> For the last two generations or so, Britain has collectively gone through a similar forsaking. From the 1960s, the Christian religion has undergone a form of veiling. Quite aside from the precipitous decline in churchgoing, its public rituals and presence are being eroded. Collective acts of Christian worship in school assemblies, although mandated by law, are for the most part not performed. The observation of Christian festivals and even the use of their names are in decline (schools and universities, for example now find other names for the ‘Michaelmas’ and ‘Hilary’ or ‘Lent’ terms). Nearly every week, one hears of the removal or attempts to abolish Christian prayers from council meetings, Parliament, ceremonies of remembrance, before formal meals.
> Yet, the more that the old public rites and presence of Christianity are veiled, the more society seems to sense their loss. This loss is manifest in the ever greater difficulty society finds in attempting to generate a sense of association and cohesion. Such association was once a natural part of British life, generated through regular worship at the churches, and the collective possession of a Christian culture expressed and conveyed through other Christian public rituals. <
I have been thinking about communication between people who read and write at the literary equivalent of master craftsmen and people who communicate primarily by word of mouth, face to face, masterfully but essentially in a different medium.
Is anyone aware of literature or reasearch that investigates this situation?
I plugged your query into Perplexity.ai, and here’s what it churned out:
Research on the differences between oral and written communication often highlights the distinct characteristics and strengths of each medium, but literature specifically comparing masterful oral communicators (e.g., storytellers, orators) with literary craftsmen (e.g., novelists, poets) is less common. However, some studies and essays touch on related themes:
1. **Oral vs. Written Communication**: Studies emphasize that oral communication excels in immediacy, engagement, and adaptability, using tone, gestures, and context to enhance meaning. Written communication, on the other hand, is valued for its precision, permanence, and ability to convey complex ideas with clarity[1][3][5].
2. **Literature as Dialogue**: Some research explores how literary texts engage in dialogue with readers, drawing on linguistic resources to model relationships. This suggests parallels between literary craftsmanship and the interactive, relational nature of oral communication[2].
3. **Cultural and Cognitive Perspectives**: Works like Chafe’s (1994) and Gee’s (2014) examine the cognitive processes behind writing and speaking, noting that writing allows for deeper reflection and nuance, while speech is more dynamic and responsive to immediate feedback[5].
4. **Exilic Literature**: Edward Said’s essays discuss how dislocation and exile shape language use, creating a unique blend of anxiety and elaborateness in writing. This could be seen as a bridge between the immediacy of oral traditions and the crafted permanence of literature[4].
While no single study directly compares master oral communicators with literary craftsmen, these works collectively provide insights into the interplay between the two forms of communication. Further interdisciplinary research could explore how these modes influence each other in cultural and artistic contexts.
The matriarchal thing...is very interesting. Lots of men sitting around kinda looking stupid, and the women walk around like they're the ones in charge, not overbearing but with bearing. What's equally or more interesting is how many folks who tell me it's not really like that, the women are granted title, but it's really men that are running things...of course it's men saying this...but it doesn't look like that. The vibe is entirely different from anywhere I've ever been. Women walk around like they own the place but aren't being dickheads about it. I like it.
26 of the 56 recognized ethnic minorities are located in Yunnan, reason being that like all the other ethnicities that live deep in mountain enclaves, they did so to escape subjugation by the Han. Those steenkin' Han didn't like those free spirited souls up in the mountains living their lives, they wanted them down in the paddies growing rice that could be projected, tabulated, and taxed to keep the government coffers full...a practice that has some disturbing parallels to current industrial activity in The People's Repubic.
There's two or more matriarchal ethnic societies, the Naxi and I forget the other ones. All the taxi drivers are women and they're all big smiles and wonderfully relaxed and engaging...as in an actual liberated feminine ideal. I saw a construction site where a woman was pointing and directing and the men were laboring, quite different from the usual Chinese construction scene. There's one group that still does something they call "walking marriage", where men walking around the village might get called upon by a women into her house and they get together for a romp in the bamboo for a few days, then it's everyone back into their previous relationship or non-relationship. In the conservative atmosphere of China, this is kinda kept on the down low to keep up appearances of close familial organization. I have to look into this.
There's a fantastic book by the late James Scott..."The Art of Not Being Governed", which I read years ago simply because the title was so catching...which is similar to how I buy wine... I choose according to how cool the label on the bottle is. The book describes the migration patterns of all those ethnicities through China and down into the massif that extends from Yunnan thru Tibet and down into Northwest Vietnam and up through Thailand into Myanmar. I didn't get it on first read, so I reread it last years Now, I've been in the territory, and it's absolutely fascinating. It is like a primer on how it works over here.
I'm in Kunming, Yunnan, to check it out. Kunming is where all the universities in China retreated to during the Sino Japanese War and WWII, so there's a very nice international feel, lots of open sidewalk cafes and snack shops, restaurants, all that stuff. It's also one of the major flower growing and exporting regions in the world; the flower market is China scale and stunning. Palm trees and flowering trees line all the streets, and it's beautiful.
Found a cool bookshop with all sorts of Western Literature, translated into Chinese, with some cool finds...Orlando, A Room Of One's Own, and other titles by Virginia Woolf, The Complete Catalog of Patti Smith Lyrics, a coffee table book on The Clash, another on Bob Dylan, a section on Israeli literature, and just a LOT of titles I would not have imagined. It kinda belies the perception that the place is so heavily censored nothing gets in.
It's a brand new city, spotless, and very much unlike any other Chinese city I've been in. Not far away, an hour by high speed train, is the land that inspired James Hilton to write Lost Horizon which introduced the mythical utopia of Shangri La...and I can see the inspiration. It is absolutely beautiful around here.
Bookstores here are full of people. They are not at all in the Barnes & Noble model. Mountains of books stacked all over the place and people go through them like we used to go through racks of vinyl LP's, flipping through to see if there's something interesting.
I was reading Nick's boiling frogs last night, and Angie posted some concerns in her life. So I'd encourage you to keep her in your prayers. Angie wrote how her sister has some mental issues, bad enough she has been in prison. They released her sister without providing her the institutional support her sister needs, and Angie cannot care for her. That has to be a horrible feeling to have, so we should remember her in our prayers.
"The death toll from Israeli strikes rose to more than 400, Gazan authorities said, marking one of the deadliest days since the war began in 2023."
"Gazan authorities said ..."; That is, Hamas said. And we know they've been so honest. Remember when they said Shiri Bibas and her children were killed by an Israeli air strike?
"... since the war began ..." with no particular event or act by any particular party. The war just "began," as if, "The snow began falling."
Hamas can march storm troopers out in headbands and masks after claiming months of genocide and starvation, and parade toddler coffins. Then when the raids begin, they immediately remove uniforms and blend in with the civilian population.
Sadly, many progressives believe Israel started the war with its apartheid/colonization of the original settlers of the land (phrases I hear in monthly meeting), so Oct 7th was inevitable as the settlers try to reclaim what was taken from them.
Obviously I disagree. But the reality is the level of hatred Israel faces can be depressing.
The tragedy is that before Hamas attacked them, Israel had begun liberalizing cooperation with Gaza, allowing in more and more workers, which would help lift the economic woes of those living in Gaza. Had Hamas not attacked, Israel would have allowed more and more cooperation. But Israel found some of those who attacked were among those they allowed into Israel to work. So it will be a very long time before Israel trusts them again. It's Hamas' own fault, but still, it is a tragedy.
I twitched when I read that too. The WSJ is still producing tons of copy. But the editing isn't up to its past standards. Much of the desk fresh outta college? (There's a lot of that in the industry right now, and it shows.)
*-- documentarians once tried to be objective. This most certainly is not. But I didn't find it unfair. I will stand by that conclusion until someone this side of CAIR makes the point convincingly to the contrary.
Good morning. 37 now, supposed to rise to the 60s this afternoon. it was rainy and colder last weekend when we were in VA.
The mothership is reporting on Trump’s attack on the Yemeni Houthis and on Israel’s new attacks in Gaza after what amounts to the collapse of the ceasefire. (I take the position is that the only ceasefire that would be good is one that allowed Hamas to evacuate Gaza after they released the remaining hostages — all the remaining hostages).
I would say that "firing" indicates an end to a "ceasefire," although, typically, there has been an exception for rockets fired from Gaza, as long as the incidence was kept to some sort of "not really firing" level.
How has Trump "attacked" the Houthis? With actual "kinetic action," or just words?
“On Saturday, the U.S. began what officials called a series of “decisive and powerful” airstrikes on Houthi-controlled sites across Yemen, targeting the Iranian-backed militant group’s air defenses, weapons stockpiles, and senior leaders in what has stretched into a multi-day campaign.”
Some family members were looking at reviews of this over the weekend. By some accounts, it's not as impressive as ads suggests and routinely doesn't work at all.
It turned out I was familiar with Bronwyn Keith: "I Built a World" has been on the radio. I don't hear as much bluegrass since the Sirius Radio receiver in the van stopped working, back when I had the air conditioner fixed. About this time last year, I think, although it may have been two years ago. My life is a flat circle.
Fine album, lots of good stuff. She did an outstanding show last night, test-driving lots of new stuff. She's in Nashville all this month, it seems. Perhaps she's writing, getting ready for the studio.
Princess Stephanie (of Belgium) had an unhappy first marriage to Crown Prince Rudolf of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He committed suicide (probably) after murdering his extramarital sex partner, Mary Vetsera, at Mayerling in the Vienna Woods.
Her second marriage was happy even though it resulted in her being pushed out of the Austro-Hungarian royal family. Or maybe because of that: they were a bunch of inbred kooks.
The marriages of royals, when royals still had real power, were too often matters of state rather than love.
Crown Prince Rudolf seemed to be chronically depressed. Sounds like the Austrian-Hungarian Empire dodged a bullet when he committed suicide. (It did not, of course, dodge a later bullet in Sarajevo in 1914 that took out another crown prince an started WWI).
It's hard to have much sympathy for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but they did have a pretty long run with no more than the usual uprisings and disorders and existential crises.
On my kindle I have a book about the Romanov family, which is fairly sympathetic to them. It looks at the mother very sympathetically, and it present the girls as nice young women. Of the four girls, Anastasia was the most mischievous, so of course I identified more with her. Nicholas is seen as someone who didn't want to be king but felt he didn't have a choice.
After four girls they finally had a son, and they watched him closely to see if he had the curse or not. When it appeared (hemophilia), they were distraught and overwhelmed.
Due to their son's hemophilia, Nicholas and his German-born wife fell under the influence of the mystic and faith healer Rasputin, whose influence was 9according to accounts I hae read) destructive, and may have hastened the revolution.
There were actually 2 Russian revolutions in 1917. The first , in February (using the Russian old style calendar) overthrew the czar and installed a provisional government under a man named Kerensky. The second was the "October Revolution" which replaced the Kerensky government with Lenin and the Bolsheviks.
The Habsburgs seemed to be good rulers for the most part. The last Austrian-Hungarian emperor, Karl, who assumed the throne in 1916 when Franz-Joseph died, used his royal familial connections to try to arrange peace, an end to the bloody war. He died young in exile in the Madeira’s after the war. He was beatified by the Catholic Church.
His son Otto von Habsburg, lived to his 90s, dying in 2011 after a distinguished career. The Habsburg descendants are still around. The pretender is a Hungarian diplomat.
> For the last two generations or so, Britain has collectively gone through a similar forsaking. From the 1960s, the Christian religion has undergone a form of veiling. Quite aside from the precipitous decline in churchgoing, its public rituals and presence are being eroded. Collective acts of Christian worship in school assemblies, although mandated by law, are for the most part not performed. The observation of Christian festivals and even the use of their names are in decline (schools and universities, for example now find other names for the ‘Michaelmas’ and ‘Hilary’ or ‘Lent’ terms). Nearly every week, one hears of the removal or attempts to abolish Christian prayers from council meetings, Parliament, ceremonies of remembrance, before formal meals.
> Yet, the more that the old public rites and presence of Christianity are veiled, the more society seems to sense their loss. This loss is manifest in the ever greater difficulty society finds in attempting to generate a sense of association and cohesion. Such association was once a natural part of British life, generated through regular worship at the churches, and the collective possession of a Christian culture expressed and conveyed through other Christian public rituals. <
https://engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the-tragic-decline-of-christian-rituals/
Not a cat.
And the name discrepancy could just be due to an intern entering information incorrectly.
I don't think it's an error. Birders would notice!
I have been thinking about communication between people who read and write at the literary equivalent of master craftsmen and people who communicate primarily by word of mouth, face to face, masterfully but essentially in a different medium.
Is anyone aware of literature or reasearch that investigates this situation?
"people who communicate primarily by word of mouth, face to face, masterfully but essentially in a different medium"
Like Sammy "the Bull" Gravano.
I plugged your query into Perplexity.ai, and here’s what it churned out:
Research on the differences between oral and written communication often highlights the distinct characteristics and strengths of each medium, but literature specifically comparing masterful oral communicators (e.g., storytellers, orators) with literary craftsmen (e.g., novelists, poets) is less common. However, some studies and essays touch on related themes:
1. **Oral vs. Written Communication**: Studies emphasize that oral communication excels in immediacy, engagement, and adaptability, using tone, gestures, and context to enhance meaning. Written communication, on the other hand, is valued for its precision, permanence, and ability to convey complex ideas with clarity[1][3][5].
2. **Literature as Dialogue**: Some research explores how literary texts engage in dialogue with readers, drawing on linguistic resources to model relationships. This suggests parallels between literary craftsmanship and the interactive, relational nature of oral communication[2].
3. **Cultural and Cognitive Perspectives**: Works like Chafe’s (1994) and Gee’s (2014) examine the cognitive processes behind writing and speaking, noting that writing allows for deeper reflection and nuance, while speech is more dynamic and responsive to immediate feedback[5].
4. **Exilic Literature**: Edward Said’s essays discuss how dislocation and exile shape language use, creating a unique blend of anxiety and elaborateness in writing. This could be seen as a bridge between the immediacy of oral traditions and the crafted permanence of literature[4].
While no single study directly compares master oral communicators with literary craftsmen, these works collectively provide insights into the interplay between the two forms of communication. Further interdisciplinary research could explore how these modes influence each other in cultural and artistic contexts.
Sources
[1] Oral vs Written Communication Skills | Importance & Examples https://study.com/academy/lesson/oral-vs-written-language-styles.html
[2] [PDF] Literary Communication as Dialogue https://www.asau.ru/files/pdf/2667452.pdf
[3] (DOC) Written vs. Oral Communication - Academia.edu https://www.academia.edu/24301323/Written_vs_Oral_Communication
[4] [PDF] Reflections on Exile and Other Essays http://www.mcrg.ac.in/RLS_Migration/Reading_List/Module_A/65.Said,%20Edward,%20Reflections_on_Exile_and_Other_Essay(BookFi).pdf
[5] WRITTEN COMMUNICATION OVER ORAL COMMUNICATION https://www.ijprems.com/uploadedfiles/paper/issue_11_november_2024/37026/final/fin_ijprems1732329127.pdf
[6] Communication | English homework help - HomeworkMarket.com https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/understandinghumancommunication13thbyronaldadler-pdf
[7] [PDF] Non Verbal, Oral and Written (Literature Review) - Dinasti Research https://dinastires.org/JLPH/article/download/80/74/372
[8] [PDF] Introduction to Art - Coastline College Documents https://documents.coastline.edu/Distance%20Learning/Open-Edu-Resources/ART%20C105.pdf
Wow! Thanks! I will investigate.
That helps me frame search terms. One hopes someone has done research on communication between, say, engineers and skilled trades people.
The matriarchal thing...is very interesting. Lots of men sitting around kinda looking stupid, and the women walk around like they're the ones in charge, not overbearing but with bearing. What's equally or more interesting is how many folks who tell me it's not really like that, the women are granted title, but it's really men that are running things...of course it's men saying this...but it doesn't look like that. The vibe is entirely different from anywhere I've ever been. Women walk around like they own the place but aren't being dickheads about it. I like it.
26 of the 56 recognized ethnic minorities are located in Yunnan, reason being that like all the other ethnicities that live deep in mountain enclaves, they did so to escape subjugation by the Han. Those steenkin' Han didn't like those free spirited souls up in the mountains living their lives, they wanted them down in the paddies growing rice that could be projected, tabulated, and taxed to keep the government coffers full...a practice that has some disturbing parallels to current industrial activity in The People's Repubic.
There's two or more matriarchal ethnic societies, the Naxi and I forget the other ones. All the taxi drivers are women and they're all big smiles and wonderfully relaxed and engaging...as in an actual liberated feminine ideal. I saw a construction site where a woman was pointing and directing and the men were laboring, quite different from the usual Chinese construction scene. There's one group that still does something they call "walking marriage", where men walking around the village might get called upon by a women into her house and they get together for a romp in the bamboo for a few days, then it's everyone back into their previous relationship or non-relationship. In the conservative atmosphere of China, this is kinda kept on the down low to keep up appearances of close familial organization. I have to look into this.
There's a fantastic book by the late James Scott..."The Art of Not Being Governed", which I read years ago simply because the title was so catching...which is similar to how I buy wine... I choose according to how cool the label on the bottle is. The book describes the migration patterns of all those ethnicities through China and down into the massif that extends from Yunnan thru Tibet and down into Northwest Vietnam and up through Thailand into Myanmar. I didn't get it on first read, so I reread it last years Now, I've been in the territory, and it's absolutely fascinating. It is like a primer on how it works over here.
I'm in Kunming, Yunnan, to check it out. Kunming is where all the universities in China retreated to during the Sino Japanese War and WWII, so there's a very nice international feel, lots of open sidewalk cafes and snack shops, restaurants, all that stuff. It's also one of the major flower growing and exporting regions in the world; the flower market is China scale and stunning. Palm trees and flowering trees line all the streets, and it's beautiful.
Found a cool bookshop with all sorts of Western Literature, translated into Chinese, with some cool finds...Orlando, A Room Of One's Own, and other titles by Virginia Woolf, The Complete Catalog of Patti Smith Lyrics, a coffee table book on The Clash, another on Bob Dylan, a section on Israeli literature, and just a LOT of titles I would not have imagined. It kinda belies the perception that the place is so heavily censored nothing gets in.
It's a brand new city, spotless, and very much unlike any other Chinese city I've been in. Not far away, an hour by high speed train, is the land that inspired James Hilton to write Lost Horizon which introduced the mythical utopia of Shangri La...and I can see the inspiration. It is absolutely beautiful around here.
Sounds really nice. I'll look for a video.
Flowers and books. Delightful!
Bookstores here are full of people. They are not at all in the Barnes & Noble model. Mountains of books stacked all over the place and people go through them like we used to go through racks of vinyl LP's, flipping through to see if there's something interesting.
I was reading Nick's boiling frogs last night, and Angie posted some concerns in her life. So I'd encourage you to keep her in your prayers. Angie wrote how her sister has some mental issues, bad enough she has been in prison. They released her sister without providing her the institutional support her sister needs, and Angie cannot care for her. That has to be a horrible feeling to have, so we should remember her in our prayers.
You're a very nice man.
The WSJ writes:
"The death toll from Israeli strikes rose to more than 400, Gazan authorities said, marking one of the deadliest days since the war began in 2023."
"Gazan authorities said ..."; That is, Hamas said. And we know they've been so honest. Remember when they said Shiri Bibas and her children were killed by an Israeli air strike?
"... since the war began ..." with no particular event or act by any particular party. The war just "began," as if, "The snow began falling."
Hamas can march storm troopers out in headbands and masks after claiming months of genocide and starvation, and parade toddler coffins. Then when the raids begin, they immediately remove uniforms and blend in with the civilian population.
Exactly.
Reinforcing the long well-known divide politically between WSJ reporters and the WSJ editorial page.
Sadly, many progressives believe Israel started the war with its apartheid/colonization of the original settlers of the land (phrases I hear in monthly meeting), so Oct 7th was inevitable as the settlers try to reclaim what was taken from them.
Obviously I disagree. But the reality is the level of hatred Israel faces can be depressing.
The tragedy is that before Hamas attacked them, Israel had begun liberalizing cooperation with Gaza, allowing in more and more workers, which would help lift the economic woes of those living in Gaza. Had Hamas not attacked, Israel would have allowed more and more cooperation. But Israel found some of those who attacked were among those they allowed into Israel to work. So it will be a very long time before Israel trusts them again. It's Hamas' own fault, but still, it is a tragedy.
Even under that alternative view, the war had a starter.
I twitched when I read that too. The WSJ is still producing tons of copy. But the editing isn't up to its past standards. Much of the desk fresh outta college? (There's a lot of that in the industry right now, and it shows.)
On a bit of a tangent, I saw the *documentary "October 8" over the weekend. Rock solid. The trailer: https://youtu.be/_kyB_WXg2-E?si=oy1snIpkOoXTWKU-
*-- documentarians once tried to be objective. This most certainly is not. But I didn't find it unfair. I will stand by that conclusion until someone this side of CAIR makes the point convincingly to the contrary.
I've read about it.
And ...?
That's it.
Good morning. 37 now, supposed to rise to the 60s this afternoon. it was rainy and colder last weekend when we were in VA.
The mothership is reporting on Trump’s attack on the Yemeni Houthis and on Israel’s new attacks in Gaza after what amounts to the collapse of the ceasefire. (I take the position is that the only ceasefire that would be good is one that allowed Hamas to evacuate Gaza after they released the remaining hostages — all the remaining hostages).
I would say that "firing" indicates an end to a "ceasefire," although, typically, there has been an exception for rockets fired from Gaza, as long as the incidence was kept to some sort of "not really firing" level.
How has Trump "attacked" the Houthis? With actual "kinetic action," or just words?
“On Saturday, the U.S. began what officials called a series of “decisive and powerful” airstrikes on Houthi-controlled sites across Yemen, targeting the Iranian-backed militant group’s air defenses, weapons stockpiles, and senior leaders in what has stretched into a multi-day campaign.”
Well, good. It's long past being about time.
Of course, it's too early to say whether it will be decisive.
Like Hamas they seem to love violence and death. I don’t mind seeing it handed to them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG7-lX9Z50E
I just saw an ad for this robot rabbit. Who knew such a thing existed?
It's been popping up a lot recently.
I saw it as well!
Same here.
It seems to be a situation of widespread ad placement. I saw it on the Times of Israel website.
Some family members were looking at reviews of this over the weekend. By some accounts, it's not as impressive as ads suggests and routinely doesn't work at all.
It turned out I was familiar with Bronwyn Keith: "I Built a World" has been on the radio. I don't hear as much bluegrass since the Sirius Radio receiver in the van stopped working, back when I had the air conditioner fixed. About this time last year, I think, although it may have been two years ago. My life is a flat circle.
Fine album, lots of good stuff. She did an outstanding show last night, test-driving lots of new stuff. She's in Nashville all this month, it seems. Perhaps she's writing, getting ready for the studio.
I'm such a fanboy.
I'm glad you had a good time. We're going to see Molly Tuttle and Brooks and Dunn a week from Friday.
Nice! I'm envious. I saw B&D about the time "Neon Moon" came out. And I *really* wanna see Molly. Such a band!
I'll probably see Bronwyn again before she gets out of town.
Next up for me to see is Noeline Hoffman in Little Rock next month. Really talented. But Canadian, thus inscrutable. Can't be trusted, ya know.
Those mysterious Canadians, said no one ever.
That is the conclusion of this video. I suppose it's better than getting someone a real rabbit, though.
Start ‘em with a tamagotchi to make sure they’re suitable robot-pet owners.
Now I need to know what Princess Stephanie did to have her name removed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_St%C3%A9phanie_of_Belgium
Princess Stephanie (of Belgium) had an unhappy first marriage to Crown Prince Rudolf of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He committed suicide (probably) after murdering his extramarital sex partner, Mary Vetsera, at Mayerling in the Vienna Woods.
Her second marriage was happy even though it resulted in her being pushed out of the Austro-Hungarian royal family. Or maybe because of that: they were a bunch of inbred kooks.
The marriages of royals, when royals still had real power, were too often matters of state rather than love.
Crown Prince Rudolf seemed to be chronically depressed. Sounds like the Austrian-Hungarian Empire dodged a bullet when he committed suicide. (It did not, of course, dodge a later bullet in Sarajevo in 1914 that took out another crown prince an started WWI).
It's hard to have much sympathy for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but they did have a pretty long run with no more than the usual uprisings and disorders and existential crises.
Until BOOM.
On my kindle I have a book about the Romanov family, which is fairly sympathetic to them. It looks at the mother very sympathetically, and it present the girls as nice young women. Of the four girls, Anastasia was the most mischievous, so of course I identified more with her. Nicholas is seen as someone who didn't want to be king but felt he didn't have a choice.
After four girls they finally had a son, and they watched him closely to see if he had the curse or not. When it appeared (hemophilia), they were distraught and overwhelmed.
Due to their son's hemophilia, Nicholas and his German-born wife fell under the influence of the mystic and faith healer Rasputin, whose influence was 9according to accounts I hae read) destructive, and may have hastened the revolution.
There were actually 2 Russian revolutions in 1917. The first , in February (using the Russian old style calendar) overthrew the czar and installed a provisional government under a man named Kerensky. The second was the "October Revolution" which replaced the Kerensky government with Lenin and the Bolsheviks.
I may have read that book.
The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra, by Helen Rappaport.
The Habsburgs seemed to be good rulers for the most part. The last Austrian-Hungarian emperor, Karl, who assumed the throne in 1916 when Franz-Joseph died, used his royal familial connections to try to arrange peace, an end to the bloody war. He died young in exile in the Madeira’s after the war. He was beatified by the Catholic Church.
His son Otto von Habsburg, lived to his 90s, dying in 2011 after a distinguished career. The Habsburg descendants are still around. The pretender is a Hungarian diplomat.
Sure, blame the victim. Take away her bird-naming legacy.
She was merely dethroned; she still gets the bird.
Ambiguous. Better to keep it that way.
You are a Bon mot machine!
38Fs, but supposed to be 70 by afternoon. It's Trash Day!
It's also Envirothon Day. My assignment today is to cover the entire soil manual in one hour, two times for two different groups of students.
Trash Day and Envirothon Day! What a convenient and thought-provoking coincidence.
Best of luck with your assignment.
It's what teachers call manual labor.
Twenty-five here in Fahrenheit. Sun and mid-60s probable by mid-afternoon. I need to aerate my soil without reading the manual.
I just bought an aerator for my lawn. I'm hoping it aerates some moles, too.
"38Fs"
I hate to admit it. But that soooo threw me for a second there.
Some people record their temperature in Cs.
I will sit over here quietly.
Safe choice.