Sepia Saturday

Great choice this week, Alan.  

I like a deviation every now and again.  On the straight and narrow, little slip, down the side track - somewhere, something new, something different.

There are several themes that fit this weeks postings, advertising, graphics, poster art.  The 20s and 30s were probably one of the most artistic and striking advertising periods.  I have therefore chosen these Co-operative Wholesale Society postcards of  the 1990s (I believe) depicting 1920s and 30s advertising.  I picked these up in a traditional Junk Shop in Cumbria.  This in itself was a little deviation from the norm.  Once every little town had a Junk Shop where things were recycled. Now, at least, down here in the South, they are either over-priced Antique Shops (becoming rare) or Charity Shops (often several living cheek by jowl)

Up in the morning Cuppa and toast with Jam

On with the Overcoat

Or "On Yer Bike"

Cup of Cocoa, light the candle 

 

and so to bed says Zebadee

Sepia Saturday 93

I've taken the Sideburns as the theme for this week, because I happen to like side-whiskers and tashes.  I found this whilst perusing "Sideburns" in Flickr;

Even though I looked, I wasn't sure what was so great.  Personally I think the whiskers are great but I don't go a bundle on the "Barnets".  Just maybe it's through wearing hats.

This next set, I'm sure, are on the face of an actor but I don't know who - if it is, then I'm sure the film buffs out there will be able to give identity to him.

 

It is my deeply held view that most male faces are enhanced by a little adornment, but that is not a 100% truism, because a certain consideration has to be given to the adornment matching the fizzog itself.  Unlike this where -  well I let you make up your own mind

 

Unless he wears a wig, a little too much has been done with the boot-black or the low-lights in his hair.

And finally, with all the style that only nature can contrive;

It could be so

A week or so ago we had a rather fine picture of a white village in Spain.  We can almost do the same except we must change the vivid blue to grey and the brilliant white to Northern steely grey and the sunlit skies to skies laden with liquid sunshine.

Now as we all know liquid sunshine is a recyclable product and here we have collection and cleansing in process.

Notice the brown suntanning being added before the liquid sunshine is processed to be sent up there to shower, upon us down here, at frequent interval.

Skies laden with Liquid Sunshine

Richmond Rooftops

Sepia Saturday

I’m on holiday, so my contribution to Sepia Saturday must  take on the theme of going places.  I must also be brief as will be seen.   Places to go to, can be seen  in this signpost, if you start from where I recently took this photograph.

What I like about this particulars sign, and I’ve never noticed it before, is the use of furlongs.  Even to Kendal, Reeth and Sedburgh  which are exactly 23, 22  & 14 miles respectively have to have 0 furlongs.

I know they are only short, but the scenery is stunning and a journey needs to start and go somewhere

Something for the Weekend 2

Here we are up in the North Country, with the Ash and the Oak, and the Bonny Rowan Tree.  We set off at one minute to seven, and within 35 minutes we round the M25 and several miles up the M1 with very little problem.  Sonya’s announcement on the SatNav took us both by surprise. .  All the road works on the M1 and the A1(M) were met without any delay.  The sign said 50 MPH and 50 MPH is what we got.  It was an uneventful trip except for one occurrence as I will explain later.

Increasingly over the past few years, I’ve noticed the every unthinking, inconsiderate, nasty, aggressive driver is behind the wheel of a BMW.  Even the DOB has notice that, almost without exception, when we are cut up or tail-gated, or our progress is impeded by someone going into a yellow box or unnecessarily blocking and entrance or exit, or lights are jumped, the car that is being driven is a beamer.  It matters not the age, the sex or the experience, it just seems that whenever we are confronted with bad driving, inconsideration or simply bad manners, or by someone totally unaware of what is around them, the car is inevitably ….. Yes you’ve  got it.

I spoke to a drinking mate, who is incidentally a BMW driver, about this phenomena.  He agreed wholeheartedly, and said that it was due the performance and the relative affordability of older models.  According to him the problem has shifted from other prestige makes to the BMW.  I am afraid that much of the technical argument that he advanced went straight over the old noggin.  Car talk and particularly talking about cars leaves me cold - absolutely slab cold, cold - I’m mortified.  

Back to the main story, we were up to the new bit of the A1(M) just before the road works in the third lane overtaking slower moving traffic when I notice rapidly approaching BMW that hangs on my rear end so close that I think I detect a hint of bad breath and body odour.  As I was doing in excess of 80mph, I had no intention of slipping quietly in to the slower traffic just to let aggressive inconsideration go past.  When I found a suitable empty space in lane two I moved across.  The BMW was past  me in a blinking and they too moved in to the middle lane.  Just as they flashed across my front end, a stone or someting hit the windscreen.  I think I actually saw it coming or going, if the screen hadn’t been there I would have been hit between the eyes.

It is fortunate that modern screens don’t go like the old toughened glass screen into a thousand pieces that istantly reduce seeing distance to about 18 inches.   All I suffered  was a round mark about the size of a shilling right in the eye line. Too large I’m afraid for the polish and fill.  A new screen is on order.  Even with the insurance cover it is £75.00 in excesses.  That I suppose is better than full cost and at least we are good health and arrived safely.

Something for the Weekend?

I'm away up north to visit my Brother in Cumbria for a couple of weeks and may not be able to Post anything unless I can get access his PC.

I see, in the News, that the English language is again being subjected to revision  with the meanings of words  being changed.  Suddenly, an Entrepreneur is no longer an enterprising individual who takes risks with their own resources in the pursuit of a profit, but a speculator receiving exorbitant commissions and bonuses for taking risks with somebody else's money. In fact we are being made to believe it is anyone with an income that attracts the 50 pence tax rate. It appears that they are not happy paying 50 pence rate and want to take their bat and ball and go home -  No, No; I mean,  leave the country.  May I suggest 60 or 70 pence and an open door policy.  I'd sooner have a poorer country with people who are proud to live here than a rich one where some have to be paid to stay.

Incidentally, I was watching something on the television a few days ago, that suggests that people with psychopathic tendencies are four time higher amongst captains of industry, in the Boardroom and in the financial markets. They tend to be charismatic rising to the heights and able to talk up a storm, but when analysed in the longer term prove to be poor achievers because they lack the ability to be team players.  They are unable to empathise with anybody else and pursue only their own interests.

It could explain one or two problems don't you think?

Sepia Saturday 91 - Triangles in Perspective

I've taken Alan's "triangle of interaction" as the theme for this week.  Within his picture there is not one triangle, there are, at least, 4.

I've taken two photographs of my Great Grandfather with two of his sons, and the Apprentice, hooping a wheel at their Blacksmith shop in Coxwold.  I apologise for the quality, they have come to me via a rather circuitous route which may have involve them being photocopied at one stage.

 In this image the rim has been put on water poured on to shrink it to the wheel as can be seen by the steam.  There are a number of triangles, with the main one being between Robert and his sons Jack (in shirt sleeves) and Henry looking intently at the wheel as the rim shrinks.  A lesser one involves Robert, Henry and the boy with his gaze waiting for the order for more water.

All four are involved in a sort of lozenge or kite shape of interaction.

In this image, the wheel must have cooled, the ground looks wet and Robert ( he has is own triangulation formed with his rather handsome moustaches) and Jack examining the new rim and the boy hammer in hand ready to strike.

A lesser triangle is formed with Henry but he is now in a passive pose, sitting with something in his hand.

The Weekend

An uneventful, instantly forgettable weekend.  Even the news appeared to be the consequence of old events.  The only bit of new news (by the way, I do not count sport reporting as news, nor the shenanigans of personality with wayward wick) that struck me was the carrying on with the EDL.

The English Defence League; now what is the English that is being defended?  Is it genetics, or language, or place of birth  that determines English?  The DNA shows 95% of the white indigenous population to be largely Celt.  So much for the Angles, Saxons and Jute invaders (or were they invited?) that were supposed to have driven the Celts to the fringes of Wales and Cornwall.  Anglo Saxon genes are numbered in single fingers - so the English cannot be down to genes.  Speaking English (the term comes from Angle, but is only about 40% anglo-saxon in origin and 40 % French) as the first language, does that make one English?  If it does, then Americans, Australians, Canadians & New Zealanders are also English, and so too the Welsh, Scots and Irish.  It must, therefore, be down to being born here.

Nearly went into a mini rant just then, and I said the weekend was uneventful, and so it was apart from one thing.

We had guests for Dinner Saturday. One, a Luddite, has spent decades knocking everything new (nothing wrong with that I suppose) especially computers. His cry has been, "...waste of time...", "...they tell you lies...", "...they'll steal you identity..." or "...they should be banned; stops kids from thinking...." or more simply,  "...What do ya want one of them for..".  A couple of years ago he was given a digital camera for his birthday - best thing since sliced bread. He started taking photos. That was fine, he could show them on the Telly,  all was sweet and light until he realised that it was expensive to get images printed off.  He started getting his mate, from across  the Road, and then the grand-kids to print them off, but he did not want everything printed so some stayed on the camera. He was reaching the stage of storage saturation.  His mate , they really are an Odd Couple, gave him an old laptop to help with his storage problem - which was accepted because it was free.  Suddenly a "...Road to Damascus Moment..." the light is seen and a dongle is bought and the web is found. Hallelujah ... Angels sing. The instant expert is born, all is clarity except when he needs to scoot across the road because it won't do what is wanted.

They could form the basis for more stories

Sepia Saturday

Maria Luisa de Parma - Queen Consort of Charles IV of Spain

As my first contribution to Sepia Saturday, I've decided to follow some of themes suggested by Alan Burnett to coincided with his trip to the sunshine.  If for no other reason, this was done because it gave me the opportunity to use a rather strange image found amongst a bundle of old cards, photos etc. that I'd recently acquired.

Whilst, this, and the other image found on line, are not strictly Sepia Photographs, the first being an old Postcard of a Goya painting, they carry on the theme of  Spain and the Spanish Monarchy.  I'm not sure why anyone would want to make a Postcard of the particular subject, but I suppose there is no accounting for taste, or even the lack of it.  Also, as can be clearly seen, it does not continue the themes of  young and beautiful girls.

For the research on Maria Luisa I thank Wikipedia

Maria Luisa de Parma, was the Queen Consort of Charles IV of Spain whom she married on 4 September 1765.  As there was no Queen in Spain at that time, Maria Luisa became the first lady of the court from the beginning. Her husband was the son and heir of the widowed Charles III.

She was often described by contemporaries as an ugly, vicious, and coarse woman who thoroughly dominated the king. Her beauty was said to have been damaged by her many childbirths and, among other things, she lost her teeth, but she supposedly made every efforts to look pretty and dress elegantly. She had beautiful arms and she often wore short-sleeved dresses to expose them, as can be seen in this image lifted from the web.

Maria Luisa dominated her husband and was believed to have had many love affairs, but there is no evidence that Maria Luisa had any lovers. She was unpopular during her reign and has also long had a bad reputation in history, mainly because of her alleged love affairs and her support of pro-French policies that eventually weren't good for Spain.

Maria Luisa didn't get along with her daughter-in-law because the princess Maria Antonia, guided by her mother, tried to undermine her power.  Maria Antonia died from tuberculosis, an illness she had suffered for several years. According to the memoirs of the Duchess of Abrantes, it was rumoured that she was poisoned by Maria Luisa.

Due to pressure from Napoleon, her husband abdicated in 1808, and together with Maria Luisa spent the rest of his life in exile. When Napoleon's army invaded the country, several pamphlets blamed her for that. Maria Luisa spent some years in France and then in Rome, Italy. Both Maria Luisa and her husband died in Italy in early 1819.