text:
The Moon Fairy and the Dragon Warrior
I am a fairy. The silver fairy.
Some folk address me as the moon fairy.
I zip and I zoom through the sky blue searching,
searching apple blossoms;
Where the daffodils abound among the hillsides.
my heart beats in anticipation for passion
and heart sings for love,
love that flies as free as the dove
In the deep blue sky above.
I am proud and grateful of my beauty,
Where all in nature gather at my feet
To sing their sweet melody to me.
I am special and belong only to the one of my choosing.
My thoughts sally as I smile.
I fly over the miles of forest green and misty waterfalls
Looking, seeking the one and only one
with whom I desire to be under the summer stars
and the silver moon, my passage to life.
And there is he, standing at the edge of a deep gorge,
holding a silver sword high over his head.
He stood proudly and awaited for so long
to once again join with the Silver Moon Fairy maiden.
Moon Fairy is absorbed by the strong arms
of her warrior prince to be.
His great sword clatters to the stone
as he embraces his beloved princess to be.
Lightning split the sky followed by great peals of thunder,
As the Dragon Prince and the Silver Moon Fairy
vanished into the forest. All the forest was aglow
with the magical essence of its jubilent denizens.
The mystical forest came to celebrate this great day.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Written by Cynthia ©
♥•.¸✽¸•♥Have a happy magical day, every day my♥•.¸✽¸•♥
Dear Friends and Followers
Legend of the Wee People
Legends of the Wee People
These are the legends of the little people from all over the world
. When I first started reading through the legend and mythology books I was surprised to see that the wee ones kept popping up all over the place. I only put some of what I considered to be the best here for you to enjoy.
In the Cree schema mythology there is a mischievous group of little people called the Mannegishi. They are suppose to be very skinny with long legs and arms. The Manegishi have six fingers and what is very odd is they have no nose. These are bad little people. They live in the water, between the rocks. When a boat comes by, they will come out swimming and tip it over. It is believed this is how so many people end up drowning.
The Menehue in Hawaiian mythology are said to be little people. They are about two to three feet tall. The Menehue are believed to have lived on the islands before any other human arrived. They hide on the island from the other people. Legend has it they are excellent builders of many things. They basically keep to themselves and leave others alone.
This is a Mexican legend of some very little people called the Chaneques. These tiny people are said to be keepers of nature. The legend is told that if a person enters the Chaneques territory, they will scare the person so badly that their soul will leave their body. If the person does not have a special ritual performed, they will become very sick and soon they will die.
This legend comes from Central America. These tiny people are very strong, even though they are approximaetly two feet tall. Their name is Alux. They are said to have long black beards. Sometimes they wear clothing but most of the time , they like to run around naked.
They are said to live close to the Mayan temples. People in the area leave food out for them to try to keep them happy. These little people are mischievous.
This legend comes from South Africa. These are teeny tiny people, they are called the Abatwa. They are so teeny people say they have seen them riding ants! When they get tired, they curl up under a blade of grass to sleep.
According to the legend they are fierce hunters. Somehow they climb up on horses, as a group and go out and kill their prey.
It is said that only young children and pregnant woman can see the Abatwa. If a woman who is seven months pregnant sees a male Abatwa, it is believed she will have a male child.
These are very evil little people believed by the Hispanic in the American Southwest. These little people are called the Duendes. These little monsters have red eyes, green skin and no thumbs. They live in people's homes, right in their child's bedroom, usually in their walls! Many parents will tell the child it is a rodent in the wall, but it is the Duende. These little creatures will get the child to misbehave and try to steal their soul.
http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/03/legend-of-the-wee-people-1881278.html
♥•.¸✽¸.•♥ Prayer to deal with Anger and Frustration♥•.✽.•♥•
Remember this prayer next time you feel like your loosing control.
Have a wonderful day my dear friends and followers
Thank you sincerely, in love and light
A day in the life of a backyad dog
Have you ever played pretend when you were a child, like pretend to be a bear, pretend to be an eagle etc. Just take a second and pretend to be this back yard dog., just for a second.
Please come visit Fairies and I
http://cynthiasfairiesandme.blogspot.ca/
The Wail of Gaea
Come visit me at Faieres and me and enjoy many more essays, poems, short stories and other literary nick, nacks Thank you my dear friends
See you there
Happy Valantines Day
May all of you my blogger followers and friends a Happy Valentines Day
With love from the Fairy Lady ❤❤
The greatest discovery of All Time
This is the greatest video I have watched in a while, it is hope. An English video is in Spanish subtitles
Este es el mejor video que he visto en mucho tiempo, es la esperanza. Un vídeo en inglés con subtítulos en español es
El Descubrimiento Más Grande De Todos Los Tiempos
Uploaded on Nov 9, 2010
Fragmento del documental "The Freedom Movie 2" de StopTheRobbery.com
"Tus ojos son los ojos del universo. Y cuando miras un objeto, es el universo mirándose a sí mismo a través de esos ojos". (Deepak Chopra)
Traducción y subtitulos: Zeta & Bala (youtube.com/excretandote)
sersignificaser.blogspot.com
Agathar part 12
Jansen sat on the ground and leaned on a trunk of a tree, one that
was more like a regular Earth-sized tree. The big trees made her nervous. She didn't even want to think about what could possibly fall out of the giant trees, especially if she happened to be sitting under one of them when it hit the ground. Then again, there are many things she was phobic to when she first got here but had overcome since she has been here. But still, from above the clouds where the Cadose made their homes, a walnut-size object would be traveling at about the speed of a bullet fired from a gun by the time it got to where she was sitting. That thought brought no comfort.
She heard some branches cracking from not very far behind her and instantly threw herself flat to the ground, pulling out of her bag the only weapon she was allowed to have: a stun gun.
"Pssssssst!" she heard coming from a form emerging out of some dark bushes. The form stopped and identified itself. "It's me, Antana," it said in a loud whisper. Jansen could make out the motion of the dark form's arm waving for her to follow.
Jansen rose from her flattened position and approached Antana. As she drew closer, Antana flew to her and took her hand to lead her into the forest, persistently tugging on her arm.
The day had yielded to a profound darkness, as one would say, so dark you can't see your hand in front of you. As they walked Antana hovered just ahead of her. They walked for what felt like a long way, but walking in the dark always feels like it is a long way regardless of its true distance.
A few minutes later a subdued light found its way through the branches of the tall trees around them. Different hues and colors became more apparent as they continued walking. "Quintari," thought Jansen. Looking up, she tripped over something which sent her staggering forward, arms flailing, and nearly landing on her face at one point.
Stumbling out of the forest she finally gathered her legs beneath her and stopped, feet astride for better balance. She stood there at the edge of the clearing, too stunned to make another move as she beheld once again the unimaginable beauty in that world. What she saw went beyond anything she had ever seen or experienced.
Before her was a rocky promontory where water spewed out in vivid light streamers. She could hear sounds like those of thousands of heavenly harps, softly playing a random, undulating melody that seemed to be coming right out of the waterfall!
Jansen looked up the rest of the way slowly and nearly fell over backwards on her backside. Each color undulated in time with the change of each of the harps sounds. The entire clearing was around the falls was aglow in heavenly flashing colors.
"The Singing Waterfall!" Jansen thought, smiling. "OK, then, that proves this place was visited by someone else from Earth, someone I know? Or have I been here before? And thanks to my college friend's stories that awoke some old memories of my own, memories that I did not know I had!" Jansen thought.
She was feeling both puzzled and mesmerized as well as having some vertigo returning, not from a panic state but from one of reverence and awe of the overpowering beauty that lay before her.
A shiver ran through her as she thought of the immensity of the world she beheld. Then to try and fathom the magical waterfall itself, the source of the pool of wisdom. And the children here are its keepers, as they always have been since time immemorial, she thought. She felt overwhelmed with the energies she being radiated upon her. The possible implications of what this meant left her rather dizzy at the realization of her place in the universe. "What am I but a mere mortal?" she said to herself.
A mere mortal being! A stranger who had been assigned a position to be the protector of the keepers of the Singing Waterfall! Her mission was to preserve this habitat from outside invasion or any outside influence at all costs.
After learning what they had learned about beings who had invaded their world some thousands of years ago, so it is guessed, the people here do not have any concept of time. The intruders from above had brought trouble straight away. And then followed more lights from the heavens who stepped in and chased the bad ones away. So they learned from beings like us that there was good and bad in the outside people. Jansen thanked the Spirit that this planet was one of few that wouldn't be stumbled upon unless they were lost. This world is lucky to not have been discovered by those who could have done worse.
Jansen got down on her knees and sat back on her heels and closed her eyes. She could see the wavering energy colors from the falls through her closed eyelids. She bowed slightly and said softly and simply, "I accept."
Jansen got up slowly and turned, not looking back at the Singing Waterfall, and walked straight to where Antana waited for her. Antana sidled up to her and stretched her hand out to help her over an embankment. Jansen raised her hand up in response and stopped dead in her tracks. All around her right arm and around the fingers of her right hand was a bright glow of pale blue indigo, dark blue, purple and dark purple farthest out that dissipated in the air like a fine mist.
She just froze for a moment not knowing what to do. One thing she knew; she could not go back to the Singing Waterfall to return the energy or or even glance back in that direction. The falls had instructed her through her own thoughts, and she knew what she had to do. She reached out for Antana to help her over the knoll.
Antana led the way back into the forest, turning periodically to look at Jansen. Jansen walked while looking at her glowing arms, torso, and legs. With the glow they were giving off, she had no problem seeing the trail back.
Teddy didn't know what to make of Jansen, canting her head side to side, blinking her pink eyes. She threw her head back and snorted, then lowered her head to take a closer look at Jansen. Head whipping back, she snorted once again then looked at Jansen once more then lowered her head to the ground so Jansen could climb into the basket weave saddle.
Securing herself to the saddle, Jansen gave the mental command. She felt herself jerk backwards in the saddle as Teddy's large wings beat the air around them. Another mental command and she felt them curve straight up into the clear sky. Above them was Quintari. It all felt so exhilarating and magical mixed in one, like Teddy and Jansen could actually fly there. Another command and they curved suddenly downward and Jansen's stomach went for a flip.
Teddy glided down on the air current only moving her wings to steer. Then Jansen felt a thump as she hit the
wooden deck of the tree platform from where they had left. The dragon jogged to a stop next to the tree trunk and lowered her head to the ground. Jansen untied herself from the saddle and slid down Teddy's neck to grassy earth.
Teddy looked deeply into Jansen's eyes with her large pink ones then snorted and turned and jumped up, wings spread. One flap of the wings and she was perched on the next large limb above where she had been before this latest journey started.
It appeared to Jansen almost like none of it had happened, that maybe she had imagined it all. After all, under normal circumstances it was a hard to believe experience. She shook her head to better clear it so she could put the pieces back into their proper perspective.
Of one thing she was certain in her heart and mind: She could not deny the reality of the experience she had just had. It's just that it had been all so overwhelming. It was more than she could partake of this entire experiential meal in one bite. She would have to do it one spoon full at a time to make any sense of her encounter and communications with the feathered dragon and the Singing Waterfalls.
Jansen slipped out of her clothes quietly and was about to slide under that blankets when she heard a voice from the adjacent bunk. "How was the reunion?" Jeji asked in a half-whisper, so as to not awaken anyone else in the dormitory. Jansen turned to look towards where she had heard the voice and saw the form of Jeji sitting up on the edge of the bunk. "How did you know about any reunion? I almost didn't go because I didn't have the faith in my ability to get on Teddy's back and actually connect with her mind to mind. Actually it felt more like heart to heart" Jansen responded.
"I knew you could and I knew you would. I never doubted that you would. A world a time line apart from yours; this is why not many explorers from your galaxy have ever found our home except for the occasional lost souls who happen to fall through a time warp. They never stayed long. As soon as they got their bearings they left and never came back." "This was all predestined many eons ago on the universal time lines. Or you would not have come to our world as predicted by the ancients," Jeji responded.
Jansen looked at her quizzically and scratched her head and asked. "Time lines? Time warps? Even back home those are still only in the conceptual stage of development. How do people who live in huts in trees with hardly any complex technology, except for that which is in harmony with this world --- How have you come to have this depth of an understanding of time lines and time warps?" Jansen asked.
"You will be shown tomorrow, down under," she said pointing at the floor with her right index finger.
"The underworld, in the root system!" Jansen exclaimed a little too loudly, as she could hear random groans followed by the creaking of the wooden frames of the bunks.
"Yes, precisely." was Jeji's whispered response as she slid back under the blankets.
Jansen eased herself into bed but was too excited after the experience she just had to feel anywhere close to sleeping. She folded her pillow and tucked it under her head and clasped her hands to the back of her head and lie there for some hours, rerunning all the tapes in her head that she had experienced in the past few days.
Jansen woke up as she waved her hand at something that was annoying her. Opening her eyes she discovered what the nuisance was. The early morning sun was shining through the large aperture to their community tree sleeping quarters. It shone brightly in her eyes as she squinted and tears rolled out onto her cheeks.
She sat up shading the glare of the sun with her right hand and she struggled to get her clothes on. Outside she stood in the shade of the large limbs and looked out over the fascinating fairy tale land before her. Not even the best of fantasy movies she had seen back home came close to describing this world. She knew right then there was no backing out of this mission, she was dedicated wholeheartedly to defending this world from the possible harm that may await them from "out there."
The descent into the underworld root system was by a simple wooden framed elevator system strung with a rope and pulley. It groaned and creaked and at times jerked so sharply that if Jansen hadn't been hanging on she may be lying prone on the floor. They continued on for an undetermined time, straight down the hollow center of the community tree. They were on their way to a very large wooden tunnel, large enough to contain at least four giant California Redwoods.
At the bottom of the hoist way the elevator thumped to a stop. "I knew enough to keep my tongue out from between my teeth on this trip," she said to herself.
They exited the elevator car and stood on an elevated platform made from the solid wood of the tree. All around them were several smaller tunnels going in different directions. Wooden stairs carved out of the solid wood of the tree descended from the entrances to the smaller tunnels. Antana and Dalina greeted them there. "Probably used their own transportation to get down here," Jansen thought.
"Please follow me," said Antana. Jeji motioned with her right hand for Jansen to proceed first then stood at attention out of courtesy and respect for Jansen's position. Jansen noticed the military courtesy shown her even though her being a civilian it was not necessary to follow the protocols.
Antana conducted them into one of the tunnels and continued to serve as guide. The tunnel had a subdued light source that was not apparent to Jansen until she got close enough to the wall of the wooden tunnel to see it was the wood itself that glowed with its own light. The course of the tunnel had many curves to it and she also noticed that the passage way was getting smaller. They went around another curve and the tunnel ended and she found herself standing at the edge of a very large cavern of which she could not see the bottom because of a heavy, swirling fog.
She was about to turn away then something caught her eye. It looked like the inside of a tornado, she thought. "Why do I have this feeling again like I have experienced this before?" she asked herself. Then it dawned on her. "Yes! My friend from college told me something about tornado-like phenomena that could transport a person from one dimension to another. Bingo! It is only through one of these that a physical body can travel from one dimension to another!" "So the chance for someone to enter one from out there was slight to none," she announced to Antana, excitedly. Jansen was so excited with her discovery that she was about to dance a jig!
The swirling tornado fog dissipated and a star field appeared. There were stars and galaxies, millions of them. Lines of light traced their way through the galaxies and stars connecting them together into the entire universe. It appeared like an infinitely woven web continuously extending and weaving its way outwards. The threads sparkled and pulsated, it apeared to be incredibly sentient like in nature.
Agathar Part 14Jansen froze to the spot, feeling tingling going up and down her entire body as she tried to grasp the overwhelming immensity and implications of exactly what she had observed below. One star shone very brightly at the center of the pulsating threads, Jansen had noticed. If focused too long on it she felt drawn. So strong was the yearning she thought she would be absorbed into its light. She rubbed her eyes and shook her head and finally came out of the trance. For just a second she remembered the impulse she had had to jump down the tunnel, which now had returned to the swirling fog, like the inside of a tornado.
Jeji came to her side and guided her to a seat closer to the central platform and helped her to sit, then sat next to her with her hand on Jansen's back. Jansen was speechless for the moment and could only bite on her right index finger, looking perplexedly at Jeji. Antana walked towards them followed shortly after by Dalina.
Antana approached and sat next to Jansen on the other side of the bench and said to her, "Everything will be as it is meant to be, and in time you will learn from Banitra, the Bright One. The Bright One speaks through Universe. You will feel the voice speaking and you will know what needs to be done."
Jansen looked blankly at Antana, lost for words. She raised her arms and started to say something but just let them drop to her side again. What she wished to say would not form in her mind long enough to express into words. She needed some time to let all that she had experienced on this day digest into some coherence in her mind.
But one point got through, and that was that it sounded very much like the people of this world looked to the central star, from what she could gather, as a central consciousness of the universal web. In other words, for lack of a better description, and to keep it brief, the central star was revered by the Agatharians as the equivalent of the Goddess of the Universe. Jansen wondered if this universe was the same one she had left or was it another one in another reality in the realm of quantum potentialities.
Finally Jansen cleared her throat and spoke, pointing towards the tunnel. "That was the great Goddess of Universe!" she squeaked, and cleared her throat once more, and repeated what she had said.
Both Antana and Dalina shook their heads vigorously in agreement and smiled and spoke simultaneously the word "Banitra!"
As they began to walk back to the stairs leading up to the platform they stopped and looked back once more at the swirling, churning cloud-like formation that completely swallowed up the walls of the tunnel. No sound came from the tempest in the tunnel, but one knew of its presence just by feeling the strong vibrating energy, like one would from a nearby tornado. Even from the distance they stood away from it, its ferocity could be felt.
Jansen shivered while entranced by the overwhelming beauty of universe and the enchantment of Banitra. For a second she was so drawn to it that she had felt an overpowering urge to dive in, like taking a swan dive off a diving board into a swimming pool.
Going back up the shaky and bumpy wooden frame elevator, Jansen held onto the railing tightly. Once topside again, the wooden gate opened and Jansen stepped out into the sunlight and sat on the first seat that became available to her. She needed to be in touch with reality again, even if just for a little while, for she knew that what she had seen thus far were only short previews of the main attractions to come.
The next morning after breakfast she and Jeji and a good many of the dragonfly-winged children were present, all sitting around the large long wooden dining room table which also served as a conference table.
Antana stood upon her chair. The room was silent. Crossing her arms she bowed slightly with her eyes closed, then straightened again and spoke: "The time that we have feared has come, my friends. Soon it will be time to use the plans that have been practiced for so long. We hoped that this time would never come. The outside beings are moving in the direction the quantum gate."
Jansen raised her hand and asked, "Wait a minute! Are we talking about worm holes or star gates? Worm holes are a natural phenomenon, but most times I have heard about star gates they turned out to be artificial, constructed, not created."
Antana responded, "Yes they are a natural phenomenon but they can be manipulated by intelligent beings. Many eons ago the beings that were the care takers of this world had set it up in such a way that they had not thought they would be discovered by future beings"
Jansen sat down slowly, and said, "We have some big problems coming our way if they discover this world. The gate will be mapped into their star charts for future beings to find." Scratching her chin she stopped and said, "The tornado in the in the tunnel in the root system below us is somehow connected to the outside layers as well as the inner layers or dimensions of space and time."
"Yes," Antana said, then raised her hands and a mist materialized on the table before them. It began to swirl faster and faster until it formed into the shape of a miniature tornado, a replica of the one they had observed below in the root system tunnel.
When the tornado-shaped mist spread outwards and vanished into the air, the tornado had been replaced by a dark sphere. Then Jansen noticed that the darkness in the sphere was perforated with tiny points of light. "The pinpoints of light are stars," she thought. To the far right she recognized Banitra. If so, this would mean that we were looking at a different place in the universe but still within the galactic area.
"Look closely," Antana said as the scene in the large sphere zoomed in closer to a certain star and stopped. "There," she pointed, to the left of a dark nebula. Then Jansen saw them. Many tiny dots moving against the bright background of clustered stars.
Antana continued: "Judging by our astral coordinates they are coming straight for the gate. They will arrive in about 22 days or planet spins." Having finished, she stepped down and said, "I wish to see everyone here tonight present at sunrise, in this room." She clapped her hands and the image of the dark sphere vanished.
Agathar part 1, Agathar part 10, Agathar part 11, same page
http://cynthiasfairiesandme.blogspot.ca/2014/01/agathar-part-1-i-dreamed-of-being.html
Agathar part 2, Agathar 3 Agathar 4, Agathar 5 Agathar 6, Agathar 7, Agathar 8, Agathar 9 Agathar, same page
http://cynthiasfairiesandme.blogspot.ca/search?q=agathar+part+2
Agathar 12, Agathar 13 same page
http://cynthiasfairiesandme.blogspot.ca/search?updated-max=2014-02-14T09:48:00-05:00&max-results=4&start=4&by-date=false
The History of the Elves
Elven History – Part 1
"Before the ages were named or numbered, our people were glorious and eternal and never-changing. Like the great oak tree, they were constant in their traditions, strong in their roots, and ever-reaching for the sky.
They felt no need to rush when life was endless. They worshipped their gods for months at a time. Decisions were made after decades of debate, and an introduction could last for years. From time to time, our ancestors would drift into centuries-long slumber, but this was not death, for we know they wandered the Fade in dreams.
In those ages, our people called all the land Elvhenan, which in the old language means "Place of our People." And at the center of the world stood the great city of Arlathan, a place of knowledge and debate, where the best of the ancient elves would go to trade knowledge, greet old friends, and settle disputes that had gone on for millennia. But while our ancestors were caught up in the forever cycle of ages, drifting through life at what we today would consider an intolerable pace, the world outside was changing. The humans first arrived from the north. I know it is not something that the humans today will accept, but all the ancient accounts of our people that can be found agree it is so: one day the humans came from elsewhere, into a land where they had never been before. Called shemlen, or "quicklings", by the ancients, the humans were pitiful creatures whose lives blinked by in an instant. When they first met with the elves, the humans were brash and warlike, quick to anger, quicker to fight, and they had no patience for the unhurried pace of elven diplomacy.
But the humans brought worse things than war with them. Our ancestors proved susceptible to human diseases, and for the first time in millennia, elves were dying of natural causes. What's more, those elves that spent time bartering and negotiating with humans found themselves aging, quickened by the humans' brash and impatient lives. Many believed that our gods had judged us unworthy of eternal life and were casting us down. Our ancestors came to look upon the humans as parasites, which I understand is the way the humans see our people in their cities today… punishment, perhaps, for our hubris of long ago? Horrified at the prospect of losing their way of life forever, the ancient elves immediately moved to close Elvhenan off from the humans for fear that this "quickening" effect would crumble their civilization.
Perhaps they believed that ignoring the shemlen would make them go away. Perhaps they assumed that two peoples could simply live in peace, remaining ignorant of each others' ways. Perhaps they meant no insult, or perhaps they meant to start a war. We know very little of the time that followed, only that the time of ancient Elvhenan was gone forever."
--The tale of "The Fall of Arlathan," as told by Gisharel, keeper of the Ralaferin Tribe of the Dalish elves.
"Now you ask, "What happened to Arlathan?" Sadly, we do not know. Even the Dalish, we who keep the ancient lore, have no record of what truly happened. All we have are accounts of the days before the fall and a fable of the whims of the gods.
The human world was changing, even as the elves slept. Clans and tribes gave way to a powerful empire called Tevinter, which came upon Elvhenan to conquer it. When they breached the great city of Arlathan, our people, fearing disease and the loss of immortality the humans would bring, chose to flee rather than to fight. With magic, demons, and even dragons at their behest, the Tevinter Imperium marched easily through Arlathan, destroying homes, galleries, and amphitheaters that had existed for ages. Our people were rounded up as slaves and taken from their ancestral home, the quickening driving itself through their veins and making them mortal. The elves called to their ancient gods, but there was no answer.
As to why the gods didn't answer, our people had only a legend. They say that Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf and Lord of Tricksters, approached the gods of good and evil and proposed a truce. The gods of good would remove themselves to heaven, and the lords of evil would exile themselves to the abyss, and neither group would ever again enter the others' lands. By the time they realized the Dread Wolf's treachery, they had been sealed away in their respective realms, never again to interact with the mortal world. It is a fable, to be sure, but those elves who travel the Beyond claim that Fen'Harel still roams the world of dreams, feasting upon the unwary as a glutton at his lunch, all the while keeping watch over the gods lest they escape from their prisons.
Whatever the case, Arlathan had fallen at the hands of the very humans our people had once considered naught but pests. It is said that the Tevinter magisters used their great and destructive power to force the very ground to swallow Arlathan whole, removing it from the world just as it was soon to be removed from the minds and hearts of its people. All records and artifacts lost to them forever, the whole of elven lore was trapped in the fading minds of a people who would soon forget what it meant to be an elf."
"The humans tell tales of Andraste, and to them, she was a prophet. To our people, however, she was an inspiration. Her rebellion against Tevinter gave our people a window through which to see the sun, and our people reached toward it with all their strength. The rebellion was brief but successful; the death of the prophetess did not end our fight, and we fought on for independence even as the human Imperium began to crumble. In the end, we had won freedom and the southern reaches of land known as the Dales.
It was a home, a new chance to gather and rebuild all that we had lost. In our centuries of slavery we had lost our immortality, our language, our culture, our crafts… but never our sense of belonging to each other. From across Thedas we came to the Dales. We walked on foot, sometimes crossing thousands of miles with naught but our will to sustain us. Many of us perished on the Long Walk, but those of us that arrived at our new home were all the more determined.
There, in the Dales, our people revived the lost lore as best they could, and even turned to worship the old gods in their ancient prison. They called their first city Halamshiral, "the end of the journey," and founded a new nation, isolated as elves were meant to be. They created an order called The Emerald Knights and charged them with watching the borders for trouble with the humans.
But you already know that something went wrong. Our ancestors' worship of the old elven gods angered the human Chantry, which constantly sent missionaries to our land. The Chantry wanted to convert our people to their worship of the Maker, but the Dalish would not submit. In protest, a small elven raiding party attacked the nearby human village of Red Crossing, an act that prompted the Chantry to attack and, with their superior numbers, conquer the Dales. We were not enslaved as we had been before, but our worship of the ancient gods was now forbidden. We were allowed to live among the humans as second class citizens and worship their Maker, slowly forgetting once more the scraps of lore we had maintained through the centuries. Those that refused were forced to wander, landless and friendless in their wagons, across a world that told them they were unwelcome.
Two homes we elves have lost, but it is the loss of the Dales that hurt us most. When I see the vhenadahl, the "tree of our people", that is planted in the middle of our poor alienage here in the human city… I weep. It is a strong and mighty tree with many branches, but it bears only bitter fruit."
--The tale of "The Rise and Fall of the Dales," as told by Sarethia, elder of the Highever Alienage.
"Now we wander, we last clans that refused to set aside our pride and live in the alienages set aside for elves in human cities. We wander the lands in our aravels – the "landships" as the shemlen call them – and proudly tattoo the symbols of our gods on our faces to pronounce to all who see us that our beliefs are sacred, and we shall never surrender them.
We keep to ourselves. If we stay in any one place for too long, the shemlen will come and attempt to make us leave. Some of the clans resist, but most will simply pick up the aravels and move on once again. Our way is not to do battle with the shemlen unless we must.
Our way is to gather what bits of our culture and our language we can find, to guard them carefully and preserve them – for the day will come when we have a homeland once again. And when that day comes, we shall be ready. Our brethren in the shemlen cities who have forgotten, they will come to us on that day and we shall teach them. They will learn the ancient magic of the Keepers, the crafts of our masters and the language of our ancestors. And we shall not make the same mistakes again.
We are the Dalish: keepers of the lost lore, walkers of the lonely path. We are the last of the Elvhenan, and never again shall we submit."
Tribute to Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple, iconic child star, dies at 85
From November 1936, 8-year-old child movie star Shirley Temple.
(THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Shirley Temple accepting a Screen Actors Guild award in January 2006. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
• Notable Deaths 2014 Related
• INTERACTIVE: Shirley Temple
WOODSIDE, Calif. — Shirley Temple, the dimpled, curly-haired child star who sang, danced, sobbed and grinned her way into the hearts of Depression-era moviegoers, has died. She was 85.
Temple, known in private life as Shirley Temple Black, died Monday night at her home near San Francisco. She was surrounded by family members and caregivers, publicist Cheryl Kagan said.
"We salute her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, as a diplomat, and most importantly as our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and adored wife for fifty-five years of the late and much missed Charles Alden Black," a family statement said. The family would not disclose Temple's cause of death.
A talented and ultra-adorable entertainer, Shirley Temple was America's top box-office draw from 1935 to 1938, a record no other child star has come near. She beat out such grown-ups as Clark Gable, Bing Crosby, Robert Taylor, Gary Cooper and Joan Crawford.
In 1999, the American Film Institute ranking of the top 50 screen legends ranked Temple at No. 18 among the 25 actresses. She appeared in scores of movies and kept children singing "On the Good Ship Lollipop" for generations.
Temple was credited with helping save 20th Century Fox from bankruptcy with films such as "Curly Top" and "The Littlest Rebel." She even had a drink named after her, an appropriately sweet and innocent cocktail of ginger ale and grenadine, topped with a maraschino cherry.
Temple blossomed into a pretty young woman, but audiences lost interest, and she retired from films at 21. She raised a family and later became active in politics and held several diplomatic posts in Republican administrations, including ambassador to Czechoslovakia during the historic collapse of communism in 1989.
"I have one piece of advice for those of you who want to receive the lifetime achievement award. Start early," she quipped in 2006 as she was honored by the Screen Actors Guild.
But she also said that evening that her greatest roles were as wife, mother and grandmother. "There's nothing like real love. Nothing." Her husband of more than 50 years, Charles Black, had died just a few months earlier.
They lived for many years in the San Francisco suburb of Woodside.
Temple's expert singing and tap dancing in the 1934 feature "Stand Up and Cheer!" first gained her wide notice. The number she performed with future Oscar winner James Dunn, "Baby Take a Bow," became the title of one of her first starring features later that year.
Also in 1934, she starred in "Little Miss Marker," a comedy-drama based on a story by Damon Runyon that showcased her acting talent. In "Bright Eyes," Temple introduced "On the Good Ship Lollipop" and did battle with a charmingly bratty Jane Withers, launching Withers as a major child star, too.
She was "just absolutely marvelous, greatest in the world," director Allan Dwan told filmmaker-author Peter Bogdanovich in his book "Who the Devil Made It: Conversations With Legendary Film Directors." ''With Shirley, you'd just tell her once and she'd remember the rest of her life," said Dwan, who directed "Heidi" and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm." ''Whatever it was she was supposed to do — she'd do it. ... And if one of the actors got stuck, she'd tell him what his line was — she knew it better than he did."
Temple's mother, Gertrude, worked to keep her daughter from being spoiled by fame and was a constant presence during filming. Her daughter said years later that her mother had been furious when a director once sent her off on an errand and then got the child to cry for a scene by frightening her. "She never again left me alone on a set," she said.
Temple became a nationwide sensation. Mothers dressed their little girls like her, and a line of dolls was launched that are now highly sought-after collectables. Her immense popularity prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt to say that "as long as our country has Shirley Temple, we will be all right."
"When the spirit of the people is lower than at any other time during this Depression, it is a splendid thing that for just 15 cents, an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles," Roosevelt said.
She followed up in the next few years with a string of hit films, most with sentimental themes and musical subplots. She often played an orphan, as in "Curly Top," where she introduced the hit "Animal Crackers in My Soup," and "Stowaway," in which she was befriended by Robert Young, later of "Father Knows Best" fame.
She teamed with the great black dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in two 1935 films with Civil War themes, "The Little Colonel" and "The Littlest Rebel." Their tap dance up the steps in "The Little Colonel" (at a time when interracial teamings were unheard-of in Hollywood) became a landmark in the history of film dance.
Some of her pictures were remakes of silent films, such as "Captain January," in which she recreated the role originally played by the silent star Baby Peggy Montgomery in 1924. "Poor Little Rich Girl" and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm," done a generation earlier by Mary Pickford, were heavily rewritten for Temple, with show biz added to the plots to give her opportunities to sing.
In its review of "Rebecca," the show business publication Variety complained that a "more fitting title would be 'Rebecca of Radio City.'"
She won a special Academy Award in early 1935 for her "outstanding contribution to screen entertainment" in the previous year.
"She is a legacy of a different time in motion pictures. She caught the imagination of the entire country in a way that no one had before," actor Martin Landau said when the two were honored at the Academy Awards in 1998.
Temple's fans agreed. Her fans seemed interested in every last golden curl on her head: It was once guessed that she had more than 50. Her mother was said to have done her hair in pin curls for each movie, with every hairstyle having exactly 56 curls.
On her eighth birthday — she actually was turning 9, but the studio wanted her to be younger — Temple received more than 135,000 presents from around the world, according to "The Films of Shirley Temple," a 1978 book by Robert Windeler. The gifts included a baby kangaroo from Australia and a prize Jersey calf from schoolchildren in Oregon.
"She's indelible in the history of America because she appeared at a time of great social need, and people took her to their hearts," the late Roddy McDowall, a fellow child star and friend, once said.
Although by the early 1960s, she was retired from the entertainment industry, her interest in politics soon brought her back into the spotlight.
She made an unsuccessful bid as a Republican candidate for Congress in 1967. After Richard Nixon became president in 1969, he appointed her as a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. In the 1970s, she was U.S. ambassador to Ghana and later U.S. chief of protocol.
She then served as ambassador to Czechoslovakia during the administration of the first President George Bush. A few months after she arrived in Prague in mid-1989, communist rule was overthrown in Czechoslovakia as the Iron Curtain collapsed across Eastern Europe.
"My main job (initially) was human rights, trying to keep people like future President Vaclav Havel out of jail," she said in a 1999 Associated Press interview. Within months, she was accompanying Havel, the former dissident playwright, when he came to Washington as his country's new president.
She considered her background in entertainment an asset to her political career.
"Politicians are actors too, don't you think?" she once said. "Usually if you like people and you're outgoing, not a shy little thing, you can do pretty well in politics."
Born in Santa Monica to an accountant and his wife, Temple was little more than 3 years old when she made her film debut in 1932 in the Baby Burlesks, a series of short films in which tiny performers parodied grown-up movies, sometimes with risque results.
Among the shorts were "War Babies," a parody of "What Price Glory," and "Polly Tix in Washington," with Shirley in the title role.
Her young life was free of the scandals that plagued so many other child stars — parental feuds, drug and alcohol addiction — but Temple at times hinted at a childhood she may have missed out on.
She stopped believing in Santa Claus at age 6, she once said, when "Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph."
After her years at the top, maintaining that level of stardom proved difficult for her and her producers. The proposal to have her play Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" didn't pan out. (20th Century Fox chief Darryl Zanuck refused to lend out his greatest asset.) And "The Little Princess" in 1939 and "The Blue Bird" in 1940 didn't draw big crowds, prompting Fox to let Temple go.
Among her later films were "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer," with Cary Grant, and "That Hagen Girl," with Ronald Reagan. Several, including the wartime drama "Since You Went Away," were produced by David O. Selznick. One, "Fort Apache," was directed by John Ford, who had also directed her "Wee Willie Winkie" years earlier.
Her 1942 film, "Miss Annie Rooney," included her first on-screen kiss, bestowed by another maturing child star, Dickie Moore.
After her film career effectively ended, she concentrated on raising her family and turned to television to host and act in 16 specials called "Shirley Temple's Storybook" on ABC. In 1960, she joined NBC and aired "The Shirley Temple Show."
Her 1988 autobiography, "Child Star," became a best-seller.
Temple had married Army Air Corps private John Agar, the brother of a classmate at Westlake, her exclusive L.A. girls' school, in 1945. He took up acting and the pair appeared together in two films, "Fort Apache" and "Adventure in Baltimore." She and Agar had a daughter, Susan, in 1948, but she filed for divorce the following year.
She married Black in 1950, and they had two more children, Lori and Charles. That marriage lasted until his death in 2005 at age 86.
In 1972, she underwent successful surgery for breast cancer. She issued a statement urging other women to get checked by their doctors and vowed, "I have much more to accomplish before I am through."
During a 1996 interview, she said she loved both politics and show business.
"It's certainly two different career tracks," she said, "both completely different but both very rewarding, personally."
Why Did the Elves Leave Middle-earth?
Q: Why Did the Elves Leave Middle-earth?
ANSWER: The Elves were compelled to leave Middle-earth by a
spiritual summons of the Valar, calling them to their ultimate destinies within Time and Space. In The Silmarillion J.R.R. Tolkien explains how the Valar — the Guardians of the World — felt that the long-lived Elves would be better off living near the Valar (and their followers the Maiar) in the Blessed Realm (Aman), far from the mortal lands where Men (and Dwarves) were destined to build their civilizations and live out their lives.
The Valar knew there would be strife between the Elder Children (the Elves) and the Younger Children (Men) and Adopted Children (Dwarves) of Iluvatar. But they also feared that the Elves would be preyed upon by Melkor and his servants. When the Valar learned that the Elves had awakened in the far eastern reaches of Middle-earth they launched a war against Melkor and took him prisoner.
With Melkor imprisoned in Valinor, the Valar sent emissaries to the Elves, inviting them to go live in Valinor, where they would be protected and share in the daily lives of the Valar and Maiar. The invitation, according to Tolkien, was selfish to a certain extent but it was also non-compulsory to begin with. Those Elves who chose to accept the invitation were eventually named the Eldar and those who rejected the invitation were called the Avari (the Unwilling).
Although "immortal" in body the Elves could die by various causes. According to an essay published in Morgoth's Ring the spirits of those Elves who died in Middle-earth were summoned to Valinor, where they could reflect on their life experiences and perhaps eventually be restored to physical life, but only in Valinor. The Elvish spirits had the right to refuse the summons, but doing so meant they could not be restored to life. Tolkien deemed this to be a perilous decision, especially in the years when Melkor was dwelling in Middle-earth. Melkor would enslave the Elvish spirits that refused the summons and force them to do his bidding. Tolkien does not specify what Melkor did with these spirits.
Many ages later, after the Valar defeated Melkor in a second great war to free Middle-earth from his tyranny, the Valar sent their emissaries throughout Middle-earth to summon the Elves to Valinor again. This time the invitation seems to have been compulsory to the extent that all Elves were bestowed with a deeply buried desire to seek out the Blessed Realm should the desire awaken within them. That desire might awaken for any number of reasons. The most important reason appears to be the doom of fading.
The concept of fading is not well understood or fully agreed upon by Tolkien's readers. In one of his thoughtful essays Tolkien stipulated that a faded Elf became a disembodied spirit, equivalent to a ghost or poltergeist. These faded Elves might have nothing to do with the world of the living, or they might become dangerous entities, especially for mortal men. Hence, the Elves were instilled with an overwhelming compulsion or desire to sail over Sea to the Blessed Realm, where they could be restored and sustained by the Valar in their physical bodies.
Death was thus very much a part of the destiny of the Elves who remained in Middle-earth. It was a true physical death of the body but not a death by withering or aging such as mortal Men and Dwarves experienced. Whereas Men's spirits were said to leave the world completely and "seek elsewhere", Elves' spirits would remain in the world until the end of Time, after which they had no knowledge of what would happen to them.
Just as Men feared death Elves feared fading. However, unlike Men the Elves had the option of forestalling or avoiding fading completely if they simply passed over Sea to the Blessed Realm.
The Noldor of Eregion believed they could delay that inevitable choice for all Elves if they could find a way to preserve Middle-earth, to delay the effects of Time. When Sauron learned of this desire he taught the Gwaith-i-Mirdain, the Jewel-smiths of Eregion, how to create the Rings of Power. The Rings were constructed to hold back the force of Time, thus preserving Middle-earth and the Eldar (according to one note, Tolkien estimated the Elves felt the
effects of Time in Middle-earth at a rate of 1% while the Rings functioned). This act was a second rebellion for the Noldor because it controverted the natural laws set down by Iluvatar. And by doing so the Noldor unwittingly exposed themselves to Sauron such that he was able to forge the One Ring to enslave them.
The subsequent conflict between Sauron and the Elves forced many Elves to flee their homes. A large portion of those Elves lost all joy in Middle-earth and sailed over Sea. They did so mostly to escape from Sauron but also because they felt immense regret for the harm they had done to Middle-earth and its peoples. The Elves of the Second Age may not have been as aware of the Rings of Power as the Elves of the Third Age but by the end of the Third Age many of the Elves were determined to leave Middle-earth soon.
When Sauron arose and declared himself in the year 2951 an exodus of Elves from Middle-earth soon followed. In "The Shadow of the Past", the second chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring, the narrative mentions that many Elves pass through the Shire on their way to the havens, never to return to Middle-earth again. Only a small number of Eldar and a larger number of Silvan Elves remained in Middle-earth by the time the War of the Ring began.
However, with the destruction of the One Ring all the other Rings of Power failed. The full weight of the thousands of years then fell upon the Eldar, especially the keepers of the Rings of Power (Elrond, Cirdan, and Galadriel) and many of their companions. These Elves were threatened with rapid aging and possible fading. They had become "weary" of the world and were on the verge of "burning out". Hence, they had no choice but to leave Middle-earth forever and seek out the Blessed Realm, where they could be healed and restored.
When people attempt to answer the question "Why do the Elves leave Middle-earth", they rarely look at the larger story. There are many times when Elves flee Middle-earth. New generations are born among those who remain but the Elves eventually all have to leave Middle-earth or fade.
Elvhenan
By Michael Martinez
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/09/22/why-did-the-elves-leave-middle-earth/
THE ENCHANTED RING
Once upon a time there lived a young man named Rosimond, who was as good and handsome as his elder brother Bramintho was ugly and wicked. Their mother detested her eldest son, and had only eyes for the youngest. This excited Bramintho's jealousy, and he invented a horrible story in order to ruin his brother. He told his father that Rosimond was in the habit of visiting a neighbour who was an enemy of the family, and betraying to him all that went on in the house, and was plotting with him to poison their father.
The father flew into a rage, and flogged his son till the blood came. Then he threw him into prison and kept him for three days without food, and after that he turned him out of the house, and threatened to kill him if he ever came back. The mother was miserable, and did nothing but weep, but she dared not say anything.
The youth left his home with tears in his eyes, not knowing where to go, and wandered about for many hours till he came to a thick wood. Night overtook him at the foot of a great rock, and he fell asleep on a bank of moss, lulled by the music of a little brook.
It was dawn when he woke, and he saw before him a beautiful woman seated on a grey horse, with trappings of gold, who looked as if she were preparing for the hunt.
'Have you seen a stag and some deerhounds go by?' she asked.
'No, madam,' he replied.
Then she added, 'You look unhappy; is there anything the matter? Take this ring, which will make you the happiest and most powerful of men, provided you never make a bad use of it. If you turn the diamond inside, you will become invisible. If you turn it outside, you will become visible again. If you place it on your little finger, you will take the shape of the King's son, followed by a splendid court. If you put it on your fourth finger, you will take your own shape.'
Then the young man understood that it was a Fairy who was speaking to him, and when she had finished she plunged into the woods. The youth was very impatient to try the ring, and returned home immediately. He found that the Fairy had spoken the truth, and that he could see and hear everything, while he himself was unseen. It lay with him to revenge himself, if he chose, on his brother, without the slightest danger to himself, and he told no one but his mother of all the strange things that had befallen him. He afterwards put the enchanted ring on his little finger, and appeared as the King's son, followed by a hundred fine horses, and a guard of officers all richly dressed.
His father was much surprised to see the King's son in his quiet little house, and he felt rather embarrassed, not knowing what was the proper way to behave on such a grand occasion. Then Rosimond asked him how many sons he had.
'Two,' replied he.
'I wish to see them,' said Rosimond. 'Send for them at once. I desire to take them both to Court, in order to make their fortunes.'
The father hesitated, then answered: 'Here is the eldest, whom I have the honour to present to your Highness.'
'But where is the youngest? I wish to see him too,' persisted Rosimond.
'He is not here,' said the father. 'I had to punish him for a fault, and he has run away.'
Then Rosimond replied, 'You should have shown him what was right, but not have punished him. However, let the elder come with me, and as for you, follow these two guards, who will escort you to a place that I will point out to them.'
Then the two guards led off the father, and the Fairy of whom you have heard found him in the forest, and beat him with a golden birch rod, and cast him into a cave that was very deep and dark, where he lay enchanted. 'Lie there,' she said, 'till your son comes to take you out again.'
Meanwhile the son went to the King's palace, and arrived just when the real prince was absent. He had sailed away to make war on a distant island, but the winds had been contrary, and he had been shipwrecked on unknown shores, and taken captive by a savage people. Rosimond made his appearance at Court in the character of the Prince, whom everyone wept for as lost, and told them that he had been rescued when at the point of death by some merchants. His return was the signal for great public rejoicings, and the King was so overcome that he became quite speechless, and did nothing but embrace his son. The Queen was even more delighted, and fetes were ordered over the whole kingdom.
One day the false Prince said to his real brother, 'Bramintho, you know that I brought you here from your native village in order to make your fortune; but I have found out that you are a liar, and that by your deceit you have been the cause of all the troubles of your brother Rosimond. He is in hiding here, and I desire that you shall speak to him, and listen to his reproaches.'
Bramintho trembled at these words, and, flinging himself at the Prince's feet, confessed his crime.
'That is not enough,' said Rosimond. 'It is to your brother that you must confess, and I desire that you shall ask his forgiveness. He will be very generous if he grants it, and it will be more than you deserve. He is in my ante-room, where you shall see him at once. I myself will retire into another apartment, so as to leave you alone with him.'
Bramintho entered, as he was told, into the anteroom. Then Rosimond changed the ring, and passed into the room by another door.
Bramintho was filled with shame as soon as he saw his brother's face. He implored his pardon, and promised to atone for all his faults. Rosimond embraced him with tears, and at once forgave him, adding, 'I am in great favour with the King. It rests with me to have your head cut off, or to condemn you to pass the remainder of your life in prison; but I desire to be as good to you as you have been wicked to me.' Bramintho, confused and ashamed, listened to his words without daring to lift his eyes or to remind Rosimond that he was his brother. After this, Rosimond gave out that he was going to make a secret voyage, to marry a Princess who lived in a neighbouring kingdom; but in reality he only went to see his mother, whom he told all that had happened at the Court, giving her at the same time some money that she needed, for the King allowed him to take exactly what he liked, though he was always careful not to abuse this permission. Just then a furious war broke out between the King his master and the Sovereign of the adjoining country, who was a bad man and one that never kept his word. Rosimond went straight to the palace of the wicked King, and by means of his ring was able to be present at all the councils, and learnt all their schemes, so that he was able to forestall them and bring them to naught. He took the command of the army which was brought against the wicked King, and defeated him in a glorious battle, so that peace was at once concluded on conditions that were just to everyone.
Henceforth the King's one idea was to marry the young man to a Princess who was the heiress to a neighbouring kingdom, and, besides that, was as lovely as the day. But one morning, while Rosimond was hunting in the forest where for the first time he had seen the Fairy, his benefactress suddenly appeared before him. 'Take heed,' she said to him in severe tones, 'that you do not marry anybody who believes you to be a Prince. You must never deceive anyone. The real Prince, whom the whole nation thinks you are, will have to succeed his father, for that is just and right. Go and seek him in some distant island, and I will send winds that will swell your sails and bring you to him. Hasten to render this service to your master, although it is against your own ambition, and prepare, like an honest man, to return to your natural state. If you do not do this, you will become wicked and unhappy, and I will abandon you to all your former troubles.'
Rosimond took these wise counsels to heart. He gave out that he had undertaken a secret mission to a neighbouring state, and embarked on board a vessel, the winds carrying him straight to the island where the Fairy had told him he would find the real Prince. This unfortunate youth had been taken captive by a savage people, who had kept him to guard their sheep. Rosimond, becoming invisible, went to seek him amongst the pastures, where he kept his flock, and, covering him with his mantle, he delivered him out of the hands of his cruel masters, and bore him back to the ship. Other winds sent by the Fairy swelled the sails, and together the two young men entered the King's presence.
Rosimond spoke first and said, 'You have believed me to be your son. I am not he, but I have brought him back to you.' The King, filled with astonishment, turned to his real son and asked, 'Was it not you, my son, who conquered my enemies and won such a glorious peace? Or is it true that you have been shipwrecked and taken captive, and that Rosimond has set you free?'
'Yes, my father,' replied the Prince. 'It is he who sought me out in my captivity and set me free, and to him I owe the happiness of seeing you once more. It was he, not I, who gained the victory.'
The King could hardly believe his ears; but Rosimond, turning the ring, appeared before him in the likeness of the Prince, and the King gazed distractedly at the two youths who seemed both to be his son. Then he offered Rosimond immense rewards for his services, which were refused, and the only favour the young man would accept was that one of his posts at Court should be conferred on his brother Bramintho. For he feared for himself the changes of fortune, the envy of mankind and his own weakness. His desire was to go back to his mother and his native village, and to spend his time in cultivating the land.
One day, when he was wandering through the woods, he met the Fairy, who showed him the cavern where his father was imprisoned, and told him what words he must use in order to set him free. He repeated them joyfully, for he had always longed to bring the old man back and to make his last days happy. Rosimond thus became the benefactor of all his family, and had the pleasure of doing good to those who had wished to do him evil. As for the Court, to whom he had rendered such services, all he asked was the freedom to live far from its corruption; and, to crown all, fearing that if he kept the ring he might be tempted to use it in order to regain his lost place in the world, he made up his mind to restore it to the Fairy. For many days he sought her up and down the woods and at last he found her. 'I want to give you back,' he said, holding out the ring, 'a gift as dangerous as it is powerful, and which I fear to use wrongfully. I shall never feel safe till I have made it impossible for me to leave my solitude and to satisfy my passions.'
While Rosimond was seeking to give back the ring to the Fairy, Bramintho, who had failed to learn any lessons from experience, gave way to all his desires, and tried to persuade the Prince, lately become King, to ill-treat Rosimond. But the Fairy, who knew all about everything, said to Rosimond, when he was imploring her to accept the ring:
'Your wicked brother is doing his best to poison the mind of the King towards you, and to ruin you. He deserves to be punished, and he must die; and in order that he may destroy himself, I shall give the ring to him.'
Rosimond wept at these words, and then asked:
'What do you mean by giving him the ring as a punishment? He will only use it to persecute everyone, and to become master.'
'The same things,' answered the Fairy, 'are often a healing medicine to one person and a deadly poison to another. Prosperity is the source of all evil to a naturally wicked man. If you wish to punish a scoundrel, the first thing to do is to give him power. You will see that with this rope he will soon hang himself.'
Having said this, she disappeared, and went straight to the Palace, where she showed herself to Bramintho under the disguise of an old woman covered with rags. She at once addressed him in these words:
'I have taken this ring from the hands of your brother, to whom I had lent it, and by its help he covered himself with glory. I now give it to you, and be careful what you do with it.'
Bramintho replied with a laugh:
'I shall certainly not imitate my brother, who was foolish enough to bring back the Prince instead of reigning in his place,' and he was as good as his word. The only use he made of the ring was to find out family secrets and betray them, to commit murders and every sort of wickedness, and to gain wealth for himself unlawfully. All these crimes, which could be traced to nobody, filled the people with astonishment. The King, seeing so many affairs, public and private, exposed, was at first as puzzled as anyone, till Bramintho's wonderful prosperity and amazing insolence made him suspect that the enchanted ring had become his property. In order to find out the truth he bribed a stranger just arrived at Court, one of a nation with whom the King was always at war, and arranged that he was to steal in the night to Bramintho and to offer him untold honours and rewards if he would betray the State secrets.
Bramintho promised everything, and accepted at once the first payment of his crime, boasting that he had a ring which rendered him invisible, and that by means of it he could penetrate into the most private places. But his triumph was short. Next day he was seized by order of the King, and his ring was taken from him. He was searched, and on him were found papers which proved his crimes; and, though Rosimond himself came back to the Court to entreat his pardon, it was refused. So Bramintho was put to death, and the ring had been even more fatal to him than it had been useful in the hands of his brother.
To console Rosimond for the fate of Bramintho, the King gave him back the enchanted ring, as a pearl without price. The unhappy Rosimond did not look upon it in the same light, and the first thing he did on his return home was to seek the Fairy in the woods.
'Here,' he said, 'is your ring. My brother's experience has made me understand many things that I did not know before. Keep it, it has only led to his destruction. Ah! without it he would be alive now, and my father and mother would not in their old age be bowed to the earth with shame and grief! Perhaps he might have been wise and happy if he had never had the chance of gratifying his wishes! Oh! how dangerous it is to have more power than the rest of the world! Take back your ring, and as ill fortune seems to follow all on whom you bestow it, I will implore you, as a favour to myself, that you will never give it to anyone who is dear to me.'
Fenelon.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/lfb/gn/gnfb14.htm
♥•.¸✽¸.•♥ Prayer to deal with Anger and Frustratio...


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This year, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock dial forward to two minutes to midnight. The symbolic gesture shows that the threat of nuclear war still looms, long after the end of the Cold War. In this article, Sarah Robey, Silvia Berger Ziauddin and Peter Bennesved consider the new age of nuclear fear, emphasize a need to push the boundaries of Cold War civil defense studies and outline the scope of the newly established Transnational Civil Defense Working Group.
Bentwaters Cold War Museum
Bentwaters Cold War Museum is based in the United States Air Force (USAF) hardened command post on the former Bentwaters airbase which closed after the withdrawal of the USAF in 1993, and is believ
Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the German Armed Forces (ZMSBw)
The Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the German Armed Forces (ZMSBw) is a research institute of the Federal German Government.
The Cold War and Cybersecurity
During the 1970s and 80s, the burgeoning field of cybersecurity increasingly became an issue for national security, concerning intelligence services, the Pentagon and the White House. In a new project, the National Security Archive at George Washington University in Washington, DC, makes previously classified documents available to researchers and the interested public. A survey by Klaas Voss.
Department of War Studies and the Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War (King's College London)
In the 1960s the distinguished historian Sir Michael Howard had a vision for a new kind of history of war.
Farewell to the Cold War?
Jan Hansen's intention is "to 'historicize' the debate over rearmament and previous research on it." He endeavors to achieve this by taking an "alien perspective." Both are done with great success, as Karsten D. Voigt emphasized on the occasion of a book presentation hosted by the Willy-Brandt-Foundation on June, 2nd.
50 Years Ago: The "Frexit" Fracas
The tone of voice among allies could hardly have been more brusque. "The French government says it considers," in the words of a German diplomat to his superiors, "NATO obsolete in its present form. It has no illusions, however, that it might win over the other member states with its views. The French government says it knows that these states wish to uphold the principle of integration […]. Therefore the French government believes it would be useless (inutile) to negotiate the matter with its NATO partners." Ultimately, however, the crisis also revealed unexpected opportunities. By Ilse-Dorothee Pautsch.
Atomic Bombs and the Early Cold War
What really happened in the days leading up to the decision to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki may never be known. But there is considerable evidence that diplomatic reasons concerning the Soviet Union — not military reasons concerning Japan — may have been important in the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan in August, 1945. By Gar Alperovitz.
Medicine Against the Cold War
The doctors' organization "International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)" can serve as a vehicle for tracing the close ties between the protests against nuclear armament in the 1980s with the multilayered discussions and debates within West Germany. This is the point at which one must acknowledge that the Cold War had permeated society as a whole.
Sophia Dafinger: The Lessons of War in the Air
At the beginning of the Second World War, air war was an unknown matter. By the conflict's end, however, it was clear that air power had revolutionized future warfare.
Military Landscapes
While in Britain and Denmark the legacies of the Cold War have since been registered as part of the culture of remembrance and in some cases protected as memorials, in Germany the sensitivity for this chapter of recent history is still lacking. The disinterest of the federal, regional and municipal governments is primarily an expression of the historical amnesia abounding since the 1990s. By Ulrich Mählert.
Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy (CENFAD)
The Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy (CENFAD) fosters research and public programming on the historic and contemporary use of force and diplomacy in a national and global context.
Cold War International History Project (Woodrow Wilson Center)
The Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) supports the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War, and seeks to accelerate the process of i
Cold War Studies (Harvard University)
Harvard University is a large research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Public Lecture Series: New Research on the Cold War
In this joint public lecture series with the Humboldt University of Berlin, renowned international historians present their findings to an interested public. Fields and topics include military and diplomatic history, the history of emotions, social movements and "counter-experts", the history of knowledge and science, and cultures of memory. A number of these lectures are in English. Please refer to the more detailed program below for further information.
http://www.berlinerkolleg.com/en/schlagw%C3%B6rter/abschreckung

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
North Rockland
North Rockland Daily Voice serves Garnerville, Grassy Point, Stony Point, Thiells, Tomkins Cove, Village of Haverstraw & West Haverstraw in Haverstraw Town
Ramapo
serves Airmont, Chestnut Ridge, Hillburn, Hillcrest, Kaser, Monsey, Montebello, Mount Ivy, New Hempstead, New Square, Pomona, Sloatsburg, Spring Valley, Suffern, Tallman, Viola & Wesley Hills
Orangetown
serves Blauvelt, Grand View-on-Hudson, Orangeburg, Palisades, Pearl River, Piermont, South Nyack, Sparkill & Tappan
Clarkstown
serves Bardonia, Congers, Nanuet, New City, Upper Nyack, Valley Cottage & West Nyack
Breaking News: 4-Month-Old Boy Found Dead At Rockland Home, Police Say
Man Found Murdered In Home Near Area High School, Police Say
Kathy Reakes
Kingston Police are investigating the murder of a 36-year-old city man. Photo Credit: Pixabay
Man Indicted For Murder Of Popular Musician In Area
Suspect Busted For Stealing $250K Of Phones During Heist At Are…
Area Man Wounded During Shooting Incident, Police Say
Police are investigating the murder of an Ulster County man who was found dead in a home.
Myron T. Moye, 36, of Kingston, was found around 2 a.m., Friday, Nov. 1, at a home on West O'Reilly Street after police received a 911 call, said the Kingston Police.
Responding officers found Moye and began administering first aid until he was transported by emergency medical services to Health Alliance Broadway Campus where he was pronounced dead.
The crime scene, which is close to Kingston High School, prompted the department to notify the school system.
Police are not releasing many details of the crime, except to identify the victim.
Kingston's Mayor, Steve Noble, said on Facebook that the death is the second in the city this year and that both attacks were "targeted and "at this time we do not believe there is a threat to the general public."
"My thoughts are with the family of the victims during this difficult time," Noble said.
The department is being assisted by the Ulster County District Attorney's Office, Ulster County Sheriff's Office, and the New York State Police.
Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to call the Kingston Police Department at 845-331-1671.
Those wishing to remain anonymous are asked to call the TipLine at 845-331-9944 or use the Submit-A-Tip website at https://www.tipsubmit.com/webtipsstart.aspx. All calls will be kept confidential.
Follow Kathy Reakes on Linkedin
COVID-19: New State Guidance Issued For After-School Activities
Beloved West Haverstraw Restaurant Owner Dies At Age 65
Supermarket Planning Move To Bigger Location In Hudson Valley
Not in North Rockland?


text:
Tsao may refer to:

 Ts'ao (the apostrophe is often omitted), the Wade–Giles romanization of the Chinese surname Cao
 Tsao, Botswana, village

See also
 Tsou people
 General Tso's chicken
 General Tsao (disambiguation)
 General Tso (disambiguation)
 Conversations with Tsao

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Possible to create classic C# Code?
I just came across the need to build myself a little tool. This merely consists of a Winform with a textfield. I already built it within a Ranorex CodeModule. Thing is: I'd like to run it independently from Ranorex - just a simple *.exe.
Any chance of of using the Ranorex IDE (which, in my eyes, is 'just' a hyped up visual studio) to create a binary without Ranorex-Overhead?
Re: Possible to create classic C# Code?
I don't think there is a way to create a pure C# solution/project, without Ranorex references and other Ranorex-related files. Of course, you can add plain C# class file, but that's about it. It may be possible to delete all Ranorex-related files and references from the project? However, I think it would be much easier to install SharpDevelop (if you don't want to install and use full visual studio) for developing windows-based exes?
I already did my fair share of messing around (removing headers etc.) but wasn't successful. Sharpdevelop looks ... sharp ( I know, I know..) but my main problem is that I'm working with a very limited account (no downloads, no installations) and have to get around with what I have.
however, I just compiled my first *exe with notepad and csc .... it's not the funniest experience but it works.
The project will still have referenced all Ranorex libs, but there will be no test suite, default recording or repository added to the newly created project. And if you run the project, it will just start the form or class, depending of your template selection. Hope this helps?


Martin Lungley lives and works in Cumbria. He studied at Kent Institute of Art and Design and for many years specialised in the production throwing of terracotta garden pots. After returning in mid career to do an MA at the Royal College of Art, London he now works with thrown porcelain.
Thrown in porcelain with an iron glaze and fired in an oxidising temperature to 1270C, this set is typical of the renewed interest since the 1990s in minimalist forms and white clays. The throwing rings are left very clear and each piece has a gentle indentation appealing to a sense of touch, suggesting the plasticity of unfired clay and a way of holding the form. The cups or yunomi (the Japanese word for tea cup) have no handles to interrupt the line with the emphasis on the form avoiding any sense of applied decoration.


text:
Q: chromedriver.exe not working in Windows Server 2012 I am using selenium and chromedriver for testing. While running my code on window server 2012, the task manager is showing the chromedriver.exe process is running but after 60 second.
I am getting the following exception:

System.InvalidOperationException: unknown error: cannot find Chrome
  binary (Driver info: chromedriver=2.12.301325
  (962dea43ddd90e7e4224a03fa3c36a421281abb7),platform=Windows NT 6.2
  x86_64) at
  OpenQA.Selenium.Remote.RemoteWebDriver.UnpackAndThrowOnError(Response
  errorResponse) at
  OpenQA.Selenium.Remote.RemoteWebDriver.Execute(String
  driverCommandToExecute, Dictionary`2 parameters) at
  OpenQA.Selenium.Remote.RemoteWebDriver.StartSession(ICapabilities
  desiredCapabilities) at
  OpenQA.Selenium.Remote.RemoteWebDriver..ctor(ICommandExecutor
  commandExecutor, ICapabilities desiredCapabilities) at
  OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome.ChromeDriver..ctor(ChromeOptions options) at
  OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome.ChromeDriver..ctor()

Following is the my code segment where the exception is thrown:
The chromedriver.exe is inside C:\inetpub\vhosts\mywebsitename.com\httpdocs\bin
Code:
driver = new ChromeDriver(@"C:\inetpub\vhosts\mywebsitename.com\httpdocs");
driver.Url = "https://www.google.co.in/";

Can anyone suggest me , where is the problem, B'coz chromedriver.exe running process is their in task bar when the program execution starts.

A: Here is the working java code to launch chrome and open the url entered :
public static void main(String[] args) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub

         WebDriver driver;

        System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "Path_to_Chrome.exe\\chromedriver.exe");
        driver= new ChromeDriver();

        driver.manage().window().maximize();

        driver.get("https://facebook.com/");
         driver.close();
}

I hope this will work

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Climate Change Information Gone from DOI Website
By Gretchen Gehrke March 14, 2019 March 14, 2019 Blog
By Gretchen Gehrke
EDGI Report: DOI Further Restricts Access to Climate Change Web Pages
The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) manages approximately one-fifth of the land area of the United States, including millions of acres it leases for oil and gas extraction.[1] In 2018, the DOI opened more land for lease than ever before and boasted that it had the highest number of oil and gas leases in history, reaping $1.1 billion in revenue.[2] Meanwhile fires raged across the western United States throughout the much of 2018. Within weeks of President Trump declaring a State of Emergency for California,[3] EDGI has found that DOI blocked all access to its Climate Change webpage and removed "Climate Change" from its list of priorities.[4]
At one time, the DOI Climate Change webpage had been a central landing page for information about climate change, how climate change is affecting the nation's natural resources, and the strategies DOI uses to address challenges presented by climate change.[5] However, in spring 2017, the DOI stripped almost all of the content from that page, replacing it with a simple paragraph acknowledging that the impacts of climate change affect how DOI needs to manage federal lands.[6] As of spring 2019, climate change information is scarce on the DOI website. In fact, the first page of search results from searching the DOI website for "climate change" or from searching Google for "DOI climate change" include a single resource within the DOI website about climate change, which is a library index with a compilation of links to external resources on climate change.[7] All other results are from agencies within the DOI or from federal coalitions of which the DOI is a part. For a department that manages hundreds of millions of acres and leases tens of millions of acres to an industry whose purpose is to take carbon from the lithosphere in order to introduce it to the atmosphere, it is remarkable that there is now not even a single webpage explicitly about climate change on the DOI website.
[1] Congressional Research Service, "Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data," Report R 42346, March 3, 2017; https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R42346 accessed on March 14, 2019.
[2] Department of the Interior, "Energy Revolution Unleashed: Interior Shatters Previous Records with $1.1 Billion in 2018 Oil and Gas Lease Sales," February 6, 2019; https://www.doi.gov/news/energy-revolution-unleashed-interior-shatters-previous-records-11-billion-2018-oil-and-gas accessed on March 14, 2019.
[3] Federal Emergency Management Agency, "President Donald J. Trump Signs Emergency Declaration for California," July 28, 2018; https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2018/07/28/president-donald-j-trump-signs-emergency-declaration-california accessed on March 14, 2019.
[4] Environmental Data and Governance Initiative, "DOI Further Restricts Access to Climate Change Web Resources," February 28, 2019; https://envirodatagov.org/aar-11-doi-climate-190228/ accessed on March 14, 2019.
[5] https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20170226041139/https://www.doi.gov/climate accessed on March 14, 2019.
[6] Environmental Data and Governance Initiative, "Confirmation of Changes to Department of the Interior's Climate Change Page," April 28, 2017; https://envirodatagov.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/WM-CCR-15-DOI-Climate-Change-Confirmation-170428.pdf accessed on March 14, 2019.
[7] https://www.doi.gov/library/internet/climate accessed on March 14, 2019.
AAR 11 – DOI Climate – 190228
Sage Grouse Informational Resources on BLM Website Inadequate for Public Participation in Management Plan Amendments


Watch the guys live on August 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.
Although Maroon 5 aren't new to the VMAs, the band will make its debut performance at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, which are nearing closer as we approach Sunday, August 24. Let the excitement continue!
Adam Levine and company will perform a song from their upcoming fifth album V (out September 2). The guys join a rapidly growing list of performers for this year's VMAs, including Usher, Ariana Grande and 5 Seconds of Summer.
Voting for the 2014 VMAs is open, so get clickin'!
And while Maroon 5 have never performed on the VMA stage, it is definitely not their first VMA encounter. The band has won big in the past, beating out Kanye West, Jet and Yellowcard in 2004 for Best New Artist. They've also won Moonmen for Best Group Video ("This Love") in 2004, Best Group in 2007 and Best Pop Video ("Payphone") in 2012.


Welcome to the Centennial Skating Club website!
Centennial Skating Club, established in 1976, is a non-profit United States Figure Skating member club that supports and promotes figure skating in all capacities. Our members include competitive and recreational skaters who range in level from Basic Skills to Juniors, Seniors and Adults. Our home ice is at Sertich Ice Center in Memorial Park in Colorado Springs, CO and our secondary ice is at the Colorado Sports Center in Monument, CO.
We are always welcoming new members, and we hope you'll join us!
Centennial Skating Club is celebrating birthdays.
Our Spring Butter Braid fundraiser is now underway. We will be taking orders until May 3rd. Delivery date is May 10th at Sertich at 5:30pm.
The volunteer schedule for the Midwestern Adult Sectionals is now available for club members to register.


text:
Summer School at ICS London
A summer school in the heart of London, based at ICS International Community School, which is a member of the Globeducate group and has extensive experience in teaching English as a second language. This is a fully immersive international experience for students between 3 and 18 years old.
Interested? We can help you!
Country prefix Prefix +34 +93 +297 +244 +1264 +355 +376 +599 +971 +54 +374 +1684 +672 +1268 +61 +43 +994 +257 +32 +229 +226 +880 +359 +973 +1242 +387 +590 +375 +501 +1441 +591 +55 +1246 +673 +975 +267 +236 +1 +61 +41 +56 +86 +225 +237 +243 +242 +682 +57 +269 +238 +506 +53 +61 +1345 +357 +420 +49 +253 +1767 +45 +1809 +213 +593 +20 +291 +372 +251 +358 +679 +500 +33 +298 +691 +241 +44 +995 +441481 +233 +350 +224 +590 +220 +245 +240 +30 +1473 +299 +502 +594 +1671 +592 +852 +504 +385 +509 +36 +62 +44 +91 +353 +98 +964 +354 +972 +39 +1876 +962 +81 +7 +254 +996 +855 +686 +1869 +82 +965 +856 +961 +231 +218 +1758 +423 +94 +266 +370 +352 +371 +853 +1599 +212 +377 +373 +261 960 +52 +692 +389 +223 +356 +95 +382 +976 +1670 +258 +222 +1664 +230 +265 +60 +262 +264 +687 +227 +234 +505 +683 +31 +47 +977 +674 +64 +968 +92 +507 870 +51 +63 +680 +675 +48 +1 +850 +351 +595 +689 +974 +40 +7 +250 +966 +249 +221 +221 +290 +677 +232 +503 +378 +252 +508 +381 +239 +597 +421 +386 +46 +268 +248 +248 +1649 +235 +228 +66 +992 +690 +993 +670 +676 +1868 +216 +90 +688 +886 +255 +256 +380 +598 +1 +998 +39 +1784 +58 +1284 +1340 +84 +678 +681 +685 +967 +27 +260 +263
Reason for consultation
The summer school programmes run by ICS International Community School offer students between 3 and 18 years old an immersive linguistic experience right in the heart of London, delivered by a centre which has specialised in teaching English as a second language since 1979. The ICS education programmes are presented in a global context accredited by the International Baccalaureate system, and students work towards a globally recognised qualification that prepares them for entry to the most prestigious universities throughout the world.
The summer schools run by ICS London offer much more than an academic programme; their global, collaborative philosophy develops internationally-minded students with great self-confidence and excellent social skills. Students from all over the world are made to feel right at home at ICS and lasting friendships grow between children from different countries and backgrounds, which is an essential part of a truly global education.
The International Community School summer camps are dynamic, with each week focussing on a particular theme such as the culture, history and architecture of London. The students have access to the latest technology and are able to participate in non-academic subjects such as music or dance, which brings a fun element to the immersive linguistic experience, particularly for the youngest students. This is an exceptional international experience for students of all ages.
ICS offers three different types of English summer schools: English skills for academic subjects, English conversation skills, and their "Ticket to UK Universities", an intensive two-week course, which fully prepares students for the IELTS (International English Language Testing Service), the world's most widely recognised English language proficiency test, which is highly regarded in tertiary education circles.
Visit the ICS website
WHAT THOSE INVOLVED HAVE TO SAY
"I have joined [ICS London Summer School] for 6 years in a row and I have always had a great time and I have improved my English a lot."
Secondary Pupil
"I don't want to leave the school I want to stay here. I am so sad to leave."
Hamad, 9 years old, Saudi Arabia
Primary pupil


text:
Joseph M. Hanna Featured in "Buffalo Game Changers," Buffalo Spree
Joseph M. Hanna
"For Buffalo attorney Joseph Hanna, positive change for WNY begins with the simple fundamentals of inclusion and outreach," notes Buffalo Spree magazine in its profile of Goldberg Segalla partner Joseph M. Hanna. "His community work is focused on promoting diversity and supporting active members and veterans of the US military — all of which, he believes, adds up to a stronger future."
Buffalo Spree named Joe one of its Game Changers in a feature highlighting the "next generation of planners and shakers" who are defining Western New York's future. Joe was honored in the Connectors category.
"Buffalo Game Changers: Joseph Hanna," Buffalo Spree, December 2012
In a Look Ahead to 2022, Three Goldberg Segalla Partners Interviewed by Law360
Buffalo Business First Profiles Joseph M. Hanna's Passion to Help Vets and Active Military
Joseph M. Hanna Interviewed by the Golf Channel in Recognition of Bunkers in Baghdad on Veterans Day


GRAND RAPIDS – An unused parking lot at the south end of Heritage Hill could bring much-needed green-space to the historic district, neighborhood residents told city commissioners Tuesday.
While some questioned including a vacant city-owned lot at the northeast corner of Pleasant Street and Madison Avenue into "Pleasant Park," most residents were enthusiastic about applying for a $300,000 state grant that would help develop the former Department of Human Services parking lot across the street.
"The Pleasant Park property represents an opportunity we cannot afford to lose," said Tim England, president of the South Hill Neighborhood Association.
"My goal is to get her here for the dedication," England said.
Supporters of the grant application included neighborhood residents Peter Homeyer, executive director of the Nature Conservancy of West Michigan and Rachel Hood-Petroelje, executive director of the West Michigan Environmental Action Council.
Homeyer, whose group raises private funds to match state grants for green space acquisitions, told city commissioners that Trust Fund officials are eager to fund urban initiatives like Pleasant Park.
City Planning Director Suzanne Schulz, also a Heritage Hill resident, brought two of her children, 11-year-old Jacob and 4-year-old Chloe, to testify in favor of plans to convert the parking lot obtained by the city in a 2010 land swap with Kent County.
If the city gets the $300,000 grant from the Michigan Natural Resources's Trust Fund, it would have to find a 25 percent match and an additional $517,452 to complete the proposed park development.
"This kind of enthusiasm may have to bubble over into fund-raising to make it work," said Mayor George Heartwell.


Pick Up the August/September 2013 Issue of Brides on Newsstands Now!
In this month's issue, we spared no detail when it came to stylish ideas for your wedding day. The August/September issue of Brides—our "Style Issue"—is packed with nearly 700 sparkly accessories, fun ideas, and creative details, including a handful of wedding dresses under $1,000, the prettiest wedding cakes across America, and a romantic fashion spread filled with inspiration for the most ethereal garden wedding one could imagine. Oh, and let us not forget that in this month's issue we also reveal all the details from Brides Live Wedding, including tons of photos from winning couple Briana and Jason's big day.
If you haven't already picked up your August/September issue of Brides, get on it! We're already counting down the days until the October/November issue hits newsstands.
Subscribe to Brides and Get Two Free Gifts!


It's a night for scary surprises, lots of free candy for kiddies and the chance to dress up in Halloween costumes. And, even though he cannot eat chocolate, Fido may enjoy getting all dolled up for a night of fun. In recent years, designers have begun manufacturing Halloween costumes for pets. In creations ranging from super heros to villains, pet costumes are gaining in popularity both locally and through online merchants.
With the internet being the largest shopping mall in the world, albeit a virtual one, the selection of Halloween costumes is much greater in cyberspace. Designers and specialty stores around the world have the opportunity to showcase their latest ideas and fabrics that are sure to please even the pickiest of pet owners. Anyone who plans to order via the internet can expect to pay a shipping and handling fee, but with Halloween costumes being lightweight, this additional cost won't likely be a significant one.
When selecting Halloween costumes for pets, it is a good idea to measure your cat or dog beforehand so that you will know what size to purchase. That's right. Not all Halloween costumes for pets come in a one-size-fits-all cookie cutter shape. In fact, most quality outfits will be specially made for various size animals. A yellow lab and a poodle probably wouldn't agree on the same size costume, so stay away from designers that gear toward the one-size-fits-all design.
When selecting Halloween costumes, it is a good idea to choose one that will be most comfortable for your furry little friend. Remember, they are also wearing a fur coat, so anything that is breathable will be ideal. It's also a good idea to keep in mind that most pets will be resistant to Halloween costumes at first, simply because it is a new concept. If you plan to show them off on Halloween, make sure that you break them in several days prior to the big night. One way to do this is by showing them the costume, putting it on for a few minutes and then removing it. Afterward, give them a treat and praise them for good behavior. After several of these exercises, not only will your pet be happy to wear the costume, but he/she will also be looking forward to a treat afterward. So, just make sure that you have a special treat for them on Halloween as well - but no chocolate.


Main floor ticket in a reclinable chair with a movable armrest and built-in cupholder. All online ticket sales are open-section seating -- THIS DOES NOT RESERVE A SPECIFIC SEAT.
Upstairs seating with cushioned seats and armrests. Non-obstructed, full view of theater stage. Best sight lines for the second act of the show. All online ticket sales are open-section seating - THIS DOES NOT RESERVE A SPECIFIC SEAT.
It's the Season 9 Premiere of the Harbor Beach Gameshow Series! Order tickets online beginning on Wednesday, May 01 at 5PM.
*Day-of tickets will be available, pending online sales.
Show begins at 7:05 pm, Saturday, May 11, 2019.
Doors open at 6:00 pm with pre-show entertainment starting at 6:40 pm.