Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Charlie Chaplin and his connection to Venice Beach CA

 Hey, movie buffs and history enthusiasts! Let's take a trip back in time to the roaring days of Hollywood and explore the fascinating life of the one and only Charlie Chaplin.




Charlie Chaplin, the legendary actor, director, and producer, made a splash in Los Angeles in the early 1900s. He strutted into Tinseltown in 1913, determined to make his mark on the silver screen. As he began his Hollywood journey, he quickly rose to stardom, becoming a household name during the silent film era.

The man behind the iconic "Tramp" character, Chaplin didn't just conquer Hollywood; he helped shape it. Setting up his own studio, the Charlie Chaplin Studios, in 1917, he became a powerhouse in the movie industry.

But our main man Chaplin had a not-so-secret hideout – Venice, California. Yep, you heard that right! He was an original Venice local. His first pad on Venice Beach was the Waldorf Hotel (built in 1915) at 5 Westminster Ave, making him a bona fide Venetian from way back.

Soon after Charlie purchased a beach house there, nestled right on the sandy shores. This place wasn't just a crib; it was his sanctuary. When he wasn't busy making movie magic, he kicked back at his Venice Beach spot, soaking in the sun, entertaining friends, and even using it as a backdrop for some of his films. Talk about living the dream in style!

Now, let's fast forward a bit. As time went on, Chaplin's life took some unexpected turns. He faced controversies, had multiple marriages, and, in the 1950s, was denied re-entry into the United States due to political allegations.

But fear not! Our hero found solace in the picturesque landscapes of Switzerland. Despite the ups and downs, Chaplin's final chapter in Switzerland was filled with peace and contentment. He spent his remaining years in a tranquil and serene setting, surrounded by the breathtaking beauty of the Swiss countryside.

In 1977, at the age of 88, Chaplin bid farewell to this world. His passing in Switzerland was peaceful and serene, marking the end of a remarkable life that had left an indelible mark on the world of entertainment.

Charlie Chaplin might have started as a Hollywood sensation, but his connection to Venice Beach and his serene final days in Switzerland added layers to the life of this iconic figure. The tale of this cinematic genius continues to inspire and captivate us, reminding us that sometimes, the most extraordinary stories have the most unexpected twists.

Wednesday, December 06, 2023

Happy Holidays - Vs - Merry Christmas - Deep Thoughts.

 

I send to you all a  Merry Christmas & a Wish for Peace

 

Holiday notes… No More will I write “Xmas.”  I will no longer X out Christ.  I wish you all the very Best of a Christmas Holiday season.  May the peace of Christ be with you.  And all your family.

Kinda' leads me to a re-position that I am AGAINST War.  I am for Peace on Earth.

I am against the current war.  I am against the last war.  I am even against the Next War.

 

 Really!

That does not make me a pacifist.  It is best to realize how often the War we get talked into was because of a lie.  Some ship attacked.  Some weapons of mass destruction.  Some other pretenses.

Then I realize that the Neocon types are Like Judas. 

They purposely betray us, and they intend to lead us to another war.  A war that is not good for anything except to kill bodies, destroy homes, lives, and sell more weapons.  This is why I have always been against the Neocons and war mongers like Hillary Clinton, Henry Kissinger etc.  Not okay.  I’ve seen the workings of Washington DC.

Back to Anti War.  Let’s reexamine the lessons of Judas trying to force a Holy War.

In the Bible story of the Betrayal they had their swords at the ready.  Judas, and others, wanted to do a Holy War with Jesus at the forefront to do big miracles to lead and win a revolution that would remove Romans from the homeland.  Re-Read the sections about the betrayal (below) with that re-reading, think on this as an understanding of Judas' motivations.  Judas wanted to force the start of the new reign via a righteous war.  This is why the first thing that happens is Jesus says to put away your swords. And this crushed Judas to the core.  He believed in Jesus wholeheartedly.  The mindset he has was that a War would be good.  He wanted to be on the new wining side.

Jesus' Betrayal and Arrest – in the good book:

(Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:1-14)

47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. 49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. 50 And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.

51 And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear. 52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. 53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

55 In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. 56 But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.


See:  https://biblehub.com/kjv/matthew/26.htm  for full context.

 

So the plan was to force Jesus into taking up an actual War and to have that Legion of Angles support the “good guys” over the “bad guys” of the day.  The Good Guys in Judas’ view was Who exactly?*  We can agree that the Bad Guys back then were the Romans.

I suggest for discussion, let’s think about who the supposed “good guys” that Judas represented, are/were.  Are there some of the same types still with us and directing a lot of Deceit and coordinated mayhem.  Are they now shown as the Elites of the NOW and the whatever is now described as the Committee of 300 and the ones that want to kill off billions of people for some reason?

Say No to endless War.   Say No to the Neocons.   Point out the Evil.  Call it out. 

New World Order – World Bank – United Nations – nefarious banking or black business institutions ( examples are Monsanto - Blackrock - Pfizer - and anyone pushing ESG.) that are working in cahoots to trick us into a new war on humanity itself.  Maybe we do not benefit by letting just a few control our money and our foods and our ability to talk openly.

Happy Holidays.  Talk to your Family and your Loved Ones. 

So I want to say…   Peace to you.  

Peace of Christ be with you.

May we avoid war.

May we avoid hunger.

May we be spared death.

Blessed be to baby Jesus who was sent to save us all from Death.

That is the blessing of Christmas.  That he was born.  That he came to take away our sins and enable us to have everlasting life.


Thank you for reading.
Hope I got you to Thinking.  K.

*  Please, if you have an opinion of who Judas' sect was, reply or comment below.

Sunday, October 29, 2023

Dr Death and the 17th Century Plauges of Europe - updated for 2023

Why plague doctors wore
strange beaked masks

My Halloween costume for 2023

 

In the 17th century, people believed these outfits could purify poisonous air.
lifted and cribbed from
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/plague-doctors-beaked-masks-coronavirus
and other sites…

 



During the 17th-century European plague, physicians wore beaked masks, leather gloves, and long coats in an attempt to fend off the disease. Their iconic and ominous look, as depicted in this 1656 engraving of a Roman doctor, is recognizable to this day.

The plague was once the most feared disease in the world, capable of wiping out hundreds of millions of people in seemingly unstoppable global pandemics and afflicting its victims with painfully swollen lymph nodes, blackened skin, and other gruesome symptoms.

In 17th-century Europe, the physicians who tended to plague victims wore a costume that has since taken on sinister overtones: they covered themselves head to toe and wore a mask with a long bird-like beak. The reason behind the beaked plague masks was a misconception about the very nature of the dangerous disease.

During that period's outbreaks of the bubonic plague—a pandemic that recurred in Europe for centuries—towns gripped by the disease hired plague doctors who practiced what passed for medicine on rich and poor residents alike. These physicians prescribed what were believed to be protective concoctions and plague antidotes, witnessed wills, and performed autopsies—and some did so while wearing beaked masks.



Charles de Lorme, a plague doctor who treated 17th century royals, is often credited with the uniform.

Photograph by The Picture Art Collection, Alamy

The costume is usually credited to Charles de Lorme, a physician who catered to the medical needs of many European royals during the 17th century, including King Louis XIII and Gaston d'Orléans, son of Marie de Médici. He described an outfit that included a coat covered in scented wax, breeches connected to boots, a tucked-in shirt, and a hat and gloves made of goat leather. Plague doctors also carried a rod that allowed them to poke (or fend off) victims.

Their head gear was particularly unusual: Plague doctors wore spectacles, de Lorme continued, and a mask with a nose “half a foot long, shaped like a beak, filled with perfume with only two holes, one on each side near the nostrils, but that can suffice to breathe and carry along with the air one breathes the impression of the [herbs] enclosed further along in the beak.”

Though plague doctors across Europe wore these outfits, the look was so iconic in Italy that the "plague doctor" became a staple of Italian commedia dell’arte and carnival celebrations—and is still a popular costume today. (Memories of the plague resonate in Venice during the coronavirus pandemic.)

But the forbidding ensemble was not just a deathly fashion statement: It was intended to protect the doctor from miasma. In the times before the germ theory of disease, physicians believed that the plague spread through poisoned air that could create an imbalance in a person’s humors, or bodily fluids. Sweet and pungent perfumes were thought to be able to fumigate plague-stricken areas and protect the smeller; nosegays, incense, and other perfumes were common in the era.

Plague doctors filled their masks with theriac, a compound of more than 55 herbs and other components like viper flesh powder, cinnamon, myrrh, and honey. De Lorme thought the beak shape of the mask would give the air sufficient time to be suffused by the protective herbs before it hit plague doctors’ nostrils and lungs.

In fact, plague is caused by Yersinia pestis, bacteria that can be transmitted from animals to humans and through flea bites, contact with contaminated fluid or tissue, and inhalation of infectious droplets from sneezing or coughing people with pneumonic plague.

Three horrific plague pandemics swept across the globe before its cause was ultimately uncovered—the Plague of Justinian, which killed up to 10,000 people a day circa A.D. 561; the Black Death, which wiped out up to a third of Europeans between 1334 and 1372 and continued with intermittent outbreaks as late as 1879; and the Third Pandemic, which ravaged much of Asia between 1894 and 1959. (What is a pandemic—and why does it matter?)

Ultimately, the plague doctors’ outfits—and methods—didn’t make much of a difference back then.  “Unfortunately,” writes historian Frank M. Snowden, “the therapeutic strategies of early modern plague doctors did little to prolong life, relieve suffering, or effect a cure.”

Plague doctors may have been immediately recognizable, but until the rise of the germ theory of disease and modern antibiotics, their costumes didn’t provide real protection against the disease.  Much like the paper or cloth masks do not provide real protection against Covid-19 or Wuhan flu or whatever variant is floating about today.  The particles are far to small to matter to the masks.

There you go...

Light followup reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_doctor_costume
and the basis for my Halloween costume this year.

My quotes were... Bring Out Your Dead and I hear there is a Plague about.

Not enough folks thought it was funny as we have plenty of the fake COVID plague going around.  Yes it is a community sick that is having a bit of a bump.  Even my sister in law got it recently.  Fully Vaxed and boosted too.  But no, it is not a mathematically significant plague in 2023. And In My Humble opinion if Drs of Death had not followed intentionally terrible advice most would not have died in the hospital or otherwise. (2020 to 2022)  I could be wrong. I'm not a doctor.  But actual real doctors were silenced by official bureaucrats on the take.  So you find your own explanations why NO COVID-19 patients went to the Medical ship in LA harbor in 2020.  And No use of the stations set up by the Army in Central Park in NYC.  Dah.

So, Sadly, I did not win the costume contest.

The guy in the Toga came in first.  Mermaid 2nd.  Wizard third.  I feel cheated.



Saturday, September 09, 2023

I have been enjoying a lot of Cool Modern Jazz in my life

Jazzing it up

If you like Jazz too, follow this part of Twitter ( X ) for more updates... #JazzAtTheV