tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84537755809496482772024-03-14T01:53:17.963-05:00Saturdays ChildJamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.comBlogger183125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-90414837464401318822022-05-22T07:45:00.001-05:002022-05-22T07:48:07.745-05:00A Crow as a Beauty Mark?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TDiZ2kVaO7I/AAAAAAAABR8/IN5sIGJGQ3I/s1600/1913_Mur_as_Follies_Girl_oval.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TDiZ2kVaO7I/AAAAAAAABR8/IN5sIGJGQ3I/s400/1913_Mur_as_Follies_Girl_oval.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492308908323781554" /></a><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">Muriel Window circa 1913-14</center></span>
From <span style="font-style:italic;">The San Antonio Light</span>, 29 Nov 1914:
<center><span style="font-style:italic;">Muriel Window of "The Passing Show [of 1914]",
claims to be the originator of the silhouette
beauty spot fad. It is Miss Window's habit to
wear her favorite bird or animal, regardless
of size, on her cheek. One of Miss Window's
favorites is a crow in repose, the purpose
being, evidently, to keep crow's feet away
from her beautiful eyes. She occasionally
wears a faun on her cheek, the said faun
striving modestly to leap over a mole.</span></center>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 2px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a>
<center><a href="http://saturdayschild-jama.blogspot.com/2010/04/robert-emmett-keane-and-claire-whitney.html">Muriel, the first Mrs. Robert Emmett Keane</a>
<a href="http://saturdayschild-jama.blogspot.com/2010/07/hazel-dawn-as-century-girl.html">
Muriel appeared in "The Century Girl"</a>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a></center>
Have a great day!
<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-83253150959013890462018-06-09T16:00:00.000-05:002019-12-20T11:10:17.266-06:00The Other Tony from Joisy(Originally posted on 24 June 2010)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TCO37rsCdfI/AAAAAAAABQs/dIjjc6Zkizg/s1600/a_bourdainZZZ.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486431007034996210" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TCO37rsCdfI/AAAAAAAABQs/dIjjc6Zkizg/s400/a_bourdainZZZ.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 387px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 240px;" /></a>Can a girl O.D. from binge-watching a long tall drink of water named <b>Tony Bourdain</b> travel the world?<br />
<br />
Thanks to a Netflix membership and dozens of episodes of <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Anthony-Bourdain-No-Reservations-Collection/dp/B000LPS2TU?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000LPS2TU" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span>, I'm doing my level best to find out. Tough assignment, right?<br />
<br />
Yes, I <span style="font-style: italic;">know</span> the wildly popular <span style="font-weight: bold;">Travel Channel</span> program first aired in 2005, but I dumped cable in 2004, so I've only just found this modern-day <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Road-Original-Scroll-Penguin-Classics/dp/0143105469?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Jack Kerouac</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0143105469" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />.<br />
<br />
A blessing in disguise, I'd say. <br />
<br />
Instead of having to wait a week between shows and then go cold turkey at the end of each season, I can follow my new heartthrob from country to country with no interruptions save bathroom breaks and the occasional meal.<br />
<br />
"Occasional" because a good part of each show has Tony chowing down on whatever the locals eat. Since he believes it'd be an insult to his host to refuse any dish set before him, "if you're offered puppy heads, you eat puppy heads". <br />
<br />
I haven't come across that particular episode yet, but seeing him consume similar Third World "delicacies" <span style="font-style: italic;">did</span> ruin my appetite on more than one occasion. <br />
<br />
That said, other than having an iron stomach, the constitution of a 20-year-old, and an insatiable curiosity about cultures different from his own, Tony Bourdain is just a down-to-earth "regular guy" from New Jersey who for 28 years was the head chef of several New York City restaurants. <br />
<br />
The 15- and 16-hour shifts ended after his witty expose of the culinary world called <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Confidential-Adventures-Underbelly-HARDCOVER/dp/B002YJUC8A?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002YJUC8A" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span> became an immediate best-seller and led to his first food-travel show on the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Food Network</span>, which in turn led to a much better deal at the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Travel Channel</span> in 2005. <br />
<br />
Eight more books followed, including <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cooks-Tour-Adventures-Extreme-Cuisines/dp/0060012781?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">A Cook's Tour</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0060012781" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span>, <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nasty-Bits-Collected-Varietal-Usable/dp/1596913606?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Nasty Bits</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1596913606" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span>, <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/No-Reservations-Around-World-Stomach/dp/1596914475?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1596914475" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span>, and his latest (the sequel to <span style="font-style: italic;">Kitchen Confidential</span>), <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Medium-Raw-Bloody-Valentine-People/dp/0061718947?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0061718947" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span>. <br />
<br />
"Cooking professionally was work, but writing isn't", he told an interviewer, and admitted to feeling somewhat guilty that it isn't. <br />
<br />
He'll lambaste the show's producer onscreen for picking less-than-ideal locations, but in reality Tony and the crew brainstorm where to go and when, then it's up to the producer to make it happen.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TCO8iYcQj4I/AAAAAAAABQ0/_7IioXv4V6Y/s1600/a_bourdain_cafe.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486436069929947010" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TCO8iYcQj4I/AAAAAAAABQ0/_7IioXv4V6Y/s400/a_bourdain_cafe.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 369px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 363px;" /></a><br />
<center>Photo credit: Travel Channel</center><br />
In 2007, Tony became hands down <span style="font-style: italic;">the</span> sexiest 50-year-old first-time dad on the planet. One who has <span style="font-style: italic;">no problem</span> keeping up with a 3-yr-old when he isn't off in some exotic location filming NR, or promoting a book or the show, trips that keep him on the road for ten months a year. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Once filming begins, things don't always go as planned</span>. <br />
<br />
In July 2006, Israel invaded Lebanon the day after Tony and crew arrived in Beirut, forcing them to take refuge in the Royal Hotel on a hill miles from, but within sight and hearing of, the non-stop bombing across town in South Beirut. <br />
<br />
It would be weeks before U.S. Marines from the aircraft carrier <span style="font-style: italic;">USS Nashville</span> would evacuate them. With nothing in the can but a meal in one restaurant the day they arrived and no possibility of leaving the hotel for more, Tony had the bright idea to film the war from <i>their</i> vantage point high above the city, along with interviews of other stranded guests, and eventually their own evacuation. And so they did, footage that became an <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Anthony-Bourdain-Reservations-Season-Episode/dp/B000NVL7VW?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">NR special episode</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000NVL7VW" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> which received an Emmy Nomination in 2007 for Outstanding Informational Programming. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TCQklsx81_I/AAAAAAAABQ8/1MLcQY16oSc/s1600/a_bourdain_mntntop.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486550476138534898" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TCQklsx81_I/AAAAAAAABQ8/1MLcQY16oSc/s400/a_bourdain_mntntop.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 214px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 290px;" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Anthony-Bourdain-Reservations-Episode-Iceland/dp/B000KGGN7S?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Iceland</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000KGGN7S" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> (right) was another episode that didn't pan out as Tony envisioned. In Iceland's defense, it's a beautiful place for a country picnic <i>in the summer</i> but not in January! <center><br />
See also:<br />
A restaurant Tony highly recommends: <br />
<a href="http://www.frenchlaundry.com/">The French Laundry</a>, Yountville CA<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Anthony_Bourdain">No Reservation's website and Tony's blog</a><br />
<br />
<bold>Rest in peace, Tony</bold></center><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 3px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-71461372602509094852018-03-03T10:42:00.000-06:002018-06-09T16:45:34.444-05:00Flea Market * Saturday - It's March Already!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0"></a><br />
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SsciZtNEKxI/AAAAAAAAA7A/sT7aiVn034U/s1600-h/Lamb_prodigal.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SsciZtNEKxI/AAAAAAAAA7A/sT7aiVn034U/s400/Lamb_prodigal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388313304198556434"></a>Brits transplanted to the U.S. pining for the delicate English or Welsh lamb, pine no more! Even Americans who've never been abroad can find out for themselves why Brits talk about lamb with a certain reverence. Soaking tough, gamey American lamb in a brine solution transforms it into a sweet, succulent facsimile of the young, tender lamb Brits remember so well.<br />
<br />
Let the lamb sit for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours in the refrigerator for the best results. Go to <a href="http://www.sheknows.com/recipes/lamb-brine-marinade">SheKnows</a> for Lamb Brine Marinade recipe and detailed instructions.<br />
<br />
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0"><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SsciZtNEKxI/AAAAAAAAA7A/sT7aiVn034U/s1600-h/Lamb_prodigal.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 260px; height: 195px;" src="https://theaesthetecooks.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/tve6984-6-4641.gif?w=260&h=195" /></a> <br />
While we're on the subject of Brit disdain for certain foodstuffs in the U.S., there's a scene in the Joan Hickson version of <span style="font-weight:bold;"></a>At Bertram's Hotel</span> in which Jane Marple and her friend Selena Hazy are poo-pooing American muffins during afternoon tea in the hotel lobby. The waiter appears and inquires if they'd care for seed cake, to which Miss Marple replies, "<span style="font-style:italic;">Real</span> seed cake?". <br />
<br />
(Above pic of "Lady Selena Hazy" from "Tea with Miss Marple" at <a href="https://theaesthetecooks.wordpress.com/2010/03/27/tea-with-miss-marple-1/">The Aesthete Cooks</a>)<br />
<br />
So what is "real" seed cake? Seed cake goes way back in British history but was very poular in Victorian times and would've been a staple in cookbooks of the time. See recipes at <a href="https://theaesthetecooks.wordpress.com/2010/03/27/tea-with-miss-marple-1/">The Aesthete Cooks</a> and Marie Rayner's blog <a href="https://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com/2016/03/traditional-seed-cake.html">The English Kitchen</a>. Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0"></a><br />
Have a great day!<br />
<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="https://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-1617675796400726352017-12-02T05:49:00.000-06:002018-03-03T09:10:35.744-06:00Monday Mishmash: Family Trees<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SxQOupsAzjI/AAAAAAAABBs/tfO9pVtFmZg/s1600/fuzzy_family.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 361px; height: 400px;" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SxQOupsAzjI/AAAAAAAABBs/tfO9pVtFmZg/s400/fuzzy_family.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409965247006035506" border="0"></a><center>How many of us remember Christmases Past.<br />
<br />
Fuzzy, out of focus. A blur of faces at Grandma's or <br />
Uncle Frank's, none wearing name tags to identify <br />
where they belonged on the family tree.</center><br />
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />
Have a great day!<br />
<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-2452406099583416082015-08-29T02:35:00.000-05:002018-03-03T11:21:33.123-06:00Flea Market * Saturday: Quirky Old Favorite UpdatedIn a long ago post, I told you about a decidedly <span style="font-style: italic;">quirky</span> bookshop located next to a millpond in Cromford, Derbyshire, called <a href="http://www.scarthinbooks.com">Scarthin Books</a>, which claimed to be "Britain's most enjoyable Bookshop".<br />
<br />
Also, that besides new and used books for all ages, it offered rare and antique tomes, and that its <a href="http://www.scarthinbooks.com/scarthin-cafe/cafe-menu-scarthinbookshop-cromford-derbyshire/<span style="font-weight: bold;">Cafe Philosophique</span></a> offered food for the mind as well as the body. After exploring the site, I heartily agreed!<br />
<br />
Well, it's still most decidedly quirky, it's still next to a millpond in Cromford, and it still offers new and used books for all ages as well as rare and antique books. Plus, its Cafe Philosophique still offers food for the mind as well as the body, and Scarthin Books can <i>still</i> claim to be "Britain's most enjoyable Bookshop". <br />
<br />
Have a great day!<br />
<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmP1aAlQsKI/AAAAAAAAAnc/UkUE0r0UspM/s1600-h/divider2.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360397808682709154" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmP1aAlQsKI/AAAAAAAAAnc/UkUE0r0UspM/s400/divider2.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 3px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;"></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-36764245412012581092012-09-17T01:57:00.000-05:002013-02-09T16:05:52.163-06:00Monday Mishmash: Wry-on-Wye<center>
(Hope you won't mind me recycling this post from 2009. <br />
I discovered some of the links no longer worked, so <br />
after updating them, I tweaked a few things, too.)</center>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/Srb-FFOPt8I/AAAAAAAAAzo/Wfl1nhcNVes/s1600-h/travel_bookshop2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383769767822735298" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/Srb-FFOPt8I/AAAAAAAAAzo/Wfl1nhcNVes/s400/travel_bookshop2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 286px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<center>
Although <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cranbourne Books & Stamps</span> looks like<br />
it's at the seashore, this travel bookshop is actually by<br />
the clocktower in land-locked Hay-on-Wye (below).<br />
(Photo from <a href="http://www.stayinwales.co.uk/wales_picture.cfm?p=3343"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.stayinwales.co.uk</span></a>)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/Srbt-H8lAKI/AAAAAAAAAzY/ruKlP8FdgiE/s1600-h/hayonwye_from_afar.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383752056108810402" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/Srbt-H8lAKI/AAAAAAAAAzY/ruKlP8FdgiE/s400/hayonwye_from_afar.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 261px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 425px;" /></a>Inhabitants of the British Isles have long been known for their<br />
eccentric ways, a wry sense of humor, and a love of books.<br />
It should come as no surprise then that this picturesque<br />
Welsh village just over the border from Herefordshire<br />
is not only the <span style="font-weight: bold;">book capitol of the world</span>,<br />
but the home of a <span style="font-weight: bold;">yarn bomber</span>.<br />
(More about <i>her</i> later!)</center>
<br />
Before 1960, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hay-on-Wye</span>'s main claim to fame was its nearness to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Clyro</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Baskerville Hall</span>, which inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's masterpiece, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Hound of the Baskervilles</span>. Despite Conan Doyle placing his real-life friends' home in Devonshire instead of Wales, Sherlock Holmes fans (naturally) had <span style="font-style: italic;">no</span> problem discovering its true location.<br />
<br />
Then Oxford graduate Richard Booth opened a bookshop and set out to turn Hay, his new home on the River Wye, into the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Book Capitol of the World</span>. As far as bibliophiles are concerned, he has succeeded admirably.<br />
<br />
Today, Hay-on-Wye has around 40 bookshops, meaning this tiny village has more bookshops <span style="font-style: italic;">per capita</span> than any other town or city in the world. The main fare is second-hand books, but a surprising number of first editions in mint condition are also on offer. And Hay's inhabitants and visitors <span style="font-style: italic;">never</span> worry about running out of reading material because some shops remain open 24/7. Book addict heaven!<br />
<br />
According to John aka Silversprite in <a href="http://www.wordshore.com/?p=263">Hay-on-Wye: Beyond the Long Tail</a><br />
<center>
<blockquote>
"<i>Useful though amazon.com is, where it fails, Hay-on-Wye fills the gap. <br />
Obscure book? Book published in 1933 that Amazon says is “Unavailable”? <br />
They’re probably sitting on a shelf in Hay-on-Wye. <u><b>Somewhere</b></u>. <br />
And here’s the thing – there’s no instant look-up online of where that<br />
book is on the shelf. You have to go hunt, and that is part of the fun</i>."</blockquote>
(Hunting also means a busy post office, patronized by non-locals shipping<br />
to themselves and friends the other books they couldn't resist buying <br />
while searching for <i>the one</i> that <i>might</i> be in the stacks!) <br />
</center>
<br />
Naturally there are niche shops. <br />
<br />
Cranbourne Books & Stamps, of course, specializes in books relating to travel.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/Srd0J9T34PI/AAAAAAAAAz4/4obOpqzunFs/s1600-h/murdermayhem.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383899593970278642" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/Srd0J9T34PI/AAAAAAAAAz4/4obOpqzunFs/s400/murdermayhem.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 198px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 162px;" /></a>But as a fan of mysteries and detective novels, Yours Truly would make a beeline for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Murder & Mayhem at 5 Lion St</span>., especially after seeing David Ian Wilson's photo at left.<br />
<br />
To see the ghost on the shop's door, click on the photo, but be forewarned there are more of David's <a href="http://www.panoramio.com/photo/21550106">wonderful shots of Hay-on-Wye at Panoramio</a> (and a nice map, too.)<br />
<br />
Book lovers arrive in droves the year round, but for two weeks each year at the end of May, Hay's usual population of 1900 swells to around 80,000 when the area becomes the scene of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/guardian-hay-festival"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Guardian's</span> Literary Festival</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ssCCCrgpncg/SpOo6SMtO2I/AAAAAAAABVs/XSbkA0ckj-M/s320/IMG_8002.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ssCCCrgpncg/SpOo6SMtO2I/AAAAAAAABVs/XSbkA0ckj-M/s320/IMG_8002.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 240px;" /></a>Oh, right...<br />
<br />
The <span style="font-style: italic;">yarn bomber</span>.<br />
<br />
She lives in Hay-on-Wye and secretly "bombs" the town with crocheted flowers and other items like yarn leaves that nearly match the color of a tree trunk. Those she hangs low so they'll be less visible to adults but not to children, who she says 'are more aware of the things around them'.<br />
<br />
Her blog, <a href="http://yarn-craft-revival.blogspot.com/">Yarn Bombing Hay-on-Wye</a>, is a warm and fuzzy look at Hay-on-Wye that you won't find in tourism brochures.<br />
<br />
Think <span style="font-style: italic;">local beautification project</span>.<br />
<br />
Spreading smiles and goodwill. <br />
<br />
Nothing "eccentric" about that. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 3px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 250px;" /></a><br />
You might also find these links about Hay-on-Wye of interest:<br />
<br />
~ <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/united-kingdom/totally-booked-out/2006/02/22/1140284098144.html">Totally Booked Out</a> (2006)<br />
<br />
~ <a href="http://www.baskervillehall.co.uk/">Baskerville Hall Hotel in Clyro Court</a><br />
<br />
~ <a href="http://mandox.blogspot.com/2006/09/murder-mayhem-bookshop-hay-on-wye.html">Murder and Mayhem Bookshop</a> by Mandrake<br />
<br />
~ <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/united-kingdom/some-welsh-rare-bits/2008/04/16/1208025250994.html">Australian Carol Middleton's visit to Hay-on-Wye</a> (2008)<br />
<br />
~ <a href="http://www.wordshore.com/?p=263">Hay-on-Wye: Beyond the Long Tail</a> by John aka Silversprite<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 3px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 250px;" /></a><br />
Have a great week!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://tinypic.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" /></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-88607837796713671792012-05-07T05:21:00.004-05:002018-03-03T09:30:52.997-06:00Carson Vorhes CONN: A Cold Case Solved<center>Ever since I can remember, I've loved puzzles. <br />
More accurately, the thrill and satisfaction <br />
that comes from <span style="font-style: italic;">solving</span> them.<br />
<br />
Jigsaw and crossword puzzles? <br />
The bigger the better.<br />
<br />
Tangled necklace chains? <br />
Piece of cake.<br />
<br />
No surprise then I would apply the same <br />
passion to locating long-dead relatives.</center><br />
Genealogy (or the less-scholarly sounding "family history") is like cocaine. One is either addicted to it or has absolutely <span style="font-style: italic;">no</span> interest in it. Like being pregnant. You either <i>are</i> or you <i>aren't</i>. No sorta, kinda, or maybe.<br />
<br />
At a social gathering, it's easy to determine who is and who isn't a genie simply by dropping the word "ancestors" into a conversation and noting whose eyes glaze over and whose light up.<br />
<br />
The non-afflicted will suddenly announce there's someone across the room they "absolutely <span style="font-style: italic;">must</span> say hello to" and make a hasty retreat. Genies, on the other hand, will move <i>closer</i>. <br />
<br />
You see, unlike with coke or alcohol, there's no such thing as an <i>ex</i>-genie addict or a <i>recovering</i> genie-holic. And <span style="font-style: italic;">definitely</span> no 12-step Genealogy Anonymous! Might as well hand the key to the wine cellar to a bunch of winos...<br />
<br />
Even without laptops, notebooks, purses, or writing instruments of any kind, it's a given that ten minutes into a GA meeting (if they existed), each person present would know how they or a friend or a neighbor was even remotely related to every other person in the room. Genies were experts at Kevin Bacon's "six degrees of separation" long before he was a sparkle in his father's eye.<br />
<br />
Genies and cold case detectives have <i>much</i> in common when it comes to finding elusive ancestors. Both are starting with facts and impressions recorded by others. The only difference is a cold case may only be decades old, whereas an ancestor may've died a hundred or more years ago. But both have much in common when Fate or diligent legwork finally delivers the piece of the puzzle that solves an "unsolvable" case.<br />
<br />
And so it was, after 20-some years of fruitless and frustrating searching for "Vorhes" CONN, youngest child of my 2nd great-grandparents Hezekiah and Lucinda (KENNARD) Conn, I <i>finally</i> learned Vorhes was his <i>middle</i> name. <br />
<br />
His first name was <u>Carson</u>!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://s538.photobucket.com/albums/ff345/MsMinx08/Happy%20Dance/?action=view&current=snoopyDance.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Snoopy Dance" src="https://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff345/MsMinx08/Happy%20Dance/snoopyDance.gif" border="0"></a><a href="http://s538.photobucket.com/albums/ff345/MsMinx08/Happy%20Dance/?action=view&current=thgrannydance3zn.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Granny Dance" src="https://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff345/MsMinx08/Happy%20Dance/thgrannydance3zn.gif" border="0"></a></div><br />
Once I had this key piece of information, everything else fell into place.<br />
<br />
In 1898 <i>Carson</i> married (as his second wife) "Carrie S." and that year or the next they had a child, gender unknown. Sadly, the child had died before the 1900 census, and they had no other children.<br />
<br />
Carrie, born in Indiana in Aug 1867, died somewhere in Montana on 22 Sep 1918. In 1930, "Vorhes" owned and operated a berry farm in Bass Brook Twp, Itasca Co, Minnesota, but died in Carlton Co, MN on 17 Sep 1942.<br />
<br />
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />
Have a great day!<br />
<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-903527953379801852012-05-03T20:49:00.000-05:002012-08-01T12:56:26.259-05:00Thursday Drive: the Flint Hills of Kansas<center><object height="295" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tgnCfmNym7k&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tgnCfmNym7k&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="295" width="480"></embed></object><br /><br />There's a lot more in "them thar [Flint] Hills"<br />than Interstate 70 or the Kansas Turnpike!<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" style="display: block; height: 3px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 250px;" border="0" /></a></center>Have a great day!<br /><a href="http://tinypic.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-84766641542091845272012-05-01T16:59:00.002-05:002012-05-11T03:06:06.202-05:00TombstoneTues: NULL But Not Voided<center><b>A misspelling of the family name KNULL?</b><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lS-aaX0FAI0/T6mOAbrfvoI/AAAAAAAABXQ/GkhimoY1rgA/s1600/100_0082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lS-aaX0FAI0/T6mOAbrfvoI/AAAAAAAABXQ/GkhimoY1rgA/s320/100_0082.JPG" border="0" height="266" width="500" /></a><br />Photographed at Tecumseh Cemetery, north of Tecumseh, OK.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A7RO7RIZ60U/T6mOIQIKxWI/AAAAAAAABXY/cBpNv9A3z_E/s1600/100_0084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A7RO7RIZ60U/T6mOIQIKxWI/AAAAAAAABXY/cBpNv9A3z_E/s320/100_0084.JPG" border="0" height="164" width="400" /></a><br />William KNULL's nearby stone appears to be the correct spelling.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 3px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" border="0" /></a> </center><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SlMRxUEPXzI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/OFBqTv4nlkA/s1600-h/HAPPY_TT.png"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355643920771407666" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SlMRxUEPXzI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/OFBqTv4nlkA/s400/HAPPY_TT.png" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 252px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://tinypic.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><center><a href="http://www.geneabloggers.com/tombstone-tuesday/">Tombstone Tuesday is sponsored by GeneaBloggers</a></center>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-64290858853294867492011-08-09T18:02:00.005-05:002012-05-08T16:56:21.680-05:00TombstoneTues: Who's Buried in YOUR Backyard?<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XUi432I9clo/TkGOtLANSfI/AAAAAAAAACE/2MRx58eA_40/s320/DSC_0093.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XUi432I9clo/TkGOtLANSfI/AAAAAAAAACE/2MRx58eA_40/s320/DSC_0093.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 214px;" /></a>Cinamon Collins' latest <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tombstone Tuesday</span> post at <a href="http://misadventuresofagenealogist.blogspot.com/">(Mis)Adventures of a Genealogist</a> is a humorous reminder of how easily one can overlook a possibly long-lost ancestor in one's own neighborhood. <br />
<br />
GUNTER is one of the many lines Cinamon has been researching for years. One day her husband jumped on his bike to make an ice cream run...and came back with <a href="http://misadventuresofagenealogist.blogspot.com/2011/08/tombstone-tuesday-felix-gunter.html">photos of the tombstone of a Gunter she'd never heard of</a>, spotted while passing a small cemetery near their home that she'd never bothered to explore. <br />
<br />
(The photo here is one of a pair in Cinamon's <a href="http://misadventuresofagenealogist.blogspot.com/2011/08/tombstone-tuesday-felix-gunter.html">Tombstone Tuesday-Felix Gunter</a> post. The other is a close-up of the inscription.) <br />
<br />
Cinamon doesn't know yet if the long-dead Felix is one of her Gunters, but <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> flabbergasted that she wasn't aware of a Gunter buried "practically in her own backyard". But her post reminded me that my mother's Only Other Child was...and <span style="font-style: italic;">still</span> is, for all I know...similarly oblivious. For much different reasons... <br />
<br />
For 40+ years, MOC (Mother's Other Child) has lived just outside the town where our SACK great-grandparents are buried under a large, elaborately engraved stone <span style="font-style: italic;">only a few rows</span> from where he's been attending annual Memorial Day and Veterans' Day ceremonies <span style="font-style: italic;">in addition to</span> the graveside services of recently departed locals. <br />
<br />
Knowing he inherited most of his genes from the side of the family that's never been at all curious about family history <span style="font-style: italic;">unless</span> it involves a <span style="font-style: italic;">very</span> famous or highly-decorated ancestor (or an unclaimed fortune), I'm not the least bit surprised that even his own last name at eye level on a large tombstone escaped his attention. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcMWulaesI/AAAAAAAAAoE/MTD8I5TQCRo/s1600-h/SACK_John_Zerelda2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361267466009475778" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcMWulaesI/AAAAAAAAAoE/MTD8I5TQCRo/s400/SACK_John_Zerelda2.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 205px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 384px;" /></a><br />
<center>The SACK stone is at least 6 feet tall, <span style="font-style: italic;">much</span> bigger <br />
than it looks here. This was taken <span style="font-style: italic;">from the road</span>.</center> <br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcMzB79AUI/AAAAAAAAAoM/LGS_O6k2icA/s1600-h/SACK_John_Zereida3.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361267952240623938" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcMzB79AUI/AAAAAAAAAoM/LGS_O6k2icA/s400/SACK_John_Zereida3.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 226px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<center>(Both photos above made by the author on 12 May 2007.)</center> <br />
Another nail in MOC's coffin...if you'll excuse the pun...is that SACK is <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> a common name in those parts, so I seriously doubt the possible connection has escaped the more curious citizens he inevitably comes in contact with at the feed store and the local cafe. <br />
<br />
Nor, small town life being what it is, can I imagine he hasn't been asked numerous times if he's related to the couple buried under the SACK stone. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/Smbnr5SLARI/AAAAAAAAAn0/1ZHfRtyOzDs/s1600-h/SACK_John_Zer.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361227147728584978" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/Smbnr5SLARI/AAAAAAAAAn0/1ZHfRtyOzDs/s400/SACK_John_Zer.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 383px; http: //www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif text-align:center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 298px;" /></a><br />
<center><span style="font-weight: bold;">~ <a href="http://saturdayschild-jama.blogspot.com/2009/07/tombstone-tuesday-finding-john-and.html">John L. & Zerilda Jane (Conn) SACK</a> ~</span> <br />
Oakwood Cemetery, Baldwin City, Douglas Co, KS. <br />
(Photo made by the author on 12 May 2007)</center><center> </center> <br />
I don't know, of course, how he replies to such queries, but I <span style="font-style: italic;">can</span> tell you he's never once mentioned the existence of the tombstone to me, or to anyone else in the family who might pass this tidbit along. <br />
<br />
The upshot being I searched in vain for John and Zerilda's grave(s) for well over 20 years in towns and cemeteries hundreds of miles away. If not for an unexpected entry in the 1900 census, I might <span style="font-style: italic;">still</span> be looking for it! <br />
<br />
<br />
<center><a href="http://saturdayschild-jama.blogspot.com/2009/07/tombstone-tuesday-finding-john-and.html">How I finally found John and Zerilda's tombstone.</a></center> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 3px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a> <br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SlMRxUEPXzI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/OFBqTv4nlkA/s1600-h/HAPPY_TT.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355643920771407666" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SlMRxUEPXzI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/OFBqTv4nlkA/s400/HAPPY_TT.png" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 252px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a> <br />
<a href="http://tinypic.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<center><a href="http://www.geneabloggers.com/tombstone-tuesday/">Tombstone Tuesday is sponsored by GeneaBloggers</a></center>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-25580736747473392182011-07-13T14:21:00.003-05:002018-03-03T09:08:42.094-06:00Nuns Wear Hose and Heels??<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oo-Dijemolg/TidVeXOjzcI/AAAAAAAABV8/_IMVbXBUfPY/s1600/nuns_on_barstools.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 480px; height: 360px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oo-Dijemolg/TidVeXOjzcI/AAAAAAAABV8/_IMVbXBUfPY/s400/nuns_on_barstools.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631563839169613250" /></a><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">Well, of course they don't, silly! They're <span style="font-style:italic;">nuns</span>!</span><br />
<br />
But you can't help but appreciate the imagination that went into those <br />
bar stools, and (unless it was staged) the luck of the photographer.<br />
<br />
(This photo came to me in an email, so my <br />
sincere apologies for not properly attributing it.)</center><br />
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />
Have a great day!<br />
<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-25306873936519467662011-07-13T04:45:00.002-05:002011-07-20T17:15:27.199-05:00Wordless Wednesday: Say What?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZxI4uy6BP7k/TidNOchDAtI/AAAAAAAABV0/Gqb1LUYKqd8/s1600/HowNotToCarveAXXTombstone.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 388px; height: 464px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZxI4uy6BP7k/TidNOchDAtI/AAAAAAAABV0/Gqb1LUYKqd8/s400/HowNotToCarveAXXTombstone.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631554769618404050" /></a><center>Apparently this stone carver's skills didn't include spelling,<br />punctuation OR working out the spacing on paper first!<br /><br />It reads (and I quote):<br />"IN MEMORY. OF<br />joseph M. Buch.<br />anan .was Born.<br />aprile.the.9.1827<br />was killed BY<br />Confederates.<br />Mrach.the.5 1864<br />whilst.in.the.<br />service of. the<br />natianal.armey<br />as.a Recruiting<br />Officer"<br /><br />Many thanks to <a href="http://www.panoramio.com/user/3929435?with_photo_id=29734262">Fastalkr</a> for sharing <br />this <span style="font-style:italic;">fine</span> example of how NOT to carve a tombstone <br />at <a href="http://www.panoramio.com/photo/29734262">Panoramio - Photo of Civil War Tombstone</a></center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />Have a great day!<br /><br /><a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-31579669256526258912011-07-12T02:45:00.011-05:002011-07-20T16:44:09.778-05:00A Tale of Two Traveling Tombstones<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sf_7TsAyNW4/TiWHbQwdQAI/AAAAAAAABVk/pbLaVJtQfhM/s1600/BringingItHome.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 264px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sf_7TsAyNW4/TiWHbQwdQAI/AAAAAAAABVk/pbLaVJtQfhM/s400/BringingItHome.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631055811521101826" /></a>In <a href="http://www.lib.niu.edu/2000/ihfa0012.html">The Lost Tombstone</a>, Dennis L. Davenport recounts how the long-lost grave marker of Civil War soldier J. Milton Carr was finally returned to its rightful place in a cemetery at Columbia IL, 10 miles from the St. Louis backyard in which it was discovered on November 22, 1996. <br /><br />That's Dennis and a friend in the photo at right, unloading Carr's stone at the cemetery. Definitely not the time to have to sneeze or scratch an itch!<br /><br /><center>"<span style="font-style:italic;">No one knew how it got there</span>," he writes, "<span style="font-style:italic;">or how long it <br />was lying in the brush. Dirty, worn, and with the lower left <br />corner broken away, the St. Louis County Police Department<br /> seized the tombstone and held it as found property</span>."</center><br />It's a given that vandals removed it from the cemetery where Pvt. Carr had been lovingly laid to rest in the winter of 1861, and that they did so before January 1, 1939, the date someone - a member of Carr's family, most likely - ordered a replacement from the War Department. <br /><br />The second stone, Davenport soon learned, had been duly delivered to the cemetery and installed on Carr's grave. However, he doesn't say mention its fate after he convinced the Palmier Cemetery Commission that the intricately carved stone originally purchased by the family should replace the War Dept's much plainer replacement!<br /><br />Remember, this was when the internet was still thought to be a passing fad, not the instant access to genealogical information it is now. So Dennis and anyone else who assisted him in finding the location of Pvt. Carr's grave get a huge round of applause for the hard work and man hours that went into doing it the old-fashioned way!<br /><br />We'll probably never know if the backyard in St. Louis was the only location Carr's original tombstone languished until its journey back to Palmier Cemetery began in earnest in 1996.<br /><br /><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">The same can't be said of the tombstone<br /> of Civil War soldier William Lee Lyon. <br />I personally have knowledge of some <br />- but only <span style="font-style:italic;">some</span> - of its travels!</span></center><br />Lyon was born in 1839 in Ohio, but in 1854, when Kansas Territory was officially opened to white settlers, his anti-slavery father moved the family to Lawrence. <br /><br />Thus it was from there on 8 April 1862 that 22-year-old William enlisted in the 9th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, Company B. At that time, the 9th was only 11 days old, having been formed at Fort Leavenworth on March 27th by consolidating several units originally intended for other regiments. <br /><br />Alas, Pvt. Lyon was destined never to "see the elephant" (a euphemism for participating in battle). By the time the 9th received its first marching orders in June, he'd been laid to rest in the Lyon family cemetery west of Lawrence, cut down on April 22nd in Atchison KS not by a Confederate bullet, but by <span style="font-style:italic;">pneumonia</span>, exactly two weeks after enlisting. <br /><br />Like J. Milton Carr's family, the Lyons purchased a stone befitting a fallen soldier. At 300 lbs, it's quite similar in size, shape and thin-ness to the one Dennis Davenport and friend are wrestling out of the back of that car in the photo at the beginning of this post. <br /><br />I mention it's not as thick as most stones of that era only because the friends who had it at three different homes over a period of 20 years or so always marveled that it wasn't as fragile as it looked.<br /><br />Their first home in Lawrence was in a brand new subdivision at what was then the west edge of town, but miles from the Lyon family cemetery. Nobody ever knew how William Lyon's tombstone came to be on the creek bank at the end of their street, but that's where their grade school-age children found it, and with the help of neighbor kids, hauled it home in a little red wagon and propped it up against the back of the house. <br /><br />And that's where it stayed until they moved it to a different house years later. And to another one after that! <br /><br /><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">Why would anybody in their right mind, you ask, <br />not only <span style="font-style:italic;">keep</span> but (twice!) <span style="font-style:italic;">move</span> a 300 lb tombstone<br />of a CW soldier who's no relation to them?</span></center> <br />Because at first, being new to the area, they didn't have a clue who to call to find out where it came from, and by the time they did, it'd become a member of the family. Something about it, the mother said, made it feel like an extra pair of eyes when the kids were playing in the back yard, and because it "glowed" in the moonlight, she suspected it scared off would-be burglars too. They did finally leave it behind when they moved back to Lawrence from a farm a few miles north of Tonganoxie.<br /><br />But I knew nothing of this until April 11th, 1999, when the mother called and screamed "<span style="font-style:italic;">It's in the paper! Our tombstone is in tonight's paper!</span>". <br /><br />That would be the <a href="http://www2.ljworld.com/news/1999/apr/11/s_marker_mystery_solved/">story in the Lawrence Journal-World</a> reporting that Nancy and Bud Younger, the couple who'd owned the farm for the last 11 years, had finally located the cemetery where William Lee Lyon is buried and that they were <a href="http://www2.ljworld.com/news/1999/apr/13/s_marker_returns_home/">making arrangements to return the stone</a>. And just as my friends did, they too felt it had become a member of the family...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">All well and good, but...</span> <br /><br />The article said "<span style="font-style:italic;">The Youngers still don't know how the marker ended up near Tonganoxie</span>". Well, as far as I know, they <span style="font-style:italic;">still don't</span>...unless they stumble across this post.<br /><br />I intended to include a photo of Lyon's Traveling Tombstone, but would you believe there are none anywhere on the internet? Not even the photos that accompanied the newspaper articles from 1999! Never fear...I clipped those articles and as soon as I find the box they're hiding in, I'll share the pics here. <br /><br />A local TV station interviewed a Lyon-Wood relative who was adamant that this would <span style="font-style:italic;">absolutely</span> be the <span style="font-style:italic;">last</span> time the stone would have to be returned, because the family was having it set in concrete. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">With all due respect, I think they wasted their money.</span> <br /><br />William Lee Lyon was in the prime of life when he arrived at Fort Leavenworth, expecting a bit of adventure as a soldier before returning home to settle down, raise a family, and farm a piece of land in Douglas County. Pneumonia may have ended the farming and having children of his own, but I can't help but think it doesn't keep his spirit from going wherever the tombstone goes or that he never wanted to be stuck for eternity in that little country cemetery, so no one should be surprised when the tombstone goes missing again, as I'm absolutely sure it <span style="font-style:italic;">will</span>. <br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />Read the <a href="http://www.lib.niu.edu/2000/ihfa0012.html">complete account of The Lost Tombstone</a><br />by Dennis L. Davenport</center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SlMRxUEPXzI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/OFBqTv4nlkA/s1600-h/HAPPY_TT.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 252px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SlMRxUEPXzI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/OFBqTv4nlkA/s400/HAPPY_TT.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355643920771407666" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://tinypic.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a><br /><center><a href="http://www.geneabloggers.com/tombstone-tuesday/">Tombstone Tuesday is sponsored by GeneaBloggers</a></center>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-88886268454080148292011-07-05T16:24:00.023-05:002011-07-15T22:18:32.145-05:00She's Got A Ticket To RYDE...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xa4XQ0PjXDM/Th35FAy_d7I/AAAAAAAABUI/QoIfL7PqsWM/s1600/Ryde_Pier_head.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 460px; height: 211px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xa4XQ0PjXDM/Th35FAy_d7I/AAAAAAAABUI/QoIfL7PqsWM/s400/Ryde_Pier_head.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628928973791524786" /></a><center>Toward the far end of Ryde Pier, Isle of Wight, England.<br />Sign says "No Parking - No Fishing - No Swimming".<br />The wake is from a Wightlink passenger ferry just<br />arrived from or going back to Portsmouth on the<br />mainland, the land mass on the horizon.<br /><br />(NOTE: Unless otherwise attributed, all images in this post <br />were made by, and therefore the property of, the author.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a></center> <br />Something about a heat wave with no foreseeable end makes me want to look at water. Lots of water. With the mercury hovering at 105 or so, no way am I leaving the house to drive to any lake. Instead, I dug out the photos of my trip to England in 2003, settled back in the AC, and wandered down Memory Lane. The new banner (<span style="font-style:italic;">sans</span> Yours Truly as a baby...sorry...or in a hat) is the result.<br /><br />After six days of sight-seeing in London, I reluctantly left what had become my favorite city in the world and boarded a train from Waterloo Station to Portsmouth on the southern coast. Specifically Portsmouth <span style="font-style:italic;">Harbour</span>, from which a Wightlink passenger ferry carried me to Ryde on the Isle of Wight. <br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YXJUTPczBj4/ThzHho-JrdI/AAAAAAAABT4/UMtaH5jvRo4/s1600/ticket_to_ryde.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 370px; height: 230px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YXJUTPczBj4/ThzHho-JrdI/AAAAAAAABT4/UMtaH5jvRo4/s400/ticket_to_ryde.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628593015053987282" /></a>My ticket to Ryde, with combined train and ferry fares, <br />always brings to mind the Beatles' song "Ticket To Ride"<br />from which the title of this post is (loosely) borrowed.<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cBFANonCPpk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><br /><br />To this day, I can't tell you if I was on Wightlink's FastCat or one of their hovercraft, although I tend to think it was a hovercraft since the FastCat was the more expensive option. A FastCat could get you from Portsmouth to Ryde in 5 minutes, hence the name and higher fare, whereas the same trip on a hovercraft took 18 minutes.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sCPbTNzk2Uo/Th3-kZfXD6I/AAAAAAAABUQ/7i1aqrSRJtM/s1600/WightlinkFastCat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 182px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sCPbTNzk2Uo/Th3-kZfXD6I/AAAAAAAABUQ/7i1aqrSRJtM/s400/WightlinkFastCat.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628935010554154914" /></a><center>A Wightlink FastCat, 2003</center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K_t0eQz6Yq8/Th3--Y5EfUI/AAAAAAAABUY/xAKLISLi3g0/s1600/WightlinkHovercraft.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 197px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K_t0eQz6Yq8/Th3--Y5EfUI/AAAAAAAABUY/xAKLISLi3g0/s400/WightlinkHovercraft.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628935457070153026" /></a><center>One of Wightlink's hovercraft, 2003</center><br />But I <span style="font-style:italic;">can</span> tell you the Solent, the body of water between the south coast of England and the IoW, was more open water than I've ever been <span style="font-style:italic;">on</span> in my life. <br /><br />Flying <span style="font-style:italic;">over</span> parts of the Atlantic at 31,000 or 37,000 feet doesn't count. And according to my children, neither does flying <span style="font-style:italic;">over</span> Canada, Greenland, and Ireland, so they say I should quit claiming to have been <span style="font-style:italic;">to</span> those countries. Spoil sports.<br /><br />Notice the ticket says "Ryde Esplanade". This is misleading. <br /><br />Wightlink actually disgorges Portsmouth passengers at Ryde Pier Head, 2,250 feet (631 meters) from shore. That's almost half a mile! Ryde Esplanade is where you'll be <span style="font-style:italic;">after</span> you drive, take the train, or walk (as I did) from the "wet" end of Ryde Pier to the dry end. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wVGOmygGoZw/Th4C0RgZt5I/AAAAAAAABUg/H5sqD2gkoSE/s1600/Ryde_Pier_head2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 245px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wVGOmygGoZw/Th4C0RgZt5I/AAAAAAAABUg/H5sqD2gkoSE/s400/Ryde_Pier_head2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628939681335457682" /></a><center>Mostly locals retrieving their vehicles after working or<br />shopping in Portsmouth or Southsea on the mainland. <br />The promenade connecting the Ryde Pier Head to <br />Ryde Esplanade is to the right of the photo.</center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KteOm9ERnqI/Th4G4-3ONRI/AAAAAAAABUo/PxUwfLRnprg/s1600/Ryde_Pier.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 460px; height: 296px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KteOm9ERnqI/Th4G4-3ONRI/AAAAAAAABUo/PxUwfLRnprg/s400/Ryde_Pier.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628944160276755730" /></a><center>Looking back toward the pier head...and wishing I'd had the <br />good sense to spend a few pounds on the train - the shortest line <br />in the world, I suspect - that used those tracks to the right!</center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OlJYaYquQM8/Th4I6eRTKZI/AAAAAAAABUw/S5DxzoM3dMU/s1600/Ryde_Pier_middle.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 460px; height: 335px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OlJYaYquQM8/Th4I6eRTKZI/AAAAAAAABUw/S5DxzoM3dMU/s400/Ryde_Pier_middle.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628946384910756242" /></a><center>Almost there! At this point I was <span style="font-style:italic;">extremely</span> glad to have <br />heeded the advice of seasoned travelers to buy a Rollaboard<br /> for this trip! Just past the enclosure on the right is where<br /> I must've leaned out over that lovely wrought iron railing <br />to snap the photo you see in the new banner, although <br />I have no memory now of doing so.</center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3dXO33vSlqY/Th4cGXB5vGI/AAAAAAAABU4/rPCs_rhNucA/s1600/ryde_esplanade_pier_circa_1960.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 460px; height: 258px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3dXO33vSlqY/Th4cGXB5vGI/AAAAAAAABU4/rPCs_rhNucA/s400/ryde_esplanade_pier_circa_1960.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628967479846485090" /></a><center>Ryde Pier & Promenade circa 1960 as seen from Ryde Esplanade, <br />an avenue of hotels and other businesses geared to tourists.<br />From the Ryde section of Steve Holden's old Isle of Wight <br />postcards at http://www.ryde.shalfleet.net/ryde_pier.htm</center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YTfUHR1vPSU/Th4wadUlLzI/AAAAAAAABVI/KJHAWC7DIiM/s1600/rydemap.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 93px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YTfUHR1vPSU/Th4wadUlLzI/AAAAAAAABVI/KJHAWC7DIiM/s400/rydemap.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628989815365381938" /></a>Having successfully completed that unexpected half-mile constitutional, I boarded one of the island's ubiquitous local buses to Hulverstone. <br /><br />The island may be only 26 miles long by 12 miles, but it's chock full of history and interesting scenery. My lodging for the next two nights was to be a combined working farm and B&B called <a href="http://www.chapelfurlong.co.uk/">Chapel Furlong Farm</a>, which I had chosen specifically <span style="font-style:italic;">because</span> it was just up the lane from the Sun Inn, a haunted pub. But that's another blog post!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br /><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">Ryde Pier has undergone many changes since opening in 1814</span>:<br /><br />The National Pier Society's <a href="http://www.piers.org.uk/pierpages/NPSryde.html">History of Ryde Pier</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.rogerwilliams.net/family_history/williams_family/index.hhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giftm">The Williams Family on The Isle of Wight</a><br />(Scroll down to the lovely old Ryde Pier postcard<br />for the brief history of the pier that comes after.)<br /><br />Last but not least:<br /><a href="http://www.ryde.shalfleet.net/ryde_pier.htm">Steve Holden's vintage Ryde Pier postcards</a></center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Have a great day!<br /><a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-37211219267928833862011-07-05T04:43:00.004-05:002011-07-12T16:23:53.098-05:00A Facelift for Sat's Child!<center>No, not me. (I wish...) The blog! You wouldn't think Central Oklahoma<br /> would be "wine country", but there are actually quite a few good <br />(great?) wineries in this part of the country. I haven't sampled <br />their wares yet, but it's on my "someday soon" list. Honest.<br /><br />Really though, I chose the grapes theme because, thanks to our current <br />drought, it looks nothing like the parched landscape outside my door. <br />Rain? What's that? Been so long since we had any I can't remember. <br />The good news is the humidity is low here, which makes the 100+ <br />temps <span style="font-style:italic;">much</span> more tolerable than 100+ in northeast Kansas.<br /><br />Anyway, hope you like the new look! <br />(Yes, the baby is <span style="font-style:italic;">moi</span> at about 6 months.)</center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />Have a great day!<br /><a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-47560899584099537362011-05-30T02:49:00.002-05:002011-05-30T17:52:58.050-05:00Memorial Day 2011If you grow up in Kansas in "Tornado Alley", this is the time of year when tornado watches and warnings become so numerous that long-time residents rarely take notice. <br /><br />Topeka's TV weathermen love them, though, because it's an opportunity to hog the airwaves, giving every detail of the storm or storms <span style="font-style:italic;">ad nauseum</span>, details only other meteorologists can appreciate. Ten minutes of this and I'd change to a non-local channel or turn the set off altogether.<br /><br />Not so here in central Oklahoma. On-air alerts are confined to the time normally set aside for commercials. Programs are only interrupted if cities or towns in the viewing area are in imminent danger. Nor are viewers subjected to endless, b-o-r-i-n-g loops of Doppler radar images. Oklahoma City stations have storm chasers sending live footage from the road, and in the case of News4, from a chopper.<br /><br />This extended coverage, I think, tends to make residents take dangerous weather more seriously. It certainly makes <span style="font-style:italic;">me</span> take it seriously, especially when it includes a FREE robo-call from the City that an alert is in effect. (There's a charge for this service in Kansas.)<br /><br />And so it was last Tuesday evening when I turned on the telly at 5:30 to watch the NBC evening news. But instead of Brian Williams, News4's weather guy was on the screen, advising that tornadic activity had been detected in several storms southwest of OKC.<br /><br />Then came live footage from News4's chopper showing funnels forming, dropping down, and ripping up homes and everything else in their path. Fascinating but very sobering after seeing the devastation in Joplin from two days earlier.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IAZLrxnUspk/TeP1tZiYcHI/AAAAAAAABTU/8dd2t5AVk-o/s1600/MemDay2011.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 316px; height: 230px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IAZLrxnUspk/TeP1tZiYcHI/AAAAAAAABTU/8dd2t5AVk-o/s400/MemDay2011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612599720931782770" border="0" /></a><br />Still, I wasn't all that alarmed yet. This was all happening west of I-35 (the north-south interstate); I was a good 40 miles east of a system moving northeast, meaning it'd miss my town altogether if it stayed on its present course.<br /><br />It didn't.<br /><br />By 8:00, it had somehow looped east and south and was headed my way. Only then did I become concerned...terrified, actually...struck by the image of the family that News4's chopper's camera had caught emerging from a pile of matchsticks that only moments before had been their house with nothing but the clothes they had on. Everything else necessary to re-establish normal life was in the rubble or scattered to the four winds.<br /><br />Having been in much the same situation only a few months ago, for the first time <span style="font-style:italic;">ever</span> I took a tornado warning <span style="font-style:italic;">seriously</span>. Even before the siren sounded I began gathering The Stuff I Didn't Ever Want To Be Without Again:<br /><ul><li>My purse, containing every form of ID needed to verify my identity</li><li>Several changes of clothes and underwear</li><li>Toiletries</li><li>My laptop and power cord</li><li>Cell phone and charger</li><li>A storage tub containing family photos </li></ul>To prevent having to scramble around as I did, a post-disaster bag containing extra clothing and toiletries for all members of your family, along with copies of IDs, ATM and credit cards, should be prepared at the beginning of tornado season and stored somewhere <span style="font-style:italic;">other than your home</span>. Not in your vehicle, but <span style="font-style:italic;">away</span>. <br /><br />Family photos and important documents should be scanned and stored online. If you don't already have one, set up a second email address...I recommend Gmail...and email the images to yourself. Or transfer them to CDs or a thumb drive and place in the post-disaster bag. (Emailing them to yourself is easier than remembering to add new items to the CDs or thumb drive...)<br /><br />That done, all that you have to grab on the way to the basement, innermost room or the bathtub is your loved ones, your purse/wallet and your laptop (don't forget the power cord).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />Have a great day and stay SAFE!<br /><br /><a href="http://tinypic.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-71104060807898523642011-01-10T06:31:00.009-06:002011-01-10T08:27:03.429-06:00Where Oh Where Have I Been?It seems impossible that aside from the <a href="http://saturdayschild-jama.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-london-rang-in-2011.html">London's New Year 2011</a> post, I've been away from Sat's Child for 4 1/2 months!<br /><br />Lest you think I was stretched out on the sofa in front of the telly 24/7, stuffing myself with junk food, here's the Short List of what happened during that time:<br /><ul><li>Shortly after uploading the <a href="http://saturdayschild-jama.blogspot.com/2010/08/thursdrive-davenport-ok-on-route-66.html">photo tour of Davenport OK</a>, my car broke down on the interstate and had to have major surgery (a new transmission).</li></ul><ul><li>While the car was out of commission, I packed up my treasured flat "in the trees" in KS to move to Oklahoma where I...</li></ul><ul><li>...became the live-in Granny Nanny (also cook, laundress and dishwasher) for Son and Family.<br /></li></ul><ul><li>After getting the last of my things from storage in KS, we returned to a nearly-empty house (robbed!).</li></ul><ul><li>My non-driving Dau-in-Law landed a night-shift job in a town 28 miles away, so I then became Taxi Mom (28 miles X4 <span style="font-style: italic;">every</span> night and pre-dawn for several weeks - exhausting!).</li></ul><ul><li>D-i-L was promoted, which required living much closer to her job, so we found a (seemingly) "perfect" rental house in that town and we <span style="font-style:italic;">all</span> moved.</li></ul><ul><li>During the packing up, my laptop was dropped in shutting-down mode, requiring an expensive 2-day trip to the Computer Hospital for a new hard drive.</li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-style:italic;">That</span> house turned out to be a drafty, utilities nightmare so...</li></ul><ul><li>...we moved <span style="font-style: italic;">again</span> 2 weeks later.</li></ul><ul><li>At the new house, thanks to an inept AT&T rep, we were (mostly) without internet access for 10 days. (NetZero dial-up "high speed" internet is a JOKE...a total waste of time to TRY to get anywhere online.)</li></ul>So now you know. Keeping my fingers crossed 2011 will be <span style="font-style:italic;">much</span> calmer and <span style="font-style:italic;">less</span> eventful than the last few months of 2010...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br /><center><a href="http://saturdayschild-jama.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-london-rang-in-2011.html">How London Rang In 2011</a><br /><br /><a href="http://saturdayschild-jama.blogspot.com/2010/08/thursdrive-davenport-ok-on-route-66.html">Davenport OK on Route 66</a><br /><br /><a href="http://hubpages.com/hub/Robbed-Pros-and-Cons">Robbed! Pros and Cons</a></center><br />Have a great day!<br /><a href="http://tinypic.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-84680238369805116402011-01-02T12:30:00.007-06:002011-01-02T13:07:35.297-06:00How London Rang in 2011For this Brit-at-heart, the New Year <span style="font-style:italic;">really</span> starts at 6:00 p.m. CST on Dec 31st. Thanks to the BBC and a fast internet connection, this year I was <span style="font-style:italic;">finally</span> able to watch the entire fireworks show that begins a few seconds before midnight GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) on the Thames in London under, over, and around the London Eye. <br /><br />In case you missed it, here it is in its entirety, complete with the music to which the displays were wonderfully choreographed.<br /><br /><center><object width="425" height="264"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xy_9bx6U8_0?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xy_9bx6U8_0?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="264"></embed></object></center><br />At the risk of sounding unpatriotic, London's New Year's extravaganza tops all but one of the dozens of 4th of July displays I've seen here in the U.S. over the years. <br /><br />Enjoy! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 2px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />Hoping 2011 is just as exciting for you and yours,<br /><br /><a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-10000130985759152382010-08-26T12:28:00.013-05:002010-08-28T16:30:51.652-05:00ThursdayDrive: Davenport OK on Route 66<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/THlYPQVW9vI/AAAAAAAABSM/ssBeNZ1h1r4/s1600/100_1904.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 238px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/THlYPQVW9vI/AAAAAAAABSM/ssBeNZ1h1r4/s400/100_1904.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510532638170347250" border="0" /></a><center>Sign next to the Early Bird Cafe on the curve of<br />historic Route 66 when approaching from Chandler OK.<br />(Photo snapped by JamaGenie on Wed, 25 Aug 2010.)<br /><br />At the far right is a glimpse of <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/241/1138784/restaurant/Oklahoma/Dans-Bar-B-Que-Pit-Davenport"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dan's Bar-B-Que Pit</span></a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/THldmedcifI/AAAAAAAABSU/Bv0XwtzRjGM/s1600/DansBBQpit.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 243px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/THldmedcifI/AAAAAAAABSU/Bv0XwtzRjGM/s400/DansBBQpit.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510538534657493490" border="0" /></a>(Photo from <a href="http://jbwarehouse.blogspot.com/2003/08/78-what-we-did-on-our-holidays-3-oh.html">Day 3 of Jamie Bradburn's vacation</a>.) <br />Jamie is JB of <a href="http://jbwarehouse.blogspot.com/">JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium</a><br /><br />The street in front of Dan's is Broadway, Davenport's main street. <br />The draw for tourists is supposed to be the bricks made locally<br />until 1930 with which the street is paved. But having visited<br />Downtown Davenport several times, the <a href="http://www.davenportok.org/route66.htm">murals on the<br />sides of buildings depicting the town's history</a><br />are the <span style="font-style: italic;">only</span> reason to take a detour down Broadway.<br /><br />While you're there, be sure to pull into the parking<br />lot of the Post Office and read about Nellie Davenport,<br />the first postmistress after whom the town was named.<br /><br />But back to the <span style="font-style: italic;">real</span> center of town...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/THlitQhXCzI/AAAAAAAABSc/fuNw8E7Jm_w/s1600/Davenport+OK+-+Restored+1933+Texas+Co+Gas+Station+%28now+Early+Bird+Cafe%29.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 225px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/THlitQhXCzI/AAAAAAAABSc/fuNw8E7Jm_w/s400/Davenport+OK+-+Restored+1933+Texas+Co+Gas+Station+%28now+Early+Bird+Cafe%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510544148733037362" border="0" /></a>The <span style="font-weight: bold;">Early Bird Cafe</span> is in the restored 1933 Texaco<br />gas station depicted in the Welcome to Davenport sign.<br />My Uncle Melvin's green Studebaker, btw, was a 4-door, but<br />otherwise identical to the one parked under the canopy!<br />(Photo from <a href="http://www.urbex.50megs.com/Places/USA/Route%2066/Neons.html">Route 66: The Neons & Signs!</a><br /><br />Back on 66 heading north out of town toward Stroud, <br />on the left is the oddly named <span style="font-weight:bold;">Gar Wooly's Food & Fun</span>.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/THlw08dShfI/AAAAAAAABSk/NMBu9jTgyB8/s1600/Davenport+OK+-+Gar+Woolys+Food-N-Fun.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 233px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/THlw08dShfI/AAAAAAAABSk/NMBu9jTgyB8/s400/Davenport+OK+-+Gar+Woolys+Food-N-Fun.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510559673948997106" border="0" /></a>(Photo from <a href="http://www.urbex.50megs.com/Places/USA/Route%2066/Neons.html">Route 66: The Neons & Signs!</a><br /><br />According to <a href="http://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.13845">TravelOK.com</a>:<br />"<span style="font-style:italic;">Gar Wooly's features some of the best chicken fried steak <br />along historic Route 66. This restaurant, also known for its<br />tasty Indian tacos, features a dance floor and an ice cream bar.<br />Come to Gar Wooly's for local color, Route 66 nostalgia and <br />homestyle food reminiscent of an old soda fountain.</span>"<br /><br />But if you go back to Chandler instead...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/THl0yDKEoLI/AAAAAAAABSs/Vq0QK0FJxS4/s1600/Burma-shave-logo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 103px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/THl0yDKEoLI/AAAAAAAABSs/Vq0QK0FJxS4/s400/Burma-shave-logo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510564022254346418" /></a>...keep your eyes peeled for the only two <br /><a href="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/66-burmashave.html">Burma Shave signs</a> that aren't in a <br />museum or someone's basement rec room.<br /><br />They're on the right side, about 2 miles west <br />of Davenport, but unless you're old enough to<br />remember the Burma Shave ditties, you'll<br />probably miss them. If you are old enough, <br />they'll be a fond reminder of one of <br />the few forms of entertainment for <br />children on long car trips in the<br />days before onboard DVD players. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 2px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.davenportok.org/">Davenport OK's website</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.davenportok.org/route66.htm">Route 66 murals in downtown Davenport</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/241/1138784/restaurant/Oklahoma/Dans-Bar-B-Que-Pit-Davenport">Dan's Bar-B-Que Pit</a><br /><br /><a href="http://jbwarehouse.blogspot.com/">JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/66-burmashave.html">Where are the Burma Shave signs?</a> <br />(Ignore the claim that none exist on today's highways.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a></center><br />Have a great day!<br /><br /><a href="http://tinypic.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-27433222781897353942010-07-14T13:29:00.011-05:002010-07-14T14:11:54.817-05:00If You Were Never A Patsy Cline Fan...<center><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >This video won't turn you into one!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Promise!</span><br /><br />That said, any woman with a mind to can lip-synch<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Patsy Cline's "She's Got You"</span> at a high school<br />reunion, but what THIS woman does while<br />doing it is <span style="font-style: italic;">hysterical</span>...and her timing is flawless!</center><br /><center><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mDvLSC3xVlw&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mDvLSC3xVlw&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />I never caught Patsy Fever, but when a friend<br />sent this today I just <span style="font-style: italic;">had</span> to share!</center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />Have a great day!<br /><br /><a href="http://tinypic.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-60525675744368951902010-07-09T09:26:00.014-05:002010-07-14T08:17:16.231-05:00David Suchet as Himself<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TDc8gGW1DqI/AAAAAAAABRs/oTYsURRRSWw/s1600/david_suchet_wdytya.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TDc8gGW1DqI/AAAAAAAABRs/oTYsURRRSWw/s400/david_suchet_wdytya.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491924792761454242" /></a><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">David Suchet</span> from an episode of the<br /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/whodoyouthinkyouare/past-stories/david-suchet.shtml">BBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?"</a></center><br />Fans of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Agatha Christie</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">David Suchet</span> are in for a treat Sunday evening when the latest adaptation of "<span style="font-weight:bold;">Murder On The Orient Express</span>" airs on <span style="font-weight:bold;">PBS Masterpiece</span>. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TDdhzAtrugI/AAAAAAAABR0/fqZF_ONye9Q/s1600/david_suchet_poirot.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 154px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TDdhzAtrugI/AAAAAAAABR0/fqZF_ONye9Q/s320/david_suchet_poirot.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491965799594441218" /></a>I never could warm up to anyone but Suchet as the finicky Belgian detective, least of all Albert Finney in the 1974 star-studded big-screen version of "Murder". Someone should've reminded him that "finicky" does NOT mean "buffoon". <br /><br />Add to that that <span style="font-weight:bold;">Miss Marple</span> had been my introduction to <span style="font-weight:bold;">Agatha Christie</span>, so I didn't even warm up to Suchet's <span style="font-style:italic;">Poirot</span> at first.<br /><br />That changed upon learning his interpretation was the most faithful to Agatha's vision of the "extraordinary little man" whose quirks and physical appearance she based on second husband Max Mallowan. <br /><br />Because David prefers to bring authenticity to a role, his preparation for "Murder" included a trip on today's Venice-Simplon Orient Express, a trip filmed as a PBS special called "<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/whodoyouthinkyouare/past-stories/david-how-we-did-it_1.shtml"><span style="font-weight:bold;">David Suchet on the Orient Express</span></a>". <br /><br />In between snippets from the new "Murder" and how the train itself came to be the <span style="font-style:italic;">Venice-Simplon</span> OE, we see David as himself, a charmingly awestruck Brit experiencing a slice of history. <br /><br />In fact, the carriage (rail car) David traveled in was part of the train that became mired in a snowdrift for 10 days, an event Agatha Christie turned into "Murder on the Orient Express". <br /><br />But for David, the highlight of the trip was <span style="font-style:italic;">actually driving the train</span>!<br /><br />"DSotOE" aired several times this week and will air again Sunday after the new <span style="font-style:italic;">Murder On The Orient Express</span>. But if you missed it and can't wait til Sunday, <a href="http://video.pbs.org/video/1538441785">watch the entire trip here</a> (53:33 mins). <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 2px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />David isn't the only Suchet in show business, btw. <a href="http://davseas.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/going-for-gold-biographies-john-suchet/">His brother John Suchet</a> is the well-known British newscaster. To learn more about their ancestors, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/whodoyouthinkyouare/past-stories/david-how-we-did-it_1.shtml">David explored the family's history</a> in the British version of "Who Do You Think You Are?". <br /><br />Come along with David on that trip too!<br /><br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DE-Yf8TBX6A&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DE-Yf8TBX6A&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 2px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br /><center>More on David Suchet, Agatha Christie, and the Orient Express:<br /><br /><a href="http://video.pbs.org/video/1538441785">David Suchet on the Orient Express</a><br /><br /><a href="http://saturdayschild-jama.blogspot.com/2009/09/thursday-drive-experience-orient.html">Experience the Orient Express</a>, <br />a Thursday Drive post that includes videos of <br />others' trips as well as links to the SVOE website<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/whodoyouthinkyouare/past-stories/david-how-we-did-it_1.shtml">David Suchet on "Who Do You Think You Are?"</a><br /><br /><a href="http://davseas.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/going-for-gold-biographies-john-suchet/">About David's brother, John Suchet</a></center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />Have a great weekend!<br /><br /><a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-9533811789010304392010-07-02T12:46:00.005-05:002010-07-03T14:06:03.638-05:00Hazel Dawn as The Century Girl<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TC939xI_x5I/AAAAAAAABRU/0DYUkdVvt4U/s1600/Hazel-Dawn-as-The-Century-Girl.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 273px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TC939xI_x5I/AAAAAAAABRU/0DYUkdVvt4U/s400/Hazel-Dawn-as-The-Century-Girl.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489738373834721170" /></a><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">Hazel Dawn ~ The Century Girl</span><br />descending the Celestial Staircase in the<br />Dillingham - Ziegfeld extravaganza, <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Century Girl 1916-1917</span>,<br />which opened 6 Nov 1916 at the <br />refurbished Century Theatre.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TC9_xr20BsI/AAAAAAAABRc/HVKq_X1Qy-0/s1600/Century_opening_ad.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 313px; height: 379px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TC9_xr20BsI/AAAAAAAABRc/HVKq_X1Qy-0/s400/Century_opening_ad.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489746962350868162" /></a><br />Our own <a href="http://saturdayschild-jama.blogspot.com/2010/04/sepiasat-when-milk-was-7-cents-quart.html">Muriel Window</a> from Burlingame KS<br /> is listed in the 5th Nov newspaper ad announcing<br /> the opening. (Note the best seats went for $1!) <br /><br />"Little Muriel" was also pictured on page 6 of the opening <br />night program, but didn't survive cuts made to shorten <br />the 5-hour-long show after the second performance.<br />(Marie Dressler also didn't survive the cut.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TC-Jk0vVbQI/AAAAAAAABRk/3A-tiDqZLbo/s1600/Century_Girl_Program_Opening_night.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 314px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TC-Jk0vVbQI/AAAAAAAABRk/3A-tiDqZLbo/s400/Century_Girl_Program_Opening_night.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489757736513400066" /></a><br />All images are from <a href="http://ziegfeldgrrl.multiply.com/">Historical Ziegfeld</a>.</center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />Wishing you and yours a safe and happy 4th!<br /><br /><a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-41089148844276777032010-06-21T10:54:00.108-05:002010-06-22T20:07:15.207-05:00Miss Hanff and A Bookshop in London<center><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TCB-kEadGlI/AAAAAAAABQc/BmdN7AFn8kY/s1600/84ccr_postmarked.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485523504262355538" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TCB-kEadGlI/AAAAAAAABQc/BmdN7AFn8kY/s400/84ccr_postmarked.jpg" style="display: block; height: 126px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></center><br />On 5 October 1949, 33-year-old Helene Hanff had no inkling the letter she had just posted to an address in <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charing-Cross-Road-Helene-Hanff/dp/0140143505?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Charing Cross Road</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0140143505" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></span> was only the first of many that would one day not only make <span style="font-weight: bold;">Marks & Co.</span> London's most famous used bookshop, but bring her the fame that had so long eluded her as a playwright and author of American history books for children.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TB-in0HuoBI/AAAAAAAABQU/rjOXVDv9BpU/s1600/84ccr_helene2hanff_lg.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485281676050210834" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TB-in0HuoBI/AAAAAAAABQU/rjOXVDv9BpU/s400/84ccr_helene2hanff_lg.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 213px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 130px;" /></a>Helene (pronounced "helane") was born 15 Apr 1916, the daughter of a Philadelphia shirt maker. She won a scholarship to Temple University, only to have it evaporate at the end of her freshman year when funding dried up in the Great Depression. <br /><br />Undaunted, she haunted the public library for books on the art of writing, eventually discovering five volumes of lectures that <span style="font-weight: bold;">Arthur Quiller-Coach</span> (commonly known as "Q") had given at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cambridge</span> to young men fresh from the hallowed halls of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Eton</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Harrow</span>, and who were already familiar with classics such as Milton's <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Lost-Modern-Library-Classics/dp/0375757961?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Paradise Lost</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0375757961" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></span>. <br /><br />Which Helene wasn't, so back to the library she went for Milton, and over the next eleven years, every other writer that Q's students had digested long before they ever set foot in his lecture hall. <br /><br />Helene credits Q, <span style="font-weight: bold;">John Donne</span> and <b>John Henry Newman</b> (author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Idea-University-Philosophy-Notre-Great/dp/0268011508?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Idea Of A University</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0268011508" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />), all of whom lived in the same rooms at Trinity College, Oxford although not at the same time, with teaching her everything she knew about writing English. <br /><br />I haven't read <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Qs-Legacy-Helene-Hanff/dp/0140089365?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Q's Legacy</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0140089365" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></span> yet as it hasn't arrived from...where else...a used bookshop in the UK. <br /><br />But after watching "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charing-Cross-Road-Anne-Bancroft/dp/B00003CX8N?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">84</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00003CX8N" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />" and reading the book and its sequel, <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Duchess-Bloomsbury-Street-Helene-Hanff/dp/155921144X?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=155921144X" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></span>, I couldn't help thinking this passionate, funny, self-taught classicist would've been at home at the lectern of any university in England.<br /><br />Helene's books are sprinkled with tidbits that make history come alive, such as the note <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/John-Donne-Reformed-Soul-Biography/dp/0393333663?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">John Donne</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0393333663" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></span> (pronounced "dunn") sent to his bride after her father, Lord Lieutenant of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tower of London</span>, imprisoned them in separate wings of the Tower for eloping:<br /><br /><center><span style="font-style: italic;">John Donne<br />Anne Donne<br />Undone</span></center><br />Helene even turned their plight into an episode of <span style="font-style: italic;">Hallmark Hall of Fame</span> with the working title "John Donne: eloping with the boss's daughter"! <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 2px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 150px;" /></a>When Helene mailed the first letter to <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charing-Cross-Road-Helene-Hanff/dp/0140143505?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">84, Charing Cross Road</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0140143505" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></span>, she was living in a walk-up bed-sit on East 95th St., barely making ends meet as a $40-a-week script reader. To satisfy her craving for out-of-print English classics, she needed a less expensive source than New York's antiquarian (translation: over-priced) book dealers, and found it in Marks & Co.'s ad in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Saturday Review of Literature</span>. <br /><br />Included with the letter was a list of books she most desired, and the hope that "clean, secondhand copies will cost no more than $5.00 each". With the first two books she received was an invoice for $5.30, which included postage! <br /><br /><a href="http://www.84charingcrossroad.co.uk/images/newpic2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.84charingcrossroad.co.uk/images/newpic2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 373px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 285px;" /></a><center>Outside Marks & Co. in the late 1940s or early '50s,<br />around the time Helene's relationship with it began.<br />(from <a href="http://www.84charingcrossroad.co.uk/images/newpic2.jpg">84 Charing Cross Road Revisited</a>)</center><br />In February 1951, her fortunes improved five-fold when she was hired as a scriptwriter for the weekly TV series <span style="font-style: italic;">Adventures of Ellery Queen</span> at "two bills per" ($200), raised to $250 a year before EQ went off the air in May 1953 at the end of its second season.<br /><br />Which happened to be when she had intended to sail for England, in time for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. But thanks to extensive and expensive dental work begun the previous September, she wrote Frank Doel: "Teeth are all I'm going to see crowned for the next couple of years". <br /><br />And so it went for almost two decades...crises in Real Life popping up to delay The Dream Trip. <br /><br />"84" (the book) ends in October 1969 with Frank's daughter Sheila giving Helene permission to publish Frank's, Nora's, and her own letters. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.84charingcrossroad.co.uk/images/frankfam2b.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.84charingcrossroad.co.uk/images/frankfam2b.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 246px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 385px;" /></a><center>The Doel family, early 1960s.<br />l-r: wife Nora, dau Mary, dau Sheila, Frank.<br />(from <a href="http://www.84charingcrossroad.co.uk/images/frankfam2b.jpg">84 Charing Cross Road Revisited</a>)</center><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Duchess-Bloomsbury-Street-Helene-Hanff/dp/155921144X?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=155921144X" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></span>, the sequel to "84", begins on 17th June 1971 as Helene, now 55, is about to land at Heathrow, where her "dainty feet" will <span style="font-style: italic;">finally</span> touch English soil. <br /><br /><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charing-Cross-Road-Anne-Bancroft/dp/B00003CX8N?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">84, Charing Cross Road</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00003CX8N" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>, the 1987 movie, also opens in the plane as it wings its way to Heathrow. Had the movie been faithful to the book, the landing would've been at night (10 p.m. GMT) and Anne Bancroft would've been wearing a navy pantsuit. But no one else could've brought Helene's take-no-prisoners attitude to the screen with such style and <span style="font-style: italic;">elan<span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>, so the beige outfit she wore instead is fine by me. Nor can I imagine anyone but Anthony Hopkins as Frank Doel.<br /><br />Ms. Bancroft owned the movie rights, btw, a birthday gift from comedian-producer husband Mel Brooks who perhaps recognized that his wife and Helene had much in common.<br /><br />Even with the likes of Bancroft, Hopkins and Judi Dench anchoring the cast, it's no easy task to turn a slim book of letters into a movie that won't put an audience to sleep after five minutes. That English playwright and screenwriter Hugh Whitemore and director David Jones managed to bring the letters to life while feeding us slices of London and New York history between 1949 and the Swinging Sixties is nothing short of magical.<br /><br />If this is your introduction to the world of Helene Hanff, I recommend "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charing-Cross-Road-Anne-Bancroft/dp/B00003CX8N?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">84</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00003CX8N" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />" the movie be your first stop, so that you'll have faces to put with the names in the letters when you read the book. Do be aware that not all of the letters in the book were included in the movie, and that parts of some that were omitted to move the story along. Then read <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Duchess-Bloomsbury-Street-Helene-Hanff/dp/155921144X?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=155921144X" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></span> and watch the movie again, because "Duchess" contains the back stories of many scenes. Helene's affinity for Central Park's Dog Hill, for instance. <br /><br />I was leery of reading <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Duchess-Bloomsbury-Street-Helene-Hanff/dp/155921144X?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=155921144X" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></span> after many reviewers said they found it downright <span style="font-style: italic;">boring</span>. On the contrary! If I'd had a copy in 2003, my own Dream Trip to London and the South of England would've been quite different. I doubt I would've stayed at the Kenilworth at the corner of Great Russell & Bloomsbury, as it's no longer the quaint, inexpensive B&B it was in 1971. Nonetheless, Helene's account of her five weeks in England is a marvelous guide for first-timers. <br /><br />As for the photo in the movie of the Mysterious Man in Dress Uniform on Helene's dresser, his role in her life is never revealed. She never married, and although she weeps while watching <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Brief-Encounter-Collection-Celia-Johnson/dp/0780023420?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04c6-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Brief Encounter</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04c6-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0780023420" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></span>, the 1945 tearjerker starring Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson, that photo is the only hint that she ever had a boyfriend or lover in real life. <br /><br />But according to <a href="http://freespace.virgin.net/angela.garry/Obituary.htm">Leo Marks</a>, son of Ben Marks (co-founder of Marks & Co.), Helene had a relationship "with a very famous American"....a story "even more amusing and touching than her letters to Charing Cross Road"....a love affair he believes "would have been an even better book". Alas, Helene started that book several times but destroyed each attempt, so the identity of her famous lover went to the grave with her (and Leo). <br /><br />Helene died of complications of diabetes and pneumonia on the 9th April 1997, exactly one week before her 81st birthday, and is interred at Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Glendale, Queens Co, NY. <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 3px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a><br />The trailer for <span style="font-style: italic;">84, Charing Cross Road</span>:<br /><br /><center><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fs01gT67upE&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fs01gT67upE&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 3px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a><br /><center><a href="http://www.84charingcrossroad.co.uk/">84 Charing Cross Road revisited</a>, the definitive site<br />about Marks & Co., its history and real life staff.<br /><br /><a href="http://freespace.virgin.net/angela.garry/hanff.html">Angela Garry's site devoted to Helene's life and books</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7547442">Helene's memorial page at Find A Grave</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.elenagaussen.co.uk/pages/image-005.html">Helene Hanff in Central Park, New York</a>, <br />oil on canvas, by Elena Gaussen</center><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 3px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />Have a great day!<br /><br /><a href="http://tinypic.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" /></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-54717207952793074152010-06-15T10:08:00.025-05:002011-07-19T07:48:58.088-05:00TombstoneTues: the USS Gherardi and Lester Franklin Harris<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TBwQ5z9Q31I/AAAAAAAABP0/KSIwWPzHEIk/s1600/uss_gherardi.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 202px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TBwQ5z9Q31I/AAAAAAAABP0/KSIwWPzHEIk/s400/uss_gherardi.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484277031616175954" /></a><center>29 October 1942<br />The <span style="font-style: italic;">USS Gherardi</span> off Philadelphia Navy Yard<br />(National Archives photo 19-N-40021)</center><br />Named after <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bancroft_Gherardi">Rear Admiral Bancroft Gherardi</a>, the <span style="font-style: italic;">USS Gherardi</span> (DD-637) was a Gleaves-class destroyer launched 12 Feb 1942 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard minutes after her twin, the <span style="font-style: italic;">USS Butler</span> (DD-636).<br /><br />Although both were laid in adjacent slipways on 16 Sep 1941 and launched within minutes of one another, outfitting the <span style="font-style: italic;">Gherardi</span> took longer and she wasn't commissioned until 15 Sep 1942, exactly one month after the <span style="font-style: italic;">Butler</span>. Trial runs and shakedown training followed in Delaware Bay and at Casco Bay, Maine.<br /><br />On 30 Nov 1942, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Gherardi</span> arrived at Torpedo Station Annex, Coddington Cove, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, for torpedo training in preparation for her first convoy escort voyage on 1 January 1943 to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TBv7tfGfWAI/AAAAAAAABPs/74gVuV6ESWw/s1600/whaleboat.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 356px; height: 221px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/TBv7tfGfWAI/AAAAAAAABPs/74gVuV6ESWw/s400/whaleboat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484253730115115010" border="0" /></a><center>One of approximately 26,000 26-foot motor whaleboats<br />manufactured for the US Navy between 1927 and the late 1950s<br />to be carried aboard every Navy vessel for use as a "shore boat"<br />and "man overboard" rescue craft. Top speed: 8 knots</center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />Minutes before midnight on 1st Dec 1942, 17 mostly-inexperienced sailors from the <span style="font-style: italic;">Gherardi</span> returning from shore leave in nearby Newport RI piled into a 26-foot motor whaleboat (like the one shown above) at Government Landing for what should've been a 30-minute trip back to the ship moored 4 miles north.<br /><br />Instead, a sudden and violent squall swamped the small craft, then capsized it. Only two of the crew managed to cling to the side of the overturned boat and escape death in the frigid waters of Narragansett Bay. The bodies of five who weren't so lucky were found the next morning along the south shore of Conanicut Island, 2 miles north of Jamestown, RI.<br /><br />Over the next eight months, the remains of eight more <span style="font-style: italic;">Gherardi</span> crewmen would be recovered, one of whom was Fireman 1st Class <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lester Franklin Harris</span>, the 24-year-old eldest son of Charly and Georgia Harris of Dunlap, Morris Co, Kansas.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://kansasphotos.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Dunlap.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="http://kansasphotos.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Dunlap.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><center>Dunlap, Kansas<br />(photo by Tom Parker of <a href="http://kansasphotos.com/wp/2010/01/01/dunlap/">KansasPhotos.com)</a></center><br />Mr. Parker's photo brilliantly captures the prevailing perception of Dunlap...a forgotten backwater on a road rarely traveled. I've lived within 60 miles of it most of my life and have only been through it <span style="font-style: italic;">once</span>, and only because I took the wrong road out of Council Grove. Some might call Dunlap a ghost town, but because people still live there, <a href="http://www.galenfrysinger.com/kansas_dunlap.htm">the correct term is "quiet"</a>, the designation for a town whose schools have closed.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />Perched on the Neosho River and founded by Joseph Dunlap in 1869, Dunlap didn't become a thriving community until 1878 when African-American <a href="http://www.legendsofkansas.com/benjaminsingleton.html">Benjamin "Pap" Singleton</a>, who'd escaped from slavery in 1846, directed hundreds of Freedmen called <a href="http://www.legendsofkansas.com/exodusters.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Exodusters</span></a> to relocate there from the post-Reconstruction South.<br /><br />Because their presence made white residents uncomfortable, the Exodusters settled just beyond the edge of town. And so it went for the next fifty years, whites in one part of town, blacks in another, with separate schools and churches.<br /><br />In its heyday, Dunlap had been an important shipping point for crops grown in the area, but by 1910 the population had shrunk to 333. The Great Depression only accelerated the decline. Undoubtedly from the need to pool resources, however, segregation evaporated in Dunlap decades before it did in other parts of the state.<br /><br />By the time <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lester Harris</span> came of age in the last half of the 1930s, Dunlap was in its death throes. Most of its young men had already left to find jobs elsewhere, never to return. No doubt Lester saw the Navy as his once-in-a-lifetime ticket to far-off lands, never dreaming he'd get no farther than the coastal waters of the good old USA. <br /><br />In Feb 1943, the <span style="font-style: italic;">USS Gherardi</span> made the first of 10 transatlantic convoy escort voyages. In late July and early August 1943, she saw her first surface action along the northern coast of Sicily. Between August 1943 and Feb 1944, she made more convoy escort voyages from New York to Northern Ireland and England, touching at Belfast and Londonderry, Ireland and Swansea, Wales. Back to Northern Ireland in May 1944 for rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, which took place on 6 June 1944. From Normandy to Malta in July, to train for the invasion of Southern France on 15 Aug 1944. Then back to New York to be refitted and reclassified as a minesweeper before steaming through the Panama Canal to participate in major battles in the Pacific that culminated in the surrender of Japan in 1945. In 1946, she was back in the Atlantic fleet, based in Norfolk, VA. For the next 9 years, she participated in routine exercises in the Atlantic until decommissioning on 17 Dec 1955.<br /><br />Among the honors the <span style="font-style: italic;">USS Gherardi</span> earned for service in both the Atlantic and Pacific in WWII, perhaps the most remarkable is the one for not losing a single crew member <span style="font-style: italic;">in combat</span>. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://image1.findagrave.com/photos/2010/112/51441899_127207487159.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 336px;" src="http://image1.findagrave.com/photos/2010/112/51441899_127207487159.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><center>Dunlap Cemetery, Dunlap, Morris Co KS<br />from <a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=harris&GSfn=lester&GSbyrel=in&GSdy=1942&GSdyrel=in&GSob=n&GRid=51441899">Find A Grave Memorial# 51441899</a><br />Photo and memorial by <a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=47033251">Mae</a></center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SlMRxUEPXzI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/OFBqTv4nlkA/s1600-h/HAPPY_TT.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 252px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SlMRxUEPXzI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/OFBqTv4nlkA/s400/HAPPY_TT.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355643920771407666" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://tinypic.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a><br /><center><a href="http://www.geneabloggers.com/tombstone-tuesday/">Tombstone Tuesday is sponsored by GeneaBloggers</a></center>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453775580949648277.post-91387756637695101282010-06-14T07:33:00.007-05:002010-06-17T17:44:45.310-05:00Kathryn Whites Wear Many Hats<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://kathrynwhite.com/kw0897.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 408px; height: 207px;" src="http://kathrynwhite.com/kw0897.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><center><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Marché aux Fleurs</span></span> by artist Kathryn White<br />from <a href="http://kathrynwhite.com/">KathrynWhite.com</a></center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/S7iL9Sh8NmI/AAAAAAAABL0/py6dxqFuVsY/s1600/scarlet_peony_lg.jpg.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 220px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/S7iL9Sh8NmI/AAAAAAAABL0/py6dxqFuVsY/s400/scarlet_peony_lg.jpg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456264833621833314" border="0" /></a>I first became smitten with artist Kathryn White's work after seeing her <span style="font-weight: bold;">Scarlet Peony</span> (left) at <a href="http://maggiessecretgarden.blogspot.com/">Maggie's Secret Garden</a>.<br /><br />Wanting to know more about Ms. White, naturally I googled her, but was disappointed that <a href="http://kathrynwhite.com/">her one-page website</a> only shows thumbnails of three paintings and an email address.<br /><br /><center><span style="font-style: italic;">Nothing</span> about the artist herself.</center><br />I could find no other site with information <span style="font-style: italic;">about</span> her, only sites that sell prints of her work in various sizes and price range.<br /><br /><center><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why the mystery?</span><br /><br />Doesn't knowing a little bit about the artist make you<br />more inclined to buy his/her work? It does me.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 2px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />Turns out there are <span style="font-style: italic;">many</span> Kathryn Whites<br />who are notable for one reason or another.<br />The following are only two of them.</center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.renaissanceartgallery.com/going%20to%20the%20bizarre%20$65.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 201px; height: 303px;" src="http://www.renaissanceartgallery.com/going%20to%20the%20bizarre%20$65.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>According to <a href="http://www.renaissanceartgallery.com/kathrynwhite.htm">her page at The Renaissance Gallery</a>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kathryn White, Folk Artist</span> <blockquote>"<span style="font-style: italic;">creates her wonderful, quirky folk art people from gourds, mica, handmade paper and other found objects</span>"</blockquote> which are inspired by living near the sea as a child. She now lives in Tuscaloosa AL and is a teacher at one of its schools.<br /><br />The fellow at right is called "Shopping At The Bizarre", and can be purchased through the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Renaissance Gallery</span> link above.<br /><br />But he's only one of Kathryn's creations, which are mostly happy, "snappy" and not so forlorn.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 2px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.kathrynwhite.net/wp-content/themes/cushy/thumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/clickclack.jpg&h=160&w=270&zc=1"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 160px;" src="http://www.kathrynwhite.net/wp-content/themes/cushy/thumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/clickclack.jpg&h=160&w=270&zc=1" alt="" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.kathrynwhite.net/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kathryn White, Author</span></a> writes books for children 3-8 years old at her home in Bristol, Somerset for <a href="http://www.kathrynwhite.net/">Little Tiger Press</a>.<br /><br />That is, when she isn't visiting primary schools all over the UK organizing creative writing classes, or on holiday in places like Venice.<br /><br />"<a href="http://www.kathrynwhite.net/my-books/click-clack-crocodiles-back">Click Clack, Crocodile's Back</a>" is her latest book, with wonderful illustrations by Joelle Dreidemy.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_White">Read lots more about <span style="font-style: italic;">this</span> Kathryn here</a> and at her website.</center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s1600-h/divider2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 3px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tGwl8aCh_58/SmcqXnXPasI/AAAAAAAAAoU/YOhNg-VWmBQ/s400/divider2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361300466599684802" border="0" /></a><br />Have a great day!<br /><br /><a href="http://tinypic.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/n6wp5.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a>JamaGeniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.com1