I’m up insanely early due to whining dogs and screeching cats, so to keep the anger suppressed I’m searching for a little literary news this morning.

• The Guardian has a lengthy piece that has writers and other literary types picking a few of their favourite books of the year. I sifted through to find some poetry titles I might be interested in getting my hands on.
• Siblin and Brown are up for the 2010 National Award for Canadian Non-fiction.
• Naomi Klein has a new book in the works called No Logo. This piece does a brief overview of it. I put this here merely because my wife is reading The Shock Doctrine now and I’m paging through it every now and then.
• A lovely overview of a Welsh/British form of verse called the englyn. Kind of like the haiku, only cooler. Makes me want to try some of these.
• The National Post has a list of some historically inspired books you might find interesting. I’ve got the first of these on the shelf ready to go, if I can ever get to it.

Sister Marina, Walton Prison. Copyright Liverpool Daily Post and Echo

About the photo: “I photographed Sister Marina visiting Walton Prison. Her smile and compassion were for all – she was there to comfort those who needed her faith, solace, prayers and hope.” Source.

___________________________________________________________

Stephen Shakeshaft is subject of a retrospective at the National Conservation Centre in Liverpool, England. Having photographed The Beatles, street urchins, dock-workers, Cilla Black’s mum, the Toxteth Riots, Willy Russell, Liverpool F.C. in European glory and the tragedy of the Hillsborough aftermath, Shakeshaft is knee-deep in the love, lore and history of the Merseyside region.

I’d argue Shakeshaft is to Liverpool as Anthony Friedkin is to California.

Shakeshaft started his career as a copy boy in 1962, running typed stories from the sub-editors’ desk to the print room for the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo. Later he was accepted as an apprentice, learning his trade and his art. He rose to become chief photographer and picture editor of both papers.

Kenny Daglish in bed with the European Cup. Copyright: Stephen Shakeshaft/ Liverpool Daily Post & Echo.

Celebrations after Liverpool won the European Cup Final in Rome, 1977. Copyright Liverpool Daily Post and Echo

All the information from the Liverpool Museum’s blog, associated videos from the exhibition and podcast.

Media articles and photos here, here, here and here.

© Stephen Shakeshaft

1909 - City Hall and Home Insurance Building (New York City)

Click the picture to see it full size.

View the full collection at  clicksypics.com.  To find out how these are created, go here.

Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga

Comments

hahahahahahaha  I can’t , I can’t stop laughing XD !!!!!! D. Gray man ep  18 are just too funny !!!!!!! I just love Komui Lees sister complex XD

i just begin to watch d gray man again….. i think i have watch it 3 times already ^_^ from ep 1-103. Haaaaaa. Just love this ep. It’s one of my favorites in this anime.

.  Aaaaa I just can’t believe that komui lees voice actor Katsuyuki Konishi is the same as haji from blood+ and ren from skip beat and Fulle from Scrapped Princess and Amidamaru, Rakisuto Rasso, Buramuro from  shaman king!!!!!

click to watch d gray man ep 18

Lenalee’s Love

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

As I’ve mentioned, I’m not the greatest comic book reader. My diet consists of a comic book series about literature and keeping tabs on Harley Quinn. However, my brother owns a massive tome that I believe to be Marvel: The Characters and Their Universe. I flipped through it a lot as a wee lass, and so internalized a vague, dreamy conception of the Golden Age of comics, spanning from the late 1930s to the late 1940s- young illustrators leaning over massive draft boards, their hair falling into their face. That’s what came to me when I picked up The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay as I volunteered at the library this past summer.

The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is, as advertised, the lives and times of Sammy Clay and Josef Kavalier. Joe escapes Nazi-occupied Prague with a bit of illusion inspired by Houdini. Sammy, a fan of comic books, dreams of making his living in that field. When the cousins meet in New York in the 1930s, their combined talents make Sammy’s dream come true. They invent The Escapist, a hero inspired by Harry Houdini, and, later, Luna Moth, a fantastical female champion by night, dowdy librarian by day. As World War II comes closer, The Escapist takes off, becoming immensely popular. The novel follows Clay, Kavalier, and Rosa Saks, the inspiration for Luna Moth, through the 1930s to the 1950s, when comics are accused of corrupting the innocent minds of American children.

This novel is immense. It covers fifteen years of busy history and three busy lives. The Golden Age of comics, World War II, The World’s Fair, Prague, illusions, Jewish mysticism, and even the plight of gays in the repressed atmosphere of the 1930s are all covered leisurely by Michael Chabon. For me, there’s an almost physical sensation when you realize you are in good hands when you’re reading a novel. When I was reading The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, that feeling came on page four. His writing is fresh and thorough. I’ve learned more about the Golden Age of comics and the plight of soldiers in Antarctica than I ever thought I would. Even stray supporting characters are given the sort of fleshing out I wish main characters had in shorter novels. I’m definitely seeking out more Michael Chabon in the future.

Sammy and Joe, our leads, are at once cut from the same cloth and wildly different. Sent overseas by his family, Joe feels incredibly guilty that he is free while they are not, and spends every waking moment not devoted to comic books to rescuing them. Sammy is the idea guy, overseeing the comics, writing the scripts, and working out his sexual identity. Rosa, the third musketeer of the operation, is a bohemian with a heart of gold and a possessive streak concerning Joe. The way these three manage themselves into a family is one of the best things about The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. I adore unconventional families, especially in period settings, and the Clays warm my heart.

This novel is firmly squared in history. Several of the actual Golden Age comic book artists and creators Chabon interviewed to research the novel make appearances as characters- Stan Lee even has a line or several. Joe rescues Salvador Dali at a party, and Joe’s mentor, the magician Kornblum, recalls watching Houdini perform. Even Eleanor Roosevelt makes a cameo! Chabon takes every historical detail he can and uses it to his advantage. The perspective is quite fresh- that of an observer from our time period. This makes for a rather unique form of foreshadowing, as The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay occasionally read like a historical piece on the cartoonists. Occasional footnotes mention period books the three main characters have read or been inspired by, and talk about the comic book industry. This novel is meticulously researched. Chabon’s author note at the end devolves into a bibliography.

While I was hoping for a bit more from the opening, which mentions Sammy at a fan convention, fan culture is only explored a little. A crazed pro-Nazi fan of the Escapist has a chapter where he imagines himself as the Saboteur, a villain seeking the destruction of the Escapist- in his mind, Joe. True, most of the fan culture developed after the Golden Age, but it would have been nice to see a little more. The portion of the novel where Joe, who has enlisted after a tragedy, serves in Antarctica is chilling and a little odd. While it makes Joe’s eventual return to true civilization have much more impact, I can’t forgive Joe for allowing his comrade to shoot and skin a dog who trusts him for a truly trivial reason. Joe is properly guilty over this, of course, but I’m not quite sure why that particular dog had to die. Still, it’s a small flaw in a such an overwhelmingly wonderful novel.

Bottom line: A sprawling overview of the Golden Age of comics through the eyes of two cousins in the field, The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is thoughtfully and meticulously researched, making for a historical personal epic.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

‘Shameful Flight’ relates the history of the final years of the British Raj in India, including the partition of India into both Pakistan (West and East) and India, and the early hostility of the two new nations destined for perpetual warfare in such regions as the Kashmir.The history of this era of political instability on the subcontinent includes all the main players from Great Britain, India and Pakistan.These main players include Winston Churchill, Viceroy Louis Mountbatten, Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah. There is not a single figure in this history of India’s partition who comes out of it in a good light, though several seem to have had very well-intentioned aims and motivations. It is the true story of lost opportunity and the devastating consequences of human pride and selfishness that have reverberated down through the decades to the present day and remain visible in the continuing clashes between India and Pakistan, as well as in the extremism expressed in both the Islamic and Hindu communities throughout the sub-continent. It is a story of perpetual tragedy and human suffering with no end in sight.

This book is extremely easy to read, passes on a wealth of historical information and whets the appetite for further research on the India/Pakistan situation. It provides enlightenment, by bringing understanding to the current political instability in both India and Pakistan, by clearly revealing the root of the problem – the manner of the birth of both nations out of British imperialism and that nation’s final haphazard departure aptly described as a ‘Shameful Flight.’ This is a great book for understanding the sub-continent and the wounds it still carries to this day.

This book was provided to me for review by Oxford University Press – www.oup.com

King Offa of Mercia 747-796

• King Offa was allegedly the first King of the English.

King Egbert of Wessex 775-839

King Aethelwulf of Wessex 795-858

King Aethelbald of Wessex 834-860

King Aethelberht of Wessex 835-865

King Aethelred of Wessex 837-871

King Alfred the Great of Wessex 849-899

Queen Aethelflaed of Mercia 870-918

King Edward the Elder of Wessex 874-924

King Athelstan the Glorious of Wessex 895-939

King Edmund the Magnificent of Wessex 921-946

King Eadred of Wessex 923-955

King Eadwig of Wessex 940-959

King Edgar the Peaceable of Wessex 943-975

King Edward the Martyr (Saint) of Wessex 962-978

King Aethelred the Unready of Wessex 968-1016

• England came under the rule of Danish kings during and following the reign of Æthelred the Unready.

King Edmund Ironside of Wessex 993-1016

King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark 960-1014

King Canute of Denmark 995-1035

King Harold Harefoot of Denmark 1016-1040

King Harthacanute of Denmark 1018-1042

• After Harthacanute, there was a brief Saxon Restoration between 1042 and 1066.

King Edward the Confessor of Wessex (Saint) 1003-1066

King Harold Godwinson of Wessex 1020-1066

King Edgar the Atheling of Wessex 1053-1125

• After the Battle of Hastings, a decisive point in British history, William of Normandy became king of England.

King William I the Bastard/the Conqueror of Normandy 1028-1087

King William II Rufus of Normandy 1060-1100

King Henry I of Normandy 1068-1135

• King Henry I was the first king to be called, “King of England” instead of just “King of the English”.

Empress Matilda of Normandy 11002-1167

• Declared heir presumptive by her father, Henry I, and acknowledged as such by the barons. However, upon Henry I’s death, the throne was seized by Matilda’s cousin, Stephan of Blois. Anarchy followed, with Matilda being a de facto ruler for a few months in 1141, but she was never crowned and is rarely listed as monarch of England.

King Stephan of Normandy 1096-1154

• Stephen came to an agreement in November 1153, with the signing of the Treaty of Wallingford where Stephen recognised Henry, son of Matilda, as his heir to the throne in lieu of his own son.

King Henry II of Plantagenet 1133-1189

King Henry the Young King of Plantagenet 1155-1183

King Richard I the Lionheart of Plantagenet 1157-1199

King John of Plantagenet 1166-1216

King Henry III of Plantagenet 1207-1272

King Edward I of Plantagenet 1239-1307

King Edward II of Plantagenet 1284-1387

King Edward III of Plantagenet 1312-1377

King Richard II of Plantagenet 1367-1400

• This house descended from Edward III’s third surviving son, John of Gaunt.

King Henry IV of Lancaster 1366-1413

King Henry V of Lancaster 1387-1422

King Henry VI of Lancaster 1431-1471

• The House of York was descended from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III.

King Edward IV of York 1442-1483

King Henry VI of Lancaster 1431-1471 [restored]

King Edward IV of York 1442-1483 [restored]

King Edward V of York 1470-1483

King Richard III of York 1452-1485

• The Tudors descended matrilineally from John Beaufort, one of the illegitimate children of 14th Century English Prince John of Gaunt (third surviving son of Edward III of England), by Gaunt’s long-term mistress Katherine Swynford. The descendants of an illegitimate child of English Royalty would normally have no claim on the throne, but the situation was complicated when Gaunt and Swynford eventually married in 1396 (25 years after John Beaufort’s birth). In view of the marriage, the church retroactively declared the Beauforts legitimate via a papal bull the same year (also enshrined in an Act of Parliament in 1397). A subsequent proclamation by John of Gaunt’s legitimate son, King Henry IV, also recognized the Beauforts’ legitimacy, but declared them ineligible to ever inherit the throne.

King Henry VII of Tudor 1457-1509

King Henry VIII of Tudor 1491-1547

King Edward VI of Tudor 1537-1553

Queen Jane Grey of Suffolk 1537-1554

• Edward VI named Jane as his heir presumptive. Four days after his death, Jane was proclaimed queen. Nine days after the proclamation, Edward VI’s Catholic half-sister, Mary, had managed to find sufficient support to ride into London in a triumphal procession on 19 July. Jane was executed in 1554, aged 16.

Queen Mary I of Tudor 1516-1558

King Phillip II of Spain 1527-1598

• Under the terms of the marriage treaty between Philip II of Spain and Queen Mary, Philip was to enjoy Mary I’s titles and honours for as long as their marriage should last. All official documents, including Acts of Parliament, were to be dated with both their names, and Parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple. An Act of Parliament gave him the title of king and stated that he “shall aid her Highness … in the happy administration of her Grace’s realms and dominions” (although elsewhere the Act stated that Mary was to be “sole queen”). Nonetheless, Philip was to co-reign with his wife.

Queen Elizabeth I of Tudor 1533-1603

• Following the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 without issue, the Scottish king, James VI, succeeded to the English throne as James I in what became known as the Union of the Crowns. James was descended from the Tudors through his great-grandmother, Margeret Tudor, the eldest daughter of Henry VII. In 1604 he adopted the title King of Great Britain, much like the agglomeration of Habsburg “Spain” through the previous union of Castile and Aragon.

King James I of Stuart 1566-1625

King Charles I of Stuart 1600-1649

• There was no reigning monarch between the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. Despite this, from 1653 the following individuals held power as Lords Protector, during the period known as the Protectorate.

Oliver Cromwell 1599-1658

Richard Cromwell 1626-1712

King Charles II of Stuart 1630-1685 [restored]

King James II of Stuart 1633-1701

• William III and Mary Hyde II ruled England jointly.

King William III of Stuart 1650-1702

Queen Mary Hyde II 1662-1694

Queen Anne Hyde 1665-1714

King George I of Hanover 1660-1727

King George II of Hanover 1683-1760

King George III of Hanover 1738-1820

King George IV of Hanover 1762-1830

King William IV of Hanover 1765-1837

Queen Victoria of Hanover 1819-1901

• Victoria was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover; her son King Edward VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

King Edward VII of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha 1841-1910

• King George V changed the dynasty name to Windsor.

King George V of Windor 1865-1936

King Edward VIII of Windsor 1894-1972

• King Edward VIII gave up his crown to marry American socialite, Wallis Warfield.

King George VI of Windsor 1895-1982

Queen Elizabeth II of Windsor 1926-Present

• Elizabeth’s son, Charles Windsor, is named heir upon her death.

Virginia Beach Good Outdoor Activity With More Adventure City

Virginia Beach is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the Chesapeake Bay and North Carolina, and provides miles of beachfront for activities in the Virginia sun. Fishing, golfing, whale watching, dolphin watching, historic landmarks, and exciting attractions and popular events are part of the beach experience. Virginia Beach is very good travel city in the state of Virginia which is the most popular destination, nightlife, sightseeing, restaurant, cheap hotels and one of the most attraction cities for tourists which are beach, the state parks and Back Bay national wildlife refuge beckon, hiking, kayaking, and biking adventures. To get all the adventure in this city there are many cheap hotels in virginia beach. This city is a good travel city and there also fantastic tourist attraction points include:-

• Cape Henry Lighthouse
• Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center
• Mount Trashmore
• The Old Coast Guard Station
• Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum
• State Parks and National Wildlife Refuge
• Virginia Beach Farmers Market
• Golfing, Surfing, Kayaking and Canoeing
• Running, Fishing, Dolphin and Whale Watching

Old red wooden church of Pyhämaa / Vieja iglesia roja de madera de Pyhämaa / Vieille église rouge en bois de Pyhämaa.

This church, built in 1647-1652 is looking very typical from outside, but from inside it is not. It is completly painted with allegorical drawings. One can easily imagine that if the sermon was too long or boring, then parishioners were inspecting those drawings. Now You have possibility to do the same via my photos.

Esta iglesia, construida en 1647-1652 parece muy típico de afuera, pero de dentro no lo es. Está completamente pintado con dibujos alegóricas. Se puede imaginarse fácilmente en el caso de que el sermón fue demasiado largo o aburrido, entonces parroquianos inspeccionaban esos dibujos. Ahora Usted tiene la mismma posibilidad hacerlo mismo a través de mis fotos.

Cette église, incorporé 1647-1652 parait très typiques de dehors, mais de l’intérieur ce n’est pas le cas. Elle est complété peinte avec les dessins allégoriques. L’un peut facilement s’imaginer que si le sermon était trop long ou ennuyeux, alors les paroissiens inspectaient ces dessins. Maintenant Vous avez la même possibilité le faire Vous-mêmes à travers mes photos.

Wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

Wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

Wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

Wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

wooden church of Pyhämaa / Iglesia de madera de Pyhämaa / Église en bois de Pyhämaa

45,137 words as of Thanksgiving evening. Had I not taken time to research, I might have hit 50k already, but there were too many points of history I had to look up to keep the story going. What can I say, I write historicals–particularly westerns–and it’s not possible for me to make a note to <<<insert history here>>> and keep going.

The other obstacle I’ve encountered with this particular story is that it isn’t flowing. I have plot despair. It’s similar to a pit of despair, but without the Albino. I write and write and only to plunge into a pit of plot quagmire. Once I hit the 50k mark, this story is going on a slow simmer shelf. It’s time is not now, but that doens’t mean I’ve given up on it. It means that another story has elbowed its way to the forefront and the characters are demanding attention. In fact, this other story has completely worked itself out in my head and it won’t take me any time at all to write. Translation: less history involved.

…ride off into the sunset with Kaye

The winds have been blowing too hard on my tender new culms, but they’ve been coming from the north, and the gusts have been under the fatal fifty kph. So far, no more wreckage.

Some days ago when having conniptions over the destructive southerly winds which took out maybe five percent of the year’s gains, I wrote:

…there was a man who not only coped with the worst caprices of nature, but was able to thrive thanks to his penetrating, almost supernatural, understanding of the most baffling of all the world’s landscapes: inland Australia. It’s unfashionable to praise such people, which is why he has lately been called the Forgotten King.

In 1870, a thirteen year old boy called Sidney Kidman left Adelaide on a one-eyed horse he had bought with his savings. He had five shillings left.

Before his death in 1935, he had gained ownership or part-ownership in well over 3 percent of Australia’s land mass, an area bigger than the United Kingdom. Of course, much of that land was semi-arid. Kidman’s greatness lies not in statistics, but in his ability to see an enormous continent the way Capablanca might see a chess board or Stu Ungar a deck of poker cards. Yet Kidman was not looking at something that could fit on a table top. Nor did he have satellite photos like this to help him.

Lake Eyre Basin

Kidman fits the cliché image of business mogul in a few ways. He was thrifty, even tight-fisted, and resisted taxation; he was a demanding boss who never paid more than necessary for labour; having his share of vanity, he was prepared to part with valuable property in exchange for a knighthood. Kidman almost always bought low and sold high, allowing others to make the mistakes. Those who presume the worst of commercial titans might be satisfied with the portrait so far.

However, greatly outweighing these supposed negatives are other qualities. Kidman was an athletic, abstemious type who seldom conceded himself more comfort than he allowed others in some of the hardest country on earth. His thrift proceeded from a hatred of waste, rather than resistance to generosity. He was an exemplary wartime employer and a lavish donor to the war effort. Whatever vanity was in the man, he was not particularly rivalrous, being more what theorists might now call “an abundance thinker”. Like another admired figure mentioned on this blog, marital fidelity and devotion to family never went missing in a career consisting of constant travel and enormous wealth. Lastly, Kidman was loved by the people he drove so hard for an average wage. He always gave respect, and always received it.

None of this explains the uniqueness of the man. Though painstaking and determined, he was not markedly aggressive, nor ruthless in the extreme sense. Aggression and ruthlessness in the face of the Australian climate and land are ultimate losers. This map may help to convey the core of his genius.

Kidman’s early bush experiences, and his willingness to consult and always respect the aborigines, led him to see that the rivers which fed Lake Eyre could be used in an intricate fashion to move huge amounts of stock over great distances. He was to develop an even wider range, involving also the west of the continent, following the simple notion that when it is wet in some parts of Australia it is dry in others; where stock is unsaleable in drought-country, it is in demand elsewhere. He just needed the biggest chain of land-holdings in history!

Even though nearly ruined by the horrific Federation drought, Kidman was quickly back in business and making acquisitions in the wake of that disaster. Curiously, in those periods when livestock was not at such a premium, he was able with lightning decisions and total lack of sentimentality to abandon pastoral activities in favour of something that offered a temporary profit. Of course, he always returned to cattle.

He had one business regret. Briefly, in his youth, Kidman took a large share in a mining operation when he was making a good living servicing the NSW mines with goods and transport. He soon sold those shares at a good profit…but the name of the operation was BHP! Oh well.

Kidman died a popular and respected Adelaide figure in 1935, leaving a large, but not stupendous, fortune. He had, in fact, given much away. The company that bears his name still holds some 12 million acres. What makes him the supreme commercial genius of his era is his ability to translate a simple idea into an enormous fact.

“I know the three rivers like a miser knows his gold.”

The Cooper, Diamantina (seen here flooding this year) and Georgina Rivers that empty into Lake Eyre form the vast region still known as Kidman Country.

Woke with much excitement this morning; off to the Isle of Skye today.   Had breakfast and packed a picnic lunch and set off real early. We wanted to make good progress as the island is over 50 miles away and would take about an hour or so to get there.   Hahaha! Little did we know!

On the way out I stopped at reception to ask for a new kettle; ours had died and to take a photo of the reception area.   This set the tone for the day!    Everything is so gorgeous and we didn’t stop once or twice, we stopped dozens of times!

We barely left the grounds of the park when we made or first stop!   At Laggan Swing Bridge.   The day was absolutely glorious and the water on the Loch such a beautiful blue, it just begged for a photo or two.

Laggan Swing Bridge

part of the bridge mechanisms

The valley we are in is just breathtakingly gorgeous and yet we had no idea of the splendour that waited ahead.   The next stop was hardly a mile down the road and so it went.   We eventually got to Invergarry where we were to turn left for the Kyle of Lochalsh and the Isle of Skye.

Invergarry Hotel

Of course we stopped once again in Invergarry to take photos of the wonderful hotel

the bridge with river running swiftly below

the beautiful stone bridge we had just driven over and the river that rushed by in the ravine below.

colours too gorgeous to imagine

The colours of the forest are just too gorgeous to imagine.

We did not linger too long and soon made our way towards Skye.   Oh my word!   The scenery was absolutely spectacular.  We hardly got anywhere at all with the frequent stops along the way.   Driving through hills of Glen Quoich was such a treat.  We gasped with disbelief when we rounded a bend and there before our eyes was Loch Garry! 

Loch Garry

Stupendous is just insufficient to describe the beauty.   The Loch is huge and stretches for mile upon mile, a massive expanse of beautiful blue water snug amongst the steeply sloping tree covered hills.

wooded slopes leading down into glacial valley; Loch Garry

A left-over from the glaciers that formed these valleys 12,000 years ago, the water is a flat expanse of icy-blue.

mile upon mile of blue water

We spent ages just looking, reluctant to leave, but time was fleeting and we still had quite a way to go.

The road twists and winds, up and steeply down through towering hills and wooded glacial valleys,

gushing waterfalls everywhere you look

gushing waterfalls round every corner and rushing headlong down the mountain sides.

rushing, gurgling down the mountainsides

At one spot where we stopped, right at the top of the mountain, we were greeted by a really strange spectacle: a large flat expanse of ground with countless little cairns dotting the area. Really bizarre.

hundreds of little cairns dotted the hilltop

countless cairns, blue glacial waters of Loch Garry in the backround

We kept saying: ‘Ok, no more stops now till we get to Eilean Donan Castle’!   Pointless words, every corner revealed another view, another waterfall,    

another bridge, and we screamed to a stop so many times that it eventually became a joke.

welcome to Skye and Lochalsh

Welcome to Skye and Lochalsh

Nearing Kyle of Lochalsh we passed through a tiny village situated right on the edge of the Sound of Sleat, a massive stretch of water on the left and on the right a valley cut in the cleft of the mountains we had just driven through.

The village of Dornie in the background, the Sound of Sleat on the right

As we passed through the village I noticed a statue high on top of a hill and a ramshackle church in the middle of an ancient graveyard.  

roofless church in graveyard

We screamed to a stop once again (I am sure I wore the brakes out!) and parking the car snug against the hedges, walked along a winding dirt path that took us up the steep sides of the hill and eventually to the top and behold: the statue.   It was actually a memorial erected by the clan Macrae and friends in memory of Macrae’s home and abroad who fell at home and abroad in the Great War of 1914-1918. 

Memorial inscription

the stone memorial and statue

The stone edifice of a man in uniform with the family crest carved into  the stone; has a view second to none, as far as the eye can see,

a view as far as the eye can see

across the hills and along the valleys far, far away. 

me on the hillside

There are a couple of benches atop the crest and even though the wind was attempting to blow us off our feet we sat and tarried for a while in the peace and quiet. 

CJ sitting on the bench atop the hill

Then we clambered back down through slushy mud and peat, ever mindful of holes and uneven ground just waiting to twist an unwary ankle!

Thence to the graveyard; to explore the tumble down roofless church, with

tumble down church

new memorials alongside ancient gravestones and memorials; I love those old cemeteries, the stories they tell.  

As we clambered about the sun broke through the clouds and shone down in a stream of silver light onto the loch and hills. 

sun touching the mountains

What is quite amazing is that these two photos were taken within minutes of each other from slightly different angles!

Not long and just after we had said no more stopping till we get to the castle, we rounded a bend and there it was!

Eilean Donan Castle

Eilean Donan Castle perched on its island at the head of Loch Duich.

Eilean Donan Castle

Only one of the most photographed castles in Scotland and on every calendar you get of castles of Scotland.   Awesome.

an island fortress

When you see photos of the castle it always looks like it is in the middle of the Loch, but although on it’s own little island, in fact it is not in the middle of the Loch.   Just a short walk over a beautiful stone bridge

the bridge leading up to the castle

and you are on the wee island that supports the structure.   The castle per se is closed from October till March, but that did not stop us exploring the outer perimeters.

CJ exploring the outer walls of Eilean Donan Castle

the bridge leading to the castle Eilean Donan

At the entrance to the castle is a family memorial carrying the family crest or arms and listing all the names of fallen Macraes from the 1914-1918 war       

Clan Macrae memorial to family members fallen during the Great War 1914-18

and alongside 2 fine cannons pointing across the Loch and along the bridge.

....down the barrel of a gun!

after exploring I then clambered down to the rocks below to look at the views from under the bridge.

view of the Loch from under the bridge at Eilean Donan Castle

Amazing views from under the bridge.

The castle is situated on a tidal Loch and the rocks were covered with seaweed, with that wonderful salty sea smell. With a long history dating back centuries, the castle is famous for many events, and more recently the film Highlander starring Sean Connery.

me and CJ at Eilean Donan Castle

The castle is a fabulous stone structure,

Eilean Donan Castle

imperious and imposing as castles are meant to be,

view across the Sound

and with an incredible view across the loch and mountains.

I can see that once the tide comes in how the castle would be inaccessible from the road.  

Very near to the Isle of Skye now and with the day waning, we decided to hotfoot it along and get there before the sun disappeared.   There is a fantastic new bridge that crosses the Firth from Kyle of Lochalsh to the isle.

bridge across the sea to Skye as seen from the car

The views are just incredible and we gasped at every turn.   As we drove over the sea to Skye and onto the island we cheered, hooray!   It had taken us 5 hours to get there!

Making a sharp turn to the left we stopped off in a wee town called Kyleakin, the gateway to Skye, with a long and proud history.

history of Kyleakin; gateway to Skye

Kyleakin is a harbour town with views to die for.

Kyleakin harbour

On a rocky outcrop near the edge of town are the remains of Castle Moil.

Castle Moil on the Isle of Skye (this is CJ's photo)

Looking across the Inner Sound we could see Scalpay Island across the water.

Scalpay Island across Inner Sound

The bridge looked magnificent against the blue sky and with the sun beginning to set, looked mystical in the soft misty air.

a soft misty look across the Sound to the bridge

We decided to explore further inland so set off along the road to Broadford.

a tiny croft, a stunning view

The views are just incredible and we saw tiny little crofts snug amongst the grass with a fabulous backdrop of sea and sky.

dusk falls on the Isle of Sky

Now it was starting to get darker so we stopped off at a hotel for tea and scones with cream.   Thence homeward bound.

crossing the bridge from the Isle of Skye to Kyle of Lochalsh

Re-crossing the bridge we pledge to return at a later date and explore the whole island.

A quick stop at the castle for some sunset photos,

night falls on Eilean Donan Castle (one of CJ's photos)

Eilean Donan Castle as dusk falls (one of CJ's photos)

then with the rain starting up again we set off for home.

Driving along the winding roads we were once again enchanted by the waterfalls that plunge down the slopes of the mountains!

plunging waterfalls

Earlier on in the day before we reached Kyle of Lochalsh we had noticed a wonderful old-fashioned stone bridge (no longer in use) along the way, but as we had no-where to park decided to stop on the way back home.   The rain was pouring down by now and we almost missed the stop when CJ happened to glance out the window and noticed it again.   I slammed on brakes and did a quick turn to the left onto the hard-shoulder and pulled into a lay-bye nearby.   Jumping out the car in the rain we splooshed and splashed along slipping and sliding in the mud and reached the crest of the road in one piece.   So far, so good!   Hahaha.   Not wanting to get soaked to the skin we ran along to the centre of the main-road bridge to get a good viewpoint. 

old stone bridge

As we ran CJ happened to glance up and noticed a huge puddle of water on the left of where we were heading and a great big truck heading our way.   As she turned to shout a warning: “Puddle!” the truck roared by and all I had time to do was duck my head and turn my back as a huge arc of dirty, greasy, black water poured over my head.   I was soaked to the skin.   Thankfully I had, had just enough time to raise my camera into the air just out of reach of the torrent as the water poured over me.    We were laughing so much that it wasn’t just the rain that was to blame for my trousers being wet .    By now we were absolutely soaked so with no further ado snapped away with the cameras (with very blurry results)

a very blurry photo

and then ran lickety-split for the car.   With no time to spare we jumped off the road and down onto the lay-bye as another stream of cars whooshed by.    What a scream.

one last photo for the day!

And so to home!  One last stop along the way in the waning light to photograph one last river

icy rivers rush headlong down the valleys (Cj's photo)

by the time we got back to the cabin we were wet and cold and still hysterical with laughter.   Next up; a hot steaming shower…of clean water accompanied by a towel.   What a brilliant day.

Looking at a map of Scotland after our adventure, I was amazed to see just how many islands are off the west coast.   There is of course Skye, then Rana, Raasay, Scalpay, Canna, Rum, Eigg, Muck, Coll, Tiree, Mull, Lismore, Colonsay, Jura, Islay, Kintyre, Arran, Bute, as well as farther northwest is Lewis, Harris, North Uist, South Uist, Barra (a tiny little island with it’s own airport), hundreds of little splotches of land with no names, and way north are the Orkney Islands (including the isle of Hoy), and even farther north are the Shetland Islands.   Awesome!”

Origins of Democracy in Paleolithic Hunter-Gatherer Groups

A paper by Doron Shultziner, PhD, referenced in Part I of this essay and entitled, “Evolution and Liberal Democracy,”  highlights the shortcomings of definitions of democracy in the 20th century that ignore and obscure the evolutionary nature of democratic ideals.  The discussion is found in a section labeled, “Setting Democracy in a Larger Evolutionary Context,” 

Democracy at the beginning of the 21st century is a term that denotes a variety of regimes that share similar main characteristics. Democracy has a thin procedural definition and thicker definitions. The thin definition of democracy is a political system with universal suffrage and “whose leaders are elected in competitive multi-party and multi-candidate processes in which opposition parties have a legitimate chance of attaining power or participating in power” [citation in original]….Thicker definitions of democracy require effective and enlightened participation as well as human rights and freedoms beyond what is necessary for a democratic process [citations in original]. Thicker standards of democracy usually relate to liberal-democracies, namely democratic countries which are free and respectable to human rights. The two categories, however, are not necessarily synonymous [citation in original].

Defined by these criteria, however, democracy is a very recent invention that appeared only in the 20th century after women gained voting rights. The merits of these definitions have been recognized by political scientists for providing a useful analytical tool and for distinguishing democracies from other types of regimes, at least since the 20th century [citation in original]. 

Unfortunately, 20th century definitions of democracy, useful as they may be to distinguish democracies from nondemocracies at present, are not applicable to democracies prior to the 20th century [citations in original].  The famous democracy of Athens (and other Greek cities) about 2500 years ago is not a democracy by today’s definitions because not all men, women or slaves were allowed to vote or have any say about matters that influenced their lives. For similar reasons, the American democracy was lacking significant characteristics prior to the 20th century. In Switzerland, men gained suffrage as early as 1848; women in Switzerland, however, began gaining suffrage only in 1971 and the Swiss canton Appenzell Innerrhoden was forced by the Supreme Court to give women voting rights as late as 1990.  Still, it would not make much sense to argue that Switzerland became a democracy only in 1971 or 1990. 20th century definitions of democracy detach democracy from its historical roots for reasons of analytical clarity. It is not that these historical roots are not unacknowledged; rather, they are perceived to be irrelevant for the purpose of analyzing the unprecedented number of democratic transitions in the 20th century. This logic, as I intend to show in the following pages, is flawed because it fails to recognize seminal historical democracies as forerunners of a much deeper and profound phenomenon….

Egalitarian Social Structures in the Paleolithic Era

I believe that much of our ability to understand the transition to democracy is impaired by the focus on 20th century standards of democracy. I argue that shared features exist between 20th century democracies, democracies prior to the 20th century, and ancient forms of human egalitarian societies.

Estimates for Homo sapiens appearance are between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago [citation in original].  We know that all human beings lived throughout this period, known as the Paleolithic era (2 million -10,000 B.C.E), in small nomadic societies of hunters and gatherers (i.e. foragers) who were usually of an average group size of 25 people, although at times of festivals group size could reach over one hundred [citations in original].  Human beings in the Paleolithic era have [sic] had the same physiological and psychological capabilities as us (“biologically they were us” [citation in original], although their cultures and ways of life were obviously different.  These forager bands sustained their ways of life and social structures into the 20th century. Forager bands, albeit influenced to different degrees by external factors, were extensively studied around the world by anthropologists, and these studies provide valuable information regarding behavior and social structures in the Paleolithic era. 

An important characteristic of forager bands, which has become a topic of interest especially since the 1990’s, is their egalitarian social structures.  Wide agreement exists that the social structure of small nomadic societies in the Paleolithic era was egalitarian [citations in original]. Even at the present, after a long period of environmental influences, only a few examples of nonegalitarian foraging societies exist, and these too are affected by high population density and large group size, sedentary life, and other specific characteristics [citation in original]. As Boehm [citation in original] puts it, “Indeed, this egalitarian approach appears to be universal for foragers who live in small bands that remain nomadic, suggesting considerable antiquity for political egalitarianism.”  No strict hierarchical structure existed in foraging bands: decisions had to be reached through consensus, leaders usually had little, if any, substantial power over other group members, and people could come and go as they pleased [Emphasis added].

The Linkage Between Technology and Democracy

As Shultziner points out:

The Paleolithic era, however, ended with the invention of agriculture 10,000 years ago, human beings began to settle permanently in one place and to grow plants and animals for their subsistence. This period in human history is known as the Neolithic era. Gradually, sedentary agriculture became the dominant mode of life in most areas of the world inhabited by humans (but not in all areas). The invention of agriculture revolutionized the environmental conditions human beings once lived under, and consequently remarkably changed social structures. Small egalitarian foraging societies were replaced by larger scale sedentary settlements, some of which later became empires. As these sedentary settlements developed and grew, central authoritative power of large scale societies came into being. Put differently, the invention of agriculture resulted in far-reaching consequences on the social structures of human beings.

Shultziner aids understanding by putting the “entire time-span of human history, into an intriguing, one-day, temporal scale.

In order to put the emergence of democracy, and the transitions to democracy, in the right context, then, it would be helpful to compare the scope of this phenomenon to the entire time-span of human history, namely at least 102,000 years (if not 200,000) since Homo sapience began to dwell on the earth. A helpful perceptual scale and illustration would be to compare the relative portion of historical periods to their equivalent in a one-day scale. For more than 21.5 hours of the day (more than 90% of human history), human beings lived in small egalitarian societies of foragers. The emergence of agriculture and the beginning of the Neolithic era occurred in the last 2.5 hours of the day. The Athenian democracy briefly emerged and disappeared 36 minutes before midnight. The modern territorial sovereign state system that began to crystallize after the Peace of Westphalia (1648) was created in the last 8 seconds of that day. Democracy, as a type of regime that qualifies to 20th century definitions, emerged barely 2 seconds ago! In this context, and by 20th century standards of the term, democracy is a very recent development in human history [Emphasis added].

Shultziner goes on to state:

Although democracy by 20th century definition may be a very new phenomenon, I argue that its historical roots and causes lie in ancient times, long before the Athenian democracy came into being [citation in original].  In order to gain a better understanding of why we witness a fast rate of transitions to democracy in recent history we are required to look more closely at the egalitarian social structures under which human beings lived through the Paleolithic era.

In Part III of this essay, I shall discuss the development of these egalitarian social structures as they relate to the culture of early man and their linkage with what is known about social behavior in other species.

A Zaporozhe Cossack on the Steppe (Sergei Vasilkovsky, no date (1880s-90s?))

Historical/Historical Fiction picture books are an excellent way to introduce new historical eras and subjects to your students.  They provide an easy to comprehend version of events that can stimulate conversation and create opportunities for extension activities and projects.  They are also create ways to draw in lower level readers in your classroom.  Here are some good examples and ways that they can be used.

Topic: Civil War, Underground Railroad, Slavery

This book is a great exploration of the lengths that slaves in the South went to gain their freedom.  In this book you follow the path of Henry who mails himself to freedom in the North.  This book can help introduce the Underground Railroad to your students and you can have them write about ways that they could think of to escape from the South.

This book is also an excellent way to help introduce the Underground Railroad, and specifically Harriet Tubman and the role she played in the Underground Railroad.

Topic: Communism, Cold War, Civil Rights

This book provides the chance to relate life in Soviet Eastern Europe to your students lives.  In this picture book/graphic novel Peter Sis recalls what life was like in Soviet controlled Czechoslovakia through his boyhood eyes.  This book can be used to compare and contrast life in the eastern bloc to your students present day life.  It can also be used to discuss tactics used by the USSR during the Cold War to suppress the people behind the Iron Curtain.

Topic: WWII, Europe, Nazi Resistance

In this book a young Dutch boy is charged with helped his two young neighbors across a frozen river to safety in Belgium after their father is arrested for sending messages to the Allied Forces.  He manages to outwit Nazi soldiers and delivers his neighbors to safety.  This book can be used to discuss Nazi resistance and underground movements from France to Poland that helped defeat the Nazi’s.  It can help your students comprehend that though Hitler managed to conquer much of Europe, there were many people who banded together with much risk to their selves and families to help defeat Hitler and the Nazi’s

Topic: Terrorism

This is an excellent book for elementary and middle school classrooms to introduce September 11th to their students.  The book begins with the construction of the World Trade Center and then climaxes with the tightrope walk between them in the 1970’s.  It ends by saying that the towers are now no longer there, but does not discuss the details as to way.  This provides the opportunity to the teacher to discuss the events around September 11th in a way that they deem appropriate for their classroom and their students.

Given that is Thanksgiving, I thought it would be appropriate to give Thanks to all of our soliders overseas and stationed all around the world. Please remember to be thankful for all the good in your own life and for all those who make it wonderful.

“The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”
-Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), during his famous Gettysburg Address at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on November 13, 1863

On March 19, 2003 President George Bush officially announced the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Since then hundreds of thousands of Americans have volunteered themselves to travel overseas to fight for the freedom of the Iraqi people from the tyranny they face. So far, there have been over 5,000 coalition deaths and more than 30,000 soldiers wounded. Whether you agree with President Bush’s choice to go to go war or not you can not argue that these people deserve respect. They are putting their lives on the line to fight for the freedom of ourselves as Americans and the freedom of others.

Although our soldiers are currently fighting in Iraq, men and women have been fighting for our freedom from centuries. The American Revolution, the Civil War, World Wars One and Two, Vietnam, Korea, the Cold War. These are just a few of the the wars we’ve been involved in over the past 300 years. On July 4, 1776, 333 years ago, we began a free nation. We earned that freedom and we have continued to fight for it ever since. The hundreds of thousands of men and women over seas have risked their lives to uphold the principles started all those years ago by 56 men, two of which later became President of the United States.

The soldiers at Gettysburg in 1863 endured 51,000 casualties and fought to turn the civil war to favor the Union.

Paul Revere made his famous Midnight Ride in 1775 and warned the rebels that the British were headed toward Lexington and Concord.

In Trenton, New Jersey in 1776 George Washington led his troops into battle on December 25 in a surprise attack on the British. The victory was not only physical but also a moral victory as his soldiers were poorly equipped.

Although these are just a few notable battles and people, all who have fought for our freedom deserve recognition. To all those who have fought to protect us, we salute you.

For a list of all of the men and women who have sacrificed their lives during the past  six years, please go here.

Top 5 Sources:
Antiwar.com
Multied.com
USHistory.com
WhiteHouse.gov
History Place

What books and authors are you particularly thankful for this year?

This year, I’ve been discovering lots of new authors with the help of both of my local library systems, but I’m especially pleased to discover Robin McKinley and Cherie Priest. While I haven’t had a chance to read their other works besides Sunshine and Boneshaker, I enjoyed both of those so much that I’m greatly looking forward to reading their other works. Sunshine was a wonderful antidote to the toothless, romantic vampires overwhelming pop culture at the moment, and Boneshaker was, I think, the best introduction to Americana steampunk I could have read. My reviews of both are here and here, respectively.

As it’s Thanksgiving here in the US of A, I’m spending the day with family and friends of the family. A review of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay ought to go up tomorrow. Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving, everyone!

ABRAHAM LINCOLN When brains, courage, strength of character, and love of country was more important than spin doctors, questionable ethics and love of the all mighty dollar. He would never be elected today.

(Abraham Lincoln)

He’d probably run as third part candidate anyway.

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