Ancient Advocate

“Anybody can become angry,” Aristotle wrote, “that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybody’s power, that is not easy.” This is not my personal scribble on the bathroom wall (its size is way-too-small for such a long line), or on a piece of wrinkly paper in my handbag. It’s something I came across with sitting in a library, waiting till the rain would stop falling. Old cheese can be smelly and sticky, but this ancient thought is still valid, something to remember. Maybe by the time you know this line by heart, your anger will have disappeared? Image by Photobucket/tomlarenga

Blessed Baths That Benefit

The years that everything goes smoothly, with all pretty normal things one is used to have around or be able to do, very often will go by, abruptly or gradually, sooner or later. That’s the time people have to adapt to the new situation. And adjustments have to be made. Useful inventions such as walk in tubs can prolong and improve, if not even re-introduce a well equipped standard life, that provides the joy of still, or again, being independant. For those who are ill, disabled or of age, and for those who take care of them, professionals or family, it makes such a big difference! It’s much like giving flowers to someone; a small sign of appreciation or love with a big lasting impact. Image by Photobucket/Nyum4

Vincent’s Vapour

July 29, 1890, was the day one of the brightest painters and one of the most troubled minds ever, died, after having shot himself two days before: Vincent van Gogh. Having been a teacher and a missionary worker he just started to paint at the age of 27. In his last 10 years he made 900 paintings and 1100 drawings. Born (1853) into a family where religion and art were running generously (3 uncles of him were art dealers, his brother Theo was as well, and one of his ancestors was a respectfull 18th century sculptor) he became a selfmade artist who would be one of the few to be respected and highly appriciated through all the arty taste buds of the coming era’s after his death till this very day. Not during his life though: he sold just one single painting! Maybe his last words ‘the sadness will last forever’ show what he lacked most, and is published today, July 29, 2009: that people who are thrown back to themselves, having no support of a lasting company, will be much more vulnerable for illnesses and suffer from mental spells much more. Image by Photobucket/ventouse

A Freak Of Fire

July 28, the birthday of Malcolm Lowry (1909-1957), a writer I always remember for his dark compelling book and semi-biography ‘Under the Volcano’ and the 1984 John Huston film with the same name starring Albert Finney and Jaqueline Bisset, about the last hours of a man in despair, full of regret and a huge sense of hopelessness, during a national Mexican Day of Death (All Souls Day). The manuscript almost got lost in a 1944 fire, destroying all of his other works. Very hopeless must the crew have felt of a B25 Mitchell USA bomber the early morning of July 28, 1945, their Day of Death, when they accidentally crashed into the Empire State Building, causing a fire that was blazing for 40 minutes, killing 13 people. Image by Photobucket/EdRehkopf

Innovative Invitations

Having experienced the pitfalls of organizing some events for myself and for others, I know what a burden it can be if supposed-to-be settled manners turn out to be sharp teethed nastiness! A small smudge can be devastating for a long time. Often it happens when you’re concentrating on other parts, and makes it hard for you to correct again. Printed matter for party invitations for these events, like anniversaries, bridal showers, official openings of a shop and thank-you-cards have cut my fingers several times. Till I found out a way to prevent another sharp snap: an online store where it’s possible to add a personal picture and text. Modify in an easy way, all online. All of this with a limited number of cards, and therefore a limited budget is necessary to have that special day a successful one! Image by Photobucket/Dredtiger

Brushing Up Bob And Bunny

July 27, 2003, entertainer Bob Hope dies just a few months after his 100th birthday. A filmcritic said: ‘many comics are depressed in real life, but he wasn’t – unless he’d had a bad round of golf’. July 27, is also the official debut of Bugs Bunny, in the year 1940. Both had a role in World War II. Where the first one got the Medal of Honour and a Honorary Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth, the latter got promoted a Honorary Marine Master Sergeant and a mascotte of Kingman Army Airfield Arizona. Both have another thing in common: they never have got the Oscar. Bob was dressed for it several times, Bunny never was (I thought) till I saw the picture above...hey, what’s up Doc, what’s the occasion? Image by Photobucket/MAC123014

Sound Of Synchronism

July 26, 1922, the birthday of filmproducer and scriptwriter Blake Edwards. Among others, it were the 5 Pink Panther films with Peter Sellers and the cooperation with his wife Julie Andrews in the 1982 film ‘Victor & Victoria’ that were the summits of his success. With the central theme of travestism and sexual identity, and being a remake of the German film ‘Viktor und Viktoria’ from 1933, I see a link with Carl Jung, (1875-1961) which it’s his birthday today as well. Jung’s believe and concepts for psychological archetypes, collective unconscious and synchronism (the experience of unrelated events happening together, being structured in their own logical way) make me joggle with the idea that Jung might have known the 1933 version. Unfortunately, it’s unknown to me what he thought of it, if he has. For sure, he hasn’t known the Sound of Music. I can’t imagine that the song ‘My Favorite Things’ could have been his: too frivolous! Image by Photobucket/jesterx007

From Strip To Slot

Certain tourist destinations have become such classics, that it’s hardly feasable to imagine there was a time that they didn’t attract people. Others are relatively ‘new kids on the block’. The uprise of some of them could be called amazing. If you would tell someone, let’s say, a hundred years ago, that you had enlisted for one of those Vegas vacations, to indulge yourself with 24/7 entertainment, you probably would see big question marks and surprise all over the face of your company! A first ever recording was in 1829, where Spaniards mentioned the vegas/meadows in that area. Although founded officially a city in 1911, it took Bugsy Malone’s Flamingo Hotel and the year 1946, to start what would become the Las Vegas Strip, and the birth of this Sin City. James Bond’s ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ was shot here in 1971, they might be ‘a girl’s best friend’, but not all glitter has proven to be gold. Since then it has become the brightest spot on earth to be seen from space. Maybe, another dimension might occur: if aliens like a gamble I predict Las Vegas a way-out-of-this-world-future. Image by Photobucket/Leefnu

Delayed Destruction?

July 24, 1911, Hiram Bingham, guided by a local 11-year old boy re-discovers Machu Picchu in Peru, constructed around 1462, abandoned some 100 years later. Possibly visted by others, in earlier years such as 1867, 1901 and 1904. Its existence was unknown by the Spanish troops, therefor unharmed. This Unesco World Heritage Site gets around 400,000 visitors each year and is under threat, not by volcanoes, but much more by contemporary destructive ideas such as the development of a cable car, luxureous hotel and a helicopter landing zone. Image by Photobucket/curlymynci

The Luxury Of Laptops

One and the same item might be seen in different ways by different people. For example a car, that’s a way of transport and merely nothing else to one person or a major source of income to the next, and could mean a way of life to someone else again. Or something completely out of reach for the next person, or useless because they’re making use of public transport. The moment it’s a laptop that’s the issue, I got a mixture of all mentioned angles. For sure I can get my fingers on top of my lap, but not (financially) on a laptop! In the haydays of having Stephanie around and being able to borrow hers when she was away for a few days, I was sure a laptop would be a way of life and a source of income to me. To depend on public internet cafes was, and still is, not a pleasure. With my PC finally collapsed, I’ll have to endure the trips, the walks to a cafe, the noisy and nosy people and the poor connections. Sitting in a chair in one of those cafe’s I wish you all a nice weekend! Image by Photobucket/Michael_Hai

Fit’s FourtyThousand

Unlike Phileas Fogg and Passepartout in Jules Verne’s ‘Around The World In Eighty Days’, I wasn’t able to be in time to celebrate with you Fit4All’s 40,000 pages (each page for each mile) journey that took off in March 2008. Crossing that barrier took place yesterday, July 22, around 22.15 pm Philippine Time. I myself watched this milestone becoming a fact. Unlike Mr. Fogg’s 20,000 pounds reward, there was no concrete recompense for me, but the experience has been priceless to me, thanks to you all, visitors! Image by Photobucket/belgida

Pause The Pedals

If some of the accusations, or fears are true, that the speed of the internet with the all present instant-reward-seeking-minds that are typing errors and using skin deep language, might flatten out a more deep and intelligent way of communication, here’s a reminder from the past. From a 1896 column in the London Spectator that mourned about the impact of the bicycle on British society: “The phase of the wheel’s influence that strike most forcibly is, to put it briefly, the abolition of dinner and the advent of lunch. If people can pedal away ten miles or so in the middle of the day to a lunch for which they need no dress, where the talk is haphazard, varied, light, and only too easy; and then glide back in the cool of the afternoon to dine quietly and get early to bed… conversation of the more serious type will tend to go out.” I think, that it’s always a human to blame for his way of use of a certain possibility, never the invention itself! Happy surfing... before you do, would you mind to pass the butter, please? Image by Photobucket/rbutters

Round’nRound

Still recovering from burning the midnight oil, I feel a bit worn out, dried up. With feet up and my head hanging on, but only just, I grab yesterday’s blog topic; a lollipop, to get my jaw muscles working again. Yesterday seems to have been Lollipop Day, invented by a guy called George Smith (what’s in a name) in 1908. For some reason the bald Moon Face of Telly Savalas (aka Kojak) is indelible from my retina’s, though I know he used Tootsie Pops, and they’re from 1931. Anyway, joggling with a lollipop between the teeth, and with his spoken version of Bread’s song ‘If’ in mind, reading that today, July 21, in the year 2003, the last VW Beetle old style with the wopping number 21,529,464 rolled of the Mexican conveyer belt straight into the German Wolfsburg’s Museum, I try to picture how long that line of Beetles altogether would be, If being lined up across the planet... If my brain gets in the right gear...oh dear, no, I’m in some aquaplaning, changing positions like the lollipop changes colours...it must be a couple of times around the globe? Pfff, tell me tomorrow, I promise to find some matchsticks to keep my eyes open, to read your outcome! Image by Photobucket/halibear9

Moon Madness

July 20, 1969, the real first Moon Walking of Neil Armstrong was witnessed by half of the world population, the other half couldn’t keep the eyes open and had fallen asleep! But boy, another name to hit the moon dust as first, was just a shuffle away! He could have been killed in one of his 78 missions over Korea. Or during one of his experimental X-15 flights. Or such a mundane thing as the design of the LM (lunar module), with its hatch opening inwards and to the right, making it difficult for the module pilot, on the right-hand side, to step out first, could have made a difference. Anyway, we got Armstrong, and that’s fine with me. Maybe the ‘lunacy’ is to be found in things that happened afterwards. For instance: in 1994 Armstrong stopped giving away his signatures, because he found out those were sold for high prices! And in 2005 he had to bring his hairdresser for 20 years to court, because this man had sold some of Armstrong’s hair. If those items were that highly valued, how to explain the missing of most moon rocks given to all nations of the world? How did all that got lost in space, I wonder! And last but not least: what to think of an agency that actually sells moon lots? Doesn’t that sound Moon Struck to you? Image by Photobucket/JayHancock

Obscured Opportunities

A very typical thing of the immense presence of Masters degrees online, accredited or not, that makes my eyes go up in despair, is that many of them have a lack of direct inviting display that will provide people what they are looking for. Information such as: what these opportunities will cost, what they exactly contain of, what makes them so much better than all the others. Perhaps a bit too daring to mention for them, but what can be the downsides? More often than not, there isn’t a very logical and clear introduction to even start with. And it takes too much time to navigate all the dulness of what seem to be the average accepted level. 

I dare to compare it with the calling card that’s not giving any real explanation of what kind of business it represents. Very often, it gives me the feeling to have got some small print of a dodgy contract in hands. Where’s the rub? One of the few exceptions that I found, came from a surprising direction; the Gonzaga University at Spokane. Their site gives instantly a much more open feeling, and therefor I really started to read! Maybe it’s their pay-off that got them and me this far? ‘Be Inspired’. Many of the top ranked universities (and Gonzaga University is ranked one of the nations best universities by The Princeton Review and Forbes Magazine) that I’ve seen so far seem to be reluctant to go online, or to pay much attention to it, to see the value. Gonzaga shows the opposite, that they care and have succeeded already, where others fail. 

I really think that people who work for so many others, being responsible for the public relations, and believe they offer a good product, should have a check down in Spokane and improve things promptly. Because if many of those sites really represent the sort of lucidity that also will be found in the ways of giving lessons... I, and perhaps more people might get (a)mazed in an obscured manner! And that would be a shame of such a nice and valuable product. Image by Photobucket/spngy620

Sad Saloon, Safe Salon

On July 19, 1879, Doc Holliday (1851-1887), former dentist, diagnozed TB, kills a man in a Texan saloon after an argument, flees and becomes a gambler and gunman. Remembered for his O.K. Corral adventure with the brothers Earp. He dies peacefully, fifteen years after the diagnose, in his bed. Also on July 19, is the birthday of the French painter Edgar Degas (1834-1917). Known for his paintings of ballerina’s and horses...horses?! O.K. Ride on! The painting above ‘L’Absinthe’ (funny enough made in 1876, just 3 years seperated with Doc’s shooting) shows a more silent saloon, this time in Paris (Europe, not Texas), and despite the lady looks very sad, I would prefer the latter place to get a drink. It was also the place where you could bump into van Gogh or Matisse, altogether more healthy and entertaining. Although the absint in front of the lady was notorious lethal as well, so I’m told. Not my cup of tea, I might cut my ear with my nail cutter, if I tried one! Image by Photobucket/kendoherty02

A Cool Cat

Not able to convince myself to be a cat person, I have to admit this furry animal is very much intriguing at the same time to me. It’s been around human settlements for about 8,000 years they say. But for some reason it has remained this now-you-see-him-now-you-don’t way of dealing with people, unlike the very straightforward, almost servant-like attitude of dogs; good stuff, but a little predictable. From the start it was obvious the latter could be much easier trained for lots of useful things, like to hunt and to guard. But it made them more dependable to men as well. Food had to be given to dogs, while cats remained more or less independant. Chasing rodents like rats and mice in the kitchens and granaries for instance, and that was noticed and very appreciated. For this reason, with plenty of available food walking and flying around, cat supplies weren’t the obvious item in the basket, till rather recently. With the domestication of the cat in the western world, and the limitations for Felis Catus’ hunting ground were a fact, it has become obvious to buy canned, dried or even deepfrozen cat food, toys and scratching posts. And yet, even in this 21st century, the mystery keeps on moving tip-toed and elegantly, like it always has. Some cool things are very ancient! Image by Photobucket/marie58_bucket

A Favourable Fire

Have you ever wondered why chaos and destruction weren’t all that bad at certain times (looking back), where your bright and unexpected ideas are coming from? And why at that particular time of the day? If you also like to know what bush fires and catching fish have to do with your jumpy brain...click here and find out! Speaking of fires: on this day of July 18 in the year 64, a big fire destroyed much of the city of Rome. They got it back on its feet pretty well, since then. Image by Photobucket/surferdude84

Calorie Cruncher

Some new attempt from the Swiss Alps might give us a guilty free mind, and an almost calorie free, number one addictive crave: a chocolate that won’t go gooey and has up to 90 percent fewer calories than regular chocolate. Where a lack of creaminess is expected, its crunchiness will make up that loss. Traditional chocolate starts to melt at around 30 degrees Celsius, this new chocolate, won’t budge till it gets 55 degrees Celsius. It will melt just like traditional chocolate. But it won’t be the warmth of your mouth, it's your saliva. It’s not the first attempt of a manufacturer to create a melt-proof chocolate, GI’s teeth were knocked out more by the provided chocolate than during battle in World War II. Decades later, the ‘Desert Bar’ in Iraq wasn’t a success as well. Keep on working out to get the calories down again: perhaps this new chocolate will be on the market within two years! Even then, it might be possible the price tag will shoot holes in your budget as many as in Swiss Cheese? I wish you a weekend to lick your fingers for!! Image by Photobucket/Gussso

No Tiddler Thunder

July 16, is a day that shows a lot of shakin’ going on! On this day in 1945, the Manhattan Project got its first nuclear test. Having seen the potential of nuclear weapons as early as the 1930’s, and the growing fear that the lethal Nazi German landslide might get a finger on the button, it started to root in the USA, Canada and the UK, a 24 billion today’s dollars budget organization with 130,000 people at 30 different research sites, to end up with a few decisive big bangs, that still echo in our ears. 

A second tremble was in 1973 when the US senate got informed by White House aid Butterfield that president Nixon ‘recorded potentially incriminating conversations’, recordings from these tapes revealed that he had obstructed justice and attempted to cover up crimes and abuses, campaign fraude, political espionage and a secret slush fund paying those who conducted these operations. This scandal, the Watergate, resulted in the resignation of several of the president’s advisors, and of Nixon himself, on August 9, 1974. 

Another bang was really showing a 7.7 on the Richter Scale: the 1990 Luzon Earthquake (10x the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens) in the Philippines, that damaged an area of about 20,000 square km, showed a 125 km long ground rupture and killed at least 1621 people! Many people believe that this eruption was connected to the one of June 15, 1991, when the Pinatubo got blasted away in the second largest eruption of the 20th century with pyroclastic flows, ash deposits and lahars that even made people panic in Metro Manila, and dropped the final curtain for USA’s Subic Bay and Clark Airbase. This withdrawal also marked the first time since the 16th century that no foreign military force was present in the Philippines. Image by Photobucket/2ndopinion

A Serpent’s Scalp

July 15, 1997, is the day that fashion designer Gianni Versace (1946) was killed by Andrew Cunanan, on the steps of his mansion at Miami Beach. Versace became an at random victim of Cunanan, who killed four others in a short time of period, then killed himself. Call it my imagination, but I see a weird connection, however slim and sheer imaginative, I admit! Not much was found at Cunanan’s houseboat, except a lot of books from the writer C.S. Lewis, known from ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, in which he borrowes from Greek and Roman mythology, but also from ‘Space Trilogy’ depicting among others, a new Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, and a new ‘serpent figure’ to tempt them. From these Greek and Roman mythologies, it’s a small step to Versace’s most known icon: the Medusa head! Yes, the one with the snakes and who could turn onlookers into stone! Also easy to step on, is the serpent from the ‘Space Trilogy’, a story about what would have happened when Eve would have refused to listen, not have accepted the apple. That makes another surprising link: the dark song ‘Strange Fruit’ by jazz legend Billie Holiday who died on this day in 1959. And One For The Road: this day in 1799, the Stone of Rosette was found, the key that turned the lock to understand the hieroglyphic writings from the Ptolemaic Era (196BC). Cleopatra, from this dynasty, killed herself... using venomous snakes! Image by Photobucket/yoyo-awesom-o

Long Live Walt Disney

I was quite busy in the last few days I'd been anywhere to catch the update of the outside world. In the midst of the crowd around the city. I bumped my long lost friend. It's been 5 or more years we had not seen each other. We chatted almost a day. Chitchatting her fun and memorable experiences in the Walt Disney World. We didn't realized the time passed that it was almost in the evening. So many interesting experiences she had shared. It inspire me to visit her one day. And the Orlando Vacation Rentals which she had tried acquiring could be the same to avail. She is known to this sort of vacation rentals. Walt Disney is the top priority hang out place of her kids. It is one of my favorite place to visit someday. We said our goodbye when her cellphone rang from her husband. It need to end our conversation but I was surprised to hear her compliment that I looked that healthy, that I even gained weight. I doubt it because nothing changed of my eating habit except that I did not deprive myself any food offered today. I think I had gluttony. Why I should be bothered anyway.

Share A Chair

Wherever we go to, whatever we have to do, we have to surround ourselves with a vast range of all sorts of tools to get there, to get the job done. One of them, for centuries, if not millennia, is the chair. It’s unknown when and by whom the chair has become part of our lives. But it’s such a familiar item to us, that it’s hardly and truly observed. Till we grasp in the air, or find ourselves faced with wobbling unfitting dining chairs, airplane chairs, classroom chairs and office chairs, to realize what a versatile object a chair has to be. Having problems to find a suitable chair for all the different ideas and tastes of the members of our family can be an ordeal already. Let alone for public spaces like schools and terminals, where young and old, short and tall, slim and stout are moving and sitting around. Next time when you get yourself a seat, you might be reminded of this, then again, more than likely you’re sitting right now...are you comfy? Image by Photobucket/dammitsdammit

Bastille’s Bliss’n Blitz!

I know this is about Paris again, but how can I ignore July 14, Bastille Day, the storming of a prison with just 7 petty thieves, but loads of gunpowder and arms, this together with some kind of ‘coming out’ of some gents at some tennis-court in Versailles that started the French Revolution (1789), having small and bigger impacts on every continent?

A more personal revolution saw daylight on this very day, 22 years ago (told to me, years later). A friend of mine was on her Maiden Trip to Paris by touring bus together with, what would become her partner. Both girls decided to ‘come out’ that very warm hot summer’s day. Because of this French National Day, the whole of Paris was getting out of town, leaving the city open for a handful of tourists. As if the River Seine was carrying some pestilence. The bus could get to every wished corner of Paris in a split second, its driver asked if there were requests, it cut like a knife through warm butter (I told you that it was hot). It was as if the centre was locked off for a Bastille Celebration without the Parade, spectators and VIPs (for some reason there was no parade that day).

To make a long story short: those two had a marvellous day! Like a dream! I won’t give names, but she knows about this post. No, I’ll give you a name; on this July 14, 2002, the at the time French president Chirac had a nightmare, he survived an assassination attempt during the official celebration by a gunman walking around with a guitar case. Apparently something else than a guitar was ‘coming out’ of that case! Chirac could go to sleep that night in his own bed, a bit shaky but well. The gunman spent the night in some prison, but it wasn’t the Bastille! Image by Photobucket/soundcheck_2009

Rocks Of Raiders

July 13 is the birthday of Julius Caesar (100BC-44BC) and of Harrison Ford (1942). The first got him self into many a battle and was the only successful Raider of the UK. Surrounded by intrigues all the time. The latter stepped into a few Snake Pits too and had one narrow escape more often. Both were familiar with Lost Arks, Fleets of Ships, Temples of Doom, Empires, Crackin’ Whips and the Dark Side. Not to mention Proxy Princesses (Cleopatra and Leia) not to be fooled with. Both got their position, because some others failed, by murder or refusal. Where Julius envied Alexander the Great for his vast empire, Harrison, aka Han Solo, had his saying in the galaxy. Both have a (perhaps) surprising quality; Julius was a good writer, and Harrison is a trustee of the Archaeological Institute of America. So, he has to retrieve what Julius once looted! Maybe another Indiana Jones film waiting in the sand? Image by Photobucket/russellsbride

Pushing Buttons

July 12, is the birthday of George Eastman (1854-1932) inventor of the Kodak camera and the roll film that brought photography to the common man, and the material for people like Edison and the Lumiere Brothers to come up with the motion picture film. He was also the man of the slogan ‘you press the button, and we do the rest’. And finished his life prematurely with ‘why wait?’ Also the birthday of Pablo Neruda (1904-1979) the poet that pushed ‘buttons’ creating images with words like

Everything on the earth bristled, the bramble

pricked and the green thread

nibbled away, the petal fell, falling

until the only flower was the falling itself.

Water is another matter,

has no direction but its own bright grace,

runs through all imaginable colors,

takes limpid lessons

from stone,

and in those functionings plays out

the unrealized ambitions of the foam.

Both, image and word, brought together in the 1994 film ‘Il Postino’ directed by Michael Redford starring Philippe Noiret as the exiled Pablo Neruda being the only customer and finally the creative Go-Between of the local postman in love played by Massimo Troisi (who postponed heart surgery, to complete the film, died the day after completing, suffering a fatal heart attack…why wait?) Image by Photobucket/n_campos_404

Brisken Baby Bedding

When the Hunt for Baby Bedding Sets begins, and this is likely going to be lightyears ahead before Mom-2-B gets the ultimate kick from her jumpy offspring, a lot of work has to be done in a short span of time! Even if it is still months to go for the final Lift Off! Because that nursery room has to get finished, will be the centre of the house, or maybe the Black Hole, that sucks in everything that comes close enough? With the Mom’s ideas, as jumpy as the baby, going from one nursery theme to the next, she could become a Jekyll and Hyde for the ever-so-hard-trying-Dad. Before he gets used to one idea, he’s surpassed by her fickleness once more. But it’s the very same theme concept itself, that might give them both the second to strap in, if they can come to terms and have muddled through all possibilities! The painting and decorating won’t be that hard. There’s one thing that always amazes me, there seems to be a strict division between what a girl’s and what a boy’s room should look like! Where’s the Fire Fighters Red for a girl? And the Posh Pink for a boy? Babies seem to like all bright colours. Why limit their fun? Role modelling will be their share soon enough! Image by Photobucket/MichiAndra15

Underneath The Cherry Tree

In the German medieval city of Goslar, near Berlin, a dead badger on the road was reported last Wednesday, only for police officers to find out he was very much alive, but also very drunk! Apparently he’d been a Party Animal all night getting in lots of cherries, eaten from a nearby tree! And that had turned into alcohol! In the approved manner of Intoxicated Beings, it fooled around into the middle of the road and refused to budge! And it took a classic approach to get it removed and sent walkies: the use of a broom! Hopefully the wife won’t have a rolling-pin, to finish the job! Happy weekend to you all! Be careful with the Cherry Brandy! Image by Photobucket/crach_whore

Invasion Of Innocents

July 10, 2002, the painting ‘Massacre of the Innocents’ by Rubens was hammered down at the price of 76,7 million dollars at Sotheby’s. Like auctions are programmed and prepared, massacres very often are as well. That’s why I think this is a good moment to remember that on this day in 1995 Serb ‘military’ were loading their guns already, having one more glass of Slivovitz, singing around the campfire, to gun down many innocent men and boys of Screbrenica the next day of July 11. Many (female) survivors are still looking for their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers this very day. Many killers are still on the loose. Many politicians should shame themselves. Image by Photobucket/juthikasaharia

Pieces To Places

Crossing oceans can bring, next to people, things to one continent to another. One of those things is my personal ‘shell-on-the-beach’ while I was writing the recently published Statue of Liberty post (the link that brought me from New York back to the streets of Paris) that the city of Paris was founded on July 8, 951. That’s much younger than I thought. Although there seems to have been a settlement much earlier. In the picture the oldest public piece of Tout Paris (as far as I know), the 3,300 years old Obelisk from Luxor, a donation by the Egyptian viceroy Ali. It took 3 years to get it in Paris (1833), crossing the Mediterranean, you guessed right! Yes, I know I’m one day late; but what’s a difference of one day in 3,300 years? Knowing the Joie de Vivre of Parisians, they won't mind to raise another glass of Chardonnay the next day! Image by Photobucket/AnnieBee08

Too Sad To Swallow

By accident, I ended up the day (or should I say: morning) on a friend’s couch watching the goodbye to Michael J. Normally I wouldn’t have watched this, I’m not a real fan. By the looks of it, what ‘real fans’ are supposed to behave like, I’m relieved not to be one. It seems no-one could escape them in the past days, everywhere I went, I saw glimpses of their teary faces. I don’t mind to show your happyness or sadness to people, but there’s a limit. To fill a whole stadium with grief, looks like mass hysteria to me. I also have noticed his ‘come back’ out of the Blue of Oblivion in the charters these days. Real fans will have his songs for donkey’s years already, so, where were these people coming from downloading like crazy, after his departure? On second thoughts: never mind, I don’t want to know.

Back to the Show that had to go on... when it finally started, it had a very nice intro by the choir. What followed was of such a mediocrity that someone should have said after that: ‘thank you all for coming, remember him’, and drop the curtain! To me it was namedropping. To see old familiar faces struggling on the stage, embarrassing! Not to mention the poor quality of the sound. Or was it the tv-set? A trying hard not-to-get-carried-away Mariah C. who got disturbed by, well, yeah, who was that guy? I gave up after have witnessed Stevie W.’s shaky piano play! Looking next to me, I saw my friend was sleeping already. This piece of American Pie was surely getting to hard to swallow for two asian girls. I hope not to get nightmares, but a dream of a simple ‘New Orleans funeral’ of a one-of-a-kind man! At least, not being a citizen of LA, I won’t have a 4 million dollars hangover! Image by Photobucket/TeCanta

A Swarm Stowes Away

July 7 is a rather typical day in American History. For some reason this day made its troops swarming off to foreign coasts several times. In 1846 during the Mexican-American War, they occupied Monterey and therefor California, till that day Mexican territory. In 1898 they annexed Hawaii. And in 1941 they landed on Iceland. All three were independent states by the time. On two occasions: Hawaii and Iceland, they got backed up with Europeans. To overthrow the reigning Hawaian Queen, and to violate Iceland’s neutrality. There have been some, what’s called, extenuating circumstances in the latter case (to forestall a nazi invasion). But by the book, it was a serious offence all three times. In 1993, an Apology Resolution regarding the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was passed by the Congress and signed by President Clinton, apologizing for it. It’s the first time in American history that the United States government has apologized for overthrowing the legitimate government of a sovereign nation. Image by Photobucket/RobertOak

Candied Currency

July 6, 1785, the dollar was chosen as the USA currency. During the American Civil War it had been the Spanish dollar that backed up the federal economy. The story goes that the Spanish -P- for peso on those green notes and the scribal abbreviation Ps are the reasons that the -S- appeared on the ‘greenbacks’. The color green is still used, and rapper 50 Cent, born on this same day in 1976, was grown up with them and his debut album ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’, showed he (like the buck) also was a member of Da Club of die hards who don’t mind a stab or two. 50 Cent might like the idea to pimp the buck in the way it was done once, with the so-called high-denomination bills, like the 1929 Woodrow Wilson portraited 100,000 dollars orange colored backed banknote? With a today’s value of more than 1,5 million? Unfortunately it was only used for intra-government transactions! Well, it can’t be a Candy Shop all the time! Image by Photobucket/arlington_2005

Shoe Boxed Bikini

‘Oh my goodness, I haven’t seen this picture for donkey’s years!’ ‘Grandma, that’s a bikini, there were no bikini’s when you were that young!’ ‘Oh my sweet silly girl, ofcourse there were!’ ‘And this is really me, I was that age once!’ ‘I can see Tweety, Granny, Tweety is not that old’ ‘Sure he is, he’s older than you, dear’ ‘And I also can remember that folding chair, your great-grandad almost lost one of his fingers once, when it collapsed!’ ‘The cursing and his red hot face, I remember alright, the whole beach got quiet!’ ‘Were you the first one to wear a bikini?’ ‘No, not at all, in fact I know the very day when this got in fashion: it was your great-grandma’s 20th birthday: July 5, 1946, just after the second world war. She told me she got one that day, and this time her face turned red, didn’t have the guts to wear it!’ ‘And that was all the fault of that American woman who said it was suitable for French girls, but not for American ones!’ ‘When she finally braced herself, it didn’t fit her anymore, but maybe that was because my sister Mary was born by then already’... Image by Photobucket/hurricane_027

Double Drums

July 4, is for both countries: the USA (1776) and the Philippines (1946) the day they got wings and could set directions independently. Next to all flags, fireworks and other memoribilia, I have chosen for this picture to celebrate this day, and to wish you all a nice flight and nice weekend! Image by Photobucket/docotmt

Hong Kong, How Long?

One has to sail with the wind, they say. But the past week, those winds haven’t been favorable to me. I couldn’t post the following in time, but here it is anyway. July 1, 1997, is the day that Hong Kong was handed over to China by the British. For 158 years it had been one of the few, if not only gateway for the west to China. Sailing under the partly false colours of free trade, confronted with a Imperial Chinese stronghold of restrictions and a priceless possession of tea, and in return, not having the silver that was in demand in China, they were eager to find such a commodity that would get the silver flow running to China (and being in business themselves), they stumbled upon opium in their colony of India. The British got ground at Fragrant Harbour in 1839, starting the First Opium War. It was with the mass quantities introduced by the British that the drug became prevalent. The Chinese government had largely ignored the problem until the drug had spread widely in Chinese society. So, to some extent, you might say that Hong Kong was beaten and banged into the shape that we know it today by both sides. 

The Tide of Times rolled over its coastline once again; the Japanese occupation in World War II halved its population, and it was the birth of the People Republic of China in 1949 that made its population grow massively again, by all the fugitives getting in from the mainland. The gateway was closed, but not locked, for decades. Today, a few days after Hong Kong having had a small party, the fragrances still hanging around might not be all favorable? How long will it take, before the bad smell will infect Hong Kong’s (internet) connections with the free world? Image by Photobucket/kailakhaos