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Here's what I'm up to at work these days: a 1950s style foundation garment. It's basically an independent project, since there's a little lull in the workload at the moment. I haven't done 20th century undergarments much, and we've got some operas set in the 50s coming up next season, so it's good practice.
On one half you can see the pads pinned to the form to make it the right size, and the black lines of twill tape marking where seams and edges will be. On the other half you can see the garment in progress. I'm using embroidered satin for the center front, plain satin for the bust cups, stretch net for the side panels, and the rest of the body is made of three layers of fabric (two of bobbinet, one of soufel) quilted together in a diagonal plaid pattern (I did the quilting as well). There are also spiral bones in casings along all the vertical seams.
Lighting: An SB-900 through an umbrella camera left, and an SB-800 with a 1/2 cut CTO gel through a 1/4" grid aimed at a gobo consisting of a lot of hangers dangling off one another.
119/365
Beautifully structured Storms across northeast WI on May 26 2014. Weak Cold Front triggered some awesome looking storms.
Escalier de la bibliothèque universitaire de Strasbourg.
Un grand escalier hélicoïdal y a été installé, suspendu par d'immenses tiges métalliques. C'est l'entreprise Schafner qui a participé à sa construction, considérée comme un chef d'œuvre à lui seul qui a même été primé par les Amis du Vieux Strasbourg. "Le résultat est très fidèle au concours : la lumière est abondante, zénithale, comme les Gloires dans la peinture religieuse de la Renaissance", raconte l'architecte, Nicolas Michelin.
Tucked amid the high-rises of San Francisco’s Cathedral Hill, this low-slung mid-century structure offers a burst of whimsy and artistic charm. While its concrete columns and rhythmic vertical lines speak the language of 1960s institutional architecture, the real scene-stealer is the expansive mural wrapping the building’s west-facing wall. A giant bear, rendered in warm earth tones, gazes at a monarch butterfly—surrounded by painted wildflowers, birds, and bees in flight. It’s a tender, almost folkloric vision that turns a utilitarian structure into a canvas for nature and narrative.
The building itself—likely a former community center, school, or spiritual space—features repeating V-shaped roof gables that give it a unique, sawtooth profile. These angular lines are softened by the naturalistic mural and encircling greenery, creating a dynamic juxtaposition of geometry and organic subject matter.
This stretch of Geary Boulevard, between civic institutions and residential towers, isn’t always known for beauty—but this mural adds a vital sense of play and purpose. Street art has increasingly become part of San Francisco’s architectural landscape, and this bear mural is a quiet triumph. It celebrates California’s ecological identity and hints at the gentle resilience of the city itself.
Whether you stumble upon it during a walk through the Western Addition or seek it out as a photography stop, this mural is a heartwarming reminder that even the most ordinary buildings can be elevated into something extraordinary.
La structure permet d'assurer à la construction son indéformabilité, donc sa solidité et sa stabilité.
Chaque élément à sont importance pour cela, du plus petit rivet à la plus grosse poutre métallique.
La Tour Eiffel - Paris France.
As i was so excited about tutorial that Veronique published yesterday, i couldn't go to sleep not trying this out and tried to do some for my elephants. I used just ordinary tools from manicure set.
War so begeistert von dem Tutorial von Veronique, dass ich nicht ruhig schlafen gehen konnte und hab' was ein bisschen ausprobiert. Hab' Paar Instrumente aus meinem Maniküre Set benutzt.
JASON ZWEIG, when asked: What scientific concept would improve everybody's cognitive toolkit?
"Creativity is a fragile flower, but perhaps it can be fertilized with systematic doses of serendipity."
www.edge.org/q2011/q11_2.html#zweig
Jan. 9 UPDATE: Note that I spent so long on this doodle that I was unable to doodle for 6 days. That's not really allowing myself time for structured serendipity, is it!?
The fourth European Service Module structure to power astronauts on NASA's Orion spacecraft to the Moon completed at Thales Alenia Space site in Turin, Italy.
ESA is ensuring NASA’s Artemis programme continues to develop a sustainable presence on and around the Moon in international partnership. The European Service Modules are integrated in Bremen, Germany, with components and hardware built and supplied by companies from 10 countries in Europe.
The European Service Module will be used to fly astronauts to the Moon. As the powerhouse for the Orion spacecraft it provides propulsion and the consumables astronauts need to stay alive.
Credits: Thales Alenia Space
ESM4 - 1 Thales Alenia Space
Despite being encompassed by the decaying brutalist, inhuman architecture that dwarfs the likes of man, vestiges of the humanity that once inhabited and operated this monolithic structure remain, if only in the form of an open door that's fixed to time. December 28, 2023, in Lynch, KY.
white marble handicrafts elephants statues, lion statues, tiger statues, white-marble gazebo, pavilion structure
A couple of weeks back, we met a couple in a pub in Canterbury, and they had been out exploring the city and said they were disappointed by the cathedral.
Not enough labels they said.
That not withstanding, I thought it had been some time since I last had been, so decided to revisit, see the pillars of Reculver church in the crypt and take the big lens for some detail shots.
We arrived just after ten, so the cathedral was pretty free of other guests, just a few guides waiting for groups and couples to guide.
I went round with the 50mm first, before concentrating on the medieval glass which is mostly on the south side.
But as you will see, the lens picked up so much more.
Thing is, there is always someone interesting to talk to, or wants to talk to you. As I went around, I spoke with about three guides about the project and things I have seen in the churches of the county, and the wonderful people I have met. And that continued in the cathedral.
I have time to look at the tombs in the Trinity Chapel, and see that Henry IV and his wife are in a tomb there, rather than ay Westminster Abbey. So I photograph them, and the Black Prince on the southern side of the chapel, along with the Bishops and Archbishops between.
Round to the transept and a chance to change lenses, and put on the 140-400mm for some detailed shots.
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St Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived on the coast of Kent as a missionary to England in 597AD. He came from Rome, sent by Pope Gregory the Great. It is said that Gregory had been struck by the beauty of Angle slaves he saw for sale in the city market and despatched Augustine and some monks to convert them to Christianity. Augustine was given a church at Canterbury (St Martin’s, after St Martin of Tours, still standing today) by the local King, Ethelbert whose Queen, Bertha, a French Princess, was already a Christian.This building had been a place of worship during the Roman occupation of Britain and is the oldest church in England still in use. Augustine had been consecrated a bishop in France and was later made an archbishop by the Pope. He established his seat within the Roman city walls (the word cathedral is derived from the the Latin word for a chair ‘cathedra’, which is itself taken from the Greek ‘kathedra’ meaning seat.) and built the first cathedral there, becoming the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Since that time, there has been a community around the Cathedral offering daily prayer to God; this community is arguably the oldest organisation in the English speaking world. The present Archbishop, The Most Revd Justin Welby, is 105th in the line of succession from Augustine. Until the 10th century, the Cathedral community lived as the household of the Archbishop. During the 10th century, it became a formal community of Benedictine monks, which continued until the monastery was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1540. Augustine’s original building lies beneath the floor of the Nave – it was extensively rebuilt and enlarged by the Saxons, and the Cathedral was rebuilt completely by the Normans in 1070 following a major fire. There have been many additions to the building over the last nine hundred years, but parts of the Quire and some of the windows and their stained glass date from the 12th century. By 1077, Archbishop Lanfranc had rebuilt it as a Norman church, described as “nearly perfect”. A staircase and parts of the North Wall – in the area of the North West transept also called the Martyrdom – remain from that building.
Canterbury’s role as one of the world’s most important pilgrimage centres in Europe is inextricably linked to the murder of its most famous Archbishop, Thomas Becket, in 1170. When, after a long lasting dispute, King Henry II is said to have exclaimed “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?”, four knights set off for Canterbury and murdered Thomas in his own cathedral. A sword stroke was so violent that it sliced the crown off his skull and shattered the blade’s tip on the pavement. The murder took place in what is now known as The Martyrdom. When shortly afterwards, miracles were said to take place, Canterbury became one of Europe’s most important pilgrimage centres.
The work of the Cathedral as a monastery came to an end in 1540, when the monastery was closed on the orders of King Henry VIII. Its role as a place of prayer continued – as it does to this day. Once the monastery had been suppressed, responsibility for the services and upkeep was given to a group of clergy known as the Chapter of Canterbury. Today, the Cathedral is still governed by the Dean and four Canons, together (in recent years) with four lay people and the Archdeacon of Ashford. During the Civil War of the 1640s, the Cathedral suffered damage at the hands of the Puritans; much of the medieval stained glass was smashed and horses were stabled in the Nave. After the Restoration in 1660, several years were spent in repairing the building. In the early 19th Century, the North West tower was found to be dangerous, and, although it dated from Lanfranc’s time, it was demolished in the early 1830s and replaced by a copy of the South West tower, thus giving a symmetrical appearance to the west end of the Cathedral. During the Second World War, the Precincts were heavily damaged by enemy action and the Cathedral’s Library was destroyed. Thankfully, the Cathedral itself was not seriously harmed, due to the bravery of the team of fire watchers, who patrolled the roofs and dealt with the incendiary bombs dropped by enemy bombers. Today, the Cathedral stands as a place where prayer to God has been offered daily for over 1,400 years; nearly 2,000 Services are held each year, as well as countless private prayers from individuals. The Cathedral offers a warm welcome to all visitors – its aim is to show people Jesus, which we do through the splendour of the building as well as the beauty of the worship.
www.canterbury-cathedral.org/heritage/history/cathedral-h...
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History of the cathedral
THE ORIGIN of a Christian church on the scite of the present cathedral, is supposed to have taken place as early as the Roman empire in Britain, for the use of the antient faithful and believing soldiers of their garrison here; and that Augustine found such a one standing here, adjoining to king Ethelbert's palace, which was included in the king's gift to him.
This supposition is founded on the records of the priory of Christ-church, (fn. 1) concurring with the common opinion of almost all our historians, who tell us of a church in Canterbury, which Augustine found standing in the east part of the city, which he had of king Ethelbert's gift, which after his consecration at Arles, in France, he commended by special dedication to the patronage of our blessed Saviour. (fn. 2)
According to others, the foundations only of an old church formerly built by the believing Romans, were left here, on which Augustine erected that, which he afterwards dedicated to out Saviour; (fn. 3) and indeed it is not probable that king Ethelbert should have suffered the unsightly ruins of a Christian church, which, being a Pagan, must have been very obnoxious to him, so close to his palace, and supposing these ruins had been here, would he not have suffered them to be repaired, rather than have obliged his Christian queen to travel daily to such a distance as St. Martin's church, or St. Pancrace's chapel, for the performance of her devotions.
Some indeed have conjectured that the church found by St. Augustine, in the east part of the city, was that of St.Martin, truly so situated; and urge in favor of it, that there have not been at any time any remains of British or Roman bricks discovered scattered in or about this church of our Saviour, those infallible, as Mr. Somner stiles them, signs of antiquity, and so generally found in buildings, which have been erected on, or close to the spot where more antient ones have stood. But to proceed, king Ethelbert's donation to Augustine was made in the year 596, who immediately afterwards went over to France, and was consecrated a bishop at Arles, and after his return, as soon as he had sufficiently finished a church here, whether built out of ruins or anew, it matters not, he exercised his episcopal function in the dedication of it, says the register of Christ-church, to the honor of Christ our Saviour; whence it afterwards obtained the name of Christ-church. (fn. 4)
From the time of Augustine for the space of upwards of three hundred years, there is not found in any printed or manuscript chronicle, the least mention of the fabric of this church, so that it is probable nothing befell it worthy of being recorded; however it should be mentioned, that during that period the revenues of it were much increased, for in the leiger books of it there are registered more than fifty donations of manors, lands, &c. so large and bountiful, as became the munificence of kings and nobles to confer. (fn. 5)
It is supposed, especially as we find no mention made of any thing to the contrary, that the fabric of this church for two hundred years after Augustine's time, met with no considerable molestations; but afterwards, the frequent invasions of the Danes involved both the civil and ecclesiastical state of this country in continual troubles and dangers; in the confusion of which, this church appears to have run into a state of decay; for when Odo was promoted to the archbishopric, in the year 938, the roof of it was in a ruinous condition; age had impaired it, and neglect had made it extremely dangerous; the walls of it were of an uneven height, according as it had been more or less decayed, and the roof of the church seemed ready to fall down on the heads of those underneath. All this the archbishop undertook to repair, and then covered the whole church with lead; to finish which, it took three years, as Osbern tells us, in the life of Odo; (fn. 6) and further, that there was not to be found a church of so large a size, capable of containing so great a multitude of people, and thus, perhaps, it continued without any material change happening to it, till the year 1011; a dismal and fatal year to this church and city; a time of unspeakable confusion and calamities; for in the month of September that year, the Danes, after a siege of twenty days, entered this city by force, burnt the houses, made a lamentable slaughter of the inhabitants, rifled this church, and then set it on fire, insomuch, that the lead with which archbishop Odo had covered it, being melted, ran down on those who were underneath. The sull story of this calamity is given by Osbern, in the life of archbishop Odo, an abridgement of which the reader will find below. (fn. 7)
The church now lay in ruins, without a roof, the bare walls only standing, and in this desolate condition it remained as long as the fury of the Danes prevailed, who after they had burnt the church, carried away archbishop Alphage with them, kept him in prison seven months, and then put him to death, in the year 1012, the year after which Living, or Livingus, succeeded him as archbishop, though it was rather in his calamities than in his seat of dignity, for he too was chained up by the Danes in a loathsome dungeon for seven months, before he was set free, but he so sensibly felt the deplorable state of this country, which he foresaw was every day growing worse and worse, that by a voluntary exile, he withdrew himself out of the nation, to find some solitary retirement, where he might bewail those desolations of his country, to which he was not able to bring any relief, but by his continual prayers. (fn. 8) He just outlived this storm, returned into England, and before he died saw peace and quientness restored to this land by king Canute, who gaining to himself the sole sovereignty over the nation, made it his first business to repair the injuries which had been done to the churches and monasteries in this kingdom, by his father's and his own wars. (fn. 9)
As for this church, archbishop Ægelnoth, who presided over it from the year 1020 to the year 1038, began and finished the repair, or rather the rebuilding of it, assisted in it by the royal munificence of the king, (fn. 10) who in 1023 presented his crown of gold to this church, and restored to it the port of Sandwich, with its liberties. (fn. 11) Notwithstanding this, in less than forty years afterwards, when Lanfranc soon after the Norman conquest came to the see, he found this church reduced almost to nothing by fire, and dilapidations; for Eadmer says, it had been consumed by a third conflagration, prior to the year of his advancement to it, in which fire almost all the antient records of the privileges of it had perished. (fn. 12)
The same writer has given us a description of this old church, as it was before Lanfranc came to the see; by which we learn, that at the east end there was an altar adjoining to the wall of the church, of rough unhewn stone, cemented with mortar, erected by archbishop Odo, for a repository of the body of Wilfrid, archbishop of York, which Odo had translated from Rippon hither, giving it here the highest place; at a convenient distance from this, westward, there was another altar, dedicated to Christ our Saviour, at which divine service was daily celebrated. In this altar was inclosed the head of St. Swithin, with many other relics, which archbishop Alphage brought with him from Winchester. Passing from this altar westward, many steps led down to the choir and nave, which were both even, or upon the same level. At the bottom of the steps, there was a passage into the undercroft, under all the east part of the church. (fn. 13) At the east end of which, was an altar, in which was inclosed, according to old tradition, the head of St. Furseus. From hence by a winding passage, at the west end of it, was the tomb of St. Dunstan, (fn. 14) but separated from the undercroft by a strong stone wall; over the tomb was erected a monument, pyramid wife, and at the head of it an altar, (fn. 15) for the mattin service. Between these steps, or passage into the undercroft and the nave, was the choir, (fn. 16) which was separated from the nave by a fair and decent partition, to keep off the crowds of people that usually were in the body of the church, so that the singing of the chanters in the choir might not be disturbed. About the middle of the length of the nave, were two towers or steeples, built without the walls; one on the south, and the other on the north side. In the former was the altar of St. Gregory, where was an entrance into the church by the south door, and where law controversies and pleas concerning secular matters were exercised. (fn. 17) In the latter, or north tower, was a passage for the monks into the church, from the monastery; here were the cloysters, where the novices were instructed in their religious rules and offices, and where the monks conversed together. In this tower was the altar of St. Martin. At the west end of the church was a chapel, dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary, to which there was an ascent by steps, and at the east end of it an altar, dedicated to her, in which was inclosed the head of St. Astroburta the Virgin; and at the western part of it was the archbishop's pontifical chair, made of large stones, compacted together with mortar; a fair piece of work, and placed at a convenient distance from the altar, close to the wall of the church. (fn. 18)
To return now to archbishop Lanfranc, who was sent for from Normandy in 1073, being the fourth year of the Conqueror's reign, to fill this see, a time, when a man of a noble spirit, equal to the laborious task he was to undertake, was wanting especially for this church; and that he was such, the several great works which were performed by him, were incontestable proofs, as well as of his great and generous mind. At the first sight of the ruinous condition of this church, says the historian, the archbishop was struck with astonishment, and almost despaired of seeing that and the monastery re edified; but his care and perseverance raised both in all its parts anew, and that in a novel and more magnificent kind and form of structure, than had been hardly in any place before made use of in this kingdom, which made it a precedent and pattern to succeeding structures of this kind; (fn. 19) and new monasteries and churches were built after the example of it; for it should be observed, that before the coming of the Normans most of the churches and monasteries in this kingdom were of wood; (all the monasteries in my realm, says king Edgar, in his charter to the abbey of Malmesbury, dated anno 974, to the outward sight are nothing but worm-eaten and rotten timber and boards) but after the Norman conquest, such timber fabrics grew out of use, and gave place to stone buildings raised upon arches; a form of structure introduced into general use by that nation, and in these parts surnished with stone from Caen, in Normandy. (fn. 20) After this fashion archbishop Lanfranc rebuilt the whole church from the foundation, with the palace and monastery, the wall which encompassed the court, and all the offices belonging to the monastery within the wall, finishing the whole nearly within the compass of seven years; (fn. 21) besides which, he furnished the church with ornaments and rich vestments; after which, the whole being perfected, he altered the name of it, by a dedication of it to the Holy Trinity; whereas, before it was called the church of our Saviour, or Christ-church, and from the above time it bore (as by Domesday book appears) the name of the church of the Holy Trinity; this new church being built on the same spot on which the antient one stood, though on a far different model.
After Lanfranc's death, archbishop Anselm succeeded in the year 1093, to the see of Canterbury, and must be esteemed a principal benefactor to this church; for though his time was perplexed with a continued series of troubles, of which both banishment and poverty made no small part, which in a great measure prevented him from bestowing that cost on his church, which he would otherwise have done, yet it was through his patronage and protection, and through his care and persuasions, that the fabric of it, begun and perfected by his predecessor, became enlarged and rose to still greater splendor. (fn. 22)
In order to carry this forward, upon the vacancy of the priory, he constituted Ernulph and Conrad, the first in 1104, the latter in 1108, priors of this church; to whose care, being men of generous and noble minds, and of singular skill in these matters, he, during his troubles, not only committed the management of this work, but of all his other concerns during his absence.
Probably archbishop Anselm, on being recalled from banishment on king Henry's accession to the throne, had pulled down that part of the church built by Lanfranc, from the great tower in the middle of it to the east end, intending to rebuild it upon a still larger and more magnificent plan; when being borne down by the king's displeasure, he intrusted prior Ernulph with the work, who raised up the building with such splendor, says Malmesbury, that the like was not to be seen in all England; (fn. 23) but the short time Ernulph continued in this office did not permit him to see his undertaking finished. (fn. 24) This was left to his successor Conrad, who, as the obituary of Christ church informs us, by his great industry, magnificently perfected the choir, which his predecessor had left unfinished, (fn. 25) adorning it with curious pictures, and enriching it with many precious ornaments. (fn. 26)
This great undertaking was not entirely compleated at the death of archbishop Anselm, which happened in 1109, anno 9 Henry I. nor indeed for the space of five years afterwards, during which the see of Canterbury continued vacant; when being finished, in honour of its builder, and on account of its more than ordinary beauty, it gained the name of the glorious choir of Conrad. (fn. 27)
After the see of Canterbury had continued thus vacant for five years, Ralph, or as some call him, Rodulph, bishop of Rochester, was translated to it in the year 1114, at whose coming to it, the church was dedicated anew to the Holy Trinity, the name which had been before given to it by Lanfranc. (fn. 28) The only particular description we have of this church when thus finished, is from Gervas, the monk of this monastery, and that proves imperfect, as to the choir of Lanfranc, which had been taken down soon after his death; (fn. 29) the following is his account of the nave, or western part of it below the choir, being that which had been erected by archbishop Lanfranc, as has been before mentioned. From him we learn, that the west end, where the chapel of the Virgin Mary stood before, was now adorned with two stately towers, on the top of which were gilded pinnacles. The nave or body was supported by eight pair of pillars. At the east end of the nave, on the north side, was an oratory, dedicated in honor to the blessed Virgin, in lieu, I suppose, of the chapel, that had in the former church been dedicated to her at the west end. Between the nave and the choir there was built a great tower or steeple, as it were in the centre of the whole fabric; (fn. 30) under this tower was erected the altar of the Holy Cross; over a partition, which separated this tower from the nave, a beam was laid across from one side to the other of the church; upon the middle of this beam was fixed a great cross, between the images of the Virgin Mary and St. John, and between two cherubims. The pinnacle on the top of this tower, was a gilded cherub, and hence it was called the angel steeple; a name it is frequently called by at this day. (fn. 31)
This great tower had on each side a cross isle, called the north and south wings, which were uniform, of the same model and dimensions; each of them had a strong pillar in the middle for a support to the roof, and each of them had two doors or passages, by which an entrance was open to the east parts of the church. At one of these doors there was a descent by a few steps into the undercroft; at the other, there was an ascent by many steps into the upper parts of the church, that is, the choir, and the isles on each side of it. Near every one of these doors or passages, an altar was erected; at the upper door in the south wing, there was an altar in honour of All Saints; and at the lower door there was one of St. Michael; and before this altar on the south side was buried archbishop Fleologild; and on the north side, the holy Virgin Siburgis, whom St. Dunstan highly admired for her sanctity. In the north isle, by the upper door, was the altar of St. Blaze; and by the lower door, that of St. Benedict. In this wing had been interred four archbishops, Adelm and Ceolnoth, behind the altar, and Egelnoth and Wlfelm before it. At the entrance into this wing, Rodulph and his successor William Corboil, both archbishops, were buried. (fn. 32)
Hence, he continues, we go up by some steps into the great tower, and before us there is a door and steps leading down into the south wing, and on the right hand a pair of folding doors, with stairs going down into the nave of the church; but without turning to any of these, let us ascend eastward, till by several more steps we come to the west end of Conrad's choir; being now at the entrance of the choir, Gervas tells us, that he neither saw the choir built by Lanfranc, nor found it described by any one; that Eadmer had made mention of it, without giving any account of it, as he had done of the old church, the reason of which appears to be, that Lanfranc's choir did not long survive its founder, being pulled down as before-mentioned, by archbishop Anselm; so that it could not stand more than twenty years; therefore the want of a particular description of it will appear no great defect in the history of this church, especially as the deficiency is here supplied by Gervas's full relation of the new choir of Conrad, built instead of it; of which, whoever desires to know the whole architecture and model observed in the fabric, the order, number, height and form of the pillars and windows, may know the whole of it from him. The roof of it, he tells us, (fn. 33) was beautified with curious paintings representing heaven; (fn. 34) in several respects it was agreeable to the present choir, the stalls were large and framed of carved wood. In the middle of it, there hung a gilded crown, on which were placed four and twenty tapers of wax. From the choir an ascent of three steps led to the presbiterium, or place for the presbiters; here, he says, it would be proper to stop a little and take notice of the high altar, which was dedicated to the name of CHRIST. It was placed between two other altars, the one of St. Dunstan, the other of St. Alphage; at the east corners of the high altar were fixed two pillars of wood, beautified with silver and gold; upon these pillars was placed a beam, adorned with gold, which reached across the church, upon it there were placed the glory, (fn. 35) the images of St. Dunstan and St. Alphage, and seven chests or coffers overlaid with gold, full of the relics of many saints. Between those pillars was a cross gilded all over, and upon the upper beam of the cross were set sixty bright crystals.
Beyond this, by an ascent of eight steps towards the east, behind the altar, was the archiepiscopal throne, which Gervas calls the patriarchal chair, made of one stone; in this chair, according to the custom of the church, the archbishop used to sit, upon principal festivals, in his pontifical ornaments, whilst the solemn offices of religion were celebrated, until the consecration of the host, when he came down to the high altar, and there performed the solemnity of consecration. Still further, eastward, behind the patriarchal chair, (fn. 36) was a chapel in the front of the whole church, in which was an altar, dedicated to the Holy Trinity; behind which were laid the bones of two archbishops, Odo of Canterbury, and Wilfrid of York; by this chapel on the south side near the wall of the church, was laid the body of archbishop Lanfranc, and on the north side, the body of archbishop Theobald. Here it is to be observed, that under the whole east part of the church, from the angel steeple, there was an undercrost or crypt, (fn. 37) in which were several altars, chapels and sepulchres; under the chapel of the Trinity before-mentioned, were two altars, on the south side, the altar of St. Augustine, the apostle of the English nation, by which archbishop Athelred was interred. On the north side was the altar of St. John Baptist, by which was laid the body of archbishop Eadsin; under the high altar was the chapel and altar of the blessed Virgin Mary, to whom the whole undercroft was dedicated.
To return now, he continues, to the place where the bresbyterium and choir meet, where on each side there was a cross isle (as was to be seen in his time) which might be called the upper south and north wings; on the east side of each of these wings were two half circular recesses or nooks in the wall, arched over after the form of porticoes. Each of them had an altar, and there was the like number of altars under them in the crost. In the north wing, the north portico had the altar of St. Martin, by which were interred the bodies of two archbishops, Wlfred on the right, and Living on the left hand; under it in the croft, was the altar of St. Mary Magdalen. The other portico in this wing, had the altar of St. Stephen, and by it were buried two archbishops, Athelard on the left hand, and Cuthbert on the right; in the croft under it, was the altar of St. Nicholas. In the south wing, the north portico had the altar of St. John the Evangelist, and by it the bodies of Æthelgar and Aluric, archbishops, were laid. In the croft under it was the altar of St. Paulinus, by which the body of archbishop Siricius was interred. In the south portico was the altar of St. Gregory, by which were laid the corps of the two archbishops Bregwin and Plegmund. In the croft under it was the altar of St. Owen, archbishop of Roan, and underneath in the croft, not far from it the altar of St. Catherine.
Passing from these cross isles eastward there were two towers, one on the north, the other on the south side of the church. In the tower on the north side was the altar of St. Andrew, which gave name to the tower; under it, in the croft, was the altar of the Holy Innocents; the tower on the south side had the altar of St. Peter and St. Paul, behind which the body of St. Anselm was interred, which afterwards gave name both to the altar and tower (fn. 38) (now called St. Anselm's). The wings or isles on each side of the choir had nothing in particular to be taken notice of.— Thus far Gervas, from whose description we in particular learn, where several of the bodies of the old archbishops were deposited, and probably the ashes of some of them remain in the same places to this day.
As this building, deservedly called the glorious choir of Conrad, was a magnificent work, so the undertaking of it at that time will appear almost beyond example, especially when the several circumstances of it are considered; but that it was carried forward at the archbishop's cost, exceeds all belief. It was in the discouraging reign of king William Rufus, a prince notorious in the records of history, for all manner of sacrilegious rapine, that archbishop Anselm was promoted to this see; when he found the lands and revenues of this church so miserably wasted and spoiled, that there was hardly enough left for his bare subsistence; who, in the first years that he sat in the archiepiscopal chair, struggled with poverty, wants and continual vexations through the king's displeasure, (fn. 39) and whose three next years were spent in banishment, during all which time he borrowed money for his present maintenance; who being called home by king Henry I. at his coming to the crown, laboured to pay the debts he had contracted during the time of his banishment, and instead of enjoying that tranquility and ease he hoped for, was, within two years afterwards, again sent into banishment upon a fresh displeasure conceived against him by the king, who then seized upon all the revenues of the archbishopric, (fn. 40) which he retained in his own hands for no less than four years.
Under these hard circumstances, it would have been surprizing indeed, that the archbishop should have been able to carry on so great a work, and yet we are told it, as a truth, by the testimonies of history; but this must surely be understood with the interpretation of his having been the patron, protector and encourager, rather than the builder of this work, which he entrusted to the care and management of the priors Ernulph and Conrad, and sanctioned their employing, as Lanfranc had done before, the revenues and stock of the church to this use. (fn. 41)
In this state as above-mentioned, without any thing material happening to it, this church continued till about the year 1130, anno 30 Henry I. when it seems to have suffered some damage by a fire; (fn. 42) but how much, there is no record left to inform us; however it could not be of any great account, for it was sufficiently repaired, and that mostly at the cost of archbishop Corboil, who then sat in the chair of this see, (fn. 43) before the 4th of May that year, on which day, being Rogation Sunday, the bishops performed the dedication of it with great splendor and magnificence, such, says Gervas, col. 1664, as had not been heard of since the dedication of the temple of Solomon; the king, the queen, David, king of Scots, all the archbishops, and the nobility of both kingdoms being present at it, when this church's former name was restored again, being henceforward commonly called Christ-church. (fn. 44)
Among the manuscripts of Trinity college library, in Cambridge, in a very curious triple psalter of St. Jerome, in Latin, written by the monk Eadwyn, whose picture is at the beginning of it, is a plan or drawing made by him, being an attempt towards a representation of this church and monastery, as they stood between the years 1130 and 1174; which makes it probable, that he was one of the monks of it, and the more so, as the drawing has not any kind of relation to the plalter or sacred hymns contained in the manuscript.
His plan, if so it may be called, for it is neither such, nor an upright, nor a prospect, and yet something of all together; but notwithstanding this rudeness of the draftsman, it shews very plain that it was intended for this church and priory, and gives us a very clear knowledge, more than we have been able to learn from any description we have besides, of what both were at the above period of time. (fn. 45)
Forty-four years after this dedication, on the 5th of September, anno 1174, being the 20th year of king Henry II.'s reign, a fire happened, which consumed great part of this stately edifice, namely, the whole choir, from the angel steeple to the east end of the church, together with the prior's lodgings, the chapel of the Virgin Mary, the infirmary, and some other offices belonging to the monastery; but the angel steeple, the lower cross isles, and the nave appear to have received no material injury from the flames. (fn. 46) The narrative of this accident is told by Gervas, the monk of Canterbury, so often quoted before, who was an eye witness of this calamity, as follows:
Three small houses in the city near the old gate of the monastery took fire by accident, a strong south wind carried the flakes of fire to the top of the church, and lodged them between the joints of the lead, driving them to the timbers under it; this kindled a fire there, which was not discerned till the melted lead gave a free passage for the flames to appear above the church, and the wind gaining by this means a further power of increasing them, drove them inwardly, insomuch that the danger became immediately past all possibility of relief. The timber of the roof being all of it on fire, fell down into the choir, where the stalls of the manks, made of large pieces of carved wood, afforded plenty of fuel to the flames, and great part of the stone work, through the vehement heat of the fire, was so weakened, as to be brought to irreparable ruin, and besides the fabric itself, the many rich ornaments in the church were devoured by the flames.
The choir being thus laid in ashes, the monks removed from amidst the ruins, the bodies of the two saints, whom they called patrons of the church, the archbishops Dunstan and Alphage, and deposited them by the altar of the great cross, in the nave of the church; (fn. 47) and from this time they celebrated the daily religious offices in the oratory of the blessed Virgin Mary in the nave, and continued to do so for more than five years, when the choir being re edified, they returned to it again. (fn. 48)
Upon this destruction of the church, the prior and convent, without any delay, consulted on the most speedy and effectual method of rebuilding it, resolving to finish it in such a manner, as should surpass all the former choirs of it, as well in beauty as size and magnificence. To effect this, they sent for the most skilful architects that could be found either in France or England. These surveyed the walls and pillars, which remained standing, but they found great part of them so weakened by the fire, that they could no ways be built upon with any safety; and it was accordingly resolved, that such of them should be taken down; a whole year was spent in doing this, and in providing materials for the new building, for which they sent abroad for the best stone that could be procured; Gervas has given a large account, (fn. 49) how far this work advanced year by year; what methods and rules of architecture were observed, and other particulars relating to the rebuilding of this church; all which the curious reader may consult at his leisure; it will be sufficient to observe here, that the new building was larger in height and length, and more beautiful in every respect, than the choir of Conrad; for the roof was considerably advanced above what it was before, and was arched over with stone; whereas before it was composed of timber and boards. The capitals of the pillars were now beautified with different sculptures of carvework; whereas, they were before plain, and six pillars more were added than there were before. The former choir had but one triforium, or inner gallery, but now there were two made round it, and one in each side isle and three in the cross isles; before, there were no marble pillars, but such were now added to it in abundance. In forwarding this great work, the monks had spent eight years, when they could proceed no further for want of money; but a fresh supply coming in from the offerings at St. Thomas's tomb, so much more than was necessary for perfecting the repair they were engaged in, as encouraged them to set about a more grand design, which was to pull down the eastern extremity of the church, with the small chapel of the Holy Trinity adjoining to it, and to erect upon a stately undercroft, a most magnificent one instead of it, equally lofty with the roof of the church, and making a part of it, which the former one did not, except by a door into it; but this new chapel, which was dedicated likewise to the Holy Trinity, was not finished till some time after the rest of the church; at the east end of this chapel another handsome one, though small, was afterwards erected at the extremity of the whole building, since called Becket's crown, on purpose for an altar and the reception of some part of his relics; (fn. 50) further mention of which will be made hereafter.
The eastern parts of this church, as Mr. Gostling observes, have the appearance of much greater antiquity than what is generally allowed to them; and indeed if we examine the outside walls and the cross wings on each side of the choir, it will appear, that the whole of them was not rebuilt at the time the choir was, and that great part of them was suffered to remain, though altered, added to, and adapted as far as could be, to the new building erected at that time; the traces of several circular windows and other openings, which were then stopped up, removed, or altered, still appearing on the walls both of the isles and the cross wings, through the white-wash with which they are covered; and on the south side of the south isle, the vaulting of the roof as well as the triforium, which could not be contrived so as to be adjusted to the places of the upper windows, plainly shew it. To which may be added, that the base or foot of one of the westernmost large pillars of the choir on the north side, is strengthened with a strong iron band round it, by which it should seem to have been one of those pillars which had been weakened by the fire, but was judged of sufficient firmness, with this precaution, to remain for the use of the new fabric.
The outside of this part of the church is a corroborating proof of what has been mentioned above, as well in the method, as in the ornaments of the building.— The outside of it towards the south, from St. Michael's chapel eastward, is adorned with a range of small pillars, about six inches diameter, and about three feet high, some with santastic shasts and capitals, others with plain ones; these support little arches, which intersect each other; and this chain or girdle of pillars is continued round the small tower, the eastern cross isle and the chapel of St. Anselm, to the buildings added in honour of the Holy Trinity, and St. Thomas Becket, where they leave off. The casing of St. Michael's chapel has none of them, but the chapel of the Virgin Mary, answering to it on the north side of the church, not being fitted to the wall, shews some of them behind it; which seems as if they had been continued before, quite round the eastern parts of the church.
These pillars, which rise from about the level of the pavement, within the walls above them, are remarkably plain and bare of ornaments; but the tower above mentioned and its opposite, as soon as they rise clear of the building, are enriched with stories of this colonade, one above another, up to the platform from whence their spires rise; and the remains of the two larger towers eastward, called St. Anselm's, and that answering to it on the north side of the church, called St. Andrew's are decorated much after the same manner, as high as they remain at present.
At the time of the before-mentioned fire, which so fatally destroyed the upper part of this church, the undercrost, with the vaulting over it, seems to have remained entire, and unhurt by it.
The vaulting of the undercrost, on which the floor of the choir and eastern parts of the church is raised, is supported by pillars, whose capitals are as various and fantastical as those of the smaller ones described before, and so are their shafts, some being round, others canted, twisted, or carved, so that hardly any two of them are alike, except such as are quite plain.
These, I suppose, may be concluded to be of the same age, and if buildings in the same stile may be conjectured to be so from thence, the antiquity of this part of the church may be judged, though historians have left us in the dark in relation to it.
In Leland's Collectanea, there is an account and description of a vault under the chancel of the antient church of St. Peter, in Oxford, called Grymbald's crypt, being allowed by all, to have been built by him; (fn. 51) Grymbald was one of those great and accomplished men, whom king Alfred invited into England about the year 885, to assist him in restoring Christianity, learning and the liberal arts. (fn. 52) Those who compare the vaults or undercrost of the church of Canterbury, with the description and prints given of Grymbald's crypt, (fn. 53) will easily perceive, that two buildings could hardly have been erected more strongly resembling each other, except that this at Canterbury is larger, and more pro fusely decorated with variety of fancied ornaments, the shafts of several of the pillars here being twisted, or otherwise varied, and many of the captials exactly in the same grotesque taste as those in Grymbald's crypt. (fn. 54) Hence it may be supposed, that those whom archbishop Lanfranc employed as architects and designers of his building at Canterbury, took their model of it, at least of this part of it, from that crypt, and this undercrost now remaining is the same, as was originally built by him, as far eastward, as to that part which begins under the chapel of the Holy Trinity, where it appears to be of a later date, erected at the same time as the chapel. The part built by Lanfranc continues at this time as firm and entire, as it was at the very building of it, though upwards of seven hundred years old. (fn. 55)
But to return to the new building; though the church was not compleatly finished till the end of the year 1184, yet it was so far advanced towards it, that, in 1180, on April 19, being Easter eve, (fn. 56) the archbishop, prior and monks entered the new choir, with a solemn procession, singing Te Deum, for their happy return to it. Three days before which they had privately, by night, carried the bodies of St. Dunstan and St. Alphage to the places prepared for them near the high altar. The body likewise of queen Edive (which after the fire had been removed from the north cross isle, where it lay before, under a stately gilded shrine) to the altar of the great cross, was taken up, carried into the vestry, and thence to the altar of St. Martin, where it was placed under the coffin of archbishop Livinge. In the month of July following the altar of the Holy Trinity was demolished, and the bodies of those archbishops, which had been laid in that part of the church, were removed to other places. Odo's body was laid under St. Dunstan's and Wilfrid's under St. Alphage's; Lanfranc's was deposited nigh the altar of St. Martin, and Theobald's at that of the blessed Virgin, in the nave of the church, (fn. 57) under a marble tomb; and soon afterwards the two archbishops, on the right and left hand of archbishop Becket in the undercrost, were taken up and placed under the altar of St. Mary there. (fn. 58)
After a warning so terrible, as had lately been given, it seemed most necessary to provide against the danger of fire for the time to come; the flames, which had so lately destroyed a considerable part of the church and monastery, were caused by some small houses, which had taken fire at a small distance from the church.— There still remained some other houses near it, which belonged to the abbot and convent of St. Augustine; for these the monks of Christ-church created, by an exchange, which could not be effected till the king interposed, and by his royal authority, in a manner, compelled the abbot and convent to a composition for this purpose, which was dated in the year 1177, that was three years after the late fire of this church. (fn. 59)
These houses were immediately pulled down, and it proved a providential and an effectual means of preserving the church from the like calamity; for in the year 1180, on May 22, this new choir, being not then compleated, though it had been used the month be fore, as has been already mentioned, there happened a fire in the city, which burnt down many houses, and the flames bent their course towards the church, which was again in great danger; but the houses near it being taken away, the fire was stopped, and the church escaped being burnt again. (fn. 60)
Although there is no mention of a new dedication of the church at this time, yet the change made in the name of it has been thought by some to imply a formal solemnity of this kind, as it appears to have been from henceforth usually called the church of St. Thomas the Martyr, and to have continued so for above 350 years afterwards.
New names to churches, it is true. have been usually attended by formal consecrations of them; and had there been any such solemnity here, undoubtedly the same would not have passed by unnoticed by every historian, the circumstance of it must have been notorious, and the magnificence equal at least to the other dedications of this church, which have been constantly mentioned by them; but here was no need of any such ceremony, for although the general voice then burst forth to honour this church with the name of St. Thomas, the universal object of praise and adoration, then stiled the glorious martyr, yet it reached no further, for the name it had received at the former dedication, notwithstanding this common appellation of it, still remained in reality, and it still retained invariably in all records and writings, the name of Christ church only, as appears by many such remaining among the archives of the dean and chapter; and though on the seal of this church, which was changed about this time; the counter side of it had a representation of Becket's martyrdom, yet on the front of it was continued that of the church, and round it an inscription with the former name of Christ church; which seal remained in force till the dissolution of the priory.
It may not be improper to mention here some transactions, worthy of observation, relating to this favorite saint, which passed from the time of his being murdered, to that of his translation to the splendid shrine prepared for his relics.
Archbishop Thomas Becket was barbarously murdered in this church on Dec. 29, 1170, being the 16th year of king Henry II. and his body was privately buried towards the east end of the undercrost. The monks tell us, that about the Easter following, miracles began to be wrought by him, first at his tomb, then in the undercrost, and in every part of the whole fabric of the church; afterwards throughout England, and lastly, throughout the rest of the world. (fn. 61) The same of these miracles procured him the honour of a formal canonization from pope Alexander III. whose bull for that purpose is dated March 13, in the year 1172. (fn. 62) This declaration of the pope was soon known in all places, and the reports of his miracles were every where sounded abroad. (fn. 63)
Hereupon crowds of zealots, led on by a phrenzy of devotion, hastened to kneel at his tomb. In 1177, Philip, earl of Flanders, came hither for that purpose, when king Henry met and had a conference with him at Canterbury. (fn. 64) In June 1178, king Henry returning from Normandy, visited the sepulchre of this new saint; and in July following, William, archbishop of Rhemes, came from France, with a large retinue, to perform his vows to St. Thomas of Canterbury, where the king met him and received him honourably. In the year 1179, Lewis, king of France, came into England; before which neither he nor any of his predecessors had ever set foot in this kingdom. (fn. 65) He landed at Dover, where king Henry waited his arrival, and on August 23, the two kings came to Canterbury, with a great train of nobility of both nations, and were received with due honour and great joy, by the archbishop, with his com-provincial bishops, and the prior and the whole convent. (fn. 66)
King Lewis came in the manner and habit of a pilgrim, and was conducted to the tomb of St. Thomas by a solemn procession; he there offered his cup of gold and a royal precious stone, (fn. 67) and gave the convent a yearly rent for ever, of a hundred muids of wine, to be paid by himself and his successors; which grant was confirmed by his royal charter, under his seal, and delivered next day to the convent; (fn. 68) after he had staid here two, (fn. 69) or as others say, three days, (fn. 70) during which the oblations of gold and silver made were so great, that the relation of them almost exceeded credibility. (fn. 71) In 1181, king Henry, in his return from Normandy, again paid his devotions at this tomb. These visits were the early fruits of the adoration of the new sainted martyr, and these royal examples of kings and great persons were followed by multitudes, who crowded to present with full hands their oblations at his tomb.— Hence the convent was enabled to carry forward the building of the new choir, and they applied all this vast income to the fabric of the church, as the present case instantly required, for which they had the leave and consent of the archbishop, confirmed by the bulls of several succeeding popes. (fn. 72)
¶From the liberal oblations of these royal and noble personages at the tomb of St. Thomas, the expences of rebuilding the choir appear to have been in a great measure supplied, nor did their devotion and offerings to the new saint, after it was compleated, any ways abate, but, on the contrary, they daily increased; for in the year 1184, Philip, archbishop of Cologne, and Philip, earl of Flanders, came together to pay their vows at this tomb, and were met here by king Henry, who gave them an invitation to London. (fn. 73) In 1194, John, archbishop of Lions; in the year afterwards, John, archbishop of York; and in the year 1199, king John, performed their devotions at the foot of this tomb. (fn. 74) King Richard I. likewise, on his release from captivity in Germany, landing on the 30th of March at Sandwich, proceeded from thence, as an humble stranger on foot, towards Canterbury, to return his grateful thanks to God and St. Thomas for his release. (fn. 75) All these by name, with many nobles and multitudes of others, of all sorts and descriptions, visited the saint with humble adoration and rich oblations, whilst his body lay in the undercrost. In the mean time the chapel and altar at the upper part of the east end of the church, which had been formerly consecrated to the Holy Trinity, were demolished, and again prepared with great splendor, for the reception of this saint, who being now placed there, implanted his name not only on the chapel and altar, but on the whole church, which was from thenceforth known only by that of the church of St. Thomas the martyr.
On July 7, anno 1220, the remains of St. Thomas were translated from his tomb to his new shrine, with the greatest solemnity and rejoicings. Pandulph, the pope's legate, the archbishops of Canterbury and Rheims, and many bishops and abbots, carried the coffin on their shoulders, and placed it on the new shrine, and the king graced these solemnities with his royal presence. (fn. 76) The archbishop of Canterbury provided forage along all the road, between London and Canterbury, for the horses of all such as should come to them, and he caused several pipes and conduits to run with wine in different parts of the city. This, with the other expences arising during the time, was so great, that he left a debt on the see, which archbishop Boniface, his fourth successor in it, was hardly enabled to discharge.
¶The saint being now placed in his new repository, became the vain object of adoration to the deluded people, and afterwards numbers of licences were granted to strangers by the king, to visit this shrine. (fn. 77) The titles of glorious, of saint and martyr, were among those given to him; (fn. 78) such veneration had all people for his relics, that the religious of several cathedral churches and monasteries, used all their endeavours to obtain some of them, and thought themselves happy and rich in the possession of the smallest portion of them. (fn. 79) Besides this, there were erected and dedicated to his honour, many churches, chapels, altars and hospitals in different places, both in this kingdom and abroad. (fn. 80) Thus this saint, even whilst he lay in his obscure tomb in the undercroft, brought such large and constant supplies of money, as enabled the monks to finish this beautiful choir, and the eastern parts of the church; and when he was translated to the most exalted and honourable place in it, a still larger abundance of gain filled their coffers, which continued as a plentiful supply to them, from year to year, to the time of the reformation, and the final abolition of the priory itself.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol11/pp306-383
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Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376),[1][a] was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, succeeded to the throne instead. Edward nevertheless earned distinction as one of the most successful English commanders during the Hundred Years' War, being regarded by his English contemporaries as a model of chivalry and one of the greatest knights of his age.[2]
Edward was made Duke of Cornwall, the first English dukedom, in 1337. He was guardian of the kingdom in his father's absence in 1338, 1340, and 1342. He was created Prince of Wales in 1343 and knighted by his father at La Hougue in 1346.
In 1346 Prince Edward commanded the vanguard at the Battle of Crécy, his father intentionally leaving him to win the battle. He took part in Edward III's 1349 Calais expedition. In 1355 he was appointed the king's lieutenant in Gascony, and ordered to lead an army into Aquitaine on a chevauchée, during which he pillaged Avignonet and Castelnaudary, sacked Carcassonne, and plundered Narbonne. The next year (1356) on another chevauchée he ravaged Auvergne, Limousin, and Berry but failed to take Bourges. He offered terms of peace to King John II of France, who had outflanked him near Poitiers, but refused to surrender himself as the price of their acceptance. This led to the Battle of Poitiers, where his army routed the French and took King John prisoner.
The year after Poitiers, Edward returned to England. In 1360 he negotiated the Treaty of Brétigny. He was created Prince of Aquitaine and Gascony in 1362, but his suzerainty was not recognised by the lord of Albret or other Gascon nobles. He was directed by his father to forbid the marauding raids of the English and Gascon free companies in 1364. He entered into an agreement with Kings Peter of Castile and Charles II of Navarre, by which Peter covenanted to mortgage Castro de Urdiales and the province of Biscay to him as security for a loan; in 1366 a passage was secured through Navarre. In 1367 he received a letter of defiance from Henry of Trastámara, Peter's half-brother and rival. The same year, after an obstinate conflict, he defeated Henry at the Battle of Nájera. However, after a wait of several months, during which he failed to obtain either the province of Biscay or liquidation of the debt from Don Pedro, he returned to Aquitaine. Prince Edward persuaded the estates of Aquitaine to allow him a hearth tax of ten sous for five years in 1368, thereby alienating the lord of Albret and other nobles.
Prince Edward returned to England in 1371 and the next year resigned the principality of Aquitaine and Gascony. He led the commons in their attack upon the Lancastrian administration in 1376. He died in 1376 of dysentery[b] and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, where his surcoat, helmet, shield, and gauntlets are still preserved.
At 5:24AM on October 20, 2018 the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire in the 700 block of S Normandie Av in Koreatown. Firefighters arrived to a four story, center-hall apartment building with people exiting through the front doors. Although no fire or smoke was visible, crews immediately deployed into fire attack and roof ventilation operations and located fire in the basement. Further investigation located pockets of fire in walls on the first and second floors.
Firefighters strategically opened sections of walls to extinguish fire while determining the extent of the fire's spread. The size of the building (54,152 square feet) and potential for a working attic fire led the Incident Commander Assistant Chief Kwame Cooper to request additional units and raise this to a Major Emergency status.
The efficient and precise efforts of the firefighters successfully prevented a dangerous attic fire and limited damage to the building. The structure, built in 1926, contained 76 units and occupants were evacuated with only one resident requesting medical evaluation by LAFD paramedics but did not require ambulance transport.
106 firefighters achieved knockdown in one hour and 30 minutes. While the cause of the fire is under active investigation by LAFD Arson and Counter-Terrorism Section (ACTS) (based on protocol for a Major Emergency structure fire) it appears the fire originated in a first floor utility room and traveled to the basement via a light well and then through the walls to the attic.
Photo Use Permitted via Creative Commons - Credit: LAFD Photo - Erik Scott
LAFD Incident: 102018-0259
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The entities comprising the following grouping all hail from Royskanblu, a small but densely-featured and likewise-populated planet located just within the boundaries of the Delta Octant near where it borders the Beta Octant, and noted for the uniquely-structured global society in which all three of its distinct races of humanoid natives live co-dependently…
• Loofravan: Stout, somewhat pudgy humanoids of purplish/pinkish-to-bluish complexion, Loofravans are popularly reputed as the most intelligent Royskanbluish citizens while also being the least-physically-adept, while a rather more precisely-accurate characterization for them is as their world's most deeply-thoughtful, devout and, above all, disciplined people. Predisposed, seemingly by a drive intrinsic to their very species, to honor - in any and all ways possible - both the God that created the realm of their inhabitation and the processes of nature that harbored their specific biological formation as a race, the Loofravans are noted for holding the fairly unique viewpoint of these two factors of reality both being equally-important and co-dependent, with neither being adequate for a meaningful and sustainable universe's development without the other. To the end of upholding such notions of honor, Loofravans generally resolve to make the most out of both their own existence and the resources available in the world around them, and per their values and conceptions as a people, this entails an extremely disciplined, productiveness-emphasizing lifestyle, with particular importance being seen in ambitious inventiveness and technological pursuit. Hence, Loofravans have, throughout most of Royskanbluish history, served as the visionaries, though not so much the official political leaders, of their civilization's progress and growth, being very much the "brains" of its global operation. They tend not to be satisfied with "merely" seeing through the same kinds of advancements as other enlightened worlds are all expected to make in due time, either, constantly striving to design truly unique utilities of whose sorts nothing would exist anywhere otherwise while seeing themselves and themselves alone as the ones destined to bring certain ideas to life through their skills of invention. One prime example of a technological concept largely originated in Loofravan science and having since found widespread and practical application elsewhere is that of artificial "psychokinesis" in the form of neurally-interfacing equipment powered and directed in its usage by brainwaves.
Loofravans are by far the most well-renowned Royskanbluish people throughout the rest of the Prime Galaxy, mainly by virtue of having the most regular interaction with other worlds and their respective inhabitants; many thousands of them have come to take up residence on different planets, primarily within the Delta and Beta Octants, being driven to do so in large part by the prospects of seeing/exploring the environments, and delving into the research possibilities presented by the resources, of foreign realms. Despite their willingness to physically leave it behind, though, nearly all Loofravans (with those born abroad constituting most of the exceptions) retain a strong, patriotic identification with their homeworld's unique culture and natural conditions that produced them, and they are thusly seen as prominent ambassadors of the Royskanbluish planetary identity, especially the few who go the extra (many thousands of) mile(s) in this regard by venturing beyond the Delta and Beta Octants to explore even more distant worlds. A related tradition, ironically engrained in galactic popular consciousness more prominently than in actual Royskanbluish culture, is for the first Loofravan to reach a planet previously unvisited by their kind to symbolically plant their world's flag at some important location with permission from the natives after successfully meeting with them on amicable terms. Today, the Royskanbluish flag exists in this form on just about every planet with non-hostile humanoid inhabitants, in many cases without any actual Loofravan migrant populations having been established there following the initial visits wherein the banners were planted.
In spite of the Loofravan form leaving a lot to be desired physique-wise and being unable to truly overcome its limitations (at least directly), the humanoids are almost as self-disciplining physically as they are mentally, and have developed their own unique system of martial arts, designed specifically to accommodate their particular physical attributes and heavily-utilizing the principle of mind-body synchronization through focus and meditation, which their culture expects (and severely pressures) all of its members to at least semi-regularly dabble in. As a result of this practice and its widespreadness, the average Loofravan, compared to a typical Konvadist, is weaker by a universal standard, but "stronger"/more-adept relative to his/her kind's capacity to grow in strength and skill through training, etc. Overall, 500 is considered a low-end durability value for a Loofravan, and 800 a high-end one.
• Konvadist: The most numerous of Royskanblu's peoples, outnumbering the Loofravans by a margin amounting to about 5% of their shared world's total humanoid population, Konvadists are yellowish-skinned beings identifiable by their massive, frequently bearded (even for females) chins while having an otherwise very standard build in terms of both shape and size, as well as in durability value (~800-900). By virtue of the particular format in which their metabolisms are structured and the slow yet efficient rate at which they function, they are also the longest-lived Royskanbluish organisms, humanoid or otherwise, being capable of living for up to a full century and with the very oldest Konvadists ever having died as super-centenarians.
Often stereotyped by others in the broader galaxy as the dumbest and most brutish/violent of their world's three prime races, Konvadists are innately warrior-like in their nature, but should in no way be dismissed as violent barbarians, possessing great honor, civility with allies and, most importantly, an aptitude as a people for applying their inherent strengths - ones that various other, genuinely barbaric races would and do use as excuses and means for destructive and cruel behaviors - to constructive ends as an importantly-contributing part of an advanced, enlightened larger society. Indeed, Konvadists form the backbone of Royskanbluish civilization's manual workforce, being responsible for the majority of construction work on the world's cities and other key institutions, of which more new ones continue to be actively, ambitiously built to this day, much more-so than in most other sufficiently-advanced civilizations. Konvadist hands are also the instruments by which most Loofravan-designed equipment is physically assembled, and in many cases, especially where putting a device into mass-production is concerned, this requires a fair bit of intelligent decision-making - specifically in the engineering field - on the parts of the entrusted manual workers. Unfortunately, many tend to overlook this vital role of Konvadist intuition in bringing to fruition that which Loofravans, conversely, are popularly given unduly singular credit for. All in all, the Konvadists serve as the "brawn" to the Loofravans' "brains", with this terminology being meant in the most positive way possible here, where either "component" of the figurative Royskanbluish "equation" of productiveness is equally-important to, co-dependent upon and effectively-cooperative with the other.
Konvadists are widely known to be the least-outgoing of their homeworld's races as far as direct galactic interaction goes; the vast majority of them never leave Royskanblu to travel anywhere else at any point in their whole natural lives, and although the same also technically holds true for their Bidempair brethren, remote communication with other world's peoples by Royskanbluish leaders belonging to the latter species still gives galactic society a strong, largely positive hands-on impression of them that the former kind lacks altogether. However, Konvadists generally do not mind their people's lack of galactic exposure, and are almost-uniformly content with their living arrangements and productive, domestically well-appreciated roles within Royskanbluish civilization, which ultimately - albeit inadvertently - ends up contributing to the issue of demeaning-and-worse stereotypical perceptions about them, in that they don't really see a need to do anything about this reputation. The biggest historical exception to the Konvadists' tendencies of shying from foreign interaction arose as a result of the Vision Wars, where numerous members of their race participating, to great effect, in various battles against invading Cosmo'rath forces throughout the Delta Octant; the initially-limited numbers doing so drastically increased starting in the Fourth Cycle of Age 567, following Cosmo'rath's sole major terror attack against Royskanblu during the war which served as an effective provocation for its people to heighten their contributions to the resisting war effort. Today, roughly three out of every five Konvadists still living on any planet besides Royskanblu are descended from those who traveled to said worlds for the war and decided to continue living there after its conclusion, leading to a popular, half-joking "theory" that surmises the humanoids to simply be very reluctant to engage in interplanetary travel.
• Bidempair: The least-populous of the Royskanbluish racial triumvirate, comprising one quarter of its citizenry at most (and oftentimes slightly less, depending on fluctuating demographics), Bidempairs are a very physically well-endowed and consequently intimidating people, ranking just below Barserinv's Kierraplips as far as the Prime Galaxy's largest-bodied extant races go; adults generally measure between seven or eight feet - usually closer to the latter threshold - in height. This massiveness, which brings with it proportionally greater-than-average energy intake requirements for each Bidempair, is a major contributing factor to the species' limited numbers in the natural status quo, as are their reproductive limitations, with pregnancy terms lasting significantly longer than for most other humanoid beings and multiple births being nigh-unheard of. Bidempair flesh, predominantly orangish in pigment, is rough and leathery, and as one would be stupid not to expect given their size, they are both the strongest Royskanbluish beings and the most resilient, with the average well-developed adults of their race boasting durability values between 1,100 and 1,300 and individuals of exceptionally dedicated physical self-discipline being able to achieve even greater levels of toughness - the all-time record stands at just below 1,800 - via heavy personal training over the course of several or more years.
The Bidempair sub-culture within the greater Royskanbluish civilization is the most relatively-independent from those of the other two races, though just as they bear somewhat more physical resemblance to their Konvadist cousins compared to the Loofravan form, the equivalent can also be said in respects to the races' societal relations. Bidempairs are the most naturalistic and least-technologically-dependent of Royskanblu's peoples, and furthermore are (pretty much rightly) regarded as the most philosophically-wise, practical, responsible and innately leader-like citizens of their world in spite of their comparably primitive, often tribal-like lifestyle tendencies and lacking anything resembling the sheer book-and-tech-smarts of their Loofravan brethren. As a result of these positive stereotypes and their widespread recognition within Royskanbluish culture itself, Bidempairs have long-occupied the majority of leadership positions in their global society's government - which can best be described as a constitutional, departmentalized oligarchy - and are traditionally perceived to be pre-inclined as the best fits for these roles by nature, destiny or both. While some might (and, indeed, frequently do) decry this tradition as system-embedded racial favoritism, very few of the complaints brought up about this over the years (primarily the more recent ones) have actually come from Royskanbluish citizens, most of whom have no qualms with how their (historically very internally-stable) civilization is organized. Also note that there is nothing officially stopping Loofravans and Konvadists from gaining these positions, at least strictly (de facto hurdles from public bias may be a very different story), and that either way, very few of them ever express any interest in doing so, let alone make serious bids for office.
Additionally, the bulk of the Bidempair population is not actively involved with pursuing appointment to leading posts either, with a majority of the race's citizenry maintaining fairly simple existences of caring for themselves, family, etc. throughout the entirety of adult life. It is only an ambitious minority of Bidempairs who devote years of their lives to preparing and proving themselves to be worthy of leading large sectors of their global civilization, a gruelingly mettle-testing process that constitutes almost as much of a "career" in and of itself as does actually serving in an office (to the point where providing personal training to the specific end of becoming "leader material" is its own viable business option). The pursuit of authority-qualification for a Bidempair aspirant invariably begins at a local level, with one's immediate peers collectively considering whether or not they should lend their vocal support to one's early efforts to gain sociopolitical traction through recognition. This is judged based on a few different key factors, including one's demonstrated decision-making skills and responsibility, their contributions to society on what is referred to as a "village" (local) scale, and various, sometimes gratuitous and/or savage-seeming feats of strength such as trophy-hunting of large animals; once a Bidempair has gained sufficient recognition beyond a local scope and effectively moves up to a more professional level of political pursuit, the last of these listed factors largely ceases to be relevant in favor of social responsibility becoming the solely primary trait being sought. In spite of its crudeness, this tradition-based system of peer-certification has proven a fairly reliable one for producing adequate selections of quality leadership candidates throughout Royskanbluish history, thanks in main part to the Bidempairs being a very honest people, innately and culturally; any and virtually all corrupt individuals seeking power for selfish-or-worse reasons are quickly weeded out by peers who will have no part of such manipulativeness, for which their culture's standard punishment is castration.
• Pilbitzor: Known as the most prominent of Royskanbluish non-humanoid life-forms, the Pilbitzor can be encountered as a common wildlife variety amid all regions of the world's geography, and is typically regarded as inconsequential - a mere nuisance, if anything - by its citizens, whose society has long-since developed past the point of the creature's edible, but hardly delectable, meat ceasing to be essential as a food source. As a result of ceasing to be hunted, Pilbitzors have become considerably more plentiful in their numbers over the past few centuries, and as of the matter's most recent study, conducted in Age 847, their total population stands poised to surpass that of the Konvadists within the next decade or so. Consequently, it has been repeatedly hypothesized and suggested by experts from abroad that some sort of measure ought to be taken against the animals' currently-unchecked continued proliferation, so as to prevent their abundance from becoming an adversity for other organisms on Royskanblu, sometime in the near future. The planet's peoples have yet to heed any of this advice, however, seeing little reason to be concerned by the issue, in large part due to the fact that continued population overgrowth by the Pilbitzors - hardly the most dangerous or aggressive of beasts - would not pose nearly so much a threat to them as it would to a number of smaller native organisms that might end up facing extinction from excessive predation and/or competition. Unlike, and in this case to the chagrin of, most of its neighboring/peer civilizations, Royskanbluish culture has never perceived much value in the cause of preserving animal biodiversity for its own sake if the at-risk life-forms in question aren't considered to serve any utilitarian purpose to humanoids.
Regarding the physical attributes of the Pilbitzor itself, it is a quadrupedal, amphibious (though seldom having the opportunity, much less the need, to make use of its swimming capacities) creature, usually classified as a mammal-reptile hybrid, whose bulbous, rotund lower body, to which its scaly legs connect in pairs at either opposite end, forms the base of an uprightly-oriented torso and overall upper half. A long tail, texturally continuous with the animal's color-striped underbelly, is often held up, visibly wagging, behind the Pilbitzor, and though this tail does bear a set of thorny projections at its end, these do not entail any special offensive capabilities - such as poison/venom, which is common in similar structures belonging to other animals - beyond that of simple puncturing. This plus the basic claws upon the beast's main hands together constitute the entirety of the Pilbitzor's set of built-in means for aggression, which is generally more-than-adequate to ensure its survival and thriving despite its modesty, with its natural place in its ecosystem being one without many actively-threatening predators to deal with, Secerpoyts being the one major exception. Conversely, Pilbitzors themselves, being omnivores, and far-from-picky ones at that, are prone to often-relentlessly hunting down and devouring most Royskanbluish fauna varieties of significantly lesser size than themselves, but pose no menace to any other major being of comparable, let alone greater, scale and complexity.
Just below the Pilbitzor's neckline resides a connected trio of gizzard-esque structures that do, in fact, serve and function as the mammaries of the creature, and per the norm for such are substantially larger in female specimens compared to males. Pilbitzor eyes are atypically-structured, lacking visible pupils, but ultimately are not any functionally different from standard eyes for this, while a set of lumpy, sack-like protrusions near the top of the beast's head are also visually prominent yet largely inconsequential, merely serving as some light additional cranial protection. Further regarding the subjects of protection and resilience in general: the Pilbitzor is quite sturdy for an organism of its size (that being less than four feet in height in most cases) on the whole, with its durability value frequently surpassing the 1,000 benchmark.
• Secerpoyt: A functionally-winged, serpentine reptile inclined to dwelling in and around mountainous areas, most notable of which on Royskanblu - and thus serving as the biggest population center for the beast - is the Raker Range occupying a sizable portion of the planetary map's Northeastern corner, the Secerpoyt is domestically infamous as the most hostile and effectively threatening Royskanbluish organism as far as its humanoid populations are concerned. Long-tailed and legless (unless one counts its lone pair of conventional limbs which would normally fall under the "arm" category as "legs"), it is able to fly freely and nimbly throughout the skies immediately above Royskanblu's surface, but not at advanced altitudes, due to the air thinning rather rapidly as one progresses upward through the planet's particular atmosphere and Secerpoyt wings possessing poor adaptability/climate-versatility despite their great effectiveness within a basic environment. In terms of their very tall overall heads and likewise-proportioned necks and faces, Secerpoyts lack any sort of lips, and therefore give off the appearance of "smiling" at all times, with their naturally-yellow teeth and a greenish, extremely thick surrounding set of gums on full display. Also highly noticeable is a forward-jutting structure, located just under the creature's nose, consisting of a tiny hole through which pokes out a largely useless and utterly superfluous miniature "tongue" resembling those of many a small serpent and lizard.
The Secerpoyt is the single-most-innately-aggressive, not to mention voracious, creature among all native Royskanbluish organisms, and one of the very few mortal beasts throughout the whole of the Prime Galaxy to harbor a particular taste for humanoid flesh; indeed, while both able and willing to prey upon and consume other animals, it is, in fact, significantly more tenacious in doing so to - more inclined to specifically seek out - Royskanblu's intelligent citizens, Loofravan, Konvadist and Bidempair alike, making it a true man-eater. Although not all potential targets are susceptible to it, namely with Bidempairs being far too massive and heavy, by far the Secerpoyt's most commonly-favored predation tactic consists of swooping down upon a target, lifting them up within both of its large hands and carrying them off to a nest, roost or other (usually high-up) location where it can take its time in devouring them at its own pace. This strategy is frequently employed in a "hit-and-run"-type manner, with the attacking Secerpoyt taking a single victim while many other bystanders are present, and doing so with such swiftness that it is difficult to stop the abduction process even with several people trying. Furthermore, it is far-from-unheard of for multiple Secerpoyts to raid together in a groups, collectively targeting a number of people at once and going about it with much more bold aggressiveness compared to when only one of them is striking. Even when a Secerpoyt is slain or otherwise stopped from successfully making off with a victim, the latter's is usually spared only from the indignity of being slowly eaten, as opposed to escaping death altogether, for as soon as it gets a hold of someone, the beast will almost invariably skewer its prey - generally near the neck or shoulder area(s) - with long, extremely sharp and nigh-unbreakably hard singular spikes that extend from either of its wrist and exist specifically for this very purpose. Needless to say, this is more-often-than-not fatal in and of itself, and the matter of being dropped from what usually amounts to a considerable height as part of the process of being "saved" makes actually surviving being grabbed by a Secerpoyt an even rarer feat still. With all this in mind, the people of Royskanblu have come to outfit most of their settlements - especially those located nearer to major Secerpoyt lairs, i.e. mountain ranges - with roofing and/or walling to make reaching their residents as inconvenient as possible for the monstrous animals.
From the topmost point of its head down to the far-tip of its tail, the average Secerpoyt measures approximately five meters in total body length, but one should not be (too) intimidated based on this statistic alone, for the creature itself is, necessarily-so for it to be able to fly with its wings being of the caliber they are, very leanly-built relative to it, low in body density and lacking a strong center of mass. Hence, it is less massive in practice than it might outwardly appear to be, and correspondingly easier to bring down in regards to the quantity of force required to do so; no Secerpoyt's durability value ever exceeds 1,000.
• Unischerk: Being the largest native Royskanbluish organisms, albeit by a small margin compared to the Bidempairs, Unischerks are chitinous-bodied, heavy-built and muscular, upright-standing and considerably fearsome-looking predatory animals found more-or-less consistently, but generally in low population density, all throughout the planet's mainland surface regions. Despite their startling appearance and at-times-particularly-ruthless aggressiveness towards all of the smaller local life-forms designated as their natural prey, with the latter attribute seeming only befitting of the former, Unischerks' inclinations to hostility do not extend to Royskanblu's humanoid citizens, none of whom fall under said prey category in the creatures' eyes (not even the extra ones). So long as it is not provoked, a wild, free-roaming Unischerk will largely ignore any humanoids, whether they be native to or visiting the planet, and even when feeling threatened by any such unfamiliar beings, it will not always immediately attack outright, often acting with confusion and appearing to be almost as frightened by them as vice-versa. Resultantly, it is possible, though very difficult and risky, to train and semi-domesticate a Unischerk, a feat that is only attempted with any regularity by Bidempairs; once having secured the loyalty of one of the beasts as a "pet", they will use its presence as such as a display of their own disciplinary skillfulness, so as to demonstrate and legitimize their self-purported suitability for whatever position(s) of authority they may be in the process of coveting. This practice, while still existing today, peaked during the Sixth Century Relative, over the course of which it came into play abroad during the Vision Wars, where a number of trained Unischerks - having initially been tamed simply to make a vain point - were deployed into action on other planets, serving as fairly useful war-beasts against Cosmo'rath forces. As a notable and inadvertent consequence of this particular wartime contribution by the humanoid-inhabited Delta Octant world least-affected by the Vision Wars, a small, but undetermined in its exact number, population of Unischerks, whose lineage has since reverted to the animal's default, wild state, continue to freely roam Yominasst to this day, having proven surprisingly adaptable to that planet's environment in spite of never having been intended to live there.
As for the physical characteristics of the animal itself, the Unischerk's most prominent nonstandard feature is the presence of paired, scythe-like claws attached to semi-segmented and tentacle-esque retractable appendages upon/within what most would call its "shoulders". The long reach of these structures, used for violent aggression, as well as the arced angles at which they extend and retract, has led to certain comparisons being drawn between the Unischerk and the demonic Tredewraif, although the latter's analogous mechanism is near-exponentially deadlier. The creature's main pair of arms, meanwhile, reside not immediately below its "shoulders", but significantly lower-down: barely above the midpoint of the main body, which is a necessarily peculiar placement given what the Unischerk's upper-chest-and-back area needs to be able not only to carry, but to actively fit and hold within its space. Like the "clawed tentacles", these arms are similarly-rooted, such that their lengths may be retracted into their owner's torso at will, but this is almost never practical for a Unischerk to do and thus is very rarely demonstrated as an ability. Additionally, their hands lack claws or other offensively-oriented features of their own, and hence cannot be effectively used in combat, where the Unischerk's special appendages serve as its singularly primary means for inflicting damage.
The beast's legs, and its feet especially, are intensely heavy-set, even compared to the rest of its body, as is its large tail, which bears a functionally club-like end-piece which can be swung around as a secondary, generally inferior attack mechanism. As alluded to above, Unischerks have five eyes, the unpaired one of which resides upon the forehead. Their durability values range from 1,200 to 1,600, depending on size and muscular development, factors which tend to vary quite a bit from specimen to specimen.
• ROYSKANBLUISH WEAPONS:
- Psy-Kin WaveWand
- Ocular Blastscoper
- Omnioriental Scissorer
- Powder-Power Pulverizer
- Sureitkan LaunchSaber
- Fan-O-War
Dream Mall, Kaosiung, Taiwan
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At 3:42AM on Sunday May 1, 2022 the Los Angeles City Fire Department responded to 1325 S Los Angeles Street for a reported structure fire. The first arriving fire company found heavy fire showing from a two story building, part of a row of commercial units, doing business as "Nice Cap".
Sparks flew from rotary saws as firefighters cut open multiple rolling steel doors to gain access to the unit. Due to the quantity of stacked, packed textiles, firefighters faced challenges reaching the seat of the fire located on the 2nd floor towards the back of the unit. The fire burned through the roof and caused a partial collapse.
The heavy, raging fire combined with the safety hazards of the partial collapse required a transition to defensive operations. Crews deployed master streams and hit the blaze with a deluge of water. They succeeded in knocking back the bulk of the fire which allowed them to return to an offensive operation and resume an interior fire attack.
Accessing the stairwell to the second floor continued to prove difficult due to the interior storage conditions and the remaining fire. Ultimately, 134 firefighters operating under the command of Assistant Chief Antoine McKnight achieved a knockdown in two hours and four minutes with no injuries reported.
The persistence and dedicated efforts of the firefighters saved the two adjoining businesses from fire damage.
LAFD Arson and Counter-Terrorism Section (ACTS) responded, per protocol, and the investigation remains active.
Use of This Photo Permitted via Creative Commons - Credit: Branden Silverman
LAFD Incident: 050122-0197
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