From the Garden of Cosmic Speculation

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Burnt Norton

Time present and time past

Are both perhaps present in time future

And time future contained in time past.

If all time is eternally present

All time is unredeemable.

What might have been is an abstraction

Remaining a perpetual possibility

Only in a world of speculation.

What might have been and what has been

Point to one end, which is always present.

Footfalls echo in the memory

Down the passage which we did not take

Towards the door we never opened

Into the rose-garden. My words echo

Thus, in your mind.

But to what purpose

Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves

I do not know.

Other echoes

Inhabit the garden. Shall we follow?

Quick, said the bird, find them, find them,

Round the corner. Through the first gate,

Into our first world, shall we follow

The deception of the thrush? Into our first world.

There they were, dignified, invisible,

Moving without pressure, over the dead leaves,

In the autumn heat, through the vibrant air,

And the bird called, in response to

The unheard music hidden in the shrubbery,

And the unseen eyebeam crossed, for the roses

Had the look of flowers that are looked at.

There they were as our guests, accepted and accepting.

So we moved, and they, in a formal pattern,

Along the empty alley, into the box circle,

To look down into the drained pool.

Dry the pool, dry concrete, brown edged,

And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight,

And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly,

The surface glittered out of heart of light,

And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.

Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.

Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,

Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.

Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind

Cannot bear very much reality.

Time past and time future

What might have been and what has been

Point to one end, which is always present.

T. S. Eliot Poems

The Four Quartets

This is the last of this series for now, tomorrow being Valentines Day I need to liven up and get all lovey dovey again lol. I'll revisit this horror scene in Spring and Summer. :-)

Happy Friday the 13th my flicke friends, :-) and thank you all for your support and friendship. :-))

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Please, no speculation regarding what we're about to do.

The view down 7th Street toward Francisco compresses about a century of downtown Los Angeles speculation into a single frame. The Pacific Mutual Building holds the middle distance — a 1908 Beaux-Arts office block by John Parkinson and George Edwin Bergstrom with later additions, its terracotta-clad shaft topped by a row of steep Flemish gables and finials that read as a deliberate Northern European flourish on what was, at the time, a frontier financial district. Behind it the AON Center (Charles Luckman, 1973) carries the early-1970s corporate slab idiom: bronze-tinted curtain wall, ground-to-cornice piers, the sponsor's mark on the parapet. To the right the buff stone and dark glass of one of the Wells Fargo Center towers (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1983) closes the canyon.

The composition reads the city the way a New Yorker would expect a city to be read — a crosswalk-level vanishing point with the historic building framed by glass — and it's something LA itself often resists offering. The DASH electric shuttle at left, the pedestrian-scaled traffic island at right, and the empty crosswalk all argue for a downtown that's still negotiating what it wants to be. The early sun is doing the work of separating the terracotta from the steel.

French postcard by Edycard, no. 29. Photo: Tom Cruise in Top Gun (Tony Scott, 1986).

American actor and producer Tom Cruise (1962) became with his charismatic smile the most successful member of Hollywood's Brat Pack, the golden boys and girls of the 1980s. Top Gun (1986) made him an action star, but with his roles in The Color of Money (1986), Rain Man (1988) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) he proved himself to be an all-round star and excellent actor. During the 1990s, he continued to combine action blockbusters like Mission Impossibe (1996) with highly acclaimed dramas like A Few Good Men (1992), Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Magnolia (1999). He received more praise for his roles in Minority Report (2000) and Collateral (2002) and was for years one of the highest paid actors in the world. Although he continued to score major box office hits with the Mission Impossible franchise, his later work was overshadwowed by his outspoken attitude about Scientology which alienated him from many of his viewers.

Tom Cruise was born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in 1962 in Syracuse, NY. He is the only son of Mary Lee (Pfeiffer), a special education teacher, and Thomas Cruise Mapother III, an electrical engineer. He has three sisters: Marian, Lee Anne De Vette and Cass. In 1974, when Cruise was 12, his parents divorced. Young Tom spent his boyhood always on the move, and by the time he was 14 he had attended 15 different schools in the U.S. and Canada. He finally settled in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, with his mother and her new husband. Deeply religious, he enrolled in a Franciscan seminary with the ambition to join the priesthood. He dropped out after one year. At high-school, he was a wrestler until he was sidelined by a knee injury. Soon taking up acting, he found that the activity served a dual purpose: performing satiated his need for attention, while the memorisation aspect of acting helped him come to grips with his dyslexia. Moving to New York in 1980, he studied drama at the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse, in conjunction with the Actors Studio, New School University, New York. He signed with CAA (Creative Artists Agency) and began acting in films. His film debut was a small part in Endless Love (Franco Zeffirelli, 1981), starring Brooke Shields. It was followed by a major supporting role as a crazed military academy student in Taps (Harold Becker, 1981), starring George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton. In 1983, Cruise was part of the ensemble cast of The Outsiders (Francis Ford Coppola, 1983). The Hollywood press corps began touting Cruise as one of the 'Brat Pack', a group of twenty-something actors who seemed on the verge of taking over the movie industry in the early 1980s. Cruise's first big hit was the coming-of-age comedy Risky Business (Paul Brickman, 1983), in which he entered film-trivia infamy with the scene wherein he celebrates his parents' absence by dancing around the living room in his underwear. From the outset, he exhibited an undeniable box office appeal to both male and female audiences. Cruise played the male lead in the dark fantasy Legend (Ridley Scott, 1985) and the action film Top Gun (Tony Scott, 1986) with Kelly McGillis and Val Kilmer. Top Gun (1986) established Cruise as an action star. However, he refused to be pigeonholed, and followed it up with a solid characterszation of a fledgling pool shark in The Color of Money (Martin Scorsese, 1986), for which co-star Paul Newman earned an Academy Award. In 1988, he played the brother of an autistic savant played by Dustin Hoffman in the drama Rain Man (Barry Levinson, 1988). However, Cruise had not yet totally convinced critics he was more than a pretty face while he also starred in Cocktail (Roger Donaldson, 1988), which earned him a nomination for the Razzie Award for Worst Actor. His chance came when he played paraplegic Vietnam vet Ron Kovic in Born on the Fourth of July (Oliver Stone, 1989). For his role, he won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

In 1990 Tom Cruise renounced his devout Catholic beliefs and embraced The Church Of Scientology claiming that Scientology teachings had cured him of the dyslexia that had plagued him all of his life. He was introduced to Scientology by his ex-wife Mimi Rogers. Though Cruise's bankability faltered a bit with the expensive disappointment Far and Away (Ron Howard, 1990) with his-then wife Nicole Kidman, A Few Good Men (Rob Reiner, 1992) brought him back into the game. By 1994, the star was undercutting his own leading man image with the role of the slick, dastardly vampire Lestat in the long-delayed film adaptation of the Anne Rice novel Interview with the Vampire (Neil Jordan, 1994), opposite Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas. Although the author was vehemently opposed to Cruise's casting, Rice famously reversed her decision upon seeing the actor's performance, and publicly praised Cruise's portrayal. In 1996, Cruise scored financial success with the reboot of Mission: Impossible (Brian De Palma, 1996), but it was with his multilayered performance in Jerry Maguire (Cameron Crowe, 1996), that Cruise proved once again why he is considered a major Hollywood player. For Jerry Maguire, he won another Golden Globe and received his second Oscar nomination. According to IMDb, Cruise is the first actor in history to star in five consecutive films that grossed $100 million in the United States: A Few Good Men (1992), the thriller The Firm (Sydney Pollack, 1993), Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), Mission: Impossible (1996) and Jerry Maguire (1996). 1999 saw Cruise reunited onscreen with Kidman in a project of a very different sort, Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1990). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "The film, which was the director's last, had been the subject of controversy, rumour, and speculation since it began filming. It opened to curious critics and audiences alike across the nation, and was met with a violently mixed response. However, it allowed Cruise to once again take part in film history, further solidifying his position as one of Hollywood's most well-placed movers and shakers. Cruise's enviable position was again solidified later in 1999, when he earned a third Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a loathsome 'sexual prowess' guru in Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)."

In 2000, Tom Cruise scored again when he returned as international agent Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible II (John Woo, 2000), which proved to be one of the summer blockbusters. Like its predecessor, it was the highest-grossing film of the year, and had a mixed critical reception. He then reteamed with Jerry Maguire director Cameron Crowe for a remake of the Spanish film Abre los Ojos/Open Your Eyes (Alejandro Amenábar, 1997) titled Vanilla Sky (Cameron Crowe, 2001) with Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz. Though Vanilla Sky's sometimes surreal trappings found the film receiving a mixed reception at the box office, the same could not be said for the following year's massively successful Sci-Fi chase film Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2001), or of the historical epic The Last Samurai (Edward Zwick, 2003). For his next film, Cruise picked a role unlike any he'd ever played; starring as a sociopathic hitman in the psychological thriller Collateral (Michael Mann, 2004). He received major praise for his departure from the good-guy characters he'd built his career on, and for doing so convincingly. He teamed up with Spielberg again for the second time in three years with an epic adaptation of the H.G. Wells alien invasion story War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg, 2005). The summer blockbuster was in some ways overshadowed, however, by a cloud of negative publicity. It began, when Cruise became suddenly vocal about his beliefs in Scientology, the religion created by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. Cruise publicly denounced actress Brooke Shields for taking medication to combat her postpartum depression, going so far as to call the psychological science a "Nazi science" in an Entertainment Weekly interview. In 2005, he was interviewed by Matt Lauer for The Today Show during which time he appeared to be distractingly argumentative in his insistence that psychiatry is a "pseudoscience," and in a Der Spiegel interview, he was quoted as saying that Scientology has the only successful drug rehabilitation program in the world. This behaviour caused a stirring of public opinion about Cruise, as did his relationship with 27-year-old actress Katie Holmes. The two announced their engagement in the spring of 2005, and Cruise's enthousiasm for his new romantic interest created more curiosity about his mental stability. He appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where he jumped up and down on the couch, professing his love for the newly-Scientologist Holmes. The actor's new public image alienated many of his viewers. As he geared up for the spring release of Mission: Impossible III (J.J. Abrams, 2006), his ability to sell a film based almost purely on his own likability was in question for the first time in 20 years. Despite this, the film was more positively received by critics than the previous films in the series, and grossed nearly $400 million at the box office. Cruise moved on to making headlines on the business front, when he and corporate partner Paula Wagner in 2006 officially "took over" the United Artists studio, which was all but completely defunct. One of the first films to be produced by the new United Artists was the tense political thriller Lions for Lambs (Robert Redford, 2007), with Redford, Cruise and Meryl Streep. The film took an earnest and unflinching look at the politics behind the Iraq war but was a commercial disappointment. This was followed by the World War II thriller Valkyrie (Bryan Singer, 2008) with kenneth Branagh and Carice van Houten.

Tom Cruise would find a solid footing as the 2010s progressed, with blockbusters like Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird, 2011) and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (Christopher McQuarrie, 2015). He is known for doing many of his own stunts in these films, even exceptionally dangerous ones. The Mission Impossible franchise earned a total of 3 billion dollars worldwide. Cruise reteamed with Cameron Diaz in the action-comedy Knight and Day (James Mangold, 2010). He starred as Jack Reacher in the film adaptation of British author Lee Child's 2005 novel One Shot (Christopher McQuarrie, 2012). He also starred in big budget fantasy projects like Oblivion (Joseph Kosinski, 2013) and Edge of Tomorrow (Doug Liman, 2014). Tom Cruised was married three times. His first wife was actress Mimi Rogers, with whom he was married from 1987 till their divorce in 1990. His second marriage with Nicole Kidman from 1990 till 2001. They adopted two children Isabella Jane Cruise (1992) and Connor Antony Cruise (1995). he lived together with Vanilla Sky (2001) co-star Penélope Cruz from 2001 - 2004. His 2006 marriage to Katie Holmes ended in a divorce in 2012. They have one daughter, Surie Cruise (2006). Recently, Cruise returned on the screen as Ethan Hunt in the sixth installment of the Mission Impossible series, Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie, 2018). In 2020, he will also return as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick (Joseph Kosinski, 2020), in which Val Kilmer will also reprise his role from the first film.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

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

After speculation that Stagecoach Manchester's Magic Bus operation would finish in the new year it came as a surprise when a number of Enviro 400's were treated to a coat of the blue magic paint.

With First now having an increased presence on the Wilmslow Road corridor this may be one of the reasons to retain Magic Bus. 19223 is seen on Wilmslow Road on the morning of 6th January 2015 not long after being released back to traffic.

Cascading Universe & Garden of Cosmic Speculation, 2 of the gardens at Portrack House near Dumfries. The house features garden designs by Charles Jencks. The house is only open to the public on one day a year.

Canon 5D MKII, Canon 17-40mm, F11, 17mm, ISO200, Exp 1/250 Seconds

Hitech Soft Grad 0.6

Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without asking my written permission. All rights reserved.....© Brian Kerr Photography 2011

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Thirty Interlocking Parallelograms 120 units

In my hand.

This model was design purely on speculation and assembly was made possible with the use of a bounding dodecahedron which I made specifically for this model. Assembling 30 polygonal frames without it would have been virtually impossible. This model's simple elegance lends itself well to a monochromatic scheme, which makes the individual frames harder to delineate, but really, who going to try to do that anyway?(besides me) There are some other 30 parallelogram compounds that are possible as well, but I thought this one had the most interesting weave.

Designed by me.

Folded out of Elephant Hide paper. (I have never folded a modular out of black EH)

I leave these speculations to others. It’s quite possible that my work represents a search for beauty in the most prosaic and ordinary places. One doesn’t have to be in some faraway dreamland in order to find beauty. Saul Leiter

Kodak Portra 160 120 Film

© www.markdanielphoto.com

Tetenal Colortec C-41

Pre wash 5 mins at dev temp 38.5Deg

Dev 3.15 mins - invert 2 times every 30 secs

Blix 4 mins - invert 2 times every 30 secs

Wash 4 mins - Change water every 30 secs

Stabiliser 1 mins - invert 2 times every 30 secs

Wash 5 mins to clear residue of chemicals

Strathalbyn.

A Special Survey of 4,000 acres was taken out along the Angas River in 1839 for George Hall (secretary to Governor Gawler) and William Mein and others. Land was surveyed from the mouth of the Angas along the river to about where Macclesfield is now situated. Other contributors to the Mouth of the Angas Special Survey were Strathalbyn settlers including: 806 acres purchased by Dr John Rankine, Blackwood Park; 166 acres purchased by William Rankine, Glenbarr; 410 acres purchased by Donald McLean; 81 acres purchased by Edward and Charles Stirling of Hampton and later the Lodge. William and Nicol Mein kept 728 acres for themselves but George Hall (who kept about 930 acres) was a Colonial Office employee with an eye on speculation. He also paid £4,000 for the Great Bend Special Survey along the River Murray from Morgan to Blanchetown but it was claimed this was taken for Governor Gawler but in Hall’s name to avoid scandal! But the land was not worth £1 per acre! The Meins were graziers and also took out Occupational Licenses for leasehold land in 1843. They were Scots so they donated £600 for the building fund for the Presbyterian Church in Adelaide in 1840. But in 1843 they dissolved a business partnership in Adelaide and they appear to have left the colony perhaps to join their relatives in NSW. Meins did not stay on to become Strathalbyn pioneers unlike the Rankines, McLeans and Stirlings. The other prominent early founder was William Dawson- hence the creek flowing in front of Glen Barr is the Dawson Creek which enters the Angas River in Strathalbyn. Dawson Banks is another of the grand old properties in Strathalbyn.

Stirlings chose their land to the north of the town and built Hampden and the Lodge; John Rankine chose his land to the north of the town and built Blackwood Park whilst brother William Rankine chose land to the south on Dawson Creek and built Glenbarr house. The first public building in the fledgling town of Strathalbyn was the Strathalbyn Hotel erected in 1840 and the second was probably St. Andrews Presbyterian Church which opened in 1844 with additions in 1869. As most of the settlers were Scottish the name chosen for the town was Scottish and the first church was Presbyterian. The first farmer to produce a crop was David Gollan. His interest in wheat led him to open the first flour mill in 1850 in the centre of the town. Mill Bridge adjacent to the flourmill bridged the Angas River. As the town progressed quickly a local council was formed in 1854 with the Stirlings, Rankines and Archibald McLean (investor in Langhorne Creek) being among the first councillors. The Stirlings were especially important to Strathalbyn. Edward Stirling (the father) joined into a partnership with (Sir) Thomas Elder and Robert Barr Smith in 1855. Stirling stayed with the company as it funded the Moonta and Wallaroo copper mines in 1861 then he withdrew but remained as an investor in the mines. The company went on to become Elder Smith and Co the most successful SA 19th century company. Edward Stirling had two sons, (Sir) Edward Stirling a famed surgeon who lived at St. Vigeans at Stirling and (Sir) Lancelot Stirling, local Member of Parliament for the Strathalbyn district, sheep and cattle breeder and company director. The Stirlings lived in the family home Hampden until it burnt down around 1870. Then they moved into the Lodge which was extended and remained the family home for Sir Lancelot Stirling after his father Edward died in 1873. Lancelot lived there until he died in 1932. The Stirlings of Strathalbyn also owned and operated Nalpa Station on Lake Albert. The Lodge is now the centre of a new suburban development at Strathalbyn.

From the beginning Strathalbyn prospered because of its access to water from the Angas River, its reliable rainfall, its genial climate for cropping and from the patronage of its wealthy founders. The town was laid out in 1840 and blocks sold at that time. The discovery of silver, lead and zinc at nearby Wheal Ellen mine in 1857 further boosted the growing town. The mine closed a short time later but re-opened in 1869 and operated until closure in 1888. It briefly re-opened from 1910-14 for the last phase. Until recently Strathalbyn had another zinc mine conducted by Terramin Mining which started operations in 2007. The zinc from here was sent to Nyrstar refinery at Port Pirie for smelting. The mining occurred 360 metres below the ground surface. The mine had a life of five years and closed in late 2013 ending the jobs of 115 local people. But Strathalbyn has always had a range of local industry. A foundry operated in the town from the mid 1850s as well as the usual businesses of blacksmith, saddlery etc, and the town handled coach services to Wellington via Langhorne Creek from around 1854. It was also one of the first towns in SA to have its own gas works started by David Trenouth in 1868. By 1870 the small urban centre of Strathalbyn had gas street lights! The gas works operated until 1917 when an electrical service took over power provision. From an early date Strathalbyn also had its own newspaper and printing press the Southern Argus housed in Argus House which was built 1867/68. The Southern Argus which is still published, is SA’s oldest country newspaper. In 1912 it established an offshoot - the Victor Harbor Times. In terms of transportation and the transport of goods Strathalbyn prospered as it was the terminus of the horse drawn tram service from Port Elliott and Goolwa in 1869. That is why the Terminus Hotel is so named. In 1884 that line was converted to a broad gauge rail line for steam engines and linked at Mt Barker with the line to Adelaide. Strathalbyn had a flour mill from 1850 as noted above and in the 1860s the town had its own brewery. The heyday of business boom for Strathalbyn was in the 1860s and 1870 when so many of the fine town buildings were erected. Heritage buildings are shown on map above and they include:

Commercial Street/Dawson Street.

•At the northern end of Commercial Street on the corner with North Parade is the Doctor’s Residence. 26 North Parade. Dr Herbert built a grand 8 roomed residence here in 1858. Dr Ferguson purchased it in 1869 and added and altered the verandas. Dr Shone bought it in 1897. Dr Formby took it over in 1907 and kept it until he sold it to Dr Fairley in 1979! Note the double chimneys and the ogee(S shaped) gutters above the bay windows and the 1850s French windows.

•On the northern end of Commercial Street is the Wesleyan Methodist Church which was built in 1874. It replaced the demolished Methodist church built in 1854. Built of random stone, semi rounded windows etc. It became the only Methodist church at the time of Methodist amalgamations in 1900 .It closed around the time of amalgamation with the Presbyterians and Congregationalists in 1977. The Hall was added in 1939.

•Blackwell House, 18 Commercial Street. A two storey bluestone structure from the 1860s. It was much altered in 1912 when the parapet along the roof was removed, the slate replaced with iron and the upper balcony added.

•The former Power House 1917 –when gas works closed. Became Council Chamber 1939 when ETSA arrived.

•Coleman Mill store. Fine stone building with few windows. Built 1864. Coleman bought the mill from Gollan.

•1850 flour mill which was sold to Laucke’s in 1938. Commercial Rd and Mill Street an imposing four storey structure. Note the four storeys, purple sandstone, and little windows.

•Beside the mill is Water Villa house. The earliest part dates from 1849 and the Italianate bay window sections are 1879. David Gollan the owner of the 1850 flour mill built this as his residence. It is a mixture of stones. Note the French doors in the old original part of the house onto the veranda.

•Argus House, 1868. 33 Commercial Street. It was a print works and residence and shop.

•Post Office 1911. 37 Commercial Street.

•Savings Banks of South Australia. A fine two storey structure for the bank and manager’s residence. Built in 1930. It has rough stone, prominent gables, repeating arches, wooden doors, and terra cotta tiles.

•Church of Christ. Opened in 1873.Limestone walls, arched windows.

•Masonic Hall built in 1896 but Lodge established 1866.Additons 1912 and 1957.

Rankine Street/Albyn Terrace.

•Strathalbyn Police Station (1855) and Court House (1865) now the National Trust Museum.

•National Bank 2 Albyn Terrace. Squared stone blocks, two storeys and a dominant building. Elaborate porch and balcony and decorative window surrounds etc. Erected in 1869. Nearby Norfolk Island pine was planted in 1895.

•Tucker & Sons solicitors at 8 Albyn Terrace. Have a look at all the shops along Albyn Terrace a great 19th century streetscape still largely intact. It was used in the film “Picnic at Hanging Rock.”

High Street.

•London House general store at 7 High Street 1867. Now an antiques shop. Cobb and Co used to use the stables at the rear for the daily coaching service to Adelaide. London House had the first telephone in Strathalbyn in 1883.

•Robin Hood hotel erected in 1855 and still standing. 18 High Street.

•The Strathalbyn library 9 High Street. Opened 1922 with a classical façade with good symmetry.

•The Town Hall at 11 High Street. 1874 opened as a two storey stone structure with fancy parapet as an institute building. The parapet is supported by paired brackets.

Other locations- Chapel Street, East Terrace and South Terrace.

•St. Andrews Uniting Church (formerly Presbyterian) 1844 for main church with transept added 1857. Manse erected 1854. 1869 tower completed, bell donated by Edward Stirling. Clock installed 1895. Church hall on the opposite corner was built in 1911.

•Former Primitive Methodist Church 1861 was sold to the Anglican Church as a church hall in 1901 following the Methodist amalgamation. It was sold to the Foresters Lodge in 1912(when Anglicans purchased the former Catholic Church) and much later it as sold to the Scouts.

•St. Barnabas Catholic Church 2 Chapel Street. This was a late addition to Strathalbyn being erected in 1913. But Catholic services began in 1881 when a Catholic church was consecrated in Rowe St. The first priest arrived in 1906. A presbytery as built 1911 in East Tce and then church two years later. The 1881 church was sold in 1913 as Anglican parish hall called St. Barnabas. It is on the corner of Rowe and Murray street.

•Christ Church Anglican Church 7 East Terrace. The tower on Christ Church was erected from donations on the death of Sir Lancelot Stirling in 1932. The tower opened in 1933 but the church was built in 1871.

•Railway Station on South Terrace erected 1883 in time for opening of broad gauge line to Adelaide and start of branch line trains to Milang from Sandergrove siding.

•Two storey residence attached to Rowe’s foundry in South Terrace. Britannia House as it is known was built in 1855.

With temps well below freezing, the retreating waters of Still Creek leave icicles behind.

My speculation on the sequence:

We had heavy rains, and the creeks and rivers ran high with water. It being late autumn many leaves were transported in the water, and (in the case of this picture) were caught on a branch in the stream.

A dry cold snap hit, and for days on end the temps were well-below freezing, but no precipitation, and the creeks and rivers slowly receded, leaving the leaves frozen to the branches and vertical ice formations coming off the tips of stems and twigs as the water level dropped. Not exactly traditional icicles, as they are formed not by dripping water, but by retreating water. You could see this all along the banks of the stream.

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Late afternoon reflections

La especulación es nómade.

# # #

Speculation is nomadic.

Warkworth Castle in Northumberland is forever associated with the Percy Earls of Northumberland but the site did not start with them. Indeed there is some mystery over who first built it and when. Located on a tight bend in the River Coquet and about a mile from the sea, the castle sits on the neck of this land which means that the enclosed space becomes an outer ward with the river as its moat on three sides. The medieval church and modern village now occupy the bend.

As an easy to defend site, close to the English/Scottish border, the speculation is that it may have had some sort of fortification well before the present building but this is now elusive - especially so if the first fortification was of mere earth and timber. Henry, son of King David I of Scotland, was granted the site around 1139 AD and he, in turn, granted salt pans to various local monks. As the new Earl of Northumberland the old guide book speculates that he either built the first castle or he improved an existing motte and bailey with new stone walls; the guide book certainly notes ‘Norman’ foundations at various points in the current building. A castle certainly exists in documents of 1157 AD.

King John of England confirmed the castle to Robert of Clavering in 1199 AD. Robert spent much time in the area as Sheriff of Northumberland and was gifted other local estates. He is thought to have built the main gateway, some of the walls and improved the Great Hall. He may also have built or improved the keep but this work has since vanished under the large and luxurious later Percy building. The Claverings held the castle but such was its importance that royal troops were also garrisoned here at times - at the king’s expense - due to the Scottish wars. In 1322 the constable of the castle sent 26 light horsemen (hobilars) to join the English army. The Scots were beaten off in 1327 and again the following year when Robert The Bruce besieged it.

The last Clavering male died in debt in 1332 and the castle eventually passed to Henry, the second Lord Percy of Alnwick. He improved the gatehouse and walls and may have added the Grey Mare’s Tail tower on the eastern side. From this time onwards Warkworth was the second castle home of the Percys and much favoured by them. The third Percy lord was a great soldier in the 100 Years War in France and was created Earl of Northumberland in 1377 before winning the battles of Otterburn and Homildon Hill against the Scots.

Sometime during this period extensive building work was carried out by the Percys with the keep on the motte being rebuilt as a sumptuous and comfortable building with decent accommodation, ample water management and drainage. It even had a very modern feature - a light well extending down the centre of the building to draw in both light and fresh air. For the ‘grim north’ this was a very princely home.

However after supporting Henry IV’s 1399 coup against Richard II, the Percys fell out with King Henry and rebelled - leading to executions and a period of disgrace. During this time Warkworth was attacked by a royal army with gunpowder artillery and it surrendered after seven discharges of the royal cannons. It is thus the first British castle to be successfully attacked by artillery despite the claims of nearby Bamburgh Castle.

John, Duke of Bedford held the castle for 11 years before it was returned to the next Percy - Henry, Earl of Northumberland. He was drawn into disputes with the junior Nevilles (the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick) but was supported by the senior Nevilles, the Earls of Westmoreland, who had their own issues with the junior Nevilles. Inevitably all this was mostly about money and inheritance. It paved the way to private battles between these families BEFORE the so-called Wars of the Roses. Indeed the first Battle of St Albans in 1455 may be more of a Mafia-style ‘hit’ as the Yorkists were lead by the three Richards (York, Salisbury and Warwick) and the principal dead were the Duke of Somerset, Henry Percy and a Percy kinsman, Lord Clifford.

The castle passed into Yorkist hands and - at various times - the Earl of Warwick directed sieges at Alnwick, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh using Warkworth as his base. Warwick’s brother John Neville was given the castle and the earldom of Northumberland for a time but Edward IV eventually returned it to Henry Percy, the 4th Earl of Northumberland. John Neville was thus ‘downgraded’ to 1st Marquis of Montague and was thoroughly alienated by this action, leading to John joining his brother Warwick in rebellion against Edward IV. Warkworth’s Montague Tower is probably his work.

The 4th Percy earl carried out some work in his own right. One oddity is that a collegiate church was planned right in front of the keep which would have cut the keep off from the rest of the inner bailey. We know this as the present church foundations contain a tunnel which would have passed under the massive building to allow access to the keep from the bailey. However the guide book suggests the church was never finished and that the foundation crypts were partly buried and then became used for storage.

Henry the 4th earl became infamous for not supporting King Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. He then managed to get himself killed by the locals at Cocklodge in 1489 and is now buried in Beverley Cathedral. Later Percys got involved in the 16th century religious conflicts in England and none of them came out of it well. One even got involved in the Gunpowder Plot against the new Protestant King James I of England. One footnote is that King James visited Warkworth in this period and found it ruined and overrun by goats and sheep in every chamber. Some of his party went into the castle and were: “Much moved to see it so spoiled and so badly kept”.

Later Percys favoured Alnwick over Warkworth and it was one of these (now a Duke) who turned the site over to the future Ministry of Public Building and Works in 1922. It is now an English Heritage site and well worth a visit.

There are speculations that the cows can see their fate via dream.

Before they are sacrificed, they are often given a bath.

Reconstruction of the Small Herculaneum Woman, 2019, marble stucco on plaster cast, egg tempera, and gold foil 185 x 56 x 65 cm, created by Vinzenz Brinkmann and Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann (Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung Frankfurt, on permanent loan from Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main)

Learn more at Smarthistory

The Australian Meat Employees Industry Union Building was built for the Bank of New South Wales in 1887. It was third building which the bank had constructed. Built by Townsville builder Denis Kelleher at a cost of £7,500, the building was probably designed by Sydney architect John Smedley, with construction supervised by architect WM Eyre of the Townsville firm of Eyre and Munro and Brisbane architect FDG Stanley.

The Bank of New South Wales was the second banking company to be established in Townsville. The Australian Joint Stock Bank opened on the 19th of February 1866 and the Bank of New South Wales on the 20th of March 1866.

The Bank of New South Wales was founded in 1817 in Sydney, New South Wales. In 1851 Robert Towns, a Sydney businessman, became a shareholder. During the early 1860s Towns formed a business partnership with John Melton Black in his North Queensland properties and investment speculations, including the establishment of a port on Cleveland Bay. Keen to protect his investment in the new settlement at the port and to encourage the expansion of the Bank of New South Wales into North Queensland, Towns facilitated the establishment of a branch of the bank in Townsville within a year of settlement.

The first branch building, leased from Towns and Black, was located in Flinders Street East near the site of the present building, but the managers and staff soon complained that the building was hot and plagued by mosquitoes from Ross Creek. A decision was made to move after Queensland Bank Inspector, Alexander Archer, reported that the bank and its records were unsafe located amongst a group of wooden buildings.

The second bank building and a manager's residence were constructed in 1869 on the corner of Wickham Street and The Strand on the present Customs House site. While these premises were well placed for the sea breezes, the building was again deemed unsuitable because of the distance from the centre of town and the difficulty of access via Wickham Street.

By August 1875 the Bank of New South Wales had purchased a new site closer to the centre of town while still taking advantage of the sea breezes. However, the block on the corner of Flinders and Wickham Streets remained undeveloped for a further twelve years, despite Brisbane architect James Cowlishaw calling tenders on the 8th of January 1883 for the erection of banking premises at Townsville for the Bank of New South Wales.

During the 1860s, Cowlishaw had supervised the construction of the Brisbane branch of the Bank of NSW for Sydney architect GA Mansfield, and was also involved in the construction of branches in Bowen and Rockhampton. It is not certain whether the 1883 tender for a new bank building in Townsville was for a building designed by Cowlishaw, or another design by Mansfield to be supervised by Cowlishaw. However, newspaper reports of 1887 suggest that, either way, the 1883 design for a Bank of New South Wales in Townsville was not constructed.

By October 1887 however, the Townsville Herald noted that FDG Stanley, architect for three buildings being erected in Townsville including the Bank of NSW, inspected these with his local representative Mr WM Eyre who was supervising their construction. Three months later on the 24th of December 1887, the same newspaper congratulated the architect Mr Smedley of Sydney for his design of the newly completed Bank of New South Wales building. This suggests Smedley was Mansfield's successor as the bank's design architect in Sydney, and Eyre was the local supervising architect with Stanley his senior partner.

The new premises included the banking chamber, manager and accountant's offices, strong rooms and ablution facilities. The manager's residence included nine private rooms, kitchen, bathroom linen press and pantry. Included in the complex were stables, a coach house and a messenger's room.

In 1925 Townsville architect Walter Hunt supervised alterations to the building including the installation of the pressed metal ceiling in the banking chamber. The work was carried out by contractor J Hillman.

On 17 November 1931 the Bank of Commerce amalgamated with the Bank of New South Wales. In Townsville the combined businesses operated from the Flinders St/Wickham Street offices until the 12th of January 1935 when the main office of the bank moved to new premises at the corner of Flinders and Stokes Streets.

The former premises became known as the East Flinders Street Branch of the Bank of New South Wales, with the branch operating from the building until it was sold. Historical Services Section of the Westpac Banking Corporation provided information that the property was sold in 1940 for £2500 but titles information indicates that the building was not sold until the 26th of February 1941 when the Australian Meat Industry Employees Union (Queensland Branch) [AMIEU] purchased it.

With the threat of invasion of Australia by Japan during the early years of WWII, Townsville was selected as the supply base for the allied forces in the south west Pacific. By 1941 many buildings in the city had been requisitioned including the former Bank of New South Wales from the AMIEU.

A detachment of Area Signals personnel established a telegraph, switchboard and dispatch rider service in the building prior to February 1942. For a short time after Pearl Harbour, Col Frank North, Commander of the Townsville area, established his headquarters in the building along with the Signals Corp. During this period PMG style switchboards were installed and the communication centre connected to service units being established throughout the region. Telegraph facilities in the building were linked to Charters Towers and to units further west as well as to Victoria Barracks, Brisbane. Part of the first floor was also used as living quarters for the Area Signals Officer and Operations Officer.

During this period, a concrete bunker was constructed at the rear of the property to house a cypher group who worked to decode Japanese messages. Pigeon lofts were also built in the yard to supply ships and aircraft with carrier pigeons.

Towards the end of 1942 or early 1943, the switch installation became a security monitor of all telephone calls, both civil and military, emanating from North Queensland. About twenty AWAs manned the switch which was connected to the Security Monitoring Centre at Stuart, south of Townsville. The monitoring unit remained in the building until the end of the war.

The AMIEU, located in Denham Street during the war, did not move into this building until about 1948. For the next three decades the AMIEU building became a bastion of the Labor movement in Townsville and North Queensland, with the building and surrounding area becoming a focus for workers seeking permits to work at the Ross River Meatworks, seeking social security in the Queensland Building diagonally opposite, and visiting the Tattersalls Hotel, across Wickham Street which was a favourite recreation venue for all those who lived and worked in the area.

From the late 1940s until the early 1970s, the building was a hive of activity and the centre of labour issues for North Queensland. During this period. apart from the AMIEU, the Trades and Labour Council and the Seaman's Union operated at various times from offices on the first floor, and later the Communist Party had an office on the Wickham Street verandah.

The Seamen's Union, miners unions, the Trades and Labour Council and affiliated unions, and particularly the Communist Party were involved in the 1948 Railway Strike; a strike which highlighted the conflict between the unions and the Labor Party and a conflict which was to split the party a few years later. The Seamen's Union and various mining and craft unions played active roles in this conflict with the Queensland Government and the industrial court over wage fixing measures introduced by the court in 1939. This conflict was to raise questions of fundamental importance to a democratic society, such as the extent of civil liberties, the use of violence, and the distortion of truth.

The labour organisations in this building were also involved in the Mount Isa Strike of 1964/1965 when the Qld Trades and Labour Council, representing unionists at the mine, came into conflict with Mount Isa Mines management over bonus payments. The Communist Party was also involved to a lesser degree through union officials and members who were members of the Communist Party.

From 1 January 1954 Remington Rand Charters Pty Ltd leased most of the ground floor and part of the first floor of the building. They had a showroom of typewriters and business machines in the banking chamber, a workshop at the rear, and accounting branch offices upstairs connected by a stairs to the banking chamber. A partition in the corridor divided them from the other tenants. Remington Rand vacated the building early in the 1970s, then for several years ex-employees continued to work from the building. The ground floor has remained vacant since these workshops closed in the late 1970s.

About 1962 - 1963, the toilets on the first floor were altered to divide the single male toilet into male and female toilets. This became necessary after the introduction of a Federal award which, after some 60 years, again allowed women to work at the meatworks, and so women would be coming to the union offices in the building for their work tickets.

There were also apparently substantial wrought iron gates in the Flinders Street fence and at the Wickham Street entrance, which have all been removed.

During the VP50 Celebrations in 1995, a small ceremony was held in the building and a plaque presented recognising the service of the men and women of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals here during WWII.

Source: Queensland Heritage Register.

I am the Storm

60 x 90 cm

Glass, beads, tiles, amethyst, stoneware, mirror, nuggets, TG, crockery and paper

Wedi backing

Grouted in dark lilac

The Great Goddess is not only the giver of life, she also takes it away. She is warmth, sustenance, shelter... she is storms, earthquakes, destruction. Mother Nature is not always gentle and kind - once unleashed, her rage is both awe inspiring and terrifying.

This mosaic shows one of her less peaceful aspects. Here, she is the storm. She is driving the storm, the storm is driving her. But she is also spinning out of control - no one can control the power of the storm, not even she herself. No one knows where its going or where the pieces will fall once it has blown itself out.

The swirls of the storm incorporate pictures of some of the scary, crazy, amazing, wonderful, terrible influences currently pulling our world in different directions. Whether the influences are for good or bad is a matter of opinion, where it will end a matter of speculation, but I know I'm not alone in feeling frightened. The storm however isn't frightened, she just is. Her face is an island of calm in the centre of all the surrounding chaos, she looks serene and joyous - who doesn't love a good storm?

The pictures within the mosaic are not in any particular symbolic order of up/down, right/left, good/bad, dark/light... I placed them where they fitted in best according to the colour of the mosaic.

On the top left hand side there's a picture of a cockroach. Cockroaches are not usually seen as forces for good, but I put it here as a hopeful image. It represents the life force in every living being. You often hear that after a nucular war the only suvivors would be the cockroaches - apparently that is not based on fact, but I do believe, if the worst comes to the worst and we manage to wipe out all of humankind and probably a large number of the other inahbitants of Earth while we're at it... I belive that life will continue in some form or other. And if its the cockroaches who survive, good for them.

Below that is the sun... from which we get warmth, light, vitamin D, solar flares, skin cancer, global warming... it shows us that behind the clouds of even the fiercest storm, the sun will still be shining. Admittedly it might take a while for it to get through after a nucular Winter, but it will be there.

Starting from the centre of the dark upper swirl the first image is of Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany. I see her as an island of sanity and stability in the current political landscape. I think we should have far more women in postions of power, and btw, women are entitled to being just as falible as men are. I also think that a strong and united Europe is a very desirable thing in these times of shifting power balances. The world would probably be a better place if we had more politicians like Angela Merkel running things.

The next picture is of a woman wearing a niqab, standing for equal rights, obviously. But also against Islamophobia - I purposly chose a woman with a slightly challenging expression. I'm amazed at how much agression and fear a picture like this will often provoke. I once had a fascinating conversation with a women who wears a veil in public. She is articulate, intelligent, and has a great sense of humour. She wears a veil by choice because it is part of her culture and part of her belief system. I still object deeply to cultures that force women (or men) to cover up whatever parts of their anatomy - ours too! Free the nipple! But hating and fearing individuals because they are different is not the solution. So the niqab itself and the reactions to it disturb me about equally.

The next one is Malala - no need for explaination, right? A force for good against unbelievable odds, and an inspiration to us all. If she can still stand up fearlessly for what is right, after all she's been through, surely we can persevere and turn these current developments around!

Next up is a bunch of newspapers. They're from the UK in this case, but they stand for the press in general, all over the world. Some people think that journalists need to be controlled and persecuted... some think they should be free to write what they want about whatever they want. Some people think they always lie, some people think they're in the pockets of various interest groups. Its funny, I feel that in the last half year or so, journalists have moved from being shifty blighters who we need to keep a good eye on, to definitely absolutely being the good guys, a major defence against totalitarian regimes everywhere. This is a classic case of only appreciating something once you might loose it... Free press , please oh please lets keep free press!

Putin. What can I say? I do not like what is happening over there one little bit. I'd really rather not find out what he is working towards.

And on the right hand point of the upper swirl we have Trump. I was worried this mosaic would end up centered too much on the US, because the problems and challenges facing us are global. But lets face it, this mosaic was concieved and inspired by his election and his actions ever since. So yes, it is US centric.

Following the swirl, we come to the Pope. I am highly suspicious of organised religion, religious fundamentalism is resonsable for so much intollerance and hate the world over. So its very interesting that I included the heads of two major organised religions on this mosaic as forces for good. This current pope impresses me no end.

Next is a picture of two hands holding onto prison bars, sybolising lack or loss of basic freedoms for far too many people around the world, and fear that this will increase if things continue the way they seem to be headed now. Don't get me started on for profit prisons! How could that ever be a good idea???

To the left of the Goddess' arms we have the Damai Lama, the second religious leader on this mosaic. He was delt a very difficult hand and has against all odds become a figure who is rightfully admired and revered all the world over. I'm taking Tibet to represent anexed or supressed countries and peoples. China has a lot to answer for in this case and is certainly also observing current global developments with great interest.

Left of the Dalai Lama is a pile of books. Knowledge, or rather lack of it, is the root of many of the more sinister current trends. The books here are old, because knowledge and understanding of our past helps us understand the present and may help us shape the future.

The final image on this swirl is a selection of News outlet logos - representing free press again, but also internet comunication. It has never before been easier to get information on any topic whatsoever, it has proabably never been harder to suppress information either, or to spread false information... it has also never been harder to sift through all the information and try to decide what is true and what is fake. For better or worse, this is technology shaping our world today.

On the right hand side of the Goddess' hair there is a picture of some demonstrators in pussy hats from the women's marches in the US. It is inspiring to see people going out and standing up peacefully for what they believe to be right. Not only in the US, I had pictures of peaceful demonstrations from all over the place, but picked this one because... well: pussy hats, they are cool. Lets hope there are enough people who will continue to do so, that people will be legally allowed to do so... and that it will make a difference.

The blue streak at the hight of her naval, from left to right: First off a LGBT rainbow fist. Equal rights for all... lets hope these rights will not be eroded in the US and that more people all over the world will be able to live and love freely the way they want. Although right now, in too many places, it seems to be going in the other direction.

The next picture is one of the boats in the Mediterranean full of refugees from Syria. It was very hard to choose some of these pictures, and this one, while I was sticking glass to it, then grouting and polishing the tess, I was aware that every little dot on that picture is a human being who has been through horrors I don't even want to imagine. These here are the "lucky" ones, the ones who made it to the Mediterranean and who were sighted before their boat capsized - if anyone who has to flee their country can ever be considered lucky.

The third picture in this row is a group of test tubes/flacons - science, knowledge, research, a blessing or a curse? On the one hand I am deeply in favour of scientific peer reviewed studies as a mothod for gaining knowledge on any subject you care to name. Research should be as independant as possible, but at the same time it is very expensive and can also lead to enormous profits. Letting the free market decide on prices for drugs - for instance - is evidently not a good idea. And don't get me started on for profit health care. That is rather a lot for a couple of test tubes to stand in for though, isn't it?

To the right of her navel there is a puddle of water covered by a film of oil. The colours are beautiful... oil-contaminated water not so much. Renewable energy sources, anyone?

Next is a picture of a whale, just because. These creatures are so fascinating, we know so little about them, and who knows if they'll even last long enough for us to learn more.

The final image in this row is Brexit - another shocking and unexpected vote, another "where on earth is this all going to end?" moment. Buckle up, because like it or not, we're going to find out.

The light strip of clouds from left to right: The first picture is of a bundle of banknotes, because so much nowadays comes down to money - lack of it, wanting more of it, having too much of it. Plenty of studies show that higher income inequality reduces the quality of life for both the haves and the have nots, but at the same time income inequality is increasing at an alarming rate all over. Go figure.

To the left of her knees is a "coexist" sign. I have nothing against any religions or beliefs, so long as they also respect mine. For goodness' sake just live an let live, why is this so hard?

Too much of religion seems to be about hating, suppressing and controling others.

To the right of her knees there's an image of five interlinking hands with five different skin colours. What goes for religion also goes for skin colour... live and let live, we're all in this together. Unfortunatey racism isn't just going to dissapper anytime soon.

The next one is more of the same: The black power sign, another inspiring instance of people standing up for their rights. Its nowhere near where it should be, work in progress... And like so much else here, in the current political climate, things will likely get worse before they get better.

Finally, an archve picture of an atomic mushroom cloud. Too many atomic bombs are in the hands of people who are too trigger happy by far. I don't even want to think about it. But unfortunately I do.

The last Swirl by her feet, starting from the right and working inwards: The first image is one of the most chilling to me. It is of a perfectly nice US family posing with their guns. Seriously, I just don't get the thing Americans have for guns. I live in a country where many housholds have a gun - but locked away for use in the case of war, not paraded around on a Sunday afternoon picknick!

The next is a Polar bear... who may soon become extinct because of global warming and the melting of the ice caps.

To the right of her feet is a lovely picture representing another whole mixture of politics and

religion, a conflict with no end in sight, which can stand for many more similar situations all over the world.

To the left of her feet: A wolf. Wolves are coming back to Switzerland after having been extinct here for many years, which is very cool. Then there are people who don't want them to make a comeback and keep shooting them. The kind of story that is playing out in many places around the world..

The picture right on the left of this swirl is one of the protestors of Standing Rock, a man on a horse facing a line of tanks. The outcome was sadly expected and disapointing, but what a heartwarming show of solidarity and pride in their heritage. People all over the world were rooting for them. Renewable energy sources, anyone?

Going on down: The Chinese Wall - standing in for all kinds of walls built between all kinds of boundries. History doesn't seem to show this to be a particularly successful way of going about things, but hey, people keep on trying.

The next image is of parched earth. Global warming, floods, draught... Is access to clean drinking water a right or a privelege? Will the earth be able to sustain an ever growing population?

The next is another very nasty picture: a sea turtle caught in piece of plastic. The amount of plasic in our oceans in horrendous, and that is another thing that is likely to get worse before it might one day hopefully get better.

The last image on this swirl is a tank. Because war. I don't want to live through one if at all possible. I'm sure a great many other people don't want to either. I expect people living in a war zone would really like it to stop. There are absolutley things worth fighting for... but lets try to work towards less wars, yeah?

The very last picture on the bottom left hand side is a small dandelion working its way through asphalt. Isn't it amazing how you can have six feet of concrete, and somewhere underneath there is a little seed just patiently waiting to work its way through? Life cannot be contained.

Based on an archer from the west pediment of Temple of Aphaia now in Munich, 2019, marble stucco on PMMA (acylic), egg tempera, tin, wood, and gold foil, 96 x 77 x 55 cm, created by Vinzenz Brinkmann and Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann (Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung, Frankfurt am Main, property of the Städelscher Museums-Verein e.V.)

Learn more at Smarthistory

≈ Stop speculation !

There is some speculation about the possible age and use of this iconic building. For many years it was dated at 1420, however, ongoing research, sponsored by English Heritage, puts the date back to 1347. Whichever date is correct it is probable that the Britons Arms, or ‘Ye Goddes House’ as it then was, fulfilled a semi religious role in relation to the church of St. Peter Hungate which sits directly to the south.

The plan and layout of the building are untypical of the age, the style relates more closely to the buildings of the Netherlands or Low Countries and reflects the strong links which Norwich had with the continent. It is one of the five remaining timber framed thatched buildings to survive in the city, and the only building to survive the great fire of 1507.

From this time the inhabitants of the building were many and various. In the late 15th. century ‘barbour surgeons’ occupied the property, later it was associated with the wool trade. It is first recorded as an Ale House in 1760, known then as ‘The Kings Arms.’ Not until 1845 does it become ‘The Britons Arms', possibly reflecting the anti-royalist sympathies of the age.

From the mid eighteenth century until 1941 the Britons Arms traded as an Ale House. It was closed during WW2 and used by fire watchers.

In 1951 the brewers Stewart and Patteson sold the property to Norwich City Council for the nominal sum of £10 and the lease was taken by Molly Kent (nee Drury) who founded the business The Britons Arms Coffee House and Restaurant.

In the early 1970's Norfolk born and educated sisters Sue Skipper and Gilly Mixer went into partnership with Molly Kent who eventually retired. The business flourished, but the ancient fabric of the building became increasingly unsound. Unable to meet the cost of repair, in 2011 Norwich City Council put the property up for auction. Under the banner ‘UP IN ARMS’ the sisters mounted a vigorous campaign aimed at keeping the well- loved building in public ownership and accessible to all. At the very last moment the City Council agreed to withdraw the property from auction and offered a 21year lease to The Norwich Preservation Trust.

The Trust was successful in raising substantial funds, largely from English Heritage and the building was extensively restored and re-thatched in 2013 at a cost of £500,000.

In 2020, after 69 years of unbroken trading The Britons Arms Coffee House and Restaurant permanently closed.

The building gained Grade: II* listed building status on 26th. February 1954. (English Heritage Legacy ID: 229069).

Only the speculation about their relationship status, then the fuss about her ex-husband Rafael van der Vaart (32) and his wild womanizing: Sylvie Meis (37) is currently in the focus of the media. But the situation does not seem to bring calm she appears relaxed with her ​​best friend in a lux...

www.newerfeed.net/sylvie-meis-spend-time-in-a-comfortable...

As I was approached by adifferentminifigure I want to state that this is only speculation. Please do not threaten them in any way because of unfounded speculation, as this is morally inacceptable. Some of the renders and printing look very similar to Cyclopsbrick's renders and printing which lead me and a few other people to this speculation.

At The Garden of Cosmic Speculation.

Dumfries, 2012.

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After months of speculation, British Steel finally closed their Redcar steel works on Friday 19th February 2010

I managed to gain access to the shuttered plant a few days later on Tuesday 23rd February

Twenty Interlocking Octakaidecagonal Stars 360 units In my hand.

This was made from pure speculation about a woven compound based a buckyball 360. Interestingly, this does not belong to the n-1 set, which most of the other stellated polygon compounds belong in. I was surprised how spherical this end up being as well- I expected this to look more dodecahedral. This was a pretty time consuming, but none the less, I might eventually even try a larger one.

1:2.5 paper 80 degree angles.

Designed by me.

Folded out of memo paper.

Wien - Decke der Peterskirche

Peterskirche (English: St. Peter's Church) is a Baroque Roman Catholic parish church in Vienna, Austria. It was transferred in 1970 by the Archbishop of Vienna Franz Cardinal König to the priests of the Opus Dei.

The oldest church building (of which nothing remains today) dates back to the Early Middle Ages, and there is speculation that it could be the oldest church in Vienna. That Roman church was built on the site of a Roman encampment.

This church was replaced with a Romanesque church with a nave and two aisles. It is believed to have been established by Charlemagne around 800, although there is no evidence supporting this view. At the outside of the church, there is a relief sculpture by R. Weyr consecrated to the founding of the church by Charlemagne. In any case, a church of Saint Peter in Vienna is first mentioned in 1137. Around the end of the 12th century, the church became part of the Schottenstift.

The old church burned down in 1661 and was given only makeshift repairs. The decision to build a new church was taken up with the arrival of the Fraternity of the Holy Trinity of which the emperor Leopold I was a member. He had taken a vow to rebuild this church when Vienna was ravaged by the plague in 1679-1680.

The construction of the new Baroque church was begun around 1701 under Gabriele Montani, who was replaced by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt in 1703. The design was inspired by the St. Peter's Basilica of the Vatican in Rome. By 1722, most of the building was finished, and in 1733, the Peterskirche was finally consecrated to the Holy Trinity. The new church was the first domed structure in baroque Vienna. Due to the confinement of available space, it was built in a very compact form, with its oval interior housing an astonishing amount of space and rectangular attachments. The church makes an overwhelming impression on the visitor with its surprisingly rich interior filled with golden stucco.

The Peterskirche is located on Petersplatz, right next to Graben and just west of the Pestsäule. The street Jungferngasse cuts through the pedestrian zone and leads directly to the church. The Peterskirche is largely obscured by the surrounding buildings, and can only be seen clearly from directly in front.

(Wikipedia)

Die Rektoratskirche St. Peter ist eine römisch-katholische Kirche im 1. Wiener Gemeindebezirk Innere Stadt. Das heutige Kirchengebäude wurde 1733 vollendet und geweiht. Die seelsorgliche Betreuung der Peterskirche wurde 1970 vom Wiener Erzbischof Kardinal König Priestern des Opus Dei übertragen.

Die erste Peterskirche, von der heute keine sichtbaren Reste mehr vorhanden sind, ging bis in die Spätantike zurück und war somit die älteste Kirche und Pfarre der Stadt Wien. Sie entstand in der zweiten Hälfte des 4. Jahrhunderts, indem ein Kasernengebäude des römischen Lagers Vindobona zu einer einschiffigen Saalkirche basilikaler Art umgebaut wurde.

Die Kirche selbst soll von Kaiser Karl dem Großen um 792 gegründet worden sein, was jedoch nicht nachgewiesen ist. Erstmals wird 1137 eine Kirche des heiligen Petrus in Wien urkundlich erwähnt. Gegen Ende des 12. Jahrhunderts fiel die Kirche an das Schottenstift. Im Jahr 1661 brannte das Gebäude aus und wurde nur notdürftig instand gesetzt. Der Beschluss, eine neue Kirche zu bauen, wurde allerdings erst 1676 mit der Übersiedelung der Erzbruderschaft der Allerheiligsten Dreifaltigkeit in Angriff genommen.

Um 1701 wurde auf Initiative Kaiser Leopolds I. mit dem Neubau begonnen. Die alte Peterskirche, die wohl schon ziemlich verfallen war, wurde samt dem umliegenden Friedhof abgerissen. Die Planung und der Baubeginn (Fundamente) der neuen Peterskirche erfolgten unter Gabriele Montani. Ab 1703 setzte Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt den Bau nach verändertem Plan fort und 1708 war er im Rohbau vollendet. Sein Bauführer war Franz Jänggl, auch Baumeister Francesco Martinelli ist dokumentiert. Der Steinmetzauftrag wurde dem Wiener Meister Johann Carl Trumler übergeben, der den erforderlichen harten Kaiserstein, unter anderem für den umlaufenden Sockel, aus dem kaiserlichen Steinbruch anforderte.

Die Bauarbeiten zogen sich noch bis 1722 hin, erst zu diesem Zeitpunkt war der Bau größtenteils abgeschlossen. Die neue Kirche war der erste Kuppelbau des barocken Wien. Das Sakralgebäude verfügt über eine sehr kompakte Form, einen ovalen Innenraum mit erstaunlich viel Platz und rechteckigen Anbauten.

Joachim Georg Schwandtner, Superintendent der Erzbruderschaft der Allerheiligsten Dreifaltigkeit, stiftete einen Portalvorbau, der 1751–1753 nach Plänen von Andrea Altomonte aus Gutensteiner Marmor angebaut wurde.

Die Peterskirche befindet sich auf dem Petersplatz, unmittelbar neben dem Graben, kurz nach (westlich) der Pestsäule. Dort durchschneidet die Habsburgergasse die Fußgängerzone (danach Jungferngasse) und führt direkt zur Kirche. Die Peterskirche verschwindet fast zwischen den hohen Häusern, und sie ist erst zu sehen, wenn man davorsteht.

(Wikipedia)

Im Appenzeller Hinterland sind am 13. Januar die Sylvesterchläuse unterwegs, und wünschen "Es guets Neus" in der Tradition des Julianischen Kalenders.13 January, «Old New Year's Eve», the «Chläuse» make their way around the Appenzell hinterland. The origin and meaning of this ancient custom are the subject of speculation, because few written documents exist.

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Characters included:

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- Spider-Girl

- Spider-Man Noir

- Spyder Knight

- Spider-Ham

Villains

- Spider Goblin

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Speculative apartment developments such as these at Xian are typical of modern China. A massive building boom has caused every city to be surrounded by tower blocks built on borrowed money. The problem is that there are far more apartments than buyers/renters and vast numbers stand empty whilst yet more are built nearby. I can only see this ending in some sort of financial collapse in the building industry in China. For now it provides employment for thousands, probably millions.

British Real Photograph postcard. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Lupe Velez (1908-1944), was one of the first Mexican actresses to succeed in Hollywood. Her nicknames were 'The Mexican Spitfire' and 'Hot Pepper'. She was the leading lady in such silent films as The Gaucho (1927), Lady of the Pavements (1928), and Wolf Song (1929). During the 1930s, her well-known explosive screen persona was exploited in a series of successful films like Hot Pepper (1933), Strictly Dynamite (1934), and Hollywood Party (1934). In the 1940s, Vélez's popularity peaked after appearing in the Mexican Spitfire films, a series created to capitalise on Vélez's well-documented fiery personality. She had several highly publicised romances and a stormy marriage. In 1944, Vélez died of an intentional overdose of the barbiturate drug Seconal. Her death and the circumstances surrounding it have been the subject of speculation and controversy.

Lupe Vélez was born María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez in 1908 in the city of San Luis Potosí in Mexico. She was the daughter of Jacobo Villalobos Reyes, a colonel in the army of the dictator Porfirio Diaz, and his wife Josefina Vélez, an opera singer according to some sources, or vaudeville singer according to others. She had three sisters: Mercedes, Reina and Josefina, and a brother, Emigdio. The family was financially comfortable and lived in a large home. At the age of 13, her parents sent her to study at Our Lady of the Lake (now Our Lady of the Lake University) in San Antonio, Texas. It was at Our Lady of the Lake that Vélez learned to speak English and began to dance. She later admitted that she liked dance class, but was otherwise a poor student. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "Life was hard for her family, and Lupe returned to Mexico to help them out financially. She worked as a salesgirl for a department store for the princely sum of $4 a week. Every week she would turn most of her salary over to her mother, but kept a little for herself so she could take dancing lessons. By now, she figured, with her mature shape and grand personality, she thought she could make a try at show business." She began her career as a performer in Mexican vaudeville in 1924. She initially performed under her paternal surname, but after her father returned home from the war, he was outraged that his daughter had decided to become a stage performer. She chose her maternal surname, "Vélez", as her stage name and her mother introduced Vélez and her sister Josefina to the popular Spanish Mexican vedette María Conesa, "La Gatita Blanca". Vélez debuted in a show led by Conesa, where she sang 'Oh Charley, My Boy' and danced the shimmy. Aurelio Campos, a young pianist, and friend of the Vélez sisters recommended Lupe to stage producers, Carlos Ortega and Manuel Castro. Ortega and Castro were preparing a season revue at the Regis Theatre and hired Vélez to join the company in March 1925. Later that year, Vélez starred in the revues 'Mexican Rataplan' and '¡No lo tapes!', both parodies of the Bataclan's shows in Paris. Her suggestive singing and provocative dancing was a hit with audiences, and she soon established herself as one of the main stars of vaudeville in Mexico. After a year and a half, Vélez left the revue after the manager refused to give her a raise. She then joined the Teatro Principal but was fired after three months due to her "feisty attitude". Vélez was quickly hired by the Teatro Lirico, where her salary rose to 100 pesos a day. In 1926, Frank A. Woodyard, an American who had seen Vélez perform, recommended her to stage director Richard Bennett, the father of actresses Joan and Constance Bennett. Bennett was looking for an actress to portray a Mexican cantina singer in his upcoming play 'The Dove'. He sent Vélez a telegram inviting her to Los Angeles to appear in the play. Vélez had been planning to go to Cuba to perform, but quickly changed her plans and traveled to Los Angeles. However, upon arrival, she discovered that she had been replaced by another actress.

While in Los Angeles, Lupe Vélez met the comedian Fanny Brice. Brice recommended her to Flo Ziegfeld, who hired her to perform in New York City. While Vélez was preparing to leave Los Angeles, she received a call from MGM producer Harry Rapf, who offered her a screen test. Producer and director Hal Roach saw Vélez's screen test and hired her for a small role in the comic Laurel and Hardy short Sailors, Beware! (Fred Guiol, Hal Yates, 1927). After her debut, Vélez appeared in another Hal Roach short, What Women Did for Me (James Parrott, 1927), opposite Charley Chase. Later that year, she did a screen test for the upcoming Douglas Fairbanks feature The Gaucho (F. Richard Jones, 1927). Fairbanks was impressed by Vélez and hired her to appear in the film with him. The Gaucho was a hit and critics were duly impressed with Vélez's ability to hold her own alongside Fairbanks, who was well known for his spirited acting and impressive stunts. Her second major film was Stand and Deliver (Donald Crisp, 1928), produced by Cecil B. DeMille. That same year, she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars. Then she appeared in Lady of the Pavements (1929), directed by D. W. Griffith, and Where East Is East (Tod Browning, 1929), starring Lon Chaney as an animal trapper in Laos. In the Western The Wolf Song (Victor Fleming, 1929), she appeared alongside Gary Cooper. As she was regularly cast as 'exotic' or 'ethnic' women that were volatile and hot-tempered, gossip columnists took to referring to Vélez as "Mexican Hurricane", "The Mexican Wildcat", "The Mexican Madcap", "Whoopee Lupe" and "The Hot Tamale". Lupe Vélez made the transition to sound films without difficulty. Studio executives had predicted that her accent would likely hamper her ability to make the transition. That idea was dispelled after she appeared in the all-talking Rin Tin Tin vehicle, Tiger Rose (George Fitzmaurice, 1929). The film was a hit and Vélez's sound career was established. Vélez appeared in a series of Pre-Code films like Hell Harbor (Henry King, 1930), The Storm (William Wyler, 1930), and the crime drama East Is West (Monta Bell, 1930) opposite Edward G. Robinson. The next year, she appeared in her second film for Cecil B. DeMille, Squaw Man (Cecil B. DeMille, 1931), opposite Warner Baxter, in Resurrection (Edwin Carewe, 1931), and The Cuban Love Song (W.S. Van Dyke, 1931), with the popular singer Lawrence Tibbett. She had a supporting role in Kongo (William J. Cowen, 1932) with Walter Huston, a sound remake of West of Zanzibar (Tod Browning, 1928) which tries to outdo the Lon Chaney original in morbidity. She also starred in Spanish-language versions of Universal films like Resurrección (Eduardo Arozamena, David Selman, 1931), the Spanish version of Resurrection (1931), and Hombres en mi vida (Eduardo Arozamena, David Selman, 1932), the Spanish version of Men in Her Life (William Beaudine, 1931) in which Lois Moran had starred.

In 1932, Lupe Vélez took a break from her film career and traveled to New York City where she was signed by Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. to take over the role of "Conchita" in the musical revue 'Hot-Cha!'. The show also starred Bert Lahr, Eleanor Powell, and Buddy Rogers. Back in Hollywood, Lupe switched to comedy after playing dramatic roles for five years. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "In 1933 she played the lead role of Pepper in Hot Pepper (1933). This film showcased her comedic talents and helped her to show the world her vital personality. She was delightful." After Hot Pepper (John G. Blystone, 1933) with Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen, Lupe played beautiful but volatile, characters in a series of successful films like Strictly Dynamite (Elliott Nugent, 1934), Palooka (Benjamin Stoloff, 1934) both opposite Jimmy Durante, and Hollywood Party (Allan Dwan, a.o., 1934) with Laurel and Hardy. Although Vélez was a popular actress, RKO Pictures did not renew her contract in 1934. Over the next few years, Vélez worked for various studios as a freelance actress; she also spent two years in England where she filmed The Morals of Marcus (Miles Mander, 1935) and Gypsy Melody (Edmond T. Gréville, 1936). She returned to Los Angeles the following year where she appeared in the final part of the Wheeler & Woolsey comedy High Flyers (Edward F. Cline, 1937). In 1938, Vélez made her final appearance on Broadway in the musical You Never Know, by Cole Porter. The show received poor reviews from critics but received a large amount of publicity due to the feud between Vélez and fellow cast member Libby Holman. Holman was irritated by the attention Vélez garnered from the show with her impersonations of several actresses including Gloria Swanson, Katharine Hepburn, and Shirley Temple. The feud came to a head during a performance in New Haven, Connecticut after Vélez punched Holman in between curtain calls and gave her a black eye. The feud effectively ended the show. Upon her return to Mexico City in 1938 to star in her first Mexican film, Vélez was greeted by ten thousand fans. The film La Zandunga (Fernando de Fuentes, 1938) co-starring Arturo de Córdova, was a critical and financial success. Vélez was slated to appear in four more Mexican films, but instead, she returned to Los Angeles and went back to work for RKO Pictures. In 1939, Lupe Vélez was cast opposite Leon Errol and Donald Woods in the B-comedy, The Girl from Mexico (Leslie Goodwins, 1939). Despite being a B film, it was a hit with audiences and RKO re-teamed her with Errol and Wood for a sequel, Mexican Spitfire (Leslie Goodwins, 1940). That film was also a success and led to a series of eight Spitfire films. Wikipedia: "In the series, Vélez portrays Carmelita Lindsay, a temperamental yet friendly Mexican singer married to Dennis 'Denny' Lindsay (Woods), an elegant American gentleman. The Spitfire films rejuvenated Vélez's career. Moreover, they were films in which a Latina headlined for eight films straight –a true rarity." In addition to the Spitfire series, she was cast in such films as Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga (John Rawlins, 1941), Playmates (David Butler, 1941) opposite John Barrymore, and Redhead from Manhattan (Lew Landers, 1943). In 1943, the final film in the Spitfire series, Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (Leslie Goodwins, 1943), was released. By that time, the novelty of the series had begun to wane. Velez co-starred with Eddie Albert in the romantic comedy, Ladies' Day (Leslie Goodwins, 1943), about an actress and a baseball player. In 1944, Vélez returned to Mexico to star in an adaptation of Émile Zola's novel Nana (Roberto Gavaldón, Celestino Gorostiza, 1944), which was well-received. It would be her final film. After filming wrapped, Vélez returned to Los Angeles and began preparing for another stage role in New York.

Lupe Vélez's temper and jealousy in her often tempestuous romantic relationships were well documented and became tabloid fodder, often overshadowing her career. Vélez was straightforward with the press and was regularly contacted by gossip columnists for stories about her romantic exploits. Her first long-term relationship was with actor Gary Cooper. Vélez met Cooper while filming The Wolf Song in 1929 and began a two-year affair with him. The relationship was passionate but often stormy. Reportedly Vélez chased Cooper around with a knife during an argument and cut him severely enough to require stitches. By that time, the rocky relationship had taken its toll on Cooper who had lost 45 pounds and was suffering from nervous exhaustion. Paramount Pictures ordered him to take a vacation to recuperate. While he was boarding the train, Vélez showed up at the train station and fired a pistol at him. During her marriage to actor Johnny Weissmuller, stories of their frequent physical fights were regularly reported in the press. Vélez reportedly inflicted scratches, bruises, and love-bites on Weissmuller during their fights and "passionate love-making". In July 1934, after ten months of marriage, Vélez filed for divorce citing cruelty. She withdrew the petition a week later after reconciling with Weissmuller. In January 1935, she filed for divorce a second time and was granted an interlocutory decree that was dismissed when the couple reconciled a month later. In August 1938, Vélez filed for divorce for a third time, again charging Weissmuller with cruelty. Their divorce was finalised in August 1939. After the divorce became final, Vélez began dating actor Guinn "Big Boy" Williams in late 1940. They were reportedly engaged but never married. Vélez was also linked to author Erich Maria Remarque and the boxers Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey. In 1943, Vélez began an affair with her La Zandunga co-star Arturo de Córdova. De Córdova had recently moved to Hollywood after signing with Paramount Pictures. Despite the fact that de Córdova was married to Mexican actress Enna Arana with whom he had four children, Vélez granted an interview to gossip columnist Louella Parsons in September 1943 and announced that the two were engaged. Vélez ended the engagement in early 1944, reportedly after de Córdova's wife refused to give him a divorce. Vélez then met and began dating a struggling young Austrian actor named Harald Maresch (who went by the stage name Harald Ramond). In September 1944, she discovered she was pregnant with Ramond's child. She announced their engagement in late November 1944. On 10 December, four days before her death, Vélez announced she had ended the engagement and kicked Ramond out of her home. On the evening of 13 December 1944, Vélez dined with her two friends, the silent film star Estelle Taylor and Venita Oakie. In the early morning hours of 14 December, Vélez retired to her bedroom, where she consumed 75 Seconal pills and a glass of brandy. Her secretary, Beulah Kinder, found the actress's body on her bed later that morning. A suicide note addressed to Harald Ramond was found nearby. Lupe Vélez was only 36 years old. More than four-thousand people filed past her casket during her funeral. Her body was interred in Mexico City, at Panteón Civil de Dolores Cemetery. Velez' estate, valued at $125,000 and consisting mostly of her Rodeo House home, two cars, jewelry, and personal effects were left to her secretary Beulah Kinder with the remainder in trust for her mother, Mrs. Josephine Velez. Together with Dolores del Rio, Ramon Novarro, and José Mojica, she was one of the few Mexican people who had made history in the early years of Hollywood.

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

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

Dutch postcard by Croeze Bosman Universal, no. 61.

Lupe Velez (1908-1944), was one of the first Mexican actresses to succeed in Hollywood. Her nicknames were 'The Mexican Spitfire' and 'Hot Pepper'. She was the leading lady in such silent films as The Gaucho (1927), Lady of the Pavements (1928), and Wolf Song (1929). During the 1930s, her well-known explosive screen persona was exploited in a series of successful films like Hot Pepper (1933), Strictly Dynamite (1934), and Hollywood Party (1934). In the 1940s, Vélez's popularity peaked after appearing in the Mexican Spitfire films, a series created to capitalise on Vélez's well-documented fiery personality. She had several highly publicised romances and a stormy marriage. In 1944, Vélez died of an intentional overdose of the barbiturate drug Seconal. Her death and the circumstances surrounding it have been the subject of speculation and controversy.

Lupe Vélez was born María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez in 1908 in the city of San Luis Potosí in Mexico. She was the daughter of Jacobo Villalobos Reyes, a colonel in the army of the dictator Porfirio Diaz, and his wife Josefina Vélez, an opera singer according to some sources, or vaudeville singer according to others. She had three sisters: Mercedes, Reina and Josefina, and a brother, Emigdio. The family was financially comfortable and lived in a large home. At the age of 13, her parents sent her to study at Our Lady of the Lake (now Our Lady of the Lake University) in San Antonio, Texas. It was at Our Lady of the Lake that Vélez learned to speak English and began to dance. She later admitted that she liked dance class, but was otherwise a poor student. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "Life was hard for her family, and Lupe returned to Mexico to help them out financially. She worked as a salesgirl for a department store for the princely sum of $4 a week. Every week she would turn most of her salary over to her mother, but kept a little for herself so she could take dancing lessons. By now, she figured, with her mature shape and grand personality, she thought she could make a try at show business." She began her career as a performer in Mexican vaudeville in 1924. She initially performed under her paternal surname, but after her father returned home from the war, he was outraged that his daughter had decided to become a stage performer. She chose her maternal surname, "Vélez", as her stage name and her mother introduced Vélez and her sister Josefina to the popular Spanish Mexican vedette María Conesa, "La Gatita Blanca". Vélez debuted in a show led by Conesa, where she sang 'Oh Charley, My Boy' and danced the shimmy. Aurelio Campos, a young pianist, and friend of the Vélez sisters recommended Lupe to stage producers, Carlos Ortega and Manuel Castro. Ortega and Castro were preparing a season revue at the Regis Theatre and hired Vélez to join the company in March 1925. Later that year, Vélez starred in the revues 'Mexican Rataplan' and '¡No lo tapes!', both parodies of the Bataclan's shows in Paris. Her suggestive singing and provocative dancing was a hit with audiences, and she soon established herself as one of the main stars of vaudeville in Mexico. After a year and a half, Vélez left the revue after the manager refused to give her a raise. She then joined the Teatro Principal but was fired after three months due to her "feisty attitude". Vélez was quickly hired by the Teatro Lirico, where her salary rose to 100 pesos a day. In 1926, Frank A. Woodyard, an American who had seen Vélez perform, recommended her to stage director Richard Bennett, the father of actresses Joan and Constance Bennett. Bennett was looking for an actress to portray a Mexican cantina singer in his upcoming play 'The Dove'. He sent Vélez a telegram inviting her to Los Angeles to appear in the play. Vélez had been planning to go to Cuba to perform, but quickly changed her plans and traveled to Los Angeles. However, upon arrival, she discovered that she had been replaced by another actress.

While in Los Angeles, Lupe Vélez met the comedian Fanny Brice. Brice recommended her to Flo Ziegfeld, who hired her to perform in New York City. While Vélez was preparing to leave Los Angeles, she received a call from MGM producer Harry Rapf, who offered her a screen test. Producer and director Hal Roach saw Vélez's screen test and hired her for a small role in the comic Laurel and Hardy short Sailors, Beware! (Fred Guiol, Hal Yates, 1927). After her debut, Vélez appeared in another Hal Roach short, What Women Did for Me (James Parrott, 1927), opposite Charley Chase. Later that year, she did a screen test for the upcoming Douglas Fairbanks feature The Gaucho (F. Richard Jones, 1927). Fairbanks was impressed by Vélez and hired her to appear in the film with him. The Gaucho was a hit and critics were duly impressed with Vélez's ability to hold her own alongside Fairbanks, who was well known for his spirited acting and impressive stunts. Her second major film was Stand and Deliver (Donald Crisp, 1928), produced by Cecil B. DeMille. That same year, she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars. Then she appeared in Lady of the Pavements (1929), directed by D. W. Griffith, and Where East Is East (Tod Browning, 1929), starring Lon Chaney as an animal trapper in Laos. In the Western The Wolf Song (Victor Fleming, 1929), she appeared alongside Gary Cooper. As she was regularly cast as 'exotic' or 'ethnic' women that were volatile and hot-tempered, gossip columnists took to referring to Vélez as "Mexican Hurricane", "The Mexican Wildcat", "The Mexican Madcap", "Whoopee Lupe" and "The Hot Tamale". Lupe Vélez made the transition to sound films without difficulty. Studio executives had predicted that her accent would likely hamper her ability to make the transition. That idea was dispelled after she appeared in the all-talking Rin Tin Tin vehicle, Tiger Rose (George Fitzmaurice, 1929). The film was a hit and Vélez's sound career was established. Vélez appeared in a series of Pre-Code films like Hell Harbor (Henry King, 1930), The Storm (William Wyler, 1930), and the crime drama East Is West (Monta Bell, 1930) opposite Edward G. Robinson. The next year, she appeared in her second film for Cecil B. DeMille, Squaw Man (Cecil B. DeMille, 1931), opposite Warner Baxter, in Resurrection (Edwin Carewe, 1931), and The Cuban Love Song (W.S. Van Dyke, 1931), with the popular singer Lawrence Tibbett. She had a supporting role in Kongo (William J. Cowen, 1932) with Walter Huston, a sound remake of West of Zanzibar (Tod Browning, 1928) which tries to outdo the Lon Chaney original in morbidity. She also starred in Spanish-language versions of Universal films like Resurrección (Eduardo Arozamena, David Selman, 1931), the Spanish version of Resurrection (1931), and Hombres en mi vida (Eduardo Arozamena, David Selman, 1932), the Spanish version of Men in Her Life (William Beaudine, 1931) in which Lois Moran had starred.

In 1932, Lupe Vélez took a break from her film career and traveled to New York City where she was signed by Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. to take over the role of "Conchita" in the musical revue 'Hot-Cha!'. The show also starred Bert Lahr, Eleanor Powell, and Buddy Rogers. Back in Hollywood, Lupe switched to comedy after playing dramatic roles for five years. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "In 1933 she played the lead role of Pepper in Hot Pepper (1933). This film showcased her comedic talents and helped her to show the world her vital personality. She was delightful." After Hot Pepper (John G. Blystone, 1933) with Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen, Lupe played beautiful but volatile, characters in a series of successful films like Strictly Dynamite (Elliott Nugent, 1934), Palooka (Benjamin Stoloff, 1934) both opposite Jimmy Durante, and Hollywood Party (Allan Dwan, a.o., 1934) with Laurel and Hardy. Although Vélez was a popular actress, RKO Pictures did not renew her contract in 1934. Over the next few years, Vélez worked for various studios as a freelance actress; she also spent two years in England where she filmed The Morals of Marcus (Miles Mander, 1935) and Gypsy Melody (Edmond T. Gréville, 1936). She returned to Los Angeles the following year where she appeared in the final part of the Wheeler & Woolsey comedy High Flyers (Edward F. Cline, 1937). In 1938, Vélez made her final appearance on Broadway in the musical You Never Know, by Cole Porter. The show received poor reviews from critics but received a large amount of publicity due to the feud between Vélez and fellow cast member Libby Holman. Holman was irritated by the attention Vélez garnered from the show with her impersonations of several actresses including Gloria Swanson, Katharine Hepburn, and Shirley Temple. The feud came to a head during a performance in New Haven, Connecticut after Vélez punched Holman in between curtain calls and gave her a black eye. The feud effectively ended the show. Upon her return to Mexico City in 1938 to star in her first Mexican film, Vélez was greeted by ten thousand fans. The film La Zandunga (Fernando de Fuentes, 1938) co-starring Arturo de Córdova, was a critical and financial success. Vélez was slated to appear in four more Mexican films, but instead, she returned to Los Angeles and went back to work for RKO Pictures. In 1939, Lupe Vélez was cast opposite Leon Errol and Donald Woods in the B-comedy, The Girl from Mexico (Leslie Goodwins, 1939). Despite being a B film, it was a hit with audiences and RKO re-teamed her with Errol and Wood for a sequel, Mexican Spitfire (Leslie Goodwins, 1940). That film was also a success and led to a series of eight Spitfire films. Wikipedia: "In the series, Vélez portrays Carmelita Lindsay, a temperamental yet friendly Mexican singer married to Dennis 'Denny' Lindsay (Woods), an elegant American gentleman. The Spitfire films rejuvenated Vélez's career. Moreover, they were films in which a Latina headlined for eight films straight –a true rarity." In addition to the Spitfire series, she was cast in such films as Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga (John Rawlins, 1941), Playmates (David Butler, 1941) opposite John Barrymore, and Redhead from Manhattan (Lew Landers, 1943). In 1943, the final film in the Spitfire series, Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (Leslie Goodwins, 1943), was released. By that time, the novelty of the series had begun to wane. Velez co-starred with Eddie Albert in the romantic comedy, Ladies' Day (Leslie Goodwins, 1943), about an actress and a baseball player. In 1944, Vélez returned to Mexico to star in an adaptation of Émile Zola's novel Nana (Roberto Gavaldón, Celestino Gorostiza, 1944), which was well-received. It would be her final film. After filming wrapped, Vélez returned to Los Angeles and began preparing for another stage role in New York.

Lupe Vélez's temper and jealousy in her often tempestuous romantic relationships were well documented and became tabloid fodder, often overshadowing her career. Vélez was straightforward with the press and was regularly contacted by gossip columnists for stories about her romantic exploits. Her first long-term relationship was with actor Gary Cooper. Vélez met Cooper while filming The Wolf Song in 1929 and began a two-year affair with him. The relationship was passionate but often stormy. Reportedly Vélez chased Cooper around with a knife during an argument and cut him severely enough to require stitches. By that time, the rocky relationship had taken its toll on Cooper who had lost 45 pounds and was suffering from nervous exhaustion. Paramount Pictures ordered him to take a vacation to recuperate. While he was boarding the train, Vélez showed up at the train station and fired a pistol at him. During her marriage to actor Johnny Weissmuller, stories of their frequent physical fights were regularly reported in the press. Vélez reportedly inflicted scratches, bruises, and love-bites on Weissmuller during their fights and "passionate love-making". In July 1934, after ten months of marriage, Vélez filed for divorce citing cruelty. She withdrew the petition a week later after reconciling with Weissmuller. In January 1935, she filed for divorce a second time and was granted an interlocutory decree that was dismissed when the couple reconciled a month later. In August 1938, Vélez filed for divorce for a third time, again charging Weissmuller with cruelty. Their divorce was finalised in August 1939. After the divorce became final, Vélez began dating actor Guinn "Big Boy" Williams in late 1940. They were reportedly engaged but never married. Vélez was also linked to author Erich Maria Remarque and the boxers Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey. In 1943, Vélez began an affair with her La Zandunga co-star Arturo de Córdova. De Córdova had recently moved to Hollywood after signing with Paramount Pictures. Despite the fact that de Córdova was married to Mexican actress Enna Arana with whom he had four children, Vélez granted an interview to gossip columnist Louella Parsons in September 1943 and announced that the two were engaged. Vélez ended the engagement in early 1944, reportedly after de Córdova's wife refused to give him a divorce. Vélez then met and began dating a struggling young Austrian actor named Harald Maresch (who went by the stage name Harald Ramond). In September 1944, she discovered she was pregnant with Ramond's child. She announced their engagement in late November 1944. On 10 December, four days before her death, Vélez announced she had ended the engagement and kicked Ramond out of her home. On the evening of 13 December 1944, Vélez dined with her two friends, the silent film star Estelle Taylor and Venita Oakie. In the early morning hours of 14 December, Vélez retired to her bedroom, where she consumed 75 Seconal pills and a glass of brandy. Her secretary, Beulah Kinder, found the actress's body on her bed later that morning. A suicide note addressed to Harald Ramond was found nearby. Lupe Vélez was only 36 years old. More than four-thousand people filed past her casket during her funeral. Her body was interred in Mexico City, at Panteón Civil de Dolores Cemetery. Velez' estate, valued at $125,000 and consisting mostly of her Rodeo House home, two cars, jewelry, and personal effects were left to her secretary Beulah Kinder with the remainder in trust for her mother, Mrs. Josephine Velez. Together with Dolores del Rio, Ramon Novarro, and José Mojica, she was one of the few Mexican people who had made history in the early years of Hollywood.

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

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

Just a little iPhone movie I made at Luminato 2016

French postcard by Europe, no. 457. Photo: United Artists / Regal Film.

Lupe Velez (1908-1944), was one of the first Mexican actresses to succeed in Hollywood. Her nicknames were 'The Mexican Spitfire' and 'Hot Pepper'. She was the leading lady in such silent films as The Gaucho (1927), Lady of the Pavements (1928), and Wolf Song (1929). During the 1930s, her well-known explosive screen persona was exploited in a series of successful films like Hot Pepper (1933), Strictly Dynamite (1934), and Hollywood Party (1934). In the 1940s, Vélez's popularity peaked after appearing in the Mexican Spitfire films, a series created to capitalise on Vélez's well-documented fiery personality. She had several highly publicised romances and a stormy marriage. In 1944, Vélez died of an intentional overdose of the barbiturate drug Seconal. Her death and the circumstances surrounding it have been the subject of speculation and controversy.

Lupe Vélez was born María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez in 1908 in the city of San Luis Potosí in Mexico. She was the daughter of Jacobo Villalobos Reyes, a colonel in the army of the dictator Porfirio Diaz, and his wife Josefina Vélez, an opera singer according to some sources, or vaudeville singer according to others. She had three sisters: Mercedes, Reina and Josefina, and a brother, Emigdio. The family was financially comfortable and lived in a large home. At the age of 13, her parents sent her to study at Our Lady of the Lake (now Our Lady of the Lake University) in San Antonio, Texas. It was at Our Lady of the Lake that Vélez learned to speak English and began to dance. She later admitted that she liked dance class, but was otherwise a poor student. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "Life was hard for her family, and Lupe returned to Mexico to help them out financially. She worked as a salesgirl for a department store for the princely sum of $4 a week. Every week she would turn most of her salary over to her mother, but kept a little for herself so she could take dancing lessons. By now, she figured, with her mature shape and grand personality, she thought she could make a try at show business." She began her career as a performer in Mexican vaudeville in 1924. She initially performed under her paternal surname, but after her father returned home from the war, he was outraged that his daughter had decided to become a stage performer. She chose her maternal surname, "Vélez", as her stage name and her mother introduced Vélez and her sister Josefina to the popular Spanish Mexican vedette María Conesa, "La Gatita Blanca". Vélez debuted in a show led by Conesa, where she sang 'Oh Charley, My Boy' and danced the shimmy. Aurelio Campos, a young pianist, and friend of the Vélez sisters recommended Lupe to stage producers, Carlos Ortega and Manuel Castro. Ortega and Castro were preparing a season revue at the Regis Theatre and hired Vélez to join the company in March 1925. Later that year, Vélez starred in the revues 'Mexican Rataplan' and '¡No lo tapes!', both parodies of the Bataclan's shows in Paris. Her suggestive singing and provocative dancing was a hit with audiences, and she soon established herself as one of the main stars of vaudeville in Mexico. After a year and a half, Vélez left the revue after the manager refused to give her a raise. She then joined the Teatro Principal but was fired after three months due to her "feisty attitude". Vélez was quickly hired by the Teatro Lirico, where her salary rose to 100 pesos a day. In 1926, Frank A. Woodyard, an American who had seen Vélez perform, recommended her to stage director Richard Bennett, the father of actresses Joan and Constance Bennett. Bennett was looking for an actress to portray a Mexican cantina singer in his upcoming play 'The Dove'. He sent Vélez a telegram inviting her to Los Angeles to appear in the play. Vélez had been planning to go to Cuba to perform, but quickly changed her plans and traveled to Los Angeles. However, upon arrival, she discovered that she had been replaced by another actress.

While in Los Angeles, Lupe Vélez met the comedian Fanny Brice. Brice recommended her to Flo Ziegfeld, who hired her to perform in New York City. While Vélez was preparing to leave Los Angeles, she received a call from MGM producer Harry Rapf, who offered her a screen test. Producer and director Hal Roach saw Vélez's screen test and hired her for a small role in the comic Laurel and Hardy short Sailors, Beware! (Fred Guiol, Hal Yates, 1927). After her debut, Vélez appeared in another Hal Roach short, What Women Did for Me (James Parrott, 1927), opposite Charley Chase. Later that year, she did a screen test for the upcoming Douglas Fairbanks feature The Gaucho (F. Richard Jones, 1927). Fairbanks was impressed by Vélez and hired her to appear in the film with him. The Gaucho was a hit and critics were duly impressed with Vélez's ability to hold her own alongside Fairbanks, who was well known for his spirited acting and impressive stunts. Her second major film was Stand and Deliver (Donald Crisp, 1928), produced by Cecil B. DeMille. That same year, she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars. Then she appeared in Lady of the Pavements (1929), directed by D. W. Griffith, and Where East Is East (Tod Browning, 1929), starring Lon Chaney as an animal trapper in Laos. In the Western The Wolf Song (Victor Fleming, 1929), she appeared alongside Gary Cooper. As she was regularly cast as 'exotic' or 'ethnic' women that were volatile and hot-tempered, gossip columnists took to referring to Vélez as "Mexican Hurricane", "The Mexican Wildcat", "The Mexican Madcap", "Whoopee Lupe" and "The Hot Tamale". Lupe Vélez made the transition to sound films without difficulty. Studio executives had predicted that her accent would likely hamper her ability to make the transition. That idea was dispelled after she appeared in the all-talking Rin Tin Tin vehicle, Tiger Rose (George Fitzmaurice, 1929). The film was a hit and Vélez's sound career was established. Vélez appeared in a series of Pre-Code films like Hell Harbor (Henry King, 1930), The Storm (William Wyler, 1930), and the crime drama East Is West (Monta Bell, 1930) opposite Edward G. Robinson. The next year, she appeared in her second film for Cecil B. DeMille, Squaw Man (Cecil B. DeMille, 1931), opposite Warner Baxter, in Resurrection (Edwin Carewe, 1931), and The Cuban Love Song (W.S. Van Dyke, 1931), with the popular singer Lawrence Tibbett. She had a supporting role in Kongo (William J. Cowen, 1932) with Walter Huston, a sound remake of West of Zanzibar (Tod Browning, 1928) which tries to outdo the Lon Chaney original in morbidity. She also starred in Spanish-language versions of Universal films like Resurrección (Eduardo Arozamena, David Selman, 1931), the Spanish version of Resurrection (1931), and Hombres en mi vida (Eduardo Arozamena, David Selman, 1932), the Spanish version of Men in Her Life (William Beaudine, 1931) in which Lois Moran had starred.

In 1932, Lupe Vélez took a break from her film career and traveled to New York City where she was signed by Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. to take over the role of "Conchita" in the musical revue 'Hot-Cha!'. The show also starred Bert Lahr, Eleanor Powell, and Buddy Rogers. Back in Hollywood, Lupe switched to comedy after playing dramatic roles for five years. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "In 1933 she played the lead role of Pepper in Hot Pepper (1933). This film showcased her comedic talents and helped her to show the world her vital personality. She was delightful." After Hot Pepper (John G. Blystone, 1933) with Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen, Lupe played beautiful but volatile, characters in a series of successful films like Strictly Dynamite (Elliott Nugent, 1934), Palooka (Benjamin Stoloff, 1934) both opposite Jimmy Durante, and Hollywood Party (Allan Dwan, a.o., 1934) with Laurel and Hardy. Although Vélez was a popular actress, RKO Pictures did not renew her contract in 1934. Over the next few years, Vélez worked for various studios as a freelance actress; she also spent two years in England where she filmed The Morals of Marcus (Miles Mander, 1935) and Gypsy Melody (Edmond T. Gréville, 1936). She returned to Los Angeles the following year where she appeared in the final part of the Wheeler & Woolsey comedy High Flyers (Edward F. Cline, 1937). In 1938, Vélez made her final appearance on Broadway in the musical You Never Know, by Cole Porter. The show received poor reviews from critics but received a large amount of publicity due to the feud between Vélez and fellow cast member Libby Holman. Holman was irritated by the attention Vélez garnered from the show with her impersonations of several actresses including Gloria Swanson, Katharine Hepburn, and Shirley Temple. The feud came to a head during a performance in New Haven, Connecticut after Vélez punched Holman in between curtain calls and gave her a black eye. The feud effectively ended the show. Upon her return to Mexico City in 1938 to star in her first Mexican film, Vélez was greeted by ten thousand fans. The film La Zandunga (Fernando de Fuentes, 1938) co-starring Arturo de Córdova, was a critical and financial success. Vélez was slated to appear in four more Mexican films, but instead, she returned to Los Angeles and went back to work for RKO Pictures. In 1939, Lupe Vélez was cast opposite Leon Errol and Donald Woods in the B-comedy, The Girl from Mexico (Leslie Goodwins, 1939). Despite being a B film, it was a hit with audiences and RKO re-teamed her with Errol and Wood for a sequel, Mexican Spitfire (Leslie Goodwins, 1940). That film was also a success and led to a series of eight Spitfire films. Wikipedia: "In the series, Vélez portrays Carmelita Lindsay, a temperamental yet friendly Mexican singer married to Dennis 'Denny' Lindsay (Woods), an elegant American gentleman. The Spitfire films rejuvenated Vélez's career. Moreover, they were films in which a Latina headlined for eight films straight –a true rarity." In addition to the Spitfire series, she was cast in such films as Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga (John Rawlins, 1941), Playmates (David Butler, 1941) opposite John Barrymore, and Redhead from Manhattan (Lew Landers, 1943). In 1943, the final film in the Spitfire series, Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (Leslie Goodwins, 1943), was released. By that time, the novelty of the series had begun to wane. Velez co-starred with Eddie Albert in the romantic comedy, Ladies' Day (Leslie Goodwins, 1943), about an actress and a baseball player. In 1944, Vélez returned to Mexico to star in an adaptation of Émile Zola's novel Nana (Roberto Gavaldón, Celestino Gorostiza, 1944), which was well-received. It would be her final film. After filming wrapped, Vélez returned to Los Angeles and began preparing for another stage role in New York.

Lupe Vélez's temper and jealousy in her often tempestuous romantic relationships were well documented and became tabloid fodder, often overshadowing her career. Vélez was straightforward with the press and was regularly contacted by gossip columnists for stories about her romantic exploits. Her first long-term relationship was with actor Gary Cooper. Vélez met Cooper while filming The Wolf Song in 1929 and began a two-year affair with him. The relationship was passionate but often stormy. Reportedly Vélez chased Cooper around with a knife during an argument and cut him severely enough to require stitches. By that time, the rocky relationship had taken its toll on Cooper who had lost 45 pounds and was suffering from nervous exhaustion. Paramount Pictures ordered him to take a vacation to recuperate. While he was boarding the train, Vélez showed up at the train station and fired a pistol at him. During her marriage to actor Johnny Weissmuller, stories of their frequent physical fights were regularly reported in the press. Vélez reportedly inflicted scratches, bruises, and love-bites on Weissmuller during their fights and "passionate love-making". In July 1934, after ten months of marriage, Vélez filed for divorce citing cruelty. She withdrew the petition a week later after reconciling with Weissmuller. In January 1935, she filed for divorce a second time and was granted an interlocutory decree that was dismissed when the couple reconciled a month later. In August 1938, Vélez filed for divorce for a third time, again charging Weissmuller with cruelty. Their divorce was finalised in August 1939. After the divorce became final, Vélez began dating actor Guinn "Big Boy" Williams in late 1940. They were reportedly engaged but never married. Vélez was also linked to author Erich Maria Remarque and the boxers Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey. In 1943, Vélez began an affair with her La Zandunga co-star Arturo de Córdova. De Córdova had recently moved to Hollywood after signing with Paramount Pictures. Despite the fact that de Córdova was married to Mexican actress Enna Arana with whom he had four children, Vélez granted an interview to gossip columnist Louella Parsons in September 1943 and announced that the two were engaged. Vélez ended the engagement in early 1944, reportedly after de Córdova's wife refused to give him a divorce. Vélez then met and began dating a struggling young Austrian actor named Harald Maresch (who went by the stage name Harald Ramond). In September 1944, she discovered she was pregnant with Ramond's child. She announced their engagement in late November 1944. On 10 December, four days before her death, Vélez announced she had ended the engagement and kicked Ramond out of her home. On the evening of 13 December 1944, Vélez dined with her two friends, the silent film star Estelle Taylor and Venita Oakie. In the early morning hours of 14 December, Vélez retired to her bedroom, where she consumed 75 Seconal pills and a glass of brandy. Her secretary, Beulah Kinder, found the actress's body on her bed later that morning. A suicide note addressed to Harald Ramond was found nearby. Lupe Vélez was only 36 years old. More than four-thousand people filed past her casket during her funeral. Her body was interred in Mexico City, at Panteón Civil de Dolores Cemetery. Velez' estate, valued at $125,000 and consisting mostly of her Rodeo House home, two cars, jewelry, and personal effects were left to her secretary Beulah Kinder with the remainder in trust for her mother, Mrs. Josephine Velez. Together with Dolores del Rio, Ramon Novarro, and José Mojica, she was one of the few Mexican people who had made history in the early years of Hollywood.

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

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

... another survivor of the real state speculation while almost all the others had been knocked down for the construction of new buildings... Contructed in 1922 in french neoclassic style, it served of residence for 80 years. Today, surrounded of building, it functions as a particular cultural center called House of Art and Culture Julieta de Serpa, a homage to the mother of the current proprietor. The mansion also has some luxurious restaurants with sofisticated food! Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

More here: www.casajulietadeserpa.com.br

Explored!! Thanks all! :¬D

LaFerrari (also known by its project name, F150) is a limited production hybrid supercar built by Ferrari.[3] The car and its name were officially unveiled at the 2013 Geneva Auto Show. It is based on findings from testing of the Ferrari FXX[3] and on research being conducted by the Millechili Project at the University of Modena. Association with the Millechili Project led to speculation during development that the car would weigh under 1,000 kg (2,205 lb),[4] but a dry weight of 1,255 kg (2,767 lb) was claimed.[5] Only 499 units will be built and each will cost more than £1 million ($1.69 million).[6]

LaFerrari is the first mild hybrid from Ferrari, providing the highest power output of any Ferrari whilst decreasing fuel consumption by 40 percent.[7] LaFerrari's mid rear mounted 65° V12 Internal Combustion Engine has a 6.3 litre (6262 cc) capacity producing 800 PS (588 kW, 789 bhp) @ 9,000 rpm and 700 Nm (516 lb.ft) of torque @ 6,750 rpm,[2][1] supplemented by a 163 PS (120 kW; 161 bhp) KERS unit (called HY-KERS), which will provide short bursts of extra power.[8] The KERS system adds extra power to the combustion engine's output level for a total of 963 PS (708 kW; 950 bhp) and the total torque generated by the V12 ICE together with the electric motor being over 900 N•m (664 lb•ft).[2][9] Ferrari claims CO2 emissions of 330 g/km. The engine's bore and stroke is 94×75.2 mm with a compression ratio of 13.5:1 and a specific power output of 128 metric horsepower per litre.[2] It is connected to a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission and the car is rear-wheel drive.[2]

The car is equipped with carbon-ceramic Brembo discs on the front (398 mm) and rear (380 mm), with the tires measuring 265/30 R 19 and 345/30 R 20 respectively.[10]

LaFerrari uses a carbon fibre monocoque structure developed by Ferrari's F1 technical director Rory Byrne, with a claimed 27 percent more torsional rigidity and 22 percent more beam stiffness than the Enzo.[11] It has a double wishbone suspension in the front and a multi-link suspension in the rear.[2]

LaFerrari has a number of electronic controls including ESC stability control, high performance ABS/EBD (anti-lock braking system/electronic brake distribution), EF1-Trac F1 electronic traction control integrated with the hybrid system, E-Diff 3 third generation electronic differential, SCM-E Frs magnetorheological damping with twin solenoids (Al-Ni tube), and active aerodynamics to enable maximum performance.[2

Ferrari states that the car has a top speed exceeding 350 km/h (217 mph), and that it is capable of reaching 100 km/h (62 mph) in under three seconds, 200 km/h (124 mph) in under seven seconds, and a speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) in 15 seconds.[2] Ferrari also claim that the car has lapped its Fiorano Test Circuit in under 1 minute and 20 seconds which is faster than any other road-legal car Ferrari has ever produced.[12]

LaFerrari received no input from Pininfarina, making it the first Ferrari since the Bertone-styled 1973 Dino 308 GT4 not to have Pininfarina bodywork or other styling. This decision is a rare exception to the collaboration between Ferrari and Pininfarina that began in 1951. However, Ferrari has stated that two new models designed jointly with Pininfarina are yet to be unveiled and that there are no plans to end business relations with Pininfarina.[13]

The cockpit stands out for its essentiality and the sportiness of the shapes, intended to convey the high level of performance of this supercar. There is a steering wheel with integrated controls and gear levers directly fixed to the steering column, a solution that allows better use in all conditions. The "bridge" which exists between the two seats, designed like a suspended wing, is home to other instruments linked to the dual-clutch gearbox.

The instrumentation consists of a 12.3" TFT display with the option to choose between two layouts and can host data from the telemetry system.

The body computer system is developed by Magneti Marelli Automotive Lighting.

Source Wikipedia

Land speculation, Peruvian style. Shanties have to be occupied for minimum period in every year before tittle can be claimed.

There has always been speculation that a deal was done after Rapson's took over Highland Scottish and the Inverness town services were abandoned. It was off course illegal to sell a service, but there are always ways around that. I've heard of former operators being engaged as consultants, vehicles sold for exorbitant prices etc. It was often done so that payments would be spread over several years.

I am not saying that Stagecoach did anything untoward, and it could just be a coinsidence that they acquired these ex Highland vehicles.

Ready for hanging (once I attach some hanging hardware). I've seen some speculation that I might've taken the cubes apart and put them back together, or swapped the stickers around. Those who know me in real life laugh at such conjecture. I always have to go overboard, Why, just look at the huge numbers of tags and descriptions in all of my many Flickr sets, and then get with the program and get your stuff tagged up like this, so others can find it! Sorry. Just wishful thinking on my part. I'm very anal, and must do things "the right way," even if it means it will take much longer, or not ever get done.

The stickers aren't lined up as these are cheap knockoffs. If you could see the cubes up close, the plastic doesn't even line up nicely, some faces sticking up higher than others, and the stickers don't have rounded corners as the official cubes do. One of the cubes kept falling apart, too, requiring that I put it back together solved, and then attempt to re-solve it as seen above. I've noticed that even with perfectly placed stickers on official cubes - anal, remember - the centers don't line up as you solve them in their 4 particular orders.

Here are full spin instructions I wrote up last night in case anyone would like to build one of these the "real" way :) These aren't the spins I followed, as I just typed these while playing with a single large official black Assembly cube, and it's been awhile since I made the mosaic. In fact, when I accidentally typed up the spins for a particular cube twice (I lost my place), the second time I typed a different code, having solved it a different way. Solving one face like this is pretty easy, though there are a few situations above that had me scratching my head. Sometimes everything you do keeps boxing you out of the solution. It's like playing Boxxle on a 3D surface. Anyway...

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

XYZ are full cube turns, and change what the symbols UDLRFB each mean. The coordinate system is left-handed, so point your left thumb down the positive of the axis, and spin the cube in the direction your four fingers curl around your thumb for positive rotations. X is left and right, positive toward your right. Y is up and down, with positive being up. Z is forward to backward, positive being forward. As with the other symbols, ' (apostrophe) reverses spin direction. X means to tumble the face you're looking at up to the top, while X' means to tumble the top face back to face you. After a spin, the axes are considered to be reset. In other words, the axes don't move with the cube. The axes are locked in space, and the cube can only be rotated about them. A spin about X always implies around the right-left axis.

The solutions were generated with a www.rubiks.com official cube, with official stickers layout. I'm beginning with the cube solved, and the orientation at which each of the steps begins is with the white (logo) face facing me, as the F face, yellow being the back, or B face. Red is the left, or L face, with orange being the right, or R face. Green is the top, or U face (up), and blue is the bottom, or D face (down). If your cube matches this, you can follow these steps. It may be easiest to simply remember at the start of each cube's front-face solution to start with the cube solved, white face toward you, and green face up.

The sequences thus listed are for a 4-wide by 6-tall grid of cubes. The first number represents the X position from left to right (1 being left, 4 being right), and the second number is the vertical, or Y position, with 1 being the top, and 6 being the bottom cube. Thus, 3:4 represents 3 right, 4 down.

A 2 after a code means to do that move 2x, for a 180º spin. Solve means starting as stated above from a solved cube, and solving the one face's 3x3 for that section of the mosaic. The undo instructions revert the cube to its more standardly solved state.

(Flickr descriptions don't use monospaced fonts, and can't handle 2 or more spaces, pre, tt, or code HTML tags, HTML tables, or any other possible variety of things that would allow me to space things out nicely. I've tried everything. As such, to even get close to the proper tabs, I have to convert them to spaces, and then convert those to underscores. If you want to view the instructions in a manner resembling that in which I wrote them, copy the text into a text editor with a monospaced font (e.g. Notepad w/ Courier), and replace the underscores with spaces)

SOLVE___________________________UNDO

1:1_X'R'BR______________________(R'B'RX)

2:1_X'Y'U_______________________(U'YX)

3:1_ZX'UBUD'R'U'D_______________(D'URDU'B'U'XZ')

4:1_X'RDR'______________________(RD'R'X)

1:2_XL2URU'R'LURL'______________(LR'U'L'RUR'U'L2X')

2:2_X2LUD'FB'R'LZ_______________(Z'L'RBF'DU'L'X2)

3:2_XL'RDB'D'BL'RD'R'L__________(L'RDR'LB'DBD'R'LX')

4:2_ZY2UBUD'R'U'D_______________(D'URDU'B'U'Y2Z')

1:3_X'U2D2BL2BRL'D2R'L__________(L'RD2LR'B'L2B'D2U2X)

2:3_X2BL'D2LD'RL'D2R'L__________(L'RD2LR'DL'D2LB'X2)

3:3_ZY2LU'L'BD2B'D'_____________(DBD2B'LUL'Y2Z')

4:3_X'U2BRL'B2R'LB'DU'LUD'______(DU'L'UD'BL'RB2LR'B'U2X)

1:4_XZRD'R'BUBU'________________(UB'U'B'RDR'Z'X')

2:4_Y'DL'D'BU'BURL'D'R'L________(L'RDLR'U'B'UB'DLD'Y)

3:4_Y'D'RDB2L'B'LB2RDR'_________(RD'R'B2L'BLB2D'R'DY)

4:4_XZL'D'LBRBR'________________(RB'R'B'L'DLZ'X')

1:5_X2ZR'D'R____________________(R'DRZ'X2)

2:5_Y'R'B2R_____________________(R'B2RY)

3:5_Y'LB2L'_____________________(LB2L'Y)

4:5_X2ZD'U'L'U__________________(U'LUDZ'X2)

1:6_XD2BUD'B2U'D________________(D'UB2DU'B'D2X')

2:6_X'DBL2B'D'__________________(DBL2B'D'X)

3:6_X'D'B'R2BD__________________(D'B'R2BDX)

4:6_XD2B'U'DB2UD'_______________(DU'B2D'UBD2X')

Don't forget the bonus Rubik's Cube Koopa Paratroopa stitch in the next image!