Saturday, May 10, 2008
RANDOM ENCYCLOPEDIA B POST
CHARLES V- 1500-1558, holy roman emperor. ablest + most powerful monarch of 16th c. born in Ghent 2/24/1500. heir of 4 great royal lines, which had united thru marriage(MONOPOLY). father philip of austria, son of emperor maximillian + mary, only daughter + heiress of charles the bold, giving him netherlands + austria as well as a solid claim for germany at the next election. mother Joanna, 2nd daughter + finally heiress of ferdinand of aragon + isabella of castille. joint rulers of spain, who had added granada + the 2 sicilys + the new world. 1st netherlands on death of father in 1506. spain and naples on death of max in 1519. when he was 15, the 1st european saw the pacific + when crowned, magellan was on his great voyage to circumnavigate the globe. Cortez conquered mexico. by the time he had 20 years on the thone, pizarro had conquered peru + the countries he led were gaining their height in intellectual, moral(???) +material developement. the moors finally conquered in spain, 4 pages of details....
carefully educated, bu preferred war craft. his tutors made sure he knew princely stuff like HISTORY + SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT and especially PRACTICAL DIRECTION OF AFFAIRS. same time as soliman, the magnificent(1520-1566 + barbarossaa, martin luther, + henry VIII. tried to get catholics + lutherans to reconcile. AS IF!
married isabella of portugal in 1526. she died 1539. he was much attached to her.
his son philip married queen mary of england, abdicated in 1558. good ruler. 5 pages.
CHARLES V- 1500-1558, holy roman emperor. ablest + most powerful monarch of 16th c. born in Ghent 2/24/1500. heir of 4 great royal lines, which had united thru marriage(MONOPOLY). father philip of austria, son of emperor maximillian + mary, only daughter + heiress of charles the bold, giving him netherlands + austria as well as a solid claim for germany at the next election. mother Joanna, 2nd daughter + finally heiress of ferdinand of aragon + isabella of castille. joint rulers of spain, who had added granada + the 2 sicilys + the new world. 1st netherlands on death of father in 1506. spain and naples on death of max in 1519. when he was 15, the 1st european saw the pacific + when crowned, magellan was on his great voyage to circumnavigate the globe. Cortez conquered mexico. by the time he had 20 years on the thone, pizarro had conquered peru + the countries he led were gaining their height in intellectual, moral(???) +material developement. the moors finally conquered in spain, 4 pages of details....
carefully educated, bu preferred war craft. his tutors made sure he knew princely stuff like HISTORY + SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT and especially PRACTICAL DIRECTION OF AFFAIRS. same time as soliman, the magnificent(1520-1566 + barbarossaa, martin luther, + henry VIII. tried to get catholics + lutherans to reconcile. AS IF!
married isabella of portugal in 1526. she died 1539. he was much attached to her.
his son philip married queen mary of england, abdicated in 1558. good ruler. 5 pages.
THE SQUIRREL MENACE
RANDOM YARD POST
the tulips are up and open and wait, we didn't have those before. just yellow or red. THE SQUIRREL MENACE! squirrel gifts. and they did such a good planting job. hit all the empty spots! some free things in the back i think too. saw a squirrel burying something near the old compost heap. our squirrel aliums are up in their new spot.
RANDOM PM SQUIRREL POST
from ebay listing for orphan baby squirrel nut balls. yummy.
RANDOM ESTATE SALE POST
this house was next to an estate sale i went to weeks ago. FINALLY downloaded pics. noticed the tree as i was getting back into the car. ooooh, that's a bit close.
we have a locust that we keep trimming and hope the roots aren't doing any damage. damn thing refuses to die.
RANDOM DEEP THOUGHT POST
WHY is hillary going all "Fatal Attraction" Glen Close on america? i swear she is gonna kill democrats like the bunny.
WHY is hillary going all "Fatal Attraction" Glen Close on america? i swear she is gonna kill democrats like the bunny.
SATURN'S DAY SCHLITZ BLOGGING
i preferred this dragonfly. no wires on the bottom. less dremeling. i REALLY liked this one. mostly emerald green, turning to fire red orange at the top. i LOVED it so much, i died a sweater to match. extra think cotton chenille. turned out great. ignored the blue in the shade.
Friday, May 09, 2008
RANDOM HOARD POST
this was so cheap. think 10¢ or 25¢. really a fun sale. BIG 1900ish duplex. think run by the realty. they just gave out bags, no wrapping paper. got a lot of goodies. sold some. found a IN THE BOX W/ instructions-black porcelain doorknob and lock. everything you would need. sold it to a lady living in an old house and was gonna install it. got my first hanging monkey from there. was just an interesting sale. and yes, think that was the one where i saw a tall thin 'shelf' for little knick-knacks made out of old yard sticks. so, i started hunting for cheap wide ones and i did soon after. furniture and funeral store! now i just have to make it.
i love the nut that makes the face on this HAITIAN maraca. but i want to remove it from the coconut. still deciding. nice a creepy eh?
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RANDOM EB POST
Charles IV- 1316-1378, emperor of the romans. son of John of luxembourg, king of bohemia. spent 5 years of childhood in paris. age 12 back in bohemia. at 16 appointed viceroy of italy. dificult + soon made to retire. took partin the carithian war against emperor louis of bavaria, enemy of the pope. in 1346 on death of father at crec, became king of bohemia; same year elected emperor in place of louis thru pope clement VI, but Ch IV only gained this dignity at the cost of many humiliating cconcessions, which only made him look like the pope's tool + lost respect. on death of louis the next year, they refused to recognizehim + chose 1st Edward III of england, then the Marquis of Meissen and lastly count Gunther of schwarzburg. on death of gunther, Ch who had married Anne, daughter of the elector palatine, + had given his own daughter w/ tyrol as dowry, to the duke of austria, was again elected. devoted to aggrandizement of himself, his family, + the government neglected. In 1354, visited Italy + was crowned at the milan, rome, and ostia; but he recieved many indignities, being refused entry to several cities + only allowed in rome 1 day. obliged to confirm the Viscontiso. left italy after getting $$$. 3rd wife daughter of Janer, who he hoped to succeed. also added brandenburg, SILESIA!, + lower lusatia to the house of luxembourg(and now? alas luxembourg) + from election(using bribes) wenceslaus. meanwhile, the empire overrun by banditti + only took up arms for the pope + stil took bribes to lay down his arms to the viscartis. Only thing he really did was publication of the golden bull in 1356.
RANDOM POLITICS/RANT? POST
i swear, hillary is just staying in the race, JUST in case obama is shot, skeleton in the closet, or plane crash, so she can be president by default.
and as a female, that is NOT how i want the first female to get the white house.
i swear, hillary is just staying in the race, JUST in case obama is shot, skeleton in the closet, or plane crash, so she can be president by default.
and as a female, that is NOT how i want the first female to get the white house.
RANDOM AM SQUIRREL POST
don't worry, will never ever run low on squirrels!
RANDOM AM OAXACAN CRITTER POST
a 'ken edwards' tile. apparently this gringo went to mexico and is big in pottery. i DO have a large cat by him. where i learned of this man. may have another.may have sold one of his plates.
RANDOM MORNING LURE POST
i done depleted the butter stamp file to thursday proportions. so, what do i have lots of? LURES! so, switcheroo time.
FRIDAY ART BLOGGING
an oil version of fat ass pansy. sorta. VERY hard to get decent pic of, i used a lot of linseed oil in this one. still shiny. in the dinning room. with bachelors & queens and chief joseph. VERY hard to frame. would like to try a different one now. oh well.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
RANDOM EB POST
CHARLES X- 1757-1836, King of france younger brother of Louis XVI. known before accession as Charles Philippe, count of Artois, at 16 married Theresa of Saron. spent youth in scandolous dissipation. short time joined army in gibraltar, right before revolution, minor part in politics. in 1789, left france + went to other courts, seeking help. on execution of L XVI, assumed title of monsieur + in 1792 joined a regiment of french gentlemen, but in 1793, retired to russia, where he was welcomed by catherine. in 1795 led expedition, supplied by brits, to assist the revolt in La Vondec, but no energy and effected nada. went to england. joined bro louis(2 brothers louis? WTF?). in 1814 welcomed back to paris by provisional Gov. during reign of bro louis XVIII, leader of the extreme royalist party. on succeeding to the throne in 1824, followed the same policy. briefly popular. blah blah blah. appointed toady. bad. Ch X stubborn(georgee!), assisted Greece + conquered Allgiers. stupid laws. new revolution. Louis Phiilippe elected king + Ch X died.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
RANDOM EB POST
CHARLES IX- 1550-1574, king of france. 2nd son of Henry II + Catherine de medici. at 10 succeeded his brother francis II. his mother regent. war between hugenots. 1570 declared himself convinced that they needed religtous conformity + wanted to reconcile w/hugenots. sis married to youngest H, king of navarre.(mother plotting) causd him to ignore the masscre of St. Bartholmew's day 1572. this weighed on him after and died 2 years later.
RANDOM HOARD POST
something from one of the most interesting/best estate sales ever. the condo sale of the world traveler. from grand cayman and she even put the year. i LOVE her. i might have to make a diary of my objects. oh wait. i gots the blog.
WEDNESDAY KITTY PORN BLOGGING
pansyp is so thin. looks old, BUT i had a shoelace and she played like she was 8, not 15. was nice to see her play like that.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
RANDOM PM OAXACAN CRITTER POST
jacocbo/ maria angeles. damn i love her HER painting. on ebay now for $$$, but well worth it. her paint jobs are mini masterpieces. calling it a raccoon. raccoon? i'll accept cat.
RANDOM PM BUTTER STAMP POST
went to cheap and forgot to bid. fooey.
RANDOM EB POST
CHARLES V- 1337-1380, king of france, son of John II. physically weak, precluded the usual ambitions. turned to literature and political skills, which gained him, 'the wise' from 19-23, during his fathers exile, time of dificulty, he ruled as lieutenant. blah blah, almost revolution. La 'Jacque Rie'', father John died in 1364. charles set to fix france, expel the english. made allies w/spain + others + renewed war w/ england. done by 1373, more conquest. reign had many results. freed of the english for a time, priviledgesof the nobility curtailed. better justice + parliament self elected. HIGH TAXES, great architecture. palace of st. paul + the walls of the bastille + founded royal library of paris.
CHARLES VI- 1368-1422 king of france, son of Ch V, who he succeeded in 1380, age 12. father's treasure seized by his 4 uncles, duke's of berry, burgundy, anjou, and bourbon, whose tyranny + rapacity aroused rebellion. took paris and other towns and some flemish, but i in 1382, a loss at roosebeke, english. 1385. blah blah blah. 1388, Ch VI old enough and took on his uncles Berry + burgundy. but in 1392, his march against duke of brittany, had an insanity attack(ma unstable family). killed 4 attendants of his. almost burned to death next year, which he never recovered. opened the ambition of burgandy + orleans. 1415 henry V landed, agincourt. famine. plague died.
CHARLES VII- 1403-1461, french king, son of Ch VI, betrothed at 10 to mary of anjou, daughter of Louis, king of sicily, who he married 9 yrs later. dauphin at 13. and at 14 on account of father's insanity, lord c????(man m handwriting sucks). TROUBLES. Charles preferred frivolous disipation. weak character. a mix of horrid court + good french soldiers. (GOEORGEE AGAIN!-history SUCKS) joan of arc! Ch VII got better advisors, better women, his mother in law, yolanda of aragon, S-I-L, Isabel of lorraine + agnes sorel, his mistress, rekindled patriotism(can we?). 1450 agnes died. became wretched. no dignity, afraid of being poisoned, died of starvation.
CHARLES VIII- 1470-1498, king of france, succeeded in 1483. his sister, anne of beaujeu, 22, w/ firmness + craft, inherited from their wise father Louis XI, gained power. she was democratic leaning. 1490, ChIII took charge, broke an arranged marriage W/ daughter of maximillian + married Anne of Brittany, to whome Maximillian had been betrothed(backstory?). WAR resulted. pretty much bribed his way out. worked to enlarge france on the east. had anjou, + went for naples, but they resisted and went to Ferdenand of spain. died at 28 after an accident.(riding). surfing wiki. FOIX! it mentions FOIX!
pic of Ch III
RANDOM COOL POST
She flew Spitfires and was the first woman to break the sound barrier - the very racy life of the original fast ladyindeed.
Should a girl ever be born to live fast, it would have to be Diana Barnato.
From her childhood in the 1930s, she remembered the crunch of spinning tyres on the gravel at her father's country home in Surrey as he and his Croesus-rich friends accelerated their open-top, longnosed racing Bentleys up the drive.
They would come to a skidding halt in the pits he'd had built there, like the ones at the Brooklands racing track, where he was often seen taking the chequered flag.
The 'Bentley Boys', as this coterie of glamorous men was known, would then spill out from their cars, with the giggling, chattering 'Bentley Girls', the upper-class types who travelled everywhere with them. Then the champagne corks would pop and the fun would begin.
This was the inter-war age of indulgence when, if you had the means - and Captain 'Babe' Barnato, who had inherited a diamond mine, certainly did - then, as Cole Porter put it, 'anything goes'.
It was easy to fall into the trap of what another contemporary song-writer, Hoagy Carmichael, characterised as "jangled morals and wild weekends".
But the millionaire's daughter had a different destiny. True, she did the debutante thing and curtsied in front of King George VI like other girls of her wealth and class, and she could party with the best of them.
But she would be no 'Bentley Girl', no hanger-on. She would be her own woman, and a brave one at that.
War gave her a purpose. From 1941, she was one of a handful of women who ferried Spitfires and Hurricanes, Wellingtons and Lancasters from factories and servicing depots to front-line squadrons.
Known as ATA-girls after the name of their unit, the Air Transport Auxiliary, they braved all weathers, flew without guns or armour-plating, radio, radar and navigation aids, piloting aircraft they knew little about.
They were prey to storms and marauding German Messerschmitts looking for an easy kill. Diana, had an additional problem - just 5ft tall, she had to perch on a cushion to reach the pedals.
Yet, in three years, she flew 260 Spitfires and mastered dozens of other warplanes, including a huge, lumbering Walrus flying boat that most male pilots balked at. She was shot at, hammered by storms, stricken by engine failures, but she never lost a plane.
She died this week, aged 90, one of the last of an exceptional breed of women who, in World War II, took on men's jobs and did them brilliantly, without complaining. They laughed off the put- downs of outraged men and were unfazed by workplace ribaldry.
Diana and her kind encountered striking opposition. The editor of a magazine called Aeroplane spoke of "the menace of the woman who thinks that she ought to be flying a high-speed bomber when she really has not the intelligence to scrub the floor properly".
Women, he went on, suffered from "too much self-confidence, an over-load of conceit, a dislike of taking orders and not enough experience".
But needs must in wartime, and women like Diana were eventually welcomed.
She had learned how to fly before the war in a Tiger Moth, passed fit after just six hours' training. For further tests she had to join the ATA, she practised landing and take-off speeds by driving down the Egham bypass in the silver-grey Bentley her father had given her for her 21st birthday.
Diana was glamorous in her sheepskin flying jacket and pilot's cap, and could create a stir among the astonished airmen at whatever airfield this "very, very pretty girl" landed. They had seen nothing like her before.
She was equally magnetic in the fashionable clubs in London - Embassy or 400 - where she played just as hard as she worked.
For all the manliness of her duties, she kept her femininity. Once, while trying some (forbidden) aerobatics in a delivery plane, the silver make-up compact she always carried, fell from her pocket, danced round the cockpit canopy and covered her face with powder.
When she got to her destination and stepped out of the plane, she was as white-faced as a circus clown.
Another time, when she was lost and disorientated in thick cloud, and should have baled out to safety, she stayed put. "With the parachute straps," she explained, "my skirt would have ridden up and anyone who happened to be below would have seen my knickers!"
By skill - though she would insist it was just luck - she edged the Spitfire downwards until it broke through the cloud and she could see where she was. . . skimming the treetops and seconds from disaster.
She hurled the plane to one side to narrowly miss a clump that could have killed her. Then, in heavy rain and on a tiny grass airstrip to which she had never flown before, she made a perfect landing.
Her love life, however, was never smooth. There, her good fortune deserted her. In 1941, she fell madly for a handsome squadron leader and after just three weeks, they got engaged. A quick wedding was planned.
It never happened. Her fiancÈ died in the wreck of his Spitfire. Only later did she discover the cause of his death - he had a WAAF from the base on his knee at the time, taking her for a joy ride in the single-seater, and the weight meant he lost control.
When I met Diana a few years ago and she told me this, she chuckled. But her lover's fatal indiscretion must have compounded her hurt at the time.
Yet, she did marry, another RAF pilot, all stunning blue eyes and youthful looks. The courtship with Wing Commander Derek Walker was just as quick and impatient. They married in May 1944.
Then in November 1945, the day after they were able to begin life together in married quarters at his station, his plane failed to return from a routine operation. His Mustang crashed in bad weather.
After the blow of his death, she resolved to be a woman of independence. She took as a lover a rich American living in England, Whitney Straight, who had been, like her father, a champion racing driver.
He WAS a charismatic, daredevil figure, who flew Spitfires for the RAF, had been shot down and escaped from captivity in France and spirited out by an underground escape line. After the war, he was the boss of BOAC, the precursor of British Airways.
In fast cars and flying, they had much in common. But this 30-year affair was not one she talked about, though the evidence was obvious - she gave birth to his son in 1947. All she would say was that she never asked Straight to leave his wife. "I was perfectly content. I had my own identity."
She was a single mother when such things were not the norm. She was a pilot when such things were not the norm. Quietly, she broke barriers, glass or otherwise, all her extraordinary life.
And in 1963, with a bang. One of her many friends in the RAF offered her the chance to fly one of the new supersonic Lightning fighter planes.
She persuaded the Ministry of Defence to agree, undertook all the rigorous medical tests required of modern pilots, then made her attempt on the women's speed record.
As the after-burners of the two-seater Lightning roared behind her, she crashed through the sound barrier, the first woman to do so, and reached an amazing 1,262mph, Mach1.65. She had always been a fast lady, now she was the fastest one in the world.
Her generation of women, though their achievements are often overlooked, were indefatigable, and Diana Barnato Walker was one of the very best.
