Clancy Tucker's Blog, page 106

11 September 2019 - THE CONVENT OF THE CAPUCHOS IN PORTUGAL

THE CONVENT OF THE CAPUCHOS IN PORTUGAL
G'day folks,The verdant mossy ruins of a Franciscan monastery lie in the remote Sintra hills awaiting exploration.  In the forested mountains surrounding Sintra a simple and isolated convent originally built to be close to nature grows continually closer. Now overgrown with vibrantly lush vegetation, this abandoned 16th-century monastery is serene and isolated, both enchantingly haunting and reminiscent of fantasy stories. 
Inspiring to the imagination, this magical ruin is today just as much an escape from the busy and opulent resort town of Sintra as it was when it was built in 1560. The monastery was founded by a group of reclusive Franciscan friars who lived an extremely simple and rudimentary lifestyle in this remote corner of the Sintra hills.




The monks took their vow of austerity to the extreme here, living in rock-hewn structures designed to blend completely with the idyllic natural landscape. They slept on stone beds in tiny cell-like quarters cut out of giant granite boulders. As a sole comfort, the monks lined the walls and roofs with cork—found in abundance in the surrounding woods—for protection against the cold and wet. This is why the complex, while officially named the Convent of the Friars Minor Capuchin, is commonly known as the Convent of the Capuchos, or “Cork Convent.”




 The humble monastery remained active until the 1830s when the religious orders were abolished in Portugal and the complex was abandoned. Today it blends more than ever with nature, but has been restored and is open daily to explorers who make their way into the wilderness of the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.



Clancy's comment: I'd love to visit this charming place with my cameras. Not so keen about the stone beds.

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10 September 2019 - CLANCY TUCKER PHOTOGRAPHY

CLANCY TUCKER PHOTOGRAPHY
G'day guys,
Welcome to some of the photographs I recently took whilst in South East Asia. Although I felt as crook as a dog, and ended up having my appendix removed in a Thai hospital, I did manage to attend a few events and take some snaps of odd things. As you will see, I always look outside of the box.









































Clancy's comment: There ya go. Long live photographers who capture life.
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9 September 2019 - ABANDONED RAILWAY TUNNEL IN OHIO

ABANDONED RAILWAY TUNNEL IN OHIO
G'day folks, The only remnant of a small mining town is an abandoned railroad tunnel that is steeped in ghostly lore. 
Deep within the woods near Lake Hope State Park, the supposedly haunted Moonville Tunnel is one of the few reminders of the small mining town of Moonville which has otherwise disappeared from the map. Peaking at just around 100 residents in 1870, the town of Moonville, Ohio was never a large place. Consisting of just a few houses along the track, a general store, and a saloon, the tiny mining settlement was far removed from any other town and could only reach them by walking along the active railroad tracks. Largely an unremarkable stretch, the one feature near the town had was the concrete Moonville Tunnel. Over the years a number of people died walking the tracks to other towns, at least 26 of which centered around the tunnel over the years leading to the rise of a number of ghost stories surrounding the dark expanse.    Dating as far back as 1880, the ghost stories generally involve the restless souls of railway workers that died on the line. While a number of actual rail workers did perish near the tunnel due to the dangerous methods of controlling the trains, such as brakemen that were made to stand atop the moving train, the hauntings do not seem to be attributed to any one death, but a shifting conglomerates of paranormal culprits that changes along with the story through the decades.     While the ghost stories are unverifiable, the Moonville Tunnel still stands out in the middle of the Ohio woods, creating an eerily isolating reminder that an entire town used to stand near the spot and its legacy still haunts the site as well.    
Clancy's comment: Wow. Beautifully made tunnel, eh? What a waste. 
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8 September 2019 - QUOTES TO INSPIRE YOU

QUOTES TO INSPIRE YOU
G'day folks,
Yep, it's time for some of those inspiring quotes. Share them with others.























Clancy's comment: I liked the quote about war. Mm ...
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7 September 2019 - EDWARD J. CAMPAGNOLA - GUEST AUTHOR

EDWARD J. CAMPAGNOLA - GUEST AUTHOR -
G'day folks,
Today, I interview an interesting author from the U.S.A.
Welcome, Edward ...
1.     TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY. Writing was suggested to me for therapy.

2.     WHEN AND HOW DID YOU BECOME A WRITER?I wrote matter of fact accounts or a journal and wanted my children to know and wrote into first person story. I became a writer when I rewrote in narrative.


3.      WHAT TYPE OF PREPARATION DO YOU DO FOR A MANUSCRIPT? DO YOU PLAN EVERYTHING FIRST OR JUST SHOOT FROM THE HIP? From the hip but it was a journal.

4.     WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?  Validation.

5.     WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?For me resources is an issue, I lost 20 hours of great writing on Library computers that didn’t save. I never re-write well if it’s something I lost.
6.     WHAT WERE YOU IN A PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER? A feminist

7.     WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST WRITING ACHIEVEMENT?May Day Speech at 2019 Santa Rosa event. “Directions to the Dumpster”

8.     WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?Marketing and promoting by myself has me completely overwhelmed




9.     WHAT INSPIRES YOU?LOVE

10. WHAT GENRE DO YOU WRITE?Socially significant, political

11. DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS?As a new writer, I’ll have to get back to you.

12. DO YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?Occasionally

13. DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?No

14. DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE WRITING PLACE?Not many options, if I had a home.

15. WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST JOY IN WRITING?When people tell me I made them feel, think any enlightenment is a joy.
16. WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY?Jack Kerouac, I’m a beat.

17. WHAT’S THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER?I enlightened them.

18. WHAT WAS THE WORST COMMENT FROM A READER?Nobody wants to read material that includes drugs.

19. WRITERS ARE SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?“Directions to the dumpster” is non-fiction, it’s my true story.




20. OTHER THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?Women, baseball, arts and entertainment.

21. DID YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK / BOOKS PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION?I wish, I did it myself, it’s obvious.

22. DESCRIBE YOUR PERFECT DAY.A day with my children.

23. IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WITH ONE PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE? WHY?Madonna, intelligent, athletic, sings and is sexy.

24. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO SPEAK TO WORLD LEADERS?Time for “Global Social Democracy”

25. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?A sequel to “Directions to the Dumpster” and carry on with agenda towards “Global Social Democracy”

26.  WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON BOOK TRAILERS? DO THEY SELL BOOKS? Idk?

27. DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN ANY OF YOUR CHARACTERS?I am

28. DOES THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY FRUSTRATE YOU?Yes, I have the worst. I took first offer and received better after, sucks.

29. DID YOU EVER THINK OF QUITTING?Definitely!

30. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE MANUSCRIPT TO WRITE? WHY?Only one.




31. HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE ‘SUCCESS’ AS A WRITER. Work makes people think, feel or do something about topic.
32.WHAT SHOULD READERS WALK AWAY FROM YOUR BOOKS KNOWING? HOW SHOULD THEY FEEL? Facts matter, educated.
33.WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES? EVER WRITTEN A SCREENPLAY?
Yes and No.


34.HOW MUCH THOUGHT GOES INTO DESIGNING A BOOK COVER? Not much for mine.


35.WHAT’S YOUR ULTIMATE DREAM?I’m on a deserted island with Modonna. I’m kidding. The ultimate dream is the home where my heart is, with a loving supportive family, my children and someday theirs.


36.   WRITING IS ONE THING. WHAT ABOUT MARKETING YOU, YOUR BOOKS AND YOUR BRAND? ANY THOUGHTS? Disturbed that a socially significant story addressing a growing issue, authored by a homeless man, isn’t a story in itself.

37. ARE YOUR BOOKS SELF-PUBLISHED?Yes.


38.DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN FIVE WORDS.I’m evolving moment to moment.

39.WHAT PISSES YOU OFF MOST?Un-enlightened people, making decisions, aka ignorance.



40.WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? GOOD ONE? I don’t remember


41. WHAT WOULD BE THE VERY LAST SENTENCE YOU’D WRITE?I did my best.

42. WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPIER THAN YOU ARE NOW? CARE TO SHARE?See answer #35

43. ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO ADD?Thanks for having me!

Clancy's comment: A pleasure to host you, Edward. Good luck. Keep writing.I'm ...


 

6 September 2019 - ANTIQUE TOY AND ART MUSEUM IN MAINE

ANTIQUE TOY AND ART MUSEUM IN MAINE
G'day folks,
Well, here is another extraordinary collection. It's a toy museum in a former tavern and is the expression of one man's life pursuit of the aesthetic power of cartoon imagery. 
On the shelf of a former tavern, now jam-packed with thousands of antique toys, a small plastic dog toy looks out with huge plaintive eyes.


It’s Bimbo, Betty Boop’s dog and boyfriend from 1930 until 1933. His character was banned in 1933 by censorship laws that felt that the cross species love affair smacked of beastiality. As the museums creator John Fawcett is quick to point out, his collection isn’t necessarily for kids.

While it may feature antique and vintage toys, it is also not about nostalgia, according to Fawcett. “It’s just been a lifelong search to find images I like. It’s not about nostalgia for me, it’s about aesthetics.” said Fawcett to the Bangor Daily News.



A professor of graphic design at the University of Connecticut for 32 years, Fawcett is in his early 70s, and has been collecting cartoon images, toys and other items that appeal to his artistic sense for over 50 years. The Lone Ranger, Felix the cat, Popeye and many other familiar characters fill the collection, but there are some purposeful absences as well. Winnie the Pooh is notably missing because John just doesn’t like him.

As a child who grew up before the time of television, Fawcett went to the movies for entertainment. To remember the huge cartoon images he saw on the silver screen, he would run home and draw them from memory. The tradition carried on even as Fawcett grew up. As an adult, Fawcett found himself competing and collaborating with another toy collector in New York. 

The two collectors would find rare toys and send each other drawings of their new acquisitions. If one found a second copy of something rare they would send it to the other collector. (These childhood drawings also formed the basis for Fawcett’s colorful, psychedelic paintings of cartoon characters which are featured in the adjoining gallery.)





One curious item in the collection is an image of Mickey Mouse riding a goose with a trident and bomb in hand, an image created by Disney for the Floyd Bennett Airfield in New York during WWII. (This insignia can be seen briefly on the side of the planes in King Kong.) Disney made many variations on these military images using almost every character in its roster. Another item in the museum’s collection is a bomb with Donald Duck’s smiling face on it. Yet another example of how cartoons aren’t always kid stuff.





Kept as a private collection for years, when Fawcett retired and moved to Maine, he opened his collection up as Fawcett’s Antique Toy and Art Museum. Opened in 1997, the Toy Museum and Fawcett have been going strong for nearly twenty years, collecting toys and images that strike on the power of cartoon imagery and his sense of aesthetics.

The museum is attached to an art gallery and shop that sells, you guessed it, antique toys.

Clancy's comment: It never ceases to amaze me as to what people collect, and the lengths they go to add to their collection.
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5 September 2019 - ENGLAND'S KIPLINGCOTES DERBY

 ENGLAND'S KIPLINGCOTES DERBY
G'day folks,You don't have to be a professional jockey to ride in Britain's oldest horse race.  For centuries, horses have thundered across this four-mile course. These aren’t your typical racehorses, and it isn’t your typical racetrack. All horses—Thoroughbred or not—are qualified to run in what’s considered England’s oldest horse race.  Said to have first been run in 1519, and written in records dating from the early 17th century, the Kiplingcotes Derby welcomes horses and riders of all ages and backgrounds. The oldest recorded rider was 74 years old.  The derby takes place on the third Thursday in March. The participants turn up on the day, pay the entry fee, and then they’re good to go. There is only one bookmaker, who doesn’t get advance notice of runners and must fix his odds on the day of the race.


You’ll see sleek, well-muscled sport horses galloping alongside draft horses and other stocky breeds. Some riders sport colorful silks, while others wear their everyday riding attire. Locals line the course, cheering on the contestants as they whiz past.




The derby is a point-to-point flat race and takes place on rough and, in some places, steep and muddy farm tracks. The finishing is post placed on the grass verge of a public highway, which forms the final straight.
 
Strangely, it’s actually more lucrative to finish second best than to win. The winner gets £50 (and to keep the trophy until the next race), and the second place rider gets the remainder of the entry fees. Because of the number of horses that enter the race, this runner up prize often comes to much more than the first place reward. But still, there are many who are eager to win. It’s said that retired racehorses are sometimes entered under false names.





Tradition has it that if the race is canceled one year, it will never run again. In the few recorded instances when the race has been canceled in its long history, steps are taken to ensure the tradition is maintained. In 2018, the course was deemed too dangerous to run due to waterlogging, so two horses were ridden slowly, and at times lead by hand, across the track so future races could still occur.



Clancy's comment: Ah, such tradition. Go the Brits!

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4 September 2019 - HARA MODEL RAILWAY MUSEUM IN YOKOHAMA, JAPAN

HARA MODEL RAILWAY MUSEUM IN YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
 G'day folks,
Welcome to another special museum. This one is in Yokohama, Japan. 




The largest collection of model trains in the world is actually run using full-size locomotive technology. 
Founded as the dream of a lifelong railroad enthusiast, the Hara Model Railway Museum is a stunning miniature world full that not only looks amazingly like our own, but actually operates like it as well.  Engineer and inventor Nobutaro Hara’s love of railroads began long before he established this massive museum. It began while he was in elementary school and Hara would collect train tickets and take long rides just for the experience. As his obsession grew over the years, he began building his own model trains and even learned German and French so that he could read foreign locomotive manuals.  In his adult life, he would travel the globe, visiting various railroads and trainspotting the world over, creating his own models all the time. To date, Hara has accumulated over 6,000 model trains, 100,000 photos and hundreds of hours of film in his personal collection alone.     Finally in 2012 Hara, notoriously close to his collection, agreed to start the Hara Model Railway Museum in Yokohama, where Japan’s first railroad started. The museum features almost 1,500 feet of track running through a massive central diorama called the”Ichiban Tetsumo Park.” Miniature citizens mill about the lit buildings, while the over 1,000 trains from Hara’s collection pass by hills and towns.  Even more remarkable is how the trains are powered. Just like their full-size inspirations, many of the trains pull power from overhead power lines and run on iron tracks with iron wheels, creating a tiny-sized version of the iconic locomotive click-clack. Even invisible interior details such as brakes and gears have been copied from real life locomotives.   From steam trains to electric trains, the Hara Model Railway Museum is an impressive display of both one man’s life long obsession and of the art of the rails. 



Clancy's comment: Once again, a passion has become a massive collection.
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3 September 2019 - THE EMMA CRAWFORD COFFIN RACE IN COLORADO

THE EMMA CRAWFORD COFFIN RACE IN COLORADO
G'day folks,
This is a lively annual event in which thousands of people race to push coffins heavy with bodies up a hill. Every year nearly 10,000 people attend a festival commemorating the time a small town experienced what was basically an Edward Gorey cartoon come to life.
The poor, dear Emma Crawford was once a real live woman who came to the small town of Manitou Springs, Colorado in the late 1800s in search of a cure for her tuberculosis. Sadly, even the area’s legendary mineral springs could do her no good. While on her deathbed, Emma uttered to her lover, Mr. Hildebrand, a dying wish to be buried at the top of Red Mountain. Fulfilling her wishes to the best of his ability, here Emma laid until 1912, when evil railroad barons moved her body to the mountain’s south slope in order to make way for their trains. Shortly thereafter, terrible flooding eroded that spot of land, causing Emma’s casket to go shooting down the mountain into town, where a couple of boys found it, still labeled with the silver nameplate bearing her name. 

   Fast forward a few decades and a tradition was born out of commemorating Emma’s restless casket, where the crux of the sport lies in trying to put her back where she belongs.
What seems at first glance like a farcical day reveling in a darkly comic turn in a woman’s dying wish going unfulfilled, the Emma Crawford Coffin Race is bolstered in its sincerity by upholding a very strict set of rules. The day’s events, usually the last Saturday in October, begin promptly at noon, kicked off with the Parade of Coffins, replete with genuine hearses leading the way. 




Teams consist of five individuals: four runners and one “Emma,” a.k.a. the body inside the coffin everyone on the team must push with all their might. The finish line is 195 yards away, all uphill from where the teams start. Two teams at a time compete against each other in heats, whereupon their times are recorded and compared against their fellow competitors… with one slight caveat: After a few years of running the Coffin Race, it was determined that all firefighters would henceforth compete in their own, separate heats with regards to the timed competition, in order to even the playing field.




 Prizes are awarded for fastest time, Best Emma, Best Coffin, and Best Entourage, which means that even if dead sprints aren’t really your thing, that degree in theater and costuming may still land you an award in one of the nation’s most delightfully macabre festivals.

The fastest team represents Manitou Springs against the fastest team at Nederland’s Dead Guy Days where they compete for the coveted Coffin Cup.  The winner takes the cup home to their city.

Clancy's comment: Looks like heaps of fun, eh? 10,000 people attend this event. Wow.

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2 September 2019 - A BUNCH OF HUMOROUS COLLECTIVE NOUNS

A BUNCH OF HUMOROUS COLLECTIVE NOUNS
G'day folks,
These collective nouns might make you smile.
An absence of professors An aggregate of geologists An ambush of tigers An army of frogs An asylum of programmers A blessing of unicorns A bloat of bureaucrats A brace of orthodontists A circus of monkeys A clowder of cats A clutch of mechanics A complex of psychiatrists  A crash of rhinoceroses A corps of morticians A dilation of pupils A flush of plumbers A flutter of cardiologists  A gaze of raccoons A horde of savers An indifference of waitresses    A labour of moles A lot of second-hand car dealers A murder of crows A nucleus of physicists A raffle of turkeys A rake of mules A tribe of goats A thirst of Irish An unkindness of ravens A wake of buzzards A walk of Snails 
Clancy's comment: Mm ... I have a good one for politicians, but I will let you imagine what that is.
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