This colourful mural, which extends a bit further off to the left, was a creation by artist, Christi Tims.

 

On 26 April 2024, I managed a short drive SE of Calgary. Thought I had better make the most of clear roads before the bad weather arrives. All familiar, much-travelled roads this time, around the Frank Lake area and while heading back home.

 

I bumped into a huge group of people who were on a special outing to Frank Lake, led by Greg Wagner, who takes care of the lake areas and does a tremendous job of recording every bird seen, all year round and for many years. Not just once a day, either! Yesterday, he was showing the participants the various viewing points around the lake and I happened to see the cars coming towards me along one of the roads. I turned around and caught up with them. They had just one more location to visit, but one had to drive on a rough, non-road to get there. I would have been almost the last person to get there if I had gone, with a long walk to get to the lake edge. I knew I couldn't do that, with painful sciatica or bursitis in my right side, so I continued on my own journey. Good to see you, Greg, even if for just a few moments.

 

A bit of information about Greg:

ebird.org/region/CA/post/greg-wagner-march-ebirder-of-the...

 

So many birds in the area are far, far away - and I still don't possess a pair of binoculars after about 18 years of birding! (By the way, the birding blind area at Frank Lake is still extremely flooded.) However, I was happy to spend a bit of time watching and taking a few photos of the closer birds on my way home. Mainly Yellow-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds, plus a few Coots and European Starlings. At one point, there was an absolute frenzy of a group of Starlings and both species of Blackbirds on the ground, all mixed together. I had to take a bit of video, through the windscreen so poor quality.

The Postcard

 

A postally unused carte postale published by F. Chapeau of Nantes.

 

Although the card was not posted, someone has written a date on the back:

 

"5. 12. 32".

 

Le Château des Ducs de Bretagne

 

Le Château des Ducs de Bretagne is a large castle located in the city of Nantes in the Loire-Atlantique département of France.

 

It is located on the right bank of the Loire, which formerly fed its ditches. It was the residence of the Dukes of Brittany between the 13th. and 16th. centuries, subsequently becoming the Breton residence of the French Monarchy.

 

The castle has been listed as a Monument Historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1862.

 

Restoration of the Château

 

Starting in the 1990's, the town of Nantes undertook a massive programme of restoration and repairs to return the site to its former glory as an emblem of the history of Nantes and Brittany.

 

Following 15 years of works and three years of closure to the public, it was reopened on the 9th. February 2007, and is now a popular tourist attraction. Night-time illuminations at the castle further reinforce the revival of the château.

 

The restored edifice now includes the new Nantes History Museum, installed in 32 of the castle rooms. The museum presents more than 850 objects of interest with the aid of multimedia devices.

 

The château and its museum try to offer a modern vision of the heritage by presenting the past, the present and the future of the city.

 

The 500-metre round walk on the fortified ramparts provides views not just of the castle buildings and courtyards but also of the town.

 

The Sale of Liquor

 

So what else happened on Monday the 5th. December 1932?

 

Well, on that day, a joint resolution was introduced to the U.S. Congress repealing the Eighteenth Amendment, and turning the regulation of liquor over to the individual states.

 

British War Debts

 

Also on that day, the British government suggested issuing bonds to cover its war debts to the United States.

 

'Jane'

 

Also on that day, the comic strip 'Jane' by Norman Pett first appeared in the British tabloid newspaper the Daily Mirror.

 

Little Richard

 

The 5th. December 1932 also marked the birth, in Macon, Georgia, of Little Richard.

 

Richard Wayne Penniman, known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades.

 

Described as the "Architect of Rock and Roll", Richard's most celebrated work dates from the mid-1950's, when his charismatic showmanship and dynamic music, characterized by frenetic piano playing, pounding back beat and raspy shouted vocals, laid the foundation for rock and roll.

 

Richard's innovative emotive vocalizations and uptempo rhythmic music also played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and funk.

 

He influenced numerous singers and musicians across musical genres from rock to hip hop, and his music helped shape rhythm and blues for generations.

 

"Tutti Frutti" (1955), one of Richard's signature songs, became an instant hit, crossing over to the pop charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom. His next hit single, "Long Tall Sally" (1956), hit No. 1 on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart, followed by a rapid succession of fifteen more hits in less than three years.

 

Richard's performances during this period resulted in integration between the white Americans and black Americans in his audience.

 

In 1962, after a five-year period during which Richard abandoned rock and roll music for born again Christianity, concert promoter Don Arden persuaded him to tour Europe.

 

During this time, the Beatles opened for Richard on some tour dates. Richard advised the Beatles on how to perform his songs, and taught Paul McCartney his distinctive vocalizations.

 

Richard is cited as one of the first crossover black artists, reaching audiences of all races. His music and concerts broke the color line, drawing black and white people together despite attempts to sustain segregation.

 

Many of his contemporaries, including Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, recorded covers of his works.

 

Impressed by Richard's music and style, and personally covering four of Richard's songs on his own two breakthrough albums in 1956, Presley told Richard in 1969 that his music was an inspiration to him, and that he was "the greatest".

 

Richard was honored by many institutions. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of its first group of inductees in 1986. He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

 

Richard was the recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from The Recording Academy and the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

 

In 2015, Richard received a Rhapsody & Rhythm Award from the National Museum of African American Music for his key role in the formation of popular music genres, and for helping to bring an end to the racial divide on the music charts and in concerts in the mid-1950's.

 

"Tutti Frutti" was included in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2010, which stated that:

 

"Richard's unique vocalizing over the

irresistible beat announced a new era

in music".

 

Little Richard - The Early Years

 

Richard Wayne Penniman was the third of twelve children of Leva Mae (née Stewart) and Charles "Bud" Penniman. His father was a church deacon and a brick mason, who sold bootlegged moonshine on the side, and who also owned a nightclub called the Tip In Inn. Richard's mother was a member of Macon's New Hope Baptist Church.

 

Initially, his first name was supposed to have been "Ricardo", but an error resulted in "Richard" instead. In childhood, he was nicknamed "Lil' Richard" by his family because of his small and skinny frame.

 

The Penniman children were raised in a neighborhood of Macon called Pleasant Hill. A mischievous child who played pranks on neighbors, he began singing in church and taking piano lessons at a young age.

 

Possibly as a result of complications at birth, Richard had a slight deformity that left one of his legs shorter than the other. This produced an unusual gait, and he was mocked for his allegedly effeminate appearance.

 

Richard's family were very religious, and joined various A.M.E., Baptist, and Pentecostal churches, with some family members becoming ministers. He enjoyed the Pentecostal churches the most, because of their charismatic worship and live music.

 

Richard later recalled that people in his neighborhood sang gospel songs throughout the day during segregation to keep a positive outlook, because:

 

"There was so much poverty, so

much prejudice in those days".

 

He had observed that:

 

"People sing to feel their connection

with God, and to wash their trials and

burdens away."

 

Gifted with a loud singing voice, he recalled that:

 

"I was always changing the key upwards,

and I was once stopped from singing in

church for screaming and hollering so loud.

My singing gave me the nickname "War Hawk".

 

Richard recalled that:

 

"As a child, I would beat on the steps

of the house, and on tin cans and pots

and pans, or whatever, while I was

singing, and this used to annoy the

neighbors."

 

Richard's initial musical influences were gospel performers such as Brother Joe May, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Mahalia Jackson, and Marion Williams.

 

Joe May, a singing evangelist who was known as "The Thunderbolt of the Middle West" because of his phenomenal range and vocal power, inspired Richard to become a preacher. He credited the Clara Ward Singers for one of his distinctive hollers.

 

Richard attended Macon's Hudson High School, where he was a below-average student. He eventually learned to play alto saxophone, joining the school's marching band while in fifth grade.

 

While still in high school, Richard got a part-time job at Macon City Auditorium for local secular and gospel concert promoter Clint Brantley. He sold Coca-Cola to crowds during concerts of star performers of the day such as Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder, and his favorite singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

 

Little Richard's Music Career

 

(a) 1947–1955: Beginnings

 

In October 1947, Sister Rosetta Tharpe overheard the fourteen-year-old Richard singing her songs before a performance at the Macon City Auditorium, and she invited him to open her show.

 

After the show, Tharpe paid Richard, inspiring him to become a professional performer. Richard stated that his piano style was greatly influenced by Ike Turner's piano intro on "Rocket 88".

 

In 1949, Richard began performing in Doctor Nubillo's traveling show. He was inspired to wear turbans and capes in his career by Nubillo, who also:

 

"Carried a black stick and exhibited

something he called 'the devil's child'—

supposedly the dried-up body of a

baby, with claw feet like a bird, and

horns on its head."

 

Nubillo told Richard:

 

"You're gonna be famous, but you'll

have to go where the grass is greener".

 

Before entering the tenth grade, Richard left his family home and joined Hudson's Medicine Show in 1949, performing Louis Jordan's "Caldonia". Richard recalled that the song was the first secular R&B song he learned, since his family had strict rules against playing R&B music, which they considered "devil music".

 

Little Richard was influenced by Jordan. In fact, the whoop sound on Jordan's record "Caldonia" sounds eerily like the vocal tone Little Richard adopted, in addition to the "Jordan-style pencil-thin mustache".

 

Richard also performed in drag during this time, performing under the name "Princess LaVonne".

 

In 1950, Richard joined his first musical band, Buster Brown's Orchestra, where Brown gave him the name Little Richard. Performing in the minstrel show circuit, Richard, in and out of drag, performed for various vaudeville acts such as Sugarfoot Sam from Alabam, the Tidy Jolly Steppers, the King Brothers Circus, and Broadway Follies.

 

Having settled in Atlanta at this point, Richard began listening to rhythm and blues, and frequented Atlanta clubs, including the Harlem Theater and the Royal Peacock, where he saw performers such as Roy Brown and Billy Wright onstage.

 

Richard was further influenced by Brown's and Wright's flashy style of showmanship, and was even more influenced by Wright's flamboyant persona. Inspired by Brown and Wright, he decided to become a rhythm-and-blues singer, and after befriending Wright, began to learn how to be an entertainer from him.

 

Richard began to sport a pompadour hairdo similar to Wright's, as well as a pencil mustache, using Wright's brand of facial pancake makeup and wearing flashier clothes.

 

Impressed by his singing voice, Wright put him in contact with Zenas Sears, a local D. J. Sears recorded Richard at his station, backed by Wright's band. The recordings led to a contract that year with RCA Victor. Richard recorded a total of eight sides for RCA Victor, including the blues ballad, "Every Hour", which became his first single, and a hit in Georgia.

 

The release of "Every Hour" improved his relationship with his father, who began regularly playing the song on his nightclub jukebox. Shortly after the release of "Every Hour", Richard was hired to front Perry Welch and His Orchestra, and played at clubs and army bases for $100 a week.

 

Richard left RCA Victor in February 1952 after his records for the label failed to chart; the recordings were marketed with little promotion from RCA Victor, although ads for the records showed up in Billboard Magazine.

 

After his father´s death in 1952, Richard began to find success, RCA Victor re-issued the recordings on the budget RCA Camden label. He continued to perform during this time, and Clint Brantley agreed to manage Richard's career.

 

Moving to Houston, he formed a band called the Tempo Toppers, performing as part of blues package tours in Southern clubs such as Club Tijuana in New Orleans, and Club Matinee in Houston.

 

Richard signed with Don Robey's Peacock Records in February 1953, recording eight sides, including four with Johnny Otis and his band that were unreleased at the time. Like Richard's venture with RCA Victor, none of his Peacock singles charted, despite Richard getting knocked out by Robey during a scuffle.

 

Disillusioned by the record business, Richard returned to Macon in 1954. Struggling with poverty, he settled for work as a dishwasher for Greyhound Lines.

 

While in Macon, he met Esquerita, whose flamboyant onstage persona and dynamic piano playing deeply influenced Richard's approach to performance. That year, he disbanded the Tempo Toppers, and formed a harder-driving rhythm and blues band, the Upsetters, which included drummer Charles Connor and saxophonist Wilbert "Lee Diamond" Smith.

 

In 1954, Richard signed on to a Southern tour with Little Johnny Taylor. The band supported R&B singer Christine Kittrell on some recordings, then began to tour successfully, even without a bass guitarist, forcing drummer Connor to thump "real hard" on his bass drum in order to get a "bass fiddle effect". Around this time, Richard signed a contract to tour with fellow R&B singer Little Johnny Taylor.

 

At the suggestion of Lloyd Price, Richard sent a demo to Price's label, Specialty Records, in February 1955. Months passed before Richard got a call from the label. Finally, in September of that year, Specialty owner Art Rupe loaned Richard money to buy out of his Peacock contract, and set him to work with producer Robert "Bumps" Blackwell.

 

Upon hearing the demo, Blackwell felt that Richard was Specialty's answer to Ray Charles. However, Richard told him that he preferred the sound of Fats Domino. Blackwell sent him to New Orleans, where he recorded at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studios, recording there with several of Domino's session musicians, including drummer Earl Palmer and saxophonist Lee Allen.

 

Richard's recordings that day failed to produce much inspiration or interest (although Blackwell saw some promise). Frustrated, Blackwell and Richard went to relax at the Dew Drop Inn nightclub. According to Blackwell, Richard then launched into a risqué dirty blues he titled "Tutti Frutti".

 

Blackwell felt that the song had hit potential, and hired songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie to replace some of Richard's sexual lyrics with less controversial ones. He also changed the microphone placement, and pushed Richard's voice forward.

 

Recorded in three takes in September 1955, "Tutti Frutti" was released as a single that November, and became an instant hit, reaching No. 2 on Billboard magazine's Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart and crossing over to the pop charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom. It reached No. 21 on the Billboard Top 100 in America, and No. 29 on the British singles chart, eventually selling a million copies.

 

(b) 1956–1962: Initial Success and Conversion

 

Richard's next hit single, "Long Tall Sally" (1956), hit number one on the R&B chart and number thirteen on the Top 100 while reaching the top ten in Great Britain. Like "Tutti Frutti", it sold over a million copies.

 

Following his success, Richard built up his backup band, The Upsetters, with the addition of saxophonists Clifford "Gene" Burks and leader Grady Gaines, bassist Olsie "Baysee" Robinson and guitarist Nathaniel "Buster" Douglas.

 

Richard began performing on package tours across the United States. Art Rupe described the differences between Richard and a similar hitmaker of the early rock and roll period by stating that:

 

"While the similarities between Little Richard

and Fats Domino for recording purposes were

close, Richard would sometimes stand up at

the piano while he was recording and onstage,

whereas Domino was plodding, and very slow,

Richard was very dynamic, completely uninhibited,

unpredictable, and wild. So the band took on

the ambience of the vocalist."

 

Richard's performances, like most early rock and roll shows, resulted in integrated audience reaction during an era where public places were divided into "white" and "colored" domains. In these package tours, Richard and other artists such as Fats Domino and Chuck Berry would enable audiences of both races to enter the building, albeit still segregated (e.g. blacks on the balcony and whites on the main floor).

 

As his later Producer H. B. Barnum, explained, Richard's performances enabled audiences to come together to dance. Despite broadcasts on television from local supremacist groups such as the North Alabama White Citizens Council warning that rock and roll "brings the races together", Richard's popularity was helping to shatter the myth that black performers could not successfully perform at "white-only venues", especially in the South where racism was most overt.

 

Richard's high-energy antics included lifting his leg while playing the piano, climbing on top of his piano, running on and off the stage and throwing souvenirs to the audience. He also began using capes and suits studded with multi-colored stones and sequins. Richard said he began to be more flamboyant onstage so that no one would think he was "after the white girls".

 

Little Richard recalled:

 

"A lot of songs I sang to crowds first

to watch their reaction. That's how I

knew they'd hit."

 

Richard claims that a show at Baltimore's Royal Theatre in June 1956 led to some women throwing their panties onstage at him, resulting in other female fans repeating the action, saying that it was "the first time" that had happened to any artist.

 

Richard's show stopped several times that night due to fans being restrained from jumping off the balcony and then rushing to the stage to touch him.

 

Overall, Richard produced seven singles in the United States alone in 1956, with five of them also charting in the UK, including "Slippin' and Slidin'", "Rip It Up", "Ready Teddy", "The Girl Can't Help It" and "Lucille".

 

Immediately after releasing "Tutti Frutti", which was then protocol for the industry, "safer" white recording artists such as Pat Boone covered the song, sending the song to the top twenty of the charts, several positions higher than Richard's.

 

His fellow rock and roll peers Elvis Presley and Bill Haley also recorded his songs later that same year. Befriending Alan Freed, Richard was given a role in "rock and roll" movies such as Don't Knock the Rock, and Mister Rock and Roll.

 

Richard was given a larger singing role in the 1956 film, The Girl Can't Help It starring Jayne Mansfield. That year, he scored more hit successes with songs such as "Jenny, Jenny" and "Keep A-Knockin,'" the latter becoming his first top ten single on the Billboard Top 100.

 

By the time he left Specialty in 1959, Richard had scored a total of nine top 40 pop singles and seventeen top 40 R&B singles.

 

Richard performed at the famed twelfth Cavalcade of Jazz held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles on the 2nd. September 1956.

 

Also performing that day were Dinah Washington, The Mel Williams Dots, Chuck Higgins' Orchestra, Bo Rhambo, Willie Hayden & Five Black Birds, The Premiers, Gerald Wilson and his 20-Piece Recording Orchestra, and Jerry Gray and his Orchestra.

 

Shortly after the release of "Tutti Frutti", Richard relocated to Los Angeles. After achieving success as a recording artist and live performer, Richard moved into a wealthy, formerly predominantly white neighborhood, living close to black celebrities such as boxer Joe Louis.

 

Richard's first album, Here's Little Richard, was released by Specialty in March 1957, and peaked at number thirteen on the Billboard Top LPs chart. Similar to most albums released during that era, the album featured six released singles and a number of "filler" tracks.

 

In October 1957, Richard embarked on a package tour in Australia with Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. During the middle of the tour, he shocked the public by announcing that he intended to follow a life in the ministry.

 

Richard claimed in his autobiography that during a flight from Melbourne to Sydney, his plane was experiencing some difficulty, and he claimed to have seen the plane's red hot engines, and felt that angels were "holding it up".

 

At the end of his Sydney performance, Richard saw a bright red fireball flying across the sky above him, and claimed that he was "deeply shaken". Though he was eventually told that it was the launching of the first artificial Earth satellite Sputnik 1, Richard took it as a "sign from God" to repent from performing secular music and his wild lifestyle at the time.

 

Returning to the States ten days earlier than expected, Richard later read that the flight he had originally planned to take had crashed into the Pacific Ocean, He regarded this as a further sign to "do as God wanted".

 

After a "farewell performance" at the Apollo Theater and a "final" recording session with Specialty later that month, Richard enrolled at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, to study theology.

 

Despite his claims of spiritual rebirth, Richard admitted his reasons for leaving were more monetary. During his tenure at Specialty, despite earning millions for the label, Richard complained that he was unaware that Speciality had reduced the percentage of royalties he was to earn from his recordings.

 

In early 1958, Specialty released Richard's second album, Little Richard, which didn't chart.

 

Specialty continued to release Richard's recordings, including "Good Golly, Miss Molly" and his unique version of "Kansas City", until 1960. Finally ending his contract with the label, Richard agreed to relinquish any royalties for his material.

 

In 1958, Richard formed the Little Richard Evangelistic Team, traveling across the country to preach. A month after his decision to leave secular music, Richard met Ernestine Harvin, a secretary from Washington, D.C., and the couple married on the 11th. July 1959.

 

Richard ventured into gospel music, first recording for End Records, before signing with Mercury Records in 1961, where he eventually released King of the Gospel Singers, in 1962, produced by Quincy Jones, who later remarked that Richard's vocals impressed him more than any other vocalist that he had worked with.

 

Richard's childhood heroine, Mahalia Jackson, wrote in the notes of the album that:

 

"Richard sings gospel the

way it should be sung".

 

While Richard was no longer charting in the U.S. with pop music, some of his gospel songs such as "He's Not Just a Soldier" and "He Got What He Wanted", and "Crying in the Chapel", reached the pop charts in the U.S. and in the UK.

 

(c) 1962–1979: Return to Secular Music

 

Mick Jagger said of Richard:

 

"I heard so much about the audience

reaction, I thought there must be some

exaggeration. But it was all true.

He drove the whole house into a

complete frenzy ... I couldn't believe

the power of Little Richard onstage.

He was amazing."

 

In 1962, concert promoter Don Arden persuaded Little Richard to tour Europe after telling him his records were still selling well there.

 

With soul singer Sam Cooke as an opening act, Richard, who featured a teenage Billy Preston in his gospel band, figured it was a gospel tour and, after Cooke's delayed arrival forced him to cancel his show on the opening date, performed only gospel material during the show. This led to boos from the audience, who were expecting Richard to sing his rock and roll hits.

 

The following night, Richard viewed Cooke's well-received performance. Bringing back his competitive drive, Richard and Preston warmed up in darkness before launching into "Long Tall Sally", resulting in frenetic, hysterical responses from the audience.

 

A show at Mansfield's Granada Theatre ended early after fans rushed the stage. Hearing of Richard's shows, Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, asked Don Arden to allow his band to open for Richard on some tour dates, to which he agreed.

 

The first show for which the Beatles opened was at New Brighton's Tower Ballroom that October. The following month they, along with Swedish singer Jerry Williams and his band The Violents, opened for Richard at the Star-Club in Hamburg.

 

During this time, Richard advised the group on how to perform his songs, and taught Paul McCartney his distinctive vocalizations.

 

Back in the United States, Richard recorded six rock and roll songs with his 1950's band, the Upsetters for Little Star Records, under the name "World Famous Upsetters", hoping this would keep his options open in maintaining his position as a minister.

 

In the fall of 1963, Richard was called by a concert promoter to rescue a sagging tour featuring The Everly Brothers, Bo Diddley and the Rolling Stones. Richard agreed, and helped to save the tour from flopping.

 

At the end of that tour, Richard was given his own television special for Granada Television titled The Little Richard Spectacular. The special became a ratings hit, and after 60,000 fan letters, was rebroadcast twice.

 

In 1964, now openly re-embracing rock and roll, Richard released "Bama Lama Bama Loo" on Specialty Records. Due to his UK exposure, the song reached the top twenty there, but only climbed to number 82 in the U.S.

 

Later in the year, he signed with Vee-Jay Records, then on its dying legs, to release his "comeback" album, Little Richard Is Back. Due to the arrival of the Beatles and other British bands as well as the rise of soul labels such as Motown and Stax Records and the popularity of James Brown, Richard's new releases were not well promoted, nor well received by radio stations.

 

In November 1964, Jimi Hendrix joined Richard's Upsetters band as a full member.

 

In December 1964, Richard brought Hendrix and childhood friend and piano teacher Eskew Reeder to a New York studio to re-record an album's worth of his greatest hits. He went on tour with his new group the Upsetters to promote the album.

 

In early 1965, Richard took Hendrix and Billy Preston to a New York studio where they recorded the Don Covay soul ballad, "I Don't Know What You've Got (But It's Got Me)", which became a number 12 R&B hit.

 

Three other songs were recorded during the sessions, "Dance a Go Go" aka "Dancin' All Around the World", "You Better Stop", and "Come See About Me." However "You Better Stop" was not issued until 1971, and "Come See About Me" has yet to see official release.

 

Around this time, Richard and Jimi appeared in a show starring Soupy Sales at the Brooklyn Paramount, New York. Richard's flamboyance and drive for dominance reportedly got him thrown off the show.

 

Hendrix and Richard clashed over the spotlight, as well as Hendrix's tardiness, wardrobe and stage antics. Hendrix also complained over not being properly paid by Richard. In early July 1965, Richard's brother Robert Penniman "fired" Jimi. However, Jimi wrote to his father, Al Hendrix, that he quit Richard because:

 

"You can't live on promises when

you're on the road, so I had to cut

that mess aloose".

 

Hendrix had not been paid for five-and-a-half weeks, and was owed 1,000 dollars. Hendrix then rejoined the Isley Brothers' band, the IB Specials.

 

Richard later signed with Modern Records, releasing a modest charter, "Do You Feel It?" before leaving for Okeh Records in early 1966.

 

His former Specialty labelmate Larry Williams produced two albums for Richard on Okeh - the studio release The Explosive Little Richard, which utilised a Motown-influenced sound and produced the modest charters "Poor Dog" and "Commandments of Love." Secondly Little Richard's Greatest Hits: Recorded Live! which returned him to the album charts.

 

Richard was later scathing about this period, declaring Larry Williams "the worst producer in the world". In 1967, Richard signed with Brunswick Records, but after clashing with the label over musical direction, he left the label the following year.

 

Richard felt that producers on his labels failed to promote his records during this period. Later, he claimed they kept trying to push him to record in a style similar to Motown, and felt he wasn't treated with appropriate respect.

 

Richard often performed in dingy clubs and lounges with little support from his label. While Richard managed to perform at huge venues in England and France, in the U.S. Richard had to perform on the Chitlin' Circuit.

 

Richard's flamboyant look, while a hit during the 1950's, failed to help his labels to promote him to more conservative black record buyers. Richard later claimed that his decision to "backslide" from his ministry, led religious clergymen to criticise his new recordings.

 

Making matters worse, Richard said, was his insistence on performing in front of integrated audiences at the time of the black liberation movement shortly after the Watts riots and the formation of the Black Panthers. This caused many black radio disk jockeys in certain areas of the country, including Los Angeles, to choose not to play his music.

 

By then acting as his manager, Larry Williams convinced Richard to focus on his live shows. By 1968, he had ditched the Upsetters for his new backup band, the Crown Jewels, performing on the Canadian TV show, "Where It's At".

 

Richard was also featured on the Monkees' TV special 33⅓ Revolutions per Monkee in April 1969.

 

Williams booked Richard shows in Las Vegas casinos and resorts, leading Richard to adopt a wilder, flamboyant, and androgynous look, inspired by the success of his former backing guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

 

Richard was soon booked at rock festivals such as the Atlantic City Pop Festival, where he stole the show from headliner Janis Joplin. Richard produced a similar show stealer at the Toronto Pop Festival with John Lennon as the headliner.

 

These successes brought Little Richard to talk shows such as the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and the Dick Cavett Show, making him a major celebrity again.

 

Responding to his reputation as a successful concert performer, Reprise Records signed Richard in 1970, and he released the album, The Rill Thing, with the philosophical single, "Freedom Blues", becoming his biggest charted single in years.

 

In May 1970, Richard made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Despite the success of "Freedom Blues", none of Richard's other Reprise singles charted, with the exception of "Greenwood, Mississippi", a swamp rock original by guitar hero, Travis Wammack, who incidentally played on the track.

 

It charted only briefly on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box pop chart, also on the Billboard Country charts; it made a strong showing on WWRL in New York, before disappearing.

 

Richard became a featured guest instrumentalist and vocalist on recordings by acts such as Delaney and Bonnie, Joey Covington and Joe Walsh, and was prominently featured on Canned Heat's 1972 hit single, "Rockin' with the King".

 

To keep up with his finances and bookings, Richard and three of his brothers formed a management company, Bud Hole Incorporated. On American TV, Richard announced that he would appear in a Rock Hudson motion picture, playing "The Insane Minister". (The appearance has never seen the light of day.)

 

Richard also mentioned a new project involving Mick Jagger and Joe Cocker, celebrating his 20 years in show business, though it was never realized.

 

By 1972, Richard had entered the rock and roll revival circuit, and that year, he co-headlined the London Rock and Roll Show at Wembley Stadium with his musical peer Chuck Berry, Richard would come on stage and announce himself as "The King of Rock and Roll", fittingly also the title of his 1971 album with Reprise, and told the packed audience there to "let it all hang out".

 

Richard, however, was booed during the show when he climbed on top of his piano and stopped singing; he also seemed to ignore much of the crowd. To make matters worse, he showed up with just five musicians, and struggled through low lighting and bad microphones.

 

When the concert film documenting the show came out, his performance was considered generally strong, though his fans noticed a drop in energy and vocal artistry. Two songs he performed did not make the final cut of the film.

 

The following year, he recorded a charting soul ballad, "In the Middle of the Night", released with proceeds donated to victims of tornadoes that had caused damage in twelve states.

 

Richard did no new recordings in 1974, although two "new" albums were released. In the summer, came a major surprise for fans, "Talkin' 'bout Soul", a collection of released and unreleased Vee Jay recordings, all never before on a domestic LP. Two tracks were new to the world: the title tune and "You'd Better Stop", both uptempo.

 

Later that year came a set recorded in one night, early the previous year, called "Right Now!", and featuring "roots" material, including a vocal version of an unreleased Reprise instrumental "Mississippi", released in 1972 as "Funky Dish Rag"; his third try at his gospel-rock "In the Name"; and a 6 minute plus rocker, "Hot Nuts", based upon a 1936 song by Li'l Johnson ("Get 'Em From The Peanut Man").

 

1975 was a big year for Richard, with a world tour, and acclaim over high energy performances throughout England and France. His band was perhaps his best to date. He cut a top 40 single (US and Canada), with Bachman-Turner Overdrive, "Take It Like a Man".

 

Richard worked on new songs with sideman, Seabrun "Candy" Hunter. He told Dee-Jay, Wolfman Jack, that he planned on releasing a new album with Sly Stone, but it never materialized.

 

In 1976, he decided to retire again, being physically and mentally exhausted, having experienced family tragedy and the drug culture. He was talked into once again re-cutting his greatest hits, for Stan Shulman in Nashville. This time, they did not use new arrangements, but stuck to the original arrangements.

 

Richard re-recorded eighteen of his classic rock and roll hits for K-Tel Records, in high-tech stereo recreations, with a single featuring the new versions of "Good Golly Miss Molly" and "Rip It Up," with both tracks reaching the UK singles chart.

 

Richard later admitted that he was heavily addicted to drugs and alcohol. By 1977, worn out from years of drug abuse and wild partying, as well as a string of personal tragedies, Richard quit rock and roll again and returned to evangelism, releasing one gospel album, God's Beautiful City, in 1979.

 

At the same time, while touring once again as a minister and returning to talk shows, a controversial album was released by the discount label, Koala, taken from a 1974 concert.

 

It includes an 11 minute discordant version of "Good Golly, Miss Molly". The performances are widely panned as subpar, and the album has gained some notoriety amongst record collectors.

 

(d) 1984–1999: Comeback

 

In 1984, Richard filed a $112 million lawsuit against Specialty Records, Art Rupe and his publishing company, Venice Music, and ATV Music for not paying royalties to him after he left the label in 1959. The suit was settled out of court in 1986.

 

According to some reports, Michael Jackson allegedly gave him monetary compensation for his work, which he co-owned with Sony-ATV, songs by the Beatles and Richard.

 

In September 1984, Charles White released the singer's authorized biography, Quasar of Rock: The Life and Times of Little Richard, which put Richard back in the spotlight. Richard returned to show business in what Rolling Stone referred to as "a formidable comeback" following the book's release.

 

Reconciling his roles as evangelist and rock and roll musician for the first time, Richard stated that the genre could be used for good or evil. After accepting a role in the film Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Richard and Billy Preston penned the faith-based rock and roll song "Great Gosh A'Mighty" for its soundtrack.

 

Richard won critical acclaim for his film role, and the song found success in the American and British charts. The hit led to the release of the album Lifetime Friend (1986) on Warner Bros. Records, with songs deemed "messages in rhythm", including a gospel rap track.

 

In addition to a version of "Great Gosh A'Mighty", cut in England, the album featured two singles that charted in the UK, "Somebody's Comin,'" and "Operator".

 

Richard spent much of the rest of the decade as a guest on television shows and appearing in films, winning new fans with what was referred to as his "unique comedic timing."

 

In 1988, he surprised fans with a serious tribute to Otis Redding at his Rock and Roll of Fame induction ceremony, singing several Redding songs, including "Fa Fa Fa (sad song)", "These arms of mine", and "Dock of the Bay ".

 

He told Otis' story, and explained how his 1956 tune "All Around the World" was Redding's reference on his 1963 side, "Hey, Hey Baby".

 

In 1989, Richard provided rhythmic preaching and background vocals on the extended live version of the U2–B.B. King hit "When Love Comes to Town". That same year, Richard returned to singing his classic hits following a performance of "Lucille" at an AIDS benefit concert.

 

In 1990, Richard contributed a spoken-word rap on Living Colour's hit song, "Elvis Is Dead", from their album Time's Up. That same year he appeared in a cameo for the music video of Cinderella's "Shelter Me".

 

In 1991, he was one of the featured performers on the hit single and video "Voices That Care" that was produced to help boost the morale of U.S. troops involved in Operation Desert Storm.

 

The same year, he recorded a version of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" for the Pediatric AIDS Foundation benefit album For Our Children. The album's success led to a deal with Walt Disney Records, resulting in the release of a hit 1992 children's album, Shake It All About.

 

In 1994, Richard sang the theme song to the award-winning PBS Kids and TLC animated television series The Magic School Bus based on the book series created by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen. He also opened Wrestlemania X from Madison Square Garden on the 20th. March that year, miming to his reworked rendition of "America the Beautiful".

 

Throughout the 1990's, Richard performed around the world and appeared on TV, film, and tracks with other artists, including Jon Bon Jovi, Elton John and Solomon Burke.

 

In 1992 he released his final album, Little Richard Meets Masayoshi Takanaka, featuring members of Richard's then current touring band.

 

(e) 2000–2020: The Later years

 

In 2000, Richard's life was dramatized for the biographical film Little Richard, which focused on his early years, including his heyday, his religious conversion and his return to secular music in the early 1960's.

 

Richard was played by Leon Robinson, who earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for his performance.

 

In 2002, Richard contributed to the Johnny Cash tribute album, Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash. In 2004–2005, he released two sets of unreleased and rare cuts, from the Okeh label 1966/67 and the Reprise label 1970/72. Included was the full Southern Child album, produced and composed mostly by Richard, scheduled for release in 1972, but shelved.

 

In 2006, Little Richard was featured in a popular advertisement for the GEICO brand. A 2005 recording of his duet vocals with Jerry Lee Lewis on a cover of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" was included on Lewis's 2006 album, Last Man Standing.

 

The same year, Richard was a guest judge on the TV series Celebrity Duets. Richard and Lewis performed alongside John Fogerty at the 2008 Grammy Awards in a tribute to the two artists considered to be cornerstones of rock and roll by the NARAS.

 

That same year, Richard appeared on radio host Don Imus' benefit album for sick children, The Imus Ranch Record. In June 2010, Richard recorded a gospel track for an upcoming tribute album to songwriting legend Dottie Rambo.

 

In 2009, Richard was Inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in a concert in New Orleans, attended by Fats Domino.

 

Throughout the first decade of the new millennium, Richard kept up a stringent touring schedule, performing primarily in the United States and Europe. However, sciatic nerve pain in his left leg and then replacement of the involved hip began affecting the frequency of his performances by 2010.

 

Despite his health problems, Richard continued to perform to receptive audiences and critics. Rolling Stone reported that at a performance at the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C., in June 2012:

 

"Richard was still full of fire, still a master

showman, his voice still loaded with deep

gospel and raunchy power."

 

Richard performed a full 90-minute show at the Pensacola Interstate Fair in Pensacola, Florida, in October 2012, at the age of 79, and headlined at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas during Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend in March 2013.

 

In September 2013, Rolling Stone published an interview with Richard who said that he would be retiring from performing. He told the magazine:

 

"I am done, in a sense, because I don't

feel like doing anything right now.

I think my legacy should be that when I

started in showbusiness there wasn't no

such thing as rock'n'roll.

When I started with 'Tutti Frutti', that's

when rock really started rocking."

 

Richard performed one last concert in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 2014.

 

In June 2015, Richard appeared before a benefit concert audience, clad in sparkly boots and a brightly colored jacket at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville to receive the Rhapsody & Rhythm Award from and raise funds for the National Museum of African American Music.

 

He charmed the crowd by reminiscing about his early days working in Nashville nightclubs. In May 2016, the National Museum of African American Music issued a press release indicating that Richard was one of the key artists and music industry leaders that attended its third annual Celebration of Legends Luncheon in Nashville.

 

In 2016, a new CD was released on Hitman Records, California (I'm Comin') with released and previously unreleased material from the 1970's, including a cappella version of his 1975 single release, "Try to Help Your Brother".

 

On the 6th. September 2017, Richard participated in a long television interview for the Christian Three Angels Broadcasting Network, appearing in a wheelchair, clean-shaven, without make-up, dressed in a blue paisley coat and tie, where he discussed his lifelong Christian faith.

 

On the 23rd. October 2019, Richard addressed the audience after appearing to receive the Distinguished Artist Award at the 2019 Tennessee Governor's Arts Awards at the Governor's Residence in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

Little Richard's Personal Life

 

(i) Relationships and Family

 

Around 1956, Richard became involved with Audrey Robinson, a sixteen-year-old college student, originally from Savannah, Georgia. Richard and Robinson quickly got acquainted, despite Robinson not being a fan of rock and roll music.

 

Richard said in his 1984 autobiography that he invited other men to have sexual encounters with her, including Buddy Holly, although Audrey denied those statements.

 

Richard proposed marriage to Robinson, but she refused. Robinson later became known under the name Lee Angel as a stripper and socialite. Richard re-connected with Robinson in the 1960's, though she left him again after his drug abuse worsened.

 

Robinson was interviewed for Richard's 1985 documentary on The South Bank Show, and denied Richard's statements. According to Robinson, Richard would use her to buy food in whites-only fast food stores, as he could not enter any, due to the color of his skin.

 

Richard met his only wife, Ernestine Harvin, at an evangelical rally in October 1957. They began dating that year, and wed on the 12th. July 1959 in California. According to Harvin, she and Richard initially enjoyed a happy marriage with "normal" sexual relations.

 

When the marriage ended in divorce in 1964, Harvin said it was due to her husband's celebrity status, which had made life difficult for her. Richard said the marriage fell apart due to his being a neglectful husband and because of his sexuality.

 

Both Robinson and Harvin denied Richard's statements that he was gay, and Richard believed they did not know it because:

 

"I was such a pumper

in those days".

 

During the marriage, Richard and Harvin adopted a one-year-old boy, Danny Jones, from a late church associate. Richard and his son remained close, with Jones often acting as one of his bodyguards. Harvin later married McDonald Campbell in Santa Barbara, California, on the 23rd. March 1975.

 

(ii) Little Richard's Sexuality

 

In 1984, Richard said that he just played with girls as a child, and was subjected to homosexual jokes and ridicule because of his manner of walking and talking. His father brutally punished him whenever he caught him wearing his mother's makeup and clothing.

 

The singer said he had been sexually involved with both sexes as a teenager. Because of his effeminate mannerisms, his father kicked him out of their family home when he was fifteen. In 1985, on The South Bank Show, Richard explained:

 

"My daddy put me out of the house.

He said he wanted seven boys, and

I had spoiled it, because I was gay."

 

Richard got involved in voyeurism in his early twenties. A female friend would drive him around picking up men who would allow him to watch them having sex in the backseat of cars.

 

Richard's activity caught the attention of the Macon police in 1955, and he was arrested after a gas station attendant reported sexual activity in a car Richard was occupying with a heterosexual couple. Cited on a sexual misconduct charge, he spent three days in jail, and was temporarily banned from performing in Macon.

 

In the early 1950's, Richard became acquainted with openly gay musician Billy Wright, who helped in establishing Richard's look. Billy advised Richard to use pancake makeup, and to wear his hair in a long-haired pompadour style similar to his.

 

As Richard got used to the makeup, he ordered his band, the Upsetters, to wear makeup too, in order to gain entry into predominantly white venues. He later stated:

 

"I wore the make-up so that white

men wouldn't think I was after the

white girls.

It made things easier for me, plus

it was colorful too."

 

In 2000, Richard told Jet magazine:

 

"I figure if being called a sissy would

make me famous, let them say what

they want to."

 

Richard's look, however, still attracted female audiences, who would send him naked photos and their phone numbers.

 

During Richard's heyday, his obsession with voyeurism and group sex continued, with his girlfriend Audrey Robinson participating. Richard wrote that Robinson would have sex with men while she sexually stimulated Richard.

 

Despite saying he was "born again" after leaving rock and roll for the church in 1957, Richard left Oakwood College after exposing himself to a male student. The incident was reported to the student's father, and Richard withdrew from the college.

 

In 1962, Richard was arrested for spying on men urinating in toilets at a Trailways bus station in Long Beach, California. However he still participated in orgies, and continued to be a voyeur.

 

On the 4th. May 1982, on Late Night with David Letterman, Richard said:

 

"God gave me the victory. I'm not gay

now, but, you know, I was gay all my

life. I believe I was one of the first gay

people to come out.

But God let me know that he made

Adam be with Eve, not Steve.

So, I gave my heart to Christ."

 

In his 1984 book, while demeaning homosexuality as "unnatural" and "contagious", he told Charles White that he was "omnisexual".

 

In 1995, Richard told Penthouse that he always knew he was gay, saying "I've been gay all my life". In 2007, Mojo Magazine referred to Richard as "bisexual".

 

In October 2017, Richard once again denounced homosexuality in an interview with the Christian Three Angels Broadcasting Network, stating that:

 

"Homosexual and transgender identity

is an unnatural affectation that goes

against the way God wants you to live."

 

(iii) Little Richard's Drug Use

 

During his initial heyday in the 1950's rock and roll scene, Richard was a teetotaler, abstaining from alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs. Richard often fined bandmates for drug and alcohol use during this era.

 

By the mid-1960's, however, Richard began drinking large amounts of alcohol, as well as smoking cigarettes and marijuana. By 1972, he had developed an addiction to cocaine. He later lamented that period:

 

"They should have called me

Lil Cocaine, I was sniffing so

much of that stuff!"

 

By 1975, he had developed addictions to both heroin and PCP, otherwise known as "angel dust". His drug and alcohol misuse began to affect his professional career and personal life. He later recalled:

 

"I lost my reasoning."

 

Of his cocaine addiction, Richard said that he did whatever he could to use cocaine. Richard admitted that his addictions to cocaine, PCP and heroin were costing him as much as $1,000 a day.

 

In 1977, longtime friend Larry Williams once showed up with a gun and threatened to kill Richard for failing to pay his drug debt. Richard said that this was the most fearful moment of his life; Williams' own drug addiction made him wildly unpredictable.

 

Richard did acknowledge that he and Williams were "very close friends," and when reminiscing about the drug-fueled clash, he recalled thinking:

 

"I knew he loved me—

I hoped he did!"

 

Within that same year, Richard had several devastating personal experiences, including his brother Tony's death from a heart attack, the accidental shooting of his nephew whom he loved like a son, and the murder of two close personal friends – one a valet at "the heroin man's house."

 

These experiences convinced the singer to give up drugs and alcohol, along with rock and roll, and return to the ministry.

 

(iv) Little Richard and Religion

 

Richard's family had deep evangelical (Baptist and African Methodist Episcopal) Christian roots, including two uncles and a grandfather who were preachers. He also took part in Macon's Pentecostal churches, which were his favorites, mainly due to their music, charismatic praise, dancing in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.

 

At the age of ten, influenced by Pentecostalism, he would go around saying that he was a faith healer, singing gospel music to people who were feeling sick, and touching them.

 

He later recalled that they would often say that they felt better after he prayed for them, and would sometimes give him money. Richard had aspirations of being a preacher due to the influence of singing evangelist Brother Joe May.

 

After he was born again in 1957, Richard enrolled at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, a mostly black Seventh-day Adventist college, to study theology. It was also at this time that he became a vegetarian.

 

Richard returned to secular music in the early 1960's. He was eventually ordained a minister in 1970, and resumed evangelical activities in 1977. Richard represented Memorial Bibles International, and sold their Black Heritage Bible, which highlighted the Book's many black characters.

 

As a preacher, he evangelized in anything from small churches to packed auditoriums of 20,000 or more. His preaching focused on uniting the races, and bringing lost souls to repentance through God's love.

 

In 1984, Richard's mother, Leva Mae, died following a period of illness. Only a few months prior to her death, Richard promised her that he would remain a Christian.

 

During the 1980's and 1990's, Richard officiated at celebrity weddings. In 2006, in one ceremony, Richard wedded twenty couples who had won a contest.

 

Richard used his experience and knowledge as an elder statesman of rock and roll to preach at funerals of musical friends such as Wilson Pickett and Ike Turner.

 

At a benefit concert in 2009 to raise funds to help rebuild children's playgrounds that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, Richard asked guest of honor Fats Domino to pray with him and others. His assistants handed out inspirational booklets at the concert, a common practice at Richard's shows.

 

Richard told a Howard Theatre, Washington, D.C. audience in June 2012:

 

"I know this is not Church, but

get close to the Lord. The world

is getting close to the end. Get

close to the Lord."

 

In 2013, Richard elaborated on his spiritual philosophies, stating:

 

"God talked to me the other night.

He said He's getting ready to come.

The world's getting ready to end,

and He's coming, wrapped in flames

of fire with a rainbow around His

throne."

 

Rolling Stone reported that Richard's apocalyptic prophesies generated snickers from some audience members as well as cheers of support. He responded to the laughter by stating:

 

"When I talk to you about Jesus, I'm

not playing. I'm almost 81 years old.

Without God, I wouldn't be here."

 

Little Richard's Health Problems and Death

 

In October 1985, having finished his album Lifetime Friend, Richard returned from England to film a guest spot on the show Miami Vice. Following the taping, he accidentally crashed his sports car into a telephone pole in West Hollywood. He suffered a broken right leg, broken ribs and head and facial injuries.

 

Richard's recovery from the accident took several months, preventing him from attending the inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in January 1986 where he was one of several inductees. He instead supplied a recorded message.

 

In 2007, Richard began having problems walking due to sciatica in his left leg, requiring him to use crutches. In November 2009, he entered hospital to have replacement surgery on his left hip.

 

Despite returning to performing the following year, Richard's problems with his hip continued, and he was brought onstage in a wheelchair, only being able to play sitting down.

 

On the 30th. September 2013, he revealed to CeeLo Green at a Recording Academy fundraiser that he had suffered a heart attack at home the week before. Taking aspirin and having his son turn on the air conditioner saved his life, according to his doctor. Richard stated:

 

"Jesus had something for me.

He brought me through."

 

On the 28th. April 2016, Richard's friend Bootsy Collins stated on his Facebook page that:

 

"Richard is not in the best of

health, so I ask all the Funkateers

to lift him up."

 

Reports began being posted on the internet stating that Richard was in grave health, and that his family were gathering at his bedside. On the 3rd. May 2016, Rolling Stone issued a rebuttal by Richard and his lawyer. Richard stated:

 

"Not only is my family not gathering

around me because I'm ill, but I'm still

singing. I don't perform like I used to,

but I have my singing voice, I walk

around, I had hip surgery a while ago,

but I'm healthy.'"

 

His lawyer said:

 

"He's 83. I don't know how many

83-year-olds still get up and rock

it out every week, but in light of

the rumors, I wanted to tell you

that he's vivacious and conversant

about a ton of different things, and

he's still very active in a daily routine."

 

Though Richard continued to sing into his eighties, he kept away from the stage.

 

On the 9th. May 2020, after a two month illness, Richard died at the age of 87 at his home in Tullahoma, Tennessee, from a cause related to bone cancer. His brother, sister, and son were with him at the time.

 

Richard received tributes from many popular musicians, including Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, John Fogerty, Elton John, and Lenny Kravitz, as well as many others, such as film director John Waters, who were influenced by Richard's music and persona.

 

Richard was laid to rest at Oakwood University Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama.

 

Little Richard's Legacy

 

Richard claimed to be "The Architect of Rock and Roll", and history would seem to bear out his boast. More than any other performer—save, perhaps, for Elvis Presley, Little Richard blew the lid off the Fifties, laying the foundation for rock and roll with his explosive music and charismatic persona.

 

On record, he made spine-tingling rock and roll. His frantically charged piano playing and raspy, shouted vocals on such classics as "Tutti Frutti", "Long Tall Sally" and "Good Golly, Miss Molly" defined the dynamic sound of rock and roll.

 

Richard's music and performance style had a pivotal effect on the sound and style of popular music genres of the 20th. century. As a rock and roll pioneer, Richard embodied its spirit more flamboyantly than any other performer.

 

Richard's raspy shouting style gave the genre one of its most identifiable and influential vocal sounds, and his fusion of boogie-woogie, New Orleans R&B and gospel music blazed its rhythmic trail.

 

Richard's innovative emotive vocalizations and uptempo rhythmic music also played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and funk.

 

He influenced numerous singers and musicians across musical genres from rock to hip hop; his music helped shape rhythm and blues for generations to come.

 

Combining elements of boogie, gospel, and blues, Richard introduced several of rock music's most characteristic musical features, including its loud volume and vocal style emphasizing power, and its distinctive beat and innovative visceral rhythms.

 

He departed from boogie-woogie's shuffle rhythm, and introduced a new distinctive rock beat, where the beat division is even at all tempos. He reinforced the new rock rhythm with a two-handed approach, playing patterns with his right hand, with the rhythm typically popping out in the piano's high register.

 

His new rhythm, which he introduced with "Tutti Frutti" (1955), became the basis for the standard rock beat, which was later consolidated by Chuck Berry.

 

"Lucille" (1957) foreshadowed the rhythmic feel of 1960's classic rock in several ways, including its heavy bassline, slower tempo, strong rock beat played by the entire band, and verse–chorus form similar to blues.

 

Richard's voice was able to generate croons, wails, and screams unprecedented in popular music. He was cited by two of soul music's pioneers, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, as contributing to the genre's early development.

 

Redding stated that most of his music was patterned after Richard's, referring to his 1953 recording "Directly From My Heart To You" as the personification of soul, and that:

 

"Richard has done a lot for

me and my soul brothers

in the music business."

 

Cooke said in 1962 that:

 

"Richard has done so

much for our music".

 

Cooke had a top 40 hit in 1963 with his cover of Richard's 1956 hit "Send Me Some Loving".

 

James Brown and others credited Richard and his mid-1950's backing band, The Upsetters, with having been the first to put funk in the rock beat. This innovation sparked the transition from 1950's rock and roll to 1960's funk.

 

Richard's hits of the mid-1950's, such as "Tutti Frutti", "Long Tall Sally", "Keep A-Knockin'" and "Good Golly, Miss Molly", were generally characterized by playful lyrics with sexually suggestive connotations.

 

AllMusic writer Richie Unterberger stated that:

 

"Little Richard merged the fire of

gospel with New Orleans R&B,

pounding the piano and wailing

with gleeful abandon. While other

R&B greats of the early 1950's had

been moving in a similar direction,

none of them matched the sheer

electricity of Richard's vocals.

With his high-speed deliveries,

ecstatic trills, and the overjoyed

force of personality in his singing,

he was crucial in upping the voltage

from high-powered R&B into the

similar, yet different, guise of rock

and roll."

 

Emphasizing the folk influences of Richard, English professor W. T. Lhamon Jr. wrote:

 

"His songs were literally good

booty. They were the repressed

stuff of underground lore.

And in Little Richard they found

a vehicle prepared to bear their

chocked energy, at least for his

capsulated moment."

 

Ray Charles introduced him at a concert in 1988 as:

 

"A man that started a kind of music

that set the pace for a lot of what's

happening today."

 

Richard's contemporaries, including Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone, the Everly Brothers, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, all recorded covers of his works.

 

As they wrote about him for their Man of the Year – Legend Category in 2010, GQ magazine stated that:

 

"Richard is, without question, the

boldest and most influential of the

founding fathers of rock'n'roll."

 

Little Richard's Influence on Society

 

In addition to his musical style, Richard was cited as one of the first crossover black artists, reaching audiences of all races. His music and concerts broke the color line, despite attempts to sustain segregation.

 

As H. B. Barnum explained in Quasar of Rock:

 

"Little Richard opened the door.

He brought the races together."

 

Barnum described Richard's music as follows:

 

"It wasn't boy-meets-girl-girl-meets-boy,

they were fun records, all fun. And they

had a lot to say sociologically in our

country and the world."

 

Barnum also stated that:

 

"Richard's charisma was a whole

new thing to the music business.

He would burst onto the stage

from anywhere, and you wouldn't

be able to hear anything but the

roar of the audience. He might

come out and walk on the piano.

He might go out into the audience."

 

Barnum also stated that Richard was innovative in that he would wear colorful capes, blouse shirts, makeup and suits studded with multi-colored stones and sequins, and that he also brought flickering stage lighting from his show business experience into performance venues where rock and roll artists performed.

 

In 2015, the National Museum of African American Music honored Richard for helping to shatter the color line on the music charts and changing American culture for ever.

 

Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister of the heavy metal band Motörhead spoke highly of Little Richard, stating:

 

"Little Richard was always my main

man. How hard must it have been

for him: gay, black and singing in

the South? But his records are a

joyous good time from beginning

to end."

 

The Influence of Little Richard

 

Richard influenced generations of performers across musical genres. Quincy Jones stated that:

 

"Richard was an innovator whose

influence spans America's musical

diaspora from Gospel, the Blues &

R&B, to Rock & Roll, & Hip-Hop."

 

James Brown and Otis Redding both idolized him. Brown allegedly came up with the Famous Flames debut hit, "Please, Please, Please", after Richard had written the words on a napkin.

 

Redding started his professional career with Richard's band, The Upsetters, and first entered a talent show performing Richard's "Heeby Jeebies", winning for fifteen consecutive weeks.

 

Ike Turner claimed that most of Tina Turner's early vocal delivery was based on Richard, something Richard reiterated in the introduction to Turner's autobiography, Takin' Back My Name.

 

Bob Dylan first performed covers of Richard's songs on piano in high school with his rock and roll group, the Golden Chords; in 1959 when leaving school, he wrote in his yearbook under "Ambition": "to join Little Richard".

 

Jimi Hendrix was influenced in appearance (clothing and hairstyle/mustache) and sound by Richard. He was quoted in 1966 saying:

 

"I want to do with my guitar what

Little Richard does with his voice."

On 26 April 2024, I managed a short drive SE of Calgary. Thought I had better make the most of clear roads before the bad weather arrives. All familiar, much-travelled roads this time, around the Frank Lake area and while heading back home.

 

I bumped into a huge group of people who were on a special outing to Frank Lake, led by Greg Wagner, who takes care of the lake areas and does a tremendous job of recording every bird seen, all year round and for many years. Not just once a day, either! Yesterday, he was showing the participants the various viewing points around the lake and I happened to see the cars coming towards me along one of the roads. I turned around and caught up with them. They had just one more location to visit, but one had to drive on a rough, non-road to get there. I would have been almost the last person to get there if I had gone, with a long walk to get to the lake edge. I knew I couldn't do that, with painful sciatica or bursitis in my right side, so I continued on my own journey. Good to see you, Greg, even if for just a few moments.

 

A bit of information about Greg:

ebird.org/region/CA/post/greg-wagner-march-ebirder-of-the...

 

So many birds in the area are far, far away - and I still don't possess a pair of binoculars after about 18 years of birding! (By the way, the birding blind area at Frank Lake is still extremely flooded.) However, I was happy to spend a bit of time watching and taking a few photos of the closer birds on my way home. Mainly Yellow-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds, plus a few Coots and European Starlings. At one point, there was an absolute frenzy of a group of Starlings and both species of Blackbirds on the ground, all mixed together. I had to take a bit of video, through the windscreen so poor quality.

Folkloric

- Breadfruit is laxative. Heated up, the slices are used for furuncles.

- Decoction of leaves used for baths in rheumatism.

- Tree latex used for hernia in children, applied with a belt or truss.

- Decoction of bark used for dysentery.

- Decoction of bark used as vulnerary.

- Latex massaged onto skin, for broken bones and sprains and bandaged on the spine are for sciatica.

- Crushed leaves used for thrush.

- In the Visayas, bark decoction used for dysentery.

- Diluted latex used for diarrhea, stomach aches and dysentery.

- Juice from stems of leaves for ear infections.

- In the West Indies, decoction of yellowing leaf used for high blood pressure and asthma.

- Tea also used for diabetes.

 

source: stuart xchange

 

I had high hopes for a red sky as I headed out last night even though my body was screaming in pain I could barely move my arm and of course my sciatica decided to kick in on top of it all, but off I went determined not to let it stop me from living. This is what I saw as I set up shop on the banks. Disappointed I waited and paced the one big cloud stuffed it all up, as the sun set it slowly burned off but there was barely any colour in it. I had pretty much given up on the shoot for the night, the tide was so low I could easily walk 100m out across the basin

Weather forecast for Toronto: HOT !

Tomorrow : Hot , Hazy, Humid 31 celcius = 87 Fahrenheit

So much for Spring.....Winter was longer than usual...now it seems Spring is shorter than usual.

Global warming?

 

UPDATE: Tornado warnings for Toronto now ! (Now canceled thank goodness!!)

Sorry if I have yet to comment on all my contact's streams as I have limited my time on the computer.....

My sciatica is not killing me quite as much but it means that I cannot sit for long..which is not good for work OR my Flickr addiction!!

:~)

 

Have a great week ahead!

 

everybody now!

More photos of Nigel! I'm easing back into photography after my bout with sciatica! I want to finish season 2 of YOUNG DOLLS IN LOVE!

 

Yoga Guru teaching Yoga in Cubbon Park, Bengaluru

 

"The Vajrasana stimulates the vajra nadi which facilitates good digestion. It helps relieve from sciatica, nerve issues and indigestion. "When you sit in vajrasana you obstruct blood flow to the lower part of your body - thighs and legs. This increases blood flow to your pelvic area and stomach due to which bowel movement and digestion becomes better. It aids liver functions as well,"

Jane Brown2021 All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without explicit written permission

 

we are back from our holiday - both of us exhausted! Whether it is because Peter was getting over sciatica and I still have post herpetic neuralgia, or whether it is, as Peter suspects - adrenaline levels are higher when we are away and then we come home and . . . relax . . .I don't know. However I need a good night's sleep!

 

We were situated in Fairfield, near Appledore, but our holiday took us to several different locations: Folkestone, Rye, Dymchurch, Appledore and Fairfield church ( a gem), Canterbury and the cathedral ( expensive - god doesn't come cheap) and then on our last day, once again, a visit to Great Dixter. G and D looked afterr our home and garden very well, and we were greeted wiht red roses to celebrate out wedding anniverasary which was 6th July.

 

It will take me a few days to get myself organised on flickr - but hope to start visiting your streams soon . . .

What a wonderful time of a year this is!!! I've been dreaming of photographing kids in Bluebells for years but unfortunately there's always been something more important....So this year I thought if I don't do it now, it will have to wait another year or two or three...you get the idea!

But as I was doing 4 shoots in 24 hours, naturally I over did it! I had a bad sciatica for weeks already so crouching and getting down on the ground constantly did me no favours whatsoever! In fact, I'm still suffering...going to have some physiotherapy tomorrow, see how quickly I can make it go away and return to normal!

Hungarian postcard. Photo: Angelo, Budapest. Collection: Didier Hanson.

 

Hungarian actor Béla Lugosi (1882 –1956) is best known as the vampire Count Dracula in the horror classic Dracula (1931). He started his film career in the silent Hungarian cinema and also appeared in German silent films. In the last phase of his career, he became the star of several of Ed Wood's low-budget epics and other poverty row shockers.

 

Béla Lugosi was born as Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó in 1882, the youngest of the four children of Paula de Vojnich and István Blaskó, a banker. His hometown was Lugos, in Austria–Hungary (now Lugoj in Romania), near the western border of Transylvania. Later, he would base his last name on this town. At the age of 12, Lugosi dropped out of school. He began his acting career probably in 1901 or 1902. His earliest known performances are small roles in plays and operettas in provincial theatres in the 1903–1904 season. He moved on to Shakespeare plays and played several major roles. In 1911, he moved to Budapest, where he worked for the National Theatre of Hungary from 1913 to 1919. Although Lugosi would later claim that he "became the leading actor of Hungary's Royal National Theatre", most of his roles were small or supporting parts. During World War I, he served as an infantry lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1914 to 1916. There, he rose to the rank of captain in the ski patrol and was awarded a medal for being wounded at the Russian front. In 1917, Lugosi married Ilona Szmick. The couple divorced in 1920, reputedly over political differences with her parents. In 1917, he made his film debut in Az ezredes/The Colonel (1917, Mihály Kertész a.k.a. Michael Curtiz). In two year,s Lugosi made 12 films in Hungary, credited as Arisztid Olt, including Nászdal/The Wedding March (1917, Alfréd Deésy) and Lulu (1918, Michael Curtiz). After the collapse of Béla Kun's Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, leftists and trade unionists became vulnerable. Due to his participation in the formation of an actors’ union, Lugosi was proscribed from acting and so had to leave his homeland. He first went to Vienna, Austria, and then settled in Berlin, where he continued acting. In Germany, he appeared in 18 films, including Der Fluch der Menschheit/The Curse of Man (1920, Richard Eichberg), Der Tanz auf dem Vulkan/Dance on the Volcano (1920, Richard Eichberg), Hypnose/Hypnosis (1920, Richard Eichberg) and Ihre Hoheit die Tänzerin/Her Highness the Dancer (1922, Richard Eichberg), all with Lee Parry and Violetta Napierska. Der Januskopf/The Head of Janus (1920, F.W. Murnau) was an uncredited and apparently lost version of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which featured Conrad Veidt. Well received films were also the Karl May adaptations Die Teufelsanbeter/The Devil Worshippers (1920, Marie Luise Droop), Auf den Trümmern des Paradieses/On the Brink of Paradise (1920, Josef Stein), and Die Todeskarawane/The Caravan of Death (1920, Josef Stein), starring Carl de Vogt as Kara Ben Nemsi and also with the ill-fated Jewish actress Dora Gerson. Lugosi then left Germany as a crewman aboard a merchant ship. He had decided to emigrate to the United States.

 

On his arrival in America in 1921, Béla Lugosi worked for some time as a labourer, then entered the theatre in New York City's Hungarian immigrant colony. With fellow Hungarian actors, he formed a small stock company that toured Eastern cities, playing for immigrant audiences. In 1922, he acted in his first Broadway play, The Red Poppy. Three more parts came in 1925–1926, including a five-month run in the comedy-fantasy The Devil in the Cheese. His first American film role came in the melodrama The Silent Command (1923, J. Gordon Edwards) with Edmund Lowe. Several more silent roles followed, as villains or continental types, all in productions made in the New York area. In the summer of 1927, Lugosi was approached to star as a sophisticated vampire in a Broadway production of Dracula (1927-1928) adapted by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston from Bram Stoker's novel. The Horace Liveright production was successful, running 261 performances before touring. He declared his intention to become a U.S. citizen in 1928, and in 1931, he was naturalised. Lugosi was soon called to Hollywood for character parts in early talkies, such as Prisoners (1929, William A Seiter) and The Thirteenth Chair (1929, Tod Browning). He took his place in Hollywood society and scandal in 1929 when he married wealthy San Francisco widow Beatrice Weeks, but she filed for divorce four months later. Weeks cited actress Clara Bow as the ‘other woman’. Despite his critically acclaimed performance on stage, Lugosi was not Universal Pictures’ first choice for the role of Dracula when the company optioned the rights to the Deane play and began production in 1930. A persistent rumour asserts that director Tod Browning's long-time collaborator, Lon Chaney, was Universal's first choice for the role, and that Lugosi was chosen only due to Chaney's death shortly before production. Wikipedia writes that this is questionable because Browning was only a last-minute choice as director of Dracula after the death of the original director, Paul Leni. Lugosi appeared in Dracula (1931, Tod Browning) with minimal makeup, using his natural, heavily accented voice. With the instant and worldwide success of the film, Universal Studios had found its new Horror star. As his son Bela Lugosi Jr. writes on his father’s official website: “His slicked hair, clean-shaven and handsome face, burning eyes, and courtly manner are the appearance of what Dracula will forever be.”

 

In 1933, Béla Lugosi married 19-year-old Lillian Arch, the daughter of Hungarian immigrants. All seemed to go well. He appeared as Dr. Mirakle in Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932, Robert Florey), as Sayer of Law in Island of the Lost Souls (1932, Erle C. Kenton) opposite Charles Laughton, and as Ygor in Son of Frankenstein (1939, Rowland V. Lee) all for Universal, and as Murder Legendre in the independent White Zombie (1932, Victor Halperin). Five films at Universal — The Black Cat (1934, Edgar G. Ulmer), The Raven (1935, Lew Landers), The Invisible Ray (1936, Lambert Hillyer), Son of Frankenstein, Black Friday (1940, Arthur Lubin) plus minor cameo performances in Gift of Gab (1934, Karl Freund) and two at RKO Pictures, You'll Find Out (1940, David Butler) and The Body Snatcher (1945, Robert Wise) — paired Lugosi with Boris Karloff. Despite the relative size of their roles, Lugosi inevitably got second billing, below Karloff. Lugosi himself perpetuated the myth that he had quit the role of the monster in Frankenstein (1931, James Whale), which is untrue. Originally, director Robert Florey wanted him to play Dr. Frankenstein, but producer Carl Laemmle Jr. didn't want Lugosi in that role, so he was relocated to the monster part. Lugosi was unhappy with playing the clodding, mute monster under heavy make-up and complained. He had filmed some screen tests with Florey, but Laemmle Jr. didn't like what he saw and fired both Florey and Lugosi. In interviews, Karloff suggested that Lugosi was initially mistrustful of him when they acted together, believing that the Englishman would attempt to upstage him. When this proved not to be the case, Lugosi settled down and they worked together amicably. Through his association with Dracula, Béla Lugosi found himself typecast as a horror villain. His accent, while a part of his image, limited the roles he could play. He attempted to break type by auditioning for other roles, and he did play the elegant, somewhat hot-tempered Gen. Nicholas Strenovsky-Petronovich in International House (1933, A. Edward Sutherland). Universal tried to give Lugosi more heroic roles, as in The Black Cat, The Invisible Ray, and a romantic role in the adventure serial The Return of Chandu (1934, Ray Taylor), but his typecasting problem was too entrenched for those roles to help. A number of factors worked against Lugosi's career in the mid-1930s. Universal changed management in 1936, and because of a British ban on horror films, dropped them from their production schedule; Lugosi found himself consigned to Universal's non-horror B-film unit, at times in small roles where he was obviously used for ‘name value’ only. Lugosi experienced a severe career decline despite his popularity with audiences. He accepted leading roles in low-budget thrillers from independent producers like Nat Levine, Sol Lesser, and Sam Katzman. The exposure helped Lugosi financially but not artistically. Lugosi tried to keep busy with stage work, but had to borrow money from the Actors' Fund to pay hospital bills when his only child, Bela George Lugosi, was born in 1938. It illustrates why he helped to organise the Screen Actors Guild in the 1930s.

 

Béla Lugosi’s career was given a second chance by Universal's Son of Frankenstein (1939, Rowland V. Lee), when he played the character role of Ygor, who uses the Monster for his own revenge, in heavy makeup and beard. The same year, he played a straight character role as a stern commissar in Ninotchka (1939, Ernst Lubitsch), starring Greta Garbo. This small but prestigious role could have been a turning point for the actor, but within the year, he was back on Hollywood's Poverty Row, playing leads for Sam Katzman. These horror, comedy and mystery B-films were released by Monogram Pictures. At Universal, he often received star billing for what amounted to a supporting part. Ostensibly due to injuries received during military service, Lugosi developed severe, chronic sciatica, for which he was treated with opiates. The growth of his dependence on morphine and methadone was directly proportional to the dwindling of screen offers. In 1943, he finally played the role of Frankenstein's monster in Universal's Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943, Roy William Neill) opposite Lon Chaney Jr.. He also came to recreate the role of Dracula a second and last time on film in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948, Charles Barton). It was his last ‘A’ movie. For the remainder of his life, he appeared in obscure, low-budget features. While in England to play a six-month tour of Dracula in 1951, he co-starred in a lowbrow film comedy, Mother Riley Meets the Vampire/Vampire over London (1951, John Gillin). Late in his life, Bela Lugosi again received star billing in movies when fan Ed Wood (nicknamed ‘Worst Director of All Time’), offered him roles in his films, such as Glen or Glenda (1953, Edward D. Wood Jr.) and as a Dr. Frankenstein-like mad scientist in Bride of the Monster (1955, Edward D. Wood Jr.). During the post-production of the latter, Lugosi decided to seek treatment for his drug addiction. Following his treatment, Lugosi made one final film, The Black Sleep (1956, Reginald Le Borg), which was released in the summer of 1956 through United Artists with a promotional campaign that included several personal appearances. To his disappointment, however, his role in this film was that of a mute, with no dialogue. Béla Lugosi and his wife Lilian had divorced in 1953. Béla was jealous of Lillian taking a full-time job as an assistant to Brian Donlevy on the sets and studios for Donlevy's radio and television series Dangerous Assignment. Lillian eventually did marry Brian Donlevy in 1966. In 1955, Lugosi married fan Hope Lininger, his fifth wife. A year later, Lugosi died of a heart attack in 1956, while lying on a couch in his Los Angeles home. He was 73. Lugosi was buried wearing one of the Dracula Cape costumes, per the request of his son. Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959, Edward D. Wood Jr.), with a few minutes of silent footage of Lugosi in his Dracula cape, was released posthumously. In 1994, Lugosi was played by Martin Landau in Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994), for which Landau received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Johnny Depp, who starred as Wood in the film, purchased Lugosi's Los Angeles home.

 

Source: Bela Lugosi, Jr. (Official Bela Lugosi website), Michael Brooke (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

I'm trying something new and a bit different...partly forced on me through having sciatica and not being able to get about but mostly from some vague idea of pushing myself to experiment. I'll post a few and please let me know what you think. These are a few shots deliberately over exposed with a large aperture and fixed focus lens...50mm with 2nd curtain flash...I kind of like them but maybe just me?

Aix-les-Bains (Savoie), Lake Bourget, All nautical pleasures; cures rheumatism, sciatica, gout, neuralgia, The most perfect thermal baths in Europe"

Andy is very hopeful that being manhandled by Brien, his new chiropractic doctor, will give him some needed relief from his current debilitating bout of sciatica.

Today, 29 April 2024, I managed to get out again, just in time for the snow that is expected for tonight, rain too. Also rain and snow for tomorrow and the next day, 1 May. Overcast, chilly wind, and a few raindrops today, during my drive. Just a fairly short trip SW of the city, but I was so happy to see several Mountain Bluebirds and a few American Robins, plus a couple of Swainson's (?) Hawks. Taken in poor light, so I need to lighten a photo to be sure of the hawk species. Of course, Red-winged Blackbirds everywhere made sure they were heard. A Canada Goose lying on her nest was a welcome sight.

 

I will post photos from today when I have edited them. This evening, I'm adding five more photos from my last drive, three days ago. It has been many months since I was able to get out this much, and it feels so good, even if not physically.

 

On 26 April 2024, I managed a short drive SE of Calgary. Thought I had better make the most of clear roads before the bad weather arrives. All familiar, much-travelled roads this time, around the Frank Lake area and while heading back home.

 

I bumped into a huge group of people who were on a special outing to Frank Lake, led by Greg Wagner, who takes care of the lake areas and does a tremendous job of recording every bird seen, all year round and for many years. Not just once a day, either! Yesterday, he was showing the participants the various viewing points around the lake and I happened to see the cars coming towards me along one of the roads. I turned around and caught up with them. They had just one more location to visit, but one had to drive on a rough, non-road to get there. I would have been almost the last person to get there if I had gone, with a long walk to get to the lake edge. I knew I couldn't do that, with painful sciatica or bursitis in my right side, so I continued on my own journey. Good to see you, Greg, even if for just a few moments.

 

A bit of information about Greg:

ebird.org/region/CA/post/greg-wagner-march-ebirder-of-the...

 

So many birds in the area are far, far away - and I still don't possess a pair of binoculars after about 18 years of birding! (By the way, the birding blind area at Frank Lake is still extremely flooded.) However, I was happy to spend a bit of time watching and taking a few photos of the closer birds on my way home. Mainly Yellow-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds, plus a few Coots and European Starlings. At one point, there was an absolute frenzy of a group of Starlings and both species of Blackbirds on the ground, all mixed together. I had to take a bit of video, through the windscreen so poor quality.

A beautiful, sunny day today, Saturday 27 April 2024. Just looked at the weather forecast for the next few days and found that after tomorrow, the next five out of six days are forecast to have snow/rain.

 

Yesterday, 26 April, I managed a short drive SE of Calgary. Thought I had better make the most of clear roads before the bad weather arrives. All familiar, much-travelled roads this time, around the Frank Lake area and while heading back home.

 

I bumped into a huge group of people who were on a special outing to Frank Lake, led by Greg Wagner, who takes care of the lake areas and does a tremendous job of recording every bird seen, all year round and for many years. Not just once a day, either! Yesterday, he was showing the participants the various viewing points around the lake and I happened to see the cars coming towards me along one of the roads. I turned around and caught up with them. They had just one more location to visit, but one had to drive on a rough, non-road to get there. I would have been almost the last person to get there if I had gone, with a long walk to get to the lake edge. I knew I couldn't do that, with painful sciatica or bursitis in my right side, so I continued on my own journey. Good to see you, Greg, even if for just a few moments.

 

A bit of information about Greg:

ebird.org/region/CA/post/greg-wagner-march-ebirder-of-the...

 

So many birds in the area are far, far away - and I still don't possess a pair of binoculars after about 18 years of birding! (By the way, the birding blind area at Frank Lake is still extremely flooded.) However, I was happy to spend a bit of time watching and taking a few photos of the closer birds on my way home. Mainly Yellow-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds, plus a few Coots and European Starlings. At one point, there was an absolute frenzy of a group of Starlings and both species of Blackbirds on the ground, all mixed together. I had to take a bit of video, through the windscreen so poor quality.

One of the main aims of the trip was to reach and photograph Ashness Bridge before a relatively level walk back to Keswick. The other aim had been to see whether my recent improvement from years of sciatica would allow not just the planned six miles, but also the 428 metres of ascent stated in the guide. During the descent, however, I took two further wrong turns, one of which required a further lengthy uphill yomp. Back on track, about a mile before Ashness Bridge, I was in such pain that I abandoned the route and found a path down to the lakeside road and the ferry jetty in Barrow Bay, where I waited for a boat trip back to Keswick. By the time I got to the car, I had walked 8.9 miles and, probably, a total ascent of more than 500 metres. Someday, I intend to return to photograph Ashness Bridge – but I’ll drive there and it will be my first stop.

simple doodle about how there's a spirit and death by your side.

 

this week I had acute sciatica pain and everything else looked like it was meaningless but it was a great reminder of how the simple things matter the most.

I did this drawing to help map out my sciatica to the surgeon I met with and who will hopefully do my discetomy in Nov!

 

(my friend Aaron liked this drawing so I thought I'd upload it, now you know what my doctor does!)

Go to the Book with image in the Internet Archive

Title: United States Naval Medical Bulletin Vol. 8, Nos. 1-4, 1914

Creator: U.S. Navy. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

Publisher:

Sponsor:

Contributor:

Date: 1914

Language: eng

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Table of Contents</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;"> </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Number 1</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;"> </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Preface v</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Special articles:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">The application of psychiatry to certain military problems, by W. A.

White, M. D 1</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Schistosomiasis on the Yangtze River, with report of cases, by R. H.

Laning, assistant surgeon, United States Navy 16</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A brief discussion of matters pertaining to health and sanitation,

observed on the summer practice cruise of 1913 for midshipmen of the third

class, by J. L. Neilson, surgeon, United States Navy 36</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Technique of neosalvarsan administration, and a brief outline of the

treatment for syphilis used at the United States Naval Hospital, Norfolk, Va., by

W. Chambers, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 45</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Some notes on the disposal of wastes, by A. Farenholt, surgeon, United States

Navy 47</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">The medical department on expeditionary duty, by R. E. Hoyt, surgeon, United

States Navy 51</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A new brigade medical outfit, by T. W. Richards, surgeon, United States

Navy 62</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Early diagnosis of cerebrospinal meningitis; report of 10 cases, by G.

F. Cottle, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 65</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Comments on mistakes made with the Nomenclature, 1913, Abstract of patients

(Form F), and the Statistical report (Form K), by C. E. Alexander, pharmacist,

United States Navy 70</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Classification of the United States Navy Nomenclature, 1913, by C. E. Alexander,

pharmacist, United States Navy 75</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">On the methods employed for the detection and determination of

disturbances in the sense of equilibrium of flyers. Translated by H. G. Beyer,

medical director, United States Navy, retired 87</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">United States Naval Medical School laboratories:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Additions to the pathological collection 107</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Additions to the helminthological collection 107</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Suggested devices:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A portable air sampling apparatus for use aboard ship, by E. W. Brown, passed

assistant surgeon, United States Navy 109</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A new design for a sanitary pail 111</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Clinical notes:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A case of paresis, with apparent remission, following neosalvarsan, by R.

F. Sheehan, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 113</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Case reports from Guam, by E. O. J. Eytinge, passed assistant surgeon, United

States Navy 116</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Stab wound of ascending colon; suture; recovery, by H. C. Curl,

surgeon, United States Navy 123</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Perforation of a duodenal ulcer, by H. F. Strine, surgeon, United

States Navy 124</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Two cases of bone surgery, by R. Spear, surgeon, United States Navy 125</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Editorial comment: </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Brig. Gen. George II. Torney, Surgeon General United States Army 127</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Medical ethics in the Navy 127</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Medical officers in civil practice 128</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Progress in medical sciences:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">General medicine. —Some anatomic and physiologic principles concerning

pyloric ulcer. By H. C. Curl. Low-priced clinical thermometers; a warning. By.

L. W. Johnson. The value of X-ray examinations in the</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">diagnosis of ulcer of the stomach and duodenum. The primary cause of

rheumatoid arthritis. Strychnine in heart failure. On the treatment of

leukaemia with benzol. By A. W. Dunbar and G. B. Crow 131</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Surgery. — Surgical aspects of furuncles and carbuncles. Iodine

idiosyncrasy. By L. W. Johnson. Rectus transplantation for deficiency of

internal oblique muscle in certain cases of inguinal hernia. The technic of

nephro- pyelo- and ureterolithotomy. Recurrence of inguinal hernia. By H. C.

Curl and R. A. Warner 138</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Hygiene and sanitation. —Ozone: Its bactericidal, physiologic and

deodorizing action. The alleged purification of air by the ozone machine. By E.

W. Brown. The prevention of dental caries. Gun-running operations in the

Persian Gulf in 1909 and 1910. The croton bug (Ectobia germanica) as a factor

in bacterial dissemination. Fumigation of vessels for the destruction of rats.

Improved moist chamber for mosquito breeding. The necessity for international

reforms in the sanitation of crew spaces on</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">merchant vessels. By C. N. Fiske and R. C. Ransdell 143</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Tropical medicine. —The transmissibility of the lepra bacillus by the

bite of the bedbug. By L. W. Johnson. A note on a case of loa loa. Cases of

syphilitic pyrexia simulating tropical fevers. Verruga peruviana, oroya fever

and uta. Ankylostomiasis in Nyasaland. Experimental entamoebic dysentery. By E.

R. Stitt ... 148</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Pathology, bacteriology, and animal parasitology. —The relation of the spleen

to the blood destruction and regeneration and to hemolytic jaundice: 6, The

blood picture at various periods after splenectomy. The presence of tubercle

bacilli in the feces. By A. B. Clifford and G. F. Clark 157</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Chemistry and pharmacy. —Detection of bile pigments in urine. Value of the

guaiacum test for bloodstains. New reagent for the detection of traces of

blood. Estimation of urea. Estimation of uric acid in urine. By E. W. Brown and

O. G. Ruge 158</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Eye, ear, nose, and throat. —Probable deleterious effect of salvarsan

on the eye. Effect of salvarsan on the eye. Fate of patients with

parenchymatous keratitis due to hereditary lues. Trachoma, prevalence of, in

the United States. The exploratory needle puncture of the maxillary antrum in

100 tuberculous individuals. Auterobic organisms associated with acute

rhinitis. Toxicity of human tonsils. By E. J. Grow and G. B. Trible 160</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Miscellaneous. —Yearbook of the medical association of

Frankfurt-am-Main. By R. C. Ransdell 163</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Reports and letters:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Notes on the Clinical Congress of Surgeons. By G. F. Cottle, passed

assistant surgeon, United States Navy 167</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;"> </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Number 2</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;"> </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Preface v</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Special articles:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Report of the fourteenth annual meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society,

by J. R. Phelps, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy. 171</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Typhoid perforation; five operations with three recoveries, by G. G.

Holladay, assistant surgeon, Medic al Reserve Corps, United States Navy 238</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A satisfactory method for easily obtaining material from syphilitic

lesions, by E. R. Stitt, medical inspector, United States Navy 242</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">An epidemic of measles and mumps in Guam, by C. P. Kindleberger, surgeon,

United States Navy 243</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">The feeble-minded from a military standpoint, by A. R. Schier, acting assistant

surgeon, United States Navy 247</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">The Towne-Lambert elimination treatment of drug addictions, by W. M. Kerr,

passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 258</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Medical experiences in the Amazonian Tropics, by C. C. Ammerman, assistant

surgeon, Medical Reserve Corps, United States Navy 270</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">United States Naval Medical School laboratories:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Additions to the pathological collection 281</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Additions to the helminthologieal collection 281</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Suggested devices:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">An easy method for obtaining blood cultures and for preparing blood

agar, by E. R. Stitt, medical inspector, and G. F. Clark, passed assistant surgeon,

United States Navy 283</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Humidity regulating device on a modern battleship, by R. C. Ransdell, passed

assistant surgeon, United States Navy 284</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Clinical notes:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Lateral sinus thrombosis, report of case, by G. F. Cottle, passed

assistant surgeon. United States Navy 287</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Twenty-two cases of poisoning by the seeds of Jatropha curcai, by J. A.

Randall, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 290</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Shellac bolus in the stomach in fatal case of poisoning by weed

alcohol, by H. F. Hull and O. J. Mink, passed assistant surgeons, United States

Navy 291</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A case of pneumonia complicated by gangrenous endocarditis, by G. B. Crow,

passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 292</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Progress in medical sciences:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">General medicine. —On progressive paralysis in the imperial navy during

the years 1901-1911. By H. G. Beyer. An etiological study of Hodgkin's disease.

The etiology and vaccine treatment of Hodgkin's dis</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">ease. Coryncbacterium hodgkini in lymphatic leukemia and Hodgkin's disease.

Autointoxication and subinfection. Studies of syphilis. The treatment of the

pneumonias. Whooping cough: Etiolcgy, diagnosis, and vaccine treatment. A new

and logical treatment for alcoholism. Intraspinous injection of salvarsanized

serum in the treatment of syphilis of the nervous system, including tabes and

paresis. On the infective nature of certain cases of splenomegaly and Banti's

disease. The etiology and vaccine treatment of Hodgkin's disease. Cultural

results in Hodgkin's disease. By A. W. Dunbar and G. B. Crow 295</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Surgery- Interesting cases of gunshot injury treated at Hankow during

the revolution of 1911 and 1912 in China. The fool's paradise stage in

appendicitis. By L. W. Johnson. The present status of bismuth paste treatment

of suppurative sinuses and empyema. The inguinal route operation for femoral

hernia; with supplementary note on Cooper's ligament. By R. Spear and R. A.

Warner 307</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Hygiene and sanitation. — A contribution to the chemistry of

ventilation. The use of ozone in ventilation. By E. \V. Brown. Pulmonary

tuberculosis in the royal navy, with special reference to its detection and

prevention. An investigation into the keeping properties of condensed milks at

the temperature of tropical climates. By C. N. Fiske and R. C. Ransdell 313</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Tropical medicine. —Seven days fever of the Indian ports. By L. W.

Johnson. Intestinal schistosomiasis in the Sudan. Disease carriers in our army

in India. Origin and present status of the emetin treatment of amebic

dysentery. The culture of leishmania from the finger blood of a case of Indian

kala-azar. By E. R. Stitt 315</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Pathology, bacteriology, and animal parasitology. —The isolation of

typhoid bacilli from feces by means of brilliant green in fluid medium. By C.

N. Fiske. An efficient and convenient stain for use in the eeneral examination

of blood films. By 0. B. Crow. A contribution to the epidemiology of

poliomyelitis. A contribution to the pathology of epidemic poliomyelitis. A

note on the etiology of epidemic<span> 

</span>oliomyelitis. Transmutations within the streptococcus-pneumococcus

group. The etiology of acute rheumatism, articular and muscular. By A. B.

Clifford and G. F. Clark 320</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Chemistry and pharmacy.— Centrifugal method for estimating albumin in

urine. Detection of albumin in urine. New indican reaction A report on the

chemistry, technology, and pharmacology of and the legislation pertaining to

methyl alcohol. By E. W. Brown and O. O. Ruge. . 325</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Eye, ear, nose, and throat. —The use of local anesthesia in

exenteration of the orbit. Salvarsan in<span> 

</span>ophthalmic practice. The effect of salvarsan on the eye. Total blindness

from the toxic action of wood alcohol, with recovery of vision under negative

galvanism. Furunculosis of the external auditory canal; the use of alcohol as a

valuable aid in treatment. Local treatment of Vincent's angina with salvarsan.

Perforated ear drum may be responsible for sudden death in water. The indications

for operating in acute mastoiditis. Turbinotomy. Why is nasal catarrh so

prevalent in the United States? By E. J. Grow and G. B. Trible 330</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Miscellaneous. — The organization and work of the hospital ship Re d’

Italia. ByG. B. Trible 333</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Reports and letters:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Correspondence concerning the article "Some aspects of the

prophylaxis of typhoid fever by injection of killed cultures," by Surg. C.

S. Butler, United States Navy, which appeared in the Bulletin, October, 1913

339</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Malaria on the U. S. S. Tacoma from February, 1913, to February, 1914.

by I. S. K. Reeves, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 344</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Extracts from annual sanitary reports for 1913 345</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;"> </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Number 3</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;"> </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Preface vii</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Special articles:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Economy and waste in naval hospitals, by E. M. Shipp, surgeon, and P.

J. Waldner, chief pharmacist, United States Navy 357</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">The new method of physical training in the United States Navy, by J. A.

Murphy, surgeon, United States Navy 368</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A study of the etiology of gangosa in Guam, by C. P. Kindleberger,

surgeon, United States Navy 381</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Unreliability of Wassermann tests using unheated serum, by E. R. Stitt,

medical inspector, and G. F. Clark, passed assistant surgeon, United States

Navy 410</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Laboratory note on antigens, by G. F. Clark, pasted assistant surgeon,

United States Navy 411</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Prevention of mouth infection, by Joseph Head, M. D., D. D. S 411</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">The Medical Department at general quarters and preparations for battle,

by A. Farenholt, surgeon, United States Navy 421</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A bacteriological index for dirt in milk, by J. J. Kinyoun, assistant

surgeon, Medical Reserve Corps, United States Navy 435</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Brief description of proposed plan of a fleet hospital ship, based upon

the type auxiliary hull, by E. M. Blackwell, surgeon, United States Navy.. 442</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">The diagnostic value of the cutaneous tuberculin test in recruiting, by

E. M. Brown, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy, retired 448</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">United States Naval Medical School laboratories:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Additions to the pathological collection 453</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Suggested devices:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A sanitary mess table for hospitals, by F. M. Bogan, surgeon, United

States Navy 455</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A suggested improvement of the Navy scuttle butt, by E. M. Blackwell,

surgeon, United States Navy 455</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Clinical notes:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Malaria cured by neosalvarsan, by F. M. Bogan, surgeon, United States

Navy 457</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A case of rupture of the bladder with fracture of the pelvis, by H. F.

Strine, surgeon, and M. E. Higgins, passed assistant surgeon, United States

Navy. 458</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Clinical observations on the use of succinimid of mercury, by T. W.

Reed, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 459</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Points in the post-mortem ligation of the lingual artery, by O. J.

Mink, passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 462</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Notes on the wounded at Vera Cruz, by H. F. Strine, surgeon, and M. E.

Higgins, passed assistant surgeon. United States Navy 464</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Case reports from the Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, N. H., by F. M.

Bogan, surgeon, United States Navy 469</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Progress in medical sciences:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">General medicine. —The mouth in the etiology and symptomatology of

general systemic disturbances. Statistique m£dicale de la marine, 1909. By L.

W. Johnson. Antityphoid inoculation. Vaccines from the standpoint of the

physician. The treatment of sciatica. Chronic gastric ulcer and its relation to

gastric carcinoma. The nonprotein nitrogenous constituents of the blood in

chronic vascular nephritis<span> 

</span>(arteriosclero-iis) as influenced by the level of protein metabolism.

The influence of diet on hepatic necrosis and toxicity of chloroform. The

rational treatment of tetanus. The comparative value of cardiac remedies. By A.

W. Dunbar and G. B. Crow </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Psychiatry. —Abderhalden's method. Precis de psychiatric Constitutional

immorality. Nine years' experience with manic-depressive insanity. The pupil

and its reflexes in insanity. By R. F. Sheehan.</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Surgery. —On the occurrence of traumatic dislocations (luxationen) in

the Imperial German Navy during the last 20 years. By H. G. Beyer. The wounding

effects of the Turkish sharp-pointed bullet. By T. W. Richards. Intestinal

obstruction: formation and absorption of toxin. By G. B. Crow </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Hygiene and sanitation. —Relation of oysters to the transmission of

infectious diseases. The proper diet in the Tropics, with some pertinent remarks

on the use of alcohol. By E. W. Brown. Report of committee</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">upon period of isolation and exclusion from school in cases of

communicable disease. Resultats d'une enquete relative a la morbidity venerienne

dans la division navale d'Extreme-Orient et aux moyens susceptibles de la

restreindre. Ship's hygiene in the middle of the seventeenth century- Progress in

ship's hygiene during the nineteenth century. The origin of some of the

streptococci found in milk. On the further perfecting of mosquito spraying. By

C. N. Fiske and R. C. Ransdell</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Tropical medicine. — Le transport, colloidal de medicaments dans le cholera.

By T. W. Richards. Cholera in the Turkish Army. A supposed case of yellow fever

in Jamaica. By L. W. Johnson. Note on a new geographic locality for balantidiosis.

Brief note on Toxoplasma pyroqenes. Note on certain protozoalike bodies in a

case of protracted fever with splenomegaly. The emetine and other treatment of

amebic dysentery and hepatitis, including liver abscess. A study of epidemic dysentery

in the Fiji Islands. By E. R. Stitt</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Pathology, bacteriology, and animal parasitology. — The best method of staining

Treponema pallidum. By C. N. Fiske. Bacteriological methods of meat analysis.

By R. C. Ransdell. Primary tissue lesions in the heart produced by Spirochete

pallida. Ten tests by which a physician may determine when p patient is cured

of gonorrhea. Diagnostic value of percutaneous tuberculin test (Moro). Some

causes of failure of vaccine therapy. A method of increasing the accuracy and

delicacy of the Wassermann reaction: By A. B. Clifford and G. F. Clark</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Chemistry and pharmacy. —Quantitative test of pancreatic function. A comparison

of various preservatives of urine. A clinical method for the rapid estimation

of the quantity of dextrose in urine. By E. W. Brown and O. G. Ruge</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Eye, ear, nose, and throat. —Intraocular pressure. Strauma as an

important factor in diseases of the eye. Carbonic cauterization "in the

treatment of granular ophthalmia. Ocular and other complications of syphilis treated

by salvarsan. Some notes on hay fever. A radiographic study of the mastoid. Ear

complications during typhoid fever. Su di un caso di piccola sanguisuga

cavallina nel bronco destro e su 7 casi di grosse sanguisughe cavalline in

laringe in trachea e rino-faringe. By E. J. Grow and G. B. Trible</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Reports and letters: </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">American medico-psychological association, by R. F. Sheehan, passed assistant

surgeon, United States Navy 517</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Report of 11 cases of asphyxiation from coal gas, by L. C. Whiteside,

passed assistant surgeon, United States Navy 522</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Extracts from annual sanitary reports for 1913 — United States Naval

Academy, Annapolis, Md., by A. M. D. McCormick, medical director, United States

Navy 523</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">U. S. S. Arkansas, by W. B. Grove, surgeon, United States Navy 524 </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Marine barracks, Camp Elliott, Canal Zone, Panama, by B. H. Dorsey, passed

assistant surgeon, United States Navy 525</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">U. S. S. Cincinnati, by J. B. Mears, passed assistant surgeon. United States

Navy 526</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">U. S. S. Florida, by M. S. Elliott, surgeon, United States Navy 527</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Naval training station, Great Lakes, Ill., by J. S. Taylor, surgeon, United

States Navy 527</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Naval station, Guam, by C. P. Kindleberger, surgeon, United States Navy

528</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Naval Hospital, Las Animas, Colo., by G. H. Barber, medical inspector, United

States Navy 532</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">U. S. S. Nebraska, by E. H. H. Old, passed assistant surgeon, United States

Navy 533</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">U. S. S. North Dakota, by J. C. Pryor, surgeon, United States Navy. .

534</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Navy yard, Olongapo, P. L, by J. S. Woodward, passed assistant surgeon,

United States Navy 536</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">U. S. S. San Francisco, by T. W. Reed, passed assistant surgeon, United

States Navy 537</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">U. S. S. Saratoga, by H. R. Hermesch, assistant surgeon, United States Navy

538</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">U. S. S. Scorpion, by E. P. Huff, passed assistant surgeon, United States

Navy 538</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">U. S. S. West Virginia, by O. J. Mink, passed assistant surgeon, United

States Navy 539</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;"> </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Number 4</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;"> </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Preface V</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Special articles:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Some prevailing ideas regarding the treatment of tuberculosis, by

Passed Asst. Surg. G. B. Crow 541</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">The Training School for the Hospital Corps of the Navy, by Surg. F. E. McCullough

and Passed Asst. Surg. J. B. Kaufman 555</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Khaki dye for white uniforms, by Passed Asst. Surg. W. E. Eaton 561</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Some facts and some fancies regarding the unity of yaws and syphilis,

by Surg. C. S. Butler 561</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Quinine prophylaxis of malaria, by Passed Asst. Surg. L. W. McGuire 571</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">The nervous system and naval warfare, translated by Surg. T. W.

Richards. 576</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Measles, by Surg. G. F. Freeman 586</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Smallpox and vaccination, by Passed Asst. Surg. T. W. Raison 589</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Rabies; methods of diagnosis and immunization, by Passed Asst. Surg. F.

X. Koltes 597</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Syphilis aboard ship, by Passed Asst. Surg. G. F. Cottle 605</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Systematic recording and treatment of syphilis, by Surg. A. M.

Fauntleroy and Passed Asst. Surg. E. H. H. Old 620</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Organization and station bills of the U. S. naval hospital ship Solace,

by Surg. W. M. Garton 624</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">United States Naval Medical School laboratories:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Additions to the pathological collection 647</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Additions to the helminthological collection 647</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Clinical notes:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Succinimid of mercury in pyorrhea alveolaris, by Acting Asst. Dental Surg.

P. G. White 649</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A case of pityriasis rosea, by Surg. R. E. Ledbetter 651</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Emetin in the treatment of amebic abscess of the liver, by Surg. H. F. Strine

and Passed Asst. Surg. L. Sheldon, jr 653 </p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Salvarsan in a case of amebic dysentery, by Passed Asst. Surg. O. J.

Mink. . 653</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Laceration of the subclavian artery and complete severing of brachial plexus,

by Surg. H. C. Curl and Passed Asst. Surg. C. B. Camerer 654</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Malarial infection complicating splenectomy, by Surg. H. F. Strine 655</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A case of gastric hemorrhage; operative interference impossible, by

Passed Arst. Surg. G. E. Robertson 656</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Operation for strangulated hernia, by Passed Asst. Surg. W. S. Pugh 657</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">A case of bronchiectasis with hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy,

by Passed Asst. Surg. L. C. Whiteside 658</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Editorial comment:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Systematic recording and treatment of syphilis 665</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Progress in medical sciences: <span> </span></p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">General medicine. —A note of three cases of enteric fever inoculated

during the incubation period. By T. W. Richards. The modern treatment of

chancroids. The treatment of burns. By W. E. Eaton. Experiments on the curative

value of the intraspinal administration of tetanus antitoxin. Hexamethylenamin.

<span> </span>Hexamethylenamin as an internal

antiseptic in other fluids of the body than urine. Lumbar puncture as a special

procedure for controlling headache in the course of infectious diseases.

Cardiospasm. Acromion auscultation; a new and delicate test in the early

diagnosis of incipient pulmonary tuberculosis.</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Diabetes mellitus and its differentiation from alimentary glycosuria.

The complement fixation test in typhoid fever; its comparison with the

agglutination test and blood culture method. By C. B. Crow.. 671</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Mental and nervous diseases. —A voice sign in chorea. By G. B. Crow.

Wassermann reaction and its application to neurology. Epilepsy: a theory of

causation founded upon the clinical manifestations and the therapeutic and

pathological data. Salvarsanized serum (Swift-Ellis treatment) in syphilitic diseases

of the central nervous system. Mental manifestations in tumors of the brain.

Some of the broader issues of the psycho-analytic n movement. Mental disease

and defect in United States troops. By R. Sheehan 6S1</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Surgery. — Infiltration anesthesia. War surgery. Tenoplasty; tendon transplantation;

tendon substitution; neuroplasty. Carcinoma of the male breast. Visceral

pleureotomy for chronic empyema. By A. M. Fauntleroy and E. H. H. Old 6S8</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Hygiene and sanitation. — Further experiences with the Berkefold filter

in the purifying of lead-contaminated water. By T. W. Richards. Experiments in

the destruction of fly larvae in horse manure. By A. B. Clifford. Investigation

relative to the life cycle, brooding, and tome practical moans of reducing the

multiplication of flies in camp. By W. E. Eaton, Humidity and heat stroke;

further observations on an<span>  </span>analysis of

50 cases. By C. N. Fiske 693</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Tropical medicine. — The treatment of aneylostoma anemia. Latent dysentery

or dysentery carriers. Naphthalone for the destruction of mosquitoes. Emetin in

amebic dysentery. By E. R. Stitt 704</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Pathology, bacteriology, and animal parasitology. —Meningitis by

injection of pyogenic microbes in the peripheral nerves. The growth of pathogenic

intestinal bacteria in bread. Present status of the complement fixation test in

the diagnosis of gonorrheal infections. Practical application of the luetin

test. By A. B. Clifford and G. F. Clark 707</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Eye, ear, nose, and throat. — Misting of eyeglasses. By E. L. Sleeth.

The treatment of ocular syphilis by salvarsan and neo salvarsan. The moving

picture and the eye. Treatment of various forms of ocular syphilis with

salvarsan. Rapid, painless, and bloodless method for removing the inferior

turbinate. Hemorrhage from the superior petrosal sinus. The frequency of

laryngeal tuberculosis in Massachusetts.</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Intrinsic cancer of larynx. Treatment of hematoma of the auricle. By E.

J. Grow and G. B. Trible 709</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Reports and letters:</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Care of wounded at Mazatlan and at Villa Union, by Medical Inspector S.

G. Evans 713</p>

 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;">Medico-military reports of the occupation of Vera Cruz 715</p>

 

If you have questions concerning reproductions, please contact the Contributing Library.

 

Note: The colors, contrast and appearance of these illustrations are unlikely to be true to life. They are derived from scanned images that have been enhanced for machine interpretation and have been altered from their originals.

 

Read/Download from the Internet Archive

 

See all images from this book

See all MHL images published in the same year

Spring seems to have arrived at last

 

Still battling with sciatica....

after a few weeks off with a hernia, and that became a Sciatica, Piriformis Syndrome, i will save you all the details :-)

i'am glad it is over, i'am back and alive.

yesterday i did after a long time a go, some practice and taking some photo's in own build led light studio.

i hope you gone like it

 

thx for your support in the last weeks.

    

Those who know me, understand that "journaling" has been a way of life, dealing with ups, downs, beauty, horror, comfort and pain. While in excruciating distress, I always feel doubly upset for those who have to suffer along with me.

 

Yesterday my husband shared a page of his "doodle journal" and in processing it, I played with "mirror imaging" being struck by the "spinal cord" effect down the middle and all the little nerves affected. I also love how the "spiral" binding has such significance to the nature of this horrendous condition, as it winds its way from the lower back down to the toes. Ironically, there is also a similarity to the pelvic bone!

 

Maybe art doesn't always heal, but it sure does release some of the tension while feeling otherwise out of control.

Hello dear Flickr friends! I'm sorry I've been away for so long. I had family in town last month and a little break turned into a big one...I've been busy at work, my sciatica flared up pretty badly (not great for sitting and editing photos) and I've just generally been in a creative slump, which the thick San Francisco fog this summer has not helped one bit. I've missed you all and hope to really get my mojo back soon!

 

I have so many photos of Octavia from this shoot, I decided to post them a few at a time so be prepared for a bit of spam! :)

Several years ago I developed sciatica in my left leg, so I had a sit/stand desk installed at work. Standing all day minimized the sciatica, but then my feet were getting tired. Knowning that I can sit on a bike saddle for hours at an end, I hacked an old broken frame, adjust the saddle height so my legs were mostly straight, and viola.

Year Made: early 1900's (estimated)

Glassmaker: unknown

Color: aqua

Product: medicine

Bottler: Chamberlain Medicine Company

Volume: 2 fluid ounces

Height: 5 1/4 inches

Diameter: 1 7/8" x 1 1/8 "

Weight: 4.6 ounces

Seams: 2 seams fade on neck past shoulder

Label Type: embossed

Closure Type: cork

 

Notes: Embossed on front " CHAMBERLAIN'S PAIN-BALM "

Embossed on left side: " DES MOINES, IA. U.S.A. "

Embossed on right side: " CHAMBERLAIN MED. CO. "

The bottle is blown in mold, and has vent marks throughout.

According to the Smithsonian Institution, Chamberlain's Pain Balm was used for Rheumatism, neuralgia, sciatica, lame back, lumbago, gout, sprains, swellings and lameness, cuts, bruises, wounds and lacerations, burns and scalds, chilblains, frostbites, sore throat, quinsy, glandular swellings, headache, toothache, backache, soreness of chest, pain in side, pain in back, cramp in muscle and all deep-seated and muscular pains.

Folkloric

- Leaves as poultice for abscesses.

- Decoction of roots and leaves for fevers, kidney stones, and cystitis.

- Decoction of leaves used to induced diuresis for purpose of treating kidney stones.

- Sitz-bath of boiled leaves, 500 gms to a gallon of water, for rheumatic pains of waist and back.

- Used in upper and lower respiratory tract affections like sinusitis, asthmatic bronchitis, influenza.

- Applied while hot over the sinuses. Used for wounds and cuts.

Fresh juice of leaves to wounds and cuts.

- Poultice of leaves applied to the forehead for relief of headaches.

- Tea is used for colds and as an expectorant; likewise, has antispasmodic and antidiarrheal benefits.

Postpartum baths.

- In Vietnam, decoction of fresh leaves used for cough and influenza or as inhalation of vapour from boiling of leaves. Poultices of pounded leaves applied to hemorrhoids; an alcoholic maceration used as liniment for rheumatism.

- 3% ethanol solution used to soothe itching.

- In Thailand, dried leaves are chopped, made into cigarettes and smoked for treating sinusitis.

- For fever, leaves boiled and when lukewarm used as sponge bath.

- Decoction of roots used for fever.

- Decoction of leaves, 50 gms to a pint of boiling water, 4 glasses daily, for stomach pains.

- In SE Asia widely used for various women problems. Postpartum, leaves are used in hot fomentation over the uterus to induce rapid involution. Also used for menorrhagia, dysmenorrhea, functional uterine bleeding and leucorrhea.

- Roots used for menorrhagia.

- Decoction of roots and leaves used for rheumatism and arthritis; also used for treatment of postpartum joint pains.

- Poultice of fresh leaves applied to affected joint.

- In Chinese and Thai medicine, leaves used for treatment of septic wounds and other infections.

- A sitz-bath of boiled leaves used in the treatment of lumbago and sciatica.

- In Chinese medicine, used as carminative, stimulant, vermifuge, expectorant, and sudorific.

 

source: stuart xchange

I have been off work recently with a bad back and sciatica and as such have been unable to get out and take photographs :( . This left me plenty of time to browse the net espescially Ebay etc for a bit of new gear :) After watching plenty of YouTube clips on Macro and always been amazed by other peoples Macro images, I decided I'd like to give it a go. Not wanting to splash out on a dedicated Macro lens just yet, I opted for a set of extension tubes. This is my first attempt, its just a Honeysuckle shrub we have in the garden. This was shot in aperture priority with a Sigma 17-50 f2.8 on a 12mm extension mounted on a Nikon D7100. Any comments and critique greatly received.

I'm not sure, but I think this Seed Cleaning Plant was opened in November 1955.

 

On 26 April 2024, I managed a short drive SE of Calgary. Thought I had better make the most of clear roads before the bad weather arrives. All familiar, much-travelled roads this time, around the Frank Lake area and while heading back home.

 

I bumped into a huge group of people who were on a special outing to Frank Lake, led by Greg Wagner, who takes care of the lake areas and does a tremendous job of recording every bird seen, all year round and for many years. Not just once a day, either! Yesterday, he was showing the participants the various viewing points around the lake and I happened to see the cars coming towards me along one of the roads. I turned around and caught up with them. They had just one more location to visit, but one had to drive on a rough, non-road to get there. I would have been almost the last person to get there if I had gone, with a long walk to get to the lake edge. I knew I couldn't do that, with painful sciatica or bursitis in my right side, so I continued on my own journey. Good to see you, Greg, even if for just a few moments.

 

A bit of information about Greg:

ebird.org/region/CA/post/greg-wagner-march-ebirder-of-the...

 

So many birds in the area are far, far away - and I still don't possess a pair of binoculars after about 18 years of birding! (By the way, the birding blind area at Frank Lake is still extremely flooded.) However, I was happy to spend a bit of time watching and taking a few photos of the closer birds on my way home. Mainly Yellow-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds, plus a few Coots and European Starlings. At one point, there was an absolute frenzy of a group of Starlings and both species of Blackbirds on the ground, all mixed together. I had to take a bit of video, through the windscreen so poor quality.

Hypericum androsaemum, commonly known as tutsan, is a plant in the genus Hypericum which is native to the open woods and hillsides of Eurasia. Also called St. John's Wort, it is a perennial shrub reaching 1.5 m in height.

 

The common name tutsan appears to be a corruption of toute saine literally meaning all-healthy which probably refers to its healing properties. The leaves were applied to wounds and as a stomachic. Nicholas Culpeper in his 1653 publication Culpeper's Complete Herbal says "Tutsan purgeth choleric humours ... both to cure sciatica and gout, and to heal burnings by fire." The berries which turn from white/green to red to black are poisonous.

 

Chanticleer Garden, Wayne PA

Scanned this last night and polished it up in editing software this morning. Then went out and, since I wanted to eyeball the "ethnic" food shops in Cambridge's Mill Road ...mentioned by a helpful contact a few pics back... patronised a different multi-storey from my usual one at the Grafton Shopping Centre. In walking from the car park into the town I found myself on this very bit of pavement. As I continued on my way a glassy, box-like bus came swaying and bobbing around the corner, its dot-matrix electronic destination screen displaying Cherry Hinton. Spooky. Otherwise not much change as far as I could see. The roofline of some hideous modern building filled the distance, beyond the trees ...which have been felled, I think. Apart from that the main difference is in the cars and, of course, the bus. Even the traffic lights ...on unbanded poles with those white-bordered metal plates behind the lenses... are of the modern pattern; indeed, it's a surprise to find that it was already around as long ago as Thursday 11th August 1977.

You'll have spotted the bus's WC registration, issued at Chelmsford and signifying, omnibologically, Eastern National. The vehicle had passed to Eastern Counties in 1973. I must say that the modern counterparts of these noble vehicles, observed from outside, look horribly floaty, spongey things to drive. All right, the steering on FLFs had a kind of chest-expander effect, and the suspension might have shaken up the old dears' sciatica a bit, but handling was precise, without idiosyncracies, and they went around corners as though on rails.

got a new moleskine, the watercolor kind so far so good.

 

sciatica update: it looks like I'll be getting surgery in November and finally be done with all of this! Thanks again everyone!

 

 

This bronze sculpture of the Caerphilly-born comedian Tommy Cooper stands 2.7m (9 feet) tall, atop a natural stone and granite plinth. Created by sculptor James Done, it depicts him wearing his trademark fez.

 

Thomas Frederick Cooper was born in Llwyn Onn Street, Caerphilly, in 1921 to Gertrude and Thomas H Cooper, a Welsh army recruiting sergeant. The landlady of the Cooper family’s lodgings delivered the baby. Tommy spent his first three years in Caerphilly but suffered breathing problems because at that time heavy industry polluted the air in the South Wales Valleys. The family therefore moved to coastal Exeter, Gertrude’s home city.

 

His talent for comedy emerged while he served with the army in the Second World War, when he performed for fellow soldiers. During a show in the Middle East, he mislaid his usual pith helmet and borrowed a fez from a local man. It produced such riotous laughter that a fez remained part of his stage persona.

 

He made his television debut in 1947 and was soon a household name. His act centred on short, silly jokes, clumsiness and magic tricks which went wrong. He collapsed and died of a heart attack on stage during a live broadcast, watched by millions, in 1984.

 

In 2003 some of his many fans established the Caerphilly-based Tommy Cooper Society. Its ambition of erecting a statue of the comedian in his home town was realised in 2008, when Hollywood actor Sir Anthony Hopkins (the society's patron) performed the unveiling.

 

Thomas Frederick Cooper (19 March 1921 – 15 April 1984) was a Welsh-born prop comedian and magician of Anglo-Welsh parentage. As an entertainer, his appearance was large and lumbering at 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), and he habitually wore a red fez when performing. He initially served in the British Army for seven years, before eventually developing his conjuring skills and becoming a member of The Magic Circle. Although he spent time on tour performing his magical act, which specialised on magic tricks that appeared to "fail", he rose to international prominence when his career moved into television, with programmes for London Weekend Television and Thames Television.

 

By the end of the 1970s, Cooper was smoking and drinking heavily, which affected his career and his health, effectively ending offers to front new programmes and relegating him to performing as a guest star on other entertainment shows. On 15 April 1984, Cooper died at the age of 63 after suffering a heart attack live on television.

 

Thomas Frederick Cooper was born on 19 March 1921 at 19, Llwyn-On Street in Caerphilly, Glamorgan. He was delivered by the woman who owned the house in which the family were lodging. His parents were Thomas H. Cooper, a Welsh recruiting sergeant in the British Army and later coal miner, and Catherine Gertrude (née Wright), Thomas's English wife from Crediton, Devon.

 

To change from his mining role in Caerphilly, that could have had implications for his health, his father accepted the offer of a new job and the family moved to Exeter, Devon, when Cooper was three. It was in Exeter that he acquired the West Country accent that became part of his act. As an adult and on a visit to Wales to visit the house where he was born, Cooper was asked if he considered himself to be a Welshman, to which he answered, "Well yes, my father's Welsh... and my mother's from Devon. Actually I was in Caerphilly and left here when I was about a year old, I was getting very serious with a girl", much to the amusement of the BBC interviewer and himself.

 

When he was eight years old an aunt bought him a magic set and he spent hours perfecting the tricks. In the 1960s his brother David (born 1930) opened D. & Z. Cooper's Magic Shop at 249 High Street in Slough, Buckinghamshire. The shop later moved to Eastbourne, East Sussex and was run by David's daughter Sabrina. After leaving school, Cooper became a shipwright in Southampton, Hampshire. In 1940 he was called up as a trooper in the Royal Horse Guards, serving for seven years. He joined Montgomery's Desert Rats in Egypt. Cooper became a member of a Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) entertainment party, and developed an act around his magic tricks interspersed with comedy. One evening in Cairo, during a sketch in which he was supposed to be in a costume that required a pith helmet, having forgotten the prop Cooper reached out and borrowed a fez from a passing waiter, which got huge laughs. He wore a fez when performing after that, the prop later being described as "an icon of 20th-century comedy".

 

Cooper was demobilized after seven years of military service and took up show business on Christmas Eve 1947. He later developed a popular monologue about his military experience as "Cooper the Trooper". He worked in variety theatres around the country and at many night spots in London, performing as many as 52 shows in one week.

 

Cooper developed his conjuring skills and became a member of The Magic Circle, but there are various stories about how and when he developed his delivery of "failed" magic tricks:

 

He was performing to his shipbuilding colleagues when everything went wrong, but he noticed that the failed tricks got laughs.

He started making "mistakes" on purpose when he was in the Army.

His tricks went wrong at a post-war audition, but the panel thoroughly enjoyed them anyway.

To keep the audience on their toes Cooper threw in an occasional trick that worked when it was least expected.

 

Cooper was influenced by Laurel and Hardy, Will Hay, Max Miller, Bob Hope, and Robert Orben.

 

In 1947 Cooper was booked by Miff Ferrie, a musician, to appear in a show starring the sand dance act Marqueeze and the Dance of the Seven Veils. This was followed by a European tour and work in pantomime, and concluded with a season at the Windmill Theatre. Ferrie remained Cooper's sole agent for 37 years, until Cooper's death in 1984.

 

Cooper rapidly became a top-liner in variety with his turn as the conjurer whose tricks never succeeded, but it was his television work that raised him to national prominence. After his debut on the BBC talent show New to You in March 1948 he began starring in his own shows, and was popular with audiences for nearly 40 years, notably through his work with London Weekend Television from 1968 to 1972 and with Thames Television from 1973 to 1980. Thanks to his many television shows during the mid-1970s he was one of the most recognisable comedians in the world.

 

John Fisher writes in his biography of Cooper: "Everyone agrees that he was mean. Quite simply he was acknowledged as the tightest man in show business, with a pathological dread of reaching into his pocket." One of Cooper's stunts was to pay the exact taxi fare and when leaving the cab slip something into the taxi driver's pocket, saying, "Have a drink on me." That something would turn out to be a tea bag.

 

By the mid-1970s alcohol had started to erode Cooper's professionalism and club owners complained that he turned up late or rushed through his show in five minutes. In addition he suffered from chronic indigestion, lumbago, sciatica, bronchitis and severe circulation problems in his legs. When Cooper realised the extent of his maladies he cut down on his drinking, and the energy and confidence returned to his act. However, he never stopped drinking and could be fallible: on an otherwise triumphant appearance with Michael Parkinson he forgot to set the safety catch on the guillotine illusion into which he had cajoled Parkinson, and only a last-minute intervention by the floor manager saved Parkinson from serious injury or worse.

 

Cooper was a heavy cigar smoker (up to 40 a day) as well as an excessive drinker. Cooper suffered a heart attack on 22 April 1977 while performing a show in Rome. Three months later he was back on television in Night Out at the London Casino.

 

By 1980 his drinking meant that Thames Television would not give him another starring series, and Cooper's Half Hour was his last. He did continue to appear as a guest on other television shows, however, and worked with Eric Sykes on two Thames productions in 1982.

 

On 15 April 1984, Cooper collapsed from a heart attack in front of 12 million viewers, midway through his act on the London Weekend Television variety show Live from Her Majesty's, transmitted live from Her Majesty's Theatre in Westminster, London. An assistant had helped him put on a cloak for his sketch, while Jimmy Tarbuck, the host, was hiding behind the stage curtains waiting to pass him different props that he would then appear to pull from inside his gown. His last words seemed to be "Thank you, love," to the assistant seconds before collapsing. The assistant smiled at him as he slumped down, believing that it was part of the act. Likewise, the audience laughed as he fell backwards, as a hand (possibly Tarbuck's hand) briefly appeared from behind the curtain to reach out towards Cooper.

 

As Cooper lay dying on the floor, the audience continued to laugh at him believing it was part of the act. Around this time, Jimmy Tarbuck, Alasdair MacMillan (the director of the television production), and the crew behind the curtain who witnessed the incident realised that what was happening to him was not part of the act. The laughter from the audience began to die down as they realised Cooper was unable to get back up.

 

In the wings, show producer David Bell asked Cooper's son if the fall was part of the act. He replied that his father had a bad back, and would be unable to get back up if he fell on purpose. After it became apparent that Cooper was in trouble, Alasdair MacMillan cued the orchestra to play music for an unscripted commercial break (noticeable because of several seconds of blank screen while LWT's master control contacted regional stations to start transmitting advertisements) and Tarbuck's manager tried to pull Cooper back through the curtains.

 

It was decided to continue with the show. Dustin Gee and Les Dennis were the act that had to follow Cooper and performed in the limited space in front of the curtains. Two stools were positioned either side of the protrusion from behind the curtain where Cooper had collapsed, whilst efforts were being made to revive him. The following act, Howard Keel, performed as Cooper was moved (evident by the twitching of the curtains as he sang and the disappearance of the protrusion as he finished performing). After another commercial break, the curtain was removed, and he was taken by ambulance to Westminster Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. His death was not officially reported until the next morning, although the incident was the leading item on the news programme that followed the show.

 

Cooper's funeral was held at Mortlake Crematorium in London, after which his son scattered his ashes in the back garden, over his father's favourite daffodils.

 

The video of Cooper's heart attack on stage has been uploaded to numerous video-sharing websites. YouTube drew criticism from a number of sources when footage of the incident was posted on the website in May 2009. John Beyer of the pressure group Mediawatch-UK said: "This is very poor taste. That the broadcasters have not repeated the incident shows they have a respect for him and I think that ought to apply also on YouTube." On 28 December 2011, segments of the Live from Her Majesty's clip, including Cooper collapsing on stage, were included in the Channel 4 programme The Untold Tommy Cooper.

 

Cooper married Gwen Henty in Nicosia, Cyprus, on 24 February 1947. She died in 2002. They had two children: Thomas, who was born in 1956, became an actor under the name Thomas Henty and died in 1988; and Victoria.

 

From 1967 until his death, Cooper also had a relationship with his personal assistant, Mary Fieldhouse, who wrote about it in her book, For the Love of Tommy (1986).

 

Cooper's will was proved via probate on 29 August 1984, at £327,272.

 

On Christmas Day 2018, the documentary Tommy Cooper: In His Own Words was broadcast on Channel 5. The programme featured Cooper's daughter, Vicky, who gave her first television interview following years of abstaining "because of the grief".

 

A statue of Cooper was unveiled in his birthplace, Caerphilly, in 2008 by Sir Anthony Hopkins, who is patron of the Tommy Cooper Society. The statue, which cost £45,000, was sculpted by James Done. In 2009, for Red Nose Day, a charity Red Nose was put on the statue, but the nose was stolen.

 

Cooper was a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats.

 

In a 2005 poll, The Comedians' Comedian, comedians and comedy insiders voted Cooper the sixth greatest comedy act ever. He has been cited as an influence by Jason Manford and John Lydon. Jerome Flynn has toured with his own tribute show to Cooper called Just Like That.

 

In February 2007 The Independent reported that Andy Harries, a producer of The Queen, was working on a dramatisation of the last week of Cooper's life. Harries described Cooper's death as "extraordinary" in that the whole thing was broadcast live on national television. The film subsequently went into production over six years later as a television drama for ITV. From a screenplay by Simon Nye, Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This was directed by Benjamin Caron and the title role was played by David Threlfall. It was broadcast 21 April 2014.

 

In 2010 Cooper was portrayed by Clive Mantle in a stage show, Jus' Like That! A Night Out with Tommy Cooper, at the Edinburgh Festival. To train for the role Mantle mastered many of Cooper's magic tricks, studying under Geoffrey Durham for several months.

 

In 2012 the British Heart Foundation ran a series of advertisements featuring Cooper to raise awareness of heart conditions. These included posters bearing his image together with radio commercials featuring classic Cooper jokes.

 

Being Tommy Cooper, a new play written by Tom Green and starring Damian Williams, was produced by Franklin Productions and toured the UK in 2013.

 

In 2014, with the support of The Tommy Cooper Estate and Cooper's daughter Victoria, a new tribute show, Just Like That! The Tommy Cooper Show, commemorating 30 years since the comedian's death was produced by Hambledon Productions. The production moved to the Museum of Comedy in Bloomsbury, London, from September 2014 and continues to tour extensively throughout the UK.

 

In May 2016, a blue plaque in memory of Cooper was unveiled at his former home in Barrowgate Road, Chiswick. It was announced in August that the Victoria and Albert Museum had acquired 116 boxes of Cooper's papers and props, including his "gag file", in which the museum said he had used a system to store his jokes alphabetically "with the meticulousness of an archivist".

 

On 5 March 2021, BBC One aired the 30-minute documentary Tommy Cooper at the BBC, looking at his best performances, including his appearance on the Parkinson show where he almost killed Michael Parkinson with a trick guillotine. The programme, which celebrated the centenary of his birth, was presented by Sir Lenny Henry.

 

Caerphilly Castle is a medieval fortification in Caerphilly in South Wales. The castle was constructed by Gilbert de Clare in the 13th century as part of his campaign to maintain control of Glamorgan, and saw extensive fighting between Gilbert, his descendants, and the native Welsh rulers. Surrounded by extensive artificial lakes – considered by historian Allen Brown to be "the most elaborate water defences in all Britain" – it occupies around 30 acres (12 ha) and is the largest castle in Wales and the second-largest castle in the United Kingdom after Windsor Castle. It is famous for having introduced concentric castle defences to Britain and for its large gatehouses. Gilbert began work on the castle in 1268 following his occupation of the north of Glamorgan, with the majority of the construction occurring over the next three years at a considerable cost. The project was opposed by Gilbert's Welsh rival Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, leading to the site being burnt in 1270 and taken over by royal officials in 1271. Despite these interruptions, Gilbert successfully completed the castle and took control of the region. The core of Caerphilly Castle, including the castle's luxurious accommodation, was built on what became a central island, surrounding by several artificial lakes, a design Gilbert probably derived from that at Kenilworth. The dams for these lakes were further fortified, and an island to the west provided additional protection. The concentric rings of walls inspired Edward I's castles in North Wales, and proved what historian Norman Pounds has termed "a turning point in the history of the castle in Britain".

 

The castle was attacked during the Madog ap Llywelyn revolt of 1294, the Llywelyn Bren uprising in 1316 and during the overthrow of Edward II in 1326–27. In the late 15th century, however, it fell into decline and by the 16th century the lakes had drained away and the walls were robbed of their stone. The Marquesses of Bute acquired the property in 1776 and under the third and fourth Marquesses extensive restoration took place. In 1950 the castle and grounds were given to the state and the water defences were re-flooded. In the 21st century, the Welsh heritage agency Cadw manages the site as a tourist attraction.

 

Caerphilly Castle was built in the second half of the 13th century, as part of the Anglo-Norman expansion into South Wales. The Normans began to make incursions into Wales from the late 1060s onwards, pushing westwards from their bases in recently occupied England. Their advance was marked by the construction of castles and the creation of regional lordships. The task of subduing the region of Glamorgan was given to the earls of Gloucester in 1093; efforts continued throughout the 12th and early 13th centuries, accompanied by extensive fighting between the Anglo-Norman lords and local Welsh rulers. The powerful de Clare family acquired the earldom in 1217 and continued to attempt to conquer the whole of the Glamorgan region.

 

In 1263, Gilbert de Clare, also known as "Red Gilbert" because of the colour of his hair, inherited the family lands. Opposing him in Glamorgan was the native Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. Llywelyn had taken advantage of the chaos of the civil war in England between Henry III and rebel barons during the 1260s to expand his power across the region. In 1265 Llywelyn allied himself with the baronial faction in England in exchange for being granted authority over the local Welsh magnates across all the territories in the region, including Glamorgan. De Clare believed his lands and power were under threat and allied himself with Henry III against the rebel barons and Llywelyn.

 

The baronial revolt was crushed between 1266 and 1267, leaving de Clare free to advance north into Glamorgan from his main base in Cardiff. De Clare started to construct a castle at Caerphilly to control his new gains in 1268. The castle lay in a basin of the Rhymney Valley, alongside the Rhymney River and at the heart of network of paths and roads, adjacent to a former Roman fort.. Work began at a huge pace, with ditches cut to form the basic shape of the castle, temporary wooden palisades erected and extensive water defences created by damming a local stream. The walls and internal buildings were built at speed, forming the main part of the castle. The architect of the castle and the precise cost of the construction are unknown, but modern estimates suggest that it could have cost as much as castles such as Conwy or Caernarfon, perhaps as much as £19,000, a huge sum for the period.

 

Llywelyn responded by intervening with his own forces but outright conflict was prevented by the diplomatic efforts of Henry III. De Clare continued building work and in 1270 Llywelyn responded by attacking and burning the site, probably destroying the temporary defences and stores. De Clare began work again the following year, raising tensions and prompting Henry to send two bishops, Roger de Meyland and Godfrey Giffard, to take control of the site and arbitrate a solution to the dispute.

 

The bishops took possession of the castle later in 1271 and promised Llywelyn that building work would temporarily cease and that negotiations would begin the following summer. In February of the next year, however, de Clare's men seized back the castle, threw out the bishops' soldiers, and de Clare – protesting his innocence in these events – began work once again. Neither Henry nor Llywelyn could readily intervene and de Clare was able to lay claim to the whole of Glamorgan. Work on the castle continued, with additional water defences, towers and gatehouses added.

 

Llywelyn's power declined over the next two decades. In 1276 Henry's son, Edward I, invaded Wales following a dispute with the prince, breaking his power in South Wales, and in 1282 Edward's second campaign resulted in Llwelyn's death and the collapse of independent Welsh rule. Further defences were added to the walls until work stopped around 1290. Local disputes remained. De Clare argued with Humphrey de Bohun, the earl of Hereford, in 1290 and the following year the case was brought before the king, resulting in the temporary royal seizure of Caerphilly.

 

In 1294 Madog ap Llywelyn rebelled against English rule, the first major insurrection since the 1282 campaign. The Welsh appear to have risen up over the introduction of taxation and Madog had considerable popular support. In Glamorgan, Morgan ap Maredudd led the local uprising; Morgan had been dispossessed by de Clare in 1270 and saw this as a chance to regain his lands. Morgan attacked Caerphilly, burning half of the town, but failed to take the castle. In the spring of 1295 Edward pressed home a counter-attack in North Wales, putting down the uprising and arresting Madog. De Clare attacked Morgan's forces and retook the region between April and May, resulting in Morgan's surrender. De Clare died at the end of 1295, leaving Caerphilly Castle in a good condition, linked to the small town of Caerphilly which had emerged to the south of it and a large deer park in the nearby Aber Valley.

 

Gilbert's son, also called Gilbert de Clare, inherited the castle, but he died fighting at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314 while still quite young. The family's lands were initially placed under the control of the Crown, but before any decision could be taken on the inheritance, a revolt broke out in Glamorgan. Anger over the actions of the royal administrators caused Llywelyn Bren to rise up in January 1316, attacking Caerphilly Castle with a large force of men. The castle withstood the attack, but the town was destroyed and the rebellion spread. A royal army was despatched to deal with the situation, defeating Bren in a battle at Caerphilly Mountain and breaking the Welsh siege of the castle.

 

In 1317 Edward II settled the inheritance of Glamorgan and Caerphilly Castle on Eleanor de Clare, who had married the royal favourite, Hugh le Despenser. ]Hugh used his relationship with the king to expand his power across the region, taking over lands throughout South Wales. Hugh employed Master Thomas de la Bataile and William Hurley to expand the Great Hall at the castle, including richly carved windows and doors. In 1326, however, Edward's wife, Isabella of France, overthrew his government, forcing the king and Hugh to flee west. The pair stayed in Caerphilly Castle at the end of October and early November, before leaving to escape Isabella's approaching forces, abandoning the extensive stores and £14,000 held at the castle. William la Zouche besieged the castle with a force of 425 soldiers, cornering the constable, Sir John de Felton, Hugh's son – also called Hugh – and the garrison of 130 men inside. Caerphilly held out until March 1327, when the garrison surrendered on the condition that the younger Hugh was pardoned, his father having been already executed.

 

Tensions between the Welsh and the English persisted and spilled over in 1400 with the outbreak of the Glyndŵr Rising. It is uncertain what part the castle played in the conflict, but it seems to have survived intact. In 1416, the castle passed through Isabel le Despenser in marriage to her first husband Richard de Beauchamp, the earl of Worcester, and then to her second husband, Richard Beauchamp, the earl of Warwick. Isabel and her second husband invested heavily in the castle, conducting repairs and making it suitable for use as their main residence in the region. The castle passed to Richard Neville in 1449 and to Jasper Tudor, the earl of Pembroke, in 1486.

 

After 1486, the castle went into decline, eclipsed by the more fashionable residence of Cardiff Castle; once the sluice-gates fell into disrepair, the water defences probably drained away. Antiquarian John Leland visited Caerphilly Castle around 1539, and described it as having "waulles of a wonderful thiknes", but beyond a tower used to hold prisoners it was in ruins and surrounded by marshland. Henry Herbert, the earl of Pembroke used the castle for his manorial court. In 1583 the castle was leased to Thomas Lewis, who stripped it of much of its stone to extend his house, causing extensive damage.

 

In 1642 the English Civil War broke out between the Royalist supporters of Charles I and those of Parliament. South Wales was predominantly Royalist in sympathy, and during the conflict, a sconce, or small fort, was built overlooking Caerphilly Castle to the north-west, on the site of the old Roman fort. It is uncertain if this was built by Royalist forces or by the Parliamentary army that occupied the area during the final months of the war in March 1646, but the fort's guns would have dominated the interior of the castle. It is also uncertain whether or not Caerphilly Castle was deliberately slighted by Parliament to prevent its future use as a fortification. Although several towers had collapsed by the 18th century, possibly as a result of such an operation, it is probable that this deterioration was actually the result of subsidence damage caused when the water defences retreated, as there is no evidence of deliberate destruction having been ordered.

 

The Marquesses of Bute acquired the castle in 1776. John Stuart, the first marquess, took steps to protect the ruins. His great-grandson John Crichton-Stuart, the third marquess, was immensely rich as the result of the family's holdings in the South Wales coalfields and was passionately interested in the medieval period. He had the site fully surveyed by the architect William Frame, and reroofed the great hall in the 1870s. The marquess began a process of buying back leasehold properties around the castle with the intent of clearing back the town houses that had been built up to the edge of the site.

 

The fourth marquess, John Crichton-Stuart, was an enthusiastic restorer and builder and commissioned a major restoration project between 1928 and 1939. The stonework was carefully repaired, with moulds made to recreate missing pieces. The Inner East Gatehouse was rebuilt, along with several of the other towers. The marquess carried out landscaping work, with the intent of eventually re-flooding the lakes, and thanks to several decades of purchases was finally able to demolish the local houses encroaching on the view of the castle.

 

By 1947, when John Crichton-Stuart, the fifth marquess, inherited the castle, the Bute family had divested itself of most of its land in South Wales. John sold off the family's remaining property interests and in 1950 he gave Caerphilly Castle to the state. The lakes were re-flooded and the final stages of the restoration work were completed in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 21st century the castle is managed by the Welsh heritage agency Cadw as a tourist attraction. In 2006, the castle saw 90,914 visitors. It is protected as a scheduled monument and as a grade I listed building. The Great Hall is available for wedding ceremonies.

 

Caerphilly Castle comprises a set of eastern defences, protected by the Outer East Moat and the North Lake, and fortifications on the Central Island and the Western Island, both protected by the South Lake. The site is around 30 acres (120,000 m2) in size, making it the second largest in Britain. It is constructed on a natural gravel bank in the local river basin, and the castle walls are built from Pennant sandstone. The castle's architecture is famous and historically significant. The castle introduced concentric castle defences to Britain, changing the future course of the country's military architecture, and also incorporated a huge gatehouse. The castle also featured a sophisticated network of moats and dams, considered by historian Allen Brown to be "the most elaborate water defences in all Britain".

 

The eastern defences were reached via the Outer Main Gatehouse, which featured circular towers resting on spurred, pyramidic bases, a design particular to South Wales castles. Originally the gatehouse would have been reached over a sequence of two drawbridges, linked by an intervening tower, since destroyed. To the north side of the gatehouse was the North Dam, protected by three substantial towers, and which may have supported the castle's stables. Despite subsidence damage, the dam still holds back the North Lake. The South Dam was a massive structure, 152 metres (499 ft) long, ending in a huge buttressed wall. The remains of the castle mill – originally powered by water from the dam – survive. Four replica siege engines have been placed on display. The dam ended in Felton's Tower, a square fortification designed to protect the sluicegates regulating the water levels of the dam, and the South Gatehouse – also called Giffard's Tower – originally accessed via a drawbridge, which led into the town.

 

Caerphilly's water defences were almost certainly inspired by those at Kenilworth, where a similar set of artificial lakes and dams was created. Gilbert de Clare had fought at the siege of Kenilworth in 1266 and would have seen these at first hand. Caerphilly's water defences provided particular protection against mining, which could otherwise undermine castle walls during the period, and are considered the most advanced of their kind in Britain.

 

The central island held Caerphilly's inner defences, a roughly square design with a walled inner and middle ward, the inner ward protected by four turrets on each of the corners. The walls of the inner ward overlooked those of the middle ward, producing a concentric defence of two enclosed rings of walls; in the medieval period, the walls of the middle ward would have been much higher than today, forming a more substantial defence. Caerphilly was the first concentric castle in Britain, pre-dating Edward I's famous programme of concentric castles by a few years. The design influenced the design of Edward's later castles in North Wales, and historian Norman Pounds considers it "a turning point in the history of the castle in Britain". Probable subsidence has caused the south-east tower in the Inner Ward to lean outwards at an angle of 10 degrees.

 

Access to the central island occurred over a drawbridge, through a pair of gatehouses on the eastern side. Caerphilly Castle's Inner East Gatehouse, based on the gatehouse built at Tonbridge in the 1250s, reinforced a trend in gatehouse design across England and Wales. Sometimes termed a keep-gatehouse, the fortification had both exterior and interior defences, enabling it to be defended even if the perimeter of the castle was breached. Two huge towers flanked the gatehouse on either side of an entrance that was protected by portcullises and murder-holes. The substantial size of the gatehouse allowed it to be used for accommodation as well as defence and it was comfortably equipped on a grand scale, probably for the use of the castle constable and his family. Another pair of gatehouses protected the west side.

 

Inside the inner ward was the castle's Great Hall and accommodation. Caerphilly was built with fashionable, high-status accommodation, similar to that built around the same time in Chepstow Castle. In the medieval period the Great Hall would have been subdivided with wooden screens, colourful decorations, with rich, detailed carving and warmed by a large, central fireplace. Some carved medieval corbels in the shape of male and female heads survive in the hall today, possibly depicting the royal court in the 1320s, including Edward II, Isabella of France, Hugh Despenser and Eleanor de Clare. To the east of the Great Hall was the castle chapel, positioned above the buttery and pantry. On the west side of the hall were the castle's private apartments, two solar blocks with luxurious fittings.

 

Beyond the central island was the Western Island, probably reached by drawbridges. The island is called Y Weringaer or Caer y Werin in Welsh, meaning "the people's fort", and may have been used by the town of Caerphilly for protection during conflicts. On the north-west side of the Western Island was the site of the former Roman fort, enclosing around 3 acres (1.2 ha), and the remains of the 17th-century civil-war fortification built on the same location.

 

The long-running British television show Doctor Who chose Caerphilly Castle as a filming location for several episodes, including "The End of Time" in 2009, "The Vampires in Venice" in 2010, two parter "The Rebel Flesh" and "The Almost People" in 2011; “Robot of Sherwood" in 2014 and “Heaven Sent” in 2015. For "The End of Time", producers used the residential quarters of the East Gatehouse, Constable's Hall and Braose Gallery for the filming of a dungeon in the fictional Broadfell Prison.

 

Caerphilly is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley.

 

It is 7 mi (11 km) north of Cardiff and 12 mi (19 km) northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies within the historic borders of Glamorgan, on the border with Monmouthshire. At the 2011 Census, the town had a population of 41,402 while the wider Caerphilly local authority area had a population of 178,806.

 

The name of the town in Welsh, Caerffili, means "the fort (caer) of Ffili". Despite lack of evidence, tradition states that a monastery was built by St Cenydd, a sixth-century Christian hermit from the Gower Peninsula, in the area. The Welsh cantref in the medieval period was known as Senghenydd. It is said that St Cenydd's son, St Ffili, built a fort in the area, giving the town its name. An alternative explanation is that the town was named after the Anglo-Norman Marcher Lord, Philip de Braose.

 

The town's site has long been of strategic significance. Around AD 75 a fort was built by the Romans during their conquest of Britain. An excavation of the site in 1963 showed that the fort was occupied by Roman forces until the middle of the second century.

 

Following the Norman invasion of Wales in the late 11th century, the area of Sengenhydd remained in Welsh hands. By the middle of the 12th century, the area was under the control of the Welsh chieftain Ifor Bach (Ifor ap Meurig). His grandson Gruffydd ap Rhys was the final Welsh lord of Sengenhydd, falling to the English nobleman Gilbert de Clare, the Red Earl, in 1266.[6] In 1267 Henry III was forced to recognise Llywelyn ap Gruffudd as Prince of Wales, and by September 1268 Llywelyn had secured northern Sengenhydd. Gilbert de Clare had already begun to take steps to consolidate his own territorial gains, beginning the construction of Caerphilly Castle on 11 April 1268. The castle would also act as a buffer against Llewelyn's own territorial ambitions and was attacked by the Prince of Wales' forces before construction was halted in 1270. Construction recommenced in 1271 and was continued under the Red Earl's son, Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester. With only interior remodelling carried out to the castle by Hugh le Despenser in the 1320s, Caerphilly Castle remains a pure example of 13th century military architecture and is the largest castle in Wales, and the second largest in Britain (after Windsor).

 

The original town of Caerphilly grew up as a small settlement raised just south of the castle by De Clare. After the death of Gilbert de Clare at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Edward II became guardian of De Clare's three sisters and heiresses. In 1315 he replaced de Badlesmere with a new English administrator, Payn de Turberville of Coity, who persecuted the people of Glamorgan. Then, like many in northern Europe at the time, the region was in the throes of a serious famine. In coming to the defence of his people, Llywelyn Bren, the great-grandson of Ifor Bach and Welsh Lord of Senghenydd incurred the wrath of de Turberville, who charged him with sedition. Llywelyn appealed to Edward II to call off or control his self-interested agent, but Edward ordered Llywelyn to appear before Parliament to face the charge of treason. The King promised Llywelyn that if the charges were found true, he would be hanged. Llywelyn fled and prepared for war. On 28 January 1316, Llywelyn began the revolt with a surprise attack on Caerphilly Castle. He captured the constable outside the castle and the outer ward, but could not break into the inner defences. His forces burned the town, slaughtered some of its inhabitants and started a siege. The town was rebuilt but remained very small throughout the Middle Ages. The first evidence of its emerging importance was the construction of a court house in the 14th century, the only pre-19th century building apart from the castle that remains in the town.

 

At the beginning of the 15th century the castle was again attacked, this time by Owain Glyndŵr, who took control of it around 1403–05. Repairs to the castle continued until at least 1430, but just a century later the antiquary John Leland recorded that the castle was a ruin set in marshland, with a single tower being used as a prison. In the mid-16th century the 2nd Earl of Pembroke used the castle as a manorial court, but in 1583 the castle was leased to Thomas Lewis, who accelerated its dilapidation by removing stonework to build his nearby manor, the Van. The Lewis family, who claimed descent from Ifor Bach, left the manor in the mid-18th century when they purchased St Fagans Castle, the Van falling into decay.

 

During the 1700s, Caerphilly began to grow into a market town. During the 19th century, as the South Wales Valleys underwent massive growth through industrialisation, so too the town's population grew. Caerphilly railway station was opened in 1871, and in 1899 the Rhymney Railway built their Caerphilly railway works maintenance facilities; however, the expansion of the population in the 19th century was more to do with the increasing market for coal.

 

Caerphilly is separated from the Cardiff suburbs of Lisvane and Rhiwbina by Caerphilly mountain. The town is known outside Wales for Caerphilly cheese.

I am finally back after about two weeks in limbo! In the middle of everything going on with this virus Mario developed sciatica in his right leg. It was very pain full but with some physical therapy he is doing better. Stay safe everyone!

 

I've had quite bad sciatica in this last bit of pregnancy, which has really inhibited my outside-time. In the last week it's eased a bit, so I actually went for a walk. It's been so long that I could really see the difference in terms of life starting to come alive and pop up themselves.

The shortest day. From now on it's getting lighter. Hooray ! I know things are pretty grim but nothing can stop the return of the light. Lazed around as usual but cleaned the bathroom which I should have done yesterday then went to buy wine and crackers from Falkland store. I'm eating nibbles like there was no tomorrow. And drinking wine. There is plenty in the house but it's posh stuff and reserved for Christmas and New Year so this is to fill the gap. Went to photograph some blossom in the car park as I felt it fitted with the return of the light. Was distracted however by a flag in someone's garden. They usually fly a Saltire but I couldn't resist the black humour. Met a few neighbours while out. We all seem to be putting a brave face on things. After lunch I phoned Gil. One of her dogs has had to have a minor operation and has to be kept at home for a while so she is Christmasing on her own and, like me, has been stocking up wine, goodies and books.

Today my books for Courtney arrived so I've got them wrapped and ready.

Phoned Margaret and had another long chat. She usually spends January in Spain so this year is going to have to brave a Scottish winter. Stirlingshire was in tier 4 but has had about ten days out of it before being back in again with the rest of us.. Happily Margaret managed to meet a friend for lunch in the little window. I think she is feeling a bit stir crazy. She has however got rid of her sciatica and is well stocked up. Spending Christmas Day with a friend so all is well.

It is three weeks today (June 30th) that my left leg decided to be uncooperative. I have still not been out and about with the camera as I still need to hold on to these things BUT things are slowly improving.

 

The x-ray revealed that there were no problems with my hip bone, doctor had been looking for bone spurs which can develop with age and though normally harmless can sometimes catch nerves. There were none.

 

I can “waddle” around the house without the crutches for short periods but is a bit of an effort and I am far from stable. I can stand straight without my left leg giving way.

 

Sole of my left foot is still tingly but seem to be feeling a little bit more through the numbness - . Toes continue to work as I couldn’t feel let alone move my left toes when this started.

Still get occasional twinges down outside of leg when I straighten my leg but that I now know is peroneal nerve.

 

Though the doctor never went beyond diagnosing nerve entrapment I have done quite a bit of searching around and have a more detailed explanation.

 

The initial problems in my bottom were piriformis syndrome – apparently something taxi drivers and others who remain seated a lot are prone to. Of course, I was sat for the best part of 12 hours on June 21st.

 

Apparently, nerves get compressed further searching revealed issue relates to the sciatic nerve, but it isn’t sciatica as such – hence the pain I had when I had sciatica 13 years ago wasn’t present; though piriformis syndrome can damage the peroneal and tibial nerves which branch off the sciatic nerve.

 

This is an AI explanation:

“Piriformis syndrome can potentially lead to damage or dysfunction of the peroneal and tibial nerves, which are branches of the sciatic nerve. While piriformis syndrome primarily involves sciatic nerve compression, the sciatic nerve itself is made up of these two major branches. If the piriformis muscle compresses or irritates the sciatic nerve, it can affect either or both of its divisions, leading to symptoms associated with peroneal or tibial nerve involvement.

Elaboration:

•Sciatic Nerve Anatomy:

The sciatic nerve, the largest nerve in the body, typically splits into the common peroneal and tibial nerves in the thigh. In some individuals, this division occurs higher up, even within the pelvis, or the nerves may follow different pathways around the piriformis muscle.

•Piriformis Syndrome and Nerve Compression:

Piriformis syndrome occurs when the piriformis muscle, located in the buttock, compresses or irritates the sciatic nerve.

•Variations in Nerve Pathways:

There are anatomical variations in how the sciatic nerve and its branches relate to the piriformis muscle. In some cases, the peroneal or tibial nerve may be more directly affected by the piriformis muscle than the other.

•Symptoms of Nerve Damage:

Damage to the peroneal nerve can cause foot drop (difficulty lifting the foot) and numbness or tingling on the top of the foot and toes. Damage to the tibial nerve can cause pain, numbness, and tingling in the back of the leg and the sole of the foot, and potentially weakness in the muscles that point the toes downward and inward. “

 

Today I should have been heading off to IoM Transport Gala – I wouldn’t have been fit enough for it as I certainly couldn’t venture out without the crutches. Did manage to pull the wheelie bin down the drive with one crutch yesterday.

 

However, I am going to keep working on things and hope to keep to a target of getting to the Llangollen Railway 1960s Gala on Saturday - fingers and crutches crossed.

  

While I was doing research on standing desks, I saw articles about how sitting down while computing was compared to smoking and how it's apparently killing us softly.

 

I also read about how many people try the standing desk thing for a while and give up because they get too tired. I did get very tired from time to time and tried to figure out why seeing that I used to stand up for 12 hours on end working at a Japanese restaurant without feeling tired.

 

I saw a trend and compared it to my time as a waiter. I noticed that I didn't feel tired when I had a load of tasks at hand to get though which was when I was most focused.

On the other hand I would start to feel tired when I was doing browsing research - during this mode I'm absorbing information rather than focusing on a task.

 

After 6 weeks of working at my standing desk so far, I have not had a single Sciatica attack. My toes do feel numb not no pain. I also feel must accustomed to standing when working and hardly get tired even during that "research" mode.

 

These days I also prefer to walk rather than bike it to and from work which is probably contributing to my recovery too.

 

How do you work at home and work? Any of you using a standing desk?

Which reminds me - I'm supposed to be working on a new series of OTACOOL focusing on worldwide workspaces again><

 

View more at www.dannychoo.com/en/post/27321/DIY+IKEA+Standing+Desk.html

Two pages from the "Forêt Enchantée" colouring book by

Johanna Basford.

 

I used the 'scattergun approach' on these two first pages!

The ultimate accolade is when Mummy asks to pin the picture on the fridge......

Personally, I would like the BMJ to advise me why it should be that this seems to be the only activity that eases my sciatica pains......

Anstruther Harbour, Fife.

 

The last of the "shortbread tin" series .. promise!

 

Memo to self: go alone next time .. you do not need advice from "herself" on what to take and what not to take! If you think the light is shite, then put your bloody camera away. Do not attempt to justify your decision .. it only starts an argument. Pretend you are deaf. If all else fails, mention the sciatica and look pathetic.

 

www.karlwilliamsphotography.co.uk

Aches and pains hit us at all ages, from the growing pains of childhood to the backache that can come as we get older.

 

There are typical ages when we are prone to particular problems. It stands to reason as we age our bodies do tend to feel more twinges but there are things we can do to feel better.

 

Growing pains are common in children. They're in the muscles rather than the joints, often in the thighs and calves, and usually happen at night.

 

There are some conditions like Sever's disease and Osgood-Schlatter disease which teens are more prone too. They relate to inflammation of the heel and the bones of the knees, respectively.

 

Your twenties are often a time of good health when you are supposed to be at your physical peak. It still pays to live a healthy life and keep fit.

 

"In your twenties it's mainly sporting injuries that cause aches and pains," says Sebastien. "But this can be the age when work related issues can begin, like repetitive strain injury (RSI) or even lower back pain if your job involves being static for a long time."

 

our thirties can be a stressful time, balancing career and perhaps children. This can lead to headaches. Working at a computer for hours on end could also cause eye strain which can also lead to headaches. The Migraine Trust says migraines are most common in people aged 30 to 40.

 

Forties and fifties

Back pain can be more prevalent as we reach our forties and fifties.

 

It can be caused by sprains, strains, minor injuries or a pinched or irritated nerve. It could also be caused by everyday activities or stress on the spine caused by years of bad posture. Lifting incorrectly or repetitive injury through work or sport can also be a cause of back pain as can sciatica or slipped (prolapsed).

 

"Disc related problems can start relatively young, by the time you reach 40 you are more prone to developing a bulging disc in your neck or back or sciatica, which can also lead to leg pain,"

 

Sixties, seventies and beyond

Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. It affects the joints, which become damaged, swollen and stiff and movement becomes painful. It commonly affects the knee, hip and foot and hand joints.

 

It's estimated by Arthritis Research UK that a third of people aged 45 years and over in the UK has osteoarthritis.

 

Of those aged 75 years and over, 49% of women and 42% of men have sought treatment.

 

What to do: Get moving, and keep your weight in check. Exercise is vital for people with osteoarthritis to strengthen muscles and improve fitness.

 

Slow, gentle stretching can improve flexibility and help with stiffness. Strength exercises lessen pain by easing the burden on joints.

 

Losing weight can also reduce strain on your joints and ease pain.

 

"The key is keeping active and fit."

  

Today, 29 April 2024, I managed to get out again, just in time for the snow that is expected for tonight, rain too. Also rain and snow for tomorrow and the next day, 1 May. Overcast, chilly wind, and a few raindrops today, during my drive. Just a fairly short trip SW of the city, but I was so happy to see several Mountain Bluebirds and a few American Robins, plus a couple of Swainson's (?) Hawks. Taken in poor light, so I need to lighten a photo to be sure of the hawk species. Of course, Red-winged Blackbirds everywhere made sure they were heard. A Canada Goose lying on her nest was a welcome sight.

 

I will post photos from today when I have edited them. This evening, I'm adding five more photos from my last drive, three days ago. It has been many months since I was able to get out this much, and it feels so good, even if not physically.

 

On 26 April 2024, I managed a short drive SE of Calgary. Thought I had better make the most of clear roads before the bad weather arrives. All familiar, much-travelled roads this time, around the Frank Lake area and while heading back home.

 

I bumped into a huge group of people who were on a special outing to Frank Lake, led by Greg Wagner, who takes care of the lake areas and does a tremendous job of recording every bird seen, all year round and for many years. Not just once a day, either! Yesterday, he was showing the participants the various viewing points around the lake and I happened to see the cars coming towards me along one of the roads. I turned around and caught up with them. They had just one more location to visit, but one had to drive on a rough, non-road to get there. I would have been almost the last person to get there if I had gone, with a long walk to get to the lake edge. I knew I couldn't do that, with painful sciatica or bursitis in my right side, so I continued on my own journey. Good to see you, Greg, even if for just a few moments.

 

A bit of information about Greg:

ebird.org/region/CA/post/greg-wagner-march-ebirder-of-the...

 

So many birds in the area are far, far away - and I still don't possess a pair of binoculars after about 18 years of birding! (By the way, the birding blind area at Frank Lake is still extremely flooded.) However, I was happy to spend a bit of time watching and taking a few photos of the closer birds on my way home. Mainly Yellow-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds, plus a few Coots and European Starlings. At one point, there was an absolute frenzy of a group of Starlings and both species of Blackbirds on the ground, all mixed together. I had to take a bit of video, through the windscreen so poor quality.

Whilst images of this famous curved trestle are usually taken from above-rail height on either side, by photographers who are prepared to climb the embankments, I chose to shoot from the road which passes beneath. This was because I was suffering from Sciatica at the time and this painful condition combined with the limitations of my partial knee replacements would have made such a climb followed by the inevitable descent too difficult. (especially when travelling alone in a sparsely populated area!)

This weeks pose is one of the most important stretches for anyone, especially those with tight backs, sciatica issues, tight hamstrings... Seated Forward Fold/Uttanasana -stretches and lengthens the spine, releases back pain and sciatica, helps the hamstrings & calms the mind.

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely.

 

~Ogden Nash

 

First you forget names; then you forget faces; then you forget to zip up your fly; and then you forget to unzip your fly.

 

~Branch Rickey

 

For those with a few minutes...

 

GETTING OLD

 

by Norm Wallen

 

This is about one (male) person's experience with getting old. I don't know whether it fits anyone else, but I don't think that I'm (that) unique. I don't much like caveats, but here's one anyway. I've read little of burgeoning literature on aging - for two reasons: one is my propensity for denial - which I'll get to presently - the other is that when I have read some it made me want to vomit.

 

So, what follows is my understanding of what has happened to me. I hope you find it useful; if not, at least entertaining. If neither, well - to hell with you.

 

My old age started at 60. Well, almost. My 50th birthday was awful but the metaphor soon passed and my attitude remained basically denial. I know denial is supposed to be unhealthy - leading to all kinds of unconscious irrational side effects. Actually, I believe it's true, but what is overlooked are its advantages - in relation to aging. Consider the alternatives: compensation and acceptance. Compensation says, Okay, so I can't do what I used to; I'll do other things instead. Bullshit! Basketweaving instead of basketball? Hiking instead of skiing? Ping-pong instead of racquetball? Repairing the bird feeder instead of the roof? Forget it!

 

Acceptance. Even worse. Just eat it, fella. Don't mind that you can't do what gave you joy. Accept the fact that it's over - or almost. Why? So you can drift, uncomplaining into becoming a vegetable? Or so you can appreciate the delights of aging? Fine - what are they? Sit back and bask in your accomplishments. Great, if you are sufficient fool to really believe it. In reality, our triumphs, if any, are trivial. Especially in an era when nothing is sacred. Who knows whether science is - finally - a good thing? Whether what we have tried to teach, as teachers, parents, friends, or citizens, has any real value? Good Lord, even making money is no longer universally worshipped. We can, being human, kid ourselves into comfort - but for how long? Better to deny those protesting muscles and neurons and keep on keeping on. The joy is, after all, in the anticipation and the doing, not the reminiscence.

 

Up to a point. My point was around 60. Denial finally failed me. I could no longer switch quickly from one topic to another; I had to recognise the slippage. Naturally, I saw it first in others - "Come on John, we decided that 15 minutes ago!" Getting up to make a point and finding the words wouldn't come. Next, the body. Packing and moving put the final touches on my unsuspected sciatica, curse of the careless. Screw denial, this hurts. Not a whole lot; just enough. So, now what? I really don't regret my denial strategy though I might have paid a little more attention to my body. There's nothing I could have done about my brain.

 

It seems I have no choice but to pay attention, pace myself, parcel out my physical and mental energy and try not to do anything too stupid. I want to be able to walk in the wilderness, to participate in the world and to copulate once in awhile without seizing up.

 

There are a few good things. I no longer have to compete, to prove anything and that's a relief. Time with children and friends is good but never enough (the endless wail of us seniors). There is satisfaction in achieving, at last, a sizable measure of marital understanding. And there is considerable pleasure in getting away with speaking my mind. You really can get away with a lot once you acquire "old fart" status. Just think how marvelous it would be if AARP became "Old Farts United" (and quit selling out).

 

I figure another ten reasonably good years. Unavoidable deterioration but, hopefully, no major catastrophe. After 75 scares me. Not dying, mostly. Every so often the thought terrifies me; none of the available condolences works and I can't conceive of being non-existent. But most of the time I accept (how about that?) the inevitable. What really scares me is the prospect of living my last few years and dying the way my parents did. I would like to age gracefully, as I imagine Katherine Hepburn and William 0 Douglas have, and as a woman I know actually did. I would like to tell my experiences in a useful way as Indian elders are supposed to. And I want to know when I have become a burden to those who love me. Long before the catheters, forced feeding and all the rest Long before it costs somebody $3,000 a month to keep me in one of those nursing facilities where the only signs of real life (in a good one!) are among the staff. And this when we have children going to bed hungry! I want to know when I can no longer feel joy or produce it in others, and I want to be able to end it with dignity. God forbid a mind-destroying tumor or stroke (or whatever) that modern medicine is so pleased to deter from its natural course. I have long thought the "primitives" knew better. When you can't keep up, be left with a blanket, a little food and some dope. Since we are too civilised for this, maybe denial - to the end - makes more sense.

 

Source: Anderson Valley Advertiser, Boonville, California 94515 30 August 1995

Dear my Flickr friends,

 

For the last two weeks, I have been agonised by sciatica which has limited my daily activities. For a while, hopefully not for long, I cannot be as active as usual. Just let you know.

 

Have a great weekend!

Squirrels in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan. Taken on Wednesday May 3rd, 2017. With my aggravated sciatica in my left leg, I could not get very far. Luckily, I previously noticed these three juvenile squirrels learning their ways up and down the tree over by Lorch Hall. It was great to see all three together.

The Men-an-Tol holed stone, Bosullow, near Morvah, Cornwall. Believed to date from the early Bronze Age, its purpose is unknown, but research conducted in the 1990s revealed that the three main stones, together with four nearby standing and fallen stones, were components of a stone circle 17m across, probably containing 19 or 20 stones.

 

The Men-an-Tol is known locally as the Crick Stone, on account of its alleged healing properties. People suffering from rheumatism or sciatica would crawl nine times around the stones and, if thin enough, through the aperture. The number nine is held to be a number sacred to the moon, emphasising the link between lunar phases and pagan rituals. For centuries, children were made to pass nine times through the hole naked, as a treatment for rickets.

 

I'm usually fairly cynical about these mystical beliefs and practices, but in the case of the last one I have little doubt that it was an immensely effective treatment - but not because of any magical healing power of the stones. Rickets is a condition that affects bone development in children, often leading to bone pain, poor growth and soft, weak bones leading to deformities, particularly bow legs. It is caused by a deficiency of Vitamin D, which is generated naturally by the cholesterol in our skin when exposed to sunlight. As little as 10 - 30 minutes of exposure is all that is required for the body to generate enough Vitamin D.

 

Even centuries ago, I suspect that any caring parent taking their children up onto the moors to crawl naked through the Men-an-Tol would have waited for a warm and sunny day, and by the time the child had passed through the stone nine times they would probably have had more than enough exposure to the sun's rays to satisfy their Vitamin D requirements - and so protect them against rickets.

 

And before anyone asks, yes I have crawled through the stone, many times, but not this time.