Artful Aussies - Then & Now

Photograph of Tom Roberts(9 March 1856 – 14 September 1931) by our fave Sam Hood via the State Library of New South Wales Archives. Roberts was the British-born Australian founder of the Heidelberg School of Painting in Australia. (What?! This is confusing. Art historians, please be in touch.) Artcylopedia's link to Mr. Roberts, here. (We admit, we thought he was rather good looking & so...ahem, this is a lot of trouble to justify posting a photograph. Good grief.)

The Aussie-of-Now is a photographer (who loves paintings). (GG's behavior lately has left her editor very distracted & unable to type Plain English. All apologies.) We speak of Julie at Being Ruby, brilliant photographer/artist who cooks up all manner of marvellous travel stories with accompanying witty text. Quite often there are clever gems hidden in her end-notes & credits, for heaven's sake. You absolutely must visit her in Sydney. All you have to do is...click.

ciao-g'day-meow/The Management

[paintings by Tom Roberts via here & here]

Happy Midsummer Holiday

Read about Sweden's lively midsummer holiday, here, via the Swedish Embassy in Washington, DC. Giulia is up to no good, we can tell, so back on feline watch. Thank you to Olga for this beautiful photograph of a Swedish field of gold. GG's editor has written a little more about midsummer mysteries, here.

ciao-festive-meow/GGCM

GG's Editor Hits Roof, Needs Peeling from Ceiling

GG has turned into a feline Pippi Longstocking. She has been so very devilish that her editor has to rest, perhaps for the rest of the month. Maybe until after the Fourth of July; we'll see. (Saving the world is all well & good, Giulia, but get your own computer!)

ciao-wild-meow/GG Central

[lovely photograph by Alexandra Grablewski; delusional feline via lol cats, we hang our head in shame.]

Bella Capri on Sunday

How GG & her editor would like to be in Capri (OK, perhaps Anacapri during tourist season) today. These lovely images were recently posted by the Library of Congress. Visit their Photochrom Travel Views set, here, & marvel at their ongoing Grand Tour. Also, we recommend a visit to Australia's Being Ruby & her lovely photographs from a trip to Anacapri.

ciao-meow/GG's travel agent

[To see all 6,500 pictures now, check out the Photochrom Print Collection at the Library of Congress, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.pgz]

Happy Birthday to Aung San Suu Kyi - Week's End

Daw Suu was born 19 June 1945; she is still the Prime Minister-elect of Burma. She is still under house arrest. Please help her by reading & taking action at the AIUSA page; Canadians, here. All other countries, you can find your Amnesty Section, here. The US Campaign for Burma is holding a rally here in Washington, DC tomorrow. (Here is the Canadian Campaign for Free Burma.)

GG & her editor have a great big poster of Daw Suu by our desk. We think about her every day, as do millions around the world. As is often pointed out, it took many years of protesting for Nelson Mandela's release. Don't give up now.

ciao-meow & a good weekend/GG Central

[images: Libera from Rome, 2009 by Amy L. Beam; protest via US Campaign for Burma; Aung San Suu Kyi portrait via GG]

Queen Summer

GG loves this book written & illustrated by Walter Crane (Flora's Feast, a Masque of Flowers). Queen Summer has another title, as well, The Journey of the Lily & the Rose. We have lilies (& one Rose) in our family, so that's a good excuse to post these pretty images tonight. We are so very, very busy. Yes. But by week's end, we'll be all caught up (ha!) & ask for your help. For now, have a lovely Wednesday evening/Thursday morning.

ciao-summery-meow/the Mgmt.

[images via LIFE archives; there are also other Crane illustrations at Turn of the Century tumblr]

Olivia's Help the Gulf Wildlife Project

From the National Audubon Society's blog The Perch (by Julie Leibach)

After hearing about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, 11-year-old (as of this Friday) Olivia Bouler was devastated—and determined to act. She and her parents brainstormed ways to help, and it dawned on her: “I have a little artistic talent,” she says modestly. So she began sending original bird illustrations to donors who contribute to oil spill relief efforts.(rest of article)

Please help Olivia & the National Audubon Society help the birds of the Gulf. Go here to see more of Olivia's paintings . What wonderful girl (& talented artist).

GG & her editor

[Plover, tern by Olivia Bouler. Brown pelican, by Olivia Bouler. The original is hanging in the National Audubon Society's headquarters in New York City. All rights reserved.]

Mamma mia, Azzurri!

Forza Azzurri! Yes, but this was close. Are you trying to give Giulia's editor a tremendous case of the vapors? We are too delicate for such suspense. Here are two photographs of the 2006 World Cup champion festivities in Roma (the first shot is a few seconds before they won) via Giampaolo Macorig's camera. To remind people that they did win, they can win again, that they are not "old" (OK, a little), & because instead of working, we have been watching the match. Over & out, we pass out in front of the fan. (GG is already there.) Oof.

Ciao-meow from GG Sports Central

PS: Visit Michelle at Bleeding Espresso for all the latest news (via her Facebook page)

Sicilian Sunbrella - Week's End

Have a wonderful weekend. We'd hoped to have comprehensive news of Darfur Peace & Development Organization (DPDO) latest basket shipment & the 2009 Annual Report. But there is just too much to do; information will be posted next week. Meanwhile, have a relaxing weekend; we're jumping up & down in front of the World Cup action. GG is asleep now, content that South Africa & Mexico tied. (She hates for anyone to lose.) GG's editor is enjoying in L'odore della notte (The Smell of the Night) by Andrea Camillieri. Somehow, we'd missed this one. Excellent!

ciao-bella-meow/GGCM

[Sicilian beach umbrella by Giampaolo Macorig via flickr]

The Flower Sermon

GG & her editor wish you a peaceful Thursday. (The story of the Flower Sermon)

ciao-om-meow/GGCM

[photograph by generous D Sharon Pratt, from her Free for All Creative Commons flickr set.]

Rose Clothes

Giulia has generously allowed her editor to post some pretty photographs (though the roses look a bit scary in that third shot). How generous of her; so no haranguing today. (Go immediately, if not sooner to...oh, OK. Sorry.) Marvellous black & white shots by Nina Leen for LIFE archives. Have a lovely Wednesday.

ciao-rosy-meow/GGCM

PS: Still, it couldn't hurt to visit Darfur Peace & Development. Ouch. That cat needs a pedicure!

GG & Women's Rights - Sign Our Petition (Please)

Did you know that you burn more calories when you're a a busybody pest? Yep.*

Let's get this show on the road; it's only been 15 years (!) since the Beijing Conference Women's conference. Below is a snippet from Amnesty International's petition. Please, please sign it (or go to your home country's page & sign it). We know what you're thinking (yes, we do). Oh who cares, nothing ever gets done, blah blah meow. No kidding. It is very difficult but some good is accomplished. So what is the choice? What do we do then? Nothing? This is not an option. (Besides, we know many of you hang out on Facebook & Twitter. Uh huh. And we'll track you down!) Oof. Got carried away into a case of the vapors. So sorry.

"The General Assembly has at last taken decisive action to create a new gender equality entity on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the Beijing women's conference in 2010. It is a great victory for women's rights as well as for the coalition of women's and other civil society organizations. Now we must ensure that it is a robust and transformational body, capable of advancing the realization of women’s rights on the ground, urgently and effectively."

Charlotte Bunch, Founding Director, Center for Women’s Global Leadership, USA.

"In order to achieve this, the agreed new women’s agency urgently needs sustained political commitment from all governments and immediate, substantial funding to ensure its effective establishment and success."

So fer cryin' out loud, sign it. (Please & thank you)

ciao-grumble-meow/GG's editor

*No scientific proof but we are convinced; fidgeting does burns calories. In which case GG's editor will be back to her normal self by summer's end.

[stand-in for GG - who does not type - cute cat via we heart it]

Eye of the Needle

Have a good Monday. We'll be back to the usual haranguing soon. Meanwhile, enjoy the respite.;) Camels on parade. Here's the story (& eight additional photographs) about the Master of Miniatures, Nikolai Aldunin on My Modern Met.

ciao-meow/GG's editor

GG's Dream Room

Giulia the Cheeky has ordered up this room (or similar) & we are to refer to her as GG the Great, Grand Poobah. Just what is the remedy for feline megalomania? [room interior via miss wallflower, via we heart it]

ciao-meow/GG's amazingly patient editor

Twenty-One Years Later - Tiananmen Square

The 21st anniversary of an outrage. From Amnesty blog. Amnesty International (US section; see page for your country)

Seaside Splash - Week's End

Have a beautiful weekend from us to you. Here is last week's bricolage post (GG's editor) using these gorgeous photographs by Rengim Mutevellioglu. RM's CV on Kropp Creative Database).

ciao-meow/GG & her editor

Egrets

All types of egrets--we love them & associate them with Chincoteague/Assateague*. Here's a link to Birds of Assateague. That's where the little ponies hang out...you might remember Misty of Chincoteague. The link has some terrific videos of the scenery, birds, & sea. You just haven't lived unless you see the wild ponies running on the beach. A GGCM favorite place on the East Coast, perhaps in the States (outside of a few cities/towns).

*This barrier island, along with nearby islands and lagoons, is important for migrating birds. It's a World Biosphere Reserve of the United Nations because of its great ecological value.

[real bird photos via Birds of Assateague; girl-egret via bomehian punk tumblr

Lunatic on Bulbs

That's what Emily Dickinson said of herself & it applies to GG Central, too. We're preoccupied with gardens, lately/always. Tiger lilies were a favorite of Miss D. ( GG is a tiger lily). Here is the New York Times article Emily Dickinson's Garden at the New York Botanical Gardens. The exhibit runs through 12 June 2010. If you are near there (or will be), we hear it's fabulous. Since GG's editor ran a similar post on her blog, a veritable mountain of articles & stories has piled up & so we realize this is not news for many people. But you never know--one cannot follow everything. Judith Farr's The Gardens of Emily Dickinson (2005) was really the first book to combine the subject of the poet & her gardens & we salute her. Read it!

We'll be running photographs & images from GG's editor for a week or so -- until we get back on all four paws (so to speak). (Retail news about the Darfur Peace Baskets is forthcoming.)

[Flora's Feast, a Masque of Flowers by British illustrator Walter Crane; botanical image via Ray Allen's wildflowergardening.wordpress.com; third image, guess who?]

Tales of the Islander

A Prairie Home Companion on 22 May 2010. As she sang, we bet we were not alone in thinking of the ongoing BP-Gulf disaster. The David Byrne-directed video is terrific & interspersed with more Anderson images & information about him, a true eccentric & treasure.

We hope you will visit your favorite music site & download Caroline's music. Here's her website; the songs change two at a time so you can sample them. If you need further recommendation, GG is a huge fan & cat-gallops to the source upon hearing the opening of Tales of the Islander. (She really does.)

ciao-sniff-meow/GG's editor

(Horn Island by Walter Anderson via Smithsonian American Art Museum; roseate spoonbills in flight by Kerri Oddeni via From the Bay to the Bayou; Caroline Herring by Jeffrey Fasano (on CH website)

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]

Postal Break

GG Central is on break for a few more days. Meanwhile, you can send a note to bricolage (GG's editor's site). Wouldn't you love to have a mail box like one of these? Especially in such a herd? [by talented Olga, via Benevolent Postcard Society]

ciao-meow

PS: Don't forget to visit Darfur Peace & Development Organization. Thanks so much.

Sunday Update/23 May 2010: GG will be on break until Memorial Day (31 May 2010). Please do visit our friends & colleagues on this page. ciao!

Gigi & GG - Week's End

GG celebrated her blog-birthday by watching Gigi for the first time. As she falls asleep during most films, her editor does not know if she liked it (or not). But her ears moved up & down, front & back quite a lot as "Gigi!" is pronounced (& sung) more than any other word(s), except perhaps "Paris" or "I'm bored!" These are especially charming images from the film (& one drawing of pretty Leslie Caron as Gigi - by Cecil Beaton). As ever, GG would love a hat & is still agitating for one that will accommodate her ear-tips.

ciao-meow during an especially busy week...The Management

Giulia Geranium Turns Two!

Giulia seems unaware of this turning point because her to-do list consists of two items: causing trouble, being cute. However, her editor must search for photographs, beg for money for various causes, & generally make a pest of herself. Caught up short (again) this year, we turn to Hazel at The Clever Pup who created this marvellous multi-media geranium for GG's last birthday. We love it & are happy to show it today.

By the by, The Clever Pup has a terrific etsy shop, The Plum Plum (points if you can guess the name's provenance) with accompanying blog, here. We've purchased several things & are very pleased with them. Go for it--lovely work, excellent prices, made by an non-enslaved worker. What's not to like? (Really, if you think of a good reason, contact GG's editor on her blog.)

A donation to Darfur Peace & Development's Women's Center (the new baskets have arrived!) on behalf of Giulia's birthday would also be a fabulous tribute to the Royal Redhead.

ciao-mille-grazie-meow/GG Central

[image by Hazel Smith/all rights reserved/used with permission]

Alice in the Daisies

We've no idea if this is Alice in Wonderland but she is to us. Hope Monday is not too-blue. [image via we heart it]

Muguet in May

GG & her editor wish everyone a belated Happy May Day. One of our very favorite flowers is the lily-of-the-valley. If we must, if you insist, if we are tied to a railroad track as in the silent pictures & forced to choose our favorite, well then...it would be muguet. Here is a charming post from French-Word-A-Day 2006 May Day about the significance of muguet (& you can learn a song, too!). Shortly before GG's editor was born, her mum's friend was a bridesmaid for a very beautiful princess. The poetry-loving princess carried a bouquet of muguet & maybe that is why we love it so much.

ciao-flowery-meow/GGCM

[photograph via here via we heart it; botanical illustration, here; & another lovely Walter Crane illustration from Flora's Feast, A Masque of Flowers via the LIFE Archives]