening their physical and emotional relationship with the environment. Another component of enthusiastic observation was emotional. Impositions of rote memorization were eliminated. In Giner's words, "the soul was educated and the spirit strengthened".
Serrano and Giner also advocated for the meaningful inclusion of women in the androcentric canon of studies on geography. The Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy had, in 1803, included the meaning of the word hombre (man) to refer to all mankind. Taking the term as inclusive of women, they understood that it forced men to relate to nature as women did. Serrano considered that rendering the androcentric references in geography meaningless would foster a "new creative, loving, anti-destructive, and anti-war humanity".[2] In the opinion of professor Ana I. Simón Alegre, this teaching, in the language of the 21st century, could be called the development of environmental education or the first manifestations of ecofeminism.[15]
Giner's last book, Por tierras de España (1962), also incorporated audio-lingual teaching methods.[9]
Works:
Historia de la pedagogía (1910)
Weimer, Hermann 1872-1942 (translation)
Geografía Primer grado. Aspectos de la naturaleza y vida del hombre en la tierra (1919)
Geografía: Primer grado (1919), with Federico Ribas (1890–1952)
Geografía general. El cielo, la Tierra y el hombre (1935)
Cien lecturas históricas (1935)
Lecturas geográficas. Espectáculos de la naturaleza, paisajes, ciudades y hombres (1936)
Romances de los ríos de España (1943)
Manual de historia de la civilización española (1951)
Cumbres de la civilización española: Interpretación del espíritu español individualizado en diecinueve figuras representativas (1955)
El paisaje de Hispanoamérica a través de su literatura: (antología) (1958)
Introducción a la historia de la civilización española (1959)
Por tierras de España (1962), with Luke Nolfi, ISBN 9780030800238
References:
^ a b c Duarte-Piña, Olga (2015). La enseñanza de la historia en la educación secundaria [Teaching of History in Secondary Education] (Thesis) (in Spanish). University of Seville. pp. 105–108. Retrieved 15 July 2019 – via Dialnet.
^ a b Simón Alegre, Ana I.; Sanz Álvarez, Arancha (January–June 2010). "Prácticas y teorías de descubrir paisajes: Viajeras y cultivadoras del estudio de la geografía en España, desde finales del siglo XIX hasta el primer tercio del XX" [Practices and Theories of Discovering Landscapes: Travelers and Cultivators of the Study of Geography in Spain, from the End of the 19th Century to the First Third of the 20th]. Arenal. Revista de historia de las mujeres (in Spanish). 17 (1): 55–79. ISSN 1134-6396. Retrieved 15 July 2019 – via Dialnet.
^ a b c d e f Ruiz-Manjón, Octavio (2007). "Gloria Giner de los Ríos: noticia biográfica de una madrileña" [Gloria Giner de los Ríos: Biographical Report of a Woman from Madrid]. Cuadernos de historia contemporánea (in Spanish) (Extra 1): 265–272. ISSN 0214-400X. Retrieved 15 July 2019 – via Dialnet.
^ Ruiz-Manjón, Octavio (31 May 2007). "Fernando de los Ríos. Un intelectual en el PSOE". El Cultural (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
^ a b "Ríos Urruti, Fernando de los (1879–1949)" (in Spanish). Charles III University of Madrid. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
^ Méndez, José. "Isabel García Lorca". Revista Residencia (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 July 2019.
^ a b Rodrigo, Antonia (1 May 1982). "Laura de los Ríos". Revista Triunfo (in Spanish). No. 19. p. 64. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
^ a b "La niña que tocaba con Falla" [The Girl Who Played With Falla]. Granada Hoy (in Spanish). 8 March 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
^ a b "Local Pair Co-Author Spanish Text". Democrat and Chronicle. 26 December 1962. p. 15. Retrieved 15 July 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ García Cueto, Pedro (30 April 2015). "Dos visiones del exilio cultural español: Vicente Llorens y Jordi Gracia" [Two Visions of Spanish Cultural Exile: Vicente Llorens and Jordi Gracia]. Fronterad (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
^ Seseña, Natacha (26 December 1981). "Laura de los Ríos, un duelo de labores y esperanzas" [Laura de los Ríos, a Duel of Labors and Hopes]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 July 2019.
^ "Doña Gloria Giner de los Ríos". El Tiempo (in Spanish). 13 February 1970. p. 4. Retrieved 15 July 2019 – via Google News.
^ "Los restos de Fernando de los Ríos recibieron sepultura en el cementerio civil de Madrid" [The Remains of Fernando de los Ríos Buried in the Civil Cemetery of Madrid]. El País (in Spanish). 29 June 1980. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
^ Ortells Roca, Miquel; Artero Broch, Inmaculada (1 December 2013). "¿Para qué sirven las inspectoras? Leonor Serrano: La pedagogía y/contra el poder" [What are Inspectors For? Leonor Serrano: Pedagogy and/Against Power]. Quaderns (in Spanish) (76). Retrieved 15 July 2019.
^ Simón Alegre, Ana I. (1 March 2013). "Los inicios del ecofeminismo en España" [The Beginnings of Ecofeminism in Spain]. El Ecologista (in Spanish) (76). Retrieved 15 July 2019.
Further readingEdit
Fuentes, Víctor (2010). "'Manhattan transfers' personales al trasluz del exilio republicano en Nueva York". In Faber, Sebastiaan (ed.). Contra el olvido: el exilio español en Estados Unidos (in Spanish). Instituto Franklin de Estudios Norteamericanos. pp. 223–241. ISBN 9788481388701.
Zulueta, Carmen (2001). "Los domingos de don Fernando" [Sundays with Don Fernando]. Fundamentos de antropología (in Spanish) (10–11): 130–137.
Candida Gertler & Yana Peel, United Kingdom:
Candida Gertler (born 1966/1967) OBE is a British/German art collector, philanthropist, and former journalist.[2]
Candida Gertler
Born: 1966/1967 (age 52–53)[1]. Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Nationality: British, German
Occupation: Art collector
Net worth: £150 million (2009)
Spouse(s): Zak Gertler
Children: 2
Early life:
She was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to Romanian Jewish immigrant parents.[1] [3] She studied journalism and law.[1]
Career:
In 2003 Gertler and Yana Peel founded the Outset Contemporary Art Fund.[4]
In June 2015, she was given an OBE "for services to Contemporary Visual Arts and Arts Philanthropy".[5]
She is a member of the Tate International Council.[6]
Personal life:
She is married to Zak Gertler.[7] They are Jewish, and have two children.[8]
He has been called "one of London's leading property developers".[7] In 2009, Zak Gertler and family had an estimated net worth of £150 million, down from £250 million in 2008.[9] "The Gertlers developed offices in Germany, moving into the London market in the 1990s."[9]
References:
^ a b c "The Tate's Secret Weapon: Outset". Art Market Monitor. 25 August 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
^ "A missionary for art". Arterritory.com - Baltic, Russian and Scandinaviawn Art Territory. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
^ ""Artfully Dressed: Women in the Art World", Volume IV: Collectors & Patrons". Issuu. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
^ www.arterritory.com/en/art_market/collections/6202-a_miss...
^ "Candida GERTLER". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
^ "Interview with Candida Gertler, OBE". Artkurio Consultancy. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
^ a b "The London Magazine". www.thelondonmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
^ parkeastsynagogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Annoucem...
^ a b "Zak Gertler and family". The Sunday Times. 26 April 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
Yana Peel (born June 1974) is a Canadian executive, businesswoman, children's author and philanthropist.[2] She was CEO of the Serpentine Galleries from 2016 to 2019, and was previously a board member.[3][4]
Yana Peel:
Born: Yana Mirkin[1]. June 1974 (age 45). Leningrad, USSR (now Russia)
Nationality: Canadian
Alma mater: McGill University, London School of Economics
Predecessor: Julia Peyton-Jones
Spouse(s): Stephen Peel (m. 1999)
Children: 2
Peel is a co-founder of the Outset Contemporary Art Fund (with Candida Gertler), and Intelligence Squared Asia, and was CEO of Intelligence Squared Group from 2013 to 2016.[5]
Peel has several advisory positions including the Tate International Council, V-A-C Foundation, and the NSPCC therapeutic board.[6][7] She has been an advisor to the British Fashion Council, Asia Art Archive, Lincoln Center, Para Site and the Victoria and Albert Museum, where she founded the design fund.[6][8][9][7]
Early life:
Yana Peel was born in June 1974[10] in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia. Her family emigrated to Canada via Austria in 1978.[3] She grew up in Toronto, Ontario.[11]
Peel studied Russian studies at McGill University during the 1990s. [12][3][1] In 1996,[13] while being a student she co-organised a fashion show for charity.[1][6][14] After that, Peel undertook a post-graduate degree in economics at the London School of Economics.[3][11] Peel was a member of the 2011 class of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders programme.[15]
Career:
Goldman Sachs:
Peel started her career in the equities division of Goldman Sachs in 1997 in London, and became an executive director before leaving in 2003.[16][6][3][2]
Outset Contemporary Art Fund:
Peel co-founded the charity Outset Contemporary Art Fund in 2003 with Candida Gertler.[17][6][11] Peel and Gertler generated a model whereby artists could be presented to potential donors in order to raise funds to purchase their work, or to fund new commissions with a view to donating them to public institutions.[6] The Fund purchased over 100 pieces for the Tate Modern, and commissioned work by artists including Francis Alys, Yael Bartana, Candice Breitz and Steve McQueen.[6][16]
Intelligence Squared:
In 2009, Peel co-founded Intelligence Squared Asia with Amelie Von Wedel, a not-for-profit platform for hosting live debates in Hong Kong.[18][17][19] In 2012 Peel became CEO of Intelligence Squared Group,[18][20] bringing the live events business out of its financial difficulties.[6] Peel has hosted interviews including: Olafur Eliasson and Shirin Neshat at Davos,[21] Ai Wei Wei at the Cambridge Union.[22]
Serpentine Galleries:
In April 2016, Peel was appointed to the role of CEO of the Serpentine Galleries.[23][3] Peel said it was her "mission to create a safe space for unsafe ideas",[2] and to promote a "socially conscious Serpentine".[11] She indicated that she wanted to give artists a greater say in the development of the Serpentine Galleries, in order to give "artists a voice in the biggest global conversations".[11] Peel worked in tandem with the artistic director, Hans Ulrich Obrist.[6]
Peel furthered the Serpentine Galleries' technological ambitions, introducing digital engagement initiatives including Serpentine Mobile Tours[24] and the translation of the exhibition Zaha Hadid: Early Paintings and Drawings into Virtual Reality.[25][26] Peel stated that she was "committed to maintaining and open-source spirit"[27] at the Serpentine Galleries, and that it was her ambition "to inspire the widest audiences with the urgency of art and architecture".[2] The Financial Times noted that Peel "has been able to lure companies such as Google and Bloomberg as partners to help meet the Serpentine's annual £9.5m target".[24]
Peel and Obrist selected both the first African architect to work on a pavilion,[28] and the youngest architect to do so.[29] In 2018, she broadened the global reach of the Serpentine Pavilion programme by announcing the launch of a pavilion in Beijing designed by Sichuan practice, Jiakun Architects.[30]
Together with Lord Richard Rogers and Sir David Adjaye, Peel and Obrist selected Burkina Faso architect Diébédo Francis Kéré to design the 2017 pavilion.[31] The pavilion was awarded the Civic Trust Award in 2018.[32]
The Serpentine selected Mexican architect Frida Escobedo to design the 2018 pavilion. She will be the youngest architect to have participated in the Pavilion programme since it began in 2000.[29]
She stepped down as CEO in June 2019 as a consequence of the attention paid to her co-ownership of NSO Group, an Israeli cyberweapons company whose software has allegedly been used by authoritarian regimes to spy on dissidents.[4]
Philanthropy:
Peel co-chaired Para Site, a not-for-profit contemporary art space in Hong Kong, from 2010 to 2015.[33] She has been involved with the project since 2009.[17]
Peel founded the Victoria and Albert Museum's design fund in 2011.[9] The fund supported the acquisition of contemporary design objects.[9]
Peel is a member of NSPCC's therapeutic board.[7] Inspired by her children, in 2008 Peel produced a series of toddler-friendly art books published by Templar, including: Art For Baby, Color For Baby and Faces For Baby.[34] These books feature works by artists ranging from Damien Hirst to Keith Haring. Proceeds from the sales of the books go towards the NSPCC.[35]
Personal life:
In 1999, Peel married Stephen Peel,[36] a private equity financier.[37] They have two children and live in Bayswater, London.[37][38]
Awards and honours:
Montblanc Award for Arts Patronage 2011[39]
Debrett's 500 List: Art[40]
Evening Standard Progress 1000 2017[41]
ArtLyst Power 100[42]
Harper's Bazaar Women Of The Year 2017[27]
Harper's Bazaar Working Wardrobe: Best dressed women 2018[43]
Henry Crown Fellow. Appointed by the Aspen Institute in 2018.[44]
References:
^ a b c "McGill Reporter - Volume 28 Number 11". reporter-archive.mcgill.ca. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
^ a b c d Bailey, Sarah. "In Conversation: Art and Fashion Are Both About Desire", Red, London, 1 November 2017. Retrieved on 19 February 2018.
^ a b c d e f McElvoy, Anne. "In The Hot Seat", Porter, London, 1 December 2016.
^ a b Greenfield, Patrick (18 June 2019). "Serpentine Galleries chief resigns in spyware firm row". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 June 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
^ Sloway, Diane. "Meet Yana Peel, the Audacious Canadian Who's Transforming London's Famed Serpentine Galleries", W Magazine, 29 November 2016. Retrieved on 19 February 2018.
^ a b c d e f g h i Bourne, Henry. "L’alchimista", La Repubblica, Rome, 8 May 2017. Retrieved on 19 February 2018.
^ a b c "Serpentine Galleries Announce Appointment of Outset’s Yana Peel As CEO", ArtLys
This impressive statue entitled "Unconditional Surrender" by J. Seward Johnson is based on a famous Life magazine photo taken in Times Square in New York City on the day the second world war ended. It has been on temporary display in San Diego for the last five years and will soon be removed. It seems a shame because it looks perfectly located at the harbor's edge right next to the USS Midway aircraft carrier.
A Time Magazine article (Feb. 27, 2012 entitled "Strike a Pose") about the work of Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra said that she hoped "to catch people with their defenses down" and that she wondered "what happens when we can't hold the pose.
Dijkstra's answer: a moment of truth", when "no matter how much you try to put on the social mask, it keeps slipping" according to her thinking. “I am interested in photographing people at moments when they have dropped all pretense of a pose.”
I've always wanted to attempt her approach of catching the real person in portraits, and this portrait series of Catholic school students is the result.
Last year I shared a photo I entitled simply “The Knot”. It’s a black and white film photo of a knot of rope that was tied around a bundle of canvas. Shortly after sharing this photograph, I received a message from Grant McMillan. Grant is an amazing wood carver. As a woodworker myself I’ve admired his incredible skill and talent as he takes a block of wood and turns them into a thing of beauty. Grant mentioned that he saw my photo and asked if it would be ok if he did a carving based on the image. To say I was honoured was an understatement. Yesterday Grant presented me with the finished carving of “The Knot”. I’ve had my photos appear in books, magazines, galleries. I’ve even had one of my imaged selected as the cover of a document presented to all Members of Parliament at the beginning of their session. However, none of these compares with this gift. To have Grant McMillan take one of my images and sculpt it into life is something I will never forget. Here is a link to Grant’s blog where he detailed the process grantmcmillan.wordpress.com/
Website: www.sollows.ca
Contact and my links
I recently went to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. I finished my visit with French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot’s living and ephemeral work entitled “From here to ear”. You may have seen it elsewhere in the world, this is version number 19. It is however, billed as the largest one and is specific to the space of the Museum’s Contemporary Art Square.
To describe it shortly, the space is transformed into a busy aviary for birds. They perch on guitars laying horizontally on stands throughout the room. There are walkways for the visitors. The sounds the birds produce by moving around the strings are processed and slightly delayed to create something like ambient music.
This exhibition is well publicized. There is a full explanation by the artist on video on the MBAM’s web and loads of photos on the Web. I’m kind of jealous of the people who fumble on this installation without any preliminary explanations and no pre-conceptions. Too much information dulls the impact. Once you have verified how the concept works, the main interest actually lies in the birds themselves.
They are zebra finches, a species originating from Australia.
There was however one bird I couldn’t identify. As I walked in the space I noticed a woman seated on the ground with a friend. They were both soaking up this environment. I would say they were observing the people’s reactions as much as the birds.
At first, I thought one of the birds had quietly landed on the lady’s head. I approached them and we spoke briefly. I learned her name is Andrea and he is named Adam. Andrea had a very special coiffure. Her hair was arranged in the shape of a nest held together with the tip of a branch from a Christmas tree and some bit of cedar. The bird was a decoration.
They agreed to have their portraits taken. I let them enjoy the installation and waited until they were done before I took a few shots.
Andrea is from Montreal and has studied architecture and urban design. From what I understand, a lot her work concerns public spaces and how humans interact and is often of temporary or conceptual nature. She is something like an urbanist / social activist and had recently came back from abroad where she had work on collective projects. Montreal is her home, laboratory and playground.
She told me that in 2014 she participated to a temporary installation aimed at giving Christmas trees a second life.
I was a bit ruffled that photography was prohibited in the Contemporary Art Space but it may have been a saving grace. I would have likely tried to get the guitars, the birds and the visitors in Andrea’s portrait to give the context. Instead, since we had to go to another room, you get a portrait of an elegant woman with only a blurry trace of Tom Wesselman’s “Quick sketch from a train (Italy) No. 2” to give away the location.
Her Friend, Adam, is a visual artist. His portrait will follow Andrea’s.
www.mbam.qc.ca/en/exhibitions/on-view/celeste-boursier-mo...
This photo is part of my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/
Je suis récemment allé au Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. J’y ai terminé ma visite au Carré d’art contemporain pour voir l’œuvre de l’artiste français Céleste Boursier-Mougenot. Il s’agit d’une installation vivante et éphémère intitulée «From here to ear". Vous l’avez peut-être vu ailleurs dans le monde. C’est la dix-neuvième version de ce projet. Elle est toutefois présentée comme la plus grande et est spécifique à la salle du Carré d’art contemporain du Musée.
Pour décrire le tout brièvement, l'espace est transformé en volière occupé pour les oiseaux. Ils se perchent sur des guitares posées horizontalement sur des stands répartis dans la pièce. Des allées sont tracées pour les visiteurs. Les sons que les oiseaux produisent en se déplaçant sur les cordes sont traités et légèrement déphasés pour générer une musique ambiante.
Cette exposition a reçu une bonne publicité. Il y a une explication complète de l'artiste en vidéo sur le web du MBAM et beaucoup de photos en ligne. Je suis un peu jaloux des gens qui tombent sur cette installation sans explications préliminaires et aucunes préconceptions. Trop d'information en émousse l'impact. Une fois que vous avez vérifié comment le concept fonctionne, le principal intérêt réside en fait dans les oiseaux eux-mêmes.
Ce sont des diamants mandarins, une espèce de pinsons originaires d'Australie.
Il y avait cependant un oiseau que je ne pouvais pas identifier. Au moment où je suis entré dans cet espace, j’ai remarquai une femme assise sur le sol avec un ami. Ils semblaient tous deux absorber cet environnement. Je dirais qu'ils observaient les réactions des personnes autant que les oiseaux.
Au début, je pensais que l'un des oiseaux avait discrètement atterri sur la tête de la dame. Je les ai abordés et nous avons parlé brièvement. J’ai appris que son nom est Andrea et que lui se nomme Adam. Andrea avait une coiffure très spéciale. Une partie de ses cheveux épousaient la forme d'un nid tenu en place avec l'extrémité d'une branche d'un arbre de Noël et un peu de celle d’un cèdre. L'oiseau était une décoration.
Ils ont accepté que je prenne des photos d’eux. Je les ai cependant laissés profiter de l'installation et attendus jusqu'à ce qu'ils aient terminé leur visite avant de faire leurs portraits.
Andrea est originaire de Montréal et a étudié l'architecture et le design urbain. De ce que je comprends, une bonne partie de sa pratique concerne les espaces publics et la façon dont les humains interagissent et est souvent de nature temporaire ou conceptuelle. Je pourrais la décrire comme une urbaniste et militante sociale. Andréa était avait récemment revenue de l'étranger où elle avait participé à des projets collectifs. Montréal est son chez soi, son laboratoire et son terrain de jeux.
Elle m'a dit qu'en 2014 elle a contribué à réaliser une installation temporaire visant à donner aux arbres de Noël une seconde vie.
J’étais un peu dépité que la photographie soit interdite dans le Carré d’art contemporain. C’était cependant un mal pour un bien. J’aurais probablement essayé d’incorporer les guitares, les oiseaux et les visiteurs dans le portrait d'Andrea pour en indiquer le contexte. Au lieu de cela, puisque nous avons dû aller dans une autre pièce, vous obtenez un portrait d'une femme élégante avec seulement une trace floue de l’œuvre de Tom Wesselmann "Esquisse rapide d'un train (Italie) N ° 2" en arrière-plan pour trahir le lieu.
Son ami, Adam, est un artiste visuel.
Son portrait suivra celui d'Andrea.
www.mbam.qc.ca/expositions/a-laffiche/celeste-boursier-mo...
Cette photo fait partie de mon projet 100 Strangers (100 inconnus). Apprenez en plus sur ce type de projet et voyez les photos d’autres photographes à www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/
Mural entitled "Kinoje" by Jaime Brown seen in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The artist says it comes from the Ojibwe tribe’s word for “pike” and it was the original place name for Kenosha which came from the Indian traders and early adventurers on Lake Michigan. The Pike Creek ran through the area and a post office which was established at the creek in 1836.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Entitled: Bride On Her Way To Wedding, Fuzhou, Fujian, China [c1911-1913] by RG Gold Photograph was spotted, contrast added, scratches and other defects retouched out, and sepia tone added. Note: This particular photograph was also found in the collection of William Charles White (Anglican Bishop who served in China) and the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library of the University of Toronto, instead attributes this photograph to him. They also cite the location therein as, "Hinghua, China." Hinghua was a prefecture of Fukien (modern day Fujian Province). See their link here: www.flickr.com/photos/thomasfisherlibrary/6234741199/in/s...
One of the undeniable silver linings to the religious missionary incursions into the Chinese interior is the fact that, if there was one thing these 'foreign devils' were good at, it was certainly photography. It is because of this that we have such a huge body of social photographs that, in all likelihood, never would have been taken at all. Granted, Chinese official photographers may have been hired for special government events (at government expense), but simple slice of life types of pictures like the one above, rarely would have occurred.
The University of Southern California's Internet Mission Archive, linked here:
digitallibrary.usc.edu/impa/controller/index.htm
...is a general repository for images that were taken by a wide range of sectarian religious missions around the world. A short description from their opening page:
"The Internet Mission Photography Archive offers historical images from Protestant and Catholic missionary collections in Britain, Norway, Germany, and the United States. The photographs, which range in time from the middle of the nineteenth to the middle of the twentieth century, offer a visual record of missionary activities and experiences in Africa, China, Madagascar, India, Papua-New Guinea, and the Caribbean. The photographs reveal the physical influence of missions, visible in mission compounds, churches, and school buildings, as well as the cultural impact of mission teaching, religious practices, and Western technology and fashions. Indigenous peoples' responses to missions and the emergence of indigenous churches are represented, as are views of landscapes, cities, and towns before and in the early stages of modern development."
When I first laid eyes on this picture, I was laughing so hard that my sides hurt. Then immediately afterwards, I felt really ashamed of myself. The basket was used to obscure the bride's face in lieu of a veil. It was customary to not allow anyone to see the bride until she was secure in her new husband's home.
Well, no one ever said that history can't be humorous along with it being educational.
Entitled "The Last Stand", my brother Ryder and I tried our best to replicate the climax in Alcatraz at the end of the X-Men 3 movie. The fun part, in creating this scene, is in sourcing the right materials for our diorama which had to be in scale with our featured action figure (1:6 SCale Real Action Heroes Wolverine). With a little imagination combined with McGyver-resque ingenuity, we were able to pull-off a set for our photo shoot using regular household items. For the prison fence, we used a meshed magazine rack. The barbed wires were painfully hand-made using scrap chicken wires while the metal crates were cooking containers which we borrowed from our mom's kitchen. With a little soil from our garden pots, various Marvel Legends accessories and several lamp shades for lighting, we were able to achieve the look and feel that we wanted for this shot.
Entitled: Six Strongmen In Traditional Dress, China [1909] W Purdom [RESTORED] Spot corrections, contrast and tonal adjustments; I also more clearly defined the faint mountain line in the background, and increased (doubled) the image size as the original was very small. This of course introduced a lot of jpeg magnification artifact that I then blended with uniform random noise.
William Purdom (1880-1921) was another explorer botanist that surveyed and collected northern Chinese flora along the Yellow River for three years, from 1909-1911; and in Tibet and Gansu, from 1914-1915.
The original non-restored picture was discovered in Harvard University's Library Collection using their VIA (Visual Information Access) Search engine. It can be found with Record Identifier: olvwork270371. Other information included stated:
"...Strong men at August games (Mongol). Photo by Wm. Purdom, 1909-1911. Weichang Xian, Hebei Sheng, China"
This photograph was published online in an article in POPULAR SCIENCE written on 12th September 2025 by Margherita Bassi and entitled:
'' Ding-dong-ditch culprit turns out to be… a slug
The suspect in the late night doorbell ringing is pretty slippery '' and also on September 12th 2025 in an article on THE WEATHER CHANNEL written by Chris DeWeese titled:
'' German Ding-Dong-Ditcher Turns Out To Be Slug
A handless culprit was caught red-handed with a slime trail over an apartment doorbell ''
It was also previously published for a second time in an online article in German magazine, CHIP on 25th May 2025 in an article written by Patrick Hannemann titled:
'' Schleimige Gefahr im Boden: Wie Sie Schneckeneier aufspüren und unschädlich machen ''
It had previously been published twice in online articles in DEVON LIVE on 23rd April 2025 by Zahna Eklund titled:
'' Keep flies and slugs away from plants with 55p homemade repellent spray ''
It had previously been published in German magazine, CHIP, on 11th November 2024 titled:
'' Jetzt aktiv werden: So finden Sie Schneckeneier im Garten '', written by Patrick Hannemann, and had also been published in the magazine one month earlier on 27th October 2024
It had previously been Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on August 4th 2021
CREATIVE RF gty.im/1332112995 MOMENT ROYALTY FREE COLLECTION and became my 5,145th frame to be selected for sale in the Getty Images collection. I now have 7,000+ images represented by them worldwide.
©All photographs on this site are copyright: ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2021 & GETTY IMAGES ®
No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams). No image may be used as source material for paintings, drawings, sculptures, or any other art form without permission and/or compensation to ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)
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Photograph taken at an altitude of Fifty nine metres at 09:46am on an overcast summer morning on Tuesday 3rd August 2021, of a Large red slug (Arion rufus) off Hythe Avenue and Chessington Avenue in Bexleyheath, Kent.
Also known as the Red slug, Chocolate arion and European red slug, these are land slugs or roundback slugs in the family Arionidae. They are widespread across Western Europe, with a variant species found in Northern Britain and Scandinavia. They have a compact bell shape and stretch out in motion to a length of up to 180mm. They were first noted in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus and are classed as Mollusca, gastropoda class and subclass Heterobranchia.
Their life cycle is typically just one year and they are hermaphrodites. The opening on the right side is a pneumostome or respiratory pore which feeds air to the lung. They have a striped foot fringe and pale sole, and can reach 150mm fully extended. They have 27,000 teeth!
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Nikon D850 Focal length: 600mm Shutter speed: 1/200s Aperture: f/8.0 iso64 Hand held with Tamron VC Vibration control set to ON (Position 1) 14 Bit uncompressed RAW NEF file size L (8256 x 5504 pixels) FX (36 x 24) Focus mode: AF-C AF-Area mode: 3D-tracking AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points Exposure mode: Manual exposure mode Metering mode: Matrix metering White balance on: Auto1 (4550k) Colour space: RGB Picture control: Neutral (Sharpening +2)
Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Lee SW150 MKII filter holder. Lee SW150 95mm screw in adapter ring. Lee SW150 circular polariser glass filter.Lee SW150 Filters field pouch. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Black Rapid Curve Breathe strap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 28m 28.24s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 8m 10.57s
ALTITUDE: 59.00m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF FILE: 89.4MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 26.70MB
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PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (18/02/20) LF 1.00
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit Version 1.4.1 (18/02/2020). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.13.5. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
Mural entitled “Dreams, Diaspora & Destiny” by @kingbritt and @joshuamaysart, curated by Mural Arts Philadelphia, seen at 1509 North 53rd Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
AS SEEN ON:
TREND HUNTER
"The brilliant works of 22-year-old Brazilian photographer Fred Othero defies his young age. This spread entitled ‘Intercourse’ boasts the skill of a photographer who has been shooting for as long as Fred Othero has been alive."
www.trendhunter.com/trends/fred-othero
HOMOTOGRAPHY
homotography.blogspot.com/2010/10/intercourse-by-fred-oth...
Manhunt Daily
"... when it comes to Brazilian photographer Fred Othero, we’re much more intrigued with the man behind the lens."
manhuntdaily.com/2010/10/hot-flash-fred-othero/
And More...
__________________________________________
6/8
Full Set: www.flickr.com/photos/fred_ol/sets/72157625224635868/
Photos: Fred Othero
Model:DiLacerda
From my set entitled “Goatsbeard”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607213997694/
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607217763461/
In my collection entitled “The Garden”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760718...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aruncus is a genus of herbaceous plants in the Rosaceae, subfamily Spiraeoideae. Botanical opinion of the number of species differs, with from one to four species accepted.
Aruncus dioicus (Goatsbeard) is native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, occurring throughout the cooler parts of Europe, Asia and North America. In the broad sense, this is the only species in the genus, with the species below treated as synonyms or varieties of it by some botanists.
Aruncus aethusifolius (Dwarf Goatsbeard or Korean Goatsbeard) has a restricted range, limited to Korea in eastern Asia.
Aruncus gombalanus (Yunnan Goatsbeard) occurs in the mountains of northwest Yunnan and adjacent Tibet.
Aruncus sylvester (Asian Goatsbeard) covers the widespread Asian forms of A. dioicus.
The genus was formerly treated as part of the related genus Spiraea.
Characteristics - A. sylvester For two weeks in early summer, each 4- to 6-foot stalk of goatsbeard is crowned with a 6- to 10-inch plume of tiny blossoms. Because the flowering season is relatively short and the foliage is tall, goatsbeard is generally placed at the back of a border, but it is also dramatic when massed alone as a separate planting. Its tolerance for partial shade and wet soil makes it popular in woodland gardens.
Goatsbeard does well in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 4-9 in almost any soil, in sun, or light shade. Set plants approximately 18 - 24 inches apart. To get new plants, divide clumps in spring or fall; otherwise clumps can remain undisturbed indefinitely.
Medical Uses - A poultice from the root is applied to bee stings. A tea made from the roots is used to allay bleeding after child birth, to reduce profuse urination and to treat stomach pains, diarrhea, gonorrhea, fevers and internal bleeding. Use the root tea externally to bathe swollen feet and rheumatic joints. A salve made from the root ashes can be rubbed onto sores.
Mural entitled "Keep Your Head Above Water" by Eduardo Mendieta aka @emo_561 seen at 2013 NW Miami Avenue in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Originally entitled "Yellow Spiral" by sculptor Chris Byars, a Colorado-based artist who crafted this 11 semi-circle, towering modern structure outside the interior court at anchor JCPenney for Fairlane Town Center for its opening in 1976. Its original tone was an eye-catching yellow before facing a black repaint at an unknown time.
Byars', whose rarely photographed or interviewed still dons art at other former/Taubman centers including Fair Oaks and Lakeforest. The magnificient sculpture stands today, mostly out of place by today's shopping scene. Byars once expressed malcontent with various works of his either deteriorating or becoming mismanaged.
See "Yellow Spiral" in its natural timeline and habitat, accenting the once like-colored oak railings at the center from better times:
Entitled: View Of An Old Village, Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong [c1946] H Morrison [RESTORED] I did minor spot repair, lightened the tone a bit, removed the grainy clouds, and added a final sepia tone.
Hedda Morrison was a tremendous resource for images from the latter part of the Republican China years, photographing extensively with a 2 1/4 Rolleiflex Twin Lens (my personal roll film favorite) during her 13 year stay in China (from 1933 - 1946). Coincidentally, she then married into the family of and bears the name of another very famous China photographer; she married George Ernest Morrison's son, Alastair in 1946. Besides photography in China, she was also known for a large body of image work in Malaysia and Australia (where she died in 1991). Her husband, generously donated her life's work, divided between Harvard University and Australia's Power House Museum of Science & Design.
This image was found on Harvard University's VIA (Visual Information Access) Search Engine under Record Identifier: olvwork348421
It's hard to imagine that nearly all the farmland in Kowloon has been paved over and now filled with high rises. The earliest in my life that I had seen Kowloon was around 1961. I was just a young boy then, but I can still recall seeing (and being quite jealous of) farmboys riding the water buffaloes.
"This card entitles Name: ________ to a day membership in the Mount Washington Club on the Top of New England, White Mountains, N.H. Date of ascent: Aug. 23, 1938."
As Wikipedia reports, Mount Washington is the "highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288.2 ft (1,916.6 m)," which certainly qualifies it as the "Top of New England." The unnamed original owner of this card evidently visited the mountain on August 23, 1938, and may have taken a ride on the Mount Washington Cog Railway--depicted on the back of the card--to get to the top.
Seen in a small promotional book entitled "London Suburbs Old and New", full of 'useful knowledge for health and home' edited by Frank Green and Sr S Wolff, this edition issued in 1934. The guide has an amazing range of advice and information and this included descriptions of various suburban locations, complete with relevant adverts by local developers.
In North London, like so many other locations in Middlesex, the arrival of the railway especially the 'Tube' and Metropolitan, had a dramatic effect on once rural villages as London expanded. Already in place in Victorian and Edwardian times this expansion reached new heights in the inter-war period when "Metroland", as coined by John Betjeman as well as the marketing people at the Met Railway, became reality. Tens of thousands of houses constructed by a multiplicity of often local developers were built and advertised with claims as to construction, features and layout and location - often pushing proximity to the station or bus route. Many were offered with 'attractive' mortgage or purchase arrangements allowing the new and growing middle class of office workers and such to 'buy their own little suburban home'.
Edgware had been the terminus of a rather wndering branch line from Kings Cross station opened by the Great Northern Railway as early as 1867 and that closed, as part of a modernisation project by London Transport that was curtailed after the way, in 1939. The electric tram reached the village in the Edwardian era but the real spur to growth was the arrival of the extension of the Underground line from Golders Green in 1924.
A E Curton were one such builder and developer. The houses seen here in Edgwarebury Lane, were under development by 1935 and were of the more 'upmarket' type, freehold with 'oak panelled dining rooms' and as many as 5 bedrooms. Needless to say your £70 down and £2000 investment would now set you back over a million pounds! The 'descriptive brochure' seen here was produced in several editions as late as 1939.
Museum de Fundatie Zwolle NL presents an exhibition entitled Giacometti-Chadwick, Facing Fear, to run from 22 September 2018 to 6 January 2019. The sculptures of Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) and Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003) are manifestations of the sense of fear and disillusionment that pervaded Europe during the Cold War period. Their work bids a final farewell to pre-war romanticism and aestheticism, and lands with both feet in the raw reality of the post-war world. While Giacometti reduced the human form to its bare essentials, Chadwick created powerful archetypal images of both people and animals. The exhibition includes more than 150 works. Never before has the work of Giacometti and Chadwick been so explicitly brought together.
Their paths first crossed in 1956, when Chadwick became the youngest person ever to win the Grand Prix for Sculpture at the Venice Biennale. With only six years’ experience as a sculptor, the British artist snatched the prize from Giacometti, the hot favourite, who was thirteen years older and already a major name in Paris. Giacometti would go on to win the prize in 1962, but which of the two men was awarded it in 1956 is less significant than the fact that these two particular sculptors were the front-runners at that time. Each of them was expressing, in his own individual way, the sense of deep-seated angst that overshadowed day-to-day life in Europe in the fifties and sixties: the fear of a global nuclear disaster that would wipe out human civilisation.
Alberto Giacometti is among the most significant figures in the whole field of modern European sculpture. A member of a notable family of Swiss artists, he moved to Paris in 1922 and would remain there for the rest of his life, working as a sculptor, painter and graphic artist. After training with Émile-Antoine Bourdelle, he discovered modernism and so-called ‘primitive’ ethnographic art of Africa and Oceania. In response to these influences, his work became more abstract. In the early thirties, his Surrealist sculptures expressing subconscious emotions created a furore. From 1935, however, personal psychological tensions triggered a crisis in his life and work that led to a return to the human figure. Initially, his portraits and figures became both increasingly tiny and more and more attenuated. This thinness was to remain the most distinctive feature of Giacometti’s art. After the Second World War, he began to create the elongated, emaciated figures that would bring him worldwide fame. In all their attenuation, they reduce humanity to its very essence and appear both vulnerable and enigmatic.
In the early fifties, up-and-coming artist Lynn Chadwick managed to dislodge Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth from their dominant position in the field of British sculpture. Born in London, Chadwick had started his career as a technical draughtsman and exhibition stand designer. He took an equally constructional approach to his sculpture: rather than model his human and animal figures in clay or wax, he constructed them by welding steel rods together to create an armature and then filling in the gaps with a kind of cement. The angularity of the work being produced by him and other young British artists was described in 1952 as ‘the geometry of fear’, a reference to the constant dread of nuclear annihilation. Chadwick’s apocalyptic Dancers and stoical Watchers gave powerful expression to this sense of angst. From the early seventies, he broadened his repertoire to include subjects that seem to restore the sovereignty of the human spirit. Sculptures like Cloaked Figure and Sitting Couple no longer look threatening, but emanate a sense of composure and invulnerability.
Giacometti’s pre-war work influenced Chadwick’s development and the two men were keenly aware of each other’s presence. In addition to the vast differences, there are also many similarities between their oeuvres. Giacometti-Chadwick, Facing Fear is the product of close cooperation with the Fondation Marguerite et Aimé Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence and the Chadwick Estate and Blain|Southern gallery in London.
From my set entitled “Chameleon Plant”
www.flickr.com/photos/organize/?start_tab=one_set72157607...
In my collection entitled “The Garden”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760718...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houttuynia
Houttuynia cordata (Chinese: 鱼腥草; pinyin: yúxīng cǎo; literally "fishy-smell herb"; Vietnamese: giấp cá; Korean: 약모밀; English lizard tail and chameleon plant), the sole species in the genus Houttuynia, is a flowering plant native to Japan, Korea, southern China and Southeast Asia, where it grows in moist, shady places.
Houttuynia is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to between 20 and 80 cm. The proximal part of the stem is trailing and produces adventitious roots, while the distal part of the stem grows vertically. The leaves are alternate, broadly heart-shaped, 4-9 cm long and 3-8 cm broad. Flowers are greenish-yellow, borne on a terminal spike 2-3 cm long with 4-6 large white basal bracts.
The plant grows well in moist to wet soil and even slightly submerged in water in partial or full sun. Plants can become invasive in gardens and difficult to eradicate. Propagation is via division.
Houttuynia in temperate gardens is usually in one of its cultivated forms, including: Chameleon (synonymous with H.c. 'Court Jester', H.c. 'Tricolour', H.c. 'Variegata') this variety is slightly less vigorous than the species and has leaves broadly edged in yellow and flecked with red; Flore Pleno has masses of white bracts and the vigour of the parent species.
Grown as a leaf vegetable, particularly in Vietnam, where it is called giấp cá or diếp cá and is used as a fresh herbal garnish. The leaf has an unusual taste that is often described as fishy (earning it the nickname "fish mint"), so it is not enjoyed as universally as basil, mint, or other more commonly used herbs.
In the southwestern Chinese provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, roots are used as a root vegetable. English names include heartleaf and lizardtail.
Houttuynia is also used in herbal medicine. The beverage dokudami cha (Japanese: ドクダミ茶; literally "Houttuynia cordata tea") is an infusion made from Houttuynia cordata leaves, Oolong tea leaves, and Job's Tears.[1]
Lizard Tail is an invasive species in many areas in the United States and Australia.[2] Even the less vigorous forms will spread beyond an apt gardener's control if planted in any moderately moist soil. To prevent this, try planting in an old pot, sunk down into the garden soil
From my set entitled “Monarda”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607217954847/
In my collection entitled “The Garden”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760718...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_balm
Monarda (bee balm, horsemint, oswego tea, or bergamot) is a genus consisting of roughly 16 species of erect, herbaceous annual or perennial plants in the Lamiaceae, indigenous to North America. Ranging in height from 1 to 3 feet (0.2 to 0.9 m), the plants have an equal spread, with slender and long-tapering (lanceolate) leaves; the leaves are opposite on stem, smooth to nearly hairy, lightly serrated margins, and range from 3 to 6 inches (7 to 14 cm) long. In all species, the leaves, when crushed, exude a spicy, highly fragrant oil. Of the species listed, M. didyma (Oswego Tea) contains the highest concentration of this oil.[1]
The genus was named for Nicolás Monardes who wrote a book in 1574 describing plants found in the New World.
Several Bee Balm species (Monarda fistulosa and Monarda didyma) have a long history of use as a medicinal plants by many Native Americans including the Blackfeet, Menominee, Objibwe, Winnebago and others. The Blackfeet Indians recognized the strong antiseptic action of these plants, and used poultices of the plant for skin infections and minor wounds. A tea made from the plant was also used to treat mouth and throat infections caused by dental caries and gingivitis. Bee Balm is the natural source of the antiseptic Thymol, the primary active ingredient in modern commercial mouthwash formulas. The Winnebago used a tea made from bee Balm as a general stimulant. Bee Balm was also used as a carminative herb by Native Americans to treat excessive flatulence. [2][3]
Although somewhat bitter due to the thymol content in the plants leaves and buds, the plant has a very similar flavor to oregano, to which it is closely related. Bee Balm was traditionally used by Native Americans as a seasoning for wild game, particularly birds. The plants are widespread across North America and can be found in moist meadows, hillsides, and forest clearings up to 5,000 feet in elevation. [2]
Monarda species include annual and perennial upright growing herbaceous plants with lanceolate to ovate shaped leaves. The flowers are tubular with bilateral symmetry and bilabiate; with upper lips narrow and the lower ones broader and spreading or deflexed. The flowers are single or in some cultivated forms double, generally hermaphroditic with 2 stamens. Plant bloom in mid to late-summer and the flowers are produced in dense profusion at the ends of the stem and/or in the stem axils, the flowers typically are in crowded into head-like clusters with leafy bracts. Flower colors vary, with wild forms of the plant having crimson-red to red, pink and light purple. M. didyma has bright, carmine red blossoms; M. fistulosa -- the "true" wild bergamot -- has smokey pink flowers. M. citriodora and M. pectinata have light lavender to lilac-colored blooms and have slightly decreased flower quantities. Both species are commonly referred to as "Lemon Mint." There are over 50 commercial cultivars and hybrids, ranging in color from candy-apple red to pure white to deep blue, but these plants tend to be smaller than wild species, and often developed to combat climatic or pest conditions. "M.didyma" species can grow up to 6 feet tall. Seed collected from hybrids — as with most hybridized plants — does not produce identical plants to the parent.
The Monarda plants prefer full sun and moist yet well-drained soil. Plants established in partial shade or filtered sun have higher incidences of rapid horizontal spread and flower less. An aggressive plant in the South-eastern United States, Bergamots can grow in a wide variety of soil conditions. Powdery mildew, rust, and (rarely) tobacco mosaic viruses disrupt established plants on occasion, but the plants are in general highly resistant to most wilts and viruses and are not easily damaged. Used most frequently in areas in need of naturalization, Monarda is often used in beds and borders to encourage and increase the appearance of hummingbirds, pollinating insects, and because of oils present in its roots is sometimes used to companion plant around small vegetable crops susceptible to subterranean pests. While seed should be stratified briefly before starting, seed may be cast directly or started in coldframes or greenhouses at soil temperatures approaching 70° Fahrenheit. Generally, propagation occurs by hardwood and softwood cuttings, root cuttings, layering, and division; the latter, quite frequently, is the most popular method out of necessity: the plant should be divided every 3 to 5 years to reduce spread, keep the central core of the plant healthy, preclude root rot, and improve air circulation about the foliage.
Bee balm is considered a good plant to grow with tomatoes, ostensibly improving both health and flavor. It also is a good companion plant in general, attracting pollinators and some predatory/parasitic insects that hunt garden pests.
Monarda species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including case-bearers of the genus Coleophora including C. heinrichella (feeds exclusively on M. fistulosa), C. monardae (feeds exclusively on Monarda spp) and C. monardella (feeds exclusively on M. fistulosa).
The Bergamot of the Monarda species should not be confused with the popular flavoring used in Earl Grey tea. Dried leaves may be used for teas or aromatherapies, but the odor is subtly different from Citrus bergamia, the Earl Grey flavoring. For medicinal usage, Monarda has been known to treat headaches and fevers by infusing crushed leaves in boiling water.
Mural entitled "Sacred Water" by the MSG Crew for Wynwood Mural Fest 2020 seen at the Old RC Cola Plant, 550 NW 24th Street in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.
There were 28 artists that collaborated on this wall: @miamiquake @hoxxoh @msgconcepts @unknownknowitall @hieroveiga @chnkfondue @a_b_u_s_e @chanimalart @oz_fua @ripe143 @arive_arts @miroizm @opalkastudio @jay.lobs @5gallons @bulk_styles @abstrk @xx_dos_xx @nerve2_msg @artyek @valeskull @esbenrey @zoegen @fubarmsg @G.e.a.r_ @komik28 @doper_msg @atomiko.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Entitled: Empress Gobele Wan-Rong [c1920-1940] by an unknown court photographer [RESTORED]. I retouched out spots, increased the contrast, and intensified the saturation of what looked to be a hand tinted original.
One of the sadder stories that arose from the end of the Qing monarchy was the story of Wan Rong, otherwise known as the Last Empress of China 婉容皇后. She was chosen at the age of 17 to marry a powerless monarch. This beautiful well educated girl from one of Manchuria's best families was to be turned into a wasted emotionally wrecked drug addict by her loveless marriage in 1922 to the last emperor of China, PuYi 溥儀. Cast by the same ill political winds that buffeted her husband, she was rumored to have had an illicit affair with her driver, resulting in a scandalous pregnancy that was hushed up with the murder of the delivered baby and the exile of the paramour. Following the defeat of the Japanese empire and their lost hold of Manchuria, she eventually fell into the hands of communist forces. After a short period, she died in prison reportedly from a combination of malnutrition and opium withdrawal in 1946, at the age of 39.
Despite Wan Rong's seeming fairy tale marriage to Qing royalty, it was to bring her nothing but pain, suffering, humiliation, and an unfortunate early death.
Mural entitled "Patrick 3.0" by Joey D. aka @joeyd76 seen on the north wall of the Ozinga Ready-mix yard on North Mendell in the Wicker Park area of Chicago.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
The beautiful bronze sculpture entitled "Mother and Son seeking freedom" was created by highly regarded Brisbane sculptor Phillip Piperides. It is a moving image of a mother and son expressing the personal struggles of fleeing their home. Its location at the edge of the park facing the Brisbane River and close to historic Yungaba, the former Immigration Depot is appropriately symbolic
The memorial was dedicated on 2 December 2012. At the ceremony, Dr Cuong Bui, President of the Australian Vietnamese Society (Queensland Chapter) paid tribute to the struggles of the Vietnamese boat people and the problems they faced, including hunger, storms, pirates, getting lost and capsizing on their journeys
Dr Bui, who left Vietnam in 1975, said it was unclear exactly how many people died while trying to travel to other countries but it was estimated to be as high as 500,000.
Mural entitled "Are You My Mother?" by Carrie Jadus aka @jadusfineart seen at 515 22nd Avenue South in St Petersburg, Florida.
Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
For many years the District Railway, officially entitled the Metropolitan District Railway and that was promoted to complete what is now the Circle line of the London Underground thus 'matching' the northern section constructed and operated by the Metropolitan Railway, oversaw the issue of various maps of the Metropolis that were offered for public sale. These, needless to say, heavily promoted the company's lines and services as well as other railways and omnibus lines operated 'in connection' with their services - often in quite wilful ignorance of alternatives!
This, from 1903, shows some still familiar District line services along with sections of lines that have seen services withdrawn, transferred or indeed closed such as the services beyond Addison Road (Olympia) towards Latimer Road via Uxbridge Rd station. This issue also shows the original layout of lines around Hounslow, subsequently altered as well as now being part of the Piccadilly line as well as the Uxbridge section, beyond South Harrow, that was under construction and that the MDR would eventually run under powers obtained to have right of use of the Metropolitan's Uxbridge extension that would open in 1904.In fact the section of line running off from Mill Hill Park (now Acton Town) through the largely open fields of Middlesex was to be the testbed in these years for the four-rail electrification system adopted for the wider London Underground system following the purchase of the MDR by American interests to assist in the development of deep tube lines and the infusion of US finance and know-how. The reverse of the map shows various announcements and tables of services and fares. This includes the famous and long-standing through trains from stations on the District direct to Southend on Sea via the London, Tilbury & Southern Railway.
This map would have been priced a half-penny had it been sold but it appears, as was quite common, slightly cropped and folded tipped into a 1903 Black's Guide Book to "Around London".
Mural entitled "Kaneda Slide" by Jake Merten aka @lookatart for Free for All Walls 2023, seen at 441 Broadway Street in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Work in Process" by Millo aka @_millo_, seen in the Wynwood Walls Outdoor Museum at 2526 NW 2nd Avenue in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Manif fonction publique 22 mars 2018
Grosse mobilisation à Lyon !
15.000 manifestants
Demontration in Lyon, France, to maintain our public services - against government's laws.
French people protesting against upcoming reforms bad for the quality of public services. As a result of those reforms, criteria of public service begin to give way to those of profitability. Our state services in France (heath, school, railway...) are among the best services in the world. But all the reforms impulsed by the government aim to slowly replace this very efficient public sector (open to everybody) by a private sector only focussed on financial gains. State-based social services and welfare entitlements are cut back or replaced by market-based provisions available only to those who can afford to pay.
On March 22, hundreds of thousands of nurses, teachers and other public sector workers joined forces to march against French President Emmanuel Macron’s reforms all over the country yesterday.
Estimates of the numbers of those joining rallies held in some 140 locations across the country vary between 323,000 (the ‘official’ tally) and 500,000, the figure issued by the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), one of the principal trade union organiser of the action.
Entitled: The Amazing Spider-man 2.
Spider-man, and all related names, images, etc. are property of MARVEL LLC. and The Walt Disney Company. All rights reserved.
Entitled: During the famine, young child dying in the gutter, China [1946] G Silk [RESTORED] I cleaned a few spots, adjusted contrast and darkened tonality for stronger visual impact, and added a sepia tone.
George Silk was a LIFE Magazine staffer, working for them 30 years. He extensively covered many aspects of the second world war, at one point being even captured by the Germans, and then fortunately escaping. He was also the first photographer to document Nagasaki after the atomic bombing. Immediately after the war, he was in China recording the poor social conditions and the lack of resources and its devastating effects on the Chinese populace.
Whether one reads Anderson's Little Match Girl or sees Takahata's anime adaptation of Nosaka's Grave of the Fireflies one cannot help but be thunderstruck with compassion over the plight of impoverished children, and of China it was no different. In the desperate and unforgiving times of the post war period, China was devastated and its streets overflowed with those least able to fend for themselves. Too young to steal food with sustainable reliability and too old and too many to elicit the short supply of compassion of a war numbed society, child orphans were left to scrape a daily existence from whatever they begged or fought for. More often than not, they lost that fight.
This is not a pleasant image, and indeed I was conflicted about even submitting it. However, in the final analysis, painful as it is, it remained an important historic document of the plight that wars bring to people, and the suffering that it engenders. We as a society today cannot help those that have already succumbed to the grinding poverty effects induced by previous wars. However, before we start any new ones, the least that we can do is remember those thousands of starved children, before we in our eager belligerent hubris, inadvertently create more.
***
An important note about LIFE MAGAZINE:
For those that weren't familiar with the magazine; in its heyday, Life Magazine could be best described as the National Geographic of people and society. From 1936, it offered mostly an intimate and fascinating view, with extensive picture stories or photo essays, into sections of social milieu that Americans could only imagine. Unfortunately, because of the high and rising costs of publishing, it essentially folded in 1972. Sadly, various attempts since then, to bring back this photojournalist's phenomenon (in various forms) met with little success.
All is not lost however; in probably one of the most magnanimous gestures that any corporation can make towards public image history, TIME, Inc., the current owners of the former Life Magazine, has offered up its vast photo archives of over TEN MILLION images to be freely available for non commercial use via GOOGLE's Search engine. Photographs can instantly convey a story in a way that words alone cannot. By releasing these pictures for public access, TIME, Inc., has helped to keep our collective history (as seen through Life Magazine) alive for future generations to appreciate. It is rare indeed to see such corporate generosity.
In order to search the life photo database, simply go to Google Images, and type in your search term, skip a space and append the following exactly as it appears:
source:life
The origin of The Insurrection, as taken from A Brief History of the Known Universe, by Bertish Tair’Shon, page 974,543, paragraph 472 of Chapter 348 entitled, "The Entry of the Human Race."
As previously mentioned in Chapter 71, "Introducing The Grendians," the Grendian race was a peaceful one, content to maintain their existence quietly while they explored the cosmos for the sake of fellowship and discovery. That was until the Zircans attacked. Zirca was a planet near the end of its life, (see Chapter 296, "The End of the Yenden System"). The planet’s star was aging and getting too big and too hot for the planet to sustain its people. So the Zircans made the journey to the Tyhandian Galaxy in an attempt to steal the Grendians’ planet. Under the leadership of Lord Zarane Quesu, the Zircans aimed to eradicate the planet of its inhabitants.
But they had chosen the wrong planet.
Normally a pacific people, the Grendians put their superior intelligence and workmanship to more militaristic goals. While under the siege of their invaders, they developed, in secret, a fleet of battleships. These ships were equipped with large cannons more advanced than the Universe had previously seen. (The name of these weapons cannot be spelled in this text, as the average dictation receiver has no understanding of Grendian characters, nor can they be pronounced in the common language, as most of the people of the known Universe have too many tongues and not enough uvulas to replicate the Grendian language. However, the name of these weapons can be roughly translated as, “Larger Than Previously Thought Necessary Guns"). No more than a few of the Zircans’ siege machines were effortlessly destroyed by these cannons before they retreated, leaving the Grendians to their peaceful existence.
The Zircans moved on, but they were not finished with their goal of finding a new planet. Their next target was a small planet called Earth, located in a distant system orbiting the star known as Sol. As the people of this planet were not as technologically advanced, they should have been easy targets, and were. The people surrendered upon the first request, knowing that they were no match for their superior attackers. But the Grendians intervened. The Grendians didn’t believe they had the right to defend the planet themselves, but were always eager to share their discoveries. They imparted their newfound knowledge of space defense on these people that called themselves humans.
Armed with Grendian technology, as well as variations on that technology achieved through human ingenuity, the people of Earth developed their own space defense. The very backbone of that defense was a large spaceship, (or, as the humans have dubbed it, a SHIP, or Seriously Huge Investment in Parts), that they called The Insurrection. This ship was created in the month of September of 2013, (by the Earthish calendar), and from that day forward would be forever known by the human race as SHIPtember.
A replica, (as pictured above), of this cosmic military craft has been made from the Earthish building material known as LEGO and is on permanent display on Ardua, largest moon of the planet, Uatun, in the Tyhandian Central Museum of Universal History.
So here it is: My SHIP and crazy back story. What do you think?
Entitled: Beggars, Beihai Park [c1917-1919] SD Gamble [RESTORED] The picture was taken in Pei Hai Summer Palace Peking (what is known today as Beihai Gong Yuan, Beijing, China) I cropped off about 10 percent image area from the left (with a partial figure), retouched the spots and most of the scratches; corrected the contrast, and added a sepia tone. I also whited out the view of the genitals that was apparent in the original as a nod towards today's anti child porn environment, despite this being an acknowledged and accepted historical image.
A worthwhile image from the Sidney Gamble Collection at Duke University. The full uncensored and uncropped image of the original can be seen here: library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/gamble.252-1420/
One of my favorite stories about China is Pearl S. Buck's, The Good Earth. For those of you that don't know, Buck was the daughter of two American missionaries that were posted to China in the turn of the century 1900's. Though born in the US, at the age of three months, she was taken by her parents on their extended religious mission to China. For all intents and purposes, she was raised in China and became intimately familiar with the indigenous customs, manners, language, culture and ethics. Being one of the first bi-cultural writers in modern history, her serendipitous childhood in China allowed her unique insights that only someone in her position could obtain. In today's culture, her equivalent would be that of an American Born Chinese or Canadian Born Chinese, in which a Chinese child grows up with Chinese trappings in the midst of western culture. Buck's was a western child who grew up with western trappings in the midst of Chinese culture; except for the color of her skin, she was absolutely Chinese. Her prize winning literature detailed the life of an ordinary farmer and his family's rise from poverty. Along the journey she clearly illustrated the distinct and uniquely Chinese pressures and concerns in a way that, for the first time, any westerner could easily understand. Her novel, The Good Earth, written in 1931, won a Pulitzer in 1932, and then the Nobel for literature in 1938. It is still read and enjoyed by many today. Upon seeing this picture, I was instantly recalled to a passage in Buck's story:
"...and she said to them, "Each of you take your bowls and hold them thus and cry out thus…" And she took her empty bowl in her hand and held it out and called piteously, "A heart, good sir, a heart, good lady! Have a kind heart, a good deed for your life in heaven! The small cash, the copper coin you throw away, feed a starving child!" The little boys stared at her, and Wang Lung also. Where had she learned to cry thus? How much there was of this woman he did not know! She answered his look saying, "So called when was a child and so was fed. In such a year as this was sold a slave." Then the old man, who had been sleeping, awoke, and they gave him a bowl and the four of them went out on the road to beg. The woman began to call out and to shake her bowl at every passerby. She had thrust the girl child into her naked bosom, and the child slept and its head bobbed this way and that as she moved, running hither and thither with her bowl outstretched before her. She pointed to the child as she begged and she cried loudly, "Unless you give, good sir, good Lady, this child dies, we starve, we starve…" And indeed the child looked dead, its head shaking this way and that, and there were some, a few, who tossed her unwillingly a small cash..."
This picture is interesting in that it is quite obviously posed. I could not imagine that any beggar family would quietly stand still for a portrait unless there was some sort of gain to be had from it. Gamble most likely offered them the remuneration of a few coin for doing so. That they were destitute is clear, wearing literally nothing but rags on their back. My interest is heightened by the nearly naked urchin, third from the left, who has his arm raised. The fact that he is nearly naked and exposed doesn't seem to matter to him at all. He appears to be preoccupied with raising his right arm; what was his purpose for doing so? Was he attempting (with his raised hand), to stop the boy in front from fidgeting; but how would he have known that to take a picture, one had to hold still? Or, was he attempting (with his raised elbow), to stop the boy (second from the left) from further stepping into the picture and stealing a share of the photographer's promise of a reward? Interesting too, is their style of haircuts and degree of poverty. I noted that while poorly dressed, the second boy from the left is decidedly better off than all the rest of them, and his hair is closely shorn. This suggests (to me least) that he is not a member of the family, and that while a beggar too, was probably an outsider to their group. The remainder of the boys seem to have their hair cut in the Qing tonsure style, that is, the front portion of the skull in shaved while the rear portion is allowed to grow and then is to be eventually tied into a queue. This second boy also has a look on his face, of what? Anger? Or was it determination? In other words, was he determined to intrude into the picture?
Considering all of the above, my speculation therefore is that it was probable that the third boy was raising his elbow to protect his family's stake (in the offer of a reward for posing), and the second boy was just as determined to get a piece of that stake. When looking at a picture in this way, I feel that history comes alive with real people and is full of passion.
Mural entitled "M'Lady Medley" by Veronica Zak aka @vzak_art seen at 140 West 2260 South in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Paradise Within" by Nico aka @nicosuavalicious, seen at 698 NW 9th Street in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Spice - Queen of the Dance Hall" by MORAZUL aka @morazul.art, seen at 2033 NW 1st Place in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.
Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
The Silken whisper of Flickering Desires
A Chronicle
Adapted from the Final Entry Entitled:
Their Regal Gambit
Subtitled:
While Sherlock Holmes vacationed
The first score had been made, now for the Coup de Grace! So far their little operation had gone as smooth as silk, or in this case, satin. Now just to make sure the husband of the silken gowned brunette displaying the jewels in question was still safely out of the picture! Then Mollie would let her husband know that with the coast clear, freeing him to stage his approach of the lady in the long swishing satin gown he had been keeping an eye on all evening. The one who was wearing the exquisite necklace of fiery flickering diamonds, just daring someone to expertly slip it away the throat of its unsuspecting owner.
And therein lay the rub, She happily thought….
As Mollie made her way down the quiet corridor to the gentlemen’s smoking lounge, she lovingly played through her mind the series of unfortunate ( or fortunate?) events that had led her and her husband to this place. It had all began with an innocent one named Tabitha…….
Mollies’ Flash back
They had first come across Tabitha at a resort casino deep in the Catskills. Mollie and her husband had been there about three days, scoping out the grounds, and its wealthy clientele. At the casino they both spotted Tabitha at the same time. She was seated at a baccarat table, really standing out in an elegant dress of gold and black striped silk and velvet Her well-toned body displayed numerous pieces of expensive jewelry. A fat little purse dangled, unheeded by her side. Tabitha had held Mollie’s attention mainly due to the strong resemblance she had to herself. Tabitha’s jewelry, a flashy diamond journey style necklace, matching earrings, wide diamond tennis bracelet, and multiple gem encrusted rings, had held Mollies pickpocket husbands’.
Mollie went on to the bar and watched as her husband waited for the seat next to Tabitha to become vacant. Then he sat, asking for chips, while unobtrusively eyeing Tabitha’s bracelet. He began striking up a conversation with Tabitha, finding her to be an easy mark. He soon learned from the chatty girl that she was a divorced, upper executive for a well-known digital arts company servicing the movie industry. It was during this conversation that Tabitha babbled about the upscale, invitation only(you know), black tie formal ball she would be attending in England the next month. Now, as her husband was keeping Tabitha occupied Mollie had walked by the pair, ‘tripping’ into her husband, who palmed off to her , the diamond bracelet which had been ever so subtly slipped from around the unwary Tabatha’s’ wrist. Walking away with the bracelet secured in her purse, Mollie made her way to their small bungalow. Her husband did not break in his conversation with Tabitha; a mark would seldom suspect a friendly person of stealing from her.
Later that evening, Mollie wore the pricy bracelet while mutually admiring it over a bottle of merlot with her husband. They discussed the high-class affair Tabitha had been bragging about. Wistfully, Mollie admitted it was a shame they had not received an invite. Her husband smiled, and pulled a thickly embossed and crested envelope from his pocket. Easily adopting a British accent, he said “The silly little twit was carrying this in her purse!” The envelope revealed a pair of invitations to the Princess’s Jubilee Royal Ball. As the pair continued to empty the bottle of fine merlot, what had started as speculation, turned towards reality, and soon plans had been laid.
As they lay in bed later that night, Mollie turned to her husband, just think about the jewels that will be worn at the English Ball, she shivered with the delightful thoughts. Do you remember the last time we were in England? Mollie looked at her husband slyly, you remember, the Wriggling Whelp Whispering Wisk! She stated teasingly. Mollie knew the quickest way to get her husband’s goat was coming up with silly phrases to describe his more outlandish endeavors. Such phrases like The Tingling Touch Ice Melt, The Slippery Slick Taffeta Pull, The Glossy Gowned Dangling Peel, or her personal favorite, The Ticklish Wedge Clam Dip, never failed to get a response. In this case the response was a brief pillow fight leading into a romantic interlude, ending up with them in bed as they reminisced about the last time they had “visited” England a few years back…..
It had proven a fairly profitable venture with the jewelry alone netting almost 100,000 pounds. It all had culminated quite nicely at one of the posh events they had crashed that final weekend. Their final score had come about from a rambunctious doe eyed Fourteen year old in a shiny dress who had been oblivious to the valuably delicious gold pendent studded with small rubies and emeralds that sparkled ever so invitingly as it swung from her throat. A pair of matching dangling earrings dripped from her ears as she has run around unminded by her elders. Mollie had indignantly stated to her husband that the antique trinkets were simply just too expensive for a child so squirminly young to be trusted with. Her husband then went about the task to prove his wife correct in her statement.
After talking a bit about the English Girls parents reaction to the unsolved disappearance of their daughters ultra-pricey pendent , Mollie came back to the present and asked if the lady in the maroon silk that her husband pointed out the previous evening would be wearing the same jewels to the dance tomorrow night? Or better her husband replied sleepily, good Mollie pronounced, I did like her emeralds.
In Merry Ole England
They had arrived in England several weeks before the Royal Ball and began the preparations.
In an irony of fate, the profit they had realized from poor Tabitha’s bracelet had paid for a large chunk of their little excursion. Keeping his accent, and adding a trim beard, Mollies husband looked radically different from the man Tabitha had encountered. During the weeks following their arrival, the pair had practiced like they always did before undertaking a new venture. But this time it was with a more daring edge, they quite simply could not afford being caught red handed in a foreign country. Mollie assumed her practice the role. That of the richly dressed, well jeweled quarry. Her husband would stalk and attempt to relieve her of a piece of her jewelry as she went about her business, shopping! The idea being that, If he was able to do so without being caught by an obviously aware Mollie, than he should have no problem at the Royal Ball. As it usually happened when they practiced in this manner, her husband did incredibly well. Mollie had had several pieces of jewelry vanish from her person during the week, without her noticing how or when.
The final night of practice Mollie decided to dress to kill. Looking quite devastating in a glossy gold halter and a long brown velvet skirt with gold stiletto heels clicking as she moved. A diamond heart pendant hung down from her neck, swaying provocatively out from between her breasts. A bracelet, similar to Tabitha’s purloined diamonds, was wrapped around her wrist.
She left their penthouse and made her way to the street outside. Some type of festival was going on as she waded through the crowded streets to the nightclub. Her rings sparkled as they kept rhythm with her swaying diamond waterfall earrings. Just daring her husband to make a move for any of them.
Mollie drank and danced the night away with no hide or hair of her husband until she returned late that evening to their apartment. She found him in the hot tub, smirking. She undressed and joined him. Okay, how did u do it she demanded? I felt nothing, no one bumped or brushed against me all evening that I was not aware of. He opened his fist, allowing her heart diamond pendant to dangle freely in front of her. A magician never reveals his tricks my little cat, he purred, as the pendant swayed in a sparkling arch.
Cat was short for “Cat Lady”, a moniker he had placed upon her when she had broken into a sleeping woman’s room and removed the jewels from her gold case, and even managed to slip off a ring she was wearing. The fact that she was passed out in a drunken stupor, still dressed in her long party gown, didn’t count , or so her husband teased.
You should have been a surgeon! , my dear, Mollie exclaimed with pride. Then she leaned towards him, her green eyes gleaming in earnest, time for a real practice run Mon Cherie, she said in dead seriousness. Then Her eyes opened wide, I got it she exclaimed, I’ll call it The Slinking Sneaky Shearing Snag she pronounced joyfully, getting a face full of water in reply to her effort. Okay Cat, let’s get down to business he retorted, I know just the affair. Mollie listened intensively as her Husband described their next plans, derived while eavesdropping on a couple of ladies shopping in a jewelers.
The next weekend (two weeks to the evening before the Royal Ball) Mollie found herself at a quaint upscale wedding reception held in the large gardens of a country church. She was attired in the same bewitching ensemble that she had been wearing on the final night of practice. Her only jewels were a recently acquired pair of sparkly cascading earrings set with emeralds and diamonds. The affair of the plump piqued peacock plucking she had mused while getting dressed. The only other exception was that the long fiery red hair she had inherited from her Irish namesake grandmother had been cut and dyed blond. Blue contacts had also been added to the disguise to hide her vivid green eyes.
They soon targeted an older jewel laden snob at the reception. An older lady , well jeweled, of the arrogant know it all, obey me totally type whom everyone tries to avoid. While Mollie engaged the mark in a mostly one sided conversation(the older ladies) the lady had become so deeply engrossed about talking about herself and her ties with royalty, that she never detected being relieved of a heirloom antique gold chain and jeweled pendent by Mollies husband who had approached her unnoticed from behind.
It was all Mollie could do no to bring attention to it by looking at the wickedly expensive piece as it was slipped up and away from the Dowager’s ruffled heavy satin blouse.
This time it was mollies turn to keep chatting as her husband headed to the door. He had almost made it when two youths ran into him as they scurried away from a rather sullen looking tween girl they had been teasing, and now were in possession of her purse. Mollie stole a look as she saw her husband topple onto the chasing girl. He managed to extracted himself from the girls long slinky gown that she had probably been forced into by an overly conceited mother. He apologized, and left the girl to go after her antagonizes. Later, when Mollie had caught up to him she teased him about his clumsiness. He just smiled, and pulled out from his vest pocket the most exquisitely matched pearls that the youth had been openly displaying from around her throat and wrist at the reception!
They were, most definitely, ready. The fated evening could not come soon enough. But it finally did.
They had had no problem with using the fancy invitations to gain entrance. Security was heavy, as expected, but with a very lax atmosphere. Mollie was wearing the salmon coloured gown she had had especially made for such occasions, her new blond hair style and the blue contacts. In a coup foray of sorts, Mollie wore the pearls that had been taken by her husband during his run in with the sullen girl at the wedding reception. Her husband was wearing his usual tux with a hand tied bowtie. His ruffled sleeves easily moved up and down along his wrists.
Mollie and her husband split up, each spending the first few hours mingling solo, and taking it all in as they thoroughly enjoyed the Ball and all its many stimulating attractions. It had gone smooth as silk. Spending the first few hours prowling while the guests liquored up Mollie scoping out exactly the right candidates. Dangling jewels with easy clasps were everywhere!, it was surprising how the best of jewel makers skimped on the clasps required to keep the expensive pieces in place. Clothing also made a difference. Silks and satins were quiet and slipped easily. Taffeta could be whispery, more of a challenge. Velvet could easily snag as a piece was being lifted. But these were the costliest of materials, and the wearers would logically be wearing the costlier of jewelry.
Mollie and her husband regrouped several hours later, unobtrusively under the pretense of dancing. Gently discussing their plans. They settled on three likely prospects amongst the almost three hundred present. The first was an older spinster type wearing a luxurious dress of embroidered navy silk and displaying jewelry studded with diamonds and sapphires. The second was a middle aged snotty blonde wearing a shamelessly low cut green silk taffeta gown (which Mollie secretly liked)wearing a thick gold bracelet studded with vulgarly large rubies surrounded by a sea of small sparkly diamonds. She was alone, and a heavy drinker. The third was a longshot. A lanky , flighty brunette wearing immensely valuable jewels of blindingly sparkling Diamonds. Her necklace alone was in the upper hundred thousand range, with a clasp that was one of the easiest to coax open. The only problem was that she came with an obviously newlywed husband who doted on her every move. Both were heavy drinkers, and if he would only leave his wife’s side for, say about fifteen minutes, the necklace would be theirs!
They had decided that any one of the three would produce results worth a king’s ransom, appropriately enough, all things considered. The plan was for her husband to take his time selecting the easiest jewel to acquire from amongst the ones the three marks were displaying , make his move, and pass it off to Mollie who would leave forthwith, while her husband stayed a little while longer to make sure everything remained calm before making his exit stage right via the hallway.
As Mollie went to her station, she saw the Blue silken lady, along with her sapphires and diamonds, leaving with a rather unsavory looking male, eyeing her with a look Mollie knew all too well. Mollie decided to follow them, thinking to herself that some women are just prone to being victimized. Good luck with that one Mollie thought unkindly, as she stole one last look at the ladies glistening sapphires, hope he leaves her with something she sarcastically wished wickedly to the couple’s backside as they went out the exit at the end of the hall. One down and out she thought. Then she spied the husband of the newlywed pair heading down the hall towards her with an older, grey bearded man. Getting close she heard them talking about the Gentlemen’s smoking lounge. Mollie decided to give her husband a signal, but when she found him he was already in the arms of the blond. Molly immediately noticed the absence of the jeweled bracelet from his partners’ wrist. She went back to her table. Immediately she was set upon by some drunken snob asking her to dance. She allowed herself to be taken up into his arms. Spending a few unenchanting minutes with Mr. two left feet, before her husband tapped him on the shoulder cutting in. They danced, Mollie placing a hand into his pocket and feeling something cold and metal wrapped her hand around it. Looking him in the eyes she told him about the now unguarded bride, as she palmed the willowy blonde’s bracelet. They decided to go for it, and as the music ended, Mollie made her way to the hall, where she secreted the blondes bracelet safely away
One down, one more to go! An exquisite necklace of flickering diamonds waiting to be nimbly slipped away from the throat of its unsuspecting wearer. Now just to make sure the husband of the silken gowned brunette displaying the jewels in question was still safely out of the picture! Then to let her husband know that with the coast clear, he was free to stage his approach of the lady in the long swishing satin gown he had been keeping a drooling eye on all evening. The one wearing the exquisite necklace of flickering diamonds waiting to be so expertly slipped away from the throat of its unsuspecting wearer.
She was able to see the groom in windowed room, the husband and his friend were smoking a pair of long cigars and drinking brandy in large glass snifters. Mollie passed unnoticed as she mad e her way to the ladies powder room. He was still there, only halfway through a long stogie as she passed again on her way back. Neither time was she observed. Mollie mad her way back to the Ballroom. She sat down at one side of the room, once again allowing the sights of so many bejeweled women to soak in. Her husband was dancing with a lady in a flowing red ball gown, jewels sparkling in abundance, not aware of the danger so close at hand, nor that even with her husband and his particular skill set so close to them, that at that moment nothing could be safer from his fingertips. Finally she caught her husband’s eye. Mollie innocently rubbed a finger along the side of her nose, a subtle signal that it was safe for him to precede.
Mollie was now uncharacteristically having butterflies in her stomach; it was a huge gamble, trying to get away with a pair of thefts in this inhospitable atmosphere. She kept second guessing herself, Bird in hand she kept thinking. But the lure was too great, and it was with a heavy sigh of relief when Mollie saw her husband finally kiss the hand of the young bride after their dance. Mollie could see that she was no longer sporting the thin silver necklace and its row of at least two caret diamonds that had been encircling her throat with their rippling flashy brilliance all evening. Molly stayed put, not daring to leave until her husband had brushed by her in passing and made his way out the hallway to the exit. She waited for a long fifteen minutes, then curling her hand around the necklace that had been dropped into her lap as he had passed; she gained the safety of the hallway. Just in time. For coming down the hallway was none other than the lady in the long luxurious gown and now bare throats groom and his distinguished looking friend. She passed by them, feeling the men eyeing her with roving wolfish gazes. Then she passed them, and proceeded unhindered to once again enter the ladies’ powder room where the necklace soon joined with the Blondes bracelet in its hiding spot.. Than calmly Mollie left, walking past two security Bobbies, virtually unnoticed. The Groom had been absolutely ignorant to the fact that his young Bride’s ridiculously valuable necklace had walked right past him out the door.
Mollie did not let herself really breathe until she had gained the safety of the street. She allowed herself to imagine the commotion as the news of the missing jewels were circulated around the cavernous Ballroom. There would be a flurry of activity, flashes and sparkles as the women checked themselves reassuringly that they were still in possession of their trinkets. Mollie would have loved to have stayed and watched, but obviously could not do so. She rejoined her husband at their meeting place and they drove off. They made their way to Ireland where they spent a cautious week touring before leaving for the states.
Once the profit was realized from their haul that eventful evening, including obnoxious Dowagers the jeweled antique pendent, and was added in to the modest amount they had already accumulated from previous adventures, Mollie and her husband were able to retire to Ireland and live quite an unpretentious life together in a small stone manor in the woods.
Courtesy of Chatwick University Archives
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The eighth photograph in the series is entitled “Oath of the Skywalkers” and is based upon Jacques-Louis David’s Oath of the Horatii. It has been argued by many art historians that David’s Oath of the Horatii is the most well known Neoclassic painting.
Oath of the Horatii was completed in 1784 and depicts the Roman legend about two fighting cities; Rome and Alba Longa. Three brothers from Rome; the Horatii, agreed to fight three brothers from Alba Longa; the Curiatii. All three Horatii brothers seem willing to sacrifice their lives for the good of Rome and are shown holding their arms in a salute. David’s work had a huge impact when it was created as the French Revolution was looming and it depicted loyalty to the state.
In my creation, I have replaced the three Horatii brothers with Artoo, Threepio and Luke. At first this may seem odd, however, I have always seen these three characters as one; especially the connection of Artoo and Luke as well as the obvious connection between Artoo and Threepio. They seem to complement each other. Artoo and Threepio are also unwilling; at least Threepio, partners in Luke and Leia’s plan to free Han from Jabba’s Palace in Return of the Jedi. The father of the Horatii brothers has been replaced with Leia as I feel she is the figure head of the rebellion, similarly as the father is the head of the family.
Some of you may be wondering why there are three lightsabers and why they are all different colours. David chose to paint three different types of swords, one for each brother. I have chosen to show Luke’s three lightsabers. The blue lightsaber was inherited from his father; Anakin Skywalker, through Obi-Wan Kenobi. The green lightsaber was the one Luke builds for himself; something traditionally done by Jedi (or after one looses their hand while holding their lightsaber. The red lightsaber represents Luke’s dark side. Something he would struggle with in Return of the Jedi. Luke also had a very brief forced apprenticeship with Palatine when he was forced to replace his green crystal for a red one.
I felt this scene needed to be depicted as it was both an ending and a beginning so to speak. It was the ending of the Empire Strikes Back when all hope seems to be lost, but it is also the beginning of the future where the heroes planned to rescue Han.
Enjoy!
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Painting entitled "The death of Major Peirson at St Helier, Jersey 6th January 1781" by John S Copley RA.
Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in England, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, having opened in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the art of the United Kingdom since Tudor times, and in particular has large holdings of the works of J. M. W. Turner, who bequeathed all his own collection to the nation. It is one of the largest museums in the country.
Info sourced from Wikipedia
Seen in a small promotional book entitled "London Suburbs Old and New", full of 'useful knowledge for health and home' edited by Frank Green and Sr S Wolff, this edition issued in 1934. The guide has an amazing range of advice and information and this included descriptions of various suburban locations, complete with relevant adverts by local developers.
In North London, like so many other locations in Middlesex, the arrival of the railway especially the 'Tube' and Metropolitan, had a dramatic effect on once rural villages as London expanded. Already in place in Victorian and Edwardian times this expansion reached new heights in the inter-war period when "Metroland", as coined by John Betjeman as well as the marketing people at the Met Railway, became reality. Tens of thousands of houses constructed by a multiplicity of often local developers were built and advertised with claims as to construction, features and layout and location - often pushing proximity to the station or bus route. Many were offered with 'attractive' mortgage or purchase arrangements allowing the new and growing middle class of office workers and such to 'buy their own little suburban home'.
Edgware had been the terminus of a rather wndering branch line from Kings Cross station opened by the Great Northern Railway as early as 1867 and that closed, as part of a modernisation project by London Transport that was curtailed after the way, in 1939. The electric tram reached the village in the Edwardian era but the real spur to growth was the arrival of the extension of the Underground line from Golders Green in 1924.
A W Curton were one such builder and developer. The houses seen here in Edgwarebury Lane, were under development by 1935 and were of the more 'upmarket' type, freehold with 'oak panelled dining rooms' and as many as 5 bedrooms. Needless to say your £70 down and £2000 investment would now set you back over a million pounds! The 'descriptive brochure' seen here was produced in several editions as late as 1939.