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The Anne Boleyn Villain Series: DownfallBy Bayly Ogden QuailBellMagazine.com The three years following her marriage and coronation are crucial to understanding the victimization of Lady Anne Boleyn. Immediately pressure was placed on her to become pregnant and give birth to a son--which she only achieved in part. In August 1533, about eight months after the wedding, Anne's “condition” was noticeable (Bernard 73). But unfortunately her pregnancy did not result in the desired son, but in a baby girl, Queen Elizabeth I (Starkey 508). Then Anne suffered three documented miscarriages. But was this the sole cause of her downfall, her inability to produce sons like her predecessor Catherine of Aragon? There are many theories behind Anne's downfall: her inability to produce a male heir (the multiple miscarriages), the plotting of her enemies, or Henry VIII's interest in pursuing a new marriage with Lady Jane Seymour. But none of these theories actually acknowledges the charges that were brought up against Anne. Historian Warnicke, the author of The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn, concludes that all these factors combined were the result of Anne's downfall. Anne's main enemy was Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief minister. Cromwell and Lady Anne constantly butted heads during the creation of the Church of England, especially over the disillusion of the monasteries (Warnicke 140). Since Cromwell was Henry VIII’s chief minister, he had the king's full attention. And when the king became weary of his current marriage due to the lack of a son, Cromwell was better able to assist his majesty in removing his current wife for a more attractive candidate, Lady Jane Seymour (Warnicke 207).
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Congratulations to Zoya Shaikh!By Tykeya O'Neil & Lindsey Story QuailBellMagazine.com Thanks to all who voted. Zoya Shaikh is the Bell(e) of the Week! The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Nerds, rejoice! By Julie DiNisio QuailBellMagazine.com Fantasy fans (and most other types of nerds) rejoice, RavenCon is returning to Richmond, Virginia, April 13 through 15. Celebrating Science Fiction, art, gaming, and programing, this year's convention, located at the Koger Center Holiday Inn, will feature events and workshops to highlight the latest goings-on in these areas. Peruse the designated Anime Room and anticipate the RavenCon Masquerade on the evening of April 14 for which participants are encouraged to costume up. This year, guests of honor will include Glen Cook, author of The Black Company series, and Matthew Stewart, famous fantasy artist. Bella Morte will be providing musical entertainment for the event. Not just a weekend of guilt-free self-indulgence for fans, RavenCon 2012 is heavily involved with several charities. Proceeds from the Charity Auction will go to the American Cancer Society and the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Additionally, they will be hosting a book drive, and guests are encouraged to bring their unwanted books to benefit Books on Wheels. For more information, including admission prices and how to volunteer, visit RavenCon's website. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Jennifer Tyler-Marks: Jewelry Maker, Business Owner, Mom By Jade Miller QuailBellMagazine.com Entering Jennifer Tyler-Marks home, you know a jewelry maker lives there. A table situated in front of the couch glitters with beads and metal and a half-assembled display shows off recently completed earrings. There’s a notebook with a list of craft shows to apply to and the laptop screen to her right glows with an application to a festival. Only one things seems out of place - the resting newborn on the Boppy pillow to the left, seemingly entranced by the large painting hanging on the wall. Tyler-Marks makes balancing a business and a baby look easy.
Born in Mesa, Arizona, Tyler-Marks was the first of three daughters to her parents. With her father in the Air Force, the family moved around a lot, living in Utah, Louisiana, Alaska and Virginia. Tyler-Marks recalls seeing simply made pieces featuring semi-precious gemstones around her mother’s neck, made for her by her grandfather. This was the spark of inspiration and why Tyler-Marks works with the materials she does now. Using semi-precious gemstones like tigereye, quartz and garnet, along with wood, coral, freshwater pearls and Czech glass, Tyler-Marks creates jewelry stunning in its simplicity. Each piece lets the stones shine in their own merit and the necklace, earrings or bracelet is merely the platform. Tyler-Marks takes great care selecting all the beads and stones she works with, choosing to use “unusual gemstone finds, ones that you can get lost in when you look at them. I have some blue tiger eye right now that's really subtle and beautiful. The color changes depending on the angle, it's like watching the northern lights.” With such attention and thought being put into every step of the process, it’s easy to see why this jewelry stands out. If gemstones aren’t your cup of tea, Tyler-Marks has also begun a line repurposing vintage pieces into new jewelry. Still employing pearls and the like into these pieces, the gems are no longer the whole focus, giving a more feminine and edgy feel. To add to their appeal, a lot of these pieces are one of a kind, each necklace, bracelet or earring set it’s own unique entity. Usually you can find Tyler-Marks’ jewelry online at her etsy shop, RedLintu. However, right now craft show season is in full swing and it will be much easier to snag your own RedLintu piece in person! Check out Tyler-Marks [and meet her baby!] at these shows in the Richmond, Virginia metro area: Southampton Baptist Church Spring Bazaar & Community Yard Sale Saturday, April 14, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm Earth Day Festival at Old Manchester at the Mayo Bridge Saturday, April 21, 12:00 pm to 7:00 pm Fort Clifton Music, Arts and Craft Festival at Fort Clifton Park in Colonial Heights Saturday, May 12, 10:00 am The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Chirp goes the ChapelBy Paisley Hibou QuailBellMagazine.com Put on your equestrian boots and your tricorn hat. And while you're it, pour yourself a glass of Bordeux. We're taking a field trip, fledglings. 30 miles southwest of Philly lies a community that courts horses, wine, and history on a daily basis. That place is Chadds Ford Township in Pennsylvania's Delaware County, the site of the Battle of Brandywine and a well-to-do, semi-rural society. In a pocket of woods nestled between a couple of the township's many stone houses is a teeny chapel. That chapel, though built in 1995, alludes to a much earlier era--perhaps an era as early as Jamestown's. Observe this hatchling of architecture: The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Bell(e) of the Week: April 9thBy Tykeya O'Neil & Lindsey Story QuailBellMagazine.com You have until Thursday, April 12th at midnight EST to cast your vote! We'll announce the winner on Friday, so please check back, fledglings <3
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Grants? Residencies? Workshops?By QB Provocateur QuailBellMagazine.com Does the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore, Maryland-Richmond, Virginia do an adequate job of supporting its local artists? Does the region offer enough financial incentive, social resources, and emotional help for its creative types? Does the region offer enough artist grants, residencies, and workshops? If not, what can it do to improve? Please discuss!
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Put on your sexy quail!By Tykeya O'Neil & Sean Marks QuailBellMagazine.com Lovers of our better-than-"Savage Love" sex column, Quail Under the Quilt, are already familiar with the charms of our dear Countless Elizabeth Bathory. Here's some of her killer fashion to inspire you next time you want to knock your sweetheart dead. -C.S. • Manic Panic Virgin White Pressed Powder @ Amazon ($13.99)
• Purple Battenburg Lace Fan @ parasol_heaven ($13.99) • Manic Panic Deadly Night Lipstick @ Amazon ($11.40) • Adrianna Papell Ruffle Shimmer Satin Jacket @ Nordstrom ($148) • Purple Lace Cyberdolly Skirt @ DestinationHome ($28) • Purple Multi Square Neck Tunic @ Venus ($32) The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Art & Re-birth the Harlem of the SouthBy Starling Root QuailBellMagazine.com The Harlem of the South. Black Wall Street. Following the Civil War, Richmond, Virginia's historic Jackson Ward district made headlines as a center for African-American arts and commerce South of the Mason Dixon. The neighborhood's demise came in the 1950s with the construction of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike. The turnpike cut the neighborhood in two, dividing families, resources, and dreams.
Today Jackson Ward garners the attention of urban planners, artists, and concerned citizens who want to restore the district to its former glory. Jackson Ward is a place where 30% of adult residents did not graduate from high school and over 1/3 live below the poverty line. This past Easter holiday alone, reports of aggravated assault (a shooting), burglary, and theft from a motor vehicle (three, as a matter of fact) were made. But this past weekend was also a cause for local celebration. The first Friday of every month, Jackson Ward opens its doors to Richmonders for 1st Fridays Artwalk on Broad Street. Over 40 venues--galleries, restaurants, and other businesses--come alive for the night, hinting at the kind of revelry and creativity that made Jackson Ward such a spirited place so long ago. And so it happened once again on April 6th, Good Friday. Now that the City of Richmond is more actively pursuing its plans for getting Jackson Ward and other parts of Downtown official status as an Arts District, the Harlem of the South may soon rise from the ashes. After all, "Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Pitton the Bucolic PeacockBy Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com Mainstream Western society often upholds fashion as frivolous; intellectuals may call the competition inherent to the high fashion world detrimental to one’s emotional health. A clotheshorse is a nincompoop, or at the very least a self-centered and materialistic human being. True or not, fashion forms identity and reveals many social indicators. Clothes position certain cultural markers—masculine vs. feminine, rich vs. poor, educated vs. uneducated, etc. – at face value and help reinforce stereotypes and mythologies. Trite as it may sound, a picture merits at least a thousand words, and the picture an outfit presents is no different. The narrator in Naipaul’s The Arrival of Enigma recognizes this fact. After all, he spends 354 pages using fashion to make inferences about his neighbors’ socio-economic status, intelligence, values, and ambitions, thus characterizing himself as an ex-patriot desperate to shed his “other.” He is desperate to kill of his old self, but, as he kills, he also grieves in studying tweed, hats, and socks. These are details that allow the narrator to deny his murder of his own self, putting the other murders in the book in stark relief to his own. The narrator builds himself up in the mind of the reader not by painting a vivid illustration, rich with physical description and a catalogue of personal experiences, but by talking about the social lives and personal habits of those around him. Through his observations of Pitton’s attire in particular, he renders himself as someone who wants to escape the stigma of coming from the margins of empire. One of his longest mentions of Pitton’s attire begins as follows: The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Making Effie TrinketBy Doe Deere QuailBellMagazine.com I’ve been totally hooked on The Hunger Games books. It’s crazy—I started listening (audio books, I’m lazy) to the first chapter and couldn’t stop until I was done!!! It’s the first book that gripped me so strongly that I found myself sobbing, shaking in anger and bulging my eyes out in shock at the events described several times! My favorite character is Effie Trinket (hardly a surprise). She is not a particularly positive character—she works for the Capitol and is part of the system—but she is also trying to make their lives a little bit more bearable by maintaining a cheerful and bubbly demeanor. She is a curious dichotomy that way.
Effie’s style reminds me of my own, if I were driven into half-madness by an oppressive regime. The Hunger Games is the first book of its kind that focuses an inordinate amount of attention on fashion and makeup (everything from nail polish to eyeliner to wigs), with Capitol people being the most grotesquely fabulous of them all: painted skin, unnatural hair, bizarrely colorful makeup...and I haven’t even seen the movie yet! The moment I saw these promo images, I was itching to transform myself into Effie, as you'll note in the picture above. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
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The Easter Bunny By Julie DiNisio QuailBellMagazine.com Ah, the age old question. What exactly does the Easter Bunny have to do with Easter as an allegedly religious holiday? Everything, as far as small children and those who still doggedly believe are concerned. In all reality, today's Easter was born out of a pagan holiday celebrating new life and spring. Naturally, an animal so prolific as the rabbit was a token symbol of fertility. In Teutonic mythology, it was believed that the goddess Eostre once found a bird in the woods, dying from the winter cold and exposure. She changed him into a hare so that he might survive with a thick fur coat. In the spring, this newly transformed hare laid eggs in standard bird fashion.
The hare is also sacred in Christian religion. Back in the day, rabbits were believed to be hermaphroditic and able to reproduce without loss to their rabbit virginity. Thus, they became equated with the Virgin Mary. The idea of a specific Easter Bunny was first mentioned in Georg Franck von Frankenau's in his book De ovis paschalibus which translates to “About Easter eggs.” In it, the Easter Bunny acted as a Santa Claus-like figure, delivering colored eggs and candy to children while they slept, the night before the holiday. The Germans brought Easter egg hunts and other traditions over to America in the 1800s. Thus, the Easter Bunny has roots in both paganism and Christianity, perhaps an indication to why he is still a sanctioned and very well-loved Easter figure. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
It's All Mine Deep Groove Record Shop has been at the top of my list to cover since we set out on our adventure. I have a deep love of vinyl records and music in general. I have been inside plenty of record shops in and out of Richmond, Virginia. Deep Groove is by far my personal favorite. It isn’t the rows of vinyl, or the posters that cover it’s walls, or even the fair prices. It is due to the owner and resident sage, Jay Leavitt. I turn on my receiver and listen to that warm hum while I turn up the volume to -3 decibels. I flip Al Green’s Still In Love With You album over in my hands. I pull the plastic sleeve from the cardboard cover. I hold the record between both of my index fingers and eye it’s surface. I set the record on my turntable and set the needle down, gently. There is that familiar low static and repetitive clicking as it enters the grooves. A wave of sound comes out of my speakers. I close my eyes and stand up as I listen to the velvet voice of the Reverend Al Green. I grab my computer and watch the record spin as I jump back to Jeff and I, heading to Deep Groove. Jeff is driving us down the cobblestone streets of Monument. Yellow and orange leaves are scattered across the road. We were looking for possible shooting of The Lincoln project. After a few minutes of scouting we shake our heads and turn towards Robinson street. We park right outside of Deep Groove. The air is a bit brisk and a cool wind makes me raise my shoulders. I push the door open like I have a hundred times before. There is a jazz record playing in the background. From behind the counter, Jay lifts up his head and looks over the reading glasses that sit at the end of his nose. He squints his eyes and nods as we enter. He greets us with a voice that is always the same. His voice never changes in tone. It never raises in volume. The speed and tempo are always slow. His words come out calm and relaxed. I picture the ends of his sentences with an ellipsis rather than a period. We get through introductions and explaining what we are going to do. He just nods and smiles and goes back to putting prices on a stack of records.
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You Better Believe in the Dragon Bunny!By Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com Most dragons dream of becoming the most fierce of beasts-- capable of consuming whole castles in a single gulp-- but Little Winston dreamed of sprouting pink fur instead. He wanted his scaly ears to become soft like a dandelion fuzz and his feet to lose their talons and pop out a few extra inches. Winston wished his sharp teeth and red fire away, hoping for the incisors and sweet hops of a rabbit. He needed a cotton tail and a basket full of jellybeans, even some pastel eggs and teeny peeps. Winston's aspirations lied in dethroning the Easter Bunny. P.S. Of course bunnies lay colorful eggs and of course unicorns exist and of course Easter eggs and unicorns occupy the same universe. No question.The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Happy Easter, Fledglings!Dear fledglings, We hope you find all your eggs today--especially the golden one. And while you're at it, find the goose who laid it! Feathery hugs, The QB Crew The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Quails in Art! By QB Curator QuailBellMagazine.com Looks like we're not the only ones captivated by quails! The curators at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia chose this quail tea set as one of their favorite picks in the museum: Made of silver and ivory, the tea set is housed in the museum's South Asian collection and is specifically from India. Part of a larger collection of 91 silver pieces, Tea Service in the Shape of Quails, created by Oomersee Mawjee, Jr. from a family of famous silversmiths, helps make up the largest Colonial Indian silver collection outside of India. During the British Colonial period in India in the nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries, the two vastly different countries influenced one another's art. According to the VMFA, “Silver made for British-Colonial tables explores the interplay of European and Indian aesthetics, production, and patronage through objects that are at once approachable and exotic.” Starting on June 30, the museum will be showing its exhibit entitled Indian Silver for the Raj in which Tea Service in the Shape of Quails and other silver pieces will have special prominence. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Congratulations to Ashley Jerman!By Tykeya O'Neil & Lindsey Story QuailBellMagazine.com Ashley Jerman is our Bell(e) of the Week! Thanks to everyone who voted. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
See our feathery faces in person!We hope to see you there. Feel free to bring your art, writing, friends--and, of course, your donations ;)
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Judy Jetson Does 'Futuristic Retro'---and so can you!By Tykeya O'Neil and Sean Marks QuailBellMagazine.com If you don't know "The Jetsons," you're probably too young to be reading this magazine. Either that or you need to catch up on all the cartoons you missed during baton rehearsals circa 1993. But for those who always envied Judy Jetson's oxymoronic 'futuristic retro' look, here are some stellar wardrobe pick-me-ups. -C.S. • Mini Black Hair Bow @ EnchantedlyYours ($6.99)
• Manic Panic Hot Hot Pink Lipstick @ Amazon via Manic Panic ($12.98) • Peplum Tank Dress @ GoJane ($34.00) • Mossimo Odell Ballet Flats @ Target ($12.99) • Hot Pink Long Legging Tights @ Amazon via Tanco ($7.49) The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Remember the Supermarket Clerk Named Matt?By Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com Everyone you've ever known waits around your Metro station, standing in line to exchange demagnetized fare cards, frantically tossing out soda cups before the security guards catch them, scrutinizing maps with lines resembling piles of colorful spaghetti. Take a glance and you'll notice the fat boy from your fourth grade class or the cat lady who lived three doors down from your frat house during your senior year of college. The cashier named Matt who always cheated you a penny out of your change when you stopped by the supermarket after church to buy some licorice as a kid is there, too. He's just less pimply and less honest now. Maybe that's what happens to ghosts---they shed their minor physical imperfections along with their dignity. Vanity becomes their new identity as their bodies transform into more comely things with the baptism of death. And it's vanity that makes the Metro so surreal. Ghosts, people who are deader than dead because they've lost their souls, wander from platform to platform seeking something. Anything. Maybe hope. The fat boy from your fourth grade class wants to travel to a place where he can be skinny forever and the cat lady wants to go somewhere that makes her forget that her cats are the only ones who have ever loved her. Matt the cashier prays for the train that will take him to the one location he can guiltlessly spend all of those pennies he stole from you when you were little, even though he already knows that place doesn't exist. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Birds in Byrd ParkBy Starling Root QuailBellMagazine.com In 1907, Richmond, Virginia's New Reservoir Park became William Byrd Park--and it's been a bird hub ever since. Just look at them birdies! The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
This is where the heck it is!On March 28th, we asked you where the heck this door was: Well, to put it mildly, the poll we set up wasn't our most popular one ever. We will, however, still reward you with an answer:
This door is located in A) Gotham! That's right, New York City--not anywhere in Europe. Where exactly? On Belvedere Castle in Central Park. Built in 1869, this Gothic/Romanesque hodge-podge of a building is made of Manhattan schist, a type of mica you'll find in boulders all over Central Park. For years, the castle served as a weather station, first housing the New York Meteorological Observatory and later the United States Weather Bureau. Oh, and that bronze critter on the door is a cockatrice, not a dragon. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Bell(e) of the Week: April 2ndBy Tykeya O'Neil & Lindsey Story QuailBellMagazine.com You have until Thursday, April 5 at midnight EST to cast your vote! We'll announce the winner on Friday, so please check back, fledglings <3
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Tanning through the ages By Julie DiNisio QuailBellMagazine.com The difference in color between these two people is astonishing. As is the fact that unhealthy tanning practices and an obsession with Oompa Loompa-like women have persisted since the 1950s. The G-E Sunlamp provides a tan from the comfort of your own home. Side effects? Wrinkles and skin cancer. Evidently, physical examples of too much sun and medical information haven't altered this beauty ideal, and maybe they never will. So tan on, ladies, just like this woman! But please don't expose your kids, as the ad would seem to suggest. |
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