View allAll Photos Tagged orchestration
MuCEM + Fort Saint-Jean, Marseille, France - 2013 -Architects: Rudy Ricciotti and C+T architecture
Views, sea, sun, a mineral quality, which all must be orchestrated by a program that will become federal and cognitive. First of all a perfect square of 72 m per side, it is a classic plan, Latin, under the control of Pythagoras. Within this square, another of 52 m per side, comprising the exhibition and conference halls identified as the heart of the museum.
Around, above and below are the service areas. But between these areas and the heart, openings entirely bypass the central square and form interconnected spaces. More interested by the views of the fort, the sea or the port, the culturally overwhelmed visitor will choose this route. Along two interlacing ramps, he will then plunge into the imaginary of the tower of Babel or of a ziggurat in order to climb up to the rooftop and on to Fort Saint- Jean. This peripheral loop will be a free breathe, enveloped by the smells of the sea from the proximity to the moats, a pause to dispel any lingering doubts about the use of the history of our civilizations. The MuCEM will be a vertical Casbah.
The tectonic choice of an exceptional concrete coming from the latest research by French industry, reducing the dimensions to little more than skin and bones, will affirm a mineral script under the high ramparts of Fort Saint-Jean. This sole material in the colour of dust, matt, crushed by the light, distant from the brilliance and technological consumerism, will commend the dense and the delicate. The MuCEM sees itself evanescent in a landscape of stone and Orientalist through its fanning shadows.
Alexander Wilson went on to become a world renowned writer and international spy!
Learn more here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Wilson_(writer_and_spy)
Writer, lover, soldier, spy: The strange and secretive life of Alexander Wilson
A best-selling author whose back catalogue mysteriously vanished... A man with a taste for bigamy... An army officer who worked for MI6...
As the author of Chronicles of the Secret Service, Microbes of Power and The Death of Dr Whitelaw, Alexander Wilson earned critical plaudits and enjoyed excellent sales. His spy thrillers were full of espionage and derring-do, so realistic that those in the secret service recognised pen portraits of themselves – and their superiors. So why today does no one remember him, while contemporaries like John Buchan and Compton Mackenzie survive in print? And why did he die in obscurity in 1963, an undischarged bankrupt with a criminal record?
The answers, according to a new book, may stem from the fact that part of his life was orchestrated on behalf of the British Secret Intelligence Services who, for reasons unexplained, then expunged him from official records. Was he, as some of his family believe, a spy who became addicted to deception, a compulsive storyteller who lost all sense of fact and fiction?
The deceit was so extensive that it was not until two years ago that, during the writing of The Secret Lives of A Secret Agent: The Mysterious Life and Times of Alexander Wilson, the journalist and author Tim Crook was able to make some of Wilson's children aware of each other's existence – for not only was Wilson adept at crafting characters who lived daring double lives, he lived one of his own, with one legal and three bigamous marriages to his name.
Crook's book tells the remarkable story of a man remembered by his oldest surviving son, Dennis Wilson, now 89, as "charming and charismatic – when we saw him." He adds: "My father had a very complicated life."
It was a very rich one. Born in Dover, Kent, to an Irish mother and an English army officer father, Alexander Wilson spent his childhood following his father to Mauritius, Singapore, Hong Kong and Ceylon. By 1925, Wilson was 32, a much-travelled former First World War officer who had become the actor-manager of a touring repertory company. It was then that he unexpectedly left his wife Gladys and three young children in England to become Professor of English Literature at the University of Punjab in Lahore, then part of the British Raj.
Crook believes Wilson was recruited into the secret world: "The academic who appointed him had known connections with the intelligence world." But why almost a decade after he last saw service on behalf of his country, and why a man with little academic achievement, apart from speaking Cantonese and French, which is hardly useful locally?
"I suspect some Army connection, possibly through his family, that led him to being either recruited or activated at this point. The British needed to combat the threat of Communist-backed insurgents in the North-West Frontier."
With academic cover, Wilson travelled around the North-West Frontier, became an honorary Major in the Indian Army Reserve and learnt Urdu and Persian. In the early 1930s, he also spent time in Ceylon, Arabia and Palestine, on likely intelligence missions.
In India, Wilson's career took another unexpected twist. After writing a book of English for Indian students, which may have been part of his cover, he wrote two spy thrillers, The Mystery of Tunnel 51 which, for the first time featured his secret-service hero, Sir Leonard Wallace, shortly followed by The Devil's Cocktail – "A thrill on every page," said The Times Literary Supplement (TLS) – both published in 1928.
Crook says: "What was remarkable about these books was their uncanny portrayal of the original 'C' – Mansfield Smith-Cumming, the first head of MI6, fictionalised as Sir Leonard. Only someone who knew Smith-Cumming could have written those books." The fictional Wallace, for instance, shared with the real "C" a false wooden limb, grey eyes and a wife whose forename began with "M".
Wilson returned to England in 1933, an established author. His fifth book, The Crimson Dacoit, a thriller about terrorist infiltration into Indian intelligence, was reviewed by TLS: "He evidently devotes time and thought to the working out of details... a thriller which is very good."
The reviews got better. In September 1933, TLS said Wallace of the Secret Service was "sensational... a genuine piece of forceful story-telling."
While his writing career took off, his personal circumstances were complicated. In India, he met and married Dorothy Wick, a touring actress. But when they returned to Britain, Dorothy was left in London, with baby son Michael, while Wilson resumed life with his first family in Southampton.
Dennis remembers: "My father had been this rather glamorous figure who would turn up on leave, driving a flash hired car and bringing us loads of presents before leaving again. The 18 months he lived with us after he returned from India were the only time we were a family."
After a row with a relative in 1935, Wilson went back to London, telling his wife and children he would find somewhere for them all to live. His son says: "I imagined him arriving at Waterloo with his luggage and looking for lodgings. But now I know that all he did was return to Dorothy. And we never got to live in London."
In 1940, Chronicles of the Secret Service, his 18th and final novel, the 10th to feature Sir Leonard Wallace, was published, its jacket blurb strongly implying inside knowledge: "Major Alexander Wilson probably knows as much about the Secret Service as any living novelist." Crook argues that Wilson's writing was so precise in its knowledge of intelligence life that it is almost inconceivable he did not have first-hand experience, and that he was encouraged by the services to write his books as a way of perpetuating a myth of their all-powerful nature.
Whatever the extent of his secret life up to that point, there is no doubt that in 1940 he joined MI6, eavesdropping on overseas embassies' telephones to gather what was known in the intelligence world as "special material". By now estranged from Dorothy, he met his third wife, Alison McKelvie, an MI6 secretary.
But then life took a turn for the worst. In late 1942, shortly after the birth of their first son, Gordon, he was dismissed from the Secret Intelligence Service. Wilson maintained to Alison this was for "operational reasons" and that he was now an agent in the field. He stuck to this explanation during years in poverty – he was declared bankrupt in 1944 (the year their second son Nigel was born), they were forced to repeatedly move house, four further books went unpublished and he was twice jailed for petty crimes.
Alison grew suspicious of "a vast fabrication" barely able to believe it was all just "cover". In fact, as Crook points out, a similar "fall from grace" scenario was central to The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John le Carré, himself a former intelligence officer. Crook believes the prison sentences could have been designed to place him under cover with imprisoned agents and subversives in prison.
However, it was probably not cover that caused him to marry again, to Elizabeth Hill, a nurse he met while working as a hospital porter in the mid-Fifties. For two years he carried on a double life between two proximate homes. He and Elizabeth had a son, Douglas.
Alison later wrote: "I realised there was not a single thing [he] had ever told me that I could put my finger on and now say 'that is true'. Just one thing I knew – he had written intelligence stories. This indeed was the supreme irony: the only reality in a mountain of fiction was fiction itself." Crook takes the opposite view: "All of the mysteries, ambiguities and contradictions are consistent with intelligence tradecraft. What Alison perceived as fantasy and lying could also be read as the tactics and rituals of cover."
Wilson died of a heart attack in 1963, his 70th year. It was only when Alison called the Southampton house, with whom he remained on good terms, with news of his death that they learned of her existence. "We thought she was his landlady," says Dennis. Alison also discovered her late husband was not divorced from Gladys.
Four decades later, Crook began investigating Wilson at the behest of his friend Michael, who was staggered to learn that his father had not, as he was told by a bitter Dorothy, died at El Alamein in 1942, but had lived for another 22 years. The six surviving half-siblings – Adrian, his other son by Dorothy died in 1998 – subsequently learned fully of each other's existence, becoming one large, mutually accepting, extended family. Dennis says: "It is absolutely marvellous, like we have known each other all our lives."
And they have all been interesting, fulfilling ones: Dennis, an Army officer, was wounded at Normandy before becoming a businessman, while Nigel was a City investment manager and Gordon a Navy captain; Douglas, works for the Scottish government and Michael had a long career as an actor, having changed his surname to Shannon. One grandchild, Nigel's daughter, Ruth Wilson, is an actress, starring in the 2006 BBC version of Jane Eyre.
Wilson's other legacy to the nation is more opaque. Crook can only speculate why so little of his work survived beyond the war, why the records of his literary agents and publishers were missing, why many traces of Wilson seemed to have been eradicated. "It may have been an operation to sanitize the public records."
Crook was not allowed to see MI6 files. He did, however, have access to "confidential sources", unable to either confirm or deny anything. "I always stressed the negative – that Wilson was a fantasist, his books luckily perceptive rather than the work of an insider and his post-war decline his own fault," says Crook. "But when I spoke to my sources, the positive was strongly pointed out – that Wilson might well have being doing a great job for his country, an unsung hero in contrast to others from the era, like Anthony Blunt or Guy Burgess.''
For Crook, that is at least partial confirmation of the secret life of Alexander Wilson. Of course, within the wilderness of mirrors in the secret world, it might be simply expedient to let some fiction masquerade as fact. And vice versa.
'The Secret Lives of the Secret Agent: The Mysterious Life and Times of Alexander Wilson' is published by Kultura Press (£29.99). To order a copy for the special price of £26.99 (free P&P) call Independent Books Direct on 08430 600 030, or visit www.independentbooksdirect.co.uk
Source: www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/writer-lover-s...
Oberon outside Athens to save Titania's Bottom from those errant arrows of Eros he so orchestrated.
I wish everyone a New Year filled with Magic and Love! May it be a Creative one!
I know, I am late!
Better in Black www.flickr.com/photos/northernstar288/8351845609/in/photo...
I had forgotten that "A Midsummer Night's Dream" took place in a forest outside of Athens.
Emerson Stage presents
INTO THE WOODS
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Originally Directed on Broadway by James Lapine
Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick
Directed by Scott LaFeber
Music Direction by Jonathan Goldberg
Original Broadway Production by Heidi Landesman, Rocco Landesman, Rick Steiner, M. Anthony Fisher, Frederic H. Mayerson, and Jujamcyn Theaters
Originally produced by the Old Globe Theater, San Diego, CA.
April 14 & 16, 2022
Cutler Majestic Theatre
Emerson College
Boston, MA
Scenic Design by LUCIANA STECCONI and JORDAN BARNETT
Projects Design by ALEX BASCO KOCH and PIPER PHILLIPS
Props Lead: LAUREN CORCUERA
Costume Design by MOLLY SHAUGHNESSY
Lighting Design by TALIA ELISE & GRACE TUCHMAN
Sound Design by MEGAN CULLEY
Stage Manager: SOPHIE KLOKINIS
Dramaturg: CIARA BERARDI
Cast: ROBERTA ALAMAN, LUCAS BABCOCK, JONAH BARRICKLO, OLIVIA BODLEY, NAJA NICOLE BROWN, JAKE COLLINS, DENNIS DIZON, CEDRICK EKRA, MARCO GIACONA, ISABEL GINSBERG, EMERSON HART, HAWA KAMARA, ELLIANA KARRIS, EMILY KILBOURNE, KARLEY KRICKMIER, ANTHONY LAFORNARA, BRENDAN MASSAR, MORGAN MCMILLIN, ZOEY SCHORSCH, ELLA SHAW, BEATRICE STEUER, AMANDA VAZQUEZ, ANANIA WILLIAMS, ISABELLE WISDOM, ZEHAVA YOUNGER
Orchestra: MICHAEL BELLOFATTO, LISA BROOKE, DAVID BURDETT, MAXWELL CONNOR, JACQUELINE DEVOE, KATE FOSS, JONATHAN GOLDBERG, CLARA KEBABIAN, DOUGLAS LIPPINCOTT, SALLY MERRIMAN, CAMERON SAWZIN, JENNIFER SHALLENBERGER, EMMA STAUDACHER, LOUIS TOTH, NORALEE WALKER
All photos by Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo
More information: www.emersonstage.org/into-the-woods
Too bad so much smoke, no wind. It was a great fireworks display but unfortunately couldn't see the beautifully orchestrated colourful explosions!
Blogged here. Sokwanele on Twitter. Please link up with us there to receive sms action alerts on your mobile phone like this one here, and critical news updates. We plan to use Twitter intensively over the run-off election period scheduled for 27th June.
Blogged here. Sokwanele on Twitter. Please link up with us there to receive sms action alerts on your mobile phone like this one here, and critical news updates. We plan to use Twitter intensively over the run-off election period scheduled for 27th June.
Canadian National Exhibition 2015 - Toronto
"Percy Faith was a Canadian bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the 'easy listening' or 'mood music' format. Faith became a staple of American popular music in the 1950s and continued well into the 1960s. Though his professional orchestra-leading career began at the height of the swing era, Faith refined and rethought orchestration techniques, including use of large string sections, to soften and fill out the brass-dominated popular music of the 1940s.
Faith was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He was the oldest of eight children. His parents, Abraham Faith and Minnie, née Rottenberg, were Jewish. He played violin and piano as a child, and played in theatres and at Massey Hall. After his hands were badly burned in a fire, he turned to conducting, and his live orchestras used the new medium of radio broadcasting.”
[ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
Blogged here. Sokwanele on Twitter. Please link up with us there to receive sms action alerts on your mobile phone like this one here, and critical news updates. We plan to use Twitter intensively over the run-off election period scheduled for 27th June.
Premik solo in SINGING THE OCEANS ALIVE CONCERT with the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Fairfield Hall concert LONDON, ENGLAND APRIL 25, 2014
Watch/Listen
YouTubes
Premik solo with the London Royal Philharmonic performing "Apla Kathar."
The main melody was composed by Sri Chinmoy & orchestrated by Vapushtara Matthijs Jongepier.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbhReDbyIOY
High praise from Craig Pruess:
"The piece was excellent, thrilling even, very well orchestrated, and your playing was note perfect. An honor to work with you, my man." –Craig Pruess Composer, Musician, Arranger, and a Gold & Platinum Record Producer
www.heaven-on-earth-music.co.uk/
******
Premik Russell Tubbs & Kristin Hoffmann - Also, while in London, England...
Saturday, April 26, 2014
7:00PM
World Heart Beat Music Academy
58 Kimber Road (1st Floor)
London SW18 4PP
+44 (0) 20 8870 3042
+44 (0) 7973 631203
The World Heart Beat Music Academy is located on the 1st floor of the CW Charles Wilson Engineering building next to the German Motor Company on the Merton Rd…end of Kimber Rd
Nearest Transport LInks:
Southfields Underground, Earlsfield Station, Busses 44, 270, 156, 39, 639
*****
Premik and Kristin began working together in March of 2003...
Premik Russell Tubbs has enjoyed many years of working with talented singer/songwriter Kristin Hoffmann. They have performed together at various venues across the USA. Premik toured in 2005 with Kristin opening for Jakob Dylan and the Wallflowers.
Premik accompanied Kristin @ her release party/show Thurs, April 10th, 2014
The Human Compass: New Directions Remix Release Party @ The Slipper Room, East Village, NYC
In NYC one can catch them playing at Caffe Vivaldi. Premik accompanies Kristin with flutes, saxophones and lap steel guitar.
_________
Most recent recordings and projects:
In 2012 Premik recorded with 2011 Grammy nominee vocalist and composer Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon. 'Over 75 musicians came together to record the album in the US and India combining ancient traditional instruments like the rhumba, calypso, ektara, dugdugi and esraj with saxophone, banjo and piano to transcend musical boundaries.'
Sound Samples:
Amazon
www.amazon.com/Soul-March-Chandrika-Krishnamurthy-Tandon/...
CB Baby
www.cdbaby.com/cd/chandrikakrishnamurthyta2
Check out "JOG"
****
Recording projects in 2010-2012 with Grammy award-winning producer and founder of Windham Hill Records Will Ackerman include albums by Fiona Jay Hawkins, Shambhu, Dean Boland, Rebecca Harrold, Ronnda Cadle and Masako.
Will Ackerman: ...‘The criteria for who works here go way past simple talent. Imaginary Road is my home and I’m only letting wonderful people into my home. I don’t care how talented you are; if you’re not able to wear your heart on your sleeve don’t bother to turn up. We use Keith Carlock (Sting and Steeley Dan) as a drummer too along with Arron Sterling (John Mayer and Sheryl Crow). Only last year I met Premik Russel Tubbs who plays sax and wind synths for us.
‘Premik has become part of the family...'
www.newagemusicworld.com/will-ackerman-interview-new-in-2...
imaginaryroadstudios.com/
****
Premik recorded with Heidi Breyer and accompanied her at the ZMR Awards 2013, staged in New Orleans.
www.zonemusicreporter.com/admin/performers.asp
ZMR Awards 2013 -Best Instrumental Album – Piano - “Beyond the Turning” - Heidi Breyer - Winterhall Records, produced at Synchrosonic Productions by Grammy winner Corin Nelsen. www.heidibreyer.com/
****
New Age / Ambient / World Top 100 Radio Chart
ZoneMusicReporter.com
Top 100 Radio Play - #1 Top Recordings for January 2014
Title: Call of the Mountains - Artist: Masako
www.zonemusicreporter.com/charts/top100.asp
Premik plays wind synth on tracks 4 "Watching the Clouds", & 9 "Purple Indulgence".
****
Premik, in conjunction with jazz pianist Uli Geissendoerfer heads Bangalore Breakdown, an exciting, world music ensemble. They released their first CD, titled Diary, in 2008. In the words of noted Jazz author Bill Milkowski: Is it world music? Is it jazz? Is it some kind of new uncategorizable fusion that hasn’t yet been labeled?
Sound samples here: www.bangalorebreakdown.com/music.html
****
Premik and Uli Geissendoerfer released in 2014 their own collaborative duo CD titled Passport to 'Happyness' (yes, happiness with a 'y'') www.ulimusic.com
www.flickr.com/photos/42514297@N04/15543396956/
****
Premik will soon be featured in Carman Moore's Cd “Concerto for Ornette” in which Premik will play the orchestral solo saxophone part. Premik is also the featured saxophonist with SKYBAND on its recording of Carman Moore’s “DON AND BEA IN LOVE,” a fantasy concept album roughly about the intense Renaissance love between Dante and Beatrice which, in part, takes place in outer space! Carman Moore is a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship winner. www.carmanmoore.com
****
Premik’s ‘Journey To Light Ensemble’
Sound is East/West, jazz., a journey....
With Premik Russell Tubbs (saxpohones, flutes, lap steel, wind synth),
Dave Phelps (guitar),
Leigh Stuart (cello),
Nathan Peck (upright & electric bass),
www.alexskolnick.com/biography-nathan-peck/
Todd Isler (drums, percussion)
Naren Budakar (tabla)
www.sooryadance.com/html/Milan/naren.htm
Watch for a Journey To Light Ensemble album to be released in 2014
****
TriBeCaStan
Premik (saxophones, flutes, lap steel, wind synth)
TriBeCaStan's "Coal Again"- Cd Release 2014
www.flickr.com/photos/42514297@N04/15447303643/in/photost...
***
Performing in:
25th Anniversary of the Rainforest Fund Benefit Concert
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Carnegie Hall
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
7 PM
www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2014/4/17/0700/PM/25th-Anni...
***
Premik solo in SINGING THE OCEANS ALIVE CONCERT with the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Fairfield Hall concert LONDON, ENGLAND APRIL 25, 2014
Watch/Listen
YouTubes
Premik solo with the London Royal Philharmonic performing "Apla Kathar."
The main melody was composed by Sri Chinmoy & orchestrated by Vapushtara Matthijs Jongepier.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbhReDbyIOY
High praise from Craig Pruess:
"The piece was excellent, thrilling even, very well orchestrated, and your playing was note perfect. An honor to work with you, my man." –Craig Pruess Composer, Musician, Arranger, and a Gold & Platinum Record Producer
www.heaven-on-earth-music.co.uk/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4euUuBNUzco
Song of the Ocean by Kristin Hoffmann
All performers of the evening take the stage with the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
****
Premik Russell Tubbs | The Music of Karl Jenkins | Carnegie Hall
MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY
Monday, January 19, 2015
Premik Russell Tubbs played "bansuri & ethnic flutes" in this concert. (Bansuri is an Indian bamboo flute).
nyconcertreview.com/reviews/distinguished-concerts-intern...
Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents The Music of Karl Jenkins in Review
__________________
Contact/Listen
www.emusic.com/album/premik/mission-transcendence/10884302/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premik_Russell_Tubbs
__________________
Short Bio
World / Jazz / Experimental / Improv / East-West / Ambient / Pop
PREMIK RUSSELL TUBBS
Premik, a composer, arranger, producer and an accomplished multi-instrumentalist performs on various flutes, soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, wind synthesizers, and lap steel guitar.
Premik has worked with everyone from Carlos Santana, Whitney Houston, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Ravi Shankar, Narada Michael Walden, Clarence Clemons, Ornette Coleman, Jackson Browne, Jean-Luc Ponty, Lonnie Liston-Smith, Scarlet Riveria, James Taylor, Sting and Lady Gaga, just to name a few. He is equally adept in pop, R&B, jazz, world and experimental genres.
Sax solos on #1 Hits -: “How Will I Know” (Whitney Houston) and “Baby, Come To Me” (Regina Belle).
Premik's first major recording breakthrough was with John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra on the album“Visions of the Emerald Beyond.” Premik was a major part of the landmark Carlos Santana album "The Swing of Delight" which featured Herbie Hancock as co-arranger and co-musical director. Also featured were Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Ron Carter and several members of the Santana band.
www.premik.com/recordings/discography/
In 1978 Premik joined Carlos Santana on a six-week European tour as part of an opening act for the Santana Band called Devadip Oneness.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=beD58ordH08
"Gardenia" - DEVADIP European tour w/ Carlos Santana, Dec.'78 in Paris
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=juVuh...
!978 Devidip Orchestra
Las Ventanas al Paraiso "The windows to Paradise"
Km 19.5 Carretera Transpeninsular
Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo - MEXICO
In the 1970's the Mexican government designated "hot spots" for tourism development including Cancun, Ixtapa and Los Cabos. Los Cabos, which means the Capes has twin towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo which are separated by 20 miles of beach coast line. Mexican developer Javier Burillo Azcarraga acquired eighteen undeveloped acres at Cabo San Lucas in the early 90's. He envisioned for the site a unique, super-luxury, boutique hotel that would stand out from the crowd and reflect Baja's indigenous culture and landscape. He brought in Atlanta-based architect and developer Hal Thannisch, Jr. to create the master plan and orchestrate the design, construction, financing, and ultimate operation of the completed resort. Thannisch hired HKS Architects of Dallas to provide architectural services, and they in turn, retained The SWA Group of Dallas to create the site plan and landscape architecture. The SWA Group developed the Las Ventanas landscape which blends the natural desert environment with the sensuality of the Mexican-style architecture to enhance the resort’s sense of authenticity. Construction began in December 1995, and the five-star Las Ventanas al Paraiso, or "Windows to Paradise," welcomed its first guests in July 1997. When guests enter Las Ventanas, they don't see all the buildings at once. Rather, the resort gradually reveals itself as guests walk down to the sea. The site plan radiates out from the open-air lobby, and every guest suite has a view of the blue Sea of Cortez. The resort resembles a small, sand and earth-colored Mexican village. The hotels opening rate was $325 a night. The 61-room Las Ventanas al Paraiso claims to have the longest celebrity client list of any hotel in the world. The discreet resort does not have a sign outside on Highway 1. Zen-inspired raked-sand entrance opens to beach views from the restaurant, private rooftop patios, and infinity-edge pools, where super-attentive pool butlers clean your smudged sunglasses and provide unlimited towel service. All over-sized guestrooms have pebble-inlaid headboards, hand-carved cedar doors, wood-burning fireplaces, and telescopes for stargazing.
Javier Burillo belongs to the Azcárraga family, owner of Televisa. He is the son of Carmela Azcárraga Milmo, sister of the late Emilio Azcárraga Milmo and daughter of Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, founder of Televicentro, now Televisa. Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. is a Mexican multimedia company and the largest in Latin America and the Spanish-speaking world (Univision in the United States). The company has been led and owned by three generations of Azcárraga. Javier Burillo inherited the Ritz Acapulco Hotel from his grandfather. In 1999 he and Rosewood's Hal Thannisch proposed a $62 million, 105-room Rosewood Resort in Sonoma, CA which failed to get city's approval.
Thannisch Development Services, Inc. (TDS) specializes in complex issues of development planning, financing, interdisciplinary management, design management and implementation. Thannisch was directly responsible for the renovation of the historic Cogswell College building now the Ritz Carlton San Francisco and the redevelopment of the Mahogany Run Resort, St. Thomas, USVI. In 1985, Thannisch joined Caroline Hunt's Rosewood Hotel Group as vice president, development. Based in Dallas, he was immersed in the development of the Hotel Hana-Maui at Hana Ranch and The Hotel on the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland. In 1989, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company called on his experience to manage the feasibility, pre-development, development and construction of the Ritz-Carlton Aspen, Hotel Arts Barcelona, Spain. Thannisch brought to Rosewood its first Mexico project, Las Ventanas which has emerged as a premier five-star resort in all of Mexico.
Las Ventanas al Paraíso became the first world-class resort in Los Cabos under hotelier Edward Steiner who served the hotel from opening to 2008. The resort achieved AAA Five Diamond status under his leadership.
In December 2003 Paraiso Los Cabos, S.A. de C.V. sold Las Ventana al Paraiso to Dallas based JTL Capital in partnership with Farallon Capital Management L.L.C.for an undisclosed price. Rosewood Hotels & Resorts agreed to a long-term contract to continue management of the resort. The purchase also included land entitled for up to 30 additional villa residences as well as an unfinished Phase IV building containing 8 premier villas that JTL Capital will finish constructing in September of 2004. The transaction was a first for JTL in Mexico. Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital provided the financing. JTL Capital, L.L.C. is a closely held, real estate investment and development concern founded in 1999 by David A. Lane and Mark J. Sullivan. JTL Capital employs a "buy and enhance" strategy that produces attractive risk-adjusted returns.
In September 2004 Ty Warner Hotels & Resorts, LLC purchased the 61-room Las Ventanas al Paraíso Resort from Dallas-based JTL Capital, LLC. According to Ty Warner, the goal is to extend and enhance the beauty and amenities at the resort. Warner believed the essential component to achieving that goal is in Rosewood Hotels & Resorts' continued operation of the resort. Ty Warner is an American billionaire who created the 1990s stuffed toy fad - Beanie Babies. At the peak of the Beanie craze in 1999, the privately owned Ty Inc. is believed to have earned over $700 million in profits in a year. The Beanie Babies phenomenon, coupled with the rise of the Internet, is cited as elevating Warner to billionaire status. Ty Warner Hotel and Resort Properties include: Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara, CA, Four Seasons Hotel New York, NY and San Ysidro Ranch, Montecito, CA.
Managing Directors since Edward Steiner include: Lionel Alvarez appointed Managing Director in 2008. He previously was General Manager at at Aquapura Vale Do Douro Hotel, Portugal. Martein van Wagenberg was appointed managing director of Las Ventanas in 2011. He previously was at Rosewood Little Dix Bay in Virgin Gorda. In 2014 Rosewood named Mário Candeias the managing director of Las Ventanas. He was the Director of Operations at Pestana Hotels & Resorts in Portugal. Rosewood appointed Frederic Vidal the Managing Director of Las Ventanas al Paraíso in 2014. Previously he was Managing Director for YOSH Hospitality, a company managing palaces and villas in the United Arab Emirates.
Compiled by Dick Johnson, November 2019
35mm: A Musical Exhibition at the University of Southern Maine School of Music
Music and Lyrics by Ryan Scott Oliver
Based on Photographs by Matthew Murphy
Vocal Arrangements and Orchestrations by Ryan Scott Oliver
Additional Percussion arrangements by Jeremy Yaddaw
Additional Guitar arrangements by Matt Hinkley
Directed by Edward Reichert
A picture is worth 1,000 words - what about a song? In 35mm: A Musical Exhibition, each photo creates a unique song, moments frozen in time; a glimmer of a life unfolding, a glimpse of something happening. The University of Southern Maine School of Music fall musical theatre production is part concert, part exhibition, part poetry jam, part performance art...an intricately woven collection of stories that re-imagines what the modern American musical can be.
Three performances take place in Corthell Concert Hall on the Gorham campus on Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, October 28 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for the general public, $10 for seniors, USM alumni and employees, and $5 for students. They can be purchased online at usm.maine.edu/music/boxoffice, by phone at (207) 780-5555, or at the door.
The show is sponsored by Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution.
Art moves and touches people in different ways. The stories told through song in 35mm are all based on or inspired by the eclectic photography of Matthew Murphy. Composer Ryan Scott Oliver provides us with a collection of stories and photographs about life: gorgeous songs about love and loss, more complex issues like insanity, abuse...and some humor too. Oliver states, “it covers a wide range of experiences and sensations.” This show is recommended for mature audiences.
The show’s director, Ed Reichert says, “The score is fascinating to me because it covers so many genres such as rock, gospel, country, pop, and musical comedy. Ryan Scott Oliver openly talks about some of his creative influences including Lady Gaga, The Scissor Sisters, Schubert, and Rufus Wainwright. He is equally inspired by the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Stephen King, and Stephen Sondheim.” Reichert adds, “With Halloween just around the corner, at least three of the songs are timely: Leave, Luanne (a Southern Gothic Ghost Story), Twisted Teeth (a duet between two vampires), and The Ballad of Sara Berry (think prom queen...).”
The cast includes: Samuel Allen (Harpswell), Matthew Boyd (Medford, NJ), Ricky Brewster (Lewiston), Andrew Carney (Millinocket), Mikayla Clifford (Yarmouth), Noli French (New Gloucester), Aaron Kircheis (Bucksport), Katie Lind (Standish), Ayann Main (Wiscasset), Megan Mayfield (Marlborough, MA), Miles Obrey (Gorham), Alyssa Pearl-Ross (Sangerville), Victoria Stackpole (Biddeford), March Steiger (Buxton), Ben Walker-Dubay (Kennebunk), Megan Walz (Portland), Meg Ward (Bangor), Abby White (Dalton, Mass.), and Ed Reichert on piano.
The band includes Lynnea Harding, associate music director, violin and viola; Catherine Begin, cello; Jake Cooper, guitar; Sam Smith, drums.
Those needing special accommodations to participate fully in this program, contact Lori Arsenault, (207) 780-5142, loria@maine.edu. Hearing impaired: call USM's telex / TDD number (207) 780-5646.
35mm: A Musical Exhibition is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.
Varosha - Maras is the southern quarter of the Famagusta, a de jure territory of Cyprus, currently under the control of Northern Cyprus. Varosha has a population of 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census. The area of Varosha is 6.19 km2 (2.39 sq mi).
The name of Varosha derives from the Turkish word varoş (Ottoman Turkish: واروش, 'suburb'). The place where Varosha is located now was empty fields in which animals grazed.
In the early 1970s, Famagusta was the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus. To cater to the increasing number of tourists, many new high-rise buildings and hotels were constructed. During its heyday, Varosha was not only the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus, but between 1970 and 1974, it was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and was a favorite destination of such celebrities as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, and Brigitte Bardot.
Before 1974, Varosha was the modern tourist area of the Famagusta city. Its Greek Cypriot inhabitants fled during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, when the city of Famagusta came under Turkish control, and it has remained abandoned ever since. In 1984 a U.N. resolution called for the handover of the city to UN control and said that only the original inhabitants, who were forced out, could resettle in the town.
Entry to part of Varosha was opened to civilians in 2017.
In August 1974, the Turkish Army advanced as far as the Green Line, a UN-patrolled demilitarized zone between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, and controlled and fenced Varosha. Just hours before the Greek Cypriot and Turkish armies met in combat on the streets of Famagusta, the entire Greek Cypriot population fled to Paralimni, Dherynia, and Larnaca, fearing a massacre. The evacuation was aided and orchestrated by the nearby British military base. Paralimni has since become the modern-day capital of the Famagusta province of Greek Cypriot-led Cyprus.
The Turkish Army has allowed the entry of only Turkish military and United Nations personnel since 2017.
One such settlement plan was the Annan Plan to reunify the island that provided for the return of Varosha to the original residents. But this was rejected by Greek Cypriots in a 2004 referendum. The UN Security Council Resolution 550 states that it "considers attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the United Nations".
The European Court of Human Rights awarded between €100,000 and €8,000,000 to eight Greek Cypriots for being deprived of their homes and properties as a result of the 1974 invasion. The case was filed jointly by businessman Constantinos Lordos and others, with the principal judgement in the Lordos case dating back to November 2010. The court ruled that, in the case of eight of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the right of peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions, and in the case of seven of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 8 on the right to respect for private and family life.
In the absence of human habitation and maintenance, buildings continue to decay. Over time, parts of the city have begun to be reclaimed by nature as metal corrodes, windows are broken, and plants work their roots into the walls and pavement and grow wild in old window boxes. In 2014, the BBC reported that sea turtles were observed nesting on the beaches in the city.
During the Cyprus Missile Crisis (1997–1998), the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, threatened to take over Varosha if the Cypriot government did not back down.
The main features of Varosha included John F. Kennedy Avenue, a street which ran from close to the port of Famagusta, through Varosha and parallel to Glossa beach. Along JFK Avenue, there were many well known high rise hotels including the King George Hotel, The Asterias Hotel, The Grecian Hotel, The Florida Hotel, and The Argo Hotel which was the favourite hotel of Elizabeth Taylor. The Argo Hotel is located near the end of JFK Avenue, looking towards Protaras and Fig Tree Bay. Another major street in Varosha was Leonidas (Greek: Λεωνίδας), a major street that came off JFK Avenue and headed west towards Vienna Corner. Leonidas was a major shopping and leisure street in Varosha, consisting of bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and a Toyota car dealership.
According to Greek Cypriots, 425 plots exist on the Varosha beach front, which extends from the Contandia hotel to the Golden Sands hotel. The complete number of plots in Varosha are 6082.
There are 281 cases of Greek Cypriots who filed to the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) of Northern Cyprus for compensation.
In 2020, Greek Cypriot Demetrios Hadjihambis filed a lawsuit seeking state compensation for financial losses.
The population of Varosha was 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census.
In 2017, Varosha's beach was opened for the exclusive use of Turks (both Turkish Cypriots and Turkish nationals).
In 2019, the Government of Northern Cyprus announced it would open Varosha to settlement. On 14 November 2019, Ersin Tatar, the prime minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that Northern Cyprus aims to open Varosha by the end of 2020.
On 25 July 2019, Varosha Inventory Commission of Northern Cyprus started its inventory analysis on the buildings and other infrastructure in Varosha.
On 9 December 2019, Ibrahim Benter, the Director-General of the Turkish Cypriot EVKAF religious foundation's administration, declared all of Maraş/Varosha to be the property of EVKAF. Benter said "EVKAF can sign renting contracts with Greek Cypriots if they accept that the fenced-off town belongs to the Evkaf."
In 2019–20, inventory studies of buildings by the Government of Northern Cyprus were concluded. On 15 February 2020, the Turkish Bar Association organised a round table meeting at the Sandy Beach Hotel in Varosha, which was attended by Turkish officials (Vice President Fuat Oktay and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül), Turkish Cypriot officials, representatives of the Turkish Cypriot religious foundation Evkaf, and Turkish and Turkish Cypriot lawyers.
On 22 February 2020, Cyprus declared it would veto European Union funds to Turkish Cypriots if Varosha were opened to settlement.
On 6 October 2020, Ersin Tatar, the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that the beach area of Varosha would reopen to the public on 8 October 2020. Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Turkey fully supported the decision. The move came ahead of the 2020 Northern Cypriot presidential election, in which Tatar was a candidate. Deputy Prime Minister Kudret Özersay, who had worked on the reopening previously, said that this was not a full reopening of the area, that this was just a unilateral election stunt by Tatar. His People's Party withdrew from the Tatar cabinet, leading to the collapse of the Turkish Cypriot government. The EU's diplomatic chief condemned the plan and described it as a "serious violation" of the U.N. ceasefire agreement. In addition, he asked Turkey to stop this activity. The U.N. Secretary-General expressed concern over Turkey's decision.
On 8 October 2020, some parts of Varosha were opened from the Officers' Club of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot Army to the Golden Sands Hotel.
In November 2020, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkey's ambassador to Nicosia, visited Varosha. In addition, the main avenue in Varosha has been renamed after Semih Sancar, Chief of the General Staff of Turkey from 1973 to 1978, a period including the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
The European Parliament on 27 November, asked Turkey to reverse its decision to re-open part of Varosha and resume negotiations aimed at resolving the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation and called on the European Union to impose sanctions against Turkey, if things do not change. Turkey rejected the resolution, adding that Turkey will continue to protect both its own rights and those of Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus presidency also condemned the resolution.
On 20 July 2021, Tatar, the president of Northern Cyprus announced the start of the 2nd phase of the opening of Varosha. He encouraged Greek Cypriots to apply Immovable Property Commission of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to claim their properties back if they have any such rights.
Bilal Aga Mosque, constructed in 1821 and taken out of service in 1974, was re-opened on 23 July 2021.
In response to a decision by the government of Turkish Cyprus, the presidential statement of the United Nations Security Council dated on 23 July said that settling any part of the abandoned Cypriot suburb of Varosha, "by people other than its inhabitants, is 'inadmissible'." The same day, Turkey rejected the presidential statement of the UNSC on Maras (Varosha), and said that these statements were based on Greek-Greek Cypriot propaganda, were groundless and unfounded claims, and inconsistent with the realities on the Island. On 24 July 2021, the presidency of Northern Cyprus condemned the presidential statement of the UNSC dated on 23 July, and stated that "We see and condemn it as an attempt to create an obstacle for the property-rights-holders in Varosha to achieve their rights".
By 1 January 2022, nearly 400,000 people had visited Varosha since its opening to civilians on 6 October 2020.
On 19 May 2022, Northern Cyprus opened a 600m long X 400m wide stretch of beach on the Golden Sands beach (from the King George Hotel to the Oceania Building) in Varosha for commercial use. Sun beds and umbrellas were installed.
UNFICYP said it would raise the decision taken by Turkish Cypriot authorities to open that stretch of beach in Varosha with the Security Council, spokesperson for the peacekeeping force Aleem Siddique said on Friday. The UN announced its "position on Varosha is unchanged and we are monitoring the situation closely".
In October 2022, the Turkish Cypriots announced that public institutions will be opened in the city.
In April 2023, Cleo Hotel, the 7-floor Golden Seaside Hotel, and the 3-star Aegean Hotel were purchased by a Turkish Cypriot businessman (from their Greek Cypriot owners) who will operate them within 2025.
On 10 August 2023, the Government of Northern Cyprus decided to construct a marina and tourist facility in Varosha.
Varosha was analyzed by Alan Weisman in his book The World Without Us as an example of the unstoppable power of nature.
Filmmaker Greek Cypriot Michael Cacoyannis described the city and interviewed its exiled citizens in the film Attilas '74, produced in 1975.
In 2021, the Belarusian group Main-De-Gloire dedicated a song to this city that has become a ghostly place.
Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.
Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.
A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.
Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.
Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.
Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.
The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.
Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.
Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.
By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.
EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.
However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.
On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.
In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.
By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.
In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.
The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.
After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".
As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.
Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.
The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.
Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.
The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.
Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.
Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria
An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."
In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.
Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.
In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.
Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.
Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.
Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:
UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.
The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.
By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."
After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.
On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.
The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.
During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.
In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.
Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.
A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.
Diary of An Inmate
By John W. Dobbs, Florida, inmate no.C00618
Go to amku.org and sygds.com
True Story
Growing up in N.Y.C. we learned the game in leaps and bounds; developed rules to it. Doing time in Florida is like peeping the game through a microscope. Thank you for checking out this brief on overlooked crimes against humanity; interchangeable corruption orchestrated by masters of misdirection.
In ’06 an old girlfriend and I were visiting my kids out here and stopped at a topless bar for drinks.5 drunk guys waited in the parking lot for her; surrounded my car; a fistfight turned deadly. I put 3 of them in the hospital, fatally stabbing the 3rd or 4th guy to jump in. I myself was cut by them 6 times; but I’d killed the son of a powerful attorney, another had a $2,000,000 trust fund. Thus, selective application of the “Stand Your Ground” law.
The only one arrested; charged with murder, two aggravated batteries, and aggravated assault; despite their multiple felony convictions and one being on probation in a state where being drunk or police contact are grounds for re-arrest. I ’m held by a judge without bail, on a charging affidavit that wasn’t really an affidavit; it wasn’t signed by anyone authorized to administer oaths. No alleged victim made an allegation of me committing a crime until 2 months after my arrest. Then the guy on probation changed his statement to one that is refuted by the State’s own C.S.I.; the only statement against me today. I get a Public Pretender
Instead of Defender. Misleading jury instruction; for example: what they call “initial aggressor“ instructions that substitute the word “aggressor” with aggressor” provocation” which can mean to irritate or annoy; therefore if I irritated them by standing my ground, I could lose the right to stand my ground! Bet Zimmerman’s never read that one!
The prosecutor fabricated evidence contradicting all her witnesses. Appeal court denials without saying why or misdirecting the public intentionally misconstruing my arguments knowing it may take years to be seen again. So I’m held to crimes that by Justifiable use to Force Statue never occurred all because of fraud in the court. But I’m King Universal from the Southside of what gives birth to King: Queens. Where we rock forward, never backward. I can give a wealth of love to a beautiful woman and a wealth legacy to a powerful law firm. Hollar at something real! Share the victory. WOO.
Thank You
For more info. Go to amku.org
A call to action
Please Help
This is it!
The real deal. Facts. Check out Online Florida Star Newspaper for feature videos get your update on the new and true crime of the century.
John W. Dobbs, Florida inmate no. C00618
Revelations 2020 King U Exposes the Game from Prison (4part videos)
Pass this on, share this explosive Revelation. Also check out Online Florida Star Newspaper feature videos get your update on the new and true crime of the century.
Does are the links:
1.) part 1 of 4
2.) part 2 of 4
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtbG6azRb2k
3.) part 3 of 4
www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2CZQDCBlLw
4.) part 4
The numbers actually view have been suppressed.
For more info go to amku.org and or sygds.com
Contact: Mrs. Celeste Dobbs at dobbsceleste7@gmail.com) (732) 259 - 4436
Thank You
Kiss Me, Kate (original Broadway cast)
Vinyl LP (1949, reissued 1963)
Label: Columbia Masterworks
Catalog No.: OL 4140
Monophonic
Out-of-print
Number of Discs: 1
▶ Front cover: here.
**************
☞ Side 1
1. Overture - Another Op'nin', Another Show
— Annabelle Hill with Chorus
2. Why Can't You Behave
— Lisa Kirk, Harold Lang
3. Wunderbar
— Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison
4. So In Love
— Patricia Morison
5. We Open In Venice
Lisa Kirk, Harold Lang, Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison
6. Tom, Dick Or Harry
— Edwin Clay, Charles Wood
7. I've Come To Wive It Wealthily In Padua
— Alfred Drake With Chorus
8. I Hate Men
— Patricia Morison
☞ Side 2
1. (9) Were Thine That Special Face
— Alfred Drake
2. (10) Too Darn Hot
— Lorenzo Fuller, Eddie Sledge, Fred Davis
3. (11) Where Is The Life That I Led?
— Alfred Drake
4. (12) Always True To You (In My Fashion)
— Lisa Kirk
5. (13) Bianca
— Harold Lang
6. (14) So In Love (Reprise)
— Alfred Drake
7. (15) Brush Up Your Shakespeare
— Harry Clark, Jack Diamond
8.1 (16) I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple
— Patricia Morison
8.2 (16) Finale
— Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison
*************
Lyrics and music by Cole Porter
Orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett
Musical direction by Pembroke Davenport
Vocal arrangements by Pembroke Davenport
Presenter – Lemuel Ayers, Saint Subber
Recorded by Mitchell Ayres
Liner Notes by George Dale
By Special Arrangement with RCA Victor
Made In U.S.A.
Nonbreakable
***************
▶ LINER NOTES
"On the night of December 30th, 1948, Kiss Me, Kate opened at the Century Theater in New York City. As the New York Times noted, it was raining too hard that night for dancing int he streets, but the critics adequately took care of the celebration in their columns. The public, too, gave every indication that this lavish and opulent musical comedy was exactly what it was looking for, and Kiss Me, Kate became the town's reigning hit, and remained so for 1077 performances, not counting subsequent revivals.
In merry and melodious fashion, the show describes the Baltimore opening of a revival of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, alternating between Elizabethan jests and twentieth-century sophistication with style, color, and originality as the provocative songs of Cole Porter and crackling wit of Bella and Samuel Spewack unfold the story. In addition to those benisons, and the efforts of one of the most attractive and talented casts any musical has boasted, the dances of Hanya Holm and the scenery and costumes of Lemuel Ayers added elegance and excitement to an unquestioned success.
As Kiss Me, Kate opens, the cast of the revival is assembled on stage for final instructions before the opening (Another Openin,' Another Show). In the cast with producer-actor Fred Graham are his former wife, Lilli Vanessi; Lois Lane, a singer in whom he is deeply interested, and Bill Calhoun, who is Lois' primary interest. The irresponsible Bill informs Lois that he has signed Graham's name to a $10,000 IOU in 'the most respectable floating crap game in town' and she begs him to reform (Why Can't You Behave). Meanwhile, Graham and Lilli patch up their differences as they reminisce nostalgically about other shows in which they have appeared together, showing particular fondness for an old-fashioned operetta (Wunderbar), and when a bouquet which Graham has sent Lois is delivered by mistake to Lilli, she is overcome with sentiment (So in Love).
On stage, The Taming of the Shrew gets underway (We Open in Venice) as Lois as Bianca and Bill as Lucentio discusses Bainca's inability to marry until her older sister (Katharina) has been affianced (Tom, Dick or Harry). Graham, as Petruchio, arrives in search of a rich wife (I've Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua) and although Katherina, played by Lilli, states her inalterable opposition to males (I Hate Men), Petruchio agrees to marry her, even though she is not the wife of whom he has dreamed (Were Thine That Special Face). Lilli discovers that her bouquet was intended for Lois, and threatens to leave the show. Her departure is prevented by two gangsters who have come to collect the IOU with Graham's signature, and as the curtain falls on the first act, she is raging, both in character and in reality.
Later in the evening, Paul, Graham's dresser, passes time in the alley beside the theater by commenting feelingly on Baltimore weather (Too Darn Hot). As the revival continues on stage, Petruchio, although just marries to Katharina and beginning his tempestuous wedded life, begins to yearn for life as a single man (Where Is the Life That Late I Led?). Offstage, Bill discovers Lois flirting and reproaches her. She explains her feelings (Always True to You in My Fashion), and he counters with a charming expression of affection for the character she plays in the revival (Bianca). Because of a sudden change in gang administration, the gangsters tear up the now-worthless IOU, and Lill prepares to walk out on the show as Graham muses on his love for her (So in Love—Reprise). The gangsters pause to pay a decidedly unusual tribute to Shakespeare (Brush Up Your Shakespeare), and as the revival comes to a close, Lilli unexpectedly returns and in Katharina's words expresses her intention of returning to Graham (I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple). She and Graham are reunited, and Lois and Bill reach their own understanding in time for the finale.
******
☞ Alfred Drake, who sings the leading role, is well remembered for his portrayal of Curley in Oklahoma! during the first year or so of that musical's run, and for his flamboyant starring performance in the musical version of Kismet. He made his debut as understudy to William Gaxton in White Horse Inn, and has since appeared in such presentations as Babes in Arms, One For the Money, Two for the Show, Beggar's Holiday, The Cradle Will Rock, and Joy to the World. Born in New York, he has appeared in several films, conducted his own radio show for CBS, and first appeared with Miss Morison in Kismet in London and has appeared with the American Shakespeare Festival in Othello and with Katherine Hepburn.
☞ Miss Morison was also born in New York, and at 16 won a scholarship to study art at Beaux Arts in Paris. However, she decided that she wanted to act instead, and at once began dramatic and vocal training. After her appearance in The Two Bouquets, she was called to Hollywood and graced the screen in a long list of films before joining the first Hollywood group to embark on an overseas USO tour. Upon her return, she again went to Hollywood and was singing on a sound stage when Cole Porter heard her and decided that no one else could play Lilli. Miss Morison has recently starred in The King and I during its lengthy tour of the country.
☞ Lisa Kirk skyrocketed to fame with her rendition of The Gentleman Is a Dope in Allegor. With the encouragement of her parents, she began studying dancing at three and kept up her work until, at fifteen, she had her own radio program. When she had finished high school, she set out from Roscoe, Pa., for New York and became a showgirl. After a spell of singing with bands and various small parts in Broadway shows, she was engaged by a nightclub as featured songstress. From there, she went into Allegor and thence to Kiss Me, Kate. Since then, she has appeared in leading supper clubs and hotels across the nation.
☞ Harold Lang, the leading dancer of this lively production, was one of the three brisk sailors in Ballet Theater's Fancy Free . Distinguished performances in this and other Ballet Theater and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo led to Broadway, Three to Make Ready and Look, Ma, I'm Dancin.' After Kiss Me, Kate, Mr. Lang appeared in Make a Wish, starred in the enormously successful revival of Pal Joey, and was seen in the Ziegfield Follies with Beatrice Lillie. Born in San Francisco, he first worked as a super at the Opera House and later at the Golden Gate World's Fair before moving east for his dancing successes.
☞ Leading the opening chorus is Annabelle Hill, who studied at the Conservatory of Music in Flint, Michigan. After an appearance in Detroit operetta, Miss Hill came to New York for an engagement at Cafe Society. Lorenzo Fuller studied at Juilliard School of Music in New York, doubling between classes into the cast of St. Louis Woman. He was one of the quartet who snag The Begat in Finnegan's Rainbow and was a member of the cast of Porgy and Bess on its history-making tour of the world.
☞ Musical director for the production is Pembroke Davenport, who performed the same duties for The Red Mill, Look, Ma, I'm Dancin', and Seven lively Arts. A former pianist and arranger for Fred Waring, Mr. Davenport has composed music for many concert artists.
☞ Cole Porter's first musical hit came in 1919, with Hitch-Koo, and since that time his abundant melodies and ingenious rhymes have delighted theater-goers, dancers, and television and radio listeners again and again. Anything Goes, Jubilee, Fifty Million Frenchmen, Leave It to Me, Something for the Boys, DuBarry Was a Lady, Mexican Hayride, Out of this World, Can-Can, and Silk Stockings are only a handful of his many stage successes, while he has supplied music for such films as Born to Dance, Rosalie, and, of course, Night and Day, based loosely on his career. Among his more recent scores are those for the movies High Society and Les Girls, and for the CBS-Television production Aladdin.
☞ Bella and Samuel Spewack dissected Hollywood in Boy Meets Girl and foreign correspondents in Clear All Wires before turning their observation on the theater in Kiss Me, Kate. Together and alone, they have turned out a large number of memorable plays, books, and screenplay, and collaborated with Mr. Porter on Leave it to Me, the memorable musical that introduced Mary Martin to Broadway."
— Notes by George Dale.
***************
▶ Photo by Yours For Good Fermentables.com.
▶ For a larger image, type 'L' (without the quotation marks).
— Follow on Facebook: YoursForGoodFermentables.
— Follow on Instagram: @tcizauskas.
▶ Camera: Olympus Pen E-PL1.
— Lens: Olympus M.45mm F1.8.
— Edit: Photoshop Elements 15.
▶ Commercial use requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.
Varosha - Maras is the southern quarter of the Famagusta, a de jure territory of Cyprus, currently under the control of Northern Cyprus. Varosha has a population of 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census. The area of Varosha is 6.19 km2 (2.39 sq mi).
The name of Varosha derives from the Turkish word varoş (Ottoman Turkish: واروش, 'suburb'). The place where Varosha is located now was empty fields in which animals grazed.
In the early 1970s, Famagusta was the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus. To cater to the increasing number of tourists, many new high-rise buildings and hotels were constructed. During its heyday, Varosha was not only the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus, but between 1970 and 1974, it was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and was a favorite destination of such celebrities as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, and Brigitte Bardot.
Before 1974, Varosha was the modern tourist area of the Famagusta city. Its Greek Cypriot inhabitants fled during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, when the city of Famagusta came under Turkish control, and it has remained abandoned ever since. In 1984 a U.N. resolution called for the handover of the city to UN control and said that only the original inhabitants, who were forced out, could resettle in the town.
Entry to part of Varosha was opened to civilians in 2017.
In August 1974, the Turkish Army advanced as far as the Green Line, a UN-patrolled demilitarized zone between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, and controlled and fenced Varosha. Just hours before the Greek Cypriot and Turkish armies met in combat on the streets of Famagusta, the entire Greek Cypriot population fled to Paralimni, Dherynia, and Larnaca, fearing a massacre. The evacuation was aided and orchestrated by the nearby British military base. Paralimni has since become the modern-day capital of the Famagusta province of Greek Cypriot-led Cyprus.
The Turkish Army has allowed the entry of only Turkish military and United Nations personnel since 2017.
One such settlement plan was the Annan Plan to reunify the island that provided for the return of Varosha to the original residents. But this was rejected by Greek Cypriots in a 2004 referendum. The UN Security Council Resolution 550 states that it "considers attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the United Nations".
The European Court of Human Rights awarded between €100,000 and €8,000,000 to eight Greek Cypriots for being deprived of their homes and properties as a result of the 1974 invasion. The case was filed jointly by businessman Constantinos Lordos and others, with the principal judgement in the Lordos case dating back to November 2010. The court ruled that, in the case of eight of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the right of peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions, and in the case of seven of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 8 on the right to respect for private and family life.
In the absence of human habitation and maintenance, buildings continue to decay. Over time, parts of the city have begun to be reclaimed by nature as metal corrodes, windows are broken, and plants work their roots into the walls and pavement and grow wild in old window boxes. In 2014, the BBC reported that sea turtles were observed nesting on the beaches in the city.
During the Cyprus Missile Crisis (1997–1998), the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, threatened to take over Varosha if the Cypriot government did not back down.
The main features of Varosha included John F. Kennedy Avenue, a street which ran from close to the port of Famagusta, through Varosha and parallel to Glossa beach. Along JFK Avenue, there were many well known high rise hotels including the King George Hotel, The Asterias Hotel, The Grecian Hotel, The Florida Hotel, and The Argo Hotel which was the favourite hotel of Elizabeth Taylor. The Argo Hotel is located near the end of JFK Avenue, looking towards Protaras and Fig Tree Bay. Another major street in Varosha was Leonidas (Greek: Λεωνίδας), a major street that came off JFK Avenue and headed west towards Vienna Corner. Leonidas was a major shopping and leisure street in Varosha, consisting of bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and a Toyota car dealership.
According to Greek Cypriots, 425 plots exist on the Varosha beach front, which extends from the Contandia hotel to the Golden Sands hotel. The complete number of plots in Varosha are 6082.
There are 281 cases of Greek Cypriots who filed to the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) of Northern Cyprus for compensation.
In 2020, Greek Cypriot Demetrios Hadjihambis filed a lawsuit seeking state compensation for financial losses.
The population of Varosha was 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census.
In 2017, Varosha's beach was opened for the exclusive use of Turks (both Turkish Cypriots and Turkish nationals).
In 2019, the Government of Northern Cyprus announced it would open Varosha to settlement. On 14 November 2019, Ersin Tatar, the prime minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that Northern Cyprus aims to open Varosha by the end of 2020.
On 25 July 2019, Varosha Inventory Commission of Northern Cyprus started its inventory analysis on the buildings and other infrastructure in Varosha.
On 9 December 2019, Ibrahim Benter, the Director-General of the Turkish Cypriot EVKAF religious foundation's administration, declared all of Maraş/Varosha to be the property of EVKAF. Benter said "EVKAF can sign renting contracts with Greek Cypriots if they accept that the fenced-off town belongs to the Evkaf."
In 2019–20, inventory studies of buildings by the Government of Northern Cyprus were concluded. On 15 February 2020, the Turkish Bar Association organised a round table meeting at the Sandy Beach Hotel in Varosha, which was attended by Turkish officials (Vice President Fuat Oktay and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül), Turkish Cypriot officials, representatives of the Turkish Cypriot religious foundation Evkaf, and Turkish and Turkish Cypriot lawyers.
On 22 February 2020, Cyprus declared it would veto European Union funds to Turkish Cypriots if Varosha were opened to settlement.
On 6 October 2020, Ersin Tatar, the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that the beach area of Varosha would reopen to the public on 8 October 2020. Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Turkey fully supported the decision. The move came ahead of the 2020 Northern Cypriot presidential election, in which Tatar was a candidate. Deputy Prime Minister Kudret Özersay, who had worked on the reopening previously, said that this was not a full reopening of the area, that this was just a unilateral election stunt by Tatar. His People's Party withdrew from the Tatar cabinet, leading to the collapse of the Turkish Cypriot government. The EU's diplomatic chief condemned the plan and described it as a "serious violation" of the U.N. ceasefire agreement. In addition, he asked Turkey to stop this activity. The U.N. Secretary-General expressed concern over Turkey's decision.
On 8 October 2020, some parts of Varosha were opened from the Officers' Club of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot Army to the Golden Sands Hotel.
In November 2020, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkey's ambassador to Nicosia, visited Varosha. In addition, the main avenue in Varosha has been renamed after Semih Sancar, Chief of the General Staff of Turkey from 1973 to 1978, a period including the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
The European Parliament on 27 November, asked Turkey to reverse its decision to re-open part of Varosha and resume negotiations aimed at resolving the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation and called on the European Union to impose sanctions against Turkey, if things do not change. Turkey rejected the resolution, adding that Turkey will continue to protect both its own rights and those of Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus presidency also condemned the resolution.
On 20 July 2021, Tatar, the president of Northern Cyprus announced the start of the 2nd phase of the opening of Varosha. He encouraged Greek Cypriots to apply Immovable Property Commission of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to claim their properties back if they have any such rights.
Bilal Aga Mosque, constructed in 1821 and taken out of service in 1974, was re-opened on 23 July 2021.
In response to a decision by the government of Turkish Cyprus, the presidential statement of the United Nations Security Council dated on 23 July said that settling any part of the abandoned Cypriot suburb of Varosha, "by people other than its inhabitants, is 'inadmissible'." The same day, Turkey rejected the presidential statement of the UNSC on Maras (Varosha), and said that these statements were based on Greek-Greek Cypriot propaganda, were groundless and unfounded claims, and inconsistent with the realities on the Island. On 24 July 2021, the presidency of Northern Cyprus condemned the presidential statement of the UNSC dated on 23 July, and stated that "We see and condemn it as an attempt to create an obstacle for the property-rights-holders in Varosha to achieve their rights".
By 1 January 2022, nearly 400,000 people had visited Varosha since its opening to civilians on 6 October 2020.
On 19 May 2022, Northern Cyprus opened a 600m long X 400m wide stretch of beach on the Golden Sands beach (from the King George Hotel to the Oceania Building) in Varosha for commercial use. Sun beds and umbrellas were installed.
UNFICYP said it would raise the decision taken by Turkish Cypriot authorities to open that stretch of beach in Varosha with the Security Council, spokesperson for the peacekeeping force Aleem Siddique said on Friday. The UN announced its "position on Varosha is unchanged and we are monitoring the situation closely".
In October 2022, the Turkish Cypriots announced that public institutions will be opened in the city.
In April 2023, Cleo Hotel, the 7-floor Golden Seaside Hotel, and the 3-star Aegean Hotel were purchased by a Turkish Cypriot businessman (from their Greek Cypriot owners) who will operate them within 2025.
On 10 August 2023, the Government of Northern Cyprus decided to construct a marina and tourist facility in Varosha.
Varosha was analyzed by Alan Weisman in his book The World Without Us as an example of the unstoppable power of nature.
Filmmaker Greek Cypriot Michael Cacoyannis described the city and interviewed its exiled citizens in the film Attilas '74, produced in 1975.
In 2021, the Belarusian group Main-De-Gloire dedicated a song to this city that has become a ghostly place.
Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.
Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.
A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.
Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.
Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.
Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.
The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.
Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.
Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.
By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.
EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.
However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.
On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.
In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.
By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.
In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.
The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.
After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".
As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.
Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.
The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.
Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.
The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.
Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.
Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria
An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."
In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.
Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.
In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.
Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.
Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.
Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:
UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.
The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.
By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."
After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.
On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.
The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.
During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.
In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.
Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.
A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.
Emerson Stage presents
INTO THE WOODS
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Originally Directed on Broadway by James Lapine
Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick
Directed by Scott LaFeber
Music Direction by Jonathan Goldberg
Original Broadway Production by Heidi Landesman, Rocco Landesman, Rick Steiner, M. Anthony Fisher, Frederic H. Mayerson, and Jujamcyn Theaters
Originally produced by the Old Globe Theater, San Diego, CA.
April 14 & 16, 2022
Cutler Majestic Theatre
Emerson College
Boston, MA
Scenic Design by LUCIANA STECCONI and JORDAN BARNETT
Projects Design by ALEX BASCO KOCH and PIPER PHILLIPS
Props Lead: LAUREN CORCUERA
Costume Design by MOLLY SHAUGHNESSY
Lighting Design by TALIA ELISE & GRACE TUCHMAN
Sound Design by MEGAN CULLEY
Stage Manager: SOPHIE KLOKINIS
Dramaturg: CIARA BERARDI
Cast: ROBERTA ALAMAN, LUCAS BABCOCK, JONAH BARRICKLO, OLIVIA BODLEY, NAJA NICOLE BROWN, JAKE COLLINS, DENNIS DIZON, CEDRICK EKRA, MARCO GIACONA, ISABEL GINSBERG, EMERSON HART, HAWA KAMARA, ELLIANA KARRIS, EMILY KILBOURNE, KARLEY KRICKMIER, ANTHONY LAFORNARA, BRENDAN MASSAR, MORGAN MCMILLIN, ZOEY SCHORSCH, ELLA SHAW, BEATRICE STEUER, AMANDA VAZQUEZ, ANANIA WILLIAMS, ISABELLE WISDOM, ZEHAVA YOUNGER
Orchestra: MICHAEL BELLOFATTO, LISA BROOKE, DAVID BURDETT, MAXWELL CONNOR, JACQUELINE DEVOE, KATE FOSS, JONATHAN GOLDBERG, CLARA KEBABIAN, DOUGLAS LIPPINCOTT, SALLY MERRIMAN, CAMERON SAWZIN, JENNIFER SHALLENBERGER, EMMA STAUDACHER, LOUIS TOTH, NORALEE WALKER
All photos by Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo
More information: www.emersonstage.org/into-the-woods
Las Ventanas al Paraiso "The windows to Paradise"
Km 19.5 Carretera Transpeninsular
Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo - MEXICO
In the 1970's the Mexican government designated "hot spots" for tourism development including Cancun, Ixtapa and Los Cabos. Los Cabos, which means the Capes has twin towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo which are separated by 20 miles of beach coast line. Mexican developer Javier Burillo Azcarraga acquired eighteen undeveloped acres at Cabo San Lucas in the early 90's. He envisioned for the site a unique, super-luxury, boutique hotel that would stand out from the crowd and reflect Baja's indigenous culture and landscape. He brought in Atlanta-based architect and developer Hal Thannisch, Jr. to create the master plan and orchestrate the design, construction, financing, and ultimate operation of the completed resort. Thannisch hired HKS Architects of Dallas to provide architectural services, and they in turn, retained The SWA Group of Dallas to create the site plan and landscape architecture. The SWA Group developed the Las Ventanas landscape which blends the natural desert environment with the sensuality of the Mexican-style architecture to enhance the resort’s sense of authenticity. Construction began in December 1995, and the five-star Las Ventanas al Paraiso, or "Windows to Paradise," welcomed its first guests in July 1997. When guests enter Las Ventanas, they don't see all the buildings at once. Rather, the resort gradually reveals itself as guests walk down to the sea. The site plan radiates out from the open-air lobby, and every guest suite has a view of the blue Sea of Cortez. The resort resembles a small, sand and earth-colored Mexican village. The hotels opening rate was $325 a night. The 61-room Las Ventanas al Paraiso claims to have the longest celebrity client list of any hotel in the world. The discreet resort does not have a sign outside on Highway 1. Zen-inspired raked-sand entrance opens to beach views from the restaurant, private rooftop patios, and infinity-edge pools, where super-attentive pool butlers clean your smudged sunglasses and provide unlimited towel service. All over-sized guestrooms have pebble-inlaid headboards, hand-carved cedar doors, wood-burning fireplaces, and telescopes for stargazing.
Javier Burillo belongs to the Azcárraga family, owner of Televisa. He is the son of Carmela Azcárraga Milmo, sister of the late Emilio Azcárraga Milmo and daughter of Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, founder of Televicentro, now Televisa. Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. is a Mexican multimedia company and the largest in Latin America and the Spanish-speaking world (Univision in the United States). The company has been led and owned by three generations of Azcárraga. Javier Burillo inherited the Ritz Acapulco Hotel from his grandfather. In 1999 he and Rosewood's Hal Thannisch proposed a $62 million, 105-room Rosewood Resort in Sonoma, CA which failed to get city's approval.
Thannisch Development Services, Inc. (TDS) specializes in complex issues of development planning, financing, interdisciplinary management, design management and implementation. Thannisch was directly responsible for the renovation of the historic Cogswell College building now the Ritz Carlton San Francisco and the redevelopment of the Mahogany Run Resort, St. Thomas, USVI. In 1985, Thannisch joined Caroline Hunt's Rosewood Hotel Group as vice president, development. Based in Dallas, he was immersed in the development of the Hotel Hana-Maui at Hana Ranch and The Hotel on the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland. In 1989, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company called on his experience to manage the feasibility, pre-development, development and construction of the Ritz-Carlton Aspen, Hotel Arts Barcelona, Spain. Thannisch brought to Rosewood its first Mexico project, Las Ventanas which has emerged as a premier five-star resort in all of Mexico.
Las Ventanas al Paraíso became the first world-class resort in Los Cabos under hotelier Edward Steiner who served the hotel from opening to 2008. The resort achieved AAA Five Diamond status under his leadership.
In December 2003 Paraiso Los Cabos, S.A. de C.V. sold Las Ventana al Paraiso to Dallas based JTL Capital in partnership with Farallon Capital Management L.L.C.for an undisclosed price. Rosewood Hotels & Resorts agreed to a long-term contract to continue management of the resort. The purchase also included land entitled for up to 30 additional villa residences as well as an unfinished Phase IV building containing 8 premier villas that JTL Capital will finish constructing in September of 2004. The transaction was a first for JTL in Mexico. Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital provided the financing. JTL Capital, L.L.C. is a closely held, real estate investment and development concern founded in 1999 by David A. Lane and Mark J. Sullivan. JTL Capital employs a "buy and enhance" strategy that produces attractive risk-adjusted returns.
In September 2004 Ty Warner Hotels & Resorts, LLC purchased the 61-room Las Ventanas al Paraíso Resort from Dallas-based JTL Capital, LLC. According to Ty Warner, the goal is to extend and enhance the beauty and amenities at the resort. Warner believed the essential component to achieving that goal is in Rosewood Hotels & Resorts' continued operation of the resort. Ty Warner is an American billionaire who created the 1990s stuffed toy fad - Beanie Babies. At the peak of the Beanie craze in 1999, the privately owned Ty Inc. is believed to have earned over $700 million in profits in a year. The Beanie Babies phenomenon, coupled with the rise of the Internet, is cited as elevating Warner to billionaire status. Ty Warner Hotel and Resort Properties include: Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara, CA, Four Seasons Hotel New York, NY and San Ysidro Ranch, Montecito, CA.
Managing Directors since Edward Steiner include: Lionel Alvarez appointed Managing Director in 2008. He previously was General Manager at at Aquapura Vale Do Douro Hotel, Portugal. Martein van Wagenberg was appointed managing director of Las Ventanas in 2011. He previously was at Rosewood Little Dix Bay in Virgin Gorda. In 2014 Rosewood named Mário Candeias the managing director of Las Ventanas. He was the Director of Operations at Pestana Hotels & Resorts in Portugal. Rosewood appointed Frederic Vidal the Managing Director of Las Ventanas al Paraíso in 2014. Previously he was Managing Director for YOSH Hospitality, a company managing palaces and villas in the United Arab Emirates.
Compiled by Dick Johnson, November 2019
The Beyond Broadway Experience 2016 presents
BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL
Libretto by Jeff Whitty
Music by Tom Kitt & Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lyrics by Amanda Green & Lin-Manuel Miranda
Inspired by the Motion Picture Bring It On Written by Jessica Bendinger
Arrangements and Orchestrations Alex Lacamoire & Tom Kitt
Presented at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh on 22nd and 23rd July 2016
The Beyond Broadway Experience 2016 presents
BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL
Libretto by Jeff Whitty
Music by Tom Kitt & Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lyrics by Amanda Green & Lin-Manuel Miranda
Inspired by the Motion Picture Bring It On Written by Jessica Bendinger
Arrangements and Orchestrations Alex Lacamoire & Tom Kitt
Presented at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh on 22nd and 23rd July 2016
‘Orchestrating the Depth of Light’ (ODL), an installation at Roßmarkt in central Frankfurt, forms an intersection of the historical and contemporary commercial urban context, advanced light technology, computer programming and architecture.
Varosha - Maras is the southern quarter of the Famagusta, a de jure territory of Cyprus, currently under the control of Northern Cyprus. Varosha has a population of 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census. The area of Varosha is 6.19 km2 (2.39 sq mi).
The name of Varosha derives from the Turkish word varoş (Ottoman Turkish: واروش, 'suburb'). The place where Varosha is located now was empty fields in which animals grazed.
In the early 1970s, Famagusta was the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus. To cater to the increasing number of tourists, many new high-rise buildings and hotels were constructed. During its heyday, Varosha was not only the number-one tourist destination in Cyprus, but between 1970 and 1974, it was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and was a favorite destination of such celebrities as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, and Brigitte Bardot.
Before 1974, Varosha was the modern tourist area of the Famagusta city. Its Greek Cypriot inhabitants fled during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, when the city of Famagusta came under Turkish control, and it has remained abandoned ever since. In 1984 a U.N. resolution called for the handover of the city to UN control and said that only the original inhabitants, who were forced out, could resettle in the town.
Entry to part of Varosha was opened to civilians in 2017.
In August 1974, the Turkish Army advanced as far as the Green Line, a UN-patrolled demilitarized zone between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, and controlled and fenced Varosha. Just hours before the Greek Cypriot and Turkish armies met in combat on the streets of Famagusta, the entire Greek Cypriot population fled to Paralimni, Dherynia, and Larnaca, fearing a massacre. The evacuation was aided and orchestrated by the nearby British military base. Paralimni has since become the modern-day capital of the Famagusta province of Greek Cypriot-led Cyprus.
The Turkish Army has allowed the entry of only Turkish military and United Nations personnel since 2017.
One such settlement plan was the Annan Plan to reunify the island that provided for the return of Varosha to the original residents. But this was rejected by Greek Cypriots in a 2004 referendum. The UN Security Council Resolution 550 states that it "considers attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the United Nations".
The European Court of Human Rights awarded between €100,000 and €8,000,000 to eight Greek Cypriots for being deprived of their homes and properties as a result of the 1974 invasion. The case was filed jointly by businessman Constantinos Lordos and others, with the principal judgement in the Lordos case dating back to November 2010. The court ruled that, in the case of eight of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the right of peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions, and in the case of seven of the applicants, Turkey had violated Article 8 on the right to respect for private and family life.
In the absence of human habitation and maintenance, buildings continue to decay. Over time, parts of the city have begun to be reclaimed by nature as metal corrodes, windows are broken, and plants work their roots into the walls and pavement and grow wild in old window boxes. In 2014, the BBC reported that sea turtles were observed nesting on the beaches in the city.
During the Cyprus Missile Crisis (1997–1998), the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, threatened to take over Varosha if the Cypriot government did not back down.
The main features of Varosha included John F. Kennedy Avenue, a street which ran from close to the port of Famagusta, through Varosha and parallel to Glossa beach. Along JFK Avenue, there were many well known high rise hotels including the King George Hotel, The Asterias Hotel, The Grecian Hotel, The Florida Hotel, and The Argo Hotel which was the favourite hotel of Elizabeth Taylor. The Argo Hotel is located near the end of JFK Avenue, looking towards Protaras and Fig Tree Bay. Another major street in Varosha was Leonidas (Greek: Λεωνίδας), a major street that came off JFK Avenue and headed west towards Vienna Corner. Leonidas was a major shopping and leisure street in Varosha, consisting of bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and a Toyota car dealership.
According to Greek Cypriots, 425 plots exist on the Varosha beach front, which extends from the Contandia hotel to the Golden Sands hotel. The complete number of plots in Varosha are 6082.
There are 281 cases of Greek Cypriots who filed to the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) of Northern Cyprus for compensation.
In 2020, Greek Cypriot Demetrios Hadjihambis filed a lawsuit seeking state compensation for financial losses.
The population of Varosha was 226 in the 2011 Northern Cyprus census.
In 2017, Varosha's beach was opened for the exclusive use of Turks (both Turkish Cypriots and Turkish nationals).
In 2019, the Government of Northern Cyprus announced it would open Varosha to settlement. On 14 November 2019, Ersin Tatar, the prime minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that Northern Cyprus aims to open Varosha by the end of 2020.
On 25 July 2019, Varosha Inventory Commission of Northern Cyprus started its inventory analysis on the buildings and other infrastructure in Varosha.
On 9 December 2019, Ibrahim Benter, the Director-General of the Turkish Cypriot EVKAF religious foundation's administration, declared all of Maraş/Varosha to be the property of EVKAF. Benter said "EVKAF can sign renting contracts with Greek Cypriots if they accept that the fenced-off town belongs to the Evkaf."
In 2019–20, inventory studies of buildings by the Government of Northern Cyprus were concluded. On 15 February 2020, the Turkish Bar Association organised a round table meeting at the Sandy Beach Hotel in Varosha, which was attended by Turkish officials (Vice President Fuat Oktay and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül), Turkish Cypriot officials, representatives of the Turkish Cypriot religious foundation Evkaf, and Turkish and Turkish Cypriot lawyers.
On 22 February 2020, Cyprus declared it would veto European Union funds to Turkish Cypriots if Varosha were opened to settlement.
On 6 October 2020, Ersin Tatar, the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus, announced that the beach area of Varosha would reopen to the public on 8 October 2020. Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Turkey fully supported the decision. The move came ahead of the 2020 Northern Cypriot presidential election, in which Tatar was a candidate. Deputy Prime Minister Kudret Özersay, who had worked on the reopening previously, said that this was not a full reopening of the area, that this was just a unilateral election stunt by Tatar. His People's Party withdrew from the Tatar cabinet, leading to the collapse of the Turkish Cypriot government. The EU's diplomatic chief condemned the plan and described it as a "serious violation" of the U.N. ceasefire agreement. In addition, he asked Turkey to stop this activity. The U.N. Secretary-General expressed concern over Turkey's decision.
On 8 October 2020, some parts of Varosha were opened from the Officers' Club of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot Army to the Golden Sands Hotel.
In November 2020, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkey's ambassador to Nicosia, visited Varosha. In addition, the main avenue in Varosha has been renamed after Semih Sancar, Chief of the General Staff of Turkey from 1973 to 1978, a period including the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
The European Parliament on 27 November, asked Turkey to reverse its decision to re-open part of Varosha and resume negotiations aimed at resolving the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation and called on the European Union to impose sanctions against Turkey, if things do not change. Turkey rejected the resolution, adding that Turkey will continue to protect both its own rights and those of Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus presidency also condemned the resolution.
On 20 July 2021, Tatar, the president of Northern Cyprus announced the start of the 2nd phase of the opening of Varosha. He encouraged Greek Cypriots to apply Immovable Property Commission of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to claim their properties back if they have any such rights.
Bilal Aga Mosque, constructed in 1821 and taken out of service in 1974, was re-opened on 23 July 2021.
In response to a decision by the government of Turkish Cyprus, the presidential statement of the United Nations Security Council dated on 23 July said that settling any part of the abandoned Cypriot suburb of Varosha, "by people other than its inhabitants, is 'inadmissible'." The same day, Turkey rejected the presidential statement of the UNSC on Maras (Varosha), and said that these statements were based on Greek-Greek Cypriot propaganda, were groundless and unfounded claims, and inconsistent with the realities on the Island. On 24 July 2021, the presidency of Northern Cyprus condemned the presidential statement of the UNSC dated on 23 July, and stated that "We see and condemn it as an attempt to create an obstacle for the property-rights-holders in Varosha to achieve their rights".
By 1 January 2022, nearly 400,000 people had visited Varosha since its opening to civilians on 6 October 2020.
On 19 May 2022, Northern Cyprus opened a 600m long X 400m wide stretch of beach on the Golden Sands beach (from the King George Hotel to the Oceania Building) in Varosha for commercial use. Sun beds and umbrellas were installed.
UNFICYP said it would raise the decision taken by Turkish Cypriot authorities to open that stretch of beach in Varosha with the Security Council, spokesperson for the peacekeeping force Aleem Siddique said on Friday. The UN announced its "position on Varosha is unchanged and we are monitoring the situation closely".
In October 2022, the Turkish Cypriots announced that public institutions will be opened in the city.
In April 2023, Cleo Hotel, the 7-floor Golden Seaside Hotel, and the 3-star Aegean Hotel were purchased by a Turkish Cypriot businessman (from their Greek Cypriot owners) who will operate them within 2025.
On 10 August 2023, the Government of Northern Cyprus decided to construct a marina and tourist facility in Varosha.
Varosha was analyzed by Alan Weisman in his book The World Without Us as an example of the unstoppable power of nature.
Filmmaker Greek Cypriot Michael Cacoyannis described the city and interviewed its exiled citizens in the film Attilas '74, produced in 1975.
In 2021, the Belarusian group Main-De-Gloire dedicated a song to this city that has become a ghostly place.
Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.
Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.
A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.
Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.
Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.
Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.
The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.
Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.
Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.
By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.
EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.
However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.
On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.
In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.
By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.
In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.
The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.
After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".
As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.
Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.
The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.
Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.
The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.
Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.
Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria
An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."
In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.
Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.
In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.
Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.
Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.
Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:
UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.
The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.
By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."
After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.
On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.
The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.
During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.
In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.
Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.
A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.
Super Committee or Super Committee
The United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, aka the Super Committee, aka the Super Congress, is a one of the outcomes of the debt-ceiling "crisis" orchestrated to distract U.S. citizens from the lack of jobs, rising cost of living and rampant corporate/government corruption. The Super Committee will provide an opportunity for lobbyists to focus all their influence on a smaller number of legislators. Given the fact that Republicans all vote in lock-step, only one Democrat is needed to hand over total victory. The goal of the Super Committee it to make budgetary recommendations for legislation to be voted on by Congress as a whole. According to Wikipedia, "The committee's recommendations would then be put to a vote by Congress in a simple up or down vote, without any amendments or House 'majority of the majority' blocks or Senate filibusters possible, by December 23, 2011."
Senate Members
-----------------------
Max Baucus, Montana, Democrat,
John Kerry, Massachusetts, Democrat
Jon Kyl, Arizona, Republican
Patty Murray, Washington, Co-Chair, Democrat
Rob Portman, Ohio, Republican
Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania, Republican
House Members
-----------------------
Xavier Becerra, California, Democrat
Dave Camp, Michigan, Republican
Jim Clyburn, South Carolina, Democrat
Jeb Hensarling, Texas, Co-Chair, Republican
Fred Upton, Michigan, Republican
Chris Van Hollen, Maryland, Democrat
Source images for carictures:
Senator Murry - a photo in the public domain available via Wikimedia.
Congressman Hensarling - a photo in the public domain from the United States Congress available via Wikimedia.
Senator Kyl - a Creative Commons licensed photo from Saeima's Flickr photostream.
Senator Baucus - a photo in the public domain available from the U.S. Senate website.
Senator Portman - a photo in the public domain from the United States Senate available via Wikimedia.
Senator Kerry - a Creative Commons licensed photo from Πρωθυπουργός της Ελλάδας' Flickr Photostream.
Senator Toomey - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Congressman Becerra - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Congressman Camp - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Congressman Clyburn - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Congressman Upton - a Creative Commons licensed photo from iomechallenge's Flickr photostream.
Congressman Van Hollen - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
before i went to victoria falls i made a point of not looking at any photos of it, so that the first time i saw it was when i hovered above it in a helicopter. to be honest i was a little disappointed. i think it was partly because i didn't know how it would look, and in my head i thought it would be a big open facing waterfall like angel or kaieteur falls. as you can see it actually has cliffs wrapped around it so you can only really see inside from a certain angle. the visibility wasn't helped by going at the wettest time of the year so clouds of mist were obscuring the falls themselves. i don't regret taking the trip, it's only the second time i'd been in a helicopter, but i couldn't deny being a bit underwhelmed by what i had hoped to see. thankfully after i landed i went walking along the edge of the cliffs and up close my eyes were far more satisfied with what they saw.
here's the original
I was fortunate to be the last one allowed into the lighthouse under full moon conditions - an event which sells out pretty quickly(you must buy tickets in advance). It was a highly orchestrated affair - they actually took attendance! Though i took a number of shots this was probably the best.
#0366(123) HDR - Photomatix 3exp Fusion
The Beyond Broadway Experience 2016 presents
BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL
Libretto by Jeff Whitty
Music by Tom Kitt & Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lyrics by Amanda Green & Lin-Manuel Miranda
Inspired by the Motion Picture Bring It On Written by Jessica Bendinger
Arrangements and Orchestrations Alex Lacamoire & Tom Kitt
Presented at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh on 22nd and 23rd July 2016
"The Academy Building is the fourth such building. It was built in 1914 after a devastating fire ruined the third. The Academy Building was designed by Ralph Adams Cram of Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson, and houses the History, Math, Religion and Classical Languages departments, along with a small but significant archaeology/anthropology museum. Two wings were added to the original structure in the 1920s and 1930s during a building boom that was orchestrated by Principal Lewis Perry. One of these wings is the Mayer Art Center, which, despite being attached to the Academy Building, is often referred to as a separate building. The Academy Building also houses the Assembly Hall (formerly known as the Chapel). In former times, non-denominational, Christian religious services were conducted in the Chapel every morning Monday through Saturday before the beginning of classes, and attendance was mandatory for all students in keeping with the wishes of the founders of the academy. The bell (visible in the photo of the Academy Building tower) was rung in a succession of rings to call the student body to worship: Ones, Twos, Threes, Fours, and Fives. After Fives were rung, monitors would begin walking down the rows checking attendance on the benches. The bell continues to be rung to mark the end of classes, as well as to mark each hour from 8 AM to 11 PM.
Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is a highly selective, coeducational independent school for boarding and day students in grades 9 through 12, and offers a secondary postgraduate program. Located in Exeter, New Hampshire, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States and among its most prestigious.
Exeter is based on the Harkness education system, a conference format of student interaction with minimal teacher involvement. It has the largest endowment of any New England boarding school, which as of 2018 was valued at $1.3 billion. On January 25, 2019, William K. Rawson was appointed by the academy's trustees as the 16th Principal Instructor. He is the 4th alumnus of Exeter to serve as Principal Instructor, after Gideon Lane Soule (1838–1873), Harlan Amen (1895–1913), and William Saltonstall (1946–1963).
Phillips Exeter Academy has educated several generations of the New England establishment and prominent American politicians, but has introduced many programs to diversify the student population, including need-blind admission. In 2018, over 45% of students received financial aid from grants totaling over $22 million. The school has been historically highly selective, with an acceptance rate of 15% for the 2019–2020 school year, and approximately 30% of graduates attend an Ivy League university.
Management of the school's financial and physical resources is overseen by trustees drawn from alumni. Day-to-day operations are headed by a principal, who is appointed by the trustees. The faculty of the school are responsible for governing matters relating to student life, both in and out of the classroom.
The school's first enrolled class counted 56 boys; in 1970, when the decision was made to implement co-education, there were 700 boys. The 2018 academic year saw enrollment at 1,096 students, with 883 boarding students and 213 day students. The student body is roughly equally split between boys and girls, who are housed in 25 single-sex and two mixed-sex dormitories. Each residence is supervised by a dormitory head selected from the faculty.
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. Home to Phillips Exeter Academy, a private university-preparatory school, Exeter is situated where the Exeter River becomes the tidal Squamscott River." - info from Wikipedia.
The fall of 2022 I did my 3rd major cycling tour. I began my adventure in Montreal, Canada and finished in Savannah, GA. This tour took me through the oldest parts of Quebec and the 13 original US states. During this adventure I cycled 7,126 km over the course of 2.5 months and took more than 68,000 photos. As with my previous tours, a major focus was to photograph historic architecture.
Now on Instagram.
The United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, aka the Super Committee, aka the Super Congress, is a one of the outcomes of the debt-ceiling "crisis" orchestrated to distract U.S. citizens from the lack of jobs, rising cost of living and rampant corporate/government corruption. The Super Committee will provide an opportunity for lobbyists to focus all their influence on a smaller number of legislators. Given the fact that Republicans all vote in lock-step, only one Democrat is needed to hand over total victory. The goal of the Super Committee it to make budgetary recommendations for legislation to be voted on by Congress as a whole. According to Wikipedia, "The committee's recommendations would then be put to a vote by Congress in a simple up or down vote, without any amendments or House 'majority of the majority' blocks or Senate filibusters possible, by December 23, 2011."
The members of the Super Committee are:
Left To Right
Republicans in top row
-----------------------
Pat Toomey, Senator Pennsylvania, Republican
Jon Kyl, Senator Arizona, Republican
Jeb Hensarling, Congressman Texas, Co-Chair, Republican
Rob Portman, Senator Ohio, Republican
Dave Camp, Congressman Michigan, Republican
Fred Upton, Congressman Michigan, Republican
Democrats in bottom row
-----------------------
Chris Van Hollen, Congressman Maryland, Democrat
Xavier Becerra, Congressman California, Democrat
Patty Murray, Senator Washington, Co-Chair, Democrat
John Kerry, Senator Massachusetts, Democrat
Max Baucus, Senator Montana, Democrat,
Fred Upton, Michigan, Republican
Jim Clyburn, Congressman South Carolina, Democrat
Source images for carictures:
- Senator Murry - a photo in the public domain available via Wikimedia.
- Congressman Hensarling - a photo in the public domain from the United States Congress available via Wikimedia.
- Senator Kyl - a Creative Commons licensed photo from Saeima's Flickr photostream.
- Senator Baucus - a photo in the public domain available from the U.S. Senate website.
- Senator Portman - a photo in the public domain from the United States Senate available via Wikimedia.
- Senator Kerry - a Creative Commons licensed photo from Πρωθυπουργός της Ελλάδας' Flickr Photostream.
- Senator Toomey - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
- Congressman Becerra - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
- Congressman Camp - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
- Congressman Clyburn - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
- Congressman Upton - a Creative Commons licensed photo from iomechallenge's Flickr photostream.
- Congressman Van Hollen - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Super Committee or Super Committee
The United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, aka the Super Committee, aka the Super Congress, is a one of the outcomes of the debt-ceiling "crisis" orchestrated to distract U.S. citizens from the lack of jobs, rising cost of living and rampant corporate/government corruption. The Super Committee will provide an opportunity for lobbyists to focus all their influence on a smaller number of legislators. Given the fact that Republicans all vote in lock-step, only one Democrat is needed to hand over total victory. The goal of the Super Committee it to make budgetary recommendations for legislation to be voted on by Congress as a whole. According to Wikipedia, "The committee's recommendations would then be put to a vote by Congress in a simple up or down vote, without any amendments or House 'majority of the majority' blocks or Senate filibusters possible, by December 23, 2011."
Senate Members
-----------------------
Max Baucus, Montana, Democrat,
John Kerry, Massachusetts, Democrat
Jon Kyl, Arizona, Republican
Patty Murray, Washington, Co-Chair, Democrat
Rob Portman, Ohio, Republican
Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania, Republican
House Members
-----------------------
Xavier Becerra, California, Democrat
Dave Camp, Michigan, Republican
Jim Clyburn, South Carolina, Democrat
Jeb Hensarling, Texas, Co-Chair, Republican
Fred Upton, Michigan, Republican
Chris Van Hollen, Maryland, Democrat
Source images for carictures:
Senator Murry - a photo in the public domain available via Wikimedia.
Congressman Hensarling - a photo in the public domain from the United States Congress available via Wikimedia.
Senator Kyl - a Creative Commons licensed photo from Saeima's Flickr photostream.
Senator Baucus - a photo in the public domain available from the U.S. Senate website.
Senator Portman - a photo in the public domain from the United States Senate available via Wikimedia.
Senator Kerry - a Creative Commons licensed photo from Πρωθυπουργός της Ελλάδας' Flickr Photostream.
Senator Toomey - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Congressman Becerra - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Congressman Camp - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Congressman Clyburn - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Congressman Upton - a Creative Commons licensed photo from iomechallenge's Flickr photostream.
Congressman Van Hollen - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
THE HORSE WHISPERER
Hercules Began to calm as the horse whisperer gently Placed her healing hand upon his warm, wet snout. Following her mentors Sullivan, Powell and Soloman of centuries past and fiercely guarded methods, through days of time together, she had built the foundations of a lasting trust with the mighty fellow. Instinctively he shuffled on his hooves, at first a head filled with ideas and desires to make a bolt to wide open spaces other than the sumptuous confines of his wooden beamed enclosure. But he sensed in these hands, something other than the coldness of those who had tightened coarse grained wooden containers against his flanks and beaten him with sticks and tethered bare flesh until he Obliged with selfish demands to carry heavy loads and work the lands.
The horse whisperer caressed his mane, gently stroking in vertical motions, gathering up each and every strange within carefully orchestrated and rhythmic motions, as she placed her face against the velvety texture of his warm his skin. Standing so tall and proud, with impressive gait though meek and mild of nature, mightily imposing Hercules could crush at will, yet here he stood, transfixed and all at ease, like never before as she moved her head with shallow steps and deliberate movements along the length of his head, placing her mouth towards his right ear into which her gentle tones spoke oh so softly and slowly.
"For all of the hurt that has been laid upon your bones, for the pain Suffered at the hands of the weak of will and the sticks and stones of the dead at heart, and the unforgiving of deeds and nature, for the many tears that you have cried in the lonely solitude and darkness of those endless nights, in solitude with a heart so crushed by the might of your sorrow, by the depths of despair, deprived of food and starved of love, for the cruelty of mind and deeds bestowed upon you, I pray your forgiveness, Hercules. "
Hercules shuffled a little on his hooves, intending to bolt to safety and freedom, though strangely drawn to the soothing words that flew as angels across the avenues of his troubled mind. He momentarily moved his head away from the horse whisperer so as not to frighten or alarm, shuffling once more upon his hooves and fixing his eyes upon her own. After a moment or two, he moved backwards again, as far as his confines would allow and dropped his head towards her once more, her flesh reunited with his own, her lips close to his ear. A Union of Souls Entwined, a moment of clarity of understanding. A nervous bond, a search for truth, a union of souls, he listened carefully as the Horse whisperer continued.
"For the hatred you have endured at the hands of those not fit to look you in the eyes, nor ride nor own you, for the wounds to innocent flesh and honest heart that may never truly heal within, for the words of Spite and venom spewed from tongues of acid, incapable of kindness in any shape or form, for the lonesome nights when you wished that life would end and allow the freedom of your dreamlike meadows to soothe your brow and ease your pain, I beg your forgiveness Hercules "
The mighty horse snuffled and raised his head, gently lowering his mouth towards the Horse whisperer and nuzzling her soft fair hair which smelled fresh and clean, a soft texture and subtle fragrance. She leant forwards and carefully unhooked the stall door, sliding the shiny metal latch bolt to the left and letting the gate temporarily roll forwards a few inches until it came to a rest partway open. Gathering up a warm coat with his initials emblazoned in hand stitch gold coloured lettering by the stable hand who had loved Hercules since the day he had been rescued from his years of Gypsy violence and mistreatment, the horse whisperer slowly walked towards the main barn style doors and turned back towards him.
"It's a beautiful day, Hercules and the lower fields are soft under foot and bursting with vibrant colours. I could wrap you in your coat, and you could walk the meadows and take in the sights and smells."
Somewhat tentatively, Hercules moved forwards, his forelocks swaying in the breeze that greeted him as he nudged open the unlocked gate and walked past the horse whisperer, edging forwards a handful of strides before coming to a halt once more. His new masters had never yet managed to entice him any further, despite the softness of their tones and gentle nature of their demeanour. He Sniffed the air, gathering a multitude of new scents and aromas not sampled before as the horse whisperer placed his beautiful coat across his back, tightening the securing straps just enough so as not to pinch his flesh nor impare his growing sense of inquisitiveness nor bravery. Cautiously, he moved a few more steps towards the horse whisperer with the gentle brown eyes and softly spoken voice. Peculiarly, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, his head was clear of sadness and fear, his heart alive and joyful as his younger years. He had established a trust with a human being that he believed might never again exist. The horse whisperer strokes his muscular neck, now talking a little louder to him as he cocked his head to one side and listened intently.
"For the future life of freedom and tranquillity lived, for the love of those around you strong and true, for the new sights and sounds and realization that this is your land now, your home, and you will no longer fear the hands of man, the cold of metal, the taunts of undeserving souls, Hercules, I pray you trust me now "
The horse whisperer walked several paces until she was just outside the main barn doors, basking in the glorious sunshine, the sunlight streaking through her hair as it billowed in the gentle breeze, individual stands like sparkling jewels beneath the radiant sun light. The smells of the stables were high in the air, her nostrils dancing with delight to the aromas of freshly turned out stalls and hay bails, Hercules own nostrils flaring as he opened his mouth and bared his teeth, sampling the aromas that were much to his pleasure before glancing back at the woman with the healing hands and gentle words. Like a shadow, he was with her as she moved, following her every footstep in time with her strides, inseparable, at peace, as one.
"Come, walk with me a while Hercules"
As she continued walking towards the fields, the sound of hooves behind as the proud horse stepped into the light for the very first time, and gave a triumphant shake of his man as the fresh air engulfed his lungs. Standing beside the horse whisperer, he laced his nose against her warm face and sighed.
"This is your home now Hercules, your land, you shall and you shall never again fear the evils of mankind. Now run like the wind"
And you know, he surely did.
.
.
.
Written December 5th 2009/Rewritten March 31st 2011
Photograph taken at 10:47am on September 5th 2011 in Brentwood Bay at the Saanich Fair off the West Saanich Road 17a in the grounds off Tomlinson and White Roads, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Nikon D700 300mm 1/60s f/5.6 iso200
Nikkor AF 75-300mm 1989 35mm film lens. UV filter. Nikon GP-1 GPS.
LATITUDE: N 48d 34m 53.81s
LONGITUDE: W 123d 26m 22.24s
ALTITUDE: 69.0m
Lighting the Sails is a spectacular light projection onto Sydney Opera House orchestrated by Brian Eno. Every night for three weeks during Vivid Sydney ’09 festival city icon was a canvas glowing with colorful light patterns.
Sometimes it is hard to anticipate what effect the long exposure would create on a photograph. And this was one of those times for me. I was so focused on capturing Sydney Opera that I did not notice a cruise ship coming into Circular Quay Ferry Wharf. I pressed the button on my remote shutter release and only then saw it slowly entering the shot. “Alright, this one is wasted” I thought. But then, looking on the preview I saw what an amazing effect ship’s lights created on the water and held off deleting it.
This is a 20sec long exposure shot from Overseas Passenger Terminal with camera on a tripod. I later made a bit of a post-processing mainly adjusting the contrast and enhancing light details with selective dodge and burn.
Location: Sydney Opera House, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
From my photoblog at www.bouncedphoton.com
The United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, aka the Super Committee, aka the Super Congress, is a one of the outcomes of the debt-ceiling "crisis" orchestrated to distract U.S. citizens from the lack of jobs, rising cost of living and rampant corporate/government corruption. The Super Committee will provide an opportunity for lobbyists to focus all their influence on a smaller number of legislators. Given the fact that Republicans all vote in lock-step, only one Democrat is needed to hand over total victory. The goal of the Super Committee it to make budgetary recommendations for legislation to be voted on by Congress as a whole. According to Wikipedia, "The committee's recommendations would then be put to a vote by Congress in a simple up or down vote, without any amendments or House 'majority of the majority' blocks or Senate filibusters possible, by December 23, 2011."
The members of the Super Committee are:
Left To Right
Republicans in top row
-----------------------
Pat Toomey, Senator Pennsylvania, Republican
Jon Kyl, Senator Arizona, Republican
Jeb Hensarling, Congressman Texas, Co-Chair, Republican
Rob Portman, Senator Ohio, Republican
Dave Camp, Congressman Michigan, Republican
Fred Upton, Congressman Michigan, Republican
Democrats in bottom row
-----------------------
Chris Van Hollen, Congressman Maryland, Democrat
Xavier Becerra, Congressman California, Democrat
Patty Murray, Senator Washington, Co-Chair, Democrat
John Kerry, Senator Massachusetts, Democrat
Max Baucus, Senator Montana, Democrat,
Fred Upton, Michigan, Republican
Jim Clyburn, Congressman South Carolina, Democrat
Source images for carictures:
Senator Murry - a photo in the public domain available via Wikimedia.
Congressman Hensarling - a photo in the public domain from the United States Congress available via Wikimedia.
Senator Kyl - a Creative Commons licensed photo from Saeima's Flickr photostream.
Senator Baucus - a photo in the public domain available from the U.S. Senate website.
Senator Portman - a photo in the public domain from the United States Senate available via Wikimedia.
Senator Kerry - a Creative Commons licensed photo from Πρωθυπουργός της Ελλάδας' Flickr Photostream.
Senator Toomey - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Congressman Becerra - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Congressman Camp - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Congressman Clyburn - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Congressman Upton - a Creative Commons licensed photo from iomechallenge's Flickr photostream.
Congressman Van Hollen - a photo in the public domain available via Wikipedia.
Organised by:
Melissa Love Design. www.melissalove.co.uk
Orchestrated Stylised Shoots. www.orchestratedshoots.com
Venue. Wiston House. www.wistonhouse.co.uk
Styling, food & flowers. The Tea Set. www.the-tea-set.co.uk.
Dresses. White Mischief. www.whitemischiefbridal.co.uk
Tailoring. Gresham Blake. www.greshamblake.com
Makeup. Natalie Clark of NC Bridal Beauty. www.ncbridalbeauty.com
Hair Accessories. Cherished Vintage Bridal Accessories. www.cherishedvintage.co.uk
Hair styling. Caroline Kearney. www.mobilehairandbeauty.co.uk
Stationery. The Girl Tyler. www.thegirltyler.com
Children's vintage clothing. Dinky Vintage. www.dinkyvintage.com
Children's clothing. Bonnie Baby. www.bonniebaby.co.uk
A beautiful maiden, draped in pristine white, her ebony curls cascading like silken tendrils, orchestrating a ballet with blades of grass beneath the verdant gaze of an ancient tree.
The Beyond Broadway Experience 2016 presents
BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL
Libretto by Jeff Whitty
Music by Tom Kitt & Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lyrics by Amanda Green & Lin-Manuel Miranda
Inspired by the Motion Picture Bring It On Written by Jessica Bendinger
Arrangements and Orchestrations Alex Lacamoire & Tom Kitt
Presented at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh on 22nd and 23rd July 2016
The transient beauty of the coast is intricately intertwined with the captivating patterns that emerge in the sand, crafted by the relentless forces of wind and wave. These natural sculptors shape the shoreline, leaving behind ephemeral masterpieces.
As the tides ebb and flow, they orchestrate a delicate dance with the sand. With each advancing wave, the water gently caresses the shore, carrying particles of sand along its journey. As the wave recedes, it relinquishes its cargo, depositing the grains in a meticulous arrangement. This cyclical process, repeated countless times, creates intricate patterns that stretch along the coastline.
The patterns left behind by the retreating tide mimic the ebb and flow of life itself. Swirling ripples, reminiscent of a miniature desert landscape, emerge as the water recedes, their graceful curves and undulating lines transforming the beach into a living work of art. The patterns are at once orderly and chaotic, with intricate geometrical formations intermingling with whimsical curves and asymmetrical shapes.
The wind, a silent artist in its own right, adds its touch to the sculpting process. As it sweeps across the coast, it whispers secrets to the sand, coaxing it to dance in its invisible embrace. The wind's gentle touch lifts fine particles from the beach, carrying them aloft in an intricate ballet. It sculpts the sand into delicate ripples, resembling the soft undulations of fabric.
The interplay between the wind and the tide results in an ever-changing landscape. The patterns shift and evolve, shaped by the combined forces of these elemental sculptors. Ripples become miniature mountains, rising and falling in a transient topography that mirrors the larger contours of the surrounding coast. Each gust of wind and every advancing or receding wave leaves its mark, etching new patterns and erasing old ones, in an eternal cycle of creation and destruction.
These ephemeral patterns serve as a reminder of the impermanence of existence and the transient nature of beauty, as each passing moment alters the landscape, erasing what once was and creating something new. The sands become a canvas for the symphony of time, a tangible reflection of the ever-changing nature of our lives.
The beauty of these fleeting patterns lies not only in their visual allure but also in the emotions they evoke. They inspire a sense of wonder and awe, inviting us to pause and appreciate the intricate designs that nature creates with such effortless grace. The patterns speak of the interconnectedness of all things, the harmonious interplay between the elements, and the constant flux that defines our existence.
In these patterns of nature, we find a profound lesson: that life, like the shifting sands, is ever-changing, and that true beauty lies not in permanence but in the appreciation of the fleeting moments that grace our journey.
A beautiful maiden, draped in pristine white, her ebony curls cascading like silken tendrils, orchestrating a ballet with blades of grass beneath the verdant gaze of an ancient tree.
Emerson Stage presents
INTO THE WOODS
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Originally Directed on Broadway by James Lapine
Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick
Directed by Scott LaFeber
Music Direction by Jonathan Goldberg
Original Broadway Production by Heidi Landesman, Rocco Landesman, Rick Steiner, M. Anthony Fisher, Frederic H. Mayerson, and Jujamcyn Theaters
Originally produced by the Old Globe Theater, San Diego, CA.
April 14 & 16, 2022
Cutler Majestic Theatre
Emerson College
Boston, MA
Scenic Design by LUCIANA STECCONI and JORDAN BARNETT
Projects Design by ALEX BASCO KOCH and PIPER PHILLIPS
Props Lead: LAUREN CORCUERA
Costume Design by MOLLY SHAUGHNESSY
Lighting Design by TALIA ELISE & GRACE TUCHMAN
Sound Design by MEGAN CULLEY
Stage Manager: SOPHIE KLOKINIS
Dramaturg: CIARA BERARDI
Cast: ROBERTA ALAMAN, LUCAS BABCOCK, JONAH BARRICKLO, OLIVIA BODLEY, NAJA NICOLE BROWN, JAKE COLLINS, DENNIS DIZON, CEDRICK EKRA, MARCO GIACONA, ISABEL GINSBERG, EMERSON HART, HAWA KAMARA, ELLIANA KARRIS, EMILY KILBOURNE, KARLEY KRICKMIER, ANTHONY LAFORNARA, BRENDAN MASSAR, MORGAN MCMILLIN, ZOEY SCHORSCH, ELLA SHAW, BEATRICE STEUER, AMANDA VAZQUEZ, ANANIA WILLIAMS, ISABELLE WISDOM, ZEHAVA YOUNGER
Orchestra: MICHAEL BELLOFATTO, LISA BROOKE, DAVID BURDETT, MAXWELL CONNOR, JACQUELINE DEVOE, KATE FOSS, JONATHAN GOLDBERG, CLARA KEBABIAN, DOUGLAS LIPPINCOTT, SALLY MERRIMAN, CAMERON SAWZIN, JENNIFER SHALLENBERGER, EMMA STAUDACHER, LOUIS TOTH, NORALEE WALKER
All photos by Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo
More information: www.emersonstage.org/into-the-woods
MuCEM + Fort Saint-Jean, Marseille, France - 2013 -Architects: Rudy Ricciotti and C+T architecture
Views, sea, sun, a mineral quality, which all must be orchestrated by a program that will become federal and cognitive. First of all a perfect square of 72 m per side, it is a classic plan, Latin, under the control of Pythagoras. Within this square, another of 52 m per side, comprising the exhibition and conference halls identified as the heart of the museum.
Around, above and below are the service areas. But between these areas and the heart, openings entirely bypass the central square and form interconnected spaces. More interested by the views of the fort, the sea or the port, the culturally overwhelmed visitor will choose this route. Along two interlacing ramps, he will then plunge into the imaginary of the tower of Babel or of a ziggurat in order to climb up to the rooftop and on to Fort Saint- Jean. This peripheral loop will be a free breathe, enveloped by the smells of the sea from the proximity to the moats, a pause to dispel any lingering doubts about the use of the history of our civilizations. The MuCEM will be a vertical Casbah.
The tectonic choice of an exceptional concrete coming from the latest research by French industry, reducing the dimensions to little more than skin and bones, will affirm a mineral script under the high ramparts of Fort Saint-Jean. This sole material in the colour of dust, matt, crushed by the light, distant from the brilliance and technological consumerism, will commend the dense and the delicate. The MuCEM sees itself evanescent in a landscape of stone and Orientalist through its fanning shadows.
The Beyond Broadway Experience 2016 presents
BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL
Libretto by Jeff Whitty
Music by Tom Kitt & Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lyrics by Amanda Green & Lin-Manuel Miranda
Inspired by the Motion Picture Bring It On Written by Jessica Bendinger
Arrangements and Orchestrations Alex Lacamoire & Tom Kitt
Presented at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh on 22nd and 23rd July 2016
Mike Leavitt
"Spaceship Earth Cosmetics Crew"
2011
acrylic and marker on vintage paint-by-numbers
$1,000 ( for set of three )
"Spaceship Earth Cosmetics Crew"
Illustration in ink & acrylic by Michael Leavitt, 2071, captured on a rare day of non-nuclear natural daylight.
Excerpt below taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceship_Earth
Spaceship Earth Cosmetics Crew (SECC)
This singular government agency engineers Earth’s outer-most elements to withstand the widening dangers of outer space. All surface species and environments are a vigilantly orchestrated shield against aerial demise. SECC is author of Sky Womb™(hyperlink), Bodies of Water®* and EarthCrust (patent pending). Susceptible to airborne transmittance and solar strife since the stratospheres collapsed, Earthlings survive underground and off-planet with intermittent and highly coveted exposure to SECC’s manicured fabrications.
This internationally-funded agency is increasingly essential with the sun’s darkening and deteriorating gravitational pull. Earth gradually resembles a hurling asteroid without the consistent orbit of a revolving sphere. SECC modifies the planet for balance. Tightly welded re-generations of air, land and sea temper tectonic bulging and prevent damage from collisions with outer space bodies. Fiber-cast flora and fauna replicate the precise visceral and aesthetic experience of ancient nature. SECC working hours are restricted to non-nuclear periods of solar light. Plans are currently underway to replace all solar light with a safer, more efficient form of SECC Brand Sunlight™.
SECC Controversy
Ultra-Liberal and radically Conservative fringe groups level free-wheeling charges against the SECC. Some claim that the agency is founded on propaganda and false science. The 2058 International Replace the Atmosphere Convention(hyperlink) was nearly derailed by so-called “Pro-Nature” activists. Once hailed as a multi-lateral unifier of disparate countries and “the most effective means of world peace” (Dying Planet Watch Quarterly, November 7, 2021), SECC now stands trial on fraud charges in several rogue nations. Bristol Palin IV and her former White House aid, Maria Limbaugh**, run the GSBG (God Sent Big Government) lobby aimed at dismantling the SECC, funded by loyalists to the defunct religion once known as Christianity. Michael Moore, since emerging from cryogenic fat freezing, has returned with recent Hollywood blockbusters “SECC & Me” and “Bowling for SECC”. High-profile elite, including Electramaximillianna and Ouagabuagadigania Pitt-Jolie, have joined Sal Gore’s PowerPointHolograph™ “An Convenient Lie: SECC” lecture circuit.
*a licensed product of The International Utility Control, LLC.
**one of countless children of illegal immigrants born out of wedlock to the one-time U.S. Ambassador to North Korea, Rush Limbaugh.
____________________________________________________________________
B U M B E R B Y N U M B E R
An interactive paint-by-number salon
Bumber By Number is an interactive and fully immersive Paint-by-Number art exhibit curated by Marlow Harris and JoDavid for the 2011 Bumbershoot Arts Festival. Bumber By Number features an interactive audience participatory paint-by-number homage to Edouard Manet's "The Picnic" ("Le Dejeuner sur L'Herbe") by artist Ryan Feddersen. In addition, bask in the glory of Victoria BC artist Bill Blair's amazing life-size paint-by-number banners and guitars, and local Seattle artists create incredible canvases of altered vintage Paint-by-Numbers.
•
Curated by:
Marlow Harris
JoDavid
•
Featured Artists:
Ryan Feddersen
Bill Blair
•
Special Guest Artists:
Joey Bates
Jim Blanchard
Greg Boudreau
John Brophy
Chris Crites
Max David
Jim Dever
Janet Galore
Art Garcia
Kurt Geissel
Troy Gua
Nancy Guppy
Robert Hardgrave
Marlow Harris
Aaron Huffman
Sean Hurley
Mary Iverson
Elizabeth Jameson
JoDavid
David Kane
Rick Klu
Charles Krafft
Mike Leavitt
Rich Lehl
Kelly Lyles
Jeff Mihalyo
Ryan Molenkamp
Lisa Petrucci
Demi Raven
Cathy Sarkowsky
Tim Silbaugh
Joey Veltkamp
William Wikstrom
Jim Woodring
Jennifer Zwick
...plus surprise mystery guests!
•
When and Where?
Bumber By Number and other Visual Arts exhibits are open 11am - 8pm, 9/3 - 9/5, and the Location of the exhibit is the Seattle Center Pavilion (just east of Key Arena)
Free Visual Arts Preview, Thursday, September 1st, 3pm - 9pm, - Mayor's Arts Awards are 4-6pm
The dates and times of Bumbershoot are 9/3 - 9/5, 11am - 11pm at Seattle Center
••••••••
For more info, email jodavid@comcast.net
Las Ventanas al Paraiso "The windows to Paradise"
Km 19.5 Carretera Transpeninsular
Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo - MEXICO
In the 1970's the Mexican government designated "hot spots" for tourism development including Cancun, Ixtapa and Los Cabos. Los Cabos, which means the Capes has twin towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo which are separated by 20 miles of beach coast line. Mexican developer Javier Burillo Azcarraga acquired eighteen undeveloped acres at Cabo San Lucas in the early 90's. He envisioned for the site a unique, super-luxury, boutique hotel that would stand out from the crowd and reflect Baja's indigenous culture and landscape. He brought in Atlanta-based architect and developer Hal Thannisch, Jr. to create the master plan and orchestrate the design, construction, financing, and ultimate operation of the completed resort. Thannisch hired HKS Architects of Dallas to provide architectural services, and they in turn, retained The SWA Group of Dallas to create the site plan and landscape architecture. The SWA Group developed the Las Ventanas landscape which blends the natural desert environment with the sensuality of the Mexican-style architecture to enhance the resort’s sense of authenticity. Construction began in December 1995, and the five-star Las Ventanas al Paraiso, or "Windows to Paradise," welcomed its first guests in July 1997. When guests enter Las Ventanas, they don't see all the buildings at once. Rather, the resort gradually reveals itself as guests walk down to the sea. The site plan radiates out from the open-air lobby, and every guest suite has a view of the blue Sea of Cortez. The resort resembles a small, sand and earth-colored Mexican village. The hotels opening rate was $325 a night. The 61-room Las Ventanas al Paraiso claims to have the longest celebrity client list of any hotel in the world. The discreet resort does not have a sign outside on Highway 1. Zen-inspired raked-sand entrance opens to beach views from the restaurant, private rooftop patios, and infinity-edge pools, where super-attentive pool butlers clean your smudged sunglasses and provide unlimited towel service. All over-sized guestrooms have pebble-inlaid headboards, hand-carved cedar doors, wood-burning fireplaces, and telescopes for stargazing.
Javier Burillo belongs to the Azcárraga family, owner of Televisa. He is the son of Carmela Azcárraga Milmo, sister of the late Emilio Azcárraga Milmo and daughter of Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, founder of Televicentro, now Televisa. Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. is a Mexican multimedia company and the largest in Latin America and the Spanish-speaking world (Univision in the United States). The company has been led and owned by three generations of Azcárraga. Javier Burillo inherited the Ritz Acapulco Hotel from his grandfather. In 1999 he and Rosewood's Hal Thannisch proposed a $62 million, 105-room Rosewood Resort in Sonoma, CA which failed to get city's approval.
Thannisch Development Services, Inc. (TDS) specializes in complex issues of development planning, financing, interdisciplinary management, design management and implementation. Thannisch was directly responsible for the renovation of the historic Cogswell College building now the Ritz Carlton San Francisco and the redevelopment of the Mahogany Run Resort, St. Thomas, USVI. In 1985, Thannisch joined Caroline Hunt's Rosewood Hotel Group as vice president, development. Based in Dallas, he was immersed in the development of the Hotel Hana-Maui at Hana Ranch and The Hotel on the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland. In 1989, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company called on his experience to manage the feasibility, pre-development, development and construction of the Ritz-Carlton Aspen, Hotel Arts Barcelona, Spain. Thannisch brought to Rosewood its first Mexico project, Las Ventanas which has emerged as a premier five-star resort in all of Mexico.
Las Ventanas al Paraíso became the first world-class resort in Los Cabos under hotelier Edward Steiner who served the hotel from opening to 2008. The resort achieved AAA Five Diamond status under his leadership.
In December 2003 Paraiso Los Cabos, S.A. de C.V. sold Las Ventana al Paraiso to Dallas based JTL Capital in partnership with Farallon Capital Management L.L.C.for an undisclosed price. Rosewood Hotels & Resorts agreed to a long-term contract to continue management of the resort. The purchase also included land entitled for up to 30 additional villa residences as well as an unfinished Phase IV building containing 8 premier villas that JTL Capital will finish constructing in September of 2004. The transaction was a first for JTL in Mexico. Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital provided the financing. JTL Capital, L.L.C. is a closely held, real estate investment and development concern founded in 1999 by David A. Lane and Mark J. Sullivan. JTL Capital employs a "buy and enhance" strategy that produces attractive risk-adjusted returns.
In September 2004 Ty Warner Hotels & Resorts, LLC purchased the 61-room Las Ventanas al Paraíso Resort from Dallas-based JTL Capital, LLC. According to Ty Warner, the goal is to extend and enhance the beauty and amenities at the resort. Warner believed the essential component to achieving that goal is in Rosewood Hotels & Resorts' continued operation of the resort. Ty Warner is an American billionaire who created the 1990s stuffed toy fad - Beanie Babies. At the peak of the Beanie craze in 1999, the privately owned Ty Inc. is believed to have earned over $700 million in profits in a year. The Beanie Babies phenomenon, coupled with the rise of the Internet, is cited as elevating Warner to billionaire status. Ty Warner Hotel and Resort Properties include: Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara, CA, Four Seasons Hotel New York, NY and San Ysidro Ranch, Montecito, CA.
Managing Directors since Edward Steiner include: Lionel Alvarez appointed Managing Director in 2008. He previously was General Manager at at Aquapura Vale Do Douro Hotel, Portugal. Martein van Wagenberg was appointed managing director of Las Ventanas in 2011. He previously was at Rosewood Little Dix Bay in Virgin Gorda. In 2014 Rosewood named Mário Candeias the managing director of Las Ventanas. He was the Director of Operations at Pestana Hotels & Resorts in Portugal. Rosewood appointed Frederic Vidal the Managing Director of Las Ventanas al Paraíso in 2014. Previously he was Managing Director for YOSH Hospitality, a company managing palaces and villas in the United Arab Emirates.
Compiled by Dick Johnson, November 2019
Canadas Police, and Justice and Human Rights and Constituents, and PUBLIC PROTECTION & Security, you are demented useless assholes, vampires, parasites, vermin, cockroaches, infections, leeches, rats, snakes, scum,, scum-bags, Sons-of-bitches, mother-fuckers, cannibals, incestuous, satanic cannibals, THE BLACK PLAGUE and the MALBURG VIRUS (alias MALBERG), go fuck yourselves for doing nothing and behaving like idiotic and insane criminals and psychopaths, you bloody bastards,
HOW CAN YOU BEHAVE AND CONDUCT YOURSELVES LIKE TOILET-PAPER AND SANITARY PADS FOR FEMALES -
YOU GET WHAT YOU DESERVE !!!
HOW THE FUCK CAN ALL OF YOU BE DEAD ZOMBIES AND MUMMIES AND CADAVERS AND CORPSES WHO DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO SERVE AND PROTECT THE PUBLIC YOU RAPING PIMPS AND WHORES IN UNIFORM AND ENJOYING PAYROLL FROM PUBLIC FUNDS ???
CANADA'S INCESTUOUS POLICE YOU REALLY DO NEED TO KNOW BETTER THAN DO WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND PRETENDING INNOCENCE WHEN IN FACT YOU ARE COMMISSIONING, PERPETRATING, ORCHESTRATING, AND CONCERTING CRIMES AGAINST THE PUBLIC AND THEIR FAMILIES - YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES - HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO GET AWAY WITH ALL THIS, AND FOR HOW LONG, HOW CAN YOU BEHAVE LIKE DEAD DUCKS AND DUMB FUCKS - CANADA AND CANADIANS: IS YOUR POLICE FORCE DEAD OR ALIVE OR A DEAD FARCE, ARE YOU PEOPLE ALIVE, ARE YOU REALLY PEOPLE - ARE YOU HUMANS OR ALIENS, ARE YOU AN ALIEN VIRUS, OR ALIENS OR ALIEN PREDATORS ???
ARE YOU ANIMALS OR HUMANS OR COCKROACHES AND MAGGOTS AND PUS SORES AND/OR HERPES OR GANGS OF GANGRENE GANGSTERS (GGG) ???
Las Ventanas al Paraiso "The windows to Paradise"
Km 19.5 Carretera Transpeninsular
Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo - MEXICO
In the 1970's the Mexican government designated "hot spots" for tourism development including Cancun, Ixtapa and Los Cabos. Los Cabos, which means the Capes has twin towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo which are separated by 20 miles of beach coast line. Mexican developer Javier Burillo Azcarraga acquired eighteen undeveloped acres at Cabo San Lucas in the early 90's. He envisioned for the site a unique, super-luxury, boutique hotel that would stand out from the crowd and reflect Baja's indigenous culture and landscape. He brought in Atlanta-based architect and developer Hal Thannisch, Jr. to create the master plan and orchestrate the design, construction, financing, and ultimate operation of the completed resort. Thannisch hired HKS Architects of Dallas to provide architectural services, and they in turn, retained The SWA Group of Dallas to create the site plan and landscape architecture. The SWA Group developed the Las Ventanas landscape which blends the natural desert environment with the sensuality of the Mexican-style architecture to enhance the resort’s sense of authenticity. Construction began in December 1995, and the five-star Las Ventanas al Paraiso, or "Windows to Paradise," welcomed its first guests in July 1997. When guests enter Las Ventanas, they don't see all the buildings at once. Rather, the resort gradually reveals itself as guests walk down to the sea. The site plan radiates out from the open-air lobby, and every guest suite has a view of the blue Sea of Cortez. The resort resembles a small, sand and earth-colored Mexican village. The hotels opening rate was $325 a night. The 61-room Las Ventanas al Paraiso claims to have the longest celebrity client list of any hotel in the world. The discreet resort does not have a sign outside on Highway 1. Zen-inspired raked-sand entrance opens to beach views from the restaurant, private rooftop patios, and infinity-edge pools, where super-attentive pool butlers clean your smudged sunglasses and provide unlimited towel service. All over-sized guestrooms have pebble-inlaid headboards, hand-carved cedar doors, wood-burning fireplaces, and telescopes for stargazing.
Javier Burillo belongs to the Azcárraga family, owner of Televisa. He is the son of Carmela Azcárraga Milmo, sister of the late Emilio Azcárraga Milmo and daughter of Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, founder of Televicentro, now Televisa. Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. is a Mexican multimedia company and the largest in Latin America and the Spanish-speaking world (Univision in the United States). The company has been led and owned by three generations of Azcárraga. Javier Burillo inherited the Ritz Acapulco Hotel from his grandfather. In 1999 he and Rosewood's Hal Thannisch proposed a $62 million, 105-room Rosewood Resort in Sonoma, CA which failed to get city's approval.
Thannisch Development Services, Inc. (TDS) specializes in complex issues of development planning, financing, interdisciplinary management, design management and implementation. Thannisch was directly responsible for the renovation of the historic Cogswell College building now the Ritz Carlton San Francisco and the redevelopment of the Mahogany Run Resort, St. Thomas, USVI. In 1985, Thannisch joined Caroline Hunt's Rosewood Hotel Group as vice president, development. Based in Dallas, he was immersed in the development of the Hotel Hana-Maui at Hana Ranch and The Hotel on the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland. In 1989, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company called on his experience to manage the feasibility, pre-development, development and construction of the Ritz-Carlton Aspen, Hotel Arts Barcelona, Spain. Thannisch brought to Rosewood its first Mexico project, Las Ventanas which has emerged as a premier five-star resort in all of Mexico.
Las Ventanas al Paraíso became the first world-class resort in Los Cabos under hotelier Edward Steiner who served the hotel from opening to 2008. The resort achieved AAA Five Diamond status under his leadership.
In December 2003 Paraiso Los Cabos, S.A. de C.V. sold Las Ventana al Paraiso to Dallas based JTL Capital in partnership with Farallon Capital Management L.L.C.for an undisclosed price. Rosewood Hotels & Resorts agreed to a long-term contract to continue management of the resort. The purchase also included land entitled for up to 30 additional villa residences as well as an unfinished Phase IV building containing 8 premier villas that JTL Capital will finish constructing in September of 2004. The transaction was a first for JTL in Mexico. Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital provided the financing. JTL Capital, L.L.C. is a closely held, real estate investment and development concern founded in 1999 by David A. Lane and Mark J. Sullivan. JTL Capital employs a "buy and enhance" strategy that produces attractive risk-adjusted returns.
In September 2004 Ty Warner Hotels & Resorts, LLC purchased the 61-room Las Ventanas al Paraíso Resort from Dallas-based JTL Capital, LLC. According to Ty Warner, the goal is to extend and enhance the beauty and amenities at the resort. Warner believed the essential component to achieving that goal is in Rosewood Hotels & Resorts' continued operation of the resort. Ty Warner is an American billionaire who created the 1990s stuffed toy fad - Beanie Babies. At the peak of the Beanie craze in 1999, the privately owned Ty Inc. is believed to have earned over $700 million in profits in a year. The Beanie Babies phenomenon, coupled with the rise of the Internet, is cited as elevating Warner to billionaire status. Ty Warner Hotel and Resort Properties include: Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara, CA, Four Seasons Hotel New York, NY and San Ysidro Ranch, Montecito, CA.
Managing Directors since Edward Steiner include: Lionel Alvarez appointed Managing Director in 2008. He previously was General Manager at at Aquapura Vale Do Douro Hotel, Portugal. Martein van Wagenberg was appointed managing director of Las Ventanas in 2011. He previously was at Rosewood Little Dix Bay in Virgin Gorda. In 2014 Rosewood named Mário Candeias the managing director of Las Ventanas. He was the Director of Operations at Pestana Hotels & Resorts in Portugal. Rosewood appointed Frederic Vidal the Managing Director of Las Ventanas al Paraíso in 2014. Previously he was Managing Director for YOSH Hospitality, a company managing palaces and villas in the United Arab Emirates.
Compiled by Dick Johnson, November 2019
Just prior to the half-way point in my tenure, I realized that the Advisory Team had to make a strategic call going forward - whether to continue with the existing program engagement model, shift radically to a highly orchestrated model, or create a hybrid. They chose well - I ran with a hi-tech, high touch model based on the hybrid concept first delineated on this flip chart page.
This text picture evolved into what I called the Touch Matrix, presented to the Advisory Team, to help them visualize the benefits of all systems as well as their drawbacks.
For Phase 0, the Advisors bet on a hybrid model focused on service, with the Program Coordinator facilitating the protege-mentor match. Phase 1 will ramp up the volunteer management slice, as the program design is such that scaling up should go smoothly. They bet wisely, and it's paid off in spades!
This photo is part of my Evernote experiment.
This troupe of four galaxies, known as Hickson Compact Group 87 (HCG 87), is performing an intricate dance orchestrated by the mutual gravitational forces acting between them. The dance is a slow, graceful minuet, occurring over a time span of hundreds of millions of years.
The Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) provides a striking improvement in resolution over previous ground-based imaging. In particular, this image reveals complex details in the dust lanes of the group's largest galaxy member (HCG 87a), which is actually disk-shaped, but tilted so that we see it nearly edge-on. Both 87a and its elliptically shaped nearest neighbor (87b) have active galactic nuclei which are believed to harbor black holes that are consuming gas. A third group member, the nearby spiral galaxy 87c, may be undergoing a burst of active star formation. Gas flows within galaxies can be intensified by the gravitational tidal forces between interacting galaxies. So interactions can provide fresh fuel for both active nuclei and starburst phenomena. These three galaxies are so close to each other that gravitational forces disrupt their structure and alter their evolution.
The Beyond Broadway Experience 2016 presents
BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL
Libretto by Jeff Whitty
Music by Tom Kitt & Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lyrics by Amanda Green & Lin-Manuel Miranda
Inspired by the Motion Picture Bring It On Written by Jessica Bendinger
Arrangements and Orchestrations Alex Lacamoire & Tom Kitt
Presented at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh on 22nd and 23rd July 2016
Libyan soldiers loyal to the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are seen at the Libyan-Tunisian border crossing of Dehiba March 2, 2011. Gaddafi, orchestrating a populist response to rebels threatening his rule, blamed al Qaeda on Wednesday for creating turmoil and told applauding supporters there was a conspiracy to control Libya and its oil. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (TUNISIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY)
The Fifth Spirit is Marbas, Marabassy, Maria-basi or Marbasi. She is a Great President, and appears at first in the form of a Lioness for her nature is that of a predatory Succubus marked out by Leo, but afterwards, at the request of the Magician, puts on human form to then manifest as a very sexy Nurse or Doctor of most naughty Frankenstein habits. Her body will appear to be made up of various other female Cat-Walk Model body parts all stitched and knitted together into a sublime Cyber babe of sensuous form whose legs be long of well formed Android pins ending in stiletto heeled ballet boots to walk about on tip-toe. She answers truthfully concerning all things hidden or Secret so as to bestow upon her master the ability of X-Ray vision.
Marbasi can cause diseases so as to afflict those whom have malign intentions against her Master whereby her appearance becomes terrifying of Giger nightmare Kali-Cenobite to consume their organs to make rot into putrefaction. She will sometimes be seen cutting her self up with scalpel blades to slice whereby one to then perceive those body parts dissected to grow back again rapidly for she does bestow instantaneous healing and regenerative capabilities as well to cure all illnesses. She gives great wisdom and Scientific knowledge concerning the Evolution of the Mechanical Arts in relation to the Dream Body electric of physical Holographic expression to cover Anatomy, Cybernetics and Robotics for ones material Body Organic to that of Inorganic vessel is but a vehicle of Machine. She can change her Master or others if so desired into other shapes within vivid visions so as to know their intrinsic secrets of Evolutionary development. She Governs 36 Legions of most randy Spirits like her self.
ENOBITE KITTY-KAT DAKINI CYBER-BABE BATTLEFIELD NURSE ALL FELINE PATH OF ROSES
One could equate Marbasi with the Tibetan Buddhist (Cenobite) Dakini called Vajravidarana whom is a purification deity; she is often depicted holding a Vishwarupa (double-Dorje) and a bell with a similar handle. In white form (Tibetan: Dor.je nam.par jom.pa kar.po) she is the Hindu Goddess Sita, who has transcended her role as a worldly heroine (her tale of suffering is told in Valmiki’s Ramayana) to heal the afflictions of humankind, especially disease and other bodily conditions. As Sitala, she was once associated with exorcising the cause of Smallpox.
The Vajravidarana cleansing ceremony is a powerful spiritual aid to expunge or split open up ones energy Body of self-orchestrated Shamanic Dismemberment (Sanskrit: Dharana) in order to program ones Holographic Body Memory anew.
Dharana is translated as meaning 'Collection or Concentration of the Mind (joined with the retention of breath)', or 'the act of holding, bearing, wearing, supporting, maintaining, retaining, keeping back Thought interference as well as directing ones chaotic Emotions, which empower Thought and that of Associative Remembrance. Dharana enables good 'Memory', or ‘firmness, steadfastness and a sense of certainty'. This term is related to the verbal root Dhri to hold, carry, maintain, resolve and in turn is associated with Intention.
Dharana is the 'Sixth' stage, step or limb of Eight Yoga's elucidated by Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga or Raja Yoga.
Dharana practice can also be perceived as 'holding steady' ones Intention of 'Concentration' or 'singular focus;' the prior limb Pratyahara involves withdrawing ones senses away from external phenomena. Dharana builds further upon this by refining it further to 'Ekagrata' or 'Ekagra Chitta', which is 'Single-Pointed Concentration' and 'Focus;' Shamata. Maehle (2006: p.234) defines Dharana as: "The Mind thinks about one object and avoids other thoughts; awareness of the object is still interrupted."
Dharana is the initial step of deep concentrative Meditation, where the object being focused upon is held within ones Mind without Consciousness wavering from it. The difference between Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi (the three together constituting Samyama) is that in the former of Dharana, the object of Meditation, the one Meditating, and the act of Meditation itself remains separate; that is, the one Meditating or the Meditation operators meta-awareness is conscious of Meditating; in other words one is conscious of the act of Meditation upon an external object, and of ones self, whom is concentrating upon the object. In the subsequent stage of Dharana, as the Meditation operator becomes more advanced ones Conscious act of Meditation disappears, whereupon ones Awareness of corporeal existence as well as the object of ones concentration exists within ones Mind alone, which then enables one to manipulate ones own Holographic body and that of the focused upon object at the Quantum level of existence in order to transform the Physical Hologram.
Vajravidarana is very similar to the modern practice of Psycho-Cybernetics, which is also the title of a classic self-help book, written by the Plastic Surgeon Maxwell Maltz M.D. back in the1960's, which was published by the non-profit Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation. Motivational and self-help experts in personal development, including Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy have primarily based their techniques upon Maxwell Maltz's research. Many of the psychological methods of training elite athletes are based upon the concepts in Psycho-Cybernetics as well. The book combines the cognitive behavioral technique of teaching an individual how to regulate their Inner 'Self-Concepts,' developed by Prescott Lecky with the Cybernetics research of Norbert Wiener and John von Neumann. The book defines the Mind-Body connection as the core in succeeding in attaining ones personal goals.
Maltz found that his plastic surgery patients often had expectations that were not satisfied by the surgery due to their ingrained Negative Self-Images and Concepts on how they perceived themselves, so he pursued a means of helping them by reorchestrating (Dismembering) their Inner Self-Images so as to perceive a goal of a Positive outcome through Visualization, which entailed vividly Imagining that the Positive outcome had already been achieved. Maltz became interested in why setting goals works. He learned that the power of self-affirmation and mental visualisation techniques utilised the bridge between the Higher Language of the Mind and the Mechanical Language of the body. Maltz specified techniques to develop a Positive Inner Goal as a means of developing a Positive Outer Goal. This concentration on inner attitudes is essential to his approach, as a person's Outer Success can Never rise above the one 'Visualized Internally'.
The Vajravidarana practice of Dharana is used to Change and Transform Body Memory at the Quantum level in order to release the mental and physical poisons lying at the root of Material suffering, for ones Life is War, War is Life, while Vajravidarana is a Valkyrie Battlefield Nurse.
The author Lewis Carroll once wrote of a Battlefield Nurse who forever changed Medical practices. Lewis Carrol’s ‘Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland’ was written against a relatively peaceful period in British history. After the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815, there were virtually no large-scale hostilities in Europe until the outbreak of the first-world war in 1914. Any unrest Britain was involved in was to be found far away in China and India.
There was one great exception, which was the slaughter ridden war in the Crimea, fought between 1854 and 1856, which saw British and French forces fighting upon the same side against the Russian’s and it is usually considered as being the first Modern conflict. Its origins now seem rather obscure, and we usually remember the war in the Crimea mainly because of the association with the ‘Young Nurse’, Florence Nightingale.
She became a National Heroine almost as soon as the war was over, and Carroll was among those who were moved and impressed by the advances Nightingale had achieved in the Medical Care of Wounded Soldiers, which had far reaching affects until the present day. In 1856, Carroll published a poem in tribute to the ‘Nurse’ Florence Nightingale, entitled ‘Path Of Roses’, the last few verses read:
"Then once again the solemn whisper came: So in the darkest path of man’s despair, Where War and Terror shake the troubled Earth, Lies woman’s mission; with un-blenching brow To pass through scenes of horror and affright .Where men grow sick and tremble: unto her All things are sanctified, for all are good.
Nothing so mean, but shall deserve her care:
Nothing so great, but she may bear her part.
No life is vain: each hath his place assigned:
Do thou thy task, and leave the rest to God."
And there was silence, but the Lady made No answer, save one deeply-breathed "Amen". And she arose, and in that darkening room
Stood lonely as a Spirit of the night Stood calm and fearless in the gathered night
And raised her eyes to heaven.
There were tears
Upon her face, but in her heart was peace, Peace that the world nor gives nor takes away!"
During Lewis Carroll’s time there was growing unrest amidst Women who had been suppressed by the overbearing Patriarchal Christian Socio-Politics of the Victorian era, whom were starting to protest against their mistreatment on many fronts in order to reform society. Florence Nightingale represented what could be achieved by one Woman whom many Women considered as a guiding ‘Lamp’ for their cause of Religious and Political Reform; however Nightingale didn’t quite agree with the entirety of Suffragette Politics, but it was already too late for she had inadvertently set the ball rolling as a ‘Battlefield Nurse’.
Marbasi can be Imaginatively Associated with Vajravidarana as well as with Carroll’s Heroine Florence Nightingale of Critical Paranoia fusion in order to thence make singular of Dakini Succubus.
Add a caption
NAUGHTY NURSEY MARBASI: The Fifth Spirit is Marbas, Marabassy, Maria-basi or Marbasi. She is a Great President, and appears at first in the form of a Lioness for her nature is that of a predatory Succubus marked out by Leo, but afterwards, at the request of the Magician, puts on human form to then manifest as a very sexy Nurse or Doctor of most naughty Frankenstein habits. Her body will appear to be made up of various other female Cat-Walk Model body parts all stitched and knitted together into a sublime Cyber babe of sensuous form whose legs be long of well formed Android pins ending in stiletto heeled ballet boots to walk about on tip-toe. She answers truthfully concerning all things hidden or Secret so as to bestow upon her master the ability of X-Ray vision. Marbasi can cause diseases so as to afflict those whom have malign intentions against her Master whereby her appearance becomes terrifying of Giger nightmare Kali-Cenobite to consume their organs to make rot into putrefaction. She will sometimes be seen cutting her self up with scalpel blades to slice whereby one to then perceive those body parts dissected to grow back again rapidly for she does bestow instantaneous healing and regenerative capabilities as well to cure all illnesses. She gives great wisdom and Scientific knowledge concerning the Evolution of the Mechanical Arts in relation to the Dream Body electric of physical Holographic expression to cover Anatomy, Cybernetics and Robotics for ones material Body Organic to that of Inorganic vessel is but a vehicle of Machine. She can change her Master or others if so desired into other shapes within vivid visions so as to know their intrinsic secrets of Evolutionary development. She Governs 36 Legions of most randy Spirits like her self. ENOBITE KITTY-KAT DAKINI CYBER-BABE BATTLEFIELD NURSE ALL FELINE PATH OF ROSES One could equate Marbasi with the Tibetan Buddhist (Cenobite) Dakini called Vajravidarana whom is a purification deity; she is often depicted holding a Vishwarupa (double-Dorje) and a bell with a similar handle. In white form (Tibetan: Dor.je nam.par jom.pa kar.po) she is the Hindu Goddess Sita, who has transcended her role as a worldly heroine (her tale of suffering is told in Valmiki’s Ramayana) to heal the afflictions of humankind, especially disease and other bodily conditions. As Sitala, she was once associated with exorcising the cause of Smallpox. The Vajravidarana cleansing ceremony is a powerful spiritual aid to expunge or split open up ones energy Body of self-orchestrated Shamanic Dismemberment (Sanskrit: Dharana) in order to program ones Holographic Body Memory anew. Dharana is translated as meaning 'Collection or Concentration of the Mind (joined with the retention of breath)', or 'the act of holding, bearing, wearing, supporting, maintaining, retaining, keeping back Thought interference as well as directing ones chaotic Emotions, which empower Thought and that of Associative Remembrance. Dharana enables good 'Memory', or ‘firmness, steadfastness and a sense of certainty'. This term is related to the verbal root Dhri to hold, carry, maintain, resolve and in turn is associated with Intention. Dharana is the 'Sixth' stage, step or limb of Eight Yoga's elucidated by Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga or Raja Yoga. Dharana practice can also be perceived as 'holding steady' ones Intention of 'Concentration' or 'singular focus;' the prior limb Pratyahara involves withdrawing ones senses away from external phenomena. Dharana builds further upon this by refining it further to 'Ekagrata' or 'Ekagra Chitta', which is 'Single-Pointed Concentration' and 'Focus;' Shamata. Maehle (2006: p.234) defines Dharana as: "The Mind thinks about one object and avoids other thoughts; awareness of the object is still interrupted." Dharana is the initial step of deep concentrative Meditation, where the object being focused upon is held within ones Mind without Consciousness wavering from it. The difference between Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi (the three together constituting Samyama) is that in the former of Dharana, the object of Meditation, the one Meditating, and the act of Meditation itself remains separate; that is, the one Meditating or the Meditation operators meta-awareness is conscious of Meditating; in other words one is conscious of the act of Meditation upon an external object, and of ones self, whom is concentrating upon the object. In the subsequent stage of Dharana, as the Meditation operator becomes more advanced ones Conscious act of Meditation disappears, whereupon ones Awareness of corporeal existence as well as the object of ones concentration exists within ones Mind alone, which then enables one to manipulate ones own Holographic body and that of the focused upon object at the Quantum level of existence in order to transform the Physical Hologram. Vajravidarana is very similar to the modern practice of Psycho-Cybernetics, which is also the title of a classic self-help book, written by the Plastic Surgeon Maxwell Maltz M.D. back in the1960's, which was published by the non-profit Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation. Motivational and self-help experts in personal development, including Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy have primarily based their techniques upon Maxwell Maltz's research. Many of the psychological methods of training elite athletes are based upon the concepts in Psycho-Cybernetics as well. The book combines the cognitive behavioral technique of teaching an individual how to regulate their Inner 'Self-Concepts,' developed by Prescott Lecky with the Cybernetics research of Norbert Wiener and John von Neumann. The book defines the Mind-Body connection as the core in succeeding in attaining ones personal goals. Maltz found that his plastic surgery patients often had expectations that were not satisfied by the surgery due to their ingrained Negative Self-Images and Concepts on how they perceived themselves, so he pursued a means of helping them by reorchestrating (Dismembering) their Inner Self-Images so as to perceive a goal of a Positive outcome through Visualization, which entailed vividly Imagining that the Positive outcome had already been achieved. Maltz became interested in why setting goals works. He learned that the power of self-affirmation and mental visualisation techniques utilised the bridge between the Higher Language of the Mind and the Mechanical Language of the body. Maltz specified techniques to develop a Positive Inner Goal as a means of developing a Positive Outer Goal. This concentration on inner attitudes is essential to his approach, as a person's Outer Success can Never rise above the one 'Visualized Internally'. The Vajravidarana practice of Dharana is used to Change and Transform Body Memory at the Quantum level in order to release the mental and physical poisons lying at the root of Material suffering, for ones Life is War, War is Life, while Vajravidarana is a Valkyrie Battlefield Nurse. The author Lewis Carroll once wrote of a Battlefield Nurse who forever changed Medical practices. Lewis Carrol’s ‘Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland’ was written against a relatively peaceful period in British history. After the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815, there were virtually no large-scale hostilities in Europe until the outbreak of the first-world war in 1914. Any unrest Britain was involved in was to be found far away in China and India. There was one great exception, which was the slaughter ridden war in the Crimea, fought between 1854 and 1856, which saw British and French forces fighting upon the same side against the Russian’s and it is usually considered as being the first Modern conflict. Its origins now seem rather obscure, and we usually remember the war in the Crimea mainly because of the association with the ‘Young Nurse’, Florence Nightingale. She became a National Heroine almost as soon as the war was over, and Carroll was among those who were moved and impressed by the advances Nightingale had achieved in the Medical Care of Wounded Soldiers, which had far reaching affects until the present day. In 1856, Carroll published a poem in tribute to the ‘Nurse’ Florence Nightingale, entitled ‘Path Of Roses’, the last few verses read: "Then once again the solemn whisper came: So in the darkest path of man’s despair, Where War and Terror shake the troubled Earth, Lies woman’s mission; with un-blenching brow To pass through scenes of horror and affright .Where men grow sick and tremble: unto her All things are sanctified, for all are good. Nothing so mean, but shall deserve her care: Nothing so great, but she may bear her part. No life is vain: each hath his place assigned: Do thou thy task, and leave the rest to God." And there was silence, but the Lady made No answer, save one deeply-breathed "Amen". And she arose, and in that darkening room Stood lonely as a Spirit of the night Stood calm and fearless in the gathered night And raised her eyes to heaven. There were tears Upon her face, but in her heart was peace, Peace that the world nor gives nor takes away!" During Lewis Carroll’s time there was growing unrest amidst Women who had been suppressed by the overbearing Patriarchal Christian Socio-Politics of the Victorian era, whom were starting to protest against their mistreatment on many fronts in order to reform society. Florence Nightingale represented what could be achieved by one Woman whom many Women considered as a guiding ‘Lamp’ for their cause of Religious and Political Reform; however Nightingale didn’t quite agree with the entirety of Suffragette Politics, but it was already too late for she had inadvertently set the ball rolling as a ‘Battlefield Nurse’. Marbasi can be Imaginatively Associated with Vajravidarana as well as with Carroll’s Heroine Florence Nightingale of Critical Paranoia fusion in order to thence make singular of Dakini Succubus.