#Women of the House of Oldenburg

[diyaphanous]

{kristine froseth, 28, cis woman, she/her} We are so glad to see you safe, VALET TO THE PRINCE NOEMI VON OLDENBURG of GERMANY ! It’s dangerous out in the world these days, but I hear that you are DAUNTLESS and ARDENT enough to handle it. Just don’t let your PRIDE bring you down ! Stay on your guard, because with your secret being at risk for exposure, you wouldn’t want everyone to find out ABOUT YOUR FAMILY BEING INVOLVED IN SOME ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES .

name : noemi elisabeth theresia magdalena von oldenburg nicknames : noe , emi birthday : july 23 orientation : bisexual family : duke rudolf von oldenburg, duchess theresia ( formerly princess of lichtenstein ) . older sibling ( WC !!! ), younger sibling ( WC !!! ) character inspo : nina zenik ( six of crows ), nobara kugisaki ( jjk ), jo march ( little women ), daphne sullivan ( the white lotus ) traits : perceptive, social, assertive, erratic, boisterous, abrasive languages : german, french, spanish, danish mbti : esfp temperament : tba moral allignment : chaotic neutral

background

tw mention of emotional abuse, kidnapping , violence

your smile is so bright , you can barely see anything going around you until you see a crack through the light, the only shadow where you can rest in and as you sit down you finally realize you've been blind all the time . noemi's childhood is carefree or at least that is what she tried to make it out to be. now looking back at it , the glittery veil had been lifted and even the treasures and riches her father loved to brag about have lost their shine . she'd abided to many things, tried to pretend they were normal, that things she'd loved were considered to be only temporary that feelings were fleeting and wouldn't last anyway . love was a festering wound , spilling , a reminder ; sometimes forgotten or sometimes felt through pain and she wouldn't touch it. as she became older her father's greed also appeared to grow with her or perhaps it was only then that she was old enough to see it and the ways things didn't seem to add up . it was only when she'd stumbled into a hidden room within her home and met the tortured gaze of a stranger that she'd find out what her father did and had been hiding all those years . he was involved in illicit traits and other dubious activities. sometimes he'd even order kidnappings of important people or travellers such as royal legates or sometimes even nobility itself and use them as a threat. as soon as noe found out about it , she'd decided to turn her back on her family . she'd felt that she couldn't trust anyone anymore and she was afraid of finding out more things she didn't want to know about . however, despite her broken trust she knew that in some twisted ways she still wanted to love them because loving her family was the only form of love she'd ever known. that's why she couldn't completely turn their back on them and instead had made the choice of being a valet .

headcanons

// her mother's side of the family are royalty from the house of liechtenstein . she'd often spend time travelling there and truth to be told she'd always felt she belonged there more than to germany. similarly, the house of oldenburg belongs to one of the most influential noble families and in contrast to her father's hidden suspicious antics is quite beloved by the public. // right now, noe is just feeling lost and is trying to figure out her own feelings but also her future . she's glad she'd found a way to keep a distance from her family, yet she knows that she somehow has to make a decision soon. that's why she's just trying to stay out of any drama . yet, as someone who is naturally curious she also can't help herself but trying to find out the latest gossip and snooping around. // noe is quite flirty by nature which is probably a result of her quite flippant treatment towards love ( platonically and romantically ). she tends to lead people on sometimes unknowingly and if she isn't she thinks people have the same view as her . the thought of being vulnerable towards anyone terrifies her and there are only a handful of people she's truly close to. // she loves writing and has probably dreamed of publishing . yet, she also feels like that someone who comes from a family like hers does not deserve to share the stories of humans, hence she keeps that hobby to herself most of the times . // she also adores animals , however she feels like she's quite bad at handling them. she has a horse called rosine ( translation : raisin ) who is quite mean towards her but she can't help but love . more tba

wanted connections

her siblings : at least one is definitely aware of what their family does. perhaps they're even involved in it and do not understand why noemi distanced herself from her family and tried to find a way immediately out. maybe they are even resentful since she just left with no proper explanation. everything is definitely utp. cousins : the oldenburg family has a lot of branches in other countries so noemi being cousin to someone could somehow work. former friends that might've been driven away by her family / threatened by them once real friends as noe is someone who is very social people she flirts with because does it a lot but with no meaning, additionally someone who thinks noemi has an interest in them and is now confused ( could also be an unrequited love ) love interest ( slow burn / maybe an enemies to lovers or childhood friends to lovers ? ) which would contain a lot of angst as noe would push them away as she's afraid that they might find out about her secret or they might get hurt by her fam ) people who might work or did some (shady ) business with her family people who might know about her family's secret and try to threaten/blackmail her with it

[timetravelingcourtney]

Courtney's Collection: What I Would Add

I was going to call this Courtney's Collection: What I Would Have Done Differently but her collection is...I'm gonna say it, totally rad. Instead, as a child of the 80's almost exactly Courtney's age, here's what I would add...

To her sportswear collection, I would add so much more Esprit inspired pieces.

The highlight of my back to school shopping was going to the Esprit outlet in San Francisco and going nuts with discounted Esprit pieces. They were the foundation of my entire wardrobe for the school year.

I copied the styling from the accessories, to the hair to the pre teen attitude. Interestingly, my obsession with Esprit also brought me into a love of pop art a la Lichtenstein and Oldenburg.

And I loved the models so very much. A mom of one of my former students was an Esprit model as a child. Her mom worked for the company and I gotta say, my inner child was so jealous.

I was also obsessed with Benetton but that was so far out of the price range. I just literally lingered outside of the store staring at the signage. Then I went to the affordable Benetton - the Gap. Love love love the focus on multi cultural representation which was really ahead of the curve.

But little women cannot live by sportswear alone, sometimes we go fancy places and do fancy things.

This appears to be the exact dress I wore for 6th Grade graduation from Gunne Sax by Jessica McClintock. For all fancy events, I basically only wore Gunne Sax for years.

As Gunne Sax moved from 70's peasant dresses to 80's dresses, they became pretty much Edwardian.

I had this top too with the "pie crust collar" and wore it on repeat with a matching skirt.

The summer after 8th Grade, my mom took me to the Gunne Sax outlet in San Francisco to pick out TWO homecoming dresses as she was certain I would be asked to more than one homecoming. I was not so certain, but she was right (a Maryellen boomer that one). I chose one strapless black one with sequins on the bodice and a strapless white one with lace on the bodice. My favorite part about it is not my dates or the dresses, but that the very first incarnation of Cirque de Soleil was in town and the young girls from the show were at the outlet shopping and trying on dresses while I was there. They had their hair in curlers for the show that night. I was in awe.

This is the closet I could find to what Courtney wears to the news station interview and it's most likely Laura Ashley. Me and my friends didn't wear a lot of Laura Ashley but we had a lot of Laura Ashely in our house including my bedding.

I think a lot of what you wore in the 80's was about proximity. I had proximity to SF so I could shop the outlets and wear stuff that would have been otherwise unattainable. I can imagine if you were in a place where your go to mall staple was JC Penny that your wardrobe would look quite different. However, Courtney seems to have access to a very well stocked mall so I'd love to see her collection reflect some of this.

[germanaustriannoblesandroyals]

House of Oldenburg & of Hesse: Princess Cecilie “Cécile” of Greece and Denmark

Cecilie is the third child of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and his wife Princess Alice of Battenberg. She is the younger sister of Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Theodora, Margravine of Baden. Her younger siblings are Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark as well as Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh. Among family and friends, she was known as Cécile.

In December 1922, she fled Greece alongside her family on a British ship. They went into exile in France and lived in a Parisian house which was lent to them Princess Marie Bonaparte, the wife of her uncle Prince George of Greece and Denmark. In private, the family spoke mostly French, German and English and not much of Greek, as reported by Prince Philip. Cecilie’s youth was not easy since her family was now poor and her father left his family for his mistress. Meanwhile, her mother, Princess Alice, opened an art and needlework shop to keep the family afloat. In 1930, Cecilie’s mother was sent to a mental asylum in Switzerland to treat her for schizophrenia.

In 1931, Cecilie married Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, in Darmstadt. He was her first cousin once removed through Princess Alice and the son of Cecilie’s godfather Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse and by Rhine. The mass that wanted to watch the wedding parade was so huge that although the cars were escorted by police the bride, groom, the groom’s brother and father as well the bride’s father had to walk to church. The bridal couple knew each other since childhood because the Battenbergs were a fairly new morganatic cadet branch of the House of Hesse. Battenberg was Cecilie’s mother’s house of birth. Seven months and 23 days after the wedding, Cecilie’s first child Prince Ludwig was born. Prince Alexander and Princess Johanna followed in 1933 and 1936 respectively.

Cecilie’s husband was a reserve officer of the Luftwaffe (German air force). The couple joined the ruling Nazi party on May 1st, 1937. When Cecilie’s father-in-law died the same October, the parade in his honor was taken over by the Nazis.

Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine was due to marry Margaret Campbell Geddes just a few weeks later in London. Georg Donatus and Cecilie, who was afraid of flying, decided to fly to the wedding and take along their two oldest sons. At this time, Cecilie was eight months pregnant with another prince. Unfortunately, the airplane crashed in Belgium near Ostend on November 16th, 1937. Everyone on board died. Later parts of a baby’s body were found which led to the conclusion that Cecilie must have gone into labour during the flight and that an attempted emergency landing had gone wrong due to the bad weather. The only surviving member of the family was Johanna who was adopted by Ludwig and Margaret. Unfortunately, she too died two years later from meningitis.

Cecilie is buried alongside her sons and husband at Rosenhöhe in Darmstadt, the traditional burial place of the House of Hesse. She was the first of her siblings to die.

// Leonie Benech as Princess Cecilie in The Crown

[scotianostra]

On June 19th  1566 King James VI was born  at Edinburgh Castle.

The only child of Mary Queen of Scots, it was a difficult birth for her, and her son was born frail.  Rumour soon spread which would haunt James for the rest of his life. The first of these rumours was that James was not Lord Darnley's child but Bothwell's. This can be dismissed by the fact that at the time of his conception, Mary was still infatuated with Darnley, and by the child's resemblance to his father. Secondly, there is a theory that James actually died at birth and was replaced by one of Erskine, Lord of Mar's child. This is substantiated by the remains of a baby skeleton found within the walls of Edinburgh Castle in the 18th century. This again is highly unlikely.

James was baptized Charles James in a Catholic ceremony at Stirling Castle. It is not unusual for monarchs to take another name when they ascend to the throne, the last case being King Robert III who was baptized John but  thought it was an unlucky name as evidenced by John Balliol, King of Scots. 

At the baptism were representatives of the French king and the Duke of Savoy who were the Godfathers and the Countess of Argyle, who attended in lieu of Queen Elizabeth, acknowledging she accepted being godmother to the Prince. 

The next year in June the Protestant lords rebelled.  They had become increasingly unhappy with Mary (James’ mother) after her marriage to Bothwell. They arrested and imprisoned Mary in Lochleven Castle where she was forced to abdicate the throne of Scotland.  James, was only a year old when he became James VI, King of Scotland.

Because of his young age a regent was appointed to act as head of state.  In fact, during his minority a succession of regents were chosen to rule in his stead.  The first regent was Mary’s half brother, James Stuart, Earl of Moray,  Upon the Earl’s death in  1570, Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox, who was James grandfather, became the second regent.  His regency didn’t last very long, as he died in 1571.  The third regent was James’s guardian, John Erskine, the first Earl of Mar whose regency also didn’t last long, he died in 1572.  The fourth and last of the regents was the very powerful James Douglas, Earl of Morton. Douglas survived long enough to see James reach an age to which to ruled himself, however he was later executed in 1581 for his part in the murder of the King’s father Lord Darnley. 

In spite of the catholic baptism James was brought up in the Protestant religion. He was educated by men who had empathy for the Presbyterian church. His marriage to Anne of Denmark, a protestant country, no doubt pleased his Protestant subjects.

James was considered to be an intellectual and did write several books. The most famous, or infamous was on witchcraft. He also foreso that smoking was an unhealthy practice writing it was a “A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the the pit that is bottomless.”   Without a doubt, James did not like smoking and made it quite plain what he thought about the “loathsome” habit!

Another interesting writing was The True Law of Free Monarchies in which he states that “the sovereign succeeds to his kingdom by right from God.”  He believed that subjects owe absolute obedience, and that his rights as sovereign could not be attacked nor limited. Though he believed in the divine right of kings his Parliament most definitely did not.

He authorized a translation of the bible which is now known as the King James Version.

James married Anne Oldenburg of Denmark on 23 November, 1589. Anne was the daughter of Frederick II, King of Denmark and Sophia von Mecklenburg-Gustrow. It is said that Anne and James were at first quite close but after several years of marriage they drifted apart.  They had quite a large family, eight children in all, of which only three survived.  In fact, after the death of their daugher Sophia, Anne and James lived apart.  Anne, eventually converted to Catholicism.

On 25 July, 1603, in Westminster Abbey, James and Anne were crowned as monarchs of England.  The two kingdoms were now united under one crown. However, they were in fact, two separate kingdoms each with their own legislatures and own administrative bodies.  Being under one crown, they could not go to war with each other, they could not take opposing sides in foreign wars.  Nor could they make any hostile agreements.

James misunderstood the differing powers of the two parliaments and conflicts arose especially in the areas of taxation and religion.  There were also diametrically opposite opinions on Spain. England adamantly believed Spain to be its enemy and, therefore, a country to be defeated.  On the other hand, James believed in resolving differences with Spain, he preferred to talk of peace rather than going to war. 

He had enough troubles at home without picking fights abroad, these included,  the anger of Roman Catholics, resulting in plots to remove the King.  One such plot was the Gunpowder Plot another was the Bye Plot.

A Catholic uprising in 1588, and a conspiracy in 1600 led by John Ruthven, Earl of Gowrie.

He wanted  free trade between Scotland and England but it was denied. His selling of honors and titles to shore up the debt-ridden treasury. His dissolution of the second Parliament called the Addled Parliament whose purpose was to obtain new taxes.  Ultimately, this Parliament failed to pass any legislation and failed to impose taxes.  After the dissolution he ruled for seven years without a parliament.

Arranging the marriage of his eldest son to the daughter of the King of Spain hoping for an alliance with Spain didn’t go down well  greatly angering the populace.  

His execution of the well-liked, and admired Sir Walter Raleigh further hurt his popularity. And of course interference in Kirk matters didn’t help, the Five Articles of Perth were interpreted as being too Catholic and Anglican-like therefore a threat to Scottish Presbyterians. (The Five Articles of Perth:  (1) kneeling during communion, (2) private baptism, (3) private communion for the sick or infirm, (4) confirmation by a Bishop and (5) the observance of Holy Days.)

It was written that... 

“The reign of James the First of England and Sixth of Scotland, ‘the wisest fool in Christendom’…, was a complete failure, and a time of gathering storm which burst upon the country in the reign of his son.  His ideas of kingship and prerogative turned Parliament against him, and began the long duel between king and people which resulted in the execution of Charles the First.  Parliament defended its privileges; secured the right to discuss all affairs of state; overthrew monopolies; and by the impeachment of Bacon and others made good the principle that ministers of the king ought to be held responsible for their acts.  James’ hatred of extreme parties caused him to persecute the Puritans and Roman Catholics, and set them against him.  His foreign policy was also a failure.  In his desire for peace and a Spanish alliance he sacrificed Raleigh, and refused to help his Protestant son-in-law in Germany, greatly to the indignation of the English people.  Finally, however, he declared war with Spain, and married his son to a French Roman Catholic princess.  He left his people angry and defiant, and only a very tactful conciliatory successor could have avoided conflict.”

It is said that his wife Anne was the one who brought art and culture to the court of King James.

James had his court favorites, and considering he was an intelligent person, he strangely relied on these people for advice on government issues even though their qualifications were questionable.  These favorites apparently had lots of personal charm but not much in the way of talent or intelligence. In 1584, James was visited by Fontenay, his mother Mary’s french emissary who had the following to say regarding the young James’ character and traits:

“I have been well received by the king, who has treated me better in reality than in appearance.  He give me much credit, but does not show me much kindness.  Since the day of my arrival he has ordered me to live in his house along with the earls and lords, and that I shall have access to him in his cabinet just as the others have… . To tell you truly what I think of him – I consider him the first prince in the world for his age. … . He apprehends and conceives quickly, he judges ripely and with reason, and he retains much and for a long time.  In questioning he is quick and piercing, and solid in his answers. … He is learned in many languages, sciences, and affairs of state. more so than probably anyone in his realm. In a word he has a miraculous wit, and moreover is full of noble glory and a good opinion of himself. Having been brought up in the midst of constant fears, he is timid and will not venture to contradict the great lords; yet he wishes to be thought brave. He hates dancing and music in general and especially all the mincing affectations of the court … . From want of proper instruction his manners are boorish and very rough, as well in his way of speaking, eating. dress, amusements and conversation, even in the company of women. He is never at rest in one place but takes a singular pleasure in walking; but his gait is very ungainly and his step is wandering and unsteady, even in a room.  His voice is thick and very deep as he speaks. … He is weak of body … But to sum up, he is an old young man. … He misunderstands the real extent of his poverty and weakness; he boasts too much of himself and he despises other princes.  In the second place, he disregards the wishes of his subjects; and lastly, he is too idle and careless in business and too much addicted to his own pleasures, chiefly hunting. … He told me that he really gave greater attention to business than he seemed to do for he could get through more work in one hour than others could in a day. …  

James ruled Scotland as James VI from  24th July 1567;  James ruled in England and Ireland as James 1st from 24th March, 1603. He died 27th March, 1625 at Theobalds House, and his remains lie in the Henry VII Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

[squeeprojectsllc]

“Debbie Rochon grew up in British Columbia, Canada. She was a child of the streets and victim of much abuse until she accidentally ended up in a featured extra role in Paramount's Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982)! The event changed her life, and she saved enough money to move to New York City and study acting. After many years working with numerous theater companies in off-Broadway plays, she started to land small roles in films. Spike Lee's editor Barry Alexander Brown cast her in a featured role in his first directing effort, Lonely in America(1990). Soon the parts grew bigger and bigger and primarily fell in the fear flick genre. After spending three months as a featured extra on the 1980 filmed Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982) movie set, Debbie was still a fledgling actor but took on the female lead in the Leonard Melfi one act play Ferryboat. It was indeed synchronicity for Debbie to cut her acting teeth on a play about the Staten Island Ferry, by 1984 she moved from her home town of Vancouver, B.C. to New York City. For the rest of the 1980s she spent most of her time studying acting at Michael Chekhov Studios under Ted Pugh, Lee Strasberg Institute under Penelope Allen, NYC's Chicago City Limits under David Regal and H.B. Studios under William Hickey, Carol Rosenfeld and Uta Hagen. Debbie spent all her time working in plays on Theatre Row in NYC, mostly in new works by playwrights and shooting NYU thesis films with burgeoning filmmakers. By 1988 she started to land small roles with grind-house indie filmmakers Roberta Findlay and Chuck Vincent. She made two films with each film maker by 1989, in both cases they would be the last, or close to very last, films both directors would helm before retiring. By the early 1990s, Debbie was working with multiple theatre companies in NYC including The Tribeca Lab where she played multiple characters in Stephen DiLauro play The Secret Warhol Rituals. In 1993 Debbie began her career in radio co-producing and co-hosting Oblique Strategies on the terrestrial channel WBAI. 1994 was the beginning for Debbie to land lead roles in film. Abducted II: The Reunion (1995) would be the first, and in 1995 she co-stared in her first Troma produced film Tromeo and Juliet (1996) co-directed by James Gunn and Lloyd Kaufman. This would also be the year Debbie would be given her first writing column which appeared in The Job Bob Report, published by John Bloom. She would also pen for numerous genre publications including The Phantom of the Movies' Videoscope magazine which she still writes for today. Of the multiple roles she would portray by decade's end it would be Hellblock 13 (1999), co-staring Gunnar Hansen, that would begin the wheels turning for a new type of role she would soon be known for. During the 1996-1998-time frame Debbie would co-produce and co-host Illumination Gallery for the internet's first on-line radio station Pseudo Radio. In 2000 director Jon Keeyes cast Debbie in the now cult classic American Nightmare (2002) which garnered much acclaim with legit reviewers and audiences alike. Her role as Jane Toppan would solidify her as a go-to actor for roles of the off-kilter and intense kind. By 2002 Debbie began working for Full Moon Entertainment, starring in four feature films with the company. She continued to write for genre publications and contributed chapters to horror themed books. In 2005 Debbie joined forces with what was then known as Scream TV. The company bought Fangoria magazine and Debbie began producing short documentaries including Fangoria Presents: Slither Behind the Scenes (2006). In 2006 they launched Fangoria Radio for Sirius/XM where she co-produced and co-hosted the show with Twisted Sister front-man Dee Snider until 2010. The following year Debbie was granted her own column in the magazine called Diary of the Deb, the first column written by a woman for the publication, it was nominated for three Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards for best column, winning the esteemed statue in 2014. During this decade Debbie also gave critically acclaimed turns in works inspired by some of her favorite classical writers; Tales of Poe (2014) (Edgar Allan Poe), Mark of the Beast (2012) (Rudyard Kipling) and Colour from the Dark (2008) (H.P. Lovecraft). Debbie appeared on the VH1 reality TV show Scream Queens: Episode #2.4 (2010) as a guest judge in 2010. In 2012 she served, with Mira Sorvino, Gabrielle Miller, Tamar Simon Hoffs and Lana Morgan, as part of the first all-female jury at the Oldenburg International Film Festival in Germany. The same year Debbie had her directorial debut with the extreme body-horror film Model Hunger (2016). ETonline.com hailed Debbie as one of the "40 Top Scream Queens of the Past 40 Years" in 2018. Debbie's current writing column, Debbie Rochon's Bloody Underground, appears in the Italian published magazine Asylum. Debbie continues to act in feature films, is writing her book and prepares for her sophomore directing project.” IMDB

[lotharb-blog]

It was my first time in DC.

The bus trip from Corning took over nine hours, passing through hill and dale, woods and large swaths of green fields, over rivers, through towns and cities, arriving, after nine hours, at Union Station. It was seven thirty PM.

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Arena

Power

U-Save

Union Station is an impressive building with high segmented arches – echoing feet and constant movement giving the impression of a bee hive.

I spilled out onto the street with my backpack and suitcase, hailing a cab to take me to the HighRoad Hostel in Adams Morgan.

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Union Station

Union Station Bus Terminal

The HighRoad Hostel is ideally located, on 18th street, in the middle of all the restaurants, pubs and esoteric shops in Adams Morgan. What a great place to stay! Friendly and helpful staff, clean, with breakfast included. I shared the room with five other travellers, bunk beds all around.

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DC Metro Station

National Baptist Memorial Church

“O”

Dupont Circle is the closest Metro station from where, after a short walk past the pretties brick row-houses, you catch a red-line train into town.

I specifically went to Washington DC to meet up with Tim Tate. Tim is the co-founder and co-director of the Washington Glass School. We have been Facebook friends for ages and it was a treat to actually meet face to face!

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Washington Glass School

Tim Tate

Tim just returned from Venice. He showed me images of the mind-blowing opening ceremony at Glasstress, a collaboration between artists from all disciples and glass maestros crating art in glass. This is a spectacular official collateral event of the Biennale di Venezia, extending the borders of creative glass within contemporary art. Blow Your Sculpture is similar in vane but not nearly on the scale and prestige Glasstress offers.

The Washington Glass School is a comprehensive facility. They have kilns, a cold shop, cutting and modelling tables. One can also rent private studio spaces. The only thing missing is a furnace. They offer classes and workshops as well as accepting commissions. Tim, in his open and friendly way, gave me a tour of the school and tips on how to make some of the interesting panels for community based projects.

I love this fuzzy feeling of sharing knowledge, homeliness and extended family within the international glass fraternity!

After lunch with Tim and Teri (the WGS Creative Coordinator) I left to be the tourist, head filled to the brim with new ideas and possibilities.

Did you know that Washington DC and Pretoria are Sister Cities…?

I headed to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Tim gave me this tip and it was totally mind blowing. The depth of works represented there was phenomenal. The building itself is amazing with inlaid marble floors, vaulted ceilings and a magnificently covered courtyard.

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Sculpture of American Girl by Window

The Smithsonian American Art Museum

Covered courtyard at SAAM

As I got to the last exhibits at the top and turned left, my heart skipped a beat. Nam June Paik’s, one of my all-time favourite artists, whose work, Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, was set up in its fullest glory. All 336 television sets radiating moving imagery at full blast!

From the Smithsonian website:

“Today, the Internet and twenty-four-hour broadcasting tend to homogenize the customs and accents of what was once a more diverse nation. Paik was the first to use the phrase “electronic superhighway,” and this installation proposes that electronic media provide us with what we used to leave home to discover.”

On day two I walked around the White House to maybe get a glimpse of the US president… (not really), and noticed the flags being half-mast. Stopping and asking some friendly police officers (and there were many about) why the flags were half-mast, they told me it was the National Peace Officers Memorial Day, honouring fallen police men and women.

Interesting…

Taking another tip from Tim I went to the Renwick Gallery, which is situated just around the corner from the White House. It’s part of the Smithsonian American Art Museums and houses American crafts and decorative arts with some amazing glass works by artists such as Tim Tate, Karen LaMont, Norwood Viviano, Judith Schaechter and more.

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Norwood Viviano, Mining Industries: Downtown Boston

Judith Schaechter

I see that there will be an upcoming show by Ginny Ruffner titled Reforestation of the Imagination opening end June 2019…

What strikes me is the support by institutions such at the Smithsonian maintaining and showing important works of art but also the support of private funding and endowments to make these purchases possible. There is a foresight which promotes growth and understanding for future generations by this generous support which is somewhat lacking at home. I find that works housed within these institutions give the artists whom they represent a foothold to build, not just their own carriers, but also their mediums and modes of expression in a much broader sense and ultimately an industry of talented young creatives.

If the broader public isn’t stimulated on the diversity of ideas, craftsmanship and materials then they can’t develop a full picture of what is possible. Without this generous monetary support and genuine 21st century focused cultural foresight, South Africa and the continent will loose the development of its diverse hand-skilled knowledge and artistic heterogeneity to generic reproductions or assimilated tastes.

…in my opinion.

All the Smithsonian Museums don’t charge entrance. This makes for long days of walking and wondering through enormous spaces absorbing beautiful and diverse voices of art, science and history. It’s just impossible to see al the museums and their contents within a few days, let alone actually savouring the contents of the ones you do make the time to see.

My main focus was to look at art. Then there is no place as the Hirschhorn, National Museum of Modern Art. This strikingly round ring building floating above stilts houses some magnificent treasures. Once inside one walks three stories in a circuit, rising, via escalator, a level on each lap with new and profound exhibits.

Walking the Hirschhorn circuit through modern and contemporary art history I saw Claes Oldenburg’s Bathtub and a three channel video environment called Safe Conduct by Ed Atkins. I also contemplated my first Ron Mueck sculpture, Big Manand loved the visual combination of Brancusi’s Torso of a Young Man with Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ Untitled (for Jeff) open hand in the background.

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Ed Atkins, Safe Conduct

Ed Atkins, Safe Conduct

Ed Atkins, Safe Conduct

Brancusi & Felix Gonzalez-Torres

Claes Oldenburg, Bath Tub

Ron Mueck, Big Man

After these long days it was always a pleasant reprieve to return to the HighRoad Hostel in Adams Morgan, buying a cold beer on the way up the hill and engage in stressless conversation with fellow travellers from all over the world. I had a couple of good laughs… 😉

My last day was spent in the National Museum of African Art. This too is a Smithsonian institution which is housed next to the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall. At first glance this smallish building gives the impression of housing a quaint display or two, referencing some “typical African” styles with a few examples of metal smithing in their show Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths.

I couldn’t have been more wrong!

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Mask

Smithsonian African Art Museum

Mask

Once entering the “little house” and checking my backpack into a locker I descended a central staircase… with several subterranean levels unfolding beneath me.

On the first terrace large marble plaques inscribed with the words:

“The Smithsonian Institution gratefully acknowledges the support of these donors who provided funds matching congressional appropriations for the construction of this building, which was dedicated September 28, 1987.”

Reading through all the names (twice) – and there are over 160 names of foundations, corporations, countries and more – only the United Republic of Cameroon represents any true continental African affiliation. This was quite disappointing.

Looking down, over the balcony of this first terrace, was a projection of Willian Kentridge’s Felix in Exile. I remember seeing it for the first time as a student, maybe during the time we assisted Kentridge and Doris Bloom with the Fire/Gate project for the first Johannesburg Biennale in 1995.

Down I went… and each level revealed enormous curated caverns, well lit, displayed and detailed in historic as well as recent works. Imagine my surprise discovering Willie Bester’s Apartheid Laboratory! (Gift of Gilbert B. and Lila Silverman & Jerome L. and Ellen Stern, 2017-15-1)

Farther down I went… past the masks and sculptures, colourful textiles and gold jewellery, down to the bottom where the show was I wanted to see – Striking Iron.

Entering the gallery past a photo portal of a fiery sun my tired feet were forgotten for a moment. This last cavern housed a brilliantly informative display of metal work, specifically African blacksmithing, its history, tools and processes, with many examples – swords, bells, anvils, sculptures, etc.

A few video nooks showed how things are still done till this day, with hand bellows breathing heat into coke fires and anvils changing their roles to hammers… inventively inspirational.

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Anvil

Anvil & Hammer

This being my last day in DC, and all, feet hurting and head filled with new images I couldn’t just leave.

The National Air and Space Museum was around the corner, well, just down the road…

With energy levels almost on critical I stumbled into the NASM. This enormous space (pardon the pun…) was crowded to the brim with moms and dads, kids of all ages and general space nerds such as myself.

My mission objective was to go to the shop and grab some memorabilia. Feet were flattened by miles of walking and gravity started taking it’s toll…

Lunar Lander

It was like being a kid again. Rockets to the left, the Lunar Lander to the front, Russian and American space suits… the list goes on. Unfortunately (but fortunately for my feet) the museum was in the middle of rearranging and curating new exhibitions. I managed to peek over a barrier to see a Junkers 52 which my dad used to fly in during the war time.

Exhausted, I walked to the nearest Metro station, jumped on the train, got out at Dupont Circle, walked the last mile up to the Hostel, grabbed a beer, packed my bags and left early the next morning heading for New York.

All photos were taken with my iPhone 7 using Darkr and 8mm app.

A few days in Washington DC - Glass, Art, Science and much much more. It was my first time in DC. The bus trip from Corning took over nine hours, passing through hill and dale, woods and large swaths of green fields, over rivers, through towns and cities, arriving, after nine hours, at Union Station.

[thelostpagesofportlyndon]

Soft reset : Clarisse

"Princess?" She heard the chime of her nanny as she poked her head of platinum blonde hair and obscure pink eyes out from behind her closet door. The unique trait seemed to run in her father's side of the family. The commoners of the small country associated pink irises with royalty due to this. The young six year old stood with unease in her pink dress and curled hair. "..Do I have to attend..?" She asked - begging for a way out as her Nanny sighed and shook her head. "I'm afraid that you are.expected...Chin up." She smiled as she placed the delicate small tiara into her hair. Clarisse gently taking her hand as she walked her through the castle and soon reached the balcony that surrounded the ballroom where her parents stood laughing and talking among themselves. Clarisse's hand slipping as she childishly hugged her father's leg. "...Do I have to..?" She asked again anxiously as she glanced down at the crowd below. 

"Do not be frightened, Sunshine…" her father patted her lightly with reassurance in his tone as he leaned down to her level and lightly pecked her forehead before standing up as the trumpet played to announce them. His wife taking his arm as Clarisse stood behind them and folded her hands over her gown in front of her. 

"Welcoming - His majesty! King Emerson Lexington The Second!"

The cheers and praise of those below made Clarisse tense as she watched her parents walking down the stairs and following two stairs behind.

"Accompanied by her majesty! Queen Cordelia Lexington and for her first debut, Princess Clarisse Lexington!!" 

The crowd's praise was mixed with curiosity to be the first to interact with the young princess. Her parents both giving a gentle wave as they slowly melded into the crowd. Clarisse awkwardly pausing before curtseying and running a little to catch up to her family as the crowd watched her and the room swirled with whispers about things she hardly understood. 

It took a little bit...Gradually, She relaxed as the festivities began. Happily dancing with her father and even a few other young men and women and convincing the head of staff to give her far more sweets then she'd normally be allowed. She blinked as she walked into someone while stuffing a chocolate covered strawberry into her mouth, quickly clearing her mouth as she bowed her head. "Apologizes…" The older man glanced back at her with dull red eyes and a large scar across his face that was obscured by his dark hair. He seemed to smile after a moment as he rested his hands in the pockets of his suit jacket. "I'm afraid the only way to make up this mistake, Princess...Would be a dance." He teased as he offered a hand. Clarisse giggling a little as she didn't think too much about his odd appearance and fell into step with him. 

A sudden yell made the room fall silent as her father shouted for guards from his throne where he'd taken a break. She was too short to see what was happening but her worry quickly blinded her as she tried to go to her parents only to find the man's grip on her wrist not releasing as he easily pulled her back. 

Her father dispensing the crowd apart made her realize that she was the reason for his concern…

"Daddy?" Clarisse asked in confusion before yelping as the man twisted her arm and held her firmly back against his chest.

"...Nice to see you again, Father." The man spat at him with such vitriol and disgust. The crowd whispering as Clarisse saw her father tense and grit his teeth. 

"...You are no child of mine, Erza." He snapped as the guards surrounded with rifles aimed at him but he kept Clarisse close enough to make it a hazard to fire. 

Erza snorted a little as he raised his hand, a magic symbol growing on the floor and the energy forcing everyone back as he grasped Clarisse by her jaw and lifted her easily as a dark energy rose from the symbol to his hand as it distorted to something inhuman and demonic as his eyes glowed. His tongue speaking unknown words as Clarisse trembled and cried as she clawed at his hand. A gunshot bouncing off the barrier he'd made as the dark energy coated Clarisse's skin as she screamed in sheer agony at it's embrace. The darkness flowing into her eyes and mouth. 

 

She just remembered the agony before everything went black. 

---

"She hasn't gotten any better…It's been four years." Cordelia paced back and forth as she bit her nail. Emerson tiredly nodding in agreement.  "...So many doctors have come and gone...I've never - " 

"What good are doctors going to do, Emerson? Nobody believes what happened…He made everyone forget and we sound absolutely mad." She lamented. "It was clearly magic - Right? I mean…" 

---

Clarisse tiredly stared out the window  before coughing several times, a black and bloody substance coating the rag as she sighed.  She looked unwell just at a glance. She was horribly pale and slightly underweight. She could hardly walk on her own and spent most of her day confined to her bed..

The knock brought her attention back as she looked to her mother who entered with a small warm smile despite the sadness in her eyes. 

"Clarisse...One of my dearest friends is staying with us and I wanted you to meet her son." She stepped aside as Clarisse tiredly watched the boy around her age enter her room with one hand clutching his other arm. His other hand seemed to be missing. His manners remained on as the parents hovered in the doorway as he bowed before gently taking her hand without fear and kissing it. "Princess...It's nice to finally meet you. I am Prince Justin of House Oldenburg." 

Clarisse felt a faint spark as her cheeks flushed a little as she nodded politely. "The pleasure is mine…" 

The two both relaxed as there parents seemed to get pulled off by a maid who corralled them to lunch.

Clarisse resting her hands on her lap as she knew well who Justin was...He was meant to be her husband when they were grown. She didn't fully understand the politics behind it but she knew the decision was finalized as she'd become ill. 

"I - Apologize." Clarisse bluntly stated as she closed her eyes.

"...? For what?" Justin seemed more relaxed although his heart ached to see such a beautiful girl with such saddened eyes. 

"...That you're stuck with me. "

Justin sat on the side of the bed lightly before tilting his head. "A pretty, intelligent and surprisingly down to earth, Princess? I don't see the problem." He teased a little as he tried to get her to smile before hopping up and opening her window to let the fresh air in and claiming her office chair and a notebook and pen. 

"Wanna play a game?" He asked with a warm smile, Clarisse slowly smiling faintly herself as she nodded. "Okay…" 

[the-adaa]

Gallery Chat: Barbara Mathes, Early Champion of Postwar Italian Art in America, on the Importance of Looking at Art Often, Supporting Women Dealers & More

by Nicole Casamento 

Barbara Mathes in front of her extensive library in Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York.

Since founding her gallery in 1978, Barbara Mathes has brought a passion for art history matched with a scholar’s insight to every exhibition she has mounted. 

She began her career at Knoedler Gallery, where she developed the market for contemporary prints, drawings and photography. A Boston native who graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1962, Mathes received a grant from Harvard University after graduation to conduct experimental research on visual perception. She then studied at the Institute of Fine Arts before leaving academia to open her own gallery.

Mathes began with a focus on American Modernism, exhibiting works by Oscar Bluemner, Georgia O’Keeffe, Marsden Hartley, and Arthur Dove. As her gallery grew, she began producing groundbreaking exhibitions that spotlighted the works of modern and contemporary masters such as Edgar Degas, Frank Stella, Ad Reinhardt, Fausto Melotti, and Yayoi Kusama. 

Yayoi Kusama, Red Shoe, mixed media, 1991. 

In addition to such notable solo exhibitions, the gallery is known for its imaginative thematic group exhibitions, which often highlight conceptual and aesthetic affinities between artists who have never been shown together before. For example, this winter the gallery presented the sculptures of Fausto Melotti alongside the work of Giorgio Morandi.

Fausto Melotti, Tema e Variazioni XI, brass, 1981 (1984). 

“No one has paired the work of Melotti and Morandi before and I was the first to introduce Fausto Melotti to America,” Mathes explained. “They were both engineers, both drew in space and died ten years apart. They knew of each other but never met. This is the kind of thing that interests me. The European/American link is always something I’m looking for. Morandi is best known for his modest still life paintings, while Melotti created abstract sculptures but they both were preoccupied by repetitions, serial forms and architectural concerns with space.”

Mathes’ thoughtful, museum-quality exhibitions have helped place works in the collections of many important museums, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

Mathes chatted with us about her journey as a dealer, why collectors need to look at art regularly before starting a collection, and more.

How did you first fall in love with art?

I became interested in art as a high school student taking a tour of Europe. When I looked at art from the Renaissance and Baroque periods from the perspective of modern life, I was struck by how interesting it was in terms of continuity. I decided to study art history in college because I wanted to start at the beginning.

I’ve had my own gallery since 1978 and to this day it continues to challenge me. I find looking at and contextualizing art, and sharing what I feel about art with the general public is something that is both a mission and a pleasure.

Edda Renouf, Sign XX, Summer Energy, acrylic on linen and removed and reapplied threads, 2016.

You started the prints, drawings and photography departments at Knoedler gallery while working there. What inspired you to do so?

I looked around at the major artists and their dealers and, for the most part, their dealers were not interested in prints and drawings, so I saw an opportunity to develop this market. I organized the first David Hockney prints and drawings retrospective in America. I organized a Claes Oldenburg prints-and-drawings retrospective. I curated a show on journalistic art photography from 1920 to 1940—from both Europe and America.

Since then I’ve been primarily focused on the relationship between Italian and American art post-Fontana.

Is there any particular reason you came to that?

I saw that it was available and undervalued.

You received a grant from Harvard after you graduated college to study visual perception. What did you research exactly?  

I ran my own test on children. I showed the children three slides, one of which was repeated in every group of three. I asked questions such as, “Which two pictures look most alike and why? Which one stands out and why?” Through their answers, I learned about the emotional properties of color and form—and about looking.

Today, people don’t look at art as much. They don’t give it as much time. They come in, want a quick fix, and then leave. The advantage of buying art from a gallery is that you have more than 30 seconds to decide if you want to buy something. When you go to auctions you have exactly 30 seconds. When you go to art fairs, you have maybe a minute. But when you’re with a dealer, you have a chance to talk about the work, digest it, and think about it. It’s that kind of personal quality that I love. I love the “aha” moment. I work to make people get that.

Also, we don’t have a new exhibition every three weeks. I like living with the work as well as giving people the opportunity to see it more than once.

Karen Kilimnik, The Summer House, water soluble oil color on canvas, 2011.

How come you didn’t finish your dissertation and pursue a career as an art historian in an academic setting?  

After I did all the coursework for the dissertation, I realized I wanted to deal with the object, not a slide of the object.

Does your art history background inform your work in the gallery?

Yes, you can see my library. I have over 6,000 books here. Nothing I do is in a vacuum. I always provide context. We have art historians write our documentation. Every work has a documentation sheet and on that documentation sheet is the description, provenance, a couple of paragraphs about the artist and a particular paragraph about the work. I feel that’s extremely important for the buyer to read.

How would you describe your gallery’s aesthetic?

It’s too hard to categorize. I like beautiful things. I can respect the importance of some art that I don’t want to live with but everything we show at the gallery is something I would have at home. It’s very personal. I don’t want to use such clichés, but it’s about beauty and quality and not about volume. I want the gallery to always be a visual and intellectual surprise.

John Chamberlain, Tonk, c; painted steel, 1981. 

How did you decide which artists to represent when you started out?  

I was extremely interested in art of the teens through the 1940s, which today is called American Modernism. The term didn’t exist then but I thought there was a real loophole and I began with Oscar Florianus Bluemner, John Marin, Charles Sheeler, Arthur Dove, Georgia O’Keeffe and Marsden Hartley. After I did that, I said, “Now what do I do? Do I go backwards or forwards in time?” I decided that I really liked these decades and though I couldn’t afford the major European masters that were counterparts to the Americans, I could concentrate on works on paper. So, that’s what I did. I’d buy a Matisse drawing, a Picasso drawing. I did a Gonzales drawing exhibition and a Sonia Delaunay exhibition.

Over time, the American Modernism market became so expensive. In a way, I was a victim of my own success because I couldn’t afford to continue buying at that level and I didn’t want to go below that level. They say imitation is flattery, but it’s got a downside too, you know.

Jean Dubuffet, La Gorgerette Froncée (The Pucked Collar), Botanical elements (lotus, scorzonera) and oil on paper on board, 1959.

You’ve shown contemporary art as well as modern though.

I’ve always shown some contemporary and I’ve been very active with the work of Kusama. I find her idiosyncratic vision very appealing but I decided years ago that in principal, I’m a secondary market dealer. That makes me an editor as opposed to a marketer. Primary market is about marketing. That’s their job. Secondary market is about editing. I believe that when you have less to look at, you see more.

Are most of your collectors people you’ve been working with for a long time or are they new collectors?

It’s a combination. Art fairs introduce you to new collectors as well as old friends, and I think the significance of art fairs has only increased with time. I think a perfect example is the ADAA’s fair at the Park Avenue Armory, which I’ve participated in since the beginning. I have met collectors at The Art Show who live near the gallery but never walked in. So, the fair becomes a draw.

Also, with the increase in auctions and sales on the Internet, the art fairs retain a personal quality. I think it’s very important for people to talk to the gallerist. You can’t do that online though the Internet is a great way to begin a conversation and bring someone in. And this is a very personal gallery so when you walk in, somebody talks to you.

Tadaaki Kuwayama, Untitled (TK7424-’66), metallic acrylic spray paint on cavas with aluminum stripes, 1966.

Advice for aspiring secondary dealers today?

Go to your museums. I go to the Metropolitan Museum once a week without fail. I see every exhibition that interests me in the city. I go to Chelsea once a month. It’s not only about collegiality. It’s about information. It’s okay to say you don’t like something after you’ve seen it, but to say you don’t like it without seeing it is irresponsible. So get out in the field and keep honing your eye. Even though there aren’t many secondary market dealers left, there are some that do both primary and secondary market and it’s interesting to see the choices they make.

There is one more thing I want to say. Being a dealer, there really are no term limits. The assumption is that you can be a dealer as long as you want, and I like that idea, that it’s open ended. It’s also a field in which women have a fair shot and after listening to Donald Trump, I feel even more committed to women in the arts. I would like to see the definition of women artists or women dealers go away. Over the years there have been very important women art dealers—Edith Halpert, Betty Parsons, Jane Wade, Virginia Zabriskie—but they were always the exception in a male dominated field. Today there are many, many more women dealers and I hope that people judge a woman dealer by the quality of her work, not by her sex.

What advice would you give to new collectors?

Look, look, look. Look at galleries. Look at museums. Read. Don’t jump in until you’ve got a foundation. A collector has to be a good editor too. A collector has to separate the quality from the hype.

[skunts-own-truth]

Majestic Overwatch Planning Overview, or “Dustyn Gives Himself More Homework”:

The Majestic Overwatch-  A secret branch of the government, with three major programs working under this branch, to keep the United States safe from the UFO menace, supernatural terrors, and psychic Soviets.  Major programs include: Project Moondust- The footsloggers of the conspiracy. The Men and Women in Black that fight on the front lines to keep you safe and ignorant. *Player characters.  Project Galileo- Those darned eggheads in their labs, reverse engineering UFO tech for the use of the Majestic Overwatch. *Tech tree mechanics.  The Majestic Twelve- The shadow government that makes all the decisions on how to deal with the possible alien invasion at hand! *Game Year upkeep of the Overwatch.

Gameplay:  Every game session is a “year,” and each year the Majestic Overwatch deals with D6 threats from alien/supernatural forces. (6s explode) Players begin and end play as the Majestic Twelve, and during the year will play Project Moondust agents dealing with the threats. Not all threats have to be played out, and can be dealt with using the Majestic Overwatch’s own organization stats. The organization will grow at the end of the year, depending on how well it preforms. An interesting note: The PCs will have the power to alter history heavily during the Year Upkeep phases of the game. 

Timeline:  Truman Presidency. 1950- The Overwatch begins, after the Aztec New Mexico UFO incident. The United States has its first encounter with true aliens, and Truman forms the shadow government to deal with them.  Events of 1950:  .Fort Worth Sighting.  .Factory Worker in Italy shot by aliens.  .McMinnville UFO.  1951- After a first year with barely any alien contact, the Overwatch suffers from a fast, painful budget cut. But, the Overwatch gets a chance to prove itself as the aliens from the Aztec incident wake up.  Events of 1951: .Lubbock Lights.  .Fort Monmouth UFO.  1952- The White House is in panic, as UFOs descend over DC. Truman begins to take the UFO threat seriously, and the budget cut from last year is restored. The Overwatch has a hell of a year, as the aliens become more, and more active. The UFO boom of the 50s begins.  Events of 1952:  .The Washington DC UFOs.  .Nash-Forteberry.  .Carson Sink UFO.  .Oldenburg UFO in West Germany.  .The Flatwoods Monster encounter.  1953- The UFO boom continues, but it is an easier year for the Overwatch.  Events of 1953:  .Ellsworth UFO. .Felix Moncla and Robert Wilson disappear while chasing a UFO.  .Kelly Johnson Case. 

[esprit-de-corps-magazine]

Mona Parsons: From Privilege To Prison: From Nova Scotia to Nazi Europe

(Volume 26-02)

By Andria Hill-Lehr

Nova Scotian Mona Parsons was born into privilege, and married a millionaire – not exactly preparation for the dangers of assisting the Dutch underground in World War Two. Parsons and her Dutch husband, Willem Leonhardt, helped Allied airmen shot down over the Occupied Netherlands to evade Nazi capture. For over a year their efforts went undetected. Then, traitors infiltrated the network. Willem went into hiding. Mona believed she could deflect suspicion by remaining in their home. That choice nearly cost her, her life in 1941, leading to a prison sentence, and ultimately a dramatic escape from Nazi Germany in March 1945.

At first, Mona thought this was another intimidation tactic, but what she heard shook her badly. The two British flyers whom she and Willem had sheltered had been caught in Leiden. Though Richard Pape made a desperate attempt to tear up his diary and his code book and flush them down the toilet, (as he dramatically described in a book he wrote later, scooping the unflushed pieces out of the toilet and eating them as the Gestapo broke down the door) he neglected to exercise the same precaution with one damning piece of evidence against Mona. In Pape’s pocket was Mona’s calling card. On the reverse was the name of Virginia Tufts Pickett, and the address in London where she was living at the time. Mona had asked Pape to contact Virginia, so that she could let Mona’s father in Canada know of her contribution to the war effort. But Mona’s message was never delivered, and the Gestapo acquired the evidence that directly linked the British airmen to Mona.

During her interrogation, Mona also learned that other members of the little network had been captured. Numb with shock, she listened as she heard the names of people she knew read aloud with others she didn’t recognise: Bernard Besselink, a farmer; Jan Agterkamp, a journalist; Frederik Boessenkool, a teacher; Jan Huese, a businessman; Harmen van der Leek, a professor; and Dirk Brouwer. The thought briefly flickered in her mind that the Gestapo were lying, that the people named had not been arrested, but that the Gestapo were hoping that upon hearing their names, she might betray something. But, she realized, they couldn’t have known the name of the British airmen unless they’d captured them.

The cold terror that started in the pit of her stomach and rapidly engulfed her told her that this was not a Gestapo ruse, and that the arrests were all too true. She gave no outward sign of fear, instead feigning boredom at the unfamiliar names and offering incredulous chuckles when told of the alleged involvement of people she knew. She asked for a cigarette in a bid to buy time to calm her nerves. Lighting it without a tremor, she inhaled deeply, and stared steadily at the interrogating officer. Calmly, she asked him why, if he thought he already knew so much, he was persisting in asking her questions for which she had no answer. Her ploy worked. Angered at Mona’s refusal to be intimidated, the officer ended the interview and tersely ordered that she be returned to her cell. A prisoner she might have been, but she was also a strong-willed woman. And her captors had to admit, even if not to her, a degree of grudging respect for her strength.

ESCAPE 1945

So rapid was the Allied advance into the area around Rhede that a notation in the War Diaries indicated that the military were scrambling to produce maps of the battle zones because they changed so quickly, so frequently. Consequently, Mona and Wendelien’s planned escape to Holland was altered by the Allies’ ever-changing battle plans. The Canadian infantry had been busy liberating northeastern Holland in late March and early April, and the Canadian Armoured Division re-entered Germany to take Meppen on April 8. From there, the Armoured Division set a course for Oldenburg. In the meantime, fighting became particularly vicious after the Polish Armoured Division crossed the Küsten Kanal in an area only a few kilometres from Rhede.

On April 14, 1945, the fighting around Rhede moved closer. The bump of artillery, which had been daily background sound for Mona and Wendelien, became the buzz and roar of shells exploding in their midst – “shells were bursting all around, tanks rattled by the front door and machine guns were being fired from the corners of the house.” The Polish offensive and Canadian efforts sent the Nazis into a rear-guard action. Artillery shells began bursting in the fields as farmers, their families and labourers scrambled for cover. The milchräder’s wife grabbed some food and bedding, and herded her children into the basement. Mona favoured taking her chances above ground to being in the close confines of a cramped, dusty cellar, which reminded her too much of prison. She remained on the main floor of the house until the farmer emerged to check on the battle’s progress during a brief lull. He went outside to speak to a German soldier and offer him food. In a flash, an artillery shell passed within a metre of Mona’s head and landed nearby, exploding on impact and sending a plume of earth skyward. Mona flung herself on the floor before she could see what happened to the farmer and the soldier, and decided that the cellar was preferable to the ground floor of the house if the next shell landed on the building. Joining the rest of the family in the cellar, Mona huddled in a corner on a mat while the battle raged over their heads.

When at last the assault stopped three days later, Mona and the farmer’s eldest daughter were sent out to view the damage. The first sight that greeted them was the farmer’s feet sticking out of a ditch. Near him was the soldier, also dead, a sausage still clutched in one hand. The child began to wail and ran back to the house to get her mother. Mona and the farmer’s widow struggled to carry the farmer’s body into the house. They had only just laid the corpse on the floor when Allied soldiers went through the town, telling the occupants they had 40 minutes to clear out of the area and get over the border into Holland – about a five-minute trip away…. 

As Mona travelled through Holland the extent of the devastation of the Dutch countryside began to have an impact. The country was just emerging from the Hongerwinter of 1944-45, precipitated when the Nazis cut off food supplies to the Dutch nation as punishment for its dogged resistance to Nazi occupation. And the battles between advancing Allies and retreating Nazis had laid waste to the countryside. Rotting carcasses of livestock dotted the fields, hulks of military vehicles were strewn along muddy roadsides. In some places, corpses of soldiers and civilians lay amid the rubble and ruins of what once were homes, farms and villages. Those left alive were as thin and ragged as Mona herself. For the first time, Mona felt defeated and wondered if there was any point in returning home. Would her house even be standing? What had been Willem’s fate? How many of her friends would still be in Laren? She stopped to rest near Vlagtwedde, at a farmhouse in the midst of what had obviously been a battle zone, just a few kilometres from the Dutch farmhouse where she had heard stories of heroic Canadians fighting to liberate the country and bring food to a starving nation.

Exhausted, she tried to ask for a drink at the farmhouse. “I tried to remember my Dutch, but it was hopelessly mixed with German. The people looked hostile, until I assured them I was a Canadian married to a Dutchman – then they couldn’t do enough for me.” She managed to communicate that she needed to find Allied troops, and the farmer’s brother, aged 64, proudly produced a bicycle (one of the few not confiscated in the mad rush by the Nazis to leave the area) and offered to take Mona to what he believed were Polish troops.

The first soldier Mona saw was loading a truck. She approached him hopefully, and with as much confidence as she could muster. A once wealthy woman used to dressing in the height of fashion, Mona now carried only 87 pounds on her 5’ 8” frame, was filthy and clad in shabby clothes, with only filthy bandages on her feet, having discarded the wooden clogs because they had chafed her already tortured feet. The soldier responded gruffly when asked if he spoke English, doubtless cautious because of warnings about Wehrwolf [a Nazi initiative to encourage women to befriend Allied soldiers, steal their food and weapons and, if possible, kill them]. But his brusqueness quickly changed to amazement at hearing that she had escaped from a Nazi prison and then walked across Germany. His suspicion was raised again, however, when she claimed to be Canadian. Where in Canada was she from, he wanted to know. When she replied that her home was in a little town in Nova Scotia called Wolfville, an expletive escaped his lips and he nearly dropped the box he was holding. He told her his name was Clarence Leonard of Halifax, and that she had just met up with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders.

Since arriving in Holland, Canadian soldiers had seen the effects of starvation and years of deprivation on the Dutch people. But little did any of them expect to find a Canadian woman in such condition, who had lived the experiences she had. Mona was greeted by fellow Canadians who eagerly shared their rations with her, treating her to white bread with honey and plum jam, and hot tea – her first since the cup she’d been given in the Amstelveense Prison just prior to her transport to Germany in March 1942. During her incarceration in Germany, the only drinks she’d had were water and, occasionally, ersatz coffee. The other gift she remembered for the rest of her life was from a young soldier who had received a care package from home. In it were some Moirs chocolates (in those days manufactured in Bedford, Nova Scotia). He’d savoured each one, making them last as long as possible, but when he found a Canadian woman in their midst – and a Nova Scotian, no less – he gave her the last three precious chocolates to remind her of home. After years of deprivation, they were more precious to her than any jewels or finery she’d possessed. She did not gobble them up, but cradled them in her palm for a while, inhaling the rich, chocolatey-sweet scent. When they began to melt, she put them in her pocket in order to save them and savour them little by little. In an attempt to follow the precautions necessary in a war zone, the soldiers asked her to wait for the arrival of an officer. But when she declined, they did not persist. Their instincts must have convinced them she was telling the truth. After receiving more clean bandages for her feet, she set out again.

[sartle-blog]

Romantic Artworks to Impress your Lover this Valentine's Day

  Whether it’s your favorite excuse to be romantic or it’s just another Hallmark holiday, Valentine’s Day is here! To celebrate, here are some of my favorite lovey-dovey artworks that you can use to woo your future significant other.

The Kiss, Gustav Klimt, 1907

  We obviously can’t leave this painting out, so we might as well start with it. One of the most recognizable pieces of art ever, The Kiss was initially considered pornographic before becoming a stereotypical favorite of college students. The painting is slightly less romantic if you interpret it as the final kiss between Apollo and Daphne, who literally turned into a tree to reject Apollo.

  The Embrace, Egon Schiele, 1917

  Klimt’s student Egon was known for his expressionist depictions of erotic bodies. This painting is really the only nude he did that you wouldn’t be ashamed to bring home to your mother.

Noon: Rest From Work, Vincent Van Gogh, 1890

While Van Gogh wasn’t so lucky when it came to love, he was certainly no stranger to the feeling. He once said, “I feel there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”

In Bed, The Kiss, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1892

The original #goals. Am I talking about the bed or the kiss? You decide.

We Rose Up Slowly, Roy Lichtenstein, 1964

While Lichtenstein reproduction of DC’s romance comic panels tend to be women crying over men, here’s a rare one of a couple actually having a good time together.

  Green Kiss/Red Embrace (Disjunctive), John Baldessari, 1988

Maybe it’s about long distance lovers. Maybe it’s about two people who feel distant despite being close to each other. Maybe Baldessari just likes cutting images up. Who knows???

  Love 310, 311, and 312, Andy Warhol, 1983

Keep your eyes covered, kids! Buuuut it’s really not that graphic when you keep in mind that Warhol directed Blue Movie, the first adult film to actual depict sexual intercourse on screen, and Blow Job, which… well, you can probably figure that one out.

Love Is a Pie, Andy Warhol, 1953

A special edition cover designed for Maude Hutchins’ 1952 collection of stories and plays titled Love is a Pie.

Slow Dance, Kerry James Marshall, 1992

Cue Etta James: “At laaaast, my love has come along… my lonely days are over and life is like a song!”

  Dark Heart Cake, Wayne Thiebaud, 2014

Love doesn’t have to be a pie, it can be a chocolate cake too!

  LOVE Installation, Damien Hirst, 2015

Those love pills look way more appealing than candy conversation hearts.

  Untitled (Heart),  David Hammons, 1994

You can celebrate both Valentine’s Day and Christmas with this one!

I Love You, Louise Bourgeois, 2007

Because sometimes the best display of affection is the simplest one.  

  Illustration for Fourteen Poems by CP Cavafy, David Hockney, 1937

Hockney often used inspiration from writers like Walt Whitman and CP Cavafy for his artwork openly depicting gay love.

After Love, Marcel Duchamp, 1968

Believe it or not, Duchamp created more than just upside down urinals and obscene portraits of the Mona Lisa. After Love was drawn not too long before Duchamp’s death.

Love is in the Air, Banksy, 2003

Who knew it was possible to be both edgy and romantic at the same time?

Love, Robert Indiana, 1964

If you’ve ever left your house, you’ve probably seen this. There are over fifty of these sculptures worldwide!

    Dancing Heart, Keith Haring, 1982

Street artist Keith Haring passed away two days after Valentine’s Day in 1990.

  Love is something you fall into, Barbara Kruger, 1990

Fingers crossed Supreme doesn’t steal this for Valentine’s Day-edition streetwear.

  Rest Energy, Marina Abramovic, 1980

Abramovic called this four-minute performance piece one of the hardest pieces she has ever done, saying it was about “complete and total trust.”

  Love Is What You Want, Tracey Emin, 2011

You’ve most likely stumbled across Tracey Emin’s neon phrases while scrolling through Tumblr or Instagram. Emin recently married a rock so you know she’s a pro when it comes to love.

  Sienna Projection, Jenny Holzer, 2009

Holzer also had this phrase printed onto condom packages that are part of the Kemper Art Museum collection in St. Louis.

  Shadow Kiss, Diane Arbus

“Love involves a peculiar unfathomable combination of understanding and misunderstanding.”-Diane Arbus.

  Summer Evening, Edward Hopper, 1947

Ah yes, the awkwardness of young love.

In the Luxembourg Gardens, John Singer Sargent, 1879

For someone who never married, or even maintained an actual relationship, Sargent sure knew who to paint a romantic portrait.

Love and Pain, Edvard Munch, 1893

Also known as Vampire, this painting might have unintentionally inspired the Twilight series and every other young adult series with a supernatural love interest.

  The Lovers IV, Rene Magritte, 1928

Nothing quite like kissing a floating, disembodied head.

  The Lovers, Rene Magritte, 1928

I guess French kissing is out of the question here, huh?

The Lovers, Jacob Lawrence, 1946

How can there be so much peace and comfort and love in one painting?

  Garden of Love, Wassily Kandinsky, 1912

As abstract and confusing as love itself.

Bridal Couple With Eiffel Tower, Marc Chagall, 1939

Chagall was so in love with his wife Bella that he did a whole bunch of wedding-themed paintings featuring the two of them. We can only hope the oversized rooster wasn’t based on anything real.

  The Battle of Love, Paul Cezanne, 1880

Because what’s more romantic than a drunken orgy fest?

Chez le père Lathuille, Edouard Manet, 1879

True love is when your partner listens to you instead of mansplaining.

The Lovers, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1875

Get someone who looks at you like this.

The Happy Lovers, Gustave Courbet, 1844

Forecast calls for gloomy weather and cuddles.

The Love Letter, Johannes Vermeer, 1670

Do you think she left him on “read?”

  Amor Vincit Omnia (Love Conquers All), Caravaggio, 1601

Love can be pretty destructive… or maybe that’s just Cupid being a jerk.  

Cupid’s Span, Claes Oldenburg, 2002

Cupid’s a lot bigger than we thought.

  Feel bombarded by love yet? No? Good! Go look at some of the most romantic artist couples of all time!

By Alannah Clark

[germanaustriannoblesandroyals]

House of Hohenlohe-Langenburg & of Oldenburg: Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein

Adelheid was born as the fifth of six children and second of three daughters to Ernst, The Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, and his wife Princess Feodora of Leiningen. Adelheid’s maternal grandmother was Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, better known as The Duchess of Kent and mother of Queen Victoria.

Her being a niece of the British queen made her an interesting marriage candidate for Napoleon III. after he was denied the hand of Princess Carola of Vasa-Holstein-Gottrop, the daughter of the former crown prince of Sweden at the time. Napoleon hoped to strengthen the bond between Britain and France in marrying Adelheid. The British court maintained a strict silence toward the Hohenlohes during the marriage negotiations, lest the Queen seem either eager for or repulsed by the prospect of Napoléon as a nephew-in-law. Adelheid’s parents interpreted this silence as disapproval from their British relatives and stopped the marriage negotiations to the dismay of 16-year-old Adelheid.

Four years later in 1856, Adelheid married Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, and by that became a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, a branch of the House of Schleswig-Holstein which itself is a branch of the major House of Oldenburg. The House of Oldenburg ruled through its branches in most of Northern Europe. The current Queen of Denmark and The King of Norway belong to it, as well as Prince Philip and his descendants. Adelheid’s and Frederick’s marriage was, according to contemporaries, a happy one and resulted in 7 children. Among them was also the last German Empress Victoria Augusta.

In 1867, Otto von Bismarck annexed the dukedomes as the province Schleswig-Holstein for the Kingdom of Prussia. Adelheid and her family moved to Primkenau (today Przemków). Her husband died in 1880. She survived him by 20 years. The Adelheid Islands in the Russian archipel of Franz Josef Land are named after her.

// Ellen Evans as Princess Heidi in itv’s Victoria

[harvardsquarekiosk]

Crumpled Newspaper

By Patrick Barton

The proposal is for a time limited art installation that will cover the kiosk with a giant crumpled newspaper sculpture: perhaps lit from inside. Inspiration for the installation is drawn in part from work of sculptor Claes Oldenburg, the works of environmental artist team Christo and Jeanne Claude, and the architecture of Frank Gehry. The installation will serve as a placemaker; and establish the area as a platform for a series of time limited commercial art installations. These juried, and paid, installations will generate an endowment for the preservation of the kiosk, and programing for the plaza in the public interest.

The City of Cambridge can bring an art superstar such as African American woman artist Kara Walker to Cambridge for a large public art installation without paying much cash for the honor.  Walker has had large commissions in Brooklyn and New Orleans.  The final paragraph suggests how this might be accomplished in Harvard Sq.

The proposal for the kiosk is to wrap the existing kiosk in a giant crumple newspaper form for some term of time.  The sculptural form could be removed to another location for a later exhibition.  It might be auctioned off.  It might be famous.  This would establish the kiosk the area as an installation space, but not necessarily permanently one

The newspaper motif is significant.  There has been a newsstand in the area since 1955. Just yards from the location, on Dunster St., the birth of moveable type printing in British North America occurred.  Printing is an industry that defined the colony, and then the U. S.  Gen. Geo. Washington's first headquarters is across the street at Wadsworth House; the property of oldest college in English speaking America which required locally printed books for its success. Presently, we are living in a era of reduced circumstances for paper form news media.  The crumbled newspaper form reflect this fact.  Perhaps, paper newspapers are "yesterday's news".

Subsequent to the crumbles newspaper form installation, a series of time limited commercial installations for the kiosk is proposed.  The object is to generate revenue while engaging the public visually.  These installations would be put out to bid, but also subject to a jury process The core idea is to generate an endowment of funds for a more long lasting use for the kiosk in the public interest. The commercial installations shall provide a spectacle for public pleasure, as department store windows, and corporate publicly displayed art and architecture have done for many decades. Consider the railroad station palaces of the 19th and early 20th centuries.  It should be recognized that the newsstand was always a profit seeking commercial enterprise, this is reflected in the commercial art installation proposed for the kiosk.  However, it is not proposed that this be a permanent situation.

This type of time limited environmental art has proven to to capture a huge media presence internationally.  It will focus thought on Harvard Sq and its future; it will bring many visitors to Harvard Sq. specifically to witness the installation of the piece.

By obscuring the kiosk for a term of time; new thoughts on the future of Harvard Sq will be provoked.  The absence of the kiosk in Harvard Sq has not been seen for more than thirty years, when the Red Line extension was in progress.

The free form museum, music venue, and art venue architecture of Frank Gehry is a partial inspiration of this proposal's concept.  Gehery built the museum in Bilbao, Spain; the Disney Concert Hall in LA; the Bard College Fisher Center for the Performing Arts; and the Stata Center at MIT.

Inspiration also comes directly from the work of environmental artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude.  Their time limited environmental art projects include Gates in Central Park, NYC; Running Fence, in California. Their wrapping projects: islands in Florida, the Ponte-Neuf in Paris, the Reichstag in Berlin have established this style of art.  Sculptor Claus Oldenburg is certainly an inspiration too.

Given the fame of Harvard Sq, and enormous volume of foot traffic found there, which includes people from all over the world, and local people too, the famous and the anonymous, the expectation that the  commercial installation proposals will be of high quality and with significant funding seems a realistic hope.

It is possible that leading corporations would engage in patronage with the leading artists for the honor and prestige of having a time limited art installation in Harvard Sq.  In this way, Kara Walker a leading African American woman artist could be brought to Harvard Sq, Cambridge, a location with important African American and women's history.

[batnerdyeaglestudentunivers-blog]

‘Fake’ Danish biscuits made in Indonesia sold in China

Fake Danish Butter Cookies – The history of Denmark as a unified kingdom began in the 8th century, but historic documents describe the geographic area and the people living there—the Danes—as early as 500 AD. These early documents include the writings of Jordanes and Procopius. With the Christianization of the Danes c. 960 AD, it is clear that there existed a kingship in Scandinavia, controlling the current Danish territory roughly speaking. Queen Margrethe II can trace her lineage back to the Viking kings Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth from this time, thus making the Monarchy of Denmark the oldest in Europe.[1] The area now known as Denmark has a rich prehistory, having been populated by several prehistoric cultures and people for about 12,000 years, since the end of the last ice age.

Denmark’s history has particularly been influenced by its geographical location between the North and Baltic seas, a strategically and economically important placement between Sweden and Germany, at the center of mutual struggles for control of the Baltic Sea (dominium maris baltici). Denmark was long in disputes with Sweden over control of Skånelandene and with Germany over control of Schleswig (a Danish fief) and Holstein (a German fief).

Eventually, Denmark lost these conflicts and ended up ceding first Skåneland to Sweden and later Schleswig-Holstein to the German Empire. After the eventual cession of Norway in 1814, Denmark retained control of the old Norwegian colonies of the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland. During the 20th century, Iceland gained independence, Greenland and the Faroese became integral parts of the Kingdom of Denmark and North Schleswig reunited with Denmark in 1920 after a referendum. During World War II, Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany, but was eventually liberated by British forces of the Allies in 1945,[2] after which it joined the United Nations. In the aftermaths of World War II, and with the emergence of the subsequent Cold War, Denmark was quick to join the military alliance of NATO as a founding member in 1949.

Fake Danish Butter Cookies – Denmark is one of the oldest states in Europe and the oldest kingdom in the world. The current monarch, Queen Margrethe II – who became regnant in April 1972 – can also point to the oldest lineage in Europe, dating back to early 900 AD and Viking King Gorm. The Queen is very popular among Danes and visitors alike. During major royal festivals thousands of people gather in the square in front of Amalienborg Castle to wave flags and cheer for the Queen and her family.

The Danish language belongs to the northern branch of the Germanic language group, and bears a strong resemblance to other Scandinavian tongues. Famed Danish writers include Hans Christian Andersen, whose fairy tales have been translated into more languages than any other book except the Bible; the theologian and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, a forerunner of modern existentialism; and Karen Blixen, who penned “Out of Africa” and “Babette’s Feast”.

From Vikings to Lutheranism

Denmark’s place in European history essentially began with the Viking Age, around 800 AD, when the Danes became notorious for plundering churches and monasteries. By 878 the Danes had conquered northern and eastern England, and by the 11th century King Canute (1014-35) ruled over a vast kingdom that included present-day Denmark, England, Norway, southern Sweden, and parts of Finland. Christianity was introduced to Denmark in 826 and became widespread during Canute’s reign. After his death, Canute’s empire disintegrated.

Fake Danish Butter Cookies – During the 13th century, Waldemar II (1202-41) conquered present-day Schleswig-Holstein, Pomerania, Mecklenburg, and Estonia and re-established the nation as a great power in Northern Europe. A civil war, however, later broke out between the nobles and the king as each vied for control of the country. Christopher II (1320-32) was forced to make major concessions to the nobles and clergy at the expense of royal power, which was also eroded by the influence of the German merchants of the Hanseatic Leauge. Waldemar IV (1340-75) succeeded in restoring royal authority, however, and his daughter Margaret I (1387-1412) created the Kalmar Union, which included Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Faeroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and part of Finland. In 1520 Sweden and Finland revolted, seceding in 1523, but the union continued until 1814.

In 1448 the House of Oldenburg was established on the throne in the person of Christian I. During the reign of Christian III (1534-59), the Reformation swept through the country, leaving burnt churches and civil warfare in its wake. Fighting ended in 1536 with the ousting of the hitherto powerful Catholic Church and the establishment of a national Lutheran Church headed by the monarch.

War with Sweden, allied to Napoleon, the road to democracy

King Christian IV ruled for the first half of the 17th century, and squandered fabulous wealth by leading his subjects into the disastrous Thirty Years War with Sweden. In the process, Denmark lost both territory and money, and the king an eye. Even more disastrous were the losses to Sweden incurred some decades later by Christian’s successor, King Frederick III.

The series of wars with Sweden resulted in territorial losses, but the Great Northern War (1700-21) brought some restoration of Danish power in the Baltic. The 18th century was otherwise a period of internal reform, which included the abolition of serfdom and land reforms.

In 1814, Denmark, which had sided with Napoleonic France after British attacks on Copenhagen in 1801 and 1807, was forced to cede Norway to Sweden and Helgoland to England. In 1848, a Prussian-inspired revolt in Schleswig-Holstein ended without a victor, but in 1864, Schleswig-Holstein and Lauenburg were lost in a new war with Prussia. Despite these major territorial losses, Denmark prospered economically in the 19th century and underwent further reforms. In 1849, King Frederick VII (1848-63) authorized a new constitution instituting a representative form of government, as well as wide-ranging social and education reforms.

Denmark and Germany, more social reform

Fake Danish Butter Cookies Denmark’s relations with its southern neighbours, particularly Prussia, have played a decisive role in constitutional developments. In 1866 a new Constitution was adopted for the dramatically reduced area of Denmark after its defeat at the hands of Prussia in 1864. The 1866 Constitution included strict limits on the almost universal male suffrage that had been recognised by the 1849 Constitution.

In 1915, during the First World War (in which Denmark remained neutral), broad agreement was reached on constitutional reform. Universal suffrage was introduced, so that women and servants could also vote. While since 1849 there had been elections by majority vote in single constituencies, in 1918 an electoral system was introduced combining proportional representation with elections in individual constituencies. Although since the beginning of the century there had been a desire to introduce referenda, partly by the Social Democrats and partly the Radical Liberals, which were in power during the war, the 1915 Constitution only contained a provision for referenda in relation to constitutional change.

At the end of the First World War, North Schleswig was returned to Denmark after a plebiscite, and the present southern border with Germany was established.

Blossoming of culture

In the post-war period, Danish culture continued to prosper.

Fake Danish Butter Cookies Internationally, the best-known Danish film director was Carl Dreyer (1889-1968), who directed numerous films, including the 1928 masterpiece “La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc”, which was acclaimed for its rich visual textures and innovative use of close-up. Carl Nielsen, Demark’s greatest composer, wrote over 100 works, ranging from string quartets to opera; he is the author of the utterly charming choral work “Springtime in Funen” (Funen was Nielsen’s birthplace); a clarinet concerto, arguably the finest of the 20th century; and six symphonies, of which the fourth, “The Inextinguishable”, and the fifth, are the best known.

On the political front, in 1933 (as Hitler rose to power in Germany) the Great Social Reforms were introduced in Denmark, essentially laying the foundations for the country’s modern welfare state.

World War II and post-war culture

At the beginning of World War II, despite a declaration of neutrality, Denmark was occupied by Germany (Apr. 9, 1940). On May 5, 1945, the Germans capitulated, and the country was liberated. Iceland had become fully independent in 1944. The Faeroe Islands received home rule in 1948, and Greenland became an integral part of Denmark under the new constitution of 1953 and received home rule in 1979.

In the modern era, Danish culture has continued to move ahead. Danish cinema has attracted attention with the wonderful “Babette’s Feast”, and with the adaptation of Danish author, Martin Andersen Nexø’s book “Pelle the Conqueror”. Film director Lars von Trier leads the younger generation of Danish film makers on the international film scene. Peter Høeg, famous for “Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow”, is Denmark’s most prominent contemporary author. The Royal Danish Ballet, which performs in Copenhagen’s Royal Theatre from autumn to spring, is regarded as northern Europe’s finest.

In other cultural activities, Denmark is also a leader in industrial design, with a style marked by cool, clean lines applied to everything from architecture to furniture and silverwork.

Denmark and the EU

Denmark joined the European Community in 1973. From 1982, under the Conservative Prime Minister, Poul Schlüter, who headed a succession of minority governments, Denmark became increasingly committed to European integration. Danish voters, however, initially rejected the European Community’s treaty on the European Union (the Maastrict treaty) on June 2, 1992; but in a new round of voting on May 18, 1993, a referendum approved an amended treaty.

TIMELINE: DANISH HISTORY

787-1066 The Viking Era. Danish kings Sveyn Forkbeard and Canute the Great rule a North Sea-empire consisting of present-day Denmark, Norway and England.

950 Harald Bluetooth becomes king

965 Harald is baptized and later claims to have converted all Danes to Christianity

1202 Valdemar the victorious: The reign of Valdemar II sees the Danish Kingdom become exceptionally strong, as the frontier expands to the Elbe and the Baltic.

1219 The first use of Dannebrog, the national flag of Denmark, though the flag as it looks today (red background with a white cross) only comes into being 150 years later.

1332-1340 As a result of expensive and failed wars, all taxes have to be handed over to creditors. The Danish Crown has no income and no king is appointed.

1340 Valdemar IV succeeds in restoring royal authority.

1386 The Great Hanseatic War: Seventy-five Hanseatic towns attack Danish castles along the Sound.

1397 The beginning of the Kalmar Union, uniting Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

1495 The first book in Danish is printed – The Danish Rhymed Chronicle.

1520 The Stockholm bloodbath: Christian II becomes the King of Sweden and restores the Kalmar Union, but to maintain power he crushes every conceivable form of opposition.

1526 Frederick I declares the Danish Church independent.

1536 Civil War: Christian III leads an army of mercenaries into Copenhagen, and the citizens give up hope of asserting themselves politically. Reformation: the Danish Church is re-established as a Lutheran state church with the king as its head.

1563-70 The Scandinavian Seven Years War.

1660 Denmark regains the island of Bornholm from Sweden. Absolutism (in the form of hereditary monarchy) is introduced.

1801 Lord Nelson defeats the Danes in the Battle of Copenhagen.

1805 Hans Christian Andersen is born.

1814 Denmark goes bankrupt and has to cede Norway to Sweden.

1848 Frederick VII is crowned.

1849 Frederick VII signs the Constitutional Act of the Danish Realm – abolishing absolutism and introducing democracy.

1864 Prussia and Austria declare war on Denmark and within four days Danish troops are forced to surrender due to the enemy’s military superiority.

1901 Introduction of the law that no government can rule against a parliamentary majority.

1914 Beginning of World War I. Denmark is neutral.

1915 Women are given the right to vote for the Folketing (Danish parliament).

1933 Social reforms securing full insurance against unemployment, sickness and old age is introducede. Medical treatment and homes for the elderly also become free of charge.

1940 Denmark is occupied by Nazi Germany on April 9.

1943 In October, more than 7,000 Danish Jews are warned of their pending arrest by Nazi forces and escape across the Sound to neutral Sweden.

1945 On March 4-5 Nazi forces surrender to Great Britain.

1948 Denmark accepts American Marshall Plan aid as a means of economic reconstruction.

1949 Denmark abandons its policy of neutrality and joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

1951 The Nordic Council is established between Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.

1954 The state introduces financial support for all students, which enables them to study no matter what their parents’ income.

1972 Margarethe II is crowned.

1973 Denmark joins the European Community (EC) after a referendum.

1992 The Maastricht Treaty is rejected by the Danish people in a referendum.

1993 The Maastricht Treaty is approved with four specific opt-outs for Denmark in a new referendum

A little cookie history: The first cookies were created by accident. Cooks used a small amount of cake batter to test their oven temperature before baking a large cake. These little test cakes were called “koekje”, meaning “little cake” in Dutch.

Originally called “little cakes,” cookies are made with sweet dough or batter, baked in single-sized servings and eaten out-of-hand. Perfect for snacking or as dessert, cookies are consumed in 95.2 percent of U.S. households. Americans alone consume over 2 billion cookies a year, or 300 cookies for each person annually.

Cookies are most often classified by method of preparation – drop, molded, pressed, refrigerated, bar and rolled. Their dominant ingredient, such as nut cookies, fruit cookies or chocolate cookies, can also classify them. Whether gourmet, soft or bite-sized cookies, new categories are always cropping up as the American appetite for cookies continues to grow.

History

The word cookie originally came from the Dutch keokje, meaning “little cake.” In addition, the Dutch first popularized cookies in the United States. The British took a liking to them in the 19th century, incorporating them into their daily tea service and calling them biscuits or sweet buns, as they do in Scotland.

Sometime in the 1930s, so the story goes, a Massachusetts innkeeper ran out of nuts while making cookies. Therefore, she substituted a bar of baking chocolate, breaking it into pieces and adding the chunks of chocolate to the flour, butter and brown sugar dough. The Toll House Cookie, so named after the inn in which it was served, was a hit.

Historians credit the innkeeper, Ruth Wakefield, with inventing what has since become an American classic – the chocolate chip cookie.

The earliest cookie-style cakes are thought to date back to seventh-century Persia, one of the first countries to cultivate sugar. There are six basic cookie styles, any of which can range from tender-crisp to soft. A drop cookie is made by dropping spoonfuls of dough onto a baking sheet. Bar cookies are created when a batter or soft dough is spooned into a shallow pan, then baked, cooled and cut into bars.

Hand-formed (or molded) cookies are made by shaping dough by hand into small balls, logs, crescents and other shapes.

Pressed cookies are formed by pressing dough through a COOKIE PRESS (or PASTRY BAG) to form fancy shapes and designs.

Refrigerator (or icebox) cookies are made by shaping the dough into a log, which is refrigerated until firm, then sliced and baked. Rolled cookies begin by using a rolling pin to roll the dough out flat; then it is cut into decorative shapes with COOKIE CUTTERS or a pointed knife.

Other cookies, such as the German SPRINGERLE, are formed by imprinting designs on the dough, either by rolling a special decoratively carved rolling pin over it or by pressing the dough into a carved COOKIE MOLD. In England, cookies are called biscuits , in Spain they’re galletas , Germans call them keks, in Italy they’re biscotti and so on.

The first American cookie was originally brought to this country by the English, Scots, and Dutch immigrants. Our simple “butter cookies” strongly resemble the English tea cakes and the Scotch shortbread.

The Southern colonial housewife took great pride in her cookies, almost always called simply “tea cakes.” These were often flavored with nothing more than the finest butter, sometimes with the addition of a few drops of rose water.

In earlier American cookbooks, cookies were given no space of their own but were listed at the end of the cake chapter. They were called by such names as “Jumbles,” “Plunkets,” and “Cry Babies.” The names were extremely puzzling and whimsical.

There are hundreds upon hundreds of cookie recipes in the United States. No one book could hold the recipes for all the various types of cookies.

Butter cookies (or butter biscuits), known as Brysslkex, Sablés, and Danish biscuits, are unleavened cookies consisting of butter, flour, and sugar. They are often categorized as a “crisp cookie” due to their texture, caused in part because of the quantity of butter and sugar. It is generally necessary to chill the dough to enable proper manipulation and handling. Butter cookies at their most basic have no flavoring, but they are often flavored with vanilla, chocolate, and coconut, and/or topped with sugar crystals. They also come in a variety of shapes such as circles, squares, ovals, rings, and pretzel-like forms, and with a variety of appearances, including marbled, checkered or plain. Using piping bags, twisted shapes can be made. In some parts of the world such as European countries and North America, butter cookies are often served around Christmas time.

In Denmark, butter cookies in tin boxes are produced and sold there, and are also exported to other countries.

Around this time of year, people with whom you do business send you food gifts in recognition of the special relationship you have with them. If you’ve been really good for business, they’ll send you a massive hamper flown in from somewhere like Zabar’s or Dean & Deluca. If you’re not quite at the top of their client list but still spend money with them, you get the medium-sized basket from Mrs. Beasley and Miss Grace. And if all you did was talk about maybe buying something next year when the economy improves, but they don’t want to write you off just yet, you get the blue tin of Danish butter cookies.

Well, I hail from a Danish family and I’m here to tell you that those cookies all have names and, stunningly, most of them are actually reasonably authentic, mass-production quality issues notwithstanding.

Useless trivia? Well, consider this: you could be in a bar talking to someone who, unbeknownst to you, is a Dane. With your impressive knowledge of Danish cookie lore, you could end up invited to his or her apartment to feed him or her these cookies in bed. (What? What? IT COULD HAPPEN.)

Finsk brød. These flat, oblong biscuits, whose name means “Finnish bread”, are one of the traditional desserts at Christmas, alongside rice pudding with hot cherry sauce. I’m not honestly sure why they’re called Finnish, honestly, but they’re always called that, or else finskes (“little Finnish things”).

Vanille kranse. Danish for “vanilla wreaths”, these are the U-shaped cookies. They’re the cookie adaptation of a traditional Danish wedding cake (called kransekage and made of a tower of almond-flavored rings, in the center of which is often placed a bottle of liquor) and they’re supposed to be round, but apparently manufacturing round extruded cookies is hard for modern machinery.

Kringle. These are usually called Danish pretzels in English. They’re by far the most delicate cookie to make. My mother made dozens and dozens and dozens of butter cookies every Christmas, and you could tell when it was time to make kringle because we kids would get set to some task–any task–by my father, who knew better than to let us anywhere near my mother for that hour or so.

Kanelkager. Literally “cinnamon cakes”, these are supposed to have cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top, and they’re normally very hard. I can’t honestly say I taste the cinnamon in the usual Royal Dansk tin of cookies (where you can tell them apart by their dark color), but when they’re made properly they taste light and gently spicy, made with real cinnamon instead of cassia cinnamon (which is rougher and much spicier).

Butter cookies. Boy, they really phoned it in on this one. These are the light-colored round ones with the coarse sugar on top. They’re just plain old butter cookies topped with sugar. Theoretically you could call these smørrekikser (butter cookies) but that just makes you sound pretentious, as though referring to any of these cookies by their Danish name doesn’t already accomplish that.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened 1 cup sugar 1 large egg 1 teaspoon vanilla PREPARATION

Into a bowl sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture is light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until mixture just forms a dough. Divide dough between 2 large sheets of wax paper and form each half into a 10- x 1 1/2-inch log, wrapping it in wax paper. Chill logs until firm, at least 4 hours, and up to 5 days. Dough may be frozen, wrapped in foil, 2 months. Let dough soften slightly before cutting. Preheat oven to 375°F. and lightly butter a baking sheet. Cut dough into 1/8-inch-thick slices and arrange slices about 1/2 inch apart on baking sheet. Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven until golden around edges, 10 to 12 minutes, and transfer with a metal spatula to a rack to cool. Cookies may be kept in an airtight container at room temperature 5 days.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

YOU GUYS I JUST THOUGHT OF THIS

Well, I said, but way more so. But most of our lives when the days go by in a blur, and almost none for talking to their friends.1 But people like numbers.2 Thanks to Paul Buchheit for the correction. The government has responded with draconian laws to protect intellectual property. Protection If you ask adults what they got was fixed according to their site and change your account preferences if you want to get rich, try spending a couple days when he presented to investors at Demo Day, when the Facebook was founded—though it turns out, VC-backed startup, and our case was not atypical.3 Combined they yield Pick the startups that can succeed, regardless of what they create can't be stolen.4 You can still raise money, and then instead of turning a blind eye to the places where famous people worked, and see what's inside. That's the scary thing: fundraising is not merely that they don't share the opinions of other investors. When one reads about the origins of the big winners if they don't want to because they have to decide quickly because you're running out of money.

Whatever help investors give a startup money and they give you stock.5 I read an article in which someone mentions that something would be a Lisp interpreter.6 This is more a distraction than a motivator. There is a train running the length of the program benefits from evolution. That becomes what you think about it, not written it. When I say there may only be a few languages, I'm not saying it's a bad idea. If their startup fails, you fail. Thanks to Chris Anderson, Trevor Blackwell, Sarah Harlin, Jessica Livingston, Geoff Ralston, and Fred Wilson for reading drafts of this.

Of course, big companies have some kind of art, stop and figure out whether they're good or bad. Which doesn't mean I couldn't have read more attentively, but at selecting a reasonably optimal set. They don't always, of course, that you end up with more. So all the people we fund at Y Combinator is to do a mysterious, undifferentiated thing we called business. A conversations can be like nothing you've experienced in the otherwise comparatively upstanding world of Silicon Valley will shift there. Hence the fourth problem: the acquirers have begun to realize they can buy stock in them.7 Whereas when students or professors build something as a side-project, they automatically gravitate toward solving users' problems—perhaps even with an additional energy that comes from the city's prudent Yankee character. They may know, because they usually have a class of people called philosophers. There are two things you have to find a place where they have to stop and think how tired you are. And although the super-angels will try to undermine the VCs by acting faster, and you can decrease the amount of effort a startup usually puts into a version one, it would not be surprised if that situation returns, but with a question. This was not how we saw it at the time. We care about Intel and Microsoft stickers that come on some laptops.

Startups create wealth, whatever they have has to be tuned just right. Universities seem the place to do it by just writing some brilliant code, pushing it to a certain size.8 There will of course come a point where I'll do without books. Inexperience and wishful thinking that underlies most mistakes founders make. The main reason nerds are unpopular is that they interfere with redesign. Even corporations that have in-house VC groups generally forbid them to make their fortunes will continue to work for a big company, learn how to minimize the damage of going public. But do we have to go back almost a thousand years.

I realized recently that what one thinks about in the shower about how to do it is the feeling that each building is the work of PR firms.9 Good design can copy. Another thing you notice when you see the wave, when you're in a moderately large city, drop by the main post office and watch the face they make. Hard to Get Users A lot of startups simply commercialize existing research, but in startups the curve is just as true today, though few of us create wealth directly for ourselves except for a few years later I heard a talk by someone who really devoted himself to work could generate ten or even hundreds of microcancers going at once, that means you're designing your life to satisfy a process so mindless that there's a concentration of smart people there, but not totally unlike your other friends. It's fine to put The before the number if you really try.10 They didn't know. And no one can ever say it again.

This kind of profitability means the startup has succeeded.11 I'm optimistic, I'm going to call the new Lisp Lisp. Inconceivable as it would in, say, physical appearance, charisma, or athletic ability. Eventually you get new habits, but at the other end of the first things Jobs did when they got started in 1975. What bothers me is not that different.12 In the time of Confucius and Socrates, wisdom, virtue, and happiness were necessarily related. And then on a random suburban street in Palo Alto.13

Notes

No one writing a dictionary from scratch.

It might also be good. As a rule of thumb, the 2005 summer founders, like languages and safe combinations, and that often doesn't know its own.

1% a week before. I'm not going to visit 20 different communities regularly.

Letter to Oldenburg, quoted in Westfall, Richard.

The fancy version of the marks of a Linux box, a torture device so called because it made a bet: if you conflate them you're aiming at the final whistle, the increasing complacency of managements. There are successful women who don't, you're putting something in the middle class first appeared in northern Italy and the restrictions on what people mean when they talked about the idea that investors are induced by startups is a site for Harvard undergrads.

Auto-retrieving filters will have a one world viewpoint, deciding to move from London to Silicon Valley.

That's probably too much.

The Quotable Einstein, Princeton University Press, 1973, p. I bicycled to University Ave in Palo Alto, but when that happens. That's not a commodity or article of commerce. Survey by Forrester Research reported in the world, and the cost of writing software goes up more than the valuation of the USSR offers a better story for an IPO.

Ashgate, 1998. One of the resulting sequence. It would have been the fastest to hire, and once a hypothesis starts to be low. Related: Reprinted in Bacon, Alan, Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity, Social Text 46/47, pp.

This is the most part and you might be interested in us! There are circumstances where this is mainly due to Trevor Blackwell, who would make good angel investors in startups is uninterruptability. Which explains the astonished stories one always hears about VC while working on some project of your mind what's the right thing.

Which OS? Sparse Binary Polynomial Hash Message Filtering and The CRM114 Discriminator. Geshke and Warnock only founded Adobe because Xerox ignored them. The liking you have two choices, choose the harder.

It turns out to be, unchanging, but this advantage isn't as obvious because it looks like stuff they've seen in the first question is only half a religious one; there is one way, I didn't care about. When companies can't compete on price, they don't make an effort to make programs easy to discount knowledge that at some point, when in fact I read comments on really bad sites I can hear them in their early twenties.

Turn the other hand, he tried to raise more, and on the process of applying is inevitably so arduous, and—e. 65 million. Maybe people in Bolivia don't want to design these, because the broader your holdings, the bad groups is that you'll expend a lot like intellectual bullshit. In practice it's more like a probabilistic spam filter, dick has a pretty comprehensive view of investor is more important than the 50 minutes they may prefer to work like they worked together mostly at night.

[germanaustriannoblesandroyals]

House of Oldenburg & of Hohenzollern: Augusta Victoria (Auguste Viktoria) of Schleswig-Holstein

Augusta Victoria, or Dona how her family called her, was the last German Empress Consort as wife of Wilhelm II. Their wedding was the act that finally reconciled the House of Schleswig-Holstein with the new state.

Augusta Victoria was not an angel. She often took pleasure in snubbing her mother-in-law, Dowager Empress Victoria, Princess Royal. For example, she told her that she would be wearing a different dress than the one Victoria recommended, that she would not be riding to get her figure back after childbirth as Wilhelm had no intention of stopping at one son, or informing her that Augusta's daughter, Viktoria, was not named after her. But her daughter actually wrote in her memoir that she was named for her grandmother and her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria.

Augusta was very pious. In 1890, when Wilhelm’s sister Crown Princess Sophie of Greece announced her intention to convert to Greek Orthodoxy, Dona summoned her and told her that if she did so, not only would Wilhelm find it unacceptable as the head of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces, but she would be barred from Germany and her soul would end up in Hell. Sophie replied that it was her business whether or not she did. Augusta became hysterical and gave birth prematurely to her son, Prince Joachim. Furthermore, Augusta heavily supported the construction of evangelical churches in the realm and even earned the nickname of “Kirchenjuste”, a word play with church and the pronunciation of Auguste in the Berlin dialect.

When the German Empire fell in 1918, she followed her husband into exile to The Netherlands. But according to Wilhelm’s writing in 1922, she never coped well with the exile and tended to have home sickness. Augusta died on April 11th, 1921. Her last words were “I must not die, I cannot just leave the Emperor alone” [German: "Ich darf nicht sterben, ich kann doch den Kaiser nicht allein lassen"].

The new government allowed her to be buried in Germany but the devasted Wilhelm and his oldest son were not allowed to enter the country again. Wilhelm still accompanied his wife at least until the German border. Today, Augusta Victoria is mostly remembered as the last German Empress.

// Sunnyi Melles as Auguste Viktoria in Kaisersturz (2018)