OCCUPY INSPIRATION FOR MAY 1ST

Unions are not what they used to be in America. When Ronald Reagan  fired the air traffic controllers in 1981, it had a chilling effect on the amount of strikes in the US. As union membership has declined the last 40 years, so has the middle class share of the aggregate income  -- as the charts tell on Up With Chris Hayes. In Europe, unions are considered essential and a stabilizing force in society, often represented on the board of corporations. So it is hard for us to understand the need to get rid of them.

So with little ability to strike in America, and a low union membership level, here comes the OCCUPY WALL STREET movement to inspire people to "strike" on May 1.

"Maypole" by Katherine Anderson
This is only one of many posters

Hear OCCUPY explain their May 1st "strike" message:

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IKEA - WE'LL DO ANYTHING FOR YOU !

I admire inventive IKEA for having figured out so many different ways to get other people to do the hard job.
At the IKEA restaurant in Kallered, Sweden (where they already tell us to take our dirty dishes to a designated place, and we DO) they have come up with another task for us.
They want us to wipe off the tables too. A  sign says:

 "An accident happens so easily. Thank you for wiping off your table !"

Clever IKEA - I wonder what they will figure out next. 
Maybe we can clean the toilets too, while we are there. 

(We are after all, in love with you)

HIGH LINE PARK - AN ELEVATED EXPERIENCE

HIGH LINE PARK in New York is one of the most interesting parks in the world.

Only a city with resources like New York could pull it off - turning an abandoned, elevated  railroad meandering through Manhattan, into a much loved park. Photo Wikipedia

This is  the way the line used to look; trains on the elevated railway on their way to and from the "Meatpacking District". Why an elevated railway? The trains used to be on street level, but the many accidents  could not be tolerated. Watch a slidedeshow of the old days.
(Here are more historical pictures)

People enjoy their walks in the new park.

Garden designer Piet Oudulf, was engaged. He likes to plant all sorts of hardy grasses and perennial, in large groups. Have a look at his work elsewhere.

Photo Karen Blumberg

All the tracks and dirt were removed and the structure, which was basically very sound (having been built for large trains), was renovated. The tracks were replaced as they had been, and walkways and plants surround them, retaining the old feeling of the railway. Very clever. Have a look at the planting process.

Photo Karen Blumberg

The railway ran close to the buildings and was very convenient to the warehouses.

To really appreciate this park, one should watch more pictures in the following slideshows:
1. Start with this one.
2. Follow with this one showing the most popular pictures.
3. And finish with all these 245 pictures.

Photo Wikipedia

More of interest:

The HIGH LINE BLOG tells of volunteers who help out.

ICE SKATING IN AMSTERDAM

When the canals freeze in Amsterdam, there are suddenly new public spaces opening up and of course a lot of fun ice-skating.

A GARDEN IS THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD

If I were to give a piece of advice to someone choosing a life partner, I would say to to look for someone who likes gardening because in a gardener, there is plenty of tender loving care and energy and patience. 

People find ways of gardening where they can and some have the possibility and drive to carry out larger projects.such this:

MIKE MOODY ROOF GARDEN IN TORONTO

"The roof garden began in an informal way back in 1995 through the efforts of Property Manager, Mike Moody , a plant aficionado and seasoned gardener. Already a treasured gathering space for tenants, it has evolved into a 6,500 square foot cedar deck, resplendent with flowers, vines and bushes – many of which have been grown from seed - and a lush blanket of sedum that covers close to 3,000 square feet of roof beyond the deck. There are also a number of large planters that hold trees and perennial shrubs that winter over on the roof. " Read more.

SPACE FASCINATES IN OLD RUSSIAN POSTERS

I suggested in an earlier entry that OCCUPY posters might one day become valuable. It appears that old Russian space propaganda posters are now fetching high prices according to WIRED SCIENCE,  Regardless of politics, these posters certainly are very dramatic and decorative.

THE RICH ARE DIFFERENT THAN US -- WHY ROMNEY DOES NOT GET IT ABOUT HIS DOG

Huffington Post headline today - the 1983 story that does not go away. 

Mitt Romney has had another chance to explain (and regret) having placed a large male Irish setter in a dog transportation case on top of the family car during a 12 hour car trip to Canada in 1983. His actions are  so cruel, bizarre and  character defining, that the story will not go away and now, Mitt Romney and his wife had the chance to do some damage control when being interviewed by ABC's Diane Sawyer. But no. Romney regrets the incident - but only  because of the attention it has got. And his wife brushes it off, saying the dog loved traveling in the crate on top of the car and the dog got the diarrhea due to turkey it got on the (kitchen?) counter (turkey they all must have eaten and they were fine?).

It appears that a great number of Americans believe that the dog was scared to death and therefore covered the car with diarrhea during the trip. But the Romney couple seem not to care or they are extremely obtuse. Is it simply that, as F. Scott Fitzgerald once said "the rich are different than us." Very different, it appears, in their attitudes  to their possessions. I remember an old and very well dressed lady in Chelsea walking her similarly old dog in this wealthy area of London. The dog, who seemed the fittest of the two, walked in front of her and she, clad head to foot in haute couture followed slowly after. 

I said to her "That is a beautiful dog you have", and she answered slowly and politely in very upper class English, as a fine old lady would, "Yes I do rather like it."  Maybe I'm picky, but to this wealthy lady her dog was not a he or a she or a him or a her. Her happy little pooch was an IT. "Yes I do rather like it." 

I wonder if this was the way the wealthy Ann and Mitt Romney were  thinking about their dog? An "it" to be put on top of the car. After all, they could have chosen to put the luggage on the roof, but they placed the dog there. And yet still, they strangely maintain that IT liked there, in its little container, strapped on top of the car for 12 hours, with no chance to move or even to communicate with the owners that it needed to defecate.  Americans might ask themselves if they wish to be treated like that if Romney is elected.
The Ed Show also brings up the story:

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TIME TO INVEST IN OCCUPY POSTER ART ?

Art occurs, it seems, whenever one is inspired to express him or herself with images, in caves, on canvasses, on murals or in posters such as these decorative Occupy Posters (all available and credited here). 

Maybe one day, when the Occupy movement has achieved a balance in society, the originals of these posters will be auctioned for enormous sums  at major auction houses.

ENGRAVED SWEDISH GLASS AT ITS VERY BEST

Simon Gate 1923
THE OXEN HEADS URN

Simon Gate 1923
THE OXEN HEADS URN detail

Simon Gate 1923
THE OXEN HEADS URN detail

Simon Gate 1925
THE BACCHUS PROCESSION 

Simon Gate 1925
THE BACCHUS PROCESSION detail

Simon Gate 1925
THE BACCHUS PROCESSION detail

Simon Gate 1929

Simon Gate 1929

Simon Gate ca 1930

Edward Hald 1919

THE DRAPERY BOWL

Edward Hald 1920

GIRLS PLAYING WITH A BALL

Edward Hald 1921

THE FIREWORKS BOWL

Edward Hald 

Edward Hald 

Edward Hald 1925

THE BALLON AND GONDOLA

Edward Hald 

Edward Hald 1930

THE SKY GLOBE

Edward Hald 1930

THE SKY GLOBE detail

Edward Hald 

Cactus exhibition detail

Edward Hald 

Cactus exhibition

Foto:Hans Thorwid/Nationalmuseum

ZACCHEUS -- GET DOWN FROM THAT TREE !

In the distant past, the Swedish church dominated everyone's life. The clergyman visited the homes of people in the country to make sure that people knew their Bible properly.

The Swedish primitive painters in the province of Dalarna, often used dramatic religious incidents for their subjects and the story of Zaccheus, the short sinful merchant in Jericho, who climbed a tree to properly see Jesus on his way to Jerusalem (and then is asked down by Jesus), fascinated the painters and here is a painting, recreated in the old style by Leif Södergren of Gothenburg. The story ends well with Jesus visiting Zaccheus in his home and Zaccheus giving away a lot of money to the poor.

Zaccheus in the tree by Leif Södergren.
Acrylic on wood 60 cm x 80 cm
You can buy a poster or greeting cards of this painting here.

(detail)
Here they stand, man against man. The short and sinful Zaccheus up in the tree and Jesus, the son of God.
Both Zaccheus and the buildings look very 1800th century Swedish.
Today Zaccheus' tree has become a tourist attraction, but the real tree looks different from this fantasy-tree imagined by the primitive painter.

Zacchaeus song



There was a man in Jericho called Zaccheus.

There was a man in Jericho called Zaccheus.

Now the Hebrews, they were tall, but Zaccheus, he was small,

Yet the Lord loved Zaccheus, better than them all.



The Lord went walking one day through Jericho town,

And the people began to gather from miles around.

But Zaccheus, he couldn't see, so he climbed a Sycamore tree,

And the Lord looked up and said, “Zaccheus, come down.”



The Lord said, “Zaccheus, I am dining with you today.

Zaccheus, I come to your house, come lead the way.”

Then, Zaccheus, he gave a cheer, but the people began to sneer,

“This man is a sinner, does the Lord seek lodging here?”



Now Zaccheus was small of stature, but he could show,

That a man who is stout of heart can grow and grow.

“If I have cheated young and old, I restore the goods four fold.”

And salvation came that day to his whole household.