Pages

Friday, February 24, 2012

THE RIGHT TO KNOW

“News is History,” Mark Twain said, “in its first and best form.” Recorded news began at least 100,000 years ago. At the Newseum in Washington, D.C., displays of a wide range of text and memorabilia include photos of rock, circa 4,000 B.C., portraying people talking in Tassela, Algeria. I can picture our ancestors, sitting around campfires, exchanging news of food, shelter and survival.
As I wander through history, I find that today’s feats of endurance—Marathons—whether athletic competitions or television shows to benefit charities—honor the legendary run of an early war correspondent, named Pheidippides. Pheidippides died of exhaustion after racing from Marathon to Athens bringing news of the Greek Victory over Persia in 490 B.C.
The drums, bells, horns and gongs, exhibited in the Newseum, once carried messages to villages in Asia and Africa. Councils answered the call when the beat of drums meant danger or death. Bronze bells called the Chinese to worship, meet, plant and harvest in 600 B.C.—by 740 A.D., their descendants invented printing by pressing carved, inked blocks of wood onto paper.
Text exhibited along with coins proves that Julius Caesar was no shrinking violet. A daily newssheet—Acta Diurna—was published and posted in places accessible to the public. He wrote a history of his military feats in 59 B.C. and minted coins to commemorate his victories.
Koreans produced bronze type for molds in 1403, while in Cuzco Valley, Peru, Inca messengers recorded and tallied new conquests, birth, and death and crop yields on knotted, multi-colored cords called quipas. The quipas were then carried to local officials. This was the century Johann Gutenberg invented movable type and type metal. Little changed for 400 years but with the development of the linotype, a typesetting machine, printing was revolutionized. Low priced publication of books and newspapers was now possible leading Thomas Edison to call the machine, “The eighth wonder of the world.” The Newseum exhibits a rare 18th century wood printing press, a linotype and other typesetting machines along with video films that demonstrate how the machines work.
In 1609, printed weekly newspapers made their appearance around the globe—the first regularly printed American paper was the Boston Newsletter, printed in 1704 and James Gordon Bennett published the first penny papers in 1833. Featured were lurid crime stories, human interest and diverting pieces of gossip—most far fetched—just like today’s tabloids. The front page of an 1835 edition of the New York Sun reads, “Exclusive! Creatures with Wings…on the Moon.” A copy of The Charleston Mercury, dated December 20, 1860, announces the start of the Civil War; reporters followed the troops into battle providing the public with eyewitness news. Matthew Brady hired a team of photographers who covered nearly every battle of the Civil War.
Pulitzer and Hearst competed with their coverage of the Spanish-American War in 1898. The focus back then—railroads, civil rights, suffrage and immigration are still in the news today. Newspapers went unchallenged until 1920 when the public was introduced to newsreels, newsmagazines and radio.
Nine out of ten American households owned a radio by 1938—families gathered together to listen to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s fireside chats and the broadcasts of commentators like H.V. Kaltenborn, Walter Winchell and Lowell Thomas. The Newseum exhibits their photographs and memorabilia ranging from field glasses, early microphones—including the microphone used by Edward R. Murrow to report the bombing of London and Ernest Hemingway’s press credentials. On display is a television set from the 1950’s, the first video tape recorder made by Ampex and Eleanor Roosevelt’s press pass—evoking memories of a much loved, much criticized and most controversial First Lady. Ernie Pyle’s typewriter and the shovel (used by the Scripps-Howard columnist to dig foxholes during World War II) are here. On April 18, 1945, on the island of Le Shima, a Japanese sniper killed the highly respected Pyle. “No man in this war, “President Harry S. Truman said, “so well told the story of the American fighting man.”
Today more journalists have been killed and wounded than ever before. Thursday news reported the deaths of Marie Colvin, a highly respected war correspondent and Remi Ochlik, a well-known photojournalist. They were reporting from the city of Homs in Syria. Reporting on the latest human tragedy brought on by man’s inhumanity to man.









Download hot ebooks from Carina PressAudiobooks at audible.com!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

ROMANCE ON PIAZZALE MICHELANGELO




Valentine’s Day and I remember a visit my husband and I made to the Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence, Italy where we stop to circle and admire a monument in Michelangelo’s honor. The monument, comprised of bronze copies of Michelangelo’s David and the allegorical figures commissioned by Pope Clement VII for the Medici tombs, is located in the square’s center. We wander past the souvenir stands scattered around the square crowded with film and postcards, water, sodas, snacks and calendars with photos of cats and cathedrals, finally we pause to admire artists who paint their impressions of the vast panorama that is Florence.
The Cradle of the Renaissance, opens before us–in the foreground the Arno River, on the left, the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge and the only one not destroyed during World War II, crosses the river. Jostling shoppers crowd the bridge as they stop to gaze at jewels displayed in the windows of the boutiques-glittering replacements for the butcher shops banished in the 1500s. On the highest section of the bridge is the Vasariano Corridor, a covered passageway that links the Pitti Palace and the Palazzo Vecchio. For three centuries a private passageway for the Medici’s, it was opened to the public by King Victorio Emmanuel II in 1866.
The gate of San Niccolo, built in 1324 along with a tower as a part of the city walls used for defense, still stands, the only example of the original gates of Florence.
The cypress trees covering the Florentine hills present a magnificent backdrop for the towers and bell towers of this memorable city. Santa Croce, the gothic church built by the Franciscans, in the 1200s, with its tombs of famous Italians and Florence Nightingale is described as Italy’s Westminster Abby. In the heart of the city, Brunelleschi’s red-tiled dome crowns the Duomo. To the right, the intimidating Bargello, a castle in 1225, police headquarters during the 16th century, a dungeon and the scene of public executions and, in 1859, a museum, renowned for 15th and 16th century Tuscan sculptures, the arms and armor of war and della Robbia ceramics.
But this afternoon, our attention strays to a young couple; they kiss, then he reaches into a shopping bag, removes a tee shirt and pulls it over his head. On the shirt are stenciled the words, WILL YOU MARRY ME? The girl says, “Yes,” blushes and throws her arms around the boy as everyone in the square focuses on the happy pair. The boy’s grin is almost as wide as the Arno as he places a ring on her finger. Congratulations are offered in many different tongues followed by hearty handshakes. Photos are snapped and everyone will remember a romantic afternoon on the Piazzale Michelangelo.






Bests,



Elise



My cozy eBook mystery is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, carina Press and wherever eBooks are sold. An audio version has been produced by Audible.com






Download hot ebooks from Carina PressAudiobooks at audible.com!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

STATE FAIR

Turner classic Movies showed the first motion picture version of State Fair last night. Produced in 1933 and starring Will Rogers and Janet Gaynor, the film held up and was a treat to watch. The fair--with its roller coaster, merry-go-round and slightly raunchy side show looked like fun and made me remember the Tampa State Fair. The portraits painted by the cast were excellent and I found myself rooting for Ma to win the ribbons for her pickles and mince pie, Pa to win the ribbon for his pig names Blue Boy and for Janet Gaynor to find lasting happiness with her new found love. So many early films don't engross the modern viewer and are more of a curiosity but State Fair later made into a musical film by Rodgers and Hammerstein is a winner. If the picture is shown again in your area, I highly recommend it.

Bests,

Elise My cozy mystery eBook, titled Scene Stealer, is available through Amazon, B&N, Carina Press and wherever eBooks are sold. An audio version has been produced by Audible.com

Download hot <span class=ebooks from Carina Press" src="http://www.tqlkg.com/e2106g04tzxIMSSNPJJIKJQSKSQS"><span class=Audiobooks at audible.com!" src="http://www.tqlkg.com/oq68r6Az42OSYYTVPPOQPSXTWTY">

Monday, February 6, 2012

ADDICTION



Do you want a cup of Twining's Tea more than anything in the world? Real tea? Not bags? Do you want ot purchase every scone on the baker's shelf? Do you long for cucumber sandwiches, though you've never eaten one in your life? You must be just like me--addicted to Downton Abbey. Every Sunday at 9:00 pm, you can find me staring at our PBS Station. Only two more episodes to go. What will I do when the series is over? Wait. Wait. I hear Season Three is coming. All is not lost.



Best,


Elise



My cozy mystery eBook is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Carina Press and wherever eBooks are sold. An audio version has been produced by Audible.com



Download hot ebooks from Carina PressAudiobooks at audible.com!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Albert Nobbs

Went to see Albert Nobbs yesterday--an excellent film. Glenn Close and Janet McTeer were the characters they portrayed. A tender, touching and vibrant story. Hours after the motion picture had ended, I found myself reflecting on the postition of women in those days. So very few jobs were open to them no matter how capable or talented they were. Even today, in our 21st. Century, women earn less for doing the same job that men do. Of course, in Albert Nobbs day, if you weren't born to the upper strata, without education, you were condemned to hard, poorly paid work no matter what your sex or abilities. Much of the world is that way today. I hope our country will begin to concentrate on a better education for all.
Bests,

Elise My cozy mystery eBook titled Scene Stealer is available through Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Carina Press and wherever eBoos are sold. An auido version has been produced by Audible.com


Download hot ebooks from Carina PressAudiobooks at audible.com!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

ARMCHAIR TRAVELER

I love to travel. History is around every corner and smiling down from hills, heights and mountains in Italy and Greece. I treasure the hours I've spent in museums and theatres, the gardens and streets of London. The other-worldliness of kangaroos, a lonesome Emu, Tasmanian Devils and smart-Alec Geckos I've been introduced to in Australia. People in every country that welcome me with warmth and fantastic food. But when it comes to more exotic places, I've discovered I'm an armchair traveler who enjoys snuggling under a blanket on a cold night to immerse myself in stories about China, India and this past week--Burma. I traveled via the printed page with an author I never read before. His name is Norman Lewis and the book is Golden Earth about his travels in Burma. The book was originally published in 1951. Burma, today is known as Myanmar and our government has recently become friends with theirs.
Lewis describes a land pleasing to the eye. A land of natural beauty with hospital people who welcome him, offer him a place to sleep and whip up more curries than his stomach can sometimes take. He's a writer whose descriptions are vivid and I could feel the jolting of the worn-out wagons he rode in as he traversed this magical land. I look forward to armchair travelling with him in another book.

Bests,

Elise
My cozy eBook mystery titled Scene Stealer is available from Amazon, Barnes& Noble, Carina Press and wherever eBooks are sold. An audio version has been produced by Audible.com

Download hot <span class=ebooks from Carina Press" src="http://www.tqlkg.com/e2106g04tzxIMSSNPJJIKJQSKSQS"><span class=Audiobooks at audible.com!" src="http://www.tqlkg.com/oq68r6Az42OSYYTVPPOQPSXTWTY">