I’m not a victim,

till I let you take me down.

Im not a target at the sites of your mercy,

I never asked for anything,

I'm not asking now.

I will not be afraid,

 

I've done this on my own

and I don’t care what you do to me,

I woulnt hand over what is mine

Ive done this for too long,

to let you take it away from me,

its to late to stop me

cause I refuse to die.

 

(Stone Sour)

Jean Miense Molenaer. 1609-1668 Haarlem

L'Opération du pied. Operation of the foot.

Avignon. Musée Calvet

 

LE RÉALISME NÉERLANDAIS.

 

Le réalisme néerlandais, plus exactement flamand et néerlandais, s'enracine dans une culture qui correspond au peuplement germanophone des Pays Bas au sens large (Pays Bas et Belgique actuels).

La partie sud du pays, flamande, se développe beaucoup plus précocement que la partie nord, néerlandaise. Dès le 11è siècle la Flandre est avec la plaine du Pô un des tous premiers moteurs de la Renaissance de l'Europe après les Ages Sombres consécutifs au lent dépérissement de l'Empire Romain et à la série d'invasion germaniques, scandinaves et arabo-berbères qui l'accompagnent et en aggravent encore les conséquences.

En peinture l'école de Bruges, que certains historiens d'art appellent encore "les primitifs flamands", n'a rien de primitif et constitue un excellent témoin du développement économique et politique de la Flandre au 15è siècle et 16è siècle.

L'Europe de l'ouest étant catholique, les oeuvres de ces peintres sont essentiellement orientées par les thèmes religieux. Mais le réalisme naturaliste, l'esprit concret et pragmatique de cette population apparaît déjà très clairement comme en témoignent Jérôme Bosch (1450-1516) et surtout Bruegel Pierre l'Ancien (1525-1569). Ce dernier notamment peint tout aussi souvent des tableaux profanes que des oeuvres sacrées, notamment ses kermesses, danses de mariage, travaux des saisons. Mais en outre ses tableaux religieux relèguent bien souvent le thème spécifiquement sacré en fond de scène, et en fait un prétexte à une restitution très détaillée de la vie quotidienne à son époque.

Cette caractéristique flamande va se développer encore, après la Réforme, aux Pays Bas du Nord dont le démarrage économique plus tardif prend tout son essor au 17è siècle.

La Réforme de tendance calviniste qui triomphe aux Pays Bas est religieusement presque iconoclaste. Le protestantisme néerlandais n'interdit certes pas absolument les représentations imagées religieuses -heureusement pour Rembrandt- mais il les limite considérablement. Les intérieurs des églises sont dépouillés du décor peint ou sculpté des temps catholiques. Les thèmes religieux qui demeurent sont essentiellement tirés de l'Ancien Testament, la Vierge et donc le Christ enfant, les Saints et les Saintes disparaissent. En outre l'Eglise ayant été chassée du pays un mécène essentiel disparaît.

Les artistes des Pays Bas du Nord doivent se reconvertir, ils vont le faire de manière exemplaire, en devenant les inventeurs d'une peinture profane, séculière, tout à fait particulière, qui restera originale en Europe encore jusqu'au 19è siècle.

Les artistes néerlandais n'ont peut être pas, dans l'absolu, créé les genres de la peinture de paysage, de la peinture de nature morte, ou de la peinture de moeurs, mais ils leur ont donné un tel développement, bien avant les autres régions de l'Europe, que cela équivaut à une invention.

Avant les artistes des Pays Bas du Nord le paysage est presque toujours le décor d'une scène historique ou mythologique. C'est aux Néerlandais que l'on doit le développement du paysage sans autre thème que la nature, et les banales et quotidiennes activités humaines contemporaines. Le thème certes déjà connu "des travaux et des jours" se généralise, se sécularise, et sort des livres d'heures.

Les peintres des Pays Bas vont aussi considérablement développer la peinture de moeurs en quittant les milieux aristocratiques pour s'intéresser aux paysans, artisans et bourgeois. Un domaine où leur réalisme et leur sens de l'observation font merveille. Les artistes flamands et néerlandais nous permettent, bien mieux que les peintres baroques ou classiques des écoles de l'Europe du Sud ou de l'Allemagne d'observer les modes de vie de l'époque.

Une vache qui pisse, un cochon qui ronfle, une femme qui boit, qui range son linge dans l'armoire, ou épouille sa fille, des paysans avinés qui se disputent, ou des bourgeois qui patinent sont des thèmes très distinctifs des Pays Bas. Des thèmes qui ne se rencontrent pas, ou très peu, ailleurs en Europe. Ce n'est pas du tout la peinture française de l'époque de Louis XIII et Louis XIV. Même les frères Le Nain sont très loin du réalisme flamand et néerlandais.

Enfin la nature morte, qui peut avoir quelques vagues connotations religieuses avec les "vanités", prend aussi un essor qui est spécifique de cette région de l'Europe.

Dans le domaine du portrait l'Europe catholique avait depuis longtemps ouvert la voie et les Pays Bas sont moins originaux, sauf à privilégier le portrait bourgeois par rapport au portrait aristocratique. Mais quand le milicien bourgeois des "grandes compagnies" porte l'épée on voit bien qu'il n'est pas un aristocrate. De même que les régentes des hopitaux, béguinages, orphelinats et oeuvres charitables diverses ne peuvent pas se confondre avec les grandes dames de la noblesse - et de la religion- française, hispanique ou germanique.

Les artistes des Pays Bas nous restituent ainsi, encore une fois, avec réalisme, le décor humain de leur époque, à un niveau social que les peintres du sud de l'Europe ignorent car leur clientèle est toujours ailleurs: Les Rois, les Princes, l'Aristocratie ou une très grande bourgeoisie assimilée, et bien sûr l'Eglise.

 

THE NETHERLANDS REALISM.

 

The Dutch realism, more precisely Flemish and Dutch, is rooted in a culture that corresponds to the German-speaking population of the Netherlands in the broad sense (the Netherlands and Belgium today).

The southern part of the country, Flemish, develops much earlier than the northern part, Dutch. From the 11th century Flanders was, with the plain of the Po and Tuscany, one of the first engines of the Renaissance of Europe after the Dark Ages consecutive to the slow decline of the Roman Empire and to the series of Germanic Scandinavian and Arabic-Berbers invasions that accompany it and further aggravate the consequences.

In painting the school of Bruges, which some art historians still call " the Flemish primitives", is nothing primitive and is an excellent witness to the economic and political development of Flanders in the 15th and 16th centuries.

The Western Europe being Catholic, the works of these painters are essentially oriented by religious themes. But the naturalistic realism, the concrete and pragmatic spirit of this population, already appears very clearly as evidenced by Jerome Bosch (1450-1516) and especially Bruegel Peter the Elder (1525-1569). The latter, in particular, paints profane paintings as often as sacred works, notably his kermesses, wedding dances, works of the seasons. But in addition his religious pictures often relegate the specifically sacred theme to the background, making it a pretext for a very detailed restitution of everyday life in his time.

This Flemish characteristic will continue to develop after the Reformation in the Northern Netherlands, whose later economic growth took off in the 17th century.

The Reformation of Calvinist tendency which triumphs in the Netherlands is religiously almost iconoclastic. Dutch Protestantism does certainly not absolutely forbid religious images - fortunately for Rembrandt- but he limits them considerably. The interiors of the churches are stripped of the painted or carved decoration of Catholic times. The religious themes that remain are essentially drawn from the Old Testament, the Virgin and therefore the Christ Child, the Saints and the Holy Women disappear. In addition the Church having been expelled from the country, an essential patron disappears.

The artists of the Low Countries of the North must reconvert, they will do so in an exemplary way, becoming the inventors of a profane, secular painting, quite particular, which will remain original in Europe until the 19th century.

The Dutch artists may be not have, in absolute terms, created the genres of landscape painting, of still life painting, or painting of manners, but they have given them such a development long before other regions of Europe, that is equivalent to an invention.

Before the artists of the Low Countries of the North the landscape is almost always the decor of a historical or mythological scene. It is the Dutch to development of the landscape with no other theme than nature, and the banal and daily contemporary human activities. The theme already known "works and days" is generalized, secularized, and comes out of the books of hours.

The painters of the Netherlands will also considerably develop the painting of manners by leaving the aristocratic circles, to take an interest in peasants, craftsmen and bourgeois. An area where their realism and their sense of observation are wonderful. Flemish and Dutch artists allow us, far better than the Baroque or classical painters of the schools of Southern Europe or Germany, to observe the ways of life of the time.

A cow that pisses, a pig that snores, a woman who drinks, who puts her clothes in the cupboard, or chases his daughter's lice, drunken peasants who dispute, or bourgeois who skate, are very distinctive themes of the Netherlands . Topics that do not meet, or very little, elsewhere in Europe. This is not at all the French painting of the time of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Even the Le Nain brothers are far from Flemish and Dutch realism.

Finally, still life, which may have some vague religious connotations with the "vanities", also takes a boom that is specific to this region of Europe.

In the field of portraiture Catholic Europe had long opened the way, and the Netherlands is less original, except to favor the bourgeois portrait in relation to the aristocratic portraiture. But when the bourgeois militiaman of the "big companies" bears the sword, it is clear that he is not an aristocrat. Just as the regentes of hospitals, beguines, orphanages and various charitable works can not be confused with the great ladies of the nobility - and of the French, Hispanic or Germanic religion.

The artists of the Netherlands thus restore to us, once again, with realism, the human decor of their time, on a social level that the painters of southern Europe ignore because their clientele is always elsewhere: The Kings, Princes, The Aristocracy or a very large assimilated bourgeoisie, and of course the Church.

  

A consequence of the withdrawal of the 10 was the LTs being displaced to the 27, and then the ADHs from the 27 to the E3 to displace SPs.

This process is roughly half complete as of today, and this is the new order on the E3, with ADH45030 at Drayton Bridge. 7.12.18

 

2455 South Kensington-Shepherds Bush 49

TE1571 Shepherds Bush-Acton Central 607

TEH1464 Acton Central-Gypsy Corner 266

DE20077 Gypsy Corner-Acton 440

2572 Acton-Ealing Broadway 427

2451 Ealing Broadway-Greenford E1

ADH45030 Greenford-Drayton Bridge E3

2462 Drayton Bridge-Ealing Broadway E1

2571 Ealing Broadway-Acton 427

TEH1452 Acton-Hammersmith 266

DPS30694 Hammersmith-Barnes Stn 72

707019 Barnes-Waterloo

The Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2000 extend to coaches used on registered local bus services from 1st January 2020. This directly affects Stagecoach in South Wales, who have been operating their surviving Plaxton Premiere Interurban (52401-3) and Jonckheere Modulo (52532 & 52633)-bodied Volvo B10Ms on registered schools services, but now need to be replaced by PSVAR-compliant vehicles.

 

Their replacements are six Alexander ALX400-bodied Dennis Tridents - 18006-8 and 18072/6/9 - which have transferred from the East Scotland fleet are being fitted with seatbelts. Three of these were new to the Devon fleet and transferred to Scotland a few years back.

 

They are slowly entering service at Cwmbran depot, where 18007 is pictured in early November 2019.

On Friday 24 March, hundreds gathered in central London to protest the rolling out of a red carpet at Number 10 Downing Street for Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

يوم الجمعة 24 مارس 2023 ، تجمع المئات في وسط لندن للاحتجاج على طرح السجادة الحمراء في رقم 10 داونينج ستريت لرئيس الوزراء الإسرائيلي بنيامين نتنياهو

 

ביום שישי ה-24 במרץ 2023, מאות התאספו במרכז לונדון במחאה על פריצת השטיח האדום ברחוב דאונינג מספר 10 עבור ראש ממשלת ישראל, בנימין נתניהו

 

Israeli liberals, angry at Netanyahu's attempt to crush the independence of the judiciary and protect himself from a corruption indictment, joined Palestinian and other activists infuriated by 56 years of Apartheid, since Israel's occupation of the West Bank in 1967.

 

Netanyahu is still on trial for corruption in three separate cases. In 2019 he had already been officially indicted for breach of trust, accepting bribes and fraud, and, as a consequence, he lost the support of his coalition partners in parliament. However, last November, he returned to power in coalition with the ultra-orthodox and ultra nationalist factions, forming what almost commentators agree is the most right wing government Israel has witnessed since its independence in 1948.

 

Israel has been rocked by massive protests and strikes ever since Netanyahu's justice minister, Yariv Levin, revealed the government's plan to overhaul the country's justice system in January. Activists pointed out that its intent was clear. To weaken judicial independence and to shield Netanyahu from corruption charges.

 

Resistance to the government's proposals escalated even further two days after this photograph was taken when Netanyahu returned to Israel and fired his defence minister, Yoav Gallant. Within an hour tens of thousands had taken to the streets in central Jerusalem and also surrounded Netanyahu's home.

 

Returning to Friday morning in London when this photo was taken, protesters waiting peacefully on the pavement opposite 10 Downing Street were doubtless surprised at the huge number of police, including dogs, deployed on Whitehall. Later, and despite heavy rain, around a hundred protesters made their way to the Savoy Hotel where Netanyahu was rumoured to be staying, where the police presence was far more low key.

 

Many activists carried placards such as "democracy and occupation cannot coexist" and "Free Palestine = Free Israel." They pointed out that Palestinians live in what both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have concluded is an Apartheid state, many without any access to clean water or electricity, many fearing the demolition of their homes and others the detention for lengthy periods of their relatives and children for protesting the continuing occupation. Meanwhile, Britain's ongoing military and diplomatic support for Israel make us complicit in the continued oppression of the Palestinian people.

 

A consequence of the BR Regional Railways operation was the operation of some rather exotic long-distance cross-country trains and this persisted into the privatisation era. Here we see 158831 arriving at Tenby on the 0900 from Brighton; it will then form the 1540 to Manchester Piccadilly.

Here is the story of my first time shooting the Hillsboro Branch last year. This was originally posted on my Facebook photography page.

 

Anyway, one of New England's smaller and more obscure operations is the Milford and Bennington Railroad. It is a one locomotive and one customer operation. So that was my goal but I also had hopes of catching one of the equally obscure branchline locals in New England. In fact, the two actually overlap for a few miles so it is possible to see them both in the same day, if a bit improbable.

 

Pan Am's Hillsboro Branch is one of the last old Boston & Maine branchlines of any consequence still in service in New England. B&M once had a spiders web of branches blanketing the north shore of the Boston metro area, southern Maine, and nearly all of the Granite State. Abandonments began in the 1930s and accelerated in the 1970s and then virtually all were pruned in the early Guilford era. A few stubs lasted into the 21st century but two decades in really the only ones I can think of are:

 

1) The Heywood Branch out of Gardner, that once went to Winchendon but is now just a short stub - I have yet to shoot this

 

2) The Greenville Branch out of Ayer, that once reached to its namesake in southern NH but now only is in service a mile or so within Ayer and exists OOS for 10 miles to Townsend - I have yet to shoot this

 

3) The short Lowell Hill Branch in Lawrence that I've featured here before

 

4) The branch to Rouselet in Peabody served by BO-1 that I've featured here that comprises bits of the old Danvers Branch and South Reading branches

 

All of the above are designated Industrial Tracks in the modern Pan Am timetable making the Hillsboro Branch the last true branch line.

 

It reaches 16.38 miles from its connection with the Northern Mainline in downtown Nashua just north of the yard and right where Nashua Union Station once stood. Made up of a series of predecessors by the late 1930s it was no longer a thru route and basically was a 40 mile branchline. B&M cropped the 8 miles from Bennington to Hillsboro in 1979 but continud to serve the small paper mill in the former town into the early Guilford era. When Guilford petitioned to abandon the line beyond Wilton the state bought the remaining 16 miles and to this day it is intact to Bennington. However, regular operations extend only three miles beyond Wilton to the quarry in South Lyndeborough and the M&B runs very rare special excursions (usually once a year) another six miles to Greenfield. That's a bit of a primer on the route and a lot more can be found in Robert M. Lindsell's "The Rail Lines of Northern New England."

 

The modern day Hillsboro branch is a tediously slow piece of railroad with a MAXIMUM speed of 5 MPH and derailments are quite common. It is not unsual for a 32 mile round trip to serve the two remaining customers to consume two full 12 hr work days for the Nashua based local crews NA-1 and NA-2. It is that fact that made these shots possible and allowed me to check off another rare and long sought after piece of New England railroading. NA-2 had reportedly made the trip west but tied up for the night in Milford at their main customer's siding (Hendrix Wire). I was fortunate to have a friend from Nova Scotia who has family in the area staying there who could provide intel. So I invited another friend to make the long drive from the south shore area and we decided to give it a shot.

 

I left work around 0630 and drove straight to Nashua. After a good breakfast in a local diner beside the tracks we consolidated vehicles and drove west following the line. When we got to Milford we found the M&B tied down at Granite State Concrete with no sign of life but then were pleased to find a Guilford gray GP40 parked at Hendrix just like we'd been told. But it was shut down and and cold so we were a bit nervous when we arrived around 0830. A friend told us that NA-1's crew was on duty in Nashua at 0900 and we should see them by 0945 or so. 10 AM came and went and we started to worry that Pan AM may have diverted them to other duties, but finally about 1015 a van showed up. When the engine turned over then died twice we really were thinking we were in for a disappointment, but finally it stayed running. The crew had no switching to do so their only chore was to tote their one car west to Wilton, run around, and start the slow journey back east (timetable south). The outer four miles of this branch are by far the most scenic and feature a nice bridge over the Souhegan River a couple old B&M depots for props, and some bucolic southern New Hampshire scenery. THIS is where you want to catch the train, since the eastern 11 miles are arrow straight and rather boring passing strip malls and small industrial parks.

 

We chased him west from Hendrix, watched him run around then started east. After getting a nice shot crossing the deck bridge in Wilton I looked down and noticed I'd lost my wide angle lense somewhere along the way....that quickly put a damper on things. My friends were gracious enough to help me look and even drive back to Wilton retracing our steps. Having no luck there we came back to the bridge and trudged down the bank again, where one of them found it in the leaves an brush. Thanks Vincent! After a big sigh of relief we headed east and in more good fortune the PAR crew had stopped for a snack behind the Cumberland Farms at the Wilton-Milford line affording us plenty of time to get down to the Granite State plant and set up for views of them passing the M&B. There we were pleasantly surprised to find the M&B's little SW-9 fired up and running as they slowly unloaded the prior day's stone train. We got our shots of NA-1 then followed east to Milford to capture the images of him passing the old B&M boxcar and the depots.

 

After the shots in Milford we headed back to Granite State and were a bit disappointed to find the M&B still there with the loco shut down. It wasn't to be a two railroad chase this day. But I had nothing to complain about. So we turned around and went east for one more shot of NA-1 at the busy Route 101 crossing before calling it quits. I was quite happy to have gotten the arguably rarer and harder to catch of the two options.

 

After that it was time for a celebratory lunch at the Red Arrow Diner, then drop off Caleb who was one for the day before Vincent and I started back to Nashua. Despite a leisurely lunch and driving back and forth to drop off cars. Amazingly after doing all that we still showed up in Nashua before NA-1 did and we set up for some last shots of him exiting the branch on to the mainline to go tie up Nashua yard.

 

While slow can be tedious and annoying, it sure does work in your favor sometimes. Anyway, now you know the rest of the story (not like you cared!) behind these earlier posts.

 

Here they are crossing the Souhegan River near MP I15.5 after running around in Wilton, and this is where I lost my lense.

 

Milford, New Hampshire

Friday September 6, 2019

The "Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland" is a Unesco World Heritage. The area is dominated by a vast limestone plateau. Human beings have lived there for some five thousand years and adapted their way of life to the physical constraints of the island. As a consequence, the landscape is unique, with abundant evidence of continuous human settlement from prehistoric times to the present day.

Unesco World Heritage, dossier 968.

whc.unesco.org/en/list

Consequences of Storm Doris

Imaginary Consequences, 2016

MAGNIFICENT, when viewed in large size. Just getting to the point of what we would call dusk, it was so quiet, no birds tweeting, twitting, or bird song. Absolute calm! Waiting, like something is inevitable, something is going to happen any moment. Like standing at attention for the Remembrance Day Memorial. And then- nothing,complete darkness, it's as if you could visualize all the little critters and bugs scurrying to find a secure seat for the evening performance of Nature's Orchestra. Before the orchestration begins it's usual harmonious moonlight sonata.

The consequences of head-bobbing a committed female.

Watching Donald Trump’s pandemic briefings is insufferable. The President is often argumentative and dispenses information that is superfluous and often dangerous. During his March 19 briefing, he first promoted the antimalarial drug hydroxychlorquine as a potential cure for COVID-19. By the next week, over 101,000 posts about the drug had appeared on Facebook, and by late March, there were hundreds of thousands of tweets about it per hour. Donald Trump is effective when using his bully pulpit.

 

There is no scientific evidence that hydroxychlorquine, a medication used by those with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, is effective against the coronavirus. In fact, scientists in Brazil cut short a trial when it showed this drug and its close relative, chloroquine, could adversely affect the heart. Hospitals in Sweden and American cardiology groups cautioned doctors these drugs could be harmful to those with existing heart problems.

 

Despite those warnings, in his April 4 briefing, the President was cavalier when he said, “What do you have to lose? I’ll say it again: What do you have to lose? Take it. I really think they should take it.” An Arizona man, heeding Trump’s advice, died when he ingested chloroquine phosphate, a drug that sounds like chloroquine, but is used to clean fish tanks. Lives are lost when people take the advice of someone with no medical background, including the President of the United States.

 

At his April 23 briefing, the President came up with another cure: injecting ourselves with disinfectants. These are effective in destroying COVID-19 on surfaces and countertops. But taken internally, they are toxic. His suggestion stunned the scientific community. Given the weight of his office, doctors and the makers of Lysol and Clorox warned the public against consuming bleach and other cleaning agents. The Maryland Emergency Management Agency received over 100 calls about this in the hours and days after Trump’s statement. Even more alarming, the New York Daily News reported the city’s Poison Control Center fielded over 30 calls the day after Trump’s comments from people who had taken Lysol, bleach, or other household cleaners.

 

The outcry was so great, Trump walked back his recommendations the next day: “I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen.” For the record, he offered his remedy with no prompting by reporters. But, what can one expect from a man who believes he has an innate understanding of medical science. The President has become the 21st century version of our 19th century snake oil salesman.

 

Mistrust of science and rational thought have always been part of the American zeitgeist. Scientific facts are often suspect, even when friends and relatives are sick and dying. Anti-intellectualism places education below the self-made man or woman. Donald Trump’s election is only the latest example of its resilience. Unquestioning followers reject any serious analysis of Trump’s temperament and beliefs, including their effects on social and scientific questions such as income inequality and climate change. Bias and emotion take precedence over inquisitive and unbiased reasoning. We often associate these positions with the under-educated and with religious groups, the historical base of the Republican Party. But they can also come from the left as with anti-vaxxers who claim vaccines cause autism.

 

Their interpretation of our Constitutional rights reinforce their belief that individual choice is more important than the greater good: “I don’t have to self-quarantine if I don’t want to. If you chose to, that’s up to you.” They see no connection between their actions as silent virus carriers and spreading disease to others. And they fail to see the hypocrisy between demanding their right to choose how to act during this pandemic and their objections to others’ right to choose, whether it’s to have an abortion or to marry your same-sex partner. There is no critical thinking.

 

Like the fervor of partisan politics, the coronavirus pandemic has once again revealed these fissures in American society. Self-interest is at odds with a communal one. To fix this, it’s important to remember Americans share a collective purpose and future. From this shared purpose, questioning our own needs with those of others can lead to discourse. But we must be curious enough to begin this process. Doing so engenders tolerance and respect for others’ beliefs. These are the seeds of the greater good.

 

I hate Donald Trump’s indifference and arrogance. But, he is not entirely to blame for the present state of our union. Both the Democrat and Republican Parties have ignored the poor and the working class for years. Yes, the GOP has been the most egregious of late. But if we are to survive this, all of this, together, our leaders must put their personal agendas aside for our greater good. I’d like to think this pandemic, affecting all of us whether we are rich or poor, men or women, gay or straight, young or old, or white or brown, will make us see not just our shared experiences as Americans, but as humans. But it won’t be easy to erase the differences that divide us. Our history is proof of that.

 

Peddling unproven cures for the coronavirus is reckless. Thinking critically might mean the difference between life and death. After three and a half years of the Trump presidency, Donald Trump’s principal motivation is clear: his self-interest. I have no hope he will change. While I’m often shocked by his behavior, I’m never surprised. I’m fighting for the greater good now. But I’m also preparing for the worst until Trump’s circus is cancelled.

  

See the rest of the posters from the Chamomile Tea Party! Digital high res downloads are free here (click the down arrow on the lower right side of the image). Other options are available. And join our Facebook group.

 

Follow the history of our country's political intransigence from 2010-2018 through a six-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.

Glaze, ArtStudio/ iPhone

Cela Peut Arriver à Agen.

En observant ce qui se passe le long des voies, on comprend.

La situation doit-être traumatisante pour les conducteurs de trains!

In 2008 I visited the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard for a photograph & sailingtrip. An absolute must for nature lovers who are not afraid of the cold! Svalbard has always been seen as one of the most accessible polar bear populations on the world. Back then the local guide showed us that climate change poses a major threat to the Arctic. Like photographer Kerstin Langenberger Photography has captured the consequences of global warming for polar bears. Or not? Even now scientists discuss whether the consequences of global warming causes this bear to die. Let’s get on with this discussion and analysis, and take action! Read more: www.ibtimes.co.uk/svalbard-shocking-picture-shows-emaciat...

"A gun is only good when it is used by the right person. But the wrong person wielding it will only reap the consequences." - CT-2971 'Threat'

 

Narrator- "They say that a big gun doesn't make a big soldier, it only makes them look like an embarrassment and, somewhat, disappointing. Many clones in the Republic all basically carry DC-17 Blaster Rifles, Blasters or, for some, the Heavy Repeaters that can pack a punch. Each clone that had been cloned, trained and supervised have all gone under the choice of weapons that they chose or deemed worthy for their desires. Once they picked their weapons, they would go through months of hard and difficult training in order to really feel and get into character with their own weapons. Sounds odd, but accurately true.'

 

'However, one clone amongst many chose not to choose the three basically picked weapons. And that specific clone was CT-2971, or what many call him, Threat."

_________________________

 

(Dantooine, Clone Barracks, Three months after the Battle of Jabiim)

 

A few months after the Battle of Jabiim, inside one of the Clone Barracks, Threat, along with a few other members of the squad and army were taking the time to get some target practice done, considering they were pretty much bored out of their minds. They haven't had any contact with any Separatist forces for an entire week, and most of the clones were getting anxious, annoyed and impatient. So to kill some time, they all decided to at least shoot some targets during their free time.

 

Threat- "Refresh!"

 

Reloading his guns, he watches as the target refreshes the hologram image of a Super Battle Droid, clearing away the gun barrel holes from the image. Swiftly, Threat aims his pistol and blaster at the target, hitting the droid picture with another round of blazing lasers, penetrating through the image once again.

 

Figuring that he waisted enough ammo, he reloads his guns as the clips fell to the floor. Hitting the button next to him, the target picture suddenly slides up to him so he could get a good look on how he did. From what see saw, the image was half burned and ripped apart from the devestating attacks from his guns. From his perspective, it was a perfect and deadly success.

 

Threat- "Ah! Another clean hit. Nothing like the smell of a stentch of blaster fire to boil your blood up."

???- "So this is where you went, eh Threat ol' boy?"

 

The voice of that person made him cringe so. Slowly turning his head around, he was faced with none other than his clone brother, Degree, who was accompanied by Kydan, Calena and his commander, Breona. The look on Degree's face had a goofy grin that made you want to punch him for no apparent reason.

 

Degree- "We thought you went to the other barracks to go watch some Twi'lek dancers or something."

Threat- "It's to my best interest to only point and shoot droids, not go off and have some pleasure by watching some dancers."

Degree- "Aw, come on Threat! You might find yourself a good looking wife or something!"

 

Degree's jokes always made his blood boil in annoyance. In all honesty, he loved his brother. He may have been the opposite of him and all, but he did care about his brother and his squad very much. However, when Degree would start to act like this, he had the intuition to just punch the man right in the jaw. And that moment was now.

 

Threat- *Angrily* "Degree, I'll--"

Kydan- "Okay, okay, that's enough you two! I don't need another broken out firefight right in the middle of our own barracks, and I don't need the 'both of you' to start that."

 

Both of the clones backed off a bit, their expressions changing to a frown as they tried not to look over at their leader, guilt rushing over them.

 

Threat- "Y-yes sir, sorry sir."

Degree- "Yeah, me too sir."

Kydan- "Good. Now, to the point; what were you doing Threat?"

 

Getting some of his pride back, he gestures over to the targetting panel that was still filled with blaster fire from earlier as he shows them his DC-17 Blaster and pistol.

 

Threat- "Just making some good use with these, sir. Some of the boys and I were getting bored from just standing around and doing nothing, so we decided to come on over and shoot some targets to blow off some stress and what not."

Kydan- "Hm...that's understandable. It has been boring, considering that the Separatist hasn't made a move over the past week or so. I can see why you guys would want to do something like this."

 

Out of the three, only Breona and Degree understood why Threat would do something like this. If there wasn't anything to fight, you might as well blow off steam with some dummies for target practice. But for Calena, she didn't understand one bit.

 

Calena- "Not wanting to sound rude, but this makes no sense."

Kydan- "Why's that?"

Calena- "Why would you get so stress over on the peace and quietness we're receiving? Don't you like it that we don't have to fight any Separatist forces from time to time?"

Threat- "Sadly ma'am, my blood and cloning DNA is all about fighting. That's what we were breeded for; to fight a war and win a war, with guns in our bare hands. I couldn't see myself without a blaster in both of my hands. It doesn't feel right."

 

She still didn't get it. She knew that the clones were all bred and trained to mostly fight, but she would have thought that they would at least like the peace and quiet from time to time.

 

Calena- "I still don't understand..."

Kydan- "Give it a break trooper. Cale' over here will never understand about why quietness and peace doesn't fit well with us."

Calena- "Excuse me?! What did that mean?!"

 

Turning to face her, Kydan gave off one of his devious and goofy grins. That meant that he was about have fun with whatever he was about to start.

 

Kydan- "Well, obviously someone as yourself, your highness, you have never picked up a gun in your life, nor have ever shot one off. So you have no idea what we mean."

Calena- *Glare* "That's because guns aren't for Jedi like myself. Even Obi-Wan once said, 'Blasters and other guns are so uncivilized.' So why would I want to do so?"

 

And this was where thigns were about to go crazy.

 

Kydan- "Well that's because you're a woman."

 

That one sentence caused Calena to go from annoyance to extreme anger and a deadly cold glare. Even Breona, Degree and Threat himself were pretty shocked and scared at her sudden expressions. If they knew that Kydan was gonna do something stupid like this, they would have left them to do whatever. However, they were now stuck.

 

Calena- A woman?! All because I'm a woman?! Listen here, you bloody gyneros shinnre, I could woop your sorry can out of the barracks!

 

(Shinnre, it means clueless moron, or, in Star Wars terms, piece of Bantha fodder)

 

Kydan- "Oh? Is that a challenge I'm hearing, princess?"

Calena- "You bet your damn title it is! Threat! Lend me your blaster!"

Threat- "U-Uh...y-yes ma'am..."

 

Taking the gun away from Threat, she watches and waits as Kydan takes position where Threat had originally stood from and aims his pistol at the target in front of him.

 

Calena- "I doubt you can hit that target from that far..."

 

Smirking, and without even looking, he turns his head away from his target and pulls the trigger three times on his pistol, fire a triple shot of yellow blazing lasers at the hologrammed target. Satisfied, he pushes the button on the side as the frame detatches from its position and slid in front of them all.

 

What came next suprised every one of them. His shots had hit both the head, neck and stomach of the target perfectly. Threat, who was an expert on these things, was actually more suprised than everyone else. He had met someone like his officer who could make their shots precise with just a pistol and three shots. At this moment, he actually thought he had admired the Commander.

 

Calena- "Wh-Wha-?! B-But how the-?!"

Kydan- "Your turn, my lady."

 

Rapidly shaking her head, she huffs and pushes Kydan to the side in order to get her chance at the target. However, as she held the blaster in her hand firmly, she couldn't shake the feeling of nerves slithering up on her. She had never touched a gun before, let alone look at one up close before. She was pretty terrified.

 

Threat- *Whisper* "Has the general ever held a gun before, commander?"

Breona- *Whisper* "Not that I know of..."

Degree- *Whisper* "I guess we're gonna find out if she's good or not."

 

She could sense and feel the peering eyes on her. She knew that if she messed up, she would lose the fight with Kydan, and a bit of her own pride. So, shakily pointing the gun at the target, she tried her hardest to steady herself from making a grave mistake.

 

And with the use of only her finger, she pulls the trigger all the way as the shot flies out of the barrel. However, when her eyes were closed, she didn't see where she had shot at. Unfortunately, that was where everyone started to panic.

 

When the laser bolt flew out of the barrel, it had missed its designated target and hit the sides, causing the shot to bounce off the wall into another, repeating each action swiftly. Knowing that it was bad to stand, Kydan, Threat, Breona, Degree and all the other soldiers inside dropped to the floor quickly as they could before they got hit too.

 

When Calena saw them taking cover, she was utterly confused by this act. But when the shot passed right by her head, she quickly understood why and dropped to the floor herself as the laser bolt kept bouncing off the steel plated walls.

 

What felt like an eternity, the shot finally stopped, leaving the entire room filled with fire shot marks all over the barracks. Feeling that it was now safe enough, everyone on the floor began to stand up as they took in their surroundings, seeing the marks all over.

 

Threat- "Wow..."

 

Breona- "No joke."

Degree- "The general did all that?!"

Kydan- "Sheesh Cale', it was as if you wanted to kill us or something."

Calena- "I-I didn't mean it! The gun slipped!"

 

Kydan just scoffed at her, knowing well enough that it was not.

 

Kydan- "Yeah, sure! If the gun slipped, it wouldn't have triggered the outcome of your doing. Face it, you were too scared to hold the gun in place and just pulled the trigger with your eyes close, didn't you?"

 

Calena became angry once again at him. But, sadly and truly though, she knew he was definitely right. This was her first time holding a gun like that, so she wasn't sure how to really handle the thing. She made a serious note that when holding something like that is 'way' different than wielding a lightsaber.

 

However, either way, she wasn't about to let Kydan win this without a fight.

 

Calena- "Well...i-if it wasn't for your cocky smile and obnoxious noises, I would have done a better job."

 

That was when Kydan gave a devilish grin.

 

Kydan- "Really? You like my cocky smile huh?"

 

When he said that, her face quickly turned to a red blush.

 

Calena- "N-No! I didn't say that!"

Kydan- "But you implied."

Calena- *Blushes even more* "No I didn't! I'll show you!"

 

Just as she was about to aim and shoot the gun once again, Threat had grabbed his pistol out of her hands and pushed her to the side gently.

 

Calena- "Hey!"

Threat- "Sorry ma'am, but under these circumstances, I've seen quite enough of how you shoot. And...sorry about this ma'am, but you ain't good enough to hold any blaster whatsoever. This ain't for everybody ma'am. And out of all them, that someone is you...general."

 

Calena wanted to argue back at the soldier, but just sighed in defeat. It was definitely true; she wasn't one out of many to hold a blaster like that. She was better off wielding a lightsaber than such an uncivilized weapon like that. So instead of yelling, she sighed.

 

Calena- "Yeah...maybe your right, Threat."

 

Threat just blinked in response. He was right?

 

Threat- "...Excuse me, ma'am?"

 

Even Breona and Degree were a bit confused from that. They actually thought that the general would have yelled and scolded their brother for that comment, not be right about it.

 

Calena- "I'm a Jedi. I've been trained and honed to wield a lightsaber only. I wasn't taught how to hold or use a blaster before in my life. So I'm agreeing with you Threat; I ain't the kind of person to use something like that."

Threat- "Uh...of-of course, general."

 

Calena then turned to Kydan and sighed heavily. She didn't want to say it. Gosh, she really didn't like saying it at all, especially to him. But, in utter defeat, she had to.

 

Calena- "And...you were right too, Kydan."

 

Kydan- *Smirked* "Kinda figured. But don't take it too hard, Cale'. Not many people know how to hold a blaster so much. I didn't start using one til' a little while after the Battle of Taris. It took some time to get use to, but it just takes much practice. Besides, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it eventually. I've seen you stuff like that before, and I know that you'll get even better later on. Your just like that is all."

  

 

As he finished his sentence, her faint pink blush returned to a beat red color. And that didn't go unnoticed by both Breona, Degree, and Threat, who out of the threew of them was confused as to why his general was blushing all of sudden. But quickly, he saw her shake her head quickly and just smile.

 

Calena- "Yeah, you're right. Thanks."

Kydan- *Wink* "No problem. Now, we should get back to the command center and update our status to the Jedi."

Calena-" Good idea. Breona, you coming?"

Breona- "Nah, I think I'm gonna stay here with the boys and shoot some targets myself. You two can go on ahead sirs."

Kydan- "Alright then. See ya' guys."

 

With that, Kydan and Calena leave the barracks and head over to the command center while Breona stayed and chatted with Degree and Threat.

 

And the first thing Threat wanted to ask was what Breona and Degree already knew from the beginning.

 

Threat- "Breona? Why was the general blushing at the commander like that?"

Breona- "Not too sure yet. But I have a strong feeling as to why though...

Threat- What would that be?"

Degree- "Well I definitely know what it will be...Commander Kydan is gonna get some bow-chicka-bow--OW!"

 

Before Degree could finish his sentence, Breona had hit him in the back of the head.

 

Breona- "Don't go off saying something like that, you idiot!"

Degree- *Moans* "Ow...but it's true sir!"

Threat- "What is?"

 

Breona- *Smirks* "The general has a thing for the commander."

Threat- "Thing? What do you mean?"

Breona- "You know...she, well...likes him."

Threat- "Well of course she likes him. They're our officers and both of them are friends, right? I would have thought that they liked each other that much."

 

As he finished, all Degree could was laugh histerically, falling down to the floor with a thud. Threat didn't understand why he was laughing whatsoever. He just thought that his brother had finally cracked his shell and was now broken.

 

Breona- "Well, yes, they are friends...but that's not what I meant trooper."

Threat- "Then what did you mean sir?"

Breona- "The general...has a crush on the commander. And that meaning...she loves him. However, she won't admit it to him nor anyone else."

 

It took a bit for Threat to finally understand what Breona said. But when he did, he looked a bit suprised. He didn't realize that the general liked the commander like that. He just thought they were like a brother and sister, but didn't realize that it was that far down the line, considering how they argued and challenged each other like that.

 

However, even though it was suprising, all he was able to do was just smirk at his brother. His eyes giving off a hint of glint in them.

 

Threat- "Hm...then I guess this will be an interesting war after all, sir. I gotta' say...this is gonna be one heck of a squad someday, especially with our commanding officers in charge of us."

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I gotta' say, I really enjoy making some different side comics with the crew. Even though they are based from different Clone Wars years that seperate from the series a bit, it really helps out considering that it describes who the clone is and how they really are when around their brothers or leaders. It will also show how they fitted into the main group in the near future. So I think we'll continue doing this, if it continues to do well. So if any of you liked what you saw and liked the little side stories, please let us know by showing your guy's constant support...or leave a simple fave to show your love.

 

So thank you all for your gracious supprot for our comic series, and please, continue to give us feedback on how the stories are going and what we could do to improve. Cause, after all, it always helps having great advise from you all. So again, thank you all and, as always, have a fan-tucking-tastic day/night! See ya' in the next one.

 

- Director K.W., CGN Crew Members

Spanish postcard, no. 2872.

 

Ann Miller (1923-2004) was an American dancer, singer and actress. She was famed for her speed in tap dancing and her style of glamour: massive black bouffant hair, heavy makeup with a splash of crimson lipstick, and fashions that emphasized her lithe figure and long dancer's legs. Miller is best remembered for her work in the classic Hollywood musicals Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949) and Kiss Me Kate (1953).

 

Ann Miller was born Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier in 1923 on her grandparent's ranch in Chireno, Texas. Her father wanted a boy, so Ann was named Johnnie, and she later went by Lucille. Her father was a well-known criminal lawyer who had defended famous gangsters Bonnie and Clyde and Baby Face Nelson. Mrs. Collier enrolled her three-year-old little girl in dancing lessons to help strengthen her legs, which had become weakened from a case of rickets. When Miller was ten she met Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson at a local theatre and he gave her a quick tap-dancing lesson. She liked that style of dance very much and decided to concentrate on it with further lessons. After her parents divorced, she went with her mother to Hollywood, determined to get into show business. The eleven-year-old brunette, pretending to be of legal age, was soon hired to dance for $25 a week at the Sunset Club, a small lounge where gambling went on upstairs. Using the stage name of Ann Miller, she practiced her machine-gun tapping for the thrilled patrons. She also danced at the seedy Black Cat Club, where she scooped up the coins customers threw into her skirt to help pay the bills. Before long, Ann was netting unbilled extra roles in the films Anne of Green Gables (1934) and The Good Fairy (1935), and she got to dance in Devil On Horseback (1936). The next year the thirteen-year-old was dancing for a four-month run in a show at the popular Bal Tabarin nightclub in San Francisco. There, she was discovered by comedian Benny Rubin and future comedian, actress Lucille Ball. Ball introduced Miller to executives at RKO Studios. Pretending she was eighteen with the help of a fake birth certificate supplied by her father, Ann landed a seven-year contract and a role in the film New Faces of 1937 (1937).

 

Ann Miller's first great part was in Stage Door (1937), in which she danced with Ginger Rogers and acted with Lucille Ball, Katharine Hepburn, and Eve Arden. Other films in which Ann appeared include Radio City Revels (1937), the Oscar winner You Can't Take It With You (1938) with Jean Arthur and James Stewart, and Room Service (1938) with the Marx Brothers. Miller introduced Lucille Ball to Desi Arnaz, and, some years later, the famous couple bought RKO and re-named it DesiLu. Ann's last film at the studio was Too Many Girls (1940), in which she co-starred with friends Lucy and Desi. She then appeared on Broadway in George White's Scandals in 1939 and 1940, for which she won rave reviews. In 1940 Miller moved to Republic Pictures, where she enlivened Melody Ranch (1940) with Gene Autrey in his first musical film, and Hit Parade of 1941 (1941). Other films followed, many aimed at promoting the war effort, which includes True To The Army (1942), Priorities On Parade (1942), Reveille With Beverly (1943), What's Buzzin' Cousin? (1943), Hey Rookie (1944), and Jam Session (1944). In 1945, Ann briefly dated powerful MGM boss Louis B. Mayer. When the much older mogul asked Ann to marry him, she turned him down. Moaning and groaning to her on the phone, the dramatic Mayer swallowed sleeping pills and immediately sent his chauffeur to summon Ann to his death bed. An ambulance arrived first and he recovered. Later, Ann married Reese Milner, a rich steel heir, and they lived on the biggest ranch in California where they raised prized Hereford cattle. The marriage ended quickly after Reese threw Ann down the stairs of their home. Pregnant Miller filed for divorce from her hospital bed, with her broken back in a steel harness. Her baby, Mary, died a few hours after birth. Later, painfully returning to Mayer for a job, he told her, "If you'd married me, none of this would have happened."

 

Ann Miller was still in a back brace when she danced to Shakin' The Blues Away in Easter Parade (1948), co-starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. She received fantastic reviews, and MGM gave Ann a seven-year contract. Ann then proceeded to make her most spectacular Technicolor musicals including On The Town (1949), Small Town Girl (1952), Kiss Me Kate (1953) which was extravagantly filmed in 3-D, and Hit The Deck (1955). Her last musical was a remake of the 1939 film The Women, named The Opposite Sex (1956). The glamorous, outgoing, and articulate Ann was also hired as MGM's Good Will Ambassador. She travelled the world in gorgeous designer ensembles while representing her studio with personal appearances and speaking engagements. When she flew to Morocco in July of 1957 to appear with Bob Hope on the Timex TV Hour, she entertained five thousand troops in 120-degree weather as she sang 'Too Darn Hot', and soon set a record for the world's fastest tap-dancing at 500 taps a minute. In 1958, Miller married her second millionaire, Texas oilman Bill Moss who, she quipped, "...looked exactly like my first husband. Three months later, he broke my arm." A third marriage to another oilman, Arthur Cameron, was annulled within a year, though they remained friends. From 1966-1970, Ann became a hit on Broadway in 'Mame'. In 1970 she turned to television and starred in a commercial for Heinz's Great American Soups, in which Miller tap-danced on an eight-foot can of soup surrounded by dozens of high-kicking chorus girls, 20-foot fountains, and a 24- piece orchestra. Then, tapping her way back into her kitchen, her husband cried, "Why must you make such a big production out of everything?" The song she sang was written by humorist Stan Freberg and choreographed by Danny Daniels. In 1972, in St. Louis, on the opening night of the musical show 'Anything Goes', Ann was knocked in the head by the steel beam of a fire curtain. Although as a consequence she was unable to walk for two years and suffered permanant vertigo, her life actually had been saved by her well-known, stiff, enormous, lacquered black wig. In 1979, she made a comeback and a fortune in 'Sugar Babies' with former teenage Hollywood acting schoolmate Mickey Rooney. The popular show ran for two years on Broadway and seven more years on the road. In 1998 she appeared in a successful revival of Stephen Sondheim's 'Follies' at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. In 1972, Miller published her autobiography, 'Miller's High Life', and more memoirs in 1981 with 'Tops In Taps'. Her last screen appearance was playing Coco in director David Lynch's critically acclaimed Mulholland Drive (2001). Ann Miller died of lung cancer in Los Angeles, California in 2004. She was buried next to her miscarried daughter, which reads "Beloved Baby Daughter Mary Milner November 12, 1946". The Smithsonian Institution displays her favourite pair of tap shoes, which she playfully nicknamed "Moe and Joe".

 

Sources: Steve Starr (The Entertainment Magazine), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

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

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Locandina:

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variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/fiore_06.jpg?w=100...

 

www.nonsolocinema.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/MG_76...

 

amnc.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/perdialogocarcere_post...

 

www.italyformovies.com/film-serie-tv-games/detail/56/fiore

 

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The municipality of Mongiuffi Melia (ME), not far from Taormina, is made up of two villages, Mongiuffi and Melia, separated by a valley, a bridge joins them, they climb up the opposite ridge of two mountains, looking at each other; in this municipality (defined as a "scattered municipality" for not having a single inhabited center), there are two patron saints, San Sebastian for Melia (his float was built with the money collected by Sicilian soldiers sent to the front, to fight in Greece during the Second World War, hoping in this way to receive His intercession to save their lives), and San Leonard di Noblac (or Abbot) for Mongiuffi; but in this municipality there is also the cult of the "Virgin Mary of the Chain", whose sanctuary attracts pilgrims from everywhere. I have made this description to introduce a singular coincidence that not everyone is aware of, and to do this it is necessary to describe the figure of Saint Leonard (a kind of Saint Francis), and that of the Virgin Mary of the Chain, trying to be concise. Saint Leonard was born in Orléans around 496 (and died in Noblac, on November 6 – the feast day – of 545 or 559), and for most of his life (very interesting) he lived as a hermit; one episode of his life in particular I would like to recall, he received from Clovis, king of the Franks, the privilege of being able to free those prisoners, who he believed had been unjustly imprisoned, so from that moment on, he incessantly committed himself to giving freedom to all those prisoners who were reduced to visibly critical conditions. Let us leave this Saint for a moment, the cult of the “Virgin Mary of the Chain”, this name given to the Blessed Virgin, derives from a prodigious event that occurred in Palermo in 1392, known as the “miracle of the chains”. In short, in August 1392 in Palermo, three men for a glaring miscarriage of justice, were sentenced to death by hanging, shortly before going up to the gallows a violent storm broke out, which forced the three unfortunates and the gendarmes to take refuge in the nearby church of Saint Mary of the Port, close to the sea, also called "Churc of the Chain" due to the presence of a chain that, when positioned, prevented the Saracen pirate ships from accessing the inside of the port; in this holy place, the three condemned, were tied with double chains, in the meantime the door of the church was barred, in fact the storm did not seem to stop and in addition night had come, clearly the execution was now postponed to the next day. The three desperate men, in chains, under the gaze of the gendarmes, approached the painting of the Madonna in tears, imploring her to intercede for them, a voice was heard coming from the painting, which reassured them of their new freedom, this while the chains broke, and the door of the little church was thrown open. From then on, the cult of the Virgin Mary of the Chain spread from Palermo throughout Sicily, and even beyond. Now let's get to the coincidences I mentioned before, both Saint Leonard and the Virgin Mary of the Chain (and also Her Child that She holds in Her arms) carry a long chain in their hands, in fact both the Saint and the Blessed Virgin have given freedom to prisoners, furthermore to access Mongiuffi Melia, coming from Letojanni, you have to pass through a tunnel, called "Gallery of Postoleone" dug in the rock in 1916, with bare hands or with pickaxe blows, as explosives could not be used, by 300 Austrian prisoners, during the First World War (and also on this occasion, in Mongiuffi Melia, there are prisoners forced to do forced labor). Finally, a curiosity, very often from the cult of the Virgin Mary of the Chain, comes a singular name, very common in these parts, both in the masculine with the name of "Cateno" and in the feminine "Catena" (to quote a well-known character, the writer Catena Fiorello). Furthermore, if it rains, whatever the religious procession-feast, with the float carried on the shoulders, the float with the saint does not come out, but if the rain arrives during the event, then the event becomes a source of strong psycho-physical stress for the devotee-bearers (not for the devotee-pullers or devotee-pushers...), as the ground made slippery by the rain (or perhaps, worse, by the presence of mud mixed with water) makes the route risky due to the possibility that one, or more, bearers, could slip, with the possible overturning of the float, and easily imaginable consequences.

The photographic story that I present here was created by assembling photographs taken on November 6, 2022, November 6 and 10 of this year 2024; the heart of the celebration-procession is when the priest hangs a large “cuddurra” (donut) on the hand of Sint Leonard, on that occasion small “cuddure” (donuts) are offered to the population (prepared by hand in the days preceding the procession); there are girls wearing a typical monk's habit-like dress, adorning their head with a veil, they belong to the congregation of the "daughters of Mary" (third order Carmelite); at the end of the procession, with the float that has returned to the church, we witness a rite that has the "affective" purpose of keeping it alive, it is done so as not to lose its memory, even if it has not lost its original meaning, what remains is now only a symbolic fact, it is the ritual of "weighing" (in some centers of Sicily, it has maintained its original meaning) a wooden board is placed "in balance" on one of the two beams that are used to carry the float with the Saint on the shoulders, at the two ends a child is placed on one side, and on the other side a sack with grain, filled until the weight of the grain reaches the weight of the child, and that grain will be given as a gift to the Saint, in reality the symbolic aspect of the procedure remains, and the donation is still made to the Saint, but in paper money.

Postscript: Our Lady of the Chain and Saint Leonard freed from chains, these as such, are not only physical, there are also psychic ones, and perhaps they are the worst….

 

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Il comune di Mongiuffi Melia (ME), non molto distante da Taormina, è formato da due borghi, Mongiuffi e Melia, separati da una vallata, un ponte li congiunge, essi si inerpicano sul crinale opposto di due monti, guardandosi l’un l’altro; in questo comune (definito “comune sparso” per non avere un centro abitato unico), si hanno due santi patroni, San Sebastiano per Melia (la sua vara fu costruita con i soldi racimolati dai soldati Siciliani mandati al fronte, a combattere in Grecia durante la seconda guerra mondiale, sperando così facendo di ricevere la Sua intercessione per avere salva la vita), e San Leonardo di Noblac (o Abate) per Mongiuffi; ma in questo comune vi è anche il culto per la “Madonna della Catena”, il cui santuario attira pellegrini da ogni dove. Ho fatto questa descrizione, per introdurre una singolare coincidenza della quale non tutti sono a conoscenza, e per far questo è necessario descrivere la figura di San Leonardo (una specie di San Francesco), e quella della Madonna della Catena, cercando di essere sintetico. San Leonardo nasce ad Orléans nel 496 circa (e morto a Noblac, il 6 novembre – giorno della festa – del 545 o 559), per gran parte della sua vita (interessantissima) visse da eremita; un episodio della sua vita in particolare desidero ricordare, egli riceve da Clodoveo, re dei Franchi, il privilegio di poter rendere liberi quei prigionieri, che egli riteneva fossero stati incarcerati ingiustamente, egli così, da quel momento, si impegna incessantemente a dare la libertà a tutti quei prigionieri che erano ridotti in condizioni visibilmente critiche. Lasciamo per un attimo questo Santo, il culto della “Madonna della Catena”, questo nome dato alla Beata Vergine, deriva da un evento prodigioso avvenuto a Palermo nel 1392, conosciuto come “miracolo delle catene”. In breve, nell’agosto del 1392 a Palermo, tre uomini per un eclatante errore giudiziario, furono condannati a morte per impiccagione, poco prima di salire sul patibolo si scatenò un violento temporale, che costrinse i tre malcapitati ed i gendarmi a riparare nella vicina chiesa di S. Maria del Porto, a ridosso del mare, detta anche “Chiesa della Catena” per la presenza di una catena che, quando posizionata, impediva alle navi pirata Saracene di accedere all’interno del porto; in questo luogo santo, i tre condannati, furono legati con doppie catene, nel mentre la porta della chiesa veniva sbarrata, infatti il temporale non accennava a smettere ed in più era subentrata la notte, chiaramente l’esecuzione era oramai rimandata al giorno dopo. I tre disperati, in catene, sotto lo sguardo dei gendarmi, si avvicinarono in lacrime al quadro della Madonna implorandola di intercedere per loro, dal quadro si udì provenire una voce, che li rassicurava sulla sopraggiunta libertà, questo mentre le catene si spezzavano, e la porta della chiesetta si spalancava. Da allora il culto per la Madonna della Catena si diffuse da Palermo in tutta la Sicilia, ed anche oltre. Veniamo adesso alle coincidenze di cui accennavo prima, sia San Leonardo che la Madonna della Catena (ed anche il suo Bimbo che regge in braccio) recano in mano una lunga catena, infatti sia San Leonardo che la Beata Vergine hanno dato la liberà a dei prigionieri, inoltre per accedere a Mongiuffi Melia, provenendo da Letojanni, si deve passare necessariamente da una galleria, chiamata “Galleria di Postoleone” scavata nel 1916 nella roccia, a mani nude o con colpi di piccone, in quanto non si poteva usare l’esplosivo, da parte di 300 prigionieri austriaci, durante la prima guerra mondiale (ed anche in questa occasione, a Mongiuffi Melia, si ha la presenza di prigionieri costretti ai lavori forzati). Infine una curiosità, molto spesso dal culto della Madonna della Catena, proviene un singolare nome, molto comune da queste parti, sia al maschile col nome di “Cateno” che al femminile, “Catena” (per citare un personaggio noto, la scrittrice Catena Fiorello). Inoltre, se piove, qualsiasi sia la processione-festa religiosa, con la vara portata in spalla, la vara col santo non esce, se invece la pioggia arriva durante la manifestazione, allora l’evento acquista per i devoti-portatori (non per i devoti-tiratori o devoti-spingitori…) un motivo di forte stress psico-fisico, in quanto il terreno reso scivoloso dalla pioggia (o magari, peggio, dalla presenza di fango misto ad acqua) rende rischioso il percorso per la possibilità che uno, o più portatori, possano scivolare, con il possibile ribaltamento della vara, e conseguenze facilmente immaginabili.

Il racconto fotografico che qui presento, è stato realizzato assemblando fotografie fatte il 6 novembre del 2022, il 6 ed il 10 novembre di quest’anno 2024; il fulcro della festa-processione è quando il sacerdote appende una grande cuddurra (ciambella) sulla mano di San Leonardo, in quella occasione piccole cuddure vengono offerte alla popolazione (preparate ed intrecciate a mano nei giorni precedenti la processione); sono presenti delle ragazze che indossano un tipico vestito “tipo saio di monaco”, adornando il capo con un velo, appartengono alla congregazione delle “figlie di Maria” (terz’ordine carmelitano); alla fine della processione, con la vara che ha fatto rientro in chiesa, si assiste ad un rito che ha lo scopo “affettivo” di tenerlo in vita, viene fatto per non disperderne la memoria, pur non avendo perso il suo significato originario, quel che resta è oramai solamente un fatto simbolico, è il rito della “pesatura” (in alcuni centri della Sicilia, esso ha mantenuto il suo significato originario) un asse di legno viene messo “in equilibrio” su di una delle due travi che servono a portare in spalla la vara col Santo, alle due estremità si pongono da un lato un bimbo/a, e dall’altro lato un sacco con del grano, riempito fino a quando il peso del grano raggiungerà il peso del bimbo/a, e quel grano verrà dato in dono al Santo, in realtà resta l’aspetto simbolico della procedura, la donazione viene ugualmente fatta al Santo, ma in cartamoneta.

P.S. La Madonna della Catena e San Leonardo liberavano dalle catene, queste in quanto tali, non sono solo fisiche, ci sono anche quelle psichiche, e forse sono le peggiori….

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The phased introduction of the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 means that whilst single-deck buses over 7.5 tonnes must be fully compliant from 1st January 2016, double deckers have a further 12 months grace. Therefore, Olympians can still be legally used on registered local bus services until January 2017. Not that I'm complaining. However a less able-bodied bus passenger who could until now easily board an elderly low-floor Dart may have a different opinion.

 

First South West (Devon & Cornwall as was) still operates a diminishing number of Volvo Olympians in Cornwall. However, their days appear to be numbered as more replacement Volvo B7TLs are due to be cascaded from South Yorkshire.

 

Surprisingly, one of the Olympians still giving sterling service in Cornwall is former First Cymru Palatine II-bodied 34162, which was new to the Bristol fleet and arrived in South Wales with her three sisters in 2008. She transferred to the South West in August 2014 after being replaced at Pontardawe depot by a former Hampshire & Dorset Alexander ALX400-bodied Volvo B7TL, bowing out after operating on the Llanelli Eisteddfod Park & Ride contract in the first week of the month.

 

In this late May 2014 shot, she is leaving Neath's Victoria Gardens on Service 903 (Neath-Pontardawe-Ystalyfera-Ystradgynlais-Abercraf), which caters for Neath Port Talbot College students.

Harper Lake used to be an oasis in the Mojave Desert that attracted bird and wildlife from all corners of the desert. In a region starving for water and resource, it was a valuable stop for birds and animals alike.

 

This is what it looks like today. You can go to goole maps and zoom in on a satalite and see the decline in just the time the older pictures were taken to the more accurate, closer ones of today. Barely any water at all remains, and we're the reason.

 

This is the ugly side of agriculture, the sad reality that the effects we have on the earth extend far beyond the glaciers of Antarctica, but right here at home. Where is this photo? Harper Lake, Lockhart, California. You can drive here from Los Angeles in less than 3 hours, but you don't see Hollywood cameras here. This is the side of us we like to ignore, this is the consequence of us.

 

It's up to us to decide how long we let it continue.

New England is laced with thousands of miles of abandoned railroads. Some were never of much consequence and should never have been built while others were once heavy duty signaled mainlines.

 

This is one of the latter types and arguably this structure was the most famous on the line. This is Joslin Arch on the former Boston and Maine Cheshire Branch that provided the Fitchburg Railroad and later the B&M a connection from the east west mainline at South Ashburn, MA northwest 54 miles to Bellows Falls, VT. Organized by businessmen in the important town of Keene, NH the Cheshire Railroat opened its thru route in 1849 and was independent for its first 40 years until being absorbed by the FRR.

 

Engineered and built to a gold standard it featured some 20 stone arch bridges but none more impressive than this one at MP 89.4 (measured from Boston) crossing the East Branch of the Ashuelot River in South Keene. The largest on the line it is 45 ft above the river and has an inside diameter of 60 ft with a total length including the wing walls of 186 ft. Built in 1847 of locally cut granite it served for over 120 years until the last train ran in late 1971 or early 1972, I don't know exactly. In its glory days however countless milk trains fro. the Rutland connection passed on their way to Boston as well as glamorous passenger trains such as the Green Mountain Flyer and the Mount Royal. But none were more famous than The Cheshire that from 1944 to 1952 used the famous number 6000, the pioneering 1935 Budd Built 'Flying Yankee' articulated streamlimer modeled after the Burlington's famed Pioneer Zephyr. To see a picture of the fluted stainless steel speedster on this very structure check out this link: blog.nhstateparks.org/from-railroad-to-rail-trail-a-histo...

 

If you care to learn more about the Cheshire I HIGHLY recommend the book Iron Roads of the Monadnock Region by Blodget and Richard's.

 

Keene, New Hampshire

Friday August 19, 2022

© 2018 Danial Thiessen

Instead of a Christmas tree... On New Year's Eve, I want to congratulate everyone with this photo.

 

Bellow I wrote a short (actually not...) congratulation for everybody in Russian. It would be quite hard for me to make it in English with all meaning I want to share, so feel free to use translation services you prefer to get the ideas...

 

Искренне желаю всем (в том числе и себе) плодотворного нового года. Для тех, кто использует празднование нового года в качестве точки отсчета, желаю преуспеть в том, чтобы всегда и везде фокусироваться на том, на что можно повлиять, как-то изменить. Остальным же желаю получить прекрасные плоды вашего труда (в том числе и над собой). Пусть всё, что вы посадили в этом году, во всех предыдущих годах прорастет в этом году и даст свои плоды. Но также желаю вам помнить о том, что нужно ещё и регулярно поливать и ухаживать за растениями… Желаю всем принятия того, что вы можете повлиять лишь на малую часть от того, что вас окружает. И вдохновения для того, чтобы продолжать свой путь, продолжать сотворять свою жизнь, делать ваш внутренний и окружающий мир лучше, добрее, наполнять радостью. Пусть всё способствует вашему росту и слиянию с Природой, своим чистым Сознанием.

В эти дни непременно стоит отметить для себя и поблагодарить себе и окружающему миру за все пройденные уроки, приобретения, провалы, ошибки. За то, что ни смотря ни на что мы продолжаем наше космическое путешествие. А если нам до сих пор трудно понять кто мы такие и что мы делаем в этом мире - то это повод начать предпринимать маленькие, пусть даже крошечные действия… Стоит фокусироваться на действиях, а потом уже на размышлениях или рефлексии…

Пусть в Новом году будут только благостные последствия наших действий (или бездействия). Пусть окружающие вас люди и обстоятельства всячески помогают вам, а вы в свою очередь инвестируйте в них. Что стоит наша жизнь, если в ней отсутствуют другие люди?…

Мира, Гармонии и Целостности в Новом году!

 

Happy Holidays everyone!

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAbuwUtCj_s

as long as I'm rich :-) Daffy Duck. HGGT!!

 

cornus, flowering dogwood, little theater garden, raleigh, north carolina

Adriaen Brouwer. 1605-1638. Anvers et Amsterdam. Paysans jouant aux boules. Peasants bowling. Berlin Gemäldegalerie.

  

Adriaen Brouwer est un autre témoignage de l'originalité de la peinture des Pays Bas, flamands et néerlandais, dans la peinture européenne du début du 17è siècle, et des orientations tout à fait nouvelles que les Pays Bas ont donné à l'art européen, en conséquence de modifications intervenues dans les valeurs inspiratrices de la société.

Non seulement les sujets religieux, mythologiques et historiques sont totalement écartés, mais les thèmes essentiels de cet artiste ne sont ni l'aristocratie, ni même la bourgeoisie, qui est la classe dirigeante de la société de son époque, et où se trouve le public indispensable à la carrière d'un artiste.

La peinture de moeurs est déjà, en dehors des Pays Bas, un domaine peu représenté, mais en outre Adriaen Brouwer prend ses modèles dans le milieu le plus populaire de la paysannerie et du petit peuple des villes et des villages.

Il est vrai que c'est une vieille tendance flamande bien illustrée par Bruegel Pierre, père et fils. L'originalité de la peinture des Pays Bas tient donc non seulement à la religion protestante, qui en a modifié profondément et rapidement les valeurs, mais aussi à la culture de ce peuple qui se manifeste de manière voisine en Flandre et en Hollande.

Mais les Bruegel Pierre, père et fils, avaient conservé un autre registre, notamment religieux, ou moraliste, et mythologique, qui leur permettait de côtoyer la "grande peinture". D'autre part la paysannerie que Bruegel met en scène est clairement une paysannerie aisée. Ce n'est pas le cas chez Brouwer, qui ne semble d'ailleurs pas avoir vécu de son art. Il mourut jeune et pauvre. Mais son influence posthume fut certaine, notamment sur Teniers le Jeune et Adriaen van Ostade. Ces peintres démontrent qu'il y avait tout de même aux Pays Bas une clientèle suffisante pour ces tableaux de genre illustrant la société la plus populaire de ce temps et ses plaisirs simples, voire grossiers. Avec Brouwer nous ne sommes plus dans les Pays Bas, assimilés à un "Pays de Cocagne", tel que le représentent la majorité des artistes, Bruegel Pierre en premier, puisque c'est le titre d'un de ses tableaux (Alte Pinakothek de Munich).

Une autre originalité de Brouwer est son style. Il a fait de l'esquisse une forme d'art achevée, à une époque où elle n'était qu'une étape dans le processus de la création artistique. L'influence d'un Frans Hals ? On a dit que Brouwer avait travaillé à Haarlem dans l'atelier de Hals à Haarlem.

Bref, un peintre très "moderne".

Les tableaux de Brouwer n'étant jamais signés, les attributions des oeuvres sont parfois problématiques et sujettes à révision.

 

Adriaen Brouwer is another testimony to the originality of the painting of the Netherlands, Flemish and Dutch, in European painting from the early 17th century, and completely new directions that the Netherlands have given to European art, as a result of changes in the inspiring values of society.

Not only the religious, mythological and historical subjects are totally excluded, but the essential themes of this artist are neither the aristocracy nor the bourgeoisie, which is the ruling class of society of his time, and where the public, essential to the career of an artist, is located.

The painting of manners is already, outside of the Netherlands, a little represented domain, but in addition Adriaen Brouwer takes its models in the most popular medium of the peasantry and the little people of the cities and villages. It is true that it is an old Flemish trend, well illustrated by Peter Bruegel, father and son. The originality of the painting of the Netherlands therefore wishes not only to the Protestant religion, which changed quickly and deeply the values, but also to the culture of this people, which manifests itself in nearby way in Flanders and Holland.

But Bruegel Pieter, father and son, had retained another register, including religious, moralistic, and mythological, which allowed them to meet the "great painting". On the other hand the peasantry as Bruegel depicts is clearly a wealthy peasantry. This is not the case with Brouwer, who also does not seem to have lived his art. He died young and poor.

But his posthumous influence was certain, particularly Teniers the Younger and Adriaen van Ostade. These painters demonstrate that there was nonetheless in the Netherlands enough customers for these genre pictures, depicting the most popular society of that time, and its simple pleasures and even rude.

With Brouwer we are no longer in the Netherlands, related to a "land of plenty", as represent the majority of artists, Peter Bruegel first, since that is the title of one of his paintings (of Alte Pinakothek Munich).

Another originality of Brouwer's his her style. He made the sketch a complete art form, at a time when it was generally a step in the process of artistic creation. The influence of Frans Hals? It was said that Brouwer had worked in the shop in Haarlem Hals in Haarlem.

In short, a painter "modern".

Brouwer's paintings are never signed, the powers of the works are sometimes problematic and subject to revision

   

Articles of No Consequence (Possibly a still life series?) . . “If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies.... It would be a sad situation if the wrapper were better than the meat wrapped inside it.” ― Albert Einstein

This is what my bike looked like after having fun on dirt road.

 

ダート林道で遊びふけった結果。

Un entretien régulier et réactif ne permettrait-il pas d'éviter d'en arriver là?

Consequence of all the recent rain

As a consequence of London Euston being closed over the August bank holiday weekend, for engineering work to be undertaken, an enhanced service operated over Chiltern lines between Marylebone and Birmingham on 26th & 27th August. Included in a recast Chiltern timetable was the hire-in of an additional coaching set to operate three return workings on each day. The trains were top and tailed by Rail Operations Group (ROG) Class 47/8s, and No. 47812 is seen passing Bordesley Junction with No. 47813 at the rear, having just departed from Birmingham Moor Street with service 1Z18 0940 to London Marylebone on 27th August 2017. Copyright Photograph John Whitehouse - all rights reserved

Russian postcard by 'Goznak', Moscow, series 2, no. A 1725, 1927. The card was issued in an edition of 15.000 copies.

 

Danish silent film actress Asta Nielsen (1881-1972), was one of the most popular leading ladies of the 1910s and one of the first international film stars. Of her 74 films between 1910 and 1932, seventy were made in Germany where she was known simply as 'Die Asta'. Noted for her large dark eyes, mask-like face, and boyish figure, Nielsen most often portrayed strong-willed passionate women trapped by tragic consequences.

 

Asta Sofie Amalie Nielsen was born in the Copenhagen suburb of Vesterbro, Denmark, in 1881. She was the daughter of an often unemployed blacksmith and a washerwoman. Nielsen's family moved several times during her childhood while her father sought employment. When she was fourteen years old, her father died. Asta's stage debut came as a child in the chorus of the Kongelige Teater's production of Boito's opera 'Mephistopheles'. At the age of eighteen, Nielsen was accepted into the drama school of the Royal Danish Theatre. During her time there, she studied with the Royal Danish actor Peter Jerndorff. In 1901, twenty years old, she became pregnant and gave birth to her daughter, Jesta. Nielsen never revealed the identity of the father, and chose to raise her child alone with the help of her mother and older sister. In 1902, she graduated from drama school. For the next three years, she worked at the Dagmar Theatre, then toured in Norway and Sweden from 1905 to 1907 with De Otte and the Peter Fjelstrup companies. Returning to Denmark, she was employed at Det Ny Theater (The New Theatre) from 1907 to 1910. Although she worked steadily as a stage actress, her performances remained unremarkable. Danish historian Robert Neiiedam wrote that Nielsen's unique physical attraction, which was of great value on the screen, was limited on stage by her deep and uneven speaking voice.

 

In 1909, set designer and director Urban Gad encouraged Asta Nielsen to become a film actress and she starred in his Danish silent film Afgrunden/The Abyss (Urban Gad, 1910). Gary Morris observes in Bright Lights Film Journal: "this film established from the beginning key components of her legend: scandalous eroticism and a uniquely minimalist acting style." Asta plays a music teacher lured away from her stolid fiancee (Robert Dinesen) by a sexy but faithless circus cowboy (Poul Reumert). In a startling sequence of sexual intensity, she lassos her boyfriend and does a lewd dance, bumping and grinding against him. Morris: "This vulgar ‘gaucho-dance’ was what most viewers remembered, but critics of the time also applauded Asta's naturalistic acting." The film was a huge success so she was encouraged to continue. The following year Balletdanserinden/The Ballet Dancer (August Blom, 1911) proved to be another success. Nielsen and Gad soon married. A German distributor, Paul Davidson, invited Nielsen to Germany, where he was building a new studio. Eventually, this would become Europe's largest film studio - the Universum Film Union A.-G. (or Ufa). Asta signed a contract for $80,000 a year, then the highest salary for a film actress. In 1911, she moved to Berlin with Urban Gad. In a Russian popularity poll of that year, she was voted world's top female film star, behind French comedian Max Linder and ahead of her Danish compatriot Valdemar Psilander.

 

In the next six years, Asta Nielsen played every conceivable kind of character in both tragedies and comedies. In Die Suffragette/The Militant Suffragette (Urban Gad, 1913), she is an English female liberationist whose beliefs force her to become violent, placing a bomb in Parliament. In Zapatas Bande/Zapata's Gang (Urban Gad, 1916), she plays a highway robber. In the comedy Das Liebes-ABC/The ABCs of Love (Magnus Stifter, 1916), she pretends to be a man and takes her wimpy boyfriend out on the town in order to "bring out the man in him." Nielsen was so famous that the name Asta became a trademark for cigarettes and perfumes. In the Dutch city The Hague, a cinema was named after her. Her beauty was praised by the poet Guillaume Apollinaire as "the drunkard's vision and the lonely man's dream". One of Asta's most interesting productions was Hamlet (Sven Gade, Heinz Schall, 1921). Gary Morris: "Asta brings a subtle twist to her version not by playing a man, but by playing a woman disguised as a man, adding another level of gender complexity. Hamlet was based less on William Shakespeare than on a popular book of the time that said Hamlet was actually a girl forcibly raised as a boy in order to provide an heir to the Danish throne. At first, the effect is more puzzling than effective, but the actress's strategy becomes evident in sexually charged scenes between Asta/Hamlet and Horatio, who caress and coddle each other in what surely appeared to viewers of the time (as it does to modern audiences) as a gay tryst. Asta brilliantly imparts the gender-unstable nature of the character in these scenes with Horatio and others with Fortinbras, whose encounters with Hamlet are also clearly coded as gay. The actress's effortless creation of these subtle, sympathetic homosexual tableaux gives a tremendous vitality to this production. The fact that the film was truly hers — being the first film she made with her own production company — shows just how daring and modern she was."

 

Nowadays Asta Nielsen is best known for Die Freudlose Gasse/The Joyless Street (G.W. Pabst, 1925). Asta plays in this film an impoverished woman who resorts to prostitution and murder. In the original prints there were two equal-time female leads: Nielsen and a young actress from Sweden, Greta Garbo. Ruthlessly cut for American release, the film suddenly became a Garbo vehicle. Fortunately, the print has been restored recently and Asta triumphs in it as the increasingly unbalanced Marie. Nielsen continued to be a screen legend in Germany, and appeared in films like Dirnentragödie/Tragedy of the Street (Bruno Rahn, 1927) and in her only sound film Unmögliche Liebe/Crown of Thorns (Erich Waschneck, 1932). After the Nazis came to power she was rumoured to be offered her own studio by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Understanding the implications well, she left Germany for good in 1936, settling in Denmark where she returned to stage acting and became a private figure. In her later years, Asta Nielsen wrote articles on art and politics and a two-volume autobiography, 'Den tiende Muse' (The Silent Muse) in 1946. She also became an acclaimed collage artist. In 1964, Nielsen had to come to terms with the most severe blow of her life: her daughter Jesta committed suicide following the death of her husband. At 86, Asta directed her first film. Luise F. Pusch writes in FemBio: "After a film about her life did not meet with her approval, she set to work on the project herself. The result was a work of art." At 88, Asta Nielsen married her third husband, Christian Theede, an art dealer 18 years her junior and the great love of her life. The two enjoyed their travels together so much that they decided to leave their fortune to a foundation to fund trips for the elderly. In 1972, Asta Nielsen died in Copenhagen after a leg fracture. She was 90.

 

Sources: Gary Morris (Bright Lights Film Journal), Luise F. Pusch (FemBio), Jim Beaver (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

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

Another freight running late and as a consequence finds itself off-route.

DB Cargo 60100 'Midland Railway - Butterley' with the 6E01 Bescot Down Side - Boston Sleaford Sidings empty steel is seen heading from Water Orton on the approach to Whitacre Junction and the branch to reach Kingsbury Junction.

This working is 'booked' to be routed from Water Orton via Lea Marston to reach Kingsbury Junction.