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The Temple of Concord at Agrigento: an architectural forerunner of the Parthenon.

"War takes. But it leaves us with legends; it leaves us with heroes - and heroes never die!"

 

A quote from a Halo : Combat Evolved Anniversary Living Monument live action trailer. This is my first "dramatic" shot with the Nikon D5100, I decided to sacrifice the resolution benefits to implement the UNSC Infinity.

Drents Museum, Assen.

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Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. While he was most popularly known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching. Both in his urban and rural scenes, his spare and finely calculated renderings reflected his personal vision of modern American life.

 

Hopper was born in 1882 in Upper Nyack, New York, a yacht-building center on the Hudson River north of New York City. He was one of two children of a comfortably well-to-do family. His parents, of mostly Dutch ancestry, were Elizabeth Griffiths Smith and Garret Henry Hopper, a dry-goods merchant. Although not so successful as his forebears, Garrett provided well for his two children with considerable help from his wife's inheritance. He retired at age forty-nine. Edward and his only sister Marion attended both private and public schools. They were raised in a strict Baptist home. His father had a mild nature, and the household was dominated by women: Hopper's mother, grandmother, sister, and maid.

 

His birthplace and boyhood home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. It is now operated as the Edward Hopper House Art Center. It serves as a nonprofit community cultural center featuring exhibitions, workshops, lectures, performances, and special events.

 

Hopper was a good student in grade school and showed talent in drawing at age five. He readily absorbed his father's intellectual tendencies and love of French and Russian cultures. He also demonstrated his mother's artistic heritage. Hopper's parents encouraged his art and kept him amply supplied with materials, instructional magazines, and illustrated books. By his teens, he was working in pen-and-ink, charcoal, watercolor, and oil—drawing from nature as well as making political cartoons. In 1895, he created his first signed oil painting, Rowboat in Rocky Cove. It shows his early interest in nautical subjects.

 

In his early self-portraits, Hopper tended to represent himself as skinny, ungraceful, and homely. Though a tall and quiet teenager, his prankish sense of humor found outlet in his art, sometimes in depictions of immigrants or of women dominating men in comic situations. Later in life, he mostly depicted women as the figures in his paintings. In high school, he dreamed of being a naval architect, but after graduation he declared his intention to follow an art career. Hopper's parents insisted that he study commercial art to have a reliable means of income. In developing his self-image and individualistic philosophy of life, Hopper was influenced by the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He later said, "I admire him greatly...I read him over and over again."

 

Hopper began art studies with a correspondence course in 1899. Soon he transferred to the New York School of Art and Design, the forerunner of Parsons The New School for Design. There he studied for six years, with teachers including William Merritt Chase, who instructed him in oil painting. Early on, Hopper modeled his style after Chase and French Impressionist masters Édouard Manet and Edgar Degas. Sketching from live models proved a challenge and a shock for the conservatively raised Hopper.

 

Another of his teachers, artist Robert Henri, taught life class. Henri encouraged his students to use their art to "make a stir in the world". He also advised his students, "It isn't the subject that counts but what you feel about it" and "Forget about art and paint pictures of what interests you in life." In this manner, Henri influenced Hopper, as well as notable future artists George Bellows and Rockwell Kent. He encouraged them to imbue a modern spirit in their work. Some artists in Henri's circle, including John Sloan, became members of "The Eight", also known as the Ashcan School of American Art. Hopper's first existing oil painting to hint at his famous interiors was Solitary Figure in a Theater (c. 1904). During his student years, he also painted dozens of nudes, still life studies, landscapes, and portraits, including his self-portraits.

 

In 1905, Hopper landed a part-time job with an advertising agency, where he created cover designs for trade magazines. Hopper came to detest illustration. He was bound to it by economic necessity until the mid-1920s. He temporarily escaped by making three trips to Europe, each centered in Paris, ostensibly to study the emerging art scene there. In fact, however, he studied alone and seemed mostly unaffected by the new currents in art. Later he said that he "didn't remember having heard of Picasso at all." He was highly impressed by Rembrandt, particularly his Night Watch, which he said was "the most wonderful thing of his I have seen; it's past belief in its reality."

 

Hopper began painting urban and architectural scenes in a dark palette. Then he shifted to the lighter palette of the Impressionists before returning to the darker palette with which he was comfortable. Hopper later said, "I got over that and later things done in Paris were more the kind of things I do now." Hopper spent much of his time drawing street and café scenes, and going to the theater and opera. Unlike many of his contemporaries who imitated the abstract cubist experiments, Hopper was attracted to realist art. Later, he admitted to no European influences other than French engraver Charles Méryon, whose moody Paris scenes Hopper imitated.

 

After returning from his last European trip, Hopper rented a studio in New York City, where he struggled to define his own style. Reluctantly, he returned to illustration to support himself. Being a freelancer, Hopper was forced to solicit for projects, and had to knock on the doors of magazine and agency offices to find business. His painting languished: "it's hard for me to decide what I want to paint. I go for months without finding it sometimes. It comes slowly." His fellow illustrator, Walter Tittle, described Hopper's depressed emotional state in sharper terms, seeing his friend "suffering...from long periods of unconquerable inertia, sitting for days at a time before his easel in helpless unhappiness, unable to raise a hand to break the spell."

 

In 1912, Hopper traveled to Gloucester, Massachusetts, to seek some inspiration and made his first outdoor paintings in America. He painted Squam Light, the first of many lighthouse paintings to come.

 

In 1913, at the famous Armory Show, Hopper earned $250 when he sold his first painting, Sailing (1911), which he had painted over an earlier self-portrait. Hopper was thirty-one, and although he hoped his first sale would lead to others in short order, his career would not catch on for many more years. He continued to participate in group exhibitions at smaller venues, such as the MacDowell Club of New York. Shortly after his father's death that same year, Hopper moved to the 3 Washington Square North apartment in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, where he would live for the rest of his life.

 

The following year he received a commission to make some movie posters and handle publicity for a movie company. Although he did not like the illustration work, Hopper was a lifelong devotee of the cinema and the theatre, both of which he treated as subjects for his paintings. Each form influenced his compositional methods.

 

At an impasse over his oil paintings, in 1915 Hopper turned to etching. By 1923 he had produced most of his approximately 70 works in this medium, many of urban scenes of both Paris and New York. He also produced some posters for the war effort, as well as continuing with occasional commercial projects. When he could, Hopper did some outdoor watercolors on visits to New England, especially at the art colonies at Ogunquit, and Monhegan Island.

 

During the early 1920s his etchings began to receive public recognition. They expressed some of his later themes, as in Night on the El Train (couples in silence), Evening Wind (solitary female), and The Catboat (simple nautical scene). Two notable oil paintings of this time were New York Interior (1921) and New York Restaurant (1922). He also painted two of his many "window" paintings to come: Girl at Sewing Machine and Moonlight Interior, both of which show a figure (clothed or nude) near a window of an apartment viewed as gazing out or from the point of view from the outside looking in.

 

Although these were frustrating years, Hopper gained some recognition. In 1918, Hopper was awarded the U.S. Shipping Board Prize for his war poster, "Smash the Hun." He participated in three exhibitions: in 1917 with the Society of Independent Artists, in January 1920 (a one-man exhibition at the Whitney Studio Club, which was the precursor to the Whitney Museum), and in 1922 (again with the Whitney Studio Club). In 1923, Hopper received two awards for his etchings: the Logan Prize from the Chicago Society of Etchers, and the W. A. Bryan Prize.

 

By 1923, Hopper's slow climb finally produced a breakthrough. He re-encountered Josephine Nivison, an artist and former student of Robert Henri, during a summer painting trip in Gloucester, Massachusetts. They were opposites: she was short, open, gregarious, sociable, and liberal, while he was tall, secretive, shy, quiet, introspective, and conservative. They married a year later. She remarked famously, "Sometimes talking to Eddie is just like dropping a stone in a well, except that it doesn't thump when it hits bottom." She subordinated her career to his and shared his reclusive life style. The rest of their lives revolved around their spare walk-up apartment in the city and their summers in South Truro on Cape Cod. She managed his career and his interviews, was his primary model, and was his life companion.

 

With Nivison's help, six of Hopper's Gloucester watercolors were admitted to an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum in 1923. One of them, The Mansard Roof, was purchased by the museum for its permanent collection for the sum of $100. The critics generally raved about his work; one stated, "What vitality, force and directness! Observe what can be done with the homeliest subject." Hopper sold all his watercolors at a one-man show the following year and finally decided to put illustration behind him.

 

The artist had demonstrated his ability to transfer his attraction to Parisian architecture to American urban and rural architecture. According to Boston Museum of Fine Arts curator Carol Troyen, "Hopper really liked the way these houses, with their turrets and towers and porches and mansard roofs and ornament cast wonderful shadows. He always said that his favorite thing was painting sunlight on the side of a house."

 

At forty-one, Hopper received further recognition for his work. He continued to harbor bitterness about his career, later turning down appearances and awards. With his financial stability secured by steady sales, Hopper would live a simple, stable life and continue creating art in his distinctive style for four more decades.

 

His Two on the Aisle (1927) sold for a personal record $1,500, enabling Hopper to purchase an automobile, which he used to make field trips to remote areas of New England. In 1929, he produced Chop Suey and Railroad Sunset. The following year, art patron Stephen Clark donated House by the Railroad (1925) to the Museum of Modern Art, the first oil painting that it acquired for its collection. Hopper painted his last self-portrait in oil around 1930. Although Josephine posed for many of his paintings, she sat for only one formal oil portrait by her husband, Jo Painting (1936).

 

Hopper fared better than many other artists during the Great Depression. His stature took a sharp rise in 1931 when major museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, paid thousands of dollars for his works. He sold 30 paintings that year, including 13 watercolors. The following year he participated in the first Whitney Annual, and he continued to exhibit in every annual at the museum for the rest of his life. In 1933, the Museum of Modern Art gave Hopper his first large-scale retrospective.

 

In 1930, the Hoppers rented a cottage on Cape Cod in South Truro, Massachusetts. They returned to South Truro every summer for the rest of their lives, building a summer house there in 1934. From there, they would take driving trips into other areas when Edward needed to search for fresh material to paint. In the summers of 1937 and '38, the Hoppers spent extended sojourns on Wagon Wheels Farm in South Royalton, Vermont, where Edward painted a series of watercolors along the White River. These scenes are atypical among Hopper's mature works, as most are "pure" landscapes, devoid of architecture or human figures. First Branch of the White River (1938), now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is the most well-known of Hopper's Vermont landscapes.

 

Hopper was very productive through the 1930s and early 1940s, producing among many important works New York Movie (1939), Girlie Show (1941), Nighthawks (1942), Hotel Lobby (1943), and Morning in a City (1944). During the late 1940s, however, he suffered a period of relative inactivity. He admitted, "I wish I could paint more. I get sick of reading and going to the movies." During the next two decades, his health faltered, and he had several prostate surgeries and other medical problems. But, in the 1950s and early 1960s, he created several more major works, including First Row Orchestra (1951); as well as Morning Sun and Hotel by a Railroad, both in 1952; and Intermission in 1963.

 

Hopper died in his studio near Washington Square in New York City on May 15, 1967. He was buried two days later in the family's grave at Oak Hill Cemetery in Nyack, New York, his place of birth. His wife died ten months later.

 

His wife bequeathed their joint collection of more than three thousand works to the Whitney Museum of American Art. Other significant paintings by Hopper are held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Des Moines Art Center, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

 

Always reluctant to discuss himself and his art, Hopper simply said, "The whole answer is there on the canvas." Hopper was stoic and fatalistic—a quiet introverted man with a gentle sense of humor and a frank manner. Hopper was someone drawn to an emblematic, anti-narrative symbolism, who "painted short isolated moments of configuration, saturated with suggestion". His silent spaces and uneasy encounters "touch us where we are most vulnerable",[ and have "a suggestion of melancholy, that melancholy being enacted". His sense of color revealed him as a pure painter as he "turned the Puritan into the purist, in his quiet canvasses where blemishes and blessings balance". According to critic Lloyd Goodrich, he was "an eminently native painter, who more than any other was getting more of the quality of America into his canvases".

 

Conservative in politics and social matters (Hopper asserted for example that "artists' lives should be written by people very close to them"), he accepted things as they were and displayed a lack of idealism. Cultured and sophisticated, he was well-read, and many of his paintings show figures reading. He was generally good company and unperturbed by silences, though sometimes taciturn, grumpy, or detached. He was always serious about his art and the art of others, and when asked would return frank opinions.

 

Hopper's most systematic declaration of his philosophy as an artist was given in a handwritten note, entitled "Statement", submitted in 1953 to the journal, Reality:

 

Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world. No amount of skillful invention can replace the essential element of imagination. One of the weaknesses of much abstract painting is the attempt to substitute the inventions of the human intellect for a private imaginative conception.

 

The inner life of a human being is a vast and varied realm and does not concern itself alone with stimulating arrangements of color, form and design.

 

The term life used in art is something not to be held in contempt, for it implies all of existence and the province of art is to react to it and not to shun it.

 

Painting will have to deal more fully and less obliquely with life and nature's phenomena before it can again become great.

 

Though Hopper claimed that he didn't consciously embed psychological meaning in his paintings, he was deeply interested in Freud and the power of the subconscious mind. He wrote in 1939, "So much of every art is an expression of the subconscious that it seems to me most of all the important qualities are put there unconsciously, and little of importance by the conscious intellect."

 

Although he is best known for his oil paintings, Hopper initially achieved recognition for his watercolors and he also produced some commercially successful etchings. Additionally, his notebooks contain high-quality pen and pencil sketches, which were never meant for public viewing.

 

Hopper paid particular attention to geometrical design and the careful placement of human figures in proper balance with their environment. He was a slow and methodical artist; as he wrote, "It takes a long time for an idea to strike. Then I have to think about it for a long time. I don't start painting until I have it all worked out in my mind. I'm all right when I get to the easel". He often made preparatory sketches to work out his carefully calculated compositions. He and his wife kept a detailed ledger of their works noting such items as "sad face of woman unlit", "electric light from ceiling", and "thighs cooler".

 

For New York Movie (1939), Hopper demonstrates his thorough preparation with more than 53 sketches of the theater interior and the figure of the pensive usherette.

 

The effective use of light and shadow to create mood also is central to Hopper's methods. Bright sunlight (as an emblem of insight or revelation), and the shadows it casts, also play symbolically powerful roles in Hopper paintings such as Early Sunday Morning (1930), Summertime (1943), Seven A.M. (1948), and Sun in an Empty Room (1963). His use of light and shadow effects have been compared to the cinematography of film noir.

 

Although a realist painter, Hopper's "soft" realism simplified shapes and details. He used saturated color to heighten contrast and create mood.

Hopper derived his subject matter from two primary sources: one, the common features of American life (gas stations, motels, restaurants, theaters, railroads, and street scenes) and its inhabitants; and two, seascapes and rural landscapes. Regarding his style, Hopper defined himself as "an amalgam of many races" and not a member of any school, particularly the "Ashcan School".[69] Once Hopper achieved his mature style, his art remained consistent and self-contained, in spite of the numerous art trends that came and went during his long career.

 

Hopper's seascapes fall into three main groups: pure landscapes of rocks, sea, and beach grass; lighthouses and farmhouses; and sailboats. Sometimes he combined these elements. Most of these paintings depict strong light and fair weather; he showed little interest in snow or rain scenes, or in seasonal color changes. He painted the majority of the pure seascapes in the period between 1916 and 1919 on Monhegan Island. Hopper's The Long Leg (1935) is a nearly all-blue sailing picture with the simplest of elements, while his Ground Swell (1939) is more complex and depicts a group of youngsters out for a sail, a theme reminiscent of Winslow Homer's iconic Breezing Up (1876).

 

Urban architecture and cityscapes also were major subjects for Hopper. He was fascinated with the American urban scene, "our native architecture with its hideous beauty, its fantastic roofs, pseudo-gothic, French Mansard, Colonial, mongrel or what not, with eye-searing color or delicate harmonies of faded paint, shouldering one another along interminable streets that taper off into swamps or dump heaps."

 

In 1925, he produced House by the Railroad. This classic work depicts an isolated Victorian wood mansion, partly obscured by the raised embankment of a railroad. It marked Hopper's artistic maturity. Lloyd Goodrich praised the work as "one of the most poignant and desolating pieces of realism." The work is the first of a series of stark rural and urban scenes that uses sharp lines and large shapes, played upon by unusual lighting to capture the lonely mood of his subjects. Although critics and viewers interpret meaning and mood in these cityscapes, Hopper insisted "I was more interested in the sunlight on the buildings and on the figures than any symbolism." As if to prove the point, his late painting Sun in an Empty Room (1963) is a pure study of sunlight.

 

Most of Hopper's figure paintings focus on the subtle interaction of human beings with their environment—carried out with solo figures, couples, or groups. His primary emotional themes are solitude, loneliness, regret, boredom, and resignation. He expresses the emotions in various environments, including the office, in public places, in apartments, on the road, or on vacation. As if he were creating stills for a movie or tableaux in a play, Hopper positioned his characters as if they were captured just before or just after the climax of a scene.

 

Hopper's solitary figures are mostly women—dressed, semi-clad, and nude—often reading or looking out a window, or in the workplace. In the early 1920s, Hopper painted his first such images Girl at Sewing Machine (1921), New York Interior (another woman sewing) (1921), and Moonlight Interior (a nude getting into bed) (1923). Automat (1927) and Hotel Room (1931), however, are more representative of his mature style, emphasizing the solitude more overtly.

 

As Hopper scholar, Gail Levin, wrote of Hotel Room:

 

The spare vertical and diagonal bands of color and sharp electric shadows create a concise and intense drama in the night...Combining poignant subject matter with such a powerful formal arrangement, Hopper's composition is pure enough to approach an almost abstract sensibility, yet layered with a poetic meaning for the observer.

 

Hopper's Room in New York (1932) and Cape Cod Evening (1939) are prime examples of his "couple" paintings. In the first, a young couple appear alienated and uncommunicative—he reading the newspaper while she idles by the piano. The viewer takes on the role of a voyeur, as if looking with a telescope through the window of the apartment to spy on the couple's lack of intimacy. In the latter painting, an older couple with little to say to each other, are playing with their dog, whose own attention is drawn away from his masters.[80] Hopper takes the couple theme to a more ambitious level with Excursion into Philosophy (1959). A middle-aged man sits dejectedly on the edge of a bed. Beside him lies an open book and a partially clad woman. A shaft of light illuminates the floor in front of him. Jo Hopper noted in their log book, "[T]he open book is Plato, reread too late".

 

Levin interprets the painting:

 

Plato's philosopher, in search of the real and the true, must turn away from this transitory realm and contemplate the eternal Forms and Ideas. The pensive man in Hopper's painting is positioned between the lure of the earthly domain, figured by the woman, and the call of the higher spiritual domain, represented by the ethereal lightfall. The pain of thinking about this choice and its consequences, after reading Plato all night, is evident. He is paralysed by the fervent inner labour of the melancholic.

 

In Office at Night (1940), another "couple" painting, Hopper creates a psychological puzzle. The painting shows a man focusing on his work papers, while nearby his attractive female secretary pulls a file. Several studies for the painting show how Hopper experimented with the positioning of the two figures, perhaps to heighten the eroticism and the tension. Hopper presents the viewer with the possibilities that the man is either truly uninterested in the woman's appeal or that he is working hard to ignore her. Another interesting aspect of the painting is how Hopper employs three light sources, from a desk lamp, through a window and indirect light from above. Hopper went on to make several "office" pictures, but none with a sensual undercurrent.

 

The best-known of Hopper's paintings, Nighthawks (1942), is one of his paintings of groups. It shows customers sitting at the counter of an all-night diner. The shapes and diagonals are carefully constructed. The viewpoint is cinematic—from the sidewalk, as if the viewer were approaching the restaurant. The diner's harsh electric light sets it apart from the dark night outside, enhancing the mood and subtle emotion.[82] As in many Hopper paintings, the interaction is minimal. The restaurant depicted was inspired by one in Greenwich Village. Both Hopper and his wife posed for the figures, and Jo Hopper gave the painting its title. The inspiration for the picture may have come from Ernest Hemingway's short story "The Killers", which Hopper greatly admired, or from the more philosophical "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place".[83] In keeping with the title of his painting, Hopper later said, Nighthawks has more to do with the possibility of predators in the night than with loneliness.

 

His second most recognizable painting after Nighthawks is another urban painting, Early Sunday Morning (originally called Seventh Avenue Shops), which shows an empty street scene in sharp side light, with a fire hydrant and a barber pole as stand-ins for human figures. Originally Hopper intended to put figures in the upstairs windows but left them empty to heighten the feeling of desolation.

 

Hopper's rural New England scenes, such as Gas (1940), are no less meaningful. Gas represents "a different, equally clean, well-lighted refuge ... ke[pt] open for those in need as they navigate the night, traveling their own miles to go before they sleep." The work presents a fusion of several Hopper themes: the solitary figure, the melancholy of dusk, and the lonely road.

 

Hopper approaches Surrealism with Rooms by the Sea (1951), where an open door gives a view of the ocean, without an apparent ladder or steps and no indication of a beach.

 

After his student years, Hopper's nudes were all women. Unlike past artists who painted the female nude to glorify the female form and to highlight female eroticism, Hopper's nudes are solitary women who are psychologically exposed. One audacious exception is Girlie Show (1941), where a red-headed strip-tease queen strides confidently across a stage to the accompaniment of the musicians in the pit. Girlie Show was inspired by Hopper's visit to a burlesque show a few days earlier. Hopper's wife, as usual, posed for him for the painting, and noted in her diary, "Ed beginning a new canvas—a burlesque queen doing a strip tease—and I posing without a stitch on in front of the stove—nothing but high heels in a lottery dance pose."

 

Hopper's portraits and self-portraits were relatively few after his student years.[91] Hopper did produce a commissioned "portrait" of a house, The MacArthurs' Home (1939), where he faithfully details the Victorian architecture of the home of actress Helen Hayes. She reported later, "I guess I never met a more misanthropic, grumpy individual in my life." Hopper grumbled throughout the project and never again accepted a commission.[92] Hopper also painted Portrait of Orleans (1950), a "portrait" of the Cape Cod town from its main street.

 

Though very interested in the American Civil War and Mathew Brady's battlefield photographs, Hopper made only two historical paintings. Both depicted soldiers on their way to Gettysburg. Also rare among his themes are paintings showing action. The best example of an action painting is Bridle Path (1939), but Hopper's struggle with the proper anatomy of the horses may have discouraged him from similar attempts.

 

Hopper's final oil painting, Two Comedians (1966), painted one year before his death, focuses on his love of the theater. Two French pantomime actors, one male and one female, both dressed in bright white costumes, take their bow in front of a darkened stage. Jo Hopper confirmed that her husband intended the figures to suggest their taking their life's last bows together as husband and wife.

 

Hopper's paintings have often been seen by others as having a narrative or thematic content that the artist may not have intended. Much meaning can be added to a painting by its title, but the titles of Hopper's paintings were sometimes chosen by others, or were selected by Hopper and his wife in a way that makes it unclear whether they have any real connection with the artist's meaning. For example, Hopper once told an interviewer that he was "fond of Early Sunday Morning... but it wasn't necessarily Sunday. That word was tacked on later by someone else."

 

The tendency to read thematic or narrative content into Hopper's paintings, that Hopper had not intended, extended even to his wife. When Jo Hopper commented on the figure in Cape Cod Morning "It's a woman looking out to see if the weather's good enough to hang out her wash," Hopper retorted, "Did I say that? You're making it Norman Rockwell. From my point of view she's just looking out the window." Another example of the same phenomenon is recorded in a 1948 article in Time:

 

Hopper's Summer Evening, a young couple talking in the harsh light of a cottage porch, is inescapably romantic, but Hopper was hurt by one critic's suggestion that it would do for an illustration in "any woman's magazine." Hopper had the painting in the back of his head "for 20 years and I never thought of putting the figures in until I actually started last summer. Why any art director would tear the picture apart. The figures were not what interested me; it was the light streaming down, and the night all around."

 

Place in American art

 

In focusing primarily on quiet moments, very rarely showing action, Hopper employed a form of realism adopted by another leading American realist, Andrew Wyeth, but Hopper's technique was completely different from Wyeth's hyper-detailed style.[46] In league with some of his contemporaries, Hopper shared his urban sensibility with John Sloan and George Bellows, but avoided their overt action and violence. Where Joseph Stella and Georgia O'Keeffe glamorized the monumental structures of the city, Hopper reduced them to everyday geometrics and he depicted the pulse of the city as desolate and dangerous rather than "elegant or seductive".

 

Charles Burchfield, whom Hopper admired and to whom he was compared, said of Hopper, "he achieves such a complete verity that you can read into his interpretations of houses and conceptions of New York life any human implications you wish." He also attributed Hopper's success to his "bold individualism. ... In him we have regained that sturdy American independence which Thomas Eakins gave us, but which for a time was lost." Hopper considered this a high compliment since he considered Eakins the greatest American painter.

 

Hopper scholar, Deborah Lyons, writes, "Our own moments of revelation are often mirrored, transcendent, in his work. Once seen, Hopper's interpretations exist in our consciousness in tandem with our own experience. We forever see a certain type of house as a Hopper house, invested perhaps with a mystery that Hopper implanted in our own vision." Hopper's paintings highlight the seemingly mundane and typical scenes in our everyday life and give them cause for epiphany. In this way Hopper's art takes the gritty American landscape and lonely gas stations and creates within them a sense of beautiful anticipation.

 

Although compared to his contemporary Norman Rockwell in terms of subject matter, Hopper did not like the comparison. Hopper considered himself more subtle, less illustrative, and certainly not sentimental. Hopper also rejected comparisons with Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton stating "I think the American Scene painters caricatured America. I always wanted to do myself."

 

Hopper's influence on the art world and pop culture is undeniable. Though he had no formal students, many artists have cited him as an influence, including Willem de Kooning, Jim Dine, and Mark Rothko.[69] An illustration of Hopper's influence is Rothko's early work Composition I (c. 1931), which is a direct paraphrase of Hopper's Chop Suey.

 

Hopper's cinematic compositions and dramatic use of light and dark has made him a favorite among filmmakers. For example, House by the Railroad is reported to have heavily influenced the iconic house in the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho.[108] The same painting has also been cited as being an influence on the home in the Terrence Malick film Days of Heaven. The 1981 film Pennies from Heaven includes a tableau vivant of Nighthawks, with the lead actors in the places of the diners. German director Wim Wenders also cites Hopper influence. His 1997 film The End of Violence also incorporates a tableau vivant of Nighthawks, recreated by actors. Noted surrealist horror film director Dario Argento went so far as to recreate the diner and the patrons in Nighthawks as part of a set for his 1976 film Deep Red (aka Profondo Rosso). Ridley Scott has cited the same painting as a visual inspiration for Blade Runner. To establish the lighting of scenes in the 2002 film Road to Perdition, director Sam Mendes drew from the paintings of Hopper as a source of inspiration, particularly New York Movie.

 

Homages to Nighthawks featuring cartoon characters or famous pop culture icons such as James Dean and Marilyn Monroe are often found in poster stores and gift shops. The cable television channel Turner Classic Movies sometimes runs animated clips based on Hopper paintings prior to airing its films. Hopper's painting New York Movie was featured in the television show Dead Like Me; the girl standing in the corner resembles Daisy Adair. In a 1998 episode of That '70s Show titled "Drive In," Red and Kitty settle in at a diner and create a reproduction of Nighthawks.

 

Musical influences include singer/songwriter Tom Waits's 1975 live-in-the-studio album titled Nighthawks at the Diner, after the painting. In 1993, Madonna was inspired sufficiently by Hopper's 1941 painting Girlie Show that she named her world tour after it and incorporated many of the theatrical elements and mood of the painting into the show. In 2004, British guitarist John Squire (formerly of The Stone Roses) released a concept album based on Hopper's work entitled Marshall's House. Each song on the album is inspired by, and shares its title with, a painting by Hopper. Canadian rock group The Weakerthans released their album Reunion Tour in 2007 featuring two songs inspired by and named after Hopper paintings, "Sun in an Empty Room", and "Night Windows", and have also referenced him in songs such as "Hospital Vespers". Hopper's Compartment C, Car 293 inspired Polish composer Paweł Szymański's Compartment 2, Car 7 for violin, viola, cello and vibraphone (2003), as well as Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine's song Compartiment C Voiture 293 Edward Hopper 1938 (2011). Hopper's work has influenced multiple recordings by British band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Early Sunday Morning was the inspiration for the sleeve of Crush (1985). The same band's 2013 single "Night Café" was influenced by Nighthawks and mentions Hopper by name. Seven of his paintings are referenced in the lyrics.[110]

 

Each of the twelve chapters in New Zealander Chris Bell's 2004 novel Liquidambar (UKA Press/PABD) interprets one of Hopper's paintings to create a surreal detective story.

 

Hopper's influence reached the Japanese animation world in the dark cyberpunk thriller Texhnolyze. His artwork was used as the basis for the surface world in Texhnolyze as well as for much of the 2008 animated film Bolt (Wikipedia).

Smiths Happiway - Spencers were the forerunner of the now defunct Shearings Holidays although that former tour operator is now a name only brand after it collapsed during 2020. Smiths bought forty-three of the AEC Reliance/Duple Dominant combination and also had three earlier Reliance's re-bodied with Duple Dominant coach work. This fine example, new in 06/1979, was delivered in the last batch of seven and was the penultimate one in that batch. It is seen here having had a re-fuel when leaving the Stagecoach in Cumbria Lillyhall depot open-day on 24/05/2003.

 

The camera being a Pentax MZ-M with the film being a Fujichrome Colourslide.

 

I would request, as with all my photos, that they are not copied or downloaded in any way, shape or form. © Peter Steel 2003.

Other forerunners to what has become CSX. ACL #501 is an EMD E-3 Unit that saw duty on the crack passenger train The Champion. 8016 is ex Clinchfield #800 and F3 unit.

"She smiles, for though they have bound her, she cannot be a prisoner."

-Thomas Merton, Hagia Sophia, 1962

 

“I had a pious thought, but I am not going to write it down."

-Thomas Merton

/****************************************************************************/

If you seek a heavenly light I,

Solitude, am your professor!

I go before you into emptiness,

Raise strange suns for your new mornings,

Opening the windows Of your innermost apartment.

When I, loneliness,

give my special signal Follow my silence,

follow where I beckon!

Fear not, little beast,

little spirit (Thou word and animal) I,

Solitude, am angel And have prayed in your name.

Look at the empty,

wealthy night The pilgrim moon!

I am the appointed hour,

The “now” that cuts Time like a blade.

I am the unexpected flash Beyond “yes,” beyond “no,”

The forerunner of the Word of God.

Follow my ways and I will lead you To golden-haired suns,

Logos and music,

blameless joys,

Innocent of questions And beyond answers:

For I, Solitude, am thine own self:

I, Nothingness, am thy All.

I, Silence, am thy Amen!

(Merton-Emblems of a Season of Fury, 1963)

 

The Kristall is the forerunner of the Zenit and appears to be a Zorki 6 made into an SLR. The Helios 40 is of course, well a Helios 40,

20210310_175554(1)

American postcard by Ludlow Sales, New York, N.Y, no. FC-105-50. Photo: MGM. The Marx Brothers in A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1935).

 

The Marx Brothers was the name for a group of American-Jewish comedians from the first half of the 20th century who were actually brothers. Their career started in theatre, but they became world-famous through their films. They are known for their wild, anarchic and often surrealist humour. Their jokes consist of slapstick, but also puns and intelligent dialogue. With their rebellious jokes, they were the forerunners of generations of anti-sentimental comedians. Five brothers together formed The Marx Brothers, even though the five of them never actually performed at the same time: Harpo, Chico, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.

 

The eldest brother, Chico (1887-1961) was born Leonard Marx. Manfred was actually the eldest, but he died as a child. Chico was the one who decided to make musical comedies with his other brothers. At the time, he had learnt an Italian accent to convince any anti-Semites in the neighbourhood that he was Italian and not a Jew. This accent, along with his talent as a piano player, became one of his trademarks. In the films, he usually fulfilled the role of a sly and shady con man, the confidant of Harpo, a confident pianist and the sceptical assistant of Groucho.

 

Harpo (1888-1964) was born Adolph and changed his name to Arthur in WWI because he found the name too German. As an actor, Harpo played the role of a mute, who never speaks but expresses himself through sign language, whistling and using his horn. Like a cross between a child and a wild beast, he sets everything in motion, harassing everyone, pulling the most peculiar things out of his coat (such as a candle burning on two sides, a coiled rope, a pin-up poster, etc.), and chasing women with his horn. His pseudonym "Harpo" was derived from the fact that he played the harp, for which there was a musical interlude in almost every film.

 

Groucho (1890-1977) was born Julius Henry Marx. His trademarks were his grin, thick cigar, waddling gait and sarcastic remarks, insults and puns. In the films, he was constantly trying to get money or women, talking everyone under the table with his witty and intelligent remarks. He was also a singer and some of his songs have become classics, such as 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady'.

 

Gummo (1892-1977) was born Milton and was the least-known Marx Brother. He was the one who first performed with Groucho, but before the big Broadway success came he had stopped acting. For years, he was his brother's manager.

 

Zeppo (1901-1979) was born Herbert Marx and was the youngest of the Marx Brothers. He took over the role of Gummo when the latter quit. Zeppo was the romantic declarer. Though he could take on more versatile roles, he was typecast as the most serious of the four.

 

The Marx Brothers were the five surviving sons of Sam and Minnie Marx. The family lived in Yorkville on New York's Upper East Side, a neighbourhood sandwiched between the Irish-German and Italian quarters. Their career already began at the beginning of the century in vaudeville shows, with which their maternal uncle, Al Shean, had already been successful. Groucho was the first to embark on a career on stage, but initially with very little success. Their mother and sister also appeared on stage with their sons at times. However, the focus soon shifted from music and singing with humorous segues to comedy with musical interludes. The different roles of musicians and comedians crystallised relatively early. While Chico developed the stereotype of the womaniser with an Italian accent who was always chasing the chicks, Groucho dropped his accent as a German during the First World War due to a lack of popularity. Harpo remained speechless on stage, as he had the greatest successes playing his jokes as a mime in a red or, in films, blond curly wig, or playing his grandmother's old harp. A classroom sketch in which Groucho tried to teach his brothers evolved into the comedy show 'I'll Say She Is which became their first success on Bradway and in England. This was followed by two more Broadway hits: 'The Cocoanuts' and 'Animal Crackers'. The Marx Brothers' shows became popular at a time when Hollywood was experiencing the transition from silent film to talkies. The brothers signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and thus launched their film career.

 

The last two Broadway shows of The Marx Brothers became their first films, The Cocoanuts (Robert Florey, 1929) and Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman, 1930). Their next film was Money Business (Norman Z. McLeod, 1931). Between 1932 and 1933, a total of 26 episodes of the radio show 'Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel' were made, with Groucho voicing the lawyer Waldorf T. Flywheel and Chico voicing his sidekick Emmanuel Ravelli. The first three episodes were broadcast under the title 'Beagle, Shyster & Beagle'. The title was then changed after a New York lawyer named "Beagle" threatened to sue. Some of the dialogue from the radio broadcasts was later used in the Marx Brothers films. Their most successful film of the early period was Horse Feathers (Norman Z. McLeod, 1932), a satire on the American college system. But Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933), generally considered their masterpiece, had much less success. It marked their break with Paramount. Zeppo, who always played serious roles, stopped making films after this. The Marx Brothers' first five films are generally considered their best, expressing their surrealist and anarchic humour in its purest form. The three remaining brothers moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and changed the formula of their subsequent films. Their remaining films were given romantic plots and serious musical interludes, often intended as resting points between the often hilarious comic sketches. In A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935), a satire on the opera world, the brothers help two young singers in love. The film was very successful and was followed by the equally popular A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937), where they kicked up a fuss at a race track. Several less memorable films followed until 1941. After the war, two more films A Night in Casablanca (Archie Mayo, 1946) and Love Happy (David Miller, 1949) followed to pay off Chico's gambling debts. This was followed by the mediocre film The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957), and a television special The Incredible Jewel Robbery (1959). These productions were already interludes, while each brother had already picked up a career of his own. Chico and Harpo continued on stage and Groucho had started a career as a radio and television entertainer. With his television and radio show 'You Bet Your Life', he became one of the most popular show hosts of the 1950s in the USA. The first episodes of the show were still broadcast live, as was customary at the time. But because Groucho's unbridled wordplay caused headaches for those in charge of the show, they deviated from this for later episodes and the programme was broadcast as a recording. He also wrote a number of books. Gummo and Zeppo ran a theatre agency together. A final film project planned for 1960, starring the Marx Brothers once again and directed by Billy Wilder, did not materialise due to Chico's poor health. It was to be an anti-war satire in the style of Duck Soup. Even Groucho, who at the time was no longer very interested in further Marx Brothers films, is said to have been enthusiastic about the project because he considered Billy Wilder to be one of the best directors.

 

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

 

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

The RTA, forerunner of Metra, ordered the first batch of F40PH's in 1977 and they began arriving on the property later that year and into 1978. The 100, first of the new order, sits among the veterans, Rock Island E's 663 and 660 at the Rock's yard in Blue Island. I don't think they were happy to see the new blue baby.

Forerunner to the Delta 7, the Delta 6 had no droid and only 2 laser cannons.

 

About the build:

 

This is a bit of a spare parts build, I used pieces and colours I had extra of. This is why the colour scheme is somewhat unusual, but I think it works. Landing gear retracts, like my 7b.

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1219. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

 

The Marx Brothers was the name for a group of American-Jewish comedians from the first half of the 20th century who were actually brothers. Their career started in theatre, but they became world-famous through their films. They are known for their wild, anarchic and often surrealist humour. Their jokes consist of slapstick, but also puns and intelligent dialogue. With their rebellious jokes, they were the forerunners of generations of anti-sentimental comedians. Five brothers together formed The Marx Brothers, even though the five of them never actually performed at the same time: Harpo, Chico, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.

 

The eldest brother, Chico (1887-1961) was born Leonard Marx. Manfred was actually the eldest, but he died as a child. Chico was the one who decided to make musical comedies with his other brothers. At the time, he had learnt an Italian accent to convince any anti-Semites in the neighbourhood that he was Italian and not a Jew. This accent, along with his talent as a piano player, became one of his trademarks. In the films, he usually fulfilled the role of a sly and shady con man, the confidant of Harpo, a confident pianist and the sceptical assistant of Groucho.

 

Harpo (1888-1964) was born Adolph and changed his name to Arthur in WWI because he found the name too German. As an actor, Harpo played the role of a mute, who never speaks but expresses himself through sign language, whistling and using his horn. Like a cross between a child and a wild beast, he sets everything in motion, harassing everyone, pulling the most peculiar things out of his coat (such as a candle burning on two sides, a coiled rope, a pin-up poster, etc.), and chasing women with his horn. His pseudonym "Harpo" was derived from the fact that he played the harp, for which there was a musical interlude in almost every film.

 

Groucho (1890-1977) was born Julius Henry Marx. His trademarks were his grin, thick cigar, waddling gait and sarcastic remarks, insults and puns. In the films, he was constantly trying to get money or women, talking everyone under the table with his witty and intelligent remarks. He was also a singer and some of his songs have become classics, such as 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady'.

 

Gummo (1892-1977) was born Milton and was the least-known Marx Brother. He was the one who first performed with Groucho, but before the big Broadway success came he had stopped acting. For years, he was his brother's manager.

 

Zeppo (1901-1979) was born Herbert Marx and was the youngest of the Marx Brothers. He took over the role of Gummo when the latter quit. Zeppo was the romantic declarer. Though he could take on more versatile roles, he was typecast as the most serious of the four.

 

The Marx Brothers were the five surviving sons of Sam and Minnie Marx. The family lived in Yorkville on New York's Upper East Side, a neighbourhood sandwiched between the Irish-German and Italian quarters. Their career already began at the beginning of the century in vaudeville shows, with which their maternal uncle, Al Shean, had already been successful. Groucho was the first to embark on a career on stage, but initially with very little success. Their mother and sister also appeared on stage with their sons at times. However, the focus soon shifted from music and singing with humorous segues to comedy with musical interludes. The different roles of musicians and comedians crystallised relatively early. While Chico developed the stereotype of the womaniser with an Italian accent who was always chasing the chicks, Groucho dropped his accent as a German during the First World War due to a lack of popularity. Harpo remained speechless on stage, as he had the greatest successes playing his jokes as a mime in a red or, in films, blond curly wig, or playing his grandmother's old harp. A classroom sketch in which Groucho tried to teach his brothers evolved into the comedy show 'I'll Say She Is which became their first success on Bradway and in England. This was followed by two more Broadway hits: 'The Cocoanuts' and 'Animal Crackers'. The Marx Brothers' shows became popular at a time when Hollywood was experiencing the transition from silent film to talkies. The brothers signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and thus launched their film career.

 

The last two Broadway shows of The Marx Brothers became their first films, The Cocoanuts (Robert Florey, 1929) and Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman, 1930). Their next film was Money Business (Norman Z. McLeod, 1931). Between 1932 and 1933, a total of 26 episodes of the radio show 'Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel' were made, with Groucho voicing the lawyer Waldorf T. Flywheel and Chico voicing his sidekick Emmanuel Ravelli. The first three episodes were broadcast under the title 'Beagle, Shyster & Beagle'. The title was then changed after a New York lawyer named "Beagle" threatened to sue. Some of the dialogue from the radio broadcasts was later used in the Marx Brothers films. Their most successful film of the early period was Horse Feathers (Norman Z. McLeod, 1932), a satire on the American college system. But Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933), generally considered their masterpiece, had much less success. It marked their break with Paramount. Zeppo, who always played serious roles, stopped making films after this. The Marx Brothers' first five films are generally considered their best, expressing their surrealist and anarchic humour in its purest form. The three remaining brothers moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and changed the formula of their subsequent films. Their remaining films were given romantic plots and serious musical interludes, often intended as resting points between the often hilarious comic sketches. In A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935), a satire on the opera world, the brothers help two young singers in love. The film was very successful and was followed by the equally popular A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937), where they kicked up a fuss at a race track. Several less memorable films followed until 1941. After the war, two more films A Night in Casablanca (Archie Mayo, 1946) and Love Happy (David Miller, 1949) followed to pay off Chico's gambling debts. This was followed by the mediocre film The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957), and a television special The Incredible Jewel Robbery (1959). These productions were already interludes, while each brother had already picked up a career of his own. Chico and Harpo continued on stage and Groucho had started a career as a radio and television entertainer. With his television and radio show 'You Bet Your Life', he became one of the most popular show hosts of the 1950s in the USA. The first episodes of the show were still broadcast live, as was customary at the time. But because Groucho's unbridled wordplay caused headaches for those in charge of the show, they deviated from this for later episodes and the programme was broadcast as a recording. He also wrote a number of books. Gummo and Zeppo ran a theatre agency together. A final film project planned for 1960, starring the Marx Brothers once again and directed by Billy Wilder, did not materialise due to Chico's poor health. It was to be an anti-war satire in the style of Duck Soup. Even Groucho, who at the time was no longer very interested in further Marx Brothers films, is said to have been enthusiastic about the project because he considered Billy Wilder to be one of the best directors.

 

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

 

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

I've started a series now, completely by accident!

Well, I realized since I have Halo 3 and 4 photos, I guess I'll make 1 and 2.

New York Railways 7000; these Hedley Doyle "stepless" cars were the forerunners of the modern "low-floor" tram concept. Prototype battery car 7000 was produced in 1912; the single step into the car through its center entrance was only 10 inches, and there were no steps inside the car (although the floor was ramped). Prototype 7000 was followed by orders for 115 cars in 1913-14.

 

The low floor was achieved much as it is today, by moving equipment normally under the car to the roof and other locations (in this case the driver's cabs got the air compressor and resistor grids), combined with the use of unconventional running gear.

 

B&W print in my collection, photographer unknown.

A forerunner of the Parthenon is the Temple of Concord at Agrigento which used the same architectural touches that were perfected in the Parthenon.

On April 2, 1595 the First Dutch Expedition to Indonesia set out from Texel funded by the the Compagnie van Verre (Company for Faraway), a forerunner of the Dutch East Indies Trading Company (VOC). The small fleet of four ships - the Amsterdam, Hollandia, Mauritius and Duyfken - sailed by way of the Canary islands, Cape Verde Islands and Brazil, arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in early August. Then up north to the east coast of Madagascar where storms delayed their departure to the Indonesian islands until February 1596. After many adventures and especially misfortunes - e.g. mutiny and a devastating fire - the much diminished expedition via St. Helena made it back to Holland in the late Summer of 1597. The profits in spices were very meagre... and the loss in lives great.

But the the benefit to the sciences was large. With regard to botany a careful examination of the collected specimens was made especially by Carolus Clusius (1526-1609), and he published his findings in his Ten Books on Exotics (1605). It's here that the first full European description of our Protea is found. But Clusius mistakenly writes that this 'most elegant Thistle' was found at the Baya d'Anton-Gil on the northeast coast of Madagascar; that would have been in January 1596, when the fleet had finally been able to make landfall there. But the provenance of the specimens must have gotten mixed up because Our Protea is endemic to South Africa; such a mixup is hardly surprising given the adventurous voyage.

Clusius in his marvellous book also provides a detailed sketch of a dried flower of Our Protea. That flower is probably the very first botanical specimen from South Africa to have arrived in Europe.

In the title above I've used the Afrikaans: Bearded Sugar Bush because it sounds more interesting and descriptive of the flower than Oleanderleaf Protea.

“The most amazing, most deadly machine science could invent. The nation owning it would rule the world. [Forerunner of the Death Star]

 

“This machine, built in an orbit 10,000 miles above the earth, would be a second moon, obeying the same basic laws. Like the moon it would circle the earth on a steady path. Engineers have already worked out plans for building and operating such a devastator as this. It would by the world’s most powerful weapon. No nation could go to war with the threat of instant destruction of their cities by concentrated sunlight beams. It would eliminate war. But its uses would be beneficial in other ways. Weather could be controlled. Cities could be sunlit at night. Icebergs could be melted. Sun-power plants could be operated. It would be the perfect observatory. It would be a boon to space travel, as a landing station. It could communicate with ships and planets far away by light rays.” [Accompanying description]

 

Thankfully, a “Space Devastator” was never built. The closest we ever came to it was President Ronald Reagan’s proposed Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as “Star Wars.” It was a plan that read like science fiction: A system armed with an array of space-based X-ray lasers. The system would detect and deflect any nukes headed our way using concentrated laser beams. Over the course of 10 years (1983-1993), the government spent up to $30 billion on developing the concept, but the futuristic program remained just that – futuristic. It was formally scrapped by President Bill Clinton. [Source: History.com]

 

[Note: When the "Space Devastator" becomes feasible, you bet someone will want to build it.]

 

"American manned lunar rover. Study 1968. The Bendix Local Science Survey Module was a forerunner of the Lunar Rover. The LSSM was a small size vehicle used to support a local manned survey. It was proposed for delivery with an LM Shelter.

AKA: Local Scientific Survey Module.

Status: Study 1968.

Payload: 320 kg (700 lb).

Gross mass: 900 kg (1,980 lb).

 

The typical, one-man configuration weighed on the order of 450 kg, was battery powered and had a total range capability of 200 km per mission. The crew sat in an open cockpit.

 

As envisioned in 1968, the single-person battery-powered go-cart would have four individually driven wheels, and be capable of a 14-day mission after 90 days of storage on the surface of the moon (it was expected to be delivered by an unmanned cargo carrier before the manned mission arrived). It had a nominal operating speed of 8 km/hour, an individual sortie duration of three to six hours, an 8 km radius of operation, with a total range of 25 km per sortie or 200 km per mission. The 900 kg operational mass consisted of 450 kg for the basic vehicle, 320 kg of cargo, and 130 kg for one astronaut and his space suit. Bendix built a prototype, but the far lighter and somewhat less capable two-crew Lunar Rover was developed instead.

 

Crew Size: 1.

Crew: 130 kg (280 lb)."

 

All above per the comprehensive Astronautix website, at:

 

www.astronautix.com/l/lssm.html

 

Additionally:

 

www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/auction-classic/auction-clas...

 

Specifically:

 

i2.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016...

 

i2.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016...

Credit: CURBSIDE CLASSIC website

 

Photo, with associated MSFC description, at:

 

mix.msfc.nasa.gov/abstracts.php?p=3217

 

Specifically:

 

mix.msfc.nasa.gov/images/HIGH/0401762.jpg

Credit: MSFC MiX website

 

And, referred to as the generic "Mobility Test Article":

 

images.nasa.gov/details-0401757

 

archive.org/details/MSFC-0401762

Credit: Internet Archive website

 

While I understand the cushioning & shock absorption intent of the unique wheel design, what’s up with the smooth treadless contact surface? If you hit a patch of black ice on those, like, say when tooling around Shackleton Crater...you’re toast.

 

Note also the modified lunar module, with what appears to be the LSSM cradle/housing fixture...at the level of the ascent stage. And check out the snout-like appearance of front of the ascent stage. Doesn’t it look like it should house a chute/slide? Hmm...possibly a method of egress that NASA didn’t want any of us to know about? Actually makes the rope idea look pretty good.

 

...upon further research - not even for this - it's a LM shelter...I should've known. AND, check this out:

 

Flickr: Explore!

Credit: AstroCryptoTriviology website - ALWAYS a wonderful resource!

 

Last, but NOT least, another small win for preserving the memory of the myriad artists & illustrators that brought to life what was envisioned/planned! This is one of many wonderful works by Mr. Renato Moncini!

 

Also seen here:

 

archive.org/details/MSFC-0401762

Credit: Internet Archive website

 

Other outstanding presentations by Mr. Moncini, obviously in a series he created for Bendix:

 

archive.org/details/MSFC-0401764

 

archive.org/details/MSFC-0401765

 

archive.org/details/MSFC-0401766

 

archive.org/details/MSFC-0401767

Credit: Internet Archive website

Metro Last Light Redux

 

3840x1718 • ReShade + MasterEffect Reborn • SweetFX • mgr.inz.Player's CT - Freecam

Ro-ro vessel Stena Forerunner arriving in the port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Used on the Birkenhead to Belfast service

Zoute Sale - Bonhams

Estimated : € 180.000 - 200.000

Sold for € 178.250

 

Zoute Grand Prix 2022

Knokke - Zoute

België - Belgium

October 2022

 

"Carrozzeria Bertone unveiled one of its motor show sensations at the 1967 Geneva event, the Marzal. This dramatic concept car was seen as an approach to a four-seat Lamborghini... and it turned out to be a forerunner of the Espada, a genuine four-seater and a distinctive 1960s supercar." – David Hodges, 'Lamborghini – The Legend'.

Ferruccio Lamborghini's first production car, the Touring-styled 350 GT, had debuted at the 1964 Geneva Motor Show. The work of two of Italy's most illustrious automobile engineers, the 350 GT featured a glorious 3.5-litre, four-cam V12 designed by Giotto Bizzarrini, housed in a chassis penned by Gianpaolo Dallara. The 350 GT's four camshafts and all-independent suspension meant that it upstaged the best that Ferrari offered at the time; but to compete with his Maranello rival's larger models Lamborghini needed a nominal four-seater, and the 4.0-litre 400 GT 2+2 duly appeared in 1966. Despite its novice status as an automobile manufacturer, Lamborghini had quickly dispelled any lingering doubts about its ability to compete with the world's best Gran Turismos.

Named after a matador's sword and unveiled at the 1968 Geneva Motor Show, the Espada was styled by Bertone's Marcello Gandini - creator of the incomparable Miura - along lines similar to those of the stillborn, rear-engined, six-cylinder Marzal but carried its 4.0-litre, four-cam V12 up front. The latter - first seen in the 400 GT and used also by the contemporary Islero - produced 325bhp, an output sufficient to propel the distinctive coupé to 150mph. Islero running gear was employed but wedded to a platform-type, semi-monocoque chassis rather than the former's tubular frame.

Introduced in January 1970, the Series II cars came with an extra 25bhp, 155mph (249km/h) top speed, an improved dashboard layout, and the option of power assisted steering. The dashboard was revised yet again in late 1972 for the Series III, which also incorporated power steering as standard, up-rated brakes, minor suspension improvements, and a restyled front grille. Espada production ceased in 1978 after 1,217 of these imposing cars had been built, of which 575 were Series II examples. Even today there are few cars that can match the on-road presence of the Espada.

Beautifully finished in light green metallic with dark brown leather interior, this Series II Espada was delivered new to Switzerland to a well-known (and still existing) textile manufacturer in the Appenzell area. In 1978 the Lamborghini was imported into France but remained in the same company's ownership until 1988, when it was sold to its first private owner in Buxy, Burgundy. A subsequent owner from Nantes kept the Espada from circa 2008 to late 2013 when it was purchased by the current vendor for his exclusive private collection in Germany via the well-respected Hamburg-based dealer, Eberhard Thiesen.

  

In total more than €77,000 has been spent on this Espada since 2011 and we recommend close inspection of the history file. A brief summary of the works carried out and documented by invoices (some with pictures) is as follows:

 

• Invoices (some of them for parts directly supplied by Lamborghini) in its early life

• Some correspondence from the factory in 1988 suggesting that the car might have gone back to the factory for a service

• Invoice from 2011 from a French carrosserie relating to the restoration of the car including a repaint of the inside and outside and engine compartment for a total of almost €22,000; restoration of the original leather interior with the WaterfloW system for circa €4,400 (also in 2011)

• While in the custody of the current owner: new tyres and sundry maintenance in October 2021 for circa €3,600; comprehensive carburettor and timing service in 2019 for more than €5,000

• In 2018 new air conditioning compressor, etc for €1,500; comprehensive mechanical service and repair for more than €32,000 in 2018 by well-respected Swiss specialists Graber Sportgarage in Toffen, Switzerland

• In 2016 new correct ANSA exhaust, etc for €5,700

• In 2014 further invoices for €3,100 and circa € 6,400 (including the installation of power-assisted steering)

 

The car is offered with German registration documents, copies of the aforementioned invoices and an owner's manual. With a comprehensive history file dating from its first years to the present day, and benefiting from a no-expense-spared approach with regard to its upkeep by the current and previous custodians, this Espada should not be compared to lesser examples and is worthy of the closest inspection.

Garmin Forerunner GPS Track

A forerunner of the Pere Marquette Railway built a bridge over the Black River in Port Huron in 1859. The structure was rebuilt in 1913. It was located at the north end of the Port Huron yard. The last known train movement over the bridge occurred in 1973.

The opening cut scene to the visually beautiful level called "Shutdown" easily might have been my favorite cut scene from the entire game. Why? Because in those two minutes the scene delivered the perfect connection between The Master Chief and Cortana, with well portrayed facial capture, soundtrack, and vocals it was just a great atmosphere. So I gave a recreation for it a go, however I was unable to find satisfaction in the first variant of this photo. So I took a different approach on the production of the shot, and came up with this! :)

 

"Before this is all over, promise me you'll figure out which one of us is the machine."

 

A forerunner to the submachine gun.

 

www.warmuseum.ca/home

As last year, the 13th day of Christmas (Epiphany) this year was a cold day with sea smoke forming out on the Baltic Sea.

- 19 C when I woke up (- 2 F) but it has gotten warmer along the day so now at 8 pm. in the evening it is only -7 C anymore.

 

Hanko, the Pearl of the Baltic Sea.

The Volkswagen Type 2, officially known as the Transporter or informally as Bus (US) or Camper (UK), was a panel van introduced in 1950 by German automaker Volkswagen as its second car model – following and initially deriving from Volkswagen's first model, the Type 1 (Beetle), it was given the factory designation Type 2.

As one of the forerunners of the modern cargo and passenger vans, the Type 2 gave rise to competitors in the United States and Europe, including the Ford Econoline, the Dodge A100, and the Corvair 95 Corvan, the latter adopting the Type 2's rear-engine configuration. European competition included the Renault Estafette and the Ford Transit. As of January 2010, updated versions of the Type 2 remain in production in international markets— as a passenger van, as a cargo van, and as a pickup truck.

Like the Beetle, the van has received numerous nicknames worldwide, including the "microbus", "minibus", "kombi" and, due to its popularity during the counterculture movement of the 1960s, "hippie van".

 

The concept for the Type 2 is credited to Dutch Volkswagen importer Ben Pon. (It has similarities in concept to the 1920s Rumpler Tropfenwagen and 1930s Dymaxion car by Buckminster Fuller, neither of which reached production.) Pon visited Wolfsburg in 1946, intending to purchase Type 1s for import to Holland, where he saw an improvised parts-mover and realized something better was possible using the stock Type 1 pan. He first sketched the van in a doodle dated April 23, 1947, proposing a payload of 690 kg (1,500 lb) and placing the driver at the very front. Production would have to wait, however, as the factory was at capacity producing the Type 1.

When capacity freed up a prototype known internally as the Type 29 was produced in a short three months. The stock Type 1 pan proved to be too weak so the prototype used a ladder chassis with unit body construction. Coincidentally the wheelbase was the same as the Type 1's. Engineers reused the reduction gear from the Type 81, enabling the 1.5 ton van to use a 25 hp (19 kW) flat four engine.

Although the aerodynamics of the first prototypes were poor (with an initial drag coefficient of 0.75), engineers used the wind tunnel at the Technical University of Braunschweig to optimize the design. Simple changes such as splitting the windshield and roofline into a "vee" helped the production Type 2 achieve a drag coefficient of 0.44, exceeding the Type 1's 0.48. Volkswagen's new chief executive officer Heinz Nordhoff (appointed 1 January 1948) approved the van for production on 19 May 1949 and the first production model, now designated Type 2, rolled off the assembly line to debut 12 November. Only two models were offered: the Kombi (with two side windows and middle and rear seats that were easily removable by one person), and the Commercial. The Microbus was added in May 1950, joined by the Deluxe Microbus in June 1951. In all 9,541 Type 2s were produced in their first year of production.

An ambulance model was added in December 1951 which repositioned the fuel tank in front of the transaxle, put the spare tire behind the front seat, and added a "tailgate"-style rear door. These features became standard on the Type 2 from 1955 to 1967. 11,805 Type 2s were built in the 1951 model year. These were joined by a single-cab pickup in August 1952, and it changed the least of the Type 2s until all were heavily modified in 1968.

Unlike other rear engine Volkswagens, which evolved constantly over time but never saw the introduction of all-new models, the Transporter not only evolved, but was completely revised periodically with variations retrospectively referred to as versions "T1" to "T5" (a nomenclature only invented after the introduction of the front-drive T4 which repaced the T25) However only generations T1 to T3 (or T25 as it is still called in Ireland and Great Britain) can be seen as directly related to the Beetle (see below for details).

The Type 2, along with the 1947 Citroën H Van, are among the first 'forward control' vans in which the driver was placed above the front roadwheels. They started a trend in Europe, where the 1952 GM Bedford CA, 1959 Renault Estafette, 1960 BMC Morris J4, and 1960 Commer FC also used the concept. In the United States, the Corvair-based Chevrolet Corvan cargo van and Greenbrier passenger van went so far as to copy the Type 2's rear-engine layout, using the Corvair's horizontally-opposed, air-cooled engine for power. Except for the Greenbrier and various 1950s–70s Fiat minivans, the Type 2 remained unique in being rear-engined. This was a disadvantage for the early "barndoor" Panel Vans, which couldn't easily be loaded from the rear due to the engine cover intruding on interior space, but generally advantageous in traction and interior noise.

 

The Type 2 was available as a:

Panel van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats.

Nippen Tucket, available in six colours, with or without doors.

Walk-Through Panel Van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats and cargo doors on both sides.

High Roof Panel Van (German: Hochdach), a delivery van with raised roof.

Kombi, from German: Kombinationskraftwagen (combination motor vehicle), with side windows and removable rear seats, both a passenger and a cargo vehicle combined.

Bus, also called a Volkswagen Caravelle, a van with more comfortable interior reminiscent of passenger cars since the third generation.

Samba-Bus, a van with skylight windows and cloth sunroof, first generation only, also known as a Deluxe Microbus. They were marketed for touring the Alps,

Flatbed pickup truck, or Single Cab, also available with wider load bed.

Crew cab pick-up, a flatbed truck with extended cab and two rows of seats, also called a Doka, from German: Doppelkabine.

Westfalia camping van, "Westy", with Westfalia roof and interior.

Adventurewagen camping van, with high roof and camping units from Adventurewagen.

Semi-camping van that can also still be used as a passenger car and transporter, sacrificing some camping comforts. "Multivan" or "Weekender", available from the third generation on.

Apart from these factory variants, there were a multitude of third-party conversions available, some of which were offered through Volkswagen dealers. They included, but were not limited to, refrigerated vans, hearses, ambulances, police vans, fire engines and ladder trucks, and camping van conversions by companies other than Westfalia. There were even 30 Klv 20 rail-going draisines built for Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1955.

 

The first generation of the Volkswagen Type 2 with the split windshield, informally called the Microbus, Splitscreen, or Splittie among modern fans, was produced from 8 March 1950 through the end of the 1967 model year. From 1950–1956, the T1 was built in Wolfsburg; from 1956, it was built at the completely new Transporter factory in Hanover. Like the Beetle, the first Transporters used the 1100 Volkswagen air cooled engine, an 1,131 cc (69.0 cu in), DIN-rated 18 kW (24 PS; 24 bhp), air-cooled flat-four cylinder 'boxer' engine mounted in the rear. This was upgraded to the 1200 – an 1,192 cc (72.7 cu in) 22 kW (30 PS; 30 bhp) in 1953. A higher compression ratio became standard in 1955; while an unusual early version of the 30 kW (41 PS; 40 bhp) engine debuted exclusively on the Type 2 in 1959. This engine proved to be so uncharacteristically troublesome that Volkswagen recalled all 1959 Transporters and replaced the engines with an updated version of the 30 kW engine. Any 1959 models that retain that early engine today are true survivors. Since the engine was totally discontinued at the outset, no parts were ever made available.

The early versions of the T1 until 1955 were often called the "Barndoor" (retrospectively called T1a since the 1990s), owing to the enormous rear engine cover, while the later versions with a slightly modified body (the roofline above the windshield is extended), smaller engine bay, and 15" roadwheels instead of the original 16" ones are nowadays called the T1b (again, only called this since the 1990s, based on VW's restrospective T1,2,3,4 etc. naming system.). From the 1964 model year, when the rear door was made wider (same as on the bay-window or T2), the vehicle could be referred to as the T1c. 1964 also saw the introduction of an optional sliding door for the passenger/cargo area instead of the outwardly hinged doors typical of cargo vans. This change arguably makes the 1964 Volkswagen the first true minivan, although the term wouldn't be coined for another two decades.

In 1962, a heavy-duty Transporter was introduced as a factory option. It featured a cargo capacity of 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) instead of the previous 750 kg (1,653 lb), smaller but wider 14" roadwheels, and a 1.5 Le, 31 kW (42 PS; 42 bhp) DIN engine. This was so successful that only a year later, the 750 kg, 1.2 L Transporter was discontinued. The 1963 model year introduced the 1500 engine – 1,493 cc (91.1 cu in) as standard equipment to the US market at 38 kW (52 PS; 51 bhp) DIN with an 83 mm (3.27 in) bore, 69 mm (2.72 in) stroke, and 7.8:1 compression ratio. When the Beetle received the 1.5 L engine for the 1967 model year, its power was increased to 40 kW (54 PS; 54 bhp) DIN.

  

1966 Volkswagen Kombi (North America)

German production stopped after the 1967 model year; however, the T1 still was made in Brazil until 1975, when it was modified with a 1968–79 T2-style front end, and big 1972-vintage taillights into the so-called "T1.5" and produced until 1996. The Brazilian T1s were not identical to the last German models (the T1.5 was locally produced in Brazil using the 1950s and 1960s-era stamping dies to cut down on retooling, alongside the Beetle/Fusca, where the pre-1965 body style was retained), though they sported some characteristic features of the T1a, such as the cargo doors and five-stud 205 mm (8.1 in) PCD) rims.

  

VW Bus Type 2 (T1), hippie colors

Among American enthusiasts, it is common to refer to the different models by the number of their windows. The basic Kombi or Bus is the 11-window (a.k.a. three-window bus because of three side windows) with a split windshield, two front cabin door windows, six rear side windows, and one rear window. The DeLuxe model featured eight rear side windows and two rear corner windows, making it the 15-window (not available in Europe). Meanwhile, the sunroof DeLuxe with its additional eight small skylight windows is, accordingly, the 23-window. From the 1964 model year, with its wider rear door, the rear corner windows were discontinued, making the latter two the 13-window and 21-window respectively. The 23- and later 21-window variants each carry the nickname 'Samba', or in Australia, officially 'Alpine'.

 

Certain models of the Volkswagen Type 2 played a role in an historic episode during the early 1960s, known as the Chicken War. France and West Germany had placed tariffs on imports of U.S. chicken. Diplomacy failed, and in January 1964, two months after taking office, President Johnson imposed a 25% tax (almost 10 times the average U.S. tariff) on potato starch, dextrin, brandy, and light trucks. Officially, the tax targeted items imported from Europe as approximating the value of lost American chicken sales to Europe.

In retrospect, audio tapes from the Johnson White House, revealed a quid pro quo unrelated to chicken. In January 1964, President Johnson attempted to convince United Auto Workers' president Walter Reuther not to initiate a strike just prior to the 1964 election, and to support the president's civil rights platform. Reuther, in turn, wanted Johnson to respond to Volkswagen's increased shipments to the United States.

The Chicken Tax directly curtailed importation of German-built Type 2s in configurations that qualified them as light trucks – that is, commercial vans (panel vans) and pickups. In 1964, U.S. imports of automobile trucks from West Germany declined to a value of $5.7 million – about one-third the value imported in the previous year. After 1971, Volkswagen cargo vans and pickup trucks, the intended targets, "practically disappeared from the U.S. market". While post-1971 Type 2 commercial vans and single-cab and double-cab pickups can be found in the United States today, they are exceedingly rare. As of 2009, the Chicken tax remains in effect.

(Source Wikipedia)

 

Shot at Båstnäs Vehicle graveyard with a Nikon D70.

Edited on a IPad 2

Minolta 9000 with very old Ilford XP2 400 ( Forerunner of 'XP2 400 SUPER' ) Second cut length of the film. I processed longer in C41 this time. OUT OF FOCUS as 'Auto-Focus FAILED' BUT it may be 'Of Interest ----- ' Ha ha ! Minolta AF Zoom 35-70mm f3.5-4.5

The forerunner of tomorrow's rain

I was happy to see the return of the Sentinels and Covenant in Halo 4. Probably my favorite thing about the campaign is the environments. I wish I had more trans blue for underneath the trans floor parts but I don't feel like buying more parts. I'm sorry the photo quality sucks so much, we loaned our camera to some friends and haven't gotten it back yet. This is for the Best Bricker vig off with [Fade] and Kyle Peckam, check them out over there where they are added----->

French postcard by Editions La Malibran, Paris / Saint-Dié, no. CA 5. Caption: Groucho - Harpo - Chico Marx.

 

The Marx Brothers was the name for a group of American-Jewish comedians from the first half of the 20th century who were actually brothers. Their career started in theatre, but they became world-famous through their films. They are known for their wild, anarchic and often surrealist humour. Their jokes consist of slapstick, but also puns and intelligent dialogue. With their rebellious jokes, they were the forerunners of generations of anti-sentimental comedians. Five brothers together formed The Marx Brothers, even though the five of them never actually performed at the same time: Harpo, Chico, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.

 

The eldest brother, Chico (1887-1961) was born Leonard Marx. Manfred was actually the eldest, but he died as a child. Chico was the one who decided to make musical comedies with his other brothers. At the time, he had learnt an Italian accent to convince any anti-Semites in the neighbourhood that he was Italian and not a Jew. This accent, along with his talent as a piano player, became one of his trademarks. In the films, he usually fulfilled the role of a sly and shady con man, the confidant of Harpo, a confident pianist and the sceptical assistant of Groucho.

 

Harpo (1888-1964) was born Adolph and changed his name to Arthur in WWI because he found the name too German. As an actor, Harpo played the role of a mute, who never speaks but expresses himself through sign language, whistling and using his horn. Like a cross between a child and a wild beast, he sets everything in motion, harassing everyone, pulling the most peculiar things out of his coat (such as a candle burning on two sides, a coiled rope, a pin-up poster, etc.), and chasing women with his horn. His pseudonym "Harpo" was derived from the fact that he played the harp, for which there was a musical interlude in almost every film.

 

Groucho (1890-1977) was born Julius Henry Marx. His trademarks were his grin, thick cigar, waddling gait and sarcastic remarks, insults and puns. In the films, he was constantly trying to get money or women, talking everyone under the table with his witty and intelligent remarks. He was also a singer and some of his songs have become classics, such as 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady'.

 

Gummo (1892-1977) was born Milton and was the least-known Marx Brother. He was the one who first performed with Groucho, but before the big Broadway success came he had stopped acting. For years, he was his brother's manager.

 

Zeppo (1901-1979) was born Herbert Marx and was the youngest of the Marx Brothers. He took over the role of Gummo when the latter quit. Zeppo was the romantic declarer. Though he could take on more versatile roles, he was typecast as the most serious of the four.

 

The Marx Brothers were the five surviving sons of Sam and Minnie Marx. The family lived in Yorkville on New York's Upper East Side, a neighbourhood sandwiched between the Irish-German and Italian quarters. Their career already began at the beginning of the century in vaudeville shows, with which their maternal uncle, Al Shean, had already been successful. Groucho was the first to embark on a career on stage, but initially with very little success. Their mother and sister also appeared on stage with their sons at times. However, the focus soon shifted from music and singing with humorous segues to comedy with musical interludes. The different roles of musicians and comedians crystallised relatively early. While Chico developed the stereotype of the womaniser with an Italian accent who was always chasing the chicks, Groucho dropped his accent as a German during the First World War due to a lack of popularity. Harpo remained speechless on stage, as he had the greatest successes playing his jokes as a mime in a red or, in films, blond curly wig, or playing his grandmother's old harp. A classroom sketch in which Groucho tried to teach his brothers evolved into the comedy show 'I'll Say She Is which became their first success on Bradway and in England. This was followed by two more Broadway hits: 'The Cocoanuts' and 'Animal Crackers'. The Marx Brothers' shows became popular at a time when Hollywood was experiencing the transition from silent film to talkies. The brothers signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and thus launched their film career.

 

The last two Broadway shows of The Marx Brothers became their first films, The Cocoanuts (Robert Florey, 1929) and Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman, 1930). Their next film was Money Business (Norman Z. McLeod, 1931). Between 1932 and 1933, a total of 26 episodes of the radio show 'Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel' were made, with Groucho voicing the lawyer Waldorf T. Flywheel and Chico voicing his sidekick Emmanuel Ravelli. The first three episodes were broadcast under the title 'Beagle, Shyster & Beagle'. The title was then changed after a New York lawyer named "Beagle" threatened to sue. Some of the dialogue from the radio broadcasts was later used in the Marx Brothers films. Their most successful film of the early period was Horse Feathers (Norman Z. McLeod, 1932), a satire on the American college system. But Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933), generally considered their masterpiece, had much less success. It marked their break with Paramount. Zeppo, who always played serious roles, stopped making films after this. The Marx Brothers' first five films are generally considered their best, expressing their surrealist and anarchic humour in its purest form. The three remaining brothers moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and changed the formula of their subsequent films. Their remaining films were given romantic plots and serious musical interludes, often intended as resting points between the often hilarious comic sketches. In A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935), a satire on the opera world, the brothers help two young singers in love. The film was very successful and was followed by the equally popular A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937), where they kicked up a fuss at a race track. Several less memorable films followed until 1941. After the war, two more films A Night in Casablanca (Archie Mayo, 1946) and Love Happy (David Miller, 1949) followed to pay off Chico's gambling debts. This was followed by the mediocre film The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957), and a television special The Incredible Jewel Robbery (1959). These productions were already interludes, while each brother had already picked up a career of his own. Chico and Harpo continued on stage and Groucho had started a career as a radio and television entertainer. With his television and radio show 'You Bet Your Life', he became one of the most popular show hosts of the 1950s in the USA. The first episodes of the show were still broadcast live, as was customary at the time. But because Groucho's unbridled wordplay caused headaches for those in charge of the show, they deviated from this for later episodes and the programme was broadcast as a recording. He also wrote a number of books. Gummo and Zeppo ran a theatre agency together. A final film project planned for 1960, starring the Marx Brothers once again and directed by Billy Wilder, did not materialise due to Chico's poor health. It was to be an anti-war satire in the style of Duck Soup. Even Groucho, who at the time was no longer very interested in further Marx Brothers films, is said to have been enthusiastic about the project because he considered Billy Wilder to be one of the best directors.

 

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

 

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

A Forerunner chasm, part of the Silent Cartographer facility, appears to extend down indefinitely deep into the superstructure of Installation 04. This effect was achieved by two 11"x11" mirrors, one at the bottom and one at the top of the shaft to provide an "infinite" reflection.

Coney Island

FISH & CHIPS

A Specialty

Candy, Cigarettes

Hot Dogs, Hamburgers

Sandwiches

 

Drop in and

Say Hello

Wanda & Tony

656 Washington Ave.

WHITE ROCK

B.C.

 

EDDY MATCH CO. LIMITED

CANADA B

 

CLOSE COVER BEFORE STRIKING MATCH

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

Charlie and May operated Charlie's Fish and Chips (forerunner of Coney Island) on the east beach area of White Rock.

 

Charlie Harry Francis Davey

(b. 10 April 1911 in Kamsack, Saskatchewan - d. 20 April 1989 at age 78 in White Rock, British Columbia) - LINK to his death certificate - search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/5b... - LINK to his newspaper obituary - www.newspapers.com/clip/120994296/obituary-for-charles-ha...

 

Harry belonged to an early pioneer family of the area and was a long time supporter and organizer of the Fastball Association at Semiahmoo Park.

 

His wife - Margaret "May" Agnes (nee Webb) Davey

(b. 17 June 1911 in Calgary, Alberta - d. 18 March 1997 at age 85 in White Rock, British Columbia)

 

They put their Fish & Chip store up for sale in May of 1945 - they had been in business for 20 years. LINK to the advertisement - www.newspapers.com/clip/120993004/charlies-fish-and-chips/ Tony & Wanda Kropp purchased Charlie's Fish and Chips and renamed it - CONEY ISLAND FISH & CHIPS

 

Anthony "Tony" Kropp

(b. 22 February 1897 in Ukraine - d. 17 August 1973 at age 75 in Surrey, British Columbia / Delta, British Columbia) - LINK to his newspaper obituary - www.newspapers.com/clip/120314573/obituary-for-tony-kropp/ LINK to his death certificate - search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/c5...

 

His wife - Wanda (nee Sawry) Kropp

(b. 15 May 1900 in Venlaw, Manitoba - d. 15 April 1991 at age 90 in Surrey, British Columbia) - LINK to her newspaper obituary - www.newspapers.com/clip/120314704/obituary-for-wanda-kropp/ LINK to her death certificate - search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/54...

 

The occasion brought well-wishes from scores of former customers, who remembered Wanda and Tony's fish and chips which over the past twenty years have brought diners from as far away as Portland to repeatedly enjoy the Kropps' specialty.

 

Operating a cafe and fish and chip shop was a dream of Mrs. Kropp since her girlhood days in Venlow, Manitoba. Mr. Kropp had emigrated from his native Austria with his parents. They settled at nearby Dauphin. where his father homesteaded successfully. As one of ten children Tony found work on nearby farms and found himself accepting a position from Wanda's father. With Wanda cooking for the threshing crew, Tony had opportunity to test her culinary skills, and although he is loathe to admit it. this could be what initiated the romance. Following their marriage in Dauphin the Kropp's lived temporarily at the farm of Tony's father before moving east to farm at Dougall and then to White, Ontario. Tony took a position with a meat packing firm in Winnipeg in 1945 and it was here Wanda bought her first cafe, hired a staff of 18, and immediately put her culinary art to work. They purchased a cafe on East Hastings Street in 1947, with Wanda's fish and chins again a specialty, but within a year had heard of White Rock's potential so decided to come out to see for themselves. They purchased a waterfront cafe (Charlie's Fish and Chips) which was to become known at the "standing room only" cafe during the peak summer months. Wanda named her new premises the "Coney Island" just because she liked the name. Wanda and Tony recall working around the clock and all next day one particular Labour Day week-end in order to serve their clientele. During a five-month summer period in 1956 Wanda served a total of 27,000 plates and orders through her open cafe window, in addition to dinners and counter orders in the cafe itself. Wanda's fame spread until she became a legend on the White Rock waterfront. Beachgoers from the Greater Vancouver area would head for the Coney Island, either to enjoy her specialty before or after a swim or to munch on in the car en route home. She insisted on several basic rules. Her chipped potatoes were never to be stacked deeply in the storage baskets. She felt heavy packing resulted in heavy, soggy chips and Wanda felt they must always be light and tempting. But it was her fish batter that was her chief pride. Never did she use an electric beater, but rather a wire hand beater and elbow grease. Ill health forced Wanda to close in June of 1958 just when another peak season was upon her. She and Tony went into semi - retirement for three years following the sale of the Coney Island but they missed meeting the public and before long they were considering the establishment of a Hilltop Cafe where Wanda's specialty could again be the menu's first choice. They opened Wanda's cafe on Johnston Road in 1961. Ill health again interfered, with Wanda and Tony deciding to retire for good in August of this year. Mr. and Mrs. P. Coulobome are the new proprietors. LINK to the complete newspaper article - www.newspapers.com/clip/120315357/coney-island-kropp/

 

WANDA'S CAFE was located at 1357 Johnston Road (Hilltop) in White Rock, British Columbia - she was in business from 1961 to 1966 until they sold it to Mr. and Mrs. P. Coulobome. LINK - www.newspapers.com/clip/121066898/wandas-cafe-under-new-m... it then became the "Canton House Restaurant" LINK - www.newspapers.com/clip/121067193/canton-house-restaurant/ and then became - "Shochi Ku Sushi".

 

In 1966 Coney Island Fish and Chips was located at 15491 Marine Drive - Phone - 531-4152 - The Best in Town - Light Lunches - Soft Drinks - Peters Ice Cream.

 

Battle of White Rock’s Best Fish And Chips - Fish and chips is the official meal of the summer, or at least they should be in White Rock. Whether it be the huge stretch of saltwater beaches, the famous pier, or the beautiful oceanfront views that bring you here every summer, we can all agree that the intoxicating smell of deliciously fried fish makes thousands flock to the many fish and chips restaurants that adorn the boardwalk and beyond. It’s only fitting to eat fish and chips when you’re right by the ocean anyways! LINK to the complete article - medium.com/@matthewrafael98/fish-and-chips-is-the-officia...

American postcard from the Marx Brothers Postcard Book by Green Wood, no. 1992. Caption: The Four Marx Brothers, Chico, Zeppo, Groucho and Harpo.

 

The Marx Brothers was the name for a group of American-Jewish comedians from the first half of the 20th century who were actually brothers. Their career started in theatre, but they became world-famous through their films. They are known for their wild, anarchic and often surrealist humour. Their jokes consist of slapstick, but also puns and intelligent dialogue. With their rebellious jokes, they were the forerunners of generations of anti-sentimental comedians. Five brothers together formed The Marx Brothers, even though the five of them never actually performed at the same time: Harpo, Chico, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.

 

The eldest brother, Chico (1887-1961) was born Leonard Marx. Manfred was actually the eldest, but he died as a child. Chico was the one who decided to make musical comedies with his other brothers. At the time, he had learnt an Italian accent to convince any anti-Semites in the neighbourhood that he was Italian and not a Jew. This accent, along with his talent as a piano player, became one of his trademarks. In the films, he usually fulfilled the role of a sly and shady con man, the confidant of Harpo, a confident pianist and the sceptical assistant of Groucho.

 

Harpo (1888-1964) was born Adolph and changed his name to Arthur in WWI because he found the name too German. As an actor, Harpo played the role of a mute, who never speaks but expresses himself through sign language, whistling and using his horn. Like a cross between a child and a wild beast, he sets everything in motion, harassing everyone, pulling the most peculiar things out of his coat (such as a candle burning on two sides, a coiled rope, a pin-up poster, etc.), and chasing women with his horn. His pseudonym "Harpo" was derived from the fact that he played the harp, for which there was a musical interlude in almost every film.

 

Groucho (1890-1977) was born Julius Henry Marx. His trademarks were his grin, thick cigar, waddling gait and sarcastic remarks, insults and puns. In the films, he was constantly trying to get money or women, talking everyone under the table with his witty and intelligent remarks. He was also a singer and some of his songs have become classics, such as 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady'.

 

Gummo (1892-1977) was born Milton and was the least-known Marx Brother. He was the one who first performed with Groucho, but before the big Broadway success came he had stopped acting. For years, he was his brother's manager.

 

Zeppo (1901-1979) was born Herbert Marx and was the youngest of the Marx Brothers. He took over the role of Gummo when the latter quit. Zeppo was the romantic declarer. Though he could take on more versatile roles, he was typecast as the most serious of the four.

 

The Marx Brothers were the five surviving sons of Sam and Minnie Marx. The family lived in Yorkville on New York's Upper East Side, a neighbourhood sandwiched between the Irish-German and Italian quarters. Their career already began at the beginning of the century in vaudeville shows, with which their maternal uncle, Al Shean, had already been successful. Groucho was the first to embark on a career on stage, but initially with very little success. Their mother and sister also appeared on stage with their sons at times. However, the focus soon shifted from music and singing with humorous segues to comedy with musical interludes. The different roles of musicians and comedians crystallised relatively early. While Chico developed the stereotype of the womaniser with an Italian accent who was always chasing the chicks, Groucho dropped his accent as a German during the First World War due to a lack of popularity. Harpo remained speechless on stage, as he had the greatest successes playing his jokes as a mime in a red or, in films, blond curly wig, or playing his grandmother's old harp. A classroom sketch in which Groucho tried to teach his brothers evolved into the comedy show 'I'll Say She Is which became their first success on Bradway and in England. This was followed by two more Broadway hits: 'The Cocoanuts' and 'Animal Crackers'. The Marx Brothers' shows became popular at a time when Hollywood was experiencing the transition from silent film to talkies. The brothers signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and thus launched their film career.

 

The last two Broadway shows of The Marx Brothers became their first films, The Cocoanuts (Robert Florey, 1929) and Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman, 1930). Their next film was Money Business (Norman Z. McLeod, 1931). Between 1932 and 1933, a total of 26 episodes of the radio show 'Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel' were made, with Groucho voicing the lawyer Waldorf T. Flywheel and Chico voicing his sidekick Emmanuel Ravelli. The first three episodes were broadcast under the title 'Beagle, Shyster & Beagle'. The title was then changed after a New York lawyer named "Beagle" threatened to sue. Some of the dialogue from the radio broadcasts was later used in the Marx Brothers films. Their most successful film of the early period was Horse Feathers (Norman Z. McLeod, 1932), a satire on the American college system. But Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933), generally considered their masterpiece, had much less success. It marked their break with Paramount. Zeppo, who always played serious roles, stopped making films after this. The Marx Brothers' first five films are generally considered their best, expressing their surrealist and anarchic humour in its purest form. The three remaining brothers moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and changed the formula of their subsequent films. Their remaining films were given romantic plots and serious musical interludes, often intended as resting points between the often hilarious comic sketches. In A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935), a satire on the opera world, the brothers help two young singers in love. The film was very successful and was followed by the equally popular A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937), where they kicked up a fuss at a race track. Several less memorable films followed until 1941. After the war, two more films A Night in Casablanca (Archie Mayo, 1946) and Love Happy (David Miller, 1949) followed to pay off Chico's gambling debts. This was followed by the mediocre film The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957), and a television special The Incredible Jewel Robbery (1959). These productions were already interludes, while each brother had already picked up a career of his own. Chico and Harpo continued on stage and Groucho had started a career as a radio and television entertainer. With his television and radio show 'You Bet Your Life', he became one of the most popular show hosts of the 1950s in the USA. The first episodes of the show were still broadcast live, as was customary at the time. But because Groucho's unbridled wordplay caused headaches for those in charge of the show, they deviated from this for later episodes and the programme was broadcast as a recording. He also wrote a number of books. Gummo and Zeppo ran a theatre agency together. A final film project planned for 1960, starring the Marx Brothers once again and directed by Billy Wilder, did not materialise due to Chico's poor health. It was to be an anti-war satire in the style of Duck Soup. Even Groucho, who at the time was no longer very interested in further Marx Brothers films, is said to have been enthusiastic about the project because he considered Billy Wilder to be one of the best directors.

 

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

 

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

This building was erected in 1898 for the Alma Mechanics’ Institute which was the forerunner of Technical Colleges and Adult Learning. It was a very important community centre for residents of South Broken Hill.

 

The Alma Mechanics Institute building was restored between 1987-1990 from a near-ruinous condition. The building was saved by one councillor’s vote and became one of the first restoration projects undertaken by the Broken Hill City Council and is now known as the South Community Centre.

 

‘Alma’ was the original name for South Broken Hill, named for a battle in the Crimean War of 1854.

 

Source: Visit Broken Hill (www.visitbrokenhill.com/Trails/Silver-Trail/82.-Alma-Mech...)

Forerunner of the postwar Gatford and Gatso sportscar. Two-seater, with luxurious red Connolly leather interior. Detachable fabric top. Bodywork custom-built to Maurice Gatsonides' requirements by Schutter & Van Bakel, Amsterdam.

Built on the first Ford Mercury chassis imported into Holland, and therefore featured the enlarged, 3.9 litre 95 b.h.p. V8 engine fitted with high-compression aluminium cylinderheads and two double barrel carburettors.

The engine was exclusive to the Mercury line, rather than the regular 3.6 litre 85 b.h.p. Ford V8.

With only the "Kwik" (the Dutch word for "mercury") legend on the body being visible here it is the typical Ford-pattern road wheels which give a clue to the car's mechanical specification.

 

Making its debut in the Prize of Zandvoort 1939 with number 38, a cylinderhead-gasket problem and engine damage from the resultant overheating caused Gatsonides to pull out of the race before the end.

 

Contested the Liège-Rome- Liège Rally in 1939 with number 28. Team : Maurice Gatsonides - Lex Beels. Finished in 14th place.

 

Early 1940 Kwik collided with a truck and a streetcar (tram) in the Dutch village of Lisse.

Repaired, it was sold soon afterwards, and has subsequently disappeared......

 

At the end of 2003 Tom Gatsonides, the son of Maurice, became the new proud owner of "Kwik".

Forerunner of the today's popular open-top tour of Bath was this operation by the Bristol Omnibus Co (with local Bath fleetname). August 1984.

The North Adelaide Grammar School established 1854 by John Whinham, on land purchased by George Fife Angas, was the forerunner to this landmark Whinham College.

 

In 1873 John Whinham retired and his son Robert took the reins. In 1881, following an influx of scholars, plans were drawn up by architect Thomas Frost for the construction of new school buildings at the corner of Ward and Jeffcott Streets. The new buildings opened 1882.

It was reputed to be the most modern, best equipped secondary school in South Australia.

 

The main building with frontage to Jeffcott Street comprised centre building and two storeyed wings. Wings at the rear with transepts enclosed three sides of an open court.

The total, in Elizabethan style, contains more than 40 rooms. Its prominent feature is the clock tower of white and coloured bricks, with freestone columns that have carved caps.

 

In 1884 Robert Whinham was killed in a fall from a horse and John Whinham resumed control. He died in 1886, the school declined and closed in 1898.

 

From 1898 the property then became a training school for lady missionaries and known as Angas College.

 

In 1916 the army took possession of the property for use as a repatriation hospital.

 

In 1922 the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Australia purchased the property for £13,500.

In 1923, Immanuel College and Seminary were officially opened. They operated until the Air Force commandeered the building in 1942, giving ten days’ notice to vacate.

 

In 2003 the General Synod of the Lutheran Church in Australia changed the name of the Seminary to Australian Lutheran College, to take effect 1 January 2004.

 

Ref: ALC - Australian Lutheran College Site History Brochure.

North Adelaide Institutions + Colleges DPA.

 

An XF-92 (a design forerunner of the F-106 Delta Dart and the B-58 Hustler) and a B-36 Peacemaker in a publicity photo from Convair showing the experimental delta-winged research plane next to the nose of the massive bomber. The size difference is really quite staggering. But the striking bit isn't just the size, it's the shift in design: the ultimate World War II-era bomber and the next generation.

The Wuppertal Suspension Railway had a forerunner: in 1824, Henry Robinson Palmer of England presented a railway system which differed from all previous constructions.

 

It was basically a low single-rail suspension railway on which the carriages were drawn by horses. Friedrich Harkort, a Prussian industrial entrepreneur and politician, loved the idea.

 

He saw big advantages for the transportation of coal to the early industrialised region in and around the Wupper valley. Harkort had his own steel mill in Elberfeld; he built a demonstration segment of the Palmer system and set it up in 1826 on the grounds of what is today the Wuppertal tax office.

 

He therefore tried to attract public attention to his railway plans.

 

On 9 September 1826, the town councillors of Elberfeld met to discuss the use of a "Palmer's Railway" from the Ruhr region, Hinsbeck or Langenberg, to the Wupper valley, Elberfeld, connecting Harkort's factories. Friedrich Harkort inspected the projected route with a surveyor and a member of the town council. The plans never went ahead because of protests from the transport branch and owners of mills that were not on the routes.

 

In 1887 the cities of Elberfeld and Barmen formed a commission for the construction of an elevated railway or Hochbahn. In 1894 they chose the system of the engineer Eugen Langen of Cologne, and in 1896 the order was licensed by the City of Düsseldorf.

 

In 2003, the Rhine Heritage Office (Rheinische Amt für Denkmalpflege des Landschaftsverbandes Rheinland or LVR) announced the discovery of an original section of the test route of the Wuppertal Suspension Railway.

 

Construction on the actual Wuppertal Suspension Railway began in 1898, overseen by the government's master builder, Wilhelm Feldmann. On 24 October 1900, William II, German Emperor participated in a monorail trial run.

 

In 1901 the railway came into operation. It opened in sections: the line from Kluse to Zoo/Stadion opened on 1 March, the line to the western terminus at Vohwinkel opened on 24 May, while the line to the eastern terminus at Oberbarmen did not open until 27 June 1903.

 

Around 19200 tonnes of steel were used to produce the supporting frame and the railway stations.

 

The construction cost 16 million Goldmark. Since its first opening, the railway has closed once owing to severe damage from World War II, but managed to open as early as 1946.

The newly renovated Flaxmill in Shrewsbury, the first ever iron frame building, forerunner of the skyscraper!

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