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Spanish collectors card by Graficas Valencia, Valencia. Photo: Filmofono. The Marx Brothers in Room Service (William A. Seiter, 1938). The Spanish title was El Hotel de los Lios.

 

The Marx Brothers was the name for a group of American-Jewish comedians from the first half of the 20th century who were actually brothers. Their career started in theatre, but they became world-famous through their films. They are known for their wild, anarchic and often surrealist humour. Their jokes consist of slapstick, but also puns and intelligent dialogue. With their rebellious jokes, they were the forerunners of generations of anti-sentimental comedians. Five brothers together formed The Marx Brothers, even though the five of them never actually performed at the same time: Harpo, Chico, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.

 

The eldest brother, Chico (1887-1961) was born Leonard Marx. Manfred was actually the eldest, but he died as a child. Chico was the one who decided to make musical comedies with his other brothers. At the time, he had learnt an Italian accent to convince any anti-Semites in the neighbourhood that he was Italian and not a Jew. This accent, along with his talent as a piano player, became one of his trademarks. In the films, he usually fulfilled the role of a sly and shady con man, the confidant of Harpo, a confident pianist and the sceptical assistant of Groucho.

 

Harpo (1888-1964) was born Adolph and changed his name to Arthur in WWI because he found the name too German. As an actor, Harpo played the role of a mute, who never speaks but expresses himself through sign language, whistling and using his horn. Like a cross between a child and a wild beast, he sets everything in motion, harassing everyone, pulling the most peculiar things out of his coat (such as a candle burning on two sides, a coiled rope, a pin-up poster, etc.), and chasing women with his horn. His pseudonym "Harpo" was derived from the fact that he played the harp, for which there was a musical interlude in almost every film.

 

Groucho (1890-1977) was born Julius Henry Marx. His trademarks were his grin, thick cigar, waddling gait and sarcastic remarks, insults and puns. In the films, he was constantly trying to get money or women, talking everyone under the table with his witty and intelligent remarks. He was also a singer and some of his songs have become classics, such as 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady'.

 

Gummo (1892-1977) was born Milton and was the least-known Marx Brother. He was the one who first performed with Groucho, but before the big Broadway success came he had stopped acting. For years, he was his brother's manager.

 

Zeppo (1901-1979) was born Herbert Marx and was the youngest of the Marx Brothers. He took over the role of Gummo when the latter quit. Zeppo was the romantic declarer. Though he could take on more versatile roles, he was typecast as the most serious of the four.

 

The Marx Brothers were the five surviving sons of Sam and Minnie Marx. The family lived in Yorkville on New York's Upper East Side, a neighbourhood sandwiched between the Irish-German and Italian quarters. Their career already began at the beginning of the century in vaudeville shows, with which their maternal uncle, Al Shean, had already been successful. Groucho was the first to embark on a career on stage, but initially with very little success. Their mother and sister also appeared on stage with their sons at times. However, the focus soon shifted from music and singing with humorous segues to comedy with musical interludes. The different roles of musicians and comedians crystallised relatively early. While Chico developed the stereotype of the womaniser with an Italian accent who was always chasing the chicks, Groucho dropped his accent as a German during the First World War due to a lack of popularity. Harpo remained speechless on stage, as he had the greatest successes playing his jokes as a mime in a red or, in films, blond curly wig, or playing his grandmother's old harp. A classroom sketch in which Groucho tried to teach his brothers evolved into the comedy show 'I'll Say She Is which became their first success on Bradway and in England. This was followed by two more Broadway hits: 'The Cocoanuts' and 'Animal Crackers'. The Marx Brothers' shows became popular at a time when Hollywood was experiencing the transition from silent film to talkies. The brothers signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and thus launched their film career.

 

The last two Broadway shows of The Marx Brothers became their first films, The Cocoanuts (Robert Florey, 1929) and Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman, 1930). Their next film was Money Business (Norman Z. McLeod, 1931). Between 1932 and 1933, a total of 26 episodes of the radio show 'Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel' were made, with Groucho voicing the lawyer Waldorf T. Flywheel and Chico voicing his sidekick Emmanuel Ravelli. The first three episodes were broadcast under the title 'Beagle, Shyster & Beagle'. The title was then changed after a New York lawyer named "Beagle" threatened to sue. Some of the dialogue from the radio broadcasts was later used in the Marx Brothers films. Their most successful film of the early period was Horse Feathers (Norman Z. McLeod, 1932), a satire on the American college system. But Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933), generally considered their masterpiece, had much less success. It marked their break with Paramount. Zeppo, who always played serious roles, stopped making films after this. The Marx Brothers' first five films are generally considered their best, expressing their surrealist and anarchic humour in its purest form. The three remaining brothers moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and changed the formula of their subsequent films. Their remaining films were given romantic plots and serious musical interludes, often intended as resting points between the often hilarious comic sketches. In A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935), a satire on the opera world, the brothers help two young singers in love. The film was very successful and was followed by the equally popular A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937), where they kicked up a fuss at a race track. Several less memorable films followed until 1941. After the war, two more films A Night in Casablanca (Archie Mayo, 1946) and Love Happy (David Miller, 1949) followed to pay off Chico's gambling debts. This was followed by the mediocre film The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957), and a television special The Incredible Jewel Robbery (1959). These productions were already interludes, while each brother had already picked up a career of his own. Chico and Harpo continued on stage and Groucho had started a career as a radio and television entertainer. With his television and radio show 'You Bet Your Life', he became one of the most popular show hosts of the 1950s in the USA. The first episodes of the show were still broadcast live, as was customary at the time. But because Groucho's unbridled wordplay caused headaches for those in charge of the show, they deviated from this for later episodes and the programme was broadcast as a recording. He also wrote a number of books. Gummo and Zeppo ran a theatre agency together. A final film project planned for 1960, starring the Marx Brothers once again and directed by Billy Wilder, did not materialise due to Chico's poor health. It was to be an anti-war satire in the style of Duck Soup. Even Groucho, who at the time was no longer very interested in further Marx Brothers films, is said to have been enthusiastic about the project because he considered Billy Wilder to be one of the best directors.

 

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

The project plans to transform part of the mountains into a plateau, Brick Hills, where to build three new modular buildings. A new area for the 2019 new amusement park ride. A new mini building near the beach. The new 2019 boat house.

A rework of a two-frame mosaic taken in September 2012. A planned two-frame mosaic of a favorite region featuring the large dark nebula Le Gentil 3. Le Gentil 3 sprawls out with long tentacles and is involved with IC1396 and NGC 7000. Seen visually one can make some connections with the unaided eye, but photographs reveal so much more.

 

I used the Pentax 67 with 165mm f/2.8 lens which was stopped down to f/4.8. Kodak E200 was used for the pair of images. Exposures were 45 minutes and were processed E-6 N+1.5. Images were scanned with an Epson V600 and merged and edited in Photoshop.

 

I have additional projects planned this season. Weather permitting I look forward to posting later on this summer.

 

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks and landscape elements wrapped in fabric, including the Wrapped Reichstag, The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Running Fence in California, and The Gates in New York City's Central Park. Born on the same day in Bulgaria and Morocco, respectively, the pair met and married in Paris in the late 1950s. Originally working under Christo's name, they later credited their installations to both "Christo and Jeanne-Claude". Until his own death in 2020, Christo continued to plan and execute projects after Jeanne-Claude's death in 2009. Their work was typically large, visually impressive, and controversial, often taking years and sometimes decades of careful preparation – including technical solutions, political negotiation, permitting and environmental approval, hearings and public persuasion. The pair refused grants, scholarships, donations or public money, instead financing the work via the sale of their own artwork. Christo and Jeanne-Claude described the myriad elements that brought the projects to fruition as integral to the artwork itself, and said their projects contained no deeper meaning than their immediate aesthetic impact; their purpose being simply for joy, beauty, and new ways of seeing the familiar.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude met in October 1958 when he was commissioned to paint a portrait of her mother, Précilda de Guillebon. Their first show, in Cologne, 1961, showcased the three types of artworks for which they would be known: wrapped items, oil barrels, and ephemeral, large-scale works.[3] Near Christo's first solo show in Paris, in 1962, the pair blocked an alley with 240 barrels for several hours in a piece called Iron Curtain, a poetic reply to the Berlin Wall. They developed consistent, longtime terms of their collaboration. They together imagined projects, for which Christo would create sketches and preparatory works that were later sold to fund the resulting installation. Christo and Jeanne-Claude hired assistants to do the work of wrapping the object at hand. They originally worked under the name "Christo" to simplify dealings and their brand, given the difficulties of establishing an artist's reputation and the prejudices against female artists,[6] but they would later retroactively credit their large-scale outdoor works to both "Christo and Jeanne-Claude". They eventually flew in separate planes such that, in case one crashed, the other could continue their work. Within a year of Wrapped Coast, Christo began work on Valley Curtain: an orange curtain of fabric to be hung across the mountainous Colorado State Highway 325.[ They simultaneously worked on Wrapped Walk Ways (Tokyo and Holland) and Wrapped Island (South Pacific), neither of which came to fruition. The artists formed a corporation to benefit from tax and other liabilities, a form they used for later projects. Following a failed attempt to mount the curtain in late 1971, a new engineer and builder-contractor raised the fabric in August 1972. The work only stood for 28 hours before the wind again destroyed the fabric. This work, their most expensive to date and first to involve construction workers, was captured in a documentary by David and Albert Maysles. Christo's Valley Curtain was nominated for Best Documentary Short in the 1974 Academy Awards.[15] The Maysles would film many of the artists' later projects.Inspired by a snow fence, in 1972, Christo and Jeanne-Claude began preparations for Running Fence: a 24.5- mile fence of white nylon, supported by steel posts and steel cables, running through the Californian landscape and into the ocean. In exchange for temporary use of ranch land, the artists agreed to offer payment and use of the deconstructed building materials. Others challenged its construction in 18 public hearings and three state court sessions. The fence began construction in April 1976 and the project culminated in a two-week display in September, after which it was deconstructed. Christo and Jeanne-Claude planned a project based on Jeanne-Claude's idea to surround eleven islands in Miami's Biscayne Bay with 603,850 m2 (6,499,800 sq ft) of pink polypropylene floating fabric. Surrounded Islands was completed on May 7, 1983, with the aid of 430 workers and could be admired for two weeks. The workers were outfitted with pink long sleeve shirts with pale blue text written on the back reading “Christo Surrounded Islands”, and then in acknowledging the garment's designer, "designed and produced by Willi Smith". Their 1991 The Umbrellas involved the simultaneous setup of blue and gold umbrellas in Japan and California, respectively. The 3,100-umbrella project cost US$26 million and attracted three million visitors. Christo closed the exhibition early after a woman was killed by a windblown umbrella in California. Separately, a worker was killed during the deconstruction of the Japanese exhibit. Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the Berlin Reichstag building in 1995 following 24 years of governmental lobbying across six Bundestag presidents. Wrapped Reichstag's 100,000 square meters of silver fabric draped the building, fastened with blue rope. Christo described the Reichstag wrapping as autobiographical based on his Bulgarian upbringing. The wrapping became symbolic of unified Germany and marked Berlin's return as a world city. The Guardian posthumously described the work as their "most spectacular achievement". In 1998, the artists wrapped trees at the Beyeler Foundation and its nearby Berower Park. Prior attempts had failed to secure government support in Saint Louis, Missouri, and Paris. The work was self-funded through sale of photographic documentation and preparatory works, as had become standard for the couple. Work began on the installation of the couple's most protracted project, The Gates, in New York City's Central Park in January 2005. Its full title, The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979–2005, refers to the time that passed from their initial proposal until they were able to go ahead with it with the permission of the new mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. The Gates was open to the public from February 12–27, 2005. A total of 7,503 gates made of saffron-colored fabric were placed on paths in Central Park. They were five meters (16 ft) high and had a combined length of 37 km (23 mi). The mayor presented them with the Doris C. Freedman Award for public art.[30] The project cost an estimated US$21 million, which the artists planned to recoup by selling project documentation. Christo filled the Gasometer Oberhausen from March 16 until December 30, 2013 with the installation Big Air Package. After The Wall (1999) as the final installation of the Emscher Park International Building Exhibition, Big Air Package was his second work of art in the Gasometer. The "Big Air Package – Project for Gasometer Oberhausen, Germany" was conceived by Christo in 2010 (for the first time without his wife Jeanne-Claude). The sculpture was set up in the interior of the industrial monument and was made of 20,350 m3 (719,000 cu ft) of translucent fabric and 4,500 m (14,800 ft) of rope. In the inflated state, the envelope, with a weight of 5.3 tonnes (5.8 short tons), reached a height of more than 90 m (300 ft), a diameter of 50 m (160 ft) and a volume of 177,000 m3 (6,300,000 cu ft). The monumental work of art was, temporarily, the largest self-supporting sculpture in the world. In the accessible interior of Big Air Package, the artist generated a unique experience of space, proportions, and light. The Floating Piers were a series of walkways installed at Lake Iseo near Brescia, Italy. From June 18 to July 3, 2016, visitors were able to walk just above the surface of the water from the village of Sulzano on the mainland to the islands of Monte Isola and San Paolo. The floating walkways were made of around 200,000 polyethene cubes covered with 70,000 m2 (750,000 sq ft) of bright yellow fabric: 3 km (1.9 mi) of piers moved on the water; another 1.5 km (0.93 mi) of golden fabric continued along the pedestrian streets in Sulzano and Peschiera Maraglio. After the exhibition, all components were to be removed and recycled.[33] The installation was facilitated by the Beretta family, owners of the oldest active manufacturer of firearm components in the world and the primary sidearm supplier of the U.S. Army.[34] The Beretta family owns the island of San Paolo, which was surrounded by Floating Piers walkways. The work was a success with the Italian public and critics as well. The London Mastaba was a temporary floating installation exhibited from June to September 2018 on The Serpentine in London. The installation consisted of 7,506 oil barrels, in the shape of a mastaba, a form of an early bench in use in ancient Mesopotamia, with a flat roof and inward sloping sides. It sat on a floating platform of high-density polyethene, held in place by 32 anchors. It was 20 m (66 ft) in height and weighed 600 tonnes (660 short tons). The vertical ends were painted in a mosaic of red, blue and mauve, whilst the sloping sides were in red with bands of white. Simultaneously with the display of The London Mastaba, the nearby Serpentine Gallery presented an exhibition of the artists' work, entitled Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Barrels and The Mastaba 1958–2018. The exhibition comprised sculptures, drawings, collages, scale-models and photographs from the last 60 years of the artists' work. Christo and Jeanne-Claude announced plans for a future project, titled Over The River, to be constructed on the Arkansas River between Salida, Colorado, and Cañon City, Colorado, on the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains. Plans for the project call for horizontally suspending 10.8 km (6.7 mi) of reflective, translucent fabric panels high above the water, on steel cables anchored into the river's banks. Project plans called for its installation for two weeks during the summer of 2015, at the earliest, and for the river to remain open to recreation during the installation. Reaction among area residents was intense, with supporters hoping for a tourist boom and opponents fearing that the project would ruin the visual appeal of the landscape and inflict damage on the river ecosystem. One local rafting guide compared the project to "hanging pornography in a church." The U.S. Bureau of Land Management released a Record of Decision approving the project on November 7, 2011. Work on the project cannot begin, however, until the Bureau of Land Management issues a Notice to Proceed. A lawsuit against the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife was filed on July 22, 2011, by Rags Over the Arkansas River (ROAR), a local group opposed to the project. The lawsuit is still awaiting a court date.[ Christo and Jeanne-Claude's inspiration for Over the River came in 1985 as they were wrapping the Pont-Neuf and a fabric panel was being elevated over the Seine. The artists began a three-year search for appropriate locations in 1992, considering some eighty-nine river locations. They chose the Arkansas River because its banks were high enough that recreational rafters could enjoy the river at the same time. Christo and Jeanne-Claude spent more than $6 million on environmental studies, design engineering, and wind tunnel testing of fabrics. As with past projects, Over The River would be financed entirely by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, through the sale of Christo's preparatory drawings, collages, scale models, and early works of the 1950s/1960s. On July 16, 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management released its four-volume Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which reported many potentially serious types of adverse impact but also many proposed "mitigation" options. In January 2017, after the election of President Trump, Christo canceled the controversial project citing protest of the new administration as well as tiring from the hard-fought legal battle waged by local residents.

 

L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped

 

Continuing their series of monumental "wrapping" projects, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is to be wrapped in 30,000 square meters of recyclable polypropylene fabric in silvery blue, and 7,000 meters (23,000 feet) of red rope, originally scheduled for autumn of 2020.[54] This was postponed a year to Saturday, September 18 to Sunday, October 3, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France and its impact on the arts and cultural sector worldwide. Following Christo's death, his office stated that the project would nevertheless be completed.

 

Reception

Christo and Jeanne-Claude's work is held by many major public collections. The artists received the 1995 Praemium Imperiale, the 2006 Vilcek Prize,[59] and the 2004 International Sculpture Center's Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award. Art critic David Bourdon described Christo's wrappings as a "revelation through concealment."[61] Unto his critics Christo replied, "I am an artist, and I have to have courage ... Do you know that I don't have any artworks that exist? They all go away when they're finished. Only the preparatory drawings, and collages are left, giving my works an almost legendary character. I think it takes much greater courage to create things to be gone than to create things that will remain."[ Jeanne-Claude was a firm believer in the aesthetic beauty of works of art; she said, "'We want to create works of art of joy and beauty, which we will build because we believe it will be beautiful.'"

 

Biographies

Christo

 

Young Christo

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (Bulgarian: Христо Владимиров Явашев, [xrisˈtɔ vlɐˈdimirof jaˈvaʃɛf]) was born on June 13, 1935, in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, as the second of three sons to Tzveta Dimitrova (a Macedonian Bulgarian from Thessaloniki) and Vladimir Javacheff, who worked at a textile manufacturer. Christo was shy and had a predilection for art. He received private art instruction at a young age and the support of his parents, who invited visiting artists to their house.[65] Christo was particularly affected by events from World War II and the country's fluid borders. During evacuations, he and his brothers stayed with a family in the rural hills outside town, where Christo connected with nature and handicraft. While Bulgaria was under repressive totalitarian rule, and Western art was suppressed, Christo pursued realistic painting through the mid-1950s. He was admitted into the Sofia Academy of Fine Arts in 1953[68] but found the school dull and stifling. Instead, he found inspiration in Skira art books, and visiting Russian professors who were older than he and once active in Russian modernism and the Soviet avant-garde. On the weekends, academy students were sent to paint propaganda and Christo unhappily participated. He found work as a location scout for the state cinema and served three tours of duty during summer breaks. In 1956, he used an academy connection to receive permission to visit family in Prague, where the theater of Emil František Burian reinvigorated him. Amid fears of further Russian suppression in Hungary, Christo decided to flee to Vienna as a railcar stowaway. He had little money after paying the bribe, did not speak the language, had deserted during his Bulgarian military service, and feared being trapped in a refugee camp. In Vienna, he stayed with a family friend (who had not expected him), studied at the Vienna Fine Arts Academy, and surrendered his passport to seek political asylum as a stateless person. There, he supported himself with commissions and briefly visited Italy with the academy, whose program he found equally unhappy as the one before it. At the behest of a friend relocated from Sofia, he saved up to visit Geneva in late 1957. In violation of his visa, he continued to pursue commissions (whose works he would sign with his family name, reserving his given name for more serious work) and was transformed after visiting the Kunstmuseum Basel and Kunsthaus Zürich. In January 1958, he first began to wrap things, as would become his trademark, starting with a paint can. His collection of wrapped household items would be known as his Inventory. In February 1958, Christo left for Paris, having received a visa with the assistance of a Sofia academy connection. In 1973, after 17 stateless years, Christo became a United States citizen.[80] He died at his home in New York City on May 31, 2020, at 84. No cause of death was specified.[81] L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, a planned work by Christo and Jeane-Claude, is to go ahead posthumously in Paris in September 2021.

 

Jeanne-Claude

Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (French: [ʒan klod dəna də gijəbɔ̃]) was born in Casablanca, Morocco, where her father, an army officer, was stationed. Her mother, Précilda, was 17 when she married Jeanne-Claude's father, Major Léon Denat. Précilda and Léon Denat divorced shortly after Jeanne-Claude was born, and Précilda remarried three times. Jeanne-Claude earned a baccalauréat in Latin and philosophy in 1952 from the University of Tunis.[5] After Précilda married the General Jacques de Guillebon in 1947, the family lived in Bern (1948–1951) and Tunisia (1952–1957) before returning to Paris.[ Jeanne-Claude was described as "extroverted" and with natural organizational abilities. Her hair was dyed red, which she claimed was selected by her husband.[84] She took responsibility for overseeing work crews and for raising funds. Jeanne-Claude died in New York City on November 18, 2009, from complications due to a brain aneurysm. Her body was to be donated to science, one of her final wishes.[85] When she died, she and Christo were at work on Over the River[86] and the United Arab Emirates project, The Mastaba.[5] She said, "Artists don't retire. They die. That's all. When they stop being able to create art, they die."

 

Marriage

Christo and Jeanne-Claude met in October 1958 when he was commissioned to paint a portrait of her mother, Précilda de Guillebon. Initially, Christo was attracted to Jeanne-Claude's half-sister, Joyce. Jeanne-Claude was engaged to Philippe Planchon.Shortly before her wedding, Jeanne-Claude became pregnant by Christo. Although she married Planchon, Jeanne-Claude left him immediately after their honeymoon. Christo and Jeanne-Claude' s son, Cyril, was born on May 11, 1960. Jeanne-Claude became an American citizen in March 1984.[19] The couple received permission to wrap the Pont Neuf, a bridge in Paris, in August and the wrapped the bridge in for two weeks in August 1985. The Pont Neuf Wrapped attracted three million visitors. Wrapping the Pont Neuf continued the tradition of transforming a sculptural dimension into a work of art. The fabric maintained the principal shapes of the Pont Neuf but it emphasized the details and the proportions. As with Surrounded Islands, workers who assisted with the installation and deinstallation of Pont Neuf Wrapped wore uniforms designed by Willi Smith.

 

The couple relocated to New York City, the new art world capital, in 1964. Christo began to make Store Fronts, wooden facades made to resemble shop windows, which he continued for four years. His largest piece was shown in the 1968 Documenta 4. In the mid-1960s, they also created Air Packages,[8] inflated and wrapped research balloons.[9] In 1969, at the invitation of the museum director Jan van der Marck they wrapped the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art while it remained open.[10] It was panned by the public and ordered to be undone by the fire department, which went unenforced.[11] With the help of Australian collector John Kaldor, Christo and Jeanne-Claude and 100 volunteers wrapped the coast of Sydney's Little Bay as Wrapped Coast, the first piece for Kaldor Public Art Projects.[12]

There are many smaller stories within the larger sweep of history. Christo, the Bulgarian-born artist who died on 31 May 2020, famous for his gigantic wrapping works at the scale of Paris’s Pont Neuf in 1985 and the Berlin Reichstag ten years later, first came into existence thanks to a hairdresser. When Christo was a young artist, this hairdresser, René Bourgeois, introduced him to rich ladies whose portraits he painted to survive. And it was within this context that he was introduced to Précida Guillebon who had a daughter named Jeanne Claude; a young upper class girl who would eventually become Christo’s wife, his accomplice, and the linchpin of his sprawling projects, whose name would end up appearing with his on their works. She died in 2009. Between 1958 and 1964 Christo lived in Paris, before going to spend the rest of his life in New York. The Centre Pompidou’s exhibition focuses on this particular period, which would determine the rest of his creative output, followed by two large rooms homing in on the “making of” the project that remains etched in memory but which lasted only two weeks (like all of his monumental works): the wrapping of the Pont Neuf. It was in 1958 that Christo, a young refugee from Eastern Europe who crossed the border hidden in the back of a truck, began wrapping objects. He was interested in their volume and he talks about this as a process of “mummifying”, a practice he performed unconsciously: “I don’t know why I wrapped things”. At the time it was interpreted as the actions of a nomad figuratively packing his bags. Christo went off to explore different directions, including the “Wall of Oil Barrels” which the influential art critic of the time Pierre Restany referred to as “cathedrals of an unknown religion”. This description also perfectly encapsulates the artist’s future monumental practice. On 18 September 2021 he was due to wrap the Arc de Triomphe in Paris over a period of two weeks. The project, the ultimate ephemeral cathedral to the cult of Christo, had to be delayed owing to rare birds nesting on top of the Napoleonic edifice.

 

judithbenhamouhuet.com/centre-pompidou-why-did-christo-wr...

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christo_and_Jeanne-Claude

The Helix Bridge, previously known as the Double Helix Bridge, is a pedestrian bridge linking Marina Centre with Marina South in the Marina Bay area in Singapore. It was officially opened on 24 April 2010 at 9 pm, however only half was opened due to ongoing construction at the Marina Bay Sands. It is located beside the Benjamin Sheares Bridge and is accompanied by a vehicular bridge, known as the Bayfront Bridge. The entire bridge was opened on 18 July 2010 to complete the entire walkway around Marina Bay.

 

The bridge complements other major development projects planned in the area, including the highly anticipated Integrated Resort Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Flyer, Gardens by the Bay and the 438,000 m² business and financial centre which will be ready by 2012.

French postcard by Editions La Malibran, Paris / Saint-Dié, no. CA 4. Photo: The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935). Caption: Harpo - Groucho - Chico Marx.

 

The Marx Brothers was the name for a group of American-Jewish comedians from the first half of the 20th century who were actually brothers. Their career started in theatre, but they became world-famous through their films. They are known for their wild, anarchic and often surrealist humour. Their jokes consist of slapstick, but also puns and intelligent dialogue. With their rebellious jokes, they were the forerunners of generations of anti-sentimental comedians. Five brothers together formed The Marx Brothers, even though the five of them never actually performed at the same time: Harpo, Chico, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.

 

The eldest brother, Chico (1887-1961) was born Leonard Marx. Manfred was actually the eldest, but he died as a child. Chico was the one who decided to make musical comedies with his other brothers. At the time, he had learnt an Italian accent to convince any anti-Semites in the neighbourhood that he was Italian and not a Jew. This accent, along with his talent as a piano player, became one of his trademarks. In the films, he usually fulfilled the role of a sly and shady con man, the confidant of Harpo, a confident pianist and the sceptical assistant of Groucho.

 

Harpo (1888-1964) was born Adolph and changed his name to Arthur in WWI because he found the name too German. As an actor, Harpo played the role of a mute, who never speaks but expresses himself through sign language, whistling and using his horn. Like a cross between a child and a wild beast, he sets everything in motion, harassing everyone, pulling the most peculiar things out of his coat (such as a candle burning on two sides, a coiled rope, a pin-up poster, etc.), and chasing women with his horn. His pseudonym "Harpo" was derived from the fact that he played the harp, for which there was a musical interlude in almost every film.

 

Groucho (1890-1977) was born Julius Henry Marx. His trademarks were his grin, thick cigar, waddling gait and sarcastic remarks, insults and puns. In the films, he was constantly trying to get money or women, talking everyone under the table with his witty and intelligent remarks. He was also a singer and some of his songs have become classics, such as 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady'.

 

Gummo (1892-1977) was born Milton and was the least-known Marx Brother. He was the one who first performed with Groucho, but before the big Broadway success came he had stopped acting. For years, he was his brother's manager.

 

Zeppo (1901-1979) was born Herbert Marx and was the youngest of the Marx Brothers. He took over the role of Gummo when the latter quit. Zeppo was the romantic declarer. Though he could take on more versatile roles, he was typecast as the most serious of the four.

 

The Marx Brothers were the five surviving sons of Sam and Minnie Marx. The family lived in Yorkville on New York's Upper East Side, a neighbourhood sandwiched between the Irish-German and Italian quarters. Their career already began at the beginning of the century in vaudeville shows, with which their maternal uncle, Al Shean, had already been successful. Groucho was the first to embark on a career on stage, but initially with very little success. Their mother and sister also appeared on stage with their sons at times. However, the focus soon shifted from music and singing with humorous segues to comedy with musical interludes. The different roles of musicians and comedians crystallised relatively early. While Chico developed the stereotype of the womaniser with an Italian accent who was always chasing the chicks, Groucho dropped his accent as a German during the First World War due to a lack of popularity. Harpo remained speechless on stage, as he had the greatest successes playing his jokes as a mime in a red or, in films, blond curly wig, or playing his grandmother's old harp. A classroom sketch in which Groucho tried to teach his brothers evolved into the comedy show 'I'll Say She Is which became their first success on Bradway and in England. This was followed by two more Broadway hits: 'The Cocoanuts' and 'Animal Crackers'. The Marx Brothers' shows became popular at a time when Hollywood was experiencing the transition from silent film to talkies. The brothers signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and thus launched their film career.

 

The last two Broadway shows of The Marx Brothers became their first films, The Cocoanuts (Robert Florey, 1929) and Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman, 1930). Their next film was Money Business (Norman Z. McLeod, 1931). Between 1932 and 1933, a total of 26 episodes of the radio show 'Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel' were made, with Groucho voicing the lawyer Waldorf T. Flywheel and Chico voicing his sidekick Emmanuel Ravelli. The first three episodes were broadcast under the title 'Beagle, Shyster & Beagle'. The title was then changed after a New York lawyer named "Beagle" threatened to sue. Some of the dialogue from the radio broadcasts was later used in the Marx Brothers films. Their most successful film of the early period was Horse Feathers (Norman Z. McLeod, 1932), a satire on the American college system. But Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933), generally considered their masterpiece, had much less success. It marked their break with Paramount. Zeppo, who always played serious roles, stopped making films after this. The Marx Brothers' first five films are generally considered their best, expressing their surrealist and anarchic humour in its purest form. The three remaining brothers moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and changed the formula of their subsequent films. Their remaining films were given romantic plots and serious musical interludes, often intended as resting points between the often hilarious comic sketches. In A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935), a satire on the opera world, the brothers help two young singers in love. The film was very successful and was followed by the equally popular A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937), where they kicked up a fuss at a race track. Several less memorable films followed until 1941. After the war, two more films A Night in Casablanca (Archie Mayo, 1946) and Love Happy (David Miller, 1949) followed to pay off Chico's gambling debts. This was followed by the mediocre film The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957), and a television special The Incredible Jewel Robbery (1959). These productions were already interludes, while each brother had already picked up a career of his own. Chico and Harpo continued on stage and Groucho had started a career as a radio and television entertainer. With his television and radio show 'You Bet Your Life', he became one of the most popular show hosts of the 1950s in the USA. The first episodes of the show were still broadcast live, as was customary at the time. But because Groucho's unbridled wordplay caused headaches for those in charge of the show, they deviated from this for later episodes and the programme was broadcast as a recording. He also wrote a number of books. Gummo and Zeppo ran a theatre agency together. A final film project planned for 1960, starring the Marx Brothers once again and directed by Billy Wilder, did not materialise due to Chico's poor health. It was to be an anti-war satire in the style of Duck Soup. Even Groucho, who at the time was no longer very interested in further Marx Brothers films, is said to have been enthusiastic about the project because he considered Billy Wilder to be one of the best directors.

 

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Well, this probably happened a loooooooonnng time ago, but apparently we have over 3,000,000 total views. So thanks to all of you guys for following our work (or at least the little that we actually post anymore) and making our experience in the LEGO community such a blast.

 

Update-wise, we're pretty darn busy. As a result, we currently have no projects planned besides Outbreak as an ongoing series. So here's a question: what do you guys want to see in particular beyond our Outbreak series? We might not get to it for a while, but we're open to suggestions :)

 

Anyway, that's it for now. Thanks again, everyone!

 

-JJ

Tikhvin Cemetery (Russian: Тихвинское кладбище) is a historic cemetery in the centre of Saint Petersburg. It is part of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and is one of four cemeteries in the complex. Since 1932 it has been part of the State Museum of Urban Sculpture , which refers to it as the Necropolis of the Masters of Art (Russian: Некрополь мастеров искусств).

Opened in 1823 after the monastery's first cemetery, the Lazarevskoe, had become overcrowded, the cemetery was initially called the "New Lazarevsky". It acquired its name after the building of its cemetery church, consecrated to the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God. It soon superseded the Lazarevskoe Cemetery and became a popular and prestigious burial ground. The first literary figure, Nikolay Karamzin, was buried in the cemetery in 1826, followed in 1833 by Nikolay Gnedich, an associate of Alexander Pushkin's. Several other friends of Pushkin were later buried in the cemetery. Particularly significant interments were those of Mikhail Glinka in 1857, Fyodor Dostoevsky in 1881, Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Borodin in the 1880s, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1891.

During the Soviet period the cemetery was earmarked for development into a museum necropolis, envisaged primarily as a landscaped park, with strategically placed memorials to important figures of Russian history. With several notable artists having already been buried in the cemetery, it was decided to designate it as the "Necropolis of the Masters of Art". During the 1930s many important Russian composers, painters, sculptors, writers and poets were exhumed from their original resting places across the city, and brought, with or without their monuments, to be reburied in the Tikhvin cemetery. At the same time the monuments of those figures deemed not in keeping with the artistic theme of the cemetery were removed or destroyed. Several more burials of particularly important artists took place during the Soviet period, as the cemetery established a role as a kind of national pantheon. Today the cemetery operates as a museum necropolis under the auspices of the State Museum of Urban Sculpture.

The cemetery is located close to Alexander Nevsky Square, to the right of the pathway leading from the Gate Church to the River Monastyrka. This land had previously been occupied with ornamental and vegetable gardens. The first cemetery in the monastery, the Lazarevskoe Cemetery, had been established in 1717, and by the early nineteenth century was becoming overcrowded. In March 1823 the monastery authorities proposed the creation of a new burial ground opposite the St. Petersburg Theological Consistory. The new cemetery, initially called the "New Lazarevsky" (Russian: Ново-Лазаревским), was established in the eastern part of the plot of land, between the pathway to the monastery, and the consistory building, enclosed with a wooden fence. Over time it expanded to the west, into the areas formerly occupied by monastic gardens, and in the 1870s it was enclosed with a stone wall.

The brothers D. M. and N. M. Polezhaev, wealthy merchants, funded the construction of a cemetery church, laid down on 26 September 1869 and built to the design of architect N. P. Grebyonki. The church was consecrated on 2 February 1873 in the name of the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God, which from about 1876 became the common name of the cemetery. Two icons, one of Saint Dimitry of Rostov, and one of Saint Mary of Egypt, were painted by Pavel Pleshanov for the church. In 1825 the church and cemetery were visited by Emperor Alexander I, prior to his journey to Taganrog.

The burial vault of Polezhaev family was in the crypt of the church, and in 1901 the church underwent renovations. In 1918 archpriest Peter Skipetrov of the Gate Church, who had been shot and killed during an early attempt by the Bolsheviks to requisition the monastery on 19 January 1918, was buried under the church's altar. The church was closed in 1931 and between 1935 and 1937 it was converted into a post office, with the destruction of its facades and interiors. With the establishment of the State Museum of Urban Sculpture, the building housed its scientific department, and now houses an exhibition hall as part of the museum.

The rate of burials in the Old and New Lazarevskoe cemeteries was about equal during the early years of the latter's existence, though by the 1830s the New Lazarevskoe Cemetery became more popular. Burials initially took place in the eastern part of the cemetery, and in 1825 the holy fool monk Patermufy was buried there. In 1826 the writer Nikolay Karamzin was buried in the cemetery, followed in 1833 by Nikolay Gnedich, a contemporary of Pushkin's. Gnedich's funeral on 6 February 1833 was attended by many prominent literary figures, including Pushkin, Ivan Krylov, Pyotr Vyazemsky, Pyotr Pletnyov, Fyodor Tolstoy and Alexey Olenin. With the exception of Pushkin, all would eventually be buried in the Lavra's cemeteries; Krylov, Vyazemsky, Pletnyov and Olenin in the Tikhvin, and Tolstoy in the Lazarevskoe. In 1844 another contemporary poet of Pushkin's, Yevgeny Baratynsky, was buried in the cemetery.

The cemetery became a popular and prestigious burial ground for those of many areas of society. The wealthy merchant A.I. Kosikovsky was buried under a monumental sarcophagus on a high pedestal surmounted by a canopy on eight fluted columns. Opposite it stood a similarly grand monument to the statesman Pavel Demidov, which has since been lost. In 1857 the remains of the composer Mikhail Glinka were returned from Berlin and buried in the cemetery, with a grand monument erected two years later to the design of architect I. I. Gornostayev, with sculptures by Nikolai Laveretsky. On 1 February 1881 the author Fyodor Dostoevsky was buried in the cemetery, with a similarly large monument. During the 1880s composers Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Borodin were buried in the northern part of the grounds, with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky following in 1891. Eventually all the members of the group of composers termed "The Five", or the "Mighty Handful"; Mussorgsky, Borodin, as well as Mily Balakirev, César Cui and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, were buried in the cemetery.

By the beginning of the 20th century the Tikhvin cemetery contained 1,325 monuments of various designs and sizes, including monumental crosses on pedestals, sarcophagi and steles. There were several family plots with chapels and large crypts of granite and marble.

During the early Soviet period a number of monuments were stolen or destroyed. The cemetery was officially closed for burials in 1927, though they continued until 1932, and it was decided to turn it into a necropolis museum, displaying historically and artistically significant graves. Alongside this was concept of gathering together the graves of the friends and contemporaries of Alexander Pushkin for the 1937 centenary commemorations of the poet's death. The architectural and planning department of Lensovet, the city administration, was tasked with creating a memorial park project. Plans were drawn up by architects E.N. Sandler and E.K. Reimers, with further input from the city's chief architect L.A. Ilyin. The Funeral Affair Trust was established to run the necropolis museum, including removing abandoned gravestones for sale as building materials.

The Funeral Affair Trust was authorised to acquire and transfer important graves and monuments from other cemeteries and churches across the city. Meanwhile, those existing graves in the cemetery that were not considered particularly artistic or historic were to be demolished to create space for those brought from other locations. A list of graves in the cemetery was compiled and work began in 1935, planned for completion on 15 August the following year. A 3 July 1935 resolution from the Presidium of Lensovet set out the vision for the future of the necropolis museums.

The short timeframe allowed for completion of the work led to the hasty and unsystematic demolition of a number of monuments, with the bulk of the work only being completed by August 1937, with remedial work continuing for many years afterwards.

The reconstruction radically altered the nature and appearance of the Tikhvin cemetery. With the intention being to create an "artists' necropolis", graves of those from other sections of society were removed. Fewer than a hundred of the original monuments were preserved. Some were transferred to the neighbouring "Necropolis of the XVIII century", the former Lazarevskoe Cemetery, while others, including those of Aleksandr Gradovsky, Anatoly Koni and Viktor Pashutin, were transferred to the other museum necropolis being established in the Volkov Cemetery. Meanwhile, the remains of prominent artists, sculptors, composers and musicians were reburied in the cemetery. Among them were personal friends of Pushkin, including Konstantin Danzas, Anton Delvig, and Fyodor Matyushkin. Some remains came from cemeteries earmarked for demolition, such as the Mitrofanievsky, Farforovskoe, and Vyborg Roman Catholic Cemetery; and others from those that were intended to be kept open, such as the Smolensky, Volkovo, Novodevichy, and Nikolskoe cemeteries. The necropolis was created during an ongoing anti-religious campaign, therefore monuments with religious symbols were often replaced by monuments made by the museum.

The cemetery reconstruction project concentrated the representatives of each type of art together, with even monuments that had been in the Tikhvin originally being moved to fit the new organisational scheme. Composers and musicians were reburied mainly on the "Composer's path", near the northern boundary of the cemetery. Painters and sculptors were placed in the western part, while those who in their lifetimes had been associated with Pushkin were placed close to the eastern section, near the cemetery entrance. Some of the older monuments from the removed graves were retained to serve as decorative ornaments, such as columns placed at the intersection of avenues. The decoration of the park-necropolis was to be enhanced by the construction of one large and four small fountains, and the installation of granite benches. The Tikhvin Church was slated for demolition to improve the access direct from Alexander Nevsky Square. The organisers were faced with the problem that despite designating the cemetery to be the artists' necropolis, historically the Tikhvin had primarily been the burial ground of statesmen, military leaders, scientists, and composers. There were relatively few graves of writers, who had tended to prefer the Smolensky Cemetery; or artists, who had traditionally chosen the Nikolskoe or Novodevichy Cemetery. This necessitated the transfer of a large number of burials and monuments, which took place in two main periods, from 1936 to 1941 and from 1948 to 1952.

During the Second World War and the siege of Leningrad, the museum worked to provide protection and shelter for monuments. Only a single gravestone was damaged, that of the actress Varvara Asenkova. The monument, designed by Ivan Sosnytsky, consisted of a granite canopy over a pedestal with a verse epitaph and bronze bust of the actress by Ivan Vitali and had been transferred along with the actress's remains from the Smolensky Cemetery in 1936. It was destroyed by a direct hit from a bomb in 1943. In 1955 the museum installed a marble replica of the bust made by D.A. Sprishinym. Other monuments were stored in the Lavra's Annunciation Church.

Restoration work began immediately after the end of the war, with the necropolis-museum opening in August 1947. The programme of moving and installing monuments resumed after the war and continued until the mid-1950s. There were also several burials of prominent Soviet citizens, as the cemetery gained the status of an urban pantheon. Those buried here included the scientist Sergey Lebedev in 1934, artist Mikhail Avilov in 1954, and actor Nikolay Cherkasov in 1966. In 1972 the remains of the composer Alexander Glazunov were transferred from Paris. In 1968 Fyodor Dostoevsky's wife Anna Dostoevskaya was reburied next to her husband, while theatre director Georgy Tovstonogov was interred in the cemetery in 1989. So far Tovstonogov's has been the last burial to take place in the cemetery.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikhvin_Cemetery

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_burials_at_Tikhvin_Cemetery

 

www.monument-tracker.com/es/guia/6505-cementerios-tikhvin...

 

www.monument-tracker.com/en/guide/6505-cemeteries-tikhvin...

  

join me in my moon project , plan to take a pic of the moon every day it is visible for a year , even if you can add a few it would be fun. www.flickr.com/groups/2651143@N24/

Canadian postcard by Canadian Postcard, no. A-57. Caption: Marx Brothers, Groucho, Harpo and Chico.

 

The Marx Brothers was the name for a group of American-Jewish comedians from the first half of the 20th century who were actually brothers. Their career started in theatre, but they became world-famous through their films. They are known for their wild, anarchic and often surrealist humour. Their jokes consist of slapstick, but also puns and intelligent dialogue. With their rebellious jokes, they were the forerunners of generations of anti-sentimental comedians. Five brothers together formed The Marx Brothers, even though the five of them never actually performed at the same time: Harpo, Chico, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.

 

The eldest brother, Chico (1887-1961) was born Leonard Marx. Manfred was actually the eldest, but he died as a child. Chico was the one who decided to make musical comedies with his other brothers. At the time, he had learnt an Italian accent to convince any anti-Semites in the neighbourhood that he was Italian and not a Jew. This accent, along with his talent as a piano player, became one of his trademarks. In the films, he usually fulfilled the role of a sly and shady con man, the confidant of Harpo, a confident pianist and the sceptical assistant of Groucho.

 

Harpo (1888-1964) was born Adolph and changed his name to Arthur in WWI because he found the name too German. As an actor, Harpo played the role of a mute, who never speaks but expresses himself through sign language, whistling and using his horn. Like a cross between a child and a wild beast, he sets everything in motion, harassing everyone, pulling the most peculiar things out of his coat (such as a candle burning on two sides, a coiled rope, a pin-up poster, etc.), and chasing women with his horn. His pseudonym "Harpo" was derived from the fact that he played the harp, for which there was a musical interlude in almost every film.

 

Groucho (1890-1977) was born Julius Henry Marx. His trademarks were his grin, thick cigar, waddling gait and sarcastic remarks, insults and puns. In the films, he was constantly trying to get money or women, talking everyone under the table with his witty and intelligent remarks. He was also a singer and some of his songs have become classics, such as 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady'.

 

Gummo (1892-1977) was born Milton and was the least-known Marx Brother. He was the one who first performed with Groucho, but before the big Broadway success came he had stopped acting. For years, he was his brother's manager.

 

Zeppo (1901-1979) was born Herbert Marx and was the youngest of the Marx Brothers. He took over the role of Gummo when the latter quit. Zeppo was the romantic declarer. Though he could take on more versatile roles, he was typecast as the most serious of the four.

 

The Marx Brothers were the five surviving sons of Sam and Minnie Marx. The family lived in Yorkville on New York's Upper East Side, a neighbourhood sandwiched between the Irish-German and Italian quarters. Their career already began at the beginning of the century in vaudeville shows, with which their maternal uncle, Al Shean, had already been successful. Groucho was the first to embark on a career on stage, but initially with very little success. Their mother and sister also appeared on stage with their sons at times. However, the focus soon shifted from music and singing with humorous segues to comedy with musical interludes. The different roles of musicians and comedians crystallised relatively early. While Chico developed the stereotype of the womaniser with an Italian accent who was always chasing the chicks, Groucho dropped his accent as a German during the First World War due to a lack of popularity. Harpo remained speechless on stage, as he had the greatest successes playing his jokes as a mime in a red or, in films, blond curly wig, or playing his grandmother's old harp. A classroom sketch in which Groucho tried to teach his brothers evolved into the comedy show 'I'll Say She Is which became their first success on Bradway and in England. This was followed by two more Broadway hits: 'The Cocoanuts' and 'Animal Crackers'. The Marx Brothers' shows became popular at a time when Hollywood was experiencing the transition from silent film to talkies. The brothers signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and thus launched their film career.

 

The last two Broadway shows of The Marx Brothers became their first films, The Cocoanuts (Robert Florey, 1929) and Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman, 1930). Their next film was Money Business (Norman Z. McLeod, 1931). Between 1932 and 1933, a total of 26 episodes of the radio show 'Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel' were made, with Groucho voicing the lawyer Waldorf T. Flywheel and Chico voicing his sidekick Emmanuel Ravelli. The first three episodes were broadcast under the title 'Beagle, Shyster & Beagle'. The title was then changed after a New York lawyer named "Beagle" threatened to sue. Some of the dialogue from the radio broadcasts was later used in the Marx Brothers films. Their most successful film of the early period was Horse Feathers (Norman Z. McLeod, 1932), a satire on the American college system. But Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933), generally considered their masterpiece, had much less success. It marked their break with Paramount. Zeppo, who always played serious roles, stopped making films after this. The Marx Brothers' first five films are generally considered their best, expressing their surrealist and anarchic humour in its purest form. The three remaining brothers moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and changed the formula of their subsequent films. Their remaining films were given romantic plots and serious musical interludes, often intended as resting points between the often hilarious comic sketches. In A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935), a satire on the opera world, the brothers help two young singers in love. The film was very successful and was followed by the equally popular A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937), where they kicked up a fuss at a race track. Several less memorable films followed until 1941. After the war, two more films A Night in Casablanca (Archie Mayo, 1946) and Love Happy (David Miller, 1949) followed to pay off Chico's gambling debts. This was followed by the mediocre film The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957), and a television special The Incredible Jewel Robbery (1959). These productions were already interludes, while each brother had already picked up a career of his own. Chico and Harpo continued on stage and Groucho had started a career as a radio and television entertainer. With his television and radio show 'You Bet Your Life', he became one of the most popular show hosts of the 1950s in the USA. The first episodes of the show were still broadcast live, as was customary at the time. But because Groucho's unbridled wordplay caused headaches for those in charge of the show, they deviated from this for later episodes and the programme was broadcast as a recording. He also wrote a number of books. Gummo and Zeppo ran a theatre agency together. A final film project planned for 1960, starring the Marx Brothers once again and directed by Billy Wilder, did not materialise due to Chico's poor health. It was to be an anti-war satire in the style of Duck Soup. Even Groucho, who at the time was no longer very interested in further Marx Brothers films, is said to have been enthusiastic about the project because he considered Billy Wilder to be one of the best directors.

 

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Tikhvin Cemetery (Russian: Тихвинское кладбище) is a historic cemetery in the centre of Saint Petersburg. It is part of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and is one of four cemeteries in the complex. Since 1932 it has been part of the State Museum of Urban Sculpture , which refers to it as the Necropolis of the Masters of Art (Russian: Некрополь мастеров искусств).

Opened in 1823 after the monastery's first cemetery, the Lazarevskoe, had become overcrowded, the cemetery was initially called the "New Lazarevsky". It acquired its name after the building of its cemetery church, consecrated to the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God. It soon superseded the Lazarevskoe Cemetery and became a popular and prestigious burial ground. The first literary figure, Nikolay Karamzin, was buried in the cemetery in 1826, followed in 1833 by Nikolay Gnedich, an associate of Alexander Pushkin's. Several other friends of Pushkin were later buried in the cemetery. Particularly significant interments were those of Mikhail Glinka in 1857, Fyodor Dostoevsky in 1881, Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Borodin in the 1880s, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1891.

During the Soviet period the cemetery was earmarked for development into a museum necropolis, envisaged primarily as a landscaped park, with strategically placed memorials to important figures of Russian history. With several notable artists having already been buried in the cemetery, it was decided to designate it as the "Necropolis of the Masters of Art". During the 1930s many important Russian composers, painters, sculptors, writers and poets were exhumed from their original resting places across the city, and brought, with or without their monuments, to be reburied in the Tikhvin cemetery. At the same time the monuments of those figures deemed not in keeping with the artistic theme of the cemetery were removed or destroyed. Several more burials of particularly important artists took place during the Soviet period, as the cemetery established a role as a kind of national pantheon. Today the cemetery operates as a museum necropolis under the auspices of the State Museum of Urban Sculpture.

The cemetery is located close to Alexander Nevsky Square, to the right of the pathway leading from the Gate Church to the River Monastyrka. This land had previously been occupied with ornamental and vegetable gardens. The first cemetery in the monastery, the Lazarevskoe Cemetery, had been established in 1717, and by the early nineteenth century was becoming overcrowded. In March 1823 the monastery authorities proposed the creation of a new burial ground opposite the St. Petersburg Theological Consistory. The new cemetery, initially called the "New Lazarevsky" (Russian: Ново-Лазаревским), was established in the eastern part of the plot of land, between the pathway to the monastery, and the consistory building, enclosed with a wooden fence. Over time it expanded to the west, into the areas formerly occupied by monastic gardens, and in the 1870s it was enclosed with a stone wall.

The brothers D. M. and N. M. Polezhaev, wealthy merchants, funded the construction of a cemetery church, laid down on 26 September 1869 and built to the design of architect N. P. Grebyonki. The church was consecrated on 2 February 1873 in the name of the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God, which from about 1876 became the common name of the cemetery. Two icons, one of Saint Dimitry of Rostov, and one of Saint Mary of Egypt, were painted by Pavel Pleshanov for the church. In 1825 the church and cemetery were visited by Emperor Alexander I, prior to his journey to Taganrog.

The burial vault of Polezhaev family was in the crypt of the church, and in 1901 the church underwent renovations. In 1918 archpriest Peter Skipetrov of the Gate Church, who had been shot and killed during an early attempt by the Bolsheviks to requisition the monastery on 19 January 1918, was buried under the church's altar. The church was closed in 1931 and between 1935 and 1937 it was converted into a post office, with the destruction of its facades and interiors. With the establishment of the State Museum of Urban Sculpture, the building housed its scientific department, and now houses an exhibition hall as part of the museum.

The rate of burials in the Old and New Lazarevskoe cemeteries was about equal during the early years of the latter's existence, though by the 1830s the New Lazarevskoe Cemetery became more popular. Burials initially took place in the eastern part of the cemetery, and in 1825 the holy fool monk Patermufy was buried there. In 1826 the writer Nikolay Karamzin was buried in the cemetery, followed in 1833 by Nikolay Gnedich, a contemporary of Pushkin's. Gnedich's funeral on 6 February 1833 was attended by many prominent literary figures, including Pushkin, Ivan Krylov, Pyotr Vyazemsky, Pyotr Pletnyov, Fyodor Tolstoy and Alexey Olenin. With the exception of Pushkin, all would eventually be buried in the Lavra's cemeteries; Krylov, Vyazemsky, Pletnyov and Olenin in the Tikhvin, and Tolstoy in the Lazarevskoe. In 1844 another contemporary poet of Pushkin's, Yevgeny Baratynsky, was buried in the cemetery.

The cemetery became a popular and prestigious burial ground for those of many areas of society. The wealthy merchant A.I. Kosikovsky was buried under a monumental sarcophagus on a high pedestal surmounted by a canopy on eight fluted columns. Opposite it stood a similarly grand monument to the statesman Pavel Demidov, which has since been lost. In 1857 the remains of the composer Mikhail Glinka were returned from Berlin and buried in the cemetery, with a grand monument erected two years later to the design of architect I. I. Gornostayev, with sculptures by Nikolai Laveretsky. On 1 February 1881 the author Fyodor Dostoevsky was buried in the cemetery, with a similarly large monument. During the 1880s composers Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Borodin were buried in the northern part of the grounds, with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky following in 1891. Eventually all the members of the group of composers termed "The Five", or the "Mighty Handful"; Mussorgsky, Borodin, as well as Mily Balakirev, César Cui and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, were buried in the cemetery.

By the beginning of the 20th century the Tikhvin cemetery contained 1,325 monuments of various designs and sizes, including monumental crosses on pedestals, sarcophagi and steles. There were several family plots with chapels and large crypts of granite and marble.

During the early Soviet period a number of monuments were stolen or destroyed. The cemetery was officially closed for burials in 1927, though they continued until 1932, and it was decided to turn it into a necropolis museum, displaying historically and artistically significant graves. Alongside this was concept of gathering together the graves of the friends and contemporaries of Alexander Pushkin for the 1937 centenary commemorations of the poet's death. The architectural and planning department of Lensovet, the city administration, was tasked with creating a memorial park project. Plans were drawn up by architects E.N. Sandler and E.K. Reimers, with further input from the city's chief architect L.A. Ilyin. The Funeral Affair Trust was established to run the necropolis museum, including removing abandoned gravestones for sale as building materials.

The Funeral Affair Trust was authorised to acquire and transfer important graves and monuments from other cemeteries and churches across the city. Meanwhile, those existing graves in the cemetery that were not considered particularly artistic or historic were to be demolished to create space for those brought from other locations. A list of graves in the cemetery was compiled and work began in 1935, planned for completion on 15 August the following year. A 3 July 1935 resolution from the Presidium of Lensovet set out the vision for the future of the necropolis museums.

The short timeframe allowed for completion of the work led to the hasty and unsystematic demolition of a number of monuments, with the bulk of the work only being completed by August 1937, with remedial work continuing for many years afterwards.

The reconstruction radically altered the nature and appearance of the Tikhvin cemetery. With the intention being to create an "artists' necropolis", graves of those from other sections of society were removed. Fewer than a hundred of the original monuments were preserved. Some were transferred to the neighbouring "Necropolis of the XVIII century", the former Lazarevskoe Cemetery, while others, including those of Aleksandr Gradovsky, Anatoly Koni and Viktor Pashutin, were transferred to the other museum necropolis being established in the Volkov Cemetery. Meanwhile, the remains of prominent artists, sculptors, composers and musicians were reburied in the cemetery. Among them were personal friends of Pushkin, including Konstantin Danzas, Anton Delvig, and Fyodor Matyushkin. Some remains came from cemeteries earmarked for demolition, such as the Mitrofanievsky, Farforovskoe, and Vyborg Roman Catholic Cemetery; and others from those that were intended to be kept open, such as the Smolensky, Volkovo, Novodevichy, and Nikolskoe cemeteries. The necropolis was created during an ongoing anti-religious campaign, therefore monuments with religious symbols were often replaced by monuments made by the museum.

The cemetery reconstruction project concentrated the representatives of each type of art together, with even monuments that had been in the Tikhvin originally being moved to fit the new organisational scheme. Composers and musicians were reburied mainly on the "Composer's path", near the northern boundary of the cemetery. Painters and sculptors were placed in the western part, while those who in their lifetimes had been associated with Pushkin were placed close to the eastern section, near the cemetery entrance. Some of the older monuments from the removed graves were retained to serve as decorative ornaments, such as columns placed at the intersection of avenues. The decoration of the park-necropolis was to be enhanced by the construction of one large and four small fountains, and the installation of granite benches. The Tikhvin Church was slated for demolition to improve the access direct from Alexander Nevsky Square. The organisers were faced with the problem that despite designating the cemetery to be the artists' necropolis, historically the Tikhvin had primarily been the burial ground of statesmen, military leaders, scientists, and composers. There were relatively few graves of writers, who had tended to prefer the Smolensky Cemetery; or artists, who had traditionally chosen the Nikolskoe or Novodevichy Cemetery. This necessitated the transfer of a large number of burials and monuments, which took place in two main periods, from 1936 to 1941 and from 1948 to 1952.

During the Second World War and the siege of Leningrad, the museum worked to provide protection and shelter for monuments. Only a single gravestone was damaged, that of the actress Varvara Asenkova. The monument, designed by Ivan Sosnytsky, consisted of a granite canopy over a pedestal with a verse epitaph and bronze bust of the actress by Ivan Vitali and had been transferred along with the actress's remains from the Smolensky Cemetery in 1936. It was destroyed by a direct hit from a bomb in 1943. In 1955 the museum installed a marble replica of the bust made by D.A. Sprishinym. Other monuments were stored in the Lavra's Annunciation Church.

Restoration work began immediately after the end of the war, with the necropolis-museum opening in August 1947. The programme of moving and installing monuments resumed after the war and continued until the mid-1950s. There were also several burials of prominent Soviet citizens, as the cemetery gained the status of an urban pantheon. Those buried here included the scientist Sergey Lebedev in 1934, artist Mikhail Avilov in 1954, and actor Nikolay Cherkasov in 1966. In 1972 the remains of the composer Alexander Glazunov were transferred from Paris. In 1968 Fyodor Dostoevsky's wife Anna Dostoevskaya was reburied next to her husband, while theatre director Georgy Tovstonogov was interred in the cemetery in 1989. So far Tovstonogov's has been the last burial to take place in the cemetery.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikhvin_Cemetery

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_burials_at_Tikhvin_Cemetery

 

www.monument-tracker.com/es/guia/6505-cementerios-tikhvin...

 

www.monument-tracker.com/en/guide/6505-cemeteries-tikhvin...

  

Spanish collectors card by Imp. Suso, Burgos. Photo: Filmofono. The Marx Brothers in A Night in Casablanca (Archie Mayo, 1946).

 

The Marx Brothers was the name for a group of American-Jewish comedians from the first half of the 20th century who were actually brothers. Their career started in theatre, but they became world-famous through their films. They are known for their wild, anarchic and often surrealist humour. Their jokes consist of slapstick, but also puns and intelligent dialogue. With their rebellious jokes, they were the forerunners of generations of anti-sentimental comedians. Five brothers together formed The Marx Brothers, even though the five of them never actually performed at the same time: Harpo, Chico, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.

 

The eldest brother, Chico (1887-1961) was born Leonard Marx. Manfred was actually the eldest, but he died as a child. Chico was the one who decided to make musical comedies with his other brothers. At the time, he had learnt an Italian accent to convince any anti-Semites in the neighbourhood that he was Italian and not a Jew. This accent, along with his talent as a piano player, became one of his trademarks. In the films, he usually fulfilled the role of a sly and shady con man, the confidant of Harpo, a confident pianist and the sceptical assistant of Groucho.

 

Harpo (1888-1964) was born Adolph and changed his name to Arthur in WWI because he found the name too German. As an actor, Harpo played the role of a mute, who never speaks but expresses himself through sign language, whistling and using his horn. Like a cross between a child and a wild beast, he sets everything in motion, harassing everyone, pulling the most peculiar things out of his coat (such as a candle burning on two sides, a coiled rope, a pin-up poster, etc.), and chasing women with his horn. His pseudonym "Harpo" was derived from the fact that he played the harp, for which there was a musical interlude in almost every film.

 

Groucho (1890-1977) was born Julius Henry Marx. His trademarks were his grin, thick cigar, waddling gait and sarcastic remarks, insults and puns. In the films, he was constantly trying to get money or women, talking everyone under the table with his witty and intelligent remarks. He was also a singer and some of his songs have become classics, such as 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady'.

 

Gummo (1892-1977) was born Milton and was the least-known Marx Brother. He was the one who first performed with Groucho, but before the big Broadway success came he had stopped acting. For years, he was his brother's manager.

 

Zeppo (1901-1979) was born Herbert Marx and was the youngest of the Marx Brothers. He took over the role of Gummo when the latter quit. Zeppo was the romantic declarer. Though he could take on more versatile roles, he was typecast as the most serious of the four.

 

The Marx Brothers were the five surviving sons of Sam and Minnie Marx. The family lived in Yorkville on New York's Upper East Side, a neighbourhood sandwiched between the Irish-German and Italian quarters. Their career already began at the beginning of the century in vaudeville shows, with which their maternal uncle, Al Shean, had already been successful. Groucho was the first to embark on a career on stage, but initially with very little success. Their mother and sister also appeared on stage with their sons at times. However, the focus soon shifted from music and singing with humorous segues to comedy with musical interludes. The different roles of musicians and comedians crystallised relatively early. While Chico developed the stereotype of the womaniser with an Italian accent who was always chasing the chicks, Groucho dropped his accent as a German during the First World War due to a lack of popularity. Harpo remained speechless on stage, as he had the greatest successes playing his jokes as a mime in a red or, in films, blond curly wig, or playing his grandmother's old harp. A classroom sketch in which Groucho tried to teach his brothers evolved into the comedy show 'I'll Say She Is which became their first success on Bradway and in England. This was followed by two more Broadway hits: 'The Cocoanuts' and 'Animal Crackers'. The Marx Brothers' shows became popular at a time when Hollywood was experiencing the transition from silent film to talkies. The brothers signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and thus launched their film career.

 

The last two Broadway shows of The Marx Brothers became their first films, The Cocoanuts (Robert Florey, 1929) and Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman, 1930). Their next film was Money Business (Norman Z. McLeod, 1931). Between 1932 and 1933, a total of 26 episodes of the radio show 'Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel' were made, with Groucho voicing the lawyer Waldorf T. Flywheel and Chico voicing his sidekick Emmanuel Ravelli. The first three episodes were broadcast under the title 'Beagle, Shyster & Beagle'. The title was then changed after a New York lawyer named "Beagle" threatened to sue. Some of the dialogue from the radio broadcasts was later used in the Marx Brothers films. Their most successful film of the early period was Horse Feathers (Norman Z. McLeod, 1932), a satire on the American college system. But Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933), generally considered their masterpiece, had much less success. It marked their break with Paramount. Zeppo, who always played serious roles, stopped making films after this. The Marx Brothers' first five films are generally considered their best, expressing their surrealist and anarchic humour in its purest form. The three remaining brothers moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and changed the formula of their subsequent films. Their remaining films were given romantic plots and serious musical interludes, often intended as resting points between the often hilarious comic sketches. In A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935), a satire on the opera world, the brothers help two young singers in love. The film was very successful and was followed by the equally popular A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937), where they kicked up a fuss at a race track. Several less memorable films followed until 1941. After the war, two more films A Night in Casablanca (Archie Mayo, 1946) and Love Happy (David Miller, 1949) followed to pay off Chico's gambling debts. This was followed by the mediocre film The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957), and a television special The Incredible Jewel Robbery (1959). These productions were already interludes, while each brother had already picked up a career of his own. Chico and Harpo continued on stage and Groucho had started a career as a radio and television entertainer. With his television and radio show 'You Bet Your Life', he became one of the most popular show hosts of the 1950s in the USA. The first episodes of the show were still broadcast live, as was customary at the time. But because Groucho's unbridled wordplay caused headaches for those in charge of the show, they deviated from this for later episodes and the programme was broadcast as a recording. He also wrote a number of books. Gummo and Zeppo ran a theatre agency together. A final film project planned for 1960, starring the Marx Brothers once again and directed by Billy Wilder, did not materialise due to Chico's poor health. It was to be an anti-war satire in the style of Duck Soup. Even Groucho, who at the time was no longer very interested in further Marx Brothers films, is said to have been enthusiastic about the project because he considered Billy Wilder to be one of the best directors.

 

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Sagrada Familia in Ice is a project planned by master students from Eindhoven University of Technology using inflatable membranes and spraying them with Pykrete, a mix of ice and sawdust, where the latter acts as reinforcement of the ice making it three times stronger than normal ice. The top part is made of only ice and snow.

 

When I visited shortly after completion early 2015 the top part of the large dome had collapsed due to warm weather and was about to be rebuilt. The remaining structure was still impressive.

 

Check out the design and construction method on their project website

  

www.arndDewald.com

 

Un altro test di esterni.

Corona Render Engine.

Render the project and made the final image of me.

I'd like to have your opinion on the work done. !!!!!!!

Visit www.facebook.com/Maurizio-Poli-760405867422348/

The Postcard

 

A Picturegoer Series postcard, 85, Long Acre, London. The image is a glossy real photograph, and the card, which was printed in Great Britain, has a divided back.

 

Jean Harlow

 

Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter on the 3rd. March 1911) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930's, and one of the defining figures of the pre-Code era of American cinema.

 

Often nicknamed the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde", Harlow was popular for her "Laughing Vamp" screen persona.

 

Harlow was in the film industry for only nine years, but she became one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, and her image in the public eye has endured. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Harlow number 22 on its greatest female screen legends of classical Hollywood.

 

Harlow was first signed by business magnate Howard Hughes, who directed her first major role in Hell's Angels (1930). After a series of critically failed films, and Hughes' loss of interest in her career, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer bought out Harlow's contract in 1932, and cast her in leading roles in a string of hits built on her comedic talent: Red-Headed Woman (1932), Red Dust (1932), Dinner at Eight (1933), Reckless (1935) and Suzy (1936).

 

Harlow's popularity rivaled and then surpassed that of MGM's top leading ladies Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo and Norma Shearer.

 

Jean died at the age of 26 of kidney failure while filming Saratoga. MGM completed the film with the use of body doubles, and released it less than two months after her death; it became MGM's most successful film of 1937, as well as the highest-grossing film of Harlow's career.

 

-- Jean Harlow - The Early Years

 

Harlow was born in a house located at 3344 Olive Street in Kansas City, Missouri.

 

Her father, Mont Clair Carpenter was a dentist from a working-class background. Her mother, Jean Poe Carpenter (née Harlow), was the daughter of a wealthy real estate broker named Skip Harlow.

 

Harlean was called "The Baby", a nickname to which she was accustomed, and which endured for the rest of her life. It was not until she was five years old that she learned her real name was Harlean, when staff and students at Miss Barstow's Finishing School for Girls used the name.

 

Harlean was always very close to her mother, who was extremely protective. Her mother was reported to have instilled a sense in her daughter that she owed everything she had to her; "She was always all mine!", Mama Jean said of her daughter in interviews. Jean Carpenter was later known as "Mama Jean" when Harlean achieved star status as Jean Harlow.

 

When Harlean was at finishing school, her mother filed for divorce. On the 29th. September 1922, the uncontested divorce was finalized, giving sole custody of Harlean to her mother. Although Harlean loved her father, she did not see him often after the divorce.

 

In 1923, 32-year-old Jean Carpenter took her daughter and moved to Hollywood in hopes of becoming an actress, but was told that she was too old to begin a film career.

 

Harlean was enrolled at the Hollywood School for Girls, where she met Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joel McCrea, and Irene Mayer Selznick, but dropped out at the age of 14, in the spring of 1925.

 

With their finances dwindling, Jean and Harlean moved back to Kansas City after Skip Harlow issued an ultimatum that he would disinherit his daughter if they did not return.

 

Several weeks later, Skip sent his granddaughter to summer camp at Camp Cha-Ton-Ka, in Michigamme, Michigan, where she became ill with scarlet fever. Jean Carpenter traveled to Michigan to care for Harlean, rowing herself across the lake to the camp, but was told that she could not see her daughter.

 

Harlean next attended the Ferry Hall School (now Lake Forest Academy) in Lake Forest, Illinois. Jean Carpenter had an ulterior motive for her daughter's attendance at this particular school: It was close to the Chicago home of her boyfriend, Marino Bello.

 

-- Marriage

 

During Jean Harlow’s freshman year at the school, she was paired with a "big sister" from the senior class who introduced her to 19-year-old Charles "Chuck" Fremont McGrew III, an heir to a large fortune.

 

By the fall of 1926, Harlow and Chuck were dating seriously, and they were married in 1927. Her mother Jean Carpenter was also married that same year to Marino Bello. However, Harlow did not attend her mother's wedding.

 

In 1928, two months after the wedding, Chuck McGrew turned 21 and received part of his inheritance. The couple left Chicago and moved to Los Angeles, settling into a home in Beverly Hills, where Harlow thrived as a wealthy socialite.

 

McGrew hoped to distance Harlow from her mother with the move. Neither Chuck nor Harlow worked during this time, and both were considered heavy drinkers.

 

-- Jean Harlow's Career

 

While living in Los Angeles, Harlean befriended a young aspiring actress named Rosalie Roy. Not owning a car herself, Rosalie asked Harlean to drive her to Fox Studios for an appointment. While waiting for Rosalie, Harlean was noticed and approached by Fox executives, but she told them that she was not interested in a film career.

 

Nevertheless, she was given letters of introduction to Central Casting. A few days later, Rosalie Roy bet Harlean that she did not have the nerve to go in for an audition. Unwilling to lose a wager and pressed by her enthusiastic mother who had followed her daughter to Los Angeles by this time, Harlean went to Central Casting and signed in under her mother's maiden name, Jean Harlow.

 

After several calls from casting and a number of rejected job offers by Harlean, Mother Jean finally pressed her into accepting work at the studio.

 

Harlean appeared in her first film, Honor Bound (1928), as an unbilled "extra" for $7 a day and a box lunch, common pay for such work. This led to a wage increase to $10 per day and small parts in feature films such as Moran of the Marines (1928) and the Charley Chase lost film Chasing Husbands (1928).

 

In December 1928, Harlean as Jean Harlow signed a five-year contract with Hal Roach Studios for $100 per week. She had small roles in the 1929 Laurel and Hardy shorts: Double Whoopee, Liberty and Bacon Grabbers, the last giving her a costarring credit.

 

In March 1929, Jean parted with Hal Roach, who tore up her contract after Harlow told him:

 

"It's breaking up my

marriage, what can I do?"

 

In June 1929, Harlow separated from her husband and moved in with Mother Jean and Bello. After her separation from McGrew, Harlow continued working as an "extra" in such films as This Thing Called Love, Close Harmony, and The Love Parade (all 1929), until she landed her first speaking role in the Clara Bow film The Saturday Night Kid.

 

-- 1929–1932: Platinum Blonde Star

 

Harlow and her husband formally divorced in 1929.

 

In late 1929, Harlow was spotted by Ben Lyon, an actor filming Howard Hughes' film Hell's Angels; another account gives Hell's Angels head cameraman Arthur Landau as the man that spotted and suggested her to Hughes.

 

Hughes was reshooting most of his originally silent film with sound and needed an actress to replace Greta Nissen, whose Norwegian accent was incompatible with her role as a British aristocrat.

 

Harlow screen-tested for Hughes, who gave her the part and signed her to a five-year, $100-per-week contract on the 24th. October 1929. This was Jean's first major film appearance.

 

During filming, Harlow met MGM executive Paul Bern.

 

Hell's Angels premiered in Hollywood at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on the 27th. May 1930, and became the highest-grossing film of that year, beating even Greta Garbo's talkie debut in Anna Christie.

 

Hell's Angels made Harlow an international star. However although Jean was popular with audiences, the critics were less than enthusiastic. The New Yorker called her performance "plain awful", although Variety magazine conceded:

 

"It doesn't matter what degree of talent

she possesses ... nobody ever starved

possessing what she's got."

 

Despite her success with Hell's Angels, Harlow again found herself in the role of "uncredited extra" in the Charlie Chaplin film City Lights (1931), though her appearance did not make the final cut.

 

With no other projects planned for Harlow at the time, Hughes decided to send her to New York, Seattle, and Kansas City for Hell's Angels premieres. In 1931, his Caddo Company loaned her out to other studios, where she gained more attention by appearing in The Secret Six, with Wallace Beery and Clark Gable; Iron Man, with Lew Ayres and Robert Armstrong; and The Public Enemy, with James Cagney.

 

Even though the success of these films ranged from moderate to hit, Harlow's acting ability was mocked by critics. Hughes sent her on a brief publicity tour in order to bolster her career, but this was not a success, as Harlow dreaded making personal appearances.

 

Harlow briefly dated Abner Zwillman, who bought her a jeweled bracelet and a red Cadillac, and made a large cash loan to studio head Harry Cohn to obtain a two-picture deal for her at Columbia Pictures.

 

The relationship with Zwillman ended when he reportedly referred to her in derogatory and vulgar terms when speaking to other associated crime figures, as revealed in secret surveillance recordings.

 

Columbia Pictures first cast Harlow in a Frank Capra film with Loretta Young, originally titled Gallagher for Young's lead character, but renamed Platinum Blonde to capitalize on Hughes' publicity of Harlow's "platinum" hair color.

 

Though Harlow denied that her hair was bleached, the platinum blonde color was reportedly achieved with a weekly application of ammonia, Clorox bleach, and Lux soap flakes. This process weakened and damaged Harlow's naturally ash-blonde hair.

 

Many female fans began dyeing their hair to match hers, and Hughes' team organized a series of "Platinum Blonde" clubs across the nation, offering a prize of $10,000 to any beautician who could match Harlow's shade. No one could, and the prize went unclaimed, but the publicity scheme worked, and the "Platinum Blonde" nickname stuck with Harlow.

 

Her second Columbia film was Three Wise Girls (1932), with Mae Clarke and Walter Byron.

 

Paul Bern then arranged with Hughes to borrow her for MGM's The Beast of the City (1932), co-starring Walter Huston. After filming, Bern booked a 10-week personal-appearance tour on the East Coast. To the surprise of many, especially Harlow herself, she packed every theater in which she appeared, often appearing in a single venue for several nights.

 

Despite critical disparagement and poor roles, Harlow's popularity and following were large and growing, and in February 1932, the tour was extended by six weeks.

 

According to Fay Wray, who played Ann Darrow in RKO Pictures' King Kong (1933), Harlow was the original choice to play the screaming blonde heroine, but was under an exclusive contract with MGM during the film's pre-production phase—and the part went to Wray, a brunette who had to wear a blonde wig.

 

When mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel came to Hollywood to expand casino operations, Harlow became the informal godmother of Siegel's eldest daughter, Millicent, when the family lived in Beverly Hills.

 

-- 1932–1937: Success at MGM

 

Paul Bern was by now romantically involved with Harlow, and spoke to Louis B. Mayer about buying her contract with Hughes and signing her to MGM, but Mayer declined. MGM's leading ladies were presented as elegant, and Harlow's screen persona was not so to Mayer.

 

Bern then began urging close friend Irving Thalberg, production head of MGM, to sign Harlow, noting her popularity and established image. After initial reluctance Thalberg agreed, and on the 3rd. March 1932, Harlow's 21st. birthday, Bern called her with the news that MGM had purchased her contract from Hughes for $30,000.

 

Harlow officially joined the studio on the 20th. April 1932.

 

Harlow received recognition as an actress in Red-Headed Woman, her first MGM film; she wore a red wig for her starring role. At MGM, Harlow was given superior movie roles to show off her looks and nascent comedic talent. Though her screen persona changed dramatically during her career, one constant was her sense of humor.

 

When in 1932, Jean starred in Red-Headed Woman, she received $1,250 a week. It was the first film in which she "resembles something of an actress", portraying a woman who is successful at being amoral in a film that does not moralize or punish the character for her behavior.

 

The film is often noted as being one of the few films in which Harlow did not appear with platinum blonde hair.

 

While Harlow was filming Red-Headed Woman, actress Anita Page passed her on the studio lot without acknowledging her. Jean later told Page that the snub had caused her to cry until she saw herself, noticed the red wig, and burst out laughing when she realized Page had not recognized her. Page recalled:

 

"That shows you how sensitive

she was. She was a lovely person

in so many ways."

 

Jean next starred in Red Dust, her second film with Clark Gable. Harlow and Gable worked well together, and co-starred in a total of six films. She was also paired multiple times with Spencer Tracy and William Powell.

 

MGM began trying to distinguish Harlow's public persona from her screen characters by putting out press releases that her childhood surname was not the common 'Carpenter' but the chic 'Carpentier', claiming that writer Edgar Allan Poe was one of her ancestors, and publishing photographs of her doing charity work in order to change her image to that of an all-American woman.

 

This transformation proved difficult; once, Harlow was heard muttering:

 

"My God, must I always wear a

low-cut dress to be important?"

 

During the making of Red Dust, Bern—her husband of two months—was found dead at their home; this created a lasting scandal. Initially, Harlow was suspected of killing Bern, but his death was officially ruled a suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

 

Louis B. Mayer feared negative publicity from the incident and intended to replace Harlow in the film, offering the role to Tallulah Bankhead. Bankhead was appalled by the offer, and wrote in her autobiography:

 

"To damn the radiant Jean for the

misfortune of another would be one

of the shabbiest acts of all time.

I told Mr. Mayer as much."

 

Harlow kept silent, survived the ordeal, and became more popular than ever. A 2009 biography of Bern asserted that Bern was, in fact, murdered by a former lover, and the crime scene re-arranged by MGM executives to make it appear Bern had killed himself.

 

After Bern's death, Harlow began an indiscreet affair with boxer Max Baer who, though separated from his wife Dorothy Dunbar, was threatened with divorce proceedings naming Harlow as a co-respondent for alienation of affection, a legal term for adultery.

 

After Bern's death, the studio did not want another scandal, and defused the situation by arranging a marriage between Harlow and cinematographer Harold Rosson. Rosson and Harlow were friends, and Rosson went along with the plan. They quietly divorced eight months later.

 

By 1933, MGM realized the value of the Harlow-Gable team with Red Dust, and paired them again in Hold Your Man (1933), which was also a box-office success. In the same year, she played the adulterous wife of Wallace Beery in the all-star comedy-drama Dinner at Eight, and played a pressured Hollywood film star in the screwball comedy Bombshell with Lee Tracy and Franchot Tone. The film has been said to be based on Harlow's own life or that of 1920's "It girl" Clara Bow.

 

The following year, she was teamed with Lionel Barrymore and Tone in The Girl from Missouri (1934). The film was the studio's attempt to soften Harlow's image, but suffered from censorship problems, so much so that its original title, Born to Be Kissed, had to be changed.

 

After the hit Hold Your Man, MGM cast the Harlow-Gable team in two more successful films: China Seas (1935), with Wallace Beery and Rosalind Russell; and Wife vs. Secretary (1936), with Myrna Loy and James Stewart.

 

Stewart later spoke of a scene in a car with Harlow in Wife vs. Secretary, saying:

 

"Clarence Brown, the director, wasn't too

pleased by the way I did the smooching.

He made us repeat the scene about half

a dozen times. I botched it up on purpose.

That Jean Harlow sure was a good kisser.

I realized that until then, I had never been

really kissed."

 

Harlow was consistently voted one of the strongest box office draws in the United States from 1933 onward, often outranking her female colleagues at MGM in audience popularity polls. By the mid-1930's, she was one of the biggest stars in the US, and, it was hoped, MGM's next Greta Garbo.

 

Still young, her star continued to rise while the popularity of other female stars at MGM, such as Garbo, Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer, waned. Harlow's movies continued to make huge profits at the box office, even during the middle of the Depression.

 

After her third marriage ended in 1934, Harlow met William Powell, another MGM star, and quickly fell in love. The couple were reportedly engaged for two years, but differences that ranged from past marriages to Powell's uncertainty about the future, kept them from publicly formalizing their relationship.

 

The two co-starred in her next film Reckless (1935), Jean's first movie musical; her voice was dubbed with that of skilled vocalist Virginia Verrill.

 

Suzy (1936), in which she played the title role, gave her top billing over four time co-star Tone and Cary Grant. While critics noted that Harlow dominated the film, it was a reasonable box-office success.

 

Jean then starred in Riffraff (1936) a financial disappointment that co-starred Spencer Tracy and Una Merkel. Afterwards the release of worldwide hit Libeled Lady (1936), in which she was top-billed over Powell, Loy, and Tracy, brought good reviews for Harlow's comedic performance.

 

During the filming, Jean Harlow was involved with William Powell while Spencer Tracy was having an affair with Myrna Loy. She then filmed W. S. Van Dyke's comedy Personal Property (1937), co-starring Robert Taylor. It was Harlow's final completed motion picture appearance.

 

-- Jean Harlow's Illness and Death

 

In January 1937, Harlow and Robert Taylor traveled to Washington, D.C., to take part in fundraising activities associated with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's birthday, for the organization later known as the March of Dimes.

 

Harlow, a Democrat, had campaigned for Roosevelt in the 1936 United States presidential election, and two years earlier for Upton Sinclair in the 1934 California gubernatorial election.

 

The trip was physically taxing for Harlow, and she contracted influenza, although she recovered in time to attend the Academy Awards ceremony with William Powell.

 

Filming for Harlow's final film, Saratoga, co-starring Clark Gable, was scheduled to begin in March 1937. However, production was delayed when she developed sepsis after a multiple wisdom tooth extraction, and had to be hospitalized.

 

Almost two months later, Harlow recovered, and shooting began on the 22nd. April 1937. She also appeared on the May 3rd. cover of Life magazine.

 

On the 20th. May 1937, while filming Saratoga, Harlow began to complain of illness. Her symptoms—fatigue, nausea, fluid retention and abdominal pain—did not seem very serious to the studio doctor, who believed that she was suffering from cholecystitis and influenza.

 

The studio doctor was not aware that Harlow had been ill during the previous year with a severe sunburn and influenza. Friend and co-star Una Merkel noticed Harlow's on-set weight gain, gray pallor and fatigue.

 

On the 29th. May, while Harlow filmed a scene in which her character had a fever, she was clearly sicker than her character and leaned against her co-star Gable between takes and said:

 

"I feel terrible! Get me back

to my dressing room."

 

She requested that the assistant director telephone William Powell, who immediately left his own movie set, in order to escort her back home.

 

The next day, Powell checked on Harlow, and discovered that her condition had not improved. He contacted her mother and insisted that she cut her holiday short to be at her daughter's side. Powell also summoned a doctor. Because Harlow's previous illnesses had delayed the shooting of three movies (Wife vs. Secretary, Suzy, and Libeled Lady), initially there was no great concern regarding this latest bout with a recurring illness.

 

On the 2nd. June, it was announced that she was again suffering from influenza. Dr. Ernest Fishbaugh, who had been called to Harlow's home to treat her, diagnosed an inflamed gallbladder.

 

Mother Jean told MGM Harlow was feeling better on the 3rd. June, and co-workers expected her back on the set by Monday, 7th. June 1937.

 

Press reports at the time were contradictory, with headlines reading "Jean Harlow seriously ill" and "Harlow recovers from illness crisis".

 

When she did not return to the set, a concerned Gable visited her, and later remarked that she was severely bloated and that he smelled urine on her breath when he kissed her—both signs of kidney failure.

 

Dr. Leland Chapman, a colleague of Fishbaugh, was called in to give a second opinion on Harlow's condition. Chapman recognized that she was not suffering from an inflamed gallbladder, but was in the final stages of kidney failure.

 

On the 6th. June 1937, Harlow said that she could not see Powell clearly, and could not tell how many fingers he was holding up.

 

That evening, she was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, where she slipped into a coma. The next day at 11:37 a.m., Harlow died in the hospital at the age of 26. In the doctor's press releases, the cause of death was given as cerebral edema, a complication of kidney failure. Hospital records also mentioned uremia.

 

For years, rumors circulated about Harlow's death. Some claimed that her mother had refused to call a doctor because she was a Christian Scientist, or that Harlow had declined hospital treatment or surgery.

 

From the onset of her illness, Harlow had been attended by a doctor while she was resting at home. Two nurses also visited her house, and various equipment was brought from a nearby hospital. Harlow's grayish complexion, recurring illnesses, and severe sunburn were signs of the disease. Toxins also adversely affected her brain and central nervous system.

 

Harlow had suffered from scarlet fever when she was 15, and speculation that she suffered a poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis following the incident, which may have caused high blood pressure and ultimately kidney failure, has been suggested.

 

Jean's death certificate lists the cause of death as "acute respiratory infection", "acute nephritis", and "uremia".

 

One MGM writer later said:

 

"The day Baby died, there wasn't

one sound in the commissary for

three hours."

 

Frequent costar Spencer Tracy wrote in his diary:

 

"Jean Harlow died.

Grand girl."

 

Harlow was interred in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale in a private room of multicolored marble, which William Powell had bought for $25,000 ($509,000 today). She was laid to rest in the pink negligee she'd worn in Saratoga, and in her hands she had a white gardenia along with a note that Powell had written:

 

"Goodnight, my dearest darling."

 

Harlow's inscription on her crypt reads:

 

"Our Baby".

 

Spaces in the same room were reserved for Harlow's mother and Powell. Harlow's mother was buried there in 1958, but Powell married actress Diana Lewis in 1940. After his death in 1984, he was cremated, and his ashes buried in Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.

 

MGM planned to replace Harlow in Saratoga with either Jean Arthur or Virginia Bruce, but because of public objections, the film was finished using three doubles (Mary Dees for close-ups, Geraldine Dvorak for long shots, and Paula Winslowe for dubbing Harlow's lines) as well as re-writing some scenes without her.

 

The film was released on the 23rd. July 1937, less than two months after Harlow's death, and was a hit with audiences, grossing $3.3 million in worldwide rentals, and becoming MGM's most successful film of the year, as well as the highest-grossing film of her career.

 

-- Jean Harlow's Legacy

 

Harlow's name was given to a cocktail, the "Jean Harlow", which is equal parts light rum and sweet vermouth.

 

Legendary blues musician Lead Belly wrote the song "Jean Harlow" while in prison upon hearing about her death.

 

Harlow's signature, hands and footprints were imprinted in cement on the 29th. September 1933, in the 24th. ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theater.

 

The French composer Charles Koechlin composed the piece Épitaphe de Jean Harlow (opus 164) in 1937.

 

On the 8th. February 1960, Jean Harlow was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6910 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.

 

Harlow wrote a novel titled 'Today Is Tonight'. She stated around 1933–1934 her intention to write the book, but it was not published during her lifetime.

 

During her life, Harlow's stepfather Marino Bello shopped the unpublished manuscript around to a few studios. However Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, had prevented the book from being sold by putting an injunction on it using a clause in Harlow's contract: her services as an artist could not be used without MGM's permission.

 

After Jean's death, her mother sold the film rights to MGM, though no film was made. The publication rights were passed from Harlow's mother to a family friend, and the book was finally published in 1965.

 

Film adaptations of Harlow's life were considered at different times during the 1950's. Twentieth Century-Fox had slated Jayne Mansfield for the role, and ideas for Columbia Pictures actress Cleo Moore to play Harlow were also tabled. These projects however never materialized. Marilyn Monroe was offered a role for Harlow in 1953, but she declined it, feeling it was under-developed.

 

In 1965, two films about Jean Harlow were released, both titled Harlow. The first film was released by Magna Corporation in May 1965, and starred Carol Lynley.

 

The second film was released in June 1965 by Paramount Pictures, and starred Carroll Baker. Both were poorly received by critics, and did not perform well at the box office.

 

In 1978, Lindsay Bloom portrayed Jean in Hughes and Harlow: Angels in Hell.

 

In August 1993, Sharon Stone hosted a documentary about Harlow titled Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell, which aired on Turner Classic Movies.

 

In 2004, Gwen Stefani briefly appeared as Harlow at the red carpet premiere for Hell's Angels in Martin Scorsese's Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator.

 

-- Final Thoughts From Jean Harlow

 

"When you lie down with dogs,

you get up with fleas."

 

"I like to wake up each morning

feeling a new man."

 

"Don't give me books for Christmas;

I already have a book."

 

"I wasn't born an actress, you know.

Events made me one."

 

"Women like me because I don't look

like a girl who would steal a husband.

At least not for long."

 

"No one ever expects a great lay

to pay all the bills."

 

"Men like me because I don't wear

a brassiere."

 

"Underwear makes me uncomfortable,

and besides my parts have to breathe."

 

"I'm not a great actress, and I never

thought I was. But I happen to have

something the public likes."

 

"There is a God, even in Hollywood."

 

"I like any dog that makes me look

good when it stands next to me."

Corona Render.

Project and Render by me.

Old place for new materials...

Some post production and high resolution for final image.

Visit www.facebook.com/Maurizio-Poli-760405867422348/

The Regierungsgebäude (or government building) of the Principality of Liechtenstein was built between 1903 and 1905 and has been the seat of the government ever since. The building, located in the center of Vaduz, was also the seat of the State Parliament of the Principality of Liechtenstein, with interruptions, until the opening of the new state parliament building in 2008.

 

At the turn of the 19th century (leading into the 20th century), the state authorities and their offices were housed in different buildings throughout Vaduz, including the old princely tavern and the bailiff's house. These spaces were cramped and not practically functional. On June 12, 1899, the Liechtenstein state parliament asked the government to take the necessary steps to create a new Liechtenstein government building. The regional administrator, Karl von In der Maur, turned to the then ruling Prince Johann II, who resided mainly in Vienna, Bohemia, and Moravia. The prince commissioned his architect Gustav Ritter von Neumann to draw up project plans, which feature Jugenstil (Art Nouveau), Beaux-Arts, Romantic, and historicist design elements. The building cost around 380,000 crowns, which was around 25% more than the state revenue in 1905. The building could only be realized because Prince Johann II made the building site available free of charge and paid 100,000 crowns from his private coffers. The government building was opened at a state parliament session on December 28, 1905.

 

Information from: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regierungsgeb%C3%A4ude_(Liechtenstein)

 

Vaduz is the capital of Liechtenstein and also the seat of the national parliament. The small city, which is located along the Rhine, had about 5,700 residents in the 2020s. One of the most prominent landmarks of Vaduz is Vaduz Castle, perched atop a steep hill overlooking the city. It is home to the reigning prince of Liechtenstein and the Liechtenstein princely family. The city's distinctive architecture is also displayed in the landmarks of its historic district. Although Vaduz is internationally the best-known town in the principality, it is not the largest; the neighboring municipality of Schaan has a larger population.

 

Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaduz

456016 at the head of two Class 455 units forming the 2H45 16:12 London Waterloo to Shepperton at Waterloo on Thursday 18th April 2019. Just 24 of these two-car units were built at BREL York during 1990-91 to replace ageing Class 416 2-EPB units. Having no corridor connections, they were used for many years on suburban services. In recent years they were drafted to South Western Railway services and, considered as non-standard, they are used with Class 455 units to increase seating capacity, particularly during peak periods. SWR's plan at this time was that the 455, 456, 458 and 707 fleets would soon be replaced by Bombardier 'Aventra' Class 701 units, but the project plan was severely delayed until 2024 at least.

 

© Gordon Edgar - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission

This may very well be the most Philofaxish my desk has ever looked.

Spanish collectors card by J.G. Viladot, Barcelona. The Marx Brothers in Go West (Edward Buzzell, 1940). The Spanish title was Los Hermanos Marx en el oeste.

 

The Marx Brothers was the name for a group of American-Jewish comedians from the first half of the 20th century who were actually brothers. Their career started in theatre, but they became world-famous through their films. They are known for their wild, anarchic and often surrealist humour. Their jokes consist of slapstick, but also puns and intelligent dialogue. With their rebellious jokes, they were the forerunners of generations of anti-sentimental comedians. Five brothers together formed The Marx Brothers, even though the five of them never actually performed at the same time: Harpo, Chico, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.

 

The eldest brother, Chico (1887-1961) was born Leonard Marx. Manfred was actually the eldest, but he died as a child. Chico was the one who decided to make musical comedies with his other brothers. At the time, he had learnt an Italian accent to convince any anti-Semites in the neighbourhood that he was Italian and not a Jew. This accent, along with his talent as a piano player, became one of his trademarks. In the films, he usually fulfilled the role of a sly and shady con man, the confidant of Harpo, a confident pianist and the sceptical assistant of Groucho.

 

Harpo (1888-1964) was born Adolph and changed his name to Arthur in WWI because he found the name too German. As an actor, Harpo played the role of a mute, who never speaks but expresses himself through sign language, whistling and using his horn. Like a cross between a child and a wild beast, he sets everything in motion, harassing everyone, pulling the most peculiar things out of his coat (such as a candle burning on two sides, a coiled rope, a pin-up poster, etc.), and chasing women with his horn. His pseudonym "Harpo" was derived from the fact that he played the harp, for which there was a musical interlude in almost every film.

 

Groucho (1890-1977) was born Julius Henry Marx. His trademarks were his grin, thick cigar, waddling gait and sarcastic remarks, insults and puns. In the films, he was constantly trying to get money or women, talking everyone under the table with his witty and intelligent remarks. He was also a singer and some of his songs have become classics, such as 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady'.

 

Gummo (1892-1977) was born Milton and was the least-known Marx Brother. He was the one who first performed with Groucho, but before the big Broadway success came he had stopped acting. For years, he was his brother's manager.

 

Zeppo (1901-1979) was born Herbert Marx and was the youngest of the Marx Brothers. He took over the role of Gummo when the latter quit. Zeppo was the romantic declarer. Though he could take on more versatile roles, he was typecast as the most serious of the four.

 

The Marx Brothers were the five surviving sons of Sam and Minnie Marx. The family lived in Yorkville on New York's Upper East Side, a neighbourhood sandwiched between the Irish-German and Italian quarters. Their career already began at the beginning of the century in vaudeville shows, with which their maternal uncle, Al Shean, had already been successful. Groucho was the first to embark on a career on stage, but initially with very little success. Their mother and sister also appeared on stage with their sons at times. However, the focus soon shifted from music and singing with humorous segues to comedy with musical interludes. The different roles of musicians and comedians crystallised relatively early. While Chico developed the stereotype of the womaniser with an Italian accent who was always chasing the chicks, Groucho dropped his accent as a German during the First World War due to a lack of popularity. Harpo remained speechless on stage, as he had the greatest successes playing his jokes as a mime in a red or, in films, blond curly wig, or playing his grandmother's old harp. A classroom sketch in which Groucho tried to teach his brothers evolved into the comedy show 'I'll Say She Is which became their first success on Bradway and in England. This was followed by two more Broadway hits: 'The Cocoanuts' and 'Animal Crackers'. The Marx Brothers' shows became popular at a time when Hollywood was experiencing the transition from silent film to talkies. The brothers signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and thus launched their film career.

 

The last two Broadway shows of The Marx Brothers became their first films, The Cocoanuts (Robert Florey, 1929) and Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman, 1930). Their next film was Money Business (Norman Z. McLeod, 1931). Between 1932 and 1933, a total of 26 episodes of the radio show 'Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel' were made, with Groucho voicing the lawyer Waldorf T. Flywheel and Chico voicing his sidekick Emmanuel Ravelli. The first three episodes were broadcast under the title 'Beagle, Shyster & Beagle'. The title was then changed after a New York lawyer named "Beagle" threatened to sue. Some of the dialogue from the radio broadcasts was later used in the Marx Brothers films. Their most successful film of the early period was Horse Feathers (Norman Z. McLeod, 1932), a satire on the American college system. But Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933), generally considered their masterpiece, had much less success. It marked their break with Paramount. Zeppo, who always played serious roles, stopped making films after this. The Marx Brothers' first five films are generally considered their best, expressing their surrealist and anarchic humour in its purest form. The three remaining brothers moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and changed the formula of their subsequent films. Their remaining films were given romantic plots and serious musical interludes, often intended as resting points between the often hilarious comic sketches. In A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935), a satire on the opera world, the brothers help two young singers in love. The film was very successful and was followed by the equally popular A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937), where they kicked up a fuss at a race track. Several less memorable films followed until 1941. After the war, two more films A Night in Casablanca (Archie Mayo, 1946) and Love Happy (David Miller, 1949) followed to pay off Chico's gambling debts. This was followed by the mediocre film The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957), and a television special The Incredible Jewel Robbery (1959). These productions were already interludes, while each brother had already picked up a career of his own. Chico and Harpo continued on stage and Groucho had started a career as a radio and television entertainer. With his television and radio show 'You Bet Your Life', he became one of the most popular show hosts of the 1950s in the USA. The first episodes of the show were still broadcast live, as was customary at the time. But because Groucho's unbridled wordplay caused headaches for those in charge of the show, they deviated from this for later episodes and the programme was broadcast as a recording. He also wrote a number of books. Gummo and Zeppo ran a theatre agency together. A final film project planned for 1960, starring the Marx Brothers once again and directed by Billy Wilder, did not materialise due to Chico's poor health. It was to be an anti-war satire in the style of Duck Soup. Even Groucho, who at the time was no longer very interested in further Marx Brothers films, is said to have been enthusiastic about the project because he considered Billy Wilder to be one of the best directors.

 

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

no specific project plans yet, just couldn’t resist the colors

The Helix Bridge, previously known as the Double Helix Bridge, is a pedestrian bridge linking Marina Centre with Marina South in the Marina Bay area in Singapore. The bridge complements other major development projects planned in the area, including the Integrated Resort Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Flyer, Gardens by the Bay and the 438,000 m² business and financial centre. (wiki)

Now that we have come into a new year, I always get that feeling of wanting to start fresh. I feel motivated, inspired and determined. I have some exciting shoots and projects planned for this year that I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into! Watch this space!

( is flickr's new layout making it impossible to read such a long commentary? if so, you can find it and read it here instead if you want @ leitan.ghost.io/update-041714/ ) -

 

hi, flickr follower and friends of mine (and new friends, too!) -- time for an update.

  

i've been almostly totally AWOL from flickr and very absent from most of the internet & my usual social circles online (i.e Second Life) for about a month now. while most of my close friends & acquaintances may know why this is the case, i obviously have not been in communication with everyone, and i've also met quite a few new people recently IRL who i've exchanged screennames and contact info with (hi!) - so i thought i'd write a general update on how things are going for anyone who may have concern for me, and talk about what's been going on, and what my plans for the second half of April and the beginning of May are.

  

first of all, it's no secret - or at least fairly obvious - to most people that follow me online or perhaps even meet me IRL that i have both physical and mental health complications. i like to play these down most of the time unless i am simply trying to express my negativity to get it out of my sytem, because i don't want to draw unnecessecary attention to myself for these reasons or seem like i am trying to be a special little snowflake to anyone. however, it's undeniable that these are at times serious enough that they do at times severely interfere with my day-to-day functionality and ability to live, study, work, play, learn, etc as another person of my age might be able to do.

  

i have tried to be more open about my problems in recent years because i feel that the better people understand me, the more they can comprehend that i mean absolutely no ill intent when, for example, i do not reply to your messages in a timely manner, or if i do not get around to uploading photos of you as promptly as would be expected if i was a professional (which i am not) but is simply polite courtesy even as an amateur.

  

however, i never mean to offend, deliberately ignore, or inconvenience anyone who had been kind enough to be my friend (online or offline) over the years, no matter whether you are a vague acquaintance whom i like, someone i admire, or someone who i have become good friends with - i both appreciate your tolerance of my shortcomings and am thankful to have you all around when i myself actually am around.

  

briefly going back to what i said about not wishing to be given pity or to appear that i am attention whoring, this is also why i tend to refer to my problems in a vague rather than specific manner when talking about them in public (with a few exceptions, perhaps). however this is not because i will be offended if you wish to know exactly what is going on with me (for those of you who don't already) -- i have been working on being more open about discussing these things, as spending nearly half a decade in therapy and on medications and actually getting appropriate medical care has, actually, helped me make some personal progress about how i approach this.

  

so what i basically wish to say is that if you feel put out in any way by my behavior (or lack of), then please do not be afraid to ask about my personal circumstances, as i will talk about them as candidly as i am comfortable with without taking offense. however i try my best to avoid talking about them in specific detail unless specifically asked, as i do not want to burden others with them, and again, do not want to appear like i am whining or begging for pity and attention when - despite the severity of the problems i have - i also have many things in my life to be extremely grateful for, so i do not think that i have the right to complain and expect pity or vindication.

  

all i want is for people to understand that i only mean well, even if i cannot always cope with my own self enough to come through and be as good a person as you might hope me to be.

  

in the past week, i've finally been feeling capable of socializing, going out more, being creative again, working on projects, and so on, as a result of being slightly less sick. this does not mean i am 'better' - i will never get 'better' in the sense of being 'cured' - but it does mean that i'm hoping to rejoin and be active again in both the online & local communities i love, spend more time with my friends (IRL and online), and to follow through on any promises i may have made to people and had to postpone due to my sickness (for example, processing and sending out photographs, replying to messages, as above, etc)

  

i do please ask that you be patient with me in all of this and forgive me if my erratic behavior has inconvenienced you in any way.

 

i will be trying to continue my 365 from now on, and i will begin working on my backlog of photos that dates as far back as mid-March, especially prioritizing the ones i took at Anime Boston although i will mix in some other snaps inbetween in the coming days or weeks.

  

on a final note, if i am capable of handling all of this, i have some exciting and fun project plans i want to talk about and share with you all, but right now i am going to wait a little longer before doing so, as i want to make sure that i am still feeling grounded and regain my 'balance' once more before announcing something i don't feel i can commit to.

  

so, yeah! a big hello and thank you to both my oldest friends & followers online and offline, as well as my very new acquaintances who may have stumbled across my flickr or other contact info (if i did not just straight up give it to you outright)

  

if you have anything of urgent importance to me, i encourage you to leave a message on my public Skype @ xxleitanxx as i do not respond to emails, FMs, PMs etc with the same expediency as i do to Skype or text messages (the latter only being relevant if you have my phone number!)

 

if you read this entire thing, i'm also extremely grateful.

 

i hope to start updating every day again as soon as i feel fully capable of doing so.

 

thank you so much everyone.

French postcard by Travelling Editions, Paris, no. CP 84.

 

The Marx Brothers was the name for a group of American-Jewish comedians from the first half of the 20th century who were actually brothers. Their career started in theatre, but they became world-famous through their films. They are known for their wild, anarchic and often surrealist humour. Their jokes consist of slapstick, but also puns and intelligent dialogue. With their rebellious jokes, they were the forerunners of generations of anti-sentimental comedians. Five brothers together formed The Marx Brothers, even though the five of them never actually performed at the same time: Harpo, Chico, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.

 

The eldest brother, Chico (1887-1961) was born Leonard Marx. Manfred was actually the eldest, but he died as a child. Chico was the one who decided to make musical comedies with his other brothers. At the time, he had learnt an Italian accent to convince any anti-Semites in the neighbourhood that he was Italian and not a Jew. This accent, along with his talent as a piano player, became one of his trademarks. In the films, he usually fulfilled the role of a sly and shady con man, the confidant of Harpo, a confident pianist and the sceptical assistant of Groucho.

 

Harpo (1888-1964) was born Adolph and changed his name to Arthur in WWI because he found the name too German. As an actor, Harpo played the role of a mute, who never speaks but expresses himself through sign language, whistling and using his horn. Like a cross between a child and a wild beast, he sets everything in motion, harassing everyone, pulling the most peculiar things out of his coat (such as a candle burning on two sides, a coiled rope, a pin-up poster, etc.), and chasing women with his horn. His pseudonym "Harpo" was derived from the fact that he played the harp, for which there was a musical interlude in almost every film.

 

Groucho (1890-1977) was born Julius Henry Marx. His trademarks were his grin, thick cigar, waddling gait and sarcastic remarks, insults and puns. In the films, he was constantly trying to get money or women, talking everyone under the table with his witty and intelligent remarks. He was also a singer and some of his songs have become classics, such as 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady'.

 

Gummo (1892-1977) was born Milton and was the least-known Marx Brother. He was the one who first performed with Groucho, but before the big Broadway success came he had stopped acting. For years, he was his brother's manager.

 

Zeppo (1901-1979) was born Herbert Marx and was the youngest of the Marx Brothers. He took over the role of Gummo when the latter quit. Zeppo was the romantic declarer. Though he could take on more versatile roles, he was typecast as the most serious of the four.

 

The Marx Brothers were the five surviving sons of Sam and Minnie Marx. The family lived in Yorkville on New York's Upper East Side, a neighbourhood sandwiched between the Irish-German and Italian quarters. Their career already began at the beginning of the century in vaudeville shows, with which their maternal uncle, Al Shean, had already been successful. Groucho was the first to embark on a career on stage, but initially with very little success. Their mother and sister also appeared on stage with their sons at times. However, the focus soon shifted from music and singing with humorous segues to comedy with musical interludes. The different roles of musicians and comedians crystallised relatively early. While Chico developed the stereotype of the womaniser with an Italian accent who was always chasing the chicks, Groucho dropped his accent as a German during the First World War due to a lack of popularity. Harpo remained speechless on stage, as he had the greatest successes playing his jokes as a mime in a red or, in films, blond curly wig, or playing his grandmother's old harp. A classroom sketch in which Groucho tried to teach his brothers evolved into the comedy show 'I'll Say She Is which became their first success on Bradway and in England. This was followed by two more Broadway hits: 'The Cocoanuts' and 'Animal Crackers'. The Marx Brothers' shows became popular at a time when Hollywood was experiencing the transition from silent film to talkies. The brothers signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and thus launched their film career.

 

The last two Broadway shows of The Marx Brothers became their first films, The Cocoanuts (Robert Florey, 1929) and Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman, 1930). Their next film was Money Business (Norman Z. McLeod, 1931). Between 1932 and 1933, a total of 26 episodes of the radio show 'Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel' were made, with Groucho voicing the lawyer Waldorf T. Flywheel and Chico voicing his sidekick Emmanuel Ravelli. The first three episodes were broadcast under the title 'Beagle, Shyster & Beagle'. The title was then changed after a New York lawyer named "Beagle" threatened to sue. Some of the dialogue from the radio broadcasts was later used in the Marx Brothers films. Their most successful film of the early period was Horse Feathers (Norman Z. McLeod, 1932), a satire on the American college system. But Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933), generally considered their masterpiece, had much less success. It marked their break with Paramount. Zeppo, who always played serious roles, stopped making films after this. The Marx Brothers' first five films are generally considered their best, expressing their surrealist and anarchic humour in its purest form. The three remaining brothers moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and changed the formula of their subsequent films. Their remaining films were given romantic plots and serious musical interludes, often intended as resting points between the often hilarious comic sketches. In A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935), a satire on the opera world, the brothers help two young singers in love. The film was very successful and was followed by the equally popular A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937), where they kicked up a fuss at a race track. Several less memorable films followed until 1941. After the war, two more films A Night in Casablanca (Archie Mayo, 1946) and Love Happy (David Miller, 1949) followed to pay off Chico's gambling debts. This was followed by the mediocre film The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957), and a television special The Incredible Jewel Robbery (1959). These productions were already interludes, while each brother had already picked up a career of his own. Chico and Harpo continued on stage and Groucho had started a career as a radio and television entertainer. With his television and radio show 'You Bet Your Life', he became one of the most popular show hosts of the 1950s in the USA. The first episodes of the show were still broadcast live, as was customary at the time. But because Groucho's unbridled wordplay caused headaches for those in charge of the show, they deviated from this for later episodes and the programme was broadcast as a recording. He also wrote a number of books. Gummo and Zeppo ran a theatre agency together. A final film project planned for 1960, starring the Marx Brothers once again and directed by Billy Wilder, did not materialise due to Chico's poor health. It was to be an anti-war satire in the style of Duck Soup. Even Groucho, who at the time was no longer very interested in further Marx Brothers films, is said to have been enthusiastic about the project because he considered Billy Wilder to be one of the best directors.

 

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

When money runs out.........

 

Most builders focus on building new homes, so renovating is typically a part-time activity for such tradespeople. The processes and services required for renovations are quite specific and, once plans are signed off, building a new home is relatively predictable. Renovations usually require all of the sub-trades that are needed for the construction of a new building. During renovation projects, flexibility is often required from renovation companies to respond to unexpected issues that arise. Projects involving renovation require not just flexibility, but a plan that had been agreed upon by multiple parties. The planning process will involve feedback from financial investors of the project, and from the designer. Part of planning will also entail the collection of data for the completion of the project and then the project plan will be revised and given consent before continuing with renovations.

First of all, I'd like to express appreciation to all of lego fans on Flickr for tons of inspiration and new ideas.

 

Looking back on my creations of 2015 I'm rather proud of myself.

Despite the constant lack of free time, I built 34 MOCs. Roughly 1/4 of them were started in 2014, or even earlier, like the "Bad day", but finished in 2015.

www.flickr.com/photos/85518640@N03/18495757082/in/datetaken/

I took part in Nuju Metru's dragon contest, I didn't win, but my Belerogrim took the honorable mention.

www.flickr.com/photos/85518640@N03/17370887281/in/datetaken/

In 2015 I tested some new LDD techniques, like placing a light sourse in the bricks, to create realistic torches and etc.

www.flickr.com/photos/85518640@N03/20907863029/in/datetaken/

Tried new water techniques

www.flickr.com/photos/85518640@N03/20578173150/in/datetaken/

And played with transparent parts

www.flickr.com/photos/85518640@N03/21199084641/in/datetaken/

 

In 2016 I have more then 20 WIPs to start with, and lots and lots of projects, plans and concepts. I barely have time to build even half of them, but I shure will extend my fort Kallvog project

www.flickr.com/photos/85518640@N03/albums/72157662026189770

This summer has been so crazy many projects planned have not yet been completed. One of those near the top of the list was replacing this fence which leads from the road to our barn. Dusty helped to get it started, however, when he kicked the top rail off when refusing to get in the horse trailer early in the summer. Enjoy your Friday. HFF

The Salzach is a right tributary of the Inn and, at 225 km long, is its longest and richest in water. It flows in the state of Salzburg ( Austria ), in Bavaria ( Germany ) and in Upper Austria , is one of the large Alpine rivers and drains almost the entire Hohe Tauern to the north.

 

Etymology

The ancient Latin name of the Salzach was Iuvarus or Ivarus . The name came from the Celtic river deity Iuvavo , the divine personification of the Salzach. The Romans later adopted the name of this god, slightly Latinized, for the Roman city of Iuvavum .

 

However, only the lower reaches and the Saalach flowing into the Salzach were called Ivarus , as the upper reaches had their own name, Isonta .

 

The Salzach owes its current name to the salt shipping that operated on the river until the 19th century; The historical center of salt shipping was Laufen . Until after 1800 the river was generally called Salza (i.e. the same as a Lower Austrian-Styrian river ).

 

Course of the river

Sections of the Salzach Valley

Salzachtal describes the entire course of the Salzach river. The upper reaches characteristically stretch between the Hohe Tauern and the Salzburg Slate Alps as part of the northern longitudinal valley furrow in a west-east direction. Then it describes a knee, flows northwards in the middle reaches and breaks through the schist and northern Alps and in the lower reaches forms several valleys in the foothills of the Alps (breakthrough valleys through the hill ranges of the subalpine and foothill molasse ).

The sections are named as follows, whereby the more common terms used in the Salzburg districts can also refer to the secondary valleys more generally:

 

Salzachpinzgau , also Pinzgauer Salzachtal , the valley section of the upper reaches to Lend

Source valley of the Salzach, from the source at the Salzachgeier to Vorderkrimml

Oberpinzgau , the Trogtal from Gerlospass to the Niedernsill / Kaprun – Piesendorf area

Zeller Basin , a widening around Lake Zell , in which the valley opens completely to the north for a few kilometers (part of the Mitterpinzgau [8] or Saalfeldener–Zeller Basin )

Unterpinzgau from Bruck / Taxenbach to Lend

Salzachpongau , Pongau Salzach Valley , Bischofshofen–St.-Johanner Basin or Pongau Basin , up to the Limestone Alpine breakthrough at Pass Lueg (Berchtesgaden Alps/Tennen Mountains)

Salzburg–Hallein Basin , one of the most densely populated peripheral Alpine basins

Salzachtennengau , Tennengau Salzach Valley , [also Hallein Basin , Golling-Hallein Basin , Hallein Widening , or Tennengau Widening , the following valley of the lower reaches around Hallein

Salzburg Basin , , also Salzburg-Freilassing Basin , the peripheral Alpine basin landscape around the city of Salzburg

extra-Alpine valleys of the Alpine foothills until reaching the Lower Inn Valley (Salzach as the border river between Austria and Germany)

Laufener Salzachtal , near Laufen

Tittmoninger Salzachtal , Lower reaches section between the breakthroughs at Laufen and St. Radegund

Burghausener Salzachtal , narrow valley near Burghausen until you reach the Öttinger Inntal

Upper Austrian Salzach Valley , [20] the right-bank spatial unit in Upper Austria between the state border at Bürmoos / St. Pantaleon and reaching the Upper Austrian Inn Valley (part of the Upper Innviertel )

The southern side valleys of the upper Salzach, in the main Alpine ridge , are called Tauern valleys .

 

Upper reaches

The Salzach rises in the Kitzbühel Alps in the west of Salzburg. The spring streams drain several alpine pastures at around 2300 m above sea level. A. between Krimml and the Tyrolean border, 3 to 5 km north of the Gerlos Pass on the slopes of the Salzachgeier ( 2466 m above sea level ) and the Schwebenkopf (2354 m). Although some of these tributaries are longer, the Salzach is considered the main river due to its greater water abundance. The cirques or alpine pastures are named Salzachboden, -Ursprung and Schwebenalm , where one of the springs forms a small mountain lake (Schwebenlacke). About 5 km south at Vorderkrimml, the young Salzach unites with the Krimmler Ache , which is, however, more than half longer and, with almost three times the average water flow, is hydrologically the main source of the Salzach system.

 

In its approximately 90 km long upper reaches , whose catchment area almost coincides with the Pinzgau region , the Salzach follows a striking longitudinal valley furrow in a west-east direction to Schwarzach , where it gradually turns north. The longitudinal valley furrow, which is geologically related to the folding of the Alps , continues far to the east, where it forms the upper Ennstal .

 

The border between the Pinzgau (political district of Zell am See) and the Pongau (district of St. Johann) below the industrial town of Lend is considered the transition from the upper to the middle reaches . A little earlier, the Zeller / Saalfeldner Basin opens to the north , which separates Lake Zell and the catchment area of ​​the Saalach , the largest tributary of the Salzach that flows into Salzburg, through a valley watershed . In early prehistoric times, its course was the lower reaches of the Salzach.

 

From Krimml to beyond the beginning of the middle reaches, the side valleys running south-north , which come from the main Alpine ridge (Venediger and Glockner group of the Hohe Tauern ), flow from the south in a regular, almost parallel sequence. Almost all of these 15 water-rich southern tributaries flow into the Salzach as hanging valleys because the Ice Age main glacier following the Salzach valley was able to deepen more than the less powerful side glaciers. Towards the east, the mouths become increasingly higher above the valley floor and end with almost vertical, deep gorges . The most famous are the Kitzlochklamm (Raurisertal), the Gasteiner Klamm (Gasteinertal) and the Liechtensteinklamm (Großarltal).

 

Middle and lower reaches

 

The Salzach nearwerfen with Hagengebirge , Hohenwerfen Fortress and Tennengebirge

 

Salzach ovens

At Schwarzach and St. Johann, the middle course turns north and widens into a valley basin, the Pongau Basin , in which Bischofshofen lies alongside St. Johann . The Salzach breaks through the northern Limestone Alps between the Hochkönig / Hagengebirge and the Tennengebirge at the Lueg Pass in the Salzachhöfen gorge .

 

In the lower reaches [3] the Salzach leaves the Alps into the Salzburg Basin , flows through the lower Tennengau with Golling , Kuchl and Hallein and the Flachgau with the city of Salzburg and Freilassing an der Saalach. It then breaks through the Laufener Enge near Oberndorf , flows through the Tittmoninger Basin and the Nonnreiter Enge and flows into the Überackern basin between Burghausen an der Salzach and Braunau am Inn at an altitude of 344 m above sea level. NN near Haiming into the Inn coming from the west .

 

It forms the border between Germany and Austria over a length of around 59 km and has a catchment area of ​​6,704 km². The average water discharge at the river mouth is 252 m³/s.

 

Tributaries

In the upper and middle reaches: Wenger Bach , Trattenbach and Dürnbach from the Kitzbühler Alps, Krimmler Ache , Obersulzbach , Untersulzbach , Habach , Hollersbach , Felberbach , Stubache , Kapruner Ache from the Hohe Tauern, Pinzga from Zeller See , Fuscher Ache , Rauriser Ache the Hohe Tauern, Dientener Bach from the Slate Alps, Gasteiner Ache , Großarlbach , Kleinarlbach from the Hohe Tauern, Fritzbach from the Dachstein massif, Mühlbach and Blühnbach from the Hochkönig.

 

In the lower reaches: Lammer from the east, Torrener Bach ( Bluntautal ) from the Berchtesgaden Alps, Tauglbach and Almbach from Hintersee , both from the Osterhorn group, Königsseeache from Königssee , Kehlbach , Fischach from Wallersee , Klausbach , Saalach as the largest tributary, Sur and Götzinger Achen Bavarian side, Oichten near Oberndorf and Moosach in the Salzburg-Upper Austrian border area.

 

Pinzgau: Nadernachbach Dürnbach near Neukirchen am Großvenediger, Trattenbach near Wald im Pinzgau, Walcherbach near Walchen, Friedensbach, Fürthbach, Pinzga (outflow of Lake Zell near Bruck ad Glocknerstrasse), Steinbach near Steinbach, Fischbach near Gries im Pinzgau.

Pongau: Dientener Bach near Lend, Seebach near Schwarzach im Pongau, Wenger Bach from the Putzengraben in Schwarzach im Pongau, Reinbach near St. Johann im Pongau.

Tennengau: Imlaubach near Pfarrwerfen, Blühnbach (Salzach) near Tenneck, Torrener Bach ( Bluntautal ) near Golling, Weißenbach between Golling and Kuchl, Steigbach near Stockach. Schrambach, Kotbach in Hallein, Königsseeache from Königssee near Taxach, Anifer Alterbach .

City of Salzburg: Almkanal , Glanbach , Saalach (largest feeder).

Berchtesgadener Land district: Sur .

Traunstein district: Götzinger Achen .

Altötting district: Alzkanal .

Orographically on the right side (from origin to mouth):

 

Pinzgau: Krimmler Ache , Obersulzbach , Untersulzbach , Habach , Hollersbach , Felberbach , Stubache , Mühlbach , Kapruner Ache from the Hohe Tauern, Fuscher Ache , Wolfbach , Rauriser Ache .

Pongau: Gasteiner Ache , Großarlbach , Kleinarlbach from the Hohe Tauern, Fritzbach from the Dachstein massif.

Tennengau: Lammer from the east, Tauglbach , Almbach from Hintersee .

Flachgau (south): Kehlbach near Elsbethen, Klausbach , near Glasenbach.

City of Salzburg: Alterbach

Flachgau (north): Fischach from Wallersee , Oichten near Oberndorf .

Upper Austria: Moosach near Riedersbach.

Municipalities and cities

 

The Salzach flows through the following communities and cities (viewed downstream); the G denotes those that the river touches as a border river and the D those that lie in Upper Bavaria , Bavaria ( Germany ):

 

Forest in Pinzgau

Neukirchen am Großvenediger

Bramberg am Wildkogel

Hollersbach in Pinzgau

Mittersill

Stuhlfelden

Uttendorf (Salzburg)

Niedernsill

Piesendorf

Kaprun (G)

Zell am See (G)

Bruck an der Glocknerstrasse

Taxenbach

Lend

Goldegg im Pongau (G)

Saint Veit im Pongau

Schwarzach im Pongau

St. Johann im Pongau

Bischofshofen

Throw

Pfarrwerfen (G)

Golling on the Salzach

Kuchl

Bad Vigaun (G)

Hallein

Puch near Hallein (G)

Anif (G)

Elsbethen (G)

Salzburg

Bergheim (G)

Freilassing (G; D)

Saaldorf-Surheim (G; D)

Anthering (G)

Nußdorf am Haunsberg (G)

Running (G; D)

Oberndorf near Salzburg (G)

Fridolfing (G; D)

Sankt Georgen near Salzburg (G)

St. Pantaleon (G)

Easter rental thing (G)

St. Radegund (G)

Tittmoning (G; D)

Burghausen (G; D)

Stronghold-Ach (G)

Überackern (G)

Haiming (G; D)

  

Bridges

In the city of Salzburg there are 13 Salzach bridges for motorized and non-motorized traffic. There are only cross-border bridges downstream, namely the listed bridge between Laufen and Oberndorf and the Europasteg , which is also located there, as well as a bridge between Tittmoning and Ettenau (municipality of Ostermiething) and two between Burghausen and Hochburg-Ach (towns of Wanghausen: Neue Brücke and Oh on the Salzach: Old Bridge ). There are numerous bridges on the upper and middle reaches of the river.

 

Many of these bridges were destroyed repeatedly by floods. The flood of August 13, 1959 at 2100 m³/s meant the end of the recently built motorway bridge below Salzburg, which collapsed due to a breakthrough in the bed .

 

The construction of an additional bridge for cross-border car traffic in the Laufen area is being discussed. So far no agreement has been reached despite the identification of a corresponding need. Resident protests and a large, protected alluvial forest belt, among other things, are proving to be an obstacle.

 

The construction of a pedestrian bridge shortly before the mouth of the Salzach between Haiming and Überackern is also being considered.

 

Hydrology

Amount of water and flooding

Data on water levels and discharge are continuously collected at eight gauges in Austria and two in Germany. The average discharge volume increases downstream due to the tributaries of the Salzach:

 

GollingSalzburgRunBurghausen

River kilometers93.4164.3547.5011.40

Average discharge in m³/s140176239251

This makes the Salzach one of the largest rivers in Bavaria and Austria . As an Alpine river, the Salzach has to absorb large amounts of water in unfavorable weather conditions and prolonged rain. In the period from June to September this regularly leads to floods, rarely even in winter. The probably largest flood in the history of the city of Salzburg on June 25, 1786 is documented by a high water mark in the old town. On the memorial plaque at the Haus der Natur Salzburg it says that the Salzach claimed the lives of 2,226 people in May 1571 and swept away 13 houses and barns in July of the following year. The largest amount of water in recent times flowed through the city of Salzburg at 2,300–2,500 m³/s on September 14, 1899 , and almost 2,200 m³/s on September 7, 1920. On August 12, 2002, the Salzach reached a water level of 8.30 m in the city of Salzburg and was only 10 centimeters below the critical level, which would have resulted in large parts of the old town being flooded. The maximum flow rate of the Salzach that day in the city of Salzburg was 2,300 cubic meters per second. Below the mouth of the Saalach, the 100-year flood discharge is over 3,100 m³/s. Winter floods are very rare; on March 21, 2002, the Salzach in Salzburg had 1,060 m³/s, an amount that occurs approximately every two years, but for the month of March represents at least a 100-year flood.

 

As early as February 23, 1899, the Imperial and Royal state government in Salzburg introduced a “provisional regulation for the flood intelligence service in the Duchy of Salzburg”. Today, the hydrological information system for flood forecasting (HYDRIS) developed by the Vienna University of Technology is responsible for flood warnings in Austria. Both meteorological and hydrological data are included here, which allow for advance warning and, through flood coordination, enable damming with the help of the Mittlere Salzach power plant chain.

 

Regulation of the riverbed

Since the Middle Ages, small parts of the Salzach in the urban areas of Salzburg, Laufen and Hallein have been fortified with willow fascines and wooden shoring. The first attempts to regulate the Salzach in the form of a continuous trapezoidal profile began in 1823 in Pinzgau, secured by stone sets. As a result of the regulations, building land and cultivated land were gained, but valuable, vital riparian forest and the rich structure of the river with gravel islands and countless side arms as space for animals and people were also lost. After the first treaty concluded between Bavaria and Austria in Munich in April 1816, the old border lines were precisely surveyed. In December 1820 in Salzburg the new state border was determined by mutual agreement.

 

The Bruck threshold was blown up in 1852, thereby lowering the Salzach. This enabled arable land near the river to be gradually gained in Pinzgau and boggy and marshy meadows to be drained.

 

In the city of Salzburg itself, the first heavy blocks from the city walls near the Klausentor were removed in 1852 and used to regulate the Salzach. The once extensive bastions of the new town and the vast majority of the fortifications on the old town side, as well as the Linzertor, were used as raw material for the regulation of the Salzach. The painter and local councilor Josef Mayburger implemented a somewhat more elegant, swinging structure within the urban area. Schwarz also wanted to use the material from the Müllner Schanze to regulate the Salzach, but Mayburger was able to prevent this. The regulatory work between the city bridge and the railway bridge was completed in 1862, and that between the city bridge and the Karolinenbrücke by 1873.

 

Initially, the Salzach below the city of Salzburg was planned to have a width of 80 Viennese fathoms (152 m). However, the self-deepening of the Salzach, which was initially very desired, largely failed to occur. Therefore, in a further step, the total width of the Salzach was reduced to 60 fathoms (114 m). Only the significant removal of bedload led to significant deepening after 1900. To this day, the Salzach has dug deeper and deeper into its bed. This deepening has become a problem for decades. It has now reached a level where the fine sand and sea clay layers, which are particularly susceptible to erosion, are only insufficiently covered or not covered at all. Even a medium-sized flood event can lead to uncontrollable consequences and sudden further depressions of several meters (bottom breakthrough). The result would be significant damage to buildings and the surrounding area. An acute danger could arise within a very short time, especially for bridge piers and bridge abutments, bringing all inner-city traffic to a standstill. There is therefore a need for action. A Bavarian-Austrian working group has developed possible solutions and is currently carrying out the first measures of the “Lower Salzach Renovation” project. Plans include widening the riverbed and installing dissolved bed ramps and so-called open revetments . The main aim of the measures is to prevent further deepening and to raise the river bed again in a dynamic process of its own and to bring this state into a dynamic equilibrium. This means that valuable, vital alluvial forest can be created on a small scale. This essential work to rehabilitate the Salzach over a length of 60 km is associated with a cost of around 300 million euros.

 

In 2009, the first phase began with the gradual widening of the lower Salzach below Weitwörth, combined with an uplift of the middle Salzach bed. In 2010 the widening of the river towards Oberndorf will continue.

 

Water quality

Due to the wastewater from the paper and pulp factory in Hallein , which was built in 1895 and greatly expanded in the 1960s , the Salzach was the most polluted in 1977. It was only from 1979 onwards that the amount of waste water to be discharged was limited (1979: 84 t BOD 5 per day (which corresponds to around 1.4 million inhabitants); 1985: 54 t; 1988: 20 t; 1990: 15 t; 1999: 8 t ; 2002: 2 t) and with the installation of a chlorine-free bleach in 1991 the quality suddenly improved.

 

Until 1999, the water quality from the factory was water quality class II-III (critically polluted), and until 1987 it was only III-IV. By installing or improving the wastewater treatment in autumn 1999, continuous water quality class II (“low pollution” according to the EU Water Framework Directive) could be achieved for the first time below Hallein and quality class I-II up to Salzburg, so that the water quality is sufficient for swimming. The renovation of the paper mill's wastewater technology was successfully completed at the end of 2002, but the amount of wastewater discharged every day since then still corresponds to around 25% of the Salzach's total pollution load.

 

In 1987, in the area of ​​the city of Salzburg, the use of the large Siggerwiesen sewage treatment plant , which is designed for over 600,000 inhabitants, resulted in a further improvement of water quality by half a step. In addition to the wastewater from Salzburg, the wastewater treatment plant also cleans that from the surrounding area and from the Bavarian Ainring .

 

Tourism/Leisure

In the House of Nature there is the permanent exhibition Salzach Lifeline

The well-signposted Tauern cycle path begins at the Krimml Waterfalls in the Hohe Tauern National Park and leads along the Salzach, Saalach and Inn, partly on old towpaths (tread paths) to Passau.

A riverside path leads from Laufen via Tittmoning to Burghausen (approx. 40 km in total), which is very easy to hike on the German side.

Based on the former salt boat trip, so-called flat trips can be booked at the local tourist offices in the lowest section of the river, which take place several times a month in summer.

The Helix Bridge, previously known as the Double Helix Bridge, is a pedestrian bridge linking Marina Center with Marina South in the Marina Bay area in Singapore. It was officially opened on April 24, 2010 at 9 pm.[1] It is located beside the Benjamin Sheares Bridge and is accompanied by a vehicular bridge, known as the Bayfront Bridge.

 

The bridge complements other major development projects planned in the area, including the highly-anticipated Integrated Resort Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Flyer, Gardens by the Bay and the 438,000 m² business and financial center which will be ready by 2012. [Source: Wikipedia]

Huerta del Valle (HdV) provides a service for local businesses when HdV employee Nicolas Reza picks up organic waste such as nectarine and cut cabbage from a food distributor for the compost area of the 4-Acre organic Community Supported Garden and Farm in the middle of a low-income urban community, where U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Redlands District Conservationist Tomas Aguilar-Campos works closely with Co-Founder and Executive Director Maria Alonso as she continues to improve the farm operation in Ontario, California, on Nov. 13, 2018.

 

USDA NRCS has helped with hoop houses to extend the growing season, low-emission tractor replacement to efficiently move bulk materials and a needed micro-irrigation system for this San Bernardino County location that is in a severe drought condition (drought.gov). Huerta del Valle is also a recipient of a 4-year USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Community Food Projects (CFP) grant and a USDA funded California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP). She and her staff grow nearly 150 crops, including papayas and cactus. CSA customers pick up their produce on site, where they can see where their food grows. To pay, they can use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards. The price of a produce box is based on the customerâs income.

 

Alonsoâs inspiration came from her desire to provide affordable organic food for her child. This lead to collaborators that included students and staff from Pitzer College's âPitzer in Ontario Programâ and the Claremont Colleges, who implemented a project plan and started a community garden at a public school. Shortly after that, the City of Ontario was granted $1M from the Kaiser Permanente Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Zone initiative. Huerta del Valle was granted $68,000 from that grant for a three-year project to increase the scale of operation. The city of Ontario supported the project above and beyond the grant by providing a vacant piece of land next to a residential park and community center. Alonso says that this spot, nestled near an international airport, two major interstate highways, suburban homes, and warehouses, is a âgreen space to breathe freely.â

 

She far exceeded Kaiser's expectations by creating 60 10â X 20â plots that are in full use by the nearby residents. Because of the demand, there is a constant waiting list for plots that become available.

 

As the organization grew, it learned about the NRCS through an advertisement for the high-tunnel season extension cost-sharing program. The ad put them in touch with the former district manager Kim Lary who helped Huerta del Valle become federal grant ready with their Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) and System for Award Management (SAM) registrations and connected the young organization to NRCS as well as the Inland Empire Resource Conservation District (IERCD.) Since then, Alonso has worked closely with them sharing her knowledge with a broader community including local colleges such as the Claremont Colleges and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona).

 

Cal Poly Pomona is an example where education institutions help the community. Cal Poly Pomona Plant Science Nursery Manager Monica Salembier has produced plant seedlings (plant trays) for transplant at HdV for many years. Aaron Fox and Eileen Cullen in the Plant Science department have hosted HdV in their classes and brought many groups on tours of the farm to learn about sustainable urban growing practices.

 

The shaded picnic tables in the center of the garden have been the site of three USDA NRCS workshops for regional farmers, students, and visitors. The site also serves as a showcase for students and other producers who may need help with obtaining low-emission tractors, micro-irrigation, and high tunnel âhoop houses.â

 

Alonso says, âevery day is a good day, but especially at the monthly community meetings where I learn from my community.â

 

For more information, please see www.usda.gov and www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/community-supported-agriculture

  

Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the Departmentâs focal point for the nationâs farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs, and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs.

The agencies and service supporting FPAC are Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Risk Management Agency (RMA).

 

Natural Resources Conservation Service has a proud history of supporting Americaâs farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners. For more than 80 years, we have helped people make investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture, and improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and habitat.

As the USDAâs primary private lands conservation agency, we generate, manage, and share the data, technology, and standards that enable partners and policymakers to make decisions informed by objective, reliable science.

And through one-on-one, personalized advice, we work voluntarily with producers and communities to find the best solutions to meet their unique conservation and business goals. By doing so, we help ensure the health of our natural resources and the long-term sustainability of American agriculture.

For more information, please see www.usda.gov.

USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

Whatever your beliefs this is a good time to be thankful for the blessing we’ve had this past year. Family and good friends are at the top of the list. Our family has gotten larger with the marriage of our Granddaughter and another Granddaughter & Husband announced we are going to be blessed with another Great-Grandchild --- a BOY due in June 2018.

 

Santa has brought me 2 new hips for Christmas so I think my health has been good as well. Kathy’s had thumb surgery this last summer and is doing very well from that. All in all these were blessings to have done and pleased with the results.

 

Next year has more adventures planned with the camera and sites to see. I’ve still got projects planned for some of the kids (Papa’s handy-man service). Retirement has been fantastic, I don’t know how I did what I did when I was working.

 

We would like to wish all of you a wonderful Holiday and a very Happy, Healthy New Year.

 

Stocked up for the winter months, plenty of projects planned and experiments

 

5x Fujifilm Acros 100 120

3x Ilford HP5 400 120

3x Ilford Delta 100 120

11x Ilford Delta 400 35mm

4x Ilford Pan F 50 35mm

 

Also got some Porta 400 120 and a few rolls of Superia 800 35mm lying around!

Tikhvin Cemetery (Russian: Тихвинское кладбище) is a historic cemetery in the centre of Saint Petersburg. It is part of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and is one of four cemeteries in the complex. Since 1932 it has been part of the State Museum of Urban Sculpture , which refers to it as the Necropolis of the Masters of Art (Russian: Некрополь мастеров искусств).

Opened in 1823 after the monastery's first cemetery, the Lazarevskoe, had become overcrowded, the cemetery was initially called the "New Lazarevsky". It acquired its name after the building of its cemetery church, consecrated to the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God. It soon superseded the Lazarevskoe Cemetery and became a popular and prestigious burial ground. The first literary figure, Nikolay Karamzin, was buried in the cemetery in 1826, followed in 1833 by Nikolay Gnedich, an associate of Alexander Pushkin's. Several other friends of Pushkin were later buried in the cemetery. Particularly significant interments were those of Mikhail Glinka in 1857, Fyodor Dostoevsky in 1881, Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Borodin in the 1880s, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1891.

During the Soviet period the cemetery was earmarked for development into a museum necropolis, envisaged primarily as a landscaped park, with strategically placed memorials to important figures of Russian history. With several notable artists having already been buried in the cemetery, it was decided to designate it as the "Necropolis of the Masters of Art". During the 1930s many important Russian composers, painters, sculptors, writers and poets were exhumed from their original resting places across the city, and brought, with or without their monuments, to be reburied in the Tikhvin cemetery. At the same time the monuments of those figures deemed not in keeping with the artistic theme of the cemetery were removed or destroyed. Several more burials of particularly important artists took place during the Soviet period, as the cemetery established a role as a kind of national pantheon. Today the cemetery operates as a museum necropolis under the auspices of the State Museum of Urban Sculpture.

The cemetery is located close to Alexander Nevsky Square, to the right of the pathway leading from the Gate Church to the River Monastyrka. This land had previously been occupied with ornamental and vegetable gardens. The first cemetery in the monastery, the Lazarevskoe Cemetery, had been established in 1717, and by the early nineteenth century was becoming overcrowded. In March 1823 the monastery authorities proposed the creation of a new burial ground opposite the St. Petersburg Theological Consistory. The new cemetery, initially called the "New Lazarevsky" (Russian: Ново-Лазаревским), was established in the eastern part of the plot of land, between the pathway to the monastery, and the consistory building, enclosed with a wooden fence. Over time it expanded to the west, into the areas formerly occupied by monastic gardens, and in the 1870s it was enclosed with a stone wall.

The brothers D. M. and N. M. Polezhaev, wealthy merchants, funded the construction of a cemetery church, laid down on 26 September 1869 and built to the design of architect N. P. Grebyonki. The church was consecrated on 2 February 1873 in the name of the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God, which from about 1876 became the common name of the cemetery. Two icons, one of Saint Dimitry of Rostov, and one of Saint Mary of Egypt, were painted by Pavel Pleshanov for the church. In 1825 the church and cemetery were visited by Emperor Alexander I, prior to his journey to Taganrog.

The burial vault of Polezhaev family was in the crypt of the church, and in 1901 the church underwent renovations. In 1918 archpriest Peter Skipetrov of the Gate Church, who had been shot and killed during an early attempt by the Bolsheviks to requisition the monastery on 19 January 1918, was buried under the church's altar. The church was closed in 1931 and between 1935 and 1937 it was converted into a post office, with the destruction of its facades and interiors. With the establishment of the State Museum of Urban Sculpture, the building housed its scientific department, and now houses an exhibition hall as part of the museum.

The rate of burials in the Old and New Lazarevskoe cemeteries was about equal during the early years of the latter's existence, though by the 1830s the New Lazarevskoe Cemetery became more popular. Burials initially took place in the eastern part of the cemetery, and in 1825 the holy fool monk Patermufy was buried there. In 1826 the writer Nikolay Karamzin was buried in the cemetery, followed in 1833 by Nikolay Gnedich, a contemporary of Pushkin's. Gnedich's funeral on 6 February 1833 was attended by many prominent literary figures, including Pushkin, Ivan Krylov, Pyotr Vyazemsky, Pyotr Pletnyov, Fyodor Tolstoy and Alexey Olenin. With the exception of Pushkin, all would eventually be buried in the Lavra's cemeteries; Krylov, Vyazemsky, Pletnyov and Olenin in the Tikhvin, and Tolstoy in the Lazarevskoe. In 1844 another contemporary poet of Pushkin's, Yevgeny Baratynsky, was buried in the cemetery.

The cemetery became a popular and prestigious burial ground for those of many areas of society. The wealthy merchant A.I. Kosikovsky was buried under a monumental sarcophagus on a high pedestal surmounted by a canopy on eight fluted columns. Opposite it stood a similarly grand monument to the statesman Pavel Demidov, which has since been lost. In 1857 the remains of the composer Mikhail Glinka were returned from Berlin and buried in the cemetery, with a grand monument erected two years later to the design of architect I. I. Gornostayev, with sculptures by Nikolai Laveretsky. On 1 February 1881 the author Fyodor Dostoevsky was buried in the cemetery, with a similarly large monument. During the 1880s composers Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Borodin were buried in the northern part of the grounds, with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky following in 1891. Eventually all the members of the group of composers termed "The Five", or the "Mighty Handful"; Mussorgsky, Borodin, as well as Mily Balakirev, César Cui and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, were buried in the cemetery.

By the beginning of the 20th century the Tikhvin cemetery contained 1,325 monuments of various designs and sizes, including monumental crosses on pedestals, sarcophagi and steles. There were several family plots with chapels and large crypts of granite and marble.

During the early Soviet period a number of monuments were stolen or destroyed. The cemetery was officially closed for burials in 1927, though they continued until 1932, and it was decided to turn it into a necropolis museum, displaying historically and artistically significant graves. Alongside this was concept of gathering together the graves of the friends and contemporaries of Alexander Pushkin for the 1937 centenary commemorations of the poet's death. The architectural and planning department of Lensovet, the city administration, was tasked with creating a memorial park project. Plans were drawn up by architects E.N. Sandler and E.K. Reimers, with further input from the city's chief architect L.A. Ilyin. The Funeral Affair Trust was established to run the necropolis museum, including removing abandoned gravestones for sale as building materials.

The Funeral Affair Trust was authorised to acquire and transfer important graves and monuments from other cemeteries and churches across the city. Meanwhile, those existing graves in the cemetery that were not considered particularly artistic or historic were to be demolished to create space for those brought from other locations. A list of graves in the cemetery was compiled and work began in 1935, planned for completion on 15 August the following year. A 3 July 1935 resolution from the Presidium of Lensovet set out the vision for the future of the necropolis museums.

The short timeframe allowed for completion of the work led to the hasty and unsystematic demolition of a number of monuments, with the bulk of the work only being completed by August 1937, with remedial work continuing for many years afterwards.

The reconstruction radically altered the nature and appearance of the Tikhvin cemetery. With the intention being to create an "artists' necropolis", graves of those from other sections of society were removed. Fewer than a hundred of the original monuments were preserved. Some were transferred to the neighbouring "Necropolis of the XVIII century", the former Lazarevskoe Cemetery, while others, including those of Aleksandr Gradovsky, Anatoly Koni and Viktor Pashutin, were transferred to the other museum necropolis being established in the Volkov Cemetery. Meanwhile, the remains of prominent artists, sculptors, composers and musicians were reburied in the cemetery. Among them were personal friends of Pushkin, including Konstantin Danzas, Anton Delvig, and Fyodor Matyushkin. Some remains came from cemeteries earmarked for demolition, such as the Mitrofanievsky, Farforovskoe, and Vyborg Roman Catholic Cemetery; and others from those that were intended to be kept open, such as the Smolensky, Volkovo, Novodevichy, and Nikolskoe cemeteries. The necropolis was created during an ongoing anti-religious campaign, therefore monuments with religious symbols were often replaced by monuments made by the museum.

The cemetery reconstruction project concentrated the representatives of each type of art together, with even monuments that had been in the Tikhvin originally being moved to fit the new organisational scheme. Composers and musicians were reburied mainly on the "Composer's path", near the northern boundary of the cemetery. Painters and sculptors were placed in the western part, while those who in their lifetimes had been associated with Pushkin were placed close to the eastern section, near the cemetery entrance. Some of the older monuments from the removed graves were retained to serve as decorative ornaments, such as columns placed at the intersection of avenues. The decoration of the park-necropolis was to be enhanced by the construction of one large and four small fountains, and the installation of granite benches. The Tikhvin Church was slated for demolition to improve the access direct from Alexander Nevsky Square. The organisers were faced with the problem that despite designating the cemetery to be the artists' necropolis, historically the Tikhvin had primarily been the burial ground of statesmen, military leaders, scientists, and composers. There were relatively few graves of writers, who had tended to prefer the Smolensky Cemetery; or artists, who had traditionally chosen the Nikolskoe or Novodevichy Cemetery. This necessitated the transfer of a large number of burials and monuments, which took place in two main periods, from 1936 to 1941 and from 1948 to 1952.

During the Second World War and the siege of Leningrad, the museum worked to provide protection and shelter for monuments. Only a single gravestone was damaged, that of the actress Varvara Asenkova. The monument, designed by Ivan Sosnytsky, consisted of a granite canopy over a pedestal with a verse epitaph and bronze bust of the actress by Ivan Vitali and had been transferred along with the actress's remains from the Smolensky Cemetery in 1936. It was destroyed by a direct hit from a bomb in 1943. In 1955 the museum installed a marble replica of the bust made by D.A. Sprishinym. Other monuments were stored in the Lavra's Annunciation Church.

Restoration work began immediately after the end of the war, with the necropolis-museum opening in August 1947. The programme of moving and installing monuments resumed after the war and continued until the mid-1950s. There were also several burials of prominent Soviet citizens, as the cemetery gained the status of an urban pantheon. Those buried here included the scientist Sergey Lebedev in 1934, artist Mikhail Avilov in 1954, and actor Nikolay Cherkasov in 1966. In 1972 the remains of the composer Alexander Glazunov were transferred from Paris. In 1968 Fyodor Dostoevsky's wife Anna Dostoevskaya was reburied next to her husband, while theatre director Georgy Tovstonogov was interred in the cemetery in 1989. So far Tovstonogov's has been the last burial to take place in the cemetery.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikhvin_Cemetery

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_burials_at_Tikhvin_Cemetery

 

www.monument-tracker.com/es/guia/6505-cementerios-tikhvin...

 

www.monument-tracker.com/en/guide/6505-cemeteries-tikhvin...

  

 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) helped Huerta del Valle (HdV) Co-Founder and Executive Director Maria Alonso obtain high tunnel hoop houses to extend their growing season and help nurture tropical trees such as the papaya to grow new roots into the soil wrapped around the branches; here, she checks for roots, the branch will later be cut to become independent trees at the 4-Acre organic Community Supported Garden and Farm in the middle of a low-income urban community, where USDA NRCS Redlands District Conservationist Tomas Aguilar-Campos works closely with her as she continues to improve the farm operation in Ontario, California, on Nov. 13, 2018.

 

USDA NRCS has helped with hoop houses to extend the growing season, low-emission tractor replacement to efficiently move bulk materials and a needed micro-irrigation system for this San Bernardino County location that is in a severe drought condition (drought.gov). Huerta del Valle is also a recipient of a 4-year USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Community Food Projects (CFP) grant and a USDA funded California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP). She and her staff grow nearly 150 crops, including papayas and cactus. CSA customers pick up their produce on site, where they can see where their food grows. To pay, they can use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards. The price of a produce box is based on the customer’s income.

 

Alonso’s inspiration came from her desire to provide affordable organic food for her child. This lead to collaborators that included students and staff from Pitzer College's “Pitzer in Ontario Program” and the Claremont Colleges, who implemented a project plan and started a community garden at a public school. Shortly after that, the City of Ontario was granted $1M from the Kaiser Permanente Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Zone initiative. Huerta del Valle was granted $68,000 from that grant for a three-year project to increase the scale of operation. The city of Ontario supported the project above and beyond the grant by providing a vacant piece of land next to a residential park and community center. Alonso says that this spot, nestled near an international airport, two major interstate highways, suburban homes, and warehouses, is a “green space to breathe freely.”

 

She far exceeded Kaiser's expectations by creating 60 10’ X 20’ plots that are in full use by the nearby residents. Because of the demand, there is a constant waiting list for plots that become available.

 

As the organization grew, it learned about the NRCS through an advertisement for the high-tunnel season extension cost-sharing program. The ad put them in touch with the former district manager Kim Lary who helped Huerta del Valle become federal grant ready with their Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) and System for Award Management (SAM) registrations and connected the young organization to NRCS as well as the Inland Empire Resource Conservation District (IERCD.) Since then, Alonso has worked closely with them sharing her knowledge with a broader community including local colleges such as the Claremont Colleges and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona).

 

Cal Poly Pomona is an example where education institutions help the community. Cal Poly Pomona Plant Science Nursery Manager Monica Salembier has produced plant seedlings (plant trays) for transplant at HdV for many years. Aaron Fox and Eileen Cullen in the Plant Science department have hosted HdV in their classes and brought many groups on tours of the farm to learn about sustainable urban growing practices.

 

The shaded picnic tables in the center of the garden have been the site of three USDA NRCS workshops for regional farmers, students, and visitors. The site also serves as a showcase for students and other producers who may need help with obtaining low-emission tractors, micro-irrigation, and high tunnel “hoop houses.”

 

Alonso says, “every day is a good day, but especially at the monthly community meetings where I learn from my community.”

 

For more information, please see www.usda.gov and www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/community-supported-agriculture

  

Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the Department’s focal point for the nation’s farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs, and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs.

The agencies and service supporting FPAC are Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Risk Management Agency (RMA).

 

Natural Resources Conservation Service has a proud history of supporting America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners. For more than 80 years, we have helped people make investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture, and improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and habitat.

As the USDA’s primary private lands conservation agency, we generate, manage, and share the data, technology, and standards that enable partners and policymakers to make decisions informed by objective, reliable science.

And through one-on-one, personalized advice, we work voluntarily with producers and communities to find the best solutions to meet their unique conservation and business goals. By doing so, we help ensure the health of our natural resources and the long-term sustainability of American agriculture.

For more information, please see www.usda.gov.

USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

   

Supertram are about 2 weeks into this year's rail replacement project planned from the 28th March to 28th August and is currently taking place between Shalesmoor and the north west termini of Malin Bridge and Middlewood where replacement buses are operated. Sunday 5th of April became the first of several dates where extra works although it was very short term plan were being carried out this time at Castle Square therefore disrupting the current "normal" service. Trams ran almost fully on the purple route avoiding the City Centre and an amended blue route operated, the route became the Green route for this day and ran between Halfway, its normal southern terminus and Meadowhall avoiding the City Centre. Trams 104 and 105 are seen at Beighton/Drake House Lane (BDH) on the normal blue route and both show Meadowhall and Halfway respectively, note the green route code on the destination blind being the green square with a G.

Happy new year!!

 

I started the year off with another run at Iron Forge, the annual seed-part competition run by Simon and Markus. This year, I ended up reaching the top 8/final 4 round, being paired up with the wonderfully talented builder Loke (Byggi). The competition is always such a fun (and intense) way to start off the year, and I'm really glad I competed this year.

 

Simon convinced me to build a cube for New Hashima in February, and I spent most of February to June just working on my cube for latest iteration the massive cyberpunk cityscape that would debut at Brickworld Chicago later in the year. I'm an incredibly slow builder, so filling up a cube with 3/4 visible, detailed sides was a challenge. As much as I enjoyed the process, it left me pretty burnt out for building for a while.

 

June rolled around and I took a road trip to Chicago for the second year in a row. This years Brickworld was highlighted by, of course, New Hashima. I spent most of my time at Brickworld this year towards helping set up and assemble the colossal project, and I'm just really thankful to the entire NH family for being so welcoming. I gotta give it up for Jackson, Bove, Brian, Luke, Jonah, and Dan for making Brickworld Chicago so fun this year, along with everyone else I met and reunited with. #YONHO

 

July meant the Summer Joust! I teamed up, once again, with the wonderful Kit, Dan, and Marc to work on the collab category, scoring our second win in a row. I'm so thankful to have worked with Dan before he left for Peru, and I'm also so excited to work with him and the rest of the team again when he gets back. Thanks to you guys for always being there, I really cherish all the memories we've made over the past few years :)

 

After the Summer Joust, I really just took a step back from the hobby, keeping up on some personal projects but mostly putting my time towards other things in my life. I'm still around and have a few long-term projects planned, but just at a slower pace than previous years.

 

Thanks to everyone for making this a wonderful year, and I can't wait to see what we'll do in the future!

 

- Francis

 

(As always I’ve tagged people who’ve inspired me this year)

The Rover 800 Series is an executive car range manufactured by the Austin Rover Group subsidiary of British Leyland, and its successor the Rover Group from 1986 to 1999. It was also marketed as the Sterling in the United States. Co-developed with Honda, it was a close relative to the Honda Legend and the successor to the Rover SD1.

 

Partnership with Honda

 

The first product of the BL-Honda alliance was the Triumph Acclaim - and shortly after its launch the two companies mapped out a advisable strategy for future collaborative projects. Plans for a midsize car were investigated, but were dropped because BL already had the Austin Maestro and Austin Montego in the final stages of development. However both BL and Honda had a pressing need for a full-size executive car in their lineups. BL had to start planning for a successor to the Rover SD1, whilst Honda was keen to expand its presence in the lucrative North American market - something which it couldn't fully do unless it had a full-size luxury saloon (at that time the Honda Accord was its biggest model) which would compete with similar large Japanese imports from Toyota and Datsun. Joint development of the car began in 1981 under the "XX" codename; the corresponding Honda version was known as the Honda Legend, and was codenamed as "HX". The development work was carried out at Rover's Cowley plant and Honda's Tochigi development centre. Both cars shared the same core structure and floorpan, but they each had their own unique exterior bodywork and interior. Under the agreement, Honda would supply the V6 petrol engine, both automatic and manual transmissions and the chassis design, whilst BL would provide the 4-cylinder petrol engine and much of the electrical systems, including defective fusebox and heater.

 

Honda and Austin Rover agreed that Legends would also be built in the Cowley plant for the British market. The US-market (Acura) Legends were built in Japan.

 

It was finally launched on 10 July 1986, taking the place of the decade-old Rover SD1.

 

Coupé

 

A two-door three-box coupé version was launched in early 1992, having debuted at the 1991 Motor Show. This specification had originally been developed with the American market in mind but was never sold there, with Rover having pulled out of the US market before the Coupé's launch. It was, however, sold to other export markets. Eighty percent of the interior and exterior of the 800 Coupé was finished by hand. The original Rover 800 had also formed the basis for the coupe version of the Honda Legend after its 1986 launch, but at the time Rover had decided against launching a coupe version of the 800 Series.

 

From February 1992 until 1996, the Rover 800 Coupe came exclusively with the 2.7 Honda V6 engine and 16" Rover 'Prestige' alloys. A four-speed automatic transmission came as standard, and the car was capable of well over 130 mph.

 

[Text abbreviated from Wikipedia]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_800_Series

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