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March 2019's theme was WATER!
It’s the main source of all life. The lifeblood element that makes up 60% of our bodies.
It’s the liquid that we don’t drink enough of, yet waste effortlessly.
It’s home to millions of species, mysteries, and undiscovered knowledge.
We know more about the stars in the sky than the depths of our oceans.
We can use it to save lives. If used foolishly, it can take lives.
We think there is an abundance, yet only one percent can be touched. If we don’t protect our waters, then what will happen to life?
Thanks to Nicework and Vega School for helping us make it possible!
Our Perth chapter chose this month’s exploration of Water and Sofia Varano illustrated the theme.
More about our speaker, Banele Khoza -
Banele Khoza was in born in 1994 in Hlatikulu (a small rural town) in eSwatini. During high school he moved to South Africa and is now based in Tshwane. He studied at the London International School of Fashion for a year, studying Fashion Design. Dismayed by the limited oppertunities to draw he transferred to study Fine Arts at Tshwane University of Technology. On completion of his degree he taught Drawing and Art Theory at the same institution. In 2018 he decided to stop teaching to work as a full time artist.
Banele Khoza is a man to watch, with a recent solo show at Zeitz MOCAA, the 2017 Gerard Sekoto Foundation award under his belt and a fleet of taxi’s covered in his work (as the result of him winning the SA Taxi Foundation Art Award) his work is going places. Khoza’s first suite of lithographs published by The Artists’ Press, demonstrate his skill and dexterity. Khoza’s ability to embrace the unknown and to immerse himself in the technical possibilities of what lithography has to offer combined with the skills of Master Printer Mark Attwood have resulted in prints that reveal the artist’s gifts.
Khoza worked on stone and grained film using a combination of pencil, litho crayon and ink and tusche washes. The delicate traces of the dried ink, Khoza’s choice of colours and drawing abilities combine to delight the eye. Khoza has been a keen draftsman since the age of five, drawing images of the toys that he wanted but which his conservative parents refused to get for him. This sense of longing and vulnerability can be seen in Khoza’s lithographs.
Obsessively neat and detailed text weaves through some of the prints, but one cannot read all of the words. It is if the artist entices one into his private world and then stops one from fully accessing it, questioning the viewer’s motives for the intrusion. Khoza’s journals are an integral part of his practice and are reflected in his image making “I have never seen so many sharp pencils” is some of the text included in one of his lithographs. Khoza’s interest in the private and the public merges with his interest in social media, technology, connection/disconnection, isolation and a longing to be whole and completely present with someone as well as with oneself.
In the six two-colour prints faces and bodies are alluded to, the delicacy of the washes contrasting with the boldness of the forms. And just as things seem to be getting really serious the text and titles pull one back with a sense of delight and quirkiness
“Dear Olympia” (a reclining nude with two cats) and “Don’t forget the tomatoes” reminding one of everyday routines.
Find him here - www.bkhz.co.za/
#creativemornings #jhb_cm #cmwater
A car was parked in front of my house today that was bought in the town of Wissen (Knowledge) in Germany. Are the people from there all very knowledgeable?
Open Knowledge Festival 2014. 15th to 17th of July at Kulturbrauerei in Berlin.
Attribution: Gregor Fischer, www.gfischer-photography.com/ 16.07.2014
"All truth and knowledge is important, but amidst the constant distractions of our daily lives, we must especially pay attention to increasing our gospel knowledge so we can understand how to apply gospel principles to our lives. As our gospel knowledge increases, we will begin to feel confident in our testimonies and be able to state: I know it.'" (Anne M. Dibbs). Model Kelsey Garry. (Photo by Karen Petitt)
My knowledge of the county where I spent the first 25 years of my life, is largely restricted what you could see from the main roads through it, or where Shreeves Coaches would do tours too. Therefore I know the A12 and 143 very well, but away from those, not so good.
I grew up in a household that did not own a car, I am the only one to have passed a driving test, so any exploration would have to be where there was a railway station nearby, or where a coach might call.
Before my current interest in churches, I would see signs pointing down leafy lanes towards the parish church, and I would not be tempted. I knew there was such a sign from the small stretch of dual carriageway near to Saxmundham.
Having been to Snape, I turned onto the A12 intending to go north, but instead turned west following the signs to Benhall.
Down a long, straight lane, lined with mature trees and carpeted with golden leaves that had just fallen: i reach the end and can see no church, but a hand painted sign points the way right, and a hundred yards away, hidden behind trees sits St Mary.
I like a church with a gallery; even better if is open, or accessible. All round a fine and tidy, well kept church, and despite only a minute drive from the main road, is a million miles away.
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One of the great things about being a harmless Suffolk eccentric is that you get to meet other harmless Suffolk eccentrics. I hadn't known Aidan Semmens very long, and Benhall was part of one of our first jaunts together. This site was on its first, fresh legs, and he was writing about churches for what in those days was still called, quaintly, Eastern Counties Newspapers. We would bounce ideas off each other to the advantage of both our work, and may one day even get round to writing that book we kept talking about. However, Benhall stalled us in our creative endeavours, because on that occasion we couldn't get into the church.
When I first wrote on this site about finding this church locked, in what was otherwise an area of open churches, I had a wry e-mail from the Archdeacon of Sudbury, telling me that, in fact, Benhall church was open daily from 9 am - 5 pm. However the door is heavy and some people find it difficult to open. The hand has to be turned to the right and the door pushed forward. Neither Aidan or I had ever laid claims to being macho, and so we enrolled on an intensive fitness programme at the local gym, limbering up to open stiff doors. But in fact it would be more than eight years before I came back to Benhall.
Benhall is one of those parishes bisected by the A12. Unhappily, this cuts the church off from its village centre, but both village and church are in rather lovely settings, St Mary being reached down a long, straight high-hedged lane from the busy road. I freewheeled along, enjoying the birdsong and the emerging sunshine as July stuttered into life. Soon, the noise of the traffic fell away behind me, but as I approached the church a lunatic dog erupted in the garden across the road. I dare say that I was the first stranger it had seen all day, but its slavering barking suggested that it thought I was definitely up to no good.
At first sight, St Mary is an entirely Victorian confection; the double-breasted east end consists of the original, repointed chancel, and a north transept and chancel aisle, both with 19th century windows. The style is similar to Somerton, across the county. The northern extensions were to contain an organ, vestry and schoolroom. On the eastern face of the original chancel, an internal memorial has been placed, rather ill-advisedly; the Victorians sometimes seem rather embarrassed by these, although they normally just banished them to the west end of the nave. Mortlock thought that the tower showed signs of being early, with late Saxon work at three of the corners; but, as he says, the 19th Century touch is so overwhelming elsewhere, there is no reason to think it original. It certainly doesn't look older than about 150 years. As I wandered around the church taking photographs, the dog kept up its hellish litany, verging on the apoplectic whenever I came back into view. I wondered if it did this for church services as well - if so, Benhall weddings must be fun. I found that by jumping up and down and waving my arms I could raise its anger to absolute fever pitch. However, reasoning that if it broke through the fence and rushed across the road, the smile would be on the other side of my face - if, indeed, I still had a face at all - I decided to curtail my amusement and have another go at that south door.
There is a substantial south porch, with the first inkling that this church is something rather interesting after all; a large, Norman doorway. It shows signs of being recut, but is in its original place, and is perhaps the clearest inclination of the date of the superstructure of the building. The door opened easily. The interior is clean, light and well-kept, a pleasing balance between old brick floors and early 19th century furnishings. This is essentially a Georgian interior, from the days of the Rector John Mitford, brother of the more famous Mary. The pre-ecclesiological features include a gallery, a double decker pulpit looking along the ranks of box pews, and a curious birdbath font on a stubby stem. The clear glass of the windows benefits the nave, filling it with a simple, restful light.
To step past the organ in the transept, and into the chancel, is to enter a part of the building with a quite different feel. Unfortunately, the fitted carpet makes a view of the church's brasses and floor slabs impossible - there are three sets of brasses to members of the Duke family, and Sam Mortlock was most impressed by them when he came here in the early 1990s. I don't know when the carpet was fitted, but it did occur to me that if I had bothered to come back to Benhall sooner then I would have seen them as well. The striking memorial on the north wall of the chancel is to another Duke, Sir Edward, who died in the 1730s. An antiquarian, he used the opportunity to record almost 150 years worth of his forebears, which must make him very popular with his own ancestors if any of them are genealogists.
Benhall church is a simple, restful place, off the beaten track and probably little-known. But I was glad I'd come back, and as I waved the dog a cheery goodbye, he whined and put his head between his paws, perhaps reasoning that he might have to wait some considerable time before he had any more fun.
Simon Knott, September 2008
OM PARVAT
Om Parvat (also Adi Kailash, Little Kailash, Jonglingkong Peak,Baba Kailash, chhota Kailash)[3] is a mountain in the Himalayanmountain range, lying in the Darchula district of western Nepal and inPithoragarh District, Uttarakhand, India. It is considered sacred by Hindusand its snow deposition pattern resembles the sacred 'OM' (ॐ). Its appearance is distinctly similar to Mount Kailash in Tibet.[4] Near Om Parvat lie Parvati Lake and Jonglingkong Lake. Jonglingkong Lake is sacred, as Mansarovar, to the Hindus. Opposite to this peak is a mountain called Parwati Muhar. The Om Parvat is the fruit of discord between India and Nepal who do not reach agreement about the border line between the two countries. The Om Parvat is currently on the Indo-Nepalese border face "Om/ॐ" in India and the back of the mountain inNepal.
This peak was attempted for the first time by an Indo-British team including Martin Moran, T. Rankin, M. Singh, S. Ward, A. Williams and R. Ausden. The climbers promised not to ascend the final 10 metres (30 ft) out of respect for the peak's holy status. However, they were stopped around 200 m (660 ft) short of the summit by very loose snow and rock conditions.[4]
The first ascent of Adi Kailash came on October 8, 2004. The team comprised Tim Woodward, Jack Pearse, Andy Perkins (UK); Jason Hubert, Martin Welch, Diarmid Hearns, Amanda George (Scotland); and Paul Zuchowski (USA). They did not ascend the final few metres, again out of respect for the sacred nature of the summit.
Om Parvat can be viewed en route to the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra from the last camp below Lipu Lekh pass at Nabhidhang. Many trekkers to Adi Kailash often make a diversion to view Om Parvat. Om Parvat and Adi Kailash or Baba Kailash are not one and the same. Om Parvat is located near Nabhi Dhang (Nepal),The Chhota Kailash is located near Sinla pass, Near Brahma Parvat.
The best view of Om Parvat which "Om" drawn by the snow is the view from the district of Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand, India), which faces the mountain and hence to the "Om". By Kailash Mansarovar Foundation Swami Bikash Giri www.sumeruparvat.com , www.naturalitem.com
OM
Auṃ or Oṃ, Sanskrit: ॐ) is a sacred sound and a spiritual icon in Indian religions. It is also a mantra in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.
Om is part of the iconography found in ancient and medieval era manuscripts, temples, monasteries and spiritual retreats in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The symbol has a spiritual meaning in all Indian dharmas, but the meaning and connotations of Om vary between the diverse schools within and across the various traditions.
In Hinduism, Om is one of the most important spiritual symbols (pratima). It refers to Atman (soul, self within) andBrahman (ultimate reality, entirety of the universe, truth, divine, supreme spirit, cosmic principles, knowledge). The syllable is often found at the beginning and the end of chapters in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and other Hindu texts. It is a sacred spiritual incantation made before and during the recitation of spiritual texts, during puja and private prayers, in ceremonies of rites of passages (sanskara) such as weddings, and sometimes during meditative and spiritual activities such as Yoga.
Vedic literature
The syllable "Om" is described with various meanings in the Vedas and different early Upanishads.[19] The meanings include "the sacred sound, the Yes!, the Vedas, the Udgitha (song of the universe), the infinite, the all encompassing, the whole world, the truth, the ultimate reality, the finest essence, the cause of the Universe, the essence of life, theBrahman, the Atman, the vehicle of deepest knowledge, and Self-knowledge".
Vedas
The chapters in Vedas, and numerous hymns, chants and benedictions therein use the syllable Om. The Gayatri mantra from the Rig Veda, for example, begins with Om. The mantra is extracted from the 10th verse of Hymn 62 in Book III of the Rig Veda.These recitations continue to be in use, and major incantations and ceremonial functions begin and end with Om.
ॐ भूर्भुवस्व: |
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यम् |
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि |
धियो यो न: प्रचोदयात् ||
Om. Earth, atmosphere, heaven.
Let us think on that desirable splendour
of Savitr, the Inspirer. May he stimulate
us to insightful thoughts.
Om is a common symbol found in the ancient texts of Hinduism, such as in the first line of Rig veda (top), as well as a icon in temples and spiritual retreats.
The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the oldest Upanishads of Hinduism. It opens with the recommendation that "let a man meditate on Om". It calls the syllable Om as udgitha (उद्गीथ, song, chant), and asserts that the significance of the syllable is thus: the essence of all beings is earth, the essence of earth is water, the essence of water are the plants, the essence of plants is man, the essence of man is speech, the essence of speech is the Rig Veda, the essence of the Rig Veda is the Sama Veda, and the essence of Sama Veda is the udgitha (song, Om).
Rik (ऋच्, Ṛc) is speech, states the text, and Sāman (सामन्) is breath; they are pairs, and because they have love and desire for each other, speech and breath find themselves together and mate to produce song. The highest song is Om, asserts section 1.1 of Chandogya Upanishad. It is the symbol of awe, of reverence, of threefold knowledge because Adhvaryu invokes it, the Hotr recites it, and Udgatr sings it.
The second volume of the first chapter continues its discussion of syllable Om, explaining its use as a struggle between Devas (gods) and Asuras (demons). Max Muller states that this struggle between gods and demons is considered allegorical by ancient Indian scholars, as good and evil inclinations within man, respectively. The legend in section 1.2 of Chandogya Upanishad states that gods took the Udgitha (song of Om) unto themselves, thinking, "with this [song] we shall overcome the demons". The syllable Om is thus implied as that which inspires the good inclinations within each person.
Chandogya Upanishad's exposition of syllable Om in its opening chapter combines etymological speculations, symbolism, metric structure and philosophical themes. In the second chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad, the meaning and significance of Om evolves into a philosophical discourse, such as in section 2.10 where Om is linked to the Highest Self, and section 2.23 where the text asserts Om is the essence of three forms of knowledge, Om is Brahman and "Om is all this [observed world]".
Katha Upanishad
The Katha Upanishad is the legendary story of a little boy, Nachiketa – the son of sage Vajasravasa, who meetsYama – the Indian deity of death. Their conversation evolves to a discussion of the nature of man, knowledge,Atman (Soul, Self) and moksha (liberation). In section 1.2, Katha Upanishad characterizes Knowledge/Wisdom as the pursuit of good, and Ignorance/Delusion as the pursuit of pleasant, that the essence of Veda is make man liberated and free, look past what has happened and what has not happened, free from the past and the future, beyond good and evil, and one word for this essence is the word Om.
The word which all the Vedas proclaim,
That which is expressed in every Tapas (penance, austerity, meditation),
That for which they live the life of a Brahmacharin,
Understand that word in its essence: Om! that is the word.
Yes, this syllable is Brahman,
This syllable is the highest.
He who knows that syllable,
Whatever he desires, is his.
— Katha Upanishad,
Maitri Upanishad
The Maitrayaniya Upanishad in sixth Prapathakas (lesson) discusses the meaning and significance of Om. The text asserts that Om represents Brahman-Atman. The three roots of the syllable, states the Maitri Upanishad, are A + U + M. The sound is the body of Soul, and it repeatedly manifests in three: as gender-endowed body - feminine, masculine, neuter; as light-endowed body - Agni, Vayu and Aditya; as deity-endowed body - Brahma, Rudra and Vishnu; as mouth-endowed body - Garhapatya, Dakshinagni and Ahavaniya; as knowledge-endowed body - Rig, Saman and Yajur; as world-endowed body - Bhūr, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ; as time-endowed body - Past, Present and Future; as heat-endowed body - Breath, Fire and Sun; as growth-endowed body - Food, Water and Moon; as thought-endowed body - intellect, mind and pysche. Brahman exists in two forms - the material form, and the immaterial formless. The material form is changing, unreal. The immaterial formless isn't changing, real. The immortal formless is truth, the truth is the Brahman, the Brahman is the light, the light is the Sun which is the syllable Om as the Self.
The world is Om, its light is Sun, and the Sun is also the light of the syllable Om, asserts the Upanishad. Meditating on Om, is acknowledging and meditating on the Brahman-Atman (Soul, Self).
Mundaka Upanishad
The Mundaka Upanishad in the second Mundakam (part), suggests the means to knowing the Self and the Brahman to be meditation, self-reflection and introspection, that can be aided by the symbol Om.
That which is flaming, which is subtler than the subtle,
on which the worlds are set, and their inhabitants –
That is the indestructible Brahman. It is life, it is speech, it is mind. That is the real. It is immortal.
It is a mark to be penetrated. Penetrate It, my friend.
Taking as a bow the great weapon of the Upanishad,
one should put upon it an arrow sharpened by meditation,
Stretching it with a thought directed to the essence of That,
Penetrate that Imperishable as the mark, my friend.
Om is the bow, the arrow is the Soul, Brahman the mark,
By the undistracted man is It to be penetrated,
One should come to be in It,
as the arrow becomes one with the mark.
— Mundaka Upanishad, 2.2.2 - 2.2.4
Adi Shankara, in his review of the Mundaka Upanishad, states Om as a symbolism for Atman (soul, self).
Mandukya Upanishad
The Mandukya Upanishad opens by declaring, "Om!, this syllable is this whole world". Thereafter it presents various explanations and theories on what it means and signifies. This discussion is built on a structure of "four fourths" or "fourfold", derived from A + U + M + "silence" (or without an element).
Aum as all states of time
In verse 1, the Upanishad states that time is threefold: the past, the present and the future, that these three are "Aum". The four fourth of time is that which transcends time, that too is "Aum" expressed.
Aum as all states of Atman
In verse 2, states the Upanishad, everything is Brahman, but Brahman is Atman (the Soul, Self), and that the Atman is fourfold. Johnston summarizes these four states of Self, respectively, as seeking the physical, seeking inner thought, seeking the causes and spiritual consciousness, and the fourth state is realizing oneness with the Self, the Eternal.
Aum as all states of consciousness
In verses 3 to 6, the Mandukya Upanishad enumerates four states of consciousness: wakeful, dream, deep sleep and the state of ekatma (being one with Self, the oneness of Self). These four are A + U + M + "without an element" respectively.
Aum as all of knowledge
In verses 9 to 12, the Mandukya Upanishad enumerates fourfold etymological roots of the syllable "Aum". It states that the first element of "Aum" is A, which is from Apti (obtaining, reaching) or from Adimatva (being first). The second element is U, which is from Utkarsa (exaltation) or from Ubhayatva(intermediateness). The third element is M, from Miti (erecting, constructing) or from Mi Minati, or apīti (annihilation). The fourth is without an element, without development, beyond the expanse of universe. In this way, states the Upanishad, the syllable Om is indeed the Atman (the self).
Shvetashvatara Upanishad
The Shvetashvatara Upanishad, in verses 1.14 to 1.16, suggests meditating with the help of syllable Om, where one's perishable body is like one fuel-stick and the syllable Om is the second fuel-stick, which with discipline and diligent rubbing of the sticks unleashes the concealed fire of thought and awareness within. Such knowledge, asserts the Upanishad, is the goal of Upanishads. The text asserts that Om is a tool of meditation empowering one to know the God within oneself, to realize one's Atman (Soul, Self).
Epics
The Bhagavad Gita, in the Epic Mahabharata, mentions the meaning and significance of Om in several verses. For example, Fowler notes that verse 9.17 of the Bhagavad Gita synthesizes the competing dualistic and monist streams of thought in Hinduism, by using "Om which is the symbol for the indescribable, impersonal Brahman".
I am the Father of this world, Mother, Ordainer, Grandfather, the Thing to be known, the Purifier, the syllable Om, Rik, Saman and also Yajus.
— Krishna to Arjuna, Bhagavad Gita 9.17,
The significance of the sacred syllable in the Hindu traditions, is similarly highlighted in various of its verses, such as verse 17.24 where the importance of Omduring prayers, charity and meditative practices is explained as follows,
Therefore, uttering Om, the acts of yajna (fire ritual), dāna (charity) and tapas (austerity) as enjoined in the scriptures, are always begun by those who study the Brahman.
— Bhagavad Gita
Yoga Sutra
The aphoristic verse 1.27 of Pantanjali's Yogasutra links Om to Yoga practice, as follows,
तस्य वाचकः प्रणवः ॥२७॥
His word is Om.
— Yogasutra 1.27,
Johnston states this verse highlights the importance of Om in the meditative practice of Yoga, where it symbolizes three worlds in the Soul; the three times – past, present and future eternity, the three divine powers – creation, preservation and transformation in one Being; and three essences in one Spirit – immortality, omniscience and joy. It is, asserts Johnston, a symbol for the perfected Spiritual Man (his emphasis). BY KAILASH MANSAROVAR FOUNDATION SWAMI BIKASH GIRI www.sumeruparvat.com , www.naturalitem.com
Mark Weislogel
NASA’s go-to problem solver
Liquids in zero gravity don’t pour, don’t spill and don’t drip. But PSU mechanical and materials engineering professor and former NASA scientist Mark Weislogel found a way to make them behave.
An expert in fluid dynamics, Weislogal has designed numerous experiments performed by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. He and his students used complex mathematics to design a coffee cup that allows liquids to be sipped instead of sucked from a tube. That’s great news for coffee-loving astronauts, and the science behind it has implications for space travel that are out of this world.
At Portland State University, we believe knowledge works best when it serves the community.
On being a Mormon: "I know it. I live it. I love it." (Anne M. Dibbs). Model Kelsey Garry. (Photo by Karen Petitt)
2007 was notable for me as I completed my Psychology degree. What now? All this knowledge in my head and on a shelf ...
Open Knowledge Festival 2014. 15th to 17th of July at Kulturbrauerei in Berlin.
Attribution: Gregor Fischer, www.gfischer-photography.com/ 16.07.2014
One of the 4 muses representing the aims of the museum. Record, Research, Dissemination of Knowledge, Science. This is Science. These were commissioned by the museum in 1915.
Engraved plate from The Encyclopaedia Britannica - 9th edition - 1876-1889.
The 9th edition was a new, completely revised edition, enlarged to 24 volumes - sometimes called the ‘scholars’ edition’, with articles from over 2000 eminent contributors.
Published by Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh, for The Times Publications of London. 24 volumes red half leather, gilt spines and marbled endpapers and edges. About 20,000 pages 28cm x 22cm.
It is easy to think the church on the main road as you near Brenzett is that village's church, but that is Snargate.
St Eanswith is in the village, down a side lane, and then down a track. Not on Church Lane at all, which runs parallel, just to confuse the visitor.
It was a grim and drizzly day when I returned, and straight away I was reminded of my first visit here, where John Vigar took me on a tour of the Romney Marsh churches, sharing with me his knowledge, and Brenzett was one I was unfamiliar with.
As with many churches, the light switches were elusive, so some of the shots are dark and/or grainy.
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One of the few churches in the county dedicated to a local saint: St Eanswyth came from Folkestone in the seventh century (see separate entry). The church is Norman with thirteenth- and fourteenth-century additions. The south wall of the chancel contains some of the fine herringbone masonry so typical of early Norman work in Kent. Like most churches on Romney Marsh there is an abundance of clear glass at Brenzett, allowing a greater appreciation of the superb tracery of the decorated style windows, especially that in the south nave wall. When the little spire was built in the fourteenth century a wooden frame had to be erected at the west end to support it, and enormous buttresses had to be built outside. The church was somewhat over-restored in the nineteenth century when the east window by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake was installed. The north chapel contains a good monument in alabaster to Sir John Fagge who died in 1639. Father and son lie side by side, one propped on his elbow, the other with his hand on his chest. Their armorial bearings on the front of the tomb chest add a welcome splash of red and white.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Brenzett
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BRENSET
LIES the next parish north-eastward from Brookland, almost all of it on the other or eastern side of the Rhee-wall, in the level of Romney Marsh; so much therefore as is upon that wall is within the li berty of the town and port of New Romney, and division of the justices of it, the liberty of which, and of the cinque ports, claim over it. The rest of it is in the hundred of Aloesbridge, over part of which, that is, so much as is within the level of Romney Marsh, the liberty and jurisdiction of that corporation claims; and the remaining, being the north-west part, in Walland Marsh, is within the jurisdiction of the justices of the county.
THIS PARISH is not so fertile as the last-described parish of Brookland, nor so well sheltered with trees and hedges. The greatest part of it is open marshes, the arable land in it not being more than fifty acres. There is no village, most of the houses in it standing at straggling distances on each side of the road, leading from the church to Snave-green; in other respects it is much the same as the other parishes adjoining to it. There is a fair on Whit-Monday, for toys and pedlary.
The MANOR OF BRENSET, called likewise the manor of Newington Brenset, from its having been for some time accounted a limb of that of Newington near Hyth, had always the same owners, and as such in king Henry VIII.'s reign it was become part of the possessions of Thomas, lord Cromwell, earl of Essex, before whose attainder, in the 32d year of that reign, it came by purchase from him into the king's hands, together with the manor of Newington above-mentioned. After which it continued in the crown, in like manner, till the first year of queen Mary, when she granted it to Edward, lord Clinton and Saye, from whom it passed, with the manor of Newington, to which this of Brenset has ever since been accounted an appendage, in a like succession of ownership, down to James Drake Brockman, esq. of Beechborough, the present owner of it. A court leet is held for this manor.
THERE WAS a manor of Brenset, which most probably related to this parish, which was the property of the Scotts, of Scotts-hall, and afterwards of the Botelers, from whom it came by will to the family of Bouverie, and now belongs, with the manors of Orlestone and others, to the hon. William-Henry Bouverie, some mention of which has been made before, but only the name of this manor remains, for there are no rents or profits received from it, nor is even the situation of it at present known.
BRENSET-PLACE is an antient mansion in the southern part of this parish, which was the residence for many years of the family of Edolph, before they removed to Hinxhill, and wrote their name in old deedsEdulf, in which manner it appears in a commission directed to Stephen Edulf and others, collectors for the cinque ports in the 6th year of Richard II. At length, Robert Edolph removing to Hinxhill in queen Elizabeth's reign, this seat was afterwards alienated to Mr. John Fagge, gent. who resided here in the next reign of king James I. In whose descendants it continued down to Sir Robert Fagge, bart. who dying in 1740, s. p. his sisters became his heirs, one of whom married Gawen Harris Nash, esq. of Petworth, and Elizabeth married Sir Charles Mathews Goring, bart. of that county, by whose heirs, about the year 1777, this seat, with the estate belonging to it, was sold to Mr. Henry Read, of Brookland, who died possessed of it about a year afterwards, upon which it came to his only daughter and heir Anne, the wife of Thomas Kempe, esq. of Barcombe in Sussex, and M. P. for Lewes, who in her right became entitled to it, and is the present owner of it. The mansion has been for many years made use of only as a farm-house.
DEAN, alias DANE-COURT, is an estate in the western part of this parish, which was once accounted a manor. It was antiently part of the possessions of a family, who took their name from it. Ansfridus de Dene appears, by a chartularie belonging to the priory of Christ-church, to have been owner of it in king Edward I.'s reign. How long it continued in his descendants, I do not find, but it not long afterwards came into the possession of the family of Apledore, so called from the neighbouring town of Apledore, whose arms were, Or, a pile, gules, surmounted with a fefs; but before the latter end of king Edward III.'s reign, Thomas de Apledore dying s. p. Elnith, his only sister and heir, entitled her husband Thomas Roper to this manor, among the rest of his estates in these parts, (fn. 1) which continued in the younger branch of his descendants down to John Roper, esq. of Linsted lodge, afterwards knighted, and created lord Teynham. At length his descendant Henry, lord Teynham, succeeding to it, passed it away in 1705, to Sir Henry Furnese, bart. of Waldershare, who died possessed of it in 1712. His grandson Sir Henry Furnese, bart. dying in 1735, under age and unmarried, this, on the partition of his estates among his three sisters and coheirs, was allotted, among others, to Selina, the youngest; she married Edward Dering, esq. afterwards Sir Edward Dering, bart. who in her right became entitled to it, and his son of the same name, now of Surrenden, bart. is the present owner of it.
There are no parochial charities. The poor constantly relieved are more than thirty, casually not more than two or three.
BRENSET is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Limne.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Eanswith, consists of two isles and two chancels, having a spire steeple shingled at the west end, in which hang three bells. In the north chancel is a monument, having the effigies of two men, lying at full length, for John Fagge, son of John Fagge, gent. of Rye, obt. 1639; and for John Fagge, gent. of Rye, his son, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Bandard Hodson, of Frantfield, in Sussex, obt. 1646. There are burials of the Fagges in the parish register till very lately. In the north isle, a memorial for the Rev. Mr. John Wentworth, rector of Snargate six years, and vicar of Brenset, obt. May 26, 1770.
¶The church of Brenset antiently belonged to the abbey of Guysnes, in Artois, in Flanders, to which it was appropriated before the 8th year of Richard II. (fn. 2) and it remained so till the reign of king Henry V. when it came into the king's hands by escheat, on the death of Katherine, the late abbess of it, and remained in the crown till king Henry VI. in his 17th year, granted it with the advowson of the vicarage, to John Kempe, archbishop of York, with licence to settle the same on his new-founded college of Wye, to hold in free, pure and perpetual alms, in augmentation of the revenues of it, and to appropriate it to the members of it and their successors for ever. In which situation it remained till the suppression of that college, anno 36 Henry VIII. when it was surrendered, with all its possessions, into the king's hands, who that year granted this church, with the advowson of the vicarage, among other premises, to Walter Bucler, esq. to hold in capite, with certain provisoes for the maintenance of the curates and schoolmaster of Wye, as may be further feen in the account before of the parlonage of Newington, contained in the same grant, (fn. 3) with which it has continued down in like manner to James Drake Brockman, esq. of Beechborough, the present owner of the parsonage and advowson of the vicarage of this church.
Besides the stipends paid to Wye college and curates, as may be seen before, (fn. 4) there is a stipend paid from it of ten guineas yearly to Christ-church college, in Cambridge, which altogether is much more than the annual profit of this parsonage, which arises from only about fifty acres of land ploughed, bringing in about twenty guineas per annum, and no more.
The vicarage of Brenset is valued in the king's books at 7l. 18s. 11½d. and the yearly tenths at 15s. 10¾d. In 1640 it was valued at eighty pounds per annum, It is now of the yearly certified value of 71l. 6s. 0¼d. There is a glebe of two acres of marsh land.
In the petition of the clergy, beneficed in Romney Marsh, in 1635, for setting aside the custom of twopence an acre, in lieu of tithe-wool and pasturage, a full account of which has been given before, under Burmarsh, the vicar of Brenset was one of those who met on this occasion; when it was agreed on all sides, that no wool in the Marsh had ever been known to have been paid in specie, other tithes being compounded for. But no evidence was produced on this head, in regard to the vicar of Brenset.
There is a modus of one shilling an acre on all grass lands in this parish.
ILRI was awarded the 2019 International Knowledge Management Award by the Knowledge Management Austria at a ceremony held 25 Sep 2019 at the United Nations Office in Nairobi, Kenya (photo credit: ILRI/Job Mainye).
US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim meets delegates from Ghana at the Inter-Regional Knowledge Sharing on Child Labour and Working Conditions in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) held in Manila, Philippines from 28 to 30 May 2019. The 3-day forum provided a venue to exchange knowledge, technologies, practices and challenges to put forward concrete solutions to address child labour and poor working conditions in the ASGM sector.
To learn more, visit bit.ly/asgm2019
Photo © ILO/G. Carreon
The work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License. To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/license/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/deed.en_US
12 x 9 inches, mixed media on paper. September 2023. Available for purchase on scottbergey.etsy.com
Follow me on FB and Instagram scottbergeyart
Garrett Brown explains the second pre-Steadicam prototype, with a parallelogram mechanism.
For more on Garrett Brown, see:
» Garrett Brown: Inventing the Future -- And a Few Handy Gadgets
This God of knowledge and the remover of obstacles is also the older son of Lord Shiva. Lord Ganesha is also called Vinayak ( knowledgeable ) or Vighneshwer (god to remove obstacles). He is worshipped, or at least remembered, in the beginning of any auspicious performance for blessings and auspiciousness.
His fourth hand's palm is always extended to bless people.
A unique combination of his elephant-like head and a quick moving tiny mouse vehicle represents tremendous wisdom, intellegence, and presence of mind.
This week’s quote is "What we know is not much, what we do not know is immense.", mis-attributed to the learned French philosopher and Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ.
Reportedly the last words of Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace, the great French mathematician and astronomer, were:
"Ce que nous connaissons est peu de chose, ce que nous ignorons est immense."
which translates in English as:
"What we know is not much. What we do not know is immense."
One of these boxes represents what I know, while the other represents what I do not know. I wonder if you will be able to work out which is my intention, and why. (Big clue: I like to be proactive.)
Quote 40 of 40.
Thanks to the people at PSC for organising and running this "40 quotes" project. It's been fun. I trust you enjoyed it, too.
ILO Senior Specialist on OSH Francisco Santos O'Connor discusses the ILO Convention 176 during the Inter-Regional Knowledge Sharing on Child Labour and Working Conditions in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) held in Manila, Philippines from 28 to 30 May 2019.
Experts and global actors from Africa, Asia, and South America joined the 3-day forum provided a venue to exchange knowledge, technologies, practices and challenges to put forward concrete solutions to address child labour and poor working conditions in the ASGM sector.
To learn more, visit bit.ly/asgm2019
Photo © ILO/G. Carreon
The work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License. To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/license/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/deed.en_US
erm... cheesy title. no memory cards were harmed in the making of this picture. the last statment was a completele lie. i might have just erased every picture before by accidentally reformating the memory card D; i should stay away from buttons i don't know. but apart from my lack of knowledge of technology -.-"
today was a rather drama filled day. after freaking out over a phone call that had just been an accident and having a friend have her relationship totally destroyed by an outside bystander by lunch we were wondering why boys didn't really have cooties and memories never disappeared.but it comes down to simple things, like your funny friends, that kiddo you joke around with that makes you smile even if its with a little guilt for fear of rebound (rebound scares us all) but its the little smiles the little poke and the sticking your toungue out when someone pokes your nosie that really makes your day. God gives you friends because theyre the little angles that are really there to make life better.
studying studying studying. economic growth models, geographic politics, and how to take over the world. its all harsh and greedy. happiness can be achieved by other things that the supreme dominance over the global market. i wonder how many of these people are alcoholics who have been divorced have shot some drugs up in their time and spent their money in gold latrines just because there is simply nothing more they can do with it.
i don't envy them.
i'd rather have the friend who says things with me at the same time and laughs synchronized with me, the friend that burst into mamma mia in the middle of a conversation just because it popped into her head, the friend who messes with you and calls you funny things because your short and its actually kinda funny. friends who tell you their life isn't amazing either and they'd rather be cuddled up with a box of chocolate and ice cream. i'd rather have those who rely on the little things to get them through the day no matter how much they want to cry.
I thank God for friends for laughs for those moments that make us feel broken and those who have the tape to fix it.
Open Knowledge Festival 2014. 15th to 17th of July at Kulturbrauerei in Berlin.
Attribution: Gregor Fischer, www.gfischer-photography.com/ 16.07.2014
Seven Out Superfund site in Waycross --Joan McNeal for Channel 22
Pictures by for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, .
www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/2013/09/seven-out-superfund-site-in-...
ILO Senior Specialist on OSH Francisco Santos O'Connor clarifies the definition of Convention 176 at the Inter-Regional Knowledge Sharing on Child Labour and Working Conditions in the Artisinal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) held in Manila, Philippines from 28 to 30 May 2019. The 3-day forum provided a venue for experts and global actors to exchange knowledge, technologies, practices and challenges to put forward concrete solutions to address child labour and poor working conditions in the ASGM sector.
To learn more, visit bit.ly/asgm2019
Photo © ILO/G. Carreon
The work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License. To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/license/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/deed.en_US
Seminole Tribe of Florida ~ Alligator Knowledge
44th Annual Celebration of Native Arts and Culture
Seminole Tribal Fair and Pow-Wow ~ South Florida
Hard Rock Resort and Casino ~ Hollywood, Florida U.S.A.
(Yes, that is a real live eight-foot 150 pound alligator)
(one more photo in the comments)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminole
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminole_Tribe_of_Florida
www.pow-wow.org/883/seminole-tribal-fair-pow-wow/
www.powwows.com/2015/02/08/videos-from-2015-seminole-trib...
President Mahinda Rajapaksa made an inspection tour of the construction site of the “Knowledge Park” (former Tripoli Market) in Pettah yesterday (Augsut 6) morning. The complete cost is estimated to be around 7 million US dollars where knowledge-based industries will be allowed to setup of their operations. The first stage construction work in the 25 acre land plot has now been completed. Mahinda Chinthana future vision envisages to make Sri Lanka a knowledge hub in Asia. The government expects to earn a revenue of one thousand million US dollars from the information sector by the year 2016. In order to achieve this target the knowledge park complex will also be developed as a city consisting business research institutions.
දැනුම පදනම් කරගත් කර්මාන්ත සිදු කිරීමේ මධ්යස්ථානයක් ලෙස ඉදිකෙරෙන පිටකොටුව, නොලේජ් පාර්ක් සංකීර්ණය ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ නිරීක්ෂණයට ඊයේ (06) ලක් කෙරිණි. මරදාන ආසන්නයේ පිහිටා ඇති අක්කර 25කින් සමන්විත ට්රිපෝලි මාර්කට් නැමැති පැරණි ගොඩනැඟිල්ල පිහිටි ස්ථානයේ මෙහි ඉදිකිරීම් කටයුතු සිදු කෙරෙන අතර එහි පළමු අදියර යටතේ මේ වන විට අක්කර 12ක ඉදිකිරීම් සිදු කර ඇත. මහින්ද චින්තන ඉදිරි දැක්මට අනුව ශ්රී ලංකාව ආසියාවේ දැනුමේ කේන්ද්රස්ථානය බවට පත් කිරීමට සැලසුම් කර තිබෙන අතර වර්ෂ 2016 වන විට තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ කර්මාන්තයෙන් ඩොලර් බිලියනයක අපනයන ආදායමක් ලබාගැනීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වේ. ඒ යටතේ නවීන පන්නයේ අපනයන පහසුකම් සහිත ව්යාපාර පර්යේෂණ ආයතන සහිත නගරයක් ලෙස මෙය සංවර්ධනය කෙරේ. විෂයානුබද්ධ ඉහළ අධ්යාපනය ලැබූවන් සඳහා රැකියා අවස්ථා පුළුල් කිරීම ඉන් අපේක්ෂා කෙරේ. දැනුම පදනම් කරගත් ව්යාපාරික ස්ථාන පිහිටුවීම සඳහා ලාබ ලැබීමේ චේතනාවකින් තොරව සමාගම් කිහිපයක්ද එක්ව කටයුතු කරන අතර එම සමාගම් සන්ධානය ට්රේස් යන නමින් හඳුන්වයි.
அறிவைப் பயன்படுத்தும் தொழில் துறைகளின் மத்திய நிலையமாக உருவாகிவரும் புறக்கோட்டை நிர்மாணிக்கப்படும் கைத்தொழில் நிலையமான ‘நொலேஜ் பார்க்’ கட்டிடத் தொகுதியை ஜனாதிபதி மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ அவர்கள் நேற்று (ஆகஸ்ட் 6) பார்வையிட்டார். புறக்கோட்டைக்கு சமீபமாக 25 ஏக்கர் நிலப்பரப்பு கொண்ட திரிப்போலி மார்க்கட் என்றழைக்கப்படும் பிரதேசத்தில் இக்கட்டடத் தொகுதி உருவாக்கப்பட்டு வருகின்றது.
(Photos by: Nalin Hewapathirana)
The Wedding of Mr & Mrs Laundy (25.08.2018)
I had the honour and pleasure of being invited to the wedding of Catherine and James Laundy at Lartington Hall near Barndard Castle in County Durham on Saturday 25th August 2018.
The whole day was fabulous and it went, in my personal opinion, spectacularly well! Having performed at over a thousand weddings in the past, I can see exactly how smoothly things should run and everything at Mr & Mrs Laundy's wedding went according to plan and to time! That is partly down to hiring wedding professionals to take charge of their roles and a venue that has attentive staff. This, as I have always said, takes the pressure off the happy couple and the wider bridal party.
Both Catherine and James looked fantastic and there really were many kind words from the guests about how they both looked.
I don't think there was a minute when the bride or groom didn't have an infectious smile on their faces and that really did shine through the whole day. There was a really happy and joyous vibe to the whole day and that was carried through to the party on the evening.
A lot of preparation goes into the planning of a wedding and, as we all found out during the speeches, it was a team effort.
There were laughs at the ceremony and I just knew that Catherine would add some funny comments to the proceedings.
The speeches were funny and full of wit and there was no character assassination for the groom from the best men, mind you, I think they would've struggled on that front. I expected the bride to say a few words, but Catherine kept with tradition.
After the formalities, it was time to party and boy was it a great evening celebration! Mind you, I knew it would be a great party as I recommended the DJ and he's a very good friend of mine. The dance floor was never empty and the happy couple spent most of their time dancing with their friends and family. In fact, it was a tough job going through all the pictures of people enjoying themselves and what you see in this album is only a small selection of images.
All in all, it was a fabulous day and I'm pleased that I was there to witness it.
It was great to see Catherine's dad, Kevin, as the last time we met was a number of years ago in a radio studio when he played a trick on his daughter. It was also a great opportunity to meet Catherine's mother, Vicky, a lady who I had only corresponded with by letter - a secret letter with some audio recordings of the radio show Catherine and I used to present. I had to send it without the knowledge of her daughter as she may have intercepted it before it got to the recipient. Strangely, that letter and CD was brought out a month or so before the wedding and Catherine was made aware/reminded of the contents.
I also met James' mother who thought that she'd take up a seat at the back of the ceremony room, but I insisted that there would be a VIP seat near the front. I was correct on that front.
Catherine's Uncle Michael was someone she had talked to me about and he was a really good laugh, so it was good to put a face to the name and stories I'd been told.
So, there we go... a few words from me, some pictures that I hope will give you a good idea of how great the whole day was and a mind full of happy memories.
May I take this opportunity to wish Catherine and James a long and happy future together!
P.S. I learned something new at the wedding... Catherine's middle name!
Linda George
Street-level research fights air pollution problem
Linda George’s phone lit up with calls from reporters and government officials when news broke earlier this year about high levels of toxic metals in a Portland neighborhood. Her detailed studies of urban air quality have made the Portland State environmental science professor a go-to source.
Now her expertise is being put to use in for an in-depth study of the city’s air pollution problems.
George is the lead scientist in a new, collaborative effort to test and track air quality at select locations in Portland. It’s a joint project, funded by PSU’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions with matching support from the City of Portland and Multnomah County.
The results could have far-reaching impact, not only on how toxins are regulated in the region but also on overall public health.
"PSU's research will provide the kind of real-time, neighborhood-level analysis that is important for policymakers to consider as we move forward with future decisions," said Steve Novick, a Portland city commissioner. Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury called George’s work “vital to our public health agencies.”
George, who received her environmental sciences PhD from PSU in 1991, has found that sweet spot that helps define the university’s mission of serving the community: She focuses on basic research that has direct applications for improving quality of life in Portland and the region.
“She combines experience as a practitioner and as an academician,” says Robert Liberty, director of the Institute for Sustainable Solutions. “She cares a lot about community engagement and health, and that’s not true for a lot of scientists.”
Public attention has focused on Portland’s air quality after reports that high levels of arsenic and cadmium – potentially dangerous toxins – had been discovered in moss, air and soil in an area near a southeast Portland glass plant.
George, who has been working on air quality issues for three decades, says she’s not surprised that tests revealed obvious problems with the city’s air. “We’ve known this has been happening for a long time,” says George, who found high levels of air pollution on the east side of Interstate 5 several years ago. “Oregon has chosen not to do much about it. It was a disaster waiting to be discovered.”
For the new project, George will deploy her students to collect and analyze air samples in six locations around the Portland Metro region. She will be looking for “variables” that offer clues to why some areas of the city are more polluted than others and how metals disperse into the environment.
Wind direction? Topography? Tree cover?
Once you determine the variant, and what produced it, she says, “then you can look at how to mitigate the problem.”
She expects full results within two years. The findings could extend well beyond the six areas studied and prompt even more research on regional air quality, George says.
“Now there’s a lot more interest” in urban air quality, she says. “It’s going to lend itself to all sorts of other collaborations.”
At Portland State University, we believe knowledge works best when it serves the community.
From the autumn 2016 trip to Vietnam:
If ever there were a good way to finish up a trip, this particular Sunday in October would be it. Before arriving in Hanoi, I honestly had exceptionally low expectations. A bit like Saigon, if you are to go online and try to look up a list of places to visit – basically a tourist’s stock photography checklist, as it may be – you don’t find much that’s appealing. Well…I didn’t, anyway, and as a result, I had pretty low expectations for Hanoi.
The charm and beauty of Hanoi, however, isn’t in any one particular place. It’s in the experience of the entire city. (I’d say the same for Saigon, but multiply that a few times for Hanoi.) On this day in the Old Quarter in particular, I kept finding myself thinking, “Oh, my God, I shouldn’t be this lucky as a photographer…” Today ended up being mostly about people, with a little food and historical locations mixed in.
As I mentioned in the last set of posting, today would start off a bit sad with Junebug leaving for China a day before I would. So, we were checked out of our room by 6:00 in the morning or so. The breakfast at the Art Trendy was wonderful. Buffet with a mix of made-to-order omelets mixed in. Strong work, Art Trendy, strong work…
When June left, I really had nothing to do since it was still six in the morning and I was temporarily homeless as I had to switch hotels. So…I sat around the lobby for about two hours (possibly slightly awkward for the poor girls working there, but oh, well; I had to sit somewhere).
Around 8:00, I finally dragged my old bones out of the hotel and walked the five to ten minutes down the street to the Aquarius, where I politely asked them to hold my non-camera bag until I come back around 1:00 in the afternoon to check in.
After that, I was finally off with my cameras to enjoy an early Sunday morning in the bustling Old Quarter. On the street where the hotel is situated are a number of restaurants where locals were jammed in to enjoy noodles, steamed buns, and the like. It was wonderful to be among that crowd (though someone tried to scold me ever so slightly for taking pictures of people eating).
Since this was right next to St. Joseph’s Cathedral – and it was Sunday morning – I found my way back into the church where we crashed the wedding the afternoon before and realized that I almost got locked into Sunday mass while walking around taking pictures. So…I stayed. I prayed. And my prayer was answered when I realized the side doors and even the back door were open. (Ok…I didn’t really think I was locked in a church, but it did feel like it a little bit.)
Upon exiting the church, a handful of frames under my belt, I walked along the lovely streets photographing shops and people. At Caphe, I piggybacked on someone else’s photo shoot – it looked like they were doing a promo for the place, or possibly just a personal shoot for five women, though I have a feeling it was the former. At any rate, I was quite pleased with that little set and am presenting quite a few of those here, even if they’re a little redundant.
My ultimate goal with this wandering was to find my way to the Hanoi Hilton. Now, I’m not taking about the hotel chain, of course, but rather the prison that U.S. prisoners of war sarcastically called the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War. (This is the prison where Senator John McCain was interred while a POW, and there are one or two pictures to that effect here.)
This prison has a particularly interesting history (and morbid since…well…it’s a prison). It’s about a hundred years old and was founded by the French colonialists around the turn of the 20th century. During the first 50 years of its history, the French imprisoned Vietnamese insurgents and those who wanted independence. In the eyes of the French…renegades (hence the imprisonment). In the eyes of the Vietnamese – especially the current government – patriots and national heroes. If they were truly freedom fighters, then I would probably side with the current government on that one.
The French even had a guillotine installed here and overcrowding was a major problem. There were plenty of escape attempts, and more were successful than you may think, which is a little peculiar.
After the battle of Bien Dien Phu and the ejection of the French from the north (and before the U.S. got involved in the south), the prison changed hands and was under control of Ho Chi Minh. During the Vietnam War, it became one of the main prisons for U.S. POWs, as I alluded to above.
The propaganda claims that the Vietcong were absolutely humane and decent with U.S. prisoners, allowing them to observe their religious rites (Christmas celebrations, etc.), allowed prisoners to smoke and enjoy leisure (board games, basketball, etc.), and claimed they were well-fed.
This is certainly how it’s presented in the prison/museum currently. If you were to go online, though, and try to find a contrary report, you would find that this was all coerced and staged to make it appear as if things were on the up and up. (For anyone curious, per my Vietnamese friends, the general education in Vietnam today is how terrible the French and U.S. were for colonizing and torturing the country and keeping it from its independence.)
So, what’s the truth of what really happened? Who knows? Outside of firsthand accounts, it’s impossible to know for certain and even then, memory can be a tricky thing. I tend to like to say the truth is always somewhere between two opposing viewpoints, no matter what the topic may be.
From an impartial and purely photographic point of view, the prison, currently a museum/memorial, is an interesting place to spend an hour or two. Some of the exhibits seem a bit cheesy, but some are quite tasteful and well done. There’s also an informational video. You’ll have to see this with a bit of imagination (the prison, that is), as at least half of it has been leveled for high rise buildings. At least there’s some tangible piece of it left to visit, including the main gate (Maison Centrale).
After about two hours here at the Hanoi Hilton, I walked over towards the Opera House to get a few daytime shots but, really, to get lunch at El Gaucho. I was looking forward to a proper steak. The prices were astronomical (though justifiable based on what I ate), though I just opted for a steak salad. It was so good I contemplated going back for dinner, but had other plans.
With a happy stomach, I went back to finally check in at the Aquarius Hotel and got my workout huffing up six flights of stairs each time I went out. I relaxed here for a few hours until 4:00 when a dear friend of mine came to town to see me.
Ngan and I had an ice cream at Baskin Robbins right in front of St. Joe’s before heading over to the Temple of Literature. This is a temple dedicated to education and, bless my soul, it’s a place where university graduates come for graduation pictures.
On this particular day – a warm, sunny, late Sunday afternoon – it was packed with college students. And it was beautiful to see that many people happy, full of hopes and dreams, and dressed in either cap and gown or traditional Vietnamese clothes. In short…I had a field day shooting for an hour here.
Around 5:00, Ngan had to head back to school, and I went back to my hotel. I had one more meeting. Hoa, who traveled around Thailand & Cambodia with me in May, flew back to see me this evening. She picked me up at 6:00 on her scooter and rode me all around Hanoi by evening.
She started by taking me to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum (which I consider a lot more photogenic in its setting than the Great Gangster’s Mausoleum on Tiananmen Square). This one, at least, was in a parklike setting. At evening, it’s well-lit and you can find people relaxing in the grass in front of it. During the day, you can visit and there are quite a few buildings behind the mausoleum that you can also see.
After a few minutes here, Hoa took me by West Lake – the largest lake in Hanoi, as I mentioned yesterday – and just drove me around for over an hour, it seemed. My impressions that Hanoi (even out of the Old Quarter) seemed to be a good place to live – though I’d be concerned about the air pollution – and people here seemed to be happy. Also…Vietnamese really love their coffee.
We finally returned to the Old Quarter for dinner at one of the famous restaurants she recommended and she treated me to a wonderful dinner. I can’t recall what we ate (the Vietnamese names of it, anyway), but it was nice.
After dinner, she drove me over towards the Opera House and then, finally, we stopped by Hoan Kiem Lake in the heart of the Quarter and walked around the lake. It was getting close to 10:00 by this time, and I wanted to get back to the hotel to get a few hours sleep before waking up for my early flight in the morning. Hoa came to the airport with me to see me off.
If ever there were a great way to finish a great trip, this was it. I absolutely loved Vietnam – honestly, a lot more than I imagined I would, even with every single person I know who’d ever come here saying what a fantastic country this is – and would gladly come back. This seems to be one of the kinds of countries that you would never get tired of or, if you did, it would sure take a long time. With that, I’ll bid goodbye to Vietnam for now with the hopes that I’ll someday return to this land of amazing food, landscapes, and people.
As always, thanks for dropping by and viewing these pictures. Please feel free to leave any questions or comments and I’ll answer as I have time.
One of the five 'Guardians of Knowledge' to be seen on the outside wall of Grimsby Central Library in Town Hall Square.
The five 11 foot figures were designed and built by Mr Peter Todd, who was the Head of the Art Department at Grimsby College at that time. They took him 18 months to make at his studio in Walesby.
To quote North East Lincolnshire Council website "The figures, which were fixed to the front of the library in May 1968, are guardians, protecting the centre of learning and culture"... presumably against the massing hoards of ignorant scrotes that the council believe populate the rest of the town.
Open Knowledge Festival 2014. 15th to 17th of July at Kulturbrauerei in Berlin.
Attribution: Gregor Fischer, www.gfischer-photography.com/ 16.07.2014