Origami on Walls

French artist Mademoiselle Maurice creates art for the open air. She uses origami & lace (among other media) & installs them in the streets of Paris. In this origami installation she pays homage to Hiroshima victim - and anti-nuclear weapons activist -Sadako Sasaki. Here is a lovely (short) vimeo about that project.

How to make origami cranes; for origami roses, here are simple instructions & a helpful video.

ciao/xo

(photograph by Mademoiselle Maurice via Illusion)

Remembrance Day

For our friends in Great Britain & Commonwealth countries. And for all the veterans in the United States on this Veterans Day.

(photograph by Susannah Conway)

Memorial Day

While Memorial Day is a holiday to honor the fallen, it is never inappropriate to remember the living. Below is from the archives & still as important as it was last year. Please pass on the information if you know anyone who needs help.

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TAPS saves lives.

If you know anyone who needs practical help & emotional support due to the loss of a family member or a friend (they do not have to be a relative) who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, please go to Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). TAPS has a 24-hour hotline: 1-800-959-TAPS (8277). Do not hesitate to call on someone's behalf if they are unable to take the first step.

Among other worthy programs, TAPS runs good grief camps for children. We urge you to write down the TAPS main number in case you should come across someone in your daily travels who needs help--you just never know. TAPS has an extensive website, an on-line community which is very helpful & welcoming, & we encourage anyone who might feel isolated to join it.

TAPS also has volunteer opportunities; this might be the place where you find you'd like to help make a difference.

ciao-meow/GG Central

(Two favorite photographs: Soldier's Good-bye & Bobbie The Cat, c. 1939-1945, by Sam Hood, NSW State Library Archives, Australia)

Memorial Day - Help from TAPS

TAPS saves lives.

If you know anyone who needs practical help & emotional support due to the loss of a family member or a friend (they do not have to be a relative) who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, please go to Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). TAPS has a 24-hour hotline: 1-800-959-TAPS (8277). Do not hesitate to call on someone's behalf if they are unable to take the first step.

Among other worthy programs, TAPS runs good grief camps for children. We urge you to write down the TAPS main number in case you should come across someone in your daily travels who needs help--you just never know. TAPS has an extensive website, an on-line community which is very helpful & welcoming, & we encourage anyone who might feel isolated to join it.

TAPS also has volunteer opportunities; this might be the place where you find you'd like to help make a difference.

ciao-meow/GG Central

[Two of GG Central's favorite photographs: Soldier's Good-bye & Bobbie The Cat, c. 1939-1945, by Sam Hood, NSW State Library Archives, Australia]

Thank You

Thank you especially to the fallen & veterans (including all women) of World War II. Their numbers fall by approximately 1,000 a day. It's not too late to thank all Allied veterans & those who worked to save the world. For those who scoff at the 'save the world': study some Nazi history. There are other wars that are more controversial; but we've learned (we hope) to hate the war, not the warrior.

If you would like to locate a loved one or perform historical research about the all-too-often under-studied Italian campaign, go here. Many more books & films are being produced or are in production about this important WWII chapter, including the integration of the American Army.

Memorial Day is an American holiday but we cannot exclude the Allies. We know they have their remembrance days & we neglected to run an ANZAC photo. That will be rectified this summer during the remembrances in France & the Pacific. We apologize for the omission. Especially, since one of our very favorite people is a Kiwi survivor of a Japanese internment camp (after a march). If you know anything about that, you know that not many POWs survived. Here's to ya, Les & thank you -- from DC to Welly.

If you are in the DC-area, or will be visiting this summer, please consider visiting Walter Reed Army Medical Center. It is easily reachable by public transportation. Go here for information.

a very subdued ciao-meow to all & to those in Iraq & Afghanistan right now.

[photographs/image credits: 1-3 Montecassino & Anzio WWII tour; 4) Library of Congress]

Red Poppy

Had hoped for a better thank you to veterans everywhere but not technically possible. Still, thank you. In Flanders Field, here...

public domain image

Hiroshima Memorial Ceremony

Peace Declaration (August 6, 2008)

Every year the City of Hiroshima holds the Peace Memorial Ceremony to console the souls of those who were lost due to the atomic bombing as well as pray for the realization of everlasting world peace. This ceremony, which is attended by many citizens, including those who lost family members in the bombing, is held in front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims (Monument for Hiroshima, City of Peace). The Peace Declaration, which is delivered by the Mayor of Hiroshima during the ceremony, is sent to every country in the world thus conveying Hiroshima's wish for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the realization of eternal world peace. At exactly 8:15 a.m., the time the atomic bomb was dropped, the Peace Bell is rung, sirens sound all over the city and for one minute people at the ceremony grounds, in households and in workplaces pay silent tribute to the victims of the atomic bombing and pray for the realization of everlasting world peace.

Here is a link to happybirthdaypeace.com. The peace symbol above is on their site & they grant free access to all of their materials for teaching & advocacy materials.

Peace,

GG