#railway liaisoning

[histoireettralala]

In Memoriam

First there were the sparkle of a new century; the splendour of the Universal Expositions; the race to progress; the series of calm, serene Sundays; the swaying gait of the Apaches and of the hips of dactylos on a spree in the guinguettes of the banks of the Seine or the Marne. Trips to the mountains or to spa towns, for a sunny Sunday. The trend of sea baths; again and forever, a time of long dresses, hat pins, hat veils and sunshades to protect oneself from the sun; the first fevers of the metropolitan; the magic of tramways. A smell of rail and electricity.

There were the shapes of the Art Nouveau, the fashion of stem-like women with vegetal curves, who were starting to escape and free themselves from their corsets. Parisian ladies had large hats and tiny feet. Men were smoking their first Gauloises. There were of course, riots and strikes: electricians, civil servants, site workers, postmen, bar waiters, taxi drivers. Men wanted to build and shape their destiny. They wanted a better share of the riches of the world.

There was the Montmartre of the painters and the Bateau-Lavoir; the first aerial meetings; the Paris flooding; the comet of Halley passing by; the appearance of the first tangos; the first music halls; the inauguration of the Vél'd'Hiv and the Gaumont Palace; the theft of the Mona Lisa; the end of the Bande à Bonnot; the publication of La Guerre des Boutons; the meeting between Yvonne de Quiévrecourt and Alain-Fournier under the trees of the Cours La Reine, which so narrowly missed the Goncourt prize; the first phone cabins; the electrification of the railway; the first Michelin maps; the fashion of caps et boaters; the invention of esperanto.

It was peace. The promise of a new dawn, the carefree spirit of summer, the peace of fields spattered with cornflowers and poppies which were waiting the sickle of the harvester or the knife of the thrasher.

They were seventeen, twenty-five, or thirty. Many wore their hair short, and moustaches. Many had the rough neck and hands of the worker, a laborer's worn fingers, a turner's or mechanic's broken nails. There were grooms, land surveyors, bakers, butlers, office boys, clerk notaries, butchers, schoolteachers, peddlers, copywriters, cow keepers, porters, shepherds, priests, grinders, cooks, toolmakers, clerks, chauffeurs, footmen, tinsmiths, deliverers, boilermakers, newsboys, barbers, railway workers, waiters, postmen, intellectuals, factory workers, bourgeois, aristocrats and saddlers.

Suddenly there were civilians, career soldiers, conscripts, reservists, artillery men, navy men, infantry men, zouaves, aviators, pioneers, stretcher-bearers, liaison officers, telegraphers, non-commissioned officers, submariners, cooks, adjudtants, generals, lieutenants, chaplains, canteen-workers, cavalry men, bleus, rappelés, permissionnaires, etc… Suddenly, were the Poilus.

Their handwriting was round or sharp; it had the delicacy of the quill or the thick stroke of the ink pen. Their names were Gaston, Jean, Auguste, Marcel, Louis, Alexandre, Edmond, Martin, Antoine, Etienne, Maurice, Albert, Henri, Roger, René… Their wives or their mothers were named Félicie, Léontine, Hortense, Louise, Honorine, Clémence, Marguerite, Berthe, Germaine, Yvonne, Marthe…

All of them travellers without baggage who had to leave their families, their fiancees, their wives, their children. Leave there their office, their lathe, their kneader, their workshop or their stable. Don the poorly cut uniform, the garance trousers, the bumpy képi. Take on the too heavy barda and put on the cleated shoes.

They knew very soon that this war was senseless. From false hopes to false hopes, from last battles to last battles, they ended up unable to project the end of the war whose actors they were, and whose usefulness wasn't so obvious anymore to them.

Out of eight million mobilised between 1914 and 1918, over two million young men never saw again the belltower of their village. Their names are carved in the cold stone of the monuments of our cities and towns. And when the church goes quiet, when the school is closed, when the train station is shut down, when silence reigns over these places that became hamlets, remain these lists of words, these lists of names and surnames keeping the memory of a France whose countryside was so populated.

Over four million men survived only after they suffered grievous wounds, their body broken, amputated, marked, bitten, their flesh torn, when they weren't seriously mutilated. Others got out apparently intact: they still lived with the memory of the horror they had lived for over fifty months, the memory of blood, of the stench of rotting corpses, of the bursting of shells, of stinking mud, of vermin, the memory of the obscene smirk of Death. They had for them the systematic and reoccuring lash of nightmares for the rest of their days and with it the anguished, unanswered cry, the cry for their mothers. They lived with the words reminding them of sights whose horror they would never forget: Galipoli, Verdun, the Chemin des Dames, Arlon-Vitron, the mill of Laffaux, the Somme, Ypres, Péronne, Montmirail, Douaumont, the Fort of Vaux…

Over eight thousand people answered the call of Radio France: eight thousand letters, meaning that many families searching, into a coffer in the attic, between the yellowed pages of family photo albums, for the memory of their fathers', grandfathers', ancestors' lives.

These words written in the mud aren't eighty, or eighty-five years old; they are one day old. They have the whole strength of a life all the more intense since it was so close to the abyss, since it was looking at death every second.

We do not claim to do a historian's work by gathering in a few weeks so many powerful and intense documents: our purpose is before all humanist and literary. We simply meant to let these cries of the soul, entrusted to quill and crayon, be heard, like so many bottles thrown to the sea, which should stimulate for future generations the duty of memory, the duty of vigilance, the duty of humanity.

Jean-Pierre Guéno- Paroles de Poilus- Lettres et carnets du front 1914-1918

[csanoopjain1]

CS Classes Coaching In Laxmi Nagar

Company secretaries ensure that business entities are compliant and run effectively within the complex corporate framework by acting as quiet watchdogs. They are crucial to maintaining accountability, integrity, and transparency in firms since they serve as both administrative assistants and strategic advisors. Company secretaries are responsible for a number of important tasks, such as planning board meetings and managing regulatory compliance, that support an organization's integrity and reputation.

The function of company secretaries in today's business environment has changed dramatically. They are essential in guiding people through the complex web of rules, laws, and moral principles, safeguarding stakeholders' interests, and advancing sustainable development. As stewards of good governance, they serve as a liaison between the shareholders, management, and board, promoting efficient dialogue and decision-making.

Company Secrtary Role

Corporate Oversight: Company Secretaries make sure that the business is operated efficiently and that all rules and regulations are adhered to.

Strategic consultants: They provide guidance for the company's strategic decisions in addition to carrying out administrative tasks.

Accountability, ethics, and transparency: Company secretaries assist in making sure that the business acts in an ethical, accountable, and transparent manner.

Board Meetings and Regulatory Compliance: They plan and run board meetings and make sure the business abides by all applicable laws.

Stakeholder protection: Company secretaries assist in defending the interests of all parties involved in the business, including creditors, employees, shareholders, and customers.

Sustainable Growth: They support the company's efforts to grow sustainably.

Bridge between the board, management, and shareholders: They help the board, management, and shareholders communicate and make decisions together.

This article sets out on a journey to unlock the treasure trove of opportunities hidden in the educational landscape of Laxmi Nagar, with a special focus on Company Secretary Coaching. Aspiring Company Secretaries often find themselves at a crossroads with a plethora of options, wondering which organization would be ideal to begin their professional journey. Therefore, this article is intended to act as a guiding thread to navigate through the myriad of options available for Company Secretary Coaching in Laxmi Nagar.In the upcoming sections, we delve deeper into the role of the Company Secretary in corporate governance, highlighting the important role they play in maintaining transparency and compliance. Furthermore, we walk the vibrant streets of Lakshmi Nagar, drawing a vivid picture of its educational ecosystem, replete with coaching institutes dedicated to nurturing the future mentors of corporate governance.

Laxmi Nagar as a hub for coaching classes:

In the center of Delhi, Laxmi Nagar has become a well-known center for education, providing coaching sessions for a range of exam preparations. Laxmi Nagar is well-known for its active coaching culture, which draws students from all over the nation who are looking for a top-notch education and direction to reach their professional objectives.

The Laxmi Nagar coaching institutes shine like a flame of knowledge amid the bustling shops and little streets, guiding numerous students toward success. These coaching centers have extremely competitive classes and admission requirements that are frequently impossible to meet. On the other hand, pupils who are accepted here are given close supervision by knowledgeable instructors.

Why is Laxmi Nagar famous as a coaching hub?

Varied Coaching Classes: Laxmi Nagar provides coaching for government entrance examinations like Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), as well as national entrance exams like Engineering and Medical Entrance Examinations (JEE and NEET). Coaching classes are available for level entrance examinations.

Experienced Teachers: Many coaching institutes in Laxmi Nagar have some of the best teachers in the country, who have wide experience in helping students achieve success.

Study Material: These coaching institutes also provide study material to the students, which includes practice papers, mock tests and shortcut techniques.

Library and other facilities: Many coaching institutes also have library, canteen and hostel facilities available to the students.

CS Classes Coaching In Laxmi Nagar : Anoop Jain CS Classes

Located in the heart of Laxmi Nagar, led by experienced professionals and industry experts, our institute is an epitome of excellence in Corporate Governance coaching. We guide aspiring company secretaries towards a promising career. Come see what our strengths are and why we are your ideal place for CS coaching in Laxmi Nagar.

Why Choose CS Anoop jain Classes ?

Vision: Established with a vision to develop the future mentors of the corporate world, Anup Jain CS Classes is an epitome of excellence, integrity and dedication to quality education.

Founder: With years of experience in the industry, our esteemed Founder Mr. Anup Jain, brings unparalleled expertise and insight in the area of corporate governance.

Comprehensive Curriculum: Our curriculum is designed to equip students with the knowledge, skills and competencies required to succeed in the field of company secretarial practice.From Company Law and Corporate Governance to Securities Law and Regulatory Compliance, our curriculum covers a wide range of topics essential for a good understanding of corporate governance.

Experienced Teacher:At Anoop Jain CS Classes, learning is not just about acquiring information but gaining knowledge from experienced gurus who have experienced the corporate scenario.Our teachers include industry veterans, experienced business people and subject matter experts who bring real-world knowledge to the classroom, thereby enriching the learning experience.

Individual attention:We understand that every student is unique, with different learning needs and aspirations. Therefore we prefer individual attention and small batches to ensure that each student gets personalized guidance and support.Our teachers are available both inside and outside the classroom, creating a conducive learning environment where doubts are resolved and concepts are strengthened.

Overall Development:Apart from academics, we believe in holistic development by nurturing critical thinking, problem-solving skills and professional ethics in our students.Through interactive sessions, case studies and group discussions, we encourage students to think analytically, communicate effectively and develop a proactive approach to challenges in the corporate world.

Success stories:The success of our students speaks volumes about the effectiveness of our coaching methodology. Many of our alumni have secured top positions in Company Secretary examinations and are becoming successful in their professional careers.We are proud to be the catalyst in taking him on his journey to success as an accomplished Company Secretary.

Conclusion

Concluding our exploration of Company Secretary Coaching in Laxmi Nagar, it is clear that the role of the Company Secretary in corporate governance cannot be underestimated. These silent custodians play a vital role in maintaining accountability, honesty and transparency within organizations, thereby protecting the interests of stakeholders and promoting sustainable development.

Laxmi Nagar, with its vibrant coaching culture, emerges as a ray of hope for aspiring company secretaries, providing ample opportunities to kick-start their professional journey. Amidst the busy roads and competitive coaching institutes, Anoop Jain CS Classes shines brightly as a bastion of excellence guiding students to master Corporate Governance.

With a visionary founder, comprehensive curriculum, experienced teachers and personal attention, Anoop Jain CS Classes stands at the forefront of nurturing future mentors of Corporate Governance. Our commitment towards holistic development and the success stories of our alumni testify to our unwavering dedication towards excellence.

As aspiring company secretaries begin their journey towards success, they should remember that their choice of coaching institute plays a vital role in shaping their career direction. With the right guidance and interaction, they can navigate the complexities of the corporate world with confidence and emerge as exemplary professionals.

In the dynamic scenario of corporate governance, let Anoop Jain CS Classes be your guiding light, illuminating the path to success and excellence in the field of company secretarial practice. Join us, and together let's embark on a transformational journey towards mastering corporate governance and building a brighter future for ourselves and the organizations we serve.

[brookston]

Holidays 3.27

Holidays

Aglet Day

Amniotic Fluid Embolism Awareness Day

Armed Forces Day (Myanmar)

Beeching Day (UK)

Beer Writers Day

Birch Day (French Republic)

Celebrate Exchange Day

Commemoration of Sen no Rikyu (Omotesenke School of the Japanese Tea Ceremony; Japan)

Corkscrew Day

Day of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania (Romania)

Downtown Day

Funky Winkerbean Day

Internal Troops and National Guard Servicemen's Day (Russia)

International Day of Multilingualism

International Medical Science Liaison Day

Lazy Moocher's Day

Mariah Day

Muslim Women’s Day

National Acoustic Soul Day

National Blunt Day

National Camp at Home Day

National Cleavage Day

National Detroit Day

National Guard Forces Command Day (Russia)

National "Joe" Day

National Medical Science Liaison Day

National Scribble Day

National Supported Internship Day (UK)

National Terrier Day (UK)

Performing Arts Day (Iran)

Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day

Resistance Day (Burma/Myanmar)

Sakura Day (Japan)

Semana Santa (Nicaragua)

Sen no Rikyu (Way of Tea School commemoration; Japan)

Shoelace Patent Day

Skyscraper Day

Suve Ajale üleminek (Summer Time; Belgium, Estonia, Moldova, Netherlands)

327 Day

Urinal Day

Viagra Day

World AdTech Day

World Hospital Pharmacy Day

World Railway Workers’ Day

World Theatre Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Cheese Day

International Whisk(e)y Day

National Cheese Day (France)

Spanish Paella Day

4th & Last Wednesday in March

American Red Cross Giving Day [4th Wednesday]

Document Freedom Day [Last Wednesday]

International Data Center Day [4th Wednesday]

Jersey Mike’s Day of Giving [Last Wednesday]

Manatee Appreciation Day [Last Wednesday]

National Day of WIL (Canada) [4th Wednesday]

National Governance Professionals Day (Canada) [Last Wednesday]

National Little Red Wagon Day [Last Wednesday]

Red Cross Giving Day [4th Wednesday]

A Whole Day for Whole Grain [Last Wednesday]

Independence & Related Days

Bessarabia (Day of the Union with Romania; 1918)

Federation of the Seven Towers (Declared, 2022) [unrecognized]

Gogania (Declared, 2013) [unrecognized]

Michrenia (Declared, 2013) [unrecognized]

Pugguinia (Declared, 2010) [unrecognized]

Ultamiya (Declared, 2010) [unrecognized]

Festivals Beginning March 27, 2024

Blazing Swan (Kulin, Australia) [thru 4.2]

Maine Restaurant Expo (Portland, Maine)

Melbourne International Comedy Festival (Melbourne, Australia) [thru 4.21]

New York International Auto Show (New York, New York) [thru 4.7]

Oak Mountain State Fair (Pelham, Alabama) [thru 4.14]

Spring Dairy Expo (Columbus, Ohio) [thru 3.30]

Virginia Food and Beverage Expo (Richmond, Virginia)

WiVi: Central Coast (Paso Robles, California)

Feast Days

Aequinoctium Vernum, Day 1 (Pagan)

Albert Marquet (Artology)

Alexander, a Pannonian soldier (Christian; Martyr)

Amador of Portugal (Christian; Saint)

Augusta of Treviso (Christian; Saint)

Barley Harvest Festival (Jehovah, Protector of the Barley)

Charles Henry Brent (Episcopal Church (USA))

Christine (Muppetism)

Clear Energy Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Edward J. Steichen (Artology)

Edward William Cooke (Artology)

Gauri (Women’s Festival to Goddess of Marriage & Abundance; India)

Geasa Day (Prohibitions; Celtic Book of Days)

Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh (Christian; Saint)

Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa (Buddhism)

Herophilius (Positivist; Saint)

Jan van Beers (Artology)

John & Patsy Ramsey Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saints)

John Damascene (Christian; Saint)

John of Egypt (Christian; Saint)

Jules Olitski (Artology)

Lavatio (Festival of Cybele and Attis; Ancient Rome)

Liberalia (Ancient Rome; Festival of Liber Pater, Fertility & Wine God)

Patrick McCabe (Writerism)

Paella Day (Pastafarian)

Philetus (Christian; Saint)

Romulus of Nîmes, a Benedictine abbot (Christian; Martyr)

Rupert of Salzburg (Christian; Saint)

Smell the Breezes Day (Sky Goddess Nut; Ancient Egypt)

Vladimir Burliuk (Artology)

Zanitas and Lazarus of Persia (Christian; Saint)

Christian Liturgical Holidays

Black Wednesday (Czech Republic) [Wednesday before Easter]

Holy Wednesday [4 Days before Easter]

Soot-Sweeping Wednesday [Wednesday before Easter]

Ugly Wednesday [Wednesday before Easter]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Annie Hall (Film; 1977)

April Showers (Film; 1948)

The Bulleteers (Fleischer Cartoon; 1942) [#5]

Child Sociology (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1953)

Consuming Passions (Film; 1992)

The Cutting Edge (Film; 1992)

Design for Leaving (WB LT Cartoon; 1954)

Eaters of the Dead, by Michael Crichton (Novel; 1976)

The Energy Blues (Science Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1979)

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, by Charles Mackay (Psychology Book; 1841)

The Fella with the Fiddle (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

The Greatest Man in Siam (Swing Symphony Cartoon; 1944)

Home (Animated Film; 2015)

International House (Film; 1933)

Moby Duck (WB LT Cartoon; 1965)

Monsters vs. Aliens (Animated Film; 2009)

The Moonman is Blue or The Inside Story (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 36; 1960)

Mother, by Meghan Trainor (Song; 2023)

Run-DMC, by Run-DMC (Album; 1984)

Run Silent, Run Deep (Film; 1958)

Singin’ in the Rain (Film; 1952)

The Snowman Cometh or An Icicle Built for Two (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 35; 1960)

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (WB Animated Film; 2018)

Thief (Film; 1981)

Thunderball, by Ian Fleming (Novel; 1959) [James Bond #9]

Tiny Toon Spring Break (WB Animated TV Film; 1994)

Tom Thumb (ComicColor Cartoon; 1936)

Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (Disney Animated TV Special; 1959)

Victorious (TV Series; 2010)

What Makes Sammy Run?, by Budd Schulberg (Novel; 1941)

What We Do in the Shadows (Film; 2019)

White Men Can’t Jump (Film; 1992)

Today’s Name Days

Ernst, Frowin, Heimo (Austria)

Lada, Peregrin, Rupert (Croatia)

Dita (Czech Republic)

Kastor (Denmark)

Laide, Laidi, Leia, Leida, Leidi (Estonia)

Saul, Sauli (Finland)

Habib (France)

Augusta, Ernst, Heimo (Germany)

Filitas, Leeda, Lidia, Makedon, Matrona (Greece)

Hajnalka (Hungary)

Augusto, Oliviero, Romolo, Ruperto (Italy)

Audra, Gustavs, Gusts, Talrits (Latvia)

Aleksandras, Alkmenas, Lidija, Rūta (Lithuania)

Rudi, Rudolf (Norway)

Benedykt, Ernest, Ernestyn, Jan, Lidia, Rościmir, Rupert (Poland)

Matroana (Romania)

Alena (Slovakia)

Alejandro, Ruperto (Spain)

Ralf, Rudolf (Sweden)

Acher, Archibald, Archie, Montgomery, Monte, Monty (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 87 of 2024; 279 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of week 13 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 11 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Ding-Mao), Day 18 (Geng-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 17 Adair II 5784

Islamic: 17 Ramadan 1445

J Cal: 27 Green; Sixday [27 of 30]

Julian: 14 March 2024

Moon: 94%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 3 Archimedes (4th Month) [Erasistratus]

Runic Half Month: Ehwaz (Horse) [Day 2 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 9 of 92)

Week: 4th Week of March

Zodiac: Aries (Day 7 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 3.27

Holidays

Aglet Day

Amniotic Fluid Embolism Awareness Day

Armed Forces Day (Myanmar)

Beeching Day (UK)

Beer Writers Day

Birch Day (French Republic)

Celebrate Exchange Day

Commemoration of Sen no Rikyu (Omotesenke School of the Japanese Tea Ceremony; Japan)

Corkscrew Day

Day of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania (Romania)

Downtown Day

Funky Winkerbean Day

Internal Troops and National Guard Servicemen's Day (Russia)

International Day of Multilingualism

International Medical Science Liaison Day

Lazy Moocher's Day

Mariah Day

Muslim Women’s Day

National Acoustic Soul Day

National Blunt Day

National Camp at Home Day

National Cleavage Day

National Detroit Day

National Guard Forces Command Day (Russia)

National "Joe" Day

National Medical Science Liaison Day

National Scribble Day

National Supported Internship Day (UK)

National Terrier Day (UK)

Performing Arts Day (Iran)

Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day

Resistance Day (Burma/Myanmar)

Sakura Day (Japan)

Semana Santa (Nicaragua)

Sen no Rikyu (Way of Tea School commemoration; Japan)

Shoelace Patent Day

Skyscraper Day

Suve Ajale üleminek (Summer Time; Belgium, Estonia, Moldova, Netherlands)

327 Day

Urinal Day

Viagra Day

World AdTech Day

World Hospital Pharmacy Day

World Railway Workers’ Day

World Theatre Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Cheese Day

International Whisk(e)y Day

National Cheese Day (France)

Spanish Paella Day

4th & Last Wednesday in March

American Red Cross Giving Day [4th Wednesday]

Document Freedom Day [Last Wednesday]

International Data Center Day [4th Wednesday]

Jersey Mike’s Day of Giving [Last Wednesday]

Manatee Appreciation Day [Last Wednesday]

National Day of WIL (Canada) [4th Wednesday]

National Governance Professionals Day (Canada) [Last Wednesday]

National Little Red Wagon Day [Last Wednesday]

Red Cross Giving Day [4th Wednesday]

A Whole Day for Whole Grain [Last Wednesday]

Independence & Related Days

Bessarabia (Day of the Union with Romania; 1918)

Federation of the Seven Towers (Declared, 2022) [unrecognized]

Gogania (Declared, 2013) [unrecognized]

Michrenia (Declared, 2013) [unrecognized]

Pugguinia (Declared, 2010) [unrecognized]

Ultamiya (Declared, 2010) [unrecognized]

Festivals Beginning March 27, 2024

Blazing Swan (Kulin, Australia) [thru 4.2]

Maine Restaurant Expo (Portland, Maine)

Melbourne International Comedy Festival (Melbourne, Australia) [thru 4.21]

New York International Auto Show (New York, New York) [thru 4.7]

Oak Mountain State Fair (Pelham, Alabama) [thru 4.14]

Spring Dairy Expo (Columbus, Ohio) [thru 3.30]

Virginia Food and Beverage Expo (Richmond, Virginia)

WiVi: Central Coast (Paso Robles, California)

Feast Days

Aequinoctium Vernum, Day 1 (Pagan)

Albert Marquet (Artology)

Alexander, a Pannonian soldier (Christian; Martyr)

Amador of Portugal (Christian; Saint)

Augusta of Treviso (Christian; Saint)

Barley Harvest Festival (Jehovah, Protector of the Barley)

Charles Henry Brent (Episcopal Church (USA))

Christine (Muppetism)

Clear Energy Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Edward J. Steichen (Artology)

Edward William Cooke (Artology)

Gauri (Women’s Festival to Goddess of Marriage & Abundance; India)

Geasa Day (Prohibitions; Celtic Book of Days)

Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh (Christian; Saint)

Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa (Buddhism)

Herophilius (Positivist; Saint)

Jan van Beers (Artology)

John & Patsy Ramsey Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saints)

John Damascene (Christian; Saint)

John of Egypt (Christian; Saint)

Jules Olitski (Artology)

Lavatio (Festival of Cybele and Attis; Ancient Rome)

Liberalia (Ancient Rome; Festival of Liber Pater, Fertility & Wine God)

Patrick McCabe (Writerism)

Paella Day (Pastafarian)

Philetus (Christian; Saint)

Romulus of Nîmes, a Benedictine abbot (Christian; Martyr)

Rupert of Salzburg (Christian; Saint)

Smell the Breezes Day (Sky Goddess Nut; Ancient Egypt)

Vladimir Burliuk (Artology)

Zanitas and Lazarus of Persia (Christian; Saint)

Christian Liturgical Holidays

Black Wednesday (Czech Republic) [Wednesday before Easter]

Holy Wednesday [4 Days before Easter]

Soot-Sweeping Wednesday [Wednesday before Easter]

Ugly Wednesday [Wednesday before Easter]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Annie Hall (Film; 1977)

April Showers (Film; 1948)

The Bulleteers (Fleischer Cartoon; 1942) [#5]

Child Sociology (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1953)

Consuming Passions (Film; 1992)

The Cutting Edge (Film; 1992)

Design for Leaving (WB LT Cartoon; 1954)

Eaters of the Dead, by Michael Crichton (Novel; 1976)

The Energy Blues (Science Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1979)

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, by Charles Mackay (Psychology Book; 1841)

The Fella with the Fiddle (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

The Greatest Man in Siam (Swing Symphony Cartoon; 1944)

Home (Animated Film; 2015)

International House (Film; 1933)

Moby Duck (WB LT Cartoon; 1965)

Monsters vs. Aliens (Animated Film; 2009)

The Moonman is Blue or The Inside Story (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 36; 1960)

Mother, by Meghan Trainor (Song; 2023)

Run-DMC, by Run-DMC (Album; 1984)

Run Silent, Run Deep (Film; 1958)

Singin’ in the Rain (Film; 1952)

The Snowman Cometh or An Icicle Built for Two (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 35; 1960)

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (WB Animated Film; 2018)

Thief (Film; 1981)

Thunderball, by Ian Fleming (Novel; 1959) [James Bond #9]

Tiny Toon Spring Break (WB Animated TV Film; 1994)

Tom Thumb (ComicColor Cartoon; 1936)

Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (Disney Animated TV Special; 1959)

Victorious (TV Series; 2010)

What Makes Sammy Run?, by Budd Schulberg (Novel; 1941)

What We Do in the Shadows (Film; 2019)

White Men Can’t Jump (Film; 1992)

Today’s Name Days

Ernst, Frowin, Heimo (Austria)

Lada, Peregrin, Rupert (Croatia)

Dita (Czech Republic)

Kastor (Denmark)

Laide, Laidi, Leia, Leida, Leidi (Estonia)

Saul, Sauli (Finland)

Habib (France)

Augusta, Ernst, Heimo (Germany)

Filitas, Leeda, Lidia, Makedon, Matrona (Greece)

Hajnalka (Hungary)

Augusto, Oliviero, Romolo, Ruperto (Italy)

Audra, Gustavs, Gusts, Talrits (Latvia)

Aleksandras, Alkmenas, Lidija, Rūta (Lithuania)

Rudi, Rudolf (Norway)

Benedykt, Ernest, Ernestyn, Jan, Lidia, Rościmir, Rupert (Poland)

Matroana (Romania)

Alena (Slovakia)

Alejandro, Ruperto (Spain)

Ralf, Rudolf (Sweden)

Acher, Archibald, Archie, Montgomery, Monte, Monty (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 87 of 2024; 279 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of week 13 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 11 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Ding-Mao), Day 18 (Geng-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 17 Adair II 5784

Islamic: 17 Ramadan 1445

J Cal: 27 Green; Sixday [27 of 30]

Julian: 14 March 2024

Moon: 94%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 3 Archimedes (4th Month) [Erasistratus]

Runic Half Month: Ehwaz (Horse) [Day 2 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 9 of 92)

Week: 4th Week of March

Zodiac: Aries (Day 7 of 31)

[magnuspmcc]

Unveiling the Role of Civil Project Management Consultants in India

Role of Civil Project Management Consultants

Project Planning and Scheduling

Civil project management consultants are involved in the initial stages of a project, where they help in creating a comprehensive Civil Project Management Consultants India plan that outlines the project's scope, objectives, and timeline. They also develop a detailed schedule that breaks down the project into smaller tasks and milestones, ensuring that everything runs smoothly and efficiently.

Budgeting and Cost Control

One of the primary responsibilities of civil project management consultants is to manage the project's budget. They work closely with clients to understand their financial constraints and develop a cost-effective plan that meets their requirements. Throughout the project, they monitor expenses and make necessary adjustments to keep the project within budget.

Resource Allocation

Civil project management consultants are responsible for allocating resources such as manpower, materials, and equipment efficiently. They ensure that the right resources are available at the right time, minimizing delays and maximizing productivity.

Risk Management

Projects often involve risks, and civil project management consultants are tasked with identifying potential risks and developing strategies to mitigate them. They continuously assess the project's progress and make adjustments to minimize the impact of any unforeseen challenges.

Quality Control and Assurance

Ensuring the quality of the project is a top priority for civil project management consultants. They establish quality standards and procedures to ensure that the project meets the client's requirements and adheres to regulatory guidelines. They also conduct regular inspections and tests to monitor the project's quality throughout its lifecycle.

Stakeholder Management

Civil project management consultants act as a liaison between the project stakeholders, including clients, contractors, government agencies, and the local community. They manage communication, address concerns, and ensure that all parties are informed and aligned with the project's objectives.

Project Monitoring and Reporting

Throughout the project, civil project management consultants monitor progress, track performance, and generate reports for clients and stakeholders. These reports help in identifying any deviations from the plan and enable timely corrective actions.

Contributions of Civil Project Management Consultants in India

Infrastructure Development

Civil project management consultants have played a vital role in India's rapid infrastructure development. They have overseen the construction of highways, bridges, airports, railways, and other critical public facilities, connecting cities and improving the overall quality of life for millions of Indians.

Economic Growth

By successfully managing large-scale infrastructure projects, civil project management consultants have contributed to India's economic growth. These projects create employment opportunities, boost local economies, and attract foreign investments.

Improved Public Services

Civil project management consultants have been instrumental in enhancing public services such as water supply, sanitation, and electricity. They have helped design and implement efficient systems that cater to the needs of a growing population.

Sustainable Development

India's civil project management consultants are increasingly focusing on sustainable development practices. They promote the use of eco-friendly materials, energy-efficient technologies, and environmentally-conscious designs to minimize the environmental impact of their projects.

Capacity Building

Civil project management Commercial Cost Consultancy in India consultants in India are also involved in capacity building initiatives. They train and develop local professionals, ensuring that the country has a skilled workforce capable of managing complex projects in the future.

[college-girl199328]

Traffic slow, but no injuries or dangerous good spilled, in Alberta train derailment

RCMP say a Canadian Pacific train has derailed near Taber, Alta., a small town about 260 kilometres southeast of Calgary. Mounties say in a news release today that 11 railcars derailed in various locations along Highway 3 between Highway 26 and Range Road 163 and 162.

Canadian Pacific Railway police are still on the scene with highway control. Traffic on Highway 3 has been redirected to one lane east and west while cleanup continues.

RCMP say there have been no reported injuries and that no dangerous goods have spilled. Police are recommending drivers avoid travel if possible and to slow down and adjust their driving to road conditions if travel is necessary.

RCMP media liaison Const. Sarah Williams says that Taber RCMP are no longer on the scene and she did not know what was inside the railcar that derailed.

[yolaxinfraenergy]

We Yolaxinfra group railway liaisoning consultant India. our dedicated team specialized expertise with a strong understanding of the railway sector to help our customers execute their liaisoning projects successfully. For more Info - http://www.yolaxinfra.com/railway-consultancy.php

[yolaxinfranergy]

Laxyo Energy Ltd is a full railway consultancy providing company with with engineering and design services, new track construction, existing track maintenance, railway liaisoning and also provide approval of plan from railway.

http://www.yolaxinfra.com/railway-consultancy.php

[nellygwyn]

BOOK RECS

Okay, so lots of people wanted this and so, I am compiling a list of my favourite books (both fiction and non-fiction), books that I recommend you read as soon as humanly possible. In the meantime, I’ll be pinning this post to the top of my blog (once I work out how to do that lmao) so it will be accessible for old and new followers. I’m going to order this list thematically, I think, just to keep everything tidy and orderly. Of course, a lot of this list will consist of historical fiction and historical non-fiction because that’s what I read primarily and thus, that’s where my bias is, but I promise to try and spice it up just a little bit. 

Favourite fiction books of all time:

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock // Imogen Hermes Gowar

Sense and Sensibility // Jane Austen

Slammerkin // Emma Donoghue 

Remarkable Creatures // Tracy Chevalier

Life Mask // Emma Donoghue

His Dark Materials // Philip Pullman (this includes the follow-up series The Book of Dust)

Emma // Jane Austen

The Miniaturist // Jessie Burton

Girl, Woman, Other // Bernadine Evaristo 

Jane Eyre // Charlotte Brontë

Persuasion // Jane Austen

Girl with a Pearl Earring // Tracy Chevalier

The Silent Companions // Laura Purcell

Tess of the d’Urbervilles // Thomas Hardy

Northanger Abbey // Jane Austen

The Chronicles of Narnia // C.S. Lewis

Pride and Prejudice // Jane Austen

Goodnight, Mr Tom // Michelle Magorian

The French Lieutenant’s Woman // John Fowles 

The Butcher’s Hook // Janet Ellis 

Mansfield Park // Jane Austen

The All Souls Trilogy // Deborah Harkness

The Railway Children // Edith Nesbit

Favourite non-fiction books of all time

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman // Robert Massie

Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King // Antonia Fraser

Madame de Pompadour // Nancy Mitford

The First Iron Lady: A Life of Caroline of Ansbach // Matthew Dennison 

Black and British: A Forgotten History // David Olusoga

Courtiers: The Secret History of the Georgian Court // Lucy Worsley 

Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Katherine Howard, the Fifth Wife of Henry VIII // Gareth Russell

King Charles II // Antonia Fraser

Casanova’s Women // Judith Summers

Marie Antoinette: The Journey // Antonia Fraser

Mrs. Jordan’s Profession: The Story of a Great Actress and a Future King // Claire Tomalin

Jane Austen at Home // Lucy Worsley

Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames // Lara Maiklem

The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth // Anna Keay

The Marlboroughs: John and Sarah Churchill // Christopher Hibbert

Nell Gwynn: A Biography // Charles Beauclerk

Jurassic Mary: Mary Anning and the Primeval Monsters // Patricia Pierce

Georgian London: Into the Streets // Lucy Inglis

The Prince Who Would Be King: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart // Sarah Fraser

Wedlock: How Georgian Britain’s Worst Husband Met His Match // Wendy Moore

Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from the Stone Age to the Silver Screen // Greg Jenner

Victorians Undone: Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum // Kathryn Hughes

Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey // Nicola Tallis

Favourite books about the history of sex and/or sex work

The Origins of Sex: A History of First Sexual Revolution // Faramerz Dabhoiwala 

Erotic Exchanges: The World of Elite Prostitution in Eighteenth-Century Paris // Nina Kushner

Peg Plunkett: Memoirs of a Whore // Julie Peakman

Courtesans // Katie Hickman

The Other Victorians: A Study of Sexuality and Pornography in mid-Nineteenth Century England

Madams, Bawds, and Brothel Keepers // Fergus Linnane

The Secret History of Georgian London: How the Wages of Sin Shaped the Capital // Dan Cruickshank 

A Curious History of Sex // Kate Lister

Sex and Punishment: 4000 Years of Judging Desire // Eric Berkowitz

Queen of the Courtesans: Fanny Murray // Barbara White

Rent Boys: A History from Ancient Times to Present // Michael Hone

Celeste // Roland Perry

Sex and the Gender Revolution // Randolph Trumbach

The Pleasure’s All Mine: A History of Perverse Sex // Julie Peakman

LGBT+ fiction I love*

The Confessions of the Fox // Jordy Rosenberg 

As Meat Loves Salt // Maria Mccann

Bone China // Laura Purcell

Brideshead Revisited // Evelyn Waugh

The Confessions of Frannie Langton // Sara Collins

The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle // Neil Blackmore

Orlando // Virginia Woolf

Tipping the Velvet // Sarah Waters

She Rises // Kate Worsley

The Mercies // Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Oranges are Not the Only Fruit // Jeanette Winterson

Maurice // E.M Forster

Frankisstein: A Love Story // Jeanette Winterson

If I Was Your Girl // Meredith Russo 

The Well of Loneliness // Radclyffe Hall 

* fyi, Life Mask and Girl, Woman, Other are also LGBT+ fiction

Classics I haven’t already mentioned (including children’s classics)

Far From the Madding Crowd // Thomas Hardy 

I Capture the Castle // Dodie Smith 

Vanity Fair // William Makepeace Thackeray 

Wuthering Heights // Emily Brontë

The Blazing World // Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle

Murder on the Orient Express // Agatha Christie 

Great Expectations // Charles Dickens

North and South // Elizabeth Gaskell

Evelina // Frances Burney

Death on the Nile // Agatha Christie

The Monk // Matthew Lewis

Frankenstein // Mary Shelley

Vilette // Charlotte Brontë

The Mayor of Casterbridge // Thomas Hardy

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall // Anne Brontë

Vile Bodies // Evelyn Waugh

Beloved // Toni Morrison 

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd // Agatha Christie

The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling // Henry Fielding

A Room With a View // E.M. Forster

Silas Marner // George Eliot 

Jude the Obscure // Thomas Hardy

My Man Jeeves // P.G. Wodehouse

Lady Audley’s Secret // Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Middlemarch // George Eliot

Little Women // Louisa May Alcott

Children of the New Forest // Frederick Marryat

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings // Maya Angelou 

Rebecca // Daphne du Maurier

Alice in Wonderland // Lewis Carroll

The Wind in the Willows // Kenneth Grahame

Anna Karenina // Leo Tolstoy

Howard’s End // E.M. Forster

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 // Sue Townsend

Even more fiction recommendations

The Darling Strumpet // Gillian Bagwell

The Wolf Hall trilogy // Hilary Mantel

The Illumination of Ursula Flight // Anne-Marie Crowhurst

Queenie // Candace Carty-Williams

Forever Amber // Kathleen Winsor

The Corset // Laura Purcell

Love in Colour // Bolu Babalola

Artemisia // Alexandra Lapierre

Blackberry and Wild Rose // Sonia Velton

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories // Angela Carter

The Languedoc trilogy // Kate Mosse

Longbourn // Jo Baker

A Skinful of Shadows // Frances Hardinge

The Black Moth // Georgette Heyer

The Far Pavilions // M.M Kaye

The Essex Serpent // Sarah Perry

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo // Taylor Jenkins Reid

Cavalier Queen // Fiona Mountain 

The Winter Palace // Eva Stachniak

Friday’s Child // Georgette Heyer

Falling Angels // Tracy Chevalier

Little // Edward Carey

Chocolat // Joanne Harris 

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street // Natasha Pulley 

My Sister, the Serial Killer // Oyinkan Braithwaite

The Convenient Marriage // Georgette Heyer

Katie Mulholland // Catherine Cookson

Restoration // Rose Tremain

Meat Market // Juno Dawson

Lady on the Coin // Margaret Campbell Bowes

In the Company of the Courtesan // Sarah Dunant

The Crimson Petal and the White // Michel Faber

A Place of Greater Safety // Hilary Mantel 

The Little Shop of Found Things // Paula Brackston

The Improbability of Love // Hannah Rothschild

The Murder Most Unladylike series // Robin Stevens

Dark Angels // Karleen Koen

The Words in My Hand // Guinevere Glasfurd

Time’s Convert // Deborah Harkness

The Collector // John Fowles

Vivaldi’s Virgins // Barbara Quick

The Foundling // Stacey Halls

The Phantom Tree // Nicola Cornick

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle // Stuart Turton

Golden Hill // Francis Spufford

Assorted non-fiction not yet mentioned

The Dinosaur Hunters: A True Story of Scientific Rivalry and the Discovery of the Prehistoric World // Deborah Cadbury

The Beauty and the Terror: An Alternative History to the Italian Renaissance // Catherine Fletcher

All the King's Women: Love, Sex, and Politics in the life of Charles II // Derek Jackson

Mozart’s Women // Jane Glover

Scandalous Liaisons: Charles II and His Court // R.E. Pritchard

Matilda: Queen, Empress, Warrior // Catherine Hanley 

Black Tudors // Miranda Kaufman 

To Catch a King: Charles II's Great Escape // Charles Spencer

1666: Plague, War and Hellfire // Rebecca Rideal

Henrietta Maria: Charles I's Indomitable Queen // Alison Plowden

Catherine of Braganza: Charles II's Restoration Queen // Sarah-Beth Watkins

Four Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Romanov Grand Duchesses // Helen Rappaport

Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox, 1740-1832 // Stella Tillyard 

The Fortunes of Francis Barber: The True Story of the Jamaican Slave who Became Samuel Johnson’s Heir // Michael Bundock

Black London: Life Before Emancipation // Gretchen Gerzina

In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon’s Wars, 1793-1815

The King’s Mistress: Scandal, Intrigue and the True Story of the Woman who Stole the Heart of George I // Claudia Gold

Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson // Paula Byrne

The Gentleman’s Daughter: Women’s Lives in Georgian England // Amanda Vickery

Terms and Conditions: Life in Girls’ Boarding School, 1939-1979 // Ysenda Maxtone Graham 

Fanny Burney: A Biography // Claire Harman

Aphra Behn: A Secret Life // Janet Todd

The Imperial Harem: Women and the Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire // Leslie Peirce

The Fall of the House of Byron // Emily Brand

The Favourite: Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough // Ophelia Field

Night-Walking: A Nocturnal History of London // Matthew Beaumont, Will Self

Jane Austen: A Life // Claire Tomalin

Beloved Emma: The Life of Emma, Lady Hamilton // Flora Fraser

Sentimental Murder: Love and Madness in the 18th Century // John Brewer

Henrietta Howard: King’s Mistress, Queen’s Servant // Tracy Borman

City of Beasts: How Animals Shaped Georgian London // Tom Almeroth-Williams

Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion // Anne Somerset 

Charlotte Brontë: A Life // Claire Harman 

Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe // Anthony Summers

Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day // Peter Ackroyd 

Elizabeth I and Her Circle // Susan Doran

African Europeans: An Untold History // Olivette Otele 

Young Romantics: The Shelleys, Byron, and Other Tangled Lives // Daisy Hay

How to Create the Perfect Wife // Wendy Moore

The Sphinx: The Life of Gladys Deacon, Duchess of Marlborough // Hugo Vickers

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn // Eric Ives

Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy // Barbara Ehrenreich

A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie // Kathryn Harkup 

Mistresses: Sex and Scandal at the Court of Charles II // Linda Porter

Female Husbands: A Trans History // Jen Manion

Ladies in Waiting: From the Tudors to the Present Day // Anne Somerset

Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country // Edward Parnell 

A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles // Ned Palmer

The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine // Lindsey Fitzharris

Medieval Woman: Village Life in the Middle Ages // Ann Baer

The Husband Hunters: Social Climbing in London and New York // Anne de Courcy

The Voices of Nîmes: Women, Sex, and Marriage in Reformation Languedoc // Suzannah Lipscomb

The Daughters of the Winter Queen // Nancy Goldstone

Mad and Bad: Real Heroines of the Regency // Bea Koch

Bess of Hardwick // Mary S. Lovell

The Royal Art of Poison // Eleanor Herman 

The Strangest Family: The Private Lives of George III, Queen Charlotte, and the Hanoverians // Janice Hadlow

Palaces of Pleasure: From Music Halls to the Seaside to Football; How the Victorians Invented Mass Entertainment // Lee Jackson

Favourite books about current social/political issues (?? for lack of a better term)

Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power // Lola Olufemi

Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Worker Rights // Molly Smith, Juno Mac

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race // Reni Eddo-Lodge

Trans Britain: Our Journey from the Shadows // Christine Burns

Me, Not You: The Trouble with Mainstream Feminism // Alison Phipps

Trans Like Me: A Journey For All Of Us // C.N Lester

Brit(Ish): On Race, Identity, and Belonging // Afua Hirsch 

The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence, and Cultural Restitution // Dan Hicks

Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls: A Handbook for Unapologetic Living // Jes M. Baker

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women White Feminists Forgot // Mikki Kendall

Denial: Holocaust History on Trial // Deborah Lipstadt

Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape // Jessica Valenti, Jaclyn Friedman

Don’t Touch My Hair // Emma Dabiri

Sister Outsider // Audre Lorde 

Unicorn: The Memoir of a Muslim Drag Queen // Amrou Al-Kadhi

Trans Power // Juno Roche

Breathe: A Letter to My Sons // Imani Perry

The Windrush Betrayal: Exposing the Hostile Environment // Amelia Gentleman

Happy Fat: Taking Up Space in a World That Wants to Shrink You // Sofie Hagen

Diaries, memoirs & letters

The Diary of a Young Girl // Anne Frank

Renia’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust // Renia Spiegel 

Writing Home // Alan Bennett

The Diary of Samuel Pepys // Samuel Pepys

Histoire de Ma Vie // Giacomo Casanova

Toast: The Story of a Boy’s Hunger // Nigel Slater

London Journal, 1762-1763 // James Boswell

The Diary of a Bookseller // Shaun Blythell 

Jane Austen’s Letters // edited by Deidre la Faye

H is for Hawk // Helen Mcdonald 

The Salt Path // Raynor Winn

The Glitter and the Gold // Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough

Journals and Letters // Fanny Burney

Educated // Tara Westover

Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading // Lucy Mangan

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? // Jeanette Winterson

A Dutiful Boy // Mohsin Zaidi

Secrets and Lies: The Trials of Christine Keeler // Christine Keeler

800 Years of Women’s Letters // edited by Olga Kenyon

Istanbul // Orhan Pamuk

Henry and June // Anaïs Nin

Historical romance (this is a short list because I’m still fairly new to this genre)

The Bridgerton series // Julia Quinn

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover // Sarah Mclean

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake // Sarah Mclean

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics // Olivia Waite

That Could Be Enough // Alyssa Cole

Unveiled // Courtney Milan

The Craft of Love // EE Ottoman

The Maiden Lane series // Elizabeth Hoyt

An Extraordinary Union // Alyssa Cole

Slightly Dangerous // Mary Balogh

Dangerous Alliance: An Austentacious Romance // Jennieke Cohen

A Fashionable Indulgence // KJ Charles

[allthecanadianpolitics]

As RCMP drop charges on Wet’suwet’en, OPP advance colonial agenda by charging over 20 Mohawks for standing up against genocide

Kanenhariyo was arrested and “tricked” by Napanee OPP who imposed “no protest” conditions; 9-10 more arrests of Mohawk Warriors are anticipated in coming days; the first court date for all the Warriors is in Napanee on August 11, 2020.

TYENDINAGA MOHAWK TERRITORY – On Thursday July 9th, the OPP arrested Kanenhariyo, a vocal supporter of the Wet’suwet’en and the main Mohawk liaison with the police during the Tyendinaga rail shutdown in February of 2020. Kanenhariyo, like 20 other Mohawk Warriors who have already been charged, is facing three charges: “Mischief 430(3) CCC,”  “Disobey Court Order 127 CCC,” and “Enter Land Where Line Work Situation 26.1” under the Railway Safety Act. 

OPP Detective Karin Richer, who arrested Kanenhariyo, informed him that the OPP was looking to charge another “9 or 10” people that they hadn’t yet reached because of Covid-19. All of those charged are to attend court together at the Ontario Superior Court at 41 Dundas St. West, in Napanee, at 9:30am.

The OPP has imposed conditions on all of those arrested not to communicate with each other and “Not to participate in protests or demonstrations of any kind.” According to Detective Richer, “The condition not to participate in protest or demonstrations is there to prevent what happened throughout the month of February from happening again.” Detective Richer added that the OPP was trying to prevent any actions that would “cause discord” or “that cause mischief in the community.”

[sourbat]

Here’s a short Skwismag I wrote today. 

Summary:  Skwisgaar remembers an evening with Magnus.

Warning: Drug use; implied sexual content. 

Skwisgaar remembered sitting at the edge of the old apartment’s railway, legs dangling and swaying in accordance with the late summer winds. Magnus stood beside him, shirtless and elbows pressed on top of the flimsy metal frame. The sun was setting, or had just started to set. Skwisgaar couldn’t recall the exact hour, nor month this memory occurred, only that the sky was a rich shade of orange. Magnus slid a foot back before offering Skwisgaar a hit of his blunt, grinning mad and spilling smoke from the parting rows of teeth, flicking the end and letting the ash rain all over his faded gray Toyota Camry before passing it down to Skwisgaar.

“We ams supposed to be leavinks soon,” Skwisgaar commented, but raised his hand up in agreement.

“I’ve driven under worse.” Magnus retorted, and Skwisgaar, despite knowing it was wrong, had to agree. He drank up the smoke, held it in until his lungs burned, and spewed it all in a long, seamless stream.

A few minutes later, the magic hit and the vibrant orange and burgeoning shades of violet in the distance started to magnify and glisten. Skwisgaar thought it was just good weed, but in six hours would come to terms that he was under the influence of a mixture of dangerous club concoctions. For now, he stared at the setting sun, jaw dropping at the magnificent array of colors that ate his senses whole. High as he was, he knew better than to meet the sun head-on, but witnessed its peeling outer layers melt into the blood orange sky. The stars were there. Skwisgaar remembered there being stars once it hit, and they sparkled and shimmered long rays of brilliant light into the deepening violet and pink. Another warm breeze passed through the streets, and this time Skwisgaar could make out each individual stream of air that tickled his neck and tasseled strands of his long blond hair. Magnus sways to the left, spilling more smoke into the air, and Skwisgaar recalled the strange aftertaste it left in his mouth, and wondered what other drugs Magnus failed to mention.

“What are you looking at?”

Skwisgaar turned. “Them suns.” He answered, pursed lips forming a degenerate smile once he caught Magnus in his sights. “It ams looking like pretty van Gogh painting, what with thems purple and swirly organses and yellows.”

He raised a finger towards Magnus, giving it twirl to indicate the direction of where the light was headed, then another to point out the stars above. Magnus raised his head up, mouth agape as he stared up at whatever mystical performance he witnessed under his high. Skwisgaar snickered, then rested his arms on the bottom half of the railing. His fingers scratched at the peeling layers of metal, unearthing stained rust that collected under his nails. The rust reminded him of dried blood. When Skwisgaar grew sick of staring at his fingernails, he turned and saw Magnus above him, eyes glued on his form. 

“What ims it?” Skwisgaar asked. He blinked madly, trying to make out the man behind the shimmering lights, but couldn’t see past that rose-tinted veil.

Magnus snubbed the end of the laced blunt into the handrail. “Nothing, just admiring you,” he said plainly, which only made Skwisgaar turn and check over his shoulder to see if their apartment door was open as they had left it. It was, but Skwisgaar leaned further, saw there was no one in the living room or kitchen.

Relieved, Skwisgaar dropped to the floor. “You shouldn’t be saying them things out louds,” Skwisgaar warned, then ran a hand across his face. He was starting to sweat, and his throat was dry. “Nathan and the others will hears you.”

Magnus dropped to a squat, or his knees? Or, did Magnus remain put, keeping his limber form against the railing as he let loose a low, almost threatening chuckle?  

“Let them fucking hear. What are they going to do?” Magnus asked with a sharp, antagonistic snap. A finger laced around several strands of his hair. Magnus must have been at his level then. Maybe they were lying together. If he couldn’t remember anyone being there, then maybe this was one of those rare cases where Magnus wasn’t afraid to show more than just a drop of affection in public.

Another veil draped over them. Magnus must’ve been sitting beside him, because Skwisgaar was sure it was his dark hair spilling over his back and shoulders, cascading around them and creating a small reprieve from all other outside stimulation. Skwisgaar stared up  at the shadowy form of a man who was so gone his eyes almost appeared black.

“I like the way your eyes look when they’re dilated,” Magnus told him, then lowered further to meet Skwisgaar’s lips with his own. 

A disturbing compliment, but they were high at the time, and Skwisgaar didn’t know any better. All he knew was Magnus was kissing him in public, on the eve of a hot, summer day, telling him how gorgeous he looked, and how tragic it was that he couldn’t have more to himself. They always kept things casual during the daylight hours, with Magnus performing the subtle art of flirtation whenever the opportunity arose. 

“You ams high, Magnus.”

Magnus cackled at the remark. “And so are you.”

How the conversation turned to the rave, and getting inside the car was a mystery. Skwisgaar couldn’t think straight, or maybe couldn’t bring himself to go any further past that moment where Magnus took advantage of their seclusion, of having him cornered in a spot. He breezed through the fuzzy recollection of a fingertip that curled under his palms, tickled his wrist before snatching and pulling him up so that they could dress and head out of the apartment. If memory serves correct, Murderface just left his room and asked Magnus for a ride to the pawn shop. Or was it Nathan? Another fast forward, and Magnus and Skwisgaar were in the car, ignition on, and faulty conditioner blowing lukewarm air at full blast. Skwisgaar’s seat groaned for him as he threw his head back, letting Magnus brush his nose across his neck, get lost in the nape before whispering hot words into his ear, asking if he wanted to ride to a more secluded spot before they hit the rave.

Magnus tore through the highway, reaching speeds that should’ve warranted their deaths, but always knew when to break at the last minute, when to drop speeds before ramming his clunker into the trunks of bigger, better cars. Trapped in his daze, Skwisgaar rolled down the window to stare out to the setting sun, the purple that shushed and tucked it deeper into the horizon, and the sparkly blue sky that glistened and blanketed the day into night. Skwisgaar saw that familiar set of trees, the bright orange sign located just a few miles away from their exit, and neon lights pointing towards a casino Skwisgaar kept saying he’d visit, but never did.

The exited the freeway, drove up a set of hills and into nicer neighborhoods with fenced yards and two story houses. Skwisgaar fished through the glove compartment for condoms, while Magnus continued to lift and drop his sunglasses, squinting at signs and trying to locate the entrance to a hiking trail no one bothered to visit during this late in the hour. Skwisgaar couldn’t remember the way back to that hill, nor could he recall what Magnus said to convince him that they should stay in the front of the car this time. The summer’s top 10 played, and Skwisgaar pulled the lever and lowered his seat, resting his simmering body against the heated passenger seat. The arid atmosphere seeped into his eyes, adding to the mild discomforts of his already  fuzzy head and cotton-dry mouth. Magnus hummed to one of the songs, then threw his belt on top of the dashboard and–fast forward–black consumed the sky once they were done, and the air outside had finally reached a tolerable temperature for the two of them to enjoy and bathe their sweaty bodies in before hitting the floor.

For some reason, Skwisgaar saw Magnus sitting on top of his car’s hood: pants and shirt on, but the latter only buttoned partway. The man was silent, eyes surprisingly steady given the concoction he’d smoked, licking his chapped lips as he stared down the hill at the city’s glowing palette: the white headlights and red taillights, the blue and green neon lights, flashing rainbows beckoning people over, and glowing balls of office buildings that were coming to their close.

Skwisgaar knew it couldn’t be the case, because Magnus never settled or allowed himself a chance to reflect on their brief liaisons. He was always ready to move on, and once he was off Skwisgaar, asked for the address to the club.

Still…

“What ams you staring at?” Skwisgaar pretended to say to the version of Magnus that was either depressed, ashamed, coming down, or tired.

“Everything,” Magnus answered, then raised a heavy arm down at the city.

Skwisgaar walked over to the front of the car, then sat next to Magnus. The car groaned under their added weight, but Skwisgaar hung low, resting his elbows on top his legs as he and Magnus viewed the shimmering freeway below.

“Ims beautiful,” Skwisgaar said.

And because this was his memory, a made-up figment of his imagination, Magnus looked away from the lightshow to instead witness him. “Not as beautiful as you,” he said, offering a free hand for Skwisgaar to indulge in. And, instead of going to the club, Skwisgaar and Magnus remained on that hill, letting their shared high trick them into believing the glimmering city beneath was made of gold, jewels and lightning. Magnus would divulge into some random diatribe of how everything was out to get him before being snuffed by Skwisgaar’s lips, and for once, Magnus would accept the kiss as it were. They laid on top of the car together, holding one another in the cooling winds and switching between the waves of immersive, incandescent lighting below, the faint glimmer of twinkling skies above, and the joy seeping out from their wide, dilated pupils.

Skwisgaar wanted it to be real. It was a modest way to end the night, but anything was better than what occurred. Magnus would take the wrong exit, and they’d be lost for nearly twenty minutes because Skwisgaar couldn’t remember the exact name of the club, and when they arrived, the line was so long by the time they made it past the front doors Magnus was irritated and already on edge. Someone bumped into him later, and didn’t apologize quick enough, and Magnus threatened to kick his ass. The next time it happened, Magnus swung a fist. Skwisgaar forgot how he calmed Magnus down the first time, but knew he failed miserably to even pull him away the second. Someone caught them together, and Magnus was still recovering from that initial fight, but they made the horrendous mistake to call them a foul name. Magnus just couldn’t let the insult go, and threw himself on their provoker, fists beating down on him before Skwisgaar could shake off the effects of the offense. When he finally did, people were turning on them, and names only grew worse. Although Magnus scared most of them off with his mangled, rage-induced form, the stress and fear he caused led to them getting kicked out, to Magnus telling him this was why he can’t ever really be happy, and blaming Skwisgaar for tricking him into thinking they could be anything more than just a dirty secret.

What really happened… Skwisgaar staring up at the vast night sky, spotting fewer stars than he remembered back at the apartment, when the sun was still falling, and Magnus sitting at the curb, analyzing his trembling, bleeding hands and falling deeper and deeper into a state of self-loathing.

...

Magnus looks so happy. It was all Skwisgaar could think when he stared up at the frozen still of him. Nathan and the others pointed fingers at the massive screen, openly criticizing Magnus’ way of starting fights and disorder at nearly any given opportunity before shifting their attention and the tone to Toki. The man wasn’t around, but he could be seen in the corner of that image, arms up in jubilation as he cheered the older man on, looking equally as excited, if not more for Magnus’ successful attack. But Skwisgaar couldn’t bring himself to rest too long on Toki. Staring too long at his smile only made his throat burn, his heart sour and turn green with jealousy. The image flickered as Nathan hit the remote, skipping several frames, and resting on an image of Magnus taking Toki by the hand, bad eye squinting from the array of flashing lights, but grin expanding beyond what Skwisgaar had ever seen.

People were huddled around them, pointing in their general direction. Even without the disguises, there had to be at least one person there calling them names, and Magnus, donning wrinkled attire stained with flecks of blood, couldn’t have been happier. 

“I’ll be real: they don’t look bad,” Pickles said, dropping his stare to return to the bottle he’d been nursing.

“Still gay, though,” Murderface pointed out. 

“I mean, at least they’re not being sissy about it, right?” Nathan said, then hit rewind once more to replay the scene.

“…which brings us to our two favorite party boys, Toki Wartooth and Magnus Hammersmith!”

Skwisgaar watched the dreaded minute-long clip, lips pulling inward when he saw Toki rush a man in the center of the dance floor, crashing into and bringing him down. Magnus appeared from the corner and pulled Toki up before saying something that couldn’t be heard through the crowds, then patted the man on the back before tugging him close. The host joked about their naturally brutal nature, their shared interest in music and how adorable it was that the two could do both while keeping their image. Hearts filled the screen as Magnus threw a fist at a man, much to the surprise of Toki. Another shoving Magnus just a second later, only to be rammed by Toki. Tweets flashed across the screen, showing dozens of fan reactions. The host returned to the clip, and people were screaming and music was playing, and Skwisgaar couldn’t hear the words Magnus whispered to Toki each time they returned to one another amidst the chaos. The crowds backed away once they recognized Toki without his hat, and the massive applause erupted once everyone realized who had kicked their asses. With just a few seconds left, Magnus turned to the camera recording the scuffle, raised a bloodied hand at him while Toki stood in the corner, beckoning Magnus back with a loving wave and coo. That was all it took for Magnus to turn, the video clip to suddenly end, and for the host to laugh off their violent date with another well-placed joke.

“Hey. Hey, Skwisgaar,” Nathan grunted, prodding Skwisgaar shoulder with his finger. “What do you think about Magnus and Toki being all gay with each other?”

Skwisgaar’s fingers ran up the neck of his guitar as he struggled to keep it all down. Middle and index shuffled between the four strings. Throat tightened at the memory of those cruel words, and Magnus blaming him for their shared suffering. 

“But don’t worry: Toki’s got Magnus’ back!”

Skwisgaar raised his head up just in time to witness the second recording pulled from the internet. Toki and Magnus were situated in the far corner of the club, half a dozen klokateers with weapons aimed at the dispersing crowd. Toki held Magnus’ hand, observing his fingers and scolding him for the damage he caused. Magnus said something in return. Skwisgaar couldn’t tell what it was because his back was facing the camera, but whatever it was, Skwisgaar could feel it, experiencing it when he saw Toki’s eyes light up under the circulating rainbow lights. Just before the video ended, Toki drew forward, eyes lidding as Magnus mirrored him and closed that already small gap.

“Well, ain’t that sweet. Calm down boys, save it for later!”

Skwisgaar looked away, unwilling to partake any further. Next to him, Murderface complained about them being gross, while Pickles laughed at the irony of it all, and Nathan, in his ignorance, nudged Skwisgaar again.

“D’ja see that?” Nathan said, snickering at the now frozen image of their two rhythm guitarists locked in a kiss. “Hey, Skwisgaar? Skwis, get a load of Toki and Magnus, here!”  

So what if they were kissing? So what if it was taking place in public?

“J-ja,” Skwisgaar said, choking through the single word. “It ims really gay and sillies. Kissing in publiks for everyones to see?!”

But Skwisgaar couldn’t bring himself to so much as glance in the direction of the still. He wouldn’t dare face that version of Magnus, the one he dared to make up whenever he tried to reminisce and find something positive, or just malleable enough to hold on to. That version of Magnus that Skwisgaar had to convince himself was real, then later reminded himself that he never existed.

That version of Magnus that Toki unearthed and had the pleasure of showing off to the world.

[cowperviolet]

SEX AND THE COUNTRY HOUSE: ADULTERY IN THE EDWARDIAN ERA

We tend to imagine the Edwardian period in the pastel colours of a Downton Abbey set: white gloves, cricket, young ladies who have the haziest notions of how heirs are made.

While the highborn ladies in question were still on the marriage market, they would have done well to give no one a reason to suspect otherwise about this last part. Violet Manners, the Duchess of Rutland, went so far as to forbid her daughter Diana to hold hands with any young man not her brother (not that it prevented Diana from going on boat excursions with Oxford students when living with her less strait-laced relatives). However, once the wedding bells rang out – more often than not after a match of convenience rather than romance, although not exclusively – the rules of the game changed.

For a beautiful married woman in the Upper Ten Thousand, as the crust of the richest and most influential families in Britain was dubbed, to have a lover was almost always tolerated – provided, of course, all proprieties were observed.

It was whispered often and loudly, for instance, that the Duchess of Rutland’s two daughters, Diana and Letty, were in fact conceived not by her husband, but by two different lovers. Nonetheless, the girls were officially recognized as the Duke’s children, and nothing threatened their inheritance during their lifetime. Admittedly, the fact that they were indeed girls, and thus unable to inherit the dukedom itself, must have helped.

This web of relationship could be surprisingly amicable: Diana herself later affectionately wrote in her memoirs about the way her father’s mistress, a great American actress Maxine Elliot, introduced her to the world of theatre. During the First World War, the Duchess even asked Maxine to help persuade the Duke to turn their house on Arlington Street into a hospital for wounded officers. Maxine agreed.

Many extramarital liaisons were ignited during country house parties. These Saturday-to-Mondays (no one called them weekends for the fear of being mistaken for the kind of people who have workdays) had scores of men and women gather in their friends’ country houses for several days of shooting, cocktails, and bridge. A good hostess knew her guests well – and that included the sacred knowledge of who is sleeping with who. This information ruled what Vita Sackville-West later delicately termed ‘the disposition of bedrooms’. As she wrote in her novel, The Edwardians,

‘…the name of each guest would be neatly written on a card slipped into a tiny brass frame on the bedroom door … Lord Robert Gore was in the Red Silk Room; Mrs Levison just across the passage. That was as it should be’.

The world of fashion assisted these pastimes as much as any private effort could. The French designer Paul Poiret’s creations took Edwardian England by storm for more reason than one. Their use of brassiere instead of a traditional corset made clothes more comfortable for the wearer, of course; however, it was also much easier to take off or to put on again in the case of an emergency, if someone was to almost discover the lovers. Paul Poiret himself seemed to understand his target audience well: he noted once that ‘undressing a [corseted] woman is an undertaking similar to the capture of a fortress’.

Of course, both the woman and the one who was doing the undressing had to exercise caution regardless of what they were wearing: poor Lady Londonderry’s story is a good example of that. She had a misfortune to get onto the bad side of Gladys, Marchioness of Ripon, a patron of the opera and a woman of fearsome elegance. When the latter discovered love letters from Lady Londonderry in the house of her lover, Harry Cust, she pinched the correspondence in question without many qualms. Reading it later, she realized with delight that, apart from being shockingly indiscreet, the letters also contained a multitude of disparaging remarks about Lady Londonderry’s own lawful husband. Another person might have thought publication or even blackmail – however, Gladys had a longer game in mind. Besides, Lady Londonderry had nothing she might have wanted – apart, of course, from their common lover.

During her next meeting with her friends over a game of bridge, beneath the warm glow of a silken lamp, Gladys dramatically produced a packet of letters and offered to give a little dramatic reading, since the game came to a standstill anyway. Exchanging bewildered looks, her guests agreed. Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been boring – not coming from Gladys, who made everyone else appear dull and, according to the contemporary writer E.F. Benson, ‘a shade shabby’. The result didn’t disappoint: she read the steamy lines with hilariously exaggerated passion, and had her friends in stitches.

The ‘private readings’ continued for several months, until the last instalment was finished. Then Gladys had the letters delivered to Londonderry House in Park Lane. The bundle, tidily tied with a ribbon, was given to Lord Londonderry. The revelation didn’t lead to divorce – after all, such a thing would have been not so much prohibitively expensive as prohibitively scandalous. The relationship between the couple has cooled somewhat, though.

If this frankly tabloid-like story could be placed on the more salacious end of the Edwardian adultery scale, then the opposite, respectable one, was firmly occupied by Mrs. Keppel. This lovely woman with creamy skin and chestnut hair became one of the last representatives of the fading tradition of royal mistresses, despite being firmly married. She had been the sole companion of the Prince of Wales, a.k.a. future Edward VII, a.k.a. Bertie, from 1898 and until his death. When their relationship began, he was fifty-eight and she twenty-nine. There were other drawbacks apart from this rather obvious one: Bertie also had an impressive girth – probably stemming from his habit to eat five meals a day and have a whole cake served at tea instead of the traditional light sandwiches and scones – and a past that included a lot of French dancing girls.

However, this liaison – although such a frivolous word is scarcely suitable for the position that lasted for years, and established Mrs. Keppel as the uncrowned queen of the high society – had its upsides. Admittedly, most of them were monetary. Whatever Bertie spent on her out of his yearly income of £470,000, his financier Sir Ernest Cassel helped her to multiply. When Mrs. Keppel had just met the Prince of Wales, her lifestyle could be described as, at most, respectable. When he died twelve years later, she had shares in the Argentine Great Western railway, the Cordoba Central, the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, the Transvaal Diamond Mining Company, and others; she travelled by a private train and was a beloved guest at the casinos at Biarritz and Monte Carlo. Despite this long affair and its very visible dividends, Mrs. Keppel managed to avoid greasy whispers and attentions of ill-wishers – mostly by retaining an aura of the utmost propriety. ‘She knew’, said Consuelo Vanderbilt later, ‘how to choose her friends with shrewd appraisal’.

Friends, perhaps; but what about her husband? Well, his private thoughts on the matter remained unknown. What is known, however, is that he vacated the marital bedroom obediently when confronted with the royal desire for his wife. Perhaps, he shared her views that extramarital affairs could be a sound business practice rather than a diversion it was for Lady Londonderry and the others. Mrs. Keppel had once tried to impress this opinion on the young Clementine Churchill. During a Spanish holiday in 1914, she advised Clementine to help her husband’s political career by finding herself a powerful lover. She was dismayed by Clementine’s refusal, and opined that it to be, if anything, selfish.

It must be noted that few extramarital romances among the Upper Ten Thousand featured such disparity of power and wealth as Mrs. Keppel’s did. Indeed, when they did, quite often the sponsorship, financial and political, went in the other direction. This tendency did not remain in the Edwardian age – a generation later, Oswald Mosley derived quite a part of his funding for his young fascist party from his mistresses’ money. However, that is a tale of another time, and for another time.

Sources:

Diana Cooper, A Rainbow Comes and Goes.

Juliet Nicholson, The Perfect Summer: England 1911, Just Before the Storm.

Diana Souhami, Mrs Keppel and Her Daughter.

[lahilden]

The Royal Pavilion

Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England

John Nash is one of England’s most infamous architects. Nash was commissioned by the Prince Regent, later King George IV, to design many buildings and gardens in England. Among those commissioned was the Royal Pavilion, located in Brighton’s seaside town on England’s southern coast. The Pavilion is a magnificent structure, and if you aren’t aware of its history, it’s definitely one to make you ask, how did THAT get there?

By the mid-18th century, Brighton had been transformed from a small fishing village to a fashionable resort town. This was largely because people believed seawater could improve their health.

According to historical accounts, the Prince of Wales visited Brighton in 1783 at the age of 21. George’s uncle, Prince Henry, the Duke of Cumberland, resided in the area and shared the same tastes as the Regent regarding cuisine, gaming, and fast living. As you can imagine, George visited him often. George’s doctor also told him the seawater would be good for his gout.

In 1786, under financial backlash due to his extravagant spending in building Carlton House, the Regent decided to rent a farmhouse in Brighton, on the future site of the Pavilion. The Pavilion ended up being a remote, discreet location for the Regent to enjoy liaisons and meet secretly with his long-time companion, Maria Fitzherbert.

In 1787, the designer of Carlton House, Henri Holland, enlarged the Pavilion in the neo-classical style. In 1801-02 the designer Peter Frederick Robinson was hired to enlarge the Pavilion again. Robinson’s designs included a new dining room and conservatory. The Prince Regent also purchased the land surrounding the Pavilion, and from 1803-08 the designer William Porden created a riding school and a large riding stable built in the Indian style, which could house up to sixty horses. Even after begging his father for funds to finish Carlton House, George didn't curb his expenditures.

Between 1815-1822 John Nash redesigned and extended the Pavilion to the masterpiece we see today. The structure is built in the Indo-Saracenic style, which was prevalent in India for most of the 19th century. The building has the most elegant Chinese influenced interiors ever seen in the British Isles.

After the death of King George IV in 1830, his successor, King William IV, stayed at the Pavilion when he visited Brighton. Nevertheless, Queen Victoria disliked Brighton due to the lack of privacy at the Pavilion, especially since, by this time, the area was now accessible by railway. Londoners were now able to make day trips to the area. Queen Victoria eventually sold the Royal Pavilion and surrounding properties to Brighton in 1850, and tourism to the site soared.

During the First World War, the Pavilion was used as a military hospital. Today, over 300,000 people visit the Pavilion annually. The Royal Pavilion is open to the public except on Christmas and Boxing Day. The entrance to the British Museum and Art Gallery is located in what was once George’s stables and riding school. A “secret” tunnel runs from the Royal Apartments to the museum's entrance hall; there is a tunnel tour available. The Royal Pavilion is available for weddings, corporate functions, and private events. There is also a tearoom and the Royal Pavilion shop.

[brookston]

Holidays 11.7

Holidays

American Choral Society Day

Ben Ali Commemoration Day (Tunisia)

Commemoration Day (Tunisia)

Day of Accord and Reconciliation (Russia)

Day of the Hungarian Opera (Hungary)

Days of History and Memory (Kyrgyzstan)

Dunce Day

Employee Brotherhood Day (SpongeBob Squarepants)

European Radon Day

Gastrointestinal Day (Germany)

Good Tummy Day (Japan)

Hug a Bear Day

Hungarian Opera Day (Hungary)

International Day of Medical Physics

International Inuit Day

Little League Girls Day

Magazine Day

Medical Science Liaison Awareness and Appreciation Day

Melbourne Cup Day (Victoria, Australia)

Meteorite Day

National Bassist Day

National Cancer Awareness Day (India)

National Canine Lymphoma Awareness Day

National Day for the Victims of Communism

National Day in Northern Catalonia (France)

National Day of Remembrance for Ka Otis (Philippines)

National Food Fortification Day (Philippines)

National Inuit Day (Canada)

National Keith Day

National Lori Day

National Programmatic Advertising Day

National Railway Day (Canada)

National Retinol Day

National Revolution and Solidarity Day (Bangladesh)

Notary Public Day

Red Cup Day

Republican Elephant Day

Social Revolution Day (Kyrgyzstan)

Stay Away from Anyone Named Honest John Day

Treaty of the Pyrenees Day (Northern Catalonia, France)

Victims of Communism Day (Florida, Missouri)

Watercress Day (French Republic)

World Cancer Awareness Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Chocolate Mud Cake Day (Sweden)

International Merlot Day

Martini Day

National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day

National Kumquat Day

1st Tuesday in November

Election Day (US) [1st Tuesday after 1st Monday]

International Skeptics Day [1st Tuesday after 1st Monday]

Independence Days

October Revolution Day (Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Transdniestria, former U.S.S.R.)

Feast Days

All Dominican Saints and Blesseds (Christian)

Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg (Lutheran)

Billy the Grownup (Muppetism)

Birth of Baháʼu'lláh (Baha'i) [2 Muharram]

Charles Baudelaire Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Engelbert II of Berg (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Blessed John Duns Scotus (The Subtle Doctor)

Feast of Stolen Fire

Festivals of the Twin Birthdays, Day 2 (Baha'i)

Florentius (Christian; Saint)

Francisco Zurbarán (Artology)

Herculanus of Perugia (Christian; Saint)

Jan Matulka (Artology)

John Christian Frederick Heyer (Lutheran)

John Duns Scotus (Christian; Blessed)

Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen (Lutheran)

Paul Peel (Artology)

Philippe de Comines (Positivist; Saint)

Prosdocimus (Christian; Saint)

Tentacle Day (Pastafarian)

Tiamat’s Day (Pagan)

Tokhu Emong (Lotha Nada people of India)

Vicente Liem de la Paz (Christian; One of Vietnamese Martyrs)

Werenfrid (Christian; Saint)

Willibrord (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 311 [64 of 72]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 51 of 60)

Premieres

Aerial, by Kate Bush (Album; 2005)

Alice In Chains, by Alice In Chains (Album; 1995)

Big Hero 6 (Animated Film; 2014)

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (Radio Series; 1932)

…But Seriously, Phil Collins (Album; 1989)

The Divine Miss M, by Bette Midler (Album; 1972)

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?, by Chicago (Song; 1970)

Don’t Look Now (WB MM Cartoon; 1936)

Elf (Film; 2003)

Feast (Disney Cartoon; 2014)

Fifty Cents Lost or Get That Half Back (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 123; 1961)

Green, by R.E.M. (Album; 1988)

Hogfather, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1996) [Discworld #20]

It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (Film; 1963)

Job, by Joseph Roth (Novel; 1930)

Love Actually (Film; 2003)

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Animated Film; 2008)

Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party (TV Series; 2016)

Mater and the Ghostlight (Pixar Cartoon; 2006)

The Midnight Line, 22nd Jack Reacher book, by Lee Child (Novel; 2017)

Miss Fritter’s Racing Skool (Pixar Cartoon; 2017)

Mister Magoo (Animated TV Series; 1960)

Raising Steam, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2013) [Discworld #40]

Role Models (Film; 2008)

The Rose (Film; 1979)

The Scheme Misfires of You Can Planet Better Than That (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 124; 1961)

Sid and Nancy (Film; 1986)

Something Wild (Film; 1986)

A Son Unique, by Wu-Tang Clan (Album; 2006)

Starship Troopers (Film; 1997)

Studio One (Radio Series; 1948)

Ten Hail Marys & Ten How’s Your Fathers, by Elvis Costello (Album; 1980)

The Theory of Everything (Film; 2014)

Ummagumma, by Pink Floyd (Album; 1969)

Uncle Vanya, by Anton Chekov (Play; 1899)

Whole Lotta Love, by Led Zeppelin (Song; 1969)

Winter’s Heart, by Robert Jordan (Novel; 2000) [Wheel of Time #9]

Today’s Name Days

Engelbert (Austria)

Anđelko, Baldo, Florencije, Zdenka (Croatia)

Saskie (Czech Republic)

Engelbrecht (Denmark)

Kiira, Kiiri, Kirke (Estonia)

Erin, Taisto (Finland)

Carine (France)

Engelbert, Carina, Willbir, Tina (Germany)

Athinodoros, Ernest, Theagenis, Themelios (Greece)

Rezső (Hungary)

Ernesto, Prosdocimo (Italy)

Helma, Lotars (Latvia)

Ernestas, Gotautė, Karina, Sirtautas (Lithuania)

Ingebrigt, Ingelin (Norway)

Achilles, Antoni, Engelbert, Florentyn, Melchior, Przemił (Poland)

René (Slovakia)

Carina, Ernesto (Spain)

Ingegerd, Ingela (Sweden)

Engelbert, Graham, Hollis, Holm, Holmes, Holt (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 311 of 2024; 54 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 45 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ngetal (Reed) [Day 8 of 28]

Chinese: Month 9 (Ten-Xu), Day 24 (Ji-Si)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 23 Heshvan 5784

Islamic: 23 Rabi II 1445

J Cal: 11 Mir; Foursday [11 of 30]

Julian: 25 October 2023

Moon: 29%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 3 Frederic (12th Month) [Philippe de Comines]

Runic Half Month: Hagal (Hailstone) [Day 12 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 45 of 89)

Zodiac: Scorpio (Day 15 of 29)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 11.7

Holidays

American Choral Society Day

Ben Ali Commemoration Day (Tunisia)

Commemoration Day (Tunisia)

Day of Accord and Reconciliation (Russia)

Day of the Hungarian Opera (Hungary)

Days of History and Memory (Kyrgyzstan)

Dunce Day

Employee Brotherhood Day (SpongeBob Squarepants)

European Radon Day

Gastrointestinal Day (Germany)

Good Tummy Day (Japan)

Hug a Bear Day

Hungarian Opera Day (Hungary)

International Day of Medical Physics

International Inuit Day

Little League Girls Day

Magazine Day

Medical Science Liaison Awareness and Appreciation Day

Melbourne Cup Day (Victoria, Australia)

Meteorite Day

National Bassist Day

National Cancer Awareness Day (India)

National Canine Lymphoma Awareness Day

National Day for the Victims of Communism

National Day in Northern Catalonia (France)

National Day of Remembrance for Ka Otis (Philippines)

National Food Fortification Day (Philippines)

National Inuit Day (Canada)

National Keith Day

National Lori Day

National Programmatic Advertising Day

National Railway Day (Canada)

National Retinol Day

National Revolution and Solidarity Day (Bangladesh)

Notary Public Day

Red Cup Day

Republican Elephant Day

Social Revolution Day (Kyrgyzstan)

Stay Away from Anyone Named Honest John Day

Treaty of the Pyrenees Day (Northern Catalonia, France)

Victims of Communism Day (Florida, Missouri)

Watercress Day (French Republic)

World Cancer Awareness Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Chocolate Mud Cake Day (Sweden)

International Merlot Day

Martini Day

National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day

National Kumquat Day

1st Tuesday in November

Election Day (US) [1st Tuesday after 1st Monday]

International Skeptics Day [1st Tuesday after 1st Monday]

Independence Days

October Revolution Day (Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Transdniestria, former U.S.S.R.)

Feast Days

All Dominican Saints and Blesseds (Christian)

Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg (Lutheran)

Billy the Grownup (Muppetism)

Birth of Baháʼu'lláh (Baha'i) [2 Muharram]

Charles Baudelaire Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Engelbert II of Berg (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Blessed John Duns Scotus (The Subtle Doctor)

Feast of Stolen Fire

Festivals of the Twin Birthdays, Day 2 (Baha'i)

Florentius (Christian; Saint)

Francisco Zurbarán (Artology)

Herculanus of Perugia (Christian; Saint)

Jan Matulka (Artology)

John Christian Frederick Heyer (Lutheran)

John Duns Scotus (Christian; Blessed)

Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen (Lutheran)

Paul Peel (Artology)

Philippe de Comines (Positivist; Saint)

Prosdocimus (Christian; Saint)

Tentacle Day (Pastafarian)

Tiamat’s Day (Pagan)

Tokhu Emong (Lotha Nada people of India)

Vicente Liem de la Paz (Christian; One of Vietnamese Martyrs)

Werenfrid (Christian; Saint)

Willibrord (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 311 [64 of 72]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 51 of 60)

Premieres

Aerial, by Kate Bush (Album; 2005)

Alice In Chains, by Alice In Chains (Album; 1995)

Big Hero 6 (Animated Film; 2014)

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (Radio Series; 1932)

…But Seriously, Phil Collins (Album; 1989)

The Divine Miss M, by Bette Midler (Album; 1972)

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?, by Chicago (Song; 1970)

Don’t Look Now (WB MM Cartoon; 1936)

Elf (Film; 2003)

Feast (Disney Cartoon; 2014)

Fifty Cents Lost or Get That Half Back (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 123; 1961)

Green, by R.E.M. (Album; 1988)

Hogfather, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1996) [Discworld #20]

It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (Film; 1963)

Job, by Joseph Roth (Novel; 1930)

Love Actually (Film; 2003)

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Animated Film; 2008)

Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party (TV Series; 2016)

Mater and the Ghostlight (Pixar Cartoon; 2006)

The Midnight Line, 22nd Jack Reacher book, by Lee Child (Novel; 2017)

Miss Fritter’s Racing Skool (Pixar Cartoon; 2017)

Mister Magoo (Animated TV Series; 1960)

Raising Steam, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2013) [Discworld #40]

Role Models (Film; 2008)

The Rose (Film; 1979)

The Scheme Misfires of You Can Planet Better Than That (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 124; 1961)

Sid and Nancy (Film; 1986)

Something Wild (Film; 1986)

A Son Unique, by Wu-Tang Clan (Album; 2006)

Starship Troopers (Film; 1997)

Studio One (Radio Series; 1948)

Ten Hail Marys & Ten How’s Your Fathers, by Elvis Costello (Album; 1980)

The Theory of Everything (Film; 2014)

Ummagumma, by Pink Floyd (Album; 1969)

Uncle Vanya, by Anton Chekov (Play; 1899)

Whole Lotta Love, by Led Zeppelin (Song; 1969)

Winter’s Heart, by Robert Jordan (Novel; 2000) [Wheel of Time #9]

Today’s Name Days

Engelbert (Austria)

Anđelko, Baldo, Florencije, Zdenka (Croatia)

Saskie (Czech Republic)

Engelbrecht (Denmark)

Kiira, Kiiri, Kirke (Estonia)

Erin, Taisto (Finland)

Carine (France)

Engelbert, Carina, Willbir, Tina (Germany)

Athinodoros, Ernest, Theagenis, Themelios (Greece)

Rezső (Hungary)

Ernesto, Prosdocimo (Italy)

Helma, Lotars (Latvia)

Ernestas, Gotautė, Karina, Sirtautas (Lithuania)

Ingebrigt, Ingelin (Norway)

Achilles, Antoni, Engelbert, Florentyn, Melchior, Przemił (Poland)

René (Slovakia)

Carina, Ernesto (Spain)

Ingegerd, Ingela (Sweden)

Engelbert, Graham, Hollis, Holm, Holmes, Holt (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 311 of 2024; 54 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 45 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ngetal (Reed) [Day 8 of 28]

Chinese: Month 9 (Ten-Xu), Day 24 (Ji-Si)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 23 Heshvan 5784

Islamic: 23 Rabi II 1445

J Cal: 11 Mir; Foursday [11 of 30]

Julian: 25 October 2023

Moon: 29%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 3 Frederic (12th Month) [Philippe de Comines]

Runic Half Month: Hagal (Hailstone) [Day 12 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 45 of 89)

Zodiac: Scorpio (Day 15 of 29)

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Getting To Know The Cast Of Criminal Minds

As Criminal Minds rolls out its 15th and final season, the beloved cast gathers to discuss serial killers (what else?), special guest stars, and their millions of phenomenal fans in this exclusive interview. (x,x)

As Criminal Minds rolls out its 15th and final season, the beloved cast gathers to discuss serial killers (what else?), special guest stars, and their millions of phenomenal fans in this exclusive interview.

By David Hochman

The scene is quintessential Hollywood: a train station at dusk. Steam billowing up from the tracks. Loved ones bracing for their emotional farewells. What could be more fitting for the cast of Criminal Minds?

Chugging into its 15th and final season after more than 300 episodes, the police procedural is among the 10 longest-running dramas of all time, and in the top 20 for longest-running scripted television shows. "This is Gunsmoke and Guinness Book territory," says Matthew Gray Gubler, who has played quirky FBI brainiac Dr. Spencer Reid since episode 1.

To honor the landmark occasion, all eight series regulars are gathered at a railway museum in L.A.'s Griffith Park for photos, poignant reflections, and a few behind-the-scenes confessions (mostly involving a tradition called "hot tub wine machine"—stay tuned).

On TV, the tenacious profilers of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit—or simply "BAU" to fans—are a hard-bitten bunch, tracking down serial killers and other vicious "unsubs." But in person, clearly good friends across the board and decked out today in their spiffiest finery, the cast can scarcely hold back tears as they get candid about their extended journey together and what it means to come to the end—sniff, sniff—of Criminal Minds.

Originally published in Watch! Magazine, July-August 2019.

Judging from the misty eyes and group hugs, it looks like the series wrap-up is generating "all the feels," as they say. Are you able to get through scenes this season without a tissue break?

Joe Mantegna (Senior Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi, Seasons 3-present): This is my 50th year in show business, and next to voicing on The Simpsons, Rossi is my longest-running role. I came in with dark hair and now it's gray. I arrived without much of a game plan, and the show and character are now a deep part of who I am. This cast is a true family for me. So every episode this year has an added bittersweet layer. When the director announces, "This is the last profile scene" or "This is our last scene on the jet," you look around with a real sense of passing. It's monumental.

Kirsten Vangsness (BAU Technical Analyst and Media Liaison Penelope Garcia, Seasons 1-present): The term that keeps coming up is "ambiguous loss"—that feeling of losing something you love, and that everything's about to change. In this case it's not a person, thank goodness. But still, in the middle of a scene, it hits you. But you can't cry; you have all this makeup on. Plus, what are you crying for? It's been such an incredible experience. I will have done every single episode except episode 5, every episode of the first spinoff, and two episodes of the second spinoff. I love these people. No, sir. I'm not crying. You're crying. [Editor's note: She's crying.]

Paget Brewster (Supervisory Special Agent and BAU Unit Chief Emily Prentiss, Seasons 2-7, 9, 11-present): Um, I'm in complete denial, so I'll break down into tears the week after we end, but not before. I'm pretending this show's never, ever going to end.

Without spoiling anything, what can you say about Season 15?

A.J. Cook (Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, Seasons 1-present): Well, I can tell you that we will find out what happens now that JJ has expressed her true feelings for Dr. Reid.

Matthew Gray Gubler (Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid, Seasons 1-present): Don't you mean "Jeid?" That's what the internet is calling us. Hey, I'm not spoiling anything. I mean, don't rule out, uh, "Jemily" or "Jarcia" this season, either!

Adam Rodriguez (Supervisory Special Agent Luke Alvez, Seasons 12-present): And we do have guest stars. We love guest stars! [Editor's note: Among others, watch for Jane Lynch to return as Reid's schizophrenic mother, and for Rachael Leigh Cook as a potential new love interest for Reid.]

Daniel Henney (Supervisory Special Agent Matt Simmons, Seasons 10, 12-present): Overall, I'd say 15 has more of an arc through the episodes than previous seasons. Our unsub, Chameleon, is played by Michael Mosley, and he's definitely into some gruesome, creepy stuff.

Brewster: Like, we have a scene where a bunch of body parts are hanging from a tree. Our prop guy, who's a professional fisherman in real life, was on top of a 15-foot ladder with a foot and an ear hanging off his fishing pole.

Aisha Tyler (Special Agent Dr. Tara Lewis and forensic psychologist, Seasons 11-present): And people wonder why my house in L.A. is like a fortress and I'm armed! I'd say it's a direct result of Criminal Minds. This show is definitely dark. I'm not going around profiling sociopaths and serial killers, but, yeah, being on Criminal Minds, you become more perceptive about people's bad behavior.

Anybody else find it hard letting go in real life after chasing serial killers at work all day?

Cook: I'm blessed with a good shut-off switch. Once the day's done, I can block everything out. But as soon as I became a mom, something shifted where the naive girl from Canada got the boot and mama bear arrived. We saw that happen with JJ on the show, too. When she became a mom, it was suddenly like, "Whoa, watch out for that guy in the park!"

Henney: I'll tell you a story. About two months ago, I'm at home sleeping and a burglar alarm goes off, and I literally switched into Simmons mode. All the training I'd done with the FBI guys and our tech advisers instantly came into play. I threw on black sweatpants. I was creeping around the perimeter of my house, FBI-style. I clocked all my points of ingress and egress. When you do so many episodes, basic instincts kick in.

Did you identify the unsub?

Henney: Nobody was there! It was a stupid, faulty window sensor.

Brewster: The show definitely sharpens your reactions to your surroundings. When you start the show, you have access to the FBI training manual, which, frankly, no civilian should ever see because the photographs are so grisly. You end up going through a period of hypervigilance where you can't go into a sandwich shop or airport without thinking, Uh-oh! I think that couple's going to end up in a domestic dispute tonight.

Group question: What's your standout memory from these many seasons?

Rodriguez: I jumped onto this flying carpet 12 seasons in, and my first scene was out in the middle of the desert, and we shot all night long. There was an old car that was supposed to be in the scene, but it broke down and they ended up rolling it into the shot, which was funny. But more than that, I remember how welcoming people were. I was the new guy, but I felt immediately at home.

Brewster: We watched your family grow, too, Adam. You had a kid. A.J. had two kids. I met my husband on set. We've been lucky enough to live our lives and develop together as people.

Cook: For me, having both my boys appear in the show was an absolute treasure. Mekhai, who's 10, has been doing it way longer than Phoenix, who's 4, and he loves it, though I can't tell if it's the acting or that everybody's giving him cookies and ice cream all the time.

Henney: I was really proud to play Simmons because, as an Asian American actor, you don't often get the chance to play the quintessential American guy's guy. He's married to a Caucasian woman and has mixed-race children—which is true with me, too [Henney is also of mixed descent]—and I loved representing that on television. To have a kissing scene with Kelly, my wife on the show—you weren't seeing that 10 years ago.

Tyler: Directing a couple episodes was an incredible opportunity. But for me, just the experience of seeing this through to the end is so rewarding. I was only supposed to do six episodes. Everything's been gravy since then.

Mantegna: Hands down, my highlight was being able to work in my passion for law enforcement and the military by making my FBI character a former Marine. That allowed me to bring in Meshach Taylor, one of my dearest, oldest friends, as my commanding officer in Vietnam, and directing two of the three episodes that involved him as a character.

That included the episode where his character died, because Meshach had died. To actually bury him on camera as my dear friend—I'm the godfather of his kids, and he's the godfather of mine—it was everything. If I do nothing else on television, doing that for Meshach to me means the top of the ladder.

TV shows come and go. How do you explain the enduring success of Criminal Minds?

Tyler: Well, I'd say it's not about prurient interest in the macabre. I think the reason people like the show is because we want to know that there's a smart, dedicated team of professionals out there working very hard to make sure that the rest of us stay safe. Even if we don't know who they are and we can't see them, it's comforting that people are sacrificing their personal lives and their relationships so that they can put evil people away.

Rodriguez: I meet young people all the time, teenagers, who love the show and say they love the game of it all—figuring out how these processes work and the skills that go into solving crimes. I think we've probably inspired a generation of people to go into this important work—on the good-guy side, not on the bad.

Cook: So many people have struggled in their lives, and they can relate to what they see on the show. Hardworking moms, people that have been abused, people who've experienced loss.

Vangsness: I think it comes down to a show with some of the greatest characters on television. Garcia is just a bundle of positive energy, and that resonated. Her desk is a living piece of art to how she's connected with the audience. I've got a papier-mâché heart pen a fan from France gave me. There's a little rabbit from a fan in Japan. A German woman knitted a Penelope doll that's sitting there. Oh, and Richard Simmons gave me a necklace one time because he loved the show!

Criminal Minds fans are a devoted bunch.

Henney: I once checked into a ski lodge in Switzerland and my television wasn't working, so I went to the front desk. The two desk guys started staring at me like zombies and pointed to their TV, where Criminal Minds was on, with me on the screen.

Brewster: It takes you by surprise in the weirdest places. You'll be in a bathroom at a movie theater and girls are outside whispering, That's Emily Prentiss, and they wait for you to finish so you can wash your hands and hug them.

What are you going to miss most about the show?

Cook: Um, everything. The scenes in the jet are my favorites because it's such a tight space that we forget we're on a TV show and just enjoy hanging out together. This show, for me, was a coming of age. You can look online and find me in the beginning of season 1 wearing this ridiculous pink pinstriped blazer that will haunt me forever. I look like I'm 12. But I've grown up along with JJ. [Tearing up.] I'll miss it all so much.

Gubler: Likewise, I really look up to Spencer Reid, and I feel so honored to have played him for so long. I will miss his long, you know, three-page monologues of technical jargon about protons or whatever. I'll miss the way he holds his hands like an ostrich foot when he's solving a problem. He's definitely way smarter than I'll ever be, but I like to think that some Dr. Reid qualities have imbued themselves into my own personality a little bit. If nothing else, I've adopted his ever-changing hairstyles.

Tyler: I'll miss being an FBI badass. I'd love to take the FBI jacket, but it's absolutely illegal to walk around wearing it.

Vangsness: I can tell you what I won't miss. Garcia's glasses—because I have them all already. I've bought every pair she's ever worn, so I have a collection of around 65 at home. They remind me to be confident like her, to see life through her eyes. Garcia is my Sasha Fierce.

Brewster: I will miss the hot tub wine machine.

Hot tub wine machine?

Vangsness: You heard that right, mister. It's an epic hot tub party at my house that the women on the show have turned into a standing gig—or more like a floating gig.

Brewster: It's basically a therapy and gossip and splashing-around session fueled by chardonnay and rosé.

Tyler: And it's ladies only because it gets kinda frisky.

Rodriguez: This is a sore subject for me even as a very securely and happily married man.

Mantegna: They do send us pictures on group text, which is thoughtful of them.

Vangsness: I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to tell you that this fine tradition makes it into our last episode. I co-wrote the finale, and we tried to cram in as many little Easter eggs and satisfying plot tie-ups as we could, both for fans and for each other. So within the episode, you'll see the BAU version of hot tub time machine. We worked really hard solving these super-intense crimes over what will be 325 episodes. After all these years, don't you think we deserve a little spa time?