Macon (/ˈmeɪkən/), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county located in the state of Georgia, United States. Macon lies near the geographic center of the state, approximately 85 miles (137 km) south of Atlanta, hence the city's nickname "The Heart of Georgia."

 

Located near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, Macon is the county seat of Bibb County and had a 2017 estimated population of 152,663.[4] Macon is the principal city of the Macon metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 228,914 in 2017. Macon is also the largest city in the Macon–Warner Robins Combined Statistical Area (CSA), a larger trading area with an estimated 420,693 residents in 2017; the CSA abuts the Atlanta metropolitan area just to the north.

 

In a 2012 referendum, voters approved the consolidation of Macon and Bibb County, and Macon became Georgia's fourth-largest city (just after Columbus). The two governments officially merged on January 1, 2014.

 

Macon is served by three interstate highways: I-16 (connecting the city to Savannah and coastal Georgia), I-75 (connecting the city with Atlanta to the north and Valdosta to the south), and I-475 (a city bypass highway).

 

The city has several institutions of higher education, as well as numerous museums and tourism sites. The area is served by the Middle Georgia Regional Airport and the Herbert Smart Downtown Airport. The mayor of Macon is Robert Reichert, a former Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives. Reichert was elected mayor of the newly consolidated city of Macon–Bibb, and he took office on January 1, 2014.

 

Macon lies on the site of the Ocmulgee Old Fields, where the Creek Indians lived in the 18th century. Their predecessors, the Mississippian culture, built a powerful chiefdom (950–1100 AD) based on an agricultural village and constructed earthwork mounds for ceremonial, burial, and religious purposes. The areas along the rivers in the Southeast had been inhabited by indigenous peoples for 13,000 years before Europeans arrived.

 

Macon developed at the site of Fort Benjamin Hawkins, built in 1809 at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River to protect the community and to establish a trading post with Native Americans. The fort was named in honor of Benjamin Hawkins, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southeast territory south of the Ohio River for over 20 years. He lived among the Creek and was married to a Creek woman. This was the most inland point of navigation on the river from the Low Country. President Thomas Jefferson forced the Creek to cede their lands east of the Ocmulgee River and ordered the fort built. (Archeological excavations in the 21st century found evidence of two separate fortifications.)

 

Fort Hawkins guarded the Lower Creek Pathway, an extensive and well-traveled American Indian network later improved by the United States as the Federal Road from Washington, D.C., to the ports of Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana. A gathering point of the Creek and U.S. cultures for trading, it was also a center of state militia and federal troops. The fort served as a major military distribution point during the War of 1812 against Great Britain and also during the Creek War of 1813. Afterward, the fort was used as a trading post for several years and was garrisoned until 1821. It was decommissioned about 1828 and later burned to the ground. A replica of the southeast blockhouse was built in 1938 and still stands today on a hill in east Macon. Part of the fort site is occupied by the Fort Hawkins Grammar School. In the 21st century, archeological excavations have revealed more of the fort's importance, and stimulated planning for additional reconstruction of this major historical site.

 

As many Europeans had already begun to move into the area, they renamed Fort Hawkins "Newtown." After the organization of Bibb County in 1822, the city was chartered as the county seat in 1823 and officially named Macon. This was in honor of the North Carolina statesman Nathaniel Macon, because many of the early residents of Georgia hailed from North Carolina. The city planners envisioned "a city within a park" and created a city of spacious streets and parks. They designated 250 acres (1.0 km2) for Central City Park, and passed ordinances requiring residents to plant shade trees in their front yards.

 

The city thrived due to its location on the Ocmulgee River, which enabled shipping to markets. Cotton became the mainstay of Macon's early economy, based on the enslaved labor of African Americans. Macon was in the Black Belt of Georgia, where cotton was the commodity crop. Cotton steamboats, stage coaches, and later, in 1843, a railroad increased marketing opportunities and contributed to the economic prosperity to Macon. In 1836, the Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church founded Wesleyan College in Macon. Wesleyan was the first college in the United States chartered to grant degrees to women. In 1855, a referendum was held to determine a capital city for Georgia. Macon came in last with 3,802 votes.

 

During the American Civil War, Macon served as the official arsenal of the Confederacy. Camp Oglethorpe, in Macon, was used first as a prison for captured Union officers and enlisted men. Later it held officers only, up to 2,300 at one time. The camp was evacuated in 1864.

 

Macon City Hall, which served as the temporary state capitol in 1864, was converted to a hospital for wounded Confederate soldiers. The Union General William Tecumseh Sherman spared Macon on his march to the sea. His troops had sacked the nearby state capital of Milledgeville, and Maconites prepared for an attack. Sherman, however, passed by without entering Macon.

 

The Macon Telegraph wrote that, of the 23 companies which the city had furnished the Confederacy, only enough men survived and were fit for duty to fill five companies by the end of the war. The human toll was very high.

 

The city was taken by Union forces during Wilson's Raid on April 20, 1865.

 

In the twentieth century, Macon grew into a prospering town in Middle Georgia. It began to serve as a transportation hub for the entire state. In 1895, the New York Times dubbed Macon "The Central City," in reference to the city's emergence as a hub for railroad transportation and textile factories. Terminal Station was built in 1916.

 

In 1994 Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in Florida bringing 24 inches (61 cm) of rain, which resulted in major flooding in Georgia. Macon was one of the cities to suffer the worst flooding.

 

On May 11, 2008, an EF2 tornado touched down in nearby Lizella. The tornado then moved northeast to the southern shore of Lake Tobesofkee then continued into Macon and lifted near Dry Branch in Twiggs County. The tornado produced sporadic areas of major damage. Widespread straight-line wind damage was also produced along and south of the track of the tornado. The most significant damage was in Macon along Eisenhower Parkway and Pio Nono Avenue where two businesses were destroyed and several others were heavily damaged. Middle Georgia State College was also damaged by the tornado, snapping or uprooting around 50% of the campus trees and doing significant damage to several buildings on campus, with the gymnasium sustaining the worst damage. This tornado varied in intensity from EF0 to EF2 with the EF2 damage and winds up to 130 miles per hour (210 km/h) occurring near the intersection of Eisenhower Parkway and Pio Nono Avenue. Total path length was 18 miles (29 km) with a path width of 100 yards (91 m).[citation needed]

 

In 2012, voters in Macon and Bibb County approved a new consolidated government between the city and county, making the city's new boundary lines the same as the county's and deannexing a small portion of the city that once lay in Jones County.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macon,_Georgia

Tilly Opaline: MGU 2023 - Italy

For this stimulating challenge Tilly has chosen to represent the zodiac sign under which she was born here in SL: Virgo.

According to legend, for the ancient Greeks the constellation Virgo was linked to the goddess Demeter.

Demeter was the goddess of nature, the fields and agriculture and, with them, the changing seasons. Tilly has chosen to represent it in the luxuriance of the summer season, when the wheat ripens in the fields and the sunflowers chase the star that allows life.

The bare branches overhead, however, and the orange leaves are already a reminder of autumn, the season of rest and preparation for winter sleep that will precede the spring rebirth in a continuous cycle that is life.

Cigar Parlay specializes in custom cigar tailored event coordination, state of the art environments that create a stimulating, visual and palatable experience to elevate your private event.

 

www.facebook.com/cigar.parlay?fref=ts

 

www.cigarparlay.com/home-1.html

 

Stimulated by Han Solo movie released last weekend in Japan, I built an original two-legged walker in Star Wars style. Also I tried a tandem mech to improve my building skills.

Doing my part to stimulate the economy. A new X-T3 for me, and the X-T2 is heading to a new home with a good friend.

While working for a while in another state, I drove through where Lillie was living at the time. We met up at a state park near her and shot a few family friendly shots around the park. Dozens of other people, mostly families with kids, were wandering around us… so it was a very tame shoot. But always fun to meet up with a friend.

 

Copyright © Independent Photographer.

All the copyright and other intellectual property rights, and material on my FLICKR page are reserved.

 

I thought I'd get slinky for the camera tonight in my hotel suite before venturing out, I hope it worked as well for you as it did for me!

Osteospermum is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Calenduleae, one of the smaller tribes of the sunflower/daisy family Asteraceae. They are known as the daisybushes or African daisies. Its species have been given several common names, including African daisy, South African daisy, Cape daisy and blue-eyed daisy.

 

Description

Their alternate (rarely opposite) leaves are green, but some variegated forms exist. The leaf form is lanceolate. The leaf margin is entire, but hardy types are toothed.

 

The daisy-like composite flower consists of disc florets and ray florets, growing singly at the end of branches or sometimes in inflorescences of terminal corymbose cymes. The disc florets are pseudo-bisexual and come in several colors such as blue, yellow and purple. The hardy types usually show a dark blue center in the disc until the yellow pollen is shed. The ray florets are female and are found diverse colors such as white, cream, pink, purple, mauve to yellow. Some cultivars have "spooned" petals such as "Pink Whirls". Many species flower a second time late summer, stimulated by the cooler night temperatures. Hardy types show profuse flowering in the spring, but they do not get a second flush of flowers.

 

Taxonomy

The genus Osteospermum was named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The scientific name is derived from the Greek osteon (bone) and Latin spermum (seed). Plants of the World Online and the South African National Biodiversity Institute accept a broad definition of the genus, which is a sister taxon to Dimorphotheca. Other authorities treat its generic synonyms (Chrysanthemoides, Oligocarpus, etc.) as separate genera.

 

Species

74 species are accepted:

 

Osteospermum acanthospermum (DC.) Norl.

Osteospermum aciphyllum DC.

Osteospermum afromontanum Norl.

Osteospermum amplectens (Harv.) Norl.

Osteospermum angolense Norl.

Osteospermum apterum (B.Nord.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt

Osteospermum armatum Norl.

Osteospermum asperulum (DC.) Norl.

Osteospermum attenuatum Hilliard & B.L.Burtt

Osteospermum auriculatum (S.Moore) Norl.

Osteospermum australe B.Nord.

Osteospermum bidens Thunb.

Osteospermum bolusii (Compton) Norl.

Osteospermum breviradiatum Norl. — Lemoenboegoe

Osteospermum burttianum B.Nord.

Osteospermum calcicola (J.C.Manning & Goldblatt) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt

Osteospermum calendulaceum L.f. — Stinking Roger

Osteospermum ciliatum P.J.Bergius

Osteospermum connatum DC.

Osteospermum corymbosum L.

Osteospermum crassifolium (O.Hoffm.) Norl.

Osteospermum dentatum Burm.f.

Osteospermum elsieae Norl.

Osteospermum grandidentatum DC. — Yellow trailing daisy

Osteospermum grandiflorum DC.

Osteospermum hafstroemii Norl.

Osteospermum herbaceum L.f.

Osteospermum hirsutum Thunb.

Osteospermum hispidum Harv.

Osteospermum hyoseroides (DC.) Norl.

Osteospermum ilicifolium L.

Osteospermum imbricatum L.

Osteospermum incanum Burm.f.

Osteospermum junceum P.J.Bergius

Osteospermum karrooicum (Bolus) Norl.

Osteospermum lanceolatum DC.

Osteospermum leptolobum (Harv.) Norl.

Osteospermum microcarpum (Harv.) Norl.

Osteospermum microphyllum DC.

Osteospermum moniliferum L.

Osteospermum monocephalum (Oliv. & Hiern) Norl.

Osteospermum monstrosum (Burm.f.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt

Osteospermum montanum Klatt

Osteospermum muricatum E.Mey. ex DC.

Osteospermum namibense Swanepoel

Osteospermum nervosum (Hutch.) Norl.

Osteospermum nordenstamii J.C.Manning & Goldblatt

Osteospermum norlindhianum J.C.Manning & Goldblatt

Osteospermum nyikense Norl.

Osteospermum oppositifolium (Aiton) Norl.

Osteospermum pinnatilobatum Norl.

Osteospermum pinnatum (Thunb.) Norl.

Osteospermum polycephalum (DC.) Norl.

Osteospermum polygaloides L.

Osteospermum potbergense A.R.Wood & B.Nord.

Osteospermum pterigoideum Klatt

Osteospermum pyrifolium Norl.

Osteospermum rigidum Aiton

Osteospermum rosulatum Norl.

Osteospermum rotundifolium (DC.) Norl.

Osteospermum sanctae-helenae Norl.

Osteospermum scariosum DC.

Osteospermum sinuatum (DC.) Norl.

Osteospermum spathulatum (DC.) Norl.

Osteospermum spinescens Thunb.

Osteospermum spinigerum (Norl.) Norl.

Osteospermum spinosum L.

Osteospermum striatum Burtt Davy

Osteospermum subulatum DC.

Osteospermum thodei Markötter

Osteospermum tomentosum (L.f.) B.Nord.

Osteospermum triquetrum L.f.

Osteospermum vaillantii (Decne.) Norl.

Osteospermum volkensii (O.Hoffm.) Norl.

Formerly placed here

Dimorphotheca barberae — synonym Osteospermum barberae (Harv.) Norl.)

Dimorphotheca ecklonis — Cape marguerite, blue-and-white daisybush (synonym Osteospermum ecklonis (DC.) Norl.)

Dimorphotheca fruticosa — Trailing African daisy, shrubby daisybush (synonym Osteospermum fruticosum (L.) Norl.)

Dimorphotheca jucunda (E.Phillips) Norl. — South African daisy (synonym Osteospermum jucundum E.Phillips)

Distribution

There are about 70 species native to southern and eastern Africa and the Arabian peninsula.

 

Cultivation

Osteospermum are popular in cultivation, where they are frequently used in summer bedding schemes in parks and gardens. Numerous hybrids and cultivars have been grown with a wide range of tropical colors. Yellow cultivars tend to have a yellow center (sometimes off-white).

 

Plants prefer a warm and sunny position and rich soil, although they tolerate poor soil, salt or drought well. Modern cultivars flower continuously when watered and fertilised well, and dead-heading is not necessary, because they do not set seed easily. If planted in a container, soil should be prevented from drying out completely. If they do, the plants will go into "sleep mode" and survive the period of drought, but they will abort their flower buds and not easily come back into flower. Moreover, roots are relatively susceptible to rotting if watered too profusely after the dry period.

 

Cultivars

Most widely sold cultivars are grown as annuals, are mainly hybrids of O. jucundum, O. ecklonis and O. grandiflorum and can be hardy to -2 °C (30 °F). If hardy, they can be grown as perennials or as shrubs.

 

Cultivars (those marked agm have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit):

 

'Acapulco'

'African Queen'

'Apricot'

'Biera'

'Big Pink'

‘Blackthorn Seedling’ agm

'Bodegas Pink'

'Buttermilk' agm[11]

'Chris Brickell'

'Duet'

'Giles Gilbey'

'Hopleys’ agm

'Ice White'

'Langtrees agm

’Lady Leitrim’ agm

'Lilac Spoon'

'Marbella'

'Merriments Joy'

'Nairobi Purple'

O. jucundum agm

'Passion Mix'

'Pink'

'Pink Beauty'

'Pink Whirls' agm

'Silver Sparkler' agm

'Soprano'

'Starshine'

'Springstar Gemma'

'Sunkist'

'Weetwood'

'White Pim' agm

'White Spoon'

'White Whirls'

'Whirlygig'

samkharadze.inf.ge/

 

Dubrovnik

 

Minčeta Tower

 

Dubrovnik (pronounced [dǔbroːʋnik]) is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641 (census 2011).[1] In 1979, the city of Dubrovnik joined the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

 

The prosperity of the city of Dubrovnik has always been based on maritime trade. In the Middle Ages, as the Republic of Ragusa, also known as a Maritime Republic (together with Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa, Venice and other Italian cities), it became the only eastern Adriatic city-state to rival Venice. Supported by its wealth and skilled diplomacy, the city achieved a high level of development, particularly during the 15th and 16th centuries. Although demilitarised in the 1970s with the intent of forever protecting it from war devastation, in 1991, after the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was besieged by Serb-Montenegrin forces for 7 months and received significant damage from being shelled.

 

Name

 

In Croatian, the city is known as Dubrovnik; in Italian as Ragusa; and in Latin as Ragusium. Its historical name in Greek is Raugia (Ραυγια) or Ragousa (Ραγουσα).

 

The current Croatian name was officially adopted in 1918 after the fall of Austria–Hungary, but was in use from the Middle Ages. It is also referred to as Dubrovnik in the first official document of the treaty with the Ban of Bosnia Ban Kulin.

[edit]

History

[edit]

Origins

 

Historical lore indicates that Ragusa (Dubrovnik) was founded in the 7th century on a rocky island named Laus, which provided shelter for refugees from the nearby city of Epidaurus[2]

 

Another theory appeared recently, based on new archaeological excavations. New findings (a Byzantine basilica from 8th century and parts of the city walls) contradict the traditional theory. The size of the old basilica clearly indicates that there was quite a large settlement at the time. There is also increasing support in the scientific community for the theory that major construction of Ragusa took place before the current era. This "Greek theory" has been boosted by recent findings of numerous Greek artefacts during excavations in the Port of Dubrovnik. Also, drilling below the main city road has revealed natural sand, contradicting the theory of Laus (Lausa) island.

 

Dr. Antun Ničetić, in his book "Povijest dubrovačke luke" (History of the Port of Dubrovnik), expounds the theory that Dubrovnik was established by Greek sailors. A key element in this theory is the fact that ships in ancient times travelled about 45-50 nautical miles per day, and required a sandy shore to pull out of water for the rest period during the night. The ideal rest site would have a fresh water source in its vicinity. Dubrovnik has both, and is situated almost halfway between the two known Greek settlements of Budva and Korčula (95 NM is the distance between them).

[edit]

The Republic

Main article: Republic of Ragusa

 

Coat of Arms of the Republic of Ragusa

 

After the fall of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, the town came under the protection of the Byzantine Empire. Ragusa in those mediaeval centuries had a population of Latinized Illyrians.[3] After the Crusades, Ragusa came under the sovereignty of Venice (1205–1358), which would give its institutions to the Dalmatian city. By the Peace Treaty of Zadar in 1358, Ragusa achieved relative independence as a vassal-state of the Kingdom of Hungary.

 

Between the 14th century and 1808, Ragusa ruled itself as a free state, although it was a vassal from 1440 to 1804 of the Ottoman Empire and paid an annual tribute to its sultan.[4] The Republic reached its peak in the 15th and 16th centuries, when its thalassocracy rivalled that of the Republic of Venice and other Italian maritime republics.

 

For centuries, the Republic of Ragusa was an ally of Ancona, the other Adriatic maritime Republic rival of Venice, which was the Ottoman Empire's chief rival for control of the Adriatic. This alliance enabled the two towns set on opposite sides of the Adriatic to resist attempts by the Venetians to make the Adriatic a "Venetian Bay", also said to control directly or indirectly all the Adriatic ports. Ancona and Ragusa developed an alternative trade route to the Venetian (Venice-Germany-Austria): this route started from the East, passed through Ragusa and Ancona, then interested Florence and finally Flanders.

 

The Republic of Ragusa received its own Statutes as early as 1272, statutes which, among other things, codified Roman practice and local customs. The Statutes included prescriptions for town planning and the regulation of quarantine (for sanitary reasons).[5]

 

The Republic was an early adopter of what are now regarded as modern laws and institutions: a medical service was introduced in 1301, with the first pharmacy, still operating to this day, being opened in 1317. An almshouse was opened in 1347, and the first quarantine hospital (Lazarete) was established in 1377. Slave trading was abolished in 1418, and an orphanage opened in 1432. A 20 km (12 mi) water supply system was constructed in 1436.

 

The city was ruled by the local aristocracy which was of Latin-dalmatian extraction and formed two city councils. As usual for the time, they maintained a strict system of social classes. The republic abolished the slave trade early in the 15th century and valued liberty highly. The city successfully balanced its sovereignty between the interests of Venice and the Ottoman Empire for centuries.

 

The languages spoken by the people were the Romance Dalmatian and Croatian. The latter started to replace Dalmatian little by little since the 11th century amongst the common people who inhabited the city. The aristocracy was of Latin extraction. The population itself was mostly of Latin origin until the 17th century, when Croatians migrated from the surrounding regions.

 

Italian and Venetian would become important languages of culture and trade in the Republic of Ragusa. The Italian language replaced Latin as official language of the Republic of Ragusa from 1472 until the end of the republic itself.[citation needed] At the same time, due to a pacific cohabitation with the Slavic element and the influence of Italian culture during the Renaissance, Ragusa became a cradle of Croatian literature.

 

Onofrio's Fountain

 

The economic wealth of the Republic was partially the result of the land it developed, but especially of seafaring trade. With the help of skilled diplomacy, Ragusa's merchants travelled lands freely and on the sea the city had a huge fleet of merchant ships (argosy) that travelled all over the world. From these travels they founded some settlements, from India to America, and brought parts of their culture and flora home with them. One of its keys to success was not conquering, but trading and sailing under a white flag with the word Latin: Libertas(freedom) prominently featured on it. The flag was adopted when slave trading was abolished in 1418.

 

Many Conversos, Jews from Spain and Portugal, were attracted to the city. In May 1544, a ship landed there filled exclusively with Portuguese refugees, as Balthasar de Faria reported to King John. During this time there worked in the city one of the most famous cannon and bell founders of his time: Ivan Rabljanin (Magister Johannes Baptista Arbensis de la Tolle).

 

Ragusan territory before 1808

 

The Republic gradually declined after a crisis in Mediterranean shipping and the catastrophic earthquake of 1667[6] killed over 5,000 citizens and levelled most of the public buildings, ruining the well-being of the Republic. In 1699, the Republic sold two mainland patches of its territory to the Ottomans in order to avoid being caught in the clash with advancing Venetian forces. Today this strip of land belongs to Bosnia and Herzegovina and is that country's only direct access to the Adriatic.

 

In 1806, the city surrendered to the Napoleonic army,[7] as that was the only way to end a month long siege by the Russian-Montenegrin fleets (during which 3,000 cannonballs fell on the city). At first, Napoleon demanded only free passage for his troops, promising not to occupy the territory and stressing that the French were friends of the Ragusans. Later, however, French forces blockaded the harbours, forcing the government to give in and let French troops enter the city. On this day, all flags and coats of arms above the city walls were painted black as a sign of mourning. In 1808, Marshal Marmont abolished the republic and integrated its territory first into Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy and later into the Illyrian provinces under French rule.

[edit]

Languages

 

The official language until 1472 was Latin. Later, the Senate of the Republic decided that the official language of the Republic would be the Ragusan dialect of the Romance Dalmatian language, and forbade the use of the Slavic language in senatorial debate. The Gospari (the Aristocracy) held on to their language for many centuries, while it slowly disappeared.

 

Although the Latin language was in official use, inhabitants of the republic were[when?] mostly native speakers of Slavonic languages (as confirmed[clarification needed] by P. A. Tolstoj in 1698, when he noted In Dalmatia... Dubrovnikans....called themselves as Ragusan(Raguseos) and always have pride in the Republic).[8] The Dalmatian language was also spoken in the city. The Italian language as spoken in the republic was heavily influenced by the Venetian language and the Tuscan dialect. Italian took root among the Dalmatian Romance-speaking merchant upper classes, as a result of Venetian influence.[9]

[edit]

Austrian ruleThis article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)

  

When the Habsburg Empire annexed these provinces after the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the new authorities implemented a bureaucratic administration, established the Kingdom of Dalmatia, which had its own Sabor (Diet) or Parliament, based in the city of Zadar, and political parties such as the Autonomist Party and the People's Party. They introduced a series of modifications intended to slowly centralize the bureaucratic, tax, religious, educational, and trade structure. Unfortunately for the local residents, these steps largely failed, despite the intention of wanting to stimulate the economy. And once the personal, political and economic damage of the Napoleonic Wars had been overcome, new movements began to form in the region, calling for a political reorganization of the Adriatic along the national lines.[citation needed]

 

The combination of these two forces—a flawed Habsburg administrative system and new national movement claiming ethnicity as the founding block toward a community—posed a particularly perplexing problem; since Dalmatia was a province ruled by the German-speaking Habsburg monarchy, with bilingual (Slavic- and Italian-speaking) elites that dominated the general population consisting of a Slavic Catholic majority (and a Slavic Orthodox minority of not more than 300 people).[citation needed]

 

Ragusan Flag "Libertas"

 

In 1815, the former Ragusan Government (its noble assembly) met for the last time in Ljetnikovac in Mokošica. Once again, extreme measures were taken to re-establish the Republic, but it was all in vain. After the fall of the Republic most of the aristocracy was recognized by the Austrian Empire.

 

In 1832, Baron Sigismondo Ghetaldi-Gondola (1795–1860) was elected podestà of Ragusa, serving for 13 years; the Austrian government granted him the title of "Baron".

 

Count Raffaele Pozza, Dr. Jur., (1828–90) was elected for first time Podestà of Ragusa in the year 1869 after this was re-elected in 1872, 1875, 1882, 1884) and elected twice into the Dalmatian Council, 1870, 1876. The victory of the Nationalists in Spalato in 1882 strongly affected in the areas of Curzola and Ragusa. It was greeted by the mayor (podestà) of Ragusa Raffaele Pozza, the National Reading Club of Dubrovnik, the Workers Association of Dubrovnik and the review "Slovinac"; by the communities of Kuna and Orebić, the latter one getting the nationalist government even before Split.

 

The Austrian and Austro-Hungarian rule that followed folloved the Divide et impera policy. The Austrian policy of denationalizing the Dalmatian coasts left its mark in the political division of the population as best expressed in the political parties: the Croatian People's Party and the mostly Italianite Autonomous Party.[citation needed]

 

In 1889, the Serbian-Catholics circle supported Baron Francesco Ghetaldi-Gondola, the candidate of the Autonomous Party, vs the candidate of Popular Party Vlaho de Giulli, in the 1890 election to the Dalmatian Diet.[10] The following year, during the local government election, the Autonomous Party won the municipal re-election with Francesco Gondola, who died in power in 1899. The alliance won the election again on 27 May 1894. Francesco Ghetaldi-Gondola founded the Società Philately on 4 December 1890.

 

Ivan Gundulić monument 1893

[edit]

1918–1991

 

With the fall of Austria–Hungary in 1918, the city was incorporated into the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). The name of the city was officially changed from Ragusa to Dubrovnik.

 

In 1921 Pero Cingrija died (born 1837), politician and one of the leaders of the People's Party in Dalmatia. It was thanks to his efforts that the People's Party and the Party of Right were fused into one Croatian Party in 1905.

 

During World War II, Dubrovnik became part of the Nazi controlled Independent State of Croatia, occupied by the Italian army first, and by the German army after 8 September 1943. In October 1944 Tito's partisans entered Dubrovnik, that became consequently part of Communist Yugoslavia. Soon after their arrival into the city, Partisans executed approximately 78 influential and well known citizens without a trial, including a Catholic priests, on the nearby island of Daksa.[11] Communist leadership during several next years continued prosecution of Croats which culminated on 12 April 1947 by capturing and imprisoned more than 90 citizens of Dubrovnik.[12]

[edit]

Break-up of Yugoslavia

Main article: Siege of Dubrovnik

 

Dubrovnik Shelling (black dots) 1991 to 1992.

 

In 1991 Croatia and Slovenia, which at that time were republics within Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, declared their independence. At that event, Socialist Republic of Croatia was renamed Republic of Croatia.

 

Despite demilitarization of the old town in early 1970s in an attempt to prevent it from ever becoming a casualty of war, following Croatia's independence in 1991, Serbian-Montenegrin remains of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) attacked the city. The regime in Montenegro led by Momir Bulatović, which was installed by and loyal to the Serbian government led by Slobodan Milošević, declared that Dubrovnik would not be permitted to remain in Croatia because they claimed it was historically part of Montenegro.[13] This was in spite of the large Croat majority in the city and that very few Montenegrins resided there, though Serbs accounted for six percent of the population.[13] Many consider the claims by the Bulatović government, as being part of Serbian President Milošević's plan to deliver his nationalist supporters the Greater Serbia they desired as Yugoslavia collapsed.[13]

 

On October 1, 1991 Dubrovnik was attacked by JNA with a siege of Dubrovnik that lasted for seven months. Heaviest artillery attack happened on December 6 with 19 people killed and 60 wounded. Total casualties in the conflict according to Croatian Red Cross were 114 killed civilians, among them celebrated poet Milan Milisić. Foreign newspapers have been criticised for exaggerating the damage sustained by the old town, instead of responding to human casualties.[14] Nonetheless, the artillery attacks on Dubrovnik damaged 56% of its buildings to some degree, as the historic walled city, a UNESCO world heritage site, sustained 650 hits by artillery rounds.[15] In May 1992 the Croatian Army lifted the siege and liberated Dubrovnik's surroundings, but the danger of sudden attacks by the JNA lasted for another three years.[16]

 

Following the end of the war, damage caused by the shelling of the Old Town was repaired. Adhering to UNESCO guidelines, repairs were performed in the original style. As of 2005, most damage had been repaired. The inflicted damage can be seen on a chart near the city gate, showing all artillery hits during the siege, and is clearly visible from high points around the city in the form of the more brightly coloured new roofs. ICTY indictments were issued for JNA generals and officers involved in the bombing.

 

General Pavle Strugar, who coordinated the attack on the city, was sentenced to an eight year prison term by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for his role in the attack.

 

The 1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crash, near Dubrovnik Airport, killed everyone on a United States Air Force jet with United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown, The New York Times Frankfurt Bureau chief Nathaniel C. Nash and 33 other people.

[edit]

HeritageOld City of Dubrovnik

Native name:

Croatian: Stari grad Dubrovnik

 

The Old Harbour at Dubrovnik

Location:Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Croatia

 

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Type:Cultural

Criteria:i, iii, iv

Designated:1979 (3rd Session)

Reference #:95

:Europe and North America

Extension:1994

Endangered:1991–1998

 

Cultural Good of Croatia

Official name: Stari grad Dubrovnik

  

The annual Dubrovnik Summer Festival is a 45 day-long cultural event with live plays, concerts, and games. It has been awarded a Gold International Trophy for Quality (2007) by the Editorial Office in collaboration with the Trade Leaders Club.

 

The patron saint of the city is Sveti Vlaho (Saint Blaise), whose statues are seen around the city. He has an importance similar to that of St. Mark the Evangelist to Venice. One of the larger churches in city is named after Saint Blaise. February 3 is the feast of Sveti Vlaho (Saint Blaise), who is the city's patron saint. Every year the city of Dubrovnik celebrates the holiday with Mass, parades, and festivities that last for several days.[17]

 

The Old Town of Dubrovnik is depicted on the reverse of the Croatian 50 kuna banknote, issued in 1993 and 2002.[18]

 

The city boasts of many old buildings, such as the Arboretum Trsteno, the oldest arboretum in the world, dating back to before 1492. Also, the third oldest European pharmacy is located in the city, which dates back to 1317 (and is the only one still in operation today). It is located at Little Brothers monastery in Dubrovnik.[19]

 

A night shot of the Dubrovnik Old Town

 

In history, many Conversos (Marranos) were attracted to Dubrovnik, formerly a considerable seaport. In May, 1544, a ship landed there filled exclusively with Portuguese refugees, as Balthasar de Faria reported to King John. Another admirer of Dubrovnik, George Bernard Shaw, visited the city in 1929 and said: "If you want to see heaven on earth, come to Dubrovnik."

 

In the bay of Dubrovnik is the 72-hectare wooded island of Lokrum, where according to legend, Richard the Lionheart was cast ashore after being shipwrecked in 1192. The island includes a fortress, botanical garden, monastery and naturist beach.

 

Among the many tourist destinations are a few beaches. Banje, Dubrovnik's main public beach, is home to the Eastwest Beach Club. There is also Copacabana Beach, a stony beach on the Lapad peninsula,[20] named after the popular beach in Rio de Janeiro.

 

Dubrovnik has also been mentioned in popular film and theatre. In the film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with Michael Caine, one of the characters said to have been dreaming of fairy from Dubrovnik (motive known from local legends and literature).

 

Ivan Gundulić, a 17th century Croatian writer, predicted the downfall of the great Turkish Empire in his poem Osman.

[edit]

Important monuments

 

Rooftops in Dubrovnik's Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

Few of Dubrovnik's Renaissance buildings survived the earthquake of 1667 but fortunately enough remain to give an idea of the city's architectural heritage.[21] The finest Renaissance highlight is the Sponza Palace which dates from the 16th century and is currently used to house the National Archives.[22] The Rectors Palace is a Gothic-Renaissance structure that displays finely carved capitals and an ornate staircase. It now houses a museum.[23][24] Its façade is depicted on the reverse of the Croatian 50 kuna banknote, issued in 1993 and 2002.[18] The St. Saviour Church is another remnant of the Renaissance period, next to the much-visited Franciscan Monastery.[19][25][26] The Franciscan monastery's library possesses 30,000 volumes, 216 incunabula, 1,500 valuable handwritten documents. Exhibits include a 15th century silver-gilt cross and silver thurible, an 18th century crucifix from Jerusalem, a martyrology (1541) by Bemardin Gucetic and illuminated psalters.[19]

 

Dubrovnik's most beloved church is St Blaise's church, built in the 18th century in honour of Dubrovnik's patron saint. Dubrovnik's baroque Cathedral was built in the 18th century and houses an impressive Treasury with relics of Saint Blaise. The city's Dominican Monastery resembles a fortress on the outside but the interior contains an art museum and a Gothic-Romanesque church.[27][28] A special treasure of the Dominican monastery is its library with 216 incunabula, numerous illustrated manuscripts, a rich archive with precious manuscripts and documents and an extensive art collection.[29][30][31]

This was all apart of FESTA - Canterbury Tales. The procession stopped here.

A carnivalesque procession through the former Red Zone. I was told a girl was all lit up and doing some sort of dance on it while the procession and on.

 

October 27, 2013 Christchurch New Zealand

 

Following on from the success of LUXCITY, this year’s main event is the carnivalesque Canterbury Tales, conceived and led by Free Theatre Christchurch. This extravaganza of light, colour and interactivity will delight, stimulate and offer reflection as we explore the past, present and future of Christchurch.

 

At 8.30pm the procession of large puppets and masked performers will assemble near the Bridge of Remembrance and follow a specific path through the central city at night: along the river to Worcester Bridge before ending at the heart of the city in Cathedral Square.

 

Spectators can join the procession at any point as it moves through different sites that come alive with diverse performances, soundscapes, lights, hospitality, interactive architecture and installations.

This unique experience is the major event for this year’s festival, creating a city-within-a-city based around different Canterbury tales – expect to see the city like you’ve never seen it before!

 

Dress up, wear a mask and come join the carnival of Canterbury Tales.

Fro more info: festa.org.nz/canterbury-tales-1/

 

Info in on the Avon river: christchurchcitylibraries.com/tikoukawhenua/otakaro/

This image has been rather tricky both in its making and post processing.

 

First, the location. Well it’s as about as photogenic and evocative a scene as you can find. Not only is it hard to get to and after miles of twisty single track roads, it feels like major achievement to actually get there. It has wonderfully smooth, sand polished slate outcrops (conveniently graphical), but not just a few, hundreds of them! The incoming tides protrude towards you at different speeds (I assume due to the width and particular geology creating drag on the water), which offers richness to the photographic opportunities when it comes to movement, (incoming and receding water creates different forms and textures). It also has the advantage of being west facing, and here comes its one aberration, it’s exceeding tricky to work with the setting sun at this time of year to create a balanced composition. Yes I could go towards the end of September, when the sun would be at the end of the beach, but then again it would probably be too easy and predictable (I can’t anyway).anyway, the graphic angles take your eye in the wrong direction and it feels like your making two separate images every time you direct your attention towards the drama.

 

You should have seen me in this 5 minute period before the sun popped out beneath the cloud bank, knowing that it would illuminate the scene perfectly, knowing that I was going to have only one shot at this location, literally (30 seconds of illumination to be accurate) and knowing that I had to find a composition that would balance every element and that I would have the opportunity like this again. As you can imagining I hurdled the outcrops faster than a world champion and by the time I found this interesting, moderately graphic foreground rock I was totally soaked, breathless and almost ready to make the best of the elements before me. Anyway I made this image and walked back to the car dripping wet but happy.

 

Now the second part to this image is the processing, well as you can see, it’s a thorny customer. The dynamic range is massive and processing a balance believable single image was (and is) fiddly. Well as you can see it’s a high contrast movement image. The medium length of exposure has taken just a tad too much movement out of the water than I’m happy with, but the imbalance in the centre of the image needed most of the attention. Anyway, even considering the technical post processing challenges, for me this image works. Yes if you’re a pixel pushing, 100% viewing photographer, then you’re going to point out that I’ve lost detail in the shadows and the dynamic range isn’t working, but if it makes you happy to tell me then cool, bring it on! And I see this may should like an excuse, But for me photography is fundamentally about how the images stimulate our primitive deep brain not the frontal hemisphere.

 

Lake Wales is located in Central Florida

i.e. stimulate my mind, and my heart will follow. you may be thinking this is along the same vein as yesterday's secret, but the real secret in this one is that i'm a huuuuge nerd ("but that's no secret, sash! ha ha ha!" i know). if you really want to make me melt, quote shakespeare at me, and i am all yours. but before you do, you had better make sure that you know who said it in which play and in what context because god knows i know my shakespeare, and shakespeare quotations out of context make me cringe.

These photos were taken off the coast of Jeju Island. I want to guide you to a land of color and stimulate your senses.

Folkloric

- Poultice of fleshy leaves applied to bruises, contusions, etc.

- Elsewhere, decoction used internally for dyspepsia and wasting.

- Used as drops for ophthalmic.

- From Thailand to Malaya, pulped leafy stems or decoction used to stimulate digestion, used to relieve pain ascribed to the heart, congestion of the liver with swollen hands and feet. Leaf paste sometimes applied over the stomach, heart and glandular swellings.

- Also used for hemorrhoids and to regulate menstruation.

- Elsewhere, was once used to prevent conception.

- Roots used for colic and diarrhea.

 

source stuart xchange

The Southeast 17th Street bridge is a bascule drawbridge located just north of the Port Everglades cut. The causeway goes from the west side of US1/Federal Highway eastward over the ICW and twists northward, becoming A1A along the Fort Lauderdale beach. The western approach is known as the Commodore Brook Causeway, while the actual bridge is named after former Florida congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr.

 

Winner of the 2004 Engineering Excellence Honor Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies, the 17th Street Bridge provides a signature entrance to this visually stimulating city of Fort Lauderdale. The new bridge was constructed on the same alignment as the existing bridge in order to maintain the connecting roadway alignment and reduce right-of-way costs. The bridge features the first open bascule piers, which were a result of the community-chosen “timeless/contemporary” theme. Nearly 170’ long, the precast concrete segmental approaches rise above the riverbanks and allow the newly available property to be used for park areas and parking.

 

The bridge’s innovative bascule-span superstructure displays structural efficiency, economy, and reduced maintenance requirements. Its configuration incorporates the use of steel-box main girders, floor-beams with moment-resisting connections, and a lightweight Exodermic bridge deck made composite with the floor-beams and main girders.

 

When open the bridge provides a horizontal clearance of 100’ and a minimum vertical clearance of 26.6’ with the bridge closed.

The bridge consists of approximately 958 tons of steel.

It has two parallel carriageways. Each carries two 12’ traffic lanes, an 8’ inside shoulder, a 10’ outside shoulder/bike lane, and an 8’ sidewalk.

The bridge opens on the half and whole hours with 55′ clearance and greatly reduced openings.

 

Vertical Clearance: 55′ (at high tide)

Horizontal Clearance: 125′

Depth: ~20 ft

Tide Shift: 2 ft every 6 hours with 2 knot current

Year Built: 1998-2002

Traffic Lanes: 4

Openings: Half and whole hour

Closed: 7:30-9:00 AM and from 4:30 to 6:00 PM, M-F during rush hour traffic

Tender: VHF Channel 9

State maintained: (954) 486-1400

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

www.jordanyachts.com/1116

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

  

Yellow is the color of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. Yellow produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy.

Borgund Stave Church (Norwegian: Borgund stavkyrkje) is a former parish church of the Church of Norway in Lærdal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It was built around the year 1200 as the village church of Borgund, and belonged to Lærdal parish (part of the Sogn prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin) until 1868, when its religious functions were transferred to a "new" Borgund Church, which was built nearby. The old church was restored, conserved and turned into a museum. It is funded and run by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments, and is classified as a triple-nave stave church of the Sogn-type. Its grounds contain Norway's sole surviving stave-built free-standing bell tower.

 

Borgund Stave Church was built sometime between 1180 and 1250 AD with later additions and restorations. Its walls are formed by vertical wooden boards, or staves, hence the name "stave church." The four corner posts are connected to one another by ground sills, resting on a stone foundation. The intervening staves rise from the ground sills; each is tongued and grooved, to interlock with its neighbours and form a sturdy wall. The exterior timber surfaces are darkened by protective layers of tar, distilled from pine.

 

Borgund is built on a basilica plan, with reduced side aisles, and an added chancel and apse. It has a raised central nave demarcated on four sides by an arcade. An ambulatory runs around this platform and into the chancel and apse, both added in the 14th century. An additional ambulatory, in the form of a porch, runs around the exterior of the building, sheltered under the overhanging shingled roof. The floor plan of this church resembles that of a central plan, double-shelled Greek cross with an apse attached to one end in place of the fourth arm. The entries to the church are in the three shorter arms of the cross.

 

Structurally, the building has been described as a "cube within a cube", each independent of the other. The inner "cube" is formed by continuous columns that rise from ground level to support the roof. The top of the arcade is formed by arched buttresses, knee jointed to the columns. Above the arcade, the columns are linked by cross-shaped, diagonal trusses, commonly dubbed "Saint Andrew's crosses"; these carry arched supports that offer the visual equivalent of a "second storey". While not a functional gallery, this is reminiscent of contemporary second story galleries of large stone churches elsewhere in Europe. Smaller beams running between these upper supporting columns help clamp everything firmly together. The weight of the roof is thus supported by buttresses and columns, preventing downward and outward movement of the stave walls.

 

The roof beams are supported by steeply angled scissor trusses that form an "X" shape with a narrow top span and a broader bottom span, tied by a bottom truss to prevent collapse. Additional support is given by a truss that cuts across the "X", below the crossing point but above the bottom truss. The roof is steeply pitched, boarded horizontally and clad with shingles. The original outer roof would have been weatherproofed with boards laid lengthwise, rather than shingles. In later years wooden shingles became more common. Scissor beam roof construction is typical of most stave churches.

 

Borgund has tiered, overhanging roofs, topped at their intersection by a shingle-roofed tower or steeple. On each of its four gables is a stylised "dragon" head, swooping from the carved roof ridge crests, Hohler remarks their similarity to the carved dragon heads found on the prows of Norse ships. Similar gable heads appear on small bronze church-shaped reliquaries common in Norway and Europe in this period. Borgund's current dragon heads are possible 18th century replacements; similar, original dragon heads remain on older structures, such as Lom Stave Church and nearby Urnes Stave Church. Borgund is one of the only stave churches to have preserved its crested ridge caps. They are carved with openwork vine and entangled plant designs.

 

The four outer dragon heads are perhaps the most distinctive of all non-Christian symbols adorning Borgund Stave Church. Their function is uncertain, and disputed; if pagan, they are recruited to the Christian cause in the battle between Good and Evil. They may have been intended to keep away evil spirits thought to threaten the church building; to ward off evil, rather than represent it,

 

On the lower side panel of the steeple are four carved circular cutouts. The carvings are weather-beaten, tarred and difficult to decipher, and there is disagreement about what they symbolize. Some[who?] believe they represent the four evangelists, symbolised by an eagle, an ox, a lion and a man. Hauglid describes the carvings as "dragons that extend their heads over to the neighboring field's dragon and bite into it", and points out their similarity to carvings at Høre Stave Church.

 

The church's west portal (the nave's main entrance), is surrounded by a larger carving of dragons biting each other in the neck and tail. At the bottom of the half-columns that flank the front entrance, two dragon heads spew vine stalks that wind upwards and are braided into the dragons above. The carving shares similarities with the west portal of Ål Stave Church, which also has kites[clarification needed] in a band braiding pattern, and follows the usual composition[clarification needed] in the Sogn-Valdres portals, a larger group of portals with very clear similarities. Bugge writes that Christian authority may have come to terms with such pagan and "wild scenes" in the church building because the rift could be interpreted as a struggle between good and evil; in Christian medieval art, the dragon was often used as a symbol of the devil himself but Bugge believes that the carvings were protective, like the dragon heads on the church roof.

 

The church interior is dark, as not much daylight enters the building. Some of the few sources of natural light are narrow circular windows along the roof, examples of daylighting. It was supposed that the narrow apertures would prevent the entry of evil spirits. Three entrances are heavily adorned with foliage and snakes, and are only wide enough for one person to enter, supposedly preventing the entry of evil spirits alongside the churchgoers. The portals were originally painted green, red, black, and white.

 

Most of the internal fittings have been removed. There is little in the building, apart from the row of benches that are installed along the wall inside the church in the ambulatory outside of the arcade and raised platform, a soapstone font, an altar (with 17th-century altarpiece), a 16th-century lectern, and a 16th-century cupboard for storing altar vessels. After the Reformation, when the church was converted for Protestant worship, pews, a pulpit and other standard church furnishings were included, however these have been removed since the building has come under the protection of the Fortidsminneforeningen (The Society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments).

 

The interior structure of the church is characterized by the twelve free-standing columns that support the nave's elevated central space. On the long side of the church there is a double interval between the second and third pillars, but with a half pillar resting on the lower bracing beam (the pier) which runs in between. The double interval provides free access from the south portal to the church's central compartment, which would otherwise have been obstructed by the middle bar. The tops of the poles are finished with grotesque, carved human and animal masks. The tie-bars are secured with braces in the form of St. Andrew's crosses with a sun - shaped center and carved leaf shapes along the arms. The crosses reappear in less ornate form as braces along the church walls. On the north and south sides of the nave, a total of eight windows let in small amounts of light, and at the top of the nave's west gable is a window of more recent date - probably from pre-Reformation times. On the south wall of the nave, the inauguration crosses are still on the inside of the wall. The interior choir walls and west portal have engraved figures and runes, some of which date to the Middle Ages. One, among the commonest of runic graffiti, reads "Ave Maria". An inscription by Þórir (Thor), written "in the evening at St. Olav's Mass" blames the pagan Norns for his problems; perhaps a residue of ancient beliefs, as these female beings were thought to rule the personal destinies of all in Norse mythology and the Poetic Edda.

 

The medieval interior of the stave church is almost untouched, save for its restorations and repairs, though the medieval crucifix was removed after the Reformation. The original wooden floor and the benches that run along the walls of the nave are largely intact, together with a medieval stone altar and a box-shaped baptismal font in soapstone. The pulpit is from the period 1550–1570 and the altarpiece dates from 1654, while the frame around the tablet is dated to 1620. The painting on the altarpiece shows the crucifixion in the centre, flanked by the Virgin Mary on the left and John the Baptist on the right. In the tympanum field, a white dove hovers on a blue background. Below the painting is an inscription with golden letters on a black background. A sacrament from the period 1550–1570 in the same style as the pulpit is also preserved. A restoration of the building was carried out in the early 1870s, led by the architect Christian Christie, who removed benches, a second-floor gallery with seating, a ceiling over the chancel, and various windows including two large windows on the north and south sides. As the goal was to return the church to pre-Reformation condition, all post-Reformation interior paintwork was also removed.

 

Images from the 1990s show deer antlers hung on the lower, east-facing pillars. A local story claims that this is all that remains of a whole stuffed reindeer, shot when it tried to enter during a Mass. A travelogue from 1668 claims that a reindeer was shot during a sermon "when it marched like a wizard in front of the other animal carcasses"

 

To the south of the church is a free-standing stave-work bell tower that covers remnants of the mediaeval foundry used to cast the church bell. It was probably built in the mid-13th century. It is Norway's only remaining free-standing stave-work bell tower.It was given a new door around the year 1700 but this was removed and not replaced at some time between the 1920s and 1940s, leaving the foundry pit was exposed. To preserve the interior, new walls were built as cladding on the outside of the stave walls in the 1990s. One of the medieval bells is on display in the new Borgund church.

 

Management

In 1868 the building was abandoned as a church but was turned into a museum; this saved it from the commonplace demolition of stave churches in that period. A new Borgund Church was built in 1868 a short distance south of the old church. The old church has not been formally used for religious purposes since that year. Borgund Stave Church was bought by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments in 1877. The first guidebook in English for the stave church was published in 1898. From 2001, the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage has funded a program to research, restore, conserve and maintain stave churches.

 

Legacy

The church served as an example for the reconstruction of the Fantoft Stave Church in Fana, Bergen, in 1883 and for its rebuilding in 1997. The Gustav Adolf Stave Church in Hahnenklee, Germany, built in 1908, is modeled on the Borgund church. Four replicas exist in the United States, one at Chapel in the Hills, Rapid City, South Dakota, another in Lyme, Connecticut, the third on Washington Island, Wisconsin, and the fourth in Minot, North Dakota at the Scandinavian Heritage Park.

 

Borgund is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located in the southeastern part of the traditional district of Sogn. The 635-square-kilometre (245 sq mi) municipality existed from 1864 until its dissolution in 1964. It encompassed an area in the eastern part of the present-day Lærdal Municipality. The administrative center of Borgund was the village of Steinklepp, just northeast of the village of Borgund. Steinklepp was the site of a store, a bank, and a school. The historical Filefjell Kongevegen road passes through the Borgund area.

 

Location

The former municipality of Borgund was situated near the southeastern end of the Sognefjorden, along the Lærdalselvi river. The lower parts of the municipality were farms such as Sjurhaugen and Nedrehegg. They were at an elevation of about 270 m (890 ft) above sea level. Høgeloft, on the border with the neighboring municipality of Hemsedal, is a mountain in the Filefjell range and it was the highest point in Borgund at 1,920 m (6,300 ft) above sea level. The lakes Eldrevatnet, Juklevatnet, and Øljusjøen were also located near the border with Hemsedal.

 

History

Borgund was established as a municipality in 1864 when it was separated from the municipality of Lærdal. Initially it had a population of 963. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Borgund (population: 492) was merged with the Muggeteigen area (population: 11) of the neighboring Årdal Municipality and all of Lærdal Municipality (population: 1,755) were all merged to form a new, larger municipality of Lærdal

 

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway , is a Nordic , European country and an independent state in the west of the Scandinavian Peninsula . Geographically speaking, the country is long and narrow, and on the elongated coast towards the North Atlantic are Norway's well-known fjords . The Kingdom of Norway includes the main country (the mainland with adjacent islands within the baseline ), Jan Mayen and Svalbard . With these two Arctic areas, Norway covers a land area of ​​385,000 km² and has a population of approximately 5.5 million (2023). Mainland Norway borders Sweden in the east , Finland and Russia in the northeast .

 

Norway is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy , where Harald V has been king and head of state since 1991 , and Jonas Gahr Støre ( Ap ) has been prime minister since 2021 . Norway is a unitary state , with two administrative levels below the state: counties and municipalities . The Sami part of the population has, through the Sami Parliament and the Finnmark Act , to a certain extent self-government and influence over traditionally Sami areas. Although Norway has rejected membership of the European Union through two referendums , through the EEA Agreement Norway has close ties with the Union, and through NATO with the United States . Norway is a significant contributor to the United Nations (UN), and has participated with soldiers in several foreign operations mandated by the UN. Norway is among the states that have participated from the founding of the UN , NATO , the Council of Europe , the OSCE and the Nordic Council , and in addition to these is a member of the EEA , the World Trade Organization , the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and is part of the Schengen area .

 

Norway is rich in many natural resources such as oil , gas , minerals , timber , seafood , fresh water and hydropower . Since the beginning of the 20th century, these natural conditions have given the country the opportunity for an increase in wealth that few other countries can now enjoy, and Norwegians have the second highest average income in the world, measured in GDP per capita, as of 2022. The petroleum industry accounts for around 14% of Norway's gross domestic product as of 2018. Norway is the world's largest producer of oil and gas per capita outside the Middle East. However, the number of employees linked to this industry fell from approx. 232,000 in 2013 to 207,000 in 2015.

 

In Norway, these natural resources have been managed for socially beneficial purposes. The country maintains a welfare model in line with the other Nordic countries. Important service areas such as health and higher education are state-funded, and the country has an extensive welfare system for its citizens. Public expenditure in 2018 is approx. 50% of GDP, and the majority of these expenses are related to education, healthcare, social security and welfare. Since 2001 and until 2021, when the country took second place, the UN has ranked Norway as the world's best country to live in . From 2010, Norway is also ranked at the top of the EIU's democracy index . Norway ranks third on the UN's World Happiness Report for the years 2016–2018, behind Finland and Denmark , a report published in March 2019.

 

The majority of the population is Nordic. In the last couple of years, immigration has accounted for more than half of population growth. The five largest minority groups are Norwegian-Poles , Lithuanians , Norwegian-Swedes , Norwegian-Syrians including Syrian Kurds and Norwegian-Pakistani .

 

Norway's national day is 17 May, on this day in 1814 the Norwegian Constitution was dated and signed by the presidency of the National Assembly at Eidsvoll . It is stipulated in the law of 26 April 1947 that 17 May are national public holidays. The Sami national day is 6 February. "Yes, we love this country" is Norway's national anthem, the song was written in 1859 by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832–1910).

 

Norway's history of human settlement goes back at least 10,000 years, to the Late Paleolithic , the first period of the Stone Age . Archaeological finds of settlements along the entire Norwegian coast have so far been dated back to 10,400 before present (BP), the oldest find is today considered to be a settlement at Pauler in Brunlanes , Vestfold .

For a period these settlements were considered to be the remains of settlers from Doggerland , an area which today lies beneath the North Sea , but which was once a land bridge connecting today's British Isles with Danish Jutland . But the archaeologists who study the initial phase of the settlement in what is today Norway reckon that the first people who came here followed the coast along what is today Bohuslân. That they arrived in some form of boat is absolutely certain, and there is much evidence that they could easily move over large distances.

 

Since the last Ice Age, there has been continuous settlement in Norway. It cannot be ruled out that people lived in Norway during the interglacial period , but no trace of such a population or settlement has been found.

 

The Stone Age lasted a long time; half of the time that our country has been populated. There are no written accounts of what life was like back then. The knowledge we have has been painstakingly collected through investigations of places where people have stayed and left behind objects that we can understand have been processed by human hands. This field of knowledge is called archaeology . The archaeologists interpret their findings and the history of the surrounding landscape. In our country, the uplift after the Ice Age is fundamental. The history of the settlements at Pauler is no more than fifteen years old.

 

The Fosna culture settled parts of Norway sometime between 10,000–8,000 BC. (see Stone Age in Norway ). The dating of rock carvings is set to Neolithic times (in Norway between 4000 BC to 1700 BC) and show activities typical of hunters and gatherers .

 

Agriculture with livestock and arable farming was introduced in the Neolithic. Swad farming where the farmers move when the field does not produce the expected yield.

 

More permanent and persistent farm settlements developed in the Bronze Age (1700 BC to 500 BC) and the Iron Age . The earliest runes have been found on an arrowhead dated to around 200 BC. Many more inscriptions are dated to around 800, and a number of petty kingdoms developed during these centuries. In prehistoric times, there were no fixed national borders in the Nordic countries and Norway did not exist as a state. The population in Norway probably fell to year 0.

 

Events in this time period, the centuries before the year 1000, are glimpsed in written sources. Although the sagas were written down in the 13th century, many hundreds of years later, they provide a glimpse into what was already a distant past. The story of the fimbul winter gives us a historical picture of something that happened and which in our time, with the help of dendrochronology , can be interpreted as a natural disaster in the year 536, created by a volcanic eruption in El Salvador .

 

In the period between 800 and 1066 there was a significant expansion and it is referred to as the Viking Age . During this period, Norwegians, as Swedes and Danes also did, traveled abroad in longships with sails as explorers, traders, settlers and as Vikings (raiders and pirates ). By the middle of the 11th century, the Norwegian kingship had been firmly established, building its right as descendants of Harald Hårfagre and then as heirs of Olav the Holy . The Norwegian kings, and their subjects, now professed Christianity . In the time around Håkon Håkonsson , in the time after the civil war , there was a small renaissance in Norway with extensive literary activity and diplomatic activity with Europe. The black dew came to Norway in 1349 and killed around half of the population. The entire state apparatus and Norway then entered a period of decline.

 

Between 1396 and 1536, Norway was part of the Kalmar Union , and from 1536 until 1814 Norway had been reduced to a tributary part of Denmark , named as the Personal Union of Denmark-Norway . This staff union entered into an alliance with Napoléon Bonaparte with a war that brought bad times and famine in 1812 . In 1814, Denmark-Norway lost the Anglophone Wars , part of the Napoleonic Wars , and the Danish king was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden in the Treaty of Kiel on 14 January of that year. After a Norwegian attempt at independence, Norway was forced into a loose union with Sweden, but where Norway was allowed to create its own constitution, the Constitution of 1814 . In this period, Norwegian, romantic national feeling flourished, and the Norwegians tried to develop and establish their own national self-worth. The union with Sweden was broken in 1905 after it had been threatened with war, and Norway became an independent kingdom with its own monarch, Haakon VII .

 

Norway remained neutral during the First World War , and at the outbreak of the Second World War, Norway again declared itself neutral, but was invaded by National Socialist Germany on 9 April 1940 .

 

Norway became a member of the Western defense alliance NATO in 1949 . Two attempts to join the EU were voted down in referendums by small margins in 1972 and 1994 . Norway has been a close ally of the United States in the post-war period. Large discoveries of oil and natural gas in the North Sea at the end of the 1960s led to tremendous economic growth in the country, which is still ongoing. Traditional industries such as fishing are also part of Norway's economy.

 

Stone Age (before 1700 BC)

When most of the ice disappeared, vegetation spread over the landscape and due to a warm climate around 2000-3000 BC. the forest grew much taller than in modern times. Land uplift after the ice age led to a number of fjords becoming lakes and dry land. The first people probably came from the south along the coast of the Kattegat and overland into Finnmark from the east. The first people probably lived by gathering, hunting and trapping. A good number of Stone Age settlements have been found which show that such hunting and trapping people stayed for a long time in the same place or returned to the same place regularly. Large amounts of gnawed bones show that they lived on, among other things, reindeer, elk, small game and fish.

 

Flintstone was imported from Denmark and apart from small natural deposits along the southern coast, all flintstone in Norway is transported by people. At Espevær, greenstone was quarried for tools in the Stone Age, and greenstone tools from Espevær have been found over large parts of Western Norway. Around 2000-3000 BC the usual farm animals such as cows and sheep were introduced to Norway. Livestock probably meant a fundamental change in society in that part of the people had to be permanent residents or live a semi-nomadic life. Livestock farming may also have led to conflict with hunters.

 

The oldest traces of people in what is today Norway have been found at Pauler , a farm in Brunlanes in Larvik municipality in Vestfold . In 2007 and 2008, the farm has given its name to a number of Stone Age settlements that have been excavated and examined by archaeologists from the Cultural History Museum at UiO. The investigations have been carried out in connection with the new route for the E18 motorway west of Farris. The oldest settlement, located more than 127 m above sea level, is dated to be about 10,400 years old (uncalibrated, more than 11,000 years in real calendar years). From here, the ice sheet was perhaps visible when people settled here. This locality has been named Pauler I, and is today considered to be the oldest confirmed human traces in Norway to date. The place is in the mountains above the Pauler tunnel on the E18 between Larvik and Porsgrunn . The pioneer settlement is a term archaeologists have adopted for the oldest settlement. The archaeologists have speculated about where they came from, the first people in what is today Norway. It has been suggested that they could come by boat or perhaps across the ice from Doggerland or the North Sea, but there is now a large consensus that they came north along what is today the Bohuslän coast. The Fosna culture , the Komsa culture and the Nøstvet culture are the traditional terms for hunting cultures from the Stone Age. One thing is certain - getting to the water was something they mastered, the first people in our country. Therefore, within a short time they were able to use our entire long coast.

 

In the New Stone Age (4000 BC–1700 BC) there is a theory that a new people immigrated to the country, the so-called Stone Ax People . Rock carvings from this period show motifs from hunting and fishing , which were still important industries. From this period, a megalithic tomb has been found in Østfold .

It is uncertain whether there were organized societies or state-like associations in the Stone Age in Norway. Findings from settlements indicate that many lived together and that this was probably more than one family so that it was a slightly larger, organized herd.

 

Finnmark

In prehistoric times, animal husbandry and agriculture were of little economic importance in Finnmark. Livelihoods in Finnmark were mainly based on fish, gathering, hunting and trapping, and eventually domestic reindeer herding became widespread in the Middle Ages. Archaeological finds from the Stone Age have been referred to as the Komsa culture and comprise around 5,000 years of settlement. Finnmark probably got its first settlement around 8000 BC. It is believed that the coastal areas became ice-free 11,000 years BC and the fjord areas around 9,000 years BC. after which willows, grass, heather, birch and pine came into being. Finnmarksvidda was covered by pine forest around 6000 BC. After the Ice Age, the land rose around 80 meters in the inner fjord areas (Alta, Tana, Varanger). Due to ice melting in the polar region, the sea rose in the period 6400–3800 BC. and in areas with little land elevation, some settlements from the first part of the Stone Age were flooded. On Sørøya, the net sea level rise was 12 to 14 meters and many residential areas were flooded.

 

According to Bjørnar Olsen , there are many indications of a connection between the oldest settlement in Western Norway (the " Fosnakulturen ") and that in Finnmark, but it is uncertain in which direction the settlement took place. In the earliest part of the Stone Age, settlement in Finnmark was probably concentrated in the coastal areas, and these only reflected a lifestyle with great mobility and no permanent dwellings. The inner regions, such as Pasvik, were probably used seasonally. The archaeologically proven settlements from the Stone Age in inner Finnmark and Troms are linked to lakes and large watercourses. The oldest petroglyphs in Alta are usually dated to 4200 BC, that is, the Neolithic . Bjørnar Olsen believes that the oldest can be up to 2,000 years older than this.

 

From around 4000 BC a slow deforestation of Finnmark began and around 1800 BC the vegetation distribution was roughly the same as in modern times. The change in vegetation may have increased the distance between the reindeer's summer and winter grazing. The uplift continued slowly from around 4000 BC. at the same time as sea level rise stopped.

 

According to Gutorm Gjessing, the settlement in Finnmark and large parts of northern Norway in the Neolithic was semi-nomadic with movement between four seasonal settlements (following the pattern of life in Sami siida in historical times): On the outer coast in summer (fishing and seal catching) and inland in winter (hunting for reindeer, elk and bear). Povl Simonsen believed instead that the winter residence was in the inner fjord area in a village-like sod house settlement. Bjørnar Olsen believes that at the end of the Stone Age there was a relatively settled population along the coast, while inland there was less settlement and a more mobile lifestyle.

 

Bronze Age (1700 BC–500 BC)

Bronze was used for tools in Norway from around 1500 BC. Bronze is a mixture of tin and copper , and these metals were introduced because they were not mined in the country at the time. Bronze is believed to have been a relatively expensive material. The Bronze Age in Norway can be divided into two phases:

 

Early Bronze Age (1700–1100 BC)

Younger Bronze Age (1100–500 BC)

For the prehistoric (unwritten) era, there is limited knowledge about social conditions and possible state formations. From the Bronze Age, there are large burial mounds of stone piles along the coast of Vestfold and Agder, among others. It is likely that only chieftains or other great men could erect such grave monuments and there was probably some form of organized society linked to these. In the Bronze Age, society was more organized and stratified than in the Stone Age. Then a rich class of chieftains emerged who had close connections with southern Scandinavia. The settlements became more permanent and people adopted horses and ard . They acquired bronze status symbols, lived in longhouses and people were buried in large burial mounds . Petroglyphs from the Bronze Age indicate that humans practiced solar cultivation.

 

Finnmark

In the last millennium BC the climate became cooler and the pine forest disappears from the coast; pine forests, for example, were only found in the innermost part of the Altafjord, while the outer coast was almost treeless. Around the year 0, the limit for birch forest was south of Kirkenes. Animals with forest habitats (elk, bear and beaver) disappeared and the reindeer probably established their annual migration routes sometime at that time. In the period 1800–900 BC there were significantly more settlements in and utilization of the hinterland was particularly noticeable on Finnmarksvidda. From around 1800 BC until year 0 there was a significant increase in contact between Finnmark and areas in the east including Karelia (where metals were produced including copper) and central and eastern Russia. The youngest petroglyphs in Alta show far more boats than the earlier phases and the boats are reminiscent of types depicted in petroglyphs in southern Scandinavia. It is unclear what influence southern Scandinavian societies had as far north as Alta before the year 0. Many of the cultural features that are considered typical Sami in modern times were created or consolidated in the last millennium BC, this applies, among other things, to the custom of burying in brick chambers in stone urns. The Mortensnes burial ground may have been used for 2000 years until around 1600 AD.

 

Iron Age (c. 500 BC–c. 1050 AD)

 

The Einangsteinen is one of the oldest Norwegian runestones; it is from the 4th century

 

Simultaneous production of Vikings

Around 500 years BC the researchers reckon that the Bronze Age will be replaced by the Iron Age as iron takes over as the most important material for weapons and tools. Bronze, wood and stone were still used. Iron was cheaper than bronze, easier to work than flint , and could be used for many purposes; iron probably became common property. Iron could, among other things, be used to make solid and sharp axes which made it much easier to fell trees. In the Iron Age, gold and silver were also used partly for decoration and partly as means of payment. It is unknown which language was used in Norway before our era. From around the year 0 until around the year 800, everyone in Scandinavia (except the Sami) spoke Old Norse , a North Germanic language. Subsequently, several different languages ​​developed in this area that were only partially mutually intelligible. The Iron Age is divided into several periods:

 

Early Iron Age

Pre-Roman Iron Age (c. 500 BC–c. 0)

Roman Iron Age (c. 0–c. AD 400)

Migration period (approx. 400–600). In the migration period (approx. 400–600), new peoples came to Norway, and ruins of fortress buildings etc. are interpreted as signs that there has been talk of a violent invasion.

Younger Iron Age

Merovingian period (500–800)

 

The Viking Age (793–1066)

Norwegian Vikings go on plundering expeditions and trade voyages around the coastal countries of Western Europe . Large groups of Norwegians emigrate to the British Isles , Iceland and Greenland . Harald Hårfagre starts a unification process of Norway late in the 8th century , which was completed by Harald Hardråde in the 1060s . The country was Christianized under the kings Olav Tryggvason , fell in the battle of Svolder ( 1000 ) and Olav Haraldsson (the saint), fell in the battle of Stiklestad in 1030 .

 

Sources of prehistoric times

Shrinking glaciers in the high mountains, including in Jotunheimen and Breheimen , have from around the year 2000 uncovered objects from the Viking Age and earlier. These are objects of organic material that have been preserved by the ice and that elsewhere in nature are broken down in a few months. The finds are getting older as the melting makes the archaeologists go deeper into the ice. About half of all archaeological discoveries on glaciers in the world are made in Oppland . In 2013, a 3,400-year-old shoe and a robe from the year 300 were found. Finds at Lomseggen in Lom published in 2020 revealed, among other things, well-preserved horseshoes used on a mountain pass. Many hundreds of items include preserved clothing, knives, whisks, mittens, leather shoes, wooden chests and horse equipment. A piece of cloth dated to the year 1000 has preserved its original colour. In 2014, a wooden ski from around the year 700 was found in Reinheimen . The ski is 172 cm long and 14 cm wide, with preserved binding of leather and wicker.

 

Pytheas from Massalia is the oldest known account of what was probably the coast of Norway, perhaps somewhere on the coast of Møre. Pytheas visited Britannia around 325 BC. and traveled further north to a country by the "Ice Sea". Pytheas described the short summer night and the midnight sun farther north. He wrote, among other things, that people there made a drink from grain and honey. Caesar wrote in his work about the Gallic campaign about the Germanic tribe Haruders. Other Roman sources around the year 0 mention the land of the Cimbri (Jutland) and the Cimbri headlands ( Skagen ) and that the sources stated that Cimbri and Charyds lived in this area. Some of these peoples may have immigrated to Norway and there become known as hordes (as in Hordaland). Sources from the Mediterranean area referred to the islands of Scandia, Scandinavia and Thule ("the outermost of all islands"). The Roman historian Tacitus wrote around the year 100 a work about Germania and mentioned the people of Scandia, the Sviones. Ptolemy wrote around the year 150 that the Kharudes (Hordes) lived further north than all the Cimbri, in the north lived the Finnoi (Finns or Sami) and in the south the Gutai (Goths). The Nordic countries and Norway were outside the Roman Empire , which dominated Europe at the time. The Gothic-born historian Jordanes wrote in the 5th century about 13 tribes or people groups in Norway, including raumaricii (probably Romerike ), ragnaricii ( Ranrike ) and finni or skretefinni (skrid finner or ski finner, i.e. Sami) as well as a number of unclear groups. Prokopios wrote at the same time about Thule north of the land of the Danes and Slavs, Thule was ten times as big as Britannia and the largest of all the islands. In Thule, the sun was up 40 days straight in the summer. After the migration period , southern Europeans' accounts of northern Europe became fuller and more reliable.

 

Settlement in prehistoric times

Norway has around 50,000 farms with their own names. Farm names have persisted for a long time, over 1000 years, perhaps as much as 2000 years. The name researchers have arranged different types of farm names chronologically, which provides a basis for determining when the place was used by people or received a permanent settlement. Uncompounded landscape names such as Haug, Eid, Vik and Berg are believed to be the oldest. Archaeological traces indicate that some areas have been inhabited earlier than assumed from the farm name. Burial mounds also indicate permanent settlement. For example, the burial ground at Svartelva in Løten was used from around the year 0 to the year 1000 when Christianity took over. The first farmers probably used large areas for inland and outland, and new farms were probably established based on some "mother farms". Names such as By (or Bø) show that it is an old place of residence. From the older Iron Age, names with -heim (a common Germanic word meaning place of residence) and -stad tell of settlement, while -vin and -land tell of the use of the place. Farm names in -heim are often found as -um , -eim or -em as in Lerum and Seim, there are often large farms in the center of the village. New farm names with -city and -country were also established in the Viking Age . The first farmers probably used the best areas. The largest burial grounds, the oldest archaeological finds and the oldest farm names are found where the arable land is richest and most spacious.

 

It is unclear whether the settlement expansion in Roman times, migrations and the Iron Age is due to immigration or internal development and population growth. Among other things, it is difficult to demonstrate where in Europe the immigrants have come from. The permanent residents had both fields (where grain was grown) and livestock that grazed in the open fields, but it is uncertain which of these was more important. Population growth from around the year 200 led to more utilization of open land, for example in the form of settlements in the mountains. During the migration period, it also seems that in parts of the country it became common to have cluster gardens or a form of village settlement.

 

Norwegian expansion northwards

From around the year 200, there was a certain migration by sea from Rogaland and Hordaland to Nordland and Sør-Troms. Those who moved settled down as a settled Iron Age population and became dominant over the original population which may have been Sami . The immigrant Norwegians, Bumen , farmed with livestock that were fed inside in the winter as well as some grain cultivation and fishing. The northern border of the Norwegians' settlement was originally at the Toppsundet near Harstad and around the year 500 there was a Norwegian settlement to Malangsgapet. That was as far north as it was possible to grow grain at the time. Malangen was considered the border between Hålogaland and Finnmork until around 1400 . Further into the Viking Age and the Middle Ages, there was immigration and settlement of Norwegian speakers along the coast north of Malangen. Around the year 800, Norwegians lived along the entire outer coast to Vannøy . The Norwegians partly copied Sami livelihoods such as whaling, fur hunting and reindeer husbandry. It was probably this area between Malangen and Vannøy that was Ottar from the Hålogaland area. In the Viking Age, there were also some Norwegian settlements further north and east. East of the North Cape are the scattered archaeological finds of Norwegian settlement in the Viking Age. There are Norwegian names for fjords and islands from the Viking Age, including fjord names with "-anger". Around the year 1050, there were Norwegian settlements on the outer coast of Western Finnmark. Traders and tax collectors traveled even further.

 

North of Malangen there were Norse farming settlements in the Iron Age. Malangen was considered Finnmark's western border until 1300. There are some archaeological traces of Norse activity around the coast from Tromsø to Kirkenes in the Viking Age. Around Tromsø, the research indicates a Norse/Sami mixed culture on the coast.

 

From the year 1100 and the next 200–300 years, there are no traces of Norwegian settlement north and east of Tromsø. It is uncertain whether this is due to depopulation, whether it is because the Norwegians further north were not Christianized or because there were no churches north of Lenvik or Tromsø . Norwegian settlement in the far north appears from sources from the 14th century. In the Hanseatic period , the settlement was developed into large areas specialized in commercial fishing, while earlier (in the Viking Age) there had been farms with a combination of fishing and agriculture. In 1307 , a fortress and the first church east of Tromsø were built in Vardø . Vardø became a small Norwegian town, while Vadsø remained Sami. Norwegian settlements and churches appeared along the outermost coast in the Middle Ages. After the Reformation, perhaps as a result of a decline in fish stocks or fish prices, there were Norwegian settlements in the inner fjord areas such as Lebesby in Laksefjord. Some fishing villages at the far end of the coast were abandoned for good. In the interior of Finnmark, there was no national border for a long time and Kautokeino and Karasjok were joint Norwegian-Swedish areas with strong Swedish influence. The border with Finland was established in 1751 and with Russia in 1826.

 

On a Swedish map from 1626, Norway's border is indicated at Malangen, while Sweden with this map showed a desire to control the Sami area which had been a common area.

 

The term Northern Norway only came into use at the end of the 19th century and administratively the area was referred to as Tromsø Diocese when Tromsø became a bishopric in 1840. There had been different designations previously: Hålogaland originally included only Helgeland and when Norse settlement spread north in the Viking Age and the Middle Ages, Hålogaland was used for the area north approximately to Malangen , while Finnmark or "Finnmarken", "the land of the Sami", lay outside. The term Northern Norway was coined at a cafe table in Kristiania in 1884 by members of the Nordlændingernes Forening and was first commonly used in the interwar period as it eventually supplanted "Hålogaland".

 

State formation

The battle in Hafrsfjord in the year 872 has long been regarded as the day when Norway became a kingdom. The year of the battle is uncertain (may have been 10-20 years later). The whole of Norway was not united in that battle: the process had begun earlier and continued a couple of hundred years later. This means that the geographical area became subject to a political authority and became a political unit. The geographical area was perceived as an area as it is known, among other things, from Ottar from Hålogaland's account for King Alfred of Wessex around the year 880. Ottar described "the land of the Norwegians" as very long and narrow, and it was narrowest in the far north. East of the wasteland in the south lay Sveoland and in the north lay Kvenaland in the east. When Ottar sailed south along the land from his home ( Malangen ) to Skiringssal, he always had Norway ("Nordveg") on his port side and the British Isles on his starboard side. The journey took a good month. Ottar perceived "Nordveg" as a geographical unit, but did not imply that it was a political unit. Ottar separated Norwegians from Swedes and Danes. It is unclear why Ottar perceived the population spread over such a large area as a whole. It is unclear whether Norway as a geographical term or Norwegians as the name of a ethnic group is the oldest. The Norwegians had a common language which in the centuries before Ottar did not differ much from the language of Denmark and Sweden.

 

According to Sverre Steen, it is unlikely that Harald Hårfagre was able to control this entire area as one kingdom. The saga of Harald was written 300 years later and at his death Norway was several smaller kingdoms. Harald probably controlled a larger area than anyone before him and at most Harald's kingdom probably included the coast from Trøndelag to Agder and Vestfold as well as parts of Viken . There were probably several smaller kingdoms of varying extent before Harald and some of these are reflected in traditional landscape names such as Ranrike and Ringerike . Landscape names of "-land" (Rogaland) and "-mark" (Hedmark) as well as names such as Agder and Sogn may have been political units before Harald.

 

According to Sverre Steen, the national assembly was completed at the earliest at the battle of Stiklestad in 1030 and the introduction of Christianity was probably a significant factor in the establishment of Norway as a state. Håkon I the good Adalsteinsfostre introduced the leasehold system where the "coastal land" (as far as the salmon went up the rivers) was divided into ship raiders who were to provide a longship with soldiers and supplies. The leidange was probably introduced as a defense against the Danes. The border with the Danes was traditionally at the Göta älv and several times before and after Harald Hårfagre the Danes had control over central parts of Norway.

 

Christianity was known and existed in Norway before Olav Haraldson's time. The spread occurred both from the south (today's Denmark and northern Germany) and from the west (England and Ireland). Ansgar of Bremen , called the "Apostle of the North", worked in Sweden, but he was never in Norway and probably had little influence in the country. Viking expeditions brought the Norwegians of that time into contact with Christian countries and some were baptized in England, Ireland and northern France. Olav Tryggvason and Olav Haraldson were Vikings who returned home. The first Christians in Norway were also linked to pre-Christian local religion, among other things, by mixing Christian symbols with symbols of Odin and other figures from Norse religion.

 

According to Sverre Steen, the introduction of Christianity in Norway should not be perceived as a nationwide revival. At Mostratinget, Christian law was introduced as law in the country and later incorporated into the laws of the individual jurisdictions. Christianity primarily involved new forms in social life, among other things exposure and images of gods were prohibited, it was forbidden to "put out" unwanted infants (to let them die), and it was forbidden to have multiple wives. The church became a nationwide institution with a special group of officials tasked with protecting the church and consolidating the new religion. According to Sverre Steen, Christianity and the church in the Middle Ages should therefore be considered together, and these became a new unifying factor in the country. The church and Christianity linked Norway to Roman Catholic Europe with Church Latin as the common language, the same time reckoning as the rest of Europe and the church in Norway was arranged much like the churches in Denmark, Sweden and England. Norway received papal approval in 1070 and became its own church province in 1152 with Archbishop Nidaros .

 

With Christianity, the country got three social powers: the peasants (organized through the things), the king with his officials and the church with the clergy. The things are the oldest institution: At allthings all armed men had the right to attend (in part an obligation to attend) and at lagthings met emissaries from an area (that is, the lagthings were representative assemblies). The Thing both ruled in conflicts and established laws. The laws were memorized by the participants and written down around the year 1000 or later in the Gulationsloven , Frostatingsloven , Eidsivatingsloven and Borgartingsloven . The person who had been successful at the hearing had to see to the implementation of the judgment themselves.

 

Early Middle Ages (1050s–1184)

The early Middle Ages is considered in Norwegian history to be the period between the end of the Viking Age around 1050 and the coronation of King Sverre in 1184 . The beginning of the period can be dated differently, from around the year 1000 when the Christianization of the country took place and up to 1100 when the Viking Age was over from an archaeological point of view. From 1035 to 1130 it was a time of (relative) internal peace in Norway, even several of the kings attempted campaigns abroad, including in 1066 and 1103 .

 

During this period, the church's organization was built up. This led to a gradual change in religious customs. Religion went from being a domestic matter to being regulated by common European Christian law and the royal power gained increased power and influence. Slavery (" servitude ") was gradually abolished. The population grew rapidly during this period, as the thousands of farm names ending in -rud show.

 

The urbanization of Norway is a historical process that has slowly but surely changed Norway from the early Viking Age to today, from a country based on agriculture and sea salvage, to increasingly trade and industry. As early as the ninth century, the country got its first urban community, and in the eleventh century we got the first permanent cities.

 

In the 1130s, civil war broke out . This was due to a power struggle and that anyone who claimed to be the king's son could claim the right to the throne. The disputes escalated into extensive year-round warfare when Sverre Sigurdsson started a rebellion against the church's and the landmen's candidate for the throne , Magnus Erlingsson .

 

Emergence of cities

The oldest Norwegian cities probably emerged from the end of the 9th century. Oslo, Bergen and Nidaros became episcopal seats, which stimulated urban development there, and the king built churches in Borg , Konghelle and Tønsberg. Hamar and Stavanger became new episcopal seats and are referred to in the late 12th century as towns together with the trading places Veøy in Romsdal and Kaupanger in Sogn. In the late Middle Ages, Borgund (on Sunnmøre), Veøy (in Romsdalsfjorden) and Vågan (in Lofoten) were referred to as small trading places. Urbanization in Norway occurred in few places compared to the neighboring countries, only 14 places appear as cities before 1350. Stavanger became a bishopric around 1120–1130, but it is unclear whether the place was already a city then. The fertile Jæren and outer Ryfylke were probably relatively densely populated at that time. A particularly large concentration of Irish artefacts from the Viking Age has been found in Stavanger and Nord-Jæren.

 

It has been difficult to estimate the population in the Norwegian medieval cities, but it is considered certain that the cities grew rapidly in the Middle Ages. Oscar Albert Johnsen estimated the city's population before the Black Death at 20,000, of which 7,000 in Bergen, 3,000 in Nidaros, 2,000 in Oslo and 1,500 in Tunsberg. Based on archaeological research, Lunden estimates that Oslo had around 1,500 inhabitants in 250 households in the year 1300. Bergen was built up more densely and, with the concentration of exports there, became Norway's largest city in a special position for several hundred years. Knut Helle suggests a city population of 20,000 at most in the High Middle Ages, of which almost half in Bergen.

 

The Bjarkøyretten regulated the conditions in cities (especially Bergen and Nidaros) and in trading places, and for Nidaros had many of the same provisions as the Frostating Act . Magnus Lagabøte's city law replaced the bjarkøretten and from 1276 regulated the settlement in Bergen and with corresponding laws also drawn up for Oslo, Nidaros and Tunsberg. The city law applied within the city's roof area . The City Act determined that the city's public streets consisted of wide commons (perpendicular to the shoreline) and ran parallel to the shoreline, similarly in Nidaros and Oslo. The roads were small streets of up to 3 cubits (1.4 metres) and linked to the individual property. From the Middle Ages, the Norwegian cities were usually surrounded by wooden fences. The urban development largely consisted of low wooden houses which stood in contrast to the relatively numerous and dominant churches and monasteries built in stone.

 

The City Act and supplementary provisions often determined where in the city different goods could be traded, in Bergen, for example, cattle and sheep could only be traded on the Square, and fish only on the Square or directly from the boats at the quayside. In Nidaros, the blacksmiths were required to stay away from the densely populated areas due to the risk of fire, while the tanners had to stay away from the settlements due to the strong smell. The City Act also attempted to regulate the influx of people into the city (among other things to prevent begging in the streets) and had provisions on fire protection. In Oslo, from the 13th century or earlier, it was common to have apartment buildings consisting of single buildings on a couple of floors around a courtyard with access from the street through a gate room. Oslo's medieval apartment buildings were home to one to four households. In the urban farms, livestock could be kept, including pigs and cows, while pastures and fields were found in the city's rooftops . In the apartment buildings there could be several outbuildings such as warehouses, barns and stables. Archaeological excavations show that much of the buildings in medieval Oslo, Trondheim and Tønsberg resembled the oblong farms that have been preserved at Bryggen in Bergen . The land boundaries in Oslo appear to have persisted for many hundreds of years, in Bergen right from the Middle Ages to modern times.

 

High Middle Ages (1184–1319)

After civil wars in the 12th century, the country had a relative heyday in the 13th century. Iceland and Greenland came under the royal authority in 1262 , and the Norwegian Empire reached its greatest extent under Håkon IV Håkonsson . The last king of Haraldsätten, Håkon V Magnusson , died sonless in 1319 . Until the 17th century, Norway stretched all the way down to the mouth of Göta älv , which was then Norway's border with Sweden and Denmark.

 

Just before the Black Death around 1350, there were between 65,000 and 85,000 farms in the country, and there had been a strong growth in the number of farms from 1050, especially in Eastern Norway. In the High Middle Ages, the church or ecclesiastical institutions controlled 40% of the land in Norway, while the aristocracy owned around 20% and the king owned 7%. The church and monasteries received land through gifts from the king and nobles, or through inheritance and gifts from ordinary farmers.

 

Settlement and demography in the Middle Ages

Before the Black Death, there were more and more farms in Norway due to farm division and clearing. The settlement spread to more marginal agricultural areas higher inland and further north. Eastern Norway had the largest areas to take off and had the most population growth towards the High Middle Ages. Along the coast north of Stad, settlement probably increased in line with the extent of fishing. The Icelandic Rimbegla tells around the year 1200 that the border between Finnmark (the land of the Sami) and resident Norwegians in the interior was at Malangen , while the border all the way out on the coast was at Kvaløya . From the end of the High Middle Ages, there were more Norwegians along the coast of Finnmark and Nord-Troms. In the inner forest and mountain tracts along the current border between Norway and Sweden, the Sami exploited the resources all the way down to Hedmark.

 

There are no censuses or other records of population and settlement in the Middle Ages. At the time of the Reformation, the population was below 200,000 and only in 1650 was the population at the same level as before the Black Death. When Christianity was introduced after the year 1000, the population was around 200,000. After the Black Death, many farms and settlements were abandoned and deserted, in the most marginal agricultural areas up to 80% of the farms were abandoned. Places such as Skien, Veøy and Borgund (Ålesund) went out of use as trading towns. By the year 1300, the population was somewhere between 300,000 and 560,000 depending on the calculation method. Common methods start from detailed information about farms in each village and compare this with the situation in 1660 when there are good headcounts. From 1300 to 1660, there was a change in the economic base so that the coastal villages received a larger share of the population. The inland areas of Eastern Norway had a relatively larger population in the High Middle Ages than after the Reformation. Kåre Lunden concludes that the population in the year 1300 was close to 500,000, of which 15,000 lived in cities. Lunden believes that the population in 1660 was still slightly lower than the peak before the Black Death and points out that farm settlement in 1660 did not reach the same extent as in the High Middle Ages. In 1660, the population in Troms and Finnmark was 6,000 and 3,000 respectively (2% of the total population), in 1300 these areas had an even smaller share of the country's population and in Finnmark there were hardly any Norwegian-speaking inhabitants. In the High Middle Ages, the climate was more favorable for grain cultivation in the north. Based on the number of farms, the population increased 162% from 1000 to 1300, in Northern and Western Europe as a whole the growth was 200% in the same period.

 

Late Middle Ages (1319–1537)

Due to repeated plague epidemics, the population was roughly halved and the least productive of the country's farms were laid waste. It took several hundred years before the population again reached the level before 1349 . However, those who survived the epidemics gained more financial resources by sharing. Tax revenues for the state almost collapsed, and a large part of the noble families died out or sank into peasant status due to the fall in national debt . The Hanseatic League took over trade and shipping and dominated fish exports. The Archbishop of Nidaros was the country's most powerful man economically and politically, as the royal dynasty married into the Swedish in 1319 and died out in 1387 . Eventually, Copenhagen became the political center of the kingdom and Bergen the commercial center, while Trondheim remained the religious center.

 

From Reformation to Autocracy (1537–1660)

In 1537 , the Reformation was carried out in Norway. With that, almost half of the country's property was confiscated by the royal power at the stroke of a pen. The large seizure increased the king's income and was able, among other things, to expand his military power and consolidated his power in the kingdom. From roughly the time of the Reformation and in the following centuries, the state increased its power and importance in people's lives. Until around 1620, the state administration was fairly simple and unspecialised: in Copenhagen, the central administration mainly consisted of a chancellery and an interest chamber ; and sheriffs ruled the civil (including bailiffs and sheriffs) and the military in their district, the sheriffs collected taxes and oversaw business. The accounts were not clear and without summaries. The clergy, which had great power as a separate organization, was appointed by the state church after the Reformation, administered from Copenhagen. In this period, Norway was ruled by (mainly) Danish noble sheriffs, who acted as intermediaries between the peasants and the Oldenborg king in the field of justice, tax and customs collection.

 

From 1620, the state apparatus went through major changes where specialization of functions was a main issue. The sheriff's tasks were divided between several, more specialized officials - the sheriffs retained the formal authority over these, who in practice were under the national administration in Copenhagen. Among other things, a separate military officer corps was established, a separate customs office was established and separate treasurers for taxes and fees were appointed. The Overbergamtet, the central governing body for overseeing mining operations in Norway, was established in 1654 with an office in Christiania and this agency was to oversee the mining chiefs in the Nordenfjeld and Sønnenfjeld areas (the mines at Kongsberg and Røros were established in the previous decades). The formal transition from county government to official government with fixed-paid county officials took place after 1660, but the real changes had taken place from around 1620. The increased specialization and transition to official government meant that experts, not amateurs, were in charge of each area, and this civil service meant, according to Sverre Steen that the dictatorship was not a personal dictatorship.

 

From 1570 until 1721, the Oldenborg dynasty was in repeated wars with the Vasa dynasty in Sweden. The financing of these wars led to a severe increase in taxation which caused great distress.

 

Politically-geographically, the Oldenborg kings had to cede to Sweden the Norwegian provinces of Jemtland , Herjedalen , Idre and Särna , as well as Båhuslen . As part of the financing of the wars, the state apparatus was expanded. Royal power began to assert itself to a greater extent in the administration of justice. Until this period, cases of violence and defamation had been treated as civil cases between citizens. The level of punishment was greatly increased. During this period, at least 307 people were also executed for witchcraft in Norway. Culturally, the country was marked by the fact that the written language became Danish because of the Bible translation and the University of Copenhagen's educational monopoly.

 

From the 16th century, business became more marked by production for sale and not just own consumption. In the past, it was particularly the fisheries that had produced such a large surplus of goods that it was sold to markets far away, the dried fish trade via Bergen is known from around the year 1100. In the 16th century, the yield from the fisheries multiplied, especially due to the introduction of herring in Western Norway and in Trøndelag and because new tools made fishing for herring and skre more efficient. Line fishing and cod nets that were introduced in the 17th century were controversial because the small fishermen believed it favored citizens in the cities.

 

Forestry and the timber trade became an important business, particularly because of the boom saw which made it possible to saw all kinds of tables and planks for sale abroad. The demand for timber increased at the same time in Europe, Norway had plenty of forests and in the 17th century timber became the country's most important export product. There were hundreds of sawmills in the country and the largest had the feel of factories . In 1680, the king regulated the timber trade by allowing exports only from privileged sawmills and in a certain quantity.

 

From the 1520s, some silver was mined in Telemark. When the peasants chased the German miners whereupon the king executed five peasants and demanded compensation from the other rebellious peasants. The background for the harsh treatment was that the king wanted to assert his authority over the extraction of precious metals. The search for metals led to the silver works at Kongsberg after 1624, copper in the mountain villages between Trøndelag and Eastern Norway, and iron, among other things, in Agder and lower Telemark. The financial gain of the quarries at that time is unclear because there are no reliable accounts. Kongsberg ma

This position would be especially logical if one believed that the fluids themselves were being recycled to nourish body tissues.The future has always been surprising. The body is loaded with 100% optimism. It’s just like you don’t have any timeTaoist alchemy and Kundalini yoga, in their respective ways, are religious traditions based on an imperative of rational, yet creative,experimentation with the relationship of the internal body to objects in the outside world, and the relationship of human physical energy with the abstracted realms of religious symbolism and ontological beliefs. Both systems present a picture which is not entirely comprehensive by the methods and assumptions of modern science. Yet these types of traditions may have something useful to teach us, if we can analyze their beliefs and practices within the historical and cultural context in an effort to understand them as they were, and as they are, within their individual cultural framework. Scientific methods such as neurobiology can give us some insight into the basic underlying causes of human experience, yet will never be able to fully explain the phenomenological idiosyncrasies of religious ritual. With this in mind, we can apply the knowledge of modern science to the study of ancient religious in a responsible and realistic way. Taoist and Tantric sexual practices conserve and utilize the precious energy within the genital fluids. The vital forces energies that sustain life are ojas and prana. One particular type of prana is kundalini or shakti. The Taoist equivalent is ching. By murmuring this energy, life is enriched and preserved. By squandering it, health suffers and death results, Yogys believe kundalini energy is coiled up like a serpent at the base of the spine to the pineal gland in the brain, and enlightenment is attained. The kundalini energy flows through the chakras, energy centers in your subtle body related to the endocrine glands. The endocrine glands are fed by your body’s central heating system, the sexual center. If that center is weak, you entire system is weak. If that center is functioning optimally, the body can survive indefinitely. Taoist and Tantric techniques strengthen the sexual chakra. Their methods conserve its precious fluids and also pump these nourishing fluids back into the body, directing them to the endocrine glands. This technique stimulates the production of ojas and soma. The only caution about Taoist and Tantric sexual practices is the following: because of the tradition of patriarchal oppression, many of theses practices are designed solely for the male to attain immortality, often at the expense of young, ignorant, inexperienced girls, whose vitality {shakti } is drained from their bodies. The male is cautioned to never let semen leave his body, to practice coitus reservatus, stopping short of ejaculation. Yet he is advised to bring his partner to orgasm repeatedly. With his sperm held in check and his vital energy pumping back into his system continually, he invigorates and rejuvenates his body. Also pumping the energy and fluids of the female into his body at the time of her climax, he obtains her vitality as well. Practitioners are advised to engage in this female-draining activity a dozen or more times a day with several 14-to 19 year old virgins. Innocent females are victims of this crime against their health, driving them to early grave.

On other hand, when both partners ate fully knowledgeable and experienced in Taoist or Tantric sexual practices, a mutually beneficial, enriching, elevating relationship can growth is only possible with mutual respect, love, honesty, commitment, and trust. When partners recognize and worship each other as divines beings, there can be an exchange of divine energy in both body and Spirit.How does this move in the body? If we cannot see it, does it really exist? Science is only just getting a few tests going that prove energy is in the body and around it. Is it real what the Ancient wisdoms teach us? Can it guide us to oneness and conscious awakening?

It has been a long road for those in the energy field of health getting the message across to the general population that energy is everywhere, particularly in the body. With proof, barriers seem a lot easier to free up. Oriental medicine and Ayurvedic medicine are the clearest and longest standing observational sciences that describe and fully believe that energy exists as long as 5000 years ago. Both have movement medicine in the forms of Yoga and Qigong.

 

As I already discussed in the previous article Bring the energy home, there is a cycle called the Microcosmic cycle which when experienced connects the front and back energy meridians. Also called the Governing and Conception channels, in Oriental medicine a further 12 major channels exist that run up and down the body through the limbs, arms and legs (6 Yin and 6 Yang).These energies connect to the sun (yang) and moon (yin) influences. Predominantly yang energy in the morning and more yin energies in the afternoon, changing again after midnight. Then more yang energies developing until we awake and the body starts to function optimally again in the awakened state.The logograph 氣 is read with two Chinese pronunciations, the usual qì 氣 "air; vital energy" and the rare archaic xì 氣 "to present food" (later disambiguated with 餼). Pronunciations of 氣 in modern varieties of Chinese with standardized IPA equivalents include: Standard Chinese qì /t͡ɕʰi⁵¹/, Wu Chinese qi /t͡ɕʰi³⁴/, Southern Min khì /kʰi²¹/, Eastern Min ké /kʰɛi²¹³/, Standard Cantonese hei3 /hei̯³³/, and Hakka Chinese hi /hi⁵⁵/. Pronunciations of 氣 in Sino-Xenic borrowings include: Japanese ki, Korean gi, and Vietnamese khi. Reconstructions of the Middle Chinese pronunciation of 氣 standardized to IPA transcription include: /kʰe̯iH/ (Bernard Karlgren), /kʰĭəiH/ (Wang Li), /kʰiəiH/ (Li Rong), /kʰɨjH/ (Edwin Pulleyblank), and /kʰɨiH/ (Zhengzhang Shangfang). Reconstructions of the Old Chinese pronunciation of 氣 standardized to IPA transcription include: /*kʰɯds/ (Zhengzhang Shangfang) and /*C.qʰəp-s/ (William H. Baxter and Laurent Sagart). The etymology of qì interconnects with Kharia kʰis "anger", Sora kissa "move with great effort", Khmer kʰɛs "strive after; endeavor", and Gyalrongic kʰɐs "anger".The earliest texts that speak of qi give some indications of how the concept developed. In the Analects of Confucius qi could mean "breath". Combining it with the Chinese word for blood (making 血氣, xue–qi, blood and breath), the concept could be used to account for motivational characteristics:

The [morally] noble man guards himself against 3 things. When he is young, his xue–qi has not yet stabilized, so he guards himself against sexual passion. When he reaches his prime, his xue–qi is not easily subdued, so he guards himself against combativeness. When he reaches old age, his xue–qi is already depleted, so he guards himself against acquisitiveness.— Confucius, Analects, 16:7

The philosopher Mozi used the word qi to refer to noxious vapors that would in eventually arise from a corpse were it not buried at a sufficient depth. He reported that early civilized humans learned how to live in houses to protect their qi from the moisture that troubled them when they lived in caves. He also associated maintaining one's qi with providing oneself with adequate nutrition. In regard to another kind of qi, he recorded how some people performed a kind of prognostication by observing qi (clouds) in the sky. Mencius described a kind of qi that might be characterized as an individual's vital energies. This qi was necessary to activity and it could be controlled by a well-integrated willpower.page needed] When properly nurtured, this qi was said to be capable of extending beyond the human body to reach throughout the universe. It could also be augmented by means of careful exercise of one's moral capacities.[14] On the other hand, the qi of an individual could be degraded by adverse external forces that succeed in operating on that individual. Living things were not the only things believed to have qi. Zhuangzi indicated that wind is the qi of the Earth.Moreover, cosmic yin and yang "are the greatest of qi".He described qi as "issuing forth" and creating profound effects.[15] He also said "Human beings are born [because of] the accumulation of qi. When it accumulates there is life. When it dissipates there is death... There is one qi that connects and pervades everything in the world." Another passage traces life to intercourse between Heaven and Earth: "The highest Yin is the most restrained. The highest Yang is the most exuberant. The restrained comes forth from Heaven. The exuberant issues forth from Earth. The two intertwine and penetrate forming a harmony, and [as a result] things are born." The Guanzi essay Neiye (Inward Training) is the oldest received writing on the subject of the cultivation of vapor [qi] and meditation techniques. The essay was probably composed at the Jixia Academy in Qi in the late fourth century B.C. Xun Zi, another Confucian scholar of the Jixia Academy, followed in later years. At 9:69/127, Xun Zi says, "Fire and water have qi but do not have life. Grasses and trees have life but do not have perceptivity. Fowl and beasts have perceptivity but do not have yi (sense of right and wrong, duty, justice). Men have qi, life, perceptivity, and yi." Chinese people at such an early time had no concept of radiant energy, but they were aware that one can be heated by a campfire from a distance away from the fire. They accounted for this phenomenon by claiming "qi" radiated from fire. At 18:62/122, he also uses "qi" to refer to the vital forces of the body that decline with advanced age. Among the animals, the gibbon and the crane were considered experts at inhaling the qi. The Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu (ca. 150 BC) wrote in Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals:[17] "The gibbon resembles a macaque, but he is larger, and his color is black. His forearms being long, he lives eight hundred years, because he is expert in controlling his breathing." ("猿似猴。大而黑。長前臂。所以壽八百。好引氣也。") Later, the syncretic text assembled under the direction of Liu An, the Huai Nan Zi, or "Masters of Huainan", has a passage that presages most of what is given greater detail by the Neo-Confucians: Heaven (seen here as the ultimate source of all being) falls (duo 墮, i.e., descends into proto-immanence) as the formless. Fleeting, fluttering, penetrating, amorphous it is, and so it is called the Supreme Luminary. The dao begins in the Void Brightening. The Void Brightening produces the universe (yu–zhou). The universe produces qi. Qi has bounds. The clear, yang [qi] was ethereal and so formed heaven. The heavy, turbid [qi] was congealed and impeded and so formed earth. The conjunction of the clear, yang [qi] was fluid and easy. The conjunction of the heavy, turbid [qi] was strained and difficult. So heaven was formed first and earth was made fast later. The pervading essence (xi–jing) of heaven and earth becomes yin and yang. The concentrated (zhuan) essences of yin and yang become the four seasons. The dispersed (san) essences of the four seasons become the myriad creatures. The hot qi of yang in accumulating produces fire. The essence (jing) of the fire-qi becomes the sun. The cold qi of yin in accumulating produces water. The essence of the water-qi becomes the moon. The essences produced by coitus (yin) of the sun and moon become the stars and celestial markpoints (chen, planets).— Huai-nan-zi, 3:1a/19 Characters In Yoga they talk of Ida and Pingala channels and a central channel called Sushumna with very many Nadis connecting our energy back to our Chakras. This Kundalini shakti energy moving systematically when ready to the top most Chakra Sahasara and then connects to the Supreme shiva and universe.

This energy is also affected by our emotions, the food we eat, and how we move this energy i.e. with Qigong and Yoga and how well we relax. Learning these skills help develop and refine this energy and maintain a storage where we can then start to develop longevity and preserve our inherited energy from our family.We are also affected energetically by our environment, particularly magnetic waves, microwaves sonic waves, radio waves, TV signals, mobile phones and so on. The long term effect has not been fully understood, our body’s energy is at the mercy of these frequencies unless we learn energy techniques to take control of these movements and redirect the flow. Managing our bodies and its needs sometimes can feel overwhelming but with the correct help and attitude we can soon feel the benefits of repeated Qi flow and awakened consciousness.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi

 

Yoga also uses movement to connect ourselves to the universe. We can learn so much from these practices about our bodies and how to get into a flow that benefits mind, body, and spirit. My experience when studying Kundalini Yoga was a very powerful one. Kundalini is known as the mother Yoga and when followed by its principles and ancient wisdom, allows for natural movement of the Kundalini. This is a simple but effective Yoga, often postures being held and breath sequences and Bhandas used to help move energy. Meditations and Mantras with Mudras further help reconnect the spirit and open us to the universal oneness. Both Qigong and Yoga have deep understanding of our energetic connections and make use of techniques and principles that guide us safely back to our spiritual home and beyond. Having studied and experienced both of these models extensively, I feel privileged to have great teachers and the opportunity to pass onto others these great energy healersIn Hindu philosophy including yoga, Indian medicine, and martial arts, Prana (प्राण, prāṇa; the Sanskrit word for "life force" or "vital principle")[1] comprises all cosmic energy, permeating the Universe on all levels. Prana is often referred to as the "life force" or "life energy".[not verified in body] It also includes energies present in inanimate objects.[not verified in body] In the Hindu literature, prana is sometimes described as originating from the Sun and connecting the elements of the Universe. This life energy has been vividly invoked and described in the ancient Vedas and Upanishads.[not verified in body. In living beings, this universal energy is considered responsible for all bodily functions through five types of prana, collectively known as the five vāyus. Ayurveda, tantra and Tibetan medicine all describe praṇā vāyu as the basic vāyu from which all the other vāyus arise. Indologist Georg Feuerstein explains, "The Chinese call it chi, the Polynesians mana, the Amerindians orenda, and the ancient Germans od. It is an all-pervasive 'organic' The ancient concept of prana is described in many early Hindu texts, including Upanishads and Vedas. One of the earliest references to prana is from the 3,000-year-old Chandogya Upanishad, but many other Upanishads also make use of the concept, including the Katha, Mundaka and Prasna Upanishads. The concept is elaborated upon in great detail in the practices and literature of haṭha yoga, tantra,and Ayurveda. Prana is typically divided into multiple constituent parts, in particular when concerned with the human body. While not all early sources agree on the names or number of these subdivisions, the most common list from the Mahabharata, the Upanishads, Ayurvedic and Yogic sources includes five, often divided into further subcategories.This list includes: Prana (inward moving energy), apana (outward moving energy), vyana (circulation of energy), udana (energy of the head and throat), and samana (digestion and assimilation).[citation needed] Early mention of specific pranas often emphasized prāṇa, apāna and vyāna as "the three breaths". This can be seen in the proto-yogic traditions of the Vratyas among others.[6]:104 Texts like the Vaikānasasmārta utilized the five pranas as an internalization of the five sacrificial fires of a panchagni homa ceremony.[6]:111–112 Vāyus

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prana

 

Poren Huang (Chinese: 黃柏仁, born 1970), a Taiwanese sculptor, was born in Taichung, located in central Taiwan. His grandfather and parents engaged in wood carving business.During the 1970s, Poren Huang's father, Mingde Huang, had a successful wood carving industry and huge export volume. As a major wood carving factory in Taiwan,the factory employed more than 100 craftsmen to produce wood handicrafts during peak seasons. Mingde Huang expected his son Poren Huang to inherit the family business, but Poren Huang preferred artistic creation to wood handicraft production, resulting in years of differences between the father and son. In 2005, Poren Huang fully expressed his ideas through his series of works, The Dog's Notes. Although he and his father held different viewpoints, he highly values family interaction. He focused on mending his family relationship before pursuing his personal ambition, and some of his works in The Dog's Notes strongly convey enlightenment and morality.After World War II, with the recovery of the global economy, prosperity and focus on human rights, the hard work of the previous generation is often reciprocated with the disregard, self-centeredness, mockery and impiety of the next generation. In The Dog's Notes, Poren Huang added the quality of loyalty and kindness to purify the human heart and create positive influence.Using the dog as a creative starting point, each piece of work is suggestive of the "human". About 10% to 90% of the works borrow from the dog to explore various human behaviors. Modern people generally feel kindly toward dogs because of their ability to soothe. Therefore, Poren Huang uses the dog as his creative theme to convey positive traits such as self-confidence, courage, loyalty or innocence, and to provoke in people deeper thoughts as they come in contact with his work. Many people are first attracted by the amusing forms; however, after a period of contact and interaction with the pieces, they seem to sense the deeper significance and remain inspired by positive ideas and thoughts. There are primarily two types of animals that appear in The Dog's Notes, the dog and the panda. They share a common characteristic of being humanized. These animals do not appear completely animal-like under Poren Huang's sculpting, but instead, they appear to have the scent of a human. That is why viewers tend to stand in front of the artwork and stare for quite a long time, unwittingly; perhaps it is because they did not get an affirmative answer as to whether the artwork is human or animal? When the dog and the panda enter the human's environment, they naturally learn to cohabitate with humans. They lose the wild nature of being wild animals, and become more humanized. People are the same way. Poren Huang wishes that humans can be more inspired by the dogs, and to learn the positive characters found in dogs, such as innocence, loyalty, kindness, bravery, and being passionate. Much like the Chinese proverb, "The son does not despise the mother for being ugly, and the dog does not blame the owner for being poor"; the dog will not despite the owner, and will not leave the owner, instead he will spend the rest of his life by his owner's side. Humans, on the other hand are different. They might look down on others or alienate others. They might even become disrespectful toward parents. The selfishness of humans causes wars and unrest in the world. Therefore, Poren Huang is not just creating artworks of animals, but instead, he is making his sculptures more humanized, so that the viewers can naturally reflect and be inspired. In addition, Poren Huang's humanized works of art also have a little bit of the "Oriental Literati" essence. Although these artworks will have various emotions, but they are never too intense, and are never over the top. Just like Ang Lee, Xi Jinping, Yo-Yo Ma, Jeremy Lin, as well as other generally well-known Chinese, whose personalities are perhaps the same way, which is gentle and refined, and with the modesty of a gentleman. Much like the Eastern literai who are well read of poetry and literature, their emotions are not easily shown; they are more restrained, and are full of character and depth.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poren_Huang

 

Francois Gachon is an advertising agent of the By Chance agency and a watercolourist graduated from the school of applied arts, he painted this subtle body that I have inlaid in the photo. Poren Huang considered this collage to be very artistic.The wallpaper is a painting by Paul Gauguin named Delightful Land... Te nave nave nave nave fenua, 1892

This shot shows more of the vast interior of the Meow Wolf installation in Las Vegas.

  

To enjoy my other creative project, please visit my funny short stories website: 500ironicstories.com where you can read or listen to new stories each week. I have also curated the stories into three different selections:

Stories for Kids - 500ironicstories.com/stories-for-kids Love Stories - 500ironicstories.com/love-story

Moral Stories - 500ironicstories.com/moral-stories

While working for a while in another state, I drove through where Lillie was living at the time. We met up at a state park near her and shot a few family friendly shots around the park. Dozens of other people, mostly families with kids, were wandering around us… so it was a very tame shoot. But always fun to meet up with a friend.

 

Copyright © Independent Photographer.

All the copyright and other intellectual property rights, and material on my FLICKR page are reserved.

Throughout his career Frederick Childe Hassam made several extended trips to Europe where he was stimulated by the sights and the many artists he met.A Back Road completed the year after his first European tour,demonstrates a compositional daring and freedom of brushwork that were still unusual in American art of this period.Inspired by the works of the nineteenth-century French Barbizon School,Hassam emphasized heavy strokes,heavy lighting effects,and flatness.

 

During a return visit years later,Hassam found a charming old French garden at Villiers-le-Bel,near Paris.The setting reminded him of Appledore Island,home to his friend the poet Celia Thaxter.Poppies on the Isles of Shoals is one of a number of works painted on Appledore off the coast of Maine,in the years following his Paris sojourn-Brooklyn Museum

© Jeff R. Clow

 

To stimulate the creative side of my brain, I sometimes rework some of my recent photos with different filters and post processing techniques.

 

Here I was attempting to craft the "look" of vintage film images from the 50's and 60's.....even though the photo itself was taken earlier this year.

 

If you have a moment, press "L" to view this at the larger size. I think it is much better when viewed larger.

Tilly Opaline: MGU 2023 - Italy

For this stimulating challenge Tilly has chosen to represent the zodiac sign under which she was born here in SL: Virgo.

According to legend, for the ancient Greeks the constellation Virgo was linked to the goddess Demeter.

Demeter was the goddess of nature, the fields and agriculture and, with them, the changing seasons. Tilly has chosen to represent it in the luxuriance of the summer season, when the wheat ripens in the fields and the sunflowers chase the star that allows life.

The bare branches overhead, however, and the orange leaves are already a reminder of autumn, the season of rest and preparation for winter sleep that will precede the spring rebirth in a continuous cycle that is life.

Dutch/ English

 

De soortsaanduiding officinale (uit de apotheek) duidt aan dat de plant vanouds medische toepassingen heeft gekend. Vooral de wortel werd verzameld. De plant bevat onder meer symphytocynoglossine, consolidine, choline, en 0,8-1 % allantoïne.

 

De plant werd en wordt met name uitwendig toegepast, in de vorm van omslagen bij botbreuken, wonden, en gewrichtsontstekingen. Onderzoek heeft uitgewezen dat allantoïne de heling van wonden inderdaad kan bevorderen door de stimulering van de vorming van nieuwe cellen.

 

The so-called officinale (from the pharmacy) indicates that the plant has traditionally known medical applications. Especially the carrot was collected. The plant contains symphytocynoglossin, consolidin, choline, and 0.8-1% allantoin.

 

The plant was and is used in particular externally, in the form of folds in fractures, wounds, and joint inflammations. Research has shown that allantoin can indeed promote healing of wounds by stimulating the formation of new cells.

 

paulvandevelde.myportfolio.com/

“To stimulate creativity one must develop childlike inclination for play and the childlike desire for recognition.” – Albert Einstein

 

I spend quite a bit of time doing just that. Sure there are a few necessary items on the “to do” list for tomorrow…..not all of which I might choose to do if given absolute freedom of choice, but for the most part , I try to stay focussed on the importance of fueling my creative soul. One of those ways is to carve out a little time every evening that I can to “play” in the digital darkroom.

 

I love the texture of these crooked branches on the these trees that are part of the scene throughout a lot of Southern Utah. They seem so fragile and thirsty. Almost ready to completely crack apart.

 

I had a few images in my minds eye that I could have created with these unique caracters that seemed to perform on these open landscaped stages, and this is not one of theme. Funny how you can look at a shot while processing it and say to yourself “Why didn’t I compose this with a little more depth and awareness to levels of detail. Maybe a little more foreground? Perhaps I should have given a little more space for the old tree to act out in the space. Next time I guess :)

 

For more from MDSimages, please check out the links below....and thanks for stopping by!

 

My Website

My Prints

  

So you don't fancy turkey on Turkey Day. How about some stimulated lobster balls?

Model:

Kiki Vermillion

 

Apparel:

Nixon

H&M

ZARA

 

Canon EOS 5D MK III

Sigma 35mm f/1.4

 

TV 1/2000

AV 1.4

ISO 100

 

Post - Production with Photoshop

The railways were prolific publishers of such books of rambles and walks that were designed to help stimulate leisure travel on their lines. They include details of walks as well of special fares such as in this 1926 offering from the LMSR that is entitled "The Open Road - rambles in near-by Shires" for Glasgow wayfarers keen to escape the industrial city for rural idylls.

 

The book was complied by A Macgregor Scott and were drawn from a column by the author in the Glasgow Evening News. They make much use of the many now long gone branch lines especially to the south of Glasgow and into the Borders. The cover illustrations are by Warwick Reynolds, considered to be amongst one of the finest illustrators of his day and who sadly died, in Glasgow, the year this book was issued in 1926 at the age of 46.

Erfahrbar machen des oralen Bereich

Rio de Janeiro offers so many great opportunities and stimulating landscapes that the difficult part is deciding what to shoot first. This amazing view of Rio is from the neighbor city of Niteroi up in a hill in a small place called City Park (Parque da cidade)... not a tourist spot, and a very good inside tip from a friend.

For this image I created an impression. Before looking at its illustration, it is perhaps worth pointing out several weaknesses to the image. There are issues of scale, with the verraco being clearly too big, and the tree-pole too small. There are also issues of artistic licence, where the wolfpack is also an inanimate mineral outcrop as occasional howls in the landscape blur with the pack's howling identity. Also, the image seems to inhabit both day and night, with the bird-of-prey more eagle or vulture than grand-duc owl, and the distant flock of goats still out on their hill, yet the silence of night is apparent. There are both the dark vistas and the howling wolves of night, and the active fires of day. There are also issues of authenticity - some castros present tight arrays of round houses, lets say the Castro de Baroña, whereas others offer a grid of square houses - for example La Hoya. Sites with a flexibility of space and function, such as Ullaca, also exist. In my image, the 'castro' seems almost to be a hybrid of castro and shepherd's chozos with corral (see past posts).

 

Everything in the image is intentional. It shows both night and day, both a castro and a croft and a chozos. It depicts a wolf-like element from a landscape that can also howl and birds of prey in both day and night. It is an image that has a flexibility and a need to be finished by the viewer's minds eye.

 

Pastoral man, with his herds and flocks leaves traces on the land, traces that do not clean, rather they fade into composts. The smell of wool combed by blackberry bramble, the dot-to-dot of pat and dropping clearly marking path, entrance and crossroad. And then the noise: chants of baaaa, moo and neigh: oink, grunt and bleet. Castros, villages, chozos and crofts served individuals and communities, and communities had animals for functions that spread from centralised trade down to individual winter heat. Settlements, inside and outside, towards and away, will have smelt, sound and looked interesting to the instinct and inquisitive assessments of birds-of-prey, foxes, marten and wolves.

 

Flocks and new-borns will have thus stimulated interest among predators, who are constantly tuning into signals of potential food: eyes in the day, over the wan and even through the night. An otherwise light sleeping and attentive shepherd may slip off his normal guard whilst trading through his local castro, and he might regret his jovial conversation, evening song-and-dance; and above all, his reliance on the attentiveness of others.

 

The geography of the verraco zone is crossed by deep gorges fed from the waters of regular high sierras, and for all of the long hot 'hells' of summers, central and north western Spain and Portugal do have water. Grasslands are warmed into two real growing seasons of spring and autumn, and local and migrating birds and local mammals enjoy the rich and constantly renewing stocks of dry seed. Many varieties of birds-of-prey look to exploit situations. Vultures scavenge, but can also organise between themselves to make animals run over cliffs and other shock mischiefs. Gosshawks and kites dive, eagles chance firm grips, grand-ducs eat anything from large insects up to the size of a hare, and wolves watch, learn and cooperate. Some scavengers look for the old, the ill or the young or isolated and peck to a point when the lifestyles of scavenger and predator seem to merge.

 

The Neolithic revolution was a mindset that looked at the living world and tried to observe, select and effect change. Docile, fat and milky offspring over the aggressive and lean. Big roots, sweet fruit and independent grains over the bitter and tight. By the Iron age, it is credible to expect that flacons, hawks, eagles and buzzards joined dogs in being trained to collect small animals for man, and in that then very modern world, it is very possible that people didn't register a great distinction between domestication and training.

 

Some villages and areas may have sat-back content to work with the 'Neolithic package' of ready to work domesticated animals and plants, but the system itself of "observation, selection and managed action with a target in mind" will have been a mindset and meme that inspired many into a sense of place and epoch. Here, shepherds and pastoralists were the 'computer scientists' of the late ages of prehistory, and its following protohistory.

 

Finding a way to dissuade birds-of-prey, wolves and foxes from becoming locked by their instincts and inquisitive learning into the growing nodes of society may have been an issue for this Iberian geography. The biomass of Iberian scrub and meadow-grain surely supported more predators than from further to the north, and the many steep deep valleys of the Iberian north, centre and west provided safe zones for packs of wolves away from the most organised hunting party. Getting into the mind of a predator required observation, strategy and a will to change in the wild.

 

Creating an artifice - a false animal - that could trick troublesome examples of predators, so that they could be either killed, captured or even trained to re-think the new conglomerated and urban demographys of Castro, hamlet, chozos and village, here being the push to form and create verracos.

 

Knowing that predators do not like to have been seen by the alert and watchful eyes of their potential prey, so favouring fake animals with eyes that are slight and passive.

 

Knowing that both predators and scavengers are looking out for animals that are alone.

 

Knowing that the predator's instinct and mind is excited by the rounded shape of a carcase filled with blood, flesh and bone.

 

Knowing that the predator investigates a potential prey; calculating and placing strategies in line. Knowing that doubts can be appeased by making the details of life clear, with the satiating stimuli of life's animal 'keys' visible for viscerally compulsive predatorial conceptions (eyes, nostril, sexual organs, anus, tail...).

 

Knowing that predators open carcasses by the anus, the sexual organs and the throat, and making all of these indubitable clear lines, and in so doing, adding to the attraction of the granite artifice.

 

Showing the horns and tusk as proof-of-concept without weaponizing their image with point and exaggeration, resulting in verraco horns are visible but never threatening and often atrophied.

 

A static animal with straight legs is either half-asleep, old or ill - all states that regularly occur in nature - and all at the centre of many a predators dream. Ruminating outlines rather than alert beasts about to spring to run or fight.

 

Verracos seem designed to charm and enthral the instinct of the very predators that could undermine the serenity of man's increasingly expanding and negotiating sedentary.

 

From high in the sky, the bird of prey that has over several months locked onto the landscape of the castro (and in so doing, taken several young animals), dives. The bird picks up speed with the sun behind its wings. To draw extra confidence around the proposed situation, a pile of manure has been positioned behind the back legs. From behind a temporary screen, the keepers of this verraco make the noises of the manufactured motionless animal, and pull strings to make bunches of grass first obscure and then reveal the stone form in much the same way that a fowler has always learned bird calls and employed decoys from far into hominid pasts. The verraco's team may grunt, or they moo with uncanny realism - calm, serious and unabashed. And as a fishing-rod may come-and-go to tease attention, so it might be the case that a verraco is covered from view until the desaturated landscape of dawn and dusk. Hiding and revealing the verraco would certainly be an art, and contemporary experimental archaeologists that simply place and watch a verraco from afar without a sense of timing and 'theatre', would only be akin to persons watching a magician's dummy hoping to see magic. The diving bird now includes its shadow and swoops to kill. The keepers of the verraco either witness the bird as it is instantly killed by hitting the hard stone, or, they add spear or knife to the dazed and confused. The problem predator has been neutralised and prized feathers, bones and claws are traded to the additional profit of the veracco's guardians.

 

We may suggest that the large Yaca de Yeltes castro asked that the 'best' team come once a year, and the well 'paid' verraco team have gone as far as installing a field of raised stones to, amongst other advantage, stop inquisitive landed vultures from running a gawk take-off.

 

On other occasions, the bird-of-prey swoops to catch an offering of meat, and here, with the help that the focus of a verraco provided, this bird is locked into a repeatable narrative, taking the cuts from indents made in the verraco's back. The action of feeding the bird-of-prey will ultimately lead to falconry or hawking - man and animal trained to work and hunt together. Trained birds-of-prey another source of income for the keepers of the verraco. On other occasions, clay is moulded flat into the pits, and a strip of matching back-hide is pinned into the clay so that from above, the verraco matches reality, and from the oblique shaded sides it silhouettes with close proximity. Both utilities from one addition.

 

Pits in clapper-bridge stones and on carved steps (4:8) had been used aside rivers to focus and attract birds and animals to key spots for generations in the local area, and finding elegant new applications involved simple steps and bridges of creativity in the mind's eye.

 

Even if they could never attack a large animal, foxes would simply be too inquisitive to the hyper-reality of sound, shape and smell, and in-turn fall prey to the managed situation.

 

Some localities arranged for a permanent verraco to guard their dynamic community, and this sense of guarding became part of their symbolic importance, with some veraccos just guarding as emblems of mind over wild. Some of these would be smaller and less refined, but still visibly verracos (6:8).

 

Verracos of bears could be made to attracted naturally short sighted real bears, and the smell of acorns coupled with the sight and sound of an apparent hog could be made to attracted wild boars - unconstrained creative applications, and all for watching local eyes and their vivid stories, as many verracos would move from place to place.

 

We might imagine that the Yacca de Yeltes verraco stayed on

with the aim of teaching a returning pack of wolves a lesson (wolves can have vast territories and wander the crests and vales as winter pinched the Sierras, Picos and Pyrenees). The associated field of 'standing stones' here stopping the wolves from collecting a definitive line of sight.

 

Over the period, the specific verraco team had been fed by the population of the castro. They have been offered shelter, and have collected fur and other items for trade. They also handed over a trained eagle in exchange for metal goods and assured contacts. They had been merry, helping with odd jobs of heavy lifting, as these keepers of the verraco are people who have phase-changed from a megalithic heritage and they are strong and liked to be known as strong. During their stay, conversations led to a demand from a new village 5 kilometres away. The village had been having a problem with vultures and a fox. The villagers also believe that a veracco brought luck to their settlement, symbolic security and even social status and credibility. Verracos were seen as more 'intelligent' than the foils of nature.

 

The village was accessed by a cart track and the verraco team strapped timbers to its side, and with a heave, they lift and sing off to their next 'job'. The verracos pedestal kept the centre of gravity low, and made it easier to transport the weight on and off the cart, and then into the rocky terrain aside the gully behind the village that was funnelling problems. The sedentary life is good, but it is not for everyone. And every time the team puff the verraco back onto the ground, some of its granites crumbles away. On more occasions than they would like to mention, as they walk it towards its new scene of theatre, someone stumbles, and the animal falls onto its face. And as they try to position the verraco between stone outcrops to create natural nuance to its outlines, they trip again, stumble, bash, and jam the forward facing verraco ... and onto pedestal ... then onto legs: again and again. Chips and 'crumbs' falling as granite-sand to never be recognised or counted.

 

The team had seen time worn and travelled verracos covered with pelts of stitched realism to the detriment of clean lines and silhouettes and apparent details, and on the day they finally stopped to either make or trade for a brand new example, they exchanged their now battered companion to a 'lesser' team, or for use in a competition of strength during a summer festival.

 

Predators were suspicious of lone sheep and goats, and local people liked to see powerful and vivid animals.

 

Verracos offered leverage over issues related to the living landscape. Maybe they were paraded once a year and once again fell from the shoulders of young teams with minds stronger than muscles. Maybe some eventually guarded over graves, here still thought to be capable of attracting and dominating the surprise elements of the wild world in controlled and intelligent ways. Confronting powerful 'elements' is seen elsewhere in Iberian culture. Drawing-in spirits of mischief and ill fortune being one of the elements principle of the 'akelarre'. Drawing in the danger of the most powerful bull, being one of the principles of 'La tauromachie'.

 

And if the main function of the verraco can be summarised as to attract unreasonable wild agitators into situations of weakness, then when the Romans landed on the eastern side of the Iberian peninsula, and when topics of conversation changed and adjusted for this new breed of predator, it is very possible, and indeed perhaps typically human and wry, that a verraco was made of a Roman soldier on all-fours with his detailed behind in the air. In this scenario, the verraco of 'San Felices de Los Galegos' (pictured below) may just have carried Roman costume plundered from battle to the south or east. And as the verracos were positioned aside new urban plots, by natural crags, small creeks and slight gullies, Romans didn't see them as examples of power and social hierarchy, and left them untouched as pastoral inconsequence, to their minds, naturally belittled aside the new Roman columns.

 

I shall call this hypothesis the 'managing the wild' theory of verracos. Readers should contrast this hypothesis with others.

 

My last post in this series (8:8) will look at a potential deep root to the principle of drawing-in troublesome elements rather than running after.

 

AJM 18.11.21

A lot has been happening to me recently I've been on a bit of a weird trip as enhanced belief in what I am has inspired me to push ahead and try to become a bit more like the porn star I want to be albeit softish and user-friendly lol. But whilst that has made me feel sexy and exciting stimulating me lifting me higher I've had these annoying aches and pains too slowing me down especially in one leg since that third Covid Booster Jab and on top of that I've been saddled with a horrible chesty cold over Christmas which is as miserable as the weather. So not too horrible but my life has been a bit of a fog but thankfully I think I am slowly getting better with my cold and hopefully I will be able to sleep properly again too. I'm not aware of having had Covid yet but I have at least some of the symptoms of Long Covid yet I can still taste my food, but best be glad to be still here and not think about it too much. But the silly thing is I feel there are people on Flickr who depend on me and their day will be ruined if I do not do not put my posts on here and do them properly. Of course there might be one or two of you who really follow Jojo but I'm probably imagining I really do have a many fans just friends. Whether it is true or not I want to press ahead with my plans for the new year and think I need to get out on my bike exercise those legs and get fit again, yes guys I want to be bikini fit so watch this space!

Copper was discovered at Kuridala in 1884 and the Hampden Mine commenced during the 1890s. A Melbourne syndicate took over operations in 1897 and with increasing development of the mine in 1905 - 1906 the Hampden Cloncurry Limited company was formed. The township was surveyed as Hampden in 1910 (later called Friezland, and finally Kuridala in 1916). The Hampden Smelter operated from 1911 to 1920 with World War I being a particularly prosperous time for the company. After the war, the operations and the township declined and the Hampden Cloncurry Limited company ceased to exist in 1928. Tribute mining and further exploration and testing of the ore body has continued from 1932 through to the present day.

 

The Kuridala Township and Hampden Smelter are located approximately 65km south of Cloncurry and 345m above sea level, on an open plain against a background of rugged but picturesque hills.

 

The Cloncurry copper fields were discovered by Ernest Henry in 1867 but lack of capital and transport combined with low base metal prices precluded any major development. However, rising prices, new discoveries in the region and the promise of a railway combined with an inflow of British capital stimulated development. Additionally, Melbourne based promoters eager to develop another base metal bonanza like Broken Hill led to a resurgence of interest, especially in the Hampden mines.

 

The copper deposits at Kuridala (initially named Hampden) were discovered by William McPhail and Robert Johnson on their pastoral lease, Eureka, in January 1884. The Hampden mine was held by Fred Gibson in the 1890s and acquired in 1897 by a Melbourne syndicate comprising the 'Broken Hillionaires' - William Orr, William Knox, and Herman Schlapp. They floated the Hampden Copper Mines N. L. with a capital of £100,000 in £100 shares of which 200 were fully paid up. With this capital, they commenced a prospecting and stockpiling program sending specimens to Dapto and Wallaroo for testing. Government Geologist, W.E. Cameron's report on the district in 1900 discouraged investors as he reported that few of the lodes, other than the Hampden Company's main lode at Kuridala, were worth working.

 

A world price rise in copper in 1905, combined with a government decision in 1906 to extend the Townsville railway from Richmond to Cloncurry, stimulated further development. The Hampden Cloncurry Copper Mines Limited was registered in Victoria in March 1906 to acquire the old company's mines. However, the company only had a working capital of £35,000 after distributing vendor's shares and buying the Duchess mines. During this period there were over 20 companies investing similarly on the Cloncurry field.

 

The township was surveyed by the Mines Department around 1910 and was first known as Hampden after the mines discovered in the 1880s. By 1912 it was called Friezland, however was officially renamed Kuridala in October 1916 to minimise confusion with another settlement in Queensland. The reason for this change was considered to be linked to German names being unpopular at the outbreak of World War I.

 

Hampden Cloncurry Copper Mines Limited and its competitor, Mount Elliott, formed a special company in 1908 to finance and construct the railway extension from Cloncurry through Malbon, to Kuridala, and Mount Elliott. The company reconstructed in July 1909 by increasing its capitalisation, and concluding arrangements for a debenture issue to be secured against its proposed smelters. Its smelters were not fired until March 1911 and over the next three years 85,266 tons of ore were treated with an initial dividend of £140,000 being declared in 1913. In one month in 1915 the Hampden Smelter produced 813 tons of copper, an Australian record at that time.

 

Concern over the dwindling reserves of high grade ore led to William Corbould, the general manager of Mount Elliott mines, negotiating an amalgamation with Hampden Cloncurry to halt the fierce rivalry. But the latter was uninterested having consolidated its prospects in 1911 by acquiring many promising mines in the region, and enlarging its smelters and erecting new converters. In 1913, following a fire in the Hampden Consol's mine, Corbould convinced his London directors to reopen negotiations for a joint venture in the northern section of the field which still awaited a railway. Although Corbould and Huntley, the Hampden Cloncurry general manager, inspected many properties, the proposal lapsed.

 

The railway reached the township by 1910. A sanitary system was installed in 1911, after a four month typhoid epidemic, and a hospital erected by 1913, run by Dr. Old. It was described as the best and most modern hospital in the northwest. At its height, the town supported six hotels, five stores, four billiard saloons, three dance halls, and a cinema, two ice works, and one aerated waters factory, and Chinese gardens along the creek. There were also drapers, fruiterer, butcher, baker, timber merchant, garage, four churches, police station, court house, post office, banks, and a school with up to 280 pupils. A cyclone in December 1918 damaged the town and wrecked part of the powerhouse and smelter.

 

A comprehensive description of the plant and operations of the Kuridala Hampden mines and smelters was given by the Cloncurry mining warden in the Queensland Government Mining Journal of the 14th of September 1912. Ore from other company-owned mines (Duchess, Happy Salmon, MacGregor, and Trekelano) was railed in via a 1.2km branch line to the reduction plant bins, while the heavy pyrites ore from the Hampden mines was separated at the main shaft into coarse and fine products and conveyed to separate 1,500 ton capacity bins over a standard gauge railway to the plant.

 

A central power plant was installed with three separate Dowson pressure gas plants powered by three tandem type Kynoch gas engines of 320hp and two duplex type Hornsby gas engines of 200hp. Two Swedish General Electric Company generators of 1,250kw and 56kw running at 460 volts, supplied electricity to the machines in the works, fitting shops and mine pumps. Electric light for the mine and works was supplied by a British Thompson-Houston generator of 42kw, running at 420 volts. The fuel used in the gas producers was bituminous coal, coke or charcoal, made locally in the retorts.

 

The reduction plant consisted of two water-jacket furnaces, 2.1m by 1m and 4.2m by 1m, with dust chambers and a 52m high steel stack. There were two electrically driven converter vessels, each 3.2m by 2.3m. The molten product ran into a 3.7m diameter forehearth, while the slag was drawn off into double ton slag pots, run to the dump over 3 foot gauge, 42lb steel rail tracks. The copper was delivered from the forehearth to the converters. A 1.06m gauge track ran under the converters and carried the copper mould cars to the cleaning and shipping shed, at the end of which was the siding for railing out the cakes of blister copper.

 

The war conferred four years of prosperity on the Cloncurry district despite marketing, transport, and labour difficulties. The Hampden Cloncurry Company declared liberal dividends during 1915 - 1918: £40,000, £140,000, £52,500 and £35,000 making a total disbursement since commencing operations of £437,500. Its smelters treated over a quarter of a million tons of ore in this period, averaging over 70,000 tons annually. The company built light railways to its mines (e.g. Wee MacGregor and Trekelano) to ensure regular ore supplies and to reduce transport costs. In order to improve its ore treatment, Hampden Cloncurry installed a concentration plant in 1917. In 1918 an Edwards furnace was erected to pre-roast fine sulphide concentrates from the mill before smelting.

 

The dropping of the copper price control by the British government in 1918 forced the company into difficulties. Smelting was postponed until September 1919 and the company lost heavily during the next season and had to rely on ores from the Trekelano mine. Its smelter treated 69,598 tons of ore in 1920, but the company was forced to halt all operations after the Commonwealth Bank withdrew funds on copper awaiting export.

 

Companies and mines turned to the Theodore Labor Government for assistance but they were unsympathetic to the companies, even though they alone had the capacity to revive the Cloncurry field. More negotiations for amalgamation occurred in 1925 but failed, and in 1926 Hampden Cloncurry offered its assets for sale by tender and Mount Elliott acquired them all except for the Trekelano mine. The company was de-listed in 1928.

 

The rise and decline of the township reflected the company's fortunes. In 1913 there were 1,500 people increasing to 2,000 by 1920, but by 1924 this had declined to 800. With the rise of Mount Isa, Kaiser's bakehouse, the hospital, courthouse, one ice works, and a picture theatre, moved there in 1923 followed by Boyds' Hampden Hotel (renamed the Argent) in 1924. Other buildings including the police residence and Clerk of Petty Sessions house were moved to Cloncurry.

 

In its nine years of smelting Hampden Cloncurry had been one of Australia's largest mining companies producing 50,800 tons of copper (compared with Mount Elliott's 27,000), 21,000 ounces of gold and 381,000 ounces of silver. A more permanent achievement was its part in creating the metal fabricating company, Metal Manufacturers Limited, of which it was one of the four founders in 1916. Much of the money which built their Port Kembla works into one of the country's largest manufacturers came from the now derelict smelters in north-west Queensland.

 

In 1942 Mount Isa Mines bought the Kuridala Smelters for £800 and used parts to construct a copper furnace which commenced operating in April 1943 in response to wartime demands. The Tunny family continued to live at Kuridala as tributers on the Hampden and Consol mines from 1932 until 1969 and worked the mines down to 15.25m. A post office operated until 1975 and the last inhabitant, Lizzy Belch, moved into Cloncurry about 1982.

 

Further exploration and testing of the Kuridala ore body has occurred from 1948 up until the present with activities being undertaking by Mount Isa Mines, Broken Hill South, Enterprise Exploration, Marshall and James Boyd, Australian Selection, Kennecott Exploration, Carpentaria Exploration, Metana Minerals, A.M. Metcalfe, Dampier Mining Co Ltd, Newmont Pty Ltd, Australian Anglo American, Era South Pacific Pty Ltd, CRA Exploration Pty Ltd, BHP Minerals Ltd, Metana Minerals and Matrix Metals Ltd.

 

Source: Queensland Heritage Register.

High potential? Parents want to know

Psychological examinations are increasingly common to identify gifted children. It’s a trend that hides a complex reality, as gifted children can also be prone to failure.

  

Enéa gets good marks. But she disturbs the class, talks a lot and complains often. This situation surprises her mother, Stéphanie Laurent. At home, this seven-year old schoolgirl from Lausanne is quiet, responsible and not the type to bother others. What’s wrong? School. Enéa is bored. A teacher friend advised Stéphanie Laurent to enter her daughter for tests to determine whether she was “high potential”. And the result came back positive.

 

High potential (HP) children are referred to as gifted or precocious. They are sometimes compared with child prodigies, which is one reason for the increase in requests for psychological examinations. “Interest in these tests is growing,” states Pierre Fumeaux, a child psychiatrist at Lausanne University Hospital who is currently conducting a study on the subject. “A few years ago when parents or teachers had to deal with a difficult student, they would ask the doctor if the child was hyperactive. Now the term ‘high potential’ has taken centre stage in the media.” Contrary to popular belief, gifted is not always synonymous with success. High potential children can also be prone to failure.

 

A different brain

 

To be diagnosed as “HP”, an individual has to obtain a score of at least 130 on IQ tests. “But the score isn’t enough,” explains Claudia Jankech, a psychotherapist in Lausanne specialised in child and teenager psychology. “We also need to understand their family and social context and their personality.”

 

Surprisingly, a high number of HP children have trouble in school. “When it’s too easy for them, they get used to being on autopilot,” says the psychologist. “They’ve never learnt how to learn.” These difficulties are partly due to what specialists call arborescent thinking. “Normal people develop logical reasoning through linear, sequential thinking. However, the thought process in HP children is like fireworks exploding with ideas and impressive intuition. They can solve complex equations but will have difficulty explaining how they came up with the answer,” explains Pierre Fumeaux.

 

Surprisingly, a high number of HP children have trouble in school. “When it’s too easy for them, they get used to being on autopilot,” says the psychologist. “They’ve never learnt how to learn.”

 

Studies suggest that HP children’s brains function differently. Information moves better between the two cerebral hemispheres. “We assume that they use both their left and right brains easily and have excellent abilities in both logic and creativity,” says the child psychiatrist. “Other work has shown that HP children can more easily juggle with concepts and think in the abstract, such as performing mental calculations. “In a functional MRI, a dye is injected to highlight the areas of the brain with the highest blood flow.

 

Using a scanner, we can then see which areas are activated,” Pierre Fumeaux explains. “A stimulus or given task will activate certain areas of the brain in normal individuals. In HP children, sometimes several larger areas are activated at the same time,” he adds. These indicators help doctors understand how an HP mind works. “But our knowledge in neuroscience remains limited,” the researcher admits. “Being high potential is not an illness, but a special cognitive ability. And that’s not a priority for researchers.”

 

INTERVIEW: “The methods of diagnosis are debatable”

 

In a survey conducted on gifted children, the French sociologist Wilfried Lignier noted that specialists do not agree about the tests designed to diagnose giftedness.

 

In Vivo You observe that most gifted children don’t have difficulty in school or psychological problems. Why then do parents have them take tests?

Wilfried Lignier These parents are very concerned that their children will face difficulties, whereas they actually have every chance of success. They think that the school’s assessment is not enough. Psychology offers greater legitimacy for their concerns.

  

IV You approach giftedness as a “debated and debatable” issue. Why?

WL Many psychologists don’t recognise giftedness mainly because they doubt the credibility of IQ tests. These tests are meant to assess something other than academic skills, but in form they are quite similar to the exercises performed in school. Furthermore, children also have this impression. After the test is over, some say that they did well in the “maths” section, referring to the logical reasoning, or the “language” section, referring to the vocabulary. Being so similar to exercises done in school, these tests contradict the idea that intelligence isn’t the same as academic performance. Yet most of the social repercussions expected from test results are based on the idea that they tell a truth that school does not.

 

IV You show that the diagnosis swings in favour of one gender. How do you explain that high potential is more often diagnosed in boys?

WL Parents tend to express greater concern about their future, as it more readily carries their hopes of upward social mobility. The fact that boys have greater chances of having “symptoms”, such as openly expressing their boredom or not being able to stay still, also plays a role.

 

Hyper-sensitivity

 

HP children also typically have emotional characteristics featuring high sensitivity or a high level of empathy. Stéphanie Laurent’s two other children, boys, have also been diagnosed as high potential. “Nathael, age six, cries at Christmas because poor people are cold and have nothing to eat.” His hyper-sensitivity distresses him. “It can take on huge proportions. At one point, Mathys, age eight, felt unreasonable fear because he knew that there was a core on fire at the centre of the earth.” Myriam Bickle Graz, a developmental paediatrician at Lausanne University Hospital who wrote a thesis on the subject, says, “The children seen at consultations were often overwhelmed by their emotions. For some, it was incredibly difficult; they have no filter,” she explains. “The fear of death, for example, comes very early.” They develop symptoms such as anxiety, sleep disorders, strained relationships with other children and aggression.

 

THE HAPPIEST HP CHILDREN ARE THOSE WHO ARE NOT IDENTIFIED AS SUCH AND MANAGE TO ADAPT.

As in the Laurent family, there are often several gifted siblings. “Not all siblings are necessarily going to be HP, but there is a certain degree of genetic heritage. However, that hasn’t been proven scientifically,” explains Myriam Bickle Graz. “It remains a clinical observation.”

 

Although some high potential children suffer, the majority of them lead normal lives. As summed up by Pierre Fumeaux, “the happiest HP children are those who are not identified as such and manage to adapt.”

 

Arborescent thinking deploying in several directions, simultaneously, extremely fast and without boundaries. While it is a important source of creativity, it also implies: Difficulties to identify relevant information; all these thoughts in all directions may be confusing when the child is faced with a question, a problem or a task at school, An absolute need to organise these thoughts within a sturdy frame so that the child feels affectively, emotionally and socially secure. A “global” information processing system, with analogic and intuitive thinking. While it enables a very rich and deep understanding, with photographic memory, it also implies: Serious difficulties to adapt to the traditional schooling systems which treat information in details and sequentially (one thing after the other), An inability to develop arguments or justify their reasoning. Gifted children usually can’t explain their results, they consider the answers obvious, they know intuitively. The necessity to use in parallel the traditional school learning methods and their own knowledge aquisition systems; they do not want to feel useless, rejected or stupid. A thinking mode that needs meaning to function and complexity to develop and bloom. While it is an endless source of information data stored in an exceptional memory, it also implies: Difficulties or even refusal to acquire skills or information which they consider useless, too simple or not exciting enough to justify their attention and efforts, Constant challenges of established rules and norms, to satisfy their needs for meaning, To “learn how to learn” while taming their impatience through inventive and stimulating methodologies, with deep enrichment on all subjects. A way of thinking constantly integrating affective aspects of its environment. While it is a rich incentive to learning, it also implies: Frustration, even rejection of some teachers whom they see as incompetent in their teaching methods or behaviours, Excessive, even pathological reactions if these children, who try to master their environment and their variations, cannot find reassurance. They are scared by what they do not understand and they know, from a very young age, many things that they cannot put in perspective due to their short life experience. A need for constant reassurance on their learning progress, with a learning methodology adapted to their needs and offering a long-term continuity and homogeneity, thus reducing affective disruptions as much as possible.

 

anhugar.wifeo.com/arborescent-way-of-thinking.php A difficulty encountered by many gifed children is the fact that they think in an arborescent way instead of a linear one. The usual teaching methods are linear - when forced to learn in that mode, gifted children need to make a lot of efforts to voluntarily slow-down their “processing” thinking pace.

 

Arborescent thinking is very adequate for gifted people; it allows them to use all their mental capacities and their knowledge simultaneously. However, it needs to be guided and framed otherwise their thinking takes them far away from the subject of that day.

 

Here is an example from Jeanne Siaud-Fachin: The teacher gives a spelling test. He dictates “the boat sails on the sea”. The gifted child will initially visualize an image of a boat on the sea before seeing the sentence made of 6 words. Following the image, her thoughts will go in all directions: well, it is not a good idea to sail today because there is a lot of wind are there any people on that boat? my friend Frank owns a boat, he’s lucky but his parents are divorced, that is not fun I hope my parents will never get divorced yet, Frank has twice as many presents for Christmas now that he has 2 homes which reminds me, I have not yet prepared a wish-list for Christmas etc. While the other children have finished writing the initial sentance, the gifted child does not remember it at all and if she’s pressed, she may write the last sentence that went through her head “ I have not yet prepared a wish-list for Christmas ”.

 

Also

 

www.talentdifferent.com/la-pensee-en-arborescence-901.htm...

 

www.asep-suisse.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_docman&am... (pdf) How to help such children overcome their ‘handicap’

 

From the main link in the title (translated from the French by Google Chrome, I think): Surprisingly, a high number of high potential children have trouble in school. “When it’s too easy for them, they get used to being on autopilot,” says the psychologist. “They’ve never learnt how to learn.” These difficulties are partly due to what specialists call arborescent thinking. “Normal people develop logical reasoning through linear, sequential thinking. However, the thought process in HP children is like fireworks exploding with ideas and impressive intuition. They can solve complex equations but will have difficulty explaining how they came up with the answer,” explains Pierre Fumeaux.

 

Surprisingly, a high number of HP children have trouble in school. “When it’s too easy for them, they get used to being on autopilot,” says the psychologist. “They’ve never learnt how to learn.”

 

Studies suggest that HP children’s brains function differently. Information moves better between the two cerebral hemispheres. “We assume that they use both their left and right brains easily and have excellent abilities in both logic and creativity,” says the child psychiatrist. “Other work has shown that HP children can more easily juggle with concepts and think in the abstract, such as performing mental calculations. “In a functional MRI, a dye is injected to highlight the areas of the brain with the highest blood flow.

Shinjuku, Tokyo, is a dynamic district that perfectly encapsulates the essence of modern Japan. This image showcases the vibrant energy of Shinjuku, a place where tradition meets innovation. The towering buildings, adorned with a plethora of colorful advertisements and neon lights, create a visually stimulating environment that is both captivating and overwhelming. The architecture in Shinjuku is a testament to Japan's rapid modernization, with sleek skyscrapers standing alongside older, more traditional structures. This juxtaposition highlights the district's historical significance and its role as a hub of contemporary culture.

 

Shinjuku is not just a commercial center; it is also steeped in history. The area has been a significant part of Tokyo since the Edo period, serving as a post town on the Koshu Kaido, one of the five routes of the Edo period. Today, Shinjuku Station is one of the busiest railway stations in the world, a testament to the district's enduring importance. The streets are lined with a variety of shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues, offering something for everyone. From high-end department stores to quirky boutiques, Shinjuku is a shopper's paradise. Food enthusiasts can indulge in a wide range of culinary delights, from traditional Japanese cuisine to international fare. The district is also home to numerous entertainment options, including theaters, karaoke bars, and nightclubs.

 

Shinjuku's unique blend of history, culture, and modernity makes it a must-visit destination for anyone exploring Tokyo. Whether you're interested in shopping, dining, or simply soaking in the urban atmosphere, Shinjuku offers an unparalleled experience that captures the essence of modern Japan.

London Transport celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1983. To mark the occasion, numerous LT garages chose favourite Routemasters in their allocations to receive special liveries. Two of them were captured together in this Hyde Park Corner scene. Riverside (R) painted its RM1091 (91CLT) with a gold cantrail band plus Jubilee decals while RM17 (VLT17) behind was given a retro-1933 livery by Willesden Garage (AC).

 

London Transport welcomed its jubilee year as an opportunity to restore an image that had been much tarnished during its latter years. Some of the problems had been of its own making, notably buying large rafts of vehicles that were destined for the scrap dealer after brief service lives, but the organisation had become a political football after overall control had been vested with the Greater London Council. Edgy labour relations were a further thorn in the provision of a public service.

 

The previous two years had brought further upheaval via the GLC’s Fares Fare policy of cheap but subsidised fares that the Courts had ruled illegal. Fares Fare had proved popular with the travelling public, stimulating ridership, but passenger numbers tumbled overnight once fares were raised to commercially viable levels. Large-scale withdrawals of Routemaster buses ensued, a process that continued with the abolition of the GLC in 1986 and legislation that required LT to put routes out to competitive tender.

 

London Transport was itself abolished in the aftermath of these mid-1980s upheavals, to be replaced by London Regional Transport, an essentially supervisory body that had no responsibility for daily operations. Riverside Garage was closed during this period, and the cherished RM1091 and RM17 departed the capital transport scene, the former going for scrap in 2/87, the latter for a second career with Clydeside Scottish in late 1985. RM17 however does survive in preservation today.

 

July 1983

Yashica FR1 camera

Kodak Ektachrome 100 film.

Sadly not that sharp... But it´s ok, isn´t it? What do you think?

 

Greetings, Marcus

 

Model:

Kiki Vermillion

 

Apparel:

Nixon

H&M

ZARA

  

Canon EOS 5D MK III

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 ART

 

TV 1/1600

AV 1.4

ISO 100

 

Post - Production with Photoshop

  

In this photograph of the passenger paddle steamer Glencoe, a crewman can be seen at the ship's wheel. The vessel was built in 1846 by Tod & MacGregor, Glasgow for Sir James Matheson of Stornoway. Before the steamer was called Glencoe it was named after the Mary Jane, Matheson’s wife. The vessel served a record-breaking 85 years on the Clyde and West Highland service.

see www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?official_number=&imo=&a...

2019-038(064)

-------------------------------------------------------------

About Us

Scotland's influence on the maritime history of the world from the eighteenth century to the modern day has been enormous and out of all proportion to the size of the country. Sites operated by the Scottish Maritime Museum contain exhibitions and collections that tell the story of that great maritime tradition. At both Irvine and Dumbarton the buildings themselves are important parts of that story. The sites are complemented by a collection of vessels that represent 150 years of the working boats of Scotland.

 

If your interests are in the detailed aspects of the building of ships or the way in which ordinary people interacted with the sea, then the Scottish Maritime Museum should be your first port of call. If you want to undertake detailed research or just an enjoyable and stimulating day out, the Scottish Maritime Museum can provide it.

Please see our website for further details : www.scottishmaritimemuseum.org/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We hope that you enjoy looking at these photographs. We would really like your input to help us develop the collection even more. If you know anything about the people, places or events in these photographs then please leave a comment.

It is believed that images from the SMM 's collection shown here on Flickr have the permission of the author or owner. We do not assume that we can give unilateral permission for use elsewhere so all images are marked as "All Right Reserved". Please advise us of any images which might be of questionable ownership and appropriate action will be taken.

Should you wish to use an image for any reason, for a quick response please register for a free account with Flickr and contact us direct through FlickrMail (www.flickr.com/mail).

 

Scroll down!

 

Montblanc Elizabeth I Patron of Arts 2010 fountain pen.

1/4 You Tube vid: youtu.be/DWN22eyQ64A

 

Montblanc Elizabeth I writing instrument seriously tempted my pocket book but MAC preferred another holiday trip to a warm climate.

 

Limited Edition 4810 and Limited Edition 888

 

Montblanc's Patron of Art Edition has annually honoured a legendary benefactor of the arts and culture since this special writing instrument line was originally conceived in 1992. This year’s edition is dedicated to an all time great cultural force - Elizabeth I. Regarded the most successful monarch to ever ascend an English throne, under Elizabeth's astute and skillful rule, England "came of age" and, witnessing groundbreaking achievements, was transformed from a "remote backwater" to a globally dominant imperial power. Great battles were won. The New World - or the "Americas" - was discovered and the English Renaissance reached its zenith because of Elizabeth's artistic patronage.

 

Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I - Limited Edition 888

 

Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I - Limited Edition 4810

 

The "best educated woman of her generation..." Elizabeth was "passionately" interested in the arts and her "luminous" court stimulated some of the greatest artistic achievements of all time. William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe flourished during her reign as did the poet Edmund Spenser, the painter Nicholas Hillyard and the English composers William Byrd, John Dowland and Thomas Tallis.

 

Elizabeth I was also a gifted writer and the 2010 Montblanc Patron of Art Edition is therefore composed of two writing instruments conceived with sumptuously striking and clever adornments celebrating her intellect and inimitable regal flair. Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I, limited to 4810 pieces and limited to 888 pieces, will debut in April 2010 and May 2010, respectively. And, as their presentation has always been associated with the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award - which annually celebrates contemporary arts and cultural patrons - the Patron of Art Edition continues a story linking a historical figure with future talent.

 

Elizabeth I - A Legend in her Own Lifetime

 

Centuries after her death, Elizabeth I (1533 - 1603), is still considered as one of England's "most popular and influential rulers". She was born at Greenwich Palace on 7 September 1533 to Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, although her arrival was greeted with "surprise and displeasure", by the Court. The "failure" to produce a son for King Henry jeopardized Queen Anne’s life due to her husband's obsession with conceiving a male heir. Charged with adultery, she was beheaded in May 1536.

 

A retinue of governesses raised the young princess Elizabeth and though she was shunned by her father, Catherine Parr, the "remarkable" sixth and last wife of Henry VIII, oversaw the education which groomed the future queen for greatness and the Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I will celebrate their special bond. Under the Cambridge scholar Roger Ascham, Elizabeth studied the classics, read history and theology and became fluent in six languages - Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish and German. Her love of music and, skill as a musician, developed from the 60 instrumentalists who resided at Hatfield House, her childhood residence. From age 11, she composed prayers and poems and, when jailed for suspected treason against Mary I, her cousin in 1554, she etched onto a glass prison window a two-line verse with a diamond.

 

Upon ascending the throne on 15 January 1559, Elizabeth's writing focussed on government matters. She wrote powerful speeches, such as that which she delivered at Tilbury in Essex where English troops had gathered to prepare for Spanish invasion in 1588. Brandishing a silver breastplate over a flowing white velvet gown she arrived on horseback demonstrating the "courage and leadership the English expected" of a monarch - but had never been displayed by a female - and declared to the troops: “I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman but I have the heart and stomach of a king and of a King of England, too".

 

Nine days later, the defeat of the Spanish Armada proved England's "finest hour". Elizabeth's popularity reached a level no "English woman had enjoyed as a public figure" and she attained supreme power comparable to a "biblical and mythological figure". Her grand mode of dress overawed her subjects while the flourishing of her Renaissance court stimulated new literary, artistic and musical achievements. "Theatres thrived", and, as Shakespeare elevated the English language to its highest level of development, England’s literacy rate soared. Elizabeth attended the debut of Shakespeare's romantic comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. Numerous works were dedicated to her including poet Edmund Spenser's masterpiece The Fairie Queen. Composers William Byrd, John Dowland and Thomas Tallis also toiled at her court.

 

The discoveries of adventurers Sir Francis Drake, who circumnavigated the world in 1580, Walter Raleigh's exploration of eastern Venezuela in 1594 and Humphrey Gilbert’s conquering of Newfoundland for the English throne in 1583, spearheaded a new age expansion by the end of Elizabeth's reign. Upon her passing on 24 March 1604, the pioneering monarch, it is said, "departed this life mildly like a lamb, easily like a ripe apple from the tree".

 

The Limited Edition Celebrating the Elizabethan Age

 

Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I 4810

 

The design and adornments of the Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I 4810 reflects the life, reign and heraldic regalia of Elizabeth I. Hand engraved on the 18 K gold nib is a bejewelled gold crown which she brandished ascending the throne in 1559. Lacquer barrel and cap signify the spots which appear on an ermine cape, part of the traditional coronation attire which Elizabeth also flaunted. While an ivory coloured Montblanc emblem tops the cap, the clip descends from gold plated Tudor Rose. This "double rose" motif became England’s floral emblem after Henry VII, Elizabeth's grandfather, commandeered it as the symbol of the Tudor Dynasty upon taking the crown from Richard IIII in 1485. The green cabochon embellishing the gold-plated cross upon the clip also reflects the bejewelled cross upon Elizabeth's crown.

 

Encircling the gold plate band adorning the cap - as well as the cone - is an elegant interlaced pattern inspired by the pretty needlework sleeve Elizabeth conceived for a prayer book she created especially for her stepmother, Catherine Parr, as a New Year's gift in 1544. Entitled The Mirror of the Sinful Soul, it was Lady Elizabeth's own English translation of the French verse originally composed by Queen Margaret of Navarre. A friend of Anne Boleyn, the French Queen gave the original manuscript to her and the religious poem was also a favourite of Catherine Parr’s. Today, Elizabeth I’s handmade book is owned by the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library. Etched by gold plated cap ring is "Video et Taceo" - or "I see and I keep silent". This maxim of Elizabeth I signified her moderate political views and cautious approach to foreign affairs.

 

Patron of Art Edition Elizabeth I Limited Edition 888

 

This 750 solid gold fountain pen features a barrel and cap in precious lacquer. Hand engraved on its 18 K gold nib is a bejewelled gold crown in which Elizabeth I ascended the throne in 1559. Topping the cap is the Montblanc emblem rendered in shimmering mother-of-pearl. The clip descends from a solid gold Tudor Rose while its embellishment - a princess cut green garnet - reflects the bejewelled crown. The intricate interlaced motif, derived from the needlework cover of The Mirror of the Sinful Soul, beautifies the solid gold cap and barrel. Elizabeth I's "Video et Taceo" maxim is embossed upon the cap ring.

 

Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award

 

Celebrating Past and Present

 

The Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award is presented in 11 countries and represents an exemplary bond forged between past and present and, since its inception in 1992, this merit has been directly linked with the Patron of the Art Edition. The prize, therefore, combines a tribute to an historic patron of the arts while acknowledging a contemporary one. By recognizing the importance of private patronage, the award conveys to the public its crucial role in fostering the arts and culture.

 

Each recipient of the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award is chosen by an international jury of artists and receives financial support of € 15.000 in each country for a cultural project of their own choice. Montblanc also presents the honoree and the jury members with the precious Patron of Art Edition. Sought after by collectors around the world, Montblanc's Patron of Art Edition are writing instruments that will last a lifetime. And like every Montblanc writing instrument, these exceptionally handcrafted fountain pens have been created with the highest demand of craftsmanship that has made Montblanc the benchmark for writing culture.

 

Prized by connoisseurs and avid collectors, the Montblanc Patron of the Art Edition is a commemorative keepsake meant to be passed down through generations. Manufacturing tools, specially developed for the making of every Montblanc Limited Edition, are destroyed at the end of each production run. As a consequence, these intricately handcrafted pens are collector’s items. Limited Editions produced between 1992 and 2000, for example, have sold at auction for sums greatly exceeding their original retail price, ranging from (US) $ 2,200 to (US) $35,000. And nine years after its 1992 debut, Montblanc Patron of the Art Lorenzo de Medici sold at Christie’s in New York for more than six times its initial cost of (US) $1,292.00, ultimately fetching (US) $8,225.00.

 

Mei Boa-Jiu, China:

 

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mei_Baojiu

 

www.flickr.com/photos/gregsu/14914200150/in/photolist-uiq...

 

Mei Baojiu (Chinese: 梅葆玖; pinyin: Méi Bǎojiǔ) (29 March 1934 – 25 April 2016)[1] was a contemporary Peking opera artist, also a performer of the Dan role type in Peking Opera and Kunqu opera, the leader of Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe in Beijing Peking Opera Theatre. Mei's father Mei Lanfang was one of the most famous Peking opera performers. Mei Baojiu was the ninth and youngest child of Mei Lanfang. For this reason, he was called Baojiu, since in Chinese, jiu means nine.[2] Mei Baojiu was the master of the second generation of Méi School descendant, he was also Mei Lanfang's only child who is now a performer of the Dan role of the Peking Opera.[3]

 

Mei Baojiu: 梅葆玖

Born: 29 March 1934. Shanghai, China

Died: 25 April 2016 (aged 82) Beijing, China

Occupation: Peking opera artist

Parents: Mei Lanfang (father), Fu Zhifang (mother)

From childhood, Mei had learned Peking Opera from many artists. Mei Baojiu's first opera teacher was Wang Youqing (王幼卿), the nephew of Wang Yaoqing (王瑶卿), who had been the teacher of Mei Lanfang. Tao Yuzhi (陶玉芝) was his teacher of martial arts, while Zhu Chuanming (朱传茗), the famous performer of the Dan role type in Kunqu opera, taught him Kunqu. After that Mei learned the Dan role from Zhu Qinxin (朱琴心). Mei's regular performances of traditional opera include The Hegemon-King Bids His Concubine Farewell, Guifei Intoxicated (貴妃醉酒), Lady General Mu Takes Command (穆桂英挂帅), The story of Yang Guifei (太真外传), Luo Shen (洛神), Xi Shi (西施), etc. Mei has made significant contributions to cultural exchanges and promoting Peking Opera culture. Meanwhile, he also trains more than twenty students, such as Li Shengsu (李胜素), Dong Yuanyuan (董圆圆), Zhang Jing (张晶), Zhang Xinyue (张馨月), Hu Wenge (胡文阁) (the only male student),[4] Tian Hui (田慧), Wei Haimin.[5]

 

Biography:

 

Mei Baojiu as a child

In the spring of 1934, Mei Baojiu was born at No. 87 Sinan Road, Shanghai.[2] Because of his comely appearance and delicate voice, his father decided to send Baojiu to learn Peking opera and hoped that Baojiu could make contributions to Méi School. Baojiu himself also showed great interest as well as gifts in Peking opera in his early life. In 1942, Mei Lanfang and his wife Fu Zhifang (福芝芳) invited Wang Youqing (王幼卿), the disciple of famous Dan role performer - Wang Yaoqing (王瑶卿), from Beijing to teach Baojiu as his first qingyi teacher while requesting Zhu Chuanming (朱传茗), one of the most prestigious performers of the Dan role type to teach Baojiu Kunqu Opera. When Mei Lanfang was free from work, he also gave directions to his son himself.[6]

 

When Baojiu was ten years old, he played Xue Yi (薛倚) in San Niang teaches the child (三娘教子) as his first performance in Shanghai. At the age of twelve, together with his sister Mei Baoyue (梅葆玥), Baojiu acted in Yang Silang Visits His Mother (四郎探母). Being a Qingyi (青衣) performer, he started giving performances of the Legend of the White Snake, The Story Of Su San (玉堂春) and some other traditional plays for charity since the age of 13. He also performed in Wu Jiapo Hill (武家坡) with Baoyue (梅葆玥) at the same time. When Baojiu was 16, he took part in the national tour of the Mei Lanfang Troupe, and toured the country with the troupe. Usually, Baojiu performed for the first three days, and Mei Lanfang performed plays in the rest, sometimes they also performed cooperatively, such as in Legend of the White Snake. Baojiu played the part of Xiao Qing the green snake, while his father played Bai Suzhen the white snake.[6]

 

Mei Lanfang used to make suggestions to Baojiu in order to make the performance of Baojiu perfect when Baojiu was young. Once, after watching the play The Story Of Sue San (玉堂春), in which Baojiu performed, he came to Baojiu and suggested that Baojiu change the way of acting the spoken parts. He mentioned that it was the most exciting time when the heroine, Sue San, got the Senior judge. For this reason, Baojiu should speak infectiously, he should speak faster and faster to create tension.[7]

 

Baojiu also got a chance to share the stage with some prestigious senior performers, such as Xiao Changhua (萧长华), Jiang Miaoxiang (姜妙香) and Yu Zhenfei (俞振飞).[8]

 

Due to the guidance of the actors from the earlier generation, Mei Baojiu's acting greatly improved and hemade a great effort to promote Méi School as well.[9]

 

In 1961, after Mei Lanfang died, Baojiu took over the position of the leader of Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe. During this time, he acted in some other well known plays, such as The mulan (木兰从军), Return of the Phoenix (凤还巢) and Lian Jinfeng (廉锦枫). However, after 1964, almost all performance of traditional plays was forbidden, according to central government regulations. For this reason, Baojiu was forced to do recording and stage lighting related work.[10]

 

Fourteen years later, in 1978, Baojiu returned to the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe and came back to stage. He reformed the troupe and rearranged many traditional plays like Yuzhoufeng the Sword(宇宙锋), The story of Yang Guifei (太真外传), Luo Shen (洛神), Xi Shi (西施) as well as Royal pavilion (御碑亭) at the same time.[11]

 

From 1981 to 1984, together with his sister Mei Baoyue and descendants of other schools, he participated in the performance of a series memorial activities to commemorate his father. Making the eight-hour long play lasts for only three hours, he also rearranged The story of Yang Guifei in the late 1980s.[12]

 

In 1993, led by Baojiu, the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe visited Taiwan and gave elaborately prepared performances to the public. He has made significant contributions to cultural exchanges and promoting Peking Opera culture.[13]

 

Baojiu cultivates more than twenty students, such as Li Shengsu, Dong Yuanyuan (董圆圆), Zhang Jing (张晶), Zhang Xinyue (张馨月), Hu Wenge (the only male student), Tian Hui (田慧), Wei Haimin (魏海敏). In the last twenty years, he mainly focused on training these students.

 

As a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Mei Baojiu put forward a proposal on introducing Peking Opera into elementary schools in 2009.[14]

 

In March 2012, at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Mei put forward a proposal on introducing the form of animation into Peking Opera in order to make more teenagers be interested in Peking Opera.[15]

 

On 26 March 2012, Mei received his Ph.D. from J. F. Oberlin University in Japan.[16]

 

On 31 March 2016, Mei was hospitalized because of bronchospasm. He died on 25 April 2016, at the age of 82.[17]

 

Famous plays:

 

Like his father, Mei Baojiu acts Dan role in the following classic Peking opera plays. The Hegemon-King Bids His Concubine Farewell tells the sad love story of Xiang Yu and his favourite concubine Consort Yu when he is surrounded by Liu Bang’s forces. Mei plays the role of Consort Yu. Shang Changrong (the 3rd son of Shang Xiaoyun) once played the role of Xiang Yu as Mei's partner.

 

Guifei Intoxicated, also named Bai Hua Ting (百花亭), is about Yang Guifei. In this play she drinks down her sorrow because she is irritated by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang breaking his promise. Based on Mei Lanfang’s original work, Mei Baojiu adapted this play for The Great Concubine of Tang (大唐贵妃), a contemporary Beijing opera with historical motif in 2002. Mu Guiying Takes Command, a classic Yu opera was adapted by Mei Lanfang in 1959, and he acted the leading role the same year in celebration of the 10th anniversary of PRC.

 

Cooperating with famous Yu opera master Ma Jinfeng (马金凤), Mei Baojiu performed this play in the Shuang xia guo style (双下锅), which means different forms of opera performed in one play.[3]

 

Family:

 

Mei Baojiu's mother, Fu Zhifang (福芝芳), the second wife of Mei Lanfang, bore 9 children, but only 4 of them survived.

 

Mei Baojiu is the youngest child in his family. His eldest brother, Mei Baochen (梅葆琛) (1925-2008), was a senior engineer in Beijing's Academy of Architecture (北京建筑设计院). His elder brother, Mei Shaowu (梅绍武) (1928-2005), was a researcher of the Chinese academy of social sciences institute of the United States (中国社会科学院美国研究所) and the president of Mei Lanfang Culture-art Seminar (中国梅兰芳文化艺术研究会). His elder sister Mei Baoyue (梅葆玥) (1930-2000) was a performer of the Laosheng role type in Peking Opera, and performed together with Mei Baojiu sometimes. Mei Baojiu is the only heir to the Meipai Qingyi (梅派青衣).[3][18]

 

Mei Baojiu's wife is named Lin Liyuan (林丽媛), she is the consultant of Mei Lanfang Troupe. They have no children.[19]

 

References:

 

^ Mei Shaowu (梅绍武), Mei Weidong (梅卫东), Biography of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳自述) :Appendix - studies (附录：年谱简表)

^ a b Wu Ying (吴迎), From Mei Lanfang to Mei Baojiu (从梅兰芳到梅葆玖) Page 50

^ a b c "梅氏家族 (May Family)". Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.

^ "胡文阁被梅葆玖"看"得紧紧的(组图) (Mei Baojiu keeps a close watch on Hu Wenge (photo))". 9 January 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.

^ "梅葆玖简介 (About Mei Baojiu)". July 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2012.

^ a b Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page93

^ Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page 96

^ "梅兰芳的剧照 Mei Lanfang snapshot". Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.

^ Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page92 - 93

^ Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page110

^ Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page112-113

^ Xu Beicheng (徐北城), Mei Lanfang and the 20th century (梅兰芳与二十世纪) :chapter 10. the Dance of Mei (第十章：梅之舞)

^ Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page113-121

^ "Mei Baojiu". 11 March 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2012.

^ "Mei Baojiu". 7 March 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.

^ "Mei Baojiu". 29 March 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.

^ "京剧大师梅葆玖去世享年82岁 世间从此再无"梅先生"". people.cn. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2019.

^ Li Zhongming (李仲明), The Family of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳家族) Page84 - 90

^ "About Mei Baojiu". 29 March 2012. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.

 

Martine Franck, France:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martine_Franck

 

Martine Franck (2 April 1938 – 16 August 2012) was a British-Belgian documentary and portrait photographer. She was a member of Magnum Photos for over 32 years. Franck was the second wife of Henri Cartier-Bresson and co-founder and president of the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation.

 

Martine Franck

Photo of Martine Franck.jpg

Franck in 1972, by Henri-Cartier Bresson

Born: 2 April 1938 Antwerp, Belgium

Died: 16 August 2012 (aged 74) Paris, France

Occupation

Documentary and portrait photographer

Spouse(s): Henri Cartier-Bresson (m. 1970; died 2004)

Children: 1

 

Contents:

 

Early life:

 

Franck was born in Antwerp[1] to the Belgian banker Louis Franck and his British wife, Evelyn.[2] After her birth the family moved almost immediately to London.[2] A year later, her father joined the British army, and the rest of the family were evacuated to the United States, spending the remainder of the Second World War on Long Island and in Arizona.[3]

 

Franck's father was an amateur art collector who often took his daughter to galleries and museums. Franck was in boarding school from the age of six onwards, and her mother sent her a postcard every day, frequently of paintings. Ms. Franck, attended Heathfield School, an all-girls boarding school close to Ascot in England, and studied the history of art from the age of 14. "I had a wonderful teacher who really galvanized me," she says. "In those days she took us on outings to London, which was the big excitement of the year for me."[4]

 

Career:

 

Franck studied art history at the University of Madrid and at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris. After struggling through her thesis (on French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and the influence of cubism on sculpture), she said she realized she had no particular talent for writing, and turned to photography instead.[5]

 

In 1963, Franck's photography career started following trips to the Far East, having taken pictures with her cousin’s Leica camera. Returning to France in 1964, now possessing a camera of her own, Franck became an assistant to photographers Eliot Elisofon and Gjon Mili at Time-Life. By 1969 she was a busy freelance photographer for magazines such as Vogue, Life and Sports Illustrated, and the official photographer of the Théâtre du Soleil (a position she held for 48 years).[6] From 1970 to 1971 she worked in Paris at the Agence Vu photo agency, and in 1972 she co-founded the Viva agency.[2]

 

In 1980, Franck joined the Magnum Photos cooperative agency as a "nominee", and in 1983 she became a full member. She was one of a very small number of women to be accepted into the agency.

 

In 1983, she completed a project for the now-defunct French Ministry of Women's Rights and in 1985 she began collaborating with the non-profit International Federation of Little Brothers of the Poor. In 1993, she first traveled to the Irish island of Tory where she documented the tiny Gaelic community living there. She also traveled to Tibet and Nepal, and with the help of Marilyn Silverstone photographed the education system of the Tibetan Tulkus monks. In 2003 and 2004 she returned to Paris to document the work of theater director Robert Wilson who was staging La Fontaine's fables at the Comédie Française.[7]

 

Nine books of Franck's photographs have been published, and in 2005 Franck was made a chevalier of the French Légion d'Honneur.[8]

 

Franck continued working even after she was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2010. Her last exhibition was in October 2011 at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie. The exhibit consisted of 62 portraits of artists "coming from somewhere else” collected from 1965 through 2010. This same year, there were collections of portraits shown at New York's Howard Greenberg Gallery and at the Claude Bernard Gallery, Paris.[9]

 

Work:

 

Franck was well known for her documentary-style photographs of important cultural figures such as the painter Marc Chagall, philosopher Michel Foucault and poet Seamus Heaney, and of remote or marginalized communities such as Tibetan Buddhist monks, elderly French people, and isolated Gaelic speakers. Michael Pritchard, the Director-General of the Royal Photographic Society, observed: "Martine was able to work with her subjects and bring out their emotions and record their expressions on film, helping the viewer understand what she had seen in person. Her images were always empathetic with her subject." In 1976, Frank took one of her most iconic photos of bathers beside a pool in Le Brusc, Provence. By her account, she saw them from a distance and rushed to photograph the moment, all the while changing the roll of film in her camera. She quickly closed the lens just at the right moment, when happened to be most intense.[9]

 

She cited as influences the portraits of British photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, the work of American photojournalist Dorothea Lange and American documentary photographer Margaret Bourke-White.[8] In 2010, she told The New York Times that photography "suits my curiosity about people and human situations." [10]

 

She worked outside the studio, using a 35 mm Leica camera, and preferring black and white film.[2] The British Royal Photographic Society has described her work as "firmly rooted in the tradition of French humanist documentary photography."[11]

 

Personal life:

 

Franck was often described as elegant, dignified and shy.[12][13][14]

 

In 1966, she met Henri Cartier-Bresson, thirty years her senior, when she was photographing Paris fashion shows for The New York Times. In 2010, she told interviewer Charlie Rose "his opening line was, ‘Martine, I want to come and see your contact sheets.’" They married in 1970, had one child, a daughter named Mélanie, and remained together until his death in 2004.[2]

 

Throughout her career Franck, who was sometimes described as a feminist, was uncomfortable being in the shadow of her famous husband and wanted to be recognized for her own work. In 1970, the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London planned to stage Franck's first solo exhibition: when she saw that the invitations included her husband's name and said he would be present at the launch, she cancelled the show. Franck once said that she put her husband's career ahead of her own. In 2003 Franck and her daughter launched the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation to promote Cartier-Bresson's photojournalism, and in 2004 Franck became its president.[8]

 

Franck was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010, and died in Paris in 2012 at 74 years old.[2]

 

Publications:

 

Martine Franck: Dun jour, l'autre. France: Seuil, 1998. ISBN 978-2-02-034771-6

Tibetan Tulkus, images of continuity. London: Anna Maria Rossi & Fabio Rossi Publications, 2000. ISBN 978-0-9520992-8-4

Tory Island Images. Wolfhound Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-86327-561-6

Martine Franck Photographe, Musée de la Vie romantique, Paris-Musées/Adam Biro, 2002. ISBN 978-2-87660-346-2

Fables de la Fontaine (production by Robert Wilson), Actes Sud. Paris, 2004

Martine Franck: One Day to the Next. Aperture, 2005. ISBN 978-0-89381-845-6

Martine Franck. Louis Baring. London: Phaidon, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7148-4781-8

Martine Franck: Photo Poche. France: Actes Sud, 2007. ISBN 978-2-7427-6725-0

Women/Femmes, Steidl, 2010. ISBN 978-3-86930-149-5

Venus d'ailleurs, Actes Sud, 2011

ExhibitionsEdit

 

La vie et la mort, Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France, 1980[citation needed]

Martine Franck Photographe, Musée de la Vie romantique, Paris, 2004[citation needed]

Les Rencontres, Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France, 2004[citation needed]

ReferencesEdit

 

^ Phaidon Editors (2019). Great women artists. Phaidon Press. p. 141. ISBN 0714878774.

^ a b c d e f Leslie Kaufman (22 August 2012). "Martine Franck, Documentary Photographer, Dies at 74". New York Times. Retrieved 25 August 2012.

^ Tori (21 August 2012). "'Magnum has lost a point of reference, a lighthouse, and one of our most influential and beloved members – Martine Franck". Film's Not Dead. Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.

^ Grey, Tobias (21 October 2011). "Martine Franck's Curious Lens". ProQuest 899273270.

^ Bussell, Mark (8 June 2010). "Martine Franck's Pictures Within Pictures". New York Times. Retrieved 25 August 2012.

^ Wallace, Vaughan (20 August 2012). "Martine Franck: 1938 – 2012". Life magazine. Retrieved 25 August 2012.

^ Magnumphotos

^ a b c Hopkinson, Amanda (19 August 2012). "Martine Franck obituary". Guardian. Retrieved 25 August 2012.

^ a b Childs, Martin (29 August 2012). "The Independent". The Independent. Independent Print Ltd.

^ Bussell, Mark (8 June 2010). "Martine Franck's Pictures Within Pictures". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 September 2016.

^ Laurent, Olivier (17 August 2012). "Magnum Photos member and photographer Martine Franck has died". British Journal of Photography. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.

^ Gill, A.A. (2008). Previous convictions: assignments from here and there (1st Simon & Schuster trade pbk. ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. p. 90. ISBN 978-1416572497.

^ Walker, David (17 August 2012). "Photographer Martine Franck dies". Photo District News. Retrieved 25 August 2012.

^ "Wife of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Martine Franck, dies at 74". Art Media Agency. 20 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.

External linksEdit

 

Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation

New York Times "Martine Franck's Pictures Within Pictures"

Martine Franck 1991 catalogue of Taipei Fine Art Museum, with the pencil painting of Henri Cartier-Bresson.

 

Dr. rer. pol. Arend Oetker, Germany:

 

de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arend_Oetker

 

Arend Oetker was born on March 30, 1939 in Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and studied business administration and political science in Hamburg, Berlin and Cologne as well as Marketing at Harvard Business School. He received his doctorate in 1966 from the University of Cologne.

 

Dr. Arend Oetker, Managing Partner of Dr. Arend Oetker Holding, is Honorary Chairman of the Board and majority shareholder of the food company Hero AG, Deputy Chairman and major shareholder of KWS Saat AG and chairman of the board of Cognos AG.

 

Furthermore, Dr. Arend Oetker is actively involved as president of the German Council on Foreign Relations (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e. V.), board member of the Confederation of German Employers‘ Associations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände e. V.) and honorary member of the Federation of German Industries (Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e. V.). He has received a number of accolades in the field of visual arts and music.

 

Dr. Arend Oetker is married and has five children.

 

Dr. William Mong Man Wai, Hong Kong:

 

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mong

 

William Mong Man-wai GBS (Chinese: 蒙民偉, 7 November 1927 – 20 July 2010) was the chairman of the Shun Hing Group, the distributor of Matsushita products (National, Panasonic, Technics) in Hong Kong.

 

He attended La Salle College in Hong Kong. Mong Man-wai died from cancer on 20 July 2010, aged 82. Many buildings in Hong Kong universities are named after him.[1]

 

Award received:

 

Gold Bauhinia Star

honorary doctor of the University of Hong Kong

honorary doctor of the Tsinghua University (2007)

honorary doctor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

 

Giulio Mogol, Italy:

 

Giulio Rapetti (born 17 August 1936), in art Mogol (Italian pronunciation: [moˈɡɔl]), is an Italian music lyricist. He is best known for his collaborations with Lucio Battisti, Gianni Bella, Adriano Celentano and Mango.

 

Career:

 

Mogol was born in Milan. His father, Mariano Rapetti, was an important director of the Ricordi record label, and had been in his own time a successful lyricist of the 1950s. Young Giulio, who was likewise employed by Ricordi as a public relations expert, began his own career as a lyricist against his father's wishes.

 

His first successes were "Il cielo in una stanza", set to music by Gino Paoli and sung by Mina; "Al di là", a piece that won the 1961 Sanremo Festival, performed by Luciano Tajoli and Betty Curtis; "Una lacrima sul viso", which was a huge hit for Bobby Solo in 1964. Another famous song from 1961 was "Uno dei tanti" (English: "One among many") which was rewritten by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1963 for Ben E. King and released under the title "I (Who Have Nothing)".

 

In addition to writing new lyrics in Italian for a great many singers, Mogol also took it upon himself, in years in which familiarity with the English language in Italy was still sparse, to translate many hits from overseas, especially film soundtracks, but also works of Bob Dylan and David Bowie.

 

In 1965, he met Lucio Battisti, a young guitarist and composer from the Latium region of central Italy. Mogol's lyrics contributed to Battisti's initial success as an author, in megahits such as "29 settembre", and led him to undertake the role of producer as well, as happened with the song "Sognando la California", which Mogol himself had translated from the signature number of The Mamas & the Papas, "California Dreamin'", and with "Senza luce" ("Without light"), an Italian rendering of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum.

 

In 1966, Mogol, overcoming resistance from his record label, convinced Battisti to perform his own songs. The lyricist's intuition would have one of the most rewarding outcomes of the history of Italian music, as Battisti, after a halting start, would explode as a singer, becoming one of the most successful artists in the panorama of Italian music. In the same year, Mogol left the Ricordi label to create his own with Battisti, called Numero Uno, which brought together many celebrated Italian singer-songwriters. The pair wrote songs as well for Bruno Lauzi and Patty Pravo. Their greatest chart success came from the songs written for Mina in 1969–1970.

 

In 1980, Mogol broke the artistic relationship with Battisti, and successfully continued his independent career as a lyricist with the noted singer-songwriter Riccardo Cocciante, with whom he wrote the texts for some successful albums, first in the series being "Cervo a Primavera".

 

Mogol (2007)

Lately, he began his collaboration with Mango, co-writing successful songs like "Oro", "Nella mia città", "Come Monna Lisa" and "Mediterraneo".

 

Mogol has formed a stable partnership with Adriano Celentano; his songs for Celentano are scored by the Sicilian singer-songwriter Gianni Bella. This collaboration has produced the delicate song "L'arcobaleno", included in the CD Io non so parlar d'amore, which is considered dedicated to Battisti, who had recently died. Mogol has also collaborated with singer-songwriter Jack Rubinacci.

 

Mari Natsuki, Japan:

 

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari_Natsuki

 

Junko Nakajima (中島 淳子, Nakajima Junko, born 2 May 1952), more commonly known by her stage name Mari Natsuki (夏木 マリ, Natsuki Mari), is a Japanese singer, dancer and actress.[1] Born in Tokyo, she started work as a singer from a young age. In 2007, Natsuki announced her engagement to percussionist Nobu Saitō, with their marriage taking place in Spring 2008.

 

Mari Natsuki

MJK 08427 Mari Natsuki (Berlinale 2018).jpg

Mari Natsuki (2018)

Born: Mari Natsuki. 夏木 マリ. 2 May 1952 (age 67) Tokyo, Japan

Nationality: Japanese

Other names: Junko Nakajima

Occupation: Singer, dancer, actress

Natsuki has participated in musical theatre, including that of Yukio Ninagawa. She provided the voice of Yubaba in Spirited Away, played the young witch's mother in the Japanese TV remake of Bewitched and has twice been nominated for a Japanese Academy Award. Natsuki played the character Big Mama in the Japanese version of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots[2] and has also acted in television dramas, such as the 2005 series Nobuta o Produce, playing the Vice Principal, Katharine.

 

Contents:

 

Film:

 

Otoko wa Tsurai yo series:

Tora-san, My Uncle (1989)

Tora-san Takes a Vacation (1990)

Tora-san Confesses (1991)

Tora-San Makes Excuses (1992)

Tora-san to the Rescue (1995)

Tora-san, Wish You Were Here (2019)

Onimasa (1982)

Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983)

Kita no Hotaru (1984)

Jittemai (1986)

Death Powder (1986)

Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Boku no Ojisan (1989)

The Hunted (1995)

Samurai Fiction (1998)

Spirited Away (2001)

Shōjo (2001)

Ping Pong (2002)

Okusama wa Majo (2004)

Sugar and Spice (2006)

Sakuran (2007)

Girl In The Sunny Place (2013)

Isle of Dogs (2018)

Ikiru Machi (2018)

Vision (2018)

Dai Kome Sōdō (2021), Taki

 

Television: Yoshitsune (2005), Carnation (2011), Montage (2016), Meet Me After School (2018)

Video Games: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Big Mama) (2008), Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Katherine Marlowe) (2011)

Japanese dub:

Live-action: Feud (Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange)), The West Wing (C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney))

Animation: Moana (Tala)

References:

 

^ Mills, Ted. "Apple Music Preview. About Mari Natsuki". music.apple.com. Retrieved 9 November 2019.

^ Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots: MGS4 Voice Cast Announced Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine.

 

Changjae Shin, South Korea:

 

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Chang-jae

 

Shin Chang-jae (born 1953/54) is a Korean billionaire businessman, Chairman and CEO of Kyobo Life Insurance Company.

 

Shin Chang-jae

Born: 1953/1954 (age 65–66)[1]

Nationality: Korean

Alma mater: Seoul National University

Occupation: Chairman and CEO, Kyobo Life Insurance Company

Net worth: $2.3 billion (June 2015)[1]

Spouse(s): married

Children: 2 sons

 

Early life:

 

He is the son of Shin Yong-ho, who founded Kyobo Life Insurance Company in 1958.[1] he has a doctorate from Seoul National University.[1]

 

Career: Kyobo Life Insurance Building, Seoul

He trained as an obstetrician and worked as a professor at the Seoul National University medical school.[1]

 

He has been Chairman and CEO of Kyobo Life Insurance Company since 2000.[1] In June 2015, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$2.3 billion.[1]

 

Personal life: He is married with two sons and lives in Seoul, South Korea.[1]

 

References: ^ a b c d e f g h "Shin Chang-Jae". Forbes. Retrieved 9 June 2015.

 

Patrick Charpenel, Mexico;

 

Patrick Charpenel will be the new executive director of El Museo del Barrio in New York.

 

Charpenel is a Mexico City–based curator who has worked extensively in Mexico as well as internationally. He organized a Gabriel Orozco retrospective at the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City in 2006 and an exhibition of work by Franz West at the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo in 2009. He also oversaw the Art Public section for the 2009 and 2010 editions of Art Basel Miami Beach.

 

Charpenel served as the executive director of Museo Jumex, the private museum in Mexico City of ART news Top 200 collector Eugenio López Alonso. (Charpenel resigned from his post in 2015 amid the controversy over the cancellation of a Hermann Nitsch show.) Charpenel is also a writer and a collector of “a heterogeneous group of works” that focuses on such interests as “the structure of the global economy and the extension of artistic experience into the social sphere.”

 

Patrick Charpenel is an art historian and collector currently working as an independent curator in Mexico City. He holds a graduate degree in philosophy. Charpenel has curated numerous exhibitions including Franz West, Tamayo Museum, Mexico City, Mexico (2006); Sólo los personajes cambian, Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey, Mexico (2004); Inter.play, Moore Space, Miami, Florida (2003); Edén, Jumex Collection, Mexico City, Mexico (2003); and ACNÉ, Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City, Mexico (1995). He has numerous critical texts published in catalogues and magazines.

 

2018 Bienvenidos a El Museo del Barrio!

We are excited to announce the appointment of our new Executive Director, Patrick Charpenel. El Museo del Barrio is thrilled to have Charpenel join the institution’s leadership and we look forward to seeing what he will bring to the legacy of this museum.

 

YouTube: youtu.be/l1Amlj49bt8

 

Laura Garcia-Lorca de los Rios, Spain:

 

Gloria Giner de los Ríos García (28 March 1886 – 6 February 1970) was a Spanish teacher at the Escuela Normal Superior de Maestras and the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. The author of innovative manuals dedicated to the teaching of history and geography,[1] she, together with Leonor Serrano Pablo [es], developed the educational "recipe" that they called "enthusiastic observation". They also worked to change the androcentric canon of geographical studies to include women.[2]

 

Gloria Giner de los Ríos García

 

Born: 28 March 1886 Madrid, Spain

Died: 6 February 1970 (aged 83) Madrid, Spain

Resting place: Civil Cemetery of Madrid [es]

Occupation: Teacher

Spouse(s): Fernando de los Ríos

Children: Laura de los Ríos Giner [es]

Parents: Hermenegildo Giner de los Ríos [es] (father), Laura García Hoppe [es] (mother)

She lived in exile during the Francoist Spain era, forming part of the intellectual elite that carried out educational, philological, literary, legal, and cultural work. Her family had close connections to that of poet Federico García Lorca.

 

Biography:

 

Gloria Giner de los Ríos García was born in Madrid on 28 March 1886. The daughter of Laura García Hoppe [es] and Hermenegildo Giner de los Ríos [es], she spent her childhood and adolescence in Madrid, Alicante, and Barcelona, cities where her father held the Chair of Philosophy. After finishing high school in 1906 and teaching in 1908, she completed her training by attending classes at the Institución Libre de Enseñanza and taking courses in art, pedagogy, and philosophy.[3] In 1909, she was promoted to the Escuela de Estudios Superiores de Magisterio [es].[1]

 

Marriage, family, and social life:

 

On 1 July 1912, Giner married Fernando de los Ríos, who had obtained the Chair of Law at the University of Granada. It was in this city that the couple took up residence, and in which Gloria was a teacher at the Normal School, by right of consort at first, and later in her own position.[3] A year later, their daughter Laura de los Ríos Giner [es] was born. In Granada, the Ríos Giner family became friends with the García Lorca family, with Manuel de Falla, and with Berta Wilhelmi and her husband Eduardo Domínguez. Wilhelmi had been in contact with the Institución Libre de Enseñanza and had organized some community schools in Almuñécar.[4] With her collaboration, Giner organized the education of her daughter Laura and other children, including Isabel García Lorca [es], in order to separate them from Granada's private education system.[3]

 

Laura de los Ríos and Isabel García Lorca:

 

Federico García Lorca was one of the select circle of friends of the Ríos family. He dedicated the poem Romance sonámbulo to Fernando and Gloria,[5] and was the one who introduced their daughters, Laura de los Ríos and Isabel García Lorca. The friendship between the latter was very intense and lasting. They became sisters-in-law when Laura married Federico's younger brother Francisco [es]. In an interview, Isabel Garcia Lorca recalled:

 

Gloria Giner was an extraordinary being. Well, of character, I think there was a certain similarity in all of them, some high moral tension. People a little demanding with what others did and what they could do. They were like that down deep, including my mother.[6]

 

Laura, in another interview, told of her mother's life in Granada:

 

My mother attended her classes every day...in the afternoon she prepared her classes and helped my father. She translated from German, the language my father and a German teacher in Granada had taught her. She also translated from French, which she knew very well, from Greek and Latin...lovingly and intellectually my parents were a very well-matched marriage.[7]

 

Professional career:

 

In 1931, the Provisional Government of the Republic appointed her husband Minister of Justice, and in December, Minister of Public Instruction. Giner told her daughter, "I'm not going to give up my career and live as a minister."[8] Nonetheless she performed some ceremonial functions and accompanied her husband on trips through Spain.[3] In 1932 she was on leave as a teacher at the Normal School, but continued teaching at the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. In 1933, after her husband resigned from government office, she rejoined teaching by accepting a position in Zamora. For three courses she lived alone in a hotel room three days a week, returning to Madrid for the rest of the week.[8] In Zamora, as in Granada, society shunned her for being the wife of a socialist and not attending religious services.[7]

 

Exile:

 

At the end of September 1936, Fernando de los Ríos was appointed ambassador of Spain to the United States, a position he held until March 1939. Gloria Giner moved to Washington, D.C. with her daughter, her mother, and a nephew of her husband. Fernanda Urruti, Fernando's mother, would later join them. In Washington, Giner was invited to several meetings that Eleanor Roosevelt organized in the White House.[3] During the Civil War, Fernando de los Ríos was separated from his professorship at the University of Madrid. In 1939, the Franco government definitively separated him from his chair and dismissed him.

 

Fernando de los Ríos taught at The New School for Social Research in New York, an institution founded to welcome European intellectuals who emigrated for political reasons.[5] Giner was a professor at Columbia University.[3][9] The Ríos-Giner family lived in exile in the United States, which did not recognize Spanish Republican exiles and subjected those who wanted to enter to immigration laws. However, university students and artists were exempt from the rigid immigration quota, provided they were endorsed by US citizens or claimed by a university. Gloria was one of the exiled academics who passed through American universities and formed an intellectual elite.[10]

 

In 1942, her daughter Laura married Francisco García Lorca, younger brother of the poet Federico, in the Mead Chapel of Middlebury College, where both were professors at the Spanish School.[11] The couple had three daughters, and the family lived together in a New York apartment. In addition to preparing classes, writing poems, and working on the publication of her works, Giner took care of her three granddaughters, took them out for walks and, if necessary, took them on the bus and subway in New York.

 

In 1949, Fernando de los Ríos died. Over 50 personalities of politics and culture attended the funeral. José de los Ríos – the younger brother of Fernando and Francisco García Lorca – presided over the dual family. Fernando's wife, mother, and daughter stayed at the house during the funeral, in accordance with Spanish custom at the time.

 

Return to Spain:

 

Gloria Giner returned to Spain with her daughter's family in 1965. She died in Madrid on 6 February 1970.[12] She was buried in the Civil Cemetery of Madrid [es], and her husband's remains were reinterred there alongside hers on 28 June 1980.[13]

 

Teaching methods:

 

Gloria Giner and her great friend Leonor Serrano Pablo [es] worked together on the teaching of geography in order to connect with students.[14] Giner defended the formative capacity of the plastic arts "as a real basis for the teaching of history in the first years of the formation of the culture of the child". Her 1935 book Cien lecturas históricas became a prominent text for educational reformers inspired by the work of Rafael Altamira.[1]

 

With Altamira and Maria Montessori as references, they developed didactic methods that, in Serrano's words, revolved around "enthusiastic observation". This consisted of teaching geography in dialogue with the students, strengthening their physical and emotional relationship with the environment. Another component of enthusiastic observation was emotional. Impositions of rote memorization were eliminated. In Giner's words, "the soul was educated and the spirit strengthened".

 

Serrano and Giner also advocated for the meaningful inclusion of women in the androcentric canon of studies on geography. The Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy had, in 1803, included the meaning of the word hombre (man) to refer to all mankind. Taking the term as inclusive of women, they understood that it forced men to relate to nature as women did. Serrano considered that rendering the androcentric references in geography meaningless would foster a "new creative, loving, anti-destructive, and anti-war humanity".[2] In the opinion of professor Ana I. Simón Alegre, this teaching, in the language of the 21st century, could be called the development of environmental education or the first manifestations of ecofeminism.[15]

 

Giner's last book, Por tierras de España (1962), also incorporated audio-lingual teaching methods.[9]

 

Works:

 

Historia de la pedagogía (1910)

Weimer, Hermann 1872-1942 (translation)

Geografía Primer grado. Aspectos de la naturaleza y vida del hombre en la tierra (1919)

Geografía: Primer grado (1919), with Federico Ribas (1890–1952)

Geografía general. El cielo, la Tierra y el hombre (1935)

Cien lecturas históricas (1935)

Lecturas geográficas. Espectáculos de la naturaleza, paisajes, ciudades y hombres (1936)

Romances de los ríos de España (1943)

Manual de historia de la civilización española (1951)

Cumbres de la civilización española: Interpretación del espíritu español individualizado en diecinueve figuras representativas (1955)

El paisaje de Hispanoamérica a través de su literatura: (antología) (1958)

Introducción a la historia de la civilización española (1959)

Por tierras de España (1962), with Luke Nolfi, ISBN 9780030800238

 

References:

 

^ a b c Duarte-Piña, Olga (2015). La enseñanza de la historia en la educación secundaria [Teaching of History in Secondary Education] (Thesis) (in Spanish). University of Seville. pp. 105–108. Retrieved 15 July 2019 – via Dialnet.

^ a b Simón Alegre, Ana I.; Sanz Álvarez, Arancha (January–June 2010). "Prácticas y teorías de descubrir paisajes: Viajeras y cultivadoras del estudio de la geografía en España, desde finales del siglo XIX hasta el primer tercio del XX" [Practices and Theories of Discovering Landscapes: Travelers and Cultivators of the Study of Geography in Spain, from the End of the 19th Century to the First Third of the 20th]. Arenal. Revista de historia de las mujeres (in Spanish). 17 (1): 55–79. ISSN 1134-6396. Retrieved 15 July 2019 – via Dialnet.

^ a b c d e f Ruiz-Manjón, Octavio (2007). "Gloria Giner de los Ríos: noticia biográfica de una madrileña" [Gloria Giner de los Ríos: Biographical Report of a Woman from Madrid]. Cuadernos de historia contemporánea (in Spanish) (Extra 1): 265–272. ISSN 0214-400X. Retrieved 15 July 2019 – via Dialnet.

^ Ruiz-Manjón, Octavio (31 May 2007). "Fernando de los Ríos. Un intelectual en el PSOE". El Cultural (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.

^ a b "Ríos Urruti, Fernando de los (1879–1949)" (in Spanish). Charles III University of Madrid. Retrieved 15 July 2019.

^ Méndez, José. "Isabel García Lorca". Revista Residencia (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 July 2019.

^ a b Rodrigo, Antonia (1 May 1982). "Laura de los Ríos". Revista Triunfo (in Spanish). No. 19. p. 64. Retrieved 15 July 2019.

^ a b "La niña que tocaba con Falla" [The Girl Who Played With Falla]. Granada Hoy (in Spanish). 8 March 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2019.

^ a b "Local Pair Co-Author Spanish Text". Democrat and Chronicle. 26 December 1962. p. 15. Retrieved 15 July 2019 – via Newspapers.com.

^ García Cueto, Pedro (30 April 2015). "Dos visiones del exilio cultural español: Vicente Llorens y Jordi Gracia" [Two Visions of Spanish Cultural Exile: Vicente Llorens and Jordi Gracia]. Fronterad (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2019.

^ Seseña, Natacha (26 December 1981). "Laura de los Ríos, un duelo de labores y esperanzas" [Laura de los Ríos, a Duel of Labors and Hopes]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 July 2019.

^ "Doña Gloria Giner de los Ríos". El Tiempo (in Spanish). 13 February 1970. p. 4. Retrieved 15 July 2019 – via Google News.

^ "Los restos de Fernando de los Ríos recibieron sepultura en el cementerio civil de Madrid" [The Remains of Fernando de los Ríos Buried in the Civil Cemetery of Madrid]. El País (in Spanish). 29 June 1980. Retrieved 15 July 2019.

^ Ortells Roca, Miquel; Artero Broch, Inmaculada (1 December 2013). "¿Para qué sirven las inspectoras? Leonor Serrano: La pedagogía y/contra el poder" [What are Inspectors For? Leonor Serrano: Pedagogy and/Against Power]. Quaderns (in Spanish) (76). Retrieved 15 July 2019.

^ Simón Alegre, Ana I. (1 March 2013). "Los inicios del ecofeminismo en España" [The Beginnings of Ecofeminism in Spain]. El Ecologista (in Spanish) (76). Retrieved 15 July 2019.

Further readingEdit

 

Fuentes, Víctor (2010). "'Manhattan transfers' personales al trasluz del exilio republicano en Nueva York". In Faber, Sebastiaan (ed.). Contra el olvido: el exilio español en Estados Unidos (in Spanish). Instituto Franklin de Estudios Norteamericanos. pp. 223–241. ISBN 9788481388701.

Zulueta, Carmen (2001). "Los domingos de don Fernando" [Sundays with Don Fernando]. Fundamentos de antropología (in Spanish) (10–11): 130–137.

 

Candida Gertler & Yana Peel, United Kingdom:

 

Candida Gertler (born 1966/1967) OBE is a British/German art collector, philanthropist, and former journalist.[2]

 

Candida Gertler

Born: 1966/1967 (age 52–53)[1]. Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Nationality: British, German

Occupation: Art collector

Net worth: £150 million (2009)

Spouse(s): Zak Gertler

Children: 2

 

Early life:

 

She was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to Romanian Jewish immigrant parents.[1] [3] She studied journalism and law.[1]

 

Career:

 

In 2003 Gertler and Yana Peel founded the Outset Contemporary Art Fund.[4]

In June 2015, she was given an OBE "for services to Contemporary Visual Arts and Arts Philanthropy".[5]

She is a member of the Tate International Council.[6]

 

Personal life:

 

She is married to Zak Gertler.[7] They are Jewish, and have two children.[8]

 

He has been called "one of London's leading property developers".[7] In 2009, Zak Gertler and family had an estimated net worth of £150 million, down from £250 million in 2008.[9] "The Gertlers developed offices in Germany, moving into the London market in the 1990s."[9]

 

References:

 

^ a b c "The Tate's Secret Weapon: Outset". Art Market Monitor. 25 August 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2019.

^ "A missionary for art". Arterritory.com - Baltic, Russian and Scandinaviawn Art Territory. Retrieved 12 April 2019.

^ ""Artfully Dressed: Women in the Art World", Volume IV: Collectors & Patrons". Issuu. Retrieved 12 April 2019.

^ www.arterritory.com/en/art_market/collections/6202-a_miss...

^ "Candida GERTLER". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2019.

^ "Interview with Candida Gertler, OBE". Artkurio Consultancy. Retrieved 12 April 2019.

^ a b "The London Magazine". www.thelondonmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2019.

^ parkeastsynagogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Annoucem...

^ a b "Zak Gertler and family". The Sunday Times. 26 April 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2019.

 

Yana Peel (born June 1974) is a Canadian executive, businesswoman, children's author and philanthropist.[2] She was CEO of the Serpentine Galleries from 2016 to 2019, and was previously a board member.[3][4]

 

Yana Peel:

 

Born: Yana Mirkin[1]. June 1974 (age 45). Leningrad, USSR (now Russia)

Nationality: Canadian

Alma mater: McGill University, London School of Economics

Predecessor: Julia Peyton-Jones

Spouse(s): Stephen Peel (m. 1999)

Children: 2

Peel is a co-founder of the Outset Contemporary Art Fund (with Candida Gertler), and Intelligence Squared Asia, and was CEO of Intelligence Squared Group from 2013 to 2016.[5]

 

Peel has several advisory positions including the Tate International Council, V-A-C Foundation, and the NSPCC therapeutic board.[6][7] She has been an advisor to the British Fashion Council, Asia Art Archive, Lincoln Center, Para Site and the Victoria and Albert Museum, where she founded the design fund.[6][8][9][7]

 

Early life:

 

Yana Peel was born in June 1974[10] in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia. Her family emigrated to Canada via Austria in 1978.[3] She grew up in Toronto, Ontario.[11]

 

Peel studied Russian studies at McGill University during the 1990s. [12][3][1] In 1996,[13] while being a student she co-organised a fashion show for charity.[1][6][14] After that, Peel undertook a post-graduate degree in economics at the London School of Economics.[3][11] Peel was a member of the 2011 class of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders programme.[15]

 

Career:

 

Goldman Sachs:

 

Peel started her career in the equities division of Goldman Sachs in 1997 in London, and became an executive director before leaving in 2003.[16][6][3][2]

 

Outset Contemporary Art Fund:

 

Peel co-founded the charity Outset Contemporary Art Fund in 2003 with Candida Gertler.[17][6][11] Peel and Gertler generated a model whereby artists could be presented to potential donors in order to raise funds to purchase their work, or to fund new commissions with a view to donating them to public institutions.[6] The Fund purchased over 100 pieces for the Tate Modern, and commissioned work by artists including Francis Alys, Yael Bartana, Candice Breitz and Steve McQueen.[6][16]

 

Intelligence Squared:

 

In 2009, Peel co-founded Intelligence Squared Asia with Amelie Von Wedel, a not-for-profit platform for hosting live debates in Hong Kong.[18][17][19] In 2012 Peel became CEO of Intelligence Squared Group,[18][20] bringing the live events business out of its financial difficulties.[6] Peel has hosted interviews including: Olafur Eliasson and Shirin Neshat at Davos,[21] Ai Wei Wei at the Cambridge Union.[22]

 

Serpentine Galleries:

 

In April 2016, Peel was appointed to the role of CEO of the Serpentine Galleries.[23][3] Peel said it was her "mission to create a safe space for unsafe ideas",[2] and to promote a "socially conscious Serpentine".[11] She indicated that she wanted to give artists a greater say in the development of the Serpentine Galleries, in order to give "artists a voice in the biggest global conversations".[11] Peel worked in tandem with the artistic director, Hans Ulrich Obrist.[6]

 

Peel furthered the Serpentine Galleries' technological ambitions, introducing digital engagement initiatives including Serpentine Mobile Tours[24] and the translation of the exhibition Zaha Hadid: Early Paintings and Drawings into Virtual Reality.[25][26] Peel stated that she was "committed to maintaining and open-source spirit"[27] at the Serpentine Galleries, and that it was her ambition "to inspire the widest audiences with the urgency of art and architecture".[2] The Financial Times noted that Peel "has been able to lure companies such as Google and Bloomberg as partners to help meet the Serpentine's annual £9.5m target".[24]

 

Peel and Obrist selected both the first African architect to work on a pavilion,[28] and the youngest architect to do so.[29] In 2018, she broadened the global reach of the Serpentine Pavilion programme by announcing the launch of a pavilion in Beijing designed by Sichuan practice, Jiakun Architects.[30]

 

Together with Lord Richard Rogers and Sir David Adjaye, Peel and Obrist selected Burkina Faso architect Diébédo Francis Kéré to design the 2017 pavilion.[31] The pavilion was awarded the Civic Trust Award in 2018.[32]

 

The Serpentine selected Mexican architect Frida Escobedo to design the 2018 pavilion. She will be the youngest architect to have participated in the Pavilion programme since it began in 2000.[29]

 

She stepped down as CEO in June 2019 as a consequence of the attention paid to her co-ownership of NSO Group, an Israeli cyberweapons company whose software has allegedly been used by authoritarian regimes to spy on dissidents.[4]

 

Philanthropy:

 

Peel co-chaired Para Site, a not-for-profit contemporary art space in Hong Kong, from 2010 to 2015.[33] She has been involved with the project since 2009.[17]

 

Peel founded the Victoria and Albert Museum's design fund in 2011.[9] The fund supported the acquisition of contemporary design objects.[9]

 

Peel is a member of NSPCC's therapeutic board.[7] Inspired by her children, in 2008 Peel produced a series of toddler-friendly art books published by Templar, including: Art For Baby, Color For Baby and Faces For Baby.[34] These books feature works by artists ranging from Damien Hirst to Keith Haring. Proceeds from the sales of the books go towards the NSPCC.[35]

 

Personal life:

 

In 1999, Peel married Stephen Peel,[36] a private equity financier.[37] They have two children and live in Bayswater, London.[37][38]

 

Awards and honours:

 

Montblanc Award for Arts Patronage 2011[39]

Debrett's 500 List: Art[40]

Evening Standard Progress 1000 2017[41]

ArtLyst Power 100[42]

Harper's Bazaar Women Of The Year 2017[27]

Harper's Bazaar Working Wardrobe: Best dressed women 2018[43]

Henry Crown Fellow. Appointed by the Aspen Institute in 2018.[44]

 

References:

 

^ a b c "McGill Reporter - Volume 28 Number 11". reporter-archive.mcgill.ca. Retrieved 19 February 2018.

^ a b c d Bailey, Sarah. "In Conversation: Art and Fashion Are Both About Desire", Red, London, 1 November 2017. Retrieved on 19 February 2018.

^ a b c d e f McElvoy, Anne. "In The Hot Seat", Porter, London, 1 December 2016.

^ a b Greenfield, Patrick (18 June 2019). "Serpentine Galleries chief resigns in spyware firm row". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 June 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.

^ Sloway, Diane. "Meet Yana Peel, the Audacious Canadian Who's Transforming London's Famed Serpentine Galleries", W Magazine, 29 November 2016. Retrieved on 19 February 2018.

^ a b c d e f g h i Bourne, Henry. "L’alchimista", La Repubblica, Rome, 8 May 2017. Retrieved on 19 February 2018.

^ a b c "Serpentine Galleries Announce Appointment of Outset’s Yana Peel As CEO", ArtLys

The Color Purple/Violet Represents:

 

Inspiration: Original and sound ideas are created with violet - use it when looking for inspiration during brainstorming sessions.

 

Imagination: Violet inspires creativity with intellect - it is also stimulating to dream activity.

 

Individuality: Violet is unconventional, individual and original. It hates to copy anyone else and likes to do its own thing.

 

Spirituality: Violet assists us during prayer and meditation, helping us to get in touch with our deeper subconscious thoughts. Churches often feature violet in their stained glass windows. From a negative perspective it can relate to the cult follower.

Our English word “happiness” comes from the old Norse word “happ” — this is the same word from which we get our word “happen;” thus happiness is based on what happens to us. So the argument goes like this: if something good is happening, we are happy…if something bad is happening, we are sad. Though that is a fairly accurate understanding of the word “happiness,” that alone is not the only meaning of the word. The word “happy” can also be used to subjectively describe the believer’s joy (Prv 3:18; 29:18; Mt 5:3-12), which is not necessarily dependent upon what “happens” to him. Though some believers have insisted on applying “happy feelings” only to circumstances, and have objected to the use of the word “happy” when translating the beatitudes of Matt 5, that is not what Scripture teaches. Just because the derivation of the word “happy” in English has its orientation in “happ,” does not necessarily limit its usage as such, as any modern dictionary will attest. Scripture tells us that we can indeed be “happy” even in the midst of pain and suffering. Thus to insist that “spiritual joy” and “spiritual happiness” are not equivalents is to engage in meaningless contrarieties that only serve to confuse the reader. The Lord has blessed us with ability to feel & emote, and we honor Him when we appropriately exercise those emotions; it is good for believers to rejoice and be exceeding glad and happy at all times in the Lord (Lk 2:10-11; 6:23; Jn 8:56; Rom 10:15; Rev 19:7). Paul sets “rejoicing” and “being anxious” in juxtaposition to each other in order to contrast their differences (Phil 4:4, 6-7; Mt 6:25-34) — to be anxious is to be joyless. The believer can experience a deep abiding peace and joy in his life regardless of circumstances… he can experience elation that transcends his circumstances… and experience that which is highly pleasing and pleasant in the midst of difficulties and trials — all these emotions are “felt” experiences. When the believer experiences a joyful happiness, there is an absence of anxiety, tension and want in his soul; conversely, when the believer is in a “state of want,” that longing produces a disquieting unrest in his soul, so instead of being at peace and satisfied, he is anxious and restless. Happiness is one of the most misunderstood words in our vocabulary, yet we search for this intangible state our whole lives. If I only had this or that, if I met the right partner, have a big house, a new car, the job I’ve always wanted, then I would be happy. The ancient yoga and spiritual teachings stress that happiness is real only when we let go of seeking material and transient things and discover the lasting joy that is within. Every time we see a giggling baby or young child we’re reminded that we are all born with this natural and innate sense of happiness, that it is actually our birthright. We learn about suffering or unhappiness as we grow older, more externalized, and as circumstances change. We taught a workshop where a number of the participants had lost loved ones in the past years: One had lost her son to AIDS, another had lost her husband, son, and mother all within 12 months, and another’s partner had drowned. Others were dealing with specific illnesses or difficult issues in their lives. What really emerged for everyone was the awareness that their real happiness lies within themselves, that it’s not dependent on someone or something outside of them. They had lost what they had thought of as their source of happiness — a loved one or their health — and now had to look more deeply within themselves. It was a weekend of many “aha” moments!

Here are some of the ways our workshop participants discovered how to feel happy again: 1. Don’t take yourself too seriously. At times of hardship, such as loss or illness, it’s easy to lose your humor and even easier to get involved with the negative aspects of what is happening. Remembering not to take yourself too seriously brings a lightness and acceptance to the weight of circumstance around you. Don’t forget, angels can fly because they take themselves lightly! 2. Don’t identify with suffering, loss, or illness as being who you are. Many of our participants realized how they’d been identifying themselves as a cancer survivor/widow/recovering addict, or whatever it may be, but had not asked who they were without that label or identity. When you don’t identify with the negative issues, then who you really are has a chance to shine. 3. It’s OK to be you, just as you are, warts and all. You may think you’re imperfect, a mess, falling apart, hopeless, or unable to cope. But true perfection is really accepting your imperfections. It is accepting yourself, complete with all the things you like as well as the things you don’t like. In this way you’re not struggling with or rejecting yourself. Each one of is unique, a one-time offer, but we can’t know this if we are facing away from ourselves. 4. Make friends with yourself. Your relationship with yourself is the only one you have that lasts for the whole of your life, and you can be the greatest friend or the worst enemy to yourself. So it’s very important not to emotionally put down or beat yourself up. Just be kind.

5. Feel everything, whatever it may be. When you are suffering, it’s easy to want to deny or repress your feelings, as they get huge and overwhelming. But if you can really honor whatever you are feeling then it’ll bring you closer to the inner happiness beneath the suffering or grief. Acknowledging and making friends with your real feelings is the greatest gift. 6. Forgive yourself. Love yourself. Treasure yourself. These are big steps, but each one liberates the heart and sets you free. You need to forgive yourself for feeling angry, for getting upset, for all things you think you’ve done wrong. They are in the past and who you are now is not who you were then. You can take any guilt or shame by the hand, invite it in for tea, and open yourself to self-forgiveness. 7. Meditate. There is an overwhelming amount of research showing how meditation changes the circuits in the part of the brain associated with contentment and happiness and stimulates the “feel-good” factor. Meditating on love and kindness makes you much, much happier! And the only way to know this is to try it, so don’t hesitate. Can you connect with that place of inner happiness within yourself? Do leave us a comment. You can receive notice of our blogs by checking Become a Fan at the top.

www.huffingtonpost.com/ed-and-deb-shapiro/happiness-tips_...

 

I consider it as a great privilege to start this inspirational conference with a reflection on the Theology of Joy.

What is Joy?Let us begin by asking the question: What is Joy? After all that is the theme of this conference. Give Room for JOY. In other words, Let the Joy Grow – obviously in three

dimensions: towards God, within us and towards others.

Do we all have the same answer to this question: What is Joy?

Is it an idea, emotion, virtue, philosophy, ideal, or something else? There is no commonly agreed definition for it, yet still everyone seems to be selling happiness these days - drug dealers, pharmaceutical companies, Hollywood, Disney, toy

companies, and of course happiness-pedaling gurus.

As a quick survey I asked few of my friends this question: What is Joy? I got different answers – some very tangible and some not so tangible.A Hindu friend defined Joy as something we can sense through our five senses: sight (a

beautiful flower), hearing (a melodious music), taste (a Danish pastry), smell (a special perfume), and feeling (a feather touch).

He further added that Joy can be acquired or achieved through our spiritual discipline or efforts - citing YOGA as an example. In other words, he sees Joy as both sensual and

spiritual. Sri Krishna in a certain discourse in Bhagavad Gita says: Notions of heat and cold, pain and pleasure, are born only of the contact of the senses with their objects. They have a beginning and an end. They are not permanent in their nature. Bear them patiently. (Bhagavad Gita 2.14)

Sri Krishna further says: A person who is the same in pain and pleasure, whom these cannot disturb, he alone is able to attain immortality. (Bhagavad Gita 2.15) 2 A Muslim friend said this: Perfect happiness will only be available to us if we spend life everlasting in Paradise. It is only there that we will find total peace, tranquillity and security. It is only there that we will be free of the fear, anxiety and pain that are part of the human condition. However the guidelines provided by Islam allow us, imperfect humans, to seek happiness in this world. The key to being happy in this world and the next is seeking the pleasure of God, and worshipping Him.A young agnostic friend told me this:If you want happiness for an hour — take a nap.If you want happiness for a day — go fishing.If you want happiness for a year — inherit a fortune.If you want happiness for a lifetime — help someone else.A scholar- friend pointed out: In the fifth century, Boethius – a Roman Senator and

philosopher - could claim that "God is happiness itself". But by the middle of the 19th century, the formula was reversed to read "Happiness is God." Earthly happiness emerged

as the idol of idols, the central meaning in modern life, the source of human aspiration, thepurpose of existence. Materialism relocated God to the shopping mall.A Christian friend replied: I find Joy in Jesus.What do we make out of these responses? I felt that part of one’s joy could be lost if one gets too much into the realms of philosophy or psychology or theology of Joy. I liked that one-line response of my Christian friend: I find Joy in Jesus. This was one such moment when I profoundly thanked God for revealing true wisdom to ordinary folks.However, judging from the variety of answers I received, I felt the need to establish certain

contours of understanding, if at all possible, about what is Joy - before we go forward.Further, my survey-outcome highlighted the need for Christians to be pretty clear of what

they mean by Joy – based on what the Bible says. This is very important in a multi-religious society – to be clear of what one believes – amidst the cacophony of several philosophies,

ideologies, ideas and alternative spiritual movements.

Webster’s dictionary defines Joy as "a condition or feeling of high pleasure or delight;happiness or gladness."Other definitions which I came across include: 3 Joy is an emotion so deep and so lasting. Joy is a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight. Joy is an expression or display of glad feelings or festive gaiety. Joy is a state of extreme happiness. Is JOY different from HAPPINESS? Naturally a question then springs up in our mind: Is JOY different from HAPPINESS - two words we often use interchangeably? The answer is: Yes and No. Joy is something that lasts. Happiness is something that is temporary. Joy springs from within and is an internal experience. Happiness is caused by external circumstances or experiences. Joy brings with it a feeling of contentment and confidence which can take us through a storm in our life-journey. Happiness is not present when we are in the midst of a storm; it just vanishes. Happiness is a blurred emotion. It can mean different things to many people. Joy is a conscious commitment to be happy, to have a sense of gratitude and contentment despite life’s challenges. How does having a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA), pushed by today's motivational speakers, fit into real joy? Too many people try this kind of pop psychology with no foundation under it. It comes across as forced and artificial. A few leading televangelists preaching prosperity gospel come to my mind. To me, they all seem to project Joy as buyable/sellable commodity. Somebody once said that Joy is happiness with a much longer shelf life. But Joy is even more than that. Bible and Joy Let us now turn to the Bible and see: What the Bible says about JOY. 4 A search for the word JOY came up with 155 verses in King James Version. Another source reported that the word JOY appears 88 times in the Old Testament in 22 books; 57 times in the New Testament in 18 books. Certainly there is a lot of JOY in the Bible! There are 15 different Hebrew words and 8 Greek words to describe JOY - both as a noun and as a verb. This shows that Joy constitutes something that is tangible or concrete as well as intangible or abstract. In Hebrew - the original language of the Old Testament - several words for Joy, each with different shades of meaning, appear. Similar is the case in Greek – the original language of the New Testament. In both the Old and New Testaments, the words translated as "Joy" mean much the same as the English word: gladness, cheerfulness, calm delight. In the Old Testament Joy refers to a wide range of human experiences—from erotic love (Song of Solomon 1:4), to marriage (Proverbs 5:18), birth of children (Psalm113:9), gathering of the harvest, military victory (Isaiah 9:3), and drinking wine (Psalm 104:15). The Psalms express the joyous mood of believers as they encounter God. (Psalm 32:11 “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.”). Joy is a response to God's word (Psalm 119:14 “In the way of thy testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.”) In fact, Joy characterizes Israel's corporate worship life (Deuteronomy; 2 Chronicles 30:21a: “And the people of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness.”). How joyous our corporate worship is? Basic to the Old Testament understanding of Joy are God's Acts in history. Two such Acts are: Israel's deliverance from Egypt (Exodus 18:9-11) and Israel's return from the Babylonian exile (Jeremiah 31:1-19) to Jerusalem. In the Old Testament spiritual joys are expressed by the metaphors of feasting, marriage, victory in military endeavors, and successful financial undertakings. For example, the joy of the harvest is used to describe the believer's final victory over his adversaries (Psalm 126:5-6 5 “May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of Joy! He that goes forth weeping bearing the seed for sowing shall come home with shouts of Joy bringing his sheaves with him.”) We can hear the echoes of such metaphors in the Danish Hymns contained in Den Danske Salme Bog. In the New Testament Jesus himself joins the Joy of mundane events of daily life – for example the marriage at Cana. Do we picture a happy, laughing Jesus in our thoughts or reflections? Joy is associated with the nativity scene of the angels’ song (Luke 2:10 “For behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people”). The Magi, upon finding the infant Jesus, are overjoyed (Matthew 2:10). The birth of John the Baptist as the forerunner of the Messiah is an occasion of joy for his father and others (Luke 1:14 “And you will have joy and gladness.”). Luke's Gospel-narration is concluded with the disciples returning with great Joy from Bethany after Jesus' ascension. (Luke 24:52 “And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”) Heaven and Angels too rejoice in the New Testament at an unbeliever's conversion. Luke places three parables together in which God, in two instances with the angels, rejoices at the redemption - upon finding the lost sheep, the shepherd rejoices (Luke 15:3-7); the woman rejoices upon finding the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10) . The prodigal son's return brings rejoicing (Luke 15:11-32). Interestingly there is a subtle change in the usage of the word Joy from Acts 13 onwards. It gets tied with trials, suffering, persecution and the like. Why?I believe that a change had begun to take place in the church about this time. The first 20 years had passed, and now the apostles were dealing with a more mature body of believers – struggling with the application of Gospel teachings. The believers had started facing stark opposition and challenges – theological, political, economic and what not! But for these believers, trials and persecution are occasions for Joy (James 1:2 “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials.”). Suffering brings Joy as believers are united with Christ in his suffering (1 Peter 4:13-14) Paul speaks of his Joy in the midst of affliction (2 Corinthians 7:4-16 “With all our affliction, I am overjoyed.”) 6 Joy becomes part of the faith (Philippians 1:25). God's kingdom is described as: righteousness, peace and Joy (Romans 14:17). Certainty of salvation is a cause for Joy, as the disciples are commanded to "rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20). Surely the meaning of Joy takes in new dimensions and shades. Also, about this time, Apostle Paul emerges as the dominant figure. Paul mentions Joy as the second fruit of the Holy Spirit in his letter to the Galatians, along with eight other fruits. Galatians 5:22: (“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self- control.”) Joy is not something to be pursued; it is rather a result of the Christian life - a product. The church was coming increasingly under fire, and Christians were struggling to grow. We can suppose that Paul began to see and teach Joy in a different light – Joy as a character trait- tempered by fire! Christian Joy often comes tied with challenges and trials. What we have been witnessing in the Middle East and in some other parts of the world in recent times is a stark reminder to this fact. How do those brothers and sisters continue to sing and worship the Lord without losing their Faith and Joy? It clearly shows that Joy in Christian theology is different from superficial, external happiness. Let me narrate a particular case - where the involved persons have literally challenged my own concept of Joy through their life-example. Peter says: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (I Peter4:12-13) Count your trials as joy. James 1:2-3 says, "Knowing that the testing of your faith [through trials] produces patience." God's testing process has the goal or aim of purging us of all impurity, to make us "perfect and complete, lacking nothing" (verse 4). The word Gospel literally means good news. Jesus encouraged us to think of the future as a time of Joy, so that it sustains us now when times are difficult. 7 I see three categories or groups of people gathered here today: those who are natural citizens of Denmark - born and brought up here; those who came to Denmark of their own choice; and those who came here due to circumstances beyond their control. All of us however enjoy the Joy of Christ because of this particular theology: Trials and tribulations are integral part of Christian life! It is part of our Faith. It is part of our DNA. Christian joy is not the seeking of pleasure: quite the opposite. It is a curious paradox of life that the more we seek to be happy the more miserable we become. A famous writer (Eric Hoffer) once said: “The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.” Joy is God’s gift. It is not something to be pursued. As mentioned earlier, Jesus said to his followers: “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20) Joy is about getting this into perspective, not how wide our grin is! The Christian has the promise of Jesus that the best is yet to come. We can be joyful in spite of circumstances. As we read the Bible, we will find this theme again and again. Christian Joy exists in spite of circumstances. Christians should be able to display their inner JOY at all three Houses of Worship: Church, Home and Work-Station.Let us encourage each other to be truly Joyful – driven by our Faith, Hope, Love, Contentment and Gratitude – in spite of circumstances. The five pillars of Joy! We are familiar with the first three pillars coming from what Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “So faith, hope and love abide.” Regarding the fourth pillar contentment, not everyone is truly content with his or her life. Often we are unsatisfied and seek more for what we don't have and who we are. Through scripture however, we are commanded to be content with all we have in life. As we practice the discipline of gratitude instead of complaining, grumbling, or forgetting God's goodness, we will experience His peace, be filled with His joy, and grow in faith and hope. All these five pillars - Faith, Hope, Love, Contentment and Gratitude – are borne out of God’s grace, and even though we don’t deserve. They are the five gifts of grace.I would encourage you to look at JOY as a fruit - made up of five tastes or colors: Faith,Hope, Love, Contentment and Gratitude 8 Let me now read out two scripture portions for you – one from the OT and the other from the NT – as part of this inspirational talk. Habakkuk 3:17-19. (Explain background.) “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.”Here is what St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:4 -10 (Explain background). “Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything”. Do these two scripture-portions resonate in any manner with our own life-journeys? If yes, REJOICE. Because in these two verses I see the gist of Christian Theology of Joy – a theology that encompasses Faith, Hope, Love, Gratitude and Contentment.When we have the Joy of the Lord, we will know it and so will others. In addition to being joyful, we should let others have their Joy. Christian Joy is contagious. Do we see some role-models - at our homes, communities, cities and villages My wife and I have met quite a few JOYFUL Christians here in Denmark. They have truly inspired us. Where Joy cannot be found? Men have pursued joy in every avenue imaginable. Some have successfully found it while others have not. Perhaps it would be easier to describe where joy cannot be found:Not in Unbelief -- Voltaire was a non-believer of the most pronounced type. He wrote: "Iwish I had never been born."Not in Pleasure -- Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. He wrote: "The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone." 9 Not in Money -- Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said: "I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth." Not in Position and Fame -- Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: "Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret."

www.tvaerkulturelt-center.dk/index.php/docman-dokumenter/...

Introduction — The pursuit of happiness has probably reached its peak in our twentieth century world. Americans don’t stand alone in this pursuit, because it is an innate drive found in every man’s nature. Everyone wants to be happy and seeks it in varying ways and with varying degrees of intensity. Some seek it through pleasure, others through enter-tainment, possessions, work, position, education, and success; still others seek it in athletic endeavors, hobbies, travel, fashion, physical beauty, wealth, status, bigger homes, boats, planes, and vacation homes, as well as alcohol, food and drugs. King Solomon conducted a series of experiments in a quest to get the most and best out of life — his experiments not only included most of those things listed above, but also laughter, the finest wines, wisdom, and building projects that were the envy of the world… he built houses for himself, planted vineyard and gardens, built waterpools, acquired male and female servants, male and female singers and musicians, herds and flocks that were unparalleled, silver and gold and valuable treasures… said Solomon, “I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem… whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them… I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure…. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done… and found it to be nothing but vanity and a striving after wind” (Ecc 2:1-12). Therefore, said Solomon, “I completely despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun… it was all vanity” (Ecc 2:20-25). Solomon admitted that his quest rewarded him with a degree of joy, yet he still found that it did not satisfy him. Most people think they would have had an endless amount of joy were they as blessed as Solomon was… but Solomon concluded that it is God who determines whether or not we experience joy (Ecc 2:26). The experiences of men the world over tell us that no matter how secure and wonderful their sources of joy may be, human joy does not last long.

On the other hand, when we follow God’s prescription, He feeds us in such a way that we experience real joy and satisfaction. God makes it very clear in Scripture that real joy lies in the quality of our relationship with Him; therefore, can we actually be so foolish so as to think that we can somehow produce it ourselves? One thing is certain: dwelling on ourselves and our wants will never produce true joy — rather than being obsessed with ourselves we must become obsessed with Christ; if we do, we will immerse ourselves in His Word, and seek to know Him more intimately “and our joy will be made full” (Jn 15:1-11). It is only through God’s Spirit that we can experience true joy (Ps 15:11-12; Gal 5:22; 1 Th 1:6); it cannot be accomplished apart from God (2 Cor 12:10; 13:4). The harder we try to be joyful through our own efforts, the more miserable we will become. Rest in the Lord’s arms (Mt 11:28-30) and seek His face through prayer and Scripture. Writes the apostle Paul: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom 15:13).

The psalmist David wrote these encouraging words: “Thou will make known to me the path of life; in Thy presence is fulness of joy; in Thy right hand there are pleasures forever” (Ps 16:11). The Bible is clear that the only place we can find true joy is in God’s presence. Faith is a necessary requisite for experiencing joy and pleasing God (Heb 11:6; Jam1:2-4), and without joy we don’t have the faith to conquer the problems we face in life. The night before Jesus went to the cross He taught His disciples how important it was for them to “abide in Him;” that only when they were experiencing “intimacy with Him” would they be able to bear fruit — “apart from Me you can do nothing.” He went on to tell them that He had spoken these things to them“that His joy might be in them, and that their joy might be made full” (Jn 15:11). Writes David, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. For to those who fear Him, there is no want” (Ps 34:8-9). When we lack joy, the heart is discontented, anxious, and unhappy… so a lack of joy leads to a lack of peace; and obviously where there is no peace, there is no joy.There is nothing like knowing that our joy remains full even when we have been rendered empty of all that we had thought we needed to sustain our happiness. Sadly, it is true that most Christians fail to experience joy when times become difficult — generally they get so caught up in the issues of life that they forget to “rejoice in the Lord,” or they question how it is even possible when life gets so discouraging, depressing and frustrating. To experience the secret of joy one must carefully reflect on the path of joy as it is outlined in Scripture. Twice in Philippians 4:4 Paul gives this command: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say rejoice.” Just because God’s Spirit dwells within us does not mean that we will necessarily experience joy— we must make a choice to let Christ be our joy. When we falter in our faith, we try to manufacture our own joy, and that is simply not possible, because God is its author. Only when we find our happiness in the person of Christ can we experience true joy. Jesus said to His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (Jn 15:11). Here Jesus reminds us that we will not have fullness of joy unless we abide in Him, and that involves keeping His commands and putting our full trust and confi-dence in Him. Obedience to God is central to experiencing the joy of God — if we do not follow His will and live according to His Word, we will not experience joy. The darkest times of life for most believers are times of disobedience because there is a lack of joy in their lives even in the midst of positive circumstances. The most joyful times in life can actually be when we triumph in faith during the most difficult and oppressive times. If we want to experience the “supernatural joy life,” then we must walk in obedience, resting in God all the while. When we put our confidence in God and choose to have His joy, we will experience that unspeakably wonderful “gift of the Spirit” – JOY. His joy can be experienced at this very moment in your life – regardless of circumstances – if you will walk in faith and obedience (again, more on that later).

It was the prophet Nehemiah who said, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh 8:10). To appre-ciate what this means we must understand the context in which these words were stated. The Israelites had just returned from Babylon after having spent seventy years in exile… under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah the Jewish people rebuilt Jerusalem’s ruined walls, and now they set their sights on re-establishing the temple and restoring the nation. Though they were no longer being held captive in Babylon, “they were still slaves to those who were governing the land God had given to them” (Neh 9:36). The Jewish remnant who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, in large part were ignorant of their spirit-ual heritage due to their captivity; furthermore they had forgotten their native language; and above all, they had lived in sin and had forgotten God. Nehemiah called a “special meeting” in the middle of the city — altogether about 50,000 people attended. Ezra the priest was asked to read the book of the Law of Moses to the assembly — he read it aloud from daybreak until noon, and the Word of God spoke in a profound way to the hearts of the people, and for the first time they were made aware of their sinful-ness before God. The people learned that Jeremiah had prophesied the very destruction that they had suffered, yet in the same breath Jeremiah gave them a promise that their mourning would turn to a morning of joy — God would bring them back to their land seventy years later. Ezra read, “Behold,” says the Lord, “I will gather My people from the remote parts of the earth… a great company shall return here… they shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them… for I am a father to Israel” (Jer 31:8-9). The people experienced the relevancy of the message — they were made aware of the connection between the sins of their own hearts and their distressful situation, and they saw that their slavery was the result of their own sin. As they stood there mourning over their sins, they understood the message of salvation… it was not a message of “I told you so” or “you should have known better” or “look what a mess you have made of your lives”… instead they are told to “Go and enjoy choice food and drinks, for this day is sacred to the Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” “Then all the people went away to eat and drink and celebrate with great joy, because they now under-stood the words that had been made known to them” (Neh 8:9-12). This day was sacred to the Lord — it was the joy of the Lord that made this such a sacred day… God had deliberately led them to this moment in time… it wasn’t a day of good fortune or good luck… it was the joyful day of the Lord! The people were told “not to grieve” — “God’s anger is but for a moment; whereas His favor lasts a life-time” (Ps 30:4-5). When the Word of God was opened and read to them, the people began to understand themselves and the need to change their minds about the way they were living. And like them, if we listen, it will also bring us to a “mourning of joy.” When we set our hearts to obey God’sWord, the Lord Himself causes us to rejoice — “God had made them rejoice with great joy” (Neh 12:43). On the eighth day according to the Law there was an assembly of all the people… they gathered together for a great day of national confession… with fasting and mourning, they listened to the reading of the Law for three hours… and then for three more hours they confessed their sins and those of their fathers and worshipped the LORD their God (Neh 9:1-3). The people responded to the reading of the Law thus: “Because of our sins… we are in great distress” (Neh 9:37). Their confession was accompanied by great remorse… they understood their terrible condition as they journeyed back to God… but more importantly, they understood God’s joyous message of salvation, and at that they burst out in praise! Then said Nehemiah to the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God… do not mourn or weep… rather, go eat and drink…. DO NOT GRIEVE, FOR THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!” (Neh 8:9-10). NOTE CAREFULLY it is “the Lord’s joy” that is our strength… it “the Lord’s joy” that gives us reason to rejoice… it is “the Lord’s joy” that fills us with hope. It is God's happiness that is our strength!!! It is not anything that we have done that is our hope, joy or strength! Furthermore, it is not God’s anger, wrath or holiness that is our strength! IT IS “GOD’S JOY” THAT IS OUR STRENGTH!! NOT OUR JOY!! GOD’S JOY!! IT IS THE “LORD’S JOYOUS WISH” TO SAVE US FROM OUR SINS — AND THAT IS OUR STRENGTH and ENERGY and VITALITY! It is GOD’S JOY to stand us back up on our feet and strengthen our feeble legs & wobbly knees so that we might discover that HIS JOY IS OUR STRENGTH! It is the “joy of the Lord” that remains our strength today! REMEMBER, IT IS “GOD’S JOY” TO SAVE YOU!!! His faithfulness continues throughout all generations! Our response should be to commit our lives to Him for joyfully wanting to save us! It is incredible to realize that no matter how bad things get for us, GOD’S JOY will forever be our hope and strength! James clearly has victory over trials in mind, not mere acceptance of one’s trials. It is “joy” that gives us the strength to fight and overcome our trials. Joy gives us the strength to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim 6:12). Spiritual joy has a way of infusing strength into our being! If you are tired of fighting the battle it is because your problems seem too much for you — you have lost your joy, and have rightly concluded that the fight is too great for you. Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord always!” (Phil 4:4). You are to always rejoice in the Lord — you can’t live off of the joy you had yesterday or last week — that joy will not give you strength today. Joy can only give you strength in the moment… it can only give you strength when you possess it. The time to rejoice is always “now” — if you don’t rejoice, you will lose the strength to fight. I love this verse in Habakkak — “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crops fail and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD; I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Hab 3:17-18). He is going to REJOICE because “the God of his salvation is his strength; He makes his feet like the feet of a deer, and enables him to walk on high places” (Hab 3:19). Habakkuk had no intention of staying defeated. The difference between the person who is defeated and the person who is victorious is his attitude toward God. An attitude of gratitude is what made the difference in the prophet’s life. Even though nothing good was happening in his life – no fruit, no crops, no sheep, no cattle – yet he rejoiced! Though our lives are filled with trials, we are also to rejoice! Regardless of our circumstances, we can rejoice! Reflect upon the words of the prophetic Isaiah: “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. Therefore I will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation” (Is 12:2-3). Notice what this Scripture says: “with joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation.” It is joy that keeps you strong and enables you to draw from the springs of salvation. Our English word “happiness” comes from the old Norse word “happ” — this is the same word from which we get our word “happen;” thus happiness is based on what happens to us. So the argument goes like this: if something good is happening, we are happy…if something bad is happening, we are sad. Though that is a fairly accurate understanding of the word “happiness,” that alone is not the only meaning of the word. The word “happy” can also be used to subjectively describe the believer’s joy (Prv 3:18; 29:18; Mt 5:3-12), which is not necessarily dependent upon what “happens” to him. Though some believers have insisted on applying “happy feelings” only to circumstances, and have objected to the use of the word “happy” when translating the beatitudes of Matt 5, that is not what Scripture teaches. Just because the derivation of the word “happy” in English has its orientation in “happ,” does not necessarily limit its usage as such, as any modern dictionary will attest. Scripture tells us that we can indeed be “happy” even in the midst of pain and suffering. Thus to insist that “spiritual joy” and “spiritual happiness” are not equivalents is to engage in meaningless contrarieties that only serve to confuse the reader. — to be anxious is to be joyless. The believer can experience a deep abiding peace and joy in his life regardless of circumstances… he can experience elation that transcends his circumstances… and experience that which is highly pleasing and pleasant in the midst of difficulties and trials — all these emotions are “felt” experiences. When the believer experiences a joyful happiness, there is an absence of anxiety, tension and want in his soul; conversely, when the believer is in a “state of want,” that longing produces a disquieting unrest in his soul, so instead of being at peace and satisfied, he is anxious and restless.

 

www.thetransformedsoul.com/additional-studies/spiritual-l...

(Former) English, Scottish & Australian Bank:

 

Historical evidence indicates that this building was constructed around 1882 for Philip Bolger, a grocer, who acquired the land from James Gibbon in that year. Bolger borrowed £3,000 from Gibbon in the same year he bought the land – possibly to finance construction of this two storey masonry building. The building was constructed during a period of growth and economic confidence which stimulated the expansion of Fortitude Valley.

 

Fortitude Valley was established during the 1850s, spurred by Lang’s Scottish Presbyterian immigrants who were denied land grants by the colonial government. Schools and churches were established during the 1860s with the census of 1861 reporting a population in the district of over 1300. The 1880s was a time of great commercial and residential growth in the Fortitude Valley area as both the population and the economy boomed. The imposing new Holy Trinity Catholic Church replaced the existing one in 1882 and large ornate hotels such as the Empire, the Prince Consort and the Wickham were constructed to cater to the rapidly growing population. New commercial premises were also erected to take advantage of the economic prosperity.

 

Early photographs show that Bolger’s building was originally more ornate, in keeping with the flamboyant style favoured in the 1880s. It had two triangular pediments, the bases of which are still evident today.

 

Bolger occupied the building until the 1890s when it was taken over by Jason Yetting and Son, Tea Importers. During the later half of the 1890s the building was used as a boot warehouse then from 1901 until 1920 by Albert Goodall, a bootmaker. Another boot manufacturer, John Charity, gained title to the property in 1920 and he ran his business from these premises until 1926.

 

In 1927 the building was converted to a bank after the English, Scottish and Australian Bank gained title in that year. This is likely to have been the period in which the alterations to the building’s external features took place. Like the 1880s, the 1920s were a time of economic confidence, particularly in the Valley which now rivalled the CBD as a major shopping precinct.

 

The English Scottish and Australian Chartered Bank was incorporated in the United Kindgom in 1852. On 21 August 1893 the English Scottish and Australian Bank Limited was established in Australia, based in Melbourne. It went on to have 104 branches spread throughout Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland.

 

In the 1920s, the bank expanded, acquiring the London Bank of Australia, the Commercial Bank of Tasmania and the Royal Bank of Australia. This boom ended with the 1930s depression. Wartime controls limited the bank’s revival and the 1950s witnessed a period of turbulent growth. On 10 December 1968 the English Scottish and Australian Bank merged with ANZ.

 

The building at 100 Wickham Street was sold to Lanart Pty Ltd in 1973 and changed hands again in 1983. From the 1990s to the present, the building has been occupied by “Monty”, a second hand dealer and pawnbroker.

 

Muller Brothers Building:

 

Until the mid-1880s, Wickham Street was a quiet and sparsely populated street. Although the section between Duncan and Brunswick Streets hosted the Roman Catholic chapel from the late 1850s and the Prince Consort hotel from the early 1860s, Anne Street (as it was then spelled) was the main commercial district of Fortitude Valley. The Valley itself was a quiet and sparsely populated town until the 1880s, when an economic boom encouraged the construction of brick and stone buildings, replacing wooden ones. Residents of the Valley also began demanding better services, including improved transport, roads and sewage systems. The boom also assisted the development of Wickham Street, which became an increasingly important retail area from the 1880s.

 

Phillip Bolger obtained title to the site in April 1882, with the help of a £3,000 mortgage, and ran an oyster saloon on the site. The property was sold in 1885, firstly to Benjamin Waylett in May and then to John Watson in July. The site was located between stores run by drapers Quinn and Moylan and the former Roman Catholic Chapel.

 

The building was constructed for John Watson in 1886. Watson was a renowned figure in nineteenth century Brisbane, a Scottish immigrant whose varied career included roles as contractor, former lessee of the Bulimba Hotel and ferry and postmaster of the Breakfast Creek area. In the 1880s he began his first forays into his career as politician, elected to the Bulimba Divisional Board. He had become its chairman in 1885, when a financial scandal erupted and caused the resignation of all board members. Watson disclaimed knowledge of the problem (defrauding the Treasury) and was reinstated to the Board. In 1886 he was a member of the Booroodabin Divisional Board and stood for election for the seat of Fortitude Valley, which had been vacated after the sudden death of Francis Beattie.

 

Tenders were called in March for the construction of two two-storey brick stops for J. Watson, Esquire, by renowned and flamboyant architect Andrea Stombuco, who was also the Catholic Diocesan architect. Stombuco, like Watson, attracted a great deal of notice in nineteenth century Brisbane society, infamous for his fiery temper and his manner of dressing. He was also responsible for the design of several heritage listed buildings, including St Patrick’s Church in the Valley (1882) [600210]; St Francis Xavier Church, Goodna (1881) [600553]; Heckelmann’s Building, Brisbane (1884) [600104]; and a residence, Bertholme (1883) [600263]. Stombuco began practising with son Giovanni in 1886 (Watson’s building being one of its first commissions) and the partnership was responsible for the design of, inter alia, St Joseph’s Catholic Church at Kangaroo Point and St Joseph’s Christian Brothers’ College at Nudgee, before Andrea Stombuco left Brisbane for Perth and Giovanni Stombuco retired.

 

Watson’s choice of Stombuco to design his new building may have been influenced by his long connection with the architect. In his work as a contractor, Watson had worked with Stombuco on Benjamin Bros’ new warehouse (1884) and ‘Palma Rosa’, Stombuco’s residence (1887) [600219]. He was in attendance at the opening of the latter building in 1887, along with a number of other prominent contractors. Watson had also erected the new belfry for the new St Patrick’s church in 1886, a building which Stombuco had designed. Stombuco had also designed the Brunswick Street drapery of Watson’s father-in-law, John Gillies, in 1880.

 

The construction of Watson’s new building was preceded by excavation work, carried out by Cornelius Ryan. The presence of porphyry under the site necessitated blasting operations, which were commenced in early April. On 16 April a passer-by, Felix Henry, was killed by a large stone (estimated as weighing between 5-7lb) loosened by a blast. Watson’s name was not mentioned in newspaper reports of the blast, and Watson was not reluctant to mention in May that he was undertaking the construction of two new shops which would cost £3,000 and would help beautify Wickham Street. Despite this dedication to his ward, he lost the election by 26 votes. He later won the seat and represented the Valley in 1888.

 

The shops were finished and leased to tenants from around 1887. Watson’s father-in-law, Gillies, managed the lease of the building, known as ‘Watson’s buildings’. Although it was a single building, it contained two shops which were considered to be separate ‘buildings’. Each building contained six rooms, including a shop and dwelling and was described as being in the best part of Wickham Street, located next to drapers Quinn and Moylan and the former Catholic chapel. The building could also be accessed by a small laneway running behind the property, which backed onto the Valley rail line, under construction at the time Watson’s building was completed. Watson had been a member of the Valley Railway Committee and an active participant at meetings in the 1880s calling for a railway to be extended to the Valley. Although Watson had favoured a line through Petrie’s Bite and not through Watson’s properties, as the line eventually ran, he continued to support the railway and encourage the extension of the line to Bulimba, or at least to the Bulimba reach of the river. John McMaster, a fellow politician, later credited Watson with being instrumental in the development of the Valley railway.

 

From the 1890s, the building hosted a succession of Chinese merchant businesses. The presence of Chinese merchants in the Valley was not uncommon; the first Chinese shops had opened in the 1880s, located mainly along Wickham Street, and Chinese market gardeners worked on the edge of the Valley. However, the occupation of Watson’s buildings by Chinese merchants was somewhat unusual, as John Watson was the leader of the Valley branch of the Anti-Chinese League and had stirred up anti-Chinese sentiment in the months leading up to the 1888 elections. The first round of elections had culminated in an anti-Chinese riot on 5 May, in which a large group had run through the city and Valley damaging the shops of Chinese merchants. Watson, who had campaigned on a stance of removing the Chinese from the country, was elected to the seat of Fortitude Valley by a considerable margin a week after the riots. Police were positioned in front of every Chinese shop in the Valley on the evening of the election, discouraging any further damage from the ‘larrikin classes’. The Chinese Immigration Restriction Act 1888 was passed later in the year. Nevertheless, tea importer James Yeteng and merchants Wo Yick Chong and See War and Company ran their businesses in succession from one of the shops for ten years, from 1892-1902.

 

Watson’s building was occupied by small drapery businesses and Muller Brothers, importers, from 1902. The Muller brothers (Max and Emil) resided upstairs at number 194. A 1913 photograph of Wickham Street shows Watson’s buildings, Maher’s building and the Prince Consort Hotel.

 

Following the death of John Watson in 1912, the property and the McGeehin building next door were placed in trust. The remarriage of Watson’s wife Christina left her unable to inherit and the five remaining beneficiaries, Watson’s children, intended to divide the properties so that each owned one of the shops on Wickham Street. The new Undue Subdivision of Land Prevention Act 1923 passed by the City Council intended to restrict subdivisions to properties with over 20 foot frontages, but the Watson beneficiaries successfully appealed the Council’s decision in 1924. The Muller Brothers building was passed to Charles Ferrier Watson, who inherited shop 194, on 6.98 perches of land and George Alexander Hilliary Watson, who received shop 196 on 7.43 perches. The properties also carried charges in favour of Mary Murray (another of Watson’s children, who had not inherited a property) and Christina Scott, Watson’s widow.

 

The Watson brothers leased the properties separately, although to similar tenants who ran tailoring or drapery businesses, and from the 1940s cafes and saloons, which had become increasingly popular in the Valley. Both properties were sold in the late 1940s and alterations were made to the shop-front of 194 in 1950 (owned by M. Andronicos, 1948-1967) and 1956 (leased by G.F. Price); and to the shop-front of 196 in 1952 (owned by D. Mee Sing), to the café in 1953 (owned by Leonard Young) and to the awning in 1965 (owned by Joe Kong).

 

The shops continue to be owned separately and run as commercial properties (restaurants and cafes).

 

(Former) McGeehin & Co Building:

 

The McGeehin & Co building is located on the original site of the Fortitude Valley Roman Catholic Church and School, built in the late 1850s. The Valley had been settled by European immigrants in the late 1840s and the street, named Wickham after magistrate and surveyor Captain Wickham, was in existence as early as 1855, although it was only a dirt track which meandered through a series of private properties and terminated in a swamp. Churches and hotels appeared early in the development of the Valley, and along with small dwellings, the first buildings on Wickham Street included the Catholic Church and the adjacent Prince Consort Hotel, established around 1862. The church, a small wooden building with an attached schoolhouse, was the second Catholic Church and one of only fourteen churches in the Moreton Bay settlement by 1859. The population of Fortitude Valley increased over the ensuing two decades and although it was merely a small town in comparison with the central business district, the Catholic congregation outgrew the Wickham Street building. A new Cathedral designed by diocesan architect Andrea Stombuco was constructed in Morgan Street, near Ann Street. The new building was consecrated in December 1882 and the congregation removed there, while the school was continued by the Sisters of Mercy until 1887, when it moved from the ‘dilapidated buildings’ on busy Wickham Street to a new school house in Ivory Street. The new building, St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register [600210]. The old church remained hidden but intact on the Wickham Street site until 1911, when work undertaken for the construction of new premises revealed the old wooden chapel.

 

With a large new church nearly ready for its parishioners, the Wickham Street land was offered for sale in September 1881. It passed through the hands of the church’s clergy before the property of one rood and 21 perches was sold to contract builder and politician John Watson in 1889.

 

Scottish-born Watson was a well-known figure in nineteenth and early twentieth century Brisbane. He had arrived in Queensland with his wife Eliza in 1864 and settled near the river on what is now Oxford St in Bulimba. By 1866 he had acquired a license for the Bulimba Ferry Hotel (later the Bulimba Hotel) and was the lessee of the Bulimba ferry. He was a man of many trades, having worked in the shipping and building industries, constructed the Victoria Bridge (1888-9) and several wharves and jetties around Brisbane, provided postal services for Breakfast Creek and Bulimba and served in various political functions, including chairman of the Balmoral and Bulimba Boards and a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Valley Ward. Watson was politically conservative and a protectionist, claiming at a political meeting that he always bought from the Valley. On the other hand, he was not one to shy away from controversy and publicity: he was the head of the Anti-Chinese League, had been chairman of the Balmoral Board when it was involved in financial scandals, drove the Bulimba steam punt into the oncoming ship Wyandra, and was duped out of £100 on a trip to London in 1909. He also felt strongly that the Brisbane River should be kept clean, protesting the dumping of sewage into the river. Watson was married three times and died in 1912 at his Bulimba residence.

 

Watson’s connections with the Valley were significant. As its representative from 1888-1896, he was credited with having been instrumental in bringing the railway to the Valley. Watson had been vocal about the location of tramlines in the Valley and was among the deputation of ratepayers who approached the Mayor in 1903 about the possibility of commencing markets in the Valley. As a contractor he had constructed the belfry for the new Valley Catholic Church in 1886. He purchased multiple properties along Wickham Street from 1882 and in 1886 commissioned Andrea Stombuco to design two two-storey brick shops on the premises, now the heritage listed as Muller Brothers’ Buildings. Watson’s second wife Elizabeth Gillies was the daughter of a Brunswick Street draper and his father-in-law, John, managed the lease of the Wickham Street properties throughout the 1880s and 1890s.

The exact date of the construction of this building is unknown, although it was almost certainly between 1898, when the property was classified as vacant land, and 1905, when the Brisbane Courier provided a history of the old Wickham Street church and added that:

 

[t]he land in question is no longer devoted to religious purposes, for the hand of commerce had been laid upon it, and it is now occupied by business premises owned by Mr John Watson.

 

The buildings were probably constructed around 1902, coinciding with a flux of development on Wickham Street. Transportation to the Valley had swept away the isolation of the township, and the Valley had emerged as a prime shopping and industrial destination. Investors began to take advantage of the circumstances, with those lucky enough to own land in the street constructing newer, larger buildings on their sites to attract tenants and customers. In addition, many of the timber buildings that had survived the development boom of the 1880s were demolished in the 1900s and replaced by more substantial masonry buildings, as required for a First Class building area.

 

From 1902, the building was occupied by grocers McGeehin & Co and an oyster saloon. McGeehin was later joined by Tolman, who lived in the residential portion upstairs. The buildings, described after a fire in 1910 (which damaged only goods within the shop), were three two-storey shops with residential quarters upstairs, similar to the Muller Brothers building. It remained a grocery store and oyster bar well into the 1920s. A photograph of this building taken in 1913 from the McWhirters building, looking down Wickham Street, shows the distinctive facades of Watson’s buildings.

 

Following the death of John Watson in 1912, the property and the Muller building next door were placed in trust. The remarriage of Watson’s wife Christina prevented her from inheriting, so the five remaining beneficiaries intended to divide the properties so that each owned one of the shops on Wickham Street. The Council was reluctant to subdivide properties which were so small (each had a frontage to Wickham Street of less than twenty feet), but Watson’s beneficiaries successfully appealed the Council’s decision and the properties were subdivided in 1924. Joseph Gillies Watson inherited shop 202, Isabella Margaret Dobson (nee Watson) shop 200 and William Francis Watson inherited shop 198, each parcel comprising around 8 perches of land. The properties also carried charges in favour of Mary Murray (another of Watson’s children, who had not inherited a property) and Christina Scott, Watson’s widow.

 

Each new owner continued to lease the properties, particularly as cafes, restaurants and wine saloons, which became popular in the Valley in the 1930s and 1940s. The shop in the centre (200) was run as a wine saloon for close to forty years (c.1915–c.1954). Alterations to the shops fronts and awnings were undertaken in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as interior changes such as a toilet block added in 1955. The properties continue to be owned separately and are used for commercial and entertainment purposes.

 

Source: Brisbane City Council Heritage Register.

I have always believed there is no such thing as a wasted Spring Break, but this year I learned that an Animal Farm truism applies to vacations as well as people. The way I see it now is that all Spring Breaks are essentially equal, but some are more equal than others.

.

 

........***** All images are copyrighted by their respective authors .......

.

 

... marsmet462 photostream ... marsmet5462 ...

 

m.flickr.com/#/photos/63870278@N03/

 

Thursday, April 3, 2014

 

.

 

m.flickr.com/#/photos/63870278@N03/5836575032/

 

2014 - Black text on white background

 

.

 

View photo size ... Large

 

m.flickr.com/#/photos/63870278@N03/5836575032/sizes/l/

 

.

 

m.flickr.com/#/activity/

 

.

.

.

 

... message header for item 1. ... New rules target racy Vietnamese cafes in Calif ...

 

Tucked into strip malls featuring McDonald's and Subway restaurants, the coffeehouses cater to men toting laptops to take advantage of free wireless access, who are meeting business partners or who are getting together with friends to play cards, watch sports and flirt with waitresses who pour iced drinks.

 

.

.

.

 

... marsmet532a photo ... Florigold Indian River …item 2.. “Look out — nasty new mosquito is invading U.S.” (June 26, 2013) …item 3.. Monster mosquitoes arrive in central Florida (TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 2013) ..

 

m.flickr.com/#/photos/115947920@N03/12240040036/

 

2014 - Black text on white background

Thursday, April 3, 2014

.

 

... marsmet532a photostream ... marsmet532a ... Page 1

 

www.flickr.com/photos/115947920@N03/?details=1

 

.

.

 

.............................................................................................................................................................................................

.

.....item 1).... New rules target racy Vietnamese cafes in Calif ...

 

... Yahoo! News ...

 

By AMY TAXIN - Associated Press | AP – 2 hrs 37 mins ago ... Friday July 01, 2011

 

news.yahoo.com/rules-target-racy-vietnamese-cafes-calif-0...

 

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) — At Café Miss Cutie, the windows are tinted but not pitch black. The waitresses are wearing negligees but not naked. And patrons are being urged to smoke outside.

 

The dimly lit coffeehouse in the heart of Orange County's Little Saigon hopes to get a passing grade when police start enforcing a host of new rules to crack down on illegal gambling and nudity at some cafes starting as soon as this weekend.

 

Officers plan to make rounds of the 37 Vietnamese cafes in the suburban city of Garden Grove to ensure they don't have arcade games that have been rigged to let patrons bet on blackjack and roulette, and that scantily clad waitresses leave something to the imagination.

 

The crackdown comes after authorities reported crime was on the rise outside coffeehouses.

 

"When you're running illegal gaming and further complicating the issue by having a quasi-strip bar ... you're attracting a different crowd than guys just going in there to have a cup of coffee," Garden Grove police spokesman Lt. Jeff Nightengale said.

 

Orange County is home to the biggest Vietnamese immigrant community in the country, with sizable enclaves in Garden Grove and surrounding cities.

 

Tucked into strip malls featuring McDonald's and Subway restaurants, the coffeehouses cater to men toting laptops to take advantage of free wireless access, who are meeting business partners or who are getting together with friends to play cards, watch sports and flirt with waitresses who pour iced drinks.

Business has fallen at many of the cafes since police started the crackdown — above all on the arcade games that lured customers off their couches and got them to linger longer at the coffeehouses.

 

"They say if it's just to drink coffee, then I'll stay home and drink coffee," said Thuy Do, owner of Café Chichi in Garden Grove.

 

On a recent weekday afternoon, a dozen loyal patrons converged at Café Miss Cutie to play Chinese chess, watch European soccer on flat screen TVs and sip iced coffee served by a waitress in a see-through lavender negligee.

 

One of them was Mike Nguyen, a 53-year-old day trader who said he doesn't mind the thick stench of cigarette smoke and wishes authorities would ease up on the coffeehouse that has become his virtual office and escape from the cookie-cutter Southern California suburb where he lives.

 

"It's a stimulating environment," said Nguyen, of nearby Irvine. "Starbucks is boring."

 

But authorities in Garden Grove — a city of 170,000 people about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles — said cafes have gotten out of control. What began more than a decade ago with waitresses in skimpy outfits morphed into nudity. Some coffeehouses had six or eight arcade games running, and crime was on the rise, Nightengale said.

 

Between January 2010 and May 2011, police received reports of three robberies, four assaults with a deadly weapon, and seven drug-related incidents at coffeehouses — a far cry from the tranquility at the city's more traditional cafes, Nightengale said.

 

In March, authorities arrested 23 people at coffeehouses in Garden Grove and Westminster for investigation of illegal gaming and seized more than 180 machines and more than $145,000 in cash, Garden Grove police said.

 

The Garden Grove City Council recently passed new rules to ban arcade games, darkly tinted windows and nudity at cafes. Coffeehouses will be fined $1,000 for each violation.

 

At Café Miss Cutie, sales have been halved since police began making rounds several months ago, manager Tuyen Tran said.

 

"We just serve coffee, wear bikinis, like Hooters," Tran said. "I don't know how long we can survive like this — with no money and losing customers."

 

Do, whose small café is brightly lit, said she relies on loyal, older patrons to stay afloat. But with the new restrictions, she fears her customers may venture over to coffeehouses in nearby cities where there are fewer limits.

 

"Now it is a little boring to just come and drink coffee and read the paper," she said.

.

.

 

.

.............................................................................................................................................................................................

.

.....item 2).... The spring break cleanse ...

 

... FSU News ... www.fsunews.com/ ...

 

FSU News / section / News ... www.fsunews.com/section/NEWS

.

......................

 

img code photo ... No matter what you do for spring break

 

cmsimg.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=CD&D...

 

No matter what you do for spring break, remember, it’s a time to relax, unwind and get a new perspective on things. / Getty Images

 

......................

.

 

Written by

Adrian Chamberlin

Senior Staff Writer @adchamberlin

 

FILED UNDER

FSU News

FSU News Adrian Chamberlin

 

Mar. 19, 2014

 

www.fsunews.com/article/20140319/FSVIEW0303/140319022/The...

 

I have always believed there is no such thing as a wasted Spring Break, but this year I learned that an Animal Farm truism applies to vacations as well as people. The way I see it now is that all Spring Breaks are essentially equal, but some are more equal than others.

 

In my eyes any Spring Break is a productive Spring Break because the goal of the week off is to make use of a brief respite from the rigors of classes. This means, to me, that whether you spend the week at a job, working on extra curricular projects, or partying on some beach, the break did its job. That being said, the different ways to spend a break create different perspectives when you come back to school, and to the world.

 

I’ll use some personal examples to start. This year, I spent Spring Break in Guatemala with my dad and older brother. During our time there we camped on a volcano for two nights, actually climbed two volcanoes, did a little bit of sight seeing and found time to head down to the Pacific for surf lessons and lounging. Overall, the trip sent me back to Tallahassee and the world with a new way of thinking.

 

Prior to the trip, I had political science dribbling out my ears, and I was spending hours on Twitter and Tumblr looking to keep up with the latest news. I had essentially wrapped myself in a web of activity between school, life, and news that left my brain with little to no spare space for thoughts.

 

But after a week off of social media and on an incredible journey, my brain is startlingly clean. And I don’t mean clean as in I forgot everything I learned this semester before the break. I say clean in the sense of looking at the same stuff I saw before, but seeing it differently.

 

Now I can look at Twitter blowing up over every little maneuver in Ukraine and not even feel the slightest inkling of the rapt attention I had for that news previously. I can read about Florida State’s NFL Pro Day and stop after a paragraph, again feeling no urge to submerge myself in the flood of information, like I did previously.

 

Or, take the case of one of my best friends. Last year he spent Spring Break on a medical mission trip in Nicaragua, a trip whose organizing he was in charge of. Now, a year later, he’s helped set up a longer trip for a summer session, and his enthusiasm for his studies is higher than I can ever remember it being.

 

Of course, sitting around watching Netflix all week, or spending the time going to the beach and drinking with friends have their own benefits. I speak from experience when I say that spending a week relaxing at home in Miami is more restful than freezing your ass off while camping on a volcano.

 

My point though is not that one vacation activity is better than another automatically, but that each sends you back to school with a different perspective. The way I think about international politics, for example, is definitely a little bit different now that I’ve chatted with someone my age who lives in Guatemala and sees the world differently.

 

In a way, FSU’s study abroad programs try to achieve that perspective shift. I unfortunately haven’t had the chance to find out for myself in person, but I think most of them are able to do so to varying extents depending on where and when you go abroad.

 

I see travel as being in a class of its own when it comes to giving us different ways of looking at our lives and our studies, and I think the effects are stronger the further away you are from your comfort zone. So to me, studying abroad in London will change your perspective more than sitting on a beach in Miami, and climbing volcanoes in the boonies of Guatemala will change your thought process more than visiting one of the countries most similar to the U.S.

 

I obviously think a changed perspective is good, but I know for some people a comfort zone is a result of being very good at what you do and wanting things to stay that way. I can understand and empathize. But I also think that progress requires change, and change requires discomfort of some form or level.

 

As my dad has kept saying, it wasn’t about just coming back from Spring Break to the same old shit; it’s about coming out of vacation by going forward. The easy thing would be for me to slide right back into regurgitating facts in classes and being a news junkie, but that would be an insult to my trip and a disservice to the rest of the student body. Instead, I’m going to do my best to practice what I preach here by looking at old stuff in a new way, and encourage each of you to do the same.

.

.

 

.

...........................................................................................................................................................................

.

.....item 3)... Fandango ... www.fandango.com ... Meg Myles Biography ...

 

www.fandango.com/megmyles/biography/p51634

 

Biography

 

Meg Myles is best known as a pin-up model of the 1950s and early '60s, but she also enjoyed a film career as a featured actress, star, and supporting player, and a respected career on the legitimate stage. She was born Billie Jean Jones in Seattle, WA, in 1932 (or 1933 -- some sources disagree) and took dance lessons as a girl. She was determined to have a career in show business, majoring in dance and health education at the College of the Pacific, and was discovered and signed by an agent before she graduated. Her extraordinary physique -- a reputed 42-24-36 -- led to walk-on parts on television shows with Bob Hope, among other stars. Although Myles' early appearances were limited to being a living set decoration, she was determined to develop her acting skills as well as her singing, which led to engagements at various West Coast nightclubs. Her physique made her a favorite of men's magazines of the era, but in 1954 she landed a small comic relief role -- involving singing and her physique -- in the feature film Dragnet, portraying a Cuban singer. The following year, she played a singer in Phil Karlson's feature The Phenix City Story (1955), in which she sang the title song. Myles was also selected to perform on the national tour promoting the movie, and got a major label recording contract out of it.

 

The late '50s saw her largely absent from the big screen, however, despite the fact that she was one of the top pin-up models in the world at the time. According to some accounts, she was blackballed from the industry because of her insistence on restricting the types of costumes and still photographs in which she would allow herself to appear, and also due to reports of an alleged romance between her and Sammy Davis Jr. (the United States was just entering the era of raised consciousness about its racial problems at the time, and even rumors of such a relationship would have made her too controversial for many producers). Myles' major screen appearance during this period was in Calypso Heat Wave, which also included Joel Grey, the Treniers, the Tarriers, the Hi-Lo's, and Maya Angelou in its cast. Myles was mostly seen on television until 1961, when she got a major role in the movie Satan in High Heels. Considered a campy classic today, the movie was an outrageous piece of exploitation filmmaking in its time and one that did Myles little good in trying for a mainstream Hollywood career. She mostly worked on-stage for the next few years, developing a following in New York City and honing her skills as an actress. She surfaced in Don Siegel's Coogan's Bluff (1968) and Sidney Lumet's The Anderson Tapes (1971), by which time Myles was much better known for her theatrical work, including performances at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Her last film to date was the drama Touched (1982). ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

 

Movie data provided by

.

.

 

www.fandango.com/megmyles/biography/p51634

 

.

.

 

.

.......................................................................................................................................................................

.

.

.

Hanoi was an incredible city. Visual overload, stimulation overload, Night market had too many things to photograph. These compact fluorescent lights hanging from the ceilings above all these exotic food... I already miss Hanoi.

 

Just a side note, the lady's sweater says "Mikey Mouse". :)

 

If you like my photos, please "follow" or "like my pages below!

 

|| My Website || Facebook || Instagram || Twitter ||

 

Thank you for viewing my photograph!