The second of two opus sectile mosaics (composed of large pieces of precisely shaped colored marble, like a large puzzle) depicting a tigress attacking a white calf, which, given the horns, is probably a male (although in some species of cattle, females sport horns, so the jury is out).

 

The panels were apparently placed in the Church of Sant’Antonio, perhaps around the end of the 17th century. In 1892, the land having been expropriated after the declaration of Rome as capital of Italy, the Commissione Archeologica Comunale decided to move them from Sant’Antonio. They were installed in the Capitoline Museum in 1903.

 

Images that illustrated these munera or depicted animals kept in enclosures were popular for domestic decoration from the 1st century BCE on. It was the public appreciation for and pleasure at such displays, and the centuries long tradition of these images, that spurred Bassus to select them as a major subject of the panels in his hall. The tiger panels are larger than the other surviving panels, and constructed on a larger scale. The images commemorated a magnificent spectacle, one which required years of planning and the mobilization of resources of a personal, political, and financial nature. To depict these venationes was to epitomize these efforts on behalf of the Roman people, to vaunt Bassus’ ability to afford such a display, and to preserve the memory of his having done so.

 

As Bassus and his basilica were part of the Christian world, the symbology here is that the animal victims depicted symbolize the mortal body, the destruction of which by death is inevitable.

 

The tiger panels form a mirrored pair. In each panel a tigress, striped in serpentine against giallo antico, attacks a white bull.619 The combat—the outcome of which holds no suspense—is set on a dark serpentine ground of serpentine. Behind the tiger is a small tree, a branch of which bends over the tiger’s back in imitation of her curving tail. This tree and the brown spotted ground are the only indications of a landscape. The panels depict venationes, staged animal combats that were part of arena spectacles in the Roman world. Editores mounted both contests between animals and encounters that pitted humans against animals; the word venatio does not denote which type was meant, and might even mean simply the display and exhibition of animals.

 

Both tigers are made of giallo antico, with serpentine stripes. The tree and the earthen ground on the panel with the right-facing tiger (the one above) are made of oriental alabaster (a calcite type, to be distinguished from the softer gypsum type). Leaves from the tree blossom in palombino bianco. The cow is executed in marmo bianco. The left-facing cow is also largely of marmo bianco, but its stone has a pale green veining On the panel with the left-facing tiger, the earth is composed of broccatello, and the tree is portasanta.

 

Roman, 2nd quarter of the 4th c. CE. From the Basilica of Junius Bassus on the Esquiline Hill in Rome.

 

Musei Capitolini, Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome (inv. MC 1222)

“As it turns out, we don't "all" have to pay our debts. Only some of us do.”

 

"How, then, do you expect a young American voter to feel, after casting a vote for a fundamental change to our political and economic system, on discovering that in fact, they have elected a man who twenty years ago would have been considered a moderate conservative?

 

I mean that word, “conservative,” in its literal sense by the way. This literal sense is now rarely used. Nowadays, in the US, “conservative” has come to mean “right-wing radical,” but it used to mean someone whose main political imperative is to conserve existing institutions, more or less exactly as they are—and this is precisely what Obama has turned out to be. Almost all his greatest political efforts have been aimed in one way or another at preserving some institutional structure under threat of radical transformation: the banking system, the auto industry, even the health insurance industry, since Obama’s main argument in pushing for health care reform was that the US health care system, based on for-profit, private insurers, was not economically viable over the long term, and indeed, what he ended up doing was preserving exactly that for-profit system in a way that it might endure for at least another generation. Considering the state of the US economy in 2008, it required genuinely heroic efforts not to change anything. Yet Obama did expend those heroic efforts, and the result was no structural change in existing institutions of any kind at all."

 

"The politics of direct action is based, to a certain degree, on a faith that freedom is contagious. It is almost impossible to convince the average American that a truly democratic society would be possible. One can only show them."

 

“Money has no essence. It's not "really" anything; therefore, its nature has always been and presumably always will be a matter of political contention.”

 

"Still, this might explain the outrage at government’s alliance with the financial sector—the fact that bribery has, effectively, been made legal in America, a country that nonetheless presumes to go around the world pretending it is some sort of beacon of democracy."

 

"Consumer debt is the lifeblood of our economy. All modern nation states are built on deficit spending. Debt has come to be the central issue of international politics. But nobody seems to know exactly what it is, or how to think about it."

 

"In fact, our standard account of monetary history is precisely backwards. We did not begin with barter, discover money, and then eventually develop credit systems. It happened precisely the other way around."

 

"Karl Marx, who knew quite a bit about the human tendency to fall down and worship our own creations, wrote Das Capital in an attempt to demonstrate that, even if we start from the economists' utopian vision, so long as we also allow some people to control productive capital, and, again, leave others with nothing to sell but but their brains and bodies, the results will be in very many ways barely distinguishable from slavery, and the whole system will eventually destroy itself."

 

"It is rather striking to think that the very core of the Christian message, salvation itself, the sacrifice of God's own son to rescue humanity from eternal damnation, should be framed in the language of a financial transaction." [Chapter Four, "Cruelty and Redemption", p. 80]

 

"All societies based on slavery tend to be marked by this agonizing double consciousness: the awareness that the highest things one has to strive for are also, ultimately, wrong; but at the same time, the feeling that this is simply the nature of reality."

 

"Slavery is the ultimate form of being ripped from one's context, and thus from all the social relationships that make one a human being."

 

"Honor is the same as credit; it's one's ability to keep ones promises, but also, in the case of a wrong, to 'get even'."

 

"The attentive reader may have noticed that the core period of Jasper's Axial age—the lifetimes of Pythagoras, Confucius, and the Buddha—corresponds almost exactly to the period in which coinage was invented."

 

"The one thing that's clear is that new ideas won't emerge without the jettisoning of much of our accustomed categories of thought-which have become mostly sheer dead weight, if not intrinsic parts of the very apparatus of hopelessness-and formulating new ones. This is why I spent so much of this book talking about the market, but also about the false choice between state and market that so monopolized political ideology for the last centuries that it made it difficult to argue about anything else."

 

"One element, however, tends to go flagrantly missing in even the most vivid conspiracy theories about the banking system, let alone in official accounts: that is, the role of military power. There's a reason why the wizard has such a strange capacity to create money out of nothing. Behind him there is a man with a gun."

 

"In other words, there seems to have been a profound contradiction between the political imperative of establishing capitalism as the only possible way to manage anything, and capitalism’s own unacknowledged need to limit its future horizons lest speculation, predictably, go haywire. Once it did, and the whole machine imploded, we were left in the strange situation of not being able to even imagine any other way that things might be arranged. About the only thing we can imagine is catastrophe."

 

"Meanwhile, the U.S. debt remains, as it has been since 1790, a war debt: the United States continues to spend more on its military than do all other nations on earth put together, and military expenditures are not only the basis of the government's industrial policy; they also take up such a huge proportion of the budget that by many estimations, were it not for them, the United States would not run a deficit at all."

 

"The essence of U.S. military predominance in the world is, ultimately, the fact that it can, at will, drop bombs, with only a few hours' notice, at absolutely any point on the surface of the planet. No other government has ever had anything remotely like this sort of capability. In fact, a case could well be made that it is this very power that holds the entire world monetary system, organized around the dollar, together."

 

"By the end of World War II, the specter of an imminent working class uprising that had so haunted the ruling classes of Europe and North America for the previous century had largely disappeared. This was because class war was suspended by a tacit settlement. To put it crudely: the white working class of the North Atlantic countries, from the United States to West Germany, were offered a deal. If they agreed to set aside any fantasies of fundamentally changing the nature of the system, then they would be allowed to keep their unions, enjoy a wide variety of social benefits (pensions, vacations, health care. . .), and, perhaps most important, through generously funded and ever-expanding public educational institutions, know that their children had a reasonable chance of leaving the working class entirely. One key element in all this was a tacit guarantee that increases in workers' productivity would be met by increases in wages: a guarantee that held good until the late 1970s. Largely as a result, the period saw both rapidly rising productivity and rapidly rising incomes, laying the basis for the consumer economy of today."

 

"There is very good reason to believe that, in a generation or so, capitalism itself will no longer exist-most obviously, as ecologists keep reminding us, because it's impossible to maintain an engine of perpetual growth forever on a finite planet, and the current form of capitalism doesn't seem to be capable of generating the kind of vast technological breakthroughs and mobilizations that would be required for us to start finding and colonizing any other planets. Yet faced with the prospect of capitalism actually ending, the most common reaction-even from those who call themselves "progressives"-is simply fear. We cling to what exists because we can no longer imagine an alternative that wouldn't be even worse."

 

“Traditional hedonism...was based on the direct experience of pleasure: wine, women and song; sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll; or whatever the local variant. The problem, from a capitalist perspective, is that there are inherent limits to all this. People become sated, bored...Modern self-illusory hedonism solves this dilemma because here, what one is really consuming are fantasies and day-dreams about what having a certain product would be like.”

 

"This is a great trap of the twentieth century: on one side is the logic of the market, where we like to imagine we all start out as individuals who don’t owe each other anything. On the other is the logic of the state, where we all begin with a debt we can never truly pay. We are constantly told that they are opposites, and that between them they contain the only real human possibilities. But it’s a false dichotomy. States created markets. Markets require states. Neither could continue without the other, at least, in anything like the forms we would recognize today."

 

“If history shows anything, it is that there's no better way to justify relations founded on violence, to make such relations seem moral, than by reframing them in the language of debt—above all, because it immediately makes it seem that it's the victim who's doing something wrong.”

 

“The theory of exodus proposes that the most effective way of opposing capitalism and the liberal state is not through direct confrontation but by means of what Paolo Virno has called “engaged withdrawal,”mass defection by those wishing to create new forms of community. One need only glance at the historical record to confirm that most successful forms of popular resistance have taken precisely this form. They have not involved challenging power head on (this usually leads to being slaughtered, or if not, turning into some—often even uglier—variant of the very thing one first challenged) but from one or another strategy of slipping away from its grasp, from flight, desertion, the founding of new communities.”

 

“Normally, when you challenge the conventional wisdom—that the current economic and political system is the only possible one—the first reaction you are likely to get is a demand for a detailed architectural blueprint of how an alternative system would work, down to the nature of its financial instruments, energy supplies, and policies of sewer maintenance. Next, you are likely to be asked for a detailed program of how this system will be brought into existence. Historically, this is ridiculous. When has social change ever happened according to someone’s blueprint? It’s not as if a small circle of visionaries in Renaissance Florence conceived of something they called “capitalism,” figured out the details of how the stock exchange and factories would someday work, and then put in place a program to bring their visions into reality. In fact, the idea is so absurd we might well ask ourselves how it ever occurred to us to imagine this is how change happens to begin.”

 

“A revolution on a world scale will take a very long time. But it is also possible to recognize that it is already starting to happen. The easiest way to get our minds around it is to stop thinking about revolution as a thing — “the” revolution, the great cataclysmic break—and instead ask “what is revolutionary action?” We could then

suggest: revolutionary action is any collective action which rejects, and therefore confronts, some form of power or domination and in doing so, reconstitutes social relations—even within the collectivity—in that light. Revolutionary action does not necessarily have to aim to topple governments. Attempts to create autonomous communities in the face of power (using Castoriadis’ definition here: ones that constitute themselves, collectively make their own rules or principles of operation, and continually reexamine them), would, for instance, be almost by definition revolutionary acts. And history shows us that the continual accumulation of such acts can change (almost) everything.”

 

“For me, this is exactly what's so pernicious about the morality of debt: the way that financial imperatives constantly try to reduce us all, despite ourselves, to the equivalent of pillagers, eyeing the world simply for what can be turned into money -- and then tell us that it's only those who are willing to see the world as pillagers who deserve access to the resources required to pursue anything in life other than money.”

 

“In fact this is precisely the logic on which the Bank of England—the first successful modern central bank—was originally founded. In 1694, a consortium of English bankers made a loan of £1,200,000 to the king. In return they received a royal monopoly on the issuance of banknotes. What this meant in practice was they had the right to advance IOUs for a portion of the money the king now owed them to any inhabitant of the kingdom willing to borrow from them, or willing to deposit their own money in the bank—in effect, to circulate or "monetize" the newly created royal debt. This was a great deal for the bankers (they got to charge the king 8 percent annual interest for the original loan and simultaneously charge interest on the same money to the clients who borrowed it) , but it only worked as long as the original loan remained outstanding. To this day, this loan has never been paid back. It cannot be. If it ever were, the entire monetary system of Great Britain would cease to exist.”

 

“Say a king wishes to support a standing army of fifty thousand men. Under ancient or medieval conditions, feeding such a force was an enormous problem—unless they were on the march, one would need to employ almost as many men and ani­mals just to locate, acquire, and transport the necessary provisions. On the other hand, if one simply hands out coins to the soldiers and then demands that every family in the kingdom was obliged to pay one of those coins back to you, one would, in one blow, turn one's entire national economy into a vast machine for the provisioning of soldiers, since now every family, in order to get their hands on the coins, must find some way to contribute to the general effort to provide soldiers with things they want. Markets are brought into existence as a side effect.”

 

“At this point we can finally see what's really at stake in our peculiar habit of defining ourselves simultaneously as master and slave, reduplicating the most brutal aspects of the ancient household in our very concept of ourselves, as masters of our freedoms, or as owners of our very selves. It is the only way that we can imagine ourselves as completely isolated beings. There is a direct line from the new Roman conception of liberty – not as the ability to form mutual relationships with others, but as the kind of absolute power of "use and abuse" over the conquered chattel who make up the bulk of a wealthy Roman man's household – to the strange fantasies of liberal philosophers like Hobbes, Locke, and Smith, about the origins of human society in some collection of thirty- or forty-year-old males who seem to have sprung from the earth fully formed, then have to decide whether to kill each other or begin to swap beaver pelts.”

 

“Tally sticks were quite explicitly IOUs: both parties to a transaction would take a hazelwood twig, notch it to indicate the amount owed, and then split it in half. The creditor would keep one half, called "the stock" (hence the origin of the term "stock holder") and the debtor kept the other, called "the stub" (hence the origin of the term "ticket stub.)”

 

“Thomas Jefferson, that owner of many slaves, chose to begin the Declaration of Independence by directly contradicting the moral basis of slavery, writing "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights ..." thus undercutting simultaneously any argument that Africans were racially inferior, and also that they or their ancestors could ever have been justly and legally deprived of their freedom. In doing so, however, he did not propose some radically new conception of rights and liberties. Neither have subsequent political philosophers. For the most part, we've just kept the old ones, but with the word "not" inserted here and there. Most of our most precious rights and freedoms are a series of exceptions to an overall moral and legal framework that suggests we shouldn't really have them in the first place.”

 

“The criminalization of debt, then, was the criminalization of the very basis of human society. It cannot be overemphasized that in a small community, everyone normally was both a lender and borrower. One can only imagine the tensions and temptations that must have existed in a community—and communities, much though they are based on love, in fact because they are based on love, will always also be full of hatred, rivalry and passion—when it became clear that with sufficiently clever scheming, manipulation, and perhaps a bit of strategic bribery, they could arrange to have almost anyone they hated imprisoned or even hanged.”

 

“Even in the Bible, the admonition in the Ten Commandments not to 'covet thy neighbor's wife' clearly referred not to lust in one's heart (adultery had already been covered in commandment number seven), but to the prospect of taking her as a debt-peon—in other words, as a servant to sweep one's yard and hang out the laundry.”

 

"What is a debt, anyway? A debt is just the perversion of a promise. It is a promise corrupted by both math and violence."

 

"I like to describe myself precisely as a “small-a anarchist.” That is, I believe in anarchist principles—mutual aid, direct action, the idea building the new, free society in the shell of the old—but I’ve never felt a need to declare allegiance to any particular anarchist school (Syndicalists, Platformists, etc). Above all, I am happy to work with anyone, whatever they call themselves, willing to work on anarchist principles—which in America today, has largely come to mean, a refusal to work with or through the government or other institutions which ultimately rely on the threat of force, and a dedication to horizontal democracy, to treating each other as we believe free men and women in a genuinely free society would treat each other. Even the commitment to direct action, so often confused with breaking windows or the like, really refers to the refusal of any politics of protest, that merely appeals to the authorities to behave differently, and the determination instead to act for oneself, and to do what one thinks is right, regardless of law and authority. Gandhi’s salt march, for example, is a classic example of direct action. So was squatting Zuccotti Park. It’s a public space; we were the public; the public shouldn’t have to ask permission to engage in peaceful political assembly in its own park; so we didn’t. By doing so we not only acted in the way we felt was right, we aimed to set an example to others: to begin to reclaim communal resources that have been appropriated for purposes of private profit to once again serve for communal use—as in a truly free society, they would be—and to set an example of what genuine communal use might actually be like. For those who desire to create a society based on the principle of human freedom, direct action is simply the defiant insistence on acting as if one is already free."

 

"Say what you will about Americans, and one can say many things, this is a country of deeply democratic sensibilities. The idea that we are, or are supposed to be, a democratic society is at the very core of what makes us proud to be Americans. If Occupy Wall Street has spread to every city in America, it’s because our financial overlords have brought us to such a pass that anarchists, pagan priestesses, and tree-sitters are about the only Americans left still holding out for the idea that a genuinely democratic society might be possible."

  

•• twitter.com/davidgraeber

•• www.gold.ac.uk/anthropology/staff/d-graeber/

•• www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/29101.David_Graeber

•• en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Graeber

•• worldcat.org/identities/lccn-no97-27235

•• brooklynrail.org/2011/09/express/world-of-debt

•• www.readysteadybook.com/Article.aspx?page=davidgraeber

•• occupywallst.org/article/david-graeber-some-remarks-conse...

•• www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/10/david-graeber-on-playing-...

 

Are we slaves to debt? David Graeber on the history of spending more than we have => www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/economy/video-are-we-slaves...

This photograph was taken in the magic of The Golden Hour around Sunrise, (Sunrise was at precisely 07:39am), at an altitude of Ten metres, at 07:10am on Thursday January 28th 2016 off Botany Road and Marine Drive, on the sandy shoreline of Botany Bay in Broadstairs, Kent, England.

  

I set off at 05:00am on a clear morning, the moon and the stars out to dazzle in temperatures around five degrees, on a pleanst hour and half long journey to enjoy a lovely sunrise. The seven bays in Broadstairs consist of: (From south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay.

  

Thanet offshore windfarm was officially opened on September 23rd 2010 and was for a time, the largest offshore windfarm project in the world. The eight lines of turbines, one hundred of them in total, run north-west to south-east, covering a total area of 35sq km off Foreness Point near Margate. Each turbine is 115 metres high with 44-metre blades, and the project cost between £780-900million

  

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Nikon D800 200mm 1/15s f/5.6 iso200 RAW (14Bit) Nikon back focus button enabled. AF-C Continuous point focus with 3-D tracking. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance. Nikon AF Fine tune set to +6.

  

Nikkor AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR. Power UP 95mm HD UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

  

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LATITUDE: N 51d 23m 19.02s

LONGITUDE: E 1d 26m 13.51s

ALTITUDE: 10.0m

  

RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 16.46MB

  

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PROCESSING POWER:

 

Nikon D800 Firmware versions A 1.10 B 1.10 L 2.009 (Lens distortion control version 2)

 

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX2 Version 2.10.3 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

   

Flagging and lagging behind.

Where does the time go eh?

A week ago we came back from our holiday and I feel like I have done precisely nothing!

This report is from Friday night and was a fantastic haul on a very warm and humid night and included several new species for the garden.

It was lovely to get two Tree-lichen Beauties (2nd and 3rd garden records respectively) and garden firsts of Six-striped Rustic, Olive and 2 White-points.

Svensson's Copper Underwing was noted after checking every single Copper Underwing last year to no avail, I was lucky to find one so quickly this year.

And that was just the Macro's....on the Micro front there was also plenty of interest.

Ypsolopha alpella was new for the garden and not a very frequent moth with me.

 

All in all a cracking night and just a shame that the weather has now turned very unsettled for this coming week, still it might be worth sticking out the trap just incase of something very special turning up!

 

Catch Report - 21/08/15 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

 

Macro Moths

 

1x Six-striped Rustic [NFG]

1x Olive [NFG]

2x White-point [NFG]

1x Knot Grass [NFY]

2x Tree-lichen Beauty [NFY]

1x Old Lady [NFY]

2x Dusky Thorn [NFY]

1x Svensson's Copper Underwing [NFY]

18x Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing

3x Copper Underwing

4x Square-spotted Clay

1x Iron Prominent

1x Yellow-barred Brindle

3x Garden Carpet

1x Yellow Shell 2x Mouse Moth

1x Angle Shades 5x Orange Swift

2x Straw Dot

2x Flounced Rustic

1x Double-striped Pug

15x Square-spot Rustic

1x Cabbage Moth

3x Dark Arches

3x Pale Mottled Willow

1x Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing

8x Large Yellow Underwing

2x Lesser Yellow Underwing

3x Shuttle-shaped Dart

1x Silver Y

2x Small Square-spot

3x Common Rustic

4x Straw Underwing

8x Setaceous Hebrew Character

4x Flame Shoulder-

1x Spectacle

2x Brimstone Moth

2x Dun-bar

2x Marbled Beauty

4x Riband Wave

1x Maple Pug

5x Vine's Rustic

38x Willow Beauty

1x Maiden's Blush

 

Micro Moths

 

1x Ypsolopha alpella [NFG]

1x Argyresthia albistria [NFY]

1x Ypsolopha dentella [NFY]

3x Caloptilia alchimiella [NFY]

5x Cameraria ohridella [NFY]

2x Cydia splendana [NFY]

1x Bucculatrix thoracella [NFY]

1x Parornix sp

1x Argyresthia goedartella

1x Cydia pomonella

1x Plutella xylostella

1x Hofmannophila pseudospretella

12x Agriphila tristella

2x Argyrotaenia ljungiana

1x Bucculatrix ulmella

1x Lyonetia clerkella

5x Epiphyas postvittana

1x Acentria ephemerella

1x Acrobasis advenella

1x Oegoconia sp

1x Celypha striana

1x Carcina quercana

1x Ditula angustiorana

10x Blastobasis adustella

2x Blastobasis lacticolella

5x Pandemis corylana

10x Pleuroptya ruralis

4x Agriphila straminella

3x Spilonota ocellana

12x Evergestis forficalis

3x Eudonia mercurella

1x Bryotropha terrella

2x Emmelina monodactyla

Krysst is a small, impoverished nation, unremarkable in almost all aspects. It has avoided being swallowed up by its neighbours precisely because of this. Its harsh terrain and nearly inhospitable climate make the effort of conquering this desert nation not worth the price in men and materiel. Even trade with this nation is severely limited, seeing as it has almost no natural resources. Consequently, not only is Krysst an economically stunted nation, it is also a practically backward nation, being one of the few territories on the Continent ruled by a monarchy.

 

However, Krsst does have one precious resource: Clerics. The Old Ways have not been forgotten in Krysst to the extent they have been on the rest of the Continent. Many Krysstan citizens join the Order of Terra to become holy priests, used to anoint marriages, conduct diplomacy and facilitate trade deals. A few become Clergymen, used to bless ships and weapons and serve various militaries. Knowing all this makes the design of the Krysstan Lift-Train seem less baffling.

 

The lift-train relies on ground-effect to produce enough lift to keep it off the ground. Its single jet-ram engine propels it at truly impressive speeds over any kind of terrain, be it sand, hard rock, or even water. The engince car is armoured, as are the leading edges of the wings, to cut through minor obstacles in its path. This obviates the need for tracks, and also allows for a varied route, decreasing not only the costs involved in laying tracks but also the risks of hijackings and robberies.

 

The lift-train is perphaps the most advanced piece of Mechanicum ever to be produced by Krysst. They were commissioned by the royal family to the Royal Engineering Corps, who came up with this fantastic solution.

 

However, two problems plague the lift-train. Firstly, due to the poor nature of Krysst, not many could be built. Indeed, only two were built by the Krysst REC. However, the design was so brilliant that it was easily sold to other nations, who were quick to build a large number of lift-trains, using them primarily, as do the Krysst, to transport high-value materials or people.

 

The second issue with the lift-train is rather more important, yet it is no fault of its designers. The jet-ram engine, as do almost all other Mechanicum on the Continent, runs on Aerithium gas. Aerithium is in plentiful supply, even to a poor nation like Krysst, so attaining large quantities of it, which is necessary for this fuel-guzzling engine, is not a problem. The problem lies in the properties of Aerithium itself. As it is burned, Aerithium produces a large amount of energy, but also a huge amount of excess heat. This is the primary reason why most airships do not use jet-infusion engines, for they produce too much heat to keep running very long.

 

However, the Royal Engineering Corps was able to mitigate this problem through a complicated cooling system, as well as detachable heat sinks mounted on the engine. Even this was not perfect, and as a result these engines are known for having an extremely short service life, often no more than a standard year, depending on how often the lift-train travels. They are also enormously complicated and difficult to maintain. If one breaks down mid-journey, it is not uncommon for repairs to take over two days to be completed, and often an airship must drop in either spare parts or an entirely new engine, in which case the repairs may take over a week.

 

The lift-train, however, have a special place in the hearts of many. They were used to evacuate refugees during the Feral War, being one of the few land vehicles with the speed to stay ahead of the Blighting.

 

*Notes* : Yes I was obviously heavily inspired by the BOBF train, in fact it was my primary inspiration. I basically looked at it and thought "what would that look like in a retro-future dieselpunk world?". Sue me.

Mr. President and fellow citizens of New York: -

 

The facts with which I shall deal this evening are mainly old and familiar; nor is there anything new in the general use I shall make of them. If there shall be any novelty, it will be in the mode of presenting the facts, and the inferences and observations following that presentation.

 

In his speech last autumn, at Columbus, Ohio, as reported in "The New-York Times," Senator Douglas said:

 

"Our fathers, when they framed the Government under which we live, understood this question just as well, and even better, than we do now."

 

I fully indorse this, and I adopt it as a text for this discourse. I so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and an agreed starting point for a discussion between Republicans and that wing of the Democracy headed by Senator Douglas. It simply leaves the inquiry: "What was the understanding those fathers had of the question mentioned?"

 

What is the frame of government under which we live?

 

The answer must be: "The Constitution of the United States." That Constitution consists of the original, framed in 1787, (and under which the present government first went into operation,) and twelve subsequently framed amendments, the first ten of which were framed in 1789.

 

Who were our fathers that framed the Constitution? I suppose the "thirty-nine" who signed the original instrument may be fairly called our fathers who framed that part of the present Government. It is almost exactly true to say they framed it, and it is altogether true to say they fairly represented the opinion and sentiment of the whole nation at that time. Their names, being familiar to nearly all, and accessible to quite all, need not now be repeated.

 

I take these "thirty-nine," for the present, as being "our fathers who framed the Government under which we live."

 

What is the question which, according to the text, those fathers understood "just as well, and even better than we do now?"

 

It is this: Does the proper division of local from federal authority, or anything in the Constitution, forbid our Federal Government to control as to slavery in our Federal Territories?

 

Upon this, Senator Douglas holds the affirmative, and Republicans the negative. This affirmation and denial form an issue; and this issue - this question - is precisely what the text declares our fathers understood "better than we."

 

Let us now inquire whether the "thirty-nine," or any of them, ever acted upon this question; and if they did, how they acted upon it - how they expressed that better understanding?

 

In 1784, three years before the Constitution - the United States then owning the Northwestern Territory, and no other, the Congress of the Confederation had before them the question of prohibiting slavery in that Territory; and four of the "thirty-nine" who afterward framed the Constitution, were in that Congress, and voted on that question. Of these, Roger Sherman, Thomas Mifflin, and Hugh Williamson voted for the prohibition, thus showing that, in their understanding, no line dividing local from federal authority, nor anything else, properly forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in federal territory. The other of the four - James M'Henry - voted against the prohibition, showing that, for some cause, he thought it improper to vote for it.

 

In 1787, still before the Constitution, but while the Convention was in session framing it, and while the Northwestern Territory still was the only territory owned by the United States, the same question of prohibiting slavery in the territory again came before the Congress of the Confederation; and two more of the "thirty-nine" who afterward signed the Constitution, were in that Congress, and voted on the question. They were William Blount and William Few; and they both voted for the prohibition - thus showing that, in their understanding, no line dividing local from federal authority, nor anything else, properly forbids the Federal Government to control as to slavery in Federal territory. This time the prohibition became a law, being part of what is now well known as the Ordinance of '87.

 

The question of federal control of slavery in the territories, seems not to have been directly before the Convention which framed the original Constitution; and hence it is not recorded that the "thirty-nine," or any of them, while engaged on that instrument, expressed any opinion on that precise question.

 

In 1789, by the first Congress which sat under the Constitution, an act was passed to enforce the Ordinance of '87, including the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern Territory. The bill for this act was reported by one of the "thirty-nine," Thomas Fitzsimmons, then a member of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. It went through all its stages without a word of opposition, and finally passed both branches without yeas and nays, which is equivalent to a unanimous passage. In this Congress there were sixteen of the thirty-nine fathers who framed the original Constitution. They were John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman, Wm. S. Johnson, Roger Sherman, Robert Morris, Thos. Fitzsimmons, William Few, Abraham Baldwin, Rufus King, William Paterson, George Clymer, Richard Bassett, George Read, Pierce Butler, Daniel Carroll, James Madison.

 

This shows that, in their understanding, no line dividing local from federal authority, nor anything in the Constitution, properly forbade Congress to prohibit slavery in the federal territory; else both their fidelity to correct principle, and their oath to support the Constitution, would have constrained them to oppose the prohibition.

 

Again, George Washington, another of the "thirty-nine," was then President of the United States, and, as such approved and signed the bill; thus completing its validity as a law, and thus showing that, in his understanding, no line dividing local from federal authority, nor anything in the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government, to control as to slavery in federal territory.

 

No great while after the adoption of the original Constitution, North Carolina ceded to the Federal Government the country now constituting the State of Tennessee; and a few years later Georgia ceded that which now constitutes the States of Mississippi and Alabama. In both deeds of cession it was made a condition by the ceding States that the Federal Government should not prohibit slavery in the ceded territory. Besides this, slavery was then actually in the ceded country. Under these circumstances, Congress, on taking charge of these countries, did not absolutely prohibit slavery within them. But they did interfere with it - take control of it - even there, to a certain extent. In 1798, Congress organized the Territory of Mississippi. In the act of organization, they prohibited the bringing of slaves into the Territory, from any place without the United States, by fine, and giving freedom to slaves so bought. This act passed both branches of Congress without yeas and nays. In that Congress were three of the "thirty-nine" who framed the original Constitution. They were John Langdon, George Read and Abraham Baldwin. They all, probably, voted for it. Certainly they would have placed their opposition to it upon record, if, in their understanding, any line dividing local from federal authority, or anything in the Constitution, properly forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in federal territory.

 

In 1803, the Federal Government purchased the Louisiana country. Our former territorial acquisitions came from certain of our own States; but this Louisiana country was acquired from a foreign nation. In 1804, Congress gave a territorial organization to that part of it which now constitutes the State of Louisiana. New Orleans, lying within that part, was an old and comparatively large city. There were other considerable towns and settlements, and slavery was extensively and thoroughly intermingled with the people. Congress did not, in the Territorial Act, prohibit slavery; but they did interfere with it - take control of it - in a more marked and extensive way than they did in the case of Mississippi. The substance of the provision therein made, in relation to slaves, was:

 

First. That no slave should be imported into the territory from foreign parts.

 

Second. That no slave should be carried into it who had been imported into the United States since the first day of May, 1798.

 

Third. That no slave should be carried into it, except by the owner, and for his own use as a settler; the penalty in all the cases being a fine upon the violator of the law, and freedom to the slave.

 

This act also was passed without yeas and nays. In the Congress which passed it, there were two of the "thirty-nine." They were Abraham Baldwin and Jonathan Dayton. As stated in the case of Mississippi, it is probable they both voted for it. They would not have allowed it to pass without recording their opposition to it, if, in their understanding, it violated either the line properly dividing local from federal authority, or any provision of the Constitution.

 

In 1819-20, came and passed the Missouri question. Many votes were taken, by yeas and nays, in both branches of Congress, upon the various phases of the general question. Two of the "thirty-nine" - Rufus King and Charles Pinckney - were members of that Congress. Mr. King steadily voted for slavery prohibition and against all compromises, while Mr. Pinckney as steadily voted against slavery prohibition and against all compromises. By this, Mr. King showed that, in his understanding, no line dividing local from federal authority, nor anything in the Constitution, was violated by Congress prohibiting slavery in federal territory; while Mr. Pinckney, by his votes, showed that, in his understanding, there was some sufficient reason for opposing such prohibition in that case.

 

The cases I have mentioned are the only acts of the "thirty-nine," or of any of them, upon the direct issue, which I have been able to discover.

 

To enumerate the persons who thus acted, as being four in 1784, two in 1787, seventeen in 1789, three in 1798, two in 1804, and two in 1819-20 - there would be thirty of them. But this would be counting John Langdon, Roger Sherman, William Few, Rufus King, and George Read each twice, and Abraham Baldwin, three times. The true number of those of the "thirty-nine" whom I have shown to have acted upon the question, which, by the text, they understood better than we, is twenty-three, leaving sixteen not shown to have acted upon it in any way.

 

Here, then, we have twenty-three out of our thirty-nine fathers "who framed the government under which we live," who have, upon their official responsibility and their corporal oaths, acted upon the very question which the text affirms they "understood just as well, and even better than we do now;" and twenty-one of them - a clear majority of the whole "thirty-nine" - so acting upon it as to make them guilty of gross political impropriety and willful perjury, if, in their understanding, any proper division between local and federal authority, or anything in the Constitution they had made themselves, and sworn to support, forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the federal territories. Thus the twenty-one acted; and, as actions speak louder than words, so actions, under such responsibility, speak still louder.

 

Two of the twenty-three voted against Congressional prohibition of slavery in the federal territories, in the instances in which they acted upon the question. But for what reasons they so voted is not known. They may have done so because they thought a proper division of local from federal authority, or some provision or principle of the Constitution, stood in the way; or they may, without any such question, have voted against the prohibition, on what appeared to them to be sufficient grounds of expediency. No one who has sworn to support the Constitution can conscientiously vote for what he understands to be an unconstitutional measure, however expedient he may think it; but one may and ought to vote against a measure which he deems constitutional, if, at the same time, he deems it inexpedient. It, therefore, would be unsafe to set down even the two who voted against the prohibition, as having done so because, in their understanding, any proper division of local from federal authority, or anything in the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in federal territory.

 

The remaining sixteen of the "thirty-nine," so far as I have discovered, have left no record of their understanding upon the direct question of federal control of slavery in the federal territories. But there is much reason to believe that their understanding upon that question would not have appeared different from that of their twenty-three compeers, had it been manifested at all.

 

For the purpose of adhering rigidly to the text, I have purposely omitted whatever understanding may have been manifested by any person, however distinguished, other than the thirty-nine fathers who framed the original Constitution; and, for the same reason, I have also omitted whatever understanding may have been manifested by any of the "thirty-nine" even, on any other phase of the general question of slavery. If we should look into their acts and declarations on those other phases, as the foreign slave trade, and the morality and policy of slavery generally, it would appear to us that on the direct question of federal control of slavery in federal territories, the sixteen, if they had acted at all, would probably have acted just as the twenty-three did. Among that sixteen were several of the most noted anti-slavery men of those times - as Dr. Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris - while there was not one now known to have been otherwise, unless it may be John Rutledge, of South Carolina.

 

The sum of the whole is, that of our thirty-nine fathers who framed the original Constitution, twenty-one - a clear majority of the whole - certainly understood that no proper division of local from federal authority, nor any part of the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government to control slavery in the federal territories; while all the rest probably had the same understanding. Such, unquestionably, was the understanding of our fathers who framed the original Constitution; and the text affirms that they understood the question "better than we."

 

But, so far, I have been considering the understanding of the question manifested by the framers of the original Constitution. In and by the original instrument, a mode was provided for amending it; and, as I have already stated, the present frame of "the Government under which we live" consists of that original, and twelve amendatory articles framed and adopted since. Those who now insist that federal control of slavery in federal territories violates the Constitution, point us to the provisions which they suppose it thus violates; and, as I understand, that all fix upon provisions in these amendatory articles, and not in the original instrument. The Supreme Court, in the Dred Scott case, plant themselves upon the fifth amendment, which provides that no person shall be deprived of "life, liberty or property without due process of law;" while Senator Douglas and his peculiar adherents plant themselves upon the tenth amendment, providing that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution" "are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

 

Now, it so happens that these amendments were framed by the first Congress which sat under the Constitution - the identical Congress which passed the act already mentioned, enforcing the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern Territory. Not only was it the same Congress, but they were the identical, same individual men who, at the same session, and at the same time within the session, had under consideration, and in progress toward maturity, these Constitutional amendments, and this act prohibiting slavery in all the territory the nation then owned. The Constitutional amendments were introduced before, and passed after the act enforcing the Ordinance of '87; so that, during the whole pendency of the act to enforce the Ordinance, the Constitutional amendments were also pending.

 

The seventy-six members of that Congress, including sixteen of the framers of the original Constitution, as before stated, were pre- eminently our fathers who framed that part of "the Government under which we live," which is now claimed as forbidding the Federal Government to control slavery in the federal territories.

 

Is it not a little presumptuous in any one at this day to affirm that the two things which that Congress deliberately framed, and carried to maturity at the same time, are absolutely inconsistent with each other? And does not such affirmation become impudently absurd when coupled with the other affirmation from the same mouth, that those who did the two things, alleged to be inconsistent, understood whether they really were inconsistent better than we - better than he who affirms that they are inconsistent?

 

It is surely safe to assume that the thirty-nine framers of the original Constitution, and the seventy-six members of the Congress which framed the amendments thereto, taken together, do certainly include those who may be fairly called "our fathers who framed the Government under which we live." And so assuming, I defy any man to show that any one of them ever, in his whole life, declared that, in his understanding, any proper division of local from federal authority, or any part of the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the federal territories. I go a step further. I defy any one to show that any living man in the whole world ever did, prior to the beginning of the present century, (and I might almost say prior to the beginning of the last half of the present century,) declare that, in his understanding, any proper division of local from federal authority, or any part of the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the federal territories. To those who now so declare, I give, not only "our fathers who framed the Government under which we live," but with them all other living men within the century in which it was framed, among whom to search, and they shall not be able to find the evidence of a single man agreeing with them.

 

Now, and here, let me guard a little against being misunderstood. I do not mean to say we are bound to follow implicitly in whatever our fathers did. To do so, would be to discard all the lights of current experience - to reject all progress - all improvement. What I do say is, that if we would supplant the opinions and policy of our fathers in any case, we should do so upon evidence so conclusive, and argument so clear, that even their great authority, fairly considered and weighed, cannot stand; and most surely not in a case whereof we ourselves declare they understood the question better than we.

 

If any man at this day sincerely believes that a proper division of local from federal authority, or any part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the federal territories, he is right to say so, and to enforce his position by all truthful evidence and fair argument which he can. But he has no right to mislead others, who have less access to history, and less leisure to study it, into the false belief that "our fathers who framed the Government under which we live" were of the same opinion - thus substituting falsehood and deception for truthful evidence and fair argument. If any man at this day sincerely believes "our fathers who framed the Government under which we live," used and applied principles, in other cases, which ought to have led them to understand that a proper division of local from federal authority or some part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the federal territories, he is right to say so. But he should, at the same time, brave the responsibility of declaring that, in his opinion, he understands their principles better than they did themselves; and especially should he not shirk that responsibility by asserting that they "understood the question just as well, and even better, than we do now."

 

But enough! Let all who believe that "our fathers, who framed the Government under which we live, understood this question just as well, and even better, than we do now," speak as they spoke, and act as they acted upon it. This is all Republicans ask - all Republicans desire - in relation to slavery. As those fathers marked it, so let it be again marked, as an evil not to be extended, but to be tolerated and protected only because of and so far as its actual presence among us makes that toleration and protection a necessity. Let all the guarantees those fathers gave it, be, not grudgingly, but fully and fairly, maintained. For this Republicans contend, and with this, so far as I know or believe, they will be content.

 

And now, if they would listen - as I suppose they will not - I would address a few words to the Southern people.

 

I would say to them: - You consider yourselves a reasonable and a just people; and I consider that in the general qualities of reason and justice you are not inferior to any other people. Still, when you speak of us Republicans, you do so only to denounce us a reptiles, or, at the best, as no better than outlaws. You will grant a hearing to pirates or murderers, but nothing like it to "Black Republicans." In all your contentions with one another, each of you deems an unconditional condemnation of "Black Republicanism" as the first thing to be attended to. Indeed, such condemnation of us seems to be an indispensable prerequisite - license, so to speak - among you to be admitted or permitted to speak at all. Now, can you, or not, be prevailed upon to pause and to consider whether this is quite just to us, or even to yourselves? Bring forward your charges and specifications, and then be patient long enough to hear us deny or justify.

 

You say we are sectional. We deny it. That makes an issue; and the burden of proof is upon you. You produce your proof; and what is it? Why, that our party has no existence in your section - gets no votes in your section. The fact is substantially true; but does it prove the issue? If it does, then in case we should, without change of principle, begin to get votes in your section, we should thereby cease to be sectional. You cannot escape this conclusion; and yet, are you willing to abide by it? If you are, you will probably soon find that we have ceased to be sectional, for we shall get votes in your section this very year. You will then begin to discover, as the truth plainly is, that your proof does not touch the issue. The fact that we get no votes in your section, is a fact of your making, and not of ours. And if there be fault in that fact, that fault is primarily yours, and remains until you show that we repel you by some wrong principle or practice. If we do repel you by any wrong principle or practice, the fault is ours; but this brings you to where you ought to have started - to a discussion of the right or wrong of our principle. If our principle, put in practice, would wrong your section for the benefit of ours, or for any other object, then our principle, and we with it, are sectional, and are justly opposed and denounced as such. Meet us, then, on the question of whether our principle, put in practice, would wrong your section; and so meet it as if it were possible that something may be said on our side. Do you accept the challenge? No! Then you really believe that the principle which "our fathers who framed the Government under which we live" thought so clearly right as to adopt it, and indorse it again and again, upon their official oaths, is in fact so clearly wrong as to demand your condemnation without a moment's consideration.

 

Some of you delight to flaunt in our faces the warning against sectional parties given by Washington in his Farewell Address. Less than eight years before Washington gave that warning, he had, as President of the United States, approved and signed an act of Congress, enforcing the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern Territory, which act embodied the policy of the Government upon that subject up to and at the very moment he penned that warning; and about one year after he penned it, he wrote LaFayette that he considered that prohibition a wise measure, expressing in the same connection his hope that we should at some time have a confederacy of free States.

 

Bearing this in mind, and seeing that sectionalism has since arisen upon this same subject, is that warning a weapon in your hands against us, or in our hands against you? Could Washington himself speak, would he cast the blame of that sectionalism upon us, who sustain his policy, or upon you who repudiate it? We respect that warning of Washington, and we commend it to you, together with his example pointing to the right application of it.

 

But you say you are conservative - eminently conservative - while we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried? We stick to, contend for, the identical old policy on the point in controversy which was adopted by "our fathers who framed the Government under which we live;" while you with one accord reject, and scout, and spit upon that old policy, and insist upon substituting something new. True, you disagree among yourselves as to what that substitute shall be. You are divided on new propositions and plans, but you are unanimous in rejecting and denouncing the old policy of the fathers. Some of you are for reviving the foreign slave trade; some for a Congressional Slave-Code for the Territories; some for Congress forbidding the Territories to prohibit Slavery within their limits; some for maintaining Slavery in the Territories through the judiciary; some for the "gur-reat pur-rinciple" that "if one man would enslave another, no third man should object," fantastically called "Popular Sovereignty;" but never a man among you is in favor of federal prohibition of slavery in federal territories, according to the practice of "our fathers who framed the Government under which we live." Not one of all your various plans can show a precedent or an advocate in the century within which our Government originated. Consider, then, whether your claim of conservatism for yourselves, and your charge or destructiveness against us, are based on the most clear and stable foundations.

 

Again, you say we have made the slavery question more prominent than it formerly was. We deny it. We admit that it is more prominent, but we deny that we made it so. It was not we, but you, who discarded the old policy of the fathers. We resisted, and still resist, your innovation; and thence comes the greater prominence of the question. Would you have that question reduced to its former proportions? Go back to that old policy. What has been will be again, under the same conditions. If you would have the peace of the old times, readopt the precepts and policy of the old times.

 

You charge that we stir up insurrections among your slaves. We deny it; and what is your proof? Harper's Ferry! John Brown!! John Brown was no Republican; and you have failed to implicate a single Republican in his Harper's Ferry enterprise. If any member of our party is guilty in that matter, you know it or you do not know it. If you do know it, you are inexcusable for not designating the man and proving the fact. If you do not know it, you are inexcusable for asserting it, and especially for persisting in the assertion after you have tried and failed to make the proof. You need to be told that persisting in a charge which one does not know to be true, is simply malicious slander.

 

Some of you admit that no Republican designedly aided or encouraged the Harper's Ferry affair, but still insist that our doctrines and declarations necessarily lead to such results. We do not believe it. We know we hold to no doctrine, and make no declaration, which were not held to and made by "our fathers who framed the Government under which we live." You never dealt fairly by us in relation to this affair. When it occurred, some important State elections were near at hand, and you were in evident glee with the belief that, by charging the blame upon us, you could get an advantage of us in those elections. The elections came, and your expectations were not quite fulfilled. Every Republican man knew that, as to himself at least, your charge was a slander, and he was not much inclined by it to cast his vote in your favor. Republican doctrines and declarations are accompanied with a continual protest against any interference whatever with your slaves, or with you about your slaves. Surely, this does not encourage them to revolt. True, we do, in common with "our fathers, who framed the Government under which we live," declare our belief that slavery is wrong; but the slaves do not hear us declare even this. For anything we say or do, the slaves would scarcely know there is a Republican party. I believe they would not, in fact, generally know it but for your misrepresentations of us, in their hearing. In your political contests among yourselves, each faction charges the other with sympathy with Black Republicanism; and then, to give point to the charge, defines Black Republicanism to simply be insurrection, blood and thunder among the slaves.

 

Slave insurrections are no more common now than they were before the Republican party was organized. What induced the Southampton insurrection, twenty-eight years ago, in which, at least three times as many lives were lost as at Harper's Ferry? You can scarcely stretch your very elastic fancy to the conclusion that Southampton was "got up by Black Republicanism." In the present state of things in the United States, I do not think a general, or even a very extensive slave insurrection is possible. The indispensable concert of action cannot be attained. The slaves have no means of rapid communication; nor can incendiary freemen, black or white, supply it. The explosive materials are everywhere in parcels; but there neither are, nor can be supplied, the indispensable connecting trains.

 

Much is said by Southern people about the affection of slaves for their masters and mistresses; and a part of it, at least, is true. A plot for an uprising could scarcely be devised and communicated to twenty individuals before some one of them, to save the life of a favorite master or mistress, would divulge it. This is the rule; and the slave revolution in Hayti was not an exception to it, but a case occurring under peculiar circumstances. The gunpowder plot of British history, though not connected with slaves, was more in point. In that case, only about twenty were admitted to the secret; and yet one of them, in his anxiety to save a friend, betrayed the plot to that friend, and, by consequence, averted the calamity. Occasional poisonings from the kitchen, and open or stealthy assassinations in the field, and local revolts extending to a score or so, will continue to occur as the natural results of slavery; but no general insurrection of slaves, as I think, can happen in this country for a long time. Whoever much fears, or much hopes for such an event, will be alike disappointed.

 

In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago, "It is still in our power to direct the process of emancipation, and deportation, peaceably, and in such slow degrees, as that the evil will wear off insensibly; and their places be, pari passu, filled up by free white laborers. If, on the contrary, it is left to force itself on, human nature must shudder at the prospect held up."

 

Mr. Jefferson did not mean to say, nor do I, that the power of emancipation is in the Federal Government. He spoke of Virginia; and, as to the power of emancipation, I speak of the slaveholding States only. The Federal Government, however, as we insist, has the power of restraining the extension of the institution - the power to insure that a slave insurrection shall never occur on any American soil which is now free from slavery.

 

John Brown's effort was peculiar. It was not a slave insurrection. It was an attempt by white men to get up a revolt among slaves, in which the slaves refused to participate. In fact, it was so absurd that the slaves, with all their ignorance, saw plainly enough it could not succeed. That affair, in its philosophy, corresponds with the many attempts, related in history, at the assassination of kings and emperors. An enthusiast broods over the oppression of a people till he fancies himself commissioned by Heaven to liberate them. He ventures the attempt, which ends in little else than his own execution. Orsini's attempt on Louis Napoleon, and John Brown's attempt at Harper's Ferry were, in their philosophy, precisely the same. The eagerness to cast blame on old England in the one case, and on New England in the other, does not disprove the sameness of the two things.

 

And how much would it avail you, if you could, by the use of John Brown, Helper's Book, and the like, break up the Republican organization? Human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed. There is a judgment and a feeling against slavery in this nation, which cast at least a million and a half of votes. You cannot destroy that judgment and feeling - that sentiment - by breaking up the political organization which rallies around it. You can scarcely scatter and disperse an army which has been formed into order in the face of your heaviest fire; but if you could, how much would you gain by forcing the sentiment which created it out of the peaceful channel of the ballot-box, into some other channel? What would that other channel probably be? Would the number of John Browns be lessened or enlarged by the operation?

 

But you will break up the Union rather than submit to a denial of your Constitutional rights.

 

That has a somewhat reckless sound; but it would be palliated, if not fully justified, were we proposing, by the mere force of numbers, to deprive you of some right, plainly written down in the Constitution. But we are proposing no such thing.

 

When you make these declarations, you have a specific and well-understood allusion to an assumed Constitutional right of yours, to take slaves into the federal territories, and to hold them there as property. But no such right is specifically written in the Constitution. That instrument is literally silent about any such right. We, on the contrary, deny that such a right has any existence in the Constitution, even by implication.

 

Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is that you will destroy the Government, unless you be allowed to construe and enforce the Constitution as you please, on all points in dispute between you and us. You will rule or ruin in all events.

 

This, plainly stated, is your language. Perhaps you will say the Supreme Court has decided the disputed Constitutional question in your favor. Not quite so. But waiving the lawyer's distinction between dictum and decision, the Court have decided the question for you in a sort of way. The Court have substantially said, it is your Constitutional right to take slaves into the federal territories, and to hold them there as property. When I say the decision was made in a sort of way, I mean it was made in a divided Court, by a bare majority of the Judges, and they not quite agreeing with one another in the reasons for making it; that it is so made as that its avowed supporters disagree with one another about its meaning, and that it was mainly based upon a mistaken statement of fact - the statement in the opinion that "the right of property in a slave is distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution."

 

An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right of property in a slave is not "distinctly and expressly affirmed" in it. Bear in mind, the Judges do not pledge their judicial opinion that such right is impliedly affirmed in the Constitution; but they pledge their veracity that it is "distinctly and expressly" affirmed there - "distinctly," that is, not mingled with anything else - "expressly," that is, in words meaning just that, without the aid of any inference, and susceptible of no other meaning.

 

If they had only pledged their judicial opinion that such right is affirmed in the instrument by implication, it would be open to others to show that neither the word "slave" nor "slavery" is to be found in the Constitution, nor the word "property" even, in any connection with language alluding to the things slave, or slavery; and that wherever in that instrument the slave is alluded to, he is called a "person;" - and wherever his master's legal right in relation to him is alluded to, it is spoken of as "service or labor which may be due," - as a debt payable in service or labor. Also, it would be open to show, by contemporaneous history, that this mode of alluding to slaves and slavery, instead of speaking of them, was employed on purpose to exclude from the Constitution the idea that there could be property in man.

 

To show all this, is easy and certain.

 

When this obvious mistake of the Judges shall be brought to their notice, is it not reasonable to expect that they will withdraw the mistaken statement, and reconsider the conclusion based upon it?

 

And then it is to be remembered that "our fathers, who framed the Government under which we live" - the men who made the Constitution - decided this same Constitutional question in our favor, long ago - decided it without division among themselves, when making the decision; without division among themselves about the meaning of it after it was made, and, so far as any evidence is left, without basing it upon any mistaken statement of facts.

 

Under all these circumstances, do you really feel yourselves justified to break up this Government unless such a court decision as yours is, shall be at once submitted to as a conclusive and final rule of political action? But you will not abide the election of a Republican president! In that supposed event, you say, you will destroy the Union; and then, you say, the great crime of having destroyed it will be upon us! That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teeth, "Stand and deliver, or I shall kill you, and then you will be a murderer!"

 

To be sure, what the robber demanded of me - my money - was my own; and I had a clear right to keep it; but it was no more my own than my vote is my own; and the threat of death to me, to extort my money, and the threat of destruction to the Union, to extort my vote, can scarcely be distinguished in principle.

 

A few words now to Republicans. It is exceedingly desirable that all parts of this great Confederacy shall be at peace, and in harmony, one with another. Let us Republicans do our part to have it so. Even though much provoked, let us do nothing through passion and ill temper. Even though the southern people will not so much as listen to us, let us calmly consider their demands, and yield to them if, in our deliberate view of our duty, we possibly can. Judging by all they say and do, and by the subject and nature of their controversy with us, let us determine, if we can, what will satisfy them.

 

Will they be satisfied if the Territories be unconditionally surrendered to them? We know they will not. In all their present complaints against us, the Territories are scarcely mentioned. Invasions and insurrections are the rage now. Will it satisfy them, if, in the future, we have nothing to do with invasions and insurrections? We know it will not. We so know, because we know we never had anything to do with invasions and insurrections; and yet this total abstaining does not exempt us from the charge and the denunciation.

 

The question recurs, what will satisfy them? Simply this: We must not only let them alone, but we must somehow, convince them that we do let them alone. This, we know by experience, is no easy task. We have been so trying to convince them from the very beginning of our organization, but with no success. In all our platforms and speeches we have constantly protested our purpose to let them alone; but this has had no tendency to convince them. Alike unavailing to convince them, is the fact that they have never detected a man of us in any attempt to disturb them.

 

These natural, and apparently adequate means all failing, what will convince them? This, and this only: cease to call slavery wrong, and join them in calling it right. And this must be done thoroughly - done in acts as well as in words. Silence will not be tolerated - we must place ourselves avowedly with them. Senator Douglas' new sedition law must be enacted and enforced, suppressing all declarations that slavery is wrong, whether made in politics, in presses, in pulpits, or in private. We must arrest and return their fugitive slaves with greedy pleasure. We must pull down our Free State constitutions. The whole atmosphere must be disinfected from all taint of opposition to slavery, before they will cease to believe that all their troubles proceed from us.

 

I am quite aware they do not state their case precisely in this way. Most of them would probably say to us, "Let us alone, do nothing to us, and say what you please about slavery." But we do let them alone - have never disturbed them - so that, after all, it is what we say, which dissatisfies them. They will continue to accuse us of doing, until we cease saying.

 

I am also aware they have not, as yet, in terms, demanded the overthrow of our Free-State Constitutions. Yet those Constitutions declare the wrong of slavery, with more solemn emphasis, than do all other sayings against it; and when all these other sayings shall have been silenced, the overthrow of these Constitutions will be demanded, and nothing be left to resist the demand. It is nothing to the contrary, that they do not demand the whole of this just now. Demanding what they do, and for the reason they do, they can voluntarily stop nowhere short of this consummation. Holding, as they do, that slavery is morally right, and socially elevating, they cannot cease to demand a full national recognition of it, as a legal right, and a social blessing.

 

Nor can we justifiably withhold this, on any ground save our conviction that slavery is wrong. If slavery is right, all words, acts, laws, and constitutions against it, are themselves wrong, and should be silenced, and swept away. If it is right, we cannot justly object to its nationality - its universality; if it is wrong, they cannot justly insist upon its extension - its enlargement. All they ask, we could readily grant, if we thought slavery right; all we ask, they could as readily grant, if they thought it wrong. Their thinking it right, and our thinking it wrong, is the precise fact upon which depends the whole controversy. Thinking it right, as they do, they are not to blame for desiring its full recognition, as being right; but, thinking it wrong, as we do, can we yield to them? Can we cast our votes with their view, and against our own? In view of our moral, social, and political responsibilities, can we do this?

 

Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let it alone where it is, because that much is due to the necessity arising from its actual presence in the nation; but can we, while our votes will prevent it, allow it to spread into the National Territories, and to overrun us here in these Free States? If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand by our duty, fearlessly and effectively. Let us be diverted by none of those sophistical contrivances wherewith we are so industriously plied and belabored - contrivances such as groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong, vain as the search for a man who should be neither a living man nor a dead man - such as a policy of "don't care" on a question about which all true men do care - such as Union appeals beseeching true Union men to yield to Disunionists, reversing the divine rule, and calling, not the sinners, but the righteous to repentance - such as invocations to Washington, imploring men to unsay what Washington said, and undo what Washington did.

 

Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. LET US HAVE FAITH THAT RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, AND IN THAT FAITH, LET US, TO THE END, DARE TO DO OUR DUTY AS WE UNDERSTAND IT.

The date of the church’s construction was not precisely known until 1969, particularly as the pisanie (inscription) is partly deteriorated.

That year, the parish priest discovered a petition from the Christians of the Broșteni district to the Metropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia.

Authored by Manul "Cavaful", head of the shoemakers’ (cavafi) guild, the document asks permission for building a church on the land of the late Hagi Dumitrache Papazoglu, in accordance with his will.

It is dated July 1815, and construction probably started on August 15, a date mentioned on the inscription.

The structure was probably erected by summer 1816, and was completely finished by November 1817, as attested by a document of that date.

 

Repairs were carried out in 1868, 1891 and 1906, while the painting was redone in 1929.

Thorough repairs took place in 1949–1950 and 1957.

Repainting was done under Patriarch Justinian, whose portrait appears among the ktetors.

The 1930 parish house was demolished in 1985 to make way for the surrounding apartment blocks.

The church has two spires, one above the nave, the other, the bell tower, above the narthex.

The iconostasis is carved in wood and gilt.

The facades are simple, with a classical cornice and pediment on the western side, painted with three panels of saints’ icons.

 

Saint Haralambie, whose relics are here, awaits them every day.

The church, in the shape of a cross, was built between 1815 and 1817 on the land left by Hagi Dumitrache Papazoglu, by Maria and Manea Cavafu, the latter being the elder of the tanners in the Broşteni slum.

Over time, the church was repaired several times.

Among the objects of historical or documentary value, the very old icons stand out (the oldest is from the 17th century), but also the iconostasis, which is carved in wood and gilded.

The current painting dates from 1986, made by a certain Gheorghe.

Do you wonder where the self resides

Is it in your head or between your sides

And who will be the one who will decide

Its true location

 

-Dark Matter, Andrew Bird

 

Arriving precisely on time, my train sits under the sprawling trainshed of Buenos Aires' Constitucón station. Designed by a British architectural firm and the one-time terminus of the British-financed Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway, it's no surprise that the station bears a certain resemblance to London's Waterloo station.

 

Upon nationalization of Argentina's railways, the station became the Buenos Aires hub of the Roca network, which it continues to serve today. It is the busiest single terminal in Buenos Aires with hundreds of daily movements and approximately half a million people passing through daily. (Retiro, on the opposite side of downtown is often cited as the busiest station and does have more trains and people, but is actually three independent stations side-by-side.)

 

It's worth noting that Buenos Aires has the second-most extensive commuter rail network in the Americas, after New York. A map of the network can be found here: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/GREATER_BA_RA...

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On the southern coast of Garda Lake, at the end of Sirmione boasting a splendid view there are Roman villa remnants known for centuries as the "Cave di Catullo”, the most magnificent example of private building in the entire northern Italy. In Renaissance name of "caves" was used to interned and collapsed structures, covered by vegetation, within penetrated as in natural cavities. Tradition dates back to the 15th and 16th century has identified this complex as Catullo’s family villa, the Latin poet who died in 54 BC. According to the testimonial Catullo verses is certain that he had a residence in Sirmione, but it’s only possible that it was precisely in this area. Sirmione is known in the ancient world for being a station stop (mansio) along the major road that joined Brescia to Verona. The first detailed representation of villa ruins is a relief of beginning of 19th century. Large excavations were carried out by Jerome Orti Manara, which published the results in a still vital opera.

Superintendence began excavations in 1939-40 and restorations in 1948 acquired the entire area, allowing all the protection immersed in its natural environment. Recent surveys have allowed to verify the existence of an earlier building in the rooms below the southern sector and confirms that the construction has been built by a single project that has defined the orientation and distribution of internal spaces according to a precise axial and symmetry criterion. The villa, which has rectangles plant (m 167 x 105), including two foreparts on short sides, covers a total area of more than two hectares. To overcome the inclination of the rocky bank on which were supported foundations of the building, were created large rooms built, while in some areas became necessary imposing cutting rock. The remains are currently stored on several levels: the northern sector, for example, have remained only grandiose buildings, but nothing has kept the residential rooms, which have fallen already in antiquity. Ancient Romany indicated by the word "terme" bathrooms both private and public, while for us today this word refers to establishments that exploit hot water source. In Catullo caves the baths were built in the southern part in the second century AC, about a century after villa construction.

Thermal sector has a territory of almost 800 square meters and includes various environments. Unfortunately, some of these rooms were damaged and then today it’s difficult to rebuild their exact function. The best preserved area is called "pool". This is a large rectangular room that housed a bathtub. The floor was raised to the latter, probably supported by pillars, and was above the arches along the walls. Behind the pool was an area where probably was on fire (= praefurnium). Hot air and smoke products entered in a hollow that surrounds the pool and had to get up to the ceiling. Through the arches this air circulated in the area also below the floor (= ipocausto) and the room was so heated. Manufacturers have used many bricks in the walls so heat doesn’t disperse so easily.

Because its characteristics is probably that this area was the tepidarium, bathroom room with warm water tub. The area for hot water (the calidarium) was smaller and instead to have one big pool, had small tanks placed at the corners of the room and not intended to swim, but to immerse a part of the body. Even the calidarium was located near the heating oven. Finally, the area for cold water (frigidarium) had in the center a little deep tub on whose edges, decorated mosaic, people could sit. In Catullo caves are also other areas, in addition to those described, whose function is not clear. To decorate walls were used stucco, found during the excavations. In the bathtub were not used fresh water because of the considerable drop that separates lake from the building. To solve the water problem were built in the thermal area three tanks which was collecting rainwater. Two of these tanks are located behind the pool, while the third, once misinterpreted as Catullo "bath" is placed near the villa entrance. Water was extracted from the tank and conveyed to the baths through lead pipes, the so-called fistulas, that in Ancient Rome were typical water pipes.

In public baths, which were more complex than private, in addition to baths rooms there were locker rooms, gymnasiums, open spaces (such as gardens and courtyards), conference halls, reading rooms, latrines and special areas to take care of body.

Ancient Romany then attended the spa looking also for meeting moments.

 

Con il termine "Grotte di Catullo" si identifica un'antica villa romana edificata nel I secolo d.C. a Sirmione, in provincia di Brescia, sulla riva meridionale del Lago di Garda. Il complesso archeologico, studiato dall'inizio dell'Ottocento e riportato alla luce in più fasi, è oggi la testimonianza più importante del periodo romano nel territorio di Sirmione ed è l'esempio più grandioso di villa romana presente nel nord Italia. La denominazione di "Grotte" risale al Quattrocento, quando le rovine furono visitate dai primi cronisti-viaggiatori, ai quali apparvero sotto forma di caverne, largamente interrate e coperte di vegetazione. Il termine era comunque abbastanza diffuso e, con esso, si identificavano i vari siti archeologici romani che si andavano riscoprendo in quel periodo, ad esempio la Domus Aurea a Roma.Il primo ad attribuire la villa a Gaio Valerio Catullo fu Marin Sanudo il giovane e questa sua teoria fu poi sostenuta nei secoli successivi da vari scrittori. In base a testimonianze estraibili dai versi di Catullo (ad esempio dal Carme 31 dei Liber) è certo che egli avesse a Sirmione una residenza, ma non esistono prove concrete a sostegno dell'ipotesi che fosse proprio la villa in questione. Il termine è comunque rimasto e ancora oggi è utilizzato per identificare il sito archeologico.La grande villa, al di sotto della quale sono state rinvenute strutture del I secolo a.C., viene edificata agli inizi del I secolo d.C.. Non si conosce l'esatto periodo e il motivo del declino della villa, ma il ritrovamento di tombe, sia all'interno sia all'esterno dell'edificio, risalenti al IV secolo e al V secolo indica che, in quel periodo, la struttura era già stata sicuramente abbandonata.Nel corso dei secoli, come si è detto, diversi cronisti e viaggiatori visitano le rovine, ma i primi studi concreti su di esse vengono effettuati solamente nel 1801 da un generale di Napoleone Bonaparte. Successivamente, il veronese Girolamo Orti Manara dà inizio agli scavi, compiendo ulteriori e più approfondite ricerche. Il materiale viene pubblicato nel 1856 assieme a una planimetria: il testo del Manara è ancora oggi fondamentale.Nel 1939 la Soprintendenza per i beni archeologici avvia un ampio programma di scavi e restauri, acquisendo infine nel 1948 l'intera area per permettere un'adeguata la tutela del complesso, immerso nel suo ambiente naturale.Durante gli anni novanta del Novecento ulteriori studi hanno confermato che la costruzione è stata realizzata attraverso un progetto unitario, che ne ha definito l'orientamento e la distribuzione degli spazi interni secondo un preciso criterio di assialità e di simmetria.Il complesso archeologico, ancora oggi portato alla luce solo parzialmente, copre un'area di circa due ettari. La villa ha pianta rettangolare, di 167 x 105 metri, con due avancorpi sui lati corti. Per superare l'inclinazione del banco roccioso su cui furono appoggiate le fondazioni dell'edificio vennero creati grandi opere di sostegno, mentre in altre zone si resero necessarie imponenti tagli della roccia.Il piano nobile, corrispondente agli ambienti di abitazione del proprietario, risulta il più danneggiato, poiché la villa è stata per secoli una cava di materiali. Meglio conservate sono il piano intermedio e altre costruzioni non accessibili nell'antichità e quindi preservate fino agli scavi contemporanei.L'ingresso dell'edificio si trovava nell'avancorpo meridionale. La villa era caratterizzata da lunghi porticati aperti verso il lago sui lati est e ovest, direttamente comunicanti sul lato nord con un'ampia terrazza, situata al centro dell'avancorpo nord. Al di sotto del porticato ovest si trovava un'ulteriore passeggiata coperta. Le parti residenziali dell'edificio erano situate nelle zone nord e sud, mentre la parte centrale, costituita oggi dal Grande Oliveto, era un grande spazio aperto. Sul lato meridionale, sotto un pavimento in opus spicatum, si trovava una grande cisterna, lunga quasi 43 metri. L'ampio settore termale, costituito da diversi vani situati nella medesima zona, tra i quali una piscina, fu ricavato probabilmente all'inizio del II secolo.I vari ambienti possiedono suggestivi nomi convenzionali, derivati da una tradizione locale consolidata oppure da interpretazioni e denominazioni date durante i primi scavi. Fra le rovine, ad esempio, si possono trovare l'Aula a tre pilastri, il Lungo corridoio, la Trifora del Paradiso, il Grande Pilone, la Grotta del Cavallo, il Grande Oliveto prima citato e l'Aula dei Giganti.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QykW5RdrGow

This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.

 

I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art.

 

Toni Morrison. Photo Alfred A. Knopf

white flour, but bigger holes (those ambient yeasts again.)

 

'...Count Marco was Old Chronicle. You have to be over 40 to remember Count Marco, and to have grown up in a household where the Chronicle was delivered to the doorstep so that your mother could open the women's pages to Count Marco and begin pounding the table about what an idiot he was. The Chronicle had hired Count Marco in 1959--in real life he was a hairdresser named Marc Spinelli--to assume the voice of a fussy Continental aristocrat in a regular column that railed about "you American women," who Marco liked to complain were fat and whiny and insufficiently attentive to their husbands. ("I'll make a deal with you libido-orationists," read one typical Marco passage. "Do as I suggest and I'll go along with your bleats and pleas, even to the point of encouraging you to strangle femininity to death.") As actual newspaper copy it was ludicrous, but as San Francisco Chronicle material it was choice: arch, silly, flamboyantly uninterested in bourgeois sobriety, and aiming, I'm guessing, for precisely the sort of reaction it elicited from my mother, who loved being infuriated by Count Marco as much as she loved reading George Murphy's front-page stories about the scandal of English muffin redesign. The English muffin stories ran in 1969, when I was a teenager:

 

"A bakery blasphemy is abroad in San Francisco.

Foster's English Muffins are being sold sliced.

As everyone here knows, English muffins are never touched by a knife.

"You must tear, tear," says the San Franciscan to the benighted visitor.

Actually, the true English muffin devotee first takes the muffin whole and inserts the tines of a fork about the perimeter.

Now, having achieved purchase, he takes thumb and forefinger (there are some two-handed muffin-tearers, but they are in the minority; mostly the one-handed approach is favored) and delicately separates the top from the bottom..."

 

In a sense the whole paper was written in those days for my parents, who were literate, funny, well-traveled people who had moved to San Francisco because the city--that shorthand, The City, was and has remained the standard terminology around here--seemed to them unlike any other place they had ever been. San Francisco's visual appeal was famous, the crowded wooden-house-covered hills bathed in golden light and ringed on three sides by water, but the geography also helped reinforce a kind of exuberant self-absorption that Scott Newhall, the most famous editor the Chronicle ever had, understood exactly how to exploit. Scott Newhall is part of the reason the Chronicle became so terrible. But Scott Newhall is also part of the reason my parents and a great many people like them took such enormous pleasure in living in San Francisco, and to get this story right--to follow the sorrowful tale right down to the trough-bottom days of "Send it to the Chronicle"--you have to go back about 45 years, when Newhall masterminded the last publicly declared Bay Area Journalism War, which Newhall won, and rather brilliantly, too.

 

Scott Newhall was named executive editor of the San Francisco Chronicle in 1952, when the paper was running a dismal fourth in circulation behind the Oakland Tribune, the San Francisco News Call Bulletin and the San Francisco Examiner. The News Call Bulletin [we were a News Call family, the afternoon paper my father brought home with him to read in the carpool, except on wednesdays when he drove; the paper vendor sent home a box of turtles, the candy, every christmastime, for me.] and the Examiner were both Hearst papers, but the News Call Bulletin was an afternoon daily; it was the morning Examiner, the flagship paper in the Hearst publishing empire, that Newhall decided to attack head-on. He had been at the paper for 17 years by that time, not counting the stretch in 1936 when Newhall and his wife both quit their jobs, sailed out the Golden Gate on a 42-foot ketch, wrote cartoon-illustrated newspaper dispatches from the Mexican interior ("Horse Gets Colic, Bed Crashes, It Rains"), and finally came home with Newhall so sick from a bone abscess that American doctors amputated his right leg. After a while on crutches Newhall learned how to get around vigorously on a wooden leg, thereby adding to his aura. He was by all accounts an utterly charming and quick-witted man, fiercely opinionated, given to fits of impulse and passionate about the sound of the writing on the pages he edited.

 

"His idea of a perfect headline on a mysterious murder of three people on Market Street, if that were to happen, would be: A Strange Occurrence at Night," recalls William German, the paper's longtime and now mostly emeritus editor, whose spacious carpeted corner office in the city room still contains a few items of Newhall vintage, like the massive leather-topped desk. "He took the cannon with him when he left," German says. "This guy was a complete wacko. But a very talented wacko. And probably right for the time."

 

The paper Newhall inherited from his predecessor, a high-minded visionary named Paul Smith, was often described by Smith himself as a West Coast version of the New York Times. It was stodgy, distinguished and dense, and it was losing money. When Smith was relieved of his duties and replaced by the editor who had filed those dispatches from Mexico, the paper began what Newhall would later refer to as "a long trip back up": Newhall wanted the paper read, and read in greater numbers than the San Francisco Examiner, and the come-on he chose was a front page that could not possibly be mistaken, by the time Newhall was finished with it, for any other front page in the United States.

 

Newhall's Chronicle sent Count Marco, accompanied by a real reporter who did the deadline work incognito from the back of the courtroom, to cover a sensational Los Angeles murder trial. ("Carole has changed the tint of her hair from sun bronze to copper tone. I consider this action an important switch indicating her present state of mind and perhaps her own future.") It ran highbrow limerick clues, most of them composed by Newhall's wife, Ruth, to the Emperor Norton Treasure Hunt, an annual citywide search for a buried $1,000 medallion. It carried a run of hugely displayed stories about a comedy writer's campaign to combat the moral disgrace of rampant animal nudity, illustrating one of the front-pagers with a drawing of suggested undershorts for cows. In 1963 the paper commenced its own civic campaign to improve the quality of San Francisco's coffee, accompanied by a lead editorial titled "Decent Coffee--A Basic Right."

 

'We have documented the shameful manner in which ignorant, money-grubbing, hole-in-corner restaurateurs of San Francisco crudely ravish this peer among brews. The offensive, long-simmering swill they pump out of their tarnished boilers is a disgrace to the city.'

 

Easterners casting about for material with which to make fun of the Chronicle always come up with the coffee campaign, but they miss the essence of it: The essence was "swill." What other newspaper would use a word like "swill" to describe bad coffee in a front-page headline? (Just for the record, the famous and often slightly misquoted head was "A Great City's People Forced to Drink Swill." There was also "Coffee Horror," and "The Recipe for Horror"--it was a series, after all--and numerous subheads, like "4 O'Clock Varnish" and "Heady Brew.") The paper managed to be lyric, loopy and unbelievably parochial all at the same time, a great private joke that San Franciscans liked to imagine only we really understood, and although professing outrage about the Chronicle became a popular civic pastime, circulation soared. On the day in 1960 when the Chronicle's circulation made its first official surge past the Examiner's, Newhall walked out of his office, according to the veteran Chronicle reporter David Perlman, and cried, "Well, we've done it." Then Newhall ordered up champagne for the newsroom.

 

That David Perlman tells this story with such affection--he was there, and got his share of the champagne--is a testament to Newhall's ability to keep some dedicated newspapermen working pretty happily in the midst of the carnival acts. Perlman was then and remains today a nationally admired science writer (he's 80, looks 20 years younger, and has no imminent plans to retire), and when I asked him whether he had minded watching his copy appear alongside pictures of livestock in boxer shorts, he smiled and adamantly shook his head. "Oh, no, it was too much fun," he said. Perlman learned to adapt his leads to the squiggly boxes, as did his junior colleague Charles Petit, who came to the Chronicle in 1972; the squiggly boxes were front-page wavy-line rules that flagged the reader to stories about sex or weird behavior, thus assuring extra attention on the newsracks.

 

"If you somehow got the word 'bizarre' into your lead, you got a wiggly line," Petit told me. "So I tried to find every way to do it. Science is perfect for that. I could slip the word 'bizarre' into a story about strange bacteria or weird plants or exotic diseases. They're all bizarre."

 

But by the time Charlie Petit got to the Chronicle the paper had begun its slide into the post-Newhall era, and the joke was wearing thin. Before Petit left the Chronicle in 1997 to join U.S. News & World Report, the paper gave him a framed copy of the front page that ran on the August 1972 day he was hired; as we were talking Petit pulled it from a closet and gazed at it with fond resignation. "Look at this," he said. The lead was an Associated Press story about George McGovern. Lower right, a New York Times story about nuclear strategy; page middle, an AP Vietnam War story; and off-lead on the left, a squiggly box--150 WED AT MARIN RANCH. Illustrated, too: Marin County ranch ladies, in long skirts and bonnets, preparing for their Synanon-arranged group wedding. "The only thing we contributed was a goofball photo of a bunch of people getting married," Petit said glumly. "It's like being the best sitcom on TV. You're not '60 Minutes.' You're not 'Nova.' But damn, you're funny."

 

The paper still had its strengths. Petit, like Perlman, was a dedicated reporter whose "bizarre" leads usually sat atop serious science and medical stories. The beloved Herb Caen, who had turned three-dot reporting [three-dot reporting...and here i'd thought all this time it was mr. shawn i'd modelled myself on...] into an art form no other newspaper was ever able to match, had defected temporarily to the Examiner but was now back home at the Chronicle, with the little San Francisco skyline logo that always ran above his column head. The Chronicle's columnists and cultural writers were memorable, the sportswriters were very good, and the Two-Handed Muffin-Tearers school of newspaper prose still showed up from time to time to dress up the front page. But even on its best days, the Chronicle was an awfully fast read. "There was substance, but it was irrelevant substance, and it generally went for the gag," Petit reflected. "Serious journalists made fun of it. But readers liked it. It was amusing. It was a diversion from serious matters."

 

Part of the problem at the Chronicle--the heart of the problem, according to the standard modern-day Chronicle version of events--was the 1964 joint operating agreement that formally ended competition for the San Francisco morning newspaper audience. From January 1965 on, under the terms of the deal signed by the Hearst and Chronicle Publishing companies, a single jointly owned production facility would print, distribute, sell advertising and manage circulation for both the Chronicle and the Examiner. The agreement closed the News Call Bulletin. It declared that the Chronicle would publish as a morning daily, that the Examiner would publish as an afternoon daily, and that on Sundays the joint facility would print a paper called the San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle, with most of the news sections to be produced by the Examiner. Editorially, the two papers were to function as "separate, distinct and independent newspapers," in the language of the JOA, but their business operation was now to become a single entity, collecting all advertising and subscription revenues and allocating any after-cost profits "to Chronicle and Hearst, in equal shares."

 

A 50-50 split, in other words--no head-to-head competition, everybody makes money together, and at the end of the day each side gets half the take. The Chronicle-Examiner deal was somewhere around the 20th JOA in American newspapers, according to University of California at Berkeley law professor Stephen R. Barnett, who has written extensively about joint operating agreements, and opinions around here vary as to which entity was ultimately worst served by the terms of San Francisco's: the Examiner newsroom, suddenly stuck with the shrinking audience for afternoon papers; the Chronicle newsroom, stripped of any real competition and forced to watch half of every profit dollar tossed over the wall to the other guys; or the reading public, its one morning daily gradually losing interest in itself as the jolly war years gave way to something darker and more tedious.'

 

... when we landed up six months later in denver, i was asked, as a late-arriving junior in their high school, to write up the instructions for something as an exercise in an english class. it was practice for declarative writing in preparation for some now-ubiquitous standardized test of which i'd never heard, and ultimately never took. and so, for my maiden effort, i wrote how to brew the perfect pot of tea with all the style to which i had been accustomed, and which you can now see outlined above. not only was the teacher not impressed, he read it aloud to the entire unknown, now never-to-be-known, class, not neglecting to inflict, and inflect, every conceivable sneer, the fuck. i spent the next 18 months ashamed of myself for not dropping out of high school and finally ended up in a breakdown of the nervous variety, until i could get home, where home was gone. that was the first time i left; why was there a second? oh yeah. the Great Migration. [...]

More precisely, this cosplay plays homage to Master Roshi's first appearance in the Dragon Ball manga. This is his original look. Will totally nails it!

 

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She is my best friend and that's precisely what she is. I don't think i can put it in more simpler terminology than that. I specifically shot this image with the title in mind. Some of her relatives were cherishing her surprise visit for her sisters wedding engagement and there was so much fun.

 

Yes, sometimes i have something in my head, a poem, a title for an image and i hunt for images that fits the size. I know, wierd. Can't help it, was born this way :-P

 

Canon EOS 400D with the Sigma EF 24 - 70 MM F/2.8. Manual, F/4 at 1/100th of a Second, ISO100, Canon Speedlite 430EX fired, Manual 1/1.

 

All Rights Reserved. Owner and Usage Rights belongs to Dilip Muralidaran. Any use of this work in hard or soft copy or transfer must be done with the expressed consent of Dilip Muralidaran in written. Failing to do so will result in violation as per Section 63 of the Indian Copyrights Act, 1957 & Forgery, Fruad, Misrepresentation and Misinformation as per the Indian Penal Code Section 420 leading to severe legal consequences.

The Barnes Foundation was founded in 1922 by Albert C. Barnes, a chemist who collected art after making a fortune by co-developing an early anti-gonorrhea drug marketed as Argyrol, and today houses more than 2,500 objects, including 800 paintings, estimated to be worth about $25 billion.

    

Originally the collection resided on the family estate, and was moved to its new home in 2012 - a prominent Philadelphia address on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and a new building designed by Tod Williams & Billie Tsien Architects of New York.

    

The new museum is designed to replicate the layout and arrangement of art pieces as they were curated in Barnes' original gallery - "After his death, in 1951, by order of the trust he established, every single picture remained in precisely the position Barnes had placed it, arranged not by artist or style but by juxtapositions that struck Barnes’s keen, if idiosyncratic, eye."

    

"The new Barnes is a limestone building made up of two long sections, set parallel to each other, with one of them forming an “L” as it wraps around its neighbor. In between the wings is an open court, roofed with a long translucent box that appears to float over the entire structure. The three elements—the two limestone sections and the translucent box—together form a carefully balanced composition of masses, textures, and volumes, unquestionably modern but with a very un-modern sense of repose."

    

from Paul Goldberger at vanityfair.com

Two towers of brick reach the ceiling 111 inches high at the 37th layer before meeting the sky at the 61st layer. Each tower of brick is comprised of 111 visible bricks. On the 31st layer, at ninety-three (93) inches high on the 93rd brick of the North column, the image of Jesus Christ appears where Flight 11 would one day hit the World Trade Center on floor 93 of the North Tower. Scaled where one brick is equivalent to three floors of the twin towers, the columns precisely match the height and compass orientation of the former twin towers with the right column aligned Northwest and the left column Southeast.

 

37 x 3 = 111 (There were 110 floors of the WTC. For purposes of creating a scaled model one more floor may be added to compensate for the extra height of the Lobby.)

31 x 3 = 93 (The 93rd floor was hit by American Airlines Flight 11.)

 

In Number Theory we may consider 31 and 37 to be the 9-11 "Lucky Numbers" since they occupy the ninth and eleventh position in Stanislaw Ulam's mathematical sieve. (Ulam's Lucky Numbers to 100 are 1, 3, 7, 9, 13, 15, 21, 25, 31, 33, 37, 43, 49, 51, 63, 67, 69, 73, 75, 79, 87, 93 and 99.)

 

After discovering this image, I felt extremely fortunate to have found it. I undertook an investigation to understand the meaning behind the image. I counted bricks; I brought out my magnifying glass, I combed through the Bible for clues. I realized that I had a choice to make after I saw it. I could either dismiss it as a fluke or seek to attach a meaning to it in a completely logical way - one that I would never forget.

 

(Remarks added 4/2014 - I encourage those interested in math to have a listen to comments made by Professor Norman Wildberger in MF 93 The magic and mystery of pi The subject is Pi yet he alludes to a new way of looking at numbers and pi in particular that perhaps we will arrive at in the next hundred years. His most pertinent comments come at minutes 31:00 and 37:00 I recommend listening to his ideas at the video's beginning then skipping ahead where he continues to flesh out these thoughts in minutes 31 and 37.. I can't help but wonder the extent to which Spiral 935 might fit his predictions.)

 

The appearance of Jesus Christ on "floor 93" of the North Column of bricks led me to Proverbs 29: 8 (corresponding to the physical address) - Mockers set a city aflame; wise men turn away wrath - and a step closer to stopping the 9/11 plot.

 

On September 17, 2003 Congressman Wiener introduced H.R. 3137 to prohibit assistance to Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Iran, Syria, but most notably, Saudi Arabia.

 

In fact, the text of the resolution is solely directed at Saudi Arabia and delivers a biting narrative demonstrating Saudi support for terror groups in general and specifically, aid to the 9/11 attackers. I mention this in regards to the topic of Ulam's 'Lucky Numbers" to explore the various meanings of "Luck" in the context of war. What the numbers in H.R. 31-37 appear to symbolize is that in spite of her links to terrorism, Saudi Arabia would draw a lucky card as Iraq became the primary focus. A Hiroshima survivor and a former student described to our class his luck in being just outside Hiroshima the day the atomic bomb dropped killing his commanding officer and ending the war. He genuinely felt lucky and joked that his relationship with the commanding officer was a poor one so he was doubly lucky. When you visit Hiroshima and the peace museum and you live there for many years and hear the stories of the survivors you begin to understand how fortunate we are to be alive with all the endless ways of dying there are. It drives the message home of how important it is to stop the plots of the radicalized few to safeguard the life and liberty of millions.

 

Ulam's "Lucky Numbers" are the numbers remaining after a sieve has eliminated the rest. Numbers, of course, are interchangeable and the first concept to understand is there are no lucky numbers. When it comes to rolling dice, for example, it is equally probable any one of the six sides will emerge on top. But like letters, we tend to favor using certain numbers over others. By knowing which letters and numbers occur more frequently in our choices and comparing it with a random sequence we can crack codes or even make predictions with significant advantage. In other words we must use as a base, the reality of randomness. Ulam's Lucky numbers and his spiral offered another breakthrough: by definition shape is not randomness and as numbers are ordered interesting patterns can be detected among prime and square numbers.

 

Ulam started with 1 as a centered number and placed 2 to its right, then and he spiraled around it counter-clockwise creating an evenly-squared grid 7 numbers high and 7 across. The upper left and right corners of his spiral are 31 and 37, both prime numbers. If one could give elasticity to the right column of bricks one could re-create Ulam's spiral starting from the lowest brick as the centerpiece and spiraling to create a protective canopy or "rooftop" from bricks 31 to 37. (Incidentally, a triangular or pentagon-shaped spiral can both be made using exactly 31 numbers each.) Circling all the prime numbers he noticed a pattern of diagonal lines of primes emerged even as he increased the size vast amounts using computer models. This one playful exercise while bored in a lecture would have major implications. In his later life he stepped away from pure math pursuing an interest in math as it relates to biology.

 

In the late 90's with each passing terror attack, experts debated at what point the gloves would come off; they began to see a silver lining in the unspeakable, a transforming event, a successful mass attack; the next thing you know the public had been broad-sided, victimized by a radicalized throng of suicidal maniacs and the see-no-evil policy born of an idealistic hope in cataclysm.

 

If you have ever been a lifeguard or a security guard you know it is not easy keeping one's guard up each and every moment.. This is why it is necessary to have a strong sense, a shared sense of responsibility-among experts as opposed to a loose collection of self-appointed panel-sitters and politically-appointed judges whose fixed eye on the shifting winds of politics opens doors to major policy error. Irrespective of which party has won or lost it is our duty to put politics aside. Budgets are often inadequate, methods are often antiquated, or even counter-productive, but at the end of the day, it is important to come to the plate, to speak out, to metaphorically speaking, grab hold of The Scottish Cafe book in Lviv, or Tokyo, or Washington, or wherever one may be, and solve the Bojinka number game so that no person is ever left out of the loop for the self-aggrandizing sake of those who are in it; where success is defined by the plot's foiling, not its transforming impact.

 

Stanislaw Ulam was the originator of the mathematical sieve for 'Lucky Numbers' as well as playing an important role in the Manhattan Project as did my grandfather. Ulam was born in Poland where he and fellow math students began a book in a local cafe, The Scottish Cafe, where any patron could contribute puzzling math questions or attempt to solve existing ones. Two of his famous quotes follow:

 

"It is still an unending source of surprise for me to see how a few scribbles on a blackboard or on a sheet of paper could change the course of human affairs."

 

"I'm an agnostic. Sometimes I muse deeply on the forces that are for me invisible. When I am almost close to the idea of God, I feel immediately estranged by the horrors of this world, which he seems to tolerate..."

 

The flames of wrath bring destruction while`the controlled fire of a kiln offers art and hope.

 

My wife Kumiko's father was a potter and manager of a well-known bizen ware kiln near Okayama, Japan. Bizen ware is unglazed, unpainted pottery and the surface markings are a result of yohen or 'kiln effects' produced by the fire and ash. Similarly, the image of Christ is likely tied to the convergence of ''yohen' and signal as it relates to Ulam's spiral bearing in mind that his spiral is a reflection of the forces at work in numbers and life. Ulam recognized that while mathematicians award one another for their various theories and discoveries and help build bigger bombs, the biological evidence suggests life already has a handle on what men struggle years to grasp. 'Yohen' is also the name of a Philip Kan Gotanda play set in Gardena where Kumiko and I lived during the period I attempted to stop the 9/11 plot. We met actor Danny Glover backstage after an exceptional performance playing the role of a husband whose Japanese wife, a potter, suggests they should seek to rekindle the flame that has dimmed with the passing years. The kanji 'Ai' above means 'Love'.

 

-------

 

In November 2015, we will celebrate the 101st Anniversary of a Japanese professor's gift of a stone monument to the Alamo. Professor Shiga Shigetaka from Okazaki was educated at Sapporo Agricultural College which became Hokkaido University. A former Union Colonel and chemist William Smith Clark was invited to establish the college to help modernize Japan as it transitioned from a feudal society.

 

After graduating Professor Shiga became a popular geographer and traveler in and outside Japan, publishing many books on the subject. He was inspired by the story of the Alamo heroes to compose a poem honoring their deeds by respectfully and even favorably comparing their deeds with those of Japanese and Chinese warrior legends. Two monuments inscribed with Shiga's poem honoring the Alamo can be found in Japan - at Okazaki Castle and at a famous battleground.

 

A third made its way overseas with the professor to San Antonio, where he was treated to an elaborate dinner held in his honor at the St Anthony Hotel. Two members of the local Japanese community were present and their descendants remain a vibrant part of the community to this day. The San Antonio Express provided excellent coverage of the dinner and toasts offered noting the gift inspired a feeling of confidence that a spirit of brotherhood had been born that evening through the cross-cultural honoring of heroes. The following day an outdoor event marking the delivery of the gift was attended by over 100 including many of the city's most esteemed residents and leaders.

 

After visiting San Antonio on our honeymoon and reading Sister Margit Nagy's historical account of Shiga's gift we decided to name our language school in Japan Alamo. By chance my mother happened to be taking a course at Our Lady of the Lake University from Sister Nagy at the time and she was able to share with Sister Nagy her two sons' experiences in Japan.

 

My wife and I ran the school for five years before moving to the United States. Interestingly, ours was not the first English language school in my wife's family history in Okayama. The Night and Day English language school was run by a distant cousin of hers after the end of WW II.

 

And so, in the spirit of giving and remembering, here's wishing that you all

 

Have a Very Merry Christmas!!!!

 

12/24/2014

  

Think "Holland" and you've probably already conjured the iconic images of tulips and windmills. More precisely, the very specific windmills you're envisioning right now are that of Kinderdijk.

Though it may sound odd for how technical and pragmatic the region proved to be, the name Kinderdijk translates in Dutch to mean "children's dike." According to local legend, after a particularly terrible flood in the 15th century, a lone basket was left floating in an inundated canal. Upon closer inspection, a cat was found bounding from one side of the basket to the other in an effort to keep it balanced, for inside rested an orphaned baby. The cat had kept the babe afloat, safe and sound during its journey… Thus giving the world the folktale "The Cat and the Cradle" in addition to the village of Kinderdijk its name.

Back in the modern day, visitors will find 19 historically authentic windmills scattered across Kinderdijk's canal-riddled landscape. With their sails raised to the skies (coming to rest in formations that communicate across the bogs in a language of semafors), one could be forgiven for believing these are creatures beholden to the air. What history reveals, in fact, is that the Netherlands' famous windmills are well-disguised creatures of the sea, without which the nation's famously innovative water management system would not have been possible.

Sometime in the 13th century, Zuid-Holland's peat rivers ceased to drain as they had been, creating a pattern of flooding that devastated the beautiful landscape at Alblasserwaard, which already existed below sea level. Berms were built to prevent flooding, but pumping stations needed to be constructed to continue water flow from low to high areas; hence, the 19th windmills still seen today.

Nowhere else in the world offers a complete portrait of early water management like that of Kinderdijk, which accounts for UNESCO's inclusion of the site among its World Heritage as of 1997 for its "unique character." Thanks to its truly groundbreaking unification of sea and sky, plus the added bonus of a world-renowned folktale, a visit to Kinderdijk is the sort of treasure that offers something for dreamers and pragmatists alike. www.atlasobscura.com/places/windmills-of-kinderdijk

 

The Gumpert Apollo is the perfect synthesis between road vehicle and racing car. It exceeds all expectations with its passion and maximum driving fun. 650 HP, up to 360 km/h top-speed and an acceleration of 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.0 seconds make it a full-blooded super sports car to which there is no alternative. The complete package is available at a cost-performance ratio unequalled in this exclusive vehicle class.

 

The production process is the one part of the manufacture philosophy in which exclusivity and precision are paramount to speed. Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur associates the term ‚manufacture' with it's the commitment to achieve quality and luxury by means of craftsmanship and hand-made production.

 

Roland Gumpert, founder, managing director and the driving force behind Sportwagenmanufaktur, has created a manufacturing environment that combines engineering excellence with a broad automotive and racing competence. Experts within the motorsports scene are all familiar with the name Gumpert: In the mid 1970s, the long-standing Audi manager was the driving force behind the development of the four-wheel drive "Iltis", the original predecessor of today's "Quattro". In 1979 he not only succeeded in preparing the gnarled four-wheel drive "Iltis" for the Paris-Dakar rally, but also achieved victory. In the years that followed under his management, Audi Sport won a total of 25 World Rally Championship races and was the 4-time winner of the World Rally Championship. Gumpert's professional success is distinguished by his ability to combine innovative ideas with proven technology effectively and successfully.

 

Gumpert Apollo (2008)

2008 Gumpert Apollo

  

A team of automotive and motor sports specialists joined forces to pool their enthusiasm and energy into developing and creating the Gumpert Apollo. Their abilities create the space for the finest workmanship and utmost individuality, with the use of high-tech processes and integration of proven standard components securing the technical basis.

 

With the Gumpert Apollo we are providing a select clientele of ambitious sports drivers and car enthusiasts with the opportunity of experiencing the unique synergy between hand-made high-end components optimised for performance on the road and the track, and of distinguishing themselves from the remainder of the world of sports cars. Up to 100 vehicles will leave the factory each year - just enough to ensure that these exceptional vehicles retain their exclusive status.

 

Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur is an independent, privately financed company. The financial stability of the company is being secured by well-known investors. Their operative commitment will also promote the international sales and distribution of Gumpert Apollo.

 

The challenge was to develop an exceptional design that combined the extreme aerodynamic requirements of a performance-oriented, purist super sports car with the aesthetic design of an exclusive vehicle. We wanted to achieve the perfect synthesis of design and function. Without compromising. And we have succeeded with Gumpert Apollo: Its silhouette, optimised in numerous wind tunnel tests, reflects its by far superior capabilities.

 

In its profile, the Gumpert Apollo dynamic appearance is further enhanced by its dimensions (4.46 m length, almost 2 m width and 1.24 m height) and its streamlined, long and wide shoulder lines. The mid-engine layout is emphasised by the cockpit, which is clearly located toward the front of the vehicle, and the long wheel base; both factors ensure optimum driving qualities. Massive air inlets and outlets in the front and on the side in front of and behind the doors leave no doubt about its potency. Above all, though, they supply the two turbo-chargers and the high-performance braking system with enough fresh air to ensure optimum operation for the duration of a race. The high-set air intake for the engine is reminiscent of Formula 1 vehicles and emphasises Gumpert Apollo racing character. The dominant rear provides a view of the diffuser and the underbody, encased completely in carbon, - which, combined with the front diffuser and flow channels, achieves an exceptionally high negative lift for a road vehicle.

 

Gumpert Apollo leaves a lasting impression on anyone who sees it: It symbolises unusual power, dynamism and sportiness. It reflects above-average performance capability paired with timeless elegance, and even when it is not moving, shows that the design can only adhere to function: driving dynamics.

 

The secret of Gumpert Apollo is an innovative design concept from racing car engineering. The base and symbolic backbone of Gumpert Apollo consists a round tube frame made of top-quality and highly stable chrome-molybdenum-steel with an integrated monocoque safety cell made of high quality carbon fibre screwed directly onto the frame. The 161 kg (355 lbs.) construction design is so effective, so torsion proof and bend resistant that it complies with both the specifications of the European MOT approval and the international manufacture specifications of motor sports (see annex J of the FIA regulations). Gumpert Apollo succeeds in combining low weight with the rigidity of a racing car, finest driving dynamics and maximum safety. The Gumpert Apollo is one of the safest and most agile vehicles of its class.

 

PERFORMANCE IN A NEW DIMENSION

 

The Gumpert Apollo is not the only sports car on the market; however its concept is so unique and realised so consistently that it aspires to redefine the standard for this vehicle class. The Gumpert Apollo has more to offer:

•Approved both for use on the road and on the track

•Maximum safety in accordance with the international motor racing standards

•Low curb weight of below 1,200 kg (2,645 lbs.)

•Perfect road-holding and ultra-precise handling

•Maximum driving pleasure and unbeatable driving performance

•Excellent aerodynamic efficiency and driving dynamics

•Synthesis of reliable racing and series technology

•Unique, futuristic, and striking design

•Best cost-benefit ratio

 

Despite the series production process, every Gumpert Apollo is unique. It is customized to the owner's wishes and needs and proudly bears his touch. We can also offer you:

•Luxury package with air conditioning, navigation radio with DVD/CD-Player and backwards facing camera with rear-view mirror function

•Car body made of fibreglass (GFK) or carbon-fibre (CFK)

•Carbon fibre for various components and car body parts

•Design variants created by use of different air intakes for the engine

•Carbon rear wing (optional available)

•Engine variants with 650 / 700 / 800 HP output

 

In addition to these different options and equipment packages, we can of course also accommodate any other special requests made by our customers. Just talk to us.

 

The consistent achievement of maximum driving dynamics and uncompromising functionality is also visible in the interior design: Every detail was designed according to functional viewpoints equivalent to those of a racing car, yet without neglecting the required amount of comfort and quality.

 

TAILOR-MADE PURISM AND LUXURY

 

Light weight was the top priority and has been achieved through the exclusive use of high-tech materials. The instrument panel, like the monocoque it is integrated into, is made of carbon fibre. The seat buckets, too, are fitted into the monocoque - although you will not find seats in the conventional meaning in the Gumpert Apollo. The seat position is adjusted to each customer individually, using padding, upholstery, adjustable pedals, and the steering column. Yet you are not required to forgo proven technology in the Gumpert Apollo: air conditioning, high-end navigation system with an integrated reverse camera, CD/DVD player and much more are available.

 

The Gumpert Apollo is a tailor-made sports car, and individual masterpiece. In line with this principle, customers can design the interior to meet their preferences, be it pure performance or somewhat more luxurious. Decide the colours and designs yourself, whether leather, seams or embroideries are concerned. We guarantee you a car that will fulfil all of your requirements. Just talk to us.

 

READY FOR RACETRACK

 

A sports car's supremacy is not defined by pure engine power alone: only a car that can put this power on the asphalt and create a balance between all occurring internal and external forces will leave the contestants behind, on the road and the race track. The chassis is the key to this supremacy - and Gumpert Apollo has already proven itself spectacularly under the toughest testing conditions on various test tracks, public roads and real racing tracks such as Hockenheim, Imola and the historical "Nordschleife".

 

The Gumpert Apollo is built as a racing car according to FIA GT and ACO regulations upon request.

 

Success is one of Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur's clearly defined objectives in racing. Naturally the factory benefits from the years of experience in motor sports and the remarkable successes of company owner Roland Gumpert.

 

The Gumpert Apollo made a great third place with the Belgian racing driver, Ruben Maes, in the cockpit at its racing debut at the Divinol Cup in Hockenheim in April 2005.

 

PROVEN PERFORMANCE IN A NEW DIMENSION

 

The impressive power of the high-performance eight cylinder engine is based on proven V8-high-performance aggregates from Audi. In the standard configuration this engine is optimised for use in racing and road vehicles and produces 650 HP as a Biturbo engine. Weighing only 196 kg (432 lbs.), it plays a major role in ensuring the ideal weight and fascinating driving dynamics of Gumpert Apollo. An angle of 90° between the two cylinder banks is a sign of a classic 8-cylinder engine. Efficient utilisation of its remarkable energy in the back wheels guarantees the fully-synchronised, sequential six-speed transmission that incorporates Formula 1 know-how. The short gear paths allow high speed gear changes. The arrangement of the gears in a longitudinal direction in the path of travel ensures a very low centre of gravity and optimum weight distribution. The characteristic sound of the double-flow exhaust system of the Gumpert Apollo with its 3-way catalytic converters says it best - the Gumpert Apollo is pure, unbeatable performance as reflected in the data. Like a comet, the Gumpert Apollo catapults its pilot from 0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) in just 3.0 seconds and only requires 8.9 seconds from 0 to 200 km/h (0-124 mph).

 

For connoisseurs form whom driving fun does not necessarily equal maximum motor performance and ultimate acceleration, the engine is also ideally suited for day-to-day driving at lower speeds.

 

DRIVING DYNAMICS REDEFINED

 

The Gumpert Apollo's suspension was developed to ideally complement the body's sophisticated aerodynamics. The resulting is unusual driving dynamics. The Gumpert Apollo is taut but not hard and provides driver and passenger with an extraordinar level of comfort for a car designed purely for performance. It demands the pilot's unswerving attention, yet due to its ultra-precise and predictable driving characteristics does not overwhelm, even at top speed.

 

An ideal weight balance of 42 to 58 percent between the front and rear axis rounds it off: It provides optimum traction during acceleration, whilst ensuring stable control even when braking in critical situations.

 

The Gumpert Apollo owes the finely tuned sensitivity of the suspension system and the optimised exertion of power to its double transverse control arm pushrod configuration at the front and back. The double transverse control arms ensure that the tires maintain optimum contact with the road surface, independent of the bound rate of suspension system. The suspension system allows the owner to seamlessly set the ground clearance in a range between 40 and 120 mm (1.57-4.72 in). Sealed uniball joints ensure that the forces are transferred precisely and with little friction. Stabilisers support the efficiency of the suspension and pitch compensation prevents the vehicle from diving during braking and lifting during accelerating. Despite its low trim, the Gumpert Apollo provides long wheel travel in compression and rebound, facilitating the finely-tuned and precise functioning of the absorbers and springs.

 

The high level of driving dynamics is supported by an agile electro-hydraulic power steering system that provides the driver with direct feedback. In order to securely transfer the 850 nm torque to the road, Gumpert Apollo has a traction control system (TCS) used in motor sports. Developed together with the company Racelogic, the permitted slip can be accurately set on the rear axle - according to the drivers wishes. An optional launch control, adjusted to the Gumpert Apollo especially, ensures swift starts like those of Formula 1. The Gumpert Apollo's driving performance is controlled with a 2-circuit high-performance braking system with adjustable 3-level Bosch-ABS, 378 mm (14.9 in) ventilated discs, and 6-piston callipers on the front and rear axle.

 

All of these are primary technical principles, the sportive orientation of which could not be clearer. Thanks to its suspension, the Gumpert Apollo proves itself in every curve: It redefines the term ‚driving dynamics'.

 

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

•DIMENSIONS◦Length 4,460 mm / 175.6"

◦Width 1,998 mm / 78.6"

◦Height 1,114 mm / 43.8"

◦Wheel base 2,700 mm / 106.3"

◦Wheel gauge ◾front: 1,670 mm / 65.7"

◾back: 1,598 mm / 62.9"

 

◦Boot volume: 100 l

 

•WEIGHT◦Kerb weight: below 1,200 kg / 2,645 lbs

◦Allowed total weight: 1,500 kg / 3,306 lbs

◦Approved axle load ◾front: 650 kg / 1,452 lbs

◾back: 900 kg / 1,984 lbs

  

•ENGINE◦Cylinders: 8

◦Type: 90° - V

◦Valves per cylinder: 5

◦Displacement: 4,163 cm3 / 254 in3

◦Stroke: 93 mm / 3.66"

◦Bore: 84.5 mm / 3.32"

◦Nominal output: 478 kW (650 HP) @ 6,500 rpm

◦Maximum torque: 850 Nm (626.9 lb-ft) @ 4,000 rpm [with 820 Nm @ 2700 rpm]

◦Maximum revs: 7,200 rpm

◦Compression ratio: 9,3

◦Recommended fuel type: 98 ROZ / 88 MOZ

◦Emission standard: Euro 4

 

•GEARBOX◦Sequential six-speed gear box with synchronisation and oil cooling

◦Twin plate clutch configuration (diameter 200 mm / 7.87" each)

◦Differential lock by Torsen

◦Custom-made gear ratios

 

•WHEELS◦Tire dimension ◾front: 255/35ZR19

◾back: 345/35ZR19

 

◦Wheel dimension ◾front: 10J x 19

◾back: 13J x 19

 

◦Wheel rim type: Aluminium cast wheels with centre lock

 

•PERFORMANCE◦Top speed: 360 km/h (224 mph)

◦0-100 km/h (0-62 mph): 3.0 s

◦0-200 km/h (0-124 mph): 8.9 s

  

Aniki Geographica is designed precisely for the travellers. Its an association of a soft thick but strong genuine leather with our Book Huger product for protecting and the transportation of two pcs. Aniki Elegant notebooks. 2 pcs. of Book Huger in different colors and 2 pcs. of Aniki Elegant Notebook are included in the standard package. You can use all cahier kind notebooks up to 11 x 15 cm. with Aniki Geographica. Avalaible colors are Black, Dark Brown and Tan.

Please note: Each ANIKI Geographica leather journal has its own unique distressed look due to the characteristic and nature of genuine leather.

ANIKI Notebook papers are specially selected and tested for FOUNTAIN PENs. Aniki Notebooks are hand made.

For further information please visit our site.

Aniki Geographica Deri Defter taşıyıcıları özellikle Aniki Elegant serisi defterler ya da 11 x 15 cm'e kadar olan cep tipi defterler ile kullanmak için hazırlanmıştır. Aniki Geographica'nın standart paketinin içinde 2 adet Aniki Elegant Defter de bulunmaktadır. İster tek defter ister çift defter bir arada kullanabilirsiniz. Beraberinde verilen 2 farklı renkte Book Huger-Defter Kucaklayıcısı ile defterlerinizi onlarca farklı şekilde bağlayabilirsiniz. Aniki Geographica piyasadan toplanan kırpık derilerle değil, 1. sınıf özel seçki derilerin içinden en iyi bölümler seçilerek dokunduğunuzda hissedeceğiniz özel yumuşaklıkta deriler kullanılarak elde imal edilir. Tüm Aniki Defterleri elde imal edilir. Aniki Defterlerde kullanılan tüm kağıtlar Dolmakalem ile yazmaya uygundur.

Detaylı bilgi için sitemizi ziyaret edin.

Photograph taken at an altitude of Fifty eight metres, in the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:38am), at 03:40am on Thursday 12th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane and Eagle Heights overlooking the field adjacent to Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.

  

The impressive nine-arched red-brick viaduct is a prominent feature on the line to the 'Bat & Ball' station. The structure was built by the independent ''Sevenoaks Railway'', incorporated in 1859 to link the ''Chatham'' main line with the market town of Sevenoaks. And first services began on 2nd June 1862. The viaduct has nine arches of 30-foot span, and rises to a height of 75-feet above the valley and the River Darent.

  

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Nikon D800 24mm 1/100s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Nikon RC-DC2 remote shutter release. Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering.

  

Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED IF. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

  

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LATITUDE: N 51d 22m 3.67s

LONGITUDE: E 0d 11m 53.59s

ALTITUDE: 58.0m

  

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED FILE: 14.31MB

  

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Processing power:

HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

  

Photograph taken at an altitude of Three metres, during the first vestiges of ambient light prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (which was at precisely 04:51am), at 03:09am on Monday 7th July 2014, off Botany Road and the Viking Coastal Trail above the shoreline of Botany Bay, the Northern most of seven bays in Broadstairs, Kent, England.

   

This frame looks out towards the Thanet offshore windfarm, which was officially opened on September 23rd 2010 and was for a time, the largest offshore windfarm project in the world. The eight lines of turbines, one hundred of them in total, run north-west to south-east, covering a total area of 35sq km off Foreness Point near Margate. Each turbine is 115 metres high with 44-metre blades, and the project cost between £780-900million

  

The seven bays in Broadstairs consist of: (From south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay.

     

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Nikon D800 200mm 1/15s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. Manual focus. Aperture Priority mode. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

  

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

  

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LATITUDE: N 51d 23m 20.41s

LONGITUDE: E 1d 26m 14.35s

ALTITUDE: 3.0m

  

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED FILE: 17.10MB

 

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Processing power:

HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

   

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. When fresh and fully mature, it is about 5 mm in diameter and dark red, and contains a single seed, like all drupes. Peppercorns and the ground pepper derived from them may be described simply as pepper, or more precisely as black pepper (cooked and dried unripe fruit), green pepper (dried unripe fruit), or white pepper (ripe fruit seeds).

 

Black pepper is native to present-day Kerala in Southwestern India, and is extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in tropical regions. Vietnam is the world's largest producer and exporter of pepper, producing 34% of the world's crop, as of 2013.

 

Ground dried and cooked peppercorns have been used since antiquity, both for flavour and as a traditional medicine. Black pepper is the world's most traded spice, and is one of the most common spices added to cuisines around the world. Its spiciness is due to the chemical compound piperine, which is a different kind of spicy from the capsaicin characteristic of chili peppers. It is ubiquitous in the modern world as a seasoning, and is often paired with salt and available on dining tables in shakers.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The word pepper has roots in the Sanskrit word pippali for long pepper. Ancient Greek and Latin turned pippali into the Greek πέπερι peperi and then into the Latin piper, which the Romans used for both black pepper and long pepper, erroneously believing that both came from the same plant.

 

From its Sanskrit roots, today's "pepper" is derived from the Old English pipor and from Latin, which is the source of Romanian piper, Italian pepe, Dutch peper, German Pfeffer, French poivre, and other similar forms.

 

In the 16th century, people began using pepper to also mean the unrelated New World chili pepper (genus Capsicum). People have also used pepper in a figurative sense to mean "spirit" or "energy" at least as far back as the 1840s. In the early 20th century, this shortened to "pep".

 

VARIETIES

BLACK PEPPER

Black pepper is produced from the still-green, unripe drupes of the pepper plant. The drupes are cooked briefly in hot water, both to clean them and to prepare them for drying. The heat ruptures cell walls in the pepper, speeding the work of browning enzymes during drying. The drupes dry in the sun or by machine for several days, during which the pepper skin around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, wrinkled black layer. Once dry, the spice is called black peppercorn. On some estates, the berries are separated from the stem by hand and then sun-dried without the boiling process.

 

Once the peppercorns are dried, pepper spirit and oil can be extracted from the berries by crushing them. Pepper spirit is used in many medicinal and beauty products. Pepper oil is also used as an ayurvedic massage oil and in certain beauty and herbal treatments.

 

WHITE PEPPER

White pepper consists solely of the seed of the ripe fruit of the pepper plant, with the thin darker-coloured skin (flesh) of the fruit removed. This is usually accomplished by a process known as retting, where fully ripe red pepper berries are soaked in water for about a week so the flesh of the peppercorn softens and decomposes; rubbing then removes what remains of the fruit, and the naked seed is dried. Sometimes alternative processes are used for removing the outer pepper from the seed, including removing the outer layer through mechanical, chemical, or biological methods.

 

Ground white pepper is used in Chinese and Thai cuisine, but also in salads, cream sauces, light-coloured sauces, and mashed potatoes (as a substitute, because black pepper would visibly stand out). However, white pepper actually has a different flavour from black pepper; it lacks certain compounds present in the outer layer of the drupe

 

GREEN PEPPER

Green pepper, like black pepper, is made from unripe drupes. Dried green peppercorns are treated in a way that retains the green colour, such as with sulphur dioxide, canning, or freeze-drying. Pickled peppercorns, also green, are unripe drupes preserved in brine or vinegar.

 

Fresh, unpreserved green pepper drupes, largely unknown (and unavailable) in the West, are used in some Asian cuisines, particularly Thai cuisine. Their flavour has been described as "spicy and fresh", with a "bright aroma". They decay quickly if not dried or preserved, making them unsuitable for international shipping.

 

WILD PEPPER

Wild pepper grows in the Western Ghats region of India. Into the 19th century, the forests contained expansive wild pepper vines, as recorded by the Scottish physician Francis Buchanan (also a botanist and geographer) in his book A journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar (Volume III). However, deforestation resulted in wild pepper growing in more limited forest patches from Goa to Kerala, with the wild source gradually decreasing as the quality and yield of the cultivated variety improved. No successful grafting of commercial pepper on wild pepper has been achieved to date.

 

ORANGE PEPPER AND RED PEPPER

Orange pepper or red pepper usually consists of ripe red pepper drupes preserved in brine and vinegar. Ripe red peppercorns can also be dried using the same colour-preserving techniques used to produce green pepper.

Pink pepper and other plants

 

Pink peppercorns are the fruits of the Peruvian pepper tree, Schinus molle, or its relative, the Brazilian pepper tree, Schinus terebinthifolius, plants from a different family (Anacardiaceae). As they are members of the cashew family, they may cause allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, for persons with a tree nut allergy.

 

The bark of Drimys winteri ("canelo" or "winter's bark") is used as a substitute for pepper in cold and temperate regions of Chile and Argentina, where it is easily found and readily available. In New Zealand, the seeds of kawakawa (Macropiper excelsum), a relative of black pepper, are sometimes used as pepper; the leaves of Pseudowintera colorata ("mountain horopito") are another replacement for pepper. Several plants in the United States are also used as pepper substitutes, such as field pepperwort, least pepperwort, shepherd's purse, horseradish, and field pennycress.

 

PLANTS

The pepper plant is a perennial woody vine growing up to 4 m in height on supporting trees, poles, or trellises. It is a spreading vine, rooting readily where trailing stems touch the ground. The leaves are alternate, entire, 5 to 10 cm long and 3 to 6 cm across. The flowers are small, produced on pendulous spikes 4 to 8 cm long at the leaf nodes, the spikes lengthening up to 7 to 15 cm as the fruit matures. Pepper can be grown in soil that is neither too dry nor susceptible to flooding, moist, well-drained and rich in organic matter (the vines do not do too well over an altitude of 900 m above sea level). The plants are propagated by cuttings about 40 to 50 cm long, tied up to neighbouring trees or climbing frames at distances of about 2 m apart; trees with rough bark are favoured over those with smooth bark, as the pepper plants climb rough bark more readily. Competing plants are cleared away, leaving only sufficient trees to provide shade and permit free ventilation. The roots are covered in leaf mulch and manure, and the shoots are trimmed twice a year. On dry soils, the young plants require watering every other day during the dry season for the first three years. The plants bear fruit from the fourth or fifth year, and then typically for seven years. The cuttings are usually cultivars, selected both for yield and quality of fruit.

 

A single stem bears 20 to 30 fruiting spikes. The harvest begins as soon as one or two fruits at the base of the spikes begin to turn red, and before the fruit is fully mature, and still hard; if allowed to ripen completely, the fruit lose pungency, and ultimately fall off and are lost. The spikes are collected and spread out to dry in the sun, then the peppercorns are stripped off the spikes.

 

Black pepper is native either to Southeast Asia or South Asia. Within the genus Piper, it is most closely related to other Asian species such as P. caninum.

 

PRODUCTION AND TRADE

As of 2016, Vietnam was the world's largest producer and exporter of black peppercorns, producing 216,000 tonnes or 39% of the world total of 546,000 tonnes (table). Other major producers include Indonesia (15%), India (10%), and Brazil (10%). Global pepper production may vary annually according to crop management, disease, and weather. Vietnam dominates the export market, using almost none of its production domestically.

 

Peppercorns are among the most widely traded spice in the world, accounting for 20% of all spice imports.

 

HISTORY

Pepper is native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been known to Indian cooking since at least 2000 BCE. J. Innes Miller notes that while pepper was grown in southern Thailand and in Malaysia, its most important source was India, particularly the Chera dynasty (Tamil dynasty) Malabar Coast, in what is now the state of Kerala. The lost ancient port city of Muziris in Kerala, famous for exporting black pepper and various other spices, gets mentioned in a number of classical historical sources. Peppercorns were a much-prized trade good, often referred to as "black gold" and used as a form of commodity money. The legacy of this trade remains in some Western legal systems that recognize the term "peppercorn rent" as a token payment for something that is, essentially, being given.

 

The ancient history of black pepper is often interlinked with (and confused with) that of long pepper, the dried fruit of closely related Piper longum. The Romans knew of both and often referred to either as just piper. In fact, the popularity of long pepper did not entirely decline until the discovery of the New World and of chili peppers. Chili peppers—some of which, when dried, are similar in shape and taste to long pepper—were easier to grow in a variety of locations more convenient to Europe.

 

Before the 16th century, pepper was being grown in Java, Sunda, Sumatra, Madagascar, Malaysia, and everywhere in Southeast Asia. These areas traded mainly with China, or used the pepper locally. Ports in the Malabar area also served as a stop-off point for much of the trade in other spices from farther east in the Indian Ocean. Following the British hegemony in India, virtually all of the black pepper found in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa was traded from Malabar region.

 

Black peppercorns were found stuffed in the nostrils of Ramesses II, placed there as part of the mummification rituals shortly after his death in 1213 BCE. Little else is known about the use of pepper in ancient Egypt and how it reached the Nile from South Asia.

 

Pepper (both long and black) was known in Greece at least as early as the fourth century BCE, though it was probably an uncommon and expensive item that only the very rich could afford.

 

By the time of the early Roman Empire, especially after Rome's conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE, open-ocean crossing of the Arabian Sea direct to Chera dynasty southern India's Malabar Coast was near routine. Details of this trading across the Indian Ocean have been passed down in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. According to the Greek geographer Strabo, the early empire sent a fleet of around 120 ships on an annual trip to India and back. The fleet timed its travel across the Arabian Sea to take advantage of the predictable monsoon winds. Returning from India, the ships travelled up the Red Sea, from where the cargo was carried overland or via the Nile-Red Sea canal to the Nile River, barged to Alexandria, and shipped from there to Italy and Rome. The rough geographical outlines of this same trade route would dominate the pepper trade into Europe for a millennium and a half to come.

 

With ships sailing directly to the Malabar coast, black pepper was now travelling a shorter trade route than long pepper, and the prices reflected it. Pliny the Elder's Natural History tells us the prices in Rome around 77 CE: "Long pepper ... is 15 denarii per pound, while that of white pepper is seven, and of black, four." Pliny also complains, "There is no year in which India does not drain the Roman Empire of 50 million sesterces", and further moralizes on pepper:

 

It is quite surprising that the use of pepper has come so much into fashion, seeing that in other substances which we use, it is sometimes their sweetness, and sometimes their appearance that has attracted our notice; whereas, pepper has nothing in it that can plead as a recommendation to either fruit or berry, its only desirable quality being a certain pungency; and yet it is for this that we import it all the way from India! Who was the first to make trial of it as an article of food? and who, I wonder, was the man that was not content to prepare himself by hunger only for the satisfying of a greedy appetite?

— Pliny, Natural History 12.14

 

He does not state whether the 50 million was the actual amount of money which found its way to India or the total retail cost of the items in Rome, and, elsewhere, he cites a figure of 100 million sesterces.

 

Black pepper was a well-known and widespread, if expensive, seasoning in the Roman Empire. Apicius' De re coquinaria, a third-century cookbook probably based at least partly on one from the first century CE, includes pepper in a majority of its recipes. Edward Gibbon wrote, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, that pepper was "a favorite ingredient of the most expensive Roman cookery".

 

POSTCLASSICAL EUROPE

Pepper was so valuable that it was often used as collateral or even currency. In the Dutch language, "pepper expensive" (peperduur) is an expression for something very expensive. Also in Hungarian, the term "a price of pepper" ("borsos ár") means something of extraordinary value. The taste for pepper (or the appreciation of its monetary value) was passed on to those who would see Rome fall. Alaric, king of the Visigoths, included 3,000 pounds of pepper as part of the ransom he demanded from Rome when he besieged the city in fifth century. After the fall of Rome, others took over the middle legs of the spice trade, first the Persians and then the Arabs; Innes Miller cites the account of Cosmas Indicopleustes, who travelled east to India, as proof that "pepper was still being exported from India in the sixth century". By the end of the Early Middle Ages, the central portions of the spice trade were firmly under Islamic control. Once into the Mediterranean, the trade was largely monopolized by Italian powers, especially Venice and Genoa. The rise of these city-states was funded in large part by the spice trade.

 

A riddle authored by Saint Aldhelm, a seventh-century Bishop of Sherborne, sheds some light on black pepper's role in England at that time:

 

I am black on the outside, clad in a wrinkled cover,

Yet within I bear a burning marrow.

I season delicacies, the banquets of kings, and the luxuries of the table,

Both the sauces and the tenderized meats of the kitchen.

But you will find in me no quality of any worth,

Unless your bowels have been rattled by my gleaming marrow.

 

It is commonly believed that during the Middle Ages, pepper was often used to conceal the taste of partially rotten meat. No evidence supports this claim, and historians view it as highly unlikely; in the Middle Ages, pepper was a luxury item, affordable only to the wealthy, who certainly had unspoiled meat available, as well. In addition, people of the time certainly knew that eating spoiled food would make them sick. Similarly, the belief that pepper was widely used as a preservative is questionable; it is true that piperine, the compound that gives pepper its spiciness, has some antimicrobial properties, but at the concentrations present when pepper is used as a spice, the effect is small. Salt is a much more effective preservative, and salt-cured meats were common fare, especially in winter. However, pepper and other spices certainly played a role in improving the taste of long-preserved meats.

 

Its exorbitant price during the Middle Ages—and the monopoly on the trade held by Italy—was one of the inducements that led the Portuguese to seek a sea route to India. In 1498, Vasco da Gama became the first person to reach India by sailing around Africa (see Age of Discovery); asked by Arabs in Calicut (who spoke Spanish and Italian) why they had come, his representative replied, "we seek Christians and spices". Though this first trip to India by way of the southern tip of Africa was only a modest success, the Portuguese quickly returned in greater numbers and eventually gained much greater control of trade on the Arabian Sea. The 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas with the Spanish granted Portugal exclusive rights to the half of the world where black pepper originated.

 

Unsurprisingly, the Portuguese proved unable to monopolize the spice trade. Older Arab and Venetian trade networks successfully imported enormous quantities of spices, and pepper once again flowed through Alexandria and Italy, as well as around Africa. In the 17th century, the Portuguese lost almost all of their valuable Indian Ocean trade to the Dutch and the English, who, taking advantage from the Spanish ruling over Portugal during Iberian Union (1580–1640), occupied by force almost all Portuguese dominations in the area. The pepper ports of Malabar began to trade increasingly with the Dutch in the period 1661–1663.

As pepper supplies into Europe increased, the price of pepper declined (though the total value of the import trade generally did not). Pepper, which in the early Middle Ages had been an item exclusively for the rich, started to become more of an everyday seasoning among those of more average means. Today, pepper accounts for one-fifth of the world's spice trade.

China

 

It is possible that black pepper was known in China in the second century BCE, if poetic reports regarding an explorer named Tang Meng (唐蒙) are correct. Sent by Emperor Wu to what is now south-west China, Tang Meng is said to have come across something called jujiang or "sauce-betel". He was told it came from the markets of Shu, an area in what is now the Sichuan province. The traditional view among historians is that "sauce-betel" is a sauce made from betel leaves, but arguments have been made that it actually refers to pepper, either long or black.

 

In the third century CE, black pepper made its first definite appearance in Chinese texts, as hujiao or "foreign pepper". It does not appear to have been widely known at the time, failing to appear in a fourth-century work describing a wide variety of spices from beyond China's southern border, including long pepper. By the 12th century, however, black pepper had become a popular ingredient in the cuisine of the wealthy and powerful, sometimes taking the place of China's native Sichuan pepper (the tongue-numbing dried fruit of an unrelated plant).

 

Marco Polo testifies to pepper's popularity in 13th-century China, when he relates what he is told of its consumption in the city of Kinsay (Hangzhou): "... Messer Marco heard it stated by one of the Great Kaan's officers of customs that the quantity of pepper introduced daily for consumption into the city of Kinsay amounted to 43 loads, each load being equal to 223 lbs." Marco Polo is not considered a very reliable source regarding China, and these second-hand data may be even more suspect, but if this estimated 4,500 kg a day for one city is anywhere near the truth, China's pepper imports may have dwarfed Europe's.

 

During the course of the Ming treasure voyages in the early 15th century, Admiral Zheng He and his expeditionary fleets returned with such a large amount of black pepper that the once-costly luxury became a common commodity.

Phytochemicals, folk medicine and research

 

Like many eastern spices, pepper was historically both a seasoning and a folk medicine. Long pepper, being stronger, was often the preferred medication, but both were used. Black pepper (or perhaps long pepper) was believed to cure several illnesses, such as constipation, insomnia, oral abscesses, sunburn, and toothaches, among others. Various sources from the fifth century onward recommended pepper to treat eye problems, often by applying salves or poultices made with pepper directly to the eye. No current medical evidence indicates any of these treatments has any benefit.

 

Pepper is known to cause sneezing. Some sources say that piperine, a substance present in black pepper, irritates the nostrils, causing the sneezing. Few, if any, controlled studies have been carried out to answer the question.

 

Piperine is under study for its potential to increase absorption of selenium, vitamin B12, beta-carotene and curcumin, as well as other compounds. As a folk medicine, pepper appears in the Buddhist Samaññaphala Sutta, chapter five, as one of the few medicines a monk is allowed to carry. Pepper contains phytochemicals, including amides, piperidines, pyrrolidines and trace amounts of safrole, which may be carcinogenic in laboratory rodents.

 

Piperine is also under study for a variety of possible physiological effects, although this work is preliminary and mechanisms of activity for piperine in the human body remain unknown.

 

NUTRITION

One tablespoon (6 grams) of ground black pepper contains moderate amounts of vitamin K (13% of the daily value or DV), iron (10% DV) and manganese (18% DV), with trace amounts of other essential nutrients, protein, and dietary fibre.

 

FLAVOR

Pepper gets its spicy heat mostly from piperine derived both from the outer fruit and the seed. Black pepper contains between 4.6 and 9.7% piperine by mass, and white pepper slightly more than that. Refined piperine, by weight, is about one percent as hot as the capsaicin found in chili peppers. The outer fruit layer, left on black pepper, also contains aroma-contributing terpenes, including germacrene (11%), limonene (10%), pinene (10%), alpha-phellandrene (9%), and beta-caryophyllene (7%), which give citrusy, woody, and floral notes. These scents are mostly missing in white pepper, as the fermentation and other processing removes the fruit layer (which also contains the spicy piperine). Other flavors also commonly develop in this process, some of which are described as off-flavors when in excess: Primarily 3-methylindole (pig manure-like), 4-methylphenol (horse manure), 3-methylphenol (phenolic), and butanoic acid (cheese). The aroma of pepper is attributed to rotundone (3,4,5,6,7,8-Hexahydro-3α,8α-dimethyl-5α-(1methylethenyl)azulene-1(2H)-one), a sesquiterpene originally discovered in the tubers of Cyperus rotundus, which can be detected in concentrations of 0.4 nanograms/l in water and in wine: rotundone is also present in marjoram, oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme, and geranium, as well as in some Shiraz wines.

 

Pepper loses flavor and aroma through evaporation, so airtight storage helps preserve its spiciness longer. Pepper can also lose flavor when exposed to light, which can transform piperine into nearly tasteless isochavicine. Once ground, pepper's aromatics can evaporate quickly; most culinary sources recommend grinding whole peppercorns immediately before use for this reason. Handheld pepper mills or grinders, which mechanically grind or crush whole peppercorns, are used for this as an alternative to pepper shakers that dispense ground pepper. Spice mills such as pepper mills were found in European kitchens as early as the 14th century, but the mortar and pestle used earlier for crushing pepper have remained a popular method for centuries, as well.

 

Enhancing the flavor profile of peppercorns (including piperine and essential oils), prior to processing, has been attempted through the postharvest application of ultraviolet-C light (UV-C).

 

WIKIPEDIA

(Updated  2018-08-30)

  

The Hidden Treasure at the Mountain's Shoulder.

 

This place is the work area of so many endeavours; Entoto's High plateau, where it appears among adorable Juniper hills and dreamlike meadows. Ultimately, beyond the horizon of golden fields, this landscape of forgotten dreams reveals its southern border in the abyss Bees' Cliff (14). Here it shows very soon; the beautiful path (42) to Entoto Natural Park (Nursery) 34, where the massive work has elapsed with nature restoration for many years.

  

1.  The community Entoto Kidane Mehret.

The community Entoto Kidane Mehret - An Elevated Protectorate.

The society Entoto Kidane Mehret is a very dedicated and appealing mountain town but should indeed more precisely be described as a deeply devoted religious Sanctuary and Protectorate of Nature and Inhabitants.

  

A trust-making station with the dignity of a cliff fortress.

 Although Entoto Kidane Mehret is quite highly located and appearing distant due to its height above the Capital, nevertheless it's equipped with a station for regular bus and taxi traffic. This quaint town's structure creates here a harmonic embrace of the extensive and impressive Entoto Kidane Mehret Church (32), Monastery and Sacred Water Source (31), Juniperus procera Forest (indigenous) 30.

 

Entoto Natural Park road and map info.

goo.gl/maps/U4tuWMBtPpy

 

The entrance to the Park is to the right of the sanctuary.

goo.gl/maps/Zq9EvcmDNFF2

  

A historical protectorate with a sanctuary's reliability.

For a long time, this has been a religious protectorate of Entoto's nature, thus gaining excellent protection that has been deeply associated with religious devotion and conviction. However, the Hotel and Guesthouse is missing, which means that the nearest location to the guest house for tourism and dining is the Shero Meda (Shiromeda) community.

  

Shero Meda (Shiromeda) - A well-established community for transportation and amenities.

 

This society is the central station for further taxi and bus services to Entoto Kidane Mehret (1). However, the town and station Shero Meda is close enough to Entoto Kidane Mehret to offer a pleasant walk to Entoto Natural Park. Shero Meda (Shiromeda) is also the place that allows the easiest access to Entoto Maryam, located on Entoto's plateau.

  

Guest Houses, Hotels and Restaurants.

Continuing up towards the mountain massif and Entoto Natural Park, this offers a certain selection of accommodations and as the area is in progress, it is a nice opportunity for restaurants, cafes and hotels up to some mile north of Shero Meda's (Shiromeda) centre.

  

Accommodation north of Shero Meda (Shiromeda)

The two choices of travel routes starting from Shero Meda centre and continuing up the hill towards Entoto Kidane Mehret and Entoto Maryam offer here some small and inviting neighbourhoods. At this outer boundary of Shero Meda are shown a few streets where the roads up to Entoto Kidane Mehret and Entoto Maryam are joined, providing convenient access to amenities up to a mile north of Shero Meda's centre.

  

A Great Plateau Ledge for View and Activities.

Arriving at the high viewpoint (16) is very convenient, as the substantial rise upwards offers some beautiful and exciting rests with magnificent scenery and historical surprises with old Italian fortifications  (38) and trees of a surprising dignified furrowed patina.

  

An Ideal Place for the Well-Equipped Family.

From this location  (16) provides pleasant resting places for picnics in pleasant tranquillity and contemplation about the unique nature, which is facilitated easily by the high point of view, even over the mist-veiled Capital far below the southern slopes. Much closer the farmhouse is reminded and not far below even the chanting walls of Entoto Kidane Mehret Church  (32).

  

2.  Shops for Picnics and Adventures.

The most necessary for the Park's experience and picnics as well as candy shop  (2) is across the bus stop from the community  (1). For those who are very early in the hours of dawn, there is a small shop also at the beginning of the Juniper forest, just next to the health spring with its associated buildings  (31).

 

3.   Damtew's Shola.   Once planted by the chief priest of Arada-Giorgis, the former worship place has a strong identity with wide and open lawns laid out as a star. The big Ficus sycomorus tree in the middle makes this place the ideal wedding park. To the south-west, in one of the triangular lawns, the slope naturally forms an area for an outdoor theatre.

 

4.  The Forest of Maryam.  Once a year, on October 1 st, people used to go here after the celebration of Maryam and bring food. The woodlot has decreased in size but can be re-established.

  

5.  The Concealed Path of Kidane Mehret.

A refreshing cool stream still runs in leap and joy. Beyond the secrets of Entoto Kidane Mehret's sacred stone walls, (32) a path to Bees' Cliff  (14) and further exhilarated explorations.

  

A hidden path between the sanctuary and the gorge.

The trail runs attractively hidden behind Entoto Kidane Mehret  (32) in a concealed curve below its wall and passing through a small part of the village before the path  (5) opens along a deep ravine and finishing with a downhill towards a traditional bridge.

 

The different choices uphill from this bridge starts either from (37) or even (19) is an attractive way to these natural pools just above Bees' Cliff (14).

 

The paths up to Bees' Cliff (14) offer several options; the northern hillside of the tributary gorge (36), but also the southern slope of (38-39) - (15-16) and (41).

  

Multiple trail options from the bridge at Kidane Mehret Church (32).

Thus, there are several very different of paths choices just uphill from point  (38) but also becomes enriched by a more thorough, independent, acquaintance with the full south-eastern to north-western eroded soil road  (41) located just above points (14 - 16).

  

Grandiose scenarios of the Canyon's trails.

These trails are all characterised by the unique and dramatic slopes at the canyon  (35). The options of trails are here beautifully inspiring and often in contact with each other, allowing another choice of a path by a relaxing return or to an intersection towards an alternative height above the gorge. This option might follow the shoreline of the river  (35) or even at the slope's upper plateau ledge.

 

 ** However, it is clear that the canyon's slopes in some places are too steep to allow a confrontation with a vertical commitment, but just this offers what constitutes the extra interesting in wildlife scenarios and thus giving the walks an unforgettable value.

  

A canyon of adorable beauty and lush greenery.

  

Independent opinion or perception of these alternative trails, they are all so surprisingly beautiful and varied that they offer far greater entertainment than could be expected from the memories or impressions of the other nature types around the Capital or even compared to the charming countryside with its beautiful scenery. 

 

In this magnificent canyon of seductively smooth light and living, shadows are, however, all the paths, so captivating inviting that any visitors never are at risk to be without all types pure and vitalizing surprises.

  

An invitation of fragrance and cool freshness.

 With a pleasant cool freshness, visitors are invited with the flavouring fragrance of mighty native Juniper forests and overwhelming vegetation. Thus, this dramatic landscape assists visitors with thrillingly inspiring canyon routes which effortlessly captures all the attention that gives both social pleasures, with views and memories of unforgettable beauty.

  

6.  Stone Heaps showing the direction of the Entoto Maryam Church. An old way of marking where visitors from afar could spend the night, inside the church.

 

7.  Holy Water of Maryam. Originally a spring emerging out of the cliff, but now it is paved. People still drink water to be blessed by the Madonna.

 

8.,9.  Seasonal Waterfalls.

 

10.  Small Hill with Stone Walls.  A badly eroded area, due to moderately steep slope and mature Eucalyptus globulus, but still an interesting place that can be opened and used, either as a herb garden, maze, or to go picnicking.

 

11.  Terraces. Can be opened again for a resting place on the park walk.

 

12.  Stone Piles gathered in 1974 for a road construction. Now, they are sculptural elements in the landscape and should be kept as they are.

  

14.  Bees' Cliff - A rock dwelling beyond time.

 One of the most spectacular spots in the park, where scenic beauty can be enjoyed while resting. A lot of birds can be seen here.

  

A Great Wildlife View and Meandering River.

This plateau just above Bees' Cliff is a magnificently beautiful place with a great panorama view over the stream and many characters in the landscape. When the scene turns south, the abyss Bees' Cliff (14), the ravine is very close, where the river's further gorge meandering (35) becomes intuitively felt through the profound cooling air flow rising from the unknown abyss below the field of view.

  

The ancient place with breathtaking perspective.

With dramatic beauty, this place attracts an exciting approach to exploring an unknown world of nature where environments in this wonderfully excitingly secret dwelling since the beginning of time in the rock formation created scary deep underground gaps and hidden rock chambers in the midst of their surrounding waterfalls.

  

A magnificent magic shadow world veiled by time beyond memories.

Here in this enticing deep underworld of shadows and greenery, this treacherous luring cliff vault and abyss gives a home to pure magic twilights where Ravens reside and invite to pleasant arts of flights as well as approaches in playful jacket pinching mischiefs.

 

 However, this is overall the reason for the attraction of the place where thanks to varying and dramatic scenery create ideal habitats for wildlife that naturally utilises this rich, three-dimensional diversity in water and rock formations.

  

Close Encounter With Playing Baboon Families (14).

While this place is unique in many many ways, there are also reservations about the impact people can exert on its nature. Because this site contains not only what is desirable for people but also for wildlife, the result is that a conflict of interest and living space can occur.

 

The paths up to Bees' Cliff (14) offer several options; the northern hillside of the tributary gorge (36), the southern slope of (38-39) - (15-16) and (41).

 

15.  Five-mountain-view hill.  From the top of the hill, the visitor can overlook great distances. The slope down the hill will be developed into different levels so that the visitors will spread out in alternate choices of attraction.

  

16.  Enchanting View Above the Capital.   

 A great place for picnics in tranquillity and awe from a high plateau panorama view with surroundings of dense matured Juniper trees. Here is also nice terraces and good quality lawns for sports and activities.

  

The resting place from the era of dreams.

From this high viewpoint provides resting places for picnics in social tranquillity and contemplation about the unique nature, which is facilitated quickly by the high point of view, even over the mist-veiled Capital far below the southern slopes. Much closer the farmhouse is reminded and not far below even the chanting walls of Entoto Kidane Mehret Church  (32).

  

Among breathtaking Views and Juniper Giants' care.

Arriving this high viewpoint and the outermost plateau ledge is very convenient, as the substantial rise upwards offers some beautiful and exciting rests with magnificent scenery and historical surprises with an old Italian fortification (38) and trees of a surprising dignified furrowed patina.

  

Deep shadows deliver adventure beyond knowledge.

  

A little behind the camera's typical view towards the dim-capped Capital is a group of magnificent and powerful Juniperus procera trees. These are very unique and appear to have an origin from a past culture and are here very near just some steps uphill towards Bees' Cliff (14).

 

 For them who want a deeper Juniper forest is a near 50 years old forest of wild and original Juniperus procera trees  (40) just close but still hidden behind and in the eastern slope, where they provide a unique insight into how nature emerged before the Eucalyptus trees were introduced from Australia over 100 years ago.

  

Magic wildlife in the twilight calls for dreams of time.

This native Juniper woodland  (40) is massive in its appearance and stunning in vitality, with a perfect, lush and dense undergrowth. The natural health and fertile beauty of this indigenous Juniper forest  (40)  illuminate with precision the severe nature and habitat destruction that occurred at the introduction of the Eucalyptus tree.

 

17.  Hyena Cliff  (Jibb Gedel).  A waterfall and steep slopes make the attraction of an adventurous site, to which a suspension bridge might be added.

 

18.  The Cave. Those who climb up along the brook will find an enclosed space, with a small waterfall. This is the spot for those who want to be alone for a while.

  

19.  Italian Water Reservoir.   

During the occupation, the Italians established a big reservoir to provide the capital with water. Nowadays, the reservoir (underground water technology) has lost some of its importance in favour of bigger catchment dams.

The Caution Choice for Families.

During rain season, it,s therefore appropriate to enjoy the beautifully undulated promenade to the site of the Italian built spring water facility  (19). Entoto Kidane Mehret's inhabitants are bringing their household water from this source, and therefore the company is apparent by playing children and people who are fetching quantities of water to their homes.

  

20.  Climbing Cliff.  The Italians prepared this very steep cliff wall for climbing. The cliff is impressive in size and can be used again for those who have an interest in this sport.

 

21.  Big Waterfall.

  

22.  Valley Bottom 

 This place is located just at the bridge below this Sanctuary and is reached fairly close to the path  (5) near Entoto Kidane Mehret Church, beautiful scenery with a brook passing by. This brook  (35) is in many ways characterizing the views to the dramatic landscape and cliff formations of the uphill trails and is an excellent assistant for orientation for the most hiking paths up to Entoto Natural Park (Nursery) 34.

  

A graceful invitation to the waiting adventures

  

Attractively inviting amongst the purging water and the seductively curved river banks cliffs start here below Entoto Kidane Mehret (32) the alluring options for the continued hiking adventure. With a river character of beach curved rocks in harmonious wave formations where the children play, and the laundry dries on the inviting soft and clean, polished rock bed, this place is a really appealing beauty to appreciate already the first steps on the bridge below Entoto Kidane Mehret.

  

Clear and Pleasant Hiking Trails

 

The southern hillside of Entoto's rising shoulder is here apparent and from this site (22) with the gully and its valley just beneath Entoto Kidane Mehret (32) the mountain dominating very close. This ancient highland mountain with its secret high plateau of real old serenity lure here intriguingly where it towers in full contact on the opposite side of Entoto Kidane Mehret and its, seductive polished rock-gully bottom (22). The mountain's mighty hillside is initiating here the first steps of Entoto's threshold and rises majestically over the southern slope. In profound veneration of reverence, it appears to any visitors as it towers above to relatively high altitude. Caution is, therefore, an essential foundation for preparation because the mountain's rise is quite demanding for visitors with otherwise healthy activities from lowland experience.

  

Towards the Fresh Well-Fragrance of Highland

 

Despite this somewhat harsh highland air the hiking is entirely captivating and comfortable but require regular rest but also the very essential to drink regularly and this from the brought-with and robust water bottle. However, here underneath in the valley and just after the handcrafted bridge rises the mountain's slope towards Entoto's high plateau continuously upwards towards secret places of pure serenity and this often with views of breathtakingly beautiful hights. Well fragrant and aesthetically unforgettably alluring are these paths from Entoto Kidane Mehret's valley bottom (gully 22) and the river (35) there they rise towards breathtakingly sublime heights of aesthetically unforgettable dream paths.

  

The Rising Shoulder of Entoto's Massif

 

Here the trails follow a clear direction up to Entoto's high plateau and furthermore including all of these exciting and surprisingly attractive paths along the eastern slope of the river bank; they are very easy to follow in the landscape. This visible clarity in the appearance and selection of trails is apparent here thanks to the attractive overview of the sculptural introduction towards this very family friendly gorge. 

  

 A  Guiding Canyon Deliver Path Assistance

 

The open and pleasant contact with the lush hillside of these riverbanks towards the river (35) and its mysterious twilight cleft is here apparent and an excellent place for the well-equipped family to appreciate unforgettably thrilling adventures but also the most pleasant magical mountain views where cosy picnics places offer an utterly captivating nature.

  

23.  Cliff-Wall.  People walking on tracks can get close to the foot of the cliff. The experience of being in a grove of trees can be improved by planting.

 

24.  Shewarkaw's House.  Here, a chief Guard once had his house, built in leather. Now the area is open, and people pass through on their walk downhill.

 

25. Abbah's Waterfall.  The park area is generously provided with waterfalls, but this is one of the most spectacular.

 

26.  Hermit's Cave. Not long ago, a hermit had his home in a narrow opening in the cliff. Only he knew how to get there.

 

27. Seasonal Waterfall.

 

28. Shintobele's  Spring.  This brook was named after the father of a well-known man on Entoto, Ato Fitawari Ayenew. It is used as a seasonal water supply for the neighbourhood. By the conservation of watersheds in the Entoto Natural Park, the quality of the water will be improved.

 

29.  Ato Bekele's Juniper forest.  A stand of beautiful, mature junipers is still remaining here, thanks to the care of Ato Bekele. Some fully grown Cypressus lucitanica, planted 30 years ago, can be seen, too (Håkan Blanck and Pia Englund, Entoto Natural Park 1995).

  

        The Hidden Treasure at the Mountain's Shoulder ( 1 )

 

         

 

         (30 -31 -32- 33)   Entoto Kidane Mehret Church, Community,

 

         Monastery, Sacred water source, Juniperus procera Forest (indigenous).

 

  

Quite close this weathered map's central parts, but fairly far down, it can clearly be seen where Entoto Kidane Mehret Church (32) can be discovered where it is located on a small northern bend of the completed road.

  

Although Entoto Kidane Mehret is quite highly located and appearing distant due to its height above the Capital, nevertheless, it's equipped with a station for regular bus and taxi traffic.

  

Completely surrounded by its society, this station is characterized by an inviting cosiness, but together with an accompanied impression of magnificence that cannot be expected in a massive rock ledge of a mountain.

  

If it was not for the sanctuary that discreetly dominates its outer propagation, this station would be disproportionally abundant where it is located beautifully on this dramatically elevated hidden mountain plateau where it appears like an essential marketplace so generously dominant right next to this quaint community (1).

  

This unique town's structure creates here a harmonic embrace of the extensive and impressive Entoto Kidane Mehret Church (32), Monastery and Sacred Water Source (31), Juniperus procera Forest (indigenous) 30.

  

In addition, this sanctuary with its Church and Monastery are astonishing hidden, tucked into the mountain massif rising shoulder where perception arises very soon to be careful because precipices and gullies take over immediately when you just move away from a little piece of this remarkable protective plateau and its quaint surrounding mountain ledge town (1).

  

The Ascent to the Community Entoto Kidane Mehret.

Along the anticipated and continued fairly steep climb of the road is the experience of native forest  (30) within  arm's length of a charming but surprising experience, where it is just very close, on the right side of the road looms in a revelation and guise of  a completely fenced but mighty Juniper forest  (30)  that spreads out vigorously from the steep ascent beginning and up to the road's clearance, completely beside Entoto Kidane Mehret  (32).

  

The Source at the Mountain's Shoulder.

At the initial part of this, both protected and protective forest, you find yourself a good piece below the society but are nonetheless part of its togetherness. The forest here  (30)  is impressive and serves the very important purpose of maintaining a clean and uncontaminated spring water.

  

 Juniper Mountain Spring.

Just to the right and slightly below  (31), at the beginning of this step well-fenced juniper forest is a highly sought after and a popular building where the water from this mysterious, ancient place will arrive in cascades and qualitative amounts.

  

 Enchanting and Reigning Juniper Mammoth Trees.

Here, immediately behind the muscular columnar Juniperus procera trunks and many layers wire prohibition protection arrives this spring water (31) with gurgling sounds and imparts finally a refreshing crystal clear stream below the gnarled roots of these stately venerable and furrowed columns of guards in the shape of ancient patinated Junipers.

  

Facilities and Amenities at Entoto Kidane Mehret.

This community, equipped with shops  (2) for the most necessary, cultural beautiful buildings with associated spring water and indigenous forest of giant Junipers  (30). These constitute significant assets altogether for all type of adventures, picnics, and hiking in the varied mountainous terrain of Entoto Natural Park.

  

 The community Entoto Kidane Mehret.

The society Entoto Kidane Mehret  (1) is a very dedicated and appealing mountain town but should indeed more precisely be described as an impressively extended but quaint mountain town at a mighty and deeply religious Sanctuary and Protectorate of Nature and Inhabitants.

  

34.  Entoto Natural Park (Nursery).

This place is the work area of so many endeavours; Entoto's High plateau, where it appears among adorable Juniper hills and dreamlike meadows. Ultimately, beyond the horizon of golden fields, this landscape of forgotten dreams reveals its southern border in the abyss Bees' Cliff   (14). Here it shows very soon; the beautiful path ( 42) to Entoto Natural Park (Nursery) 34, where the massive work has elapsed with nature restoration for many years.

  

The picturesque path among adorable Juniper hills.

This excursion to the Nursery is a pleasant wandering with a minimum change in altitude, where it usually permits dry rock wade over to the west side of the meandering stream  (35).  By this direction, the trail passes just little besides the natural pools above Bees' Cliff  (14). Then within concise a path  (42) in a romantically inviting landscape of meadows and smoothly curved Juniper hills with an indigenous and juvenile forest, before arriving at the Nursery  (34).

  

This building has during these years of extensive nature conservation activities have been very significant, and the work had not been possible without its existence.

 

https://goo.gl/maps/vrQhZB6jdEw

 

 

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/kernal13/2867542594/in/photostream/

 

www.flickr.com/photos/unicefethiopia/13733831655

 

PDF:   http://mediaserver.dwpub.com/fjd-profile/13086/Entoto.pdf

 

www.plantsmap.com/organizations/entoto-natural-park

 

entoto-natural-park.busineess.site/

  

35.  The Stream with Canyon and Waterfalls.

The stream of these hiking adventures starts here just below Entoto Kidane Mehret with a character of beach curved rocks in harmonious wave formations where children play, and the laundry dries on the inviting soft and clean, polished rock bed.

  

Caution During the Rainy Season.

However, provided that the trekking not is made during rainy periods, the long stretches of tributary river banks  (35) also offer a lot of relaxation and enjoyment, especially after that the path deviates and continues upward just before the old pipeline joins the reservoir of the Italian fortification  (38).

  

** 35.  Very Clear Restrictions for further Hiking 

Attention, the safety boundary of the continuous path along the river's shoreline (35) gives clear indication that this route does not include the gorge with further upwards abyss hiking after passing the tributary creek  (36).  In addition to being a lovely and cosy inviting place, this tributary  (36)  represents the last comfortable direction and route up towards Bees' Cliff and thus Entoto's high plateau. Although Bees' Cliff  (14) is very near here, towering dramatically above with its vertical cliffside and directly dangerous except for possible experts with safety harnesses and other equipment.

  

A comfortable return to the trails of the southern slopes.

This danger appears thus with clarity when walking along the path of this river's shoreline (35) and requires only a short walk back to reach the trails on the eastern slopes of the riverbank and further the inviting hiking uphill along the southern slopes of the tributary creek  (36).

  

Clear and Pleasant Hiking Trails.

Including all of these eastern slope paths, they are very easy to follow in the landscape because the visual contact with the lush hillside towards the river  (35) is apparent regardless of the path chosen from Entoto Kidane Mehret (32).

  

A green path along the riverbank within the charmingly inviting gorge.

The trail that deviates just before the Italian fortification  (38) becomes after a while very inviting when approaching the slopes to the riverbank  (35) and provides an extensive spatial wide contact from within the gorge including both the river and the riverbank's green and rising wild uphill slopes.

  

Season Limited Creek Hiking

This dry creek bed hiking can be an exhilarating experience in this concealed cliff space where shadows sweep deeply in soft greenery shifts. This compactly deep, alluring cliff space is indeed temptingly exciting and enticing where the dark underground passages in shadows are just waiting for actions in a somewhat overwhelming flow of impressions.

**Observe, the hiking directly in the dry brook bed is only possible if it has elapsed some months since the last rainy season but then offers adventure experiences that are unique to those who may have the courage to surprise a pleasant strenuous Hyena.

  

Harmonic Currents Along the River.

Since all streams around Entoto run up within a short distance to the highest part of the plateau, there is no risk of being surprised by a far and accumulated sudden river flow from an unknown distance. There is also no known weakness in the deep rock pools that could constitute a magazine water mass just waiting to break through a weak point in the cliff bottom.

 

** However, be careful and expect even the worse type of scenario because the animals are wild and even the strongest rock will break if the bad luck together with very rare and significant earthquake would be coincident.

  

36.  A Multiple, Spatial Nature Dream.

Where these two streams meet, here is created a place of idle creative nature, splendid surprises in both hidden prongs and open spaces with powerful slopes. The one who stays a little hidden between the tree trunks at point  (36) can easily get very close to rumbling and relaxed hyenas. The southern slopes of the creek  (36) are quite steep but yet comfortable hiking with wonderful views down over the mysterious river but still inviting open gorge to the river  (35).

  

Awesome fun canyon hike towards the high plateau.

This is the last steep and wild hike towards Bees'Cliff  (14) and its direction uphill is along the northern hillside of the tributary gorge  (36). Initially, the path here is quite rugged, but as the plateau's threshold is very close, also the walk upwards becomes less burdensome.

  

A walk in the abyss with the secretive company of hyenas.

 Directly from the route's start in this small hidden gorge  (36), gentle winds deliver pleasure with a fresh coolness in a welcoming breeze from the canyon below that is well camouflaging the scary smells of civilization from reaching the hyenas in the depth of gorge  (35).

  

A pleasant easternized route along the tributary gorge 36.

 However,  the abyss is here close and with due care; therefore, a more easternized commitment of the route should be preferred and not only for increased safety but also in purpose to avoid suddenly scaring wildlife that enjoys socializing around the scenic pools right above the plateau threshold and the abyss of Bees' Cliff  (14).

  

37.  A Very Clear Guiding to the High Plateau.

At this guiding connection  (37),  a smaller, grounded but a visible pipeline is connected to a larger water pipe. The smaller one-inch thin tube disappears underground just next to the passed a few farm homes and just below them is the bridge to Kidane Mehret. The path just after the bridge requires barely any deviations except few steps up just after the bridge from Kidane Mehret  (32).  To find the different points above, only follow the coarser water pipe and often rest with some water, because the air is thin and the impressions are precious.

  

A guiding pipeline just above the traditional farmhouses.

Here at the place of the guiding water pipeline  (37) is its location just above a few picturesque farm homes, where they are situated on a smaller, sloping, plateau ledge that all together offer an attractive and visible guided hiking trail upwards the southern slope of Entoto. The location of this mentioned trail indicating connection and guide of the water pipeline is thus very close to the few farmhouses where the path charmingly meanders between their inviting courtyards a few tens of metres below point  (37).

  

After the bridge and up to the left-hand is the guiding water pipeline.

The smaller one-inch thin tube disappears underground just next to the passed a few farm homes and just below them is the bridge to Entoto Kidane Mehret  (32) The path just after the bridge requires barely any deviations except few steps uphill just after passing the bridge from  Entoto Kidane Mehret  (32).

  

The path uphill along the pipeline is beautiful and demanding.

The path just after the bridge requires barely any deviations except few steps up just after the bridge from Kidane Mehret. To find the different points above, only follow the coarser water pipe and often rest with some water, because the air is thin and the impressions are precious. To find the different points above, only follow the coarser water pipe  (37) and often rest with some water, because the air is thin and the impressions are precious.

  

The Assistance of Path Directions (37).

The superficially lying water pipeline from below makes the path easy to follow and reaches a high level on the mountain's shoulder. Just before the Italian fortification  (38)  when the pipeline makes its high northern bend, the path deviates in two different choices.

  

The highest crested curve of the pipeline provides with a choice of paths.

Just before the Italian fortification  (38)  when the pipeline makes its high northern bend, the path deviates in two different choices. The path along the pipeline goes with a final horizontal direction towards its connection to the Italian fortification  (38) with its reservoir and steep waterfall. The actual way upwards departs before any visible contact with the Italian fortifications, leaving the pipeline's direction just at its highest crest in a right perpendicular direction towards the point  (39). Thus, with a few right steps upwards of some metres, it reaches up to an invitingly gentle rising threshold in the shape of an eroded and natural hill shelf.

  

38.  The Italian Fortification and its Bath.

This Italian fortification  (38), (historical remain) is very close to the actual path upwards and the just above lying farmhouse  (39). Just here, little downhill the farmhouse area the pipeline connects to the reservoir and underground installation from Mussolini's troops. It is an interesting and short deviation from the path to visit this place and also beautiful.

  

** A Thorough Bath Examination is Required in the Italian fortification.

While this is an old Italian fortification  (38), all kinds of bath demand first to be preceded by a must include thorough bottom and wall examination to ensure regarding the safety conditions of the reservoir where both larger stones and iron objects could pose a severe injury hazard.

  

39.  Wild Meadows with Farmhouse.

Just here above is the farmhouse  (39) with large Juniperus procera trees along its upper hillside. Furthermore upwards the path turns slightly to the right towards the location  (16), just at the high plateau's outer edge and even here with many incredible stately Juniper trees. Even some Podocarpus trees,  found from a much previous era, appears admirably muscular furrowed around the extensive farmhouse  (39) area just below point  (16) which are a great pleasure for any soul with the passion for nature.

  

40.  The Wild and Fertile Forest from the Ancient Era.

This is just over 50 years old, indigenous Juniperus procera forest that provides a unique insight into how nature emerged before the Eucalyptus trees were introduced from Australia over 100 years ago. This native Juniper woodland  (40) is massive in its appearance and stunning in vitality, with a perfect, lush and dense undergrowth. The natural health and fertile beauty in this indigenous Juniper forest  (40) illuminates with precision the healing capacity of a native forest but also the severe nature and habitat destruction that occurred at the introduction of the Eucalyptus tree.

  

41.  A Wide Trail from South-East to North-West.

Although, this ground road  (41) towards Bees' Cliff pools is eroded and requires some maintenance before use by cautious, conventional tourists vehicles. However, its extent is very suitable for reaching these nature pools at Bees' Cliff  (14) and is, therefore, an open and beautiful road for a promenade to the pools or further river passage to Entoto Natural Park (Nursery) 34.

  

42.  The Path Towards Entoto Natural Park (Nursery).

The landscape to the north is very moderate and reveals very soon; the beautiful path  (42) to Entoto Natural Park (Nursery) 34, where a massive work has elapsed with nature restoration for many years.

  

The arrival on the high plateau.

 

With this, excursion towards the Nursery the impression of the high plateau is evident and a clear contrast to the quite steep hiking up from the sculptural river banks at Kidane Mehret. Behind now is the adventurous and beautiful experience from Bees' Cliff  (14) and the adorable viewpoint  (16).  But still, they are very near, with Bees' Cliff just some ten metres to the south and the adorable viewpoint (16),  now behind but yet in close walking contact located on the threshold below the southern edge of this high plateau.

  

A path among adorable Junipers and golden meadows.

The remaining path to Entoto Natural Park (Nursery) 34 is a  pleasant wandering with a minimum change in altitude, where it usually permits a dry rock wade over to the west side of the meandering stream. By this direction, it passes just little besides the natural pools above Bees' Cliff  (14) and then further north through an open forest, before arriving at the Nursery (34).

  

A Turmoil of Chaos in Waterfall and Thunder.

However, the plateau location is high above any instant protection by the community's facilities of taxis, bus station and shops from the quaint ledge town  (1) and Entoto Kidane Mehret Church  (32). Due to this harsh reality, some reservations are required for the season time when this high plateau is appropriate for visits as well as when the site needs extra caution.

  

Observe, One Heavy Rain Season Every Year.

There are two rainy seasons per year, the small rain season from March to May and the big rains from July to September. The highest rainfall intensity occurs in July and August (Demissew 1988).

During the relatively long rainy season,  this place may appear scary, as the water flows are high and intertwined with rapidly unexpected thunderstorms where only a powerful terrain vehicle would give protection.

  

Some Mornings Hours of Wonderful Respite.

While this site offers an exhilarating beauty and the fact that the tempests usually follow a bound rhythm, its experience in beautiful, cosy daily hours can be both an exciting and irresistible occurrence,  provided a conscious behaviour to return in time before the next thunderstorm.

  

43.  Maryam Church,  Museum,  Palace.

 " From the late 1870s, Menelik began to show an increasing interest in the region in which Addis Ababa is situated and headquartered the royal camp at several sites in the area.

 

His first major settlement was established on the slopes on Mount Wuchacha, west of the present settlement, but he soon moved northwards and set up his camp near the summit of Entoto Mountain, a choice determined by strategic considerations. Here he erected a palace''...

 

''The next important building to be constructed at Entoto was the church of Maryam, a circular structure, the foundations which were laid in 1885.

 

Menelik, it is said himself participated in the buildings work, and on occasion travelled with his consort, Queen Taytu, to Mount Managacha to the west where he helped to prepare massive squared roof beams which were then carried dozens of kilometres by groups of four or five soldiers.

 

It was at this church of Maryam that Menelik was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in November 1889, and an effigy of the old monarch can still be seen on its walls. ''(Hancoch et al. 1983, pg102.)

 

But the establishment of the capital on the slopes of Mount Entoto did not turn out well: ''Entoto, as Menelik's capital, rapidly acquired a considerable population.

 

At the beginning of the century, the British game-hunter and ethnographer, P.H.G. Powel-Cotton, described it as ''a populous city'', while his compatriot, Herbert Vivian, believed that it ''must have comprised 50 000 souls.

 

''The site, which had initially been selected as a fortress, was not suitable as a Capital for more peaceful times. Being situated on a rugged mountain, it was poorly supplied with provisions which could be brought up only after an exhausting walk.

 

Food, as Ilg reports, was often scarce, and wood and water were also difficult to obtain. Entoto's climate during the rainy season was moreover far from pleasant, for it suffered from many storms.

 

A French traveller, Jules Borelli, states that it was a place of much lightning, thunder and fog, while his compatriot, Charles Michelli remarked that, ''exposed to the wind, difficult of access, and without drinking water'', the town was ''an impossible capital''.'' (Ibid, pg 103)

 

Ghirlandaio incorporated portraits of his contemporaries in many biblical scenes. It is probably for precisely that reason that he was so popular among the rich Florentines, who were particularly keen on self portrayal. This makes it all the more astonishing that so few secular portraits by Ghirlandaio have survived.

 

There are two paintings dating from about 1490, in the Paris Musée du Louvre and in Madrid, that are masterpieces of his art and yet fundamentally different: Giovanna Tornabuoni is idealized to the extent of becoming an "icon" of beauty for young Florentine girls, while the old man with the boy is painted with a pitiless degree of realism. Ghirlandaio does not shrink even from depicting his nose in all its disfigurement.

 

The painting in Madrid depicts Giovanna degli Albizzi in a magnificent garment made of gold brocade with tight, slitted silk sleeves. She came from one of the most important Florentine families and in 1486 married Lorenzo Tornabuoni. After her early death Ghirlandaio created two portraits, and it is possible that he was able to produce the cartoon for them while she was still alive.

 

In a fresco in the Tornabuoni Chapel, Giovanna is depicted as an entire figure witnessing the Visitation. The artist used that portrait in his panel painting with a new background, though he unfortunately cut the arms and hands off rather awkwardly. The delightful young woman now stands out, in a clear contrast of light against dark, from the black niche in the background. The reserved beauty of the young woman is fittingly expressed in the formal clarity of the composition.

 

She is wearing a valuable piece of jewelry, comprising a ruby in a gold setting with three silky shining pearls, hanging from her neck by a delicate cord. There is a very similar item of jewelry on the shelf behind her, and this, combined with red coral beads against the black background, gives the work a noble elegance. These beads are part of a rosary, and the section that is hanging straight down emphasizes the vertical line of her back, and also directs our gaze to the prayer book. Between these two "pious" objects is a little note alluding to the beautiful soul of the portrayed woman by means of an epigram written by the Roman poet Martial in the first century A.D.: Ars utinam mores animumque effigere posses pulchrior in terris nulla tabella foret. (Art, if only you could portray mores and spirit, there would be no more beautiful picture on earth).

 

www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/g/ghirland/domenico/7panel...

 

This outstanding portrait, one of the most famous of the Quattrocento, makes it clear that portraits of women were one of Ghirlandaio's ideal subjects.

 

This version with the painted frame from Ghirlandaio

compare the version without frame:

www.flickr.com/photos/28433765@N07/4150701578/

Madrid, Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection

Companion shot to this one. The white and dark blobs are telltale signs of a minor goof while winding the film onto reels prior to development - a little crinkle, basically, and two pieces of film end up touching each other, thus escaping contact with the developing chemicals. In fact, I know this is what happened, because Mom writes about her first experience and running into precisely this problem, even though her and Dad had practiced beforehand with some dummy rolls (with their eyes closed). Having gone through the exact same struggle - and made the exact same mistake - on my first darkroom rolls thirty-one years later, I can imagine the frustration... especially since the shots themselves are great! Their darkroom, by the way, was the bathroom, with Mom and Dad sitting on the edge of the tub, with the closed toilet as a shelf; Dad moved to cover a spot where unexpected light was slipping through the window. They managed all right, and despite the blotches, Mom did make a print of this negative. Her crop was vertical, and tighter than what I've got here, but I think the horizontal fits the image better.

"See the complainant about the robbery offender." Sure, we'll take a ride on that. The caller is this broad that lives at 13th & Oakley (it used to be over there, somewhere on that open prairie).

 

More precisely, she owns the bar on the corner and lives upstairs.

"Lived there all my life," she says, shaking her head as if she'd just realized it had all been a horrible mistake, and proceeds to tell us that she was tending bar the night before, when the place got robbed.

 

This guy with a ski mask comes in with a gun. He fires one round into the ceiling, and collects all the cash from the till. He even collects all the valuables from the patrons, and tells them to lie still for 30 seconds, and splits.

 

"The thing is," she continues, "I know this guy, I know he was wearing a ski mask, but I've known this kid since the day he was born: I know his voice, and that's him right over there," pointing out this loser who's nervously pacing back and forth across the street.

 

We look at each other, still a little skeptical about the way this is going to play out, but "what the hell, let's go and grab him, and we'll sort it all out later."

 

We cuff him, advise him of his Miranda rights, and take him into the station. There, we cuff him to one of the metal rings in the wall of the interview room, and call the Dicks to let them know that we have one in custody for armed robbery.

 

While we're waiting for the Dicks to make their appearance, we are working on the paperwork, run him on the computer for prior arrests and outstanding warrants, and so on.

Well, this guy is one of those assholes who just keeps on whining, as if that is going to persuade us to turn him loose.

 

"What are you arresting me for?"

 

"Well, like we told you earlier, you're under arrest for armed robbery, now, just shut up and you can talk all you want when the Dicks get here."

 

"But what are you charging me with?"

 

"You're being charged with armed robbery, " I tell him yet again. So, now we're going to go through the whole song and dance again, about which armed robbery, and when, and finally to the all-important "why me?"

"Because one of the witnesses identified you as the offender," I tell him, my patience sorely tested by now. Bursting with righteous indignation at this great miscarriage of justice, he blurts out "They can't identify me, I was wearing a ski mask!"

 

"Say no more, motherfucker, you just sealed your own fate! But, look on the bright side, you won't have to worry about rent-money for the next five or six years."

 

The Dicks are not too happy either, like we made them come all the way out here for nothing. "Hey, we didn't even ask him anything, he just did this all by himself."

  

-

 

Photograph taken in the magic of the Golden Hour at 20:52pm (Sunset was at precisely 21:06pm), on Wednesday 5th June 2013 off the Viking Coastal trail beside the ruins of Reculver Abbey, about three miles east of Herne Bay in south-east England, in a ward of the same name, in the City of Canterbury, district of Kent.

  

This frame looks out towards the Thanet offshore windfarm was officially opened on September 23rd 2010 and was for a time, the largest offshore windfarm project in the world. The eight lines of turbines, one hundred of them in total, run north-west to south-east, covering a total area of 35sq km off Foreness Point near Margate. Each turbine is 115 metres high with 44-metre blades, and the project cost between £780-900million

     

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Nikon D800 86mm 1/1600s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit)

  

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod. Manfrotto 327RC2 Grip action ball head. Manfrotto quick release plate 200PL-14. Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap. Sandisc 32GB Ultra Class 10 30MB/s SDHC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 gps unit.

  

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LATITUDE: N 51d 22m 45.04s

LONGITUDE: E 0d 11m 49.29s

ALTITUDE: 10.0m

  

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED FILE: 11.84MB

 

Photograph taken at an altitude of Forty Eight metres, during the first vestiges of dawn light prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:48am), at 03:25am on Thursday 19th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane, beside the Lullingstone Roman villa, with Eynsford Viaduct seen to the right of the frame, in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.

  

This impressive nine-arched red-brick viaduct is a prominent feature on the line to the 'Bat & Ball' station. The structure was built by the independent ''Sevenoaks Railway'', incorporated in 1859 to link the ''Chatham'' main line with the market town of Sevenoaks. And first services began on 2nd June 1862. The viaduct has nine arches of 30-foot span, and rises to a height of 75-feet above the valley and the River Darent.

  

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Nikon D800 165mm 1/13s f/5.6 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

  

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

  

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LATITUDE: N 51d 21m 52.21s

LONGITUDE: E 0d 11m 48.56s

ALTITUDE: 48.0m

  

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED FILE: 9.17MB

  

Processing power:

HP Pavillion P6-2388EA Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD 7570 graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

   

Exhibition Jean Tinguely - Machine Spectacle 1 Oct 2016 - 5 Mar 2017 in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

 

Jean Tinguely is famous for his playful, boldly kinetic machines and explosive performances. Everything had to be different, everything had to move. Precisely twenty-five years after his death, the Stedelijk Museum opens a Tinguely retrospective: the largest-ever exhibition of the artist to be mounted in a Dutch museum.

 

The Swiss artist Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) played a key role in the rise of kinetic art in the fifties. With over a hundred machine sculptures, most of which are in working order, paired with films, photos, drawings, and archive materials, the presentation takes the public on a chronological and thematic journey of Tinguely’s artistic development and ideas, from his love of absurd play to his fascination for destruction and ephemerality.

The presentation features his early wire sculptures and reliefs, in which Tinguely imitated and animated the abstract paintings of artists such as Malevich, Miró, and Klee; the interactive drawing machines and wild dancing installations constructed from salvaged metal, waste materials, and discarded clothing; and his streamlined, military-looking black sculptures.

 

Tinguely’s self-destructive performances are a special feature of the Stedelijk presentation. The enormous installations Tinguely created between 1960–1970 (Homage to New York, Étude pour une fin du monde No. 1, Study for an End of the World No. 2, and La Vittoria) were designed to spectacularly disintegrate in a barrage of sound. The presentation also spotlights the exhibitions Tinguely organized at the Stedelijk, Bewogen Beweging (1961) and Dylaby (1962), and the gigantic sculptures he later produced: HON – en katedral (“SHE – a cathedral,” 1966), Crocrodrome (1977) and the extraordinary Le Cyclop (1969–1994), which is still on display outside Paris. The survey ends with a dramatic grand finale, the remarkable, room-filling installation, Mengele-Totentanz (1986), a disturbing display of light and shadow never previously shown in the Netherlands. Tinguely realized the work after witnessing a devastating fire, reclaiming objects from the ashes to piece together his installation: scorched beams, agricultural machinery (made by the Mengele company), and animal skeletons. The final piece is a gigantic memento mori, yet also an invocation of the Nazi concentration camps. Its juddering movements and piercing sounds evoke a haunting, grisly mood.

 

Jean Tinguely created his work as a rejection of the static, conventional art world; he sought to emphasize play and experiment. For Tinguely, art was not about standing in a sterile white space, distantly gazing at a silent painting. He produced kinetic sculptures to set art and art history in motion, in works that animated the boundary between art and life. With his do-it-yourself drawing machines, Tinguely critiqued the role of the artist and the elitist position of art in society. He renounced the unicity of “the artist’s hand” by encouraging visitors to produce work themselves. Collaboration was integral to Tinguely’s career. He worked extensively with artists like Daniel Spoerri, Niki de Saint Phalle (also his wife), Yves Klein, and others from the ZERO network, as well as museum directors such as Pontus Hultén, Willem Sandberg, and Paul Wember. Thanks to his charismatic, vibrant personality and the dazzling success with which he presented his work (and himself) in the public sphere, Tinguely was a vital figure within these networks, acting as leader, inspirator, and connector.

Amsterdam has enjoyed a dynamic history with Tinguely. The exhibitions Bewogen Beweging (1961) and Dylaby (1962), for which Tinguely was (co)curator, particularly underline the extraordinarily close relationship that sprang up between the museum and the artist. Not only did he bring his kinetic Méta machines to the Netherlands, he also brought his international, avant-garde network, leaving an enduring impression on museum goers who flocked to see these experimental exhibitions. Close relationships with Willem Sandberg, then director of the Stedelijk Museum, and curator Ad Petersen prompted various retrospectives and acquisitions for the collection: thirteen sculptures, including his famous drawing machine, Méta-Matic No. 10 (1959), Gismo (1960), and the enormous Méta

Dryslwyn Castle is a native Welsh castle, sited on a rocky hill roughly halfway between Llandeilo and Carmarthen in Wales. It stands on high ground overlooking the Tywi Valley with extensive views. It was built in about the 1220s by one of the princes of the kingdom of Deheubarth, and changed hands several times in the struggles between the Welsh and English over the ensuing centuries. It is considered one of the most important remaining structures built by a Welsh chieftain and is a Grade I listed building.

 

Perched on the top of an isolated, rocky hill above the Towy Valley, Dryslwyn Castle occupies a splendid defensive position. It may occupy a spot previously used in as a fortification in prehistoric times but no evidence has been found to support this theory. In the twelfth century, Rhys ap Gruffydd, often known as "Lord Rhys", reigned over the kingdom of Deheubarth and brought it a period of peace and stability. On his death in 1197, his three sons contested his inheritance and fought between themselves for supremacy. Neighbouring Welsh kingdoms and the English took advantage of this to infiltrate Deheubarth and it was around this time that Dryslwyn Castle was built.

 

It is not clear precisely who built it, but it was probably constructed in the 1220s by one of the princes of Deheubarth, perhaps Rhys Gryg. In any event, the castle at Dryslwyn was, along with the neighbouring Dinefwr Castle, for a long time central to the security of the kingdom. It was apparently assaulted in 1246, because it was mentioned in an ancient chronicle, Annales Cambrie, where a siege of the castle by the Seneschal of Carmarthen was mentioned. He was apparently acting on behalf of its "rightful owner", but who that rightful owner was, or whether the siege was successful, is not known. It may have been that Rhys Gryg built the two fortresses of Dryslwyn and Dinefwr in order to provide legacies for his two sons after his death, which happened in 1234. The two castles are of very similar construction, with a round tower with flared base inside a ward enclosed by a curtain wall that contoured round the hillside. The ward contained a great hall and an adjoining building that was probably a kitchen. Between the hall and the curtain wall was an enclosed small structure that it has been suggested may have been a prison.

 

The castle underwent a lengthy period of expansion in the late thirteenth century. After the death of the last native prince of Wales, Dafydd ap Gruffudd, in 1283, the castle was one of the few remaining substantial stone castles in Wales to be held by a Welshman; the most prominent surviving Welsh lord, Rhys ap Maredudd, continued to augment the castle's defences. He was allowed by the English to keep his castle as he had shown a more conciliatory attitude towards them than other Welsh lords. However, in 1287 he revolted against English rule, and the castle was besieged and captured after a three-week siege by the forces of King Edward I. The English troops numbered 11,000 and methods of assault included the use of a trebuchet and the undermining of the curtain walls. Several English knights were killed when one of the mine workings collapsed while they were inspecting it. Rhys's revolt petered out the following year, and Rhys himself was captured and executed in 1292.

 

Dryslwyn was seized by Owain Glyndŵr in the summer of 1403 and when the English forces recaptured it they decommissioned it by blocking various access routes, walling up the gatehouse, removing the treads from stone stairs and even removing the hinges from the main gate. At some later stage, all the major buildings were burned to the ground. Following this a lot of the stone was removed from the site.

 

The castle of limestone walls was built in the 1220s, and was systematically demolished in the early fifteenth century, presumably in an attempt to stop Welsh rebels using it again. The polygonal inner ward contains principal remains to the south-west, with traces of the middle and outer ward to the north-east. The early-thirteenth-century curtain wall to the inner ward only stands 1 m (3 ft) high. There is a garderobe to the east side, and a remodelled thirteenth-century gatehouse to the north-east, surviving at foundation level only. On the south side of the gatehouse is the Round Tower, the original keep. The foundations of the original great hall and Rhys ap Maredudd's hall survive.

 

Little is left of the original structure and much of what is now visible has been revealed by excavation. A small portion of the middle and outer walls survive, mostly associated with the middle and outer gates. The best-preserved remains are within the inner ward, and here can be seen the polygonal plan that was adopted to fit in with the shape of the hilltop. It is considered one of the most important remaining structures built by a Welsh chieftain and is a Grade I listed building, being noteworthy as the only native Welsh castle to have three wards.

 

Carmarthenshire is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as the "Garden of Wales" and is also home to the National Botanic Garden of Wales.

 

Carmarthenshire has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The county town was founded by the Romans, and the region was part of the Kingdom of Deheubarth in the High Middle Ages. After invasion by the Normans in the 12th and 13th centuries it was subjugated, along with other parts of Wales, by Edward I of England. There was further unrest in the early 15th century, when the Welsh rebelled under Owain Glyndŵr, and during the English Civil War.

 

Carmarthenshire is mainly an agricultural county, apart from the southeastern part which was once heavily industrialised with coal mining, steel-making and tin-plating. In the north of the county, the woollen industry was very important in the 18th century. The economy depends on agriculture, forestry, fishing and tourism. West Wales was identified in 2014 as the worst-performing region in the United Kingdom along with the South Wales Valleys with the decline in its industrial base, and the low profitability of the livestock sector.

 

Carmarthenshire, as a tourist destination, offers a wide range of outdoor activities. Much of the coast is fairly flat; it includes the Millennium Coastal Park, which extends for ten miles to the west of Llanelli; the National Wetlands Centre; a championship golf course; and the harbours of Burry Port and Pembrey. The sandy beaches at Llansteffan and Pendine are further west. Carmarthenshire has a number of medieval castles, hillforts and standing stones. The Dylan Thomas Boathouse is at Laugharne.

 

Stone tools found in Coygan Cave, near Laugharne indicate the presence of hominins, probably neanderthals, at least 40,000 years ago, though, as in the rest of the British Isles, continuous habitation by modern humans is not known before the end of the Younger Dryas, around 11,500 years BP. Before the Romans arrived in Britain, the land now forming the county of Carmarthenshire was part of the kingdom of the Demetae who gave their name to the county of Dyfed; it contained one of their chief settlements, Moridunum, now known as Carmarthen. The Romans established two forts in South Wales, one at Caerwent to control the southeast of the country, and one at Carmarthen to control the southwest. The fort at Carmarthen dates from around 75 AD, and there is a Roman amphitheatre nearby, so this probably makes Carmarthen the oldest continually occupied town in Wales.

 

Carmarthenshire has its early roots in the region formerly known as Ystrad Tywi ("Vale of [the river] Tywi") and part of the Kingdom of Deheubarth during the High Middle Ages, with the court at Dinefwr. After the Normans had subjugated England they tried to subdue Wales. Carmarthenshire was disputed between the Normans and the Welsh lords and many of the castles built around this time, first of wood and then stone, changed hands several times. Following the Conquest of Wales by Edward I, the region was reorganized by the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 into Carmarthenshire. Edward I made Carmarthen the capital of this new county, establishing his courts of chancery and his exchequer there, and holding the Court of Great Sessions in Wales in the town.

 

The Normans transformed Carmarthen into an international trading port, the only staple port in Wales. Merchants imported food and French wines and exported wool, pelts, leather, lead and tin. In the late medieval period the county's fortunes varied, as good and bad harvests occurred, increased taxes were levied by England, there were episodes of plague, and recruitment for wars removed the young men. Carmarthen was particularly susceptible to plague as it was brought in by flea-infested rats on board ships from southern France.

 

In 1405, Owain Glyndŵr captured Carmarthen Castle and several other strongholds in the neighbourhood. However, when his support dwindled, the principal men of the county returned their allegiance to King Henry V. During the English Civil War, Parliamentary forces under Colonel Roland Laugharne besieged and captured Carmarthen Castle but later abandoned the cause, and joined the Royalists. In 1648, Carmarthen Castle was recaptured by the Parliamentarians, and Oliver Cromwell ordered it to be slighted.

 

The first industrial canal in Wales was built in 1768 to convey coal from the Gwendraeth Valley to the coast, and the following year, the earliest tramroad bridge was on the tramroad built alongside the canal. During the Napoleonic Wars (1799–1815) there was increased demand for coal, iron and agricultural goods, and the county prospered. The landscape changed as much woodland was cleared to make way for more food production, and mills, power stations, mines and factories sprang up between Llanelli and Pembrey. Carmarthenshire was at the centre of the Rebecca Riots around 1840, when local farmers and agricultural workers dressed as women and rebelled against higher taxes and tolls.

 

On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Carmarthenshire joined Cardiganshire and Pembrokeshire in the new county of Dyfed; Carmarthenshire was divided into three districts: Carmarthen, Llanelli and Dinefwr. Twenty-two years later this amalgamation was reversed when, under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, the original county boundaries were reinstated.

 

The county is bounded to the north by Ceredigion, to the east by Powys (historic county Brecknockshire), Neath Port Talbot (historic county Glamorgan) and Swansea (also Glamorgan), to the south by the Bristol Channel and to the west by Pembrokeshire. Much of the county is upland and hilly. The Black Mountain range dominates the east of the county, with the lower foothills of the Cambrian Mountains to the north across the valley of the River Towy. The south coast contains many fishing villages and sandy beaches. The highest point (county top) is the minor summit of Fan Foel, height 781 metres (2,562 ft), which is a subsidiary top of the higher mountain of Fan Brycheiniog, height 802.5 metres (2,633 ft) (the higher summit, as its name suggests, is actually across the border in Brecknockshire/Powys). Carmarthenshire is the largest historic county by area in Wales.

 

The county is drained by several important rivers which flow southwards into the Bristol Channel, especially the River Towy, and its several tributaries, such as the River Cothi. The Towy is the longest river flowing entirely within Wales. Other rivers include the Loughor (which forms the eastern boundary with Glamorgan), the River Gwendraeth and the River Taf. The River Teifi forms much of the border between Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion, and there are a number of towns in the Teifi Valley which have communities living on either side of the river and hence in different counties. Carmarthenshire has a long coastline which is deeply cut by the estuaries of the Loughor in the east and the Gwendraeth, Tywi and Taf, which enter the sea on the east side of Carmarthen Bay. The coastline includes notable beaches such as Pendine Sands and Cefn Sidan sands, and large areas of foreshore are uncovered at low tide along the Loughor and Towy estuaries.

 

The principal towns in the county are Ammanford, Burry Port, Carmarthen, Kidwelly, Llanelli, Llandeilo, Newcastle Emlyn, Llandovery, St Clears, and Whitland. The principal industries are agriculture, forestry, fishing and tourism. Although Llanelli is by far the largest town in the county, the county town remains Carmarthen, mainly due to its central location.

 

Carmarthenshire is predominantly an agricultural county, with only the southeastern area having any significant amount of industry. The best agricultural land is in the broad Tywi Valley, especially its lower reaches. With its fertile land and agricultural produce, Carmarthenshire is known as the "Garden of Wales". The lowest bridge over the river is at Carmarthen, and the Towi Estuary cuts the southwesterly part of the county, including Llansteffan and Laugharne, off from the more urban southeastern region. This area is also bypassed by the main communication routes into Pembrokeshire. A passenger ferry service used to connect Ferryside with Llansteffan until the early part of the twentieth century.

 

Agriculture and forestry are the main sources of income over most of the county of Carmarthenshire. On improved pastures, dairying is important and in the past, the presence of the railway enabled milk to be transported to the urban areas of England. The creamery at Whitland is now closed but milk processing still takes place at Newcastle Emlyn where mozzarella cheese is made. On upland pastures and marginal land, livestock rearing of cattle and sheep is the main agricultural activity. The estuaries of the Loughor and Towy provide pickings for the cockle industry.

 

Llanelli, Ammanford and the upper parts of the Gwendraeth Valley are situated on the South Wales Coalfield. The opencast mining activities in this region have now ceased but the old mining settlements with terraced housing remain, often centred on their nonconformist chapels. Kidwelly had a tin-plating industry in the eighteenth century, with Llanelli following not long after, so that by the end of the nineteenth century, Llanelli was the world-centre of the industry. There is little trace of these industrial activities today. Llanelli and Burry Port served at one time for the export of coal, but trade declined, as it did from the ports of Kidwelly and Carmarthen as their estuaries silted up. Country towns in the more agricultural part of the county still hold regular markets where livestock is traded.

 

In the north of the county, in and around the Teifi Valley, there was a thriving woollen industry in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Here water-power provided the energy to drive the looms and other machinery at the mills. The village of Dre-fach Felindre at one time contained twenty-four mills and was known as the "Huddersfield of Wales". The demand for woollen cloth declined in the twentieth century and so did the industry.

 

In 2014, West Wales was identified as the worst-performing region in the United Kingdom along with the South Wales Valleys. The gross value added economic indicator showed a figure of £14,763 per head in these regions, as compared with a GVA of £22,986 for Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. The Welsh Assembly Government is aware of this, and helped by government initiatives and local actions, opportunities for farmers to diversify have emerged. These include farm tourism, rural crafts, specialist food shops, farmers' markets and added-value food products.

 

Carmarthenshire County Council produced a fifteen-year plan that highlighted six projects which it hoped would create five thousand new jobs. The sectors involved would be in the "creative industries, tourism, agri-food, advanced manufacturing, energy and environment, and financial and professional services".

 

Carmarthenshire became an administrative county with a county council taking over functions from the Quarter Sessions under the Local Government Act 1888. Under the Local Government Act 1972, the administrative county of Carmarthenshire was abolished on 1 April 1974 and the area of Carmarthenshire became three districts within the new county of Dyfed : Carmarthen, Dinefwr and Llanelli. Under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, Dyfed was abolished on 1 April 1996 and Carmarthenshire was re-established as a county. The three districts united to form a unitary authority which had the same boundaries as the traditional county of Carmarthenshire. In 2003, the Clynderwen community council area was transferred to the administrative county of Pembrokeshire.

 

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, Carmarthen and Wrexham were the two most populous towns in Wales. In 1931, the county's population was 171,445 and in 1951, 164,800. At the census in 2011, Carmarthenshire had a population of 183,777. Population levels have thus dipped and then increased again over the course of eighty years. The population density in Carmarthenshire is 0.8 persons per hectare compared to 1.5 per hectare in Wales as a whole.

 

Carmarthenshire was the most populous of the five historic counties of Wales to remain majority Welsh-speaking throughout the 20th century. According to the 1911 Census, 84.9 per cent of the county's population were Welsh-speaking (compared with 43.5 per cent in all of Wales), with 20.5 per cent of Carmarthenshire's overall population being monolingual Welsh-speakers.

 

In 1931, 82.3 per cent could speak Welsh and in 1951, 75.2 per cent. By the 2001 census, 50.3 per cent of people living in Carmarthenshire could speak Welsh, with 39 per cent being able to read and write the language as well.

 

The 2011 census showed a further decline, with 43.9 per cent speaking Welsh, making it a minority language in the county for the first time. However, the 2011 census also showed that 3,000 more people could understand spoken Welsh than in 2001 and that 60% of 5-14-year-olds could speak Welsh (a 5% increase since 2001). A decade later, the 2021 census, showed further decrease, to 39.9% Welsh speakers -- the largest percentage drop in all of Wales.

 

With its strategic location and history, the county is rich in archaeological remains such as forts, earthworks and standing stones. Carn Goch is one of the most impressive Iron Age forts and stands on a hilltop near Llandeilo. The Bronze Age is represented by chambered cairns and standing stones on Mynydd Llangyndeyrn, near Llangyndeyrn. Castles that can be easily accessed include Carreg Cennen, Dinefwr, Kidwelly, Laugharne, Llansteffan and Newcastle Emlyn Castle. There are the ruinous remains of Talley Abbey, and the coastal village of Laugharne is for ever associated with Dylan Thomas. Stately homes in the county include Aberglasney House and Gardens, Golden Grove and Newton House.

 

There are plenty of opportunities in the county for hiking, observing wildlife and admiring the scenery. These include Brechfa Forest, the Pembrey Country Park, the Millennium Coastal Park at Llanelli, the WWT Llanelli Wetlands Centre and the Carmel National Nature Reserve. There are large stretches of golden sands and the Wales Coast Path now provides a continuous walking route around the whole of Wales.

 

The National Botanic Garden of Wales displays plants from Wales and from all around the world, and the Carmarthenshire County Museum, the National Wool Museum, the Parc Howard Museum, the Pendine Museum of Speed and the West Wales Museum of Childhood all provide opportunities to delve into the past. Dylan Thomas Boathouse where the author wrote many of his works can be visited, as can the Roman-worked Dolaucothi Gold Mines.

 

Activities available in the county include rambling, cycling, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, sailing, horse riding, caving, abseiling and coasteering.[7] Carmarthen Town A.F.C. plays in the Cymru Premier. They won the Welsh Football League Cup in the 1995–96 season, and since then have won the Welsh Cup once and the Welsh League Cup twice. Llanelli Town A.F.C. play in the Welsh Football League Division Two. The club won the Welsh premier league and Loosemores challenge cup in 2008 and won the Welsh Cup in 2011, but after experiencing financial difficulties, were wound up and reformed under the present title in 2013. Scarlets is the regional professional rugby union team that plays in the Pro14, they play their home matches at their ground, Parc y Scarlets. Honours include winning the 2003/04 and 2016/17 Pro12. Llanelli RFC is a semi-professional rugby union team that play in the Welsh Premier Division, also playing home matches at Parc y Scarlets. Among many honours, they have been WRU Challenge Cup winners on fourteen occasions and frequently taken part in the Heineken Cup. West Wales Raiders, based in Llanelli, represent the county in Rugby league.

 

Some sporting venues utilise disused industrial sites. Ffos Las racecourse was built on the site of an open cast coal mine after mining operations ceased. Opened in 2009, it was the first racecourse built in the United Kingdom for eighty years and has regular race-days. Machynys is a championship golf course opened in 2005 and built as part of the Llanelli Waterside regeneration plan. Pembrey Circuit is a motor racing circuit near Pembrey village, considered the home of Welsh motorsport, providing racing for cars, motorcycles, karts and trucks. It was opened in 1989 on a former airfield, is popular for testing and has hosted many events including the British Touring Car Championship twice. The 2018 Tour of Britain cycling race started at Pembrey on 2 September 2018.

 

Carmarthenshire is served by the main line railway service operated by Transport for Wales Rail which links London Paddington, Cardiff Central and Swansea to southwest Wales. The main hub is Carmarthen railway station where some services from the east terminate. The line continues westwards with several branches which serve Pembroke Dock, Milford Haven and Fishguard Harbour (for the ferry to Rosslare Europort and connecting trains to Dublin Connolly). The Heart of Wales Line takes a scenic route through mid-Wales and links Llanelli with Craven Arms, from where passengers can travel on the Welsh Marches Line to Shrewsbury.

 

Two heritage railways, the Gwili Railway and the Teifi Valley Railway, use the track of the Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway that at one time ran from Carmarthen to Newcastle Emlyn, but did not reach Cardigan.

 

The A40, A48, A484 and A485 converge on Carmarthen. The M4 route that links South Wales with London, terminates at junction 49, the Pont Abraham services, to continue northwest as the dual carriageway A48, and to finish with its junction with the A40 in Carmarthen.

 

Llanelli is linked to M4 junction 48 by the A4138. The A40 links Carmarthen to Llandeilo, Llandovery and Brecon to the east, and with St Clears, Whitland and Haverfordwest to the west. The A484 links Llanelli with Carmarthen by a coastal route and continues northwards to Cardigan, and via the A486 and A487 to Aberystwyth, and the A485 links Carmarthen to Lampeter.

 

Bus services run between the main towns within the county and are operated by First Cymru under their "Western Welsh" or "Cymru Clipper" livery. Bus services from Carmarthenshire are also run to Cardiff. A bus service known as "fflecsi Bwcabus" (formerly just "Bwcabus") operates in the north of the county, offering customised transport to rural dwellers.

 

Carmarthenshire has rich, fertile farmland and a productive coast with estuaries providing a range of foods that motivate many home cooks and chefs.

It wasn't easy to measure precisely that fish on the loch, but it was for sure over 21 inches, probably 22. Very powerful trout, always searching for dephts. It was muggy today in the hills and there were many insects, including some mayflies, around and on the loch.

 

Safely released like all the 22(?)-inchers of this gallery.

 

Note about this gallery : if the name of the lochs are fake, in order to preserve them from the angling pressure, the areas are always accurate.

 

You can also leave comments on www.facebook.com/jean.dupuis.984

    

“There is a silent self within us whose presence is disturbing precisely because it is so silent: it can’t be spoken. It has to remain silent. To articulate it, to verbalize it, is to tamper with it, and in some ways to destroy it."

-Thomas Merton

 

Demonization

 

The Demon you,

Have made of me

Not easily slayed

Once created

 

Sources not

Only your own,

Build the myth,

Of this shared burden

 

Birthed out

Imagination,

Cheap talk,

Multiplied by time and waste

 

Cruelty you justify,

Rocks thrown,

Like voices,

Heard by me

 

One does taunt,

The demon soul,

By a forgotten son,

in modern times

 

With disrespect,

Another’s silence,

No witness,

By times destruction.

 

With a heavy weight,

This father bleeds,

Cries out from his chamber,

Enough!

 

-Robert (me)

This is precisely the shot I had wanted: gulls rising in front of the Phare du Four. After a day long "photo hike" on the magic Presqu'ile Saint Laurent in Porspoder, we took our time and waited. This is the light tower missed by the infamous Amoco Cadiz on March 16, 1978, resulting in the as yet worst tanker accident ever, spilling 6 times as much oil into the coastal waters of Brittany as the Exxon Valdez did in Alaska 9 years later. Interestingly the picture was not taken with my EOS but my new little point-and-shoot powershot that I had bought mainly for underwater photography.

105/365

apr 15

 

can't wait to meet you ❁ ❤︎

 

In the beginning there was a book -- more precisely: one sentence of John Irwing's "The World According To Garp".

 

Ever since I discovered his work some years ago, I loved reading John Irving, but his books never ranged among those which gave me what I'm actually looking for: being touched, moved -- and changed. Of course, Irwing is a brilliant story-teller, and a true lover (remember "The Hotel New Hampshire": Who could NOT fall in love with John and Franny, Lilly and Egg, and even with Frank or the farting dog!?), but even so, there was never one sentence I would have underlined in order to engrain it -- until I've read "The World According To Garp".

 

There, close to the end of the story, I came across that one sentence which I underlined, and which should become one of the most influential key-sentences I've ever read.

 

It was in the very first days of October 2008; after having marked and engrained the few crucial words, I closed the book and went to bed. I didn't need to find out the end of the story, for I had found what I had been looking for -- the key fitted into the lock, and the door opened.

 

In that following night I had a dream. And in the early morning, yet before the sun rose, I got up -- wide awake and dreaming at the same time -- and wrote down the "dreamed vision" which referred both to the key-sentence -- Imagining something is better than remembering something -- and to the short story "The Dollhouse" which I had written down a few days ago after a long time of not having been able to write.

 

Thus the first two chapters of a book were born... but it took some weeks or even months till I realized that I was on the way to write a book. I just continued writing down, chapter after chapter, whatever I was given by the continually emerging visions -- 700 pages within eight months.

 

It was a wondrous time, and very difficult, disconcerting, eerie, and it was the beginning of a metamorphosis I've been longing for all times.

 

And I, too, was ready to become the other person who budged in me, under despair, pain, and mourning, for such a long time. (Christa Wolf, Kassandra)

 

I went through heaven and hell, through Hades and Elysian Fields -- and I'm still on the way. The writing of this book has changed my life like hardly something before ever did -- and it's not yet completed. The last two and a half chapters as well as the whole revision still wait to be done. But since May I'd been unable to write. Blocked. Paralyzed by outer and inner cataclysms, pains, fears, and going blind again against visions and dreams.

 

It's only since yesterday that I certainly know: I'm really going to complete this book, since I'm really going to live on the island of my dreams for about one year. Don't ask me (for I don't know) how I managed to reach this point, blindly stumbling ahead through spring and summer time, without faith, or belief, or any idea where my steps will lead, in the end. The only thing I knew for sure, was that I have to finish the book and that the island is the one and only place to live up to this task -- and there I go. The departure will take place at the end of October.

 

Yes, really, there I go... excited, anxious, brave, and eager to resume work on this wondrous book about the mystery of birth and love and death (you know: the most essential subjects of man), about guilt and innocence, freedom and responsibility, dream and reality, and last but not least: duality versus polarity... -- a book which offers more questions than answers, even to myself, since I only write down what pours out of the unfathomable depth of dreams and visions into my mind... and I'm very curious about the conclusion. Yet, I don't know anything about it, but I can imagine this and that... and imagination, in the end, is the key both to every vision and to every creation.

 

Finally about the photo, high above this incommensurately long text... taken quite exactly one year ago, when I moved into the house of my companion, it shows approximately one third of my books -- I try to keep only those which are, by some means or other, really important for me, but that's a permanent struggle against my insatiable passion for literature.

 

And last but not least... while I was writing this text, something quite weird happened: The iTunes of the old Mac activated completely self-acting the online radio; the screen was black, stand-by mode, but the music was played... and for some seconds, I was completely baffled. Then I couldn't help grinning. So, that's how the land lies! As soon as I dare to be engaged in the book, weird incidents start to pop up -- how the hell had I been able to forget this?!

 

Sounds absolutely crazy, I know, but that's just the way things work, for me -- Jorie Graham describes it wonderfully:

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The way things work

is by admitting

or opening away.

This is the simplest form

of current: Blue

moving through blue;

blue through purple;

the objects of desire

opening upon themselves

without us; the objects of faith.

The way things work

is by solution,

resistance lessened or

increased and taken

advantage of.

The way things work

is that we finally believe

they are there,

common and able

to illustrate themselves.

Wheel, kinetic flow,

rising and falling water,

ingots, levers and keys,

I believe in you,

cylinder lock, pulley,

lifting tackle and

crane lift your small head --

I believe in you --

your head is the horizon to

my hand. I believe

forever in the hooks.

The way things work

is that eventually

something catches.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Ferres is located slightly upstream on the left bank of the river.

 

Piesport is a local community in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate and the largest wine-growing town in the Mosel wine-growing region. She has been a member of the Bernkastel-Kues municipality since January 1, 2012.

 

The local community is located, surrounded by vineyards, meadows and forests, on a loop of the Moselle that bulges out to the north in the Moselle valley between Bernkastel-Kues and Trier, more precisely between Minheim and Neumagen. The district of Piesport is located on the left bank of the river on the Eifel side. On the opposite, gently rising side of the river on the Hunsrück side is the Müstert district and a little further downstream, at the exit of the loop, is the Reinsport district. The higher district around the church of St. Martin is Emmel. Ferres is located slightly upstream on the left bank of the river. Müstert used to consist of just a few houses that gather around the All Saints Chapel at the bridgehead of the lower of the two Moselle bridges. This district grew together with Emmel and Reinsport over the centuries and formed the independent municipality of Niederemmel until the administrative reform in 1969. The B 53, the Moseluferstrasse, runs through the district of Niederemmel. From here, at a roundabout at the entrance to the town from the direction of Neumagen, the L 50 branches off to the north over the Moselle bridge to Klausen and the L 156 branches off to the south towards Neumagen-Dhron.

 

It can be assumed that in Roman times there was a ford through the Moselle at the site of today's town, through which wagons could drive when the water level was low. This ford was dedicated to Mercurius Bigentius, a local deity, from which the name Porto Pingontio was derived, which gradually became Piesport.

A sanctuary was also dedicated to Bigentius, which stood on the northern, left-hand bank on the mountain slope and which is now only remembered by the chapel house, which is also popularly known as Michelskirch ( Lage→ ). In Christian times it was replaced by a church dedicated to the Archangel Michael, which was attested in 1350 as the matrix ecclesia (“mother church”). Because of the long and arduous journey to the parish of Piesport on the banks of the Moselle, a new church was finally built, today's parish church of St. Michael.

 

The Romans already settled in the region around Piesport. The vineyards framed the place “like the tiers of an amphitheater,” wrote the poet Ausonius. The largest Roman wine press north of the Alps was discovered and partially reconstructed in 1985 between the districts of Alt-Piesport and Ferres. It is the center of the Roman Press Festival, which takes place annually on the second weekend in October. In 1950, a Roman diatret jar was found in a sarcophagus in a burial ground near Niederemmel, which is now in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier. Witnesses to the Roman era are also the Roman road (L 157) on the height between Niederemmel and Morbach, where a Roman grave was found near the Tonnkopf hunting lodge, as well as the Römerhof on the southern outskirts of Niederemmel. There was also a Roman milestone at the Tonnkopf.

 

The first documented mention of Piesport was in 776. Between 1506 and 1508, Piesport lost 82 of its 95 citizens (households) to the plague. In the Middle Ages and early modern times, Piesport was part of Kurtrier. From 1794 the area was under French rule, and in 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. Since 1946 it has been part of the then newly formed state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

 

Today's community was re-formed on June 7, 1969 from the dissolved communities of Piesport (then 503 residents) and Niederemmel (1,633 residents).

 

Mosel (German: [ˈmoːzl̩]) is one of 13 German wine regions (Weinbaugebiete) for quality wines (Qualitätswein, formerly QbA and Prädikatswein), and takes its name from the Mosel River (French: Moselle; Luxembourgish: Musel). Before 1 August 2007 the region was called Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, but changed to a name that was considered more consumer-friendly. The wine region is Germany's third largest in terms of production but some consider it the leading region in terms of international prestige.

 

The region covers the valleys of the rivers Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer from near the mouth of the Mosel at Koblenz and upstream to the vicinity of Trier in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The area is known for the steep slopes of the region's vineyards overlooking the river. At 65° degrees incline, the steepest recorded vineyard in the world is the Calmont vineyard located on the Mosel and belonging to the village of Bremm, and therefore referred to as Bremmer Calmont. The Mosel is mainly famous for its wines made from the Riesling grape, but Elbling and Müller-Thurgau also contribute to the production, among others.

 

In the past two decades red wine production, especially from the Spätburgunder (Pinot noir), has increased in the Mosel and throughout the German vignoble and has become of increasing interest to the international wine community. Because of the northerly location of the Mosel, the Riesling wines are often light, tending to lower alcohol, crisp and high in acidity, and often exhibit "flowery" rather than or in addition to "fruity" aromas. Its most common vineyard soil is derived in the main from various kinds of slate deposits, which tend to give the wines a transparent, mineralic aspect, that often exhibit great depth of flavor. In the current era of climate change much work has been done to improve and gain acceptance for completely dry ("Trocken") Rieslings in this region, so that most of the more famous makers have found acceptance for such wines, particularly in Europe." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon or donate.

www.bap.de/start/musik/songtexte/titel/verdamp-lang-her --- www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghi2xReyFYA&feature=related --- www.worldvision.de/unsere-arbeit-wie-wir-arbeiten-entwick... ---

Bap Colognian (Kölsch) pronunciation: [/bap/] is a German rock group. With ten albums reaching the number one in the German record charts, Bap is one of the most successful rock acts in their home country.

 

Nearly all of Bap's lyrics are written in Kölsch, the dialect of Cologne, or more precisely in a Kölsch-influenced derivation of Eifelplatt, a regional variant of the Ripuarian language spoken in the nearby rural Eifel. Niedecken's most prominent musical influences, especially early in his career, were Bob Dylan, the Kinks, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, and Wolfgang Ambros.

The group was founded in 1976 under the name Wolfgang Niedecken's Bap in Cologne, Germany by Wolfgang Niedecken and Hans Heres. In 1981 they released their most famous song "Verdamp lang her" (English: Damn long time ago), in which Niedecken describes regrets he has about his relationship with his then recently deceased father. The band's name "BAP" derived from "BAPP", both, a play-on-words on the Kölsch word "Papp" (related to the German word Papa for dad), but pronounced differently, and Niedecken's then-times nickname. BAP ist eine Kölschrockband um den Frontmann Wolfgang Niedecken und gilt als eine der erfolgreichsten Rockbands deutscher Sprache. Von den 23 BAP-Alben erreichten 19 die Top 10, zehn wurden sogar Nummer 1 der Charts.Die Gruppe um Sänger und Songschreiber Wolfgang Niedecken besteht seit 1976. Die Band traf sich zu Beginn in wechselnder Besetzung, um „einen Kasten Bier leerzuproben“.[1] Der erste Auftritt erfolgte 1977 im Mariensaal in Köln-Nippes mit zwei akustischen Gitarren (Wolfgang Niedecken, Hans Heres) und Perkussion (Afro Bauermann). Das erste Album, Wolfgang Niedecken's BAP rockt andere kölsche Leeder. erschien 1979, die Band bestand zu dieser Zeit aus Wolfgang Niedecken, Hans „Honçe“ Heres, Wolfgang „Gröön“ Klever, Manfred „Schmal“ Boecker, Wolfgang „Wolli“ Boecker und Bernd Odenthal. Die zweite LP Affjetaut folgte 1980, wie die Debüt-Platte noch unter der Bezeichnung „Wolfgang Niedeckens BAP“, da Niedecken sich bereits als Solo-Künstler mit Gitarre und Mundharmonika als „Bob Dylan der Südstadt“ einen Namen gemacht hatte; beide Platten wurden noch beim Kölner Independent-Label Eigelstein Musikproduktion veröffentlicht.

 

Der Bandname BAP entstand aus Niedeckens Spitzname, der seinen Vater so nannte. Diese Aussprache entstammt der Herkunft der Familie aus Rheinland-Pfalz, und weil sie vom kölschen „Pap“ abwich, entstand so Niedeckens Spitzname.[2] Als ein erster Auftritt geplant wurde, für den mit einem Plakat geworben werden sollte, musste ein Bandname erdacht werden. Hans Heres schlug dem Veranstalter vor, „BAPP“ zu nehmen.[3] Da sich die Bandmitglieder aber einig waren, dass „BAPP“ – mit zwei „P“ geschrieben – auf der Bassdrum nicht gut aussah, wurde einfach ein „P“ gestrichen.[4]

Der musikalische und inhaltliche Stil der BAP-Songs wird wesentlich von Bob Dylan, den Kinks und den Rolling Stones geprägt. Auch Bruce Springsteen, mit dem Sänger Wolfgang Niedecken eine persönliche Freundschaft verbindet, gilt als wichtiger Orientierungspunkt für BAP. Verschiedene BAP-Lieder, vor allem melancholische (z. B. Helfe kann dir keiner, Paar Daach fröher) zeigen in den Arrangements und der Stimmung deutliche Ähnlichkeiten mit Stücken von Wolfgang Ambros, etwa von dessen Album 19 Class A Numbers. Die Texte beschäftigen sich oft mit gesellschaftlichen oder persönlichen Problemen.1979 fanden unter dem Bandnamen "Wolfgang Niedeckens BAP" erste Auftritte außerhalb von Köln und der näheren Umgebung statt; so zum Beispiel auch anlässlich der Bundesgartenschau 1979 in der Bonner Rheinaue.[5] Im Mai 1982 machte BAP ihre erste professionell organisierte Deutschlandtournee. Im Mittelpunkt standen Songs des aktuellen Albums Für Usszeschnigge, das 1981 als erstes beim Major-Label EMI-Electrola erschienen war. Für den Wechsel von Eigelstein zur EMI mussten BAP in der lokalen Kultur-Szene viel Kritik einstecken, wurden jedoch mit Platz 1 in den deutschen Album-Charts prompt belohnt.

 

Im Sommer 1982 folgten verschiedene Auftritte im Rahmen von Großveranstaltungen und Fernsehproduktionen: Rockpop In Concert für das ZDF in der Dortmunder Westfalenhalle 1, Demonstration gegen die Nachrüstung der NATO am 10. Juni 1982 (Zehnter Juni) auf den Bonner Rheinwiesen, Vorprogramm der Rolling Stones am 4. und 5. Juli 1982 im Müngersdorfer Stadion in Köln und als erste deutsche Band bei einem Festival des WDR-Rockpalast am 28. August 1982 auf der Loreley-Freilichtbühne.

 

Nach Erscheinen des vierten Albums Vun drinne noh drusse war die Band zwischen Oktober 1982 und Oktober 1983 sieben Monate lang unterwegs. Neben Deutschland standen auch Konzerte in Österreich, der Schweiz und den Benelux-Ländern auf dem Programm. Insgesamt wurden etwa 130 Auftritte gespielt. Die Tournee endete mit einem Konzert im Kölner „Stollwerck“. Das vom Abriss bedrohte Bürgerhaus Stollwerck erhielt die Einnahmen dieses Konzerts zur Finanzierung seiner weiteren Arbeit. Am 28. Mai 1983 spielte BAP auf einem Festival im niedersächsischen Schüttorf im Vorprogramm von Rod Stewart und am 22. Oktober 1983 auf einer weiteren Großdemonstration gegen die NATO-Nachrüstung im Bonner Hofgarten.

 

Für den Januar 1984 war – nach langen Verhandlungen mit der staatlichen Künstleragentur – eine Tournee mit 14 Konzerten in 13 Städten der DDR geplant. Im Vorfeld der Tour zeichnete das DDR-Fernsehen ein Interview mit Wolfgang Niedecken inklusive zweier Unplugged-Versionen von BAP-Liedern auf. Dieses wurde später jedoch sinnentstellend verkürzt gesendet. So entschloss sich Niedecken, einige politische Statements, die der Band wichtig waren, in einem eigenen Lied darzustellen. Es wurde als Deshalv spill’ mer he betitelt und erstmals auf dem letzten „West-Konzert“ vor der Tour in Wolfsburg gespielt. Als die Band bereits in Ost-Berlin im Hotel Unter den Linden war, gab es am Vorabend des ersten Konzerts heftige Auseinandersetzungen über dieses Lied mit der DDR-Seite. Als die Band sich weigerte, es von der Setlist zu nehmen, kam es zum Eklat. Die Tournee wurde abgebrochen, bevor das erste Konzert auf dem Boden der DDR gespielt werden konnte. In einer Sendung des DDR-Fernsehens war die Ansage eines Moderators während eines Konzerts im Berliner Palast der Republik zu sehen, zu dem BAP geladen war. Er nannte als Begründung ihrer Absage, die Band wolle „nicht unter dem Symbol der weißen Taube auf blauem Grund auftreten“.[6]

 

Die Tournee zum Album Zwesche Salzjebäck un Bier begann am 15. und 16. Juni 1984 mit zwei Konzerten im Archäologischen Park in Xanten. Sie wurden vom ZDF aufgezeichnet und später in einer Zusammenfassung gesendet. Die Tour dauerte bis zum Februar 1985 und übertraf von der Zuschauerresonanz her noch die von 1982/83.

 

Am 2. März 1986 begann in Lohmar bei Köln die Tournee Ahl Männer, aalglatt. BAP spielte zunächst einige Konzerte im ländlichen Raum, bevor die Band am 15. März 1986 in der Essener Grugahalle bei der 17. und letzten Rocknacht des WDR-Rockpalast auftrat. Die Rocknacht, bei der auch Jackson Browne und Big Country auftraten, wurde wie schon das Festival auf der Loreley 1982 via Eurovision von vielen europäischen Radio- und Fernsehstationen ausgestrahlt.

 

Von April bis Juli folgten zahlreiche weitere Konzerte. Wegen der anhaltenden Popularität wurden teilweise auch größere Hallen ausgewählt. So fanden die „Heimspiele“ der Kölner Band erstmals in der bis zu 8000 Zuschauer fassenden Kölner Sporthalle, der damals größten Veranstaltungshalle der Domstadt, statt. Bei dieser Tournee gab es mit Christian Schneider erstmals auf einer Tournee einen Gastmusiker, weil die zum Teil sehr komplexen Keyboard-Arrangements des neuen Albums live mit nur einem Keyboarder nicht zu realisieren gewesen wären. Schneider spielte neben Keyboards bei einigen Stücken auch Saxophon. Den letzten Auftritt der Tour absolvierte die Band am 26. Juli 1986; genau drei Monate nach der Atomreaktor-Katastrophe von Tschernobyl auf dem legendären Anti-WAAhnsinns-Festival gegen die Wiederaufbereitungsanlage von Wackersdorf in Burglengenfeld.

 

Nach Ende der Tournee 1986 legte BAP eine kreative Pause ein (u. a. bedingt durch bandinterne, künstlerische Meinungsverschiedenheiten), die Wolfgang Niedecken zur Veröffentlichung seines Albums Schlagzeiten und zu einigen Solo-Konzerten nutzte. BAP stand erst im September 1987 bei zwei Festivals wieder auf der Bühne, um sich auf eine Tournee durch China vorzubereiten. Diese Tournee ist im Buch BAP övver China dokumentiert.

 

Das Album Da Capo wurde von Oktober bis Dezember 1988 zunächst bei einer ausgedehnten Hallentournee präsentiert. Bei dieser Tournee legte BAP die Scheu vor den ganz großen Konzertarenen endgültig ab. So standen auch die Frankfurter Festhalle und die Münchener Olympiahalle auf dem Programm. Im Sommer 1989 folgten weitere Konzerte, teilweise auch im Rahmen von Festivals gemeinsam mit Joe Cocker. Eines dieser Events fand in der Berliner Waldbühne statt.

 

Auch die Tournee 1991 wurde in mehreren Teilen durchgeführt. Kurz nach der Vollendung der deutschen Einheit standen im Januar 1991 zunächst die ersten Konzerte der Band auf dem Gebiet der ehemaligen DDR auf dem Programm. Anschließend ging BAP in Westdeutschland auf Club-Tour und absolvierte eine Reihe von Auftritten in beschaulichem Rahmen, zumeist in kleinen Hallen. Das Konzert im Kölner E-Werk wurde aufgezeichnet und später auf dem Album Live – Affrocke veröffentlicht.

 

Im Mai und Juni 1991 folgte eine Tournee ausschließlich durch die größten deutschen Konzerthallen und bei verschiedenen Open-Air-Festivals. Als Gast bei den Konzerten trat Julian Dawson auf. Am 26. Januar 1994 startete die Tournee zum im August 1993 erschienenen Album Pik Sibbe. Nach wie vor war die Nachfrage in der BAP-Hochburg Köln groß, in einigen anderen Städten blieben die Zuschauerzahlen etwas hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Die folgende Tournee zum Album Amerika begann im November 1996. Der Tourneestart in Koblenz wurde für den WDR-Rockpalast mitgeschnitten und später im Fernsehen ausgestrahlt.

 

Mit dem Ausstieg von Bassist Steve Borg und von Gründungsmitglied Manfred „Schmal“ Boecker verließen zwei Musiker die Band, die BAP über viele Jahre mitgeprägt haben. 1999 stieg auch Gitarrist Klaus „Major“ Heuser aus, der während 19 Jahren Bandmitgliedschaft die überwiegende Zahl der Lieder komponierte. Außerdem verließ Keyboarder Alexander „Effendi“ Büchel die Firma BAP. Diese Abgänge und die darauf folgenden Neubesetzungen veränderten den musikalischen Ausdruck von BAP nachhaltig.

 

Zu den Gründen für den Ausstieg von Major sagt Wolfgang Niedecken rückblickend im März 2011:

  

„Der Major ist ein toller Gitarrist. Aber er wollte, dass BAP international ausgerichteten Radio-Pop spielt. Ich wollte beim Kölsch-Rock bleiben. Beide Positionen waren nicht vereinbar. Ich bin ihm dankbar, dass er selbst gegangen ist. Ich hätte ihn nämlich nie rausgeschmissen.[7]“

 

Als Neuzugang an den Keyboards stieg Michael Nass bei BAP ein, der zuvor in den 1980er Jahren in der DDR-Musikszene musikalisch sehr aktiv war, u. a. bei P 16 und später in Liselotte Rezniceks Frauenband Mona Lise. Gitarrist wurde Helmut Krumminga. Im Sommer 2001 gab BAP vor der eigentlichen Aff un zo-Tour ab Herbst 2001 zwei Vorabkonzerte, darunter das „Konzert an der toten Brücke“ (Soda-Brücke) in Euskirchen, das auch vom WDR aufgezeichnet und wenige Tage später in der Sendung Rockpalast gesendet wurde. Das Album selbst stieg wie der Vorgänger Tonfilm auf Platz 1 in die deutschen Charts ein.

 

Im Januar 2006 war die Kölnarena zwar anlässlich des Starts der Jubiläumskonzerte zum 30-jährigen Bestehen der Band mit 25.000 Zuschauern an zwei aufeinander folgenden Tagen fast ausverkauft. Bei anderen Auftritten hatte man sich von vorneherein durch die Wahl kleinerer Konzertorte angepasst.

 

Auch das im Mai 2008 erschienene Album Radio Pandora stieg auf Platz 1 in die deutschen Charts ein. Im Winter 2008 startete die Tournee dazu, am 2. Weihnachtstag gab es das Heimspiel in der Köln-Arena (Lanxess-Arena); sie dauerte (mit Unterbrechungen) bis zum Sommer 2009, wobei die Band von Anne de Wolff (Violine, Bratsche, Gesang) und teilweise von Rhani Krija (Percussion) begleitet wurde.

 

Für November 2011 war der Start der aktuellsten Tournee geplant. Aufgrund einer schweren Erkrankung Wolfgang Niedeckens wurde der Start der Tour auf Anfang Mai 2012 verschoben.[8][9][10]

 

Auslandsauftritte [Bearbeiten]

 

BAP ist im Laufe der bisher 35-jährigen Bandgeschichte in vielen Ländern der Welt aufgetreten. Nachdem sich die Bandmitglieder anfangs kaum vorstellen konnten, dass ihre kölschen Texte außerhalb des Rheinlandes verstanden würden, durften sie erleben, dass ihre Platten weit darüber hinaus gekauft wurden. Tourneen waren dadurch auch im Ausland möglich.

 

Die ersten Auftritte außerhalb Deutschlands waren im Dezember 1982 in der Schweiz (Basel und St.Gallen)[11] und bis Mitte der 1980er Jahre in Österreich, Luxemburg, Belgien und Dänemark (Roskilde-Festival). Seitdem gehören Auftritte in diesen Nachbarländern zum Bestandteil jeder Tournee.

 

Spätere Fernreisen wurden zumeist als Begleitung zu künstlerischen oder politischen Themen organisiert; häufig war nicht die komplette Gruppe unterwegs; manchmal auch nur Wolfgang Niedecken alleine oder in Begleitung von Musikern seiner Solo-Projekte:

Mit einigen Gästen tourte BAP im Oktober 1987 vier Wochen durch China. Acht Auftritte wurden in Peking, Shanghai und Kanton absolviert.[12]

Wolfgang Niedecken spielte 1987 auf Einladung der Kulturstiftung Casa de los tres Mundos (ein Projekt des Schauspielers Dietmar Schönherr, des Produzenten Peter Reichelt und des Kulturministers Ernesto Cardenal) mit seiner Complizen-Band in Nicaragua.

In ähnlicher Zusammensetzung spielten Wolfgang Niedecken & Complizen 1988 in Mosambik eine kleine Tour.

Die politischen Veränderungen in der Sowjetunion unter Gorbatschow machten es möglich, dass BAP im Mai 1989 je drei Konzerte in Moskau und Wolgograd gab.[13] Dort kamen die Musiker auch mit Fans aus der DDR ins Gespräch. Nachdem die BAP-Tour durch Ostdeutschland 1984 abgesagt wurde, war der Umweg über die UdSSR die einzige Möglichkeit, als DDR-Bürger mit der Band zu sprechen.

 

More info and other languages available at:

 

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAP

Candi Prambanan or Candi Rara Jonggrang is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in Central Java, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimurti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the Destroyer (Shiva). The temple compound is located approximately 17 kilometres northeast of the city of Yogyakarta on the boundary between Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces.

 

The temple compound, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia, and one of the biggest in Southeast Asia. It is characterized by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the towering 47-metre-high central building inside a large complex of individual temples. Prambanan attracts many visitors from across the world.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The present name of the temple, Prambanan', was derived from the name of Prambanan village where the temple stood, this name probably comes from Javanese root '(e)mban' which means carries a duty, reflecting gods role in the world, or the villagers duty in relation to the temple. Comparable with parahyangan (western part of Java island), comes from the root hyang, means god, or (e)yang, means ancestor in Javanese.

 

HISTORY

CONSTRUCTION

The Prambanan temple is the largest Hindu temple of ancient Java, and the first building was completed in the mid-9th century. It was likely started by Rakai Pikatan as the Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty's answer to the Buddhist Sailendra Dynasty's Borobudur and Sewu temples nearby. Historians suggest that the construction of Prambanan probably was meant to mark the return of the Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty to power in Central Java after almost a century of Buddhist Sailendra Dynasty domination. The construction of this massive Hindu temple signifies that the Medang court had shifted its patronage from Mahayana Buddhism to Shivaist Hinduism.

 

A temple was first built at the site around 850 CE by Rakai Pikatan and expanded extensively by King Lokapala and Balitung Maha Sambu the Sanjaya king of the Mataram Kingdom. According to the Shivagrha inscription of 856 CE, the temple was built to honor Lord Shiva, and its original name was Shiva-grha (the House of Shiva) or Shiva-laya (the Realm of Shiva). According to the Shivagrha inscription, a public water project to change the course of a river near Shivagrha Temple was undertaken during the construction of the temple. The river, identified as the Opak River, now runs north to south on the western side of the Prambanan temple compound. Historians suggest that originally the river was curved further to east and was deemed too near to the main temple. The project was done by cutting the river along a north to south axis along the outer wall of the Shivagrha Temple compound. The former river course was filled in and made level to create a wider space for the temple expansion, the space for rows of pervara (complementary) temples.

 

Some archaeologists propose that the statue of Shiva in the garbhagriha (central chamber) of the main temple was modelled after King Balitung, serving as a depiction of his deified self after death.

 

The temple compound was expanded by successive Mataram kings, such as Daksa and Tulodong, with the addition of hundreds of perwara temples around the chief temple. Prambanan served as the royal temple of the Kingdom of Mataram, with most of the state's religious ceremonies and sacrifices being conducted there. At the height of the kingdom, scholars estimate that hundreds of brahmins with their disciples lived within the outer wall of the temple compound. The urban center and the court of Mataram were located nearby, somewhere in the Prambanan Plain.

 

ABANDONMENT

In the 930s, the court was shifted to East Java by Mpu Sindok, who established the Isyana Dynasty. An eruption of Mount Merapi volcano, located north of Prambanan in central Java, or a power struggle probably caused the shift. That marked the beginning of the decline of the temple. It was soon abandoned and began to deteriorate.

 

The temples collapsed during a major earthquake in the 16th century. Although the temple ceased to be an important center of worship, the ruins scattered around the area were still recognizable and known to the local Javanese people in later times. The statues and the ruins become the theme and the inspiration for the Loro Jonggrang folktale. After the division of Mataram Sultanate in 1755, the temple ruins and the Opak River were used to demarcate the boundary between Yogyakarta and Surakarta (Solo) Sultanates, which was adopted as the current border between Yogyakarta and the province of Central Java.

 

REDISCOVERY

The Javanese locals in the surrounding villages knew about the temple ruins before formal rediscovery, but they did not know about its historical background: which kingdoms ruled or which king commissioned the construction of the monuments. As a result, the locals developed tales and legends to explain the origin of temples, infused with myths of giants, and a cursed princess. They gave Prambanan and Sewu a wondorous origin; these were said in the Loro Jonggrang legend to have been created by a multitude of demons under the order of Bandung Bondowoso.

 

The temple attracted international attention in early 19th century. In 1811 during Britain’s short-lived rule of the Dutch East Indies, Colin Mackenzie, a surveyor in the service of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, came upon the temples by chance. Although Sir Thomas subsequently commissioned a full survey of the ruins, they remained neglected for decades. Dutch residents carried off sculptures as garden ornaments and native villagers used the foundation stones for construction material.

 

Half-hearted excavations by archaeologists in the 1880s facilitated looting. In 1918, the Dutch began reconstruction of the compound and proper restoration only in 1930. Efforts at restoration continue to this day. The reconstruction of the main Shiva temple was completed around 1953 and inaugurated by Sukarno. Since much of the original stonework has been stolen and reused at remote construction sites, restoration was hampered considerably. given the scale of the temple complex, the government decided to rebuild shrines only if at least 75% of their original masonry was available. Most of the smaller shrines are now visible only in their foundations, with no plans for their reconstruction.

 

CONTAMPORARY EVENTS

In the early 1990s the government removed the market that had sprung up near the temple and redeveloped the surrounding villages and rice paddies as an archaeological park. The park covers a large area, from Yogyakarta-Solo main road in the south, encompassing the whole Prambanan complex, the ruins of Lumbung and Bubrah temples, and as far as the Sewu temple compound in the north. In 1992 the Indonesian government created a State-owned Limited Liability Enterprise (PERSERO), named "PT Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, Prambanan, dan Ratu Boko." This enterprise is the authority for the park management of Borobudur Prambanan Ratu Boko and the surrounding region. Prambanan is one of the most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia.

 

The Trimurti open-air and indoor stages on the west side of the temple, across the Opak River, were built to stage the ballet of the traditional Ramayana epic. This traditional Javanese dance is the centuries old dance of the Javanese court. Since the 1960s, it has been performed every full moon night in the Prambanan temple. Since then, Prambanan has become one of the major archaeological and cultural tourism attractions in Indonesia.

 

Since the reconstruction of the main temples in the 1990s, Prambanan has been reclaimed as an important religious center for Hindu rituals and ceremonies in Java. Balinese and Javanese Hindu communities in Yogyakarta and Central Java revived their practices of annually performing their sacred ceremonies in Prambanan, such as Galungan, Tawur Kesanga, and Nyepi.

 

The temple was damaged during the May 2006 Java earthquake. Early photos suggested that although the complex was structurally intact, the damage was significant. Large pieces of debris, including carvings, were scattered over the ground. The temple was closed to visitors until the damage could be fully assessed. Eventually, the head of Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation Agency stated that it would take months to identify the full extent of the damage. Some weeks later in 2006, the site was re-opened for visitors.

 

There is great interest in the site. In 2008, 856,029 Indonesian visitors and 114,951 foreign visitors visited Prambanan. In 6 January 2009 the reconstruction of Nandi temple finished. As of 2009, the interior of most of the temples remains off-limits for safety reasons.

 

In 14 February 2014, major tourist attractions in Yogyakarta and Central Java, including Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko, were closed from visitors, after being severely affected by the volcanic ashes from the eruption of Kelud volcano in East Java, located around 200 kilometers east from Yogyakarta. The Kelud volcano erupted on 13 February 2014 with explosion heard as far away as Yogyakarta. Four years earlier, Prambanan was spared from Merapi volcanic ash and eruption in 2010 since the wind and ashfall were directed westward and affected Borobudur instead.

 

In 2012, the Balai Pelestarian Peninggalan Purbakala Jawa Tengah (BP3) or Central Java Heritage Preservation Authority suggested that the area in and around Prambanan should be treated as sanctuary area. The proposed area is located in Prambanan Plain measured 30 square kilometers spanned across Sleman and Klaten Regency, which includes major temples in the area such as Prambanan, Ratu Boko, Kalasan, Sari and Plaosan temples. The sanctuary area is planned to be treated in similar fashion to Angkor archaeological area in Cambodia, which means government should stop or decline the permit to construct any new buildings, especially the multi-storied buildings, as well as BTS towers in the area. This was meant to protect this archaeologically rich area from modern day visual obstructions and the encroachments of hotels, restaurants and any tourism-related buildings and businesses.

 

THE TEMPLE COMPOUND

Originally there were a total of 240 temples standing in Prambanan. The Prambanan Temple Compound consist of:

 

3 Trimurti temples: three main temples dedicated to Shiva, Visnu, and Brahma

3 Vahana temples: three temples in front of Trimurti temples dedicated to the vahana of each gods; Nandi, Garuda, and Hamsa

2 Apit temples: two temples located between the rows of Trimurti and Vahana temples on north and south side

4 Kelir temples: four small shrines located on 4 cardinal directions right beyond the 4 main gates of inner zone

4 Patok temples: four small shrines located on 4 corners of inner zone

224 Pervara temples: hundreds of temples arranged in 4 concentric square rows; numbers of temples from inner row to outer row are: 44, 52, 60, and 68

 

The Prambanan compound also known as Rara Jonggrang complex, named after the popular legend of Rara Jonggrang. There were once 240 temples stood in this Shivaite temple complex, either big or small. Today, all of 8 main temples and 8 small shrines in inner zone are reconstructed, but only 2 out of the original 224 pervara temples are renovated. The majority of them have deteriorated; what is left are only scattered stones. The Prambanan temple complex consists of three zones; first the outer zone, second the middle zone that contains hundreds of small temples, and third the holiest inner zone that contains eight main temples and eight small shrines.

 

The Hindu temple complex at Prambanan is based on a square plan that contains a total of three zone yards, each of which is surrounded by four walls pierced by four large gates. The outer zone is a large space marked by a rectangular wall. The outermost walled perimieter, which originally measured about 390 metres per side, was oriented in the northeast, southwest direction. However, except for its southern gate, not much else of this enclosure has survived down to the present. The original function is unknown; possibilities are that it was a sacred park, or priests' boarding school (ashram). The supporting buildings for the temple complex were made from organic material; as a consequence no remains occur.

 

SHIVA TEMPLE

The inner zone or central compound is the holiest among the three zones. Its the square elevated platform surrounded by square stone wall with stone gates on each four cardinal points. This holiest compound is assembled of eight main shrines or candi. The three main shrines, called Trimurti ("three forms"), are dedicated to the three Gods: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Keeper, and Shiva the Destroyer.

 

The Shiva temple is the tallest and largest structure in Prambanan Loro Jonggrang complex, it measures 47 metres tall and 34 metres wide. The Shiva temple encircled with galleries adorned with bas-reliefs telling the story of Ramayana carved on the inner walls of the balustrades. To follow the story accordingly, visitors must enter from the east side and began to perform pradakshina or circumambulating clockwise. The bas-reliefs of Ramayana continued to Brahma temple galleries.

 

The Shiva shrine located at the center and contains five chambers, four small chambers in every cardinal direction and one bigger main chamber in central part of the temple. The east chamber connect to central chamber that houses the largest temple in Prambanan, a three meter high statue of Shiva Mahadeva (the Supreme God). The statue bears Lakçana (attributes or symbol) of Shiva such as skull and sickle (crescent) at the crown, and third eye on the forehead, also four hands that holds Shiva's symbols: a prayer beads, feather duster, and trisula (trident). Some historians believe that the depiction of Shiva as Mahadeva also meant to personify king Balitung as the reincarnation of Shiva. So, when he died, a temple was built to commemorate him as Shiva. The statue of Shiva stands on lotus pad on Yoni pedestal that bears the carving of Nāga serpents on north side of pedestal.

 

The other three smaller chambers contain statues of Hindu Gods related to Shiva; his consort Durga, the rishi Agastya, and Ganesha, his son. Statue of Agastya occupy the south chamber, the west chamber houses the statue of Ganesha, while the north chamber contains the statue of Durga Mahisasuramardini depicting Durga as the slayer of Bull demon. The shrine of Durga is also called the temple of Rara Jonggrang (Javanese: slender virgin), after a Javanese legend of princess Rara Jonggrang.

 

BRAHMA & VISHNU TEMPLES

The two other main shrines are that of Vishnu on the north side of Shiva shrine, and the one of Brahma on the south. Both temple facing east and each contain only one large chamber, each dedicated to respected gods; Brahma temple contains the statue of Brahma and Vishnu temple houses the statue of Vishnu. Brahma and Vishnu temple measures 20 metres wide and 33 metres tall.

 

VAHANA TEMPLES

The other three shrine in front of three main temples is dedicated to vehicle (vahana) of the respective gods – the bull Nandi for Shiva, the sacred swan Hamsa for Brahma, and Vishnu's Kite Garuda. Precisely in front of Shiva temple stands Nandi temple which contains a statue of Nandi bull, the vehicle (vahana) of Lord Shiva. Besides it, there is also other statues, the statue of Chandra the god of moon and Surya the god of sun. Chandra stands on his carriage pulled by 10 horses, and the statue of Surya also standing on a carriage pulled by 7 horses. Facing Brahma temple is the temple of Hamsa or Angsa (sacred swan). In the chamber of this temple contains no statue. But it seems likely that there was once a statue of the sacred swan, vehicle of god Brahma. In front of Vishnu temple is the temple dedicated for Garuda, however just like the Hamsa temple, Garuda temple contains no statue. Probably this temple once contains the statue of Garuda, the vehicle of Vishnu. Garuda holds important role for Indonesia, as it serves as the national symbol of Indonesia, and also as the name of the airline Garuda Indonesia.

 

APIT TEMPLES & SMALER SHRINES

Between these row of main temple, on north and south side stands two Candi Apit. Beside these 8 main temples, there's also 8 smaller shrines; 4 Candi Kelir on four cardinal direction of the entrance, and 4 Candi Patok on four corner of inner zone.

 

PERVARA TEMPLES

The two walled perimeters that surround the remaining two yards to the interior are oriented to the four cardinal points. The second yard's walled perimeter, which measures about 225 metres per side, surrounds a terraced area that consists of four rows containing 44, 52, 60, and 68 pervara temples. Respectively, each with a height of 14 metres and measuring 6 metres x 6 metres at the base, or 224 structures in total. The sixteen temples located at the corners of the rows face two directions; the remaining 208 structures open to only one of the four cardinal directions.

 

The middle zone consists of four rows of 224 individual small shrines. There are great numbers of these temples, but most of them are still in ruins and only some have been reconstructed. These concentric rows of temples were made in identical design. Each row towards the center is slightly elevated. These shrines are called "Candi Perwara" guardian or complementary temples, the additional buildings of the main temple. Some believed it was offered to the king as a sign of submission. The Perwara are arranged in four rows around the central temples, some believed it has something to do with four castes, made according to the rank of the people allowed to enter them; the row nearest to the central compound was accessible to the priests only, the other three were reserved for the nobles, the knights, and the simple people respectively. While another believed that the four rows of Perwara has nothing to do with four castes, it just simply made as meditation place for priests and as worship place for devotees.

 

ARCHITECTURE

The architecture of Prambanan temple follows the typical Hindu architecture traditions based on Vastu Shastra. The temple design incorporated mandala temple plan arrangements and also the typical high towering spires of Hindu temples. Prambanan was originally named Shivagrha and dedicated to god Shiva. The temple was designed to mimic Meru, the holy mountain the abode of Hindu gods, and the home of Shiva. The whole temple complex is a model of Hindu universe according to Hindu cosmology and the layers of Loka.

 

Just like Borobudur, Prambanan also recognize the hierarchy of the temple zones, spanned from the less holy to the holiest realms. Each Hindu and Buddhist concepts has their own terms, but the concept's essentials is identical. Either the compound site plan (horizontally) or the temple structure (vertically) are consists of three zones:

 

Bhurloka (in Buddhism: Kāmadhātu), the lowest realm of common mortals; humans, animals also demons. Where humans are still bound by their lust, desire and unholy way of life. The outer courtyard and the foot (base) part of each temples is symbolized the realm of bhurloka.

Bhuvarloka (in Buddhism: Rupadhatu), the middle realm of holy people, occupied by rishis, ascetics, and lesser gods. People here begin to see the light of truth. The middle courtyard and the body of each temple symbolizes the realm of bhuvarloka.

Svarloka (in Buddhism: Arupadhatu), the highest and holiest realm, reserved for the gods. Also known as svargaloka. The inner courtyard and the roof of each temple symbolizes the realm of svarloka. The roof of Prambanan temples are adorned and crowned with ratna (sanskrit: jewel), the shape of Prambanan ratna took the altered form of vajra that represent diamonds. In ancient Java temple architecture, ratna is the Hindu counterpart of the Buddhist stupa, and served as the temple's pinnacle.

 

During the restoration, a well which contains a pripih (stone casket) was discovered under the center of the Shiva temple. The main temple has a well 5.75 m deep in which a stone casket was found on top a pile of charcoal, earth, and remains of burned animal bones. Sheets of gold leaves with the inscription Varuna (god of the sea) and Parvata (god of the mountains) were found here. The stone casket contained sheets of copper, charcoal, ashes, earth, 20 coins, jewels, glass, pieces of gold and silver leaves, seashells and 12 gold leaves (which were cut in the shapes of a turtle, Nāga serpent, padma, altar, and an egg).

 

RELIEFS

RAMAYANA & BHAGAVATA PURANA

The temple is adorned with panels of narrative bas-reliefs telling the story of Hindu epic; Ramayana and Bhagavata Purana. The narrative bas-relief panels was carved along the inner balustrades wall on the gallery around the three main temples.

 

The narrative panels on the balustrade read from left to right. The story started from east entrance where visitors turn left and moving around the temple gallery in clockwise direction. This conforms with pradaksina, the ritual of circumambulation performed by pilgrims who move in a clockwise direction while keeping the sanctuary to their right. The story of Ramayana started on Shiva temple balustrade and continued to Brahma temple. On the balustrades in Vishnu temple there is series of bas-relief panels depict the stories of lord Krishna from Bhagavata Purana.

 

The bas-relief of Ramayana illustrate how Sita, the wife of Rama, is abducted by Ravana. The monkey king Hanuman brings his army to help Rama and rescue Sita. This story is also shown by the Ramayana Ballet, regularly performed at full moon at Trimurti open air theatre in west side of the illuminated Prambanan complex.

 

LOKAPALAS, BRAHMINS & DEVATAS

On the other side of narrative panels, the temple wall along the gallery were adorned with the statues and reliefs of devatas and brahmin sages. The figure of lokapalas, the celestial guardians of directions can be found in Shiva temple. The brahmin sage editors of veda were carved on Brahma temple wall, while in Vishnu temple the figures of a male deities devatas flanked by two apsaras.

 

PRAMBANAN PANEL: LION & KALPATURU

The lower outer wall of these temples were adorned with row of small niche containing image of sinha (lion) flanked by two panels depicting bountiful kalpataru (kalpavriksha) tree. These wish-fulfilling sacred trees according to Hindu-Buddhist beliefs, is flanked on either side by kinnaras or animals, such as pairs of birds, deer, sheep, monkeys, horses, elephants etc. The pattern of lion in niche flanked by kalpataru trees is typical in Prambanan temple compound, thus it is called as "Prambanan panel".

 

THE RARA JONGGRAND LEGEND

The popular legend of Rara Jonggrang is what connects the site of the Ratu Boko Palace, the origin of the Durga statue in northern cell/chamber of the main shrine, and the origin of the Sewu temple temple complex nearby. The legend tells of the story about Prince Bandung Bondowoso who fell in love with Princess Rara Jonggrang, the daughter of King Boko. But the princess rejected his proposal of marriage because Bandung Bondowoso had killed King Boko and ruled her kingdom. Bandung Bondowoso insisted on the union, and finally Rara Jonggrang was forced to agree for a union in marriage, but she posed one impossible condition: Bandung must build her a thousand temples in only one night.The Prince entered into meditation and conjured up a multitude of spirits (demons) from the earth. Helped by supernatural beings, he succeeded in building 999 temples. When the prince was about to complete the condition, the princess woke her palace maids and ordered the women of the village to begin pounding rice and set a fire in the east of the temple, attempting to make the prince and the spirits believe that the sun was about to rise. As the cocks began to crow, fooled by the light and the sounds of morning time, the supernatural helpers fled back into the ground. The prince was furious about the trick and in revenge he cursed Rara Jonggrang to stone. She became the last and the most beautiful of the thousand statues. According to the traditions, the unfinished thousandth temple created by the demons become the Sewu temple compounds nearby (Sewu means "thousands" in Javanese), and the Princess is the image of Durga in the north cell of the Shiva temple at Prambanan, which is still known as Rara Jonggrang or Slender Virgin.

 

OTHER TEMPLES AROUND PRAMBANAN

The Prambanan Plain span between southern slopes of Merapi volcano in the north and Sewu mountain range in the south, near the present border Yogyakarta province and Klaten Regency, Central Java. Apart from the Lara Jonggrang complex, Prambanan plain, valley and hills around it is the location of some of the earliest Buddhist temples in Indonesia. Not far to the north are found the ruins of Bubrah temple, Lumbung temple, and Sewu temple. Further east are found Plaosan temple. To the west are found Kalasan temple and Sari temple, further to the west are Sambisari temple. While to the south the Ratu Boko compounds on higher ground. The discoveries of archaeological sites scattered only a few miles away suggested that this area was an important religious, political, and urban center.

 

NORTH OF LARA JONGRANG COMPLEX

Lumbung. Buddhist-style, consisting of one main temple surrounded by 16 smaller ones.

Candi Bubrah. Buddhist temple still in ruins.

Sewu. Buddhist temple complex, older than Roro Jonggrang. A main sanctuary surrounded by many smaller temples. Well preserved guardian statues, replicas of which stand in the central courtyard at the Jogja Kraton.

Candi Morangan. Hindu temple complex buried several meters under volcanic ashes, located northwest from Prambanan.

 

Candi Plaosan. Buddhist, probably 9th century. Thought to have been built by a Hindu king for his Buddhist queen. Two main temples with reliefs of Boddhisatva and Tara. Also rows of slender stupas.

 

SOUTH OF LARA JONGRANG COMPLEX

Ratu Boko. Complex of fortified gates, bathing pools, and elevated walled stone enclosure, all located on top of the hill.

Sajiwan. Buddhist temple decorated with reliefs concerning education. The base and staircase are decorated with animal fables.

Banyunibo. A Buddhist temple with unique design of roof.

Candi Barong. A Hindu temple complex with large stepped stone courtyard. Located on the slope of the hill.

Ijo. A cluster of Hindu temple located near the top of Ijo hill. The main temple houses a large lingam and yoni.

Arca Bugisan. Seven Buddha and bodhisattva statues, some collapsed, representing different poses and expressions.

 

WEST OF LARA JONGRANG COMPLEX

Kalasan. 8th-century Buddhist temple built in commemoration of the marriage of a king and his princess bride, ornamented with finely carved reliefs.

Sari. Once a sanctuary for Buddhist priests. 8th century. Nine stupas at the top with two rooms beneath, each believed to be places for priests to meditate.

Sambisari. 9th-century Hindu temple discovered in 1966, once buried 6.5 metres under volcanic ash. The main temple houses a linga and yoni, and the wall surround it displayed the images of Agastya, Durga, and Ganesha.

Gebang. A small Hindu temple discovered in 1937 located near the Yogyakarta northern ring-road. The temple display the statue of Ganesha and interesting carving of faces on the roof section.

Candi Gana. Rich in statues, bas-reliefs and sculpted stones. Frequent representations of children or dwarfs with raised hands. Located in the middle of housing complex. Under restoration since 1997.

Candi Kedulan. Discovered in 1994 by sand diggers, 4m deep. Square base of main temple visible. Secondary temples not yet fully excavated.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Photograph taken at an altitude of Seven metres, in the magic of the Golden hour around sunrise at 05:31am, (sunrise was at precisely 06.15am) on Saturday 6th September 2014 off the Patricia Bay Highway 17, on Lochside Drive close to Frost Avenue and the Lochside Waterfront Park, in beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

  

The large bird in the foreground is a Great Blue Heron, very often found on the shoreline here, along with the Skeins of Canada Geese which fly West across the water each sunrise and back Eastwards to sleep at sunset each day.

  

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Nikon D800 135mm 1/500s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

  

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

  

LATITUDE: N 48d 38m 15.75s

LONGITUDE: W 123d 24m 12.78s

ALTITUDE: 7.0m

  

RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 12.83MB

  

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Processing power:

HP Pavillion P6-2388EA Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD 7570 graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

   

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We had a complete change this Christmas – we cancelled it! - we went walking in The Lakes, or Wasdale more precisely. We were staying at Irton Hall B & B, they had over 70 in for Christmas dinner but we ate jam bread on the slopes of Sca Fell Pike. Fantastic. We had a front wheel puncture on a run flat tyre on the new car with a 100 mile still to drive on the afternoon of Christmas eve on our way there. I drove straight to the nearest ATS – where I have an account – they shook their heads and directed me to Westhoughton Tyres, the lads there were fantastic and got us on our way in good time. BMW dealer advice was run on the flat tyre and then throw it away - £250! Where I would have got a tyre on the western side of the Lakes over Christmas I don’t know, ATS didn’t have one to sell me.

 

The weather was forecast good for Christmas day but after a fine start it was raining before we even left the car park in Wasdale. We headed up Lingmell and ran into snow on the summit. The path onto Sca Fell Pike was very icy, snow covered and visibility was low, the snow kept falling. We didn’t linger long, it was too cold to have dinner up there so we dropped down onto the Corridor Route, where we had our dinner. We went that way to stretch the walk out, having originally intended to cross to Great End. The tops were so icy, glazed, with not enough snow to get a grip on that we decide to leave it for another day. From Styhead we headed back to Wasdale and a dull but fine finish to the day. A drink in the bar at Irton Hall was on the radar.

 

Every morning we headed into Wasdale early, it got colder, icier and sunnier as the days went by. We went up Yewbarrow, it was an icy scramble up and I decided it was too dangerous to go down Stirrup Crag to Dore Head so went back the same way. It turned out to be the right decision as we lingered on the top, going to view points that we wouldn’t have and getting some decent photos. One morning we walked over the Screes tops, Illgill Head and Whin Rigg, dropping down the steep slope to The southern end of Wast Water. Having said that I would never walk the Screes path alongside Wast Water again the memory of how awful it is in the rain had faded. There is only really a quarter of a mile out of three miles that is really bad, every rock was like glass with the potential to break a leg every step. It seemed a long way and I was getting killer looks from Herself.

 

We made our way onto Sca Fell on a beautiful morning, clear blue sky. The snow line had got lower most nights but we never had the low level snow that caused problems in the rest of the country. I chose a, sometimes, pathless way to the summit, partly because I’d never been that way but also to stay in the sun, to keep the view and to avoid the ways that would be a touch dangerous, it was -4 and seared with ice for the last 600 feet. After 15 minutes on the summit wispy thin cloud came racing in, crossing the Lake District in minutes, the photos show it heading towards us and I was glad to have got the clear photos first. Looking out to sea a great mattress of cloud was heading straight for us. It was calm and sunny one minute and the next we were engulfed in thick cloud with 30 yards visibility at the most. I have never had a clear sky turn to cloud so fast – ever! We were going down to Slightside next which was OK, about a mile following the ridge down, the problem was getting back to Wasdale from there. We needed to get to Great Howe which meant a pathless trek a mile SW across Quagrigg Moss – a bog full of tarnlets, it would be a nightmare in low visibility. After getting some accurate compass bearings and heading down off Slightside we suddenly dropped out of the cloud and could see our target, brilliant, we legged it across the semi frozen bog and finally felt able to rest and grab a sandwich and cup of tea. We had to find our way down Raven Crags, which was interesting – and steep! We needed to get to the footbridge to get onto the Burnmoor Tarn path back to Wasdale. As we got closer to Burnmoor Tarn the light that I had been cursing gave us a gorgeous sunset. I had one eye on a gap in the cloud low down in the sky out at sea and I was hoping the sun would break through, it did. Burnmoor Tarn was like a mirror, reflecting the surrounding mountains, including Yewbarrow and parts of the Mosedale Horseshoe in the far distance. There was just the two of us, we had barely seen a soul all day, it was a fantastic end to a tough day. As we dropped into Wasdale I caught the deep pink and orange of the last of the sun, I was shooting into it but I had nothing to lose. There would have been quite a few tripods at the opposite end of the lake but I think I was in the better place – for a change.

 

On our final walking day we decided to head up Great Gable. It was clear of cloud for a change but ominously the surrounding tops, including the Sca Fells were cloud covered. Another beautiful but very cold morning, it was going to be very icy up there so we elected to go via Styhead and the tourist track. We would choose a way off once we were up there. Long before we got to the top, although we couldn’t see it, we knew the cloud was swirling in and out on the summit so it was going to be hit and miss for the photos. The cloud was down for the last 500 feet but once on the frozen top it kept clearing briefly – very briefly. There were more people up there than we had seen the entire trip previously. People were getting out after Christmas, many had parked at the top of Honister for the fairly easy walk in across Green Gable, some were not dressed for winter walking it has to be said. We left for an icy scramble down to Aaron Slack, up onto Green Gable them we galloped down Aaron Slack to Styhead and back to Wasdale.

 

Background photo taken at precisely 12 minutes and 12 seconds past 12 noon, on 12-12-2012, as recorded on the digital photo frame, at right, and on the two clocks. What then of time's portents!? Nothing dramatic happened, except that I enjoyed capturing the moment!

An illustration shows how diamondoids (left), the tiniest possible specks of diamond, were used to seed the growth of nanosized diamond crystals (right). Trillions of diamondoids were attached to the surface of a silicon wafer, which was then tipped on end and exposed to a hot plasma (purple) containing carbon and hydrogen, the two elements needed to form diamond. A new study found that diamond growth really took off when seeds contained at least 26 carbon atoms. (Credit: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

 

Learn more: www6.slac.stanford.edu/news/2018-08-02-first-scientists-p...

 

Citation: Matthew Gebbie et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1 August 2018 (10.1073/pnas.1803654115) - www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/07/31/1803654115

www.bap.de/start/musik/songtexte/titel/verdamp-lang-her --- www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghi2xReyFYA&feature=related --- www.worldvision.de/unsere-arbeit-wie-wir-arbeiten-entwick... ---

Bap Colognian (Kölsch) pronunciation: [/bap/] is a German rock group. With ten albums reaching the number one in the German record charts, Bap is one of the most successful rock acts in their home country.

 

Nearly all of Bap's lyrics are written in Kölsch, the dialect of Cologne, or more precisely in a Kölsch-influenced derivation of Eifelplatt, a regional variant of the Ripuarian language spoken in the nearby rural Eifel. Niedecken's most prominent musical influences, especially early in his career, were Bob Dylan, the Kinks, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, and Wolfgang Ambros.

The group was founded in 1976 under the name Wolfgang Niedecken's Bap in Cologne, Germany by Wolfgang Niedecken and Hans Heres. In 1981 they released their most famous song "Verdamp lang her" (English: Damn long time ago), in which Niedecken describes regrets he has about his relationship with his then recently deceased father. The band's name "BAP" derived from "BAPP", both, a play-on-words on the Kölsch word "Papp" (related to the German word Papa for dad), but pronounced differently, and Niedecken's then-times nickname. BAP ist eine Kölschrockband um den Frontmann Wolfgang Niedecken und gilt als eine der erfolgreichsten Rockbands deutscher Sprache. Von den 23 BAP-Alben erreichten 19 die Top 10, zehn wurden sogar Nummer 1 der Charts.Die Gruppe um Sänger und Songschreiber Wolfgang Niedecken besteht seit 1976. Die Band traf sich zu Beginn in wechselnder Besetzung, um „einen Kasten Bier leerzuproben“.[1] Der erste Auftritt erfolgte 1977 im Mariensaal in Köln-Nippes mit zwei akustischen Gitarren (Wolfgang Niedecken, Hans Heres) und Perkussion (Afro Bauermann). Das erste Album, Wolfgang Niedecken's BAP rockt andere kölsche Leeder. erschien 1979, die Band bestand zu dieser Zeit aus Wolfgang Niedecken, Hans „Honçe“ Heres, Wolfgang „Gröön“ Klever, Manfred „Schmal“ Boecker, Wolfgang „Wolli“ Boecker und Bernd Odenthal. Die zweite LP Affjetaut folgte 1980, wie die Debüt-Platte noch unter der Bezeichnung „Wolfgang Niedeckens BAP“, da Niedecken sich bereits als Solo-Künstler mit Gitarre und Mundharmonika als „Bob Dylan der Südstadt“ einen Namen gemacht hatte; beide Platten wurden noch beim Kölner Independent-Label Eigelstein Musikproduktion veröffentlicht.

 

Der Bandname BAP entstand aus Niedeckens Spitzname, der seinen Vater so nannte. Diese Aussprache entstammt der Herkunft der Familie aus Rheinland-Pfalz, und weil sie vom kölschen „Pap“ abwich, entstand so Niedeckens Spitzname.[2] Als ein erster Auftritt geplant wurde, für den mit einem Plakat geworben werden sollte, musste ein Bandname erdacht werden. Hans Heres schlug dem Veranstalter vor, „BAPP“ zu nehmen.[3] Da sich die Bandmitglieder aber einig waren, dass „BAPP“ – mit zwei „P“ geschrieben – auf der Bassdrum nicht gut aussah, wurde einfach ein „P“ gestrichen.[4]

Der musikalische und inhaltliche Stil der BAP-Songs wird wesentlich von Bob Dylan, den Kinks und den Rolling Stones geprägt. Auch Bruce Springsteen, mit dem Sänger Wolfgang Niedecken eine persönliche Freundschaft verbindet, gilt als wichtiger Orientierungspunkt für BAP. Verschiedene BAP-Lieder, vor allem melancholische (z. B. Helfe kann dir keiner, Paar Daach fröher) zeigen in den Arrangements und der Stimmung deutliche Ähnlichkeiten mit Stücken von Wolfgang Ambros, etwa von dessen Album 19 Class A Numbers. Die Texte beschäftigen sich oft mit gesellschaftlichen oder persönlichen Problemen.1979 fanden unter dem Bandnamen "Wolfgang Niedeckens BAP" erste Auftritte außerhalb von Köln und der näheren Umgebung statt; so zum Beispiel auch anlässlich der Bundesgartenschau 1979 in der Bonner Rheinaue.[5] Im Mai 1982 machte BAP ihre erste professionell organisierte Deutschlandtournee. Im Mittelpunkt standen Songs des aktuellen Albums Für Usszeschnigge, das 1981 als erstes beim Major-Label EMI-Electrola erschienen war. Für den Wechsel von Eigelstein zur EMI mussten BAP in der lokalen Kultur-Szene viel Kritik einstecken, wurden jedoch mit Platz 1 in den deutschen Album-Charts prompt belohnt.

 

Im Sommer 1982 folgten verschiedene Auftritte im Rahmen von Großveranstaltungen und Fernsehproduktionen: Rockpop In Concert für das ZDF in der Dortmunder Westfalenhalle 1, Demonstration gegen die Nachrüstung der NATO am 10. Juni 1982 (Zehnter Juni) auf den Bonner Rheinwiesen, Vorprogramm der Rolling Stones am 4. und 5. Juli 1982 im Müngersdorfer Stadion in Köln und als erste deutsche Band bei einem Festival des WDR-Rockpalast am 28. August 1982 auf der Loreley-Freilichtbühne.

 

Nach Erscheinen des vierten Albums Vun drinne noh drusse war die Band zwischen Oktober 1982 und Oktober 1983 sieben Monate lang unterwegs. Neben Deutschland standen auch Konzerte in Österreich, der Schweiz und den Benelux-Ländern auf dem Programm. Insgesamt wurden etwa 130 Auftritte gespielt. Die Tournee endete mit einem Konzert im Kölner „Stollwerck“. Das vom Abriss bedrohte Bürgerhaus Stollwerck erhielt die Einnahmen dieses Konzerts zur Finanzierung seiner weiteren Arbeit. Am 28. Mai 1983 spielte BAP auf einem Festival im niedersächsischen Schüttorf im Vorprogramm von Rod Stewart und am 22. Oktober 1983 auf einer weiteren Großdemonstration gegen die NATO-Nachrüstung im Bonner Hofgarten.

 

Für den Januar 1984 war – nach langen Verhandlungen mit der staatlichen Künstleragentur – eine Tournee mit 14 Konzerten in 13 Städten der DDR geplant. Im Vorfeld der Tour zeichnete das DDR-Fernsehen ein Interview mit Wolfgang Niedecken inklusive zweier Unplugged-Versionen von BAP-Liedern auf. Dieses wurde später jedoch sinnentstellend verkürzt gesendet. So entschloss sich Niedecken, einige politische Statements, die der Band wichtig waren, in einem eigenen Lied darzustellen. Es wurde als Deshalv spill’ mer he betitelt und erstmals auf dem letzten „West-Konzert“ vor der Tour in Wolfsburg gespielt. Als die Band bereits in Ost-Berlin im Hotel Unter den Linden war, gab es am Vorabend des ersten Konzerts heftige Auseinandersetzungen über dieses Lied mit der DDR-Seite. Als die Band sich weigerte, es von der Setlist zu nehmen, kam es zum Eklat. Die Tournee wurde abgebrochen, bevor das erste Konzert auf dem Boden der DDR gespielt werden konnte. In einer Sendung des DDR-Fernsehens war die Ansage eines Moderators während eines Konzerts im Berliner Palast der Republik zu sehen, zu dem BAP geladen war. Er nannte als Begründung ihrer Absage, die Band wolle „nicht unter dem Symbol der weißen Taube auf blauem Grund auftreten“.[6]

 

Die Tournee zum Album Zwesche Salzjebäck un Bier begann am 15. und 16. Juni 1984 mit zwei Konzerten im Archäologischen Park in Xanten. Sie wurden vom ZDF aufgezeichnet und später in einer Zusammenfassung gesendet. Die Tour dauerte bis zum Februar 1985 und übertraf von der Zuschauerresonanz her noch die von 1982/83.

 

Am 2. März 1986 begann in Lohmar bei Köln die Tournee Ahl Männer, aalglatt. BAP spielte zunächst einige Konzerte im ländlichen Raum, bevor die Band am 15. März 1986 in der Essener Grugahalle bei der 17. und letzten Rocknacht des WDR-Rockpalast auftrat. Die Rocknacht, bei der auch Jackson Browne und Big Country auftraten, wurde wie schon das Festival auf der Loreley 1982 via Eurovision von vielen europäischen Radio- und Fernsehstationen ausgestrahlt.

 

Von April bis Juli folgten zahlreiche weitere Konzerte. Wegen der anhaltenden Popularität wurden teilweise auch größere Hallen ausgewählt. So fanden die „Heimspiele“ der Kölner Band erstmals in der bis zu 8000 Zuschauer fassenden Kölner Sporthalle, der damals größten Veranstaltungshalle der Domstadt, statt. Bei dieser Tournee gab es mit Christian Schneider erstmals auf einer Tournee einen Gastmusiker, weil die zum Teil sehr komplexen Keyboard-Arrangements des neuen Albums live mit nur einem Keyboarder nicht zu realisieren gewesen wären. Schneider spielte neben Keyboards bei einigen Stücken auch Saxophon. Den letzten Auftritt der Tour absolvierte die Band am 26. Juli 1986; genau drei Monate nach der Atomreaktor-Katastrophe von Tschernobyl auf dem legendären Anti-WAAhnsinns-Festival gegen die Wiederaufbereitungsanlage von Wackersdorf in Burglengenfeld.

 

Nach Ende der Tournee 1986 legte BAP eine kreative Pause ein (u. a. bedingt durch bandinterne, künstlerische Meinungsverschiedenheiten), die Wolfgang Niedecken zur Veröffentlichung seines Albums Schlagzeiten und zu einigen Solo-Konzerten nutzte. BAP stand erst im September 1987 bei zwei Festivals wieder auf der Bühne, um sich auf eine Tournee durch China vorzubereiten. Diese Tournee ist im Buch BAP övver China dokumentiert.

 

Das Album Da Capo wurde von Oktober bis Dezember 1988 zunächst bei einer ausgedehnten Hallentournee präsentiert. Bei dieser Tournee legte BAP die Scheu vor den ganz großen Konzertarenen endgültig ab. So standen auch die Frankfurter Festhalle und die Münchener Olympiahalle auf dem Programm. Im Sommer 1989 folgten weitere Konzerte, teilweise auch im Rahmen von Festivals gemeinsam mit Joe Cocker. Eines dieser Events fand in der Berliner Waldbühne statt.

 

Auch die Tournee 1991 wurde in mehreren Teilen durchgeführt. Kurz nach der Vollendung der deutschen Einheit standen im Januar 1991 zunächst die ersten Konzerte der Band auf dem Gebiet der ehemaligen DDR auf dem Programm. Anschließend ging BAP in Westdeutschland auf Club-Tour und absolvierte eine Reihe von Auftritten in beschaulichem Rahmen, zumeist in kleinen Hallen. Das Konzert im Kölner E-Werk wurde aufgezeichnet und später auf dem Album Live – Affrocke veröffentlicht.

 

Im Mai und Juni 1991 folgte eine Tournee ausschließlich durch die größten deutschen Konzerthallen und bei verschiedenen Open-Air-Festivals. Als Gast bei den Konzerten trat Julian Dawson auf. Am 26. Januar 1994 startete die Tournee zum im August 1993 erschienenen Album Pik Sibbe. Nach wie vor war die Nachfrage in der BAP-Hochburg Köln groß, in einigen anderen Städten blieben die Zuschauerzahlen etwas hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Die folgende Tournee zum Album Amerika begann im November 1996. Der Tourneestart in Koblenz wurde für den WDR-Rockpalast mitgeschnitten und später im Fernsehen ausgestrahlt.

 

Mit dem Ausstieg von Bassist Steve Borg und von Gründungsmitglied Manfred „Schmal“ Boecker verließen zwei Musiker die Band, die BAP über viele Jahre mitgeprägt haben. 1999 stieg auch Gitarrist Klaus „Major“ Heuser aus, der während 19 Jahren Bandmitgliedschaft die überwiegende Zahl der Lieder komponierte. Außerdem verließ Keyboarder Alexander „Effendi“ Büchel die Firma BAP. Diese Abgänge und die darauf folgenden Neubesetzungen veränderten den musikalischen Ausdruck von BAP nachhaltig.

 

Zu den Gründen für den Ausstieg von Major sagt Wolfgang Niedecken rückblickend im März 2011:

  

„Der Major ist ein toller Gitarrist. Aber er wollte, dass BAP international ausgerichteten Radio-Pop spielt. Ich wollte beim Kölsch-Rock bleiben. Beide Positionen waren nicht vereinbar. Ich bin ihm dankbar, dass er selbst gegangen ist. Ich hätte ihn nämlich nie rausgeschmissen.[7]“

 

Als Neuzugang an den Keyboards stieg Michael Nass bei BAP ein, der zuvor in den 1980er Jahren in der DDR-Musikszene musikalisch sehr aktiv war, u. a. bei P 16 und später in Liselotte Rezniceks Frauenband Mona Lise. Gitarrist wurde Helmut Krumminga. Im Sommer 2001 gab BAP vor der eigentlichen Aff un zo-Tour ab Herbst 2001 zwei Vorabkonzerte, darunter das „Konzert an der toten Brücke“ (Soda-Brücke) in Euskirchen, das auch vom WDR aufgezeichnet und wenige Tage später in der Sendung Rockpalast gesendet wurde. Das Album selbst stieg wie der Vorgänger Tonfilm auf Platz 1 in die deutschen Charts ein.

 

Im Januar 2006 war die Kölnarena zwar anlässlich des Starts der Jubiläumskonzerte zum 30-jährigen Bestehen der Band mit 25.000 Zuschauern an zwei aufeinander folgenden Tagen fast ausverkauft. Bei anderen Auftritten hatte man sich von vorneherein durch die Wahl kleinerer Konzertorte angepasst.

 

Auch das im Mai 2008 erschienene Album Radio Pandora stieg auf Platz 1 in die deutschen Charts ein. Im Winter 2008 startete die Tournee dazu, am 2. Weihnachtstag gab es das Heimspiel in der Köln-Arena (Lanxess-Arena); sie dauerte (mit Unterbrechungen) bis zum Sommer 2009, wobei die Band von Anne de Wolff (Violine, Bratsche, Gesang) und teilweise von Rhani Krija (Percussion) begleitet wurde.

 

Für November 2011 war der Start der aktuellsten Tournee geplant. Aufgrund einer schweren Erkrankung Wolfgang Niedeckens wurde der Start der Tour auf Anfang Mai 2012 verschoben.[8][9][10]

 

Auslandsauftritte [Bearbeiten]

 

BAP ist im Laufe der bisher 35-jährigen Bandgeschichte in vielen Ländern der Welt aufgetreten. Nachdem sich die Bandmitglieder anfangs kaum vorstellen konnten, dass ihre kölschen Texte außerhalb des Rheinlandes verstanden würden, durften sie erleben, dass ihre Platten weit darüber hinaus gekauft wurden. Tourneen waren dadurch auch im Ausland möglich.

 

Die ersten Auftritte außerhalb Deutschlands waren im Dezember 1982 in der Schweiz (Basel und St.Gallen)[11] und bis Mitte der 1980er Jahre in Österreich, Luxemburg, Belgien und Dänemark (Roskilde-Festival). Seitdem gehören Auftritte in diesen Nachbarländern zum Bestandteil jeder Tournee.

 

Spätere Fernreisen wurden zumeist als Begleitung zu künstlerischen oder politischen Themen organisiert; häufig war nicht die komplette Gruppe unterwegs; manchmal auch nur Wolfgang Niedecken alleine oder in Begleitung von Musikern seiner Solo-Projekte:

Mit einigen Gästen tourte BAP im Oktober 1987 vier Wochen durch China. Acht Auftritte wurden in Peking, Shanghai und Kanton absolviert.[12]

Wolfgang Niedecken spielte 1987 auf Einladung der Kulturstiftung Casa de los tres Mundos (ein Projekt des Schauspielers Dietmar Schönherr, des Produzenten Peter Reichelt und des Kulturministers Ernesto Cardenal) mit seiner Complizen-Band in Nicaragua.

In ähnlicher Zusammensetzung spielten Wolfgang Niedecken & Complizen 1988 in Mosambik eine kleine Tour.

Die politischen Veränderungen in der Sowjetunion unter Gorbatschow machten es möglich, dass BAP im Mai 1989 je drei Konzerte in Moskau und Wolgograd gab.[13] Dort kamen die Musiker auch mit Fans aus der DDR ins Gespräch. Nachdem die BAP-Tour durch Ostdeutschland 1984 abgesagt wurde, war der Umweg über die UdSSR die einzige Möglichkeit, als DDR-Bürger mit der Band zu sprechen.

 

More info and other languages available at:

 

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAP

www.bap.de/start/musik/songtexte/titel/verdamp-lang-her --- www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghi2xReyFYA&feature=related --- www.worldvision.de/unsere-arbeit-wie-wir-arbeiten-entwick... ---

Bap Colognian (Kölsch) pronunciation: [/bap/] is a German rock group. With ten albums reaching the number one in the German record charts, Bap is one of the most successful rock acts in their home country.

 

Nearly all of Bap's lyrics are written in Kölsch, the dialect of Cologne, or more precisely in a Kölsch-influenced derivation of Eifelplatt, a regional variant of the Ripuarian language spoken in the nearby rural Eifel. Niedecken's most prominent musical influences, especially early in his career, were Bob Dylan, the Kinks, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, and Wolfgang Ambros.

The group was founded in 1976 under the name Wolfgang Niedecken's Bap in Cologne, Germany by Wolfgang Niedecken and Hans Heres. In 1981 they released their most famous song "Verdamp lang her" (English: Damn long time ago), in which Niedecken describes regrets he has about his relationship with his then recently deceased father. The band's name "BAP" derived from "BAPP", both, a play-on-words on the Kölsch word "Papp" (related to the German word Papa for dad), but pronounced differently, and Niedecken's then-times nickname. BAP ist eine Kölschrockband um den Frontmann Wolfgang Niedecken und gilt als eine der erfolgreichsten Rockbands deutscher Sprache. Von den 23 BAP-Alben erreichten 19 die Top 10, zehn wurden sogar Nummer 1 der Charts.Die Gruppe um Sänger und Songschreiber Wolfgang Niedecken besteht seit 1976. Die Band traf sich zu Beginn in wechselnder Besetzung, um „einen Kasten Bier leerzuproben“.[1] Der erste Auftritt erfolgte 1977 im Mariensaal in Köln-Nippes mit zwei akustischen Gitarren (Wolfgang Niedecken, Hans Heres) und Perkussion (Afro Bauermann). Das erste Album, Wolfgang Niedecken's BAP rockt andere kölsche Leeder. erschien 1979, die Band bestand zu dieser Zeit aus Wolfgang Niedecken, Hans „Honçe“ Heres, Wolfgang „Gröön“ Klever, Manfred „Schmal“ Boecker, Wolfgang „Wolli“ Boecker und Bernd Odenthal. Die zweite LP Affjetaut folgte 1980, wie die Debüt-Platte noch unter der Bezeichnung „Wolfgang Niedeckens BAP“, da Niedecken sich bereits als Solo-Künstler mit Gitarre und Mundharmonika als „Bob Dylan der Südstadt“ einen Namen gemacht hatte; beide Platten wurden noch beim Kölner Independent-Label Eigelstein Musikproduktion veröffentlicht.

 

Der Bandname BAP entstand aus Niedeckens Spitzname, der seinen Vater so nannte. Diese Aussprache entstammt der Herkunft der Familie aus Rheinland-Pfalz, und weil sie vom kölschen „Pap“ abwich, entstand so Niedeckens Spitzname.[2] Als ein erster Auftritt geplant wurde, für den mit einem Plakat geworben werden sollte, musste ein Bandname erdacht werden. Hans Heres schlug dem Veranstalter vor, „BAPP“ zu nehmen.[3] Da sich die Bandmitglieder aber einig waren, dass „BAPP“ – mit zwei „P“ geschrieben – auf der Bassdrum nicht gut aussah, wurde einfach ein „P“ gestrichen.[4]

Der musikalische und inhaltliche Stil der BAP-Songs wird wesentlich von Bob Dylan, den Kinks und den Rolling Stones geprägt. Auch Bruce Springsteen, mit dem Sänger Wolfgang Niedecken eine persönliche Freundschaft verbindet, gilt als wichtiger Orientierungspunkt für BAP. Verschiedene BAP-Lieder, vor allem melancholische (z. B. Helfe kann dir keiner, Paar Daach fröher) zeigen in den Arrangements und der Stimmung deutliche Ähnlichkeiten mit Stücken von Wolfgang Ambros, etwa von dessen Album 19 Class A Numbers. Die Texte beschäftigen sich oft mit gesellschaftlichen oder persönlichen Problemen.1979 fanden unter dem Bandnamen "Wolfgang Niedeckens BAP" erste Auftritte außerhalb von Köln und der näheren Umgebung statt; so zum Beispiel auch anlässlich der Bundesgartenschau 1979 in der Bonner Rheinaue.[5] Im Mai 1982 machte BAP ihre erste professionell organisierte Deutschlandtournee. Im Mittelpunkt standen Songs des aktuellen Albums Für Usszeschnigge, das 1981 als erstes beim Major-Label EMI-Electrola erschienen war. Für den Wechsel von Eigelstein zur EMI mussten BAP in der lokalen Kultur-Szene viel Kritik einstecken, wurden jedoch mit Platz 1 in den deutschen Album-Charts prompt belohnt.

 

Im Sommer 1982 folgten verschiedene Auftritte im Rahmen von Großveranstaltungen und Fernsehproduktionen: Rockpop In Concert für das ZDF in der Dortmunder Westfalenhalle 1, Demonstration gegen die Nachrüstung der NATO am 10. Juni 1982 (Zehnter Juni) auf den Bonner Rheinwiesen, Vorprogramm der Rolling Stones am 4. und 5. Juli 1982 im Müngersdorfer Stadion in Köln und als erste deutsche Band bei einem Festival des WDR-Rockpalast am 28. August 1982 auf der Loreley-Freilichtbühne.

 

Nach Erscheinen des vierten Albums Vun drinne noh drusse war die Band zwischen Oktober 1982 und Oktober 1983 sieben Monate lang unterwegs. Neben Deutschland standen auch Konzerte in Österreich, der Schweiz und den Benelux-Ländern auf dem Programm. Insgesamt wurden etwa 130 Auftritte gespielt. Die Tournee endete mit einem Konzert im Kölner „Stollwerck“. Das vom Abriss bedrohte Bürgerhaus Stollwerck erhielt die Einnahmen dieses Konzerts zur Finanzierung seiner weiteren Arbeit. Am 28. Mai 1983 spielte BAP auf einem Festival im niedersächsischen Schüttorf im Vorprogramm von Rod Stewart und am 22. Oktober 1983 auf einer weiteren Großdemonstration gegen die NATO-Nachrüstung im Bonner Hofgarten.

 

Für den Januar 1984 war – nach langen Verhandlungen mit der staatlichen Künstleragentur – eine Tournee mit 14 Konzerten in 13 Städten der DDR geplant. Im Vorfeld der Tour zeichnete das DDR-Fernsehen ein Interview mit Wolfgang Niedecken inklusive zweier Unplugged-Versionen von BAP-Liedern auf. Dieses wurde später jedoch sinnentstellend verkürzt gesendet. So entschloss sich Niedecken, einige politische Statements, die der Band wichtig waren, in einem eigenen Lied darzustellen. Es wurde als Deshalv spill’ mer he betitelt und erstmals auf dem letzten „West-Konzert“ vor der Tour in Wolfsburg gespielt. Als die Band bereits in Ost-Berlin im Hotel Unter den Linden war, gab es am Vorabend des ersten Konzerts heftige Auseinandersetzungen über dieses Lied mit der DDR-Seite. Als die Band sich weigerte, es von der Setlist zu nehmen, kam es zum Eklat. Die Tournee wurde abgebrochen, bevor das erste Konzert auf dem Boden der DDR gespielt werden konnte. In einer Sendung des DDR-Fernsehens war die Ansage eines Moderators während eines Konzerts im Berliner Palast der Republik zu sehen, zu dem BAP geladen war. Er nannte als Begründung ihrer Absage, die Band wolle „nicht unter dem Symbol der weißen Taube auf blauem Grund auftreten“.[6]

 

Die Tournee zum Album Zwesche Salzjebäck un Bier begann am 15. und 16. Juni 1984 mit zwei Konzerten im Archäologischen Park in Xanten. Sie wurden vom ZDF aufgezeichnet und später in einer Zusammenfassung gesendet. Die Tour dauerte bis zum Februar 1985 und übertraf von der Zuschauerresonanz her noch die von 1982/83.

 

Am 2. März 1986 begann in Lohmar bei Köln die Tournee Ahl Männer, aalglatt. BAP spielte zunächst einige Konzerte im ländlichen Raum, bevor die Band am 15. März 1986 in der Essener Grugahalle bei der 17. und letzten Rocknacht des WDR-Rockpalast auftrat. Die Rocknacht, bei der auch Jackson Browne und Big Country auftraten, wurde wie schon das Festival auf der Loreley 1982 via Eurovision von vielen europäischen Radio- und Fernsehstationen ausgestrahlt.

 

Von April bis Juli folgten zahlreiche weitere Konzerte. Wegen der anhaltenden Popularität wurden teilweise auch größere Hallen ausgewählt. So fanden die „Heimspiele“ der Kölner Band erstmals in der bis zu 8000 Zuschauer fassenden Kölner Sporthalle, der damals größten Veranstaltungshalle der Domstadt, statt. Bei dieser Tournee gab es mit Christian Schneider erstmals auf einer Tournee einen Gastmusiker, weil die zum Teil sehr komplexen Keyboard-Arrangements des neuen Albums live mit nur einem Keyboarder nicht zu realisieren gewesen wären. Schneider spielte neben Keyboards bei einigen Stücken auch Saxophon. Den letzten Auftritt der Tour absolvierte die Band am 26. Juli 1986; genau drei Monate nach der Atomreaktor-Katastrophe von Tschernobyl auf dem legendären Anti-WAAhnsinns-Festival gegen die Wiederaufbereitungsanlage von Wackersdorf in Burglengenfeld.

 

Nach Ende der Tournee 1986 legte BAP eine kreative Pause ein (u. a. bedingt durch bandinterne, künstlerische Meinungsverschiedenheiten), die Wolfgang Niedecken zur Veröffentlichung seines Albums Schlagzeiten und zu einigen Solo-Konzerten nutzte. BAP stand erst im September 1987 bei zwei Festivals wieder auf der Bühne, um sich auf eine Tournee durch China vorzubereiten. Diese Tournee ist im Buch BAP övver China dokumentiert.

 

Das Album Da Capo wurde von Oktober bis Dezember 1988 zunächst bei einer ausgedehnten Hallentournee präsentiert. Bei dieser Tournee legte BAP die Scheu vor den ganz großen Konzertarenen endgültig ab. So standen auch die Frankfurter Festhalle und die Münchener Olympiahalle auf dem Programm. Im Sommer 1989 folgten weitere Konzerte, teilweise auch im Rahmen von Festivals gemeinsam mit Joe Cocker. Eines dieser Events fand in der Berliner Waldbühne statt.

 

Auch die Tournee 1991 wurde in mehreren Teilen durchgeführt. Kurz nach der Vollendung der deutschen Einheit standen im Januar 1991 zunächst die ersten Konzerte der Band auf dem Gebiet der ehemaligen DDR auf dem Programm. Anschließend ging BAP in Westdeutschland auf Club-Tour und absolvierte eine Reihe von Auftritten in beschaulichem Rahmen, zumeist in kleinen Hallen. Das Konzert im Kölner E-Werk wurde aufgezeichnet und später auf dem Album Live – Affrocke veröffentlicht.

 

Im Mai und Juni 1991 folgte eine Tournee ausschließlich durch die größten deutschen Konzerthallen und bei verschiedenen Open-Air-Festivals. Als Gast bei den Konzerten trat Julian Dawson auf. Am 26. Januar 1994 startete die Tournee zum im August 1993 erschienenen Album Pik Sibbe. Nach wie vor war die Nachfrage in der BAP-Hochburg Köln groß, in einigen anderen Städten blieben die Zuschauerzahlen etwas hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Die folgende Tournee zum Album Amerika begann im November 1996. Der Tourneestart in Koblenz wurde für den WDR-Rockpalast mitgeschnitten und später im Fernsehen ausgestrahlt.

 

Mit dem Ausstieg von Bassist Steve Borg und von Gründungsmitglied Manfred „Schmal“ Boecker verließen zwei Musiker die Band, die BAP über viele Jahre mitgeprägt haben. 1999 stieg auch Gitarrist Klaus „Major“ Heuser aus, der während 19 Jahren Bandmitgliedschaft die überwiegende Zahl der Lieder komponierte. Außerdem verließ Keyboarder Alexander „Effendi“ Büchel die Firma BAP. Diese Abgänge und die darauf folgenden Neubesetzungen veränderten den musikalischen Ausdruck von BAP nachhaltig.

 

Zu den Gründen für den Ausstieg von Major sagt Wolfgang Niedecken rückblickend im März 2011:

  

„Der Major ist ein toller Gitarrist. Aber er wollte, dass BAP international ausgerichteten Radio-Pop spielt. Ich wollte beim Kölsch-Rock bleiben. Beide Positionen waren nicht vereinbar. Ich bin ihm dankbar, dass er selbst gegangen ist. Ich hätte ihn nämlich nie rausgeschmissen.[7]“

 

Als Neuzugang an den Keyboards stieg Michael Nass bei BAP ein, der zuvor in den 1980er Jahren in der DDR-Musikszene musikalisch sehr aktiv war, u. a. bei P 16 und später in Liselotte Rezniceks Frauenband Mona Lise. Gitarrist wurde Helmut Krumminga. Im Sommer 2001 gab BAP vor der eigentlichen Aff un zo-Tour ab Herbst 2001 zwei Vorabkonzerte, darunter das „Konzert an der toten Brücke“ (Soda-Brücke) in Euskirchen, das auch vom WDR aufgezeichnet und wenige Tage später in der Sendung Rockpalast gesendet wurde. Das Album selbst stieg wie der Vorgänger Tonfilm auf Platz 1 in die deutschen Charts ein.

 

Im Januar 2006 war die Kölnarena zwar anlässlich des Starts der Jubiläumskonzerte zum 30-jährigen Bestehen der Band mit 25.000 Zuschauern an zwei aufeinander folgenden Tagen fast ausverkauft. Bei anderen Auftritten hatte man sich von vorneherein durch die Wahl kleinerer Konzertorte angepasst.

 

Auch das im Mai 2008 erschienene Album Radio Pandora stieg auf Platz 1 in die deutschen Charts ein. Im Winter 2008 startete die Tournee dazu, am 2. Weihnachtstag gab es das Heimspiel in der Köln-Arena (Lanxess-Arena); sie dauerte (mit Unterbrechungen) bis zum Sommer 2009, wobei die Band von Anne de Wolff (Violine, Bratsche, Gesang) und teilweise von Rhani Krija (Percussion) begleitet wurde.

 

Für November 2011 war der Start der aktuellsten Tournee geplant. Aufgrund einer schweren Erkrankung Wolfgang Niedeckens wurde der Start der Tour auf Anfang Mai 2012 verschoben.[8][9][10]

 

Auslandsauftritte [Bearbeiten]

 

BAP ist im Laufe der bisher 35-jährigen Bandgeschichte in vielen Ländern der Welt aufgetreten. Nachdem sich die Bandmitglieder anfangs kaum vorstellen konnten, dass ihre kölschen Texte außerhalb des Rheinlandes verstanden würden, durften sie erleben, dass ihre Platten weit darüber hinaus gekauft wurden. Tourneen waren dadurch auch im Ausland möglich.

 

Die ersten Auftritte außerhalb Deutschlands waren im Dezember 1982 in der Schweiz (Basel und St.Gallen)[11] und bis Mitte der 1980er Jahre in Österreich, Luxemburg, Belgien und Dänemark (Roskilde-Festival). Seitdem gehören Auftritte in diesen Nachbarländern zum Bestandteil jeder Tournee.

 

Spätere Fernreisen wurden zumeist als Begleitung zu künstlerischen oder politischen Themen organisiert; häufig war nicht die komplette Gruppe unterwegs; manchmal auch nur Wolfgang Niedecken alleine oder in Begleitung von Musikern seiner Solo-Projekte:

Mit einigen Gästen tourte BAP im Oktober 1987 vier Wochen durch China. Acht Auftritte wurden in Peking, Shanghai und Kanton absolviert.[12]

Wolfgang Niedecken spielte 1987 auf Einladung der Kulturstiftung Casa de los tres Mundos (ein Projekt des Schauspielers Dietmar Schönherr, des Produzenten Peter Reichelt und des Kulturministers Ernesto Cardenal) mit seiner Complizen-Band in Nicaragua.

In ähnlicher Zusammensetzung spielten Wolfgang Niedecken & Complizen 1988 in Mosambik eine kleine Tour.

Die politischen Veränderungen in der Sowjetunion unter Gorbatschow machten es möglich, dass BAP im Mai 1989 je drei Konzerte in Moskau und Wolgograd gab.[13] Dort kamen die Musiker auch mit Fans aus der DDR ins Gespräch. Nachdem die BAP-Tour durch Ostdeutschland 1984 abgesagt wurde, war der Umweg über die UdSSR die einzige Möglichkeit, als DDR-Bürger mit der Band zu sprechen.

 

More info and other languages available at:

 

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAP

www.bap.de/start/musik/songtexte/titel/verdamp-lang-her --- www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghi2xReyFYA&feature=related --- www.worldvision.de/unsere-arbeit-wie-wir-arbeiten-entwick... ---

Bap Colognian (Kölsch) pronunciation: [/bap/] is a German rock group. With ten albums reaching the number one in the German record charts, Bap is one of the most successful rock acts in their home country.

 

Nearly all of Bap's lyrics are written in Kölsch, the dialect of Cologne, or more precisely in a Kölsch-influenced derivation of Eifelplatt, a regional variant of the Ripuarian language spoken in the nearby rural Eifel. Niedecken's most prominent musical influences, especially early in his career, were Bob Dylan, the Kinks, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, and Wolfgang Ambros.

The group was founded in 1976 under the name Wolfgang Niedecken's Bap in Cologne, Germany by Wolfgang Niedecken and Hans Heres. In 1981 they released their most famous song "Verdamp lang her" (English: Damn long time ago), in which Niedecken describes regrets he has about his relationship with his then recently deceased father. The band's name "BAP" derived from "BAPP", both, a play-on-words on the Kölsch word "Papp" (related to the German word Papa for dad), but pronounced differently, and Niedecken's then-times nickname. BAP ist eine Kölschrockband um den Frontmann Wolfgang Niedecken und gilt als eine der erfolgreichsten Rockbands deutscher Sprache. Von den 23 BAP-Alben erreichten 19 die Top 10, zehn wurden sogar Nummer 1 der Charts.Die Gruppe um Sänger und Songschreiber Wolfgang Niedecken besteht seit 1976. Die Band traf sich zu Beginn in wechselnder Besetzung, um „einen Kasten Bier leerzuproben“.[1] Der erste Auftritt erfolgte 1977 im Mariensaal in Köln-Nippes mit zwei akustischen Gitarren (Wolfgang Niedecken, Hans Heres) und Perkussion (Afro Bauermann). Das erste Album, Wolfgang Niedecken's BAP rockt andere kölsche Leeder. erschien 1979, die Band bestand zu dieser Zeit aus Wolfgang Niedecken, Hans „Honçe“ Heres, Wolfgang „Gröön“ Klever, Manfred „Schmal“ Boecker, Wolfgang „Wolli“ Boecker und Bernd Odenthal. Die zweite LP Affjetaut folgte 1980, wie die Debüt-Platte noch unter der Bezeichnung „Wolfgang Niedeckens BAP“, da Niedecken sich bereits als Solo-Künstler mit Gitarre und Mundharmonika als „Bob Dylan der Südstadt“ einen Namen gemacht hatte; beide Platten wurden noch beim Kölner Independent-Label Eigelstein Musikproduktion veröffentlicht.

 

Der Bandname BAP entstand aus Niedeckens Spitzname, der seinen Vater so nannte. Diese Aussprache entstammt der Herkunft der Familie aus Rheinland-Pfalz, und weil sie vom kölschen „Pap“ abwich, entstand so Niedeckens Spitzname.[2] Als ein erster Auftritt geplant wurde, für den mit einem Plakat geworben werden sollte, musste ein Bandname erdacht werden. Hans Heres schlug dem Veranstalter vor, „BAPP“ zu nehmen.[3] Da sich die Bandmitglieder aber einig waren, dass „BAPP“ – mit zwei „P“ geschrieben – auf der Bassdrum nicht gut aussah, wurde einfach ein „P“ gestrichen.[4]

Der musikalische und inhaltliche Stil der BAP-Songs wird wesentlich von Bob Dylan, den Kinks und den Rolling Stones geprägt. Auch Bruce Springsteen, mit dem Sänger Wolfgang Niedecken eine persönliche Freundschaft verbindet, gilt als wichtiger Orientierungspunkt für BAP. Verschiedene BAP-Lieder, vor allem melancholische (z. B. Helfe kann dir keiner, Paar Daach fröher) zeigen in den Arrangements und der Stimmung deutliche Ähnlichkeiten mit Stücken von Wolfgang Ambros, etwa von dessen Album 19 Class A Numbers. Die Texte beschäftigen sich oft mit gesellschaftlichen oder persönlichen Problemen.1979 fanden unter dem Bandnamen "Wolfgang Niedeckens BAP" erste Auftritte außerhalb von Köln und der näheren Umgebung statt; so zum Beispiel auch anlässlich der Bundesgartenschau 1979 in der Bonner Rheinaue.[5] Im Mai 1982 machte BAP ihre erste professionell organisierte Deutschlandtournee. Im Mittelpunkt standen Songs des aktuellen Albums Für Usszeschnigge, das 1981 als erstes beim Major-Label EMI-Electrola erschienen war. Für den Wechsel von Eigelstein zur EMI mussten BAP in der lokalen Kultur-Szene viel Kritik einstecken, wurden jedoch mit Platz 1 in den deutschen Album-Charts prompt belohnt.

 

Im Sommer 1982 folgten verschiedene Auftritte im Rahmen von Großveranstaltungen und Fernsehproduktionen: Rockpop In Concert für das ZDF in der Dortmunder Westfalenhalle 1, Demonstration gegen die Nachrüstung der NATO am 10. Juni 1982 (Zehnter Juni) auf den Bonner Rheinwiesen, Vorprogramm der Rolling Stones am 4. und 5. Juli 1982 im Müngersdorfer Stadion in Köln und als erste deutsche Band bei einem Festival des WDR-Rockpalast am 28. August 1982 auf der Loreley-Freilichtbühne.

 

Nach Erscheinen des vierten Albums Vun drinne noh drusse war die Band zwischen Oktober 1982 und Oktober 1983 sieben Monate lang unterwegs. Neben Deutschland standen auch Konzerte in Österreich, der Schweiz und den Benelux-Ländern auf dem Programm. Insgesamt wurden etwa 130 Auftritte gespielt. Die Tournee endete mit einem Konzert im Kölner „Stollwerck“. Das vom Abriss bedrohte Bürgerhaus Stollwerck erhielt die Einnahmen dieses Konzerts zur Finanzierung seiner weiteren Arbeit. Am 28. Mai 1983 spielte BAP auf einem Festival im niedersächsischen Schüttorf im Vorprogramm von Rod Stewart und am 22. Oktober 1983 auf einer weiteren Großdemonstration gegen die NATO-Nachrüstung im Bonner Hofgarten.

 

Für den Januar 1984 war – nach langen Verhandlungen mit der staatlichen Künstleragentur – eine Tournee mit 14 Konzerten in 13 Städten der DDR geplant. Im Vorfeld der Tour zeichnete das DDR-Fernsehen ein Interview mit Wolfgang Niedecken inklusive zweier Unplugged-Versionen von BAP-Liedern auf. Dieses wurde später jedoch sinnentstellend verkürzt gesendet. So entschloss sich Niedecken, einige politische Statements, die der Band wichtig waren, in einem eigenen Lied darzustellen. Es wurde als Deshalv spill’ mer he betitelt und erstmals auf dem letzten „West-Konzert“ vor der Tour in Wolfsburg gespielt. Als die Band bereits in Ost-Berlin im Hotel Unter den Linden war, gab es am Vorabend des ersten Konzerts heftige Auseinandersetzungen über dieses Lied mit der DDR-Seite. Als die Band sich weigerte, es von der Setlist zu nehmen, kam es zum Eklat. Die Tournee wurde abgebrochen, bevor das erste Konzert auf dem Boden der DDR gespielt werden konnte. In einer Sendung des DDR-Fernsehens war die Ansage eines Moderators während eines Konzerts im Berliner Palast der Republik zu sehen, zu dem BAP geladen war. Er nannte als Begründung ihrer Absage, die Band wolle „nicht unter dem Symbol der weißen Taube auf blauem Grund auftreten“.[6]

 

Die Tournee zum Album Zwesche Salzjebäck un Bier begann am 15. und 16. Juni 1984 mit zwei Konzerten im Archäologischen Park in Xanten. Sie wurden vom ZDF aufgezeichnet und später in einer Zusammenfassung gesendet. Die Tour dauerte bis zum Februar 1985 und übertraf von der Zuschauerresonanz her noch die von 1982/83.

 

Am 2. März 1986 begann in Lohmar bei Köln die Tournee Ahl Männer, aalglatt. BAP spielte zunächst einige Konzerte im ländlichen Raum, bevor die Band am 15. März 1986 in der Essener Grugahalle bei der 17. und letzten Rocknacht des WDR-Rockpalast auftrat. Die Rocknacht, bei der auch Jackson Browne und Big Country auftraten, wurde wie schon das Festival auf der Loreley 1982 via Eurovision von vielen europäischen Radio- und Fernsehstationen ausgestrahlt.

 

Von April bis Juli folgten zahlreiche weitere Konzerte. Wegen der anhaltenden Popularität wurden teilweise auch größere Hallen ausgewählt. So fanden die „Heimspiele“ der Kölner Band erstmals in der bis zu 8000 Zuschauer fassenden Kölner Sporthalle, der damals größten Veranstaltungshalle der Domstadt, statt. Bei dieser Tournee gab es mit Christian Schneider erstmals auf einer Tournee einen Gastmusiker, weil die zum Teil sehr komplexen Keyboard-Arrangements des neuen Albums live mit nur einem Keyboarder nicht zu realisieren gewesen wären. Schneider spielte neben Keyboards bei einigen Stücken auch Saxophon. Den letzten Auftritt der Tour absolvierte die Band am 26. Juli 1986; genau drei Monate nach der Atomreaktor-Katastrophe von Tschernobyl auf dem legendären Anti-WAAhnsinns-Festival gegen die Wiederaufbereitungsanlage von Wackersdorf in Burglengenfeld.

 

Nach Ende der Tournee 1986 legte BAP eine kreative Pause ein (u. a. bedingt durch bandinterne, künstlerische Meinungsverschiedenheiten), die Wolfgang Niedecken zur Veröffentlichung seines Albums Schlagzeiten und zu einigen Solo-Konzerten nutzte. BAP stand erst im September 1987 bei zwei Festivals wieder auf der Bühne, um sich auf eine Tournee durch China vorzubereiten. Diese Tournee ist im Buch BAP övver China dokumentiert.

 

Das Album Da Capo wurde von Oktober bis Dezember 1988 zunächst bei einer ausgedehnten Hallentournee präsentiert. Bei dieser Tournee legte BAP die Scheu vor den ganz großen Konzertarenen endgültig ab. So standen auch die Frankfurter Festhalle und die Münchener Olympiahalle auf dem Programm. Im Sommer 1989 folgten weitere Konzerte, teilweise auch im Rahmen von Festivals gemeinsam mit Joe Cocker. Eines dieser Events fand in der Berliner Waldbühne statt.

 

Auch die Tournee 1991 wurde in mehreren Teilen durchgeführt. Kurz nach der Vollendung der deutschen Einheit standen im Januar 1991 zunächst die ersten Konzerte der Band auf dem Gebiet der ehemaligen DDR auf dem Programm. Anschließend ging BAP in Westdeutschland auf Club-Tour und absolvierte eine Reihe von Auftritten in beschaulichem Rahmen, zumeist in kleinen Hallen. Das Konzert im Kölner E-Werk wurde aufgezeichnet und später auf dem Album Live – Affrocke veröffentlicht.

 

Im Mai und Juni 1991 folgte eine Tournee ausschließlich durch die größten deutschen Konzerthallen und bei verschiedenen Open-Air-Festivals. Als Gast bei den Konzerten trat Julian Dawson auf. Am 26. Januar 1994 startete die Tournee zum im August 1993 erschienenen Album Pik Sibbe. Nach wie vor war die Nachfrage in der BAP-Hochburg Köln groß, in einigen anderen Städten blieben die Zuschauerzahlen etwas hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Die folgende Tournee zum Album Amerika begann im November 1996. Der Tourneestart in Koblenz wurde für den WDR-Rockpalast mitgeschnitten und später im Fernsehen ausgestrahlt.

 

Mit dem Ausstieg von Bassist Steve Borg und von Gründungsmitglied Manfred „Schmal“ Boecker verließen zwei Musiker die Band, die BAP über viele Jahre mitgeprägt haben. 1999 stieg auch Gitarrist Klaus „Major“ Heuser aus, der während 19 Jahren Bandmitgliedschaft die überwiegende Zahl der Lieder komponierte. Außerdem verließ Keyboarder Alexander „Effendi“ Büchel die Firma BAP. Diese Abgänge und die darauf folgenden Neubesetzungen veränderten den musikalischen Ausdruck von BAP nachhaltig.

 

Zu den Gründen für den Ausstieg von Major sagt Wolfgang Niedecken rückblickend im März 2011:

  

„Der Major ist ein toller Gitarrist. Aber er wollte, dass BAP international ausgerichteten Radio-Pop spielt. Ich wollte beim Kölsch-Rock bleiben. Beide Positionen waren nicht vereinbar. Ich bin ihm dankbar, dass er selbst gegangen ist. Ich hätte ihn nämlich nie rausgeschmissen.[7]“

 

Als Neuzugang an den Keyboards stieg Michael Nass bei BAP ein, der zuvor in den 1980er Jahren in der DDR-Musikszene musikalisch sehr aktiv war, u. a. bei P 16 und später in Liselotte Rezniceks Frauenband Mona Lise. Gitarrist wurde Helmut Krumminga. Im Sommer 2001 gab BAP vor der eigentlichen Aff un zo-Tour ab Herbst 2001 zwei Vorabkonzerte, darunter das „Konzert an der toten Brücke“ (Soda-Brücke) in Euskirchen, das auch vom WDR aufgezeichnet und wenige Tage später in der Sendung Rockpalast gesendet wurde. Das Album selbst stieg wie der Vorgänger Tonfilm auf Platz 1 in die deutschen Charts ein.

 

Im Januar 2006 war die Kölnarena zwar anlässlich des Starts der Jubiläumskonzerte zum 30-jährigen Bestehen der Band mit 25.000 Zuschauern an zwei aufeinander folgenden Tagen fast ausverkauft. Bei anderen Auftritten hatte man sich von vorneherein durch die Wahl kleinerer Konzertorte angepasst.

 

Auch das im Mai 2008 erschienene Album Radio Pandora stieg auf Platz 1 in die deutschen Charts ein. Im Winter 2008 startete die Tournee dazu, am 2. Weihnachtstag gab es das Heimspiel in der Köln-Arena (Lanxess-Arena); sie dauerte (mit Unterbrechungen) bis zum Sommer 2009, wobei die Band von Anne de Wolff (Violine, Bratsche, Gesang) und teilweise von Rhani Krija (Percussion) begleitet wurde.

 

Für November 2011 war der Start der aktuellsten Tournee geplant. Aufgrund einer schweren Erkrankung Wolfgang Niedeckens wurde der Start der Tour auf Anfang Mai 2012 verschoben.[8][9][10]

 

Auslandsauftritte [Bearbeiten]

 

BAP ist im Laufe der bisher 35-jährigen Bandgeschichte in vielen Ländern der Welt aufgetreten. Nachdem sich die Bandmitglieder anfangs kaum vorstellen konnten, dass ihre kölschen Texte außerhalb des Rheinlandes verstanden würden, durften sie erleben, dass ihre Platten weit darüber hinaus gekauft wurden. Tourneen waren dadurch auch im Ausland möglich.

 

Die ersten Auftritte außerhalb Deutschlands waren im Dezember 1982 in der Schweiz (Basel und St.Gallen)[11] und bis Mitte der 1980er Jahre in Österreich, Luxemburg, Belgien und Dänemark (Roskilde-Festival). Seitdem gehören Auftritte in diesen Nachbarländern zum Bestandteil jeder Tournee.

 

Spätere Fernreisen wurden zumeist als Begleitung zu künstlerischen oder politischen Themen organisiert; häufig war nicht die komplette Gruppe unterwegs; manchmal auch nur Wolfgang Niedecken alleine oder in Begleitung von Musikern seiner Solo-Projekte:

Mit einigen Gästen tourte BAP im Oktober 1987 vier Wochen durch China. Acht Auftritte wurden in Peking, Shanghai und Kanton absolviert.[12]

Wolfgang Niedecken spielte 1987 auf Einladung der Kulturstiftung Casa de los tres Mundos (ein Projekt des Schauspielers Dietmar Schönherr, des Produzenten Peter Reichelt und des Kulturministers Ernesto Cardenal) mit seiner Complizen-Band in Nicaragua.

In ähnlicher Zusammensetzung spielten Wolfgang Niedecken & Complizen 1988 in Mosambik eine kleine Tour.

Die politischen Veränderungen in der Sowjetunion unter Gorbatschow machten es möglich, dass BAP im Mai 1989 je drei Konzerte in Moskau und Wolgograd gab.[13] Dort kamen die Musiker auch mit Fans aus der DDR ins Gespräch. Nachdem die BAP-Tour durch Ostdeutschland 1984 abgesagt wurde, war der Umweg über die UdSSR die einzige Möglichkeit, als DDR-Bürger mit der Band zu sprechen.

 

More info and other languages available at:

 

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAP

The Cornell Farm

 

West Building, Main Floor—Gallery 63

 

•Date: 1848

•Medium: Oil on Canvas

•Dimensions:

oOverall: 93.3 × 124.4 cm (36¾ × 49 in.)

oFramed: 119.1 × 149.9 × 6 cm (46⅞ × 59 × 2⅜ in.)

•Credit Line: Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch

•Accession Number: 1964.23.4

•Artists/Makers:

oArtist: Edward Hicks, American, 1780-1849

 

Overview

 

Edward Hicks, having apprenticed to a Pennsylvania coachmaker at thirteen, became a minister in 1811. He was torn between his calling as a Quaker minister and his love of painting, worrying that his art kept him from “the Lord’s work.”

 

Hicks precisely identified this subject with a long inscription along the bottom of the canvas: “An Indian summer view of the Farm & Stock OF JAMES C. CORNELL of Northampton Bucks county Pennsylvania. That took the Premium in the Agricultural society, October the 12, 1848 Painted by E. Hicks in the 69th year of his age.” Though the punctuation and capitalization are inconsistent, the quality of the lettering proves that Edward Hicks was schooled in sign painting.

 

Having no background in academic art, Hicks employed the direct approach of a primitive or folk painter. The horizontal band of livestock across the foreground, although childlike in its simplicity, clearly presents each prize-winning animal as an individual portrait. Hicks’ delight in creating ornamental pattern is evident in the arrangement of fences, while the rich red and bright white of the house and barn symmetrically flank this central landscape. Although the stark silhouettes of figures and buildings seem naive, Hicks softly blended his paints over the orchard to give the impression of space existing well beyond what the eye can see.

 

Inscription

 

•Across Bottom: An Indian summer view of the Farm & Stock of JAMES C. CORNELL of Northampton Bucks county Pennsylvania. That took the Premium in the Agricultural society, october the 12, 1848 / Painted by E. Hicks in the 69th year of his age.

 

Provenance

 

Painted for James C. Cornell, Northampton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; to Theodore Cornell, his son; to Russell Cornell, his son; to Mr. and Mrs. J. Stanley Lee (Mrs. Lee is Hick’s great-granddaughter), Newtown, Pennsylvania, by whom sold in 1954 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1964.

 

Associated Names

 

•Cornell, James C.

•Cornell, Russell

•Cornell, Theodore

•Garbisch, Edgar William, Mr. and Mrs.

•Lee, J. Stanley, Mr. and Mrs.

 

Exhibition History

 

•1882—Bucks County Bi-Centennial Celebration, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1882.

•1957—American Primitive Paintings from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Part II, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1957, no. 81.

•1957—Art Our Children Live With, Downtown Gallery, New York, 1957, no cat.

•1958—American Folk Art. Part of American Art. Four Exhibitions, Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, Belgium, 1958, no. 84, 45, repro. 51.

•1960—Edward Hicks, 1780-1849, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1960, no. 37.

•1961—101 Masterpieces of American Primitive Painting from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, traveling exh. by the Amer. Fed. of Arts, New York, 1961-1964, no. 75, color repro. First venue, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

•1966—Three Self-Taught Pennsylvania Artist: Hicks, Kane and Pippin, Carnegie Institute of Art, Pittsburgh; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966-1967, no. 33, color repro.

•1968—American Naive Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries: 111 Masterpieces from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, traveling exh. by Amer. Fed. of Arts, N.Y., 1968-1970, no. 73, repro. First venue: Grand Palais, Paris.

•1970—American Naive Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries: Masterpieces from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, organized by the Amer. Fed. of Arts, N.Y., and Mainichi News., Nihobashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo, 1970, no cat.

•1970—The New World: 1620-1970, Chrysler Museum of Art, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1970, no. 15.

•1971—What is American in American Art, M. Knoedler and Co. [benefit exhibition for the Museum of American Folk Art], New York, 1971, no. 46, color repro.

•1974—Our Land, Our Sky, Our Water, organized for International Exposition, Spokane, Washington, 1974, no. 15.

•1978—The American Folk Art Tradition: Paintings from the Garbisch Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978.

•1980—American Folk Painters of Three Centuries, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1980, 96, color repro. (cat. edited by Jean Lipman and Thomas Armstrong).

•1981—American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, 1981-1982, no. 26, color repro. (cat. by Ronald McKnight Melvin).

•1985—American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Exh. cat. Traveling exh. by the International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, 1985-1987, no. 36, color repro. First venue: Museum of American Folk Art, New York.

•1988—La Nascita di Una Nazione: Pittori americani dalla National Gallery of Art di Washington 1730-1880, Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande, Bologna; Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna di Ca’Pesaro, Venice, 1988-1989, no. 36, repro.

•1996—1846: Portrait of the Nation, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1996, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

•1997—Charles Sheeler in Doylestown: American Modernism and the Pennsylvania Tradition, Allentown Art Museum; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth; Cincinnati Art Museum, 1997-1998, no. 40, repro.

•1999—The Kingdoms of Edward Hicks, 5 venues, shown only at the first two, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Williamsburg; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1999-2000, no. 82, fig. 171.

•2018—Outliers and American Vanguard Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2018-2019, no. 35.

 

Bibliography

 

•1947—Editorial, Antiques, 52 (October 1947): 252-253.

•1950—Lipman, Jean, and Alice Winchester. Primitive Painters in America 1750-1950. New York, 1950: 46-47.

•1952—Ford, Alice. Edward Hicks, Painter of the Peaceable Kingdom. Philadelphia, 1952: 97, 107, 108, 121, color repro. opp. 108.

•1966—Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:480, color repro.

•1970—American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 68, repro.

•1971—Campbell, William P. “The American Heritage at the National Gallery of Art.” Connoisseur 178 (December 1971): 270, 272.

•1974—Lipman, Jean, and Alice Winchester. The Flowering of American Folk Art. New York, 1974: color pl. 70.

•1975—Parry, Ellwood. “Edward Hicks and A Quaker Iconography.” Arts Magazine 49 (June 1975): 94.

•1976—Lipman, Jean, and Helen M. Franc. Bright Stars: American Painting and Sculpture Since 1776. New York, 1976: color repro., 60.

•1978—King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 100, pl. 63.

•1979—Haverstock, Mary Sayre. An American Bestiary. New York, 1979: color repro., 146.

•1980—American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 175, repro.

•1980—Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 10, no. 19, color repro.

•1983—Mather, Eleanore Price. Edward Hicks: His Peaceable Kingdoms and Other Paintings. Newark, Delaware, 1983: 85, 195, no. 106, color pl. 8.

•1984—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 543, no. 820, color repro.

•1985—Ford, Alice. Edward Hicks, His Life and Art. New York, 1985: 234-236, color repro.

•1988—Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 90, no. 22, color repro.

•1992—American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 202, repro.

•1992—Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 194-196, color repro. 195.

•1992—National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 226, repro.

•1998—Ford, Alice. Edward Hicks, Painter of the Peaceable Kingdom. Philadelphia, 1998: 97, 108, 120, repro.

•2001—Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA II: Covers and Essays from The Journal of the American Medical Association. Chicago, 2001: 178-179, 216, color repro.

•2004—Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 300, no. 242, color repro.

  

From American Naïve Paintings:

 

1964.23.4 (1936)

 

The Cornell Farm

 

•1848

•Oil on Canvas, 93.3 × 114.4 (36¼ × 49)

•Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch

 

Inscriptions

 

•Across Bottom: An Indian summer view of the Farm & Stock of JAMES c. CORNELL of Northampton Bucks county Pennsylvania. That took the Premium in the Agricultural society, October the 12., 1848 / Painted by E. Hicks in the 69th year of his age.

 

Technical Notes

 

The tacking margins on the fine support are intact, although unusually narrow (1 cm). The off-white ground is smoothly applied. The darker and cooler colors were applied first in relatively thin layers. The lighter colors were placed over them in heavier application. Low impasto is evident in the highlights and details. There is no visible underdrawing in natural light or infrared reflectography, and no design changes are apparent. Vertical streaks in the sky appear to originate beneath the paint film. The picture is in excellent condition with only a few tiny losses scattered in the sky and foreground.

 

Provenance

 

James C. Cornell, Northampton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; to Theodore Cornell, his son; to Russell Cornell, his son; to Mr. and Mrs. J. Stanley Lee (Mrs. Lee is Hicks’ great-granddaughter), Newtown, Pennsylvania, by whom sold in 1954 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch.

 

Exhibitions

 

Bucks County Bi-Centennial Celebration, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1881. // NGA, 1957, no. 81. // Art Our Children Live With, Downtown Gallery, New York, 1957, no cat. // American Art, Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, Belgium, 1958, no. 84. / / Edward Hicks, 1/80-1849, AARFAC, 1960, no. 37. / / 101 Masterpieces, 1961-1964, no. 75, color repro. // Three Self-taught Pennsylvania Artists: Hicks, Kane and Pippin, Carnegie Institute of Art, Pittsburgh; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966-1967, no. 33, color repro. // in Masterpieces, 1968-1970, no. 73, color repro. // Tokyo, 1970. / / The New World: 162.0-19/0, Chrysler Museum of Art, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1970, no. 15. // What is American in American Art, M. Knoedler and Co., New York, 1971, catalogue by Mary C. Black, no. 46, color repro. / / Twenty-five Polk Artists: Their Lives and Work, AARFAC, 1971, no cat. / / Our Land, Our Sky, Our Water, organized for International Exposition, Spokane, Washington, 1974, no. 15. // Whitney, 1980, 96, color repro. / / Terra, 1981-1981, no. 26, color repro. / / American Naïve Paintings, (IEF) 1985-1987, no. 36, color repro. // Italy, 1988-1989, no. 36, color repro.

 

Toward the end of his life Edward Hicks created four farmscapes of the Pennsylvania countryside.1 These late paintings, which feature calm, harmonious views of Bucks County farms, are considered to be his finest works. Hicks’ granddaughter reported that the artist “always considered the Cornell picture his masterpiece.”2

 

In this resplendent panoramic view of his friend’s neatly cultivated property Hicks presents convincing atmospheric perspective and suffuses the landscape with the golden light of Indian summer. Against this naturalistic background, however, Hicks parades Cornell’s prizewinning livestock across the foreground in an unnaturalistic way, their flat, sharply delineated shapes reminiscent of the crowded collages of animals in some of his peaceable kingdom pictures. Most of the figures populating the middle ground have one arm extended, appearing to call attention proudly to outstanding features of the bountiful farm. Descendants have identified the belted figure as the farm owner, James Cornell, in conversation with his friend William Janney. Their inspection of the farm may represent a real scene, since Cornell was awarded several prizes at the 1848 Newtown Exhibition and Janney apparently was on the committee of judges. In addition to honors for his horses, swine, sheep, poultry, and native stock, Cornell was presented with “the first premium of $5 for the best cultivated Farm over 100 acres, regard being had to the quality of produce, mode of cultivation, and general appearance.”3

 

Although Hicks relied on his observations of nature, another source of inspiration for The Cornell Farm may have been The Country Fair, 182.5 (private collection) by John A. Woodside (1781-1851).4 Both paintings depict houses and barns perched on gently rolling hills with a variety of animals arranged in profile across the foreground. Although Woodside distributes his animals and figures more evenly throughout the landscape, both artists include men with stiff, outstretched arms pointing to features of the farm and conversing with each other. Hicks’ farmer with a plow, on the right, also seems to derive from two plowing farmers on the left of Woodside’s canvas. The animals in both paintings may ultimately derive from British livestock and sporting prints of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which frequently depicted animals in profile or aligned horizontally across the composition. These prints were extremely popular, serving as wall decorations and advertisements for stockbreeders.5

 

Hicks’ farm scenes may also reflect his own reverence for farming. He tried his hand at it briefly in 1813 and later remarked, “[I] verily thought then and still think farming more consistent with the Christian, and was willing to sacrifice all my fondness for painting.”6 Hicks’ farmscapes present this ideal Christian way of life; they are secular peaceable kingdoms occupied by men and animals in complete harmony with each other.

 

America’s earliest landscapes, like those painted by Winthrop Chandler (q.v.) in the eighteenth century or Ralph Wheelock’s Farm (1965.15.13) of c. 1814 by Francis Alexander (q.v.), were often “portraits” of a landowner’s property and possessions, and The Cornell Farm falls within this tradition. Some writers, recognizing the relationship of Hicks’ farmscapes to these early landscapes, have concluded that they have “no historical or religious connotation,”7 but it would seem incongruous for the deeply religious Hicks to paint a scene without some allusion to his strong Quaker ideals. Although The Cornell Farm and the other farmscapes relate to the topographical tradition, they are “profoundly Quaker pictures.”8 Their harmony, serenity, and richness prove that industry and Quaker piety can result in an earthly perfection.9

 

The Cornell Farm was painted for James Cornell himself, who must have been pleased with the portrait of his prize bull which he had commissioned from Hicks two years earlier in 1846.10 Slides taken at the farm’s site reveal that Hicks attempted to portray its actual topography and appearance. The landscape today remains similar to Hicks’ depiction; two wagon houses still stand, although the original house was replaced and the barn burned down in the 1960$.

 

LW

 

Notes

 

1.Hicks’ other farmscapes are The Residence of Thomas Hillhorn, 1845 (AARFAC; Mather 1983, cat. no. 101), his earliest farm scene; The Residence of David Twining in 178 5, c. 1845-1846 (four versions; Mather 1983, cat. nos. 101-105) and The Leedom Farm, 1849 (AARFAC; Mather 1983, cat. no. 107). The latter, like The Cornell Farm, shows expansive, panoramic views, while the other two focus on only a segment of the farm. It is generally assumed that Hicks was inspired by his actual Pennsylvania surroundings. The Residence of David Twining 1785, however, is based on Hicks’ memories of his childhood rather than on a contemporary scene.

2.A 1954 letter,}. Stanley Lee to Colonel Garbisch, records Edward Hicks’ granddaughter quoting the painter to Lee.

3.The Doylestown Democrat and Bucks County Republican, 17 October 1848.

4.Reproduced in Virgil Barker, American Painting (New York, 1950), 373.

5.While Ford 1951, 97, mentions the possibility that Hicks may have seen Woodside’s painting, she believes it unlikely. However, Woodside was a contemporary of Hicks and a leading sign painter in nearby Philadelphia, and the possibility should not be discounted. Since Hicks was concerned first and foremost with religious pursuits, his Memoirs contain little information to assist historians in pinning down his artistic influences. On Woodside, see Stuart P. Feld and Albert Ten Eyck Gardner, American Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Greenwich, 1965), 151.

6.Louisa Dresser, “The Peaceable Kingdom,” Bulletin of the Worcester Art Museum 2.5 (Spring 1934), 17.

7.Three Self-Taught Pennsylvania Artists: Hicks, Kane and Pippin [exh. cat., Carnegie Institute of Art] (Pittsburgh, 1966), unpaginated.

8.Parry 1975, 94.

9.It is worth noting that Hicks painted this scene at the same time the Hudson River School artists were creating their tributes to God’s nature. The Cornell Farm seems to relate philosophically, as well as in subject matter, to this academic landscape tradition. Hicks, in this peaceful scene with its warm, glowing light, shares the Hudson River painters’ belief in the manifestation of God’s presence in nature and light. Like the academic landscape painters, he considered man in harmony with the landscape or as “part and parcel of God” (Ralph Waldo Emerson as quoted in Barbara Novak, American Painting of the Nineteenth Century: Realism, Idealism and the American Experience, id ed. [New York, 1979], no). In fact, the Quaker belief that all men possess a portion of the Spirit (Eleanore Price Mather, “A Quaker Icon: The Inner Kingdom of Edward Hicks,” Art Quarterly 36 [Spring/Summer 1973], 85) resembles the Emersonian belief in physical facts as “the end or last issue of spirit” (Emerson as quoted in Novak 1979, in).

10.James Cornell’s Prize BU//ÍS at AARFAC and reproduced in Mather 1983 (see Bibliography), cat. no. 108. A receipt which was removed from the reverse reads: “James Cornell / To Edward Hicks Do / To painting his prize bull. $15.00 / Rec 5th mo 16th 1846 the above in full / of all demands by me / Edward Hicks.” As Mather explains, this work has its precedents in Dutch pastoral lithographs (81-86).

 

References

 

•1947—Antiques, 51 (October): 151-153 (untitled editorial).

•1950—Lipman and Winchester: 46-47.

•1951—Ford (see Bibliography): 97, 107, 108, in, color repro. opp. 108.

•1971—Campbell, William P. “The American Heritage at the National Gallery of Art.” Connoisseur 178 (December):

•2-70, 2.72-

•1974—Lipman, Jean, and Alice Winchester. The Flowering of American Folk Art. New York: color pi. 70.

•1975—Parry, Ellwood. “Edward Hicks and a Quaker Iconography.” Arts Magazine 49 (June): 94.

•1976—Lipman, Jean, and Helen M. Franc. Bright Stars: American Painting and Sculpture Since 1776. New York: color repro. p. 60.

•1979—Haverstock, Mary Sayre. An American Bestiary. New York: color repro. p. 146.

•1983—Mather (see Bibliography): 85, 195, cat. no. 106, color pi. 8.

•1985—Ford (see Bibliography): 134-136, color repro.

The Cornell Farm

 

West Building, Main Floor—Gallery 63

 

•Date: 1848

•Medium: Oil on Canvas

•Dimensions:

oOverall: 93.3 × 124.4 cm (36¾ × 49 in.)

oFramed: 119.1 × 149.9 × 6 cm (46⅞ × 59 × 2⅜ in.)

•Credit Line: Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch

•Accession Number: 1964.23.4

•Artists/Makers:

oArtist: Edward Hicks, American, 1780-1849

 

Overview

 

Edward Hicks, having apprenticed to a Pennsylvania coachmaker at thirteen, became a minister in 1811. He was torn between his calling as a Quaker minister and his love of painting, worrying that his art kept him from “the Lord’s work.”

 

Hicks precisely identified this subject with a long inscription along the bottom of the canvas: “An Indian summer view of the Farm & Stock OF JAMES C. CORNELL of Northampton Bucks county Pennsylvania. That took the Premium in the Agricultural society, October the 12, 1848 Painted by E. Hicks in the 69th year of his age.” Though the punctuation and capitalization are inconsistent, the quality of the lettering proves that Edward Hicks was schooled in sign painting.

 

Having no background in academic art, Hicks employed the direct approach of a primitive or folk painter. The horizontal band of livestock across the foreground, although childlike in its simplicity, clearly presents each prize-winning animal as an individual portrait. Hicks’ delight in creating ornamental pattern is evident in the arrangement of fences, while the rich red and bright white of the house and barn symmetrically flank this central landscape. Although the stark silhouettes of figures and buildings seem naive, Hicks softly blended his paints over the orchard to give the impression of space existing well beyond what the eye can see.

 

Inscription

 

•Across Bottom: An Indian summer view of the Farm & Stock of JAMES C. CORNELL of Northampton Bucks county Pennsylvania. That took the Premium in the Agricultural society, october the 12, 1848 / Painted by E. Hicks in the 69th year of his age.

 

Provenance

 

Painted for James C. Cornell, Northampton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; to Theodore Cornell, his son; to Russell Cornell, his son; to Mr. and Mrs. J. Stanley Lee (Mrs. Lee is Hick’s great-granddaughter), Newtown, Pennsylvania, by whom sold in 1954 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1964.

 

Associated Names

 

•Cornell, James C.

•Cornell, Russell

•Cornell, Theodore

•Garbisch, Edgar William, Mr. and Mrs.

•Lee, J. Stanley, Mr. and Mrs.

 

Exhibition History

 

•1882—Bucks County Bi-Centennial Celebration, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1882.

•1957—American Primitive Paintings from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Part II, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1957, no. 81.

•1957—Art Our Children Live With, Downtown Gallery, New York, 1957, no cat.

•1958—American Folk Art. Part of American Art. Four Exhibitions, Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, Belgium, 1958, no. 84, 45, repro. 51.

•1960—Edward Hicks, 1780-1849, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1960, no. 37.

•1961—101 Masterpieces of American Primitive Painting from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, traveling exh. by the Amer. Fed. of Arts, New York, 1961-1964, no. 75, color repro. First venue, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

•1966—Three Self-Taught Pennsylvania Artist: Hicks, Kane and Pippin, Carnegie Institute of Art, Pittsburgh; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966-1967, no. 33, color repro.

•1968—American Naive Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries: 111 Masterpieces from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, traveling exh. by Amer. Fed. of Arts, N.Y., 1968-1970, no. 73, repro. First venue: Grand Palais, Paris.

•1970—American Naive Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries: Masterpieces from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, organized by the Amer. Fed. of Arts, N.Y., and Mainichi News., Nihobashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo, 1970, no cat.

•1970—The New World: 1620-1970, Chrysler Museum of Art, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1970, no. 15.

•1971—What is American in American Art, M. Knoedler and Co. [benefit exhibition for the Museum of American Folk Art], New York, 1971, no. 46, color repro.

•1974—Our Land, Our Sky, Our Water, organized for International Exposition, Spokane, Washington, 1974, no. 15.

•1978—The American Folk Art Tradition: Paintings from the Garbisch Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978.

•1980—American Folk Painters of Three Centuries, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1980, 96, color repro. (cat. edited by Jean Lipman and Thomas Armstrong).

•1981—American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, 1981-1982, no. 26, color repro. (cat. by Ronald McKnight Melvin).

•1985—American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Exh. cat. Traveling exh. by the International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, 1985-1987, no. 36, color repro. First venue: Museum of American Folk Art, New York.

•1988—La Nascita di Una Nazione: Pittori americani dalla National Gallery of Art di Washington 1730-1880, Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande, Bologna; Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna di Ca’Pesaro, Venice, 1988-1989, no. 36, repro.

•1996—1846: Portrait of the Nation, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1996, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

•1997—Charles Sheeler in Doylestown: American Modernism and the Pennsylvania Tradition, Allentown Art Museum; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth; Cincinnati Art Museum, 1997-1998, no. 40, repro.

•1999—The Kingdoms of Edward Hicks, 5 venues, shown only at the first two, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Williamsburg; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1999-2000, no. 82, fig. 171.

•2018—Outliers and American Vanguard Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2018-2019, no. 35.

 

Bibliography

 

•1947—Editorial, Antiques, 52 (October 1947): 252-253.

•1950—Lipman, Jean, and Alice Winchester. Primitive Painters in America 1750-1950. New York, 1950: 46-47.

•1952—Ford, Alice. Edward Hicks, Painter of the Peaceable Kingdom. Philadelphia, 1952: 97, 107, 108, 121, color repro. opp. 108.

•1966—Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:480, color repro.

•1970—American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 68, repro.

•1971—Campbell, William P. “The American Heritage at the National Gallery of Art.” Connoisseur 178 (December 1971): 270, 272.

•1974—Lipman, Jean, and Alice Winchester. The Flowering of American Folk Art. New York, 1974: color pl. 70.

•1975—Parry, Ellwood. “Edward Hicks and A Quaker Iconography.” Arts Magazine 49 (June 1975): 94.

•1976—Lipman, Jean, and Helen M. Franc. Bright Stars: American Painting and Sculpture Since 1776. New York, 1976: color repro., 60.

•1978—King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 100, pl. 63.

•1979—Haverstock, Mary Sayre. An American Bestiary. New York, 1979: color repro., 146.

•1980—American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 175, repro.

•1980—Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 10, no. 19, color repro.

•1983—Mather, Eleanore Price. Edward Hicks: His Peaceable Kingdoms and Other Paintings. Newark, Delaware, 1983: 85, 195, no. 106, color pl. 8.

•1984—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 543, no. 820, color repro.

•1985—Ford, Alice. Edward Hicks, His Life and Art. New York, 1985: 234-236, color repro.

•1988—Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 90, no. 22, color repro.

•1992—American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 202, repro.

•1992—Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 194-196, color repro. 195.

•1992—National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 226, repro.

•1998—Ford, Alice. Edward Hicks, Painter of the Peaceable Kingdom. Philadelphia, 1998: 97, 108, 120, repro.

•2001—Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA II: Covers and Essays from The Journal of the American Medical Association. Chicago, 2001: 178-179, 216, color repro.

•2004—Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 300, no. 242, color repro.

  

From American Naïve Paintings:

 

1964.23.4 (1936)

 

The Cornell Farm

 

•1848

•Oil on Canvas, 93.3 × 114.4 (36¼ × 49)

•Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch

 

Inscriptions

 

•Across Bottom: An Indian summer view of the Farm & Stock of JAMES c. CORNELL of Northampton Bucks county Pennsylvania. That took the Premium in the Agricultural society, October the 12., 1848 / Painted by E. Hicks in the 69th year of his age.

 

Technical Notes

 

The tacking margins on the fine support are intact, although unusually narrow (1 cm). The off-white ground is smoothly applied. The darker and cooler colors were applied first in relatively thin layers. The lighter colors were placed over them in heavier application. Low impasto is evident in the highlights and details. There is no visible underdrawing in natural light or infrared reflectography, and no design changes are apparent. Vertical streaks in the sky appear to originate beneath the paint film. The picture is in excellent condition with only a few tiny losses scattered in the sky and foreground.

 

Provenance

 

James C. Cornell, Northampton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; to Theodore Cornell, his son; to Russell Cornell, his son; to Mr. and Mrs. J. Stanley Lee (Mrs. Lee is Hicks’ great-granddaughter), Newtown, Pennsylvania, by whom sold in 1954 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch.

 

Exhibitions

 

Bucks County Bi-Centennial Celebration, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1881. // NGA, 1957, no. 81. // Art Our Children Live With, Downtown Gallery, New York, 1957, no cat. // American Art, Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, Belgium, 1958, no. 84. / / Edward Hicks, 1/80-1849, AARFAC, 1960, no. 37. / / 101 Masterpieces, 1961-1964, no. 75, color repro. // Three Self-taught Pennsylvania Artists: Hicks, Kane and Pippin, Carnegie Institute of Art, Pittsburgh; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966-1967, no. 33, color repro. // in Masterpieces, 1968-1970, no. 73, color repro. // Tokyo, 1970. / / The New World: 162.0-19/0, Chrysler Museum of Art, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1970, no. 15. // What is American in American Art, M. Knoedler and Co., New York, 1971, catalogue by Mary C. Black, no. 46, color repro. / / Twenty-five Polk Artists: Their Lives and Work, AARFAC, 1971, no cat. / / Our Land, Our Sky, Our Water, organized for International Exposition, Spokane, Washington, 1974, no. 15. // Whitney, 1980, 96, color repro. / / Terra, 1981-1981, no. 26, color repro. / / American Naïve Paintings, (IEF) 1985-1987, no. 36, color repro. // Italy, 1988-1989, no. 36, color repro.

 

Toward the end of his life Edward Hicks created four farmscapes of the Pennsylvania countryside.1 These late paintings, which feature calm, harmonious views of Bucks County farms, are considered to be his finest works. Hicks’ granddaughter reported that the artist “always considered the Cornell picture his masterpiece.”2

 

In this resplendent panoramic view of his friend’s neatly cultivated property Hicks presents convincing atmospheric perspective and suffuses the landscape with the golden light of Indian summer. Against this naturalistic background, however, Hicks parades Cornell’s prizewinning livestock across the foreground in an unnaturalistic way, their flat, sharply delineated shapes reminiscent of the crowded collages of animals in some of his peaceable kingdom pictures. Most of the figures populating the middle ground have one arm extended, appearing to call attention proudly to outstanding features of the bountiful farm. Descendants have identified the belted figure as the farm owner, James Cornell, in conversation with his friend William Janney. Their inspection of the farm may represent a real scene, since Cornell was awarded several prizes at the 1848 Newtown Exhibition and Janney apparently was on the committee of judges. In addition to honors for his horses, swine, sheep, poultry, and native stock, Cornell was presented with “the first premium of $5 for the best cultivated Farm over 100 acres, regard being had to the quality of produce, mode of cultivation, and general appearance.”3

 

Although Hicks relied on his observations of nature, another source of inspiration for The Cornell Farm may have been The Country Fair, 182.5 (private collection) by John A. Woodside (1781-1851).4 Both paintings depict houses and barns perched on gently rolling hills with a variety of animals arranged in profile across the foreground. Although Woodside distributes his animals and figures more evenly throughout the landscape, both artists include men with stiff, outstretched arms pointing to features of the farm and conversing with each other. Hicks’ farmer with a plow, on the right, also seems to derive from two plowing farmers on the left of Woodside’s canvas. The animals in both paintings may ultimately derive from British livestock and sporting prints of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which frequently depicted animals in profile or aligned horizontally across the composition. These prints were extremely popular, serving as wall decorations and advertisements for stockbreeders.5

 

Hicks’ farm scenes may also reflect his own reverence for farming. He tried his hand at it briefly in 1813 and later remarked, “[I] verily thought then and still think farming more consistent with the Christian, and was willing to sacrifice all my fondness for painting.”6 Hicks’ farmscapes present this ideal Christian way of life; they are secular peaceable kingdoms occupied by men and animals in complete harmony with each other.

 

America’s earliest landscapes, like those painted by Winthrop Chandler (q.v.) in the eighteenth century or Ralph Wheelock’s Farm (1965.15.13) of c. 1814 by Francis Alexander (q.v.), were often “portraits” of a landowner’s property and possessions, and The Cornell Farm falls within this tradition. Some writers, recognizing the relationship of Hicks’ farmscapes to these early landscapes, have concluded that they have “no historical or religious connotation,”7 but it would seem incongruous for the deeply religious Hicks to paint a scene without some allusion to his strong Quaker ideals. Although The Cornell Farm and the other farmscapes relate to the topographical tradition, they are “profoundly Quaker pictures.”8 Their harmony, serenity, and richness prove that industry and Quaker piety can result in an earthly perfection.9

 

The Cornell Farm was painted for James Cornell himself, who must have been pleased with the portrait of his prize bull which he had commissioned from Hicks two years earlier in 1846.10 Slides taken at the farm’s site reveal that Hicks attempted to portray its actual topography and appearance. The landscape today remains similar to Hicks’ depiction; two wagon houses still stand, although the original house was replaced and the barn burned down in the 1960$.

 

LW

 

Notes

 

1.Hicks’ other farmscapes are The Residence of Thomas Hillhorn, 1845 (AARFAC; Mather 1983, cat. no. 101), his earliest farm scene; The Residence of David Twining in 178 5, c. 1845-1846 (four versions; Mather 1983, cat. nos. 101-105) and The Leedom Farm, 1849 (AARFAC; Mather 1983, cat. no. 107). The latter, like The Cornell Farm, shows expansive, panoramic views, while the other two focus on only a segment of the farm. It is generally assumed that Hicks was inspired by his actual Pennsylvania surroundings. The Residence of David Twining 1785, however, is based on Hicks’ memories of his childhood rather than on a contemporary scene.

2.A 1954 letter,}. Stanley Lee to Colonel Garbisch, records Edward Hicks’ granddaughter quoting the painter to Lee.

3.The Doylestown Democrat and Bucks County Republican, 17 October 1848.

4.Reproduced in Virgil Barker, American Painting (New York, 1950), 373.

5.While Ford 1951, 97, mentions the possibility that Hicks may have seen Woodside’s painting, she believes it unlikely. However, Woodside was a contemporary of Hicks and a leading sign painter in nearby Philadelphia, and the possibility should not be discounted. Since Hicks was concerned first and foremost with religious pursuits, his Memoirs contain little information to assist historians in pinning down his artistic influences. On Woodside, see Stuart P. Feld and Albert Ten Eyck Gardner, American Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Greenwich, 1965), 151.

6.Louisa Dresser, “The Peaceable Kingdom,” Bulletin of the Worcester Art Museum 2.5 (Spring 1934), 17.

7.Three Self-Taught Pennsylvania Artists: Hicks, Kane and Pippin [exh. cat., Carnegie Institute of Art] (Pittsburgh, 1966), unpaginated.

8.Parry 1975, 94.

9.It is worth noting that Hicks painted this scene at the same time the Hudson River School artists were creating their tributes to God’s nature. The Cornell Farm seems to relate philosophically, as well as in subject matter, to this academic landscape tradition. Hicks, in this peaceful scene with its warm, glowing light, shares the Hudson River painters’ belief in the manifestation of God’s presence in nature and light. Like the academic landscape painters, he considered man in harmony with the landscape or as “part and parcel of God” (Ralph Waldo Emerson as quoted in Barbara Novak, American Painting of the Nineteenth Century: Realism, Idealism and the American Experience, id ed. [New York, 1979], no). In fact, the Quaker belief that all men possess a portion of the Spirit (Eleanore Price Mather, “A Quaker Icon: The Inner Kingdom of Edward Hicks,” Art Quarterly 36 [Spring/Summer 1973], 85) resembles the Emersonian belief in physical facts as “the end or last issue of spirit” (Emerson as quoted in Novak 1979, in).

10.James Cornell’s Prize BU//ÍS at AARFAC and reproduced in Mather 1983 (see Bibliography), cat. no. 108. A receipt which was removed from the reverse reads: “James Cornell / To Edward Hicks Do / To painting his prize bull. $15.00 / Rec 5th mo 16th 1846 the above in full / of all demands by me / Edward Hicks.” As Mather explains, this work has its precedents in Dutch pastoral lithographs (81-86).

 

References

 

•1947—Antiques, 51 (October): 151-153 (untitled editorial).

•1950—Lipman and Winchester: 46-47.

•1951—Ford (see Bibliography): 97, 107, 108, in, color repro. opp. 108.

•1971—Campbell, William P. “The American Heritage at the National Gallery of Art.” Connoisseur 178 (December):

•2-70, 2.72-

•1974—Lipman, Jean, and Alice Winchester. The Flowering of American Folk Art. New York: color pi. 70.

•1975—Parry, Ellwood. “Edward Hicks and a Quaker Iconography.” Arts Magazine 49 (June): 94.

•1976—Lipman, Jean, and Helen M. Franc. Bright Stars: American Painting and Sculpture Since 1776. New York: color repro. p. 60.

•1979—Haverstock, Mary Sayre. An American Bestiary. New York: color repro. p. 146.

•1983—Mather (see Bibliography): 85, 195, cat. no. 106, color pi. 8.

•1985—Ford (see Bibliography): 134-136, color repro.