Thursday 1 April to Saturday 5 June All day

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A photographic exhibition of iconic imagery by Ged Murray of 1990’s Strangeway Riots.

 

Her Majesty’s Prison, Manchester, aka Strangeways, was built in 1868 to house and rehabilitate a maximum of 972 prisoners from the surrounding area, mainly those on remand or serving sentences of less than five years.

 

One hundred and twenty two years later Strangeways held 1660 men in appalling conditions as prisoners were held, three to a cell, for up to 23 hours a day with the cells measuring 12 foot by 8 foot (3.65 by 2.44 meters).

  

For some years up to 1990, prision policy had been, not to house and rehabilitate, but to control and contain as prisoners suffered the daily humiliation of “slopping out.” There were repeated claims of brutality and injustice and many of the prison officers were known to have extreme right-wing sympathies.

  

On April 1 1990, during the Sunday service, the prisoners first seized the chapel, and then throughout that day occupied over half the prison. So began a siege and rooftop protest ended on 25 April when the final five prisoners were removed from the rooftop, making it the longest prison riot in British penal history. One prisoner was killed during the riot, and 147 prison officers and 47 prisoners were injured. Much of the prison was damaged or destroyed with the cost of repairs coming to £55 million.

 

The riot also sparked a series of disturbances in prisons across England, Scotland and Wales.

 

The British government announced a public inquiry headed by Lord Woolf.

 

The resulting Woolf Report which only happened as a direct result of the Strangeways Riot, was hailed as the most radical appraisal of the prison system this Century, and was to become a blueprint for the restoration of "decency and Justice into jails where conditions had become intolerable".

 

Prints are available for purchase.

 

For more info please contact Fink On Theatre on 0161 226 0807.

I don't think our French cousins care much for morning tennis. This was the "crowd" on the French equivalent of our Centre Court for the first match on! Check out the lady on the bottom right. At least she had the decency to put her newspaper down when the tennis started.......though then her husband read it all the way through the following match!

Parks Highway just south of Cantwell, Alaska.

 

Alaska has some divisions called "boroughs" which function similarly to counties in the lower 48. The rest of Alaska is divided into "census areas" which are just that, areas to count population.

 

The "matanuska" name is an Indian adaptation of a Russian word used to describe both the Indians of and the route to the Copper River. "Susitna" comes from the Indian word for "sandy river" and originally had an "h" in the spelling, which has been dropped for common decency.

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Been posting this every year since 2015, back when you could still screenshot streaming services, back before Frasier became “hip” and “internet ironic”, and before this “meme” was shared all over the internet.

 

I’ll likely still post this every year, but it’s even more prevalent this year, since “our” team is in the Super Bowl. Our city/state is absolutely mad. Stores were as crowded as Black Friday, Pop up Jersey shops at every gas station corner, people wearing their cult uniforms, calling out of work, schools opening late on Monday, sending out notices to wear green or Eagles clothing, resulting in parents having to go out to buy it, or having their child feel singled out, people making signs and banners for their yard, putting green holiday lights around their house, chanting like drunken lunatics, setting off fireworks etc. The city even has to grease sign and light posts, to prevent people from climbing them to “celebrate” or riot…read that last line again…we have to go to such ridiculous measurements just to prevent people from being animals. Utterly disgusting behavior.

 

I’m a very passionate person in general, and can debate art and entertainment till I’m blue in the face…but there’s absolutely NOTHING I can think of in this world that isn’t religion or politics or human decency, to make me yell and throw things at a TV screen like a child, start fights with people who like a different movie than I do, or for wearing a t-shirt of a band I dislike or hate.

 

Sports turn adults into immature, hateful tantrum throwing infants. But because it’s “manly” and games are treated like literal combat, that childish behavior is not only accepted and excused…even considered macho. But all I see is a big immature baby.

 

I’ve only watched about 10 minutes of a football in my life, and that was 10 minutes too much.

 

Anyway, this is my yearly reminder of how much I hate it. Have fun, and “go, “birds!!!” (Is that really that much easier to say than “Eagles”? ‍♂️

In our gallery of the Calla Lilies we present you our different works on their decency and beauty, we like our approach. Spice up your home and buy some flowers. Printed once last much longer, we sell them :)

   

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.

 

EODM with QOTSA @ Spandau Citadel, Berlin, Germany

 

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.

A few days ago I read that this facility is to be restored as a cafe or restaurant and I also discovered that the area was locally known as the "Four Corners of Hell" because crossroad junction of Kevin Street, New Street South, Dean Street and Patrick Street had a pub on each corner and became especially rowdy at closing time.

  

This caught me by surprise [when I first noticed it a few months ago] especially as I should have been aware that these facilities existed having gone to school in Leeson Street and college in Kevin Street. There are two separate entities - a small park and an underground public toilet.

 

Initially I thought that it was an old monument or memorial but upon seeing the entrance I realised that it was an underground public toilet block.

 

In the 1950s and 1960s there were about seventy public toilets in Dublin but all of them have been closed. The underground public toilet block at the junction of Kevin Street and New Street was one of a number that were built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in response to an increasing demand for public facilities in the city. Underground facilities such as this were partially hidden from general view in order to satisfy Victorian perceptions of decency. It retains many of its historic features including railings, gates and decorative ventilation shaft.

Located at the Liberties crossroad junction of Kevin Street, New Street South, Dean Street and Patrick Street. At one time the area was known as “Four Corners of Hell” as there was a pub on all four corners of the crossroads.

 

This caught me by surprise especially as I should have been aware that these facilities existed having gone to school in Leeson Street and college in Kevin Street. There are two separate entities - a small park and an underground public toilet. More than a year ago the City Council announced that the building would be brought back into use as a cafe “as soon as practical”.

 

When I first noticed the structure it a few years ago I thought that it was an old monument or memorial but upon seeing the entrance I realised that it was an underground public toilet block.

 

In the 1950s and 1960s there were about seventy public toilets in Dublin but all of them have been closed.

 

The underground public toilet block at the junction of Kevin Street and New Street was one of a number that were built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in response to an increasing demand for public facilities in the city. Underground facilities such as this were partially hidden from general view in order to satisfy Victorian perceptions of decency. It retains many of its historic features including railings, gates and decorative ventilation shaft.

 

Biffy Clyro supporting Queens Of The Stone Age, Wintertur, Switzerland

 

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.

Bailey watches me working outside her cell, wondering if the murder of an Anole carries a death sentence.

 

Bailey claims the anole

entered the house with malicious intent,

but the procesution claims the door was open, and it was hot outside.

 

Photographs of the victim

are being withheld out of common decency,

and respect for the family.

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.

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This was the day of the infamous 'naked painting' stunt..

 

In the name of decency I won't upload them pics... (Drax)

This year's show brought students from both Lloydminster & Vermilion campuses together to show off their style, budgeting and presentation skills. Students had a $33.33 budget each to go out into the community and purchase an outfit and appropriate accessories for a Business Awards Banquet.

 

They were expected to practice their budgeting skills as they shopped for their outfits. Contestants had to show a good taste in fashion and decency. Finally, contestants were tested on their presentation and interpersonal skills as they walked up and down the runway and answered questions from our ‘celebrity’ judges.

 

The main idea here is to challenge the notion that students have to spend a lot of money to look good for work. Most students struggle with money and this show is a fun way of capturing budgeting, fashion and presentation skills.

  

“The folklore of the American 1929 crash—the popular picture—is that of millionaires, jobbers, brokers, company presidents and ex-rich investors throwing themselves from the windows of the stock exchange. Now they have built that building so that that is impossible. Those deaths represented a tiny handful of people, but many more people died as a result of the 1929 crash. In the years of depression that followed 1929 and the massive unemployment that occurred in Germany, in Britain and throughout the world, many people in ordinary families committed suicide. Many people died prematurely because of inadequate diet. Many people died prematurely because of diseases that could have been cured if they had had the money to seek treatment at that time. Many infants died in the first weeks and months of life because they lived in the appalling slums that existed in the cities of the world at that time. Therefore, nobody on the Labour Benches and no Socialist makes the prediction of the coming recession with pleasure.

 

“In recent weeks the Conservative party, officially through the Prime Minister, has said that Socialism is dead. It has been claimed that Socialism is an outmoded philosophy and that its support among the people of Britain will soon die. However, with the pressure of the stock exchange collapse, part of the Socialist ideals has been accepted by the Conservative Government. It may be argued that the stock exchange is of no relevance to the real economy and that is true. More than 90 per cent of the transactions that take place on the world stock exchanges have absolutely nothing to do with commerce and industry. They are concerned with gambling and speculation in shares, futures and currencies. They have nothing to do with the creation of wealth on a world scale. Wealth is created by the labour of working people in productive industries.

 

“It is on the basis of the wealth created in the productive sectors of the economy—as the Tory amendment partly recognises—that we can pay for the civilising parts of our life: health, education, sport, culture, the arts and all the things that make life richer and more noble. The belief that that is the role of the stock exchange shows that it is not Socialism that is old fashioned, but capitalism, which has gone back to the same old process of the inter-war years.

 

“There have been two old-style recessions since 1975, with two weak booms in between them. We now stand on the eve of an even more devastating recession in the world economy. As we have already seen with the BP farce, much of the gloss has been taken off so-called people's capitalism. Socialism stands for collective decisions and ownership of wealth, and the direction of industrial production to the needs of people and not to a handful of stock exchange speculators who benefit the most. Such Socialism is needed. It is a system of society which will become more attractive.

 

“We are moving into an era of people's Socialism, not people's capitalism. It is necessary, and although we have perhaps not said it very well in recent years, what we are trying to do is to build a plateau—not for the underwriters of the BP claim, but for millions of ordinary people. I refer to a plateau of decency and reasonable living standards, on which people can develop their personal talents, personalities and more satisfactory lives.

 

“Today is 5 November. On this day throughout the world millions of women will spend four hours collecting water and fuel—an economic activity that is not recorded anywhere in world statistics. How ironic that people are forced to that back-breaking labour in a world of yuppies, sunrise industries, space travel and enormous technological development. What sort of system are Conservative hon. Members defending when, in times of recession, only 70 per cent. or less of human productive resources are in use and, in boom times, it is only 80 per cent.? 19 October marked the end of people's capitalism and the beginning of a popular people's Socialism.”

 

I am proud to have known Pat and his mate Keith Narey, it is people like this who help to make a new future, by shafting the dominant ideology. Unfortunately they were born too soon

   

The Postcard

 

A postcard that was published by the Gibson Art Company of Cinncinnati. The card was posted using a one cent stamp on Friday the 22nd. June 1917. It was sent to:

 

Mrs. A. A. Merryfield,

Kezar Falls,

Maine.

 

The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

 

"I wish you a Happy

Birthday.

I wish you could be here

or I could come down

there.

Love to you and Florence,

From

Iola."

 

Kezar Falls

 

Lying a few miles southeast of the White Mountain National Forest border, Kezar Falls is an unmarked local spot with a modest-sized gorge and a few small waterfalls. The site has a dark rust-colored pool below the falls.

 

Kezar Falls doesn't really offer much out of the ordinary, but it makes a fine place to read, picnic, or engage in any other relaxing activity. Locals say that this area is a favorite party spot for young adults during the late hours of the day, but the site shows little evidence of this.

 

The Arrest of Lucy Burns

 

So what else happened on the day that Iola posted the card?

 

Well, on the 22nd. June 1917, police in Washington, D.C., arrested Lucy Burns, a prominent member of the suffragist protest group Silent Sentinels, for obstructing traffic.

 

She was holding a banner quoting U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's speech to United States Congress:

 

"We shall fight for the things which we

have always carried nearest our hearts—

for democracy, for the right of those

who submit to authority to have a voice

in their own governments."

 

The charges were later dropped.

 

Kristian Zahrtmann

 

The day also marked the death of the Danish painter Kristian Zahrtmann. Kristian was a member of the realism and naturalism movements in Denmark.

 

Peder Henrik Kristian Zahrtmann was part of the Danish artistic generation in the late 19th. century, along with Peder Severin Krøyer and Theodor Esbern Philipsen; they broke away from both the strictures of traditional Academicism and the heritage of the Golden Age of Danish Painting, in favor of naturalism and realism.

 

Zahrtmann was known especially for his history paintings, and especially those depicting strong, tragic, legendary women in Danish history.

 

He also produced works of many other genres including landscapes, street scenes, folk scenes and portraits.

 

Zahrtmann had a far-reaching effect on the development of Danish art through his effective support of individual style among his students during the many years he taught.

 

In addition, his bold use of color dazzled contemporaries and has been seen as an anticipation of Expressionism by art historians.

 

-- Kristian Zahrtmann - The Early Years

 

Zahrtmann was born in Rønne, Denmark, on the island of Bornholm to chief doctor for the island Carl Vilhelm Zahrtmann (1810–1896) and wife Laurine Pouline Jespersen (1822–1918).

 

He was the eldest child among seven boys and two girls. After graduating from Rønne Realskole at 17 years of age, Zahrtmann was sent to Sorø Academy, where he studied painting with landscape painter Hans Harder.

 

He was often a guest at the home of the Academy's Director, poet Bernhard Severin Ingemann and his wife, where he had the chance to socialize with teachers of the school and other guests, such as Hans Christian Andersen.

 

Zahrtmann graduated in 1862, and received his Cand. Phil. in 1863. During these years he lived with a family whose daughter was a painter, and this inspired him also to try his luck as an artist.

 

After graduating, Zahrtmann came to Copenhagen, where during the winter of 1863–1864 he studied drawing at the Technical Institute under Christian Hetsch and architect Ferdinand Vilhelm Jensen.

 

Zahrtmann then began his studies in October 1864 at the Royal Danish Academy of Art. Classmates included August Jerndorff, Peder Severin Krøyer, and Rasmus Frederik Hendriksen.

 

-- Kristian Zahrtmann's Early Artistic Career

 

Zahrtmann graduated from the Academy in 1868, and exhibited for the first time at Charlottenborg the following year with A Young Girl Being Confirmed on Bornholm.

 

He exhibited regularly at Charlottenborg from 1869–1891, and sporadically afterwards.

 

He became friends with painter Otto Haslund and Pietro Købke Krohn, later Museum Director, with whom he shared a studio.

 

-- Leonora Christina and Other Historical Subjects

 

Zahrtmann had already become interested in the story of the heroic 17th. century daughter of a Danish king, Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, before the 1869 posthumous publication of her 1674 autobiographical narrative Remembrance of Misery, which he received as a birthday gift.

 

Countess Leonora Christina of Schleswig-Holstein, King Christian IV's daughter by his morganatic love marriage to a noble Danish maiden, had fallen from grace because of her husband Corfits Ulfeldt's high treason.

 

She was then imprisoned for 22 years in the Blue Tower in Copenhagen Castle, and spent her final years in the solitude of the Maribo Cloister.

 

Zahrtmann commemorated her story in a series of 18 large paintings over many years.

 

The first of these paintings was made public in 1871, Castle Keeper Banters with Women in the Chamber of the King's Daughter in the Blue Tower.

 

The painting won him a Neuhausen Prize, was sold to Niels Laurits Høyen's influential Art Union, and was followed by a series of other paintings on the same theme. These paintings established his reputation as one of the leading artists of his time.

 

At the same time Kristian explored other motifs, although Leonora Christina was an obsession that followed him throughout life. In 1872 he made a portrait of Georg Brandes, who summered near Zahrtmann at Christiansholm near Klampenborg north of Copenhagen.

 

In 1873 he won another Neuhausen Prize for Sigbrit Reviews Tax Accounts with Christian II, and exhibited a preparatory painting for Job and His Friends, which won him the Academy's gold medallion in 1887.

 

In 1873 he also painted Scene from the Court of Christian VII 1772 in order to retell the tragic story of Queen Caroline Matilda on the centennial of the fall of Johann Friedrich Struensee. Characteristically for Zahrtmann, he made several other paintings over the years depicting the story of these individuals.

 

-- Kristian Zahrtmann's Travels

 

Zahrtmann tried to extract a travel stipend from the Academy three times, which should have been due him as winner of the large gold medal, but the funds were not forthcoming until two years later. Zahrtmann spent the summer of 1873 at Hornbæk in the company of fellow painters Peder Severin Krøyer and Viggo Johansen.

 

Zahrtmann finally traveled to Italy in December 1875 with financing from his father, before he received a travel grant from the Academy.

 

Between 1875 and 1878 he resided in Italy (Rome, Siena, Amalfi and Saracinesco), where he produced a number of paintings.

 

Kristian later returned to Italy many times, including in 1882–1884. He was fascinated by everyday life there, by the strong Italian sun, the vivid colors, and the exotic splendor of Roman Catholic Church rites which he depicted in many paintings.

 

In June 1883, Zahrtmann traveled for the first time to Civita d'Antino, a mountain town which he came to consider to be his second home.

 

Between 1890 and 1911 he spent every summer in Civita d'Antino, living with the Cerroni family and gathering friends and students in an annual artist colony. He was named an honorary citizen of the town in 1902.

 

Zahrtmann also traveled to Greece several times, as well as to France and Portugal.

 

Zahrtmann exhibited at the World's Exhibition in Paris in 1878, 1889, and 1900, and in Chicago in 1893. He won a bronze medallion at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900.

 

-- Kristian Zahrtmann's Teaching Career

 

Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler was established in the winter of 1882 – 1883 as a protest against the Art Academy's policies and as an alternative to its educational program.

 

Zahrtmann taught at the school from 1885 to 1908. In 1893 he became the leader of its preparatory class, which under him turned into an independent department. He had some 200 students from the Scandinavian countries.

 

Because of his prominence as a teacher, the school was often simply referred to as "Zahrtmann’s School".

 

He also helped establish the "Free Exhibition," an alternative exhibition space, which opened in 1891.

 

-- Kristian Zahrtmann's Later Artistic Career

 

Zahrtmann made a number of portraits of his parents, including one of his father in 1887, and one of his mother, who played a significant role in his life, in 1899–1901.

 

These, as well as a large format painting of both parents in their living room from 1895 to 1901, are in the collection of the Bornholm Art Museum.

 

In 1900 Kristian overwintered in Portofino where he painted the color-drenched landscapes Harbour in Portofino, 1900 and My Lunch Table in Portofino, 1900.

 

-- Kristian Zahrtmann's Homoerotic Works

 

Later in life, Zahrtmann produced a number of paintings of nude men, including Prometheus (1906), Socrates and Alkibiades (1907, 1911), and Adam in Paradise (in two versions, 1913–14).

 

In an era that was still shaken by the Great Scandinavian Sexual Morality Debate of the outgoing 19th. century, these works were immediately criticised as scandalous violations of public decency.

 

The treatment of Adam is particularly provocative, with its vital, young, muscular Adam casually concealing his manhood with a sprig of fig leaves while leaning back in a lush, vividly colored botanic paradise. His legs are apart, and the snake arched halfway up his leg is darting its tongue.

 

Museums primly declined to purchase these homoerotic works, and most are still in private hands. Zahrtmann never married, and in Copenhagen he was rumored to enjoy cross-dressing.

 

-- Kristian Zahrtmann's Self-Portraits

 

Zahrtmann also painted a number of self-portraits in his later years, including one painted in 1913 that is considered one of his finest works. It is in the collection of the National Historic Museum at Frederiksborg Palace.

 

-- Kristian Zahrtmann's House and a Documentary

 

Zahrtmann bought land on Fuglebakken in Frederiksberg and built a house, which was designed by Hans Koch and Zahrtmann himself. He called the house "Casa d’Antino," and moved in during the autumn of 1912.

 

Zahrtmann appeared in a 1913 silent-era documentary film about himself entitled Kristian Zahrtmann, which was directed by Sophus Wangøe.

 

-- Kristian Zahrtmann's Death and Legacy

 

In June 1917 Kristian was hospitalized with appendicitis. After an apparent improvement his condition worsened, and he died at the age of 74 on the 22nd. June in Frederiksberg. He was laid to rest in Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen.

 

A relief with the theme of "Leonora Christina Leaves the Prison" decorates his grave. The relief was drawn by architect Thorvald Bindesbøll and painter Joakim Skovgaard, and was carved from Bornholm granite by Larsen Stevns.

 

In Civita d’Antino a memorial plaque was set into the wall of the Cerroni house near the town gate. A monument with a statue of Zahrtmann was erected on the open plaza in front of his house, and the plaza is named after him.

 

Numerous paintings by Zahrtmann became available to the public when the Imago Museum opened in Pescara in 2021.

 

A portrait of Kristian by Vilhelm Hammershøi (1899) is found in the Hirschsprung Collection.

NS SD70ACe #1106 leads a westbound intermodal train through La Porte, only 60 miles out of Chicago. This happened to be one of our best trains on this line, meaning the Chicago Line would ridiculously decent all day long.

Slightly romanticised, along with everything else to do with Ernesto, one can't help but suspect.

 

"I want my children to grow up to be like Che, we should all want our children to grow up like him" Something like that came gushing out of Castro's brain and onto his tongue and thereby onto paper not so long ago. Without having a clue as to why, my intuition tells me it's because the country's in such a disastrously awful state it needs another revolution (there are signs 'viva revolucion' absolutely everywhere; 'without r4evolution there is only death' uplifting stuff like that so maybe it's not so far out of the question) and Castro has been trying to remind people of what a noble wonderful revolution it was and how it's not his fault it's all turned to crap.

 

I saw four young Che's visiting the museum when I was there. It certainly seems to be a bit of a pilgrimage for Cubans. Shame it's so badly out of touch with contemporary museums all over the rest of the world.

 

This place is like the tiny town museum in Lagos, Algarve, Portugal, where, until they were recently removed for the sake of decency (shame actually), the most fascinating thing on display were deformed foetuses preserved in formaldehyde.

 

This museum has nothing so interesting except remnants of a failed philosophical doctrine.

News.com.au ran a story about Banksy today. News.com.au didn't even have the decency to check all the artwork was actually by Banksy, let alone credit the photos to their respective photographers.

 

If this is your photo, you should write to News.com.au and complain.

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The Postcard

 

A postally unused postcard with a divided back.

 

The Korean Gat

 

The man in the photograph is wearing the traditional Korean gat (Korean: Hunminjeongeum 갓)

 

A gat is a traditional hat worn by men along with hanbok (Korean traditional clothing) during the Joseon period. It is made from bamboo or horsehair with a bamboo frame, and is partly transparent.

 

Most gats are cylindrical in shape with a wide brim on a bamboo frame. Before the late 19th. century, only noble class men could wear gat, which represented their social status and protected their topknots.

 

Robert Neff of the Korean Times has written the following about Korean male headware:

 

'One of the most important articles of clothing for Koreans in the late 19th. century was the hat. The elderly man with his majestic black horse hair hat, often seen in pictures, is the iconic image of Korean male society during the Joseon Dynasty (1392 - 1910).

 

According to Percival Lowell, an American who stayed in Seoul in the winter of 1883-84:

 

"No Korean can in decency appear

without it [hat], except only to make

room for some other hat."

 

It was a sign of manhood, "the most essential of attributes," and a badge of one's position in Korean society.

 

Lowell seemed amused with the difference between Korean and American culture. In the United States it was considered poor manners to wear a hat indoors, and one would rarely remove one's shoes, but the opposite was true in Korea:

 

"A man would part with any or all of

his clothing sooner than take off his

hat. On entering a house, he leaves

his shoes outside to await his return,

but he and his hat go in together.

As he sits down to eat, he divests

himself of his outer garments that he

may eat with greater freedom, but his

hat stays on; and so it sticks to him

through life ― a permanent black halo."

 

There were many types of hats. The iconic hat, the gat, was made from horse hair and bamboo and was black and somewhat transparent.

 

It had a fairly wide brim that in the past, according to popular legend, was much wider as a means of preventing unrest. Because of its wide brim, conspirators were kept apart, and were unable to whisper their plans to one another.

 

There was also a large mourning hat made from bamboo. It was designed to hide the face of mourners from others they might encounter on the streets. It was considered a grievous breach of etiquette to look into the face of the mourner.

 

Early French missionaries used the mourning hat to disguise themselves as they traveled the Korean peninsula before the 1880's. They were able to move about in relative secrecy for no one would attempt to communicate with a mourner.

 

Court officials' hats had slightly bent-forward ear-shaped horizontal wings. It was said they symbolized the wearer's attentiveness and willingness to "catch every word of command that the King may utter."

 

As Korea entered the 20th. century, there were many reforms forced on the population. Some were readily accepted and appreciated, but others, especially those that dealt with hair styles and hats, were vehemently opposed.

 

"A man is much more firmly bound to

his hat than he is attached to his wife.

He may put away the latter; without

the hat, life becomes a hollow mockery,

for the hat makes the man. Without it

he remains forever a boy."

 

Hats remained a part of male culture throughout the first half of the 20th. century, but have since disappeared. The only exceptions are those worn by elderly males in the Jongno area, or the bright colorful caps that young teens and adults wear while out with their friends. The "permanent black halo" is no more.'

 

How Japan Took Control of Korea

 

Erin Blakemore has written the following for history.com in 2018, and updated it in 2023:

 

In 1910, Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan after years of war, intimidation and political machinations; the country would be considered a part of Japan until 1945. In order to establish control over its new protectorate, the Empire of Japan waged an all-out war on Korean culture.

 

Schools and universities forbade speaking Korean, and emphasized manual labor and loyalty to the Emperor. Public places adopted Japanese, too, and an edict to make films in Japanese soon followed.

 

Topographical and other postcards of Korea were published with descriptions in Japanese text.

 

It also became a crime to teach history from non-approved texts, and authorities burned over 200,000 Korean historical documents, essentially wiping out the historical memory of Korea.

 

During the occupation, Japan took over Korea’s labor and land. Nearly 100,000 Japanese families settled in Korea with the land they had been given; they chopped down trees by the million and planted non-native species, transforming a familiar landscape into something many Koreans didn’t recognize.

 

Nearly 725,000 Korean workers were made to work in Japan and its other colonies, and as World War II loomed, Japan forced hundreds of thousands of Korean women into life as “comfort women”—sexual slaves who served in military brothels.

 

Korea’s people weren’t the only thing that was plundered during Japan’s colonization—its cultural symbols were considered fair game, too. One of the most powerful symbols of Korean sovereignty and independence was its royal palace, Gyeongbokgung, which was built in Seoul in 1395 by the mighty Joseon dynasty.

 

Soon after assuming power, the Japanese colonial government tore down over a third of the complex’s historic buildings, and the remaining structures were turned into tourist attractions for Japanese visitors.

 

As historian Heejung Kang notes, the imperial government also attempted to preserve treasures of Korean art history and culture—but then used them to uphold imperial Japan’s image of itself as a civilizing and modern force.

 

This view of Korea as backward and primitive compared to Japan made it into textbooks, museums and even Koreans’ own perceptions of themselves.

 

The occupation government also worked to assimilate Koreans with the help of language, religion and education. Shinto shrines originally intended for Japanese families became places of forced worship.

 

Historian Donald N. Clark explains:

 

"The colonial government made Koreans

worship the gods of imperial Japan,

including dead emperors and the spirits

of war heroes who had helped them

conquer Korea earlier in the century.”

 

This forced worship was viewed as an act of cultural genocide by many Koreans, but for the colonists, it was seen as evidence that Koreans and Japanese were a single, unified people.

 

Though some families got around the Shinto edict by simply visiting the shrines and not praying there, others grudgingly adopted the new religious practices out of fear.

 

By the end of its occupation of Korea, Japan had even waged war on people’s family names. At first, the colonial government made it illegal for people to adopt Japanese-style names, ostensibly to prevent confusion in family registries.

 

But in 1939, the government made changing names an official policy. Under the law, Korean families were “graciously allowed” to choose Japanese surnames.

 

At least 84 percent of all Koreans took on the names since people who lacked Japanese names were not recognized by the colonial bureaucracy, and were shut out of everything from mail delivery to ration cards. Historian Hildi Kang writes:

 

“The whole point was for the government

to be able to say that the people had

changed their names ‘voluntarily.’”

 

The Plundering of Korea by Japan

 

(a) Historic Korean Artifacts

 

Koreans accuse the Japanese of plundering hundreds of thousands of ancient Korean artifacts, mostly during their 36-year occupation of the peninsula. Most Japanese consider the issue a dead one, resolved by the 1965 Japan-Korea Treaty, which led to the return of some 1,400 items.

 

However the treaty was not definitive, as it neglected artifacts in Japanese private collections, as well as those originating in North Korea.

 

The size of the haul is astounding. Eighty percent of all Korean Buddhist paintings are believed to be in Japan. And, says Seoul art historian Kwon Cheeyun:

 

"35,000 Korean art objects and

30,000 rare books have been

confirmed to be there, too."

 

However that is only the tip of the iceberg: vastly more is believed to be hidden away in private collections.

 

Determining legal ownership is far more difficult than with the art looted by the Nazis. Toshiyuki Kono, a law professor at Kyushu University. states:

 

"It's almost impossible to trace the

provenance of centuries-old artifacts."

 

Besides, the Japanese annexation was internationally recognized in 1910, meaning that relocating Korean artifacts within "Japanese territory" was lawful at the time.

 

To Korea's annoyance, Japan holds many items of particular value. More than 1,000 bronze, gold and celadon pieces owned by the late businessman Takenosuke Ogura now make up the core of the Tokyo National Museum's Korean section.

 

A lot of precious Korean artifacts are now owned by private Japanese citizens or organizations, which means that the Japanese government can’t just acquire them and hand them back to Korea. So, unless the Korean government offers to actually spend millions of dollars to buy back the artifacts, it is unlikely they will ever be returned.

 

As well as removing cultural artifacts to Japan, the Japanese also burned countless Korean government buildings and palaces.

 

(b) Natural Resources

 

The Japanese also removed vast amounts of Korea's natural resources, including lumber, rice, coal, iron ore and many other minerals.

 

The land itself was also appropriated by the Japanese; by 1910 an estimated 8% of all arable land in Korea had come under Japanese control. This ratio increased steadily, and by 1932, the ratio of Japanese land ownership had grown to 53%.

 

Japanese landlords included both individuals and corporations. Many former Korean landowners became tenant farmers, having lost their entitlements almost overnight because they could not pay for the land reclamation and irrigation improvements forced upon them. As often occurred in Japan itself, tenants had to pay over half their crop in rent.

Say yes to pasties!

"There once was a woman who drove me to drink. I never had the decency to thank her."

-W.C. Fields

They should have their guitars confiscated by the Music Police of Taste and Decency. Especially when their songs are interspersed by anti-Islamic rantings.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite, Freedom, Self Expression, All, Inclusive, Acceptance, Acknowledge, Parade, Charlotte, Downtown, Girl, Backside, Young, Different, Rainbow, Walk, Cover, Decency, Legal, Normal, Diversity

May 12th, 2008

 

I've never really been afraid to show my breasts, even in public...I actually feel kind of out of place here in North America where showing your breasts is considered a taboo and women (especially "real" women) must always keep them covered up for fear of a moral riot. Now that I work in Public Health, I appreciate their natural use (breastfeeding) even more, and find the whole idea of keeping them hidden in the name of "decency", or because of our arrested development as a society, quite foolish. So no, I did not blur out my nipple and I am not ashamed of having my less-than-perfect breasts here on this website.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite, Freedom, Self Expression, All, Inclusive, Acceptance, Acknowledge, Parade, Charlotte, Downtown, Girl, Young, Different, Rainbow, Protest, Sin, God, Death, Right, Wrong, Decency, Legal, Normal, Diversity

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.

 

A symbol of decency

 

Blogged here

...you ever want to find a sea spider, here's where to look.

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/

Even on a Monday in September, Chatsworth can be pretty busy so getting half decent shots "sans-peeps" was not easy. It was also pretty gloomy so these three shots are all taken at ISO 2400 f4.5 and shutter speeds of about 1/8sec or so. They were then pushed, bent and generally knocked about way beyond the bounds of common decency!

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.

There are rules about making things beautiful... you have to want to do the maintanence with devoted regularity. Bless you Ronnie for being a beacon of pride and decency and doing the right thing. I thought the light did justice to your beautiful car at the break of a new day. This is a lovely face.

There was this movie, and some nice folks decided to remove the title and instead use this free space for a call to decency.

Great blossom trees in the front yard of this picturesque church. They didn't have the decency to stand still in the wind though, so the HDR is somewhat head-ache inducing unfortunately. Liked the sky though!

I've had the longest day.

pretty much the longest week. being a student full time & working as much as you can is tough business.

 

i've been thinking a lot about this quote lately.

not about the blind part, but the part where it's insinuating we choose who we hate and who we don't. I wish it was so easy to just "turn off" hatred.

 

not asking for "world peace", just some decency

     

listen to this. you won't regret it.

  

part of your world peace

Someone pushed. Or bumped. That person did not have the common decency to pick the bikes up again. To do so would be admission of wrong-doing, and the resultant loss of face would be unthinkable for many. Its an odd country, I sometimes think to myself.

Tallinn's Old Town was, in fact, two different towns: the Lower Town â free center of Hanseatic trade â and the Toompea hill, or Upper Town â the place of concentration of feudal power and the influence of distant governments, which Estonians had to obey. The interests of these two parts were different and sometimes mutually exclusive, but they had to coexist somehow even without having any warm feelings towards each other. And if in light of day it was possible to observe decency basically, nighttime awakened the eternal desire to plunder in the nobles of Toompea, or the Upper Town. So, the lower town of merchants and craftsmen had to fence itself off with a stone wall and a powerful gate â and not only from the "outer" lands, but also from its upper neighbor, and every night, just in case, the gate was locked.

 

This is why on the left side of Pikk jalg (Long Leg street) there is a tower with a small oak gate leading to the street Ljuhike jalg (Short Leg street). This door clearly shows who was afraid of whom: the heads of forged rivets, which made it harder to destruct the door, are turned towards the Upper Town, while the deadbolt is on the Lower Town side.

 

The tower was built in 1456 and is reputed to be one of the most haunted buildings in Old Town. The wooden door is original from the 17th century.

 

Tallinn, Estonia, 2018

Seems like they just let go of any outward sense of respect and decency, except the fancy cars. Wouldn't living in an apartment be better?

p.s. if you are gonna post my copyrighted images elsewhere on the internet at least have the decency to credit me with them and link them back to here, or i'll probably stop posting them without big watermarks on them.

  

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.

 

What is there to say? Trump's election as President of the United States is a triumph of stupidity over reason, ignorance or knowledge, lies over facts, decency over base passion, fear over peace, and bigotry over tolerance. The people who voted for this excuse for a man are beyond contempt. This is my response.

 

Red paint representing blood, spattered on a segment of the American flag, with pieces of real dollar bills embedded into the stars. Although the painting is unframed, all 4 edges of the canvas have been painted allowing the painting to be displayed as is. 24.5cm x 20cm x 1.5cm (approx.) Acrylic on unframed canvas. Available from www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CactusCounty