The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Celebrate Xmas with TJBy Starling Root QuailBellMagazine.com You're just a few minutes shy of witnessing the first of two traditional candle making demonstrations at Thomas Jefferson's holiday home and private retreat, Poplar Forest, in Forest, Virginia. The second one starts at 2 p.m. and the last tour of the day at 4 p.m. What's the deal? The historic joint's Holiday Open House takes place today. Admission's free today as long as you bring a donation of a non-perishable food item for Lynchburg's Daily Bread or Bedford Humane Society. So what are you waiting for? Grab a can and hop into the car! It's time to geek out and get some Christmas cheer!
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Fun for Grinches (and Non-Grinches) in Charm CityBy Quail Bell Social Butterfly QuailBellMagazine.com Let's be real: Not everyone's gung-ho about the holidays. And sometimes even the most sociable of us butterflies just want the parties to die down. It'd be nice to kick off the red velvet dress and matching heels and just lounge around in reg clothes on a Saturday night. Putting up the Christmas tree is such a hassle. Buying gifts for everyone? What's the point if half of them will end up in a Salvation Army donation bin within weeks? Caroling--are you kidding? Grinchy Mr. Grincherson here and not ashamed to admit it. It's SO tempting to just daydream about post-holiday bliss. THANK EVERYTHING THAT IS HOLY (and unholy) that there's a lot of it to be had in the ever charming Charm City not too long after the tinsel comes down. Examples, snatched with permission from Baltimore.org, the city's offish tourism site, in a kinda curated way: Roads to Rails: Early Railroading Month
B&O Railroad Museum January 2-31, 2014 Join the B&O Railroad Museum as it celebrates the birth and development of railroading from its inception in 1827 to 1860. Learn how the B&O Railroad overcame incredible physical and technological challenges to become an early success story during America's transportation revolution and why it was widely known as "the Railroad University of the United States." Programs will highlight the role of the B&O during this transformative period and feature the Museum's one-of-a-kind collection of early 19th century locomotives. Borail.org Absolutely Febulous Citywide February 14-23, 2014 Hibernation is out and celebration is in this winter in Baltimore. Visit Baltimore and the city’s tourism partners are teaming up to combine the great offers of Hotel Week, Restaurant Week and Museum Week into more than a week of savings. Look for money-saving hotel packages, fixed price menus at a host of restaurants and special offers and programs at museums and attractions. Baltimore.org 2014 CAA Men’s Basketball Championship Baltimore Arena March 7-10, 2014 The road to March Madness starts in Baltimore with 9 games, 8 teams in 4 days! Baltimore will crown another champion when the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Men's Basketball Championship takes place at the Baltimore Arena. The win-or-go-home event will crown one champion who will represent the CAA as its automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championship and the Big Dance. CAASports.com The Amazing Johnny Eck Maryland Institute College of Art December 13, 2013-March 16, 2014 The Maryland Institute College of Art will present a never-before-seen exhibition of personal objects, artifacts and artworks by sideshow performer Johnny Eck (1911–1991), one of Baltimore’s most famous citizens. Perhaps best known for his role as “the half-man” in Tod Browning’s film Freaks (1932), Eck later achieved worldwide fame as Robert Ripley’s “most remarkable man alive” and was a skilled performer, artist, actor, magician, puppeteer and woodcarver, amassing a cult following that exists to this day. The exhibition is the first ever of its size, showing hundreds of Eck’s works on paper, sculptures, drawings and paintings—including painted screens, a Baltimore folk art tradition. Mica.edu Milestones: African Americans in Comics, Pop Culture, and Beyond Geppi’s Entertainment Museum December 14, 2013-April 2014 Milestones: African Americans in Comics, Pop Culture and Beyond showcases the vast talent and wonderful innovation that came from or was influenced by African Americans, including the important contributions of publishing executives at companies such as Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics and Marvel Comics. This special exhibit will embrace the totality of Black comics. With a significant focus on Black creators and their art, the exhibit will pull together experts, essayists, filmmakers and creators from inside and outside the world of comic books to fully explore the successes, triumphs, failures and expectations for the future of this vital component of our national fabric. GeppisMuseum.com German Expressionism Baltimore Museum of Art January 29-October 2014 More than 30 vivid paintings, drawings, prints, watercolors, and sculpture present an overview of the revolutionary art movement that flourished in Germany during the first three decades of the 20th century. Artbma.org Designed for Flowers: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics The Walters Art Museum February 23-May 11, 2014 The Japanese art of flower arranging, or ikebana, has inspired the creation of extraordinary ceramic containers. This exhibition outlines the history of some of Japan’s major schools of ikebana and displays a wide variety of contemporary ceramics created in harmony with the most modern floral conventions. TheWalters.org The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
An introduction to the concept of the Heaven's HingeThis introduction shows the mathematics and engineering behind the storyline of The Broken Stone and the secret of the Heavens’ Henge at Stonehenge. The images in the following text were produced using a 3-D computer model which was found to replicate the stones at Stonehenge as they may have been when first constructed. Stonehenge’s plan layout is shown to be the same as an idealized geocentric description of the Universe. Its inner stone monument is demonstrated to be capable of producing a spectacular public display of solar movement. The arrangement of this system is shown to be based on a simple method of tracking celestial objects. The contention of this paper is that Stonehenge was both a depository of knowledge about the Universe and a place of learning designed for popular interest. Stonehenge is one of the most enigmatic monuments in the world: A perfectly level ring of circular lintels set on massive upright stones, it has faces which were laboriously worked using stone tools. The worked faces look to the centre of the monument rather than outward. Inside the ring is a set of taller stones, also with worked faces and lintels, which is arranged as a horseshoe. Outside the monument, strategically placed stones are contained within a circular bank and outside that bank, a great Avenue extends to the river. The monument was built at the dawning of a new age. In Egypt, the Pharaohs would soon start to build pyramids and in Britain, metals technology had just been introduced. A few hundred years later, tin and copper would be mixed to form bronze. With the discovery of alloys, the British Bronze Age would start and the Stone Age would become a thing of the past. Every feature of Stonehenge is shown to be explainable using a very old and little known way of scientific thinking combined with engineering principles. This introduction describes how the search for knowledge could have resulted in an early fundamental view of the Universe and the subsequent creation of Stonehenge itself. It has recently been discovered that metals were in use at the time Stonehenge was built. Metal has unique properties which, in addition to making good weapons, can be used in inventions. One such invention, a hinged mechanism which concentrates light, fits precisely into Stonehenge’s structure. This light-concentrating system could be used to demonstrate how the Sun seems to move if the Earth is believed to be fixed at the centre of the Universe. The design requirements of this arrangement are identical to Stonehenge’s enigmatic features. Read more, with diagrams in the PDF document: Stonehenge - an introduction to the concept of the Heavens’ Hinge ***This post originally ran on The Megalithic Portal and appears here with permission.*** The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Donkeys and Elephants? Throw in Owls, too.The Whigs, the 19th century political party that disbanded before the Civil War over the question of slavery, is trying making a comeback as the voice of reason between embittered modern day Republicans and Democrats. In Philadelphia, the election of Heshy Bucholz, a software engineer and first candidate to run and win as a Whig in that city in 157 years, has brought national attention to the party and spurred hundreds of new members to sign up. In Maryland, where the Whigs held four of their national conventions in the mid-19th century, the hub of the renaissance is in Cecil County. Tim Zane, a registered Republican and a former vice president and senior cash manager at a large international bank, is in talks to be in charge of the Maryland branch of the new and improved Modern Whig Party. Like Maryland, Virginia, Idaho, Arizona, and Hawaii are seeking new chapter leaders. There are about 200 members of the Modern Whig Party in Maryland, and another 200 support the group by receiving its newsletter. Maryland would benefit from a third party because of its problem with representation, Zane said. “Maryland has two major parties and two minor parties. It’s a strange way of looking at it,” Zane said. The major parties, in Zane’s view, are the progressive Democrats and moderate Democrats, while moderate Republicans and conservative Republicans form the minor parties. He cites tax increases, including Governor Martin O’Malley’s infamous “rain tax,” a stormwater fee, as evidence that a Democratic monopoly on decision-making is bad for Maryland’s citizens. “Everything in Maryland is controlled by the counties between Baltimore and Washington,” Zane said. Four Whig National Conventions were held in the old Maryland Institute in Baltimore, a grand building which stood at the corner of Market Place and East Baltimore Street. It burned down in 1904, and now in its place is the Power Plant Live! entertainment center. After a century and a half of dormancy, the Modern Whig Party was relaunched in 2007 by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and claims 30,000 members. Historically a party of compromise, the Whigs believe in incorporating ideas from multiple viewpoints to arrive at the best solution. Modern Whigs favor allowing issues to be decided at the state and local level, painting themselves as the party of logic, research and reason. The Whigs see themselves in stark opposition to the two main political parties, which brought about the recent government shutdown. In Washington, D.C. today, “one side shuts down so the other side doesn’t talk,” said Brendan Galligan, chairman of the New Jersey chapter of the Modern Whig Party, and an elected school board member in Westfield, New Jersey. Galligan’s own foray into Whigism began after he discovered the Westfield, New Jersey, school budget had increased by nearly 30% in five years. Propelled into action, he ran unopposed as an independent in 2012 and was elected to the Westfield School Board with 7,000 votes at age 23. “They haven’t done anything for a couple hundred years, but let me click on their link,” Galligan said about his discovery of the Whigs. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Reflections on the Nana I Never HadIona McLaughlin | My Paternal Grandmother I never met her, but I heard about her. My mind conjures up an image of her drawn from the many descriptions given of her. Her elegance, beauty, style, mannerisms, diction, speech and ladylike moves. She wore dresses mostly, never flats, always heels. She wore pearls of all lengths and sizes. Her hair neatly combed back to show her delicate features and high cheek bones. Her hair was long and she braided at bedtime. I imagine her in her garden dressed in her finest dress and heels, or in her sitting room creating delicate doulies that found its way into my bedroom as a child. I always believed that if I had met her, if I had known her, how much she would have taught me. I feel that I embody her essence with what I choose to wear, and how I present myself, to include my speech and mannerisms. If I had a chance to have gotten to know her, I would have studied her, learned more about being a girl, a woman. She met her husband at a garden party, a cricket match. They danced, loved and traveled to faraway places in search of adventures. They lived a good and happy life. They bore two children, sons, one died in a plague, the other survived. She loved her surviving son more than anything else on earth, and she sheltered him from all harm, in all of her grace. She was at an epic high, with happiness until the death of her son. Though with sadness surrounding her, her elegance and beauty never faded, her strength made her stronger, more vibrant. When she arrived in the U.S. to visit her son, she had cut her hair, and was wearing pencil pants. Times had changed, women chose pants over dresses. She never retired her heels though, and between her pencil pants, she changed and wore her dresses at dinnertime. She was a lady of her time. She was my paternal grandmother. I often times wonder what she’d say about my choice of clothes, or the bright blue toe nail polish I wear. My hair goes wild with curls, or long and straight with effort. I am not comfortable in heels, and my daily dress wearing days ended in middle school. But everything else about me is her. I cut my hair, its growing back. I wear my pearls, I have sons, and I wear pencil pants. Our beauty has been described as “vintage.” It’s genetic. Her eyes would ache to see how children dress these days: girls in yoga pants, boys in PJ bottoms —and flip-flops no matter the weather. My eyes ache on her behalf. But as it happened to her back then, it continues to happen. Styles change, people change, circumstances happen. But what never changes is your core, your sense of self-style, presentation, speech, diction. I wish she could tell me her thoughts, give me lessons in walking in heels. Teach me the fine art of doilies making. Help me to love dresses again. Would she like my bright red lipstick, I wonder? ***This post was written by Raquel Lynn for Adonia Prada | The Skinny, where it originally appeared, and was re-published with permission.*** The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Jewelry for Your WordsIf you could rename Black Friday—a bizarre & uniquely American cultural phenomenon—what would you call it? Tell us here and you could win these fairy earrings designed by Red Lintu—one for you and one for a friend! Just comment on this post and like Quail Bell Magazine on Facebook for a chance to win! Winner will be announced December 1st. Please share this post, and happy holidays!
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Spirit Photos of William MumlerHave you ever seen a horror movie where someone holds a seance in a haunted house? Have you ever played with a Ouija board? If you answered yes to at least one of these questions, then you have some idea of what Spiritualism is. Started in upstate New York in 1848 by sisters Kate and Margaret Fox, Spiritualism claims that the spirits of the departed communicate with the living to give advice and inspiration. Certain people, called mediums, are more attuned to the spirit world and can communicate easily with the departed. For those of us not so gifted, the spirits are more likely to manifest as rapping sounds, movements on a Ouija board, and suddenly extinguished candles. In the 1860's, Spiritualism swept across the United States like a ghostly wildfire. Hundreds of thousands had been killed in the Civil War, and Americans longed to hear that death was not the end. Spiritualism filled an aching need in the country's heart. One problem with Spiritualism, though, was that it was so ephemeral. Rapping noises and messages delivered through an entranced medium were nice, but wouldn't it be better to have concrete proof that your deceased loved one was still with you? William Mumler, a Boston jeweler, was able to provide that proof. He could give you a photo. There was of course a price. Customers would pay $10 for a dozen photos, a high price for the time, and with no guarantee the spirits would appear. Sometimes they didn't, but when they did the results were pretty spectacular. Look at this photo: Mumler's customers were generally satisfied with the results, even if the spirits in the photos didn't exactly look like their relatives. The veil between the worlds was hazy, and the spirits themselves were perfected and changed in the Summerland where they dwelt on the other side. No wonder they looked a little vague when captured on film. Skeptical Bostonians argued that Mumler's photos were faked. Was it merely coincidence, they said, that the spirits photographed were usually the same ones that customers had told Mrs. Mumler about while in the studio's waiting room? Local pundit Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a pointed essay about how easy it was double-expose film, but faithful Spiritualists ignored the criticism and continued to patronize Mumler. That is, until they began to notice that the spirits in the photos looked suspiciously like people still living in Boston. Feeling the heat, Mumler fled Boston for New York and set up a new studio. Things seemed to be going well in the new state until he was arrested and put on trial for fraud. Amazingly, he was found not guilty. A string of professional photographers testified they had watched him in the studio and saw no trickery. Many of satisfied customers also took the stand, claiming the spirits in their photos were indeed their dearly departed. If his customers were happy, the defense lawyers said, how could there be fraud? Mumler returned to Boston after being released, and despite a tarnished reputation set up a small studio at his mother's house in the South End. A small trickle of clients continued to patronize him, including one woman dressed in black who refused to lift her veil until the camera was ready. She had been tricked before and didn't want to be tricked again. She wanted Mumler to prove he was the real thing. Mumler produced the following photo for her: The woman was Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's widow. I think you can guess who the spirit is. This is probably the last photo taken of Mrs. Lincoln before her death in 1882.
Mumler himself died in 1884. Shortly before passing away, he burned all his negatives. You can find a lot more about William Mumler on the web. In particular I found this essay to be very informative. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Art Not Meant for the Gutter But the ToiletBy QB History Buff QuailBellMagazine.com More than one person in this universe has a magazine rack or stack of newspapers or even books in their bathroom at home. But when your bowel movements are frustrating you in a public restroom and you know you'll be sitting for a while, you might not get so lucky with having available reading material. Unless, of course, you're sitting on a throne at The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia.
"A Head of Its Time," a new exhibition that opened on November 8th, features pirate cartoons by local artist Walt Taylor. Priscilla Hauger, Director of Exhibitions was influenced by the drawings of British artist David Antram, the illustrator of the children's book series, You Wouldn't Want to..., which teaches kids about the inconveniences of everyday living in other time periods. Taylor, the political cartoonist for The Virginian-Pilot has collaborated with the museum and historians to make comics all about the olden days of seamen and how they made do with limited resources. Ever wonder what seamen did with no toilet paper on hand? The comics teaches you just how they wiped their booties. You can even wipe your own booty while reading these panels. After all, "A Head of Its Time" is posted on the restroom walls, over urinals, and yes, on stall doors. This exhibition might be a good distraction from thinking of how you need more fiber in your diet. And who doesn't like tales of the sea? The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Our Alien LiaisonFor Orfeo Angelucci, his strange career as a spokesperson for the aliens watching Earth reportedly began on August 4, 1946 with an amateur science experiment. Born in Trenton, New Jersey to a working-class Italian American family, Angelucci was a sickly child with a history of childhood illness. Diagnosed with “constitutional inadequacy” as a child, his poor health left him with recurring migraine headaches as well as a peculiar sensitivity to thunderstorms. Despite having to leave school early due to poor health and family financial problems, he continued to study science in his spare time until a complete physical breakdown forced him to give up his job. After nearly two years in hospital, he eventually returned to work and resumed his amateur science experiments. While his experiments may have been somewhat offbeat, there was no doubting his enthusiasm. Angelucci had a particular fascination with how electricity and thunderstorms affected humans and even wrote an enthusiastic letter to then-President Franklin Roosevelt about his discoveries. In the letter, he insisted that the “range paralysis” he saw in chickens was related to atmospheric static conditions and suggested that this might be relevant to the treatment of polio. He never received an answer. In the fateful 1946 experiment, Angelucci tried to launch samples of the fungus, Aspergillis clavatus, into the upper atmosphere in a homemade weather balloon. He hoped to study how the fungus was changed by atmospheric conditions but the balloon broke away from the mooring and was lost along with his fungus samples. As he would later describe, Angelucci and the family members who had gathered to watch the balloon launch saw what appeared to be a flying saucer hover overhead. When the balloon went up, the saucer apparently followed it until both were lost from sight. No trace of the balloons or the fungus samples were ever found. After moving to California (where he heard there were fewer thunderstorms), Angelucci attempted to break into the movie industry by writing his own script about a trip to the moon (no studios expressed any interest though). He finally went to work for the Lockheed Corporation doing fabrication work while continuing scientific research in his spare time. Along with self-publishing a thesis titled “The Nature of Infinite Energies” describing his theories on “atomic evolution, suspension and involution," he also wrote several letters to Linus Pauling outlining his theories on biology and nuclear causation. Pauling wrote several letters back politely thanking him but adding that he had no comments he could make on these theories. With the advent of the “flying saucer” craze in 1948, Angelucci became fascinated with the various sightings being reported. His own flying saucer event occurred on May 23, 1952 after he left the Lockheed plant early in the morning (he was working the night shift.) In the statement he later wrote about his experience, he began experiencing “prickling sensations” while driving home that felt as if his old medical problems were returning. Angelucci then saw a “red-glowing, oval-shaped object” in the sky which he decided to follow. On a deserted part of the highway, he saw two smaller objects detach themselves and approach his car. A clear voice told him, “Don’t be afraid, Orfeo, we are friends” and instructed him to get out of the car. The two smaller objects were apparently meant for communication. After reassuring him of their friendly intentions, he was told that the aliens had been watching him ever since his 1946 balloon experiment. The voice then told him to “drink from the crystal cup you will find on the fender of your car, Orfeo!” And, sure enough, there was a goblet on his car fender filled with a liquid. Angelucci reported, “It was the most delicious beverage I had ever tasted. I drained the cup. Even as I was drinking a feeling of strength and well-being swept over me and all of my unpleasant symptoms vanished.” The goblet vanished after he replaced it on the fender. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
A Moody Kind of Fun in the SunNovember 1937—Young women look out on Kalapana Black Sand Beach in Hawaii. The beach gets its black color from volcanic lava. Photograph by Richard Hewitt Stewart for National Geographic.
Source and copyright: National Geographic Found The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Gutsy Girls of World War I By Misty Thomas QuailBellMagazine.com Washington, D.C. author and historian, Jo-Ann Power, has released a new book about nurses and their roles in World War I. It's called Heroic Measures and it's a novel about a Cinderella-orphan turned military nurse. Through character Gwen Spencer's story of love and madness, Heroic Measures takes the readers into the lives of the incredibly courageous women who volunteered to join the Army Nurse Corps and leave their homes and lives to care for the wounded soldiers in the war. Power did years of research on this top and spent weeks traveling around European battlefields to get the real life feel for what it was like for the nurses who gave their time (and in some cases, their lives) to help the brave men in the war. The novel's details focus on the conditions that these women endured and the horrific sights they witnessed on a daily basis. The book also focuses on gender inequalities, such as the menial pay that these women received to heal the men of war. More on the book and the author at Jo-AnnPower.com. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
A House Turns to RockHere's a nice witch story from the Mohegans of Connecticut that anthropologist Frank Speck published in 1904. The English settlers weren't the only ones who believed in witches, and the local Indian groups maintained their own witch folklore well after the area was thoroughly colonized by the British. The story goes something like this: Many years ago an old Mohegan woman set out to walk all the way to New London to sell some brooms she had made. Making brooms was a common way for Indian women to make money at the time, and there was a bigger market for them in the city than out in the country.
However, before the woman reached New London the sun began to set, and soon it was very dark. She grew concerned and wondered where she was going to spend the night. Luckily she came upon a house with light shining from the windows and smoke coming from the chimney. It looked very inviting, so she knocked on the door. A white woman answered the door, and invited the elderly Mohegan lady to come in. The Mohegan woman said, "Thank you! I am walking all the way to New London and need a place to stay. Could I please stay here tonight?" The white woman smiled and said, "Of course. You will be my guest tonight. But you must tell no one that you saw me here." The Mohegan woman thought this was an odd request, but agreed to it anyway. The white woman then brought out some bread and cheese and offered it to the elderly woman. The Mohegan woman accepted the food, but said, "Thank you, but I'm not hungry right now. I will eat this tomorrow before I finish my journey." She then lay down near the fire and went to sleep. When she awoke in the morning, she was amazed to find herself lying outside in the woods. Nearby her was a giant boulder which was the same size as the house she had seen the night before. When she reached in her pocket for the bread and cheese she was horrified to find they had been turned into a hard piece of cow dung and old white bone. *** I like this story quite a bit. Apparently the "house turning into a rock" theme appears in stories from other Algonquin tribes, and the white woman whose hospitality is a lie certainly makes sense as a comment on the Mohegan's political situation. I can also see connections to European fairy lore, where the gifts given by the fairies often turn out to be worthless in the daylight and the fairies swear those who see them to secrecy. I don't know if those similarities are the result of recent historical enculturation or come from a much older historical or psychological strata. Frank Speck himself is an interesting character. He was born in Brooklyn, but was as a sickly child and was sent to live with a family friend in the healthier, more rural environment of Connecticut. The family friend was a Mohegan woman named Fidelia Fielding, and under her tutelage young Frank developed an enthusiasm for Indian culture, eventually becoming one of the preeminent anthropologists who studied the Indian cultures of the Northeast. If you like this story, I'd suggest reading William Simmons's Spirit of the New England Tribes, which is full of them. A truly great book! The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Mayor Jones is a Douchecougar.Mayor Dwight Jones of Richmond, Virginia is a scumbag. A scumbag with a plan to develop Shockoe Bottom, and undoubtedly gain some personal reward down the line. The idea of moving Richmond’s baseball stadium from the Boulevard to Shockoe Bottom has been brought up repeatedly, but the public doesn’t enthusiastically support such a change. In fact, the drive for this change of venue seems to be coming out of nowhere—or mostly from some local developers/land owners who would profit by the move.
Momentum against Mayor Jones’ stadium proposal has been ongoing. This week it was revealed that the Mayor’s plan has added bells and whistles. These additions to the stadium plans are a transparent attempt to trick citizens of Richmond and City Council members into feeling like they must support his proposal despite the multitude of reasons baseball doesn’t belong in Shockoe. This new, larger plan will not stop the campaign against a stadium in Shockoe Bottom. In fact, his newest attempt should create more momentum against this proposal and Jones’ shitty politics. Here’s my top nine reasons why (it was going to be ten but I got hungry): 1. Food: The Mayor has added to his proposal the development of a grocery store in Shockoe Bottom. This should not sway you towards his plan, and for a couple reasons. Shockoe Bottom already has one grocery store. Although it's not my personal favorite, it exists and is available to the local population. Outside of that area, Richmond has many food deserts (one ‘s’ not two, NBC 12, 'cause with dessert you want more, with desert you do not. P.S. Hire me as a copy editor, please). A food desert is an area where the local population does not have access to healthy, affordable food. Mayor Jones isn’t really helping Richmond’s population by adding a grocery store to a non-food desert zone. Neighborhoods such as Highland Park and Manchester pop into mind as places in need of a grocery store. 2. Utilities: Mayor Jones has added to his plan the repair of the water/sewer utilities in Shockoe Bottom to try to entice people’s support. Here is why this is a problem: The City has an obligation to maintain and repair public utilities and that has NOTHING TO DO WITH BASEBALL. Richmond already has the world’s highest known water utility minimum rate. We already pay too much for our water utility—and we shouldn’t have to support the bad public investment of a baseball field in order to have our utilities repaired. 3. Housing: Jones’ plan calls for 750 apartments to be developed in Shockoe Bottom along with the baseball stadium. Richmond does NOT have a housing shortage. What we do have is a shortage of low income and affordable housing. If public money and support is to go towards any development of new housing, it should be housing for the folks who need it the most (e.g., low income, elderly, single caregiver, etc.) Sorry out of town yuppies and future gentrifiers, we have to take care of our own first. We need to prioritize the people who currently live in Richmond, and make a Richmond for us, not for folks some developers wish lived here. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Hear Ye, Hear Ye!Dear fledglings, It's that time again for Renaissance fairs and festivals. The Quail Bell Crew has been fortunate enough to receive some free tickets to the Texas Renaissance Festival in Todd Mission, Texas. Get them FOR FREE while they still last! The dates vary and go until December 1st. Email us for more information and we will get them in the mail to you today! Feathery hugs, The Quail Bell Crew The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Are you ready for a Highland Fling? If you've been itching to make a real Renaissance raucous at the Texas Renaissance Festival in Todd Mission this fall, well, you're in luck. The Quail Bell Crew is proud to announce that we're giving away free tickets to TEN COUPLES for EACH of the following dates: November 10 (Roman Bacchanal) November 17 (Barbarian Invasion) November 24 (Highland Fling) December 1 (Celtic Christmas) Names will be drawn at random on Tuesday, when winners will be contacted via email. Don't miss your chance to geek out over one of the most fascinating periods in history! *Squeal* The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Don't Let the Bugger Get Your FaceThe first time I really began to think was while studying Columbus in middle school. I thought, “What the fuck!" It lead to the first poem I wrote, something along the lines of, “White men sailed the sea, landed in our country, hurt the people, made the bleed, filled them with disease, called them savages.” And so I began to question. I began to question the entire legacy of America; the genocide, rape, torture, humiliation, mutilation performed by “the discoverers” paved the way for a history of murder, racism, oppression, and epic ecological destruction. I romanticized the civilized world that was wiped away by European dominance. I was angry at the un-fairness of it all. I saw the world through a different set of eyes with a different perspective.
My grandmother was a crazy person. She was a paranoid recluse and cold. I barely knew her and did not like to visit her when we went over for holidays. I remember only two things she said to me, “Don't let the bugger get your face," and “I hope you have a good life and smile a whole bunch." The former she said some time early in my life and I never knew what it meant. The latter was the last thing she said to me and it blew my mind as it was so out of character for her. I had given her a ride home from the grocery store after running into her there. She said it through my rolled down passenger window when I dropped her off at her house on some sunny New Year's Day. It was only when she passed recently that I gave her much thought. And I understand now. She was disconnected, cut-off and could not relate to the world. Didn't get it, did not compute, just not in-sync. I get why. Because even today there is no bridge for the culture gap. Native ways, lifestyle, and goals, are different from the mainstream American reality of society. Someone set away from ancient knowledge gets lost, astranged from the sacred knowledge and secrets and guidance, left to wander in a post-apocalyptic, Americanized culture. We are of Cherokee, of the Walkers. When I learned of this, it was if I had a warm, untainted blanket handed to me in the winter. I proclaimed to a girlfriend at the time, “I am Cherokee!" I felt free and whole. I began to study more of native history, The People's History, and get lost in the Internet. We didn't grow up native; a generation or two ago, the family melted into the great melting pot, as most Native Americans did by or shortly after World War II. So many souls left lost and confused in a sick wrong capitalist world. While doing a residency in New York City, I was researching masks and one day learned of the booger mask. The mask was a mocking caricature of the European settler. And boom! An epiphany. “Don't let the bugger get your face," she told me. And who was this mad woman to all of a sudden be profound? The booger, the boogie man, the white man. Don't let him get your face. And in this life, as I grow older, I have learned to release the anger that I contained for years. I have overcome much sadness. I have come to see things in a more sympathetic, compassionate light. I am now content. Through right breathing, right thinking, we begin to relax. We relax our muscles and our belly and our forehead. Hatred, stress, confusion, heartache, and general disarray distort us. We find our faces contorted, gnarled, tense. She was saying, “Be at peace with it. Don't let it hurt you. Don't let it have you. Don't let it have your face." Rest in Peace, Mary. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
A Shopping Trip in the 18th CenturyBy Misty Thomas QuailBellMagazine.com My stars! Suddenly these holidays are upon us and I have nothing to show for it! My house needs a little décor as everyone in town has seen the stale pottery that I have on display. How do I keep appearances up when all of my vases and paintings are old and tired?! During these specials holidays, there will be visitors in and out of our posh and magnificent home. I must make sure that everyone oohs and ahhs over my new art and pottery. Where do I even begin? I know, a quaint trip down to Williamsburg, Virginia. I always find the best vases there. There is a shop there that has quite the finger vase collection that would be absolutely perfect for my guests to ogle. My mother-in-law, of course, is the one who piqued my interest in the collection of vases and artwork. My home was quite plain until one day, she decided to visit and unannounced at that. She critiqued every painting in my home and said I needed more art. Apparently, the women in London have quite the personal art collections and if I am to be a prominent American woman, I will need the same. After hearing that, I took our first trip to Williamsburg. A weekend trip of shopping and learning about art from the Who's Who in English culture. My mother-in-law recently introduced me to the finger vase, which Miss Claire LeDoyen introduced to you Quail Bell(e)s before. It is incredibly divine and since I love to display fresh flowers, the finger vase is a necessity in my home. Williamsburg is famous for these vases and I can find just about any type that I want there. I love the finger vase because I can display five different types of flowers at a time and my guests can see what lovely taste I have in flora. After purchasing a few of these finger vases, I decided that all I need now is some art for my bare walls. My mother-in-law has suggested that we have a few paintings of the Revolutionary War in the study. She tells me that the men will enjoy their cognac and reminisce about their days as soldiers—the "good ol' days." I suppose that she is correct, so I purchased a couple of those from a kind, young lady in Williamsburg for twenty pence. She insisted that I give her less, but it was evident to me that her family needed the money more than I did. With war paintings purchased and finger vases in tow, I needed just a few more items to make my collection complete for my future guests. I purchased quite a few paintings of the homes in Williamsburg and also a few paintings of vases and flowers. These are bright in color and will help to liven up my darker rooms. I purchased a few for gifts as well with the holidays being upon us. Overall, I say that this Williamsburg trip was quite a successful one and I absolutely cannot wait for my guests to see the amazing new artwork that I will have on display for my annual holiday parties. But first to prepare for All Hallows' Eve... The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Another Symbol of Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, etc.For the reader not from my city of Richmond, Virginia or not familiar with the specifics of Richmond politics: The mid-sized city of Richmond as a microcosm is a great example of the multitude of problems that come with professional sports and public spending. Our issues are likely your town's issues, or have been before, or will be in the future. Our experiences with the racism of the NFL team from Washington, D.C., which began using Richmond grounds as a training camp this past summer, are a part of a national discussion being had about their name. And Richmond's potential to disrespect a site significant to African-American history in the name of development is also a tale told in many towns. And the institutionalized racism, sexism, cissexism, homophobia, and transphobia of the whole thing is not specific to just Richmond. I hope that what you get from this op-ed is not some self-satisfaction that your town is somehow less racist or sexist than mine, but rather, an understanding that the intersectionality of all of this oppressive behavior and spending is happening where you are—and perhaps you can and should do something to stop it. Pushing the discussion
There are plenty of reasons to be down on the amount of public money that has gone into the Redskins Training Camp and the potential for more public spending to go into a new baseball stadium for the Richmond Squirrels in Shockoe Bottom. (Again, for non-Richmonders, Shockoe Bottom is one of the oldest sections of the city, as well as the site of a slave burial ground.) There is the obvious economic failure of such investment of public spending. But there are other significant issues to be addressed. For me, the racism of both of these moves is the most salient point. The name of the team, Redskins, is racist and offensive to indigenous people. (If you don't believe me, I suggest you take a look at a recent article from The Onion to gain a better understanding). Taking money from the Richmond City Public Schools budget to finance the training camp stadium is also racist, when you address the issue of an 80% black student population (2012). The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
One Random Fact About the FluBetchya didn't know this: On this day in 1918, an outbreak of Spanish influenza hit Camp Gordon in Atlanta, Georgia. Hope that knowledge was forever stored. Now go get your flu shot.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Bring On the Turkey LegsHear ye, hear ye! Now that autumn has commenced, 'tis the season of low-budget Shakespeare plays and velveteen puff-sleeve dresses. That's right: Get ready for renaissance faires across the country to invade that patch of woods you never knew existed behind that crappy shopping center. Say what? You're already ready? Just how ready? Not ready enough unless you're exhibiting these 10 signs: 1. Ladies, the first thing you do after taking a shower is stand in front of the mirror, press your breasts together, and check out that ren faire cleavage. Men, you're all about growing out that beard. 2. You practice eating turkey legs while wearing a costume. No grease stains? Excellent. Time for another one. 3. You can't help but see long, skinny objects—sticks, brooms, etc.—as swords. En garde! 4. When you hit your favorite Irish pub, you only care about the really old drinking songs.
5. You scour the party store flyers the moment they come to your house. 6. Your excuse for declining a date is, “Sorry, but I'm working on my fairy wings this Saturday.” This is not a lie. 7. Your reading list is looking rather...historical...these days. 8. Lately you've been eyeing your dog and wondering if he'd make a better unicorn or dragon. 9. You haven't jousted since last fall and you're afraid you're out of practice. 10. These days you're saving all your money for one thing. It starts with an 'r' and ends in 'enaissance faire.' The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Don't stand up straight.Oh, times are tough in the middle ages. All the decent young men are fighting in crusades or dying of plague. I mean what's a girl got to do to get a date? Bend over backwards? Well...yes, actually. BUH DUM CHING!!!! As the Black Plague killed off millions and millions of people, those remaining alive had the task of repopulation. Thus to be fertile was to be beautiful. To project her fertility, a lady would bend back and stick our her abdomen, mimicking how it looks to be pregnant. This body posture has been called the 'gothic slouch.' Even as the plague finished doing what it does best, the fertile look continued to be popular. Here (left) is the famous Arnolfini Portrait from the 15th century. The woman in the portrait isn't pregnant, but she is holding up some of the extra fabric in her dress to simulate a pregnant belly, symbolizing that she is fertile and will soon give her new husband many sons who will carry on the grand Arnolfini pimp-hat-wearing tradition. In an age where life expectancy was extremely short and most of your children would die before adulthood, the best thing a woman could be was very fertile. Marriages weren't necessarily about finding someone you love or even someone you vaguely get along with, although that was great if that happened. Marriage was most importantly about procreation. The family name had to be carried on, and that meant at least one son who lived to adulthood and have children of his own. That also meant surviving multiple pregnancies (even just having the child could very easily kill you), and your chances of survival would be greater if there was more fat around your lower body. By sticking out your abdomen, you give the illusion of a plump lower body which will help you survive many childbirths. Compare this to today, where any sign of belly fat is abhorred. With the improvement of medical technology, childbirth is not nearly as dangerous and most children live into adulthood. Therefore a woman does not need to show that she has enough belly fat to survive childbirth, because these days she doesn't need that. And because weight doesn't have as much effect over the ability to survive multiple childbirths, signs of fertility are not tied up in how much belly fat a woman has. Furthermore, many couples choose not to have any children at all, society having developed to a point where having many children is no longer an absolute requirement. (Mothers desiring grandchildren, however, are another matter entirely). Marriage has become mainly about finding someone you love, someone who makes you happy, and someone who, in some ways, makes life easier. So now the ideal for a woman is to stand up straight and suck it in. Unless you're Paris Hilton. She doesn't have bad posture. She's just trying to bring back the gothic slouch! The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
I'd like to see you slather some BBQ sauce on that.Myth: Did some Victorian women really have their lower ribs removed in order to have a smaller waist? Short Answer: No. Long Answer: The idea of using extreme surgery to fix some unsatisfactory part of one's physical appearance is extremely new. Unnecessary surgery is only possible with highly developed, modern surgical practices. In the early 19th century, surgery was mainly confined to amputations and the removal of external problems. Anesthesia of any kind was first used around the 1840's, which allowed surgeons to start fixing internal problems. The risk of infection was also extremely high, with the germ theory of disease first being applied to surgery by Joseph Lister around the 1870's. However, it would take quite some time for surgery to become as sterile as we know it today. Instruments were just beginning to be sterilized, but there were still plenty of ways for bacteria to enter the body. Antibiotics were only just starting to be discovered around the same time, but the science wouldn't really take off until the 20th century. Eakins' famous painting, "The Gross Clinic" (1875), shows a typical Victorian surgical scene. The surgery is performed in an open auditorium with several spectators, and the doctors themselves are wearing street clothes and working with their bare hands. Even if the instruments were sterilized, it would still be extremely easy for an infection to take hold and the poor man being operated on would die.
If you survived all of that risk, there would still be the pain that comes post surgery. Painkillers as we know them today didn't really exist in the Victorian period, so for pain control a person had to turn to some sort of drug that was probably not very safe. For a point of comparison, remember when you had your wisdom teeth out? I recently had mine taken out, and even with my sophisticated, modern pain medication I was still pretty miserable for a few days afterwards. Now imagine an operation that didn't use modern surgical practices, and didn't involve modern painkillers to control post-operative pain. No one in their right mind in the 19th century would voluntarily go under the knife unless it was absolutely necessary for their survival. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Angel-makers, baby-killers—take your pick.It was a problem that was all too common during the 18th and 19th centuries. In an era before contraception and abortion became widely safe and affordable, women who found themselves pregnant and unmarried were often faced with harsh choices. Though abortions were still available to those who could afford them, they were extremely dangerous, not to mention illegal in most places. Some desperate women resorted to infanticide of their newborn infants, though the ones who were caught often faced imprisonment, or even execution. And then there were the economic and legal barriers women trying to raise children by themselves faced. In the United Kingdom, for instance, the English Poor Laws declared all illegitimate children to be the sole responsibility of their mothers until they were sixteen years old. Mothers of illegitimate children were also deemed "immoral" and banned from mixing with "respectable" women in the workhouses that were often the only real alternative for women left to fend for themselves. In some countries, women who had given birth to illegitimate children were often sent to Magdalene laundries while their children were abandoned to orphanages until they were old enough to be put to work (typically before puberty).
Even the traditional practice of "abandoning a baby on a doorstep" was illegal and mothers faced prosecution if caught. Being an unwed mother was considered a dark sin in many households and social services as we know them today were nonexistent. Those women who could not be safely married off (usually in marriages of convenience) were sent away to prevent bringing shame to their families. And thus the "baby farming" industry sprang up in many countries. The term "baby farming" was first coined in a British Medical Journal article published in 1867, though the practice was already well-established by then. For a modest fee, women in need could arrange for their newborn babies to be cared for and educated with no awkward questions being asked. Pregnant women could conceal their pregnancies by appearing to take a rest holiday in a country setting far from home. After giving birth, they could recover and return to their normal lives with nobody being the wiser while their infants were left in the baby farmer's care. Unfortunately, there were no real child welfare laws in place and no safeguards to prevent actual abuse taking place. While most baby farmers were conscientious in caring for their charges, the prospect of turning a quick profit drew in many unscrupulous people as well. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Trapped—literally and figurativelyThe cage crinoline first appeared in the mid 1850's and would continue to be popular until the 1870's, when it transformed into the bustle. At this time in history, women had very few rights and were generally second-class citizens. They were seen as delicate, frivolous, submissive, and intellectually inferior to men. A woman was an ornament for her father or husband to show off. Women dressed in more colorful and decorative clothing (as opposed to men who wore dark, plain suits) to display their male guardian's wealth. This stifling atmosphere did its best to confine a woman to the role of dutiful daughter and eventually dutiful wife, leaving little room for any other aspirations. You probably see where I'm going with this. Women were metaphorically caged by society, just as their bodies were literally caged by a cage crinoline. Modern fashion historians aren't the only ones who picked up on the idea of the cage crinoline as a literal cage. Here a cartoonist from the period shows how useful this cage can be for men. Just as this was a period of female intellectual and social repression, it was also a period of sexual repression (although sexual repression was a hallmark of Victorian society as a whole, not just for the women of the period). With the crinoline covering the lower half of the body, a woman's sexuality was literally in a cage, inaccessible to anyone except her husband in the privacy of the home. Interestingly, historically men weren't seen as the more sexual beings. Women were considered the sexually rapacious gender, and men were simply poor victims lured in by those pesky horny females. Thus, the crinoline can be seen as a cage confining a woman's sexuality for the protection of men, just as one would put a ravenous animal in a cage for the protection of the people around it. Interestingly, with all of its symbols of female repression, many men thought the crinoline was incredibly stupid. It was way too big, taking up all of the room in carriages and making it that much harder to get close to a woman. Which leads to the other side of the social symbolism. In an increasingly industrialized society, cities were overcrowded and with any large city comes a large crime rate. Wearing a giant cage can be seen as a form of protection against the hundreds and thousands of suspicious strangers a woman might come into contact with walking down the street. Furthermore, caging a woman's sexuality can be seen from another angle. By putting her genitals behind a cage, a woman is at least symbolically protecting herself from sexual predators. In addition to this social protection, the cage crinoline offered health benefits. Before its invention, women achieved the fashionably wide-skirted silhouette by wearing many layers of heavy petticoats. This was not only uncomfortable but unhealthy and often led to a lifestyle low on exercise and heavy on fainting. The cage crinoline offered a much better alternative. It was significantly lighter, wasn't nearly as hot, and allowed for a greater range of movement. So on the one hand the crinoline symbolized female repression, but on the other it provided a sort of female liberation. It's all relative, huh? I'm no expert on gender studies, but these are just some of my thoughts on the possible symbolism of the cage crinoline. What do you all think? Is it a greater symbol of repression? Of liberation? A combination of both? Let me hear your thoughts!
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
A Graveyard Beneath the SanctuaryBy Misty Thomas QuailBellMagazine.com Monumental Church on East Broad Street in Richmond, Virginia was once the old Richmond Theatre. But in 1811, one of the worst urban disasters in the history of the United States happened here—or at least one of the worst to happen in the middle of a stage play. On December 26, 1811, a fire broke out in the theatre and ended up killing a total of 76 people, 72 of those on the spot! The church was actually built over the massive grave site of those that were burned in the fire. Architect Robert Mills built and designed the church as a monument for their lost lives. This church now serves as a historical landmark, a church, and a crypt that many say is incredibly haunted. The victims who lost their lives in the fire of 1811 are still buried in the church today. Their remains are now enclosed in beautiful mahogany boxes that were walled into the crypt of the church basement. You would think with so many remains of victims of the fire, there would be legends and ghost stories. And there are! There have been quite a few ghost stories associated with the Richmond Theatre fire of 1811. Many church workers and paranormal experts have confessed to having eerie experiences at Monumental Church. There have been voices heard coming from the balcony of the church and unexplained noises as well. Many of the doors slam shut without anyone being around them and some of the doors will open and close freely. Church workers have told stories of leaving their tools in one spot, only to have the tools disappear and reappear in a completely different place. Some workers have heard heavy footsteps in the church and it is said that some of them were so scared, that they never returned to Monumental Church ever again. Caretakers have mentioned that motion detectors have gone off at random times without a person in sight. After searching all over the web, I found out that a paranormal team was sent in and featured on GoodReads.com. The team of experts explored Monumental Church and set up audio and video recorders. They came back with some audio of an unidentified woman saying “Come up here.” Monumental Church is still open for tours and weddings have also been held there. It does have a very creepy feel to it. It is a crypt after all. I’d be surprised by anyone who didn't get chills down their spine just from stepping inside the doors of this hollowed ground. |
|