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?

From my set entitled “Tuberous Begonia”

www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607213634242/

In my collection entitled “The Garden”

www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760718...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Begonia is a genus in the flowering plant family Begoniaceae. The only other member of the family Begoniaceae is Hillebrandia, a genus with a single species in the Hawaiian Islands. The genus Symbegonia is now included in Begonia. "Begonia" is the common name as well as the generic name for all members of the genus.

With ca. 1500+ species, Begonia is one of the ten largest angiosperm genera. The species are terrestrial (sometimes epiphytic) herbs or undershrubs and occur in subtropical and tropical moist climates, in South and Central America, Africa and southern Asia. Terrestrial species in the wild are commonly upright-stemmed, rhizomatous, or tuberous. The plants are monoecious, with unisexual male and female flowers occurring separately on the same plant, the male containing numerous stamens, the female having a large inferior ovary and two to four branched or twisted stigmas. In most species the fruit is a winged capsule containing numerous minute seeds, although baccate fruits are also known. The leaves, which are often large and variously marked or variegated, are usually asymmetric (unequal-sided).

Because of their sometimes showy flowers of white, pink, scarlet or yellow color and often attractively marked leaves, many species and innumerable hybrids and cultivars are cultivated. The genus is unusual in that species throughout the genus, even those coming from different continents, can frequently be hybridized with each other, and this has led to an enormous number of cultivars. The American Begonia Society classifies begonias into several major groups: cane-like, shrub-like, tuberous, rhizomatous, semperflorens, rex, trailing-scandent, or thick-stemmed. For the most part these groups do not correspond to any formal taxonomic groupings or phylogeny and many species and hybrids have characteristics of more than one group, or fit well into none of them.

The genus name honors Michel Bégon, a French patron of botany.

The different groups of begonias have different cultural requirements but most species come from tropical regions and therefore they and their hybrids require warm temperatures. Most are forest understory plants and require bright shade; few will tolerate full sun, especially in warmer climates. In general, begonias require a well-drained growing medium that is neither constantly wet nor allowed to dry out completely. Many begonias will grow and flower year-round but tuberous begonias usually have a dormant period, during which the tubers can be stored in a cool and dry place.

Begonias of the semperflorens group are frequently grown as bedding plants outdoors. A recent group of hybrids derived from this group is marketed as "Dragonwing Begonias"; they are much larger both in leaf and in flower. Tuberous begonias are frequently used as container plants. Although most Begonia species are tropical or subtropical in origin, the Chinese species B. grandis is hardy to USDA hardiness zone 6 and is commonly known as the "hardy begonia". Most begonias can be grown outdoors year-round in subtropical or tropical climates, but in temperate climates begonias are grown outdoors as annuals, or as house or greenhouse plants.

Most begonias are easily propagated by division or from stem cuttings. In addition, many can be propagated from leaf cuttings or even sections of leaves, particularly the members of the rhizomatous and rex groups.

The cultivar Kimjongilia is a floral emblem of North Korea.

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 "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

The tenth photograph in the series is entitled “The Death of Yoda” and is based upon Henry Wallis’ The Death of Chatterton. Wallis is a Pre-Raphaelite English painter from the 19th century.

The subject of Wallis’ painting is the 17-year-old English early Romantic poet Thomas Chatterton. In 1770, Chatterton poisoned himself with arsenic. It is this moment, just minutes after his suicide that Wallis has chosen to paint. Wallis was well known for his hidden symbology in his works and I have done my best to include a couple items as well. Some I will discuss and some I will not.

I remember watching Return of the Jedi and wondering if I would see Yoda again. I was very pleased when Luke went back to Dagobah to continue his training, but I remember feeling sick to my stomach when Yoda gave himself to the Force. When I was thinking about recreating this moment, I knew I had to find a painting that would show how I was feeling when I first watch Return of the Jedi. Wallis’ painting of the Death of Chatterton; although not very well known in comparison to the works of the “Masters”, has always shown great emotion and I knew it would be the prefect inspiration for my remake.

Chatterton has been replaced by Yoda. I have done my best to pose Yoda in a similar position. This was a very tricky task as Yoda is not as “posable” as I would like. Having said that, I am please with the end position. I am particularly happy with the fact I was able to “close” Yoda’s eyes with the assistance of my favourite photo editing software! I have added Yoda’s cane to represent his age and frailty; showing that he is close to death, similarly, Wallis has shown the arsenic which has taken Chatterton’s life. I am very much aware that in Return of the Jedi, Luke is by Yoda’s side when he passes and Artoo is outside of the Hut. I have, however, chosen to include Artoo to Yoda’s right as visual it made more sense than Luke. I wanted to emphasize the peacefulness of this moment and felt that Artoo would not be a visual distraction to the viewer as he could replace Chatterton’s chair and cloak. I have, however, included Luke’s X-Wing helmet to show both Luke’s presence as well as to show his importance to Yoda and the Jedi. The helmet has replaced Chatterton’s box of unfinished poems and writings, his last thoughts so to speak. Similarly, Luke has been trained by Yoda (and Kenobi) and is their last hope to continue the Jedi tradition; although Yoda does mention something about “...another...”

Enjoy!

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George Fife Angas. 1789 – 1879

George Fife Angas was born in Newcastle into a business family. His father ran a coachbuilding business. In 1804 George was made an apprentice in his father’s business and in 1808 he was made the secretary of the Newcastle Sunday School Union. He married Rosetta French in 1812 and began his philanthropy with the Baptist Church before he moved his growing family to London in 1824 where he established his own enterprises. He started his own shipping firm and became involved in banking and finance simultaneously with continuing his philanthropic and missionary work. He remained a devout Baptist in London. As soon as he arrived in London, the political centre, he began working to free slaves. Recent attempts have been made to besmirch the reputation of G F Angas. Some websites say he was a slave holder with 121 slaves in British Honduras. Nothing could be further from the truth. He is listed in slave records as he acted as the London agent for several Honduras slave-owners who were seeking compensation, which they were legally entitled to, from the British government after it abolished slavery in Honduras (now Belize) and elsewhere in 1833. Around 300 Indian slaves in Honduras were freed in 1824 directly at the behest of Angas and he worked with the Earl of Bathurst to get legislation enabling this through the House of Commons. Angas’ company and shipping business worked extensively with Honduras agents for mahogany timber which did use slave labour. But he never owned slaves and these incorrect websites would have done well to consult a 1929 publication to learn that. In that 1929 publication on SA by Sir Grenfell Price he says “Angas was concerned about the miseries of slaves and Mayan refugees in Honduras. He promoted missionary work there and was an associate of British reformers and abolitionists like William Wilberforce who spear headed the 1833 British Act to abolish slavery internationally.” Angas never received one penny directly from slave holding but like so much early 19th century British trade it was dependent on slave labour. In 1826 he formed G. F. Angas and Company and after his father’s death in 1831 he took over all his father’s companies and shipping and formed, with his cousin, the National Provincial Bank. In 1832 he joined the committee of the SA Land Company. Two years later when the SA Colonization Act was passed in Westminster Angas stepped in to buy up land in the new province as the Act required since sales were slow. He bought 13,000 acres which he transferred to the South Australian Company when it was formed in 1836 and he was the director of it. In March of 1836 he despatched three ships to the new province before the Governor on the Buffalo and Colonel William Light on the Rapid set sail for the province. At this time he also met with Lutheran Pastor Kavel from Hamburg and negotiated to loan money for the transportation of Lutherans to the new province which was to eschew Anglican dominance and to entice non conformists from Britain to the province. Angas did not look favourably at Catholics. He also founded the South Australian School Society in 1836 which led to the first schools in SA. In 1841 in London Angas established the South Australian Banking Company which helped finance the colony and in 1843 he sent his son John Howard Angas to look after his investments in the colony. At this time in the 1840s Angas travelled extensively in southern England promoting the province and urging people to sail to the new lands. Angas was always a shrewd businessman and he found fortune by selling the lands he acquired for £1 per acre at £10 per acre to the German Lutheran settlers. It had cost Angas £20,000 to bring out around 700 German Lutheran settlers. He believed that his wealth was given to him to do the Lord’s work.

Angas finally migrated to the colony arriving in January 1851 where he continued his philanthropy and pastoral and banking interests and he soon became a member of the Legislative Council for the district of Barossa for fifteen years from 1851 to 1866. He had his rural mansion built on his lands at Angaston and the house was named Lindsay Park. He purchased a town house at the corner of Torrens Road and Fitzroy Terrace as his city home in 1865. This enabled him to attend legislative Council meetings easily. His Prospect Hall as it was known was sold to John Howard Angas before his death and George Fife Angas died at his beloved Lindsay Park in 1879 where he was buried in the family vault on that property. George Fife Angas was strongly opposed to horse racing and gambling so it was somewhat ironic that when Lindsay Park was sold out of the family in 1965 it went to a horse racing magnate. After his death the only biography of Angas was published in 1891 by Edwin Hodder who liaised with John Howard Angas about his father’s life. Some say it presents an overly favourable and biased impression of George Fife Angas. One other commentator says George Fife Angas was often known as “philanthropy plus ten percent.”

George French Angas. 1822 – 1866.

This eldest son of George Fife Angas and Rosetta French was given his mother’s family name. At the age of 21 in 1843 he sailed to South Australia. He explored several regions of the colony including the South East with Governor Robe, the Coorong and his father’s lands in the Barossa. After six months he travelled on to New Zealand before returning to SA. As an accomplished watercolourist he painted wherever he went. In 1845 his watercolours of SA were displayed in the Legislative Council. In 1846 on his return to London he held a major exhibition there which also included his travels in NZ, Brazil and his works on native peoples including the Maori. In 1846-7 he published three volumes of lithographs from his water-colours entitled: South Australia Illustrated, The New Zealanders Illustrated and Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand. After he married in 1849 he returned to Adelaide and set up a studio in King William Street. In 1851 he moved to NSW before returning again to the Barossa Valley in SA in 1860. In 1862 he took his family back to England where he published further illustrated naturalist books on South Australia. He died in 1886. His great legacy to SA was his detailed capture of life and landscapes in the early years of the colony.

John Howard Angas. 1823 – 1904.

John Howard Angas was born in Newcastle in 1823 but spent his childhood as a boarder in the village of Hutton in Essex to be near his school. He was sent to the colony of SA to manage his father’s lands and investments in 1843. At that time John Howard Angas was just 19 years old and he sailed with his sister Mrs Sarah Evans and his brother-in-law Henry Evans. Angas made his first home at Hutton Vale and later he moved to Tarrawatta where he later built Collingrove House for his new wife in 1856. By the time of his arrival he had mastered basic German to converse with his father’s tenants at Bethany and elsewhere and he soon began gathering a flock of sheep. Pastoralism was to become his major business interest. Apart from his pastoral interests he was community minded and served in the SA Legislative Council from 1871 to 1786 and later in the House of Assembly from 1887 to 1894. He developed some of his pastoral estates with his father but most were fully developed only by him and they ranged from the Flinders Ranges to Point Sturt on Lake Alexandrina but his main residence remained as Collingrove. He was interested in agriculture in general and education and he worked on building up animal studs for Shorthorn and Hereford cattle, Clydesdale, thoroughbred and carriage horses, Merino and Lincoln sheep and Berkshire pigs. He also experimented with pedigree donkeys and ostriches. He exhibited his stud stock in agricultural shows around Australia and won many prizes for the best animals over the years. He was involved with the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society of SA for many years. Angas Hall at the show grounds is a tribute to John Howard Angas. He was president of the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Show from 1886 to 1888 but a member and sponsor of it for decades. He died at Collingrove in 1904 leaving a wife and two offspring Charles Howard Angas born in 1861 and Lillian Angas (later White) born in 1862. It was John Howard Angas who chose a Peramangk word for his property which covered Lindsay Park, Collingrove and Hutton Vale. The whole property was called Tarrawarra. In Peramangk language “tarra” means land that rises such as a hill and “warra” means a person’s land or area.

Flaxman Valley Special Surveys and the Father of South Australia.

Charles Flaxman was the Chief Clerk of George Fife Angas. After Angas had invested £20,000 in financing Pastor Kavel and four ship loads of German Lutherans to South Australia in 1838 he wanted to protect that investment. Around six hundred German Lutherans were transported to SA and at first they rented land from Angas at Klemzig. Angas had purchased 208 acres at Klemzig. Charles Flaxman sailed on one of the ships with Pastor Kavel as Angas’ agent in SA. The German Lutherans later purchased surveyed land at Bethany and elsewhere. This came about because Flaxman over reached his authority and committed George Fife Angas to buy seven Special Survey in 1839 for £28,000.

The special surveys covered much of the Barossa Valley. They included all of the headwaters of the North Para River which rises near Eden Valley and turns southward near Truro back towards Tanunda and Bethany. The surveys also follow every creek and river east of the Barossa Valley such as the North Rhine and the Keyneton to Springton districts. Bethany and Tanunda are near the southern end of the surveys. The widest point is ten miles across from near Sheoak Log to Eden Valley. Basically the main highway from Sheoak Log in a straight line to Truro was the western boundary of Angas’ special surveys. North to south the special surveys ran nearly 15 miles from Truro to Mt Crawford Forest.

The £28,000 required for the surveys nearly bankrupted Angas. He had to get a loan for the first time in his life, sell off his shares in the Union Bank and to sell his lands and other assets. Flaxman purchased part of the Barossa Special Survey towards Mt Crawford in his own name and he stayed on in SA after 1843 when John Howard Angas arrived. Flaxman later moved to Victoria and died there in 1869. Flaxman valley was named after him. Angas went on to become the largest individual landowner in SA in the 1840s and 1850s when others, especially the early pastoralists held all land as leasehold land only with just one 80 acre section freehold around their homestead. Thus Angas was regarded as the major freehold land owner in SA.

But why was he regarded as the “father of South Australia”? There were several reasons but he was certainly not the only “father” of this colony. Others who surely could claim that title include Robert Torrens, Robert Gouger, William Light etc. George Fife Angas worked on creating South Australia from 1830 and became involved with reformers like Edward Wakefield and the SA Land Company from 1832. The SA Land Company for investors disappeared but once the SA Colonization Act was passed in Britain in 1834 Angas became a devotee of the idea of a new colony. As an amount of land to the value of £35,000 had to be pre sold before settlement, according to the terms of that Act, Angas bought 13,000 acres himself to help the Colonization Commissioners meet that requirement. He became one of the Colonization Commissioners and helped form the South Australian Company and he was its first Chairman. Without the SA Company obtaining pre colonization land sales the colony would not have been approved by the British parliament so he was the father of SA in a very significant and pragmatic way. Partly because of the work of Angas the SA Company was offered banking rights for the new colony and this bank was very successful and under pinned some for the SA Company’s success. This bank was separated from the SA Company in 1841 and became the SA Bank. Angas then spruiked the colony after 1836 into the 1840s to encourage English farmers to make the big move across the world to become pioneers. After 1839 he became the largest freehold land owner in the colony with the seven Barossa Special Surveys – 28,000 acres. Once his son John Howard Angas was in the colony George Fife Angas continued to buy more and more land in many locations. He then contributed to the colony with his legislative work and his philanthropy. Although he was generally respected and afforded the “father of SA” title as his motives and ideals were ethical he was not popular with many because of his dictatorial style on committees. But was not a dictatorial style expected of all fathers in the Victorian era?

Angas Family Structures and Memorial North Adelaide.

Apart from the amazing bronze memorial to the Angas family in Angas Gardens North Adelaide South Australia is littered with named locations and features commemorating the Angas family. The city has Angas Street, the Barossa Valley has Angaston, the Royal Adelaide Showgrounds has the Angas Hall, the suburb of Mitcham has Angas Road as George Fife Angas took out 134 acres here in 1839 and east of the Mt Lofty Ranges near Sanderston is Angas Plains. George Fife Angas owned much land around Springton with tenant farmers and thus Springton has an Angas Street and likewise Angaston has an Angas Street and near Strathalbyn is Angas Hill. Although George Fife Angas purchased sections of land around many of the settled districts he had no linkages at all with Macclesfield and the headwaters of the Angas River. A group of explorers going overland to Lake Alexandrina on 31st December 1837 discovered a river in the Adelaide Hills. The party led by Robert cock and William Finlayson named the river in honour of George Fife Angas who was Chairman of the South Australian Company in London and had been a tireless worker and promoter of the new colony. The Angas River is about 50 kms long and flows into Lake Alexandrina at Milang after flowing through Strathalbyn. Between Strathalbyn and Milang there is the district of Angas Plains named because of the river.

The most prominent memorial to the Angas family was not put up by public subscription which was usual in early years but by the Angas family itself. The complex bronze in an Italian marble canopy was sculpted by English artist William Colton and is called Fame. The winged figure Fame (not an angel) holds a laurel wreath above pointing to the four bas reliefs around the sculpture. One is about George Fife Angas with a bas relief of German immigrants arriving on a ship and the other is of John Howard Angas and a bas relief of a horse .The whole sculpture is based on a Rodin sculpture. Work began on the sculpture in 1909. When the sculpture was finished in 1915 the Angas descendants wanted it placed in Victoria Square. But this was a site reserved for the statue of Charles Sturt. As the Victoria Square site was opposed by the Trades and Labour Council and the Sturt Fund the family accepted a location on North Terrace in front of government House. It was moved to its present site in 1930 when it and other statues were moved from North Terrace. Not everyone saw the Angas family as great benefactors and the sculpture was vandalised in 1941. All the leaves were stripped from the palm frond. In sharp contrast to this great memorial is a charming small carved memorial to George Fife Angas in the Gruenberg Lutheran Church near Moculta put there in 1864 in recognition of Angas’ gift to that church’s building fund.

Angas Buildings Adelaide Children’s Hospital.

John Howard Angas left as big a legacy for South Australia as his father did if not bigger. Historian Douglas Pike described John Howard Angas as George Fife Angas’ best memorial to SA. Both George Fife and John Howard Angas gave £500 each in 1874 to the fund to establish the Children’s Hospital in 1876. John Howard Angas was a consistent donor and benefactor over many decades. By 1903 he had donated £7,752 directly to the Children’s Hospital. Apart from serving in parliament he served on several pastoral, agricultural, educational and medical associations. John Howard Angas was vice president of the Adelaide Children’s Hospital from 1876 to 1904. His legacy to the hospital was the Angas Buildings on King William Road. The Angas Building was the second major building of the hospital and is now the oldest part of it. The Adelaide Children’s Hospital was formed in 1876 by a group of doctors and benefactors including both George Fife and John Howard Angas. Sixteen years later in 1892 John Howard Angas said he was prepared to defray the entire costs, about £2,000, for the second building which was needed by then. When the new Angas Building opened it doubled the number of beds or cots in the hospital. Angas commissioned architect Alfred Wells in 1893 to design a building facing King William Road which would form a quadrangle with the first building. It would contain two surgical wards, an outpatients section, dispensary and quarters for the surgeons. It opened in 1894. As offshoots of his work with the Children’s Hospital John Howard Angas also gave £600 to establish a children’s convalescent home at Mt Lofty and earlier in 1890 he donated £1,900 to build a new wing onto the children’s convalescent home at Semaphore. Angas commissioned architects Garlick and Partners to design the new wing at Semaphore. By 1903 John Howard Angas had donated £7,572 to the hospital.

Angas Home for the Deaf and Dumb.

Another of John Howard Angas’ philanthropic interests was health and disability exemplified by his role at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital. He was also on the founding committee for the deaf society which was able to establish a home at Brighton in 1874. John Howard Angas donated £400 to the establishment fund and then became a regular donor giving around £200 annually. Then in 1898 he donated 280 acres of good farming land at Parafield to the SA Deaf Society. Its value was over £3,000. With his support two substantial stone accommodation blocks were built with them opening in 1899. It was the first institution in the world to cater for blind, deaf and mute people in one institution. Additions were made in 1904 to bring the total number of bedrooms to thirty. The residents worked on the farm which was more or less self-sufficient with dairy and beef cattle, pigs, sheep and cropping lands. There was a well provided excellent water supply for the home as it was not far from the Little Para River. SA Deaf Society sold the home in 1979. Part has been demolished but part remains as the central buildings of the Gardens Islamic College.

Belair Inebriates House and the Angas Missionary College North Adelaide.

George Fife Angas gave 80 acres of land to a group of trustees for the Belair Inebriates House in 1874 and a further £1,500 for the building this being from himself and his son John Howard Angas. But George Fife Angas died in 1879 and did not see the building completed. The original building was replaced with the a Gothic one in 1883 which cost over £6,000 to construct and it was able to accommodate 52 inmates. Reverend Morton a Presbyterian minister from Melbourne who was a friend of John Howard Angas visited Belair Inebriates Retreat in 1883 and then returned in 1893 to take charge of the facility. But Morton’s main focus was the theological training of missionaries. John Howard Angas had donated money in the early 1870s for a Baptist theological college but it only operated for a year or two. He re-activated a missionary training school at Belair in the Inebriates Retreat in 1893. It only operated at Belair until 1898 for at that time Whinham College in Jeffcott Street North Adelaide closed and John Howard Angas purchased that site for the Angas Missionary College. (Whinham College operated 1854 to 1898. The towered building was erected in 1882.) Missionaries were trained to work in the Pacific Island, India, China, Africa and South America at this North Adelaide site. By 1904 when John Howard Angas died some 210 missionaries had been trained. Although Belair had trained both men and women from 1893 that ceased in 1895 when a Ladies Missionary College was established at Kensington. From 1898 male missionaries were trained in Angas College North Adelaide. Angas Missionary College closed when World War One started and that site became the Lutheran theological seminary and Immanuel College from 1921 onwards. The City of Adelaide heritage plaque on this building fails to even mention the existence of the Angas Missionary Training College here from 1893 to 1914.

Bethany.

This very German village of Bethanian began in 1842 on land leased from George Fife Angas. (In 1917 it was Anglicised by act of parliament to Bethany.) It was not the first settlement in the Barossa as Lyndoch was but it was the first German settlement in the Barossa Valley. Most of the Bethany settlers were assisted migrants brought out to SA by George Fife Angas and they came from Hahndorf and from Lobethal. By 1843 around 200 people were living here and several hundred acres of land was ploughed and under crop. The village was laid out in a Hufendorf style with the houses on the street and the land in narrow strips behind the houses. Some of these early houses still remain. The land reached back to Tanunda Creek. The first settlers had to live a self-sufficient lifestyle growing their own grain, killing their own meat, growing their own vegetables, preserving meat and making sausages and making butter and cheese from their cows and gathering eggs from their poultry. The village was bypassed by the main road to Tanunda and it never developed into a major town. But a church and Lutheran cemetery was established. A Lutheran school began in 1843 led by a disciple of Pastor Fritzsche of Lobethal. By 1845 the village had its own pug and thatch church the Herberge Christi Church which was replaced with a fine bluestone Gothic church in 1883 for £723. English services were introduced here in 1924. This Bethany Church strongly supported the Hermannsburg Aboriginal Mission Station in the Northern Territory. Behind the church is the early Lutheran School which closed in 1917. Also at the church is a stone memorial to the missionaries who established Hermannsburg Aboriginal Mission from here in 1875. The pioneer cemetery has some interesting memorials and behind one cottage is an early slaughter house with a steeply pitched iron roof. At some stage in the 1860s, or later, the German settlers were able to purchase the freehold to their lands from the Angas family. Angas ended up selling land that he paid £1 per acre for at a good profit. A contract of 1839 signed by Pastor Kavel and the first Lutheran Synod was to purchase land from Angas at £10 per acre. This contract was eventually revoked and settlers were able to lease or buy land individually but most of the first German settlers paid £10 per acre for their farms at Bethany.

Angaston.

The town takes its name from George Fife Angas a Scot born in 1789. He was a Commissioner and shareholder in the SA Company and loaned money to Pastor Kavel to bring Lutheran migrants out to the new colony. He recovered the money loaned to Pastor Kavel by selling the land in the Barossa that he had paid £1 per acre to the German migrants at £10 per acre. Angas Town was developed from 1842. The first inhabitant was Gottfried Schilling and nearby Bethany was established in the same year on Angas’ land. Angas Town was soon changed to German’s Pass as it was a pass through the ranges to the Mallee plains and the River Murray. From 1857 German’s Pass was known as Angaston. Angaston always had a mix of English and German settlers. The town progressed greatly in the 1860s and beyond and a major employer was the Angas Park Fruit Company which was established in 1911. That was the year the railway arrived from Gawler. Several early wineries were other major employers in the town and district.

Among the buildings donated or supported by George Fife Angas in Angaston is the Union Chapel which he paid for in 1844. It was to be available for all religious groups but as the churches got their own buildings there was little need for it. After being used for storage for decades it was restored some years ago in 1994. It is one of the oldest churches in South Australia as it opened in February 1844. George Fife Angas’ daughter Sarah Evan of Evandale near Keyneton laid the foundation stone in 1843. John Howard Angas supervised the construction of the Union Chapel as George Fife Angas was still in England at this time. Similarly John Howard Angas donated land for a Union Chapel in Truro which was built in 1850. It was later replaced or incorporated into a new Truro Congregational Church in 1860.

Whilst in the Main Street look for the following as they should all be easily identifiable as you head up the hill towards the east.

Rose Villa- interesting old house opposite Zion Lutheran Church. It was built as a manse for the Baptists minister John Hannay who served 1855-1865. Hannay was the son in law of George Fife Angas. It is constructed of bluestone and soapstone. Daniel Garlick was the architect.

Zion Lutheran Church. This Romanesque style church was built as a Baptist Church in 1855. George Fife Angas donated the land and other funds for the church. The Baptists closed the church in 1929. The Lutherans purchased it in 1941 calling it the Zion Lutheran. The soapstone in the quoins came from Lindsay Park estate the home of George Fife Angas.

Old Post Office. It was built in 1880 although mail was delivered to the town from 1846. Telegraph arrived 1866. Telephone service arrived in 1911. It is still the post office. Note the weeds in the gutters.

Former offices of Fiest and Fiest Land Agents. There is a date on the building of 1903 which is late for a partly classical style building. The Marseilles tiled roof was ultra-modern when this was built in 1903. It is now a wine cafe and bar.

Angaston Hotel. The original 1846 structure was added to in 1879 and then rebuilt with an upper story in 1914 in typical Art Nouveau style with lots of woodwork. The decoration above the door is worth noting.

Turn right here into Sturt Street.

Turn right again into South terrace to reach the old railway station.

Go west to the Angaston Railway station. This timber framed station was erected in 1911 when the railway reached Angaston from Gawler.

Continue up Sturt Street to the town Hall and behind it the Congregational Church.

“New” Institute Town Hall Building. This is up the side street from the hotel. It was also built in 1911 of local grey marble and bluestone with the village green in front of it. It has perpendicular gothic features with good symmetry and fine detail to the window surrounds. The central pillars and gable accentuate the best features of the building. The Angas family assisted financially with the costs of construction.

Just behind the Institute is the Congregational Church. The architect was Daniel Garlick. The foundation stone was laid in 1877 by John Howard Angas the major donor and patron of the church. It is now the Uniting Church.

Return to the Main Street and turn right.

The Masonic Lodge. Erected in 1867 as a joint enterprise with the Mechanics Institute. Angas donated the land and £100 towards the cost. It operated as a Mechanics Institute Library until the new Library/ Town hall opened in 1911. Then the old Mechanics Institute was sold to the Masons. That is why the façade says 1910. It was actually built in 1867.And that is why it does not have small half rounded windows and a look of secrecy like most masonic Halls.

First Cemetery. This is beyond the car park behind the Masonic Lodge and the public toilets. The old cemetery opened in 1847. Many early burials were of children who died of diseases like typhoid and dysentery. Over 200 people were buried here. Return to the Main Street.

The old Flour Mill. Edwin Davey of Truro established this is 1885. Lauckes bought the mill in 1933 and operated it until 1976. It is a good 3 storey example of a mill with huge unsawn gum tree supports on the veranda and the adjoining building which is now the Machinery Preservation Society building. The mill is made of blue stone.

Doddridge Blacksmith Shop. This was established in 1876 by a Cornish migrant. It produced horse shoes, wrought iron carts, ploughs, tools and farm equipment. It did not close until the 1970s when the smithy was then 86 years old. A community effort purchased it in 1981 to operate as a tourist attraction.

The Bank of Adelaide. Built in 1885 with and Italianate facade with perfect symmetry, roof top balustrade, central entrance with triangular pediment above porch etc. Some additions made in 1894. It was the bank and the upper floor was the residence for the bank manager.

The former Wesleyan Methodist Church. Built in 1864 but it closed in 1977 when the Congregational, Presbyterian and Methodist churches were united. At the rear the Davey Methodist Hall was built in 1911 like so many other buildings in the town. 1911 was clearly a year of great optimism and change in Angaston. For many years it was an antique centre.

Collingrove and the Angas family Church.

John Howard Angas emigrated to SA in 1843 to oversee some of his father’s business interests. In 1854 John Howard

Angas returned to England, married and then returned to Angaston where his brother-in-law designed and built Collingrove homestead in 1856 for John Howard Angas and his wife Suzanne Collins. Hence the house was named Collingrove. In 1874 John’s father, a devout Baptist, had a small chapel built for his employees and family to worship in. It opened as a Congregational Church. The Congregational minister from Keyneton usually conducted the services there. Angas supported all protestant denominations but he was openly hostile towards Catholics. John Howard Angas was buried from this church in 1904. He left £2,000 in his estate to the Congregational trustees to continue to run the church. When the Anglican Bishop took over the church in 1911 a court case was threatened as the trustees had possibly breached the trust placed in them by the will of John Howard Angas. The church became St. Faiths Anglican until it closed. It was closed by the time Ronald Angas, grandson of John Howard Angas donated Collingrove to the National Trust in 1976.

Hutton Vale.

John Howard Angas was born in Newcastle in 1823 but raised in the village of Hutton from the age of four - at first as a boarder and then with his parent who moved there too. At the age of 20 John Howard Angas was sent to South Australia by his father and his first home and residence he called Hutton Vale farm. It was on part of his father’s seven Special Surveys along the North Para River. The current owner of Hutton Vale farm is John Angas whose great great grandfather was John Howard Angas. The property is on Hutton Vale Road which runs from Collingrove to Moculta. Upon arrival in 1843 John Howard Angas had a stone house built at Hutton Vale which was his residence until Collingrove was erected in 1856. Today Hutton Vale’s 2,000 acres is the last of the original 28,000 acres still owned by the Angas family in the Barossa Valley. John Angas has lived in the house at Hutton Vale all of his life. It is a mixed farm with fruit trees, vines sheep and grain. The old 1850s grain store is now the kitchen for John’s residence. The farm has tourist accommodation, garden produce and cellar door sales of wine from Riesling, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache Mataro grapes. Only the roof top of Hutton Vale house is visible from the road.

Lindsay Park.

This house was built in the late 1840s as a home for George Fife Angas with the architect being his son-in-law Henry Evans. Henry Evans had married a daughter of George Fife Angas and he was the one who designed Collingrove homestead and Lindsay Park homestead for the Angas family. Henry’s wife was so opposed to alcohol and wine making that she made Henry have his grape vines grafted with currents rather than grapes for wine. Thus, almost by accident Henry Evans founded the dried fruit industry in the Angaston district! When George Fife Angas came out to SA Henry Evans and his family moved to Keyneton a mile or so away. From 1851 Lindsay Park was used as the family home of the “founder of SA” George Fife Angas. It was extended several times. After George Fife Angas’ death the house and property remained in the Angas family until 1965 when the last inheritor of the Lindsay Park, Sir Keith Angas, sold the property to horse breeding trainer Colin Hayes. It was then developed into the preeminent horse training facility and breeding stud in Australia. Even Queen Elizabeth visited there on one of her trips to SA. When Colin Hayes retired in 1990 the stud and training facility was continued by his son David Hayes. David Hayes sold his share of Lindsay Park facility to his nephew and business partners in 2008 when he moved to Euroa in Victoria. The property was then sold to winemaker David Powell for $10 million in 2013 to become an exclusive tourist resort. Recently in 2023 this property has been sold to the Brendan Smart family from Keith who want to return the property to its original use as a sheep and cattle property. The mansion is not visible from the road. Both George Fife Angas and his wife and John Howard Angas and other family were buried in the family vault at Lindsay Park estate. There is no public access to this private family vault of one of the main pioneering families of South Australia or to the estate.

Mural entitled "Held Tight" by luvs aka @moises.be.nice, seen on the wall of a parking garage at 431 Art Alley in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

Edit by Teee

Entitled: Natives At Breakfast, Movable Chow Shop, Canton, China [c1919] Keystone View Co. [RESTORED] I did the usual spotting, contrast, tonal corrections and added a sepia. However there are really serious limits that one can do when the original shot was set up with a single light source and no apparent or proper fill. The shadows in this case, seem to be deeper than the US national debt.

I just love these funny propped shots that purport to show the "real" Chinese slice of life. The funniest part is that there were probably some who believed these pictures wholeheartedly. A mixture of truth, probabilities, outright falsehoods, and a often a lot of the photographers' wild imagination, they're not only of historical significance, but begin to take on artistic value purely because of their sheer Kitsch.

That said, historically, street vendors did in fact sell hot food from either portable or rolling kitchens like this in the larger Chinese cities of the 1900's, so the image probably leans more to the truthful side than not. However I do question the dating of this image, which seems to be thematically similar to many that were produced by the BW Kilburn Co in 1901 (Kilburn unfortunately never issued sets of images). As Kilburn eventually closed its doors in 1909, its vast collection of 17,000 views and over 100,000 plate glass negatives was sold to Keystone View.

Source: www.yellowstonestereoviews.com/publishers/kilburn.html

My own speculation is that Keystone then picked the best of each collection that they acquired and reissued them with new titles and dates; hence the production date of this image was relabeled as 1919.

Mural entitled "American Dream" by Farid Rueda aka @farid_rueda for SpraySeeMO 2024, seen at 705 Virginia Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri.

Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

Edit by Teee.

Mural entitled "Ziggindigenous" by Gregg Deal aka @greggdeal, seen at 2775 Valmont road in Boulder, Colorado.

Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

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Entitled Chinese Family [c1875]. Found in The Face Of China As Seen By Photographers & Travelers 1860-1912, authored by L. Carrington Goodrich, with historical commentary by Nigel Cameron (published in 1978, the book is still in print & is available from Amazon.com). The photograph was retouched to eliminate spots and scratches, and contrast was elevated to improve visual impact.

I just love this photograph.

Knowing nothing at all of the actual people; that is, who they were or what social or political connections they had, we can only make educated assumptions and guesses about their milieu, based on what is believed or understood about Chinese culture during the late 1800's. From the outset, the viewer is particularly struck by the rather formal arrangement of the seated individuals, and then immediately notes the contrasting inconsistency offered by the starkly informal positioning of the man to the left rear. Further, the setting itself is rather peculiar; the seating is positioned directly in the path of a moon door walkway, which one sees is a part of a weathered wall. One then realizes that this setting is outdoors, perhaps located in a private courtyard, and was most likely artificially arranged for the purpose of the photograph. The wet ground between the paving stones reinforces that the setting was outdoors. It was likely chosen because the visual impact of the doorway lent itself to the creative thought process of the photographer, as well as the practicality of affording enough light to record the image.

The purpose of the photograph is another issue. In our present day, a picture being recorded is so uncomplicated and common that we give it scant thought. However, we must appreciate that to the people of those times, being recorded in a photograph was as unlikely and as monumental an undertaking for them, as perhaps a ride on the space shuttle would be for us. My speculation is that the photographic session was arranged for by the man in the photograph to the left. In my view, he is definitely the master of this house, and the others in the picture were his wives and children. The photographic opportunity was likely initiated as an effort to produce a record of his family, as it became highly fashionable for affluent Chinese in the late 1800's to have such portraits taken. The man is standing to the rear (normally a servant's position), but by his very nonchalant stance, and to be so close in physical proximity, that is, to be nearly draped over one of the ladies of the house; reveals clearly that he is not one of the household help, but also reveals that he was not intended to have been in the picture. That is, had he been intended or would have been planned to be in the picture in the first place, where should one expect him to be? I would think that he should have belonged in the center of the photograph, occupying the most important position of all, telling anyone who sees it that he is the master of this setting. So, on that basis, I surmise that this was first intended to be a picture of only the wives and children, and not of him at all.

So, if that was the case, what then, is he doing in the picture? His positioning to the far left side is telling. My hypothesis is, that similar to spectators at crime or accident scenes, the man was so caught up in his curiosity to observe that he failed to realize that he had strayed into the scene and had become a part of the event. The look of the man's face strongly suggests that he was so raptly focused on what the photographer was doing, that he didn't know that he had stepped out of the sidelines and had put himself into the picture. One can only imagine that had the man not been so hypnotically distracted to have thus entered the picture, how much poorer the image would have been.

Socially, the furniture belies a family of some affluence. The wooden foot stools at the time were used not for the height challenged but rather to provide insulation against having to put one's feet onto a cold and unheated floor. The man has four wives, all of which seem to have bound feet (except for one who's feet we cannot see) bespeaking already his ability of a high degree of financial security. In the center, the most politically powerful position in any family portrait, is probably the first wife. Seated next to her is the eldest child, likely the first wife's daughter. To the far right is probably the second wife based on appearance of age. Next to her is probably her son, whose importance as heir mandated that despite his reluctance, his presence in the photograph was a considered must. This is evidenced by the notable steadying hand against fidgetting, of an off camera person (probably a servant) holding him in position. On the far left, the two seated ladies are likely wives three and four, with wife (probably) three, holding the third child of the house (borne from her), on her lap. The remaining wife was childless to that point, but still had her youth. The fine embroidary of their clothing further reinforces that these were women of importance, that is, they were all wives and not a wife's personal maid attendant or any member of the serving class.

A public art display entitled "Long Wave" as part of the LuminaTO Art Festival in Toronto. This design was created by artist David Rokeby and seen here at Brookfield Place. David is a Canadian artist who has been making works of electronic, video and installation art since 1982.

The Shot: I had my 85mm f/1.8 portraiture prime lens with me as I was with the family and going to take some birthday photos of my sister-in-law (previous post). Not being a wide-angle or zoom lens, I had to let my feet do the walking. I had to shoot this at f/11 to get a sufficient DOF. Also, I didn't have a tripod with me and it was in the early evening with an overcast sky that emanated little light through the glass ceiling; therefore, I had to crank-up the ISO to an equivalent ISO 6400 in order to obtain a sufficient shutter speed (1/100 sec) required to prevent motion blur.

Large On Black

Postcard is entitled "Sunset over the Waters" "Color by Harrison." Two men are on a dock fishing, with a gorgeous sunset in the background. - Souvenir of White Rock, B.C. (on back)

Has a machine cancel from New Westminster, B.C. with a date - 1 August 1955 on the back.

SUNSET OVER THE WATERS / Color by Harrison

Souvenir of White Rock, B.C. / P2923

Pub. by Walker & Ward Ltd., Vancouver, B.C.

"Plastichrome" (R) by Colourpicture, Boston 15, Mass., U.S.A.

(this was the USA version of this postcard from 1955)

- the 1954 version of this postcard - would have this printed on the back:

"Pub. by Walker & Ward Scenic Cards, Ltd., Vancouver, B.C."; vertical at centre "Plastichrome (R) by Colourpicture of Canada" with "Color by J.C. Walker" at bottom; centred above right side "Post Card".

Walker was the manager for Russell Studio in 1946, photographer of Totem, the annual yearbook at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and was the photographer and proprietor of Walker Scenic Cards LTD. Walker briefly worked with John A. Ward for a year in 1954, where they created the Walker & Ward Scenic Cards LTD., but the partnership ended quickly and Walker returned to his old company and Ward formed John A. Ward Scenic Cards by himself.

Joseph Carl Walker was a commercial photographer who was active in Vancouver from 1945 until 1971. Walker was originally named Joseph Eusebius Walberer, married to Constance Norene Walberer, until both of them legally adopted the Walker last name in November of 1948. There were no records of births or deaths of any Walberers in British Columbia, so it is assumed that J.C. Walker was not born in the area.

Mural entitled "Euthenia" by Insane 51 aka @insane51 assisted by Javarri Lewis aka @javarrilewis for BLINK Cincinnati 2022, seen at 1539 Race Street in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Euthenia was the ancient Greek goddess or spirit of prosperity and abundance. She and her three sisters--Eucleia (Good Repute), Philophrosyne (Welcome) and Eupheme (Acclaim)--were the goddesses known collectively as the younger Charites (Graces). -- www.theoi.com/

Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

Edit by Teee.

When I bleached my hair I had visions of Marilyn Monroe-esque curls but it went rather more in the Bob Marley direction, as exhibited here. I've been toying with the idea of red but I'd miss the white cloud about my head.

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The reason I entitled this one "Oblivious" is that the man reading the paper is oblivious to the other three. Also three of the men seem oblivious to the man second from left, who doesn't seem well at all.

Candid captured in Stafford, UK.

You can see the rest of this series on My

Blog in the post A Few Hours in Stafford

Mural entitled "The Rapture" by MRKAS aka @kasartofficial, seen at 123 NW 25th Street in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.

Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

Edit by Teee

Mural entitled "Red, White, Black and Blue" by Ruben Ubiera aka @urbanruben and The Bushwick Collective seen in the Wynwood area of Miami, Florida.

Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

Edit by Teee.

Description:This is a photograph of six young ladies wearing nightgowns. The image is entitled "Inferno".

Date:1911

This image is taken from a larger photographic record held at Northumberland Archives. The set consists of traditional portrait photography from the early 20th century taken by photographer John Worsnop.

Our Catalogue Reference: NRO 01449-12

This image is from the collections of Northumberland Archives. Feel free to share it within the spirit of the Commons.

Please follow the link to view this photograph and many more on our online catalogue.

Mural entitled "Impetus" by Pipsqueak was Here aka @pipsqueakwashere, for Blink Cincinnati Mural Festival, seen at 1810 Campbell Street in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

Edit by Teee

愛恨分明不是一件健康的事,如何維持感情上的一份漠然,成為在這地球上活動的最新品德.

Entitled: Peking to Paris Auto Race Peking, China [1907] attribution unknown [RESTORED] I removed spots and minor defects, cleaned the sky, adjusted contrast, and added a sepia tone.

In one of China's oddest events, the European penchant for racing about the world once produced a contest that included the Qing Chinese capital as its starting point.

The Peking to Paris Race of 1907 was a spectacle for both Chinese and European observers alike, and involved a distance of over 8000 miles. The prize was just one single bottle of Mumm's Champagne, not much in monetary terms, but obviously the winner will have had tremendous crowing rights. The idea initially sprang from a public challenge (behind 1st spoiler) issued by French newspaper Le Matin (1883-1944), with an initial response of 40 entries. However, it was thereafter officially canceled as only 5 teams were able to ship cars and appeared at the schedule start point in Peking. Nonetheless, the small group of viable contestants decided to run the race anyway, and the rest is storied history. Since then, there have been various reenactments of this special race, but none has yet retraced the exact route of the original.

The original challenge:

"...We ask this question of car manufacturese in France and abroad: Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Paris to Peking by automobile? Whoever he is, this tough and daring man, whose gallant car will have a dozen nations watching its progress, he will certainly deserve to have his name spoken as a byword in the four quarters of the earth..."

Source: www.unmuseum.org/autorace.htm

The race was hobbled by the total lack of infrastructure and poor almost nonexistent roads. All the vehicles had to be pulled over muddy obstacles and some were unable to even climb the steep hills, requiring Chinese laborers to be involved at almost every step. One team got lost in the Gobi Desert and nearly died. The race was ultimately won by Prince Borghese of Italy in 62 days. But even his team suffered what seemed to be insurmountable difficulties, as detailed in the following account:

"...The policeman had jumped down. He had not had our experience on the subject of old bridges, and was using his judgment with virgin common sense. He thought it necessary to observe cautiously, to get down into the torrent and look at the planks. He was saying to us : " Wait, wait," and was preparing to reconnoitre. . .

Prince Borghese gave the order to Ettore.

" Go on, slowly."

The car advanced on the planks, which trembled, cracked a little, swayed as so many others had done under the weight of our machine. We were not greatly alarmed. Yet during such crossings one always has an indefinable sense of suspense and expectation; one follows the progress of the machine intently, one concentrates upon it the whole force of one's thought, almost as though one could endue matter in its arduous task with the energies of mind, as if one could help, uphold, push, direct it by the powerful tension of one's own will. I do not remember that we ever exchanged a word at such times.

The front part of the car had already traversed more than half the bridge. It was drawing near to the inviting grassy bank on the other side. Every danger seemed over. . . . Suddenly we heard a frightful crash. The planks had given way under the weight of the hind part of our machine. They were sinking in, they were drawing us under, the whole bridge was opening out and crumbling. This collapse seemed to us, who were in the midst of it at that moment, almost like a cataclysm. The engine was silent. The car, at the same moment in which it stopped, fell in backwards with a sudden heavy movement, and knocked its body on the broken edges of the planks. Then, continuing its rotation with a continuity which made it impossible for us to grasp the situation, it raised its front wheels up in the air and plunged with its back towards the abyss, and, describing a huge see-sawing movement, took up a vertical position. In this manner it plunged deep into the torrent—to the very bottom of it—carrying all three of us down amid a terrible debris of broken, wrenched, smashed planks and beams. When it had reached such a depth that the main tank was in the water, it still did not stop, but continued its revolution upon itself and turned over. It would have fallen upon the seat, had it not been held up by a beam jutting out above it; and there it remained almost overturned, with its wheels up, and the top of the seat towards the ground, showing only its lamps and its radiator among the debris and the remains of smashed woodwork..."

For anyone that wants to read the rest of the fascinating narrative and see other photographs about this extraordinary transcontinental event, you can freely download (from Google Books) a copy of: Pekin to Paris: an account of Prince Borghese's journey across two continents in a motor-car, 1908 written by Luigi Barzini (originally in Italian, translated into English), New York, Mitchel, Kennerley.

Entitled: China's Common Carrier, Her Substitute For Railways, A Camel Square In Peking, China [1901] Underwood & Co [RESTORED] I removed spots and scratches, removed the curved upper border, adjusted contrast, tone, added a sepia and false Duotone.

The image above was found in the US Library of Congress under Reproduction Number LC-USZ62-137018. It is from the right side of a Stereoview pair.

This image was likely taken by James Ricalton (there exists another photograph of him sitting atop a camel in this same location at around the same time frame), who contributed many unattributed works of Asia, the subcontinent, mideast, and Africa, to the trove of photographs in various stereoview company holdings.

This image was taken in 1901 in Peking (the former name of what is now Beijing) and it was a time of much tumult across northern China (the Boxer Rebellion had just been put down). One clearly sees a uniformed Russian soldier (to the mid right) having some sort of dialogue with a local Chinese. Was he purchasing something from one of the legion of ubiquitous Peking street vendors, was he asking or demanding to see something, or was he confiscating a local's property? That much is lost to history. However his presence alone, under arms in a country and amongst people not his own, bespeaks volumes of the political turmoil that was roiling China.

The composition entitled 'Shoes on the Danube Bank' gives remembrance to the people killed into the Danube during the time of the Arrow Cross terror. The sculptor created sixty pairs of period-appropriate shoes of iron. The shoes are attached to the stone embankment, and behind them lies a 40 meter long, 70 cm high stone bench. At three points are cast iron signs, with the following text in Hungarian, English, and Hebrew: "To the memory of the victims killed into the Danube by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944–45.

Erected on 16 April 2005

"Cipők a Duna-parton budapesti holokauszt-emlékmű” Gyula Pauer

From my set entitled “Bleeding Heart”

www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607186479750/

In my collection entitled “The Garden”

www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760718...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicentra

Dicentra spectabilis also known as Venus's car, bleeding heart, Dutchman's trousers, or lyre flower, is a perennial herbaceous plant native to eastern Asia from Siberia south to Japan. This species of bleeding heart can grow to 24"-36" tall and has ternately compound leaves (leaflets that come in threes). The flowers are pendulous, shaped much like hearts, produced in a raceme bearing 3-15 individual flowers, each one 1-2" long, with pink outer petals and white inner petals. The flowering season is from early spring to mid summer. The common name of this plant, bleeding heart, comes from the heart-shaped flowers which have a longer inner petal that extends below the 'heart'.

It is a popular ornamental plant for flower gardens in temperate climates, and is also used in floristry as a cut flower. It can be a full sun plant if in a cool area but in a warm climate, prefers semi-shaded areas. It needs to be kept moist and prefers neutral to alkaline soil with good drainage although these plants can tolerate heavy clay soil as well.

It is prone to aphids, slugs and snails, which cause damage to its leaves. Propagation is by sowing the seeds when fresh. It can also be divided, preferably in the late fall or early spring. However, contact with the plant can cause skin irritation because the entire plant is toxic, so should be handled with gloves and long sleeves.

Several cultivars have been selected, including 'Alba', with pure white flowers, and 'Goldheart', a relatively new cultivar developed at Hadspen Garden in England and introduced in 1997 with fuchsia-coloured flowers that drop from the stem in a row, and yellow foliage that turns lime green by mid summer.

This photograph featured in an online magazine article in MAGELLAN TIMES entitled: '' IF YOU FIND YOURSELF FACE TO FACE WITH A BEAR, A NAVY SEAL REVEALED WHAT YOU SHOULD DO ''.

Magellan Times is one of several brands under the ownership of New York based Battery Media Group founded by CEO Robert Levy in March 2019, a digital media publisher providing unique and informative content to readers across a number of alternative platforms.

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©All photographs on this site are copyright: DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2020 & 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) ©

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This photograph was taken an altitude of Four hundred and eighty six metres, at 16:19pm on Wednesday May 11th 2016 past Liard River Hot springs at Mile 475 on the Alaska Highway 97, heading towards Smith River Fort Halkett Protected area in British Columbia, Canada.

This is a large adult American Black Bear (Ursus Americanus), a medium sized bear native to North America, and found in abundance in the Yukon territory and Alaska. Black bears have a small tail, up to nine inches long foot length and males can wigh up to 250kgs. On my trip I encountered several bears and, although it is strongly reccommended that you do not leave your vehicle to photograph these beautiful wild animals, needless to say, with care and caution I did just that to capture my photographs.

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Nikon D800 500mm 1/50s f/13.0 iso100 RAW (14Bit) Hand held with Nikon VR Vibration reduction enabled. Nikon back focus button enabled. AF-C Continuous point focus with 3-D tracking. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance. Nikon AF Fine tune on (+10).

Nikkor AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6G ED VR. Power up 95mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL15 batteries. Nikon DK-17M 1.2x Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC card. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW Photo/ 15.4" Notebook Backpack camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 59d 32m 24.30s

LONGITUDE: W 126d 24m 0.44s

ALTITUDE: 486.0m

RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 15.25MB

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PROCESSING POWER:

Nikon D800 Firmware versions A 1.10 B 1.10 L 2.009 (Lens distortion control version 2)

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX2 Version 2.10.3 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.

Entitled Group Of Chinese Women With Fans, Canton China [c1880] Afong Lai [RESTORED] I evened out the background, darkened the entire print, added contrast and a sepia.

Afong Lai was one of the rare breed of Chinese photographer whom was recognized by his European contemporaries as a professional equal. He was well thought of by the legendary John Thomson, who rated Afong's work of a caliber that would be successful even if offered to the English in London. As a Chinese working in what was then considered to be a strictly European field, Afong established and fostered contacts with many foreigners, allowing his work to be brought home by Europeans and thus to be seen abroad. For this reason, historic examples of his work survives to this day. He was active in and around the Guangdong area (then called Kwangtung), particularly in Hong Kong, where he ran one of the colony's longest working photographic studios, reportedly from 1859 through 1900.

Professionally, Afong Lai specialized in portraiture and landscapes, and was well known for his stitched panoramic views. Unfortunately, other than his technical and artistic achievements, little of his personal life was ever recorded. In fact, there is even question over his proper name; that is, was his surname Fong or Afong, or Ah Fong? I suspect that this arose from the lack of western linguistic appreciation for the Cantonese dialect. Cantonese speaking Chinese would immediately recognize the "Ah" preceding Fong as just a colloquialism (denoting intimacy or familiarity). This is similar to the "Lil" (a truncation of Little, in this case, used as a term of endearment or affection) that may precede a typical American name like Joe. However, most non Chinese observers of Fong's times did not intuitively understand this distinction, and mistakenly assumed his proper name to be Mister Ahfong. An English version of this mistake would be referring to someone as Mister Liljoe. Despite this mistake of not having his real name remembered, it nonetheless burnished Fong's undeniable place in history as one of the great photographers of late Qing China.

On Afong's stationary, it is clear that the printed name in English is AFONG. However, what is often lost to the English reader is the Chinese text, which reads Fong Wah, likely an amalgam of the proprietor's own name into the title of his business enterprise. In this case, that would mean that the owner's surname is simply Fong. The letter "A" (for "ah") placed in front of the surname Fong (a typical Cantonese surname), likely reflected the Chinese colloquial term of affection or endearment, but more importantly, also the title that Europeans normally knew Mr Fong as. Hence, Mr Fong probably kept that in his official English title as it was how he was best known to his foreign customers. Had Mr Fong been European say, with a name like Thomson, local Chinese may have then referred to him as Ah Thomson. It would have then been obvious that the colloquial "ah" was not a part of Thomson's name.

Mural entitled "The Secret Garden" by Natalia Rak aka @nataliarakart seen at 1719 Race Street in the Over The Rhine area of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

Edit by Teee.

Entitled ‘The Enemy’ and based upon the charcoal sketch originally exhibited at The Future Tense group launch show in 2010, the work was developed in collaboration with world-renowned print studio, Thumbprint Editions. Thumbprint is best known for creating etchings and woodcuts with such artists as Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor and Tracey Emin, including her most recent release ‘The Kiss’.

Measuring a generous 100 x 70 cm and limited to a signed edition of 50 + 3 artist proofs, the print uses a traditional Polymer Gravure etching process to fully capture the unique tonal variation typically found in charcoal works on paper. This complex, highly technical process produces prints of unrivalled quality, whilst also creating an attractive embossed frame within the paper due to the extreme pressures on the plate during the printing process.

The Enemy will be available from www.thefuturetense.net from midday GMT on Thursday June 16th.

Mural entitled "Common Threads" by Meg Saligman aka @megsaligmanstudio for Mural Arts Philadelphia, seen at Broad and Spring Garden in the Center City area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

Edit by Teee.

Mr. Screen was removed in February 2016.

The caricature sculpture of a cinema usher, entitled Mr. Screen, which stands outside the Screen Cinema was created in 1988 by sculptor, Vincent Browne. I like it but most of my friends do not like it.

The cinema has been operating since 1984, showing world cinema, and independent and Irish films. The Screen Cinema, originally named The New Metropole, opened on 16 March 1972 on the corner of Hawkins Street and Townsend Street on the site of the previous cinema, The Regal, which had been demolished since 1962 to make way for offices. The New Metropole name derived from the more famous Metropole Cinema on O'Connell Street (Penney's department store now occupies the building), and after the latter closed in 1973, the New Metropole became the Metropole.

Originally a single screen cinema, the auditorium was subdivided in 1982 to create two additional auditoria. The new screens were suspended from the ceiling, meaning the main screen was not reduced.

In 1984, it was renamed the Screen Cinema, which became the sister cinema to the more well known Savoy Cinema on O'Connell Street. After this, the Screen showed more unusual, independent, and foreign language films rather than mainstream Hollywood films, which attracted a cult audience to the cinema.

The Screen received a face-lift between 2004–2005 when the interior was upgraded and the cinema lost its original marquee and neon sign in favour of an electronic board displaying the programme.

It was reported in February 2012 that the George's Quay Local Area Plan, prepared by Dublin City Council to regenerate Dublin's southeast inner city, indicated that the Screen Cinema could be demolished and later re-housed in replacement property development in the Hawkins Street area. In the same month, another report suggested that the cinema was in danger of closing altogether – in the previous decade, audience numbers fell from 200,000 to 60,000 per annum.

Last November [2015] it was reported that staff had been put on protective notice.

Originally entitled 'Oddity no. somethingorother' its really just a ';candid' shot taken while I was doing some work at my meeting table and led to this group of piccies. Boring but acceptable I suppose.

This sculpture entitled 'Seated' is on show outside the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill from 19th April - 29th October 2023.

It is by Tschabalala Self and she says "Taking a seat is a universal act of leisure and calm. I wanted to create a monumental sculpture for the public that spoke to this simple joy. The woman is strong, beautiful and self-possesses. She represents all individuals, but women in particular, who understand the power and importance of simple gestures that assert their right to take up space." (2022).

Tschabalala Self was born in 1990 and is an American artist

Tschabalala Self's first public sculpture stands three metres high and is made from patinated bronze. This monumental work was an everyday object - a seat - as an entry point for questions of permission and performance within public space. Its subject - poised, immaculately dressed, glancing to her left - emboldens onlooks to sit with confidence and comfort.

Through an expansive practice bringing together painting, printmaking, sculpture and collage, Self's depictions, predominantly of women, traverse different artistic traditions. Bland and femme bodies are particularly prevalent in her work, heating different subjects, or characters, with individual and powerful identities, many of which are reimagined from chance encounters. Through mediations on race and gender, Self's work is concerned with what it means to flourish as a human and how the self is performed and perceived within contemporary life.

Entitled: Fiisher Families With Junks In Aberdeen Harbor, Hong Kong Island [c1946] H Morrison [RESTORED] Minor spot remeval, contrast and tonal adjustments in an almost technically perfect image. Sepia added and then a false duotone.

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 olvwork351373

And according to Wiki (with my minor editing):

"Since the Ming Dynasty, 'Hong Kong' was the original name for what is known today as Aberdeen village, then a small fishing village on the south shore of Hong Kong Island.

Early in the 19th century, when the British landed near Aberdeen Village, they mistakenly assumed the name of the fishing village to be the name for the whole island. When the English eventually realized their error, the name 'Hong Kong' had stuck and was already commonly accepted to mean the island in its entirety. Thus in 1845, the little fishing village was renamed by the British as "Aberdeen" in honor of the British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen.

Aberdeen remains famous today as home to the Jumbo Floating Seafood Restaurant. The Tanka people are generally associated with the fishing industry, and there are also several dozen expatriates living on boats in the harbour. Chinese locals still call Aberdeen by its original name, with a 'Little" appended to denote that they mean the village and not the entire island. Thus, Heung Kong Tsai (also Hong Kong Tsai, 香港仔), literally means 'Little Hong Kong'. Additionally, the original Wade-Giles pronunciation 'HONG KONG' is a phonetic misadventure. In Cantonese, it is more accurately pronounced as HERNG GORNG."

Mural entitled "Day N’ Night" by Ally Grimm aka @a.l._grime, seen at 1600 South Western in Los Angeles, California.

Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

Edit by Tee

Entitled: Toy Vendor, Chinatown, San Francisco [c1900s] A Genthe [RESTORED] The Picture had spots removed, edge uneveness repaired, tonality smoothed, and then sepia toned for warmth. The original resides at the Library of Congress and can be found under reproduction number LC-USZ62-68252. The LOC also bought the bulk of Genthe's collection in 1943 (immediately after his death the previous year) and his work can be seen here:

www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/092.html

Arnold Genthe is probably history's best remembered photographer of San Francisco's Chinatown. He accumulated an extensive collection of images over time that reveals his, ...what? Love, fascination, obsession perhaps? ...with his subject matter. He eventually became an otherwise great photographer to the well off, the well heeled, and the well connected. Genthe certainly didn't need to traipse into the rough and tumble 'foreign' quarter of Chinatown to seek his fortune. But he did so repeatedly. It was only through his dedication that we are able to take a look back at one of America's largest concentrations of Diaspora Chinese from the early 1900's. Genthe was also a photographer to stars, celebrities, and politicians. Just a simple search in the US Library of Congress' web site got 17,000 items returned with Genthe's name on it. Genthe wasn't without controversy either. There is substantial evidence that he often manipulated his images; retouched out certain aspects and added in other things to suit his tastes, leading many photography historians to openly question Genthe's integrity. Despite his failings however, in terms of going into history as one of the masters of photography as a craft of social record, this guy was certainly one of the heaviest of hitters.

Despite being thousands of miles away from their homeland, Chinese like other immigrants before them, congregated into neighborhoods to allow for socialization and mutual protection. Some had managed to start families. Pictured here are two Chinese children, which nowadays wouldn't seem too rare. However, in the early 1900's a Chinese man finding a wife was almost impossible. It was illegal for him to marry a white woman, and a Chinese woman was even harder to be found. This was a result of the racist Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (and subsequent revisions). It was finally repealed with the Magnuson Act of 1943 (but which only allowed a maximum of 105 Chinese per year to enter the US). The California law not allowing Chinese to marry whites wasn't lifted until 1948. Large number immigration of Chinese into the US did not resume until the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965. Thus, a picture of two Chinese children walking around the streets of 1900's San Francisco Chinatown (as seen here), was genuinely a precious sight to behold.

***Sidebar*** Whatever one may remember of the man personally, aside; politically, Asians in the US owe Ted Kennedy a lot for this one. He fought tooth and nail to get a bill passed when no one else was willing to lead on what was a volatile immigration issue. Just about all Asians born or allowed into the United States after 1965 are where they are today because of the Immigration and Naturalization act of 1965. Many Chinese (especially kids) fail to appreciate that, but by that stroke of one historic legislative pen, their entire families (including themselves) may still be living in China.

Mural entitled "In the Heart of Fire" by Mandy Casket aka @miss.birdy for Titan Walls 2024, seen at 400 North Armour Street in Chicago, Illinois.

Paris produce market, Aug 1976 - 18

Note: this photograph was published in an Oct 7, 2008 blog posting entitled " The 2008 economic crisis explained." It was also published in an undated blog called Fruitsticker , which I found on Aug 14, 2009. And it was published in a Jul 16, 2010 Financial News blog titled " Indian Currency Exchange Market – Dollar and Yen Rising Up As Indian Rupee and Euro Fall Flat." And it was published in an Oct 28, 2010 blog titled "Making your number."

Moving into 2011, the photo was published as an illustration in an undated (late Apr 2011) "Fruitsticker #6969" blog titled "#3016: Pears, Concorde." I know, these are tomatoes, not pears -- but I'm just reporting what got published.

The photo was also published in an Aug 19, 2011 blog titled "Cool Article Marketing Images."

Moving into 2012, the photo was published in a Jan 30, 2012 blog titled "Indian CCTV Market Analysis."

***************************************

In August 1976, Toni and I took a fantastic vacation trip to Europe -- starting with a flight on the Concorde to Paris (which was then very new, and now no longer operates at all!), then on to Venice, and then a drive through Florence, across the Mediterranean coastline of Monaco, and then up through France to Paris. When we reached Paris, we stayed at the obscenely expensive Ritz Hotel for a couple days before flying home ...

I remembered having seen the French fresh produce market on an earlier (1971) trip to France, and decided that I would go take some pictures early in the morning ... of which this is roughly one of a dozen. Tomatoes, oranges, potatoes, mushrooms, eggs, milk, sardines, grapes, carrots, cantaloupes, apples, pears, shrimp, clams, peaches, beans, radishes, scallons and lettuce were all on display -- piled high, in their own separate bins.

No one picture really captures the overall impact of this cornucopia of colors, smells, and sounds; it's only when you put a dozen of the pictures side by side that you begin to get a sense of it all. But each bin was artfully arranged; the bunch of dill (or whatever it is) carefully laid at a diagonal angle on the tomatoes in this picture is a good example of the French touch.

By the way, the sign appears to say that a kilo (2.2 lbs) of these tomatoes could be purchased for 2.90 francs. Since all of Europe has now switched to the Euro, I don't know what this would be in today's currency. But at the time, I recall that the exchange rate was about 6 francs to the dollar; so this sign would basically indicate that tomatoes were selling for about $0.25 per pound...

This photo is entitled a line up of the partial delivery of Leyland buses (100 in the order) in storage ready for the conversion of the Corstorphine tram routes - the 12, 25 & 26. LFS 401 to 420 are here - they formed part of an order that was to serve the city for over 20 years, although they were famously described as 'monsterous masses of shivering tin' at the time. Someone has assiduously set the blinds so that the service number matches the fleet numbers! It appears in the Corporation Transport Department's annual report for 1953/54.

Mural entitled "Ablaze" by Cecilia Lueza in the Warehouse Arts District of St Petersburg, Florida.

Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

Edit by Teee.

This is one of a series of images entitled ‘Lord Mayor’s Sunday 1975.’

They have recently been digitized from the original negatives held in the archives of the Greater Manchester Police Museum.

The event saw the Lord Mayor march through the city.

A Greater Manchester Police contingent also marched and seems to have been divided into four groups.

The Force’s Mounted Branch led the way, followed by the Force Band. Male and female marching units in turn follow them, each commanded by an inspector.

The Lord Mayor and other civic dignitaries appear to be in the middle of the marching groups.

This image seems to have been taken prior to, or at the very start of, the march.

The location is just outside Manchester Cathedral on Deansgate.

The building in the background is the famous Exchange Station of the London and North Western Railway.

From the archives of the Greater Manchester Police Museum.

To find out more about Greater Manchester Police please visit www.gmp.police.uk

You should call 101, the national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.

Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.

You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.

Entitled: Some of China's trouble-makers - "Boxer" prisoners captured and brought in by 6th U.S. Cavalry, Tientsin, China [1901] Underwood & Co. [RESTORED] The picture was retouched to eliminate spotting and obvious defects; tonal range was expanded to reveal better details in the shadows; cropped as single image from right side of double imaged stereoscope print, and mildly sepia toned.

The title is not accurate, as it is now believed that most of the supposed Boxer prisoners caught by Foreign troops were just innocent bystanders. Nonetheless, the US Library of Congress, where this historic image resides (under Reproduction Number LC-USZ62-68811), maintains the original title as it was historically written or described by the person(s) that originally made or produced the photograph.

Original was taken by a photographer employed by the Underwood & Underwood Company. Underwood was one of several companies at the time, whose business purpose was to send photographers to all parts of the world to photographically record interesting events in the hopes of selling the pictures to domestic customers. The double imaged pictures were recorded with a special stereo camera; that is, a camera fitted with two lenses side by side. This optical arrangement mimicked the natural and mildly divergent views of each eye that is necessary for human depth perception. When the resultant processed image was placed at a correct distance from both eyes (using a standardized picture holder - viewer), it reproduced a false sense of depth perception. This effectively made the image seem three dimensional and slightly more authentic, giving the viewer a feeling that they were witnessing the actual real life event. Thousands of these stereoscopic photos were sold in their day, and many may still be found tucked away in the old forgotten boxes of a grandparent's basement or attic.

Additionally, black and white photography at that time was limited in terms of how the film perceived the colors of the spectrum. Most films were termed orthochromatic, that is, the film was sensitive to the Blue and Greens but was a poor recorder of the Red end of the spectrum. Thus, the skin tone of darker Asians, especially those worked in the sun and were well tanned, tended to be rendered much darker. This gave many Chinese in early black and white photographs darker skin tones, making them appear more African than Asian. In later years, this phenomenon faded with the introduction of Panchromatic films; that is, film with emulsions that were equally sensitized to all the colors of the spectrum.

This picture is a cue to a lot of history. Taken about one year after the suppression of the "Boxers" (as the Chinese participants were known to the foreigners) these men were reportedly captured from the surrounding areas outside of Tientsin, China. The foreign powers had sought to purge and punish the responsible participants that had brought about the rebellion the year before (in 1900). Knowing little and caring even less about the locals, the foreign troops stated mission was to raid supposed Boxer stronghold villages to capture criminal Boxer participants that were still at large and to bring them to justice. However, what they effectively engaged in was pillaging, rape, and razing operations; essentially reprisals for the Chinese wounding of the Europeans. Prisoners that were not killed outright were brought back into the city for show trials and public executions. These expeditions snared mostly farmers, field hands, and otherwise uninvolved and innocent local Chinese. Under agreement with a Qing government that was more worried with preserving its monarchy than to concern itself with jurisprudence, thousands of Chinese were thus rounded up and executed by either western military or an acquiescing Chinese imperial authority. This heinous treatment of the Chinese populace by foreigners drove home the point that the Qing were no longer able to control China, and within this perceived power vacuum, the stage for China's transformation into a republic was ultimately set.

Mural entitled "Soaring Eagle" by Jazz aka @jazzguetta on the wall of the Eagleton Elementary School at 880 Hooker Street in Denver, Colorado.

Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

Edit by Teee.

From my set entitled “Mandevilla”

www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607213952426/

In my collection entitled “The Garden”

www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760718...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandevilla

Mandevilla, sometimes also called Dipladenia,[1] is a genus of plants. It consists of about 100 species, mostly tropical and subtropical flowering vines belonging to the family Apocynaceae, the Periwinkle family.

Mandevilla is native to Central and South America and many Mandevillas come originally from the Organ Mountains forests near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The genus was named after Henry Mandeville (1773-1861), a British diplomat and gardener.[1]

Mandevillas develop spectacular flowers in warm climates. The flowers come in a variety of colours, including white, pink, yellow, and red. As climbers, Mandevillas can be trained against a wall or trellis to provide a leafy green and often flowering picture of beauty. They have a tendency to attract insects like mealybugs and scales.

While Mandevilla scabra is sometimes as an additive to the psychedelic drink Ayahuasca, there is no evidence that it is psychoactive in its own right.[2] It is, however, considered to be toxic.[3]