View allAll Photos Tagged decency
The reaction of the three wise monkeys to the policies of the Campbell Newman LNP government in Queensland (Australia).
That shameful government has walked away from every decent policy. Gone is help to the homeless. Gone is help to hungry families living in poverty. Gone is the fairness of a justice system now replaced by a punishment mindset. Gone is help to those struggling to find a job. Gone is all mercy and fairness. Gone is all decency in government.
[c. 1969]
oil on board
49.5 x 69.5 cm
not signed
Originally part of Wep's 1950 Archibald Prize finalist portrait of Prime Minister Menzies
Exhibited
2012 May, "William Edwin Pidgeon Retrospective", Artarmon Galleries
Arrangements were made by Ian Fitchett (R.G. Menzies's Press Secretary and a former journalist and friend of Bill's) to have Menzies sit for the painting. Initially completed in 1950 and entered into 1950 Archibald. Was touched up and finessed over the years and eventually dated as 1969.
“This entry for the Archibald prize has created a lot of interest and keen and favourable comment. ‘Wep’ is regarded by fellow artists and the soundest critics as one of the best contemporary portrait painters. He is, of course, a great cartoonist with a style which is inimitable. ‘Wep’s’ work truly reveals the Prime Minister’s qualities of loyalty, efficiency, regard for decency and truth and, in times of stress like the present, trustworthiness and clear thinking.” – Liberal Opinion, Feb 1951, Vol. 4, No. 4, p1
Wep was never happy with the original portrait submitted to the Archibald (the right hand was awkwardly placed) and a second almost identical version was painted with an improvements to the right hand and a slightly altered position. The background was also slightly softened. The original version ended up with a nude painted on Menzies lap; Menzies appeared to have a wry 'Mona Lisa' type smile on his face.
In 1988 when Charles Hewitt reframed a number of Wep's works, the original version was cut in half making a separate painting of the nude and the upper half was cropped closely to Menzies’ head. This head has since been acquired by the National Library of Australia as part of Wep’s archives. The lower half nude remains in the personal possession of Peter Pidgeon
Charles Hewitt Frames Invoice #25492, 12/9/89
Nude on Menzies lap
34.5" x 26.5"
Small linen bevel
MAG 440-1263 moulding
$508.80
Cleaning & restoration
$240
August is the time when the people of Pontelli go to the seaside to have a bath - in all decency possible.
I'm so glad I've still got this brief movie, taken with my first little digital camera (a Canon IXUS 300). Our beloved Mogs died at a ripe old age years ago now, and the movie deleted itself from the camera somehow. In his retirement, profJohn is getting round to little tasks like getting old movies off his non-Windows system onto my monitor and onto Flickr. Thanks profJohn!
After the shock of Donald Trump’s inauguration day, when millions of Americans (and visiting foreigners like me) felt understandably distraught, bereft, dismayed, as the grotesque, narcissistic, predatory, corrupt fraud that is Donald Trump delivered a bleak and graceless inauguration speech, it was nothing short of a delight on Saturday, Jan. 21, Day 2 of the aberrant Trump presidency, when, across the country and around the world, millions of women (plus large numbers of supportive men) marched in protest against Trump and all he and his administration stand for — his disdain for women, his racism, his xenophobia, his adherence to intolerant white Christian fundamentalism, and, last but not least, his opaque, but very obviously corrupt business practices. Two US academics have estimated that between 3.3m and 4.6m people marched in total across the US, with New York’s turnout estimated at between 400,000 and 500,000 people.
Stepping out of Grand Central Station into a river of protest, with more clever, witty and insightful handmade posters than you could imagine, and with chants and cheers punctuating the general hubbub at regular intervals was to feel that perhaps this dystopian vision of America can indeed be overthrown before it wreaks untold havoc at home and abroad. And with no beginning or end of the protest in sight, it was easy to believe that the number marching was much larger than even the academics’ estimate.
It will take more than one day, of course, as the people of America need to unite like never before — everyone who didn’t vote for Trump, everyone threatened by Trump, everyone appalled by Trump, including, of course, those who voted for him but might already be having second thoughts. This could be a disastrous presidency, or it could be even worse than that, but people need to put aside any notions of complacency, and work out how to resist. This was a great start, and a historic moment that everyone there will remember, but now there needs to be much more action and organizing.
As you look at these photos, however, I hope they are a reminder of a day of hope across the US and around the world, when ordinary people demonstrated that fundamental decency will not be silenced, and that a tolerant, multi-racial society, featuring, at its heart, equality between women and men, and between people whatever their race, creed or color, has humour, intelligence and compassion that throw into even sharper relief how troublingly miserable, negative and ungenerous Donald Trump and his advisors are.
For an article by US Uncut about the numbers attending the protests, see: usuncut.com/news/womens-march-largest-protest-us-history/
For the turnout estimates, see: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xa0iLqYKz8x9Yc_rfhtmSOJQ2...
For an article in New York Daily News, which ran a front page devoted to the protests, under the headline, “See them roar,” see: www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/women-march-washington-...
For my website, see: www.andyworthington.co.uk
For my Facebook posts after Trump’s inauguration, see:
www.facebook.com/andyworthingtonUK/posts/1015497574252380...
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154975238073804&set...
For my most interesting photos, see: www.flickriver.com/photos/andyworthington/popular-interes...
unique in the world, is now the last best hope for the world :-) Dinesh D'Souza
Today, all Americans are Bostonians, and all who respect decency and life are Americans. Our thoughts are with those who were affected by yesterday's horrific events in Boston.
variegated eastern redbud, 'Floating Clouds', j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, raleigh, north carolina
The Postcard
A postally unused postcard produced by Mark Power Network Photographers.
On the back of the card they have printed:
'View of the Dome from the
Docklands Light Railway.
15.05.98'.
As is evident from the photo, the Dome (now named the O2) was still under construction at the time.
Frank Sinatra
Mr. Francis Albert Sinatra died with his wife at his side at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on the 14th. May 1998, aged 82, after a heart attack.
He was in ill health during the last few years of his life, and was frequently hospitalised for heart and breathing problems, high blood pressure, pneumonia and bladder cancer. He was further diagnosed as having dementia.
He had made no public appearances following an earlier heart attack in February 1997. Sinatra's wife encouraged him to "fight" while attempts were made to stabilise him, and reported that his final words were, "I'm losing."
Sinatra's daughter, Tina, later wrote that she and her siblings (Frank Jr. and Nancy) had not been notified of their father's final hospitalisation, and it was her belief that:
"The omission was deliberate. Barbara
would be the grieving widow alone at
her husband's side."
The night after Sinatra's death, the lights on the Empire State Building in New York City were turned blue, the lights at the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honour, and the roulette wheels stopped spinning for one minute.
Sinatra's funeral was held at the Roman Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, California, on the 20th. May 1998, with 400 mourners in attendance, and thousands of fans outside.
Gregory Peck, Tony Bennett, and Sinatra's son, Frank Jr., addressed the mourners, who included many notable people from the film and entertainment industry.
Sinatra was buried in a blue business suit with mementos from family members—cherry-flavoured Life Savers, Tootsie Rolls, a bottle of Jack Daniel's, a pack of Camel cigarettes, a Zippo lighter, stuffed toys, a dog biscuit, and a roll of dimes that he always carried—next to his parents in Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.
The words 'The Best Is Yet to Come', plus 'Beloved Husband & Father' are imprinted on Sinatra's grave marker.
Significant increases in recording sales worldwide were reported by Billboard in the month of Sinatra's death.
Thoughts From Frank Sinatra
“Alcohol may be man's worst enemy,
but the Bible says love your enemy.”
“The best revenge is massive success.”
“The big lesson in life, baby, is never
be scared of anyone or anything.”
“You may be a puzzle, but I like the
way the parts fit.”
"Basically, I'm for anything that gets
you through the night - be it prayer,
tranquilizers or a bottle of Jack Daniels.”
“A simple 'I love you' means more
than money.”
“The cigarettes you light one after
another won’t help you forget her.”
“For nobody else, gave me thrill -
with all your faults, I love you still.
It had to be you, wonderful you,
it had to be you.”
“I feel sorry for people that don't drink,
because when they wake up in the
morning, that is the best they are going
to feel all day.”
“The best is yet to come, and won't
that be fine.”
“Don’t hide your scars. They make
you who you are.”
“You only go around once, but if you
play your cards right, once is enough.”
(While accepting the Jean Hersholt
Humanitarian Award): "I've been thinking
about why you have to get famous to get
an award for helping other people.
If your name is John Doe, and you work
night and day doing things for your helpless
neighbors, what you get for your effort is
tired.
So, Mr. and Mrs. Doe, and all of you who
give of yourselves, to those who carry too
big a burden to make it on their own, I want
you to reach out and take your share of this.
Because if I have earned it, so too have you.”
“You only live once, and the way I live,
once is enough.”
"There are things about organized religion which
I resent. Christ is revered as the Prince of Peace,
but more blood has been shed in his name than
any other figure in history.
You show me one step forward in the name of
religion, and I'll show you a hundred retrogressions.
I'm for decency - period. I'm for anything and
everything that bodes love and consideration for
my fellow man.
But when lip service to some mysterious deity
permits bestiality on Wednesday and absolution
on Sunday - count me out.”
“That's life, and I can't deny it. Many times I
thought of cuttin' out, but my heart won't buy it.”
“I believe in you and me. I'm like Albert Schweitzer
and Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein in that I
have a respect for life - in any form.
I believe in nature, in the birds, the sea, the sky,
in everything I can see or that there is real evidence
for.
If these things are what you mean by God, then I
believe in God. But I don't believe in a personal
God to whom I look for comfort or for a natural on
the next roll of the dice.”
“For what is a man, what has he got. If not himself,
then he has naught.”
“Ya gotta love livin', pally, cuz dyin's
a pain in the ass!”
“Fairy tales can come true,
It can happen to you
If you're young at heart.”
“If you possess something but you can't
give it away, then you don't possess it -
it possesses you.”
“I'm gonna live till I die.”
“I would like to be remembered as a
man who had a wonderful time living
life, a man who had good friends, fine
family - and I don't think I could ask for
anything more than that, actually.”
Four years ago this weekend .......... I was rolling on the Interstate driving North from DC to NYC.......... listening to the BBC World Service on Satellite Radio.......... They were reporting on the preparation for ......... and as it turns out..... totally inadequate evacuation of New Orleans as it became clear the massive Hurricane Katrina would soon strike the city and surrounding towns.
It also became clear........ I was driving in the wrong direction.......... even though it was gone 1AM......... suddenly I was speaking to Matt on the phone......... and he started making arrangements for me to get to New Orleans........ there were no flights going in of course........ and no rental cars for miles (as they had all been rented by people leaving)........ and no gas....... in the end I flew to Atlanta then drove down to NO with Matt in his car............. we took tanks of gas and supplies................. luckily we had some contacts with the worldwide critical disaster teams with the leading insurance adjusters....... so we had some help with logistics along the way in keeping fueled up etc.........
But when we went in to the actual city we were on our own........... what I saw there shocked, revolted and saddened me....... I never thought you could see such a thing in America.............
I wrote this (below)......... and put it on my brand new blog ........ with the two pictures above.............. together they were the first pictures and story on ............ www.jezblog.com ................ So its the 4 year anniversary of the terrible Katrina disaster.......... and the the 4 year anniversary of the start of the jezblog you see today ..........
Photos by Jez Coulson/Insight-Visual
Donât photograph the dead,â he told me. âHave some respect!â A FEMA press officer he looked about 20. Have some respect? Christ I could have shouted that back in his face. Have some respect! You call this having respect? Itâs eight days later, the stinking bloated corpses still lie in the water covered only by a blue tarpaulin with an orange x spray painted on. Some chemicals have apparently been poured on to keep down the smell but itâs not working that well in the heat and humidity. What about them? Why donât they show some respect for this dead man? His foot and a hand are now clearly protruding from the tarpaulin. His body lays face down in the water as it has all week not twenty feet from the launching point for scores of boats containing hundreds of different agency representatives. FEMA, Police, EMT, Coast Guard, Firemen even Marines and National Guard people have taken to the water from here. Yet no one has respected this man and his family enough to lift his body from the water. Sure: I understand priority must be given to the living. Still, I watch upwards of 60 people casually standing around waiting for boats to return. Maybe they are awaiting future orders or are just taking lunch. Certainly, they are chatting, maybe having a cigarette break with their 20 or so emergency vehicles standing by. Somehow they just donât seem that busy. Within a twenty foot radius there are two bodies in the water, the manâs and another one completely covered by its tarpaulin is only about 10 feet from the boat launch ramp. Natural decency demands that these two bodies at least be respected. Even if thousands more wait trapped, hidden elsewhere to be discovered as the waters recede. I canât believe the orders have to be so absolute, so all or nothing. No bodies to be collected until the rescue effort is completely over. Not even the corpses where it really takes an effort of will to ignore them? Cleaning crews have started to remove the trash from the convention centre. But no one is picking up the bodies. How can this city even begin to recover while bodies lie unclaimed and vilely deteriorate in the streets and in the water?
Another body, that of a black woman, covered only by a totally ineffective light bin bag is lying on the side of the raised highway not a mile further east. A group of firemen and EMT workers are gathered close by. A helicopter comes in to land not twenty feet from her body. Her body is deteriorating in the sun. She has lain dead in that hot sun for 8 days; I cannot photograph this sight. Not because they will not allow it: because I cannot look at it. I am walking away. The helicopter takes off now blasting the smell of the womanâs corpse around me. I am outraged and disgusted. How can FEMA and the other agencies avoid the charges of racism and inadequacy if they allow the bodies of American citizens just to rot on full display right next to their operations.
I have seen bodies lying in the streets unclaimed and rotting before but only in countries that have let go of all civilization, decency and humanity. Only ever in places that have descended into the anarchy and chaos of civil war as in Rwanda or Bosnia. I never thought I could see it in America. I never thought I could see the bodies of American citizens left rotting in the streets of America. In America: in America? Why are they allowing this? That arrogant young press officer and the rest of them should: âHave some respect!â
Jez Coulson
Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXXX
Union Square, Manhattan, New York City, New York
The Everett Building is a sixteen-story commercial structure located on the northwest corner of East 17th Street and Park Avenue South. Named for Union Square's nineteenth-century Everett Hotel, and built in 1908 for the Everett Investing Company, it was designed by Goldwin Starrett & Van Vleck, a firm known for its commercial architecture.
It is a quintessential example of a building type defined by A. C. David (writing in Architectural Record in 1910): functional, fireproof, speedy to construct, while also demonstrating a concern for "architectural decency;" as such, this building is a uniquely American architectural expression. In its design, the Everett Building synthesizes classical elements with key aspects of both the New York and the Chicago styles; Goldwin Starrett was familiar with the Chicago style as a result of his years in Daniel Burnham's Chicago office.
The building reflects its structure in its cladding, while employing a design vocabulary that includes classical motifs. The Everett Building is prominently located on a site on the north side of Union Square and, together with the monumental Germania (now Guardian) Life Insurance Company Building directly across the avenue, forms an imposing terminus to Park Avenue South.
The Development of Union Square
The Commissioners Map of 1807-11, which first laid out the grid plan of Manhattan above Houston Street, allowed for certain existing thoroughfares to retain their original configuration. Bloomingdale Road, (now Broadway), and the Bowery intersected at 16th Street.
The acute angle formed by this "union" was set aside by the Commissioners and named Union Place.
Initially Union Place extended from 10th to 17th Streets, on land owned by the Manhattan Bank:
It then presented to the eye of the tourist and pedestrian a shapeless and ill-looking collection of lots, where garden sauce flourished — devoid of symmetry, and around which were reared a miserable group of shanties.
In 1815, the state legislature reduced the size of Union Place by making 14th Street its southern boundary. As the city expanded northward and land use intensified, the need for open spaces became apparent. A report drafted by the street committee in 1831 states the need for public squares "for purposes of military, and civic parades, and festivities, and ... to serve as ventilators to a densely populated city."
Designated a public space in 1832 at the urging of local residents, additional land was acquired so that the area could be regularized.
Graded, paved, and fenced, Union Place was finally opened to the public in July, 1839. Throughout much of its history, the square has been used for public gatherings, political rallies, and demonstrations.
By the 1850s, Union Square (as it came to be known) was completely surrounded by buildings including some of the city's most splendid mansions; but, "already by 1860, the dramatic march of commerce had begun." Theaters, hotels, and luxury retailers predominated in the 1870s. By the 1890s, the vestiges of the fashionable residential area, as well as the elegant stores and theaters, had been supplanted on Union Square by taller buildings that catered to the needs of publishers and manufacturers who had moved uptown.
The land on which the Everett Building stands was originally part of Cornelius Tiebout's farm. From 1853 on, the site was occupied by the Everett House, a hotel frequented by the singers and musicians performing at the new opera house, the Academy of Music (1854, architect Alexander Saeltzer).
Like the Belvedere and the Clarendon, hotels which were also demolished to make way for 'modern' office and loft buildings, the Everett House was razed to clear the site for the Everett Building.
The Everett Building is prominently situated on the northwest corner of East 17th Street and Union Square North, at the base of Park Avenue South (then called Fourth Avenue). Stations for major subway, surface, and "El" lines were close to the site, which was characterized by Real Estate Record & Guide in 1908 as "one of the most accessible locations for modern office buildings in the city."
Although when built, the Everett Building was associated with a possible transformation of Union Square to be effected by the construction of a new courthouse, the building was later seen as evidence of the concentration of the silk, woolen, cotton, and dry goods trades on Fourth Avenue, the area around the Square and lateral streets.
By September, 1910, about seventeen new loft and office buildings (generally restricted to office and salesroom needs, as opposed to manufacturing) had been erected, conveniently located near hotels and transportation.
In October 1911, Real Estate Record & Guide noted that "the Everett Building and those along the avenue, in which dry goods people are tenants, are all filled up."
Larger than the late nineteenth-century buildings on Union Square West, the new loft and office buildings, such as the Everett Building, altered the scale of structures on the Square's northern and southern ends and formed the core of a new mercantile district developed as an economical alternative to the commercial district along lower Fifth Avenue.
Notice of Goldwin Starrett & Van Vleck's selection as the recipients of the commission to design the Everett Building appeared in Real Estate Record & Guide for August 1, 1908.
The Everett Building was built for the Everett Investing Company; included among its early tenants were a wide variety of businesses and occupations, including William Skinner & Sons, an operating establishment "in the broad silk end"; the firm of W. G. Cornell, which was responsible for the plumbing for the new Gimbel Building and the offices of Goldwin Starrett & Van Vleck.
Goldwin Starrett & Van Vleck
The firm was founded in 1907 by Goldwin Starrett (1867-1918) and Ernest Allen Van Vleck (1875-1956). Starrett was one of five brothers, all active in the construction and architectural fields. Born in Lawrence, Kansas, his family later moved to Chicago. Starrett attended the engineering school of the University of Michigan, graduating in 1894. He then entered the architectural offices of D. H. Burnham & Co. , as had his two older brothers, Theodore and Paul. He remained in Burnham's employ for four years, rising to be one of Burnham's principal assistants.
In 1898 Goldwin entered the New York offices of the George A. Fuller Construction Co. as superintendent and assistant manager, joining his brother Theodore.
In 1901, along with Theodore, and his brothers, Ralph and William A., he formed the Thompson-Starrett Construction Company; he remained with the firm for four years, during which time he designed the Algonquin Hotel, a designated New York City Landmark, for Albert Foster of the Puritan Realty Company. Goldwin then entered into a four-year association with the E. B. Ellis Granite Company, which had its quarries in Vermont. In the construction business, Goldwin was associated with many important buildings, including Union Station in Washington, D.C. and the Woolworth Building in New York, a designated New York City Landmark.
In 1907, Ernest Allen Van Vleck joined Starrett to form the firm of Goldwin Starrett & Van Vleck. A native of Bell Creek, Nebraska, Van Vleck received a degree from the Cornell School of Architecture in 1897. He then traveled to Europe on a fellowship.
About 1908, Orrin Rice was admitted to the partnership, and in 1913, William A. Starrett joined the firm, which then became known as Starrett & Van Vleck, with Goldwin Starrett becoming the senior partner.
Starrett & Van Vleck specialized in commercial buildings and schools but also designed many other structures. Among the firm's ma j or commissions were the Lord & Taylor department store, a building that was termed "frankly commercial as well as dignified" in contrast to the residential nature of most other contemporary commercial designs; Saks Fifth Avenue, a designated New York City Landmark; a major expansion of Bloomingdale's; the facade of the Curb (now the American Stock) Exchange Building; the Downtown Athletic Club; the La Salle & Koch store in Toledo, Ohio (1916); the Court & Remsen Street Building in Brooklyn; The Equitable Life Assurance Society Building, and the Royal Insurance Building.
The firm was also responsible for designing the Hale Publishing Co. Building, the Berkeley Building, and the twelve-story neo-Italian Renaissance apartment houses at 82 0 and 817 Fifth Avenue, within the Upper East Side Historic District.
Other works by the firm include the Mills-Gibb Building, a mercantile building at Fourth Avenue and 22nd Street; a building for John T. Underwood, president of Underwood Typewriter Co. located at Church and Vesey Streets; the Mercantile Building at Fifth Avenue and 38th Street; 28-30 West 38th Street, a twelve-story building for Capt. W. H. Wheeler; and the twelve-story Sixteenth Street Building, at Irving Place and 16th Street.
Loft and Commercial Building
The Everett Building is a quintessential example of the new commercial style of architecture built around 1910 in New York and concentrated on Fourth Avenue from Union Square to 30th Street.
Its design was considered innovative when it was illustrated in the Architectural Record (Dec. 1910), as part of a tribute to the new corridor of commercial buildings in what is now Park Avenue South.
These buildings termed "thoroughly contemporary" and "strictly commercial" were erected with exceptional rapidity; the Everett Building "was ready for occupants within four months from the time the first column shoe was set."
In "The New Architecture," A. C. David specified a tall order for architects of these loft and commercial buildings, one which Starrett & Van Vleck fulfilled. Tenants required a maximum amount of clear, preferably square or rectangular, floor space so that large numbers of employees could be supervised by a floor manager.
In order to secure the greatest amount of natural light, a corner site, large windows, and high ceilings were imperative. In addition, the planning of building services affected the amount of "clear and available" floor space. These new structures had to meet the specifications of the insurance companies and of the building laws for fireproofing, in order to obtain the lowest insurance rates (as the Everett Building did).
Combining the stairway and fire escape provisions of the building law and omission of power plants in the building were additional ways to cut costs. At the same time, the building must be economical to operate. Speedy construction, a goal facilitated by granolithic or concrete floors, the use of metal trim, the omission of ornamental plastering, and the standardization of detail, was also essential.
In his article, David also suggested that attention to the building's design was necessary because "a structure which presents a good appearance sells better."
The Everett Building fulfilled these specifications as well. Like the Everett Building, the ideal loft and commercial structure was to consist of "a frame work, usually about sixteen stories high of piers and floors, the lines of both of which are separated by fixed distances, and both of which cannot be disguised by much ornamentation."
An ornamental cornice was not merely permitted but encouraged, even if the natural light on the top floor was impaired. The employment of glazed orange and green terra-cotta panels and medallions brings this desired attention to the Everett Building's crown.
According to David, windows should be grouped in order to emphasize the corners and to convey an impression of solidity; a building could thus be made to resemble a tower rather than a cage.
Face brick, laid in patterns, and architectural terra cotta were recommended for the cladding of the shaft. In other instances, exemplified by the Everett Building, "white glazed terra cotta decorated with superficial ornamental patterns has been effectively employed."
David continues that these buildings were a specific and original American type, "the only genuine commercial architecture in the world." These characteristics constitute what may be called a New York style.
Classical Aspects of the Building's Design
The Everett Building incorporates many classical elements in its design. As in other nearby skyscrapers including Bruce Price's Bank of the Metropolis, a designated New York City Landmark, the tripartite skyscraper elevation inspired by the parts of a classical column is employed in the Everett Building. A rusticated base is surmounted by a decorative transitional story; an eleven-story shaft leads to yet another transitional story, which is capped by a two-story attic crowned by an elaborate bracketed cornice.
The two-story base is articulated by rusticated piers which carry a classically-derived entablature that is embellished with stylized triglyphs and metopes. The building's two-story crown evokes a giant order; the elements of the pilasters are articulated and embellished by abstract terracotta elements. The doorway as built was pedimented with acroteria at center and sides.
William H. Jordy has observed that such commercial buildings retain "something of the blocky quality of the Renaissance palace format" which permitted the anonymity and interchangeability of functions.Real Estate Record & Guide concluded that the building "an investor might expect for $900,000," would be a structure "not — gaudy ... the whole with its straight, Renaissance architecture giving the impression of commercial utility."
Influence of the Chicago School
Goldwin Starrett's years working in Daniel Burnham's prestigious office (in the 1890s, the largest in Chicago, with branch offices in New York and San Francisco) are of clear influence to the design of the Everett Building which frankly expresses function. Starrett doubtless knew such monuments of Chicago architecture as Burnham & Root's Rand McNally Building (1888-90) and Burnham & Atwood's Reliance Building (1895).
Starrett's Chicago connections also would have insured his familiarity with the Carson, Pirie, Scott Store (the first two parts designed by Louis Sullivan, 1899, 1903-04; third part designed by Daniel Burnham, 1906). All three buildings contain innovations later incorporated in the Everett Building. The Rand McNally by Burnham & Root was formed of a consistent steel frame with facades "of terra cotta produced specifically to fit the frame."
The steel and terra cotta combination introduced in the Rand McNally was further refined after Root's death by Burnham and his designer Charles Atwood in the Reliance Building (1895).
Terra cotta, which although lighter, less expensive, and more solid than masonry, had heretofore been employed only as a fireproof undercoating to masonry and for ornamental embellishment. Its use as sheathing for the skyscraper was a precedent followed by Goldwin Starrett & Van Vleck and in many contemporary office and loft buildings in New York City.
By creating the appearance of a grid on the elevations, Starrett incorporated a major tenet of the Chicago School: the articulation on the exterior of interior structure. In this building, verticals are juxtaposed against horizontals and thus serve as visible surrogates for the concealed skeletal frame; such a system is one of the most important characteristics of the Chicago School.
The panels which emphasize the spandrel beams, the use of textured, ribbed moldings to articulate the panels themselves, and the vertical alignment of the windows is, in some respects, reminiscent of Carson, Pirie, Scott's structural expressiveness.
In Carson, Pirie, Scott, the terra-cotta panels and the fenestration create the impression of a grid and of horizontality; like the Chicago structure, the Everett Building can be viewed as both grids "expressing the frame" and as bands of horizontals.
The Everett Building, however, is more overtly classical than Carson, Pirie, Scott. In contrast to the receding two-story loggia which originally capped the two portions of the store designed by Sullivan, Starrett's design articulates the top two stories (which do not recede) with terra-cotta moldings.
Starrett topped the building with an avowedly classical cresting that features acroteria (as did the pedimented portico over the doorway as originally completed) and rests the building on rusticated piers.
Starrett and Van Vleck also render the Chicago idiom more traditionally. For example, the tripartite "Chicago window" with wide central pane and two narrow sash windows has here been translated into a bay containing three equally sized one-over-one windows. Although the end piers of the Everett Building are of the same width as those between bays, an additional textured molding has been added to their outer edges. Moreover, at the intersection of the Park Avenue South and Union Square elevations, the rusticated pier emphasizes the effect of the corner.
Description
Prominently located at the corner of East 17th Street and Park Avenue South, fronting on Union Square, the Everett Building is a sixteen-story, steel-framed office and loft building. A seventeenth story is concealed beneath the cornice and is evident only on the north and west walls. The building is sheathed in white terra-cotta panels and has applied green and orange architectural terra-cotta ornament. It is rectangular in shape with a rectangular light-court in the northwestern portion.
There are six bays on the Union Square side; the Park Avenue South elevation consists of eight bays. Each bay is divided into three parts, (with the exception of one bay on the Park Avenue South side which only contains two), each of which contains a window; above each first story window (with the exception of the second from the right on the Park Avenue South elevation which contains only two) and framed by the rusticated piers are three narrow, rectangular panels.
A two-story base with rusticated piers (each resting on a pink polished marble base and topped by a geometrical molding) is set off from the rest of the building by a cornice embellished with stylized triglyphs and metopes. Mullions separating windows in the bays of the second story resemble pilasters; they are set on blocks and feature consoles supporting pyramid-shaped blocks that reiterate the rustication on the piers and serve as capitals. A cornice with mutules completes the frieze above the second story. On the Union Square facade, atop the aperture of the bay on the extreme left, the original overdoor consisting of several thin moldings (two of which are embellished by small applied bosses in the shape of flowers) remains. On the Park Avenue South elevation, the bay to the extreme right contains the original transom treatment: above the shop windows and entrance (which are new), the transom area is divided into three panels each consisting of twelve lights, arranged in three rows of four. Two faciae separate each group of twelve lights; directly above these faciae, on the beltcourse, two dark bezants appear, serving both to embellish and to link the dark frames of the glazed panels below and the windows above.
The third story consists of ornamented piers (which separate the bays) demarcating the transition from the two-story base to the eleven-story shaft above. Set atop a plain base, the shaft of each pier is ornamented by borders with foliated and ribboned embellishments and palmette accents set diagonally into the corners.
Pilasters between the windows are also set atop plain bases; they are ornamented by long, thin recessed panels. The capitals of both piers and pilasters are both embellished by palmettes. A frieze embellished by garlands draped over bezants completes the transitional story and signals the beginning of the shaft.
On the eleven-story shaft, the crossings of the ribbed mullions and the outer textured edges of the panels which cover the spandrel beams establishes a grid, which reflects the building's construction and underscores the grid created by the intersection of windows, spandrel beams, and piers. On the Union Square facade, spandrel bands below each window are three panels wide and two panels high; each such group "of six panels is outlined by raised moldings.
Each bay consists of a total of three such groups. On the Park Avenue South elevation, each group is two panels wide and two panels high; each such group of four panels is outlined by raised moldings. On both elevations, the moldings which separate each group of panels are both continuations of the window mullions and indications of the window's outer edges. Piers are also indicated (when they intersect with the spandrel beam) by outlined terra-cotta panels, one panel wide and two panels high.
The intersection of the horizontal spandrel demarcation and the window's mullions and outer edges sets up a grid motif. The regularity of the grid deflects attention from the bay (second from the right on the Park Avenue South elevation) which consists of only two windows and from the change from a width of three panels for each subsection of each bay on the Union Square facade to two panels for each subsection on the Park Avenue South elevation.
A beltcourse tops the eleven-story shaft and sets off the two-story crown, which corresponds to the "capital" of the "tripartite column," from the body of the building. The piers are transformed into abstract pilasters by the application of applied reiterating polychrome terra-cotta ornament.
Within raised borders of white terra cotta that extend the length of both stories, orange rectangular panels embellished at their midpoints by applied green circles appear.
The spandrel beams between the two stories are covered with white terra-cotta panels within which are rectangular orange panels. Mullions (and their extensions) which abut spandrel beams are also embellished with recessed panels. The two-story section is topped with several moldings including one incorporating applied polychrome geometric motifs: in this scheme, paired and single green and orange rectangular lozenges alternate with green circular motifs. An elaborate dentilled cornice crested by acroteria tops the building.
On the west elevation, a brick wall pierced by four-over-four sash windows is visible from the ninth story upward; two windows indicate the seventeenth story. Bands demarcate borders that correspond to the terra-cotta spandrel beam covers on the facade. This elevation features interpretations of the stringcourse separating the top two stories and of the polychrome panelling and cornice treatment on the Union Square facade. To the right of and above the seventeenth story windows, a substantial amount of replacement brick appears.
On the north elevation visible above the ninth story, a buff brick wall features eight windows per floor; the remaining originals have four-over-four sash. From the visible base of this elevation through the fourteenth story, a terra-cotta border appears; above this, the border continues as panels. On this elevation, windows indicate the presence of the seventeenth story. A significant portion of the top two stories appears to be resurfaced. With its essential architectural features unchanged, this building continues to function as an office building with retail spaces at the ground story.
- From the 1988 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report
Catching up on some back shots from the beginning of the year
On a walk around the Addington Cemetery with a wonderful Flickr friend. February 13, 2016 Christchurch New Zealand.
There is so much damaged in the cemetery because of the earthquake we have had. It is such a pity as I don' think it will ever be fully repaired.
The Addington Cemetery was established in 1858 when the Scottish Presbyterians of St Andrew’s Church purchased land for a cemetery in Selwyn Street. Although not the first cemetery in Christchurch, Addington was in fact the first “public” cemetery, “being open to all persons of any religious community” and allowing the performance of any religious service “not contrary to public decency”.
The first burial took place on the 10th of November 1858. The cemetery has several persons of note buried within its grounds including activist Kate Sheppard, Christchurch Mayor Tommy Taylor and members of the pioneer family, the Deans.
For More Info:http://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/addington-cemetery/
The name of the movie is " Shareef Bay Na Cheeray " . I have no idea what that means Iam guessing its something in Pushto. But Iam sure it has something to do with decency well that's what shareef means ...... ironical isnt it ??
Zap Comix No.4 was conceived as an all out attack on decency and limits with intentionally extreme and disgusting content. The first edition (now an expensive collectors item) sold out immediately in Berkeley California. The second edition (source of this image) was banned, prosecuted, and convicted of obscenity in several jurisdictions. Eventually went through about 15 editions with hundred of thouands of copies sold. Purchased from a furtive street vendor on Hollywood Boulevard in the 1970s.
One of the more "family oriented" features was "Wonder Wart-Hog Breaks up the Mothalode Smut Ring" - a Superman parody with the over-endowed Lois Lamebrain in the "Lois Lane" role and the under-endowed Philbert Desanex / Wonder Wart-Hog in the Clark Kent / Superman role.
In the first panel, the top heavy Lois Lamebrain dreams of marrying Wonder Wart-Hog while being leered at by "uncool" Philbert Desanex.
Arctic Council Ministerial Dinner at Artikum Glass Hall. Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Timo Soini and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Chrystia Freeland.
Finland hosts the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting on 7 May in Rovaniemi. Minister-level representatives from the eight Arctic States will convene to review and approve work completed under the two-year Finnish Chairmanship to improve sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.
Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.
Photo: Jouni Porsanger / Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
ICE Out of the Bay!
Thurs Oct 23, 2025
Coast Guard Island, Oakland
At dawn on Thursday, hundreds of people from around the Bay Area came together at the base of Coast Guard Island Bridge in Oakland to stand up for their Bay Area communities and against the promised surge of ICE to SF by Trump. Coast Guard Island is where ICE agents were starting to deploy and where a force of over 1000 was expected.
When we arrived around 7:30am, we were told that about 15-20 minutes earlier, several ICE vehicles had raced toward the crowd of interfaith leaders, grandmothers and community members and proceeded to dispense several flash bang grenades and chemical agents into the crowd... in one instance, aiming directly and quite intentionally ("with direct eye contact" is what we were told) into the face of a clergyman - Jorge Bautista, at very close range. Someone else's foot was run over.
As the very peaceful (except for ICE thugs!) rally proceeded, organizers got word that Trump had changed his mind about surging ICE and federal troops into San Francisco, at least for now. This was cause for very limited celebration at the rally. Which federal forces was he referring to? ICE? CBP? Coast Guard? Natl Guard? Was he only referring to San Francisco? What about all the other Bay Area communities? Organizers remain on high alert and extremely vigilant and will continue to actively engage with communities at risk all around the Bay for the foreseeable future. Surge or no surge, ICE is still in our communities and continues to brutally kidnap non-citizens and citizens alike with no regard for due process and human decency.
More tea, you ask?
Well, yes. Mostly because this is the only tea set my mother had the decency to purchase despite my affection for them, which therefore means I will make time to visit a thrift shop and purchase some lovely ones.
At least the hibiscus was free, hurrah!
© 2010 Yu-Jie Yu. All rights reserved.
Malevolent Daisy
© 2013 Kristine Jabbour
Daisy falls from the sky unannounced
Uninvited
Specks of sherbert overlay
My field of vision
Objects lose their hard edges
Subway interior
Through a Monet filter
Petals flap gently
Then bounce and float
Its stem pierces the water’s surface
Vision turns monochrome
Then fades away, pixel by pixel
Fighting blindness
The flow of people
Pull me out of the train
Up the flight of stairs
Determined to reach work
I clutch the handrail
Splash
Roots have developed
Needle punctures the pupil of my left eye
Petals pirouette
Clouding my sight with grace and saccharine
Roots plunge deeper and release their poison
Capillaries bulge
Eye visibly pulsates
Nausea
Need to get home!
I creep back on the train
Need mint tea, menthol gel, wet washcloth
A bucket, just in case.
Above all, I need darkness
The daisy needs light to grow
So I intend to starve it.
I stumble home from the station
Squinting and wincing
Home at last!
Heaving sigh
Throw thick blankets over the windows
Slivers of light sneak in with each gust of wind
The plant quivers with sadistic joy
Wildly spraying its venom
Abandoning decency
Searing knife in my pupil
I recoil and cry aloud
Sensitivity to smells heightens
Compensating for impaired vision
A whiff of bacon or baked beans
Kicks me to the feet of the porcelain god
Who doesn’t smell good either
Vomit compounded
Until nothing is left
And then some
I languish on the bathroom tiles
My mind is crystalline amidst the searing pain
I am a captive audience to my thoughts.
I consider the meaning of life and pain
God, what am I doing with my life
Good things to consider in moderation
Often neglected in the rush of mundane tasks
But the smug inner prosecutor is over the top
Playing scenes of my supposed crimes
Before I collapse in resignation and exhaustion
After 2 or 3 days of darkness
Soft music and tea saturation
It usually relents
Pulls up as suddenly as it came
But sometimes it lingers, languid and limp
Until it slowly deliquesces
When it’s finally gone
I blink, sigh, offer copious thanks
And resolve to cherish life and love
Give me one 'cause one is best
In confusion, confidence
Give me peace of mind and trust
Don't forget the rest us
Give me strength, reserve control
Give me heart and give me soul
Wounds that heal and cracks that fix
Tell me your own politik
And open up your eyes.
Coldplay
Today (or rather, the day that this photograph was taken, Thursday 22nd October, 2009) a programme was broadcast in Britain on BBC - Question Time - that has caused a few ripples. For those unaware, most likely those on the far side of the pond, Question Time is a political debate programme, tackling current issues, debated by the great and the good of the political, cultural and academic spheres.
Today, for the first time ever, the leader of the British National Party, Nick Griffin, was on the panel. The BNP is a far right minor political party, but has recently won two seats on the European Parliament. The BNP is "committed to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration and to restoring, by legal changes, negotiation and consent the overwhelmingly white makeup of the British population that existed in Britain prior to 1948". They are considered by a majority, including this writer, to be a thoroughly detestable gang of racists, bullies and criminals.
The programme was a fascinating spectacle, and it should be easily available to watch via the wonders of the internet; it is definitely worth watching. There have been claims of bullying and victimisation of Nick Griffin, and while it is certainly true he was not given the fair audience that he has never earned the right to, he showed himself to be ignorant, arrogant and generally unpleasant. He has a very effective PR machine that glosses over his Holocaust denial, his ties to the KKK and his many previous crimes against decency, morality and humanity. But when faced with direct questioning, without time for preparation he came across as unintelligible and petty.
However, there are a few points I found myself wanting to make regarding the discussion in the programme. The first was regarding Islam, where he was asked to defend his opinion of Islam as a "wicked, vicious faith". He talked about the denigration of women, treatment of them as second class citizens and incitement to violence against non-believers. What he has clearly misunderstood, and which nobody, sadly, bothered to point out to him, is that these are not matters of the faith - the Qur’an does not mention these behaviours. These are cultural and social behaviours, present in only some countries, perpetrated under the banner of religion, in the same way that evil deeds have been committed throughout history under the banner of most religions.
The second was his concept, that was repeated regularly, of the indigenous peoples of Britain, the population he wishes to return to. There is no indigenous population of Britain, nor northern Europe for that matter. 17,000 years ago, we were covered in ice, and as one of the panel mentioned, we didn’t live on the ice. When this receded, people moved north into these areas. These were our first settlers - a celtic pagan society. Since then, we have been invaded by the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, the Vikings and the Normans. Our religions, cultures and language have been added to, shaped and altered by these successive invasions. There is no “aboriginal” (Griffin’s word, not mine) religion or culture. Even the concept of Christianity, the society they wish to return to, was introduced to our country by an invasion, which they are theoretically trying to now prevent.
The BBC were heavily criticised for allowing him onto the programme. There were major protests outside the studios. Even the Government suggested that the BBC shouldn’t have allowed it to proceed. I am on the side of the BBC. I think they did the right thing in allowing him to reveal his true self, as a small, insignificant, unpleasant racist. And as they responded to the Government’s condemnation, if they feel it’s so wrong for him to voice his opinion, they have the power to ban the party.
An amazing woman, wife, mother; a trailblazer, an advocate for human rights, gender equality, dignity and decency, a thinker, a philosopher...
She changed the world for women: fought for women's equality & recognition; and she did it all coming up from within the old-boys club.
Bravo.
Ministry for Foreign Affairs produces photo material for media representatives. Please feel free to use the photos for journalistic purposes, considering the following restrictions: One-time picture publishing right, no archiving or reselling. Editorial use only. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organisation shall be mentioned as a source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. The publisher is not entitled to transfer rights to a third party. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall also obtain the permissions needed for any names, persons, works of art, trademarks, and proprietary rights shown in the pictures. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity. Photo: Atte Kajova
It's early. Good vibe, when I was taking this. Everyone here seems to be asleep. Years ago, Mr Ellis (number 8) would probably have been doing his naturalist thing, walking round his garden, starkers. Him and his misses were all right, thinking back. Quiet people who kept themselves to themselves, mainly, like you probably have to do to not become part of this damaged and damaging community.
Mr and Mrs Wood (number 9) would've been asleep. Mrs Wood, whose son-in-law was on the verge of hysteria when I was ejected from town, similarly loved her gossip. She told me when I was a little kid that we need wars, occasionally, to limit the population. I even knew then that she was full of it. Her husband, Eddie - sleazy Eddie - another personable type on the surface. No wonder they were married. They had a lodger, Kojak. He stopped for a few nights once, and never left. Strange but funny one, him. For some reason, we always wound him up, I think because he really did look like an English version of Kojak.
Paddy (number 11), who told me when I was little that he wanted to put me in his stewpot after which I genuinely thought for years that he was a serial killer. He was a pisshead, who argued with his son, and died suddenly, one day in his house.
Apart from maybe Mr and Mrs Ellis, the one I remember with most interest, here, was great-grandmother Goode (number 9). Must have been in her 90s - very, very old, however old she was. Never spoke to her. She was incredibly frail, but would always struggle to get to the end of the path to prop herself up on her gate and seemingly endlessly watch us young kids playing in the street. I'd look at her, now and again, not really thinking much about why such a very old woman would make such a struggle to stand at her gate, watching very young children playing in the street for so very long. Now I know. I know everything she was thinking. Everything. What a great memory that is, now.
There were other people in the street, but that was about it, down our end. Up his own end, there was a bloke who'd always tell us to get down our own end, so we usually didn't.
My Mom and Dad bought our house for about £4000 in 70 or 71, and this was the house I grew up in. Amazing times: mostly good, occasionally bad. A great upbringing, tainted by a form of intense psychological abuse at times from my dad that I had to figure out and manage from a very early age. I'm proud of how my kid self did that. I never gave in to it because, after the first few times, I mastered the methods he used and just took the piss. Poor fella didn't stand a chance. My capability to take the utter piss out of that sort of behaviour, while not a great problem-solving strategy, was outstanding for someone so young. But the depths he could reach with the mind games would leave a legacy I had unpick even up until recently. I'm pretty sure it's done now, though, but maybe you can never tell.
Mom would try her stunts, too, hitting more emotional buttons. Sometimes I'd just shake my head, even as a really young kid and think: 'These people are supposed to be grown up. Sort it out.' But I'd still scream the house down and shake the radiator by the front window whenever she crept out of the house to go to work, partly because, I now realise, the woman's always had an issue with just levelling with me. Grown ups.
The only leveller was my half-sister, who loved my sense of humour and my rebellious streak. She'd go berserk, laughing her head off, when I did my very special freak out dance to the theme from Hawaii-Five-O. You had to be there. Always stuck by me, that one, when we were kids.
But that's decades ago. It's years later, now, another era and another world. It's Sunday, early on a morning in 2012. Those people in the street are all dead, now, my family's gone, too, never to return, and the street's very different, these days. I have absolutely no connection with any of these people in the street and I don't ever want one.
I've mentioned before the malicious gossip that changed everything back in 96, that just snowballed here to the point where, because I didn't go along with it or submit to it, even came to my front door from people in this street who now, one told me recently, have no recollection of how crazy they were in the lead up to me being detained under the Mental Health Act in 2000, misdiagnosed and medicated, when it was obvious what was really going on.
Even when the doctors and a social worker first came to my door, I could clearly see that they were hyped up and that the processes and psychological positioning instigated, perpetuated and fuelled by that gossip in 96, right up to that moment, were now being made official.
I shouldn't really say this, but back in about 97, when I was at this big deal cultural studies department at Birmingham University, it even reached there and I had to leave. I probably wasn't ready to do a Masters then, anyway, but that's not really the point. It would have been nice to have had the chance to fly at that age. I pretty much guessed the gossip was going to get there, though, the original people behind it - people with close links to the local medical community and local police - had that very deep and ugly capacity to go to those lengths.
I can't make direct links with any proof from Kidderminster's community, but the bullshit was there, make no mistake about that and one of the senior lecturers there, some dude who's quite big in the field had links with someone from guess where: Kidderminster Fucking College. Fair play to the senior lecturer at Birmingham, though, he was a decent bloke in the end and tried to build bridges, but the damage was done and I had no choice but to walk.
Because there's nothing much you can do about that, because the safeguards aren't realistically there, I'm not the type of character to go for official mechanisms and because gossips like that are excellent at cutting off the type of realistic communication that could resolve such things by exposing the gossip, I had no choice but to walk and just know my place, thank you very much, something I had to do more and more of between 1996 and 2000.
So, here we are in 2000. On my doorstep: the official representation of my 'friends' from 1996, finally at to my door. Kafka couldn't have dreamt this up. I didn't stand a chance, looking back with what I know now, but I did put up a fight in that hospital. Didn't I just. They got scared, at times. One doctor, terrified, said I was right about almost everything. Another doctor, who fluctuated from scared to freaky, said I was wrong about everything, but this same doctor was similarly terrified especially the once, offering to essentially cut me a deal that would give me some sort of medical treatment, some package of care or something. I launched, shouting him and the place down about what had really been taking place for four long, isolated years. He was a tall bloke, who withered to almost nothing in the face of that and almost crawled away into an office. I could write loads about what happened in that hospital, back then, but I don't need to. That's enough. Or it should be.
They eventually established their authority, and, in the years since, the pain of trying to make sense of what mistakes I might have made in relation to that, I know now that whatever I did that could have given them back that bogus authority didn't matter. The momentum of those four years was always going to mean that I would be forcibly medicated, detained and psychologically and socially reframed, essentially according to processes and ideas laid down by a couple of malicious gossips in 1996.
If you know where to look, it's in all the major write ups in the medical records and it's been in every significant conversation with health services. With a disastrous combination of damaging and very strong psychiatric medication, along with a fair amount of social influence, I pretty much lost who I was for about 12 years, only now and again approaching what always should have been, only to burn up on re-entry, a process they framed and medicated away as a 'relapse' (a 'relapse' to what, exactly?), a process that, in my experience, you just have to ride through to the other end, making the most of it, as constructively as you can.
It's only now that I'm getting even close to the pre-2000 levels of functioning I had. And it's only now that it all makes sense - clear sense - and 1996 is pretty much defeated in my mind, although it's influence in my social environment persists, which I have to be watchful about, even now. Another problem that detracts from the life I should have been living since 1996. Like I say, this area is not a healthy place for anyone.
A friend of mine, who's got The Knowledge, said 'I feel so sorry for you.' She knows me better than anyone else on this planet, but she was wrong, in a way, to think like that. The way she said it - just flat, brutally literal and entirely human - hit me temporarily. Then I realised that to feel like that was a reaction to a myth that, because I can see it, I don't need to react off it, however the social environment may play on things like that.
Anyway, I'm cool. Over the years, I've seen many people psychologically destroyed beyond repair by stuff like this. They're never, ever coming back, but they should be treated differently because, although their real message can be buried deep, and many of them have been consumed by many of the myths of mainstream culture, when you really can hear what they're saying at what I consider to be their best, these people are saying something very deep and profound, almost in unison: our culture has failed, and failed badly.
Psychiatry is definitely not the answer. It is a conservative and limiting mechanism, with its primary function to bring about conformity and, if it sees fit, impose control, that has all manner of quite sophisticated techniques to detract from that basic, core idea. It hides and suppresses information that's of benefit to everyone. This is another example pointing to something that I've learned from what I've read, experienced and thought about during my 12 wilderness years in the mental health system: Psychiatry is extremely broken both theoretically and practically from top to bottom and, because of its very core ideas, will never, ever work. That that's obscured and easily dismissed information that's so rarely heard accessibly and widely in public is a testimony to the methods and power psychiatry has, along with the dominance of its ideas in mainstream culture. Nearly everyone's taken in by it and, from everything I see, hear, read and watch, that's relevant to this, their ideas run very deep in almost everyone's mind in the wider society, even most of the people I've come across who hope and believe that they're better than that.
Here I am, quite vulnerable to people who've shown over the years that they can be all too willing to exploit and compound abuses of information, now, perhaps soon depending on any decency and insight of key officials. It's being going on for years and I can't see any reason why that'd stop. Too many people with too many personal interests, now. Too many people who can't stand the idea of this being mentioned, even though it gives back to my life a sense of a proper context, despite everything. Dangerous situation, in all, especially when I consider how high and wide this all went over the years, much of which I haven't covered, some of which I daredn't, but it really does all beggar belief, which is why these posts aren't even a request for support. The required structures aren't really there, yet.
I could write reams about all the crap that could be said and done to discredit what I'm saying here. That sort of shit usually goes on when you're not there. It has to to survive, because anything else exposes it to analysis that would easily spoil the fun. The trick with malicious gossip in the context I'm faced with isn't to make some of the mistakes I've made over the years. Neither is it to essentially react and be forcibly made to submit and accept it (I never had 'psychosis' before I was put on psychiatric meds, by the way), is to just leave them to it. There's no other way, not with my (I'm sure) realistic approach to official mechanisms, especially locally, or the environment I'm in.
After I told my friend with The Knowledge what had really been going on, yesterday, and what I'd been putting online, she said, 'You're going to get sectioned.' She knows full well how it can all work around here. She said I'd 'seen the light', a sort of religious phrase that I'm not too happy with, but I'll take it because it's true. My mate knows, too, that I'm healthy. Very healthy, especially when you take into account what's been going on around here and the threat of being forced into what they might spin as 'medical treatment'.
It doesn't really matter what I say. It doesn't matter about 96 or 2000. It doesn't matter that I've got more than enough to go on that there's two people in this town who may, according to conventional definitions, be psychopaths, who've been at the heart of what's been going on in the past and of late, in terms of manipulating the social environment for hidden and dubious purposes, which even dragged in the local police and may have been the reason for the behaviour of the local medical community in recent times. It really doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that I'm healthy. My experiences of my environment since 1996 suggest that, although I've got an advocate, now, I remain vulnerable to all this. That's stressful, but manageable. The fact that there's nothing I can do or anything that would be done even as a result of saying such things is something I've been realistic about for years. It happens, partly because it's so sounds so incredible.
The good thing is that I could see this all playing out over a prolonged period in the town centre. Very interesting stuff and good for what I want to do. I now pretty much know who was involved, why, what they did, why they'd cover it up, how they'd do that, what they'd say if they were exposed, why they'd be wrong to do that and why the justifications that they truly believe are seriously wide of the mark. I've seen it all before.
Sometimes, especially when I'm in a mood, I sometimes conduct my own version of the Milgram Experiment (and I have done that on myself). I think mine's better, because it goes deeper, looking for solutions beyond the premature cut off point of that test. I see the authority figure as the culture and the offending behaviour as something that could be addressed, rather than going on the notion that this is the way people are and that's that.
I'm not buying that. There's ways of addressing that stuff and I know there are. One of the failures of the way most of us think of the Second World War is that we think beating the Third Reich was the be all and end all. It was important, but it was only part of the battle. I shouldn't need to elaborate on that.
Tomorrow, I'm getting a phone call from a psychiatrist at the local hospital. I scare and intimidate him, according to an independent advocate, who sat in on our last meeting, because, she thinks, I'm so intelligent and know a lot more than they do. Whatever the case on that, that points to a reaction in these people that's too widespread and says so much, especially when seeing their behaviour in context since events stretching way back to 1996. I contacted the psychiatry department at the local hospital, to calm the waters just in case, not least because one of their staff was at the coffee shop when I was being banned.
I also have a meeting, a 'consultation', there next week. The plan is that that will be my last appointment with a psychiatrist. The job, that wasn't even needed in the first place, has been done and done well. Recent events have made that easier, because I could see all these social processes playing out all around me and know exactly why they were playing out. All the tricks and all the games were pretty transparent from day one. What would be good now, though, and not for any petty reasons, is if officials were to actually be open and honest about what was really going on at the hospital in recent times. Something was definitely going on. I'm pretty sure I know what, but I'm open to a transparent explanation of alternatives.
Similar to 2000, though, I'm highly unlikely to get that, even though the very gesture would mean a lot. I could say 'wish me luck', but if you don't know by now that that probably won't make a blind bit of difference, you never will. It's looking like the time's coming for me to conduct yet another Milgram Experiment.
A Church along MLK Blvd. in Augusta, GA
True Vine Missionary Baptist Church
1780 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Augusta, GA
30901
(706) 722-4011
maps.google.com/maps?q=1765+Martin+Luther+King+Blvd.+++Au...
This is one of the photos from a Power Point presentation explaining a study in Augusta, Georgia about a street named for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The “Claiming A Street Named King” Project is the brainchild of Rev. Terence A. Dicks of Augusta, Georgia.
These photos depict homes, building and abandoned structures along Martin Lutheran King, Jr. Boulevard in Augusta, Georgia.
It began with research in Athens and Augusta (Georgia) through the University Of Georgia School Of Environmental Design.
Research was led by Dr. Mary Anne Akers in collaboration with Georgia Legal Services Program, Georgia State Trade Association of Non-profit Developers (G-STAND) and Neighborhood Works America, INC.
“Claiming A Street Named King” Project study in Augusta, Georgia – conducted along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard - shows areas that need economic assistance – and that’s the same issue in many American cities that have streets named for civil rights leaders
For more information:
claimingastreetnamedking.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/Claimin...
The closure of a popular Barrowford pub has left the community stunned.
Pendle Borough Council licensing officers shut down the George and Dragon, in Gisburn Road, on Friday, at 3-30pm, to the horror of licensee Chris Joyce, who had just returned from honeymoon that day.
The closure order is thoguht to have come about following the death of one of the business partners at the pub and a failure to remove his name from official documents.
There has already beenn outcry on Facebook over the decision, with Chris being quaoted as saying: “It was a shock when the officer said he was shutting me down with immediate effect. They could have had the decency to give me until Monday. Beer had been tapped and ready to serve. Food had been purchased and prepared for the weekend. Now, I’ve to apply for a temporary events license - and the pub will not be able to open until February 5th.”
Pendle Today 270115
Published on Monday 14 January 2013 09:19
THREE men have been arrested on suspicion of wounding after a fight at a Barrowford pub over the weekend.
A 22-year-old, and two 23-year-olds, are currently on bail until April following the public order offence at the George and Dragon, in Gisburn Road. The incident happened at around 11-15pm on Saturday night.
A 45-year-old man, and a 25-year old man were treated for injuries. One had a broken leg, while the other was reported to have head injuries.
Another person was injured, but allegedly refused treatment.
A police spokesman said: “We were called to a disturbance outside the pub.
“When we got there, there were a number of people in the road.”
Pendle Today
A burglar was tracked down by police after he accidentally left behind his shirt and a letter at the scene of the crime with his name and address on it.
Teacher's son Max Bancroft, 21, had smashed into his local pub after earlier being thrown out for drunkenness - only to injure himself on the broken glass of a window.
As he pulled off his T shirt to to stem the flow of blood, a letter he had received in the post fell out of his pocket and landed on the floor.
Police found the incriminating blood-stained note and T-shirt as they hunted for clues following the burglary at The George and Dragon in the village of Barrowford, Lancashire.
Officers went to arrest Bancroft at his home and found his fridge full of cooked meat stolen on the same night from a grocery store.
At Burnley Crown Court, Bancroft admitted two charges of burglary and was jailed for two years.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2288482/Teachers-son-21-...
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(Please note there have been a few cast revisions in this episode).
Captain Tim: Right Sargent Willis, call the men around.
Chorus of suffragette voices: And the women.
Capt. Tim: Yes, yes let’s not go through all that again. Just get everyone around Willis.
Sarg. Willis: I say, it would be awfully nice if you could just all gather around the captain quick as you can, that’s right, nice and close, let’s all cosy together, thank you so much, that’s awfully nice of you.
Corporal Shepherd: Right you lot, you heard what the fine officer said, cosy round, cosy round get cosyed in, smartly does it now, smartly does it, that’s right, that’s right. Permission to speak sir, the men and women all are cosying around just like what you said sir. Shall I cosy with them?
Capt. Tim: Of course, I shouldn’t have to tell you that corporal.
Corp. Shepherd: Right sir, thank you sir, cosying in now sir. Permission to speak sir, we are all cosy together sir.
Capt. Tim: Where’s Sargent Willis?
Private McMercer: Aye he’s absent on parade, that’s a criminal offence, he should be shot, shot I tell ye.
Capt. Tim: Oh don’t be so melodramatic McMercer. Willis, Willis what are you doing? You’re supposed to be cosying, er gathering around, with the rest of the men.
Pte. Bevins: And women!
Sarg. Willis: I thought as it was such a nice morning I’d just have a wander around, you know Sir, just a little wander and look at all the lovely countryside. After all it’s not as if we’ve not heard what you’ve got to say before.
Capt. Tim: That’s not the sort of attitude I expect from my junior officers. You’re supposed to support me up to the hilt, the hilt. Do you understand? We’re not out here to enjoy the countryside, we’ve got a very important job of work to do. Just what do you think would happen if everyone went about enjoying the countryside? The country would be ruined in no time.
Sarg. Willis: Oh very well.
Capt. Tim: Right, now then..
Pte. Jones: Excuse me captain, I was wondering if I might be excused?
Capt. Tim: Not now Steven, I’m just about to explain what we’re going to do.
Pte. Jones: Oh dear.
Capt. Tim: Now today we’ve been appointed to do a very important task helping our brave farmers, reaping and gathering in the sheaves.
Corp. Shepherd: Permission to indegest Sir. I would like to be the person what does the reaping and gathering.
Capt. Tim: We’re all in this together corporal, there’s plenty of work for all of us.
Pte. McMercer: Aside; Aye, and plenty for someone to order the rest of us about while he looks on.
Pte. Moffatt: Excuse me Mr. Spencer, what do we do when we’ve gathered in the sheaves?
Capt. Tim: It’s Captain, how many times do you have to be told?
Pte Moffatt: Sorry Mr. Spencer, what do we do with the sheaves Captain?
Capt. Tim: We burn them.
Pte. Miller: Ah, now then, it just so happens I know where to lay my hands on some firelighters they’re very hard to come by these days. I could let you have say half a dozen at five quid each.
Capt. Tim: Five pounds? Five pounds? Oh no, no, no. Thank you but we have our very own fire lighter in the form of private Breed.
Pte. Miller: Suit yourself.
Pte. Jones: I’ve just done a first aid course and we covered burns. You have to pour cold water on them for ten minutes. Oh dear, I’ve got a bottle of water in my first aid bag but I don’t think it will last for ten minutes.
Pte Miller: Funny you should mention bottled water, now I know where I can lay my hands on a crate..
Capt. Tim: We shall not be needing any water for the simple reason no one will get burnt. I won’t allow it. Now let’s get going, I need to unload the mowing machine and..
Pte. Moffatt: Please Mr. I mean Captain Tim, can I do the mowing, I know how to do it, I saw it in a film once with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.
Capt. Tim: No it’s far too dangerous for an inexperienced person from the ranks. This takes leadership.
Pte. McMercer: Aye and it’s easier than raking.
Pte. Moffatt: Oh it’s not fair, he never lets me have any fun.
Capt. Tim: No talking in the ranks. Let’s to it, we haven’t got all day, looks like rain later on.
Pte. Jones: Talking of rain, I wonder if I might be excused for a moment?
Later that morning;
Capt. Tim: Now remember men,
Pte. Bevins: And women!
Capt. Tim: Careful near the ditch, it’s covered in reeds, so we don’t want anyone falling in.
Pte. Shepherd: Excuse me Capt. Tim, I’d like to volunteer to work by the ditch what isn’t there on account of it being covered in reeds then if anyone should fall in it will be me and not you or any of our other brave lads. I remember once when we was at...
Capt. Tim: Not now corporal, Not now.
Pte. McMercer: I was wondering how strong these wooden rakes are? I’ll just lean on one to see if it takes my weight.
Lunchtime;
Pte. McMercer: Aye, it seems to be holding up okay. Look Captain Tim, isn’t that captains Raven and Pratt coming over yonder Hill?
Capt. Tim: What? Oh yes, pay no attention to them, Captain Pratt has probably only come to show off the latest set of gaudy ribbons spread across her chest. No sense of decency, if I had any medals I wouldn’t go displaying them like that for all the world to see. She looks like a walking rainbow with all those decorations. Still better than the things she usually wears.
Sarg Willis: What did she get them for do you suppose?
Capt. Tim: Pond dipping I shouldn’t wonder, not proper work like we do.
Capts. Raven and Pratt: Greetings Captain Tim, just in time for a spot of lunch we see. Any cake?
Several pieces of bread pudding and tiffin later
Capts. Raven and Pratt: Well bye all.
Pte. Miller: Now before we get started again, I just happen to have some very nice calendars for sale. Going cheap, lovely pictures of birds on them. Get it, cheap, birds?
Suddenly everyone finishes lunch and starts working again.
Pte Miller: Please yourselves. Charmed I’m sure.
Early afternoon;
Capt. Tim: Well that’s another job well done. I think we can all be proud of ourselves, don’t you Sargent Willis?
Sarg. Willis: What? Oh yes, yes, very proud. I was just looking at those very pretty birds..
Capt. Tim: Not those damn calendars again?
Sarg. Willis: No Sir, those charming little birds on all that bare ground that we’ve laid to waste.
Capt. Tim: Oh we’ve no time for that now. We need to collect all our gear together before everybody slopes off. I’m still missing a rake!
Sarg. Willis: I think you’ll find private McMercer is still leaning on it.
(Any resemblance to the truth is purely accidental).
Enough already. Thanks to everyone and we missed those of you who weren’t able to join us on what was a very pleasant day. I’m sure Mr. Pitts photos will say it all.
Anon.
"how deep is the sea"; with forlin brothers for emergence festival, giardini naxos (sicily)
..babbo, che eri un gran cacciatore
di quaglie e di faggiani
caccia via queste mosche
che non mi fanno dormire
che mi fanno arrabbiare
come è profondo il mare
come è profondo il mare
è inutile
non c'è più lavoro
non c'è più decoro
dio o chi per lui
sta cercando di dividerci
di farci del male
di farci annegare
come è profondo il mare
come è profondo il mare..
---------------------------------------------
..daddy, you who were a great hunter
of quails and pheasants,
chase away these flies
that don't let me sleep
that make me angry
how deep the sea is
how deep the sea is
it's useless
there's no work anymore
there's no decency anymore
god or someone for him
is trying to divide us,
to hurt us, to drown us
how deep is the sea
how deep is the sea..
Queens Of The Stone Age @ The Orbit Room, Grand Rapids, MI
p.s. if you are gonna post my copyrighted images elsewhere on the internet at least have the decency to credit me with them or link them back to here, or i'll probably stop posting them or at least start putting big watermarks on them.
Titan, formerly a Skeleton Warrior, has just joined the Skull Boyz jazz & blues band as their new lead guitarist. He's trying out his newly-acquired Gibson SG, and seeing if he can busk a little for some cash.
He was convinced to wear clothing by other members of the Skull Boyz. Seems that there's decency laws in town which requires covering up one's pelvis, regardless if one is a human, animal or skeleton.
The guitar is modeled after a classic red Gibson SG, scaled-down to 2.75", which is 1:15 scale. It is handmade of basswood, mainly because no companies make miniature guitars in this scale. 1:12 would be way over-sized and 1:18 (Rement) would be too small. In this size, the guitar can actually be strung.
Marshall amp is a small basswood box, dolled-up to look like a small Marshall amp.
in the name of morality, and decency the Red Lights District has been destroyed.
actually, just a very bad excuse to test stop motion on my new Mac.
Not strictly a Finsec event, but here's a few photos of the Service and Food Workers' Union Nga Ringa Tota rally in Wellington on International Cleaners Day.
The 'Fair Deal for Cleaners' campaign that this rally is part of aims to provide a voice to the low-waged largely immigrant female workforce, in cities across Australia and New Zealand, who are calling on big property owners to support decency in their workplaces.
Arctic Council Ministerial Dinner at Artikum Glass Hall. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Chrystia Freeland.
Finland hosts the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting on 7 May in Rovaniemi. Minister-level representatives from the eight Arctic States will convene to review and approve work completed under the two-year Finnish Chairmanship to improve sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.
Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.
Photo: Jouni Porsanger / Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Pierre Perret : when the woman is behind a fence
Listen to my very sweet song
Verlaine would have known better
She is discreet and lightweight
a shudder of water on the foam
It is the lament of the spouse
the woman behind her fence
They make her life in the Middle Ages
May they be covered with shame..
Chorus
When the woman is fenced
all women are outraged
men have rejected women
In the dark
She never takes the floor
In public it is not his role
She is fearful she is subject
Not a chance for her to receive a kiss
They taught her to submit
Not to contradict his master
She is entitled to only a few whispers
With her eyes down on her sewing
She respects the divine law
That said by the man's mouth
That his place is in the kitchen
And that she is his beast of burden
No way for her to get education
She's better when she's ignorant
Her husband says that education
Is contrary to her domestic tasks
From head to toe burka its austere
Is the garantor of the woman decency
It prevents lust from the men
To whom she could appeal
One look deemed immodest
Would be fatal for the captive
She could eventually burned
Stoned in public place
(seen in a Wolford shopwindow)
Monkey Wrench Collective presents Wallace Shawn's "The Fever".
Over the course of a long, terrifying night, a weary traveler is forced to confront her role in the war that ravages the countryside just beyond her hotel window. As she recounts the events that brought her to this point -- fabulous dinner parties, a chance encounter on a nude beach, a clandestine meeting with an armed rebel -- she tries to come to some kind of understanding of her place in the world. How do you lead a life full of joy and happiness without simply ignoring the injustice that surrounds you? What does it mean to say "I am a decent person?"
An intellectual horror story with resonances into the current global economic crisis, THE FEVER was originally performed by the playwright in the apartments of his friends. In keeping with that atmosphere, the Monkey Wrench Collective's new production, starring Melanie Gable as the traveler, is set in an intimate storefront theater located in the heart of downtown Fullerton. Each evening's performance will feature live musical accompaniment by pianist Teresa Chan Escober, along with a complimentary service of wine and hors d'œuvres. Only 20 tickets will be available for each show.
June 3 through June 19, 2010. Thursdays and Saturdays at 8pm, special Friday performances June 11 and June 18 at 8pm. All seats $10.
Directed by "Greg Adkins". Starring Melanie Gable. Musical performance by Teresa Chan Escober.
Postcard design by "Greg Adkins".
MORE INFO: Monkey Wrench Collective
Protesters against Trump's "travel ban" and immigration plans marching to the US Capitol.
Washington, DC / February 4, 2017
Troy Van Leeuwen, Queens Of The Stone Age @ Gasometer, Vienna, Austria
p.s. if you are gonna post my copyrighted images elsewhere on the internet at least have the decency to credit me with them or link them back to here, or i'll probably stop posting them or at least start putting big watermarks on them.
Not strictly a Finsec event, but here's a few photos of the Service and Food Workers' Union Nga Ringa Tota rally in Wellington on International Cleaners Day.
The 'Fair Deal for Cleaners' campaign that this rally is part of aims to provide a voice to the low-waged largely immigrant female workforce, in cities across Australia and New Zealand, who are calling on big property owners to support decency in their workplaces.
Eurasian Green-winged Teal
Anas Crecca crecca/nimia
Eurasian Green-winged Teal, with a horizontal light stripe, and without a vertical stripe on its side. I found it on the Columbia River down from Priest Rapids Dam. For county listers, it ventured between Yakima, Grant, and Benton Counties.
Here's my post to Tweeters, a birding listserv for Washington:
[edit notes: I think that Wanapum Village should have been written Wanapum village; and Simon Martinez Cattle should be Simon Martinez Livestock.]
Eurasian Green-winged Teal
Friday I found what looks to me like a Eurasian Green-winged Teal, the first I've ever seen. It was pretty exciting, but I couldn't share the find immediately, because I found it near a place where two prominent local bird listers, AS & SD, have told me they trespass. I tried Friday, and over the holiday weekend, but this morning was finally able to reach the Grant County PUD head of security to alert him that birders with scopes and binoculars and such might be around, and that some might try to stop and bird on the dam, as Scott Downes has told me and written to the Washington Birds Records Committee that he did. The head of security was very polite and helpful. He made it clear that doing so continues to be prohibited. It is National Critical Infrastructure. Across the dam on the Yakima County side is the Wanapum village, Simon Martinez Livestock Company private land, and Yakima Training Center military site. Visiting without express prior permission continues to be prohibited. Security at Priest Rapids Dam, and the security camera monitor crew have been alerted. Please stop trespassing there, and everywhere else.
There are plenty of good reasons to not trespass including simple decency, avoiding scaring or angering residents and property owners, avoiding hindering heavy construction and endangering the workers, respecting Yakama Nation sovereignty, and being able to "count" the birds you "get" if you're a lister. From ABA Listing Central -- Code of Birding Ethics listing.aba.org/ethics/ : "Do not enter private property without the owner’s explicit permission. Follow all laws, rules, and regulations governing use of roads and public areas, both at home and abroad."
Another good reason is bird watcher access -- for the rest of us. I was working on getting birders access permission to viewing from the dam embankment a couple of years ago. I stupidly told a local prominent lister that birders are not allowed to stop on the dam and are not allowed to go into the Wanapum Village without consent of local residents, and that similarly the Simon Martinez Livestock land is private and requires permission from the landowner. Despite reiterating that to him and getting him to acknowledge it, he proceeded to bird on the dam and got kicked off -- politely. The person at Grant PUD with whom I was working on birder access ended the discussion. I'm not a birding expert, but I don't think that listing a Common Tern flitting back and forth across the Yakima / Grant County line, or any other sighting, was worth that. Birding ethics are not defined by what you can get away with.
I once again am working on getting birders access to a viewing location on the dam. It's a dream of mine that I'd value greater than any rare bird find. Please, please, do not muck that up.
If you witness any trespassing or security concerns near Priest Rapids Dam or Wanapum Dam, they ask you call (509) 766-2538 any day at any hour. In the ABA Code of Birding Ethics: "If you witness unethical birding behavior, assess the situation and intervene if you think it prudent. When interceding, inform the person(s) of the inappropriate action and attempt, within reason, to have it stopped. If the behavior continues, document it and notify appropriate individuals or organizations."
My wife Mary Giovanini, Nori dog, and I returned Saturday and relocated the Eurasian Green-winged Teal. This time there were pintails and Mallards, but no American GWTE with it as there'd been on Friday. It was tucked close to shore on the Yakima/Benton side of the Columbia River below Priest Rapids Dam dam. I saw it from the Jackson Creek Fish Camp, at the junction of Grant, Yakima, and Benton Counties, clearly venturing well into each. For listers, if you look across from the day use area, at mid-river you're looking into Benton County. Looking across and upstream a bit to the rocks jutting into the river, Yakima County is to the right, and Benton County is to the left. The Yakima/Benton county line goes from shore there, north upstream at an angle to mid river, where it meets Grant county. The Yakima/Grant line continues mid-river up to the dam. The Priest Rapids Dam spillways are in Yakima. The generators are in Grant. Google Earth shows county lines quite well.
I apologize for not being able to share the find sooner. I hope you can understand and respect my concerns.
I wish I could share this post on BirdYak, a Yakima County bird-related list-serve, but am blocked by Denny Granstrand. Just the same, I'll keep up my efforts to discourage unethical birding. Please don't share a censored or edited version of this on BirdYak.
Red-breasted Mergansers, both Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, and plenty of others were there to see too." [end Tweeters post]
Good birding -- Enjoying observing birds, and trying to give eBird and Washington Birder accurate data.
Please always consider the sensitivity of birds, nearby humans, and the environment.
Don't pish or use playback on rare or sensitive birds or in heavily birded areas.
Please Follow this Code and Distribute and Teach it to Others ABA Code of Birding Ethics.
At least somebody had the decency to lose both shoes and not just the one this time.
A few days later a pair of jeans were on the same wall. I've started to believe it is a shrine to the clothing God.
I have posted this picture to highlight the plight of the Romanian families driven from their homes in Belfast last night news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8105488.stm . I can’t believe in the month we Commemorate the 65th anniversary of D Day, we are witnessing, in the country the operation was launched from, scenes that would not have looked out of place on Kristallnacht 1938.
I paraphrase the following not as an appeal to Christianity, but to common human decency:
“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same spirit. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same spirit that works in all. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. But all these work that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body.” Corinthians, Chap 12.
The Wild Geese
The wild geese
have landed from Iceland.
With the Summer sun
they will gone again,
Just like you and me.
So what are you defending?
Paul Walker
I would tell you about the things
They put me through
The pain Ive been subjected to
But the lord himself would blush
The countless feasts laid at my feet
Forbidden fruits for me to eat
But I think your pulse would start to rush
Now Im not looking for absolution
Forgiveness for the things I do
But before you come to any conclusions
Try walking in my shoes
Try walking in my shoes
Youll stumble in my footsteps
Keep the same appointments I kept
If you try walking in my shoes
If you try walking in my shoes
Morality would frown upon
Decency look down upon
The scapegoat fates made of me
But I promise you, my judge and jurors
My intentions couldnt have been purer
My case is easy to see
Im not looking for a clearer conscience
Peace of mind after what Ive been through
And before we talk of repentance
Try walking in my shoes
Try walking in my shoes
Youll stumble in my footsteps
Keep the same appointments I kept
If you try walking in my shoes
If you try walking in my shoes
Try walking in my shoes
Now Im not looking for absolution
Forgiveness for the things I do
But before you come to any conclusions
Try walking in my shoes
Try walking in my shoes
Youll stumble in my footsteps
Keep the same appointments I kept
If you try walking in my shoes
Now Im not looking for absolution
Forgiveness for the things I do
But before you come to any conclusions
Try walking in my shoes
Try walking in my shoes
Youll stumble in my footsteps
Keep the same appointments I kept
If you try walking in my shoes
Try walking in my shoes
If you try walking in my shoes
Try walking in my shoes
When I first lived in North Carolina, back in the 70's, I moved from Charlotte up to Greensboro because I thought I might have a shot at getting in to the Creative Writing Program at UNC-Greensboro. Of course, that didn't happen. Instead, I had a series of dead-end jobs. After being fired from the first of these jobs, my cousin introduced me to this fellow, John Fisher. John had the Servicemaster franchise in Greensboro, and he gave me a job cleaning carpets and shampooing furniture. It was an interesting job, because John had a gift of gab, and we did excellent work, so we were kind of like the Cadillac cleaning company in the city. We went in to all the best homes in Greensboro, and some of those homes were swank indeed. Swank means that some of them had Renoir drawings hanging in the library (originals, of course). Swank means that at least one of them had bathrooms where all the walls, the floor, and the ceiling, were made of marble. Swank meant that one of the houses had two identical kitchens side by side, each with a Sub-Zero refrigerator and a commercial ice cube machine. I spent probably as much time absorbing my surroundings as I did doing my job.
I got to be good friends with John and his wife Hazel. They would invite me to stay after work sometimes for dinner, and I babysat their kids a few times. John and Hazel were deeply religious, involved with their church, thoughtful, generous, and willing to talk and argue (in nice ways) about most anything.
I stayed at that job for three years, and then I got involved in politics. I campaigned for Jimmy Carter, got accepted in the writing program at the University of Arkansas, and moved away. I kept in touch with John and Hazel for a while, but when Ronald Reagan got elected, John was excited and I was distraught, and, well, we drifted apart. And for one reason and another that's the way it stayed for some years.
My cousin who had introduced me to John told me at some point that John had developed MS. Maybe that was good enough reason to go see him, but I never did, even though at some point I had moved back east, first to Florida and then to North Charleston, South Carolina. Then I took an Executive Chef's job in Des Moines, and any idea of reconnecting with John went by the wayside.
Allright, I'll try to be brief: I was a bust in Des Moines, I took a new job in Cary, North Carolina as a sous chef, and finally, after years of dithering, I got back in touch with my friend John Fisher. John's health had deteriorated, but his spirits were high, perhaps he even was a more positive, forward-thinking, voice for common sense and decency than he had been before. Another person might have been depressed to be so limited physically, and beset by such recurring ailments. But John had found a way to focus on the good. No more job, no more stress, fewer financial worries, more time to devote to his friends and his community. And he was active as always, with his church, with community outreach programs, with his fellow sufferers of multiple sclerosis. His politics hadn't changed, but mrwaterslide got over that. In fact, John Fisher and mrwaterslide liked nothing better than a health political slugfest (that often evolved in to a challenging discussion of questions of real importance), over a good cup of coffee.
At a certain point, I, mrwaterslide (aka John Van Noate) needed a carpenter to make me some picture frames. I knew that the person to ask was John Fisher. I wanted a really good craftsman, but I had one special requirement.
"I need for you to find me a carpenter," I said to my friend John Fisher. "He needs to be an old guy."
"I know just the fellow," John Fisher said.
To be continued.
Edward Barkham 1633 , Lord Mayor of London, who bought the manor in 1621 lies in the north mortuary chapel he built before his death. He lies with wife Jane Crowche who died 16 Jun 1661, and some of his children on a monument completed c 1654
"My will and mynd is that my bodie shall bee buried within the chappell of the Church of Southacre in the Countie of Norfolk within the vault of the North side of the chancell there which I lately made for that purpose without any name pomp or great solemnitie onely with decency and upon buriall lying as shall seeme best to my Executors"
He was the son of Edward Barkham 1599 & Elizabeth daughter of Henry Rolfe of White Parish Wilts and Agnes Boteler
He was Lord Mayor of London in 1621/ 1622 & knighted in June 1623
He m Jane daughter of John Crowch / Crouch 1605 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/79QMcP of Cornbury & Layston Herts (a cloth merchant) & Joan 1583 heiress of John Scot & Elizabeth Pickard
Her elder sister Eiizabeth Flyer Freman is at Aspenden Herts www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/kA3uG8 widow of William Freman www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/6693KP
Children www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/166591 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/Uw5WFy www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/119GJs
1. Elizabeth 1593-1632 m 1611 Sir John Garrard, 1st Bart 1590-1637 of Dorney Bucks, (buried at Wheathampstead www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/mB6uvN ) son of Sir John Garrard, Mayor of London & Jane daughter of Richard Patrick / Partridge
2. Edward 1595-1667 m 1622 Frances daughter of Sir Thomas Berney of Park Hall in Reedham & Juliana daughter of Sir Thomas Gawdy of Redenhall & Frances Richers (died at Tottenham, buried here)
3. Susan 1596-.1622 m 1619 Robert Walpole 1593-1663 of Houghton son of Calibut Walpole & Elizabeth daughter of Edmund Bacon Esq and Elizabeth Cornwallis
4. John b/d 1597
5.Robert 1599-1661 m Mary daughter of Richard Wilcox
6 Jane 1602- 1661 <https://flic.kr/p/8gS5Zo www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw136315/Jane-... m 1626 (2nd wife ) Charles Caesar 1643 flic.kr/p/8gS5Zf of Benington Herts, Master of the Rolls; Son of Julius Caesar Adelmare 1636 & Dorcas Martin; Widower of Anne 1625 flic.kr/p/8gS5Z3 daughter of Peter Vanlore &Jacoba Teighbott / Thibault
7. Margaret 1602 - 1603
8. Margaret 1603-1640 m (3rd wife) Anthony Irby 1605-82 flic.kr/p/hjG5U9 son of Sir Anthony Irby 1610 of Irby Hall Whaplode & Elizabeth flic.kr/p/hjJpJr third daughter of Sir John Peyton 1616 www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/10740503164/ of Isleham by Alice daughter of Edward Osborne, Lord Mayor of London
9. John b1604
10. Thomas b/d 1606
11. Hugh d 1628
At the top are the arms of Barkham & Crouch between figures of victory and death with winged hourglasses
His Will
"In the name of god Amen
Edward Barkam of Southacre in the county of Norfolk yeoman being in p(er)fect minde & memory the xxnl (18) daye of ffebruary in the xly(?) year of the reaigne of our sovereigne Lady Elizabeth by the grace of god of England ffrance & Ireland Queene
First he committed his soule to god Allmighty and his body to the earth
Item he gave towards the rep(ar)ations(?) of the p(ar)ish church in Southacre XXs(20s)
Item he gave to the poore (there xx’s (20s) ) there Xs (10s)
Item he gave to the other poore people dwelling neere there abouts to be delt at his funerall XX’s(20s)
Item he gave to my^or^(4?) poore men that shall carry him to church my’s (4s)
Item he gave to the ringers at his funeral my’s (4s)
Item he gave to two of his mayde servannts dwelling with him at his decease XXs (20s)
Item he also gave to my men servannt my’s (4s)
Item he gave to Elizabeth Rolfe Xs (10s) & to Mrs Smith his daught’r being goddaught’s to the same Edward X’s (10s) of lawfull money of England
Item he gave to his grandchildren the some of xx1’lb (£21) of like mony to be paid evenly x’ted amongst them at their severall ages of xx1 (21) years
Item he gave to his sonne Barkam of London his children the some of my’lb (£4) to be x’ted equally amongst them at their severall ages of xx1 (21) year
The residue of his goods & chattells what soend he gave to his daughter Margaret Gallard(?)
Witness: Thomas Barkam, Robt Barkam"
- Church of St George, South Acre, Norfolk
Picture with thanks - copyright Picture with thanks .layston-church.org.uk
Four acres granted to St Paul’s Church of England 17 Nov 1847 for a cemetery, earlier there had been a few burials, closed 15 Jan 1874, last official burial 1922 (although later burials noted in newspaper), transferred 1938 to City of Port Adelaide. Headstones cleared c1972, info plaque erected 1990, developed 1994 as Pioneer Park. The burial register indicates 3,000 burials; seven headstones remain. The Portonian Walk was established 2003 with pavers engraved with names of former residents of Port Adelaide. Now a peaceful park, the cemetery was so neglected in the 1920s & 1930s that a two-up school was hidden amongst the prickly pear & boxthorn, cows were pastured in clear areas and children played with broken headstones & bones.
“The remains of Thomas King, the unfortunate carpenter of the Lightning, found drowned a few days ago, at Port Adelaide, were yesterday interred in the Cemetery reserve, at Albert Town.” [Adelaide Observer 15 Aug 1846]
“Alberton Church of England Cemetery closed, except to persons who have already acquired a portion for the burial of members of their families.” [Express & Telegraph 16 Jan 1874]
“a fire, which was caused through some dry grass becoming ignited, started on the eastern side of the Alberton Cemetery. . . Many of the tomb fences and headstones suffered damage.” [Daily Herald 10 Mar 1911]
“Near Port Adelaide, north of Albert, Albert Town, or Alberton, as it was variously called, is one of the oldest South Australian graveyards. It is now closed. The first burial was on October 28, 1846.” [Register 5 Mar 1917]
“The Friends of the late Robert Cruickshank are respectfully informed that his Remains (Ashes) were Laid to Rest in the Family Ground, in the Alberton Cemetery.” [Register 30 Mar 1922]
“Mrs. Hephzibah Beulah Channon. . . recalled the times when funerals from ships were taken to the old Alberton Cemetery by .boats along the canal.” [Daily Herald 22 Jun 1922]
“In the middle of the cemetery is a capacious vault erected, so blackened letters on a slate slab above indicate, to the memory of John Snoswell and his wife Eliza. John Snoswell was buried there in 1878 [sic], but the weather has removed the record of the exact year in which his wife was interred. . . Alberton cemetery is a graveyard of tears. Everywhere there are broken headstones, some crushed by careless feet into a thousand fragments, and some half buried in a tangle of undergrowth. Though it is difficult to trace the history of the burial ground from its headstones there is plenty of evidence to show that beneath its unkempt surface many of the pioneers of South Australia sleep. The inscription on one stone indicates that Grace Parsons, who died at Port Adelaide in 1845, sleeps beneath. . . Though an occasional burial still takes place in the cemetery, holders of land exercising the right to inter relatives there, the place has been closed as a public burial place for years.” [The Mail 11 Jun 1927]
“cows had been allowed to roam in the cemetery. . . The owner of the cows was no better than the other wretches, for to pen his cows where he wanted them on that day he had attached the barbed wire to the railings of the graves. . . A ‘two-up school’ frequents ‘God's acre’, particularly on Sundays. Rabbiting with dogs is one of the most inoffensive of the pastimes indulged in there. . . It was not to be expected that any reputable cemetery trust would have allowed prickly pear, cacti, boxthorn, and other weeds to spread all over the property and smother the graves.” [Port Adelaide News 24 Jun 1927]
“Alberton Cemetery Fund Opened. . . Mayor of Port Adelaide (Mr Lewis) . . . is endeavoring to raise £200 to have the neglected graveyard cleared of boxthorns, prickly pear, and other weeds, and the graves restored to a state of decency. The cemetery is the resting place of many pioneers of the district. The last lease was issued about 60 years ago. Since then there have been no funds available for upkeep.” [News 3 Dec 1931]
“Captain G. H. McKay . . . interred in the Alberton cemetery on Monday afternoon. The late Captain McKay who was 56 years of age, had been connected with the shipping industry on the S.A. coast all his life. . . leaves a wife and large family” [Kangaroo Island Courier 9 Apr 1932]
“Alberton Cemetery. . . was given by the Government in the early 1850s as a burial ground for Port Adelaide, the management being vested in the Church of England. The cemetery ceased to be used as burial ground about 20 years ago, when the Cheltenham Cemetery was opened, and within recent years had fallen into a state of neglect. About two years ago, the council took the matter up with the trustees, and an arrangement was made whereby the council was to assume control of the cemetery. Because of the terms of the original trust, however, the ground cannot be taken over by the council until the authority of Parliament is given.” [Advertiser 3 Jun 1938]
“the control of the Alberton Cemetery to be transferred to the Port Adelaide Corporation.” [Chronicle 15 Dec 1938]
“The Old Cemetery at Alberton, which is now 100 years old, was the first burying ground of the Port Adelaide district, and many pioneer families are represented there. The headstones include such well-known names as Bayly, Barratt, Bowen, Bower, Brock, Blake, Dixon, Grosse, Hannay, Hodge, Fisher, Le Messurier, Moyers, Newman, Risely, Quin, Yeo, Wells, Weman, and Dr. Duncan. Originally it adjoined the Church of England Rectory, and was controlled by that body, but as a general cemetery and open to all creeds. After the establishment of the Cheltenham Cemetery by the corporation, it fell into disuse, and the graves became very neglected. In November, 1936, however, the Church of England handed it over to the Municipal Council, together with £100 for its upkeep, and it is therefore now under the same control as the Cheltenham Cemetery.” [The Citizen, Port Adelaide 30 Jun 1939]
“The Port Adelaide City Council will recondition the Alberton Cemetery and make several improvements. The cemetery has been overgrown with weeds and in a shocking condition for some time. Vandals have committed numerous acts of desecration and few of the headstones remain in good condition. Members of the cemetery committee of the council found on inspection last week that the burial ground had been haphazardly laid out. On only 25 per cent. of the tombstones were the inscriptions legible, and only half a dozen graves received attention from relatives. Although the council has a list of those buried, it is unable to determine the position of the graves, except by the headstones. . . There have been only occasional burials at Alberton during the last 40 years, and no maintenance work has been carried out for a quarter of a century. Seven years ago the public subscribed £120, and prickly pear and weeds were cleared from the land. But the cemetery again became an eyesore.” [News 12 Oct 1939]
“MOORE.—The friends of the late Miss Mary Ann Moore, of 13 Hastings st., Glenelg, are respectfully informed that her funeral will leave the residence of her niece (Mrs E. Peake), 17 Boundary rd., Glenelg, on Monday, at 4 p.m., for the Old Alberton Cemetery.” [Advertiser 16 Mar 1942]
1)Name:
Bryan Conrad
2)Where are you from? Where did you grow up?
Born in OH, lived in Minnesota and Florida. I have not grown up yet.
3)Where do you live now?
Raleigh, North Carolina
4)Favorite team/teams?
Ohio State Buckeyes, U of Minnesota Golden Gophers
Campbell Fighting Camels (gym seats 947, smallest in DI)
5)Least favorite team/teams?
Michigan Wolverines, Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles
6)Favorite NCAA tourney memory?
Ohio State's Final Four run in '99, anytime Duke gets upset in the second round
7)Favorite Cinderella team in recent memory?
Valparaiso, Gonzaga under Dan Monson
8)Least Favorite anouncer and why(How do some of these people get jobs?)
Billy Packer, who knew being the MVP of the 1960 Dixie Classic made you an expert on basketball 45 years later? By the way, Wake let him be an assistant coach right after he graduated (c'mon, a 5'7" guard in the NBA???), but refused to hire him as their head coach. That's why he's an announcer.
Close second is Dickie V. They should make him and Billy Packer call a Duke-Wake Forest game together. It would be about as honest and partisan as a presidential debate.
9)Favorite moment from 2005 tourney?
Pittsnogle and West Virginia
10) Favorite 2006 memory?
Watching Albany beat UConn for most of the game and screaming at CBS for not having the guts to switch to the feed. I mean, really, Albany wins and the cats would've earned the entire pool.
11) Hmm, which mascot would I dress up as for an entire year-
First off - Why hasn't the FCC banned the names Testudo and Scrotie? Particularly given their reactions recently to anything that could be even remotely considered offensive. Maybe the NCAA is too busy banning Chief Illiniwek.
Second off - anyone who names a mascot "Victor E." should be shot. Or at least, tortured for being unoriginal and/or exceptionally pathetic. Klondike (the Ohio Northern University polar bear) may have a bad name, but at least students had the good decency to vote against Victor E. Bear.
The mascot I would go with is not even on the list. I would want to be Gaylord the Camel of Campbell University. In addition to having a large irregular hump and a bulky head, I would get the added effect of ticking off the homophobes AND the agnostics and atheists all at once. I could attend the home games of the Campbell Fighting Camels in the second-smallest facility in Division I (a sellout is approximately 937 people). I could live among teetotalling Baptists in the town of Buies (pronounced BOOZE) Creek. And my name would protest the Southern Baptists' position on gays.
If I couldn't be Gaylord, I'd settle for Superfrog. Simply because it suggests superhero capabilities.
extra note
My mom's family is all Ohio State, as is Dad and numerous cousins. Yet, oddly enough, none of the Conrad kids ever went there.
Notes:
-One of 4 Conrads in the pool
-Goal to get hair cut in all 50 states
-loves minor league baseball
East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 2105, 1964. Brigitte Bardot in En effeuillant la marguerite / Plucking the Daisy (Marc Allégret, 1956).
French actress Brigitte Bardot (1934) died on 28 December 2025, at the age of 91. In the 1950s, she was the sex kitten of the European film industry. BB starred in 48 films, performed in numerous musical shows, and recorded 80 songs. After her retirement in 1973, she became an animal rights activist. In the coming weeks, we will continue to post a BB postcard every day to remember her as she once was.
Brigitte Bardot was born in Paris in 1934. Her father, Louis Bardot, had an engineering degree and worked with his father in the family business. Her mother, Ann-Marie Mucel, was 14 years younger than Brigitte's father, and they married in 1933. Brigitte's mother encouraged her daughter to take up music and dance. At the age of 13, she entered the Conservatoire Nationale de Danse to study ballet. By the time she was 15, Brigitte was trying to launch a modelling career and found herself on the cover of the French magazine Elle in May 1949. Her incredible beauty was readily apparent, and Brigitte was noticed by Roger Vadim, then an assistant to the film director Marc Allegrét. Vadim was infatuated with Bardot and encouraged her to start working as a film actress. BB was 18 when she debuted in the comedy Le Trou Normand / Crazy for Love (Jean Boyer, 1952). In the same year, she married Vadim. Brigitte wanted to marry him when she was 17, but her parents quashed any marriage plans until she turned 18. In April 1953, she attended the Cannes Film Festival, where she received massive media attention. She soon was every man's idea of the girl he'd like to meet in Paris. From 1952 to 1956, she appeared in seventeen films. Her films were generally lightweight romantic dramas in which she was cast as an ingénue or siren, often with an element of undress. In 1953, she made her first US production, Un acte d'amour / Act of Love (Anatole Litvak, 1953) with Kirk Douglas, but she continued to make films in France.
Roger Vadim was not content with the light fare his wife was offered. He felt Brigitte Bardot was being undersold. Looking for something more like an art film to push her as a serious actress, he showcased her in Et Dieu créa la femme / ...And God Created Woman (Roger Vadim, 1956). This film, about an immoral teenager in a respectable small-town setting, was a smash success on both sides of the Atlantic. Craig Butler at AllMovie: "It's easy enough to say that ...And God Created Woman is much more important for its historical significance than for its actual quality as a film, and that's true to an extent. The immense popularity, due to its willingness to directly embrace an exploration of sex as well as its willingness to show a degree of nudity that was remarkably daring for its day, demonstrated that audiences were willing to view subject matter that was considered too racy for the average moviegoer. This had both positive (freedom to explore, especially for the French filmmakers of the time) and negative (freedom to exploit) consequences, but its impact is undeniable. It's also true that Woman is not a great work of art, not with a story that is ultimately rather thin, some painful dialogue, and an attitude toward its characters and their sexuality that is unclear and inconsistent. Yet Woman is still fascinating, due in no small part to the presence of Brigitte Bardot in the role that made her an international star and sex symbol. She's not demonstrating great acting here, although her performance is actually good and much better than necessary, and her legendary mambo scene at the climax is nothing short of sensational." During the filming of Et Dieu créa la femme / And God Created Woman (Roger Vadim, 1956), directed by her husband, Brigitte Bardot had an affair with her co-star, Jean-Louis Trintignant, who at the time was married to French actress Stéphane Audran. Her divorce from Vadim followed, but they remained friends and collaborated in later work.
Et Dieu créa la femme / ...And God Created Woman (Roger Vadim, 1956) helped Brigitte Bardot's international status. The film took the USA by storm, her explosive sexuality being unlike anything seen in the States since the days of the 'flapper' in the 1920s. It gave rise to the phrase 'sex kitten', and fascination with her in America consisted of magazine photographs and dubbed over French films - good, bad or indifferent, her films drew audiences - mainly men - into theatres like lemmings. BB appeared in light comedies like Doctor at Large (Ralph Thomas, 1957) - the third of the British 'Doctor' series starring Dirk Bogarde - and Une Parisienne / La Parisienne (Michel Boisrond, 1957), which suited her acting skills best. However, she was a sensation in the crime drama En cas de malheur / Love is My Profession (Claude Autant-Lara, 1958). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "This Brigitte Bardot vehicle ran into stiff opposition from the Catholic Legion of Decency, severely limiting its U.S. distribution. Bardot plays a nubile small-time thief named Yvette, who becomes the mistress of influential defence attorney Andre (Jean Gabin). Though Andre can shower Yvette with jewels and furs, he cannot "buy" her heart, and thus it is that it belongs to handsome young student Mazzetti (Franco Interlenghi). Alas, Yvette is no judge of human nature: attractive though Mazzetti can be, he has a dangerous and deadly side. En Cas de Malheur contains a nude scene that has since been reprinted in freeze-frame form innumerable times by both film-history books and girlie magazines." Photographer Sam Lévin's photos contributed considerably to her image of sensuality and slight immorality. One of Lévin's pictures shows Brigitte, dressed in a white corset. It is said that around 1960, postcards with this photograph outsold in Paris those of the Eiffel Tower.
Brigitte Bardot divorced Vadim in 1957, and in 1959 she married actor Jacques Charrier, with whom she starred in Babette s'en va-t-en guerre / Babette Goes to War (Christian-Jaque, 1959). The paparazzi preyed upon her marriage, while she and her husband clashed over the direction of her career
Her films became more substantial, but this brought a heavy pressure of dual celebrity as she sought critical acclaim while remaining a glamour model for most of the world. Vie privée / Private Life (1962), directed by Louis Malle, has more than an element of autobiography in it. James Travers at French Films: "Brigitte Bardot hadn’t quite reached the high point of her career when she agreed to make this film with high-profile New Wave film director Louis Malle. Even so, the pressure of being a living icon was obviously beginning to get to France’s sex goddess, and Vie privée is as much an attempt by Bardot to come to terms with her celebrity as anything else. Malle is clearly fascinated by Bardot, and the documentary approach he adopts for this film reinforces the impression that it is more a biography of the actress than a work of fiction. Of course, it’s not entirely biographical, but the story is remarkably close to Bardot’s own life and comes pretty close to predicting how her career would end." The scene in which, returning to her apartment, Bardot's character is harangued in the elevator by a middle-aged cleaning lady calling her offensive names was based on an actual incident, and is a resonant image of celebrity in the mid-20th century. Soon afterwards, Bardot withdrew to the seclusion of Southern France.
Brigitte Bardot's other husbands were German millionaire Playboy Gunter Sachs and right-wing politician Bernard d'Ormale. She is reputed to have had relationships with many other men, including Samy Frey, her co-star in La Vérité / The Truth (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1960), and musicians Serge Gainsbourg and Sacha Distel. In 1963, Brigitte Bardot starred in Jean-Luc Godard's critically acclaimed film Le Mépris / Contempt (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963) opposite Michel Piccoli. She was also featured along with such notable actors as Alain Delon in Amours célèbres / Famous Love Affairs (Michel Boisrond, 1961) and Histoires extraordinaires /Tales of Mystery (Louis Malle, 1968), Jeanne Moreau in Viva Maria! (Louis Malle, 1965), Sean Connery in Shalako (Edward Dmytryk, 1968), and Claudia Cardinale in Les Pétroleuses / Petroleum Girls (Christian-Jaque, 1971). She participated in various musical shows and recorded many popular songs in the 1960s and 1970s, mostly in collaboration with Serge Gainsbourg, Bob Zagury and Sacha Distel, including 'Harley Davidson', 'Le Soleil De Ma Vie' (the cover of Stevie Wonder's 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life') and the notorious 'Je t'aime... moi non plus'.
Brigitte Bardot’s film career showed a steady decline in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1973, just before her fortieth birthday, she announced her retirement. She chose to use her fame to promote animal rights. In 1976, she established the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals. She became a vegetarian and raised three million French francs to fund the foundation by auctioning off jewellery and many personal belongings. For this work, she was awarded the Légion d’honneur in 1984. During the 1990s, she was also outspoken in her criticism of immigration, interracial relationships, Islam in France and homosexuality. Her husband Bernard d'Ormal was a former adviser of the far-right Front National party. Bardot has been convicted five times for 'inciting racial hatred'. More fun is that Bardot is recognised for popularising bikini swimwear, in such early films as Manina / Woman without a Veil (Willy Rozier, 1952), in her appearances at Cannes and in many photo shoots. Bardot also brought into fashion the 'choucroute' ('Sauerkraut') hairstyle (a sort of beehive hairstyle) and gingham clothes after wearing a checkered pink dress, designed by Jacques Esterel, at her wedding to Charrier. The fashions of the 1960s looked effortlessly right and spontaneous on her. Time Magazine: "She is the princess of pout, the countess of come hither. Brigitte Bardot exuded a carefree, naïve sexuality that brought a whole new audience to French films."
Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Craig Butler (AllMovie), James Travers (French Films), French Films, Wikipedia and IMDb.
And please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.