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The concept of innate knowledge is not novel to the Nene. It seems to be much more common amongst avian species but it isn't simply something associated with our feathered friends. At Slimbridge, some nene goslings are incubated, hatched, brooded and reared by their parent geese. Like the one in this photo, is spends its waking hours scouring the surroundings, grazing and browsing on local flora. It seems to know exactly which plants to choose and which to avoid. The obvious thought would be that mom and dad have taught it just what to pick and what to leave behind.
On the other hand Slimbrige staff also incubate, hatch, brood and raise a number of nene goslings separately. It's necessary in order to maintain populations on the refuge, as many naturally reared goslings are lost to local predators. Aside from the daily practice of yoga, which this gosling seems to be engaged in, these goslings demonstrate the same selectivity when grazing and browsing as their naturally reared brothers and sisters. This would suggest some form of innate knowledge since these goslings have no contact with parent geese, until they have paired up and are released back into the wild. The opportunity for further research boggles my mind. There is just so much that we don't understand. #NeneGoslings #Slimbridge
Shot taken under the helpful guidance of my aunt Joanie, who doesn't really use Flickr but has an account so I'm tagging her anyway. ;)
This is a very popular dance form in South India. It is oldest of all classical dance forms in India. Dance of mind & soul. It is extremely traditional and known for its grace, purity, tenderness, staturesque & sculpturesque poses. It uplifts the dancer and the beholder to a higher level of spiritual consciousness. The dancer is considered as a worshiper, worshiper of the Divine. An embodiment of beauty, charm and gracefulness.
The general interpretation for the name is
BHAva(expression) + RAga (music) + TAla(rhythm) + NATYAM(dance) = Bharatanatyam
Origin of Bharatanatyam
The Gods & Godesses pleaded Lord Brahma to create another veda which would be simple for the common man to understand. It is believed that considering this request Lord Brahma created the Panchamaveda, Fifth veda, Natyaveda, an essence of the other four vedas. It is believed that he has taken pathya (words) form the Rigveda, abhinaya (gesture) from the Yajurveda, geet (music and chant) from Samaveda and rasa (sentiment and emotional element) from Atharvaveda to form the fifth veda, Natyaveda.
After creating this natyaveda, Lord Brahma gave the same to sage Bharata and asked him to popularise this veda on earth. Following the words of Lord Brahma, sage Bharata wrote Natyashastra or the Science of Dramaturgy, a great, comprehensive work on the science and technique of Indian drama, dance and music.Bharatanatyam might have got its name from sage Bharata also.The dancers still follow this work to perform.
There is also another story which says that Godess Parvathi tought this dance form to Usha, daughter of Banasura, a demon. Usha taught the same to the Gopikas of the city of Dwaraka, Lord Krishna's birth place. Thus the divine dance form Bharatanatyam was introduced to the mankind.
In Indian mythology,Lord Shiva is considered as the supreme lord of dance. This divine art form is performed by Lord Shiva & his wife Goddess Parvathi. The Dance performd by Lord Shiva is known as Tandava, which depicts his violent nature as the distructor of the universe. The tandava performed with joy is called Ananda Tandava and performed in violent mood is called Rudra Tandava. There are 7 types of Tandava. Namely Ananda Tandava, Tripura Tandava, Sandhya Tandava, Samara Tandava, Kaali tandava, Uma Tandava and Gauri Tandava. There are few people who believa that there are 16 types of Tandava. Tandava has vigourous, brisk movements.The dance performed by Goddess Parvathi is known as Lasya, in which the movements are gentle, graceful and sometimes erotic also. Some scholars call Lasya as the feminine version of Tandava. Lasya has 2 kinds. Jarita Lasya and Yauvaka Lasya.
The art form has definitely gone through lot of changes over the years. In olden days it was performed mostly by female artists. They were called Devadasis, who would perform in the temples. These devadasis were accomplished artists who would sing, dance, play many instruments. They were well worsed in sanskrit & other languages which helped them to interpret compositions which they would perform. But this tradition came to an end as the devadasis lost their position in the society.
Then dance entered the royal courts. Here the artists called Rajanartakis, performed in the courts of kings who gave them shelter.Even these were accomplished artists like devadasis.
The next well-documented period of dance history is far more recent. In the first half of the 19th century the dance tradition was revitalized and defined anew through the contributions of four talented brothers (known today as the Tanjore Quartet)Chinniah, Sivanandam, Ponniah and Vadivelu. By coordinating their diverse talents, the four managed to organize all the basic dance movements of pure dance into a progressive series of lessons [adavu chapters]. Each adavu (basic unit of motion) was taught in systematic order and then combined with others to produce choreographed sequences based upon the rhythmic contour of a musical composition (Krishnamoorthy Pillai). In addition the brothers composed new music specifically for the dance, and introduced a different sequence of items which integrated the various aspects of dance and music into a carefully coordinated, aesthetically sound progression. This infusion of creative energy marks the early 19th century as one of the most innovative periods in the history of Indian dance.
The contribution of Udayshankar, Rukminidevi Arundale and Balasaraswathi, in the 20th century, cannot be forgotten at this juncture.
Even though Bharatanatyam has gone through lot of changes, it still has its roots deep into the religious and rich mythological heritage of India. In the modern day scenario it is performed by both male & female artists. Many learn as a hobby and few make it as a profession. Whether taken as a hobby or a profession it certainly needs lot of practice,concentration and dedication.
About Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam is evenly divided between three elements Nritta, Nritya and Natya .
Nritta : Rhythmic Element.Interprits the language of rhythm with the help of body movements.
Nritya : Combination of Rhythm with Expression.Conveys poetic meaning with the help of expressions, rhythmic gaites and postures. eg. Varna, Shabda, Pada etc.
Natya : Dramatic Element.Performing for a theme like Ramayana, Mahabharata etc.
Nritta
Nritta can be broadly divided into Chari, Karana, Angahara and Mandala. Movement of a leg is called Chari. Movement of both the legs is Karana. 3 Karanas make a Khanda. 3 to 4 Khandas make a Mandala. 4 to 9 Karanas make a Angahara. 4 to 5 Angaharas also make a Mandala. 108 Karanas and 32 Angaharas are defined in Natyashatra. The 13 Nritta Hastas (explained later) are used to perform nritta. The rythmic body movements along with hand gestures are called Aduvus. Number of aduvus constitute a Jati. Jati will generally end with a Muktaya or Teermana.
There are varieties of Aduvus like
Tattaduvu
Mettaduvu
Nataduvu
Kattaduvu
Kudittamettaduvu
Maiaduvu
Mandiaduvu
Jati
Nadai
Ardi
There are 12 aduvus in each of the above explained. Hence 120 aduvus exist in total. Only about 70 - 80 are in practice. The aduvus are more or less Karanas. Hence can be concluded that there are 108 aduvus. The 108 Karanas or Aduvus are carved in the Chidambaram Temple in Tanjore, Tamilnadu, India. To perform an aduvu aramandi, bending of the knees is very very important.
The entire body is divided as Anga, Pratyanga and Upaanga.
Anga
Anganyatra shirohastau vaksha paarshwakateetatau
Paadaviti shaduktaani greevamapyapare jaguhu
Head, Hands, Chest, Waist, Bottom, Legs are the Six Angas. Some people include Neck also.
Pratyanga
Pratyangaani twathaskandhau baahoo prushtam tathodaram
ooroo janghe shadityahurapare manibandhakau
jaanooneekoorparamiti trayamapyadhikam jaguhu
Shoulders, Arms, Stomuch, thighs, Knee are the Six Pratyangas. Some people include Wrist, elbow and Ankle also.
Upaanga
Drushtibhrooputatarashcha kapolau naasikaahanuhu
Adharodashanaa jihwaa chubukam vadanam tatha
Upaangani dwadashitaanyanyaanyangaani santi cha
Paarshnee gulbautathangulyaa karayoho padayostale
Sight, Eyebrow, Eye lids, Eye balls, Cheeks, Nose, Gums, Lower Lip, Teeth, Tongue, Chin and Face are the 12 Upaangas. Few people include Heels, Fingers, Feet, Palm also into upaangas.
Pratynaga and Upaangas should move along with the Angas.
Anga Lakshana, the way of moving body parts, are described below.
Shirobhedha - Head Movement
Greevabhedha - Neck Movement
Drushtibhedha - Eye Movement
Paadabhedha
Mandala - Standing Posture
Utplavana - Leaps
Bhramari - Circling Movement
Chari - Leg Movement
Gatibhedha - Charecteristic walks and
Hastas or Mudras - Hand Movements
Asamyuta Hasta
Samyuta Hasta
Deva Hasta
Dashavatara Hasta
Navagraha Hasta
Jaati Hasta
Bandhu Hasta
Nritta Hasta
When all Angas(main body parts) coordinate (along with pratyanga and upaanga) the artist is said to have Angashudhi. Anga meaning body parts and shudhi, meaning perfect. Any dancer should try to achive this perfection. The Natyashastra, which talks about all aspects of Bharatanatyam, quotes shlokas to perform all the above movements. All the above said movements are dealt in detail in the respective links.
Aspects of Abhinaya
The expressions which are shown to express poetic meanings is Abinaya. Here the emphasis is more on facial expressions than rhythmic movements. The Abinaya is divided as
Angikabhinaya
Vachikabhinaya
Aharyabhinaya
Satvikabhinaya
Angikabhinaya : Expressing the meanings of lyrics using the body parts like Head, Hands, Legs etc. is Angikabhinaya. The Bhedas which i have explained above come under Angikabhinaya.
Vachikabhinaya : Expressing the Story using narrations in the dance drama is Vachikabhinaya.
Aharyabhinaya : Imitating the Costumes, Jewellary, Make-up etc. in a dance comes under Aharyabhinaya.
Satvikabhinaya :Showing the Bhava(moods) come under Satvikabhinaya.
Lord Shiva is praised as the embodiment of the above 4 types of abinaya in this following shloka.
Angikam bhuvanam yasya
Vachicam sarva vangmayam
Aharyam chandra taradi
tam vande satvikam shivam.
Meaning for the above shloka is
We bow to Him the benevolent One
Whose limbs are the world,
Whose song and poetry are the essence of all language,
Whose costume is the moon and the stars..."
In Lord Shiva's well-known pose of NATARAJA,
his right hand holds the drum of creation - symbolising a new awakening
his left hand holds fire - representing destruction of the old order
his other right hand is raised in blessing
the other left hand points to his left foot, which has crushed demon Muyalaka - representing ignorance.
There are nine main or primary emotions, Sthayibhavas. It is also termed as Rasa(Mood).
Shringara - Love
Hasya - Mirth
Veera - Heroism
Roudra - Anger
Bhayanaka - Terror
Bheebatsa - Disgust
Adbhuta - Wonder
Karuna - Compassion
Shanta - Tranquility
Vatsalya(Parental fondling) rasa is also sometimes included as one of the stayibhava.
Vibhava (cause of emotion), Anubhava (effect of emotion) and Sanchari bhava (subordinate emotions) constitute the state of rasa.
Now i would like to talk about Nayika(the Heroine) and Nayaka (the Hero) bhavas.
The Nayika Bhava
The shastras have classified the basic mental status of woman, the Nayika, into Eight divisions, called Ashtanayika bhavas. These divisions portray the heroine in different situations, express different feelings, sentiments & reactions.
The Ashtanayika bhava are
Abhisarika
Kalahantarika
Khandita
Proshitapathika
Swadheenapathika
Vasakasajjika
Virahotkantita
Vipralabda
Abhisarika - She is the one who boldly goes out to meet her lover.
Kalahantarika - She is the one who is repenting her hastiness in quarrelling with her lover, which has resulted in their seperation.
Khandita - She is the one who is angry with her lover for causing dissapointment.
Proshitapathika - She is the one who is suffering in the absence of her beloved, who is away on a long journey.
Swadheenapathika - She is the one who is proud of her husband's or beloved's love and loyalty.
Vasakasajjika - She is the one who is preparing for the arrival of her beloved, by decorating herself and her surroundings. to provide a pleasent welcome to her lover.
Virahotkantita - She is the one who is seperated from her lover & is yearning for reunion.
Vipralabda - She is the one who is dissapointed that her lover has not turned up at the tryst as he promised.
Other classifications of the Nayika bhava are
Mugdha - Inexperienced in love.
Madhya - Partly Experienced in love.
Pragalbha - Matured in the art of love.
This Pragalbha Nayika is further classified as
Dheera
Adheera
Dheeraadheera
Sweeya - Married & faithful to her husband.
Parakeeya - Married but in love with another man.
Samanya - A free woman, who truly belongs to any man for a price.
Jyeshta - The preferred one.
Kanishta - The other woman.
Further classifications are
Uttama - Self-controlled & tolerant.
Madhyama - Literally the middle one, who gives as she gets.
Adhama - Literally the low one, who has no self restraint.
The Companion to the Nayika plays an important role in any padam, javali or Ashtapadi. This Companion is the one to whom the Nayika will convey her feelings, she is the one who will take the message,if any, from the nayika to the nayaka, she is the one who will sort out the differences between the nayika & the nayaka. This companion is usuallly a girl who is close to the Nayika.
The classification of the Companion is as follows.
Daasi - Servant
Sakhi - Friend
Kaaroo - Woman from a lower caste
Chatriya - Step Sister
Prativamshini - Neighbour
Lindini - Saint
Shilpani - Artist
Swaa - Nayika herself as a messenger
The Nayaka Bhava
Just like the heroines, the moods and emotions of the hero are also classified into different divisions. The main division is
Dheerodaatta eg. Lord Rama
Dheeroddhata eg. Demon Ravana
Dheeralalita eg. Vatsaraaja
Dheerashanta eg. Buddha
The other classification is
Pati - Married & faithful to his wife.
Upapati - Married but in love with another woman.
Vaisika - One who pays & enjoys women.
Further Nayaka classifications
Anukoola - Faithful to the Woman. eg. Lord Rama
Dakshina - Loves all his wives or women. eg. Arjuna
Drishta - When rejected, pleads to be accepted by his woman. eg. Vaali
Shatha - The deceitful one. eg. Lord Krishna
Most of the ashtanayika bhavas are experienced by the Nayaka also though the depiction of ashtanayika is more than the nayaka.
Nayaka's Companion plays an important role too. This companian is categorised as
Peetamardhana
Vita
Cheta
Vidooshaka
Arangetram
Arangetram is a tamil word.Aranga meaning raised floor and Etram meaning climbing in Tamil,one of the south indian languages. It is also called Rangapravesha in Kannada, another south indian language, Ranga meaning Stage and Pravesha meaning Enter. Ideally this should be the first public performance of an artist. After learning bharatanatyam under the guidance of an accomplished guru, this is the occation for the proud guru to present his/her deciple to the public. This is the testing time for both the guru & the shishya(deciple) as the guru's knowledge & the deciple's talent both are judged by the public. Hence, the guru will decide when the deciple is ready for public appearence. Atleast 10 - 12 years of training is necessary to give a comendable performance.
This arangetram was known as Gejjepooje in old mysore district, meaning worshiping the jingles in kannada, a south indian language.For a dancer, jingles are considered devine. In olden days, deciples were not allowed to wear jingles till their first public performance. In their first performance, they were made to worship the jingles, wear them & then perform.
Accompaniments play a major role in the making of a memorable dance performance.Basic accompaniments are a Singer, Mridangam player, Violin player and ofcource the Natuvanga. Veena,Flute and other instruments are optional. These people sit in the corner of a stage or in a place in front of the stage which will be in a lower level than that of the stage.
The artist will wear lot of jewellery, make-up and a specially stitched dress. Jingles are a must.
Usually duration of an arangetram will be 2 1/2 - 3 hours. To perform for such long hours one must have good stamina and concentration. This time is divided into two halves.
In the first half the artists generally perform
Pushpanjali or Alaripu
Jatiswara
Shabda
Varna
In the second half
Padam
Ashtapadi or Devaranama
Tillana
Mangala
Pushpanjali
This is an item where the artist salutes to god, guru and the audience. This item is a warmup item where the artist prepares the body for the next few hours of vigorous performance.
Alaripu
This is a tamil word.Alar meaning to bloom. It comprises of set of movements without any meaning or expression. The movements are performed for syllables set for a beat(Tala). The complexity of the movements gradually increase. The steps are so formed that it looks like a bud blooming into a flower. This is also a warmup piece to prepare the body for the next few hours of performance. Eventhough there is no meaning, this can also be considered as an item where the artist salutes god,guru and the audience.
Jatiswaram
This is also an item where the movements will not convey any meaning or theme. Here the steps are more complex than the previous items. The composition can have amazing postures and teermanas or muktayas(ending of a jati). This is a musical composition set to a raga unlike alaripu which has only syllables.
Shabda
This is a dance item with both nritta & abinaya. Usually the theme of the lyrics will be devotional like praising lord krishna, depicting lord krishna's childhood , praising a king etc.The movements here are leisurely.
Varna
This is the item where the dancers are tested for their capacity to perform abinaya & nritta. This can be treated as a benchmark to judge the artist's talent.The item will contain many complex steps and will have lot of room for expressions also. To perform this item one should have lot of stamina & concentration. The lyrics can be devotional, praising a king etc. Varna can also have shrigara rasa as its theme.
Padam
In this dance item the dancer's abhinaya is put into test. It narrates expression of divine love or pangs of seperation in love. The tempo is slow and the performance is based on a specific mood of love.Padams will have Nayaka(Hero, Supreme lover, Divine Lord)& Nayika(Heroine, the yearning soul). Heroine will talk to her friend(sakhi) and narrate her feelings towards her hero. The lyrics can be about how the hero has betrayed, how he has delayed the arrival, how she is angry with her beloved hero etc. The Nayika and Nayaka Bhavas are explained in detail Here.
Ashtapadi
These are poet Jayadeva's Sanskrit compositions called Geetagovinda, an extremely romantic composition. It describes the love of Krishna and Radha in twelve cantos containing 24 songs. The songs are sung by Krishna or Radha or by Radha's maid. Each Canto is named differently considering Krishna's status of mind.
Saamodadamodara - Joyful Krishna
Aakleshakeshava - Careless Krishna
Mugdhamadhusoodhana - Bewildered Krishna
Snigdhamadhusoodhana - Tender Krishna
Saakankshapundareekaksha - Longing Krishna
Kuntavaikunta - Indolent Krishna
Naagaranaaraayana - Cunning Krishna
Vilakshalakshmeepatihi - Abashed Krishna
Mandamukunda - Languishing Krishna
Chaturachaturbhuja - Intellegent Krishna
Saanandadamodara - Blissful Krishna
Supreetapeetambara - Ecstatic Krishna
Expressions are given foremost importance while performing these poems. Needs lot of grace. The artist should be mature enough to understand the lyrics and the situation to show the rasas.
Devaranama
This item is a devotional piece where the lyrics are in praise of god, describing the god etc. This is a pure abhinaya item with almost no emphasis on nritta. Usually the lyrics are in Kannada. These songs are the compositions of great mystics like Purandharadaasa, Kanakadaasa, Vijayadaasa, Vyasaraaja to name a few. The compositions are popularly known as Daasa Sahitya. It is a devotional literatures written in simple language understood by common man. It has made remarkable contribution to the spiritual and cultural upliftment of people by preaching phylosophy of Love, Devotion and Peaceful Co-Existance.
If you are looking for some compositions, here they are.
Tillana
This is usually the last item in any bharatanatyam performance. Tillana is full of complicated movements & postures. This will also have complicated Muktayas or Sholkattu, ending of any step or aduvu. This is mainly a nritta piece which might have a charana, a meaningfull lyrics for which abinaya is shown.
Mangala
Meaning ending the performance. Here the artist will again salute god, guru & the audience for making the performance a success.
Original source can be found here.
Good evening everyone!
Check out me sucking on a ………….
……….no no wait.
Actually – I will mail a t-shirt to the person who can correctly ascertain what the fuck is in my mouth. Do not doubt me – a t-shirt is yours if you can figure it out.
First correct comment wins. Do not doubt me people.
I mean – it’s hard to see. I dodged and burned the fuck out of unnamed object for it to be more received as a cigarette or some other cool object.
Not a cigarette.
And no cock jokes you assholes. Fuck you all! Ha-ha.
Has anyone noticed my new section on my signature in which I am beginning to proclaim an album of the day? No one cares? Fuck you all – again. (giggle)
I’m decent at photography. I’m pretty good at writing. But my music tastes probably surpass both of these formally mentioned hobbies.
I remember when I was in my 20’s. I would meet a girl by whatever means and eventually bring her by my “pad”. I’d always try to woo her with my music knowledge and kickass CD collection.
I swear to god I have the “mix tape” (when I was a teenager) and the “mix cd” (until present day) to thank for me scoring at least a couple of chicks. I’d bust out this badass mix and personalize it for them and they’d swoon for more.
Works every time!!
The key guys (and I mean my fellow males) is to change it up. The songs on the mix I mean. Decades, genre’s, slow, fast, etc. Change it up, like sex sort of?
Me so slick.
The shot at hand? Pimp running out of time for a shot of the day. I was tired as shit and didn’t feel like going outside to lay down on the fucking ground yet again. So I went into my bathroom and sucked on unseen object for all of you.
Yummy.
Location: in my bathroom; Alameda, California
Taken: August 17th, 2009
Posted: August 23rd, 2009
Album of the Day: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix
*=lapse
Edith Wilson: The first lady who fooled D.C. and ran the White House
Rebecca Boggs Roberts’s ‘Untold Power’ is a riveting look at a president’s powerful spouse and her efforts to conceal his illness
Edith Bolling Galt in her electric automobile. She was the first woman to earn a D.C. driver’s license. (Library of Congress)
By Barbara A. Perry
March 29, 2023 at 8:23 a.m. MST
Unless readers are aficionados of Woodrow Wilson’s presidency, they may possess only vague knowledge that a debilitating stroke incapacitated him in his administration’s final year and that his wife Edith became the unofficial “acting president.” This intriguing tale of how a first lady, with minimal formal education and no government experience, effectively took the reins from the partially paralyzed chief executive and guided his White House, from October 1919 to March 1921, is as riveting as it is improbable.
By virtue of her DNA, author Rebecca Boggs Roberts is well acquainted with Washington’s power dynamics. The daughter of the late political commentator Cokie Roberts and granddaughter of the late House Democratic Majority Leader Hale Boggs, Rebecca also counts on her family tree grandmother Lindy, who served nine terms in Congress after Hale disappeared, and was declared dead, following a 1972 plane crash. Equally genetic, given her father Steven Roberts’s journalistic career, is Rebecca’s flair for writing crisp and engaging narratives. Her book “Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson” is quite simply a compelling yarn.
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson. (Library of Congress)
How did Edith Bolling, born and raised in Wytheville, Va., a sleepy town nestled in post-bellum Appalachia, ultimately become one of the most powerful first ladies in American history? As a teenager, she followed her married sister to Washington and embraced the cultural and social life of the booming Gay Nineties city. In 1896, she married the successful, if unexciting, owner of a thriving jewelry store who was almost a decade older than the new Mrs. Edith Bolling Galt. He died a dozen years later, leaving Edith a widow of some means at age 35, unable to bear children after her only pregnancy resulted in a difficult birth and the death of the Galts’ infant son.
Viking
Unlike most women of her era, Edith lived independently, traveling abroad when the spirit moved her, tooling around the nation’s capital in an electric automobile (as the first woman to earn a D.C. driver’s license) and eschewing large soirees for intimate dinners with extended family. She had little interest in politics, opposed women’s suffrage and declined a friend’s invitation to attend Woodrow Wilson’s 1913 inaugural parade and a presidential tea. A friend, the White House physician Cary Grayson, introduced her to the grieving president shortly after Wilson’s first wife, Ellen, died of kidney disease in the second year of his first term.
Although a strait-laced Presbyterian and stodgy academic, Wilson immediately bonded with Edith, 16 years his junior, finding her beautiful, stylish, charming and vivacious. The merry widow added gaiety to his life, and he was as smitten as a teenage schoolboy. Realizing that his lovesickness would appear unseemly so soon after his first wife’s passing, the president initially confined his ardent courtship to secret assignations with the more restrained Edith.
Roberts’s description of Wilson’s wooing springs to life through her careful research of the love notes the couple exchanged almost daily. In addition, the author skillfully deconstructs the second Mrs. Wilson’s 1939 memoir, the first book of its kind penned by a former first lady. This biography is the only one to reflect the recently transcribed memoir chapters written in Edith’s scribbled penmanship and preserved at her birthplace.
First lady Edith Wilson and President Woodrow Wilson, left, arrive in New York on Oct. 11, 1918, to take part in the Liberty Day Parade. (AP)
The Wilsons’ 1915 marriage cemented a fruitful partnership, as the president’s new spouse sustained him through World War I, accompanied him to the Paris peace talks and supported his dogged efforts to secure Senate approval of the Treaty of Versailles. Establishing what modern political scientists now label “the rhetorical presidency,” Woodrow Wilson firmly believed that he could lead Congress and the people by speaking to them directly and in person. It was his overly ambitious cross-country whistle-stop tour that exhausted the president and induced a catastrophic cerebral hemorrhage, paralyzing his left side, affecting his speech and weakening his cognitive ability.
Roberts’s storytelling soars as she leads the reader through Edith’s machinations to hide her husband’s disabilities while maintaining his White House’s functions. She manipulated the Cabinet, Vice President Thomas Marshall and members of Congress to disguise the worst of the president’s symptoms, while making it appear that he maintained control over his faculties and public policy. She literally became his left hand, holding down documents as he signed them with his dominant and unaffected right hand.
From his 1919 stroke until his death in 1924, Edith Wilson maintained the fiction that her husband was functioning normally. She spent the remainder of her long life promoting his legacy as an advocate for freedom at home and abroad. One of her last public appearances, before her death in December 1961 at age 89, was to meet with President John F. Kennedy in the Oval Office when he signed the bill creating the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Commission.
First lady Eleanor Roosevelt, left, and former first lady Edith Wilson attend a Girl Scouts exhibit in Washington in 1934, holding jars of marmalade made by the Scouts. (AP)
In that sense, Edith was no different from all the modern first ladies (including Eleanor Roosevelt, Mamie Eisenhower, Jacqueline Kennedy, Pat Nixon, Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton) who supported their debilitated husbands, laid low by illness or scandal, and tried to solidify their legacies if they outlived them. Yet even the influential Roosevelt and Clinton never became “acting presidents.” As Roberts relates, it was JFK’s assassination that prompted the 25th Amendment’s ratification in 1967, providing for the vice president to assume the presidency upon the chief executive’s documented incapacitation. We can be grateful that Edith Wilson’s unprecedented and unofficial substitution for her husband demonstrated the need for such a constitutional remedy for presidential illness.
Barbara A. Perry, the Gerald L. Baliles professor and presidential studies director at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, is the author of “Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier” and “Rose Kennedy: The Life and Times of a Political Matriarch.”
Untold Power
The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson
By Rebecca Boggs Roberts
Viking. 302 pp. $30
Barbara A. Perry, the Gerald L. Baliles professor and presidential studies director at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, is the author of “Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier” and “Rose Kennedy: The Life and Times of a Political Matriarch.”
Tiger stuffed animal toy pattern.
From "The Book of Knowledge: The Children's Encyclopaedia," vol. 3, New York: The Grolier Society, 1911.
TRADITON AND ANTITRADITION
291. Tradition means a handing over: the handing over of a supertemporal circle of principles here in time.
292. Tradition is the atemporal thrown into temporality.
293. Knowledge of the origin, knowledge of the path, knowledge of the all-transcending, ultimate goal: this is metaphysical tradition.
294. Tradition springs forth from the eternal, points at the eternal, and in the human modality of being represents the aspiration towards the eternal.
295. Metaphysical tradition is at the same time solar and polar: polar for though it appears in the earthly-human sphere, yet it is of heavenly origin and for this reason its origin is not subject to the whirlpool of existence (samsara), it is solar for the powers characteristic of my self-awareness which provide the rule of the auton are present in it.
296. There is only one primordial tradition for there is only one metaphysics, and there is only one metaphysics for there is only one being.
297. Tradition can never be identified simply with metaphysical doctrines or with symbology bearing a doctrinal value, and even less with the archaic documents that present these. Tradition is the total acceptance of a world and the total denial of another.
298. Metaphysically speaking, tradition is nothing other than »remembrance«, and the bearing of the connection with the origin. Modernity, however, is not only the lack of this »remembrance«, but at the same time the denial of this metaphysical »remembrance« and aims at the destruction of every kind of representation of remembrance.
laß die Ängste los und vergiß die Wunden
vieni con me
lascia le paure, dimentica le ferite
Einmalige, außerordentliche akustische Version von My ever changing moods, ein Muss!! Ich glaub, ich verliebe mich wieder in Paul Weller...
Das war der letzte Sonnenuntergang auf Rügen, ich glaub, ich muß wieder hin...
Stupenda, straordinaria versione acustica di My ever changing moods, imperdibile! Temo che mi innamorerò di nuovo di Paul Weller...
Questo era l'ultimo tramonto a Rügen, ora mi tocca tornarci...
Daylight turns to moonlight and I'm at my best
Praising the way it all works, and gazing upon the rest, yeah
The cool before the warm, the calm after the storm
The cool before the warm, the calm after the storm
I wish to stay forever, letting this be my food
Oh, but I'm caught up in a whirlwind
And my ever changing moods, yeah
Bitter turns to sugar, some call a passive tune
But the day things turn sweet for me won't be too soon, no
The hush before the silence, the winds after the blast
The hush before the silence, the winds after the blast
I wish we'd move together, this time the bosses sued
Oh, but we're caught up in the wilderness
And an ever changing mood, yeah
Teardrops turn to children who've never had the time
To commit the sins they pay for through another's evil mind
The love after the hate, the love we leave too late
The love after the hate, the love we leave too late
I wish we'd wake up one day, an' everyone feel moved
Oh, but we're caught up in the dailies
And an ever changing mood, yeah
Evil turns to statues and masses form a line
But I know which way I'd run to, if the choice was mine
The past is knowledge, the present our mistake
And the future we always leave too late
I wish we'd come to our senses and see there is no truth
In those who promote the confusion
For this ever changing mood, yeah
" "What would Buddha do to search for perfect knowledge ?"
"Your mind becomes Buddha.
Your mind is Buddha.
All the Buddhas' ocean of perfect knowledge begins in your very mind and thought."
(Amitayur Dhyana Sutra 17)
Buddha doesn't have to do anything to gain perfect knowledge.
He knows he has it already.
He knows we have it already.
But someone we seem to be left out of the loop.
How ironic that we don't know we have perfect knowledge !
What went wrong ?"
(From "What would Buddha do ?" by Franz Metcalf)
Those two Tibetan monks were under the Bodhi Tree which is behind the Mahabodhi Temple, the place of Gautama Buddha's attainment of nirvana (Enlightenment), in Bodh Gaya (बोधगया), in the Indian state of Bihar.
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Ray Yourdon's comment on this photo: "Ike Yourdon, and the same deer."
I have no idea when or where this photo was taken
*********************************
To the best of my knowledge, most of the photos in this Flickr album were taken by my grandmother, Mabel Yourdon, during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. Most of them depict scenes of everyday life in mining camps and small towns near the Utah-Colorado border. Some of them show hunting, fishing, and camping trips in unspecified parts of the American west. It appears that a few of them were taken in southern California, when Mabel and her husband Ike traveled out there to visit relatives.
I have no idea what kind of camera Mabel used for these photos, nor what kind of film. There probably wasn’t that much variety available in the 1920s, and she was not a “professional” photographer. So it may have been a Brownie and whatever B/W film Kodak was selling at the time.
My stepfather, Ray Yourdon, was born in 1922; and his older brother, Marvin, was born two years before that. You’ll see photos of Ray and Marvin when they were young boys, when they were in high school, and when they went off to join the Navy and the Marines to fight in World War II.
Somewhere around 2005, I asked Ray if he could tell me the details of some of the photos; where possible, I have included those details in the notes for the photos. Some of the photos obviously evoked pleasant memories, and I heard stories about minor day-to-day events in his life that I had never heard before. But we rarely got through more than a few pictures before he ran out of energy; and so many of the photos have no explanation at all.
At this point, my parents and grandparents are all gone. I have cousins who grew up in the same area where these photos were taken, and one or two of them are still in that area. They may be able to fill in a few of the details; otherwise, you’ll just have to accept these photos as a glimpse of what life was like nearly a hundred years ago ...
United States Space Force
Formed in December of 2019, the USSF is a branch of the US AIr Force. Although its mission is public knowledge, much of its activity and infrastructure is unknown except to the highest levels of the military and government. With gravity plating being engineered in the 1950's, the only constraint was the quantity of rare earth elements. There had only been several square feet of plating, no more than a standard bath-mat, but enough to prove the technology. Thus the missions to the Moon. Once acquired, designs for a secret fleet of manned ships in permanent orbit would be feasible.
With a crew of five to ten, the latest and most advanced ships are capable of multiple missions. Armed with nuclear and kinetic weapons for terrestrial targets, and phalanx and ship to ship missiles, these ships are both offensive and defensive platforms.
General George J. Stennard was a Union general during the US Civil War. He was in command of the Vermont Brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg. The Vermont Brigade was known for stopping Pickett's Charge, July 3rd, 1863, winning the battle and stopping the invasion of Washington, DC. In spite of the cynicism surrounding the US Space Force, the mission, beginning 1982 as the US Space Command, has been crucial to the US and allied security. Thus, like her namesake, the Stannard and her crew may be the most important ship and soldiers you've never heard of.
SHIPtember 2020!
110 Suds. Minifig scale. Point defense weapons, missile silos in the bow section. Dorsal and ventral docking ports, port and starboard airlocks. The bow also serves as a battering ram with various applications.
Paris, Octobre 2025
Oeuvre de Shepard Ferey alias Obey
Leica M6
Voigtlander Ultron 35 mm
Kentmere 100
Scan Epson Perfection V850
Located between San Francisco and San Jose in the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford University is recognized as one of the world's leading research and teaching institutions. It is located in Palo Alto, California.
For “Knowledge is Golden” the inspiration was specific to the area which the mural was done. San Francisco is seeing its second gold rush with information and knowledge being the currency of today. SOMA, being slated to be developed as the new downtown of San Francisco with technology leading the transformation, is why we chose this location for our message.
Gold miners have been replaced by tech innovators. Pickaxes and shovels have been replaced with laptops and desktops. Though the times have changed, the human thirst for chasing opportunity remains prevalent in these times. And with this influx of new people, San Francisco culture as we know it will never be the same.
The Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre is a mirror to the growth of our city. As our city has modernised, rejuvenated and diversified so has our principal public learning facility.
The new $22 million facility which officially opened on 5 April 2014 is the ultimate piece of civic infrastructure and one which will benefit our community for generations to come.
The adaptive reuse of the former Town Hall site has resulted in a 3 level facility comprising:
A 5,000sqm state-of-the-art National standard Library, containing amongst other things:
- A dedicated Children's Library area;
- A local history section;
- An outdoor reading area;
- State-of-the-art technology; and
- An iconic floor-to-ceiling 'Green Wall' full of living plants;
300-seat Bryan Brown Theatre;
Publicly available function and conference rooms and exhibition areas; and
A café;
Source: The Council
Commissioned by Bankstown City Council and designed by fjmt, the Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre sets a new benchmark in sustainable public building design through the adaptive reuse, salvage, recycling and renovation of the existing Bankstown Town Hall. The development serves to revitalise a dislocated site and create a rich spatial experience for community members and visitors. Sustainable design principles and innovative high performance environmental systems informed all design decisions to create this integrated, flexible, state-of-the-art community hub.
The building offers an integrated, inclusive and flexible series of spaces containing; a new library over three levels, a three-hundred seat theatre, community conference facilities, new cafe and community information wall. Public domain improvements for the redevelopment of Paul Keating Park include: addition of an aquatic sculpture garden, new street trees and off-street parking and an all weather bus drop-off zone. The modernised facilities and surrounding public space encourages visitors to exchange ideas, interact spontaneously and participate in community programmes. The BLaKC is committed to establishing a contemporary shared sense of place within the Bankstown civic precinct.
Source FjMT
m.facebook.com/story.php/?id=895211010529023&story_fb...
He who does not doubt, does not learn.
by Dutch poet Coornhert.
And learning gives knowledge.
Introducing Rob.
Sometimes when you are out with the camera other photographers will approach you because we take an interest in each others work. this was the case with Rob he saw me on market day in Bury St Edmunds and could see I was up to no good shooting some street photos!
Rob lives just over the border in Thetford Norfolk and is a particularly good landscape photographer. Please check out his work on Instagram robsalisbury and on Flickr .
Rob is a member of the Bury St Edmunds Photographic Society which describes itself as a fun, friendly and lively camera club. Ideas, images, knowledge, information and tips are freely shared at weekly meetings. We did discuss the merits of joining a camera club. Annually the work of the camera club is displayed in a local gallery but you have to have been a member for a few years to achieve this benefit.
Rob also likes street photography and you will see his gallery is a mixture of the two.
We did talk about Thetford. Its a small town but up an coming and is derided a little unfairly sometimes. Rob talked about the River Little Ouse and a photo shoot he has done there . Of course any talk of Thetford often leads to a comment on Dads Army ,an old British TV show which was filmed around this part of the world. There is a museum on the history of Dads Army and some clever shots related to this can be seen in Robs Instagram feed.
The library of the prince-bishops inside the Palais Rohan, Strasbourg, Grand Est, France
Some background information:
The Palais Rohan (in English: "Rohan Palace") is the former residence of the prince-bishops and cardinals of Strasbourg from the House of Rohan, an ancient French noble family. It was built next to Strasbourg Cathedral in the 1730s and is considered a masterpiece of French Baroque architecture. Since its completion in 1742, the palace has hosted a number of French monarchs such as Louis XV, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon Bonaparte and Joséphine, and Charles X.
In 1727 the French cardinal Armand Gaston Maximilien de Rohan commissioned the architect Robert de Cotte to design the palace. Building work on the Palais Rohan took place from 1732 until 1742. A budget of 344,000 French livres had been established for the construction – 200,000 livres lent from the Cathedral chapter and 144,000 raised as local taxes over a period of twelve years – but the final cost is estimated at one million French livres (being roughly the equivalent of 15 Mio. euros today). The palace is mostly built in yellow sandstone, with pink sandstone for the less visible parts.
The House of Rohan owned the palace until the French Revolution, when it was confiscated, declared state owned, and finally auctioned off in 1791. Bought by the municipality, it became the new hôtel de ville (in English: "town hall") of Strasbourg in the same year, which it remained until 1805. In that year, the municipality presented it to Napoleon Bonaparte, who returned the Hôtel de Hanau in exchange.
For both parties this arrangement proved favourable: For the municipality the maintenance of the Hôtel de Hanau was less costly than that of the larger Palais Rohan. And for Napoleon the Palais Rohan was the more conspicuous display of grandeur. As for the palace, imperial ownership meant renewed splendour. Some of the interiors were then refurbished to the liking of his wife Joséphine de Beauharnais and these interiors are still largely the current furnishings.
In 1871, the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War signified the end of French and the beginning of German rule over Alsace, which had until 1681 been linked to Germany through the Holy Roman Empire. France had to cede the departments of Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, and Moselle to the newly created German Empire. Between 1872 and 1884, the Palais Rohan was used by the newly established Kaiser-Wilhelms-Universität (in English: "Emperor Wilhelm University"). At first, it was the seat of the faculties of law, philosophy, and sciences, before it served as the university's library until 1895.
After this, the palace again became the property of the city that converted it into a museum of art. After the return of Alsace to French rule in 1918, the new director of the Musée des beaux-arts and the Musée des arts décoratifs put major efforts into presenting the Palais Rohan as a coherent whole again. In 1944, during World War II, the palace was damaged by British and American bombs, but after the war, restoration measures were undertaken soon. Today, the State Apartments are open to the puplic. But the palace also houses three museums, the Musée des beaux-arts (in English: "Museum of Fine Arts"), Musée des arts décoratifs (in English: "Museum of Decorative Arts") as well as the Musée archéologique (in English: "Archaeological Museum")-
Strasbourg is the capital and largest city of the Grand Est region of France and also the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. Furthermore it is the official seat of the European Parliament. Today the inner city of Strasbourg has about 276,170 inhabitants, while its metropolitan area has about 780,000 residents, making it the ninth largest metropolitan area in France. Strasbourg is located very close to the border with Germany in the historic region of Alsace. This strategically important position as a borderland was responsible for both region and city being an apple of discord between France and Germany for many centuries.
But although Strasbourg was violently disputed throughout history, it has also always been a cultural bridge between France and Germany, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the second largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture.
The historic city centre of Strasbourg, the Grande Île (in English: "Grand Island") and thereby also the old quarter La Petite France with the Ponts Couverts as well as the famous Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg, was classified a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO as early as 1988. It was the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre. By the way, the cathedral is widely considered to be among the finest examples of high Gothic architecture.
Strasbourg is situated on the eastern border of France with Germany. This border is formed by the Rhine, which also forms the eastern border of the modern city, facing across the river to the German town Kehl. The historic core of Strasbourg however lies on the Grande Île in the river Ill, which here flows parallel to the Rhine. The natural courses of the two rivers eventually join some distance downstream of Strasbourg, although several artificial waterways now connect them within the city.
Strasbourg is one of the de facto capitals of the European Union (alongside Brussels and Luxembourg), as it is the seat of several European institutions, such as the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Audiovisual Observatory) and the Eurocorps, as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. The city is also the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine and the International Institute of Human Rights.
The Roman camp of Argentoratum, from which the city of Strasbourg grew, was first mentioned in 12 BC. Between 362 and 1262, Strasbourg was governed by the bishops of Strasbourg. In 1262, the citizens violently rebelled against the bishop's rule and Strasbourg became a free imperial city within the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation. In 1349, Strasbourg was the site of one of the worst pogroms of the Middle Ages, when over a thousand Jews were publicly burned to death. In the early 16th century the town was one of the first German cities to embrace the protestant, Lutheran faith. Because of this, it became a centre of humanistic learning and book printing. The first newspaper in Europe was printed in Strasbourg.
In 1681, the city was annexed by the French king Louis XIV, who took profit from the chaos following the Thirty Years' War in Germany. But France still kept treating the Alsace region as a de facto foreign province until the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. The customs barrier alongside the Vosges mountains continued to exist while there still wasn’t any customs barrier between Germany and the Alsace region. Furthermore the town kept striking German coins until 1708. From 1770 to 1771, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe studied in Strasbourg. At this time the town was an important hub of the so-called "Sturm und Drang" movement in German literature.
In 1792, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle composed the Marseillaise in Strasbourg, the French national anthem, right after the French declaration of war against Austria. In the years 1805, 1806 and 1809, Napoleon Bonaparte sojourned in Strasbourg, together with his first wife Joséphine de Beauharnais. They used Palais Rohan as their domicile and Joséphine re-decorated several rooms according to her own taste and the fashion of the time.
After the Franco-Prussian War that lasted from 1870 to 1871, the city became German again, until 1918, when it reverted to France after the end of World War I. When France was defeated by Germany in 1940 in the course of World War II, the city and its still predominantly German-speaking population came under German control again. However, since the end of 1944, when Strasbourg was taken by Allied forces, it is again a French town. As a concession to the German-speaking section of the city’s residents, the street signs in Strasbourg are all bilingual.
Besides being one of the de facto capitals of the European Union, Strasbourg is an important economic centre of manufacturing and engineering, as well as a hub of road, rail and river transportation. However, tourism also plays a major role in the town’s economy of today. Many tourists from all Europe, the US and Asia crowd Strasbourg’s streets at all seasons of the year, going sightseeing through this beautiful romantic historic city with its many old half-timbered houses.