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shy-violet-soul · 6 years

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Overrated

Title: Overrated Pairing: AU: Merman-Castiel x OFC Binda, Dean & Sam Prompt: merpup Summary: In her world filled with annoying, overbearing boys, Binda just wants something of her own she doesn’t have to share. Will a kind, quiet merman have the answer? Warnings: Salt-water fluff. A couple of curse words. Word count: 2,200-ish

A/N: I’m so tickled to take part in my first writing challenge! Thank you to @siren-kitten-his for hosting “Kitten’s Mermaid Challenge”. This is also my first AU, so I hope I did the characters proud. A big thank you to @thesassywallflower for being my beta on this one.

Binda - “deep water” (Aboriginal Australia)

This is a work of fiction based upon characters created by CW. The character “Binda” is my own creation. Please do not repost without my permission.

(photo: Robert Harding, Getty Images)

With one final grunt of effort, Binda flopped onto her belly and sighed in contentment. Creating the perfect resting spot took more fussing than a mama sea turtle digging a nest for her eggs, but it was worth it! The gentle hill of sand she had studiously constructed curved her spine into a gentle arch as she pillowed her face on her crossed arms. Sheltered here from the currents, Binda smiled as she felt herself sink into a welcome nap.

It was damn hard to get any peace with those two around.

“Bee!”

Damnit.

“Maybe she’s not here, Dean.”

“Nah, Cas said he followed her here.”

DAMNIT! Binda growled as their voices echoed above her. She should have known those dumb gobies wouldn’t leave her be. She also should have known that nosy codfish was going to tail her.

“C’mon, Bee, come out, come out, wherever you are!”

Maybe if she just kept quiet, they’d go away...a clam dropped onto her head and frantically skittered away.

“Ow!” she squawked, flopping upright and glaring upwards as she rubbed the sore spot.

“Hiya, princess!” Bright green eyes glinted down at her above Dean’s trademark smirk. Sam drifted into view, his gaze apologetic, as both brothers blocked out the sunlight drifting into her precious coral cave. Luckily, her gargantuan brothers were too big to fit through the opening.

“I tried to stop him, Binda.”

“Obviously not hard enough,” she grumbled as she plunked herself back onto the sand. The poor terrorized clam was struggling to bury itself, and Binda crooned to it soothingly as she sluiced a handful of sand on top of it.

“Aw, don’t be like that, Bumblebee.”

The childhood nickname grated on her already raw nerves. “It’s ‘Binda’, Dean. Go away.”

A chunk of dead coral thunked on her head next, getting tangled in her gypsum-white hair. Days of being pestered, bedeviled, and hounded suddenly burned like sand in a fresh coral scrape. Binda snarled, a snap of her tail shooting her straight to the cave’s mouth. The groans from both her brothers as her skull slammed into their noses was worth the sudden headache.

“What. Do. You. WANT?” she roared into their faces.

“Great Whites, Binda, what the hell?” Dean groused, rubbing between his eyes gingerly.

“I didn’t even do anything this time,” her taller brother whined from behind his hands.

“Sorry, Sam,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Seriously, just leave me alone, guys! What’s a girl gotta do to get some peace and quiet?”

“Calm your clam shells, toots. Geez, Binda, are you heading into your egg-laying season?”

Red. She literally saw red. Dean literally never saw her right hook coming.

“Son of a bitch!” Blood ribboned into the water from Dean’s nose as Binda turned to glare at Sam.

“Don’t look at me! Chasing you was his idea!” Sam yelped, his gold-striped grouper tail scrambling him backwards.

Binda ignored him, stabbing one slim pointer finger towards her brothers. “You two listen to me! If you follow me, I will harpoon you in the Amazon in the middle of a piranha colony!” Infuriated beyond belief, Binda spun and waved her powerful tail, surging away from them. “And don’t think I won’t do it!”

Weaving amid flurries of fish, Binda ignored Sam’s shout as she swam away. It’s not that she didn’t love her big brothers; she did, truly. With their mother gone and their father always away, they’d practically raised her. From the first toddling flip of her dorsal fin, her brothers had been there for her through it all. No mermaid in all the seven seas ever had better brothers.

They were always there for her. Really. Always frickin’ there.

If it wasn’t Dean needling her to go treasure hunting, Sam had his latest scroll he just couldn’t wait to share. They were there in the mornings, eating her favorite North Pacific krill. They were there to swim her home after her lessons, glaring off any cute mermen she even blinked at. They were there in the evenings, arguing over which lagoon to hit for dinner. As much as she loved them, Binda felt like she couldn’t breathe sometimes with how always...there...Sam and Dean were.

Distracted by her thoughts and frustrations, Binda didn’t check the corner before banking around a coral outcropping and plowed headfirst into something.

Someone, actually.

The someone in question flailed backwards at the force of their collision, straight into a swarm of visiting electric eels. The alarmed critters sputtered and thrashed, snapping great sparks into the unsuspecting soul thrust into their midst. Binda shrieked, darting forward and grasping a wrist to yank him out of the spitting, arcing tangle. The merman collided heavily into her, his face smashing into the curve of her neck and shoulder. Hissing with displeasure, the eels hurried on their way.

Gasping to catch a breath, Binda leaned back just as the mystery merman did. She found herself snared by a pair of astonishingly blue eyes.

“Castiel?” she asked dazedly. The merman straightened and moved away, rotating his shoulders a bit stiffly.

“That was unpleasant,” he rumbled in that deep voice.

“Oh, my gosh, Cas! Are you okay?” Binda’s gaze flitted over him, searching for injuries.

“I’ve sustained no permanent damage.”

“What are you even doing here?” she quizzed the merman, her brows twitching with confusion.

“I, uh -” the dark-haired mer glanced downwards, rubbing the back of his neck a bit sheepishly. “I followed you.”

Binda’s eyes popped open at the remark. “You followed me?” Exasperated anew, Binda flung her arms up. “Of course you did! Everyone follows me!”

Cas cocked his head to the side, squinting at her. “I do not think everyone follows you, Binda. There are many species in our cove who aren’t…” His voice dwindled off when the mermaid levelled a hard glare in his direction. “Nevermind.”

“Oh! What is it with you mermen?! Can’t you leave me alone for even a second?” Frustration rolled off the maid in waves, and Cas couldn’t help but stare. The current washed around them just so, billowing her white, waist-length locks around her in tantalizing tendrils. Her gorgeous tail, the bright gold and orange of a fan goldfish, gleamed about her in delicate, flowing fronds. It reminded him of the fancy dress adorning a human woman he’d seen on a distant shore long ago. Her green eyes, different from her oldest brother’s, shone brighter than any anemone, like a gem he’d spied in a wreckage. Practical soldier though he was, Cas was convinced Binda’s smiling gaze could soften the hardest of hearts.

That gaze wasn’t smiling at him now.

“I’m sorry, Binda.”

“No, you’re not!” She advanced at him, wagging a finger under his nose. “If you were sorry, you wouldn’t have told those two yahoo brothers of mine where I was! For carp’s sake, Castiel! You three are gonna be the death of me!” Her ire growing with each moment, Binda began swimming a line in front of Cas, arms gesticulating wildly. “When I wake up, there they are! When I go out, there you are! I can’t even go browsing for new top shells alone! Can’t I, just once, have a moment to myself? Have something that’s only mine that I don’t have to share?”

“I just...”

“What, Castiel? Just - what?”

“I just....want to make sure you’re safe.” With those words, all the ire drained out of her like air out of a puffer fish. This amazing, strong, handsome merman wanted to make sure she was safe. Binda would be lying if she said her heart didn’t flutter about the serious Castiel. While the other mermaids fawned over Dean’s vivid green and black cichild scales, or Sam’s bright gold stripes, Castiel’s midnight blue and black betta tail had always caught her eye. Different from any other mer, Cas possessed an extra set of fins separate from his tail. Thin, nearly translucent, the two long slender fins hung from his shoulders like wings. Chest muscles she’d blushingly admired bore an intricate tracery of gold in some ancient script - Enochian, Binda had heard Sam call it once.

Yes, Castiel was altogether quite the catch, pardon the phrase. But it was his quiet, gentle presence Binda most enjoyed. He often joined her as she tended the Pearl Reef, sometimes sitting with her as she rested in the quiet away from the busy-ness of cove life. He’d point out some bright flag of seaweed that made a picturesque splash against the rocks, or tell her about the seahorse hatchlings he’d seen the day before. Binda had always hoped she might catch affection in his gaze one day..

But his gaze held only duty, just like always.

Binda’s shoulders sagged at the thought. It wasn’t Cas’ fault, really. Her father or her brothers had probably told him to keep an eye on her. Trying for nonchalant and failing, Binda drug up a half-assed smile for the merman.

“It’s alright, Castiel. I’m sorry for yelling. I think I’ll head on home now. I’ll see you later.” With a wave of her side fins in farewell, Binda took herself off for the family caves.

Castiel sighed, brow creased in frustration as he watched her go. This wooing was much more difficult than he anticipated. He didn’t dare ask Sam or Dean for advice. He needed help from someone who wouldn’t laugh at him. And he knew just the one!

In a flurry of blue-black fins, Castiel took off for the friendliest corner of the cove.

Curled up under a large network of seaweed fronds, Binda lay quietly, staring up at the surface. The sun above shimmered like hammered silver in fleeting glimpses between the leaves. She huffed a sigh as she rolled to her side, twitching when something tickled her. One, then two, then five little pink seahorses poked their wee heads up above her fins. Binda smiled as she held out her hand to let them weave between her fingers playfully.

The boys had mercifully left her alone, and Binda had it in her heart to feel bad. Almost. At least for making Dean bleed. Although, she wasn’t going to waste the peace and quiet gifted to her. And if her smile looked a bit mopey - well, her peace and quiet were the only ones there to see.

“Shhh!” The muffled sound barely caught her attention, but it did that of the seahorses. The little creatures bobbed forward curiously, and Binda waved herself upright.

“Hello?” she called out.

“Uhhh…” Binda would know that confusion anywhere.

“Castiel?” She swam a bit higher to see over the seaweed; the merman seemed to be hunched weirdly backwards, like his anal fin was caught in his wings or something. “Are you alright?”

“I - I consulted Garth about my quandary,” he spouted out, his cheeks a bit flushed with...what?

“Oh. What quandary? Can I help?” Binda asked, her eyes tinged with concern as she swam nearer.

“No. Yes. I - I -” The poor mer couldn’t seem to make up his mind; the expression on his face looked like he might spontaneously combust. Was he ill? He suddenly lurched, his features contorting in discomfort.

“Cas, did those eels hurt you? Let me see!” Binda demanded, approaching him determinedly.

“No! Uh - this is for you!” The poor soul looked almost green as he thrust something into her arms. Binda’s arms instinctively closed around it, and the mass came alive as it wriggled and whined and…licked?

The merpup was all white, fur soft as the sand from a place called Puerto Rico her father once visited. His gleaming scales were iridescent green, showing hints of blue and purple in the light. And the black eyes that looked up at her had her falling in love in a heartbeat.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, cuddling the little pup under her chin. Her happy laughter splashed out when sweet puppy kisses found her jaw and cheek. “Oh, Castiel, thank you!”

“Please accept this canine as a token of my affection for you.” Castiel thought he spoke out loud but he wasn’t sure. His heart was pounding so hard with nerves, he honestly thought he might throw up, but Binda’s blinding smile distracted his queasiness.

At Castiel’s mumbled proclamation, Binda’s heart skipped and skipped again. Without thinking, she wrapped an arm around those broad shoulders and smushed a happy kiss to his lips. A spark that had nothing to do with any eels leapt between the two, painting matching flushes on both faces.

“Th-thank you, Cas, I accept!” Binda managed to stammer out.

“That’s...reassuring to hear.” Binda’s smile widened as Castiel’s shoulders sagged with relief. The pup continued to whine happily, yipping as he craned his head to swipe more kisses on Binda’s face. “I don’t know how much peace and quiet you’ll find with him”

“Peace and quiet are overrated! What should we call him?” she cooed, reaching up to scratch the little ears.

“Garth said his name is Mr. Fizzles. Which I find confusing because this canine emits no effervescence of any kind.”

Pure delight echoed in the chuckles Binda couldn’t hold in, and she beckoned the merman with a bob of her head as she cradled the merpup closer.

“Come on! Let’s get him settled!”

Snared by that blinding smile, all for him, Castiel couldn’t help but follow. The two spent a lovely hour getting Mr. Fizzles comfortable, and Binda eagerly waited for her brothers to return home so she could show him off. Her pup and her Castiel.

(very sad photo editing by me of a very cute puppy)

#siren-kitten-his #mermaid challenge #castiel #castiel x ofc #castiel fanfiction #supernatural #supernatural fanfic #supernatural au #castiel au #mer!castiel

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emanuelebottiroli · 4 years

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Bolgheri, come si crea una DOC mondiale

Il Consorzio per la Tutela dei Vini Bolgheri Doc, presieduto da Albiera Antinori e diretto da Riccardo Binda, ha festeggiato a settembre i suoi primi venticinque anni e punta sul fare territorio. E’ la somma di aziende altamente qualitative, che hanno lavorato con investimenti e sacrificio dando ai loro vini una nomea internazionale. Il lavoro è stato lungo e forse il meglio deve ancora arrivare, fatto sta che la denominazione è in grande spolvero e vince sui mercati sia in Italia che nel mondo, dove l’area è diventata essa stessa un marchio sinonimo di vocazione, selezione e unicità. All’inizio della storia consortile i soci fondatori si contavano quasi sulle dita di una mano, adesso gli associati sono 56 e hanno voglia di progettare insieme il futuro, con uniformità di strategia e di obiettivi. Unità, cooperazione e rispetto del territorio sono state la linfa del Bolgheri e di chi l’ha fatto crescere.

Una storia iniziata a partire dal ‘600 per intuizione dei conti della Gherardesca, che trasformarono la zona in una delle più fertili e produttive della costa, soprattutto ad opera del conte Guidalberto della Gherardesca. La viticoltura crebbe però in ordine sparso: si pensi che negli anni Settanta il vino più famoso del territorio era il Rosé di Bolgheri. Solo l’illuminato marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta con il suo Sassicaia lasciò il segno nella storia e dovette combattere non poco anche contro il gusto dei locali, a quel tempo non avvezzi ai vini corposi e strutturati. Il figlio Nicolò fece assaggiare il vino al cugino Gherardo della Gherardesca, che lo trovò eccezionale, incoraggiando a proseguire lungo in cammino intrapreso. La fama di questo vino crebbe a tal punto, grazie anche all’enologo Giacomo Tachis che lo perfezionò, da conquistare nel 1978, durante una degustazione alla cieca dei più importanti Cabernet del mondo a cura della rivista “Decanter”, il titolo di migliore in assoluto. Caparbietà, coraggio e spirito visionario ispirarono altri vignaioli che nel 1995 diedero origine al Consorzio per la tutela dei vini Doc Bolgheri. A presiederlo fu appunto il marchese Niccolò Incisa della Rocchetta, figlio del marchese Mario, rimasto in carica per diciotto anni, fino al 2013. Gli altri soci fondatori furono: Rosa Gasser, Eugenio Campolmi, Enio Frollani, Michele Satta e Federico Pavoletti. Da allora la zona è molto cresciuta: i terreni sono passati da 190 a 1.370 ettari (1.093 a Doc Bolgheri, 87 a Bolgheri Sassicaia e 190 a Igt) e il disciplinare è stato aggiornato per includere i vini prodotti con le tre uve principali (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot e Cabernet Franc) che possono essere utilizzate anche come mono varietali. L'area di produzione è situata lungo le spiagge della costa toscana, in provincia di Livorno, nel Comune di Castagneto Carducci. Ad Est una catena di colline corre parallela alla costa, tra Bolgheri e Castagneto e protegge i vigneti dai venti invernali. In estate, invece, questo corridoio è percorso da venti rinfrescanti che si generano tra le valli del fiume Cecina a Nord e del torrente Cornia a Sud. Gli anziani dicevano che non si potevano fare grandi vini in vicinanza del mare. Per questo il primo vigneto del Bolgheri Sassicaia fu piantato, nel 1944 a Castiglioncello di Bolgheri, esposto ad est e a 400 metri sul livello del mare. Oggi si è dimostrato che è proprio la vicinanza del mare a dare grandi vini. I vigneti più qualitativi si trovano tutti ai piedi delle colline e nella pianura tra Bolgheri e la zona Sud di Castagneto. I venti rinfrescanti che provengono dal mare e le discrete escursioni termiche di agosto e settembre provocano delle maturazioni lente e regolari di tutte le componenti qualitative dell'uva, zuccheri, polifenoli e aromi, e contribuiscono a mantenere alta l'acidità, necessaria per dare equilibrio ai vini. Il microclima di Bolgheri si avvale anche di una forte luminosità: oltre a quella diretta del sole, si ha un effetto di riflessione da parte dello specchio di mare situato ad Ovest.

I terreni di Bolgheri hanno una grande variabilità in un ambito piuttosto ristretto. Vi sono dei terreni alluvionali, di origine fluviale, con ciottoli tondi depositati dagli antichi corsi d'acqua. Il nome Bolgheri Sassicaia deriva proprio da questa caratteristica. Si possono individuare tre grandi zone: le colline, la zona intermedia e la zona più vicina al mare. La densità dei vigneti è molto variabile. I più vecchi hanno una densità di 5.500 - 6.000 ceppi per ettaro, mentre nei più recenti si arriva alla soglia dei 10.000 ceppi per ettaro. La maggioranza dei nuovi impianti si attesta oggi su una densità di circa 7.000 ceppi per ettaro. Il sistema di allevamento prevalente è il cordone speronato singolo, ma non mancano esempi di guyot e addirittura di alberello. I vitigni più impiantati sono ovviamente quelli la cui vocazione è stata storicamente dimostrata da Bolgheri Sassicaia prima e dagli altri storici, Ornellaia, Grattamacco, Macchiole, Guado al Tasso, Satta, dopo. Si tratta di Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot. La sperimentazione, che dura ormai da oltre un ventennio, ha dimostrato le grandi potenzialità di altri vitigni come Syrah e Petit Verdot. Anche il Sangiovese, in percentuale minore, ha dato su alcuni parcelle buoni risultati. Per i vini bianchi, il Vermentino è attualmente la più impiantata. Il Sauvignon Blanc, dopo alterne vicende, sta ritrovando una sua dimensione altamente qualitativa ed è spesso affiancato dal Viognier. Nella zona del Bolgheri la ricchezza del terroir ha abbracciato con successo la sensibilità, la cultura e l’imprenditorialità dei produttori. Secondo gli opinion leader internazionali le migliori annate in assoluto sono state di recente la 2015 e la 2016. Quando era sul mercato l’annata 2015, il Sassicaia è stato definito da Wine Spectator come il “miglior vino al mondo”, mentre l’annata 2016 è stata valutata 100/100, il massimo punteggio, da Robert Parker, il famoso critico americano. Altre annate considerate memorabili sono: 1978, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1997 e la 2004. Read the full article

#45parallelo #blog #bolgheri #consorzio #dellaGherardesca #doc #emanuelebottiroli #IncisadellaRocchetta #Ornellaia #sassicaia #supertuscans #Toscana #vini #vino #wine

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maxwellyjordan · 4 years

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Monday round-up

Briefly:

In USA Today, Richard Wolf examines how the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this summer in June Medical Services v. Russo, striking down a restrictive Louisiana abortion law, is affecting other abortion litigation in the lower courts. Wolf reports that “[o]fficials in Texas, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Oklahoma have in recent weeks argued that the high court’s narrow 5-4 ruling actually bolsters their defense of anti-abortion laws,” largely as a result of Chief Justice John Roberts’ concurring opinion in June Medical that arguably created a more deferential standard for courts to evaluate abortion restrictions.

At Keen News Service, Lisa Keen also analyzes how one of the court’s biggest decisions from its 2019-20 term is playing out in subsequent litigation. Keen reports that two federal appeals courts recently applied Bostock v. Clayton County — which held that Title VII bars workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity — to discrimination in schools. Both appellate decisions “found that the refusal of schools to allow transgender boys to use the boys’ restroom violated the students’ U.S. Constitutional right to equal protection and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act,” Keen writes.

In an article published by the Federalist Society, Michael Bindas anticipates how yet another recent blockbuster — Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue — will affect the educational choice movement. Espinoza marks “a tremendous victory for families who want to be able to choose the schools their children attend,” Bindas writes, “and the opinion undoubtedly will lead to the adoption of new educational choice programs throughout the country.” But, he continues, “it was by no means the final legal battle over educational choice in the United States.”

We rely on our readers to send us links for our round-up. If you have or know of a recent (published in the last two or three days) article, post, podcast or op-ed relating to the Supreme Court that you’d like us to consider for inclusion, please send it to [email protected]. Thank you!

The post Monday round-up appeared first on SCOTUSblog.

from Law https://www.scotusblog.com/2020/08/monday-round-up-500/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

#law #justice

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nenan · 1 year

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Karwea photographed by Robert Binda

#robert Binda #karwea #Robertbinda #threadsgen #break.archive #karweababy

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writing-creative-fiction · 4 years

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VISAWUS – aka The Victorian Interdisciplinary Association of the Western United States – embraces scholars of the Victorian era from any academic discipline and any career stage. Thus, the presenters at their annual conference in November 2019 ranged from eminent Professors with publication lists as long as your arm to under-graduate students approaching the final examinations of their Bachelor degree – and somewhere toward the lower end of that scale is me, for I decided to respond to their Call for Papers in February and was offered the opportunity to speak on one of their panels. The venue for the 2019 conference was the 15-storey Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, which has occupied the historic Alaska Building in Pioneer Square, Seattle, since 2010. The building dates back to 1903 and was designed by Earnes and Young to provide suitable office and storage facilities for the stockholders of the Scandinavian-American Bank during the Alaskan gold-rush. On its completion, Seattle’s Alaska Building, with its state-of-the-art fireproof construction, was the first 14-storey steel-framed construction in Seattle and the tallest building in Northwest America. The images below show The Alaska Building, as portrayed in an information booklet at the hotel, and The Arctic Building, which is just round the corner from The Alaska Building.

The Alaska Building, from an information booklet provided at the hotel

The Arctic Building, just round the corner from The Alaska Building

Just me, then! As the only representative of the UK – apart from a Toronto-based Professor hailing originally from the northwest of England – I could easily have felt a little out of place at VISAWUS 2019, but, on the contrary, I was warmly welcomed and enjoyed many interesting and helpful conversations with fellow delegates – although several misunderstood the name of my University – Canterbury Christ Church – and assumed I was from New Zealand. They realised their mistake as soon as they heard my clearly English accent! Following Registration and breakfast on Thursday morning, the first panel I attended focused on the works of Charles Dickens, so the conference couldn’t possibly have got off to a better start as far as I’m concerned. Between them, Joshua Brorby, Matthew Van Winkle and Cayla Eagan treated us to words of wisdom on:

• the mutability of words in Our Mutual Friend • the theme of memory in both Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend • an analysis of the real-life case that inspired The Chimes.

This led to an interesting Q&A session in which we discussed philology, etymology and the standardisation of language, wills and inheritance, the differences between connected, spatial and temporal memory, the value – or power – of literacy in the nineteenth-century, and whether infanticide could possibly be a manifestation of maternal care. After lunch, I chose to attend the panel on Marital Stakes, in which Katherine Anderson, Veronika Larsen and So Park provided valuable insights into:

• evolving perceptions of torture in the nineteenth-century, including domestic torture, both mental and physical, with reference to The Egoist, Daniel Deronda, and He knew he was Right and encompassing cases in India and Jamaica as well as the UK • early stage adaptations of Jane Eyre, and their ‘correcting’ of the novel’s moral deviancies by, for example, elevating Mr Rochester to the peerage, legitimising Adele, and omitting any suggestion of rebelliousness in Jane. • socio-economic restrictions and/or consequences in the nineteenth-century marriage market, as “intricately and delicately” handled by George Gissing in novels such as The Odd Women.

These, as can be imagined, led to a lively debate among panellists and audience.

My Paper

During the short tea-break that followed the second round of panels, I made my way to the Yukon room on the second floor of the hotel in order to connect my laptop to the projector and ensure my PowerPoint presentation would work; all was well!

Ready to go, and the audience begins to arrive.

There were only two of us on Panel 3C: me and Elizabeth Chang, a Professor from the University of Missouri, so we had plenty time for our presentations and a lengthy Q&A session. Elizabeth spoke about travel journals published in the 1880s by John Murray – the same publishing house that worked with the Admiralty earlier in the century to publish the Arctic Narratives that I’m looking at. Elizabeth’s journals related to voyages in China, on the Yang Tse River and the River of Golden Sand. Written by William Gill and Thomas Blakiston, the journals included descriptions of the native Boatmen tugging the boats with ropes, in a very similar way to that in which British seafarers in the Arctic would tug their ships through the ice. Blakiston, however, likened the Boatmen to a team of “dogs”; an analogy underscored by attitudes of white colonial superiority, and one that would never have been applied to their British counterparts. On a more conciliatory note, Elizabeth explained how Archibald Little, an Englishman living in China, had tried to introduce steam ships to the Yang Tse, while his wife – the author Alicia Little – campaigned against the practice of foot-binding.

When it came to my turn to speak, I presented my paper on the ways in which, through their engagement with literature, art and popular culture, the Victorian public gained personal temporal and emotional stakes in the Arctic – as well as the political and financial stakes they held via government and taxation.

Having introduced my audience to the Arctic as the Victorians would have known it – by way of a map from 1879 – I illustrated the circular trajectory of Arctic representations in the nineteenth century with examples from adult and children’s literature ranging from The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere, through Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, a selection of fairy tales and boys-own style stories, articles in the popular press, and the play The Frozen Deep, to Tess of the D’Urbervilles and The Purple Cloud, and demonstrated how these imbued readers with both temporal and emotional stakes in the Arctic. Evidencing the same concepts with reference to the Arctic paintings of Biard, Landseer and Riviére, I concluding with a brief examination of the ways in which remnants recovered from Arctic expeditions were revered as ‘relics’ and collected for public display as well as being reproduced for home entertainment such as Magic Lantern shows, thus substantiating my claims for the Victorian public’s stake in the Arctic. Following this, a range of interesting and pertinent questions were asked of both me and Elizabeth, and we were able to recognise and develop common threads and themes in our papers, as alluded to above.

A Pleasant Evening – and the second day of the conference

That evening, I had dinner in the hotel’s Bistro with the wife of one of the VISAWUS Board members (while he attended the Board Dinner). We were both disappointed with the quality of our food, and received apologies and a bill-waiver, but we had a super time chatting about our very different lives!

On Friday morning, I selected Panel 4C for my attention – it’s always so difficult to choose between concurrent panels at these events, but I chose well on this occasion as Susan Shelangoskie’s account of the Brett brothers prolonged yet ultimately successful enterprise in laying the first transatlantic telegraph cables was compelling; I could see clear similarities between the way John Brett promoted their project anonymously in the press and the way John Barrow promoted Arctic exploration anonymously in the same papers and journals. Robert Steele’s consideration of the role, concept and variations of time and time-keeping in Far from the Madding Crowd, was equally thought-provoking – especially as I had watched (again) the 2015 film version of this novel on the flight across from England – and Katherine Voyles’s thoughts on the ways in which modern reportage draws on nineteenth-century lyrical realism were interesting if appearing a little anachronistic to the conference. After a mid-morning break, I indulged in some Post-Colonial papers with:

• Sumangala Bhattacharya – who connected Gaskell’s Cranford to the twenty-first century US Border crisis via the character of Peter • Beth Hightower – who argued that Dickens funnels his own Oriental racism through the character of Flora Finching in Little Dorrit • Ava Bindas – who focused on ‘epistemologies of space’ and ‘narrative dialects’ that define domestic, gendered and social mobility.

Business A formal Lunch and Business Meeting in the hotel’s Alaska Ballroom followed, providing a good opportunity for delegates to share information, ideas and advice concerning a range of topics relevant to Victorian studies, career development, and transatlantic co-operation. Similar discussions, of course, accompanied the Conference Dinner that evening. The Business Meeting consisted of introducing the Board members, hearing a Finance report and updates on this and future conferences – next year’s will be in Reno – and the presentation of an engraved plate to a lovely lady called Kathleen, whose surname escapes me but who founded VISAWUS with Richard Fulton c.1986.

My most eagerly anticipated Panel Having referenced at least one of her books extensively in my MA dissertation, I was keen to hear what Erika Behrisch Elce had to say on the Journals of Ships’ Surgeons, so, after lunch, I trotted along to Panel 6A on which she was accompanied by Dorice Elliott and Nathan Kapoor. The latter spoke about Geothermal energy in modern New Zealand and linked it very tentatively to the Victorian era by describing it as a form of decolonisation; an innovative alternative to the energy legacies of former colonial powers (I’m not convinced!). Dorice spoke about Australian emigration, and resulting conflicts of identity, as demonstrated in Henry Kingsley’s novel The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn. Of primary interest to me in my research, however, was Erika’s account of the journals kept by Ships’ Surgeons – journals that reveal the day-to-day illnesses, ailments and condition of each man on board every ship; a far more revealing and accurate record than the Narratives published by ships’ Officers: or, as Erika put it, “an alternative chronicle that can alter the master narrative.” One case that she focused on concerned Captain Kellet’s ships joining the over-wintering ships of Captain McClure in the Arctic in 1853. McClure was stubbornly refusing to turn back or abandon ship, so Kellet ordered his ship’s surgeon, Domville, to inspect every one of McClure’s crew, including McClure himself, and assess their health. Domville declared almost every crew member “utterly unfit to continue Arctic service”, forcing McClure to turn back against his will. Under questioning, Erika confirmed that ships’ surgeons were usually the healthiest people onboard, despite their exposure to so many sick and diseased individuals suffering from “everything from sunstroke to dyssentry”. She attributes their good health to their habit of “constantly experimenting on themselves” with quinine, different diets and a range of other “common treatments”. She also noted that ships’ surgeons, generally, had “tons of responsibility but no authority”, so Domville’s success in saving McClure and his men was presumably an exception to this rule. Dorice pointed out at this point that surgeons onboard the convict ships sailing to Australia had full authority over the convicts while the Captain maintained authority over the crew.

Colour Theories In the Friday ‘teatime’ session, I chose to attend panel 7C, on which Kristen Feay, Amy Woodson-Boulton and Julie Codell discussed the ways in which the Industrial Revolution destabilised perceptions of colour, leading to George Field’s Chromotography in 1843, Owen Jones’s The Grammar of Ornament in 1852, and Christopher Dresser’s The Art of Decorative Design in 1862. This was a very well co-ordinated panel with a clear connecting thread linking each paper.

Conference Dinner & Keynote Address The highlight of the conference, obviously, was the Keynote Address by Professor Andrea Kaston-Tange, Chair of English and Director of Liberal Arts at Macalester College. Her address was entitled ‘Embedded in Empire: Reading Lucie Duff Gordon’s Egypt’ and it focused on the published letters of the eponymous lady, who lived much of her life in Egypt for health reasons as well as out of a spirit of adventure that was evident in her youth, when she is recorded as having plaited a live snake into her hair. Prof. Kaston-Tange, however, also used her address to question the value of nostalgia, asking how useful it is (or is not) and what good (or harm) it does.

Keynote Speech

A three-course dinner provided ample time to discuss the issues she raised and to enjoy another sociable opportunity to converse with fellow delegates.

Final Day, and Time to Moderate On Saturday morning, I followed my birthday breakfast by attending Panel 8C, in the Kodiak Room on the 15th floor – where all C panels were based; B panels being next door in the Klondike Room and A panels (such as mine) a few floors down in the Yukon Room on Floor 2.

On this two-person panel, Michael Carelse argued convincingly for ‘literary impressionism’ in Thomas Hardy’s The Woodlanders, showing how Hardy was influenced by the paintings of J.M.W. Turner and the French Impressionist painters with regard to the symbolic significance of outward detail, so that this novel, in contrast to his previous one, The Mayor of Casterbridge, omits detail in a way that mimics the representational ethos of Impressionism and anticipates Modernism. Claire Barwise followed this with an exploration of satire in the sensation novels of Mary Elizabeth Braddon – a “phenomenal woman”, Claire said, “who not only wrote more than 80 novels but also founded the Belgravia Magazine and raised 11 children!” Focusing on 2 of those 80 novels, Lady Audley’s Secret and The Doctor’s Wife, Claire invoked Bakhtin’s theory of the carnivalesque to explain their inversion and subversion of social norms.

On Panel 9B, after a break for coffee, David Wayne Thomas, Priti Joshi, and Edward Beasley all focused on different aspects of British Rule in India, and did so in such depth, and with such enthusiasm, that there was no time left for questions at the end of the 90 minutes. David provided handouts to help us follow his exposition of the failure of the Ilbert Bill in 1883, while Priti used PowerPoint slides to show images relating to the 1857 Mutiny and argue for the recurrent identification – or misidentification – of portraits in the Illustrated London News and John Lang’s Wanderings in India, which was serialised in Household Words in 1857 and published in book form the following year. Edward, in his turn, argued for the reputation of Charles Napier; a Liberal Socialist hero of the UK working classes who was nevertheless regarded as a facist oppressor in India. Edward’s biography of this controversial Commander in Chief of the British Army is due out next year and will make fascinating reading, I think.

After lunch, the final panels of the conference took place. I had volunteered to moderate Panel 10B as the topics of the two speakers were both close to my heart: Dickens’s The Pickwick Papers and British Free Public Libraries. On the first of these, Sierra McMillan first demonstrated how the para-text of illustrations and advertisements in the serialised copies of The Pickwick Papers affected the text and the ways in which readers engaged with it, and then discussed ways in which readers could select from a variety of binding options once they had collected a full set of the serialised issues. Richard Fulton then introduced his research into the history of Free Public Libraries in the UK, explaining how the working classes went from initial mistrust of what they saw as middle-class charity to the overwhelming popularity of the libraries as a source of civic pride and a resource used and valued by the working classes in their hundreds of thousands. And that was the end of the conference! I went for a swim in the hotel’s basement fitness centre, ate a salad in my room, and began to pack in preparation for the next stage of my transatlantic adventure:

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I arrived in Victoria, via a trip on two buses and a ferry, at 7:30pm on Sunday 10th November and discovered that November 11th is a public holiday for Veterans’ Day. The military parade was long, loud, and very impressive, with representatives from many different branches of the Canadian Forces, including the Mounties in their bright red tunics. Crowds thronged the route of the parade and the 11:00am Ceremony of Remembrance outside the British Legislature Building on Bellevue Street, and the city was full of uniformed personnel for the rest of the day.

I watched the parade and then took a long walk round the coastal path, passing James Bay, Fisherman’s Wharf, Breakwater, and Ogden Point, and emerging into Beacon Hill Park with its exquisitely carved Totem Pole – the tallest in the world at 127 feet & 7 inches – Rose Garden, Ducks, Fountains, Petting Zoo, and Lookout Post, among other attractions. From there, the paths led me to Superior Street and thereby back to Government Street and through the grounds of the Legislature Building to where the morning’s wreaths lay bright yet poignant around the plinth of the war memorial.

World’s tallest Totem Pole

Veterans’ Day Wreaths

From there I explored the shops and historic buildings of the Old Town before returning to my Hostel to spend the evening relaxing with fellow solo travellers from around the world. Tuesday morning found me basking in the history of British Columbia; first in the 3-storey Royal B.C. Museum, founded in 1886, and then in the B.C. Archives, housed in the basement of the same building, which claims to have been “collecting and preserving photographs, documents, maps and historical records since 1894”. Having obtained a Researcher Pass (valid for two years; oh, I do hope I get the chance to use it again!), I was able to indulge in a few hours of research before heading to the Ferry Port to catch my evening Clipper sailing back to Seattle. My research revealed a couple of letters and maps of interest, but the B.C. records are evidently not old enough to contain a great deal pertaining to my current project.

early map pertaining to a possible Northwest Passage

On Wednesday, I had a few hours to explore Seattle’s Pike Place Market and Waterfront before taking the Link Light Railway to the airport and catching my flight home. Altogether a very enjoyable first transatlantic experience, which I very much hope I will not be my last.

Transatlantic Trip – VISAWUS 2019 VISAWUS – aka The Victorian Interdisciplinary Association of the Western United States – embraces scholars of the Victorian era from any academic discipline and any career stage.

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joyfullyoriginalcollection-blog1 · 6 years

Photo

Michał Lewandowski by Robert Binda for Fashionisto Exclusive.

#michallewandowski #robertbinda #fashionphotography #men #fashionistoexclusive

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ephemeralness · 6 years

Text

2018 oscar nominations

my oscar “to do” list. bolded the ones i’ve seen.

Best Picture Call Me by Your Name Darkest Hour Dunkirk Get Out Lady Bird Phantom Thread The Post The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Actress in a Leading Role Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Margot Robbie, I, Tonya Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird Meryl Streep, The Post

Best Actor in a Leading Role Daniel Day-Lewis, The Phantom Thread Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role Mary J. Blige, Mudbound Allison Janney, I, Tonya Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Best Actor in a Supporting Role Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Animated Feature Film Coco Ferdinand Loving Vincent The Breadwinner The Boss Baby

Best Cinematography Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049 Bruno Delbonnel, Darkest Hour Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water Rachel Morrison, Mudbound Hoyte Van Hoytema, Dunkirk

Best Costume Design Jacqueline Durran, Darkest Hour Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread Consolata Boyle, Victoria and Abdul Jacqueline Durran, Beauty and the Beast Luis Sequeira, The Shape of Water

Best Director Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk Jordan Peele, Get Out

Best Documentary (Feature) Faces Places Last Men in Aleppo Strong Island Abacus Icarus: Small Enough to Jail

Best Documentary (Short Subject) Edith + Eddie Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405 Heroin(e) Knife Skills Traffic Stop

Best Film Editing Jonathan Amos, Paul Machlis, Baby Driver Jon Gregory, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Tatiana S. Riegel, I, Tonya Lee Smith, Dunkirk Sidney Wolinsky, The Shape of Water

Best Foreign Language Film A Fantastic Woman Loveless On Body and Soul The Insult The Square

Best Makeup and Hairstyling Beverly Binda, Victoria and Abdul J.D. Bowers, Megan Harkness, Ailsa Macmillan, Robert A. Pandini, Wonder David Malinkowski, Lucy Sibbick, Anita Burger, Darkest Hour

Best Music (Original Score) Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread Carter Burwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk

Best Music (Original Song) “Mighty River” from Mudbound by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq, and Taura Stinson “Remember Me” from Coco by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez “Stand Up for Something” from Marshall by Common, Andra Day, and Diane Warren “The Mystery of Love” from Call Me by Your Name by Sufjan Stevens “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Best Production Design Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis, Dunkirk Paul Denham Austerberry, Shane Vieau, and Jeff Melvin, The Shape of Water Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Darkest Hour Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Beauty and the Beast Bladerunner 2049

Best Short Film (Animated) Dear Basketball Garden Party Negative Space Lou Revolting Rhymes

Best Short Film (Live Action) DeKalb Elementary My Nephew Emmett The Silent Child Watu Wote/All of Us The Eleven o’clock

Best Sound Editing Richard King, Alex Gibson, Dunkirk Mark A. Mangini, Theo Green, Blade Runner 2049 Nathan Robitaille, The Shape of Water Julian Slater, Baby Driver Matthew Wood, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Sound Mixing Ron Bartlett, Dough Hemphill, Mac Ruth, Blade Runner 2049 Tim Cavagin, Julian Slater, Baby Driver Christian T. Cooke, Filip Hosek, Brad Zoern, The Shape of Water Gregg Landaker, Gary Rizzo, Mark Weingarten, Dunkirk David Parker, Michael Semanchick, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Aaron Sorkin, Molly’s Game James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green, Logan Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, The Disaster Artist Dee Rees, Virgil Williams, Mudbound

Best Writing (Original Screenplay) Guillermo Del Toro & Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick Jordan Peele, Get Out Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

#oscars #oscars 2018

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