#(both times during summers we were visiting my grandmother. he's v lucky to have 2 working eyes lol)

[cinematicnomad]

#a turtle bit my toe

u okay?

lol 😅 i see you saw my answer in the tags of that poll yesterday

when i was, like, 3 or 4? my family was living in monterrey, mexico. and one afternoon after i'd had a playdate at a friends house my mom picked me up and apparently i sat in the backseat and kept saying "turtle! toe! turtle! toe!" and my mom was like "uh huh, yes katherine, turtle's DO have toes, good job" and promptly forgot about it once we got home

but then later that evening my mom got a phone call and it was the little boy's mom who was SUPER anxious and said she wanted to apologize and check in on how i was doing.

to which my mom was like "....what?"

which is how this lady had to explain to my mom that her son and i had been playing in the backyard barefoot and got too close to a wild snapping turtle that bit my big toe and REFUSED TO LET GO. it took a bunch of adults to get the turtle to release my appendage and they gave me a bandage and put my socks and shoes back and the housekeeper/babysitter/whoever that was looking after us just...forgot to mention it to my mom when she picked me up lol.

since i was so little and no one can corroborate the story of how it happened, i'm not sure if my memory of the incident is that accurate—but from what i remember, the boy and i went over to the hose to rinse off our feet since they were covered in mud and each took turns standing on what we THOUGHT was a rock...only to discover it was a turtle when the things head popped out of the shell and reared back to bite me. meaning my answer to that poll would probably be: "yes and it was my fault"

it's a fun story to tell but the answer is, yes, i'm perfectly a-okay 😅

[teatimeatwinterpalace]

She also apparently wrote this to her grandmama QV in approx. 1878: 'Willie of Prussia has been here a few days ... We enjoyed his stay very much - we rode out with him, which was so nice. On Sunday he read to us all a very nice book which amused us so.' This sounds as though she must have been fond of him, in the least.

Hey! To answer you first question I don’t really find it strange considering Wilhelm character. He was already very fond of Ella when he was sixteen and she was just ten years old. In the letter he wrote to his mother in April 1875 it’s true that she might appeared to also have been fond of him: “She & I, we both love each other warmly; she showed me the hothouse & garden at Darmstad, & we were together the whole day. I think that if God grants me that I may live till then I shall make her my bride once if you allow it.” But she was still a child, Willy wouldn’t be the first man to take kindness as flirting… 😏

When he was studying at Bonn, Darmstadt was closer to Karlsruhe where his aunt Louise lived. Vicky encouraged him to spend more time in Darmstadt (rather than the more conservative Karlsruhe…). Wilhelm was very needy and emotionally craving for love and admiration (his whole life tbh). He felt at ease and at home in Darmstadt so his frequent visits + his infatuation are not so surprising. On top of that, he was known to being extremely pushy so I can totally picture him going there over and over again even though Ella is not sharing his feeling or at least the same intensity. Everything changed after Alice’s death but he always remembered this time with nostalgia. I can’t find the exact letter where he said he left Darmstadt (he was on a visit late 1890/early 1900 I believe) with an heavy heart. It was bittersweet. 

As I said before I wonder if the letters that Queen_Missy has posted on the forum are authentic. In books I never saw letters from Ella from that time.Everyone assumes she did not return his feelings. Croft in her book says that she confessed to her older sister Victoria that she found him “absolutely horrid” and it’s only because she was too polite and shy that she wasn’t rude to him. But there were no footnote to backup this assumption. 

When you try other sources there is question marks with this story. Most of the letters on this subject between Queen Victoria and her eldest daughter Vicky had been destroyed. We only get glimpses such as :

Queen Victoria - October 2, 1878 : “I never told Alice you had complained bitterly to me - and that had never asked me to write - for how could I? I only warned you what I had gathered and I have told you and Herr v. Liebenau (what I am thoroughly certain of) that Alice never wished to catch Willie, for I know she did not. It is a distressing misunderstanding which I trust is now cleared up and which I shall be too happy to aid in smoothing down if required. I think others (unintentionally) have talked and made messes, which is very annoying. Herr v. Liebnau thinks (as I do) Willie should not be pressed to marry too early. 

Queen Victoria - April 5, 1880 : “Ella is lovely - beyond all expression and so sweet and gentle. I could not but think with regret of what might have been. But I will say no more of all that painful past. That is over.”

Vicky - April 8, 1880 : “ Yes dear Ella is sweet and lovely; still I cannot help hoping and thinking that all is best as it is, and that of both young people especially.

It sure is interesting right? You have to be carreful not be tricked into Victoria’s effusive style but to be honest I think there is more than what historians have written about them. However I would not be surprised either if she didn’t share his love since he was a REAL piece of work. Even though it might not have been an unrequitered love (she was still so young when all the thing happened), it wasn’t a doomed love story either such as Prince Albert Victor & Princess Hélène of Orléans. 

Wilhelm made it looked like a tragic lost love (and perhaps it was, at least for him, I’m not being very kind towards him lol). You add the course of time, his personal failures and the tragic death of Ella and you get this letter from Willy to his grandson Prince Wilhelm in 1931 : “You will no doubt well know that only few sovereigns in the world are lucky enough to be able to marry the object of their first love. For example, in my youth exactly the same thing happened to me, when my parents refused to allow me to marry my cousin Ella of Hesse. A relationship which my grandmother Kaiserin Augusta especially fostered and which I had begged my parents from the bottom of my heart to permit. My heart bleeding, I obeyed the severe command of duty.” Wilhelm blaming his parents no surprise there lol (which is funny because yes Vicky didn’t favour the match because of the risk of hameophilia but I think Fritz and his parents were quite taken with the idea of Ella marrying Wilhelm. I can’t remember the source where I read it, sorry!!)

He was hurt deeply, that’s for sure. His behavior later on shows that he held a certain grudge. He was not always kind to her. For instance when in 1891 she decided to convert to Orthodoxy he voiced loud critiscims and expressed his disapproval. And if I remember correctly (but you should check this fact I’m not 100% sure) he spread the rumour of Sergei being interested in the young chaplain of the family. And yet when she was in danger in the summer of 1917, Wilhelm requested personally that a Swedish minister come and talk to her and try to persuade her to leave Russia. He reportedly, had a photo of her on his desk the rest of his life.

It’s one of the interesting ‘ifs’ of history. If the match had happened, would she had softened his personnality and prove on the long term to be a good influence? At the same time she was kind of fairly submissive to Sergei and Wilhelm as I said before was a piece of work. She might have introduced hemopilia into the family, and one can ask oneself if Wilhelm would have behaved kindly like did Nicholas II or horribly like Alfonso XIII… There are many question marks with the “ifs” but it’s always interesting/funny to mention them :)

To close this post here a picture of Ella and Wilhelm side by side during the wedding of Princess Irene of Hesse and Prince Heinrich of Prussia. The irony… at last a Prussian Prince ended up marrying his Hessian Princess ;) (& it was such a good match!)

[anthonypaulh]

THE QUEEN is DEAD, LONG live THE QUEEN.

As I write this item the World prepares to say it’s final goodbyes to Aretha Franklin the Queen of Soul. Born in Memphis Tennessee on March 25th 1942 she died on August 16th in Detroit, Michigan after succumbing to pancreatic cancer. She had been battling illness since 2010. Ironically the date of her death was the 41st anniversary of the passing of Elvis Presley.

The Queen of Soul title bestowed upon Aretha back at the end of the 1960’s doesn’t even come close to describing her talents nor her importance musically and culturally. She transcended music and became an icon for so many reasons. Her voice was undoubtedly one of the finest ever to be recorded. Although best known for her contribution to soul music, she would have been the equal of anyone in the field of jazz should she have wanted to focus on it more keenly and she was an incredible blues, Rand B and pop singer. But, for me and probably many others, her real musical greatness was as a Gospel singer. Aretha came from the church, it pervaded everything she did and it underpins her musical contribution and legacy.

Her amazing, distinctive voice meant that Aretha had very few peers. As far as female vocalists are concerned, I would place her with Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald and Mahalia Jackson with possibly Mavis Staples and Nina Simone to complete that elite line up. But aside of music Aretha became an icon, a torch bearer for so many causes and a personal representation of the African-American experience. Her life reflected all that was good, bad and sometimes very, very ugly with modern America. When Aretha sang you just knew that she was laying herself bare and that it was all so real. It is extremely doubtful that we will ever see or hear her like again. We are very, very fortunate that she was a part of our lives and lucky indeed to have her music to serve to remind us.

Everything about her amazing career emanated from the Church. It was the foundation for everything that she would go on to achieve over her 60 years in music. For any woman born in the South of the United States at the time she was, three things would have defined her early life… Church, Cotton, and Segregation. They were facts of life and in the stories of so many great American music stars, growing up at that time, in that part of the country they are evident. Look at the lives of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Jerry Lee Lewis, James Brown, Al Greene and many others and you see these common features to one degree or another. Listen to an early Elvis recording of “Peace in The Valley” or Johnny Cash singing “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and you get the picture.

Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis to her Mother Barbara and Father C L Franklin in 1942. Her Mother left the family home when Aretha was just 6 years old and her Father became the major influence in her young life. It would make her musical destiny inevitable. The family had moved to Buffalo, New York when she was just 2 but before her 5th Birthday they moved to Detroit, where her Father took over as Pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church. Aretha continued to see her Mother even after her parents separated but it was her Father that took the leading role in her upbringing after their 1948 split.

Her Father was a hugely charismatic preacher and the young Aretha accompanied him during many of his performances in Church. It was to be the catalyst for her beautiful career. Her Mother had been a pianist and Aretha taught herself how to play piano by ear but it was her singing voice that would mark her out from a very young age as something very, very special indeed.

Her Father, C L Franklin ( Clarence LeVaughan) preached every week at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit but also travelled the country on numerous Gospel caravan tours. When Aretha was aged 10, her Mother died on March 7th 1952. He Father recognised very quickly that Aretha had incredible talent and he encouraged her to sing at his appearances in Church. He had built up such a reputation for his preaching that he became known as the “man with the million dollar voice” He released over 70 of his sermons on Chess Records. He was a superstar preacher.

At the tender age of just 12 Aretha fell pregnant and had her first child Clarence. She had her second child aged just 14 years old, and named him Edward. She would later go on to have 2 other sons, Ted White Junior in 1964 and Kecalf Cunningham in 1970. Both of her first 2 children were looked after by her sister Erma and Grandmother Rachel, as Aretha continued with the Gospel tours.

Through her Father it was inevitable that Aretha would eventually turn to pursuing a career in music. She undertook numerous appearances on Gospel Caravan tours meeting iconic figures like Sam Cooke and Mahalia Jackson along the way. She signed her first recording contract at aged 14, secured of course by her Father on the J V B record label in 1956.

Her first album to be released in 1956 was a live Gospel recording of a concert at the New Bethel Baptist Church. Aretha sang and accompanied herself on piano with 9 songs, and it became the album entitled “ Sprirtuals”.  The record would subsequently be re-released on Battle Records in 1962 then again on Checker Records entitled “Songs of Faith” in 1965 with extra tracks added. It was the start of a magnificent & prolific recording career.

During the Gospel caravan tours it was inevitable that Aretha would start to broaden her range and musical ambition. She sometimes travelled with the “Soul Stirrers” featuring Sam Cooke and she spent Summer’s on the circuit with Mavis Staples in Chicago. The jazz sensation Dinah Washington advised Quincy Jones very early on that Aretha would be the next huge music star. She could confirm this with some authority as Aretha had taken singing lessons from her many times when Dinah and Reverend James Cleveland visited the Franklin family home. At the age of 16, Aretha went on tour with Dr Martin Luther King Junior and she would subsequently perform at this funeral in 1968.

It was the success of Sam Cooke in the pop music arena that inspired Aretha to summon up the courage to persuade her Father to allow her to try her hand at recording secular songs. At the age of 18 she finally talked her Father into allowing her to move into pop music and he agreed to become her Manager and seek out a contract. A two song demo tape was made and her Father attracted the attention of Columbia Records who signed Aretha in 1960. There had been some suggestion that she may have been attracted to the label Sam Cooke was signed to R C A or the fledgling Motown label in Detroit under the auspices of Berry Gordy. But it was Columbia Records who get the vital signature.

Her first single for Columbia Records was “Today I Sing the Blues” and it reached number 10 on the US R and B charts. On her debut Columbia album she was accompanied by Ray Bryant and his combo. The record was very jazz slanted and had a few standards on it including “Somewhere over the Rainbow”. It sneaked into the Billboard top 100 but it was a much smoother record than her Gospel work. In truth, during the first half of the 1960’s Columbia Records didn’t really know what to do with Aretha Franklin. They were not sure how best to showcase her obviously remarkable talent, and although she recorded 9 albums for them, the relationship was never quite right.

So at the end of 1966, Aretha left Columbia Records to sign for Atlantic and it was here that she found her real voice. The most productive period of her career was about to begin and she launched into a series of recordings that would see her achieve huge commercial success and widespread critical acclaim. By the time that she signed for Atlantic, Aretha was 24 years old, married and had 3 sons. She had been recording and performing for over 10 years and it meant that she had already lived a lot.

The view that the team at Atlantic took was that they needed to take Aretha back to her Gospel roots and allow her to simply be herself. That was the environment that would bring out the best in her. How right they were.

In January 1967 Aretha recorded the single and album  “ I Never Loved a Man, the Way I Loved You “ and it was a huge hit. One part of the recording of that album often gets overlooked however. The record was initially recorded at the Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals Alabama, with the peerless Muscle Shoals rhythm section and a horn section hired by them. The horn section were an all white team and the best way to describe them is to say that they were not pro Civil Rights. So Aretha and her Father insisted that the entire recording of the album be switched to New York. The album was re-recorded in New York with the Muscle Shoals rhythm section but with a completely different horn section .

Both the single and album reached number one in the US R and B chart and it began a series of 5 straight number one singles hits in one year. The second single from the album was a cover version of the Otis Reding hit “Respect” and it went onto become an anthem for both the Civil Rights and feminist movements.

In January 1968 her 14th studio album was released as “Lady Soul” and included iconic tracks “Chain of Fools’ and the Carole King  & Gerry Goffin song “You Make me Feel Like a Natural Woman “. Soon after that her next studio album “Aretha Now” followed. It continued an unprecedented run of major hits with “Think” and “ I say a Little Prayer “ written by the legendary Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

In April 1968 Aretha sang “Take My Hand Lord” at Dr Martin Luther King Junior’s memorial service and it confirmed her alignment with the Civil Rights movement. Her father had helped organise the Walk to Freedom with Dr King and he also sang Thomas Dorsey’s “Precious Lord” at Doctor King’s memorial service. Aretha was a passionate supporter of Civil Rights and the feminist movements throughout her career and used every opportunity to publicise these causes. She was also a high profile campaigner for raising awareness and funds for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Aretha divorced her first husband in 1969 but continued to have hits including “Bridge Over Troubled Water “ and “Spanish Harlem”. A return to her Gospel roots came in 1972 with her album “Amazing Grace”, a live recording which sold 2 million copies which turned out to be the biggest selling of her career.

During the 1970’s Aretha received 8 consecutive Grammy awards and in 1979 a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But in 1979 her Father was shot in his home during a robbery and he never fully recovered. Aretha moved back to Detroit to look after him and she signed a new recording contract with Arista Records in 1980 to pay his healthcare bills. Sadly her Father died in 1984.

Measuring the incredible career achievements of Aretha Franklin is easy enough to do if you just tot up the awards and numbers. Over 100 singles to have charted on the US R and B charts, 18 Grammy Awards, 75 million records sold, 77 entries on the US Billboard Hot 100, 20 number one’s on the US R and B charts, and the award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest US civilian accolade ). But all this is just a part of the story. Aretha was much, much more than that. Here was someone who transcended music, someone who made a difference and who made us see our story through her experiences. Aretha was the voice of a generation, her experiences were our experiences and she gave us a highly vocal outlet.

As she is laid to rest on Friday August 31st in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit, perhaps the best summary of her immense musical contribution comes from Barrack Obama who on news of her death in a joint statement with his wife Michelle Obama said -

“ Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade- our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard won respect. She has helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human”.

I couldn’t possibly have put it better. 

Aretha made her final live performance on November 7th 2017 at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York to mark the 25th Anniversary celebration of the Sir Elton John AIDS Foundation. Her tireless support for the things that really mattered mark her out as so much more than one of the greatest singers of all time.

Far more than any awards or accolades can measure, Aretha Franklin was someone who quite simply made a difference, she was somebody who stood up for good and made so many lives much, much better. She will forever be remembered as a musical and cultural icon but more importantly she was a wonderful human being. We are all better people for having shared our time and some great music with her.

Rest easy Aretha, you will never be forgotten.