VIKTOR DONOVAN: May 2009

Thursday, May 28, 2009

ECSTASY

Bird-cherry tree (with a magpie nest)

Cherry tree

Lilacs

We have a short summer in Sweden.
When Spring comes, it comes with a vengeance, during what we call the"period of ecstasy" (between the blooming of the bird-cherry tree and the blooming of lilacs).

So many trees and bushes bloom simultaneously. Nature wants to do it all at once it seems.
It is a precious time. So short. So intensive. But oh so sweet!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

WISHFUL THINKING?

Illustration by Donovan O'Malley

ELECTRIC FASCINATION

ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS 1883
Gas lamps were on their way out.
Electricity was this new fantastic things and advertisers used the fascination with electricity to make idiotic claims.
An electric hairbrush? Not even connected to an electric cord!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

VINTAGE STREET FASHION

What is more fun than to sit on a bench and watch interesting people walk by?
If you are not fortunate enough to live in New York, where you can see plenty of original people, you can let the blog ADVANCED STYLE do it for you.
The founder Ari Cohen thinks that personal style advances with age.
His blog is one of my favorite blogs because of the stylish, original (elderly) people and the life experience and confidence these human beings radiate.
Sometimes the people who are stopped in the street and asked to pose for a photographs, express surprise and gratitude for the attention. Not surprising. Our society is over-focused on youth, and the elderly are probably not that used to being "seen".
It takes a certain interest and sensitivity for a young person to have an eye for these things and Ari Cohen and friends are to be complimented for their insights and their clever blog.

All photos from http://advancedstyle.blogspot.com/

Monday, May 25, 2009

PRESSING BUSINESS

Is this a sculpture?

People who see this contraption do not immediately understand what it is meant for.

Most likely because this English made juice press is not manufactured anymore.

This one is called "Instant Juice press No 2"

So there must have been a smaller one and a larger one?

To the inventor, it probably seemed like something that money could be made from since it is patented. Patent 409503

The dinosaur-like shape is interesting and decorative. The shape is even registered.

Reg. Design 791406

It is made from cast aluminum and has some signs of being filed/sanded by hand.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

"THE MEETING"

This sculpture named "The Meeting" is one of many sculptures in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Many wealthy people have been generous to their home town. The largest donation ever came from Charles Felix Lindberg for the purpose of making the city beautiful.
So wherever you go in Gothenburg, you come across various kinds of sculptures.

WHAT A SPLENDID WEEK IN MAY

May 14: Renèe Fleming: Strauss Last scene from Capriccio.

May 13: Gustavo Dudamel:Beethovens 5 th Symphony.

May 12: Cecilia Bartoli: Maria Malibran - Romantic Revolution.

Imagine the world's two most famous sopranos Cecilia Bartoli and Renèe Fleming, and Gustavo Dudamel, one of the world's hottest conductors.
The same week!
In a small city like Gothenburg (Sweden).
What other city can match that for three days?

GARDEN SOCIETY: Spring

In the very city of Gothenburg lies the GARDEN SOCIETY (Tradgardsforeningen).
Here are some pictures to show the progress of spring.
Spring is late in Sweden (we are on the same latitude as Alaska and Siberia, but the Gulf Stream keeps the climate temperate by bringing warm water to our shores).
For more pictures. Click here!

DISCOVER POSEIDON

Poseidon, the imposing sculpture by Carl Milles, stands at the Center of Gotaplatsen in the city of Gothenburg Sweden.
If you ever visit Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden (population around 600.000), be sure to look all around the fountain of Poseidon. There are many interesting and strange figures to behold. Click here to see some more.

NEW BOOK!

Much of human activity is centered around food. We think of food whether we’re hungry or not. We spend a great deal of time buying it. We take hours preparing it (well, some do). We talk about it. We read about it in cook books. We watch television when chefs talk about it (sometimes to excess). When we socialize, it is often centered around the communal intake of it. We give it as gifts. Food, we can’t escape it! Some people become keenly interested in preparing food for themselves and others; many have become what we call “good cooks”. Usually a degree of creativity is involved together with a keen interest to entertain and a need to take care of others, to be a good host. It is such people that one remembers, and that is how I got started on Food & Folk, remembering, for example that excellent couple, Beatrice and Clayburn La Force on their ranch in Alpine California. After that I just kept going.

MY HOMETOWN GOTHENBURG

A series of closeups (224 photos) of Gothenburg, Sweden. Language: English and Swedish.----- This book consists of a series of closeups of Gothenburg. It is no history book but, hopefully, it will generate some curiosity about our city. When you walk in a city like London you are struck by Britain’s colonial past and its enormous wealth which manifests itself in buildings and institutions all over the city. When you walk in “Little London” as Gothenburg is often called, one is keenly aware of its importance as the best fortified city in Northern Europe. Two forts still watch over it. Remnants of the seventeenth century wall, and the meandering moat are a reminder of the city’s military past. Positioned on the West coast of Sweden, Gothenburg was once a world leader in ship building and shipping and evolved naturally into a merchant’s city. The English and Scottish heritage here is very important. There are clues and traces everywhere. One has only to look.

A GARDEN IN MY HOMETOWN

A book in English and Swedish about the Garden Society of Gothenburg--TRÄDGÅRDSFÖRENINGEN -----The Garden Society of Gothenburg is one of the best preserved early 19th century parks in Europe. It is situated directly downtown, offering lovely walks in the park or in the shaded woodland areas along the canal/moat, waterfront. The garden recently went through a major renovation under the auspices of Ulf Nordfjell, the internationally known landscape designer. The aim was to bring the garden back to its old nineteenth century glory. Carpet bedding returned and five new woodland areas were designed by five international garden designers. A superb new rose park was added, a successful blending of historical roses and perennials.

Love letters from my Swedish grandfather Folke to my American grandmother Olga 1909 - 1961

My American grandmother, Olga, met my Swedish grandfather, Folke Jonsson, in Brussels in 1909. Olga was 18 and Folke, 23. They settled in Gothenburg and Särö, Sweden. Olga, being American, had her family in Florida, and Folke soon came to realize that if you marry a woman from another continent, and this woman is charmingly independent, innovative and brave, and has her own means to boot, she is bound to want to visit her native country some time -- or several times -- or more than several times. To Folke, a sensitive soul, the long separations were quite painful and he suffered till his darling Olga returned. He “talked” to her in his frequent letters. Olga saved all his letters, in their original envelopes, in neat little bundles held together with different coloured ribbons. They were a treasured lifelong testament of his love. Olga and Folke corresponded in English as Olga was American and preferred writing in English. Had my grandfather Folke married a Swedish woman who had stayed at home, there would not be this stack of his letters today. He never intended the letters to be shown to others, but more than one hundred years have passed since Folke wrote them to his darling Olga. I have enjoyed getting to know my grandfather in this manner and I think others, not only relatives, should also share that privilege.

A pictorial Companion to the letters in the book above: 150 pictures of Olga & Folke 1909-1978

NEW BOOK BY DONOVAN O'MALLEY

REVIEW: "...O'Malley continues to prove that he is one of the more important writers around, a writer who with every book brings into our lives some very strange, often exceedingly humorous, and now, frequently very lonely people. His ability to create language for each of his characters is sharp, well studied and written, and without belittling anyone he, in language, shows the difference between class, and education, and exposure. Likely that comes from his experience in writing plays where characters are alive and moving, but with his considerable literary skills he makes his written page people morph into real life folks. He is in top form here ... " Grady Harp, June 12 (Hall of Fame reviewer)