#hotel st Philip

[nakeddeparture]

Xavier Zair Leon Stoute, 18, is accused of rape and attempted murder - Victim at the QEH - He’s at Hotel St Philip/Dodds - Barbados.

https://youtu.be/NO2eethCZ4g

What do you naysayers have to say about what’s happening in Barbados? Naked!!

Like/share/SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel - ✔️🔔/HAVE YOUR SAY/comment on YouTube (it costs you nothing). WhatsApp #2527225512.

[tiarascrowns]

CHAUMET ART DECO DIAMOND TIARA

"Property from the Collection of Margaret Thompson Biddle

CHAUMET ART DECO DIAMOND TIARA Old-cut diamonds, platinum (French marks), circa 1930, maker's mark.

Margaret Thompson Biddle was born in Helena, Montana in 1896. She was the daughter of notable copper miner and financier, William Boyce Thompson.

Margaret’s father was born and raised around mining in Montana, so it was no surprise that he went on to make a name for himself in the copper mining industry. He attended the prestigious Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, and Columbia University. After retiring from the New York Stock Exchange around 1915, Thompson’s interests returned back to mining where he founded the Newmont Mining Corporation.

Margaret Thompson married Anthony Drexel Biddle Jr. in 1931. That year he was also appointed the Minister to Norway by President Roosevelt, and then Ambassador to Poland 1937. This role led Biddle and his family all over the world. After fleeing Poland in 1939, they landed in England for one of Anthony’s commissions. In this position, he worked with the governments-in-exile of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Yugoslavia. Biddle held numerous ambassador positions in the years that followed before re-enlisting in the army in 1944.

Margaret relocated to France after she and Anthony separated at the end of World War II. She had a home on the French Riviera, and a spectacular hotel particulier on the notable boulevard St. Germain in Paris. Not only was she a writer and author of The Women of England, Margaret was also known to be quite the hostess and socialite. One could find the Eisenhowers, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and many other notable French creatives at her soirees.

In addition to having a wonderful jewelry collection, Margaret was an avid collector of fine porcelain, silver, home furnishings and art by the most distinguished artists and makers. She gifted a 1,575 piece dinnerware service to former First Lady Eisenhower. Select pieces of the ‘Vermeil’ collection are still on display at The White House present day."

- Christies

[piratefalls]

i'm back with a header i like a lot more. this one's a little shorter than usual, but still has a little of everything. also, instead of individual links we've graduated to a masterlist!

masterlist.

you've ruined my life (by not being mine) by coffeecatsme

“I have a secret,” Alex whispers in his ear—he’s sprawled over Henry on the couch, calves and thighs and chests pressed together, breath washing over Henry’s skin. “I shouldn’t tell you.” “Oh?” Alex nods vehemently. “Can’t lose you,” he murmurs, fingertips on Henry’s face, and Christ that touch is deadly. “Can’t tell you I love you. You’d leave.” Henry stares. “Oh.”

i speak in grey (to match the shades on the inside of my brain) by sticktothescript

He spends all of that week researching what non-binary means, but he pointedly ignores the squirming feeling of excitement in his chest. He’s just curious, that’s all. That’s all it can be. He’s lived his whole life as a man. He’s the First Son. There’s no room for testing boundaries when the people need him. --- or; a 5+1 of Alex Claremont-Diaz exploring gender identity

And The Show Goes On by orestespdf

For the second time that evening, a hand suddenly smacks his shoulder. Henry looks up, expecting Philip, but instead he is greeted with a smarmy smile. Henry’s stomach drops at the sight of the man who stands behind him. “Christopher,” Philip laughs. His brother stands, and he and the man shake hands vigorously above Henry’s head. Henry wants to melt into his seat and disappear. “I’m so glad you could make it. Henry, you remember my mate, Christopher Lewis?” Henry stares down at the intricately folded napkin in front of him. Christopher Lewis: 2011 St Andrews graduate, former head of the Eton rugby club, excellent skier, wine aficionado. Seven years older than Henry. Green eyes. Nice shoulders. Yes, Henry remembers Christopher Lewis. He wishes he didn’t. After years of not seeing him, Henry runs into Philip's old friend again. Fallout ensues.

heartbeats under coats by HypnosTheory

Alex, a DC lawyer on his way back from a work trip, is stranded in New York after a freak blizzard grounds all flights. He gets the last available hotel room on the island, but a freak error means the room is double booked. Unwilling to leave the other stranded, both men agree to share the room and wait out the blizzard together.

don't just give it up. by smc_27

Alex checks the flight path for the 12th time this minute, and then rolls his eyes and groans. Amy, next to him, opens one eye. He apologizes wordlessly and tries to stop being so fucking antsy. Look. Look. He’s got something - someone - fucking perfect waiting for him across the Atlantic. If anyone knew what exactly he’s flying to, they’d speed the plane the fuck up and get him there.

this moment in time by rizcriz

She moves away from the couch, crossing her arms over her chest. “What did you do, Alex?” He turns back to the table and puts his hands in his hair as he leans over the cup of coffee. “I made Henry a christmas card, and snuck it into his bag before he left for London.” “Okay?” “I may have used it as a vessel to confess my feelings for him.” He says it fast, almost too quickly to be understood, but June’s had a lifetime of translating Alex-speak, and he hears her quick intake of breath and pulls his hands from his hair to look over his shoulder at her. -- Or, it's a New Years to remember.

when the silence screams by teacupivy

Today, Henry comes home to a stillness that’s out of place in the usually bustling December air. It's only a little disconcerting. or Alex is incredibly frustrated with the state of life and Henry offers to get on his knees.

i dream of our odyssey by violetbaudelairequagmire

Alex rests his elbows on the counter of the small cafe attached to Bankston’s Books, enjoying the quiet period in between the morning stay-at-home-mom-crying-toddler storytime crowd and the rush of college students that appear in the afternoon. It’s only a couple hours, but it’s nice to have that time with just a few black coffees in between the rush of “pumpkin spice latte and a cakepop” and “quad shot espressos and keep them coming” that dominate the busy periods at the bookstore. He’s not complaining though- he loves this job. He gets a discount on books, no one cares how much coffee he drinks in a shift, and, in the last couple of weeks, he’s had a great view of the new guy quietly shelving books. it's a bookstore au!

Shatter Me by politics_and_prose

Henry is resigned to the life he's meant to lead until he meets a man so full of happiness and life that he's got no choice but to confront the secret he's been keeping for years.

Singularity by OrchidScript

"Henry didn’t try to resist. He’d lost his capacity for it the moment his scruffy looking nerf herder had stood in the White House press room and called Henry his choice. Under the onslaught of purposeful dragging of fingernails, featherlight touches under tables, the pink-bitten promise of more, Henry abandoned all defense. He willingly succumbed to his fiancé’s heated breath and honeyed words." The boys find inspiration in a hotel room armchair.

In Every Universe by clottedcreamfudge

Alex and Henry will find each other in every universe. A series of either explicitly or implicitly soulmate-themed AUs, which are all heading in one very specific direction.

You Remind Me of Home by athousandrooms & ifyoustay

Henry had taken the news that he was being summoned to England early much worse than Alex had. He'd left him with a million apologies on his lips. Alex had swallowed them all with a parting kiss and the promise of seeing him on the 23rd, knowing full well that no matter how much as much as he wished to, he couldn’t afford to travel with him during finals season of his first year of Law School. It's been a week, and Alex... Alex would give anything to have Henry here. But, all's well that ends well, as they say.

well we're not here to fuck ducks by stutteringpeach

Henry is looking for someone to help him with his duck study. He makes quite a serious typo in his 'All Staff' email.

with my name on your lips, tell me how does it taste by viciouslyqueer

“I don’t think anyone will be offended if two... very close friends decide to try it out, H. I certainly won’t.” Alex laughs when Henry fixes him with a half-hearted glare. “And you felt the need to track me down and show me this on a random Tuesday morning because...” Henry trails off with a perfectly arched brow. It’s infuriatingly attractive. Alex braces himself on the table and leans in, stopping with his mouth an inch away from Henry’s ear. He can almost hear him holding his breath. “Because I want to take my time with you, sweetheart,” Alex whispers sweetly. “And this is the perfect opportunity.”

Don't - Don't You Want Me? by absoluteaudacity

Alex is bad at communicating sometimes.

(you might be) someone i could love by weather_stained

(...or you're just somebody I fucked once.) After Henry has an anonymous one-night stand at a party, he can't stop thinking about the boy with the beautiful brown eyes and messy curls. Months later, Pez scores them an invitation to spend Thanksgiving weekend with June Claremont-Diaz, her girlfriend, and her brother, at her family's lakehouse. It could be the second chance he's been looking for, or he could be stuck hopelessly pining for someone who only ever wanted sex.

Locked In by allmylovesatonce

After their night together in Paris, Henry and Alex get quarantined in their hotel, locked in for two full weeks.

hours by demigodbeautiies

Although the White House is fast, the British press is faster. It has to be a leak. An accident. A screw up. There's no way a story like this would be allowed to break if anyone had actual control over the situation. Perhaps the entire headline is wrong, and the agonising lurch in Henry's stomach is for nothing. He reads it again. BREAKING: Son of US President Ellen Claremont abducted, held hostage. Watch for LIVE updates.

Forty-Four Days by bleedingballroomfloor

"God, I haven't seen you in forty-four days," Alex suddenly spits, and Henry feels the pain of his words in his own chest, like ice replacing the blood in his veins. Because that's it, isn't it? Forty-four days of separation. Forty-four days of waking up to an empty bed, of making coffee along with his tea only to realize that Alex isn't there to drink it, of long meetings without any of Alex's witty jokes, of cold hands on chilly autumn walks because Alex isn't there to warm them up. Maybe it's the simple fact of hearing for the first time, or maybe it's the tipping point of the taxing day, but Henry feels something inside of him snap, and — And all he knows is that he needs to see Alex now.

Hope is a Five-Alarm Fire by AnchoredArchangel

“I’m just saying- we know you, Alejandro. I've ran the odds and with your personal history of decision-making and impulse control, there’s a less than four percent chance you of all people didn’t shoot your shot. Even if he’s in the closet. Even if he’s supposedly straight. Even if he’s a prince. You love a good story.” Doesn’t he ever. Too bad he’s never going to get the chance to tell this one. Or: Alex returns to real life after crossing the actual Prince of England off his totally superfluous valid No Consequences Sex List. It does not go quite like he expected.

Wrap Me Up, Unfold Me by @sparklepocalypse

After the Kensington confrontation, Henry gets on the plane with Alex. (Or, Henry and Alex join the Mile High Club in filthy, spectacular fashion.)

Shameless by everwitch

Henry has a lot of sex. A lot. He's young and in college and there is no shortage of men to fall in bed with. What better time to explore what he likes and what he fucking loves, as well as to catalogue how to make his many, many partners feel as good as possible? It’s all part of the learning experience. And Henry is a very dedicated student. Alex has been inescapably aware of Henry ever since that one time they kissed. You don’t just stop being aware of the guy who basically caused your sexuality. So when Henry propositions Alex at a lame frat party, Alex accepts eagerly. Maybe this is exactly what he needs. Maybe, if he can just have Henry once, he’ll have a better chance of finally getting over his embarrassing fixation with Henry. It's worth a try.

3/4ths Cup of Love by inexplicablymine

“What the fuck are you doing with my pinto beans?” “It says I need them for pie weights.” “Hell no, baby, sweetheart. Over my dead body are you using the beans I use for mole for your quiche recipe. I would like us to eat these.” “Hey!” “If you put my beans in the oven, I will make it so you can’t possibly ever put a bun in the oven.” “Noted.” Or, The ups and downs of Henry learning how to perfect his quiche recipe.

A Practical Arrangement by kiwiana

“I know.” In fairness, he didn’t ask his mom to delay the wedding after the betrothal was made official when he turned eighteen. It wasn’t that she expected another option to materialise—he’s pretty sure she was trying to give him and Henry more time to get to know each other, maybe move past their open animosity a little. They’ve been pushed together every few months for the last three years, their marriage an inevitability. “I just… I still can’t quite get my head around it, you know? Married. To Henry.”

if you ever want me to tag you, let me know!

tagging: @starkfridays @stilesgivesmefeels

[spiky-berry21]

Took awhile, but the last of the trio is finally finished! I present to you:

Transcription (due to the trend endlessly blurry images):

Born: 14th of February, 1901

Boston, Massachusetts

Born to Marie and Philip Caradine. Angelique, or ‘Angel’ as she calls herself nowadays, had had a fairly normal upbringing in the early years leading up to 1912. Well... If you discounted the gang her family were associated with.

Being the youngest of the Caradine siblings, she was coddled and babied by her older siblings and parents. Often told by her relatives that she had a wonderful voice. Though, not all was happy in the Caradine household. As a week after her eleventh birthday, her brothers and father would be massacred in an unseen ambush by a rival gang over a turf of land. Forcing her remaining family into a miserable ten years of poverty.

From that point on, Angelique would use the only thing she was ever good at to help her family from falling to famine. That being her voice. Singing for small crowds in the streets, and when she got older, on the stage in dance halls, or really any place that would have her. Whilst her two remaining siblings, Remy and Dotty, would take turns collecting the payments and performing alongside her. That was most likely how she got scouted. Eventually it became a career for her as she reached her early twenties, and at the age of twenty-one, she would leave behind the house she and her family had bought in Tennessee. Travelling around the southern half of America for a few years or so, before moving to St. Louis, Missouri, due to her newfound employment at the ‘Hotel Maribel’. Sure, she lives in a dingy little hotel room on the outskirts of St. Louis. But as long as she kept on moving, things would surely come her way eventually... Right?

Aside from singing her heart out on stage, Angel has shown to be quite proficient in dance. Commonly incorporating a slice of choreography into her performances whenever the moment arises. She has also shown to be quite skilled in the art of gossip, making it all the more chaotic due to her rather sociable nature. And the fact that when you get her to start, you can’t get her to stop. In addition to being the queen of smack-talk, it is relatively unknown to most cats that she speaks a small bit of French. Mostly due to her mother’s French ancestry. Oh, and if you were wondering, yes she does have an accent. She just likes to suppress it.

As always, have a magnifique day/night! 😘

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Timeline: Part 10 - December 11-31 2017

For earlier timeline posts: click here or here.

There's a limit to how many links you can put in a tumblr post. Who knew. Anyway, continuing where we left off...

12/11/2017: Andrew Morton announces new biography of Meghan. Rebecca English writes about Meghan's yoga influencing. Meghan's "Sexy Santa" costume from Deal or No Deal is republished. Kensington Palace announces William and Kate's trip to Sweden and Norway, and The Times debunks The Crown.

12/12/2017: Harry and his friends kill 15 boars during German hunting trip (Meghan's not happy). Harry and Meghan take credit for William and Kate showing a little PDA on an engagement, while Meghan merches her parka. Later, William and Harry attend the Star Wars premiere.

12/13/2017: Kensingon Palace officially confirms Meghan is spending Christmas with the royals. Meghan is revealed as Google's most-searched celebrity of 2017. Meghan merches her handbags, especially Strathberry's, and modernizes the monarchy.

A UK survey finds that a majority of their respondents are unhappy with Harry's engagement:

67% of women surveyed are devastated by the engagement announcement.

20% of overall respondents prefer Harry to be single.

57% of respondents are against Harry marrying Meghan.

And Meghan leaks that Kate has taken her under her wing to protect her from negative parts of royal life. She tells The Express that "Harry is like a brother to Kate and she has never seen him so happy."

12/14/2017: Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, announces that he expects to preside over the royal wedding. In the morning, the royals attend a service for Grenfell Tower at St. Paul's Cathedral (Meghan isn't allowed) and they gather again in the afternoon for The Queen's annual Windsor Christmas luncheon at Buckingham Palace (Meghan is invited). In the evening, the Kensington Palace Christmas party is held at a nearby restaurant that Harry and Meghan may or may not have attended (it's claimed they left early) while William and Kate are papped leaving.

Meghan merches Strathberry again and she is named the #4 Fashion Influencer of the Year, besting Kate who comes in at #5. (I really doubt Kate cares about this.)

12/15/2017: Kensington Palace announces the wedding date. Palace gift shops begin selling engagement memorabilia. Harry visits Sandhurst Academy and awards Cadet of the Year. Idris Elba shows support for Meghan while Meghan merches tea tree oil.

12/16/2017: Meghan teases a Canada tour post-wedding again.

12/17/2017:

The Daily Mail reminds us that Meghan is attending royal Christmas.

Harry announces that he has interviewed Barack Obama for BBC Radio 4 Today, but the interview won't air until the end of the month.

Meghan used to work at a yogurt store in LA as a teenager and everyone just loved her.

William's diary clash: Harry scheduled his wedding on the same day as the FA Cup Final, which William usually attends.

To prep The Queen and Prince Philip for spending Christmas with Meghan, Harry says he has shown them clips of Meghan in Suits.

Windsor hotels begin to profit off the wedding by marketing Meghan and Harry.

12/18/2017: The Cambridges release their Christmas card photo and Kensington Palace announces that Charlotte will begin nursery school in the new year. Meghan is voted one of the UK's ideal Christmas dinner guests and she leaks that The Queen likes her better than Kate but Buckingham Palace hits back with a denial.

12/19/2017: William and Kate attend the Royal Variety Performance. Meghan tries to ride their coattails by hinting she and Harry may be their guests and Harry is appointed Captain General Royal Marines, succeeding Philip.

Sketches of potential wedding dresses are published/leaked again.

Doria is papped at a LA laundromat.

Meet Meghan's lookalike

Will Meghan have to curtsey to Kate?

Meghan is crowned Hello Magazine's "Woman of the Year."

12/20/2017: Meghan hypes up her Kate-like style makeover from the Windsor Christmas luncheon at Buckingham Palace and merches her dress again. More wedding dress sketches are published.

12/21/2017: The royal engagement photos are published and:

Prince Philip and The Queen leave London for Sandringham.

Meghan modernizes the monarchy.

Meghan merches Ralph & Russo.

Body language analysis

Yorkies are papped at Soho House.

Meghan leaks that The Queen wants her and Harry to have a prenup and that she (Meghan) is hurt the family thinks she has an ulterior motive for marrying Harry. (Well...) In the same article, Meghan teases her and Harry's individual net worths and hints at the wedding budget - £22 million minimum overall cost and her dress budget is £375,000.

Harry debunks Meghan's PR about the prenup, saying no one asked for one and that William and Kate don't have one so they don't need one.

Meghan v Kate fashion showdown over their engagement photos.

12/22/2017:

Princess Michael's Blackamoor brooch controversy kicks off.

Cambridge vs Sussex engagement portraits showdown

Meghan merches her Ralph & Russo gown again

Press criticism of the engagement photos begin

Meghan takes credit for Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner posing together.

12/23/2017: Meghan announces that Guy has broken two legs in an unprecedented Kensington Palace statement and her lookalike does a wedding dress photoshoot.

12/24/2017: Meghan leaks that Harry will not participate in the royal family's Boxing Day shoot because it would upset her.

12/25/2017: Meghan joins the royal family on their Christmas Church Walk. She merches her coat and her hat is the stuff of poo memes.

12/26/2017: Criticism from Meghan's Christmas Church Walk continues with coverage on her curtsey fail and sticking her tongue out. Meghan also merches her outfit again.

12/27/2017: Harry's interview with Barack Obama is finally released. He makes a "we're the family she never had" comment that sets the Markles off. Harry also bans blood diamonds from Meghan's jewelry and Meghan merches her lip gloss.

12/28/2017: Some poor media intern who listened to the Harry/Obama interview realizes that Harry invited the Obamas to the wedding. Meghan deals with more curtsey criticism. She deflects by announcing that she was shortlisted to be the new Bond Girl but she had to give the role up because of her relationship with the Harry. Meghan also merches the Soho House restaurant she and Harry had their first date.

12/29/2017: The royal family's engagement count for the year is released and Harry worked more than William and Kate. The Markles begin popping off about Harry's "we're the family she never had" comment.

12/30/2017: No new Meghan or Harkle stories.

12/31/2017: No new Meghan or Harkle stories.

[shawolsos]

I've been thinking about Henry and Alex's wedding again

I think that it would be absolutely balls-to-the-walls fucking mental. It'd be a royal wedding that even my parents and I (very much anti-monarchist) would watch and enjoy. I want a royal wedding that would give Piers Morgan cardiac arrest six ways from Sunday.

Like, speakers on every street corner blasting Bowie, Jagger, Queen, Blondie, Gloria Gaynor, Taylor Swift and One Direction.

If they HAVE to sing God Save the Queen, I want it sang by Adam Lambert while Brian May absolutely shreds a guitar solo on the top of Buckingham Palace.

An autumn wedding because Henry told Alex that if a wedding happens during term-time, kids get the day off school and who is he to deny them that.

Mexican food and burgers and hot dogs, curries and fish and chips. None of this pretentious canopies and whatever else it is rich people have at weddings

Cornettos and wedding cake made of red velvet and funfetti.

Elton John singing "Your Song" as a first dance.

Queen Catherine leading Britain's nobility in the Macarena and the Cha Cha Slide and Martha having to drag Philip onto the dancefloor.

Foreign Monarchs and Dignitaries and the fucking Prime Minister's Cabinet becoming wild party animals for one night and one night only.

Jaffa Cake donuts, because they're a thing and they are the best thing ever.

The presenting team has Holly and Phil but also Baga Chipz, Lawrence Chaney, Suzi Ruffell, Tom Alan, Rylan, Nick Grimshaw, Graham Norton, Sue Perkins, Courtney Act, Trixie Mattel, Katya Zamo and the original cast of Horrible Histories (cuz Henry loved that show as a kid and you can't convince me otherwise)

The guest list includes Britain and America's gay icons except for Ellen. The entire Harry Potter cast and NOT JKR every James Bond actor they can get and kids from Henry's shelters.

Traditional CofE readings but also passages from the great FEMALE writers of Britain and classical mythology and Sappho.

Mexican love songs in the middle of the service, that make everyone tear up, regardless of whether they understand Spanish.

Their personally written vows would be exchanged in a private ceremony the day before.

Ellen and Oscar walking Alex down the aisle.

Shaan and Zahra being event coordinators.

St. George's Chapel being decked out in beautiful floral arrangements.

Pez and Nora being the best best man and woman.

Pez, June and Nora getting blackout drunk and ending up in the same hotel room.

Bea and Catherine staying back to help with the clean up and taking loads of left overs back up to the apartment to share with the staff.

Ellen, Oscar, Luna and Leo managing to slip away from their security and going to a nightclub in Soho and sending some very confusing but hysterical voice notes to Alex.

Henry stopping the car to get a donner kebab because he's English and drunk.

Apartment 6F becoming royalists for the first and only time in their lives and setting aside a whole week to watch everything related to it.

Street Parties in London and Washington going from the night before until the night after.

Sweet elderly people who have been in the crowd at every royal wedding for the last sixty years and have become very supportive of the queer community ever since their grandchildren came out to them.

A proper English Bloke™ who looks like he'd be homophobic but isn't and a bi girl with pink hair and a nose ring getting absolutely plastered together.

A sea of Union Jacks and Star-Spangled Banners being waved alongside every variety of Pride Flag.

It'd be a royal wedding that literally no other couple would be capable of planning.

[fromkenari]

Waterloo Letters #4 (3/4): Hometown stuff

Here’s an idea: Do you know, I’ve realised I’ve never actually told you what I thought the first time we met? You see, for me, memories are difficult. Very often, they hurt. A curious thing about grief is the way it takes your entire life, all those foundational years that made you who you are, and makes them so painful to look back upon because of the absence there, that suddenly they’re inaccessible. You must invent an entirely new system. I started to think of myself and my life and my whole lifetime worth of memories as all the dark, dusty rooms of Buckingham Palace. I took the night Bea left rehab and I begged her to take it seriously, and I put it in a room with pink peonies on the wallpaper and a golden harp in the center of the floor. I took my first time, with one of my brother’s mates from uni when I was seventeen, and I found the smallest, most cramped little broom cupboard I could muster, and I shoved it in. I took my father’s last night, the way his face went slack, the smell of his hands, the fever, the waiting and waiting and terrible waiting and the even worse not-waiting anymore, and I found the biggest room, a ballroom, wide open and dark, windows drawn and covered. Locked the doors. But the first time I saw you. Rio. I took that down to the gardens. I pressed it into the leaves of a silver maple and recited it to the Waterloo Vase. It didn’t fit in any rooms. You were talking with Nora and June, happy and animated and fully alive, a person living in dimensions I couldn’t access, and so beautiful. Your hair was longer then. You weren’t evena president’s son yet, but you weren’t afraid. You had a yellow ipê-amarelo in your pocket. I thought, this is the most incredible thing I have ever seen, and I had better keep it a safe distance away from me. I thought, if someone like that ever loved me, it would set me on fire. And then I was a careless fool, and I fell in love with you anyway. When you rang me at truly shocking hours of the night, I loved you. When you kissed me in disgusting public toilets and pouted in hotel bars and made me happy in ways in which it had never even occurred to me that a mangled-up, locked-up person like me could be happy, I loved you. And then, inexplicably, you had the absolute audacity to love me back. Can you believe it? Sometimes, even now, I still can’t. I’m sorry things didn’t go better with Philip. I wish I could send hope. Yours, Henry P.S. From Michelangelo to Tommaso Cavalieri, 1533: I know well that, at this hour, I could as easily forget your name as the food by which I live; nay, it were easier to forget the food, which only nourishes my body miserably, than your name, which nourishes both body and soul, filling the one and the other with such sweetness that neither weariness nor fear of death is felt by me while memory preserves you to my mind. Think, if the eyes could also enjoy their portion, in what condition I should find myself.

McQuiston, Casey. Red, White & Royal Blue: A Novel (pp. 298-301). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

1 | 2 | 4

[manwalksintobar]

Call It Music  // Philip Levine

Some days I catch a rhythm, almost a song   in my own breath. I'm alone here   in Brooklyn Heights, late morning, the sky   above the St. George Hotel clear, clear   for New York, that is. The radio playing   "Bird Flight," Parker in his California   tragic voice fifty years ago, his faltering   "Lover Man" just before he crashed into chaos.   I would guess that outside the recording studio   in Burbank the sun was high above the jacarandas,   it was late March, the worst of yesterday's rain   had come and gone, the sky washed blue. Bird   could have seen for miles if he'd looked, but what   he saw was so foreign he clenched his eyes,   shook his head, and barked like a dog—just once—   and then Howard McGhee took his arm and assured him   he'd be OK. I know this because Howard told me   years later that he thought Bird could   lie down in the hotel room they shared, sleep   for an hour or more, and waken as himself.   The perfect sunlight angles into my little room   above Willow Street. I listen to my breath   come and go and try to catch its curious taste,   part milk, part iron, part blood, as it passes   from me into the world. This is not me,   this is automatic, this entering and exiting,   my body's essential occupation without which   I am a thing. The whole process has a name,   a word I don't know, an elegant word not   in English or Yiddish or Spanish, a word   that means nothing to me. Howard truly believed   what he said that day when he steered   Parker into a cab and drove the silent miles   beside him while the bright world   unfurled around them: filling stations, stands   of fruits and vegetables, a kiosk selling trinkets   from Mexico and the Philippines. It was all   so actual and Western, it was a new creation   coming into being, like the music of Charlie Parker   someone later called "glad," though that day   I would have said silent, "the silent music   of Charlie Parker." Howard said nothing.   He paid the driver and helped Bird up two flights   to their room, got his boots off, and went out   to let him sleep as the afternoon entered   the history of darkness. I'm not judging   Howard, he did better than I could have   now or then. Then I was 19, working   on the loading docks at Railway Express,   coming day by day into the damaged body   of a man while I sang into the filthy air   the Yiddish drinking songs my Zadie taught me   before his breath failed. Now Howard is gone,   eleven long years gone, the sweet voice silenced.   "The subtle bridge between Eldridge and Navarro,"   they later wrote, all that rising passion   a footnote to others. I remember in '85   walking the halls of Cass Tech, the high school   where he taught after his performing days,   when suddenly he took my left hand in his   two hands to tell me it all worked out   for the best. Maybe he'd gotten religion,   maybe he knew how little time was left,   maybe that day he was just worn down   by my questions about Parker. To him Bird   was truly Charlie Parker, a man, a silent note   going out forever on the breath of genius   which now I hear soaring above my own breath   as this bright morning fades into afternoon.   Music, I'll call it music. It's what we need   as the sun staggers behind the low gray clouds   blowing relentlessly in from that nameless ocean,   the calm and endless one I've still to cross.

[lenetaylor]

The Kellys - Paul McCartney's domestics

George and Gwen Kelly were employed by Paul McCartney for about a year (1966) at his house at Cavendish. The circumstances of their leaving are somewhat mysterious. Here's all the information on them that I could gather from public sources.

Paul bought the house at 7 Cavendish Ave on 13 April 1965 for £40,000. He then spent about £20,000 to renovate and redecorate, finally moving (from the Ashers' house on Wimpole Street) in March 1966. The house had (has) a basement, which served as living quarters for servants, a ground floor, and two floors above it. On the ground floor Paul installed an open-plan kitchen and a formal dining room.

In Paul McCartney: The Life by Philip Norman (2016), he writes: "Paul’s brief to the Adamses [the designers] was the strangest they’d ever received, or ever would again; he said he wanted the kind of house where a smell of cabbage floated up from the basement...In fact, the house had no basement from which cosy cabbage-smells could waft to its upper storeys." 100% wrong: The house does have a basement, and you can see the windows to the basement in some photos. This was a standard design for houses at the time, with the main kitchen in the basement along with quarters for some of the staff. This is where the Kellys lived.

Even though he gets that wrong, we'll continue with Norman's book:

In those same Sunday colour supplements one could read how, if traditional domestic servants might have no place in the egalitarian Sixties, wealthy young bachelors often employed a live-in married couple, usually Spanish, the husband combining the roles of butler and chauffeur, the wife cooking and keeping house. Paul started out at 7 Cavendish Avenue with just such a couple, albeit Irish rather than Spanish and with the reassuring Liverpool-echoey name of Kelly. When he hired them, he gave warning that his household would be anything but a conventional one, and defined their main role as just ‘to fit in’. He soon discovered the drawback in having domestic servants, as noted by writers like Harold Nicolson back in the Victorian country house era: there are always people standing around, eavesdropping on your conversations, obliging you to shut the toilet door (all the more irksome if you’re fond of sitting there, playing guitar) and generally behave as if you’re in an hotel rather than at home. Mr Kelly, evidently seeing himself as Jeeves to Paul’s Bertie Wooster, would ceremonially lay out his young master’s clothes for the day ahead until firmly dissuaded. Pop star pals who stayed overnight, and expected to be left comatose until after noon, would instead be briskly roused by Mr Kelly with early morning tea. On the big dining-room table, he placed a display of silverware whose highly-polished formality was too much even for Paul; to annoy them, he’d take out the ornate silver cruet and put a cheap plastic one in its place.

The "to fit in" quote is from a short piece that appeared in the London Sunday Times on September 18 1966, by Hunter Davies, titled "ATTICVS: All Paul":

Paul McCartney was in his new mansion in St. John's Wood. He lives alone. A Mr. and Mrs. Kelly look after him. Nothing so formal as a housekeeper and butler. Their job, he says, is just to fit in.

Barry Miles, in Many Years From Now (1997), picks up the silver cruet story:

There was a large dining table with an antique lace tablecloth, which was always beautifully set with all the appropriate cutlery, but it had a plastic salt cellar and pepper shaker in the centre. Paul owned silver ones but insisted on using the cheap ones, mainly to annoy the housekeeper, Mrs Kelly, and her husband, who had previously worked for gentry and let it be known, not very subtly, that they regarded their new position as a step down in the world. The husband had initially attempted to continue his role as gentleman's gentleman by laying out Paul's clothes each morning until Paul made it abundantly clear that this was not required. Every time they set the table the silver cruet was laid and each time Paul replaced it with the plastic one. Paul fired them for selling their story to an Australian magazine... “I had this live-in couple called the Kellys who would wake you up early in the morning like everything was just going normally and we had just stayed up all night and it was like, 'Go away please!'”

Nicholas Schaffner's book The Beatles Forever (1977) has this information from George Kelly:

George Kelly, a veteran of 16 years of service in the Royal Army who went on to become butler and chauffeur at some of Britain’s most stately homes before being hired by Paul McCartney in 1966, recalls with distaste in his memoirs having to bring morning tea for two to Paul’s bedroom when Jane was away, and having to endure the sight of the Beatle stubbing out ciggies on his silver Ivor Novello awards. But nothing seems to have unhinged Kelly more that the time he accidentally stumbled in on “one of the most bizarre scenes I have ever witnessed. There, in front of the television set, were the highest-paid pop group in the world and their manager, bowing down and salamming, chanting and dancing with one another!” Kelly recalls making his way through the billowing incense and flashing colored strobelights to give Paul a message, but “nobody took the slightest notice of me. They were all on their own little clouds. So as the Eastern music…grew louder, I just left the room quietly.” Shortly afterward, the butler handed in his notice, but not before receiving lectures from his employer about the benefits of LSD: “Your whole life flashes before you and you realize all the mistakes you have made.” (p. 76)

Schaffner says this is from Kelly's "memoirs", but I can't find any evidence of these memoirs being published. It's possible Schaffner had access to an unpublished manuscript; the quotes certainly read like something written, not an interview.

In addition to serving morning tea at noon and whatever else they were doing, they had to deal with the endless stream of fans. At Meet the Beatles For Real, Carol Bedford talks about visiting London in the summer of 1966:

“I couldn't have been there for more than two minutes when Mr. Kelly, Paul's gardener, came out screaming and waving a hoe at me. He said that Paul had just come in at 3 a.m. and needed rest. I looked up to see the curtains being rustled on the middle window of the second floor. Mrs. Kelly came out, and when asked if Paul and Jane were married, she answered, "No, of course not! That's a bunch of rubbish!"

(Lizzie Bravo added, "Funny, I remember her husband, Mr. Kelly, we called him "Stick" and he was pretty nasty but I don't remember her...")

So did they quit, or were they fired? They were gone by the end of January 1967. Here's an article published January 12, 1967 that ran in several American newspapers; this was titled "They’ve Had Enough of That Job, Thank You":

George and Gwen Kelly, who were Beatle Paul McCartney’s chauffeur and housekeeper until they quit recently, read a newspaper ad saying a Mr. Brown needed a chauffeur and housekeeper. George telephoned the employment agency that had advertised, said he and wife might be interested and asked for details. “Yes,” said the voice on the telephone. “Your prospective employer lives in St. John’s Wood—” “Did you say St. John’s Wood? We know the area very well. We’ve got friends there. We used to work in St. John’s Wood.” “And the wages are good,” said the agency man. “Go on, please,” said George. “There’ll be lots of entertaining. You will see a lot of interesting people.” “Tell me,” said George, “what sort of a chap is Mr. Brown?” There was a long pause. Then in a low, confidential voice, the agency man said: “Now, you must promise not to say anything, but Mr. Brown is really Paul McCartney—one of the Beatles, you know.” “I know,” said George. “Thank you for your trouble in answering my questions.” “When will you be coming in for an interview?” asked the agency man as George hung up. When the Kellys left McCartney, George said he and his wife thought they would be happier working for someone with more regular hours.

(They're not wrong!)

Back to Norman:

Paul’s live-in domestic couple, the Kellys, had left his employment in January 1967, after Mrs Kelly talked out of turn to an Australian newspaper, though he still hand-wrote her a reference calling her ‘efficient and trustworthy’. After trying another couple, the Millses, he found Rose Martin (no relation to George), an unflappable, unshockable woman who would serve him with irreproachable loyalty and discretion for many years to come. However, Rose was fiercely loyal to Jane, so treated Maggie with barely restrained hostility.

And back to Miles:

Paul asked his housekeepers, the Kellys, to leave after he found that they had written an article about his home life for an Australian magazine. Paul: “Mr and Mrs Kelly are looking for another place and I’m getting another couple to replace them. There have been disagreements over the running of the household. I haven’t asked them to leave instantly because that would be unreasonable.” They were replaced by Mr and Mrs Mills. (“She still hasn’t given me a tune yet,” quipped Paul, referring to popular pianist Mrs Mills.)

And then we have Mike McCartney, who has a different story - here he's talking about his photo of Paul's smashed-up face:

The fab pic was eventually stolen from Cave Avenue by a ‘butler’ and sold to an Italian mag to illustrate ‘wild Beatle drug parties in swinging London’.

(I'm pretty sure he's conflating stories here - I don't remember reading anywhere else that his photo was stolen)

The only contemporary account of their departure I can find in the newspapers is from The Daily Mirror on January 6, 1967.

Beatle’s Staff Driven Out By His Fans By Kenelm Jenour

The married couple who act as housekeeper and chauffeur to Beatle Paul McCartney have given him their notices. The reason: They could not stand the fans any more. The couple, George and Gwen Kelly, have looked after Paul at his £40,000 London home behind Lord’s cricket ground since he moved in almost a year ago. Last night, while Paul was recording with John, George, and Ringo, Mr. Kelly told me: “Paul has been a good boss. But the fans have been a terrible strain. “In fact sometimes it’s been murder. We’ve had no private life at all. “Sometimes we can’t even get into the house because of fans crowding around outside. And we get phone calls from all over the world at all hours of the night.” The Kellys, both aged 40, told Paul on Wednesday of their decision to quit. But they did not set a date for leaving. “We don’t want to leave him in the lurch,” said Gwen in their basement flat at Paul’s home. “We will probably go in four or five weeks.” Engaged Gwen, who once worked with her husband for the Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire, went on: “We didn’t even know Paul was a Beatle when we came here. All we knew was that we had been engaged by a Mr. Paul McCartney. “And that’s what we have always called him - ‘Mr. McCartney’ or ‘Sir.” He hates any familiarity.” One thing the Kellys stressed: They are not leaving Paul, the only bachelor Beatle because he wants to get married. “As far as we know - and we probably know him as well as anyone - he has no immediate plans to marry,” said George.

The image at the top of this post is Paul's letter of recommendation for Gwen Kelly, which was sold at auction in 1993 for £250, according to The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia by Bill Harry (2003). It seems to have been sold through Tracks Ltd. in the UK. Here's the description:

A one-page job reference for a housekeeper, Mrs. G. Kelly, who Paul McCartney employed for a brief period in the mid-sixties in his home in Cavendish Avenue, London. Mrs. Kelly resigned as housekeeper due to differences with Paul about the running of the home. The reference dates to 1967. It reads, "Mrs G Kelly, Mrs Kelly worked for me and was a very capable and trustworthy housekeeper. She is an excellent cook and generally very efficient. Paul McCartney". It comes with four black & white modern prints of photographs of Paul McCartney's home which were formerly the property of Mrs. Kelly, (3 of these depict the housekeeper on the forecourt of the house) an original newspaper clipping relating to her resignation and a modern print out of another newspaper cutting. Three of the photographs measure 9cm x 9cm (3.5 inches x 3.5 inches), the fourth measures 10.5cm x 8.5cm (4.25 inches x 3.25 inches). The photographs are not being sold with copyright. The reference letter measures 20cm x 25cm (8 inches x 10 inches). It has tears and tape stains on the folds. The condition of the letter is fair.

Back to Norman:

Paul’s live-in domestic couple, the Kellys, had left his employment in January 1967, after Mrs Kelly talked out of turn to an Australian newspaper, though he still hand-wrote her a reference calling her ‘efficient and trustworthy’. After trying another couple, the Millses, he found Rose Martin (no relation to George), an unflappable, unshockable woman who would serve him with irreproachable loyalty and discretion for many years to come. However, Rose was fiercely loyal to Jane, so treated Maggie with barely restrained hostility.

I have spent considerable time searching online for "the Australian newspaper/magazine" that the Kellys supposedly sold their story to, but I can't find anything at all. Three possibilities:

The story was published in a small paper or magazine but isn't available online or in an archive

They talked to an Australian reporter but the story was never published, perhaps due to pressure from Beatle management (Murdoch involvement? He owned many newspapers in Australia at that time)

It was a rumor that got published as truth and keeps getting recycled; they really left because the situation was intolerable

I can't find any more information about what happened to the Kellys after they left Cavendish. I would love to know the end of their story!

(Honestly, being Paul's housekeeper in 1966 sounds like the worst job in the world.)

[legole45]

Philip John Marcuzzi, also known as Phil the Scot, is a Scottish-born Italian-American mobster who is a caporegime in the Scardino crime family. He is also an older brother of Morag McLaughlin, the second in command of the McLaughlin syndicate, and a younger brother of Salvatore Marcuzzi, the current boss of the Marcuzzi crime family. Born in 1960 in Loch Loud, Scotland, Phil is the second child of an Italian father, John Marcuzzi, who was then the underboss of the Marcuzzi crime family in Loch Loud, and later became the boss in 1975, and a Half Italian and Half-Scottish mother, Olivia Marcuzzi (nee Rubino), who was the caretaker of Loud Castle. Through his father, Phil is descended from the Marcuzzi clan, a Sicilian Mafia clan that emigrated from San Leoluca, Agrigento, Sicily, Italy during the rule of Benito Mussolini, and settled in Glasgow, where they had established connections that stretch back to the 1900s, leading to the establishment of the Marcuzzi crime family, with Phil's grandfather, Giacomo Marcuzzi, becoming its first boss. During his childhood, he and his family would visit the United States, Canada, Italy, and Australia and meet various Mafia families, including the Scardino family of Great Lakes City, the Corsaro family of Utrecht City, and the Five Families of New York, and during Phil's high school senior years, he worked part-time for his father, doing jobs such as collecting money, committing acts of violence, etc.

Morag McLaughlin, Phil's younger sister

In 1978, Phil immigrated to the United States, and settled in Great Lakes City, where he got a job working as a waiter for Scardino's Restaurant, and attended Saint Joseph's University, graduating with a Bachelor of Economics in 1982. After his graduation, Phil began working full-time for the Scardino crime family as an associate, and was involved in illegal bookmaking, and drug dealing. In 1983, Phil murdered a Scardino associate named Zack Schmidt, after it was discovered that he was an informant. Despite being a quarter Scottish, the Scardinos decided to induct him as a made man, regarding him as an outstanding earner, and as someone who is loyal to the family. He was inducted into the Scardino family in 1984, at a house in Fairway, with his father, and his older brother, being present at the ceremony, and Phil became a soldier in the Sicilian "Zip" crew, led by Scardino capo Angelo Mercurio. He is one of many Zips brought to the United States by the Scardino family, though he is the only one who did not emigrate from Italy. The Zips respected Phil, despite him being quarter Scottish, due to his family’s reputation and his own violent streak. After he became a made man, he opened up a bar in Great Lakes City called The Scottish Dragon, inspired by Loch Loud's history. In 1997, Phil was promoted to caporegime to replace Mercurio after he died. He also helped Victor Martini and Jimmy Scardino get inducted into the family. In June, 1998, Phil travelled to New York City with his family, including Sal and Morag, and attended the wedding of Lucius Loud and Margaret Carroll, attending the ceremony at St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the wedding reception at the Plaza Hotel. Due to his Scottish heritage, and ruthless nature, some of his colleagues within the family, notably Victor Martini, Jason Navarro, Henry Terranova, and Joe Cinello, refer to him with derisive nicknames like "Scottish Zip", "Scottish Mutt", "Scotty McZip", "The Zip from Scotland", "The Loch Loud Zip", etc. Phil Marcuzzi is loosely based on Gerlando Sciascia, a capo in the Bonanno crime family who represented the Montreal-based Rizzuto crime family in New York.

Gerlando “George from Canada” Sciascia, the main inspiration for Phil Marcuzzi

[lboogie1906]

George Washington Foster Jr. (December 18, 1866 – December 20, 1923) was an architect. He was among the first African American architects licensed by the State of New Jersey in 1908, and in New York (1916). He partnered with Vertner Woodson Tandy, the first African American architect licensed by the State of New York, in the firm of Tandy and Foster, which was active (1908-14).

He was born in Virginia. His father was a carriage stripper and his mother was a descendant of Jefferson Davis. He moved to Newark, New Jersey at the age of four.

He attended night school at Cooper Union and studied architecture.

He is said to have worked in the office of Henry Hardenbergh, who designed the New York City landmarks Dakota Apartment Building, Plaza Hotel, and the first Waldorf-Astoria, on the present site of the Empire State Building. During his time with Hardenbergh, he would have worked at the Waldorf Hotel in 1892. He may have worked on the Flatiron Building, designed by the Chicago-based firm of D. H. Burnham.

Around 1908, he met Vertner Woodson Tandy, New York’s first registered African-American architect, and formed the architectural firm Tandy & Foster together. Tandy & Foster designed St. Philip’s Episcopal Church (Harlem) in 1910. After 1915, he was licensed to practice in New York and maintained his office until his death. They worked on the Mother AME Zion Church in Harlem.

He relocated with his wife, Carrie, to Park Ridge, New Jersey in a house he designed and built. He and his wife had six children. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[nakeddeparture]

Derrick Ward, Rapist, Recidivist - 28 year sentence with only 1,473 days remaining at Hotel St Phillip/Dodds - Barbados.

https://youtu.be/CTLPc-ff7KI

Will you follow him when he gets out? Forget and forgive his sodomy, etc.? You know you love dirty criminals! Naked!!

Like/share/SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel - ✔️🔔/HAVE YOUR SAY/comment on YouTube (it costs you nothing). WhatsApp #2527225512.

[studymaxxing]

book lists

critiques of individualism

Lasch's Culture of Narcissism

Peter Sloterdijk's Spheres trilogy (Foams)

Charles Taylor The Malaise of Modernity, Sources of the Self

Halldor Laxness, Independent People

Henry Rosemont, Against Individualism

The Theological Origins of Modernity

The Malaise of Modernity

dream interpretation

Freud, Interpretation of Dreams

Man and His Symbols

Artemidorus’ Oneirocritica

An Experiment with Time by J.W. Dunne

Dreaming Ahead of Time by Gary Lachman

Robert Johnson’s Inner Work

"while at a convent"

Umberto Eco, Name of the Rose

Essays in Idleness

The Unforgivable, Cristina Campo

Tough Enough, Deborah Nelson

The Bell, Iris Murdoch

inappropriate romance/obsession

Lolita

Vladimir, Jula May Jonas

Naomi, Junichiro Tanizaki

Ada, Nabokov

Death in Venice, Mann

The Lover, Marguerite Duras

Sylvia, Leonard Michaels

The End of Alice

Hotel Iris, Yoko Ogawa

Kairos, Jenny Erpenbeck

The Tunnel, Ernesto Sabato

Consent, Vanessa Springora

Blood and Guts in Highschool by Kathy Acker

Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fraguso

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

Flowers in the Attic

La Symphonie pastorale

self-hatred

Notes from the Underground

The Book of Disquiet

The Fall

Confessions of a Mask

sex/desire/eroticism

Nicholson Baker, Vox

Mary Gaitskill, Bad behavior

Eros and The Mysteries of Love: The Metaphysics of Sex

Of Cosmogenic Eros

Roger Scruton, Sexual Desire

Eros the Bittersweet, Anne Carson

Talking on Poetry, Mysticism, & the Erotic

women who are weird about sex

Acts of Service, Lillian Fishman

Eileen, Otessa Moshfegh

The Days of Abandonment, Elena Ferrante

Near to the Wild Heart, Clarice Lispector

No One Belongs Here More Than You

Two Serious Ladies

Breasts and Eggs

Justine, Sade

Norwegian Wood

in love

hopscotch, cortazar

the past, alan pauls

anna karenina

love in the time of cholera

getting lost, ernaux

bladeecore

kybalion

manly p hall

the power of myth

alan watts ugh

john maus core

Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Brothers Karamazov (specifically referencing the Teachings of Father Zossima)

Blaise Pascal - Pensées

G.K. Chesterton - The Everlasting Man

G.K. Chesterton - Orthodoxy

Martin Heidegger - Letter on Humanism

Simone Weil - Gravity and Grace

Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) - Finite and Eternal Being

Jean-Luc Marion - God Without Being

Jean-Luc Nancy - Dis-Enclosure: The Deconstruction of Christianity

Jean-Luc Nancy - Noli Me Tangere: On the Raising of the Body

Pope John Paul II - The Theology of the Body

Søren Kierkegaard (specific book not mentioned, but recommended to be included)

r/sorceryofthespectacle

Core texts (must-read mindblows):

Society of the Spectacle by Guy DeBord (Introductory Alice video)

Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus by Deleuze an Guattari (maybe start with the latter first). Also check out Brian Massumi's companion text

On the Genealogy of Morality by Friedrich Nietzsche

Meltdown by Nick Land (available in his collection Fanged Noumena)

Stolen Lightning: The Social Theory of Magic

Eros and Magic in the Renaissance by Ioan Couliano

Apocalyptic AI by Robert Geraci

More books (more organization will come):

How Institutions Think by Mary Douglas

The Corruption of Reality: A Unified Theory of Religion, Hypnosis, and Psychopathology by John Schumaker

Baudrillard

Paul Virilio Speed and Politics

Karl Marx hopefully somebody knows of a summary mid level intro.

Joshua Ramey Hermetic Deleuze

Ray Brassier on Accelerationism, Promethianism (two videos on YouTube)

Graham Harman talks on speculative realism

Bruno Latour talks

Arthur Kroeker's "The Will to Technology"

The Less Wrong Sequences

Hyperfiction (fiction that educates about reality):

Cyclonopedia by Reza Negarestani

Snow Crash

VALIS and Ubik by Philip K. Dick

Moxyland by Lauren Beukes

[kwebtv]

From the Golden Age of Television

15 October 1864 - NBC - September 15, 1957

A presentation of "Goodyear Playhouse" Season 6 Episode 19

Drama

Running Time: 60 minutes

Television Play by Louis Pelletier

Produced by Philip Barry Jr

Directed by Herbert Hirschman

Stars:

Paul Tripp as Mr. Harrison

Ralph Dunn as Booker

John McGovern as The Cashier

Olive Sturgess as Hannah

James Pritchett as Cullen

Clu Gulager as Wesley

Donald May as Oliver

Alan Mixon as Lt. Bennett H. Young 

Robert Dowdell as Davis

John Napier as Saunders

Charles Robinson as Dober

Don McHenry as The Minister

Truman Smith as The Hotel Clerk

Glenn Cannon as Dawson

Gene Gross as McDowell

A recounting of the Confederate raid on St. Alban's, Vermont

[talesofthesecondcity]

Ramsay St meets Hurst St in 'The Perfect Blend'.

https://talesofthesecondcity.wordpress.com/2024/04/27/the-perfect-blend/

Kylie, Jess Philips, Joanna Lumley.... and the Birmingham gay scene. It has got the lot!

#lgbtq #lgbt #lgbtbirmingham #birmingham #gayagenda #gay #kylie #neighbours #ramsaystreet

#australiansoaps #prisonercellblockh ##jessphillips #joannalumley #armisteadmaupin #richarddawkins #gaybars #gayscenes

[sidewalkstamps]

C. L. Peck Contractor (Photo taken by me on May 11, 2022)

C. L. Peck Contractor was started by Clair L. Peck Sr. in 1915 or 1918 in Los Angeles, CA. He was born in Michigan City, Indiana on May 5, 1881, the son of a lumberman. He went to Purdue University and, while there, competed in track and basketball at the same time as finishing his four-year engineering degree in three years. The firm "became known for erecting office buildings, classical church structures, warehouses and corporate headquarters" (LA Times). The Los Angeles Business Journal said the firm "specialized in creating fireproof buildings." "He was considered an expert in reinforced concrete almost from the beginning of its use in construction and was noted for his craftsmanship" (NY Times). His full name is Clair Leverett Peck. He was born in 1881 and died in 1971. He was married to Viola Curtis Peck. The LA Times described him as "the contractor who literally built much of Southern California, from the Capitol Records Building to the Bonaventure Hotel... to the Crystal Cathedral and the Orange County Performing Arts Center." The company constructed more than 1,200 buildings in Los Angeles, including 40 buildings along Wilshire Boulevard. Some other buildings include: the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, "the Forum in Inglewood, high-rises in Century City and most of the chapels and other buildings at the Forest Lawn parks." According to The New York Times, "Saks Fifth Avenue had Mr. Peck build its first Los Angeles area store, in Beverly Hills, with no written contract." He died April 23, 1971 at the age of 89 at Good Samaritan Hospital and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.

Peck was the Peck of Leonardt & Peck! I think my Leonardt post might be the longest ever, but this one is pretty close! His bookkeeper was named Meda Green and she lived on Hartford Avenue (Westlake). Weirdly in the same 1927 city directory, Peck is president of C L inc at 354 S Spring (Downtown) and vice president of another General Contractors firm of unclear name (with A S Bent as president, whom I've written about before) at 257 S Spring room 430. Finally, in the same directory, Beverly Hills Realty Board is in the "C L Peck bldg" in Beverly Hills (???!).

He had two sons, who both worked in his company: Edwin and Clair Leverett Peck, Jnr., who was born on November 18, 1920. Jnr went to Los Angeles High School. He was married to Emily Lutz and then Margo Ryan (according to a contributor to Find A Grave, he had another wife named Linda Hussey and three step-children through her). He had three children from his first marriage to Emily Lutz of Brentwood (assuming the Los Angeles neighborhood): Clair L. "Peter" Peck III, Nancy Peck Birdwell, and Suzanne Peck. He also had a sister named Sally Peck Carson and seven grandchildren. He had an engineering degree from Stanford and served in the U.S. Navy in World War II before joining his father's company in 1945. He expanded the business's work "erecting major department stores for Nieman Marcus, Robinsons-May, Broadway and Bullock's, the Sherman Oaks Galleria, Fashion Island in Newport Beach and much of the original South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. He worked with some luminary architects as "John Portman on the Bonaventure Hotel, Philip Johnson on the Crystal Cathedral, Charles Luckman on the Forum, I.M. Pei on the Creative Artists Agency in Beverly Hills, and Bill Pereira on the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Building in Newport Beach."

The Byron Jackson plant in Santa Ana, CA was designed by John Kewell & Associates and constructed by C. L. Peck (see source below).

In this photo, Melba Rardin and L. A. Claypool survey the excavation for an addition to St. Joseph Hospital in Burbank, CA in 1961. C. L. Peck was the contractor for the creation of "a new six-story-and-basement wing for the hospital" for $5.5M USD which was planned to add 256 patient beds and other facilities. Claypool was the "clerk of works" for Peck.

In 1976, Peck was "elected to the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and, as chairman of its building committee, oversaw construction of the bank's new building at 101 Market St." The firm also built the Hibernia Bank building in San Francisco. He also served on the boards of the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, Investment Company of America, Farmers Insurance, Northrop Corporation, Los Angeles Children's Hospital, and Metropolitan YMCA. Additionally, he had been president of San Francisco's Bohemian Club, Los Angeles's California Club, and the Los Angeles Country Club. "In 1985 he was the recipient of the Y.M.C.A. Dr. Martin Luther King Human Dignity Award."

As of 1981, C. L. Peck Construction Inc. was located at 626 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 925 in downtown Los Angeles, CA. They had a General Building Contractor license from the California Contractors State License Board from February 27, 1981 through February 28, 1997. Weirdly they were exempt from Workers Compensation Insurance? Victor Herbert Siegel was the Responsible Managing Officer, John Lee Willis was CEO/President until September 26, 1983, Paul John Matt was the Responsible Managing Employee from May 7, 1991 until July 15, 1991, Allen Marvin Katz was RMO/CEO/President until only November 16, 1983, Louis M Stafford was RMO/CEO/President from then until April 7, 1987, and William Alan Worthington was "Officer" until February 15, 1983.

In 1986, C. L. Peck Contractor (the 53rd-largest construction company in the USA in 1986 and one of five largest contractors in California by the time of his death) and Jones Bros. Construction Corp. agreed to merge. By then they had "dominated the heavy construction business in Southern California for more than half a century." Apparently the reasoning behind their merger was the increased competition from overseas and out-of-state companies. The plan was to become Peck/Jones and have their headquarters on Wilshire Blvd. in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. C. L. Peck, Jr. would be the chairman, with Jerve M. Jones the chief executive. According to the Los Angeles Times, "the Peck and Jones families will continue to be the sole stockholders of the merged concern, which is estimated to have annual revenue of about $400 million and a work force of about 500."

He died on December 14, 1998 at 78 years old at the UCLA Medical Center from a massive stroke. He is burried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.

According to Open Corporates, C. L. Peck Construction Inc.'s registered address was 122 S. Westgate Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90049 and there was a filing in 1999 of a Certificate of Dissolution. In January of 2021, Suzanne Peck was added as CEO and then, in July of 2022, there was a change of status from Dissolved to Terminated.

In 2005, Peck/Jones had "been forced into bankruptcy proceedings by its creditors" in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles "by one of its clients and two subcontractors who claim they are owed nearly $400,000." In another bankruptcy filing at the "U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, Redlands Community Hospital and other companies said they were also owed significant amounts of money.

It's unclear if Jones Construction Management is the current name of that firm or if the Jones Brothers' descendant, Eric Jones, is just using their legacy for the company he founded in 2008. According to him, the Jones Brothers acquired C. L. Peck Contractors rather than it being a merger (www.jonescm.com).

"Building Contracts Recorded" Southwest Builder and Contractor, F. W. Dodge Company, 1919.

“C L Peck Construction Inc.” C L Peck Construction Inc · 626 Wilshire Blvd Suite 925, Los Angeles, CA 90017, OPENGOVUS, opengovus.com/california-contractor-license/399308. Accessed 24 Feb. 2024.

“C. L. PECK CONSTRUCTION INC.” Opencorporates.Com, opencorporates.com/companies/us_ca/0999492. Accessed 24 Feb. 2024.

“Clair L. Peck Sr., 89, West Coast Builder.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Apr. 1971, www.nytimes.com/1971/04/25/archives/clair-l-peck-sr-89-west-coast-builder.html.

“Clair Leverett Peck Jr. (1920-1998) - Find a Grave...” Find a Grave, www.findagrave.com/memorial/73675251/clair_leverett_peck. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.

“Clair Leverett Peck Sr. (1881-1971) - Find a Grave...” Find a Grave, www.findagrave.com/memorial/73673866/clair-leverett-peck. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.

Kelly, Howard D. “Byron Jackson plant, Santa Ana.” LAPL Tessa, 1956, https://tessa2.lapl.org. February 14, 2024. 

Los Angeles City Directory, 1921, Los Angeles Directory Co. accessed through Los Angeles Public Library.

Los Angeles Directory Co.'s Los Angeles City Directory 1927, Los Angeles Directory Company Publishers, accessed through the Los Angeles Public Library.

Melba Rardin and L. A. Claypool survey excavation for St. Joseph Hospital’s addition. 11 July 1961. Los Angeles.

"Obituary for Clair Leverett Peck Jr." The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA, December 17, 1998. pg. 65.

Oliver, Myrna. “Clair L. Peck Jr.; Contractor Built Southland Landmarks.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Dec. 1998, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-dec-16-mn-54665-story.html.

Shiver, Jube. “2 Big Builders of L.A. Landmarks Agree to Merge.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 1986, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-02-fi-3629-story.html.

Staff-Author. “Peck/Jones Headed to Bankruptcy Court under Chapter 7.” Los Angeles Business Journal, 2 Jan. 2005, labusinessjournal.com/news/peckjones-headed-to-bankruptcy-court-under/.