Sunday in mid October 2015

Photographs by Isabelle Chapuis

Dying Zoo Worker Gets Goodbye Kiss From Giraffe

CLICK to 5:40 In the video, If you just want to get to the Giraffe Kiss.
A terminally ill zoo worker got a goodbye kiss from a giraffe after he was wheeled in to see the zoo animals one last time.
The 54-year-old mentally handicapped man named Mario had worked as a cleaner at the Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands for approximately 25 years. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, he wanted to say goodbye to the animals.After Mario was brought to the zoo on a stretcher by the Dutch Ambulance Wish Foundation, one of the zoo's giraffes reached down and nuzzled Mario for a goodbye kiss.

Thomas Francis "Tom" Neale (November 6, 1902 – November 27, 1977) was a New Zealander bushcraft and survival enthusiast who spent much of his life in the Cook Islands and 16 years in three sessions living alone on the island of Anchorage in theSuwarrow atoll, which was the basis of his popular autobiography.










Chronology of Tom Neale's Life Born 6.11.1902 in Wellington, New Zealand. The family later moved to Greymouth and then Timaru in New Zealand's South Island.
7.10.1952 - 24.6.1954 Tom's first stay on Suwarrow.
19.6.1956 Tom married Sarah Haua Marsters in Rarotonga.
16.11.1956 Son Arthur Frederick born in Auckland, New Zealand.
16.2.1958 Daughter Stella born on Palmerston, Cook Islands.
23.4.1960 - 27.12.1963 Tom's second stay on Suwarrow.
1.7.1967 Tom's third stay on Suwarrow. Tom works with the pearl divers. He remains on the atoll after they have left.
1969 His daughter Stella visits Tom on Suwarrow.
29.7.1972 Tom's divorce in Rarotonga.
15.12.1976 Stella visits her father for the second time.
March 1977 The yacht "Feisty Lady" informs Rarotonga that Tom is seriously ill. The schooner "Manuvai" evacuates him from the island on 11.3.1977
30.11.1977 Tom dies from stomach cancer and is buried at the RSL Cemetery in Rarotonga.
As at 2001, Tom's son Arthur Frederick Neale lives on Manihiki Atoll where he operates a black pearl farm. He is divorced and has three children: Meleilani aged 24, Thomas aged 17, and Joshua aged 12.
His daughter Stella Neale-Kenyon lives in Auckland and has three children: Sarah-Elyss aged 8, Milton aged 6, and Marlow aged 3.
Tom's ex-wife Sarah Haua now lives on Palmerston Island. She is 76 years old.

Tom Neale And The Suwarrow Atoll (Anchorage Island)

List of some currently uninhabited islands

Interesting vintage photographs of New York City from the Depression and World War II era.

2705 pictures from 1935 to December 1944. On the Photogrammar website.

An avenue of clothes washings between 138th and 139th Street apartments, just east of St. Anne's Avenue, Bronx, New York

Photographer

Russell Lee

Created

November 1936

New York, New York. 1938. East 62nd Street, between 1st Avenue and the river

Photographer

Sheldon Dick

Created

1938

Location

New York, New York, New York

New York, New York. Drinking fountain in Central Park on Sunday

Photographer

Marjory Collins

Created

September 1942

New York, New York. Policeman obliges three Sunday stroller in Central Park by taking their photographs

Photographer

Marjory Collins

Created

September 1942

Kate Powell's art

Photographs by Karen Knorr

Cool watch by Kudoke

Exquisite illustrations of life in India about 200 years ago

About 200 years ago in the early 1800's, there was an Anglo-Indian man, an adventurer, James Skinner, who commissioned portraits of people doing various jobs, fulfilling various roles, in India. 

When I lived in India from 1975 to 1985, many of these jobs continued, just as they had done for centuries and I feel, looking at these images, as if they are paintings of people I saw with my own eyes, doing the same things. 

Anyone who has traveled to India, and it's probably the same to this very day, can see people fulfilling these same roles in Indian society with very few, if any, changes. 

The quality of the painting of these images is marvelous. I love the details of each portrait, the trees, the shoes, landscapes, architecture. I only - and really -  miss seeing women fulfilling the many societal roles, other than "harlot", "conjurer" and acrobat, which were and are very much the same as many of the male roles, including those that were and are their own. 

Here is the man who commissioned these images, James Skinner. 

From the Hazrat-E-Dilli blog: "James Skinner and Tashrih al-aqvam

Colonel James Skinner,(1784-1841) or Sikander sahab was an Anglo-Indian military adventurer who is known for raising 2 cavalry regiments for the British, known as Skinner’s Horse. Even today they are part of the Indian army.

He spoke fluent Persian and is the author of the book Tashrih al-aqvam(an account of origins and occupations of some of the sects, castes, and tribes of India). It  was completed in 1825 and is part of the collection of the British Library.

Skinner translated into Persian the summary of the Vedas and Shastras with a survey survey of both Hindu and Muslim occupational groups and religious mendicants in the Delhi region.

The book also gives details of Hindu, Jain, and Sikh religious faqeers (mendicants) such as yogis and sanyasis as well as the Muslim Afghans of Kasur, qawwals, and fakirs.

The text was illustrated by a number of Delhi artists commissioned by Skinner for  the album, the chief of them being Ghulam Ali Khan. The watercolor paintings all seem to have been made from live subjects by the painter who accompanied Skinner on his travels."

These images below are from the Asia Society page, which offers no information about any of the specific images, only a brief general overview. I gathered as much information as I could about the images from this LessingImages.com page. some of the images have no descriptions that I could find on the web: 

Hindu Tantric ascetic

Kshatriya warrior 

A Vaishya, a Hindu trader

A Vaishya money lender

An astrologer with his divination board.

"Dakaut", impure Brahman caste, represented by a fortune teller.

An image of the elephant keeper in India riding his elephant from Tashrih al-aqvam (1825).

Female conjuror/Bhanmati

A bear-keeper with his dancing bear.

Nat – gypsy acrobat

A singer or bard. Bandijan or kalavant, a singer or bard from the Bhat caste.

A Harlot

Ship's captain, represented by the Mars, a naval battleship

Bhangi, a caste represented by a sweeper.

Chamar, a caste represented by a tanner.

Shoemaker. "Moci", Muhammadan shoemakers, an occupational sub-division of the Camars.

A dyer ("chimba" class) dipping cloth in red dye.

Man with a rifle. Dhanak, a caste formerly of bowmen and hunters.

A brush maker.

"Kanjar", a wandering tribe who make rope and articles of grass.

Bavari, an itinerant predatory tribe, represented by a bird-snarer.

Kahar, the carrier or bearer class of the eastern Panjab.

"Mallah", boatman class. Boatman in the River Ravi in the foreground with Lahore Fort beyond. 

Two men wrestling.

Macchi, a Muslim caste of fishermen.

Man with his Ghulam servant

Hajjam, a barber, i.e. Muslim barber as opposed to Hindu

A Bari leaf-worker. Bari, a caste that made plates and cups from leaves.

Jarrah, a caste of surgeons.

Baghban, a gardener. Making a garland.

"Kunjra", an occupational group represented by a greengrocer.

Coppersmith (Thathera).

Ahangar, the Persian term for the Lahore caste of blacksmith.

Bellmaker.

Weaver, Julaha, a Muslim caste of weaver.

A tape-weaver.

Rope-maker

Potter, Kumhar, the potter caste of the Panjab.

A brickmaker.

Goldsmith (Sunar). Sunar, the Goldsmith caste.

An artist seated, and at work. Tashrih al-aqvam.

Chipi (or chimba), a cloth printer. Printing green cloth with a red geometric design.

Khayyat (or Darzi), a tailor. Darzi is an occupational group rather than a caste but it is organised in the guilds.

Embroiderer.

A betel-nut seller preparing his wares.

Earpicker. A man cleaning another man's ears.

Kalal, a Hindu caste of distillers or tavern-keepers.

A professional criminal. Mina, a Hindu caste of professional criminals, represented by a man cutting through the wall of a building at night. 

"Raj", mason or bricklayer. An occupational sub-group of the "Tarkhan" or carpenter caste. Represented by a man ("raj") building the wall and another ("muzdur") mixing mortar.

Khati or Tarkhan, carpenter caste of the Panjab. Man sawing a plank.

Man attending a pilgrim.

Two actors. Bahrupiya, originally an occupational group of strolling players.

Washerman. Dhobi, a caste of washermen.

A cotton-dresser. Dhuniya or Pamjara, synonyms for the caste of cotton-dressers, represented by a masked man using a bow to prepare raw cotton. 

Acrobats. Nat, a caste of gypsy acrobats.

A water-seller. Saqqa, a Muslim caste of water-carriers.

Man sifting grain with a sieve. Agari, a grain-sifter.

Sweepings-sifter. A man searching sweepings for gold or silver.

A labourer wielding a pick.

Badhak or Qassab, the caste of butcher.

A snake-charmer of the Sapera caste.

"Bharbhumja", occupational caste of corn roasters. Man using a kiln type of brazier to roast grain.

A mat-weaver, possibly of the Dumna caste.

A screen-maker, possibly of the Dumna caste.

Polisher. (Term "Barhiya" caste applies to Hindus and "Saikalgar" to Muslims). Man polishing a "tulwar".

"Gandhi", a caste of perfumers or druggists. Surrounded by shelves of bottles, a man is pouring liquid into a bowl.

Ribari, a caste of camel-men.

Lime-burner. Cunari, a caste of lime-burners, in front of a kiln.

Runner or messenger ("paik").

Luniya, a caste of salt-diggers.

Kamdangar, a bowmaker. Shown bending the wood of a bow over a bowl of embers. 

Leather-bottle makers. (Presumably members of the "Chamaar" caste). 

Sannyasi, a Saiva mendicant.

"Paramahamsa", a naked ascetic, usually a Saiva.

"Dandi", a Saiva ascetic who possesses only a staff and a waterpot. 

"Sarabhanga" order of ascetics who did not believe in the ordinary ideas of pollution. 

A portrait of Bhajan Das Bairagi, a member of the Vaisnava order of ascetics, usually followers of Ramananda. 

"Nanga", a naked ascetic. This particular one is associated with the "Vairagis" and is armed with a spear, gun and tulwar.

"Dhundiya", a member of the strict "Sthanakavasi" sect of Jains. Wearing a mouthcloth to protect microscopic life from harm, he carries a brush to clear insects from his path.

Kanphata yogi. A Saiva ascetic with large earrings and wearing the 'linga' around his neck, accompanied by Tashrih al-aqvam. 1825 

"Jangama", a member of the priestly order of the "Virasaiva"

A Nanakpanthi, a follower of the teachings of Guru Nanak, the first guru of Sikhism.

A Sikh

A Suthra Shahi, an order of Sikh devotees

Sadhu, Hindu renunciate.

Qusuri or Kusuri, a pathan of Kasur -Tashrih al-aqvam (1825)

‘Qawwal’, a sub-caste of the large Muslim caste of ‘Mirasis’ or singer/genealogists. A man beating a Dhol drum.

Sufi dervish

"Tashrih al-aqvam album

The illustrated Tashrih al-aqvam (an account of origins and occupations of some of the sects, castes, and tribes of India) was completed in 1825 and is part of the collection of the British Library.  The text, a summary of the Vedas and Shastras, translated into Persian by Colonel James Skinner (1778–1841), is a survey of both Hindu and Muslim occupational groups and religious mendicants in the Delhi region and begins with an account of the house of Timur down to Akbar II (reigned 1806–37). The largest section is devoted to the various Hindu castes found in the area around Delhi. In addition to these major occupational groups, The text also discusses Hindu, Jain, and Sikh religious mendicants such as yogis and sanyasis; after listing the kings of Avadh, the book describes the Muslim Afghans of Kasur, qawwals, and fakirs. The Tashrih al-aqvam, along with the Tazkirat al-umara(historical notices of some princely families of Rajasthan and the Panjab)—also by James Skinner and illustrated—are examples of a new kind of nonliterary Persian text written by, or under the patronage of the British that emerged in late Mughal literary culture and combined topography, biography, and ethnography.

Skinner commissioned Delhi artists to illustrate the album, the chief of them being Ghulam Ali Khan. The artist accompanied Skinner on his travels, and the watercolor portraits in the British Library manuscript are likely studies from life.The portraits in the Tashrih al-aqvam, especially those of ascetics, are done in a realistic manner that reflects the ethnographic quality of the text. Some figures are named. All of the paintings from the album may be viewed here."