Madame Tussaud and Obama!

I was never too keen on going to Madame Tussaud's (I would see some of the statues and I was like 'ehh, not too good if you ask me...), but for reasons I'll explain later, I decided to venture...








So here she is, the lady that started it all. I always wondered who she was. I actually thought 'Madame' as in the female British knighthood order title of 'Sir', etc. Anyways...here you go...

Marie Tussaud (1761–1850) was born Marie Grosholtz in Strasbourg, France. Her mother worked as a housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius, who was a physician skilled in wax modelling. Curtius taught Tussaud the art of wax modelling. In 1765, Curtius made a waxwork of Marie-Jeanne du Barry, Louis XV's mistress. A cast of that mould is the oldest work currently on display. The first exhibition of Curtius' waxworks was shown in 1770, and attracted a large audience. The exhibition moved to the Palais Royal in Paris in 1776. He opened a second location on Boulevard du Temple in 1782, the "Caverne des Grands Voleurs", a precursor to the later Chamber of Horrors.
Tussaud created her first wax figure, of Voltaire, in 1777. Other famous people she modelled at that time include Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Benjamin Franklin. During the French Revolution she modelled many prominent victims. In her memoirs she claims that she would search through corpses to find the decapitated heads of executed citizens, from which she would make death masks. Following the doctor’s death in 1794, she inherited his vast collection of wax-models and spent the next thirty-three years travelling around Europe. Her marriage to Francois Tussaud in 1795 lent a new name to the show – Madame Tussauds.In 1802, she went to London. As a result of the Franco-English war, she was unable to return to France, so she travelled throughout Great Britain and Ireland exhibiting her collection. For a time, it was displayed at the Lyceum Theatre. From 1831 she took a series of short leases on the "Baker Street Bazaar" (on the west side of Baker Street between Dorset Street and King Street). This becames Tussaud's first permanent home in 1836.[1]
One of the main attractions of her museum was the Chamber of Horrors.By 1835 Marie had settled down in Baker Street, London, and opened a museum. The gallery that we see today was built in 1884, thirty years after her death. This part of the exhibition included victims of the French Revolution and newly created figures of murderers and other criminals. The name is often credited to a contributor to Punch in 1845, but Marie appears to have originated it herself, using it in advertising as early as 1843.[2] Other famous people were added to the exhibition, including Horatio Nelson, and Sir Walter Scott. Some of the sculptures done by Marie Tussaud herself still exist. The gallery that we see today was built in 1884, thirty years after her death. It originally contained some 400 different figures, but fire damage in 1925, coupled with German bombs in 1941, has rendered most of these older models defunct. Fortunately, the casts themselves have survived – and you can see these in the museum’s history exhibit. The oldest figure on display is that of Madame du Barry. Her nickname was the “Sleeping Beauty”, and certainly lives up to the billing. Other ancient faces from the time of Tussaud include Robespierre, George III and Benjamin Franklin.In 1842, she made a self portrait which is now on display at the entrance of her museum. She died in her sleep on 15 April 1850.

Long, but I thought worth knowing...I some (more than likely a 'recast') of her some of her French revolution victims, agh!

As you can read, this is the 'blade' that did the 'let them eat cake' lady in...how 'humane' eh?

And while there, Obama decided to stop by and...

Ok, this is why I went. Because it was Inauguration Day, as an American, I got in for free! Hooray for free! (normally I think it is about 40 pounds!!) Plus, they had just unveiled their Obama statue...I thought it was decent...

Morgan Freeman, one of my favorite actors - and this is an example of a 'good' statue...

Yet again, 'good' statute of Samuel L.

BAD statue of Jesse Owens! He looked 'doofusssee', not good for the Olympic hero of Berlin!

GOOD Paul Newman, the Robert Redford was BAD (sorry Mom :*(

Ahh, truly one of the beauties of the cinema and a good statue of 'Mrs.' Olivier....

I'll let you vote (just in case you vote something other than 'BAD!!', you're wrong! :)

Even though she looks angry, I thought the one of 'Lizzie' was good....

Based on his own self-portrait...I think that is pretty good!

Amy Winehouse! Awesome job! Kudos to Madame!

Umm...he just looks 'crazy' and not quite human, this goes under the BAD category!

Benny Hill - good!

And speaking of which, thanks Benny! That's a good way of saying goodbye for these posts!

Thanks Obama for having your inauguration day while I was in London so I could get in for free! Now with your future job, good luck!

Catholic FHE anyone?

So as a good little Mormon-boy should, I set off to have my FHE (Family Home Evening), umm...in a Catholic Cathedral ;)

On the way I saw this statue of Henry Purcell, who apparently helped the Baroque 'bloom' in England - I thought it was a girl with a fantastically, flowery hair-do, but...

And there we be. I still think it's odd...Westminster Abbey is Anglican/Protestant and just down the road, Westminster Cathedral (I just would have assumed that the Abbey would've been called 'cathedral', but for the Anglicans I guess that is where St. Pauls CATHEDRAL comes in ;) is Catholic....

But the singing was nice and I actually enjoy experiencing other people's religions...it's 'eye-opening'....

Westminster Abbey

I've shown you pix of Westminster Abbey before, but I hadn't ever taken a tour of it, and since you can't take photos inside...umm...here you go:

According to tradition the abbey was first founded in 616 on the present site, then known as Thorn Ey (Thorn Island); based on a late 'tradition' that a fisherman called ' Aldrich ' on the River Thames saw a vision of Saint Peter near the site. This seems to be quoted to justify the presents of salmon from the Thames fishermen that the Abbey received in later years. The proven origins are that in the 960s or early 970s, Saint Dunstan, assisted by King Edgar, planted a community of Benedictine monks here. A stone Abbey was built around 1045–1050 by King Edward the Confessor as part of his palace there: it was consecrated on December 28, 1065,[1] only a week before the Confessor's death and subsequent funeral and burial. It was the site of the last coronation prior to the Norman Invasion, that of his successor King Harold. It was later rebuilt by Henry III from 1245, who had selected the site for his burial."

And many a person is buried here! 'Bloody' Mary; Elizabeth I; Mary Queen of Scots; Laurence Olivier; Charles Dickens; Issac Newton; Chaucer; etc.!

King Edward's Chair
Since the coronations in 1066 of both King Harold and William the Conqueror, all English and British monarchs (except Edward V and Edward VIII, who did not have coronations) have been crowned in the Abbey.[1] Henry III was unable to be crowned in London when he first came to the throne because Prince Louis of France had taken control of the city, and so was crowned in Gloucester Cathedral, but this coronation was deemed by the Pope to be improper, and a further coronation was held in the Abbey on 17 May 1220.[5] Lady Jane Grey, whose reign lasted just nine days, and was of doubtful legality was also never crowned. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the traditional cleric in the coronation ceremony. King Edward's Chair (or St Edward's Chair), the throne on which British sovereigns are seated at the moment of coronation, is housed within the Abbey and has been used at every coronation since 1308; from 1301 to 1996 the chair also housed the Stone of Scone upon which the kings of Scotland are crowned, but pending another coronation the Stone is now kept in Scotland.

Some views of the 'cloisters' outside...

The cloisters 'house' a lot of memorial plaques, I thought this was interesting...

This was the 'Collegiate Garden', I think...there's Parliament in the background...

These are administrative buildings of Westminster Abbey. I thought it was interesting how this guy is trying to 'get out'...

Westminster Palace, aka Parliament....

'Our daughters' daughters will adore us and they'll sing in grateful chorus! FEAR NOT! Sister Suffragette!"

I hadn't seen these before (it amazes me at either how blind I am or how much London has to offer!) on the lawn near Parliament.

Way to go Sistuh! (Can you believe that they were literally handcuffed, jailed and I even heard of instances in the States of Suffragettes being 'tortured' UGH!)

I like this pic, and I'll let you read the explanation - "The Burghers of Calais (Les Bourgeois de Calais) is one of the most famous sculptures by Auguste Rodin, completed in 1888. It serves as a monument to an occurrence in 1347 during the Hundred Years' War, when Calais, an important French port on the English Channel, was under siege by the English for over a year.
The story goes that England's Edward III, after a victory in the Battle of Crécy, laid siege to Calais and Philip VI of France ordered the city to hold out at all costs. Philip failed to lift the siege and starvation eventually forced the city to parley for surrender. Edward offered to spare the people of the city if any six of its top leaders would surrender themselves to him, presumably to be executed. Edward demanded that they walk out almost naked and wearing nooses around their necks and be carrying the keys to the city and castle. One of the wealthiest of the town leaders, Eustache de Saint Pierre, volunteered first and five other burghers soon followed suit and they stripped down to their breeches. Saint Pierre led this envoy of emaciated volunteers to the city gates and it is this moment and this poignant mix of defeat, heroic self-sacrifice and the facing of imminent death that Rodin captures in these figures, which are scaled somewhat larger than life.
In history, though the burghers expected to be executed, their lives were spared by the intervention of England's Queen, Philippa of Hainault, who persuaded her husband by saying it would be a bad omen for her unborn child."

'Meow...' Just some deco from the walls of Westminster Palace aka Parliament....

And to end, I just thought this was a cute picture, all the school kids eating their lunch below a statue of George V (Elizabeth II's grandfather)...

London School Trip in January - The Thea-tuh and the Mob'

I was in London-town for a University workshop and a historical conference (I had to present! AHH! :)

So, when the 'work day' was done, i.e. around 6pm, I would head off to the Thea-tuh. As I've explained in past posts, since I have a student status right now I am trying to see all the shows I can while I can still get the student discount.

Here I am with my 'Buddy Holly' glasses. Yes, there is a Buddy Holly musical (I didn't know that) and it was 'fun' and overall 'ok'.

(I am already planning on giving my 'musicals review' in a future blog, so plan on it)

Then I went to 'Sunset Boulevard'. I didn't appreciate the language and the play at times...nah yah...anyway, a positive point was that it makes me want to watch Billy Wilder movie it's based on.

(Of course my only 'connection' to this show/movie is Carol Burnett, 'I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille...' Heelarious!)

Then I decided to go see something that I was sure wouldn't be 'bad' ;) Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap'. It has been running for 57 years! Craziness!!

During the intermission I decided to go outside and finish my Subway sandwich I had bought earlier, only to be met by...

'FREE PALESTINE!' people, chanting, wearing facemasks and yeah...not looking too peaceful (I am such a moth 'drawn to the flame' - ooh...this looks interesting! Ouch! ;)

Speaking of Subway sandwiches, this is what some of the demonstrators did to a Subway store window...

Then came the coppers - they all marched like Storm Troops out of 'Star Wars', it was 'strange'....

I went back to the show and was sworn to secrecy by the cast as to who done it, so I guess you'll just have to go see it.

Here is a little tally....seriously!

23 THOUSAND performances?!!

And then outside the theater is one of those historical plaques you find all over Europe...

Funny Quote from my Email Account

Funny Quote of the Day - Henny Youngman



"If at first you don't succeed... so much for skydiving."

Oh come on, admit it! You laughed! ;)

Just in case you didnt' know...

So my sister and sister in lawr sent me this graph and I thought it was funny. If you were around when this song was a 'hit' I dare you to try and stop the song from playing in your head! ;)



*If this graph is copyrighted, please do not sue me - I didn't know! ;)

Star-crossed lovers... ;)

A friend of mine found this story and I just thought it was so cute/scary (if you're a parent)! I just love how kids think 'why not? This is what we want?' No rules, no thinking 'no, I can't, cuz of this and that...' Kids are great!

German lovers – aged six and five – try to elope to Africa
Mika and his girlfriend Anna-Bell found on way to airport with lilo, swimming trunks and a witness for the wedding in tow
Kate Connolly in Berlin
guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 January 2009 17.40 GMT
Article history

Anna-Bell, Anna-Lena and Mika at the police post at the main railway station in Hanover, central Germany, after being caught heading for the airport so Anna-Bell and Mika could 'get married in Africa'. Photograph: /AFP/Getty Images
It is a dream that has been shared by lovers across the centuries – the chance to elope to exotic lands. But few would have been as bold and spontaneous as six-year-old Mika and his five-year-old sweetheart Anna-Bell who, after mulling over their options in secret, packed their suitcases on New Year's Eve and set off from the German city of Hanover to tie the knot under the heat of the African sun.
The children left their homes at dawn while their unwitting parents were apparently sleeping, and took along Mika's seven-year-old sister, Anna-Lena, as a witness to the wedding.
Donning sunglasses, swimming armbands and dragging a pink blow-up lilo and suitcases on wheels packed with summer clothes, cuddly toys and a few provisions, they walked a kilometre up the road, boarded a tram to Hanover train station and got as far as the express train that would take them to the airport before a suspicious station guard alerted police.
"What struck us was that the little ones were completely on their own and that they had lots of swimming gear with them," said Holger Jureczko, a police spokesman. He described Mika and Anna-Bell as "sweethearts" who had "decided to get married in Africa where it is warm, taking with them as a witness Mika's sister".
Anna-Bell told the German television station RTL: "We wanted to get married and so we just thought: 'Let's go there.' "
Mika said: "We wanted to take the train to the airport, then we wanted to get on a plane and when we arrived we wanted to unpack the summer things and then we wanted to go for a bit of a stroll in the sun."
Mika and Anna-Lena's mother, who was not identified, said she had known nothing of her children's plan. "I'm still in a state of shock. I thought 'I'm playing a part in a bad movie.' When we realised the kids were missing we went looking for them." But only when the police called did they realise what had happened.
Asked why they failed to let their parents know, the children said they thought they would not be gone for long.
Mika told police he instigated the plan having been inspired by a winter holiday with his family in Italy. "Based on this the children began to make plans for the future," Jureczko said.
To allay their disappointment at being caught, Hanover police gave them a tour of the police headquarters. Jureczko said: "They'll have the chance to put their plan into action at a later date".

New Year's in Berliner-land...

So this was not taken New Year's Eve, however, I just felt it a good 'ciao 2008!' kind of a photo.

'So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen'...actually, we won't see you again 2008 and seeing as how I lost millions in my hedge funds, GOOD RIDDANCE!! ;)

So my friend Patrick and his wife Katie took me up to Teufelsberg (Devil's Hill - made from WWII ruins) to watch the fireworks over Berlin.

Here is the requisite 'Mormon' champagne, i.e. Martinelli's ;)

Here is an 'indexed' photo of a video I took of the fireworks.

It was nice and pretty for a while, but there were SO many people lighting off their own fireworks = LOTS OF SMOKE! We couldn't even really see the city down below :(

It's funny (it seems like this should fit into a Sunday talk or something ;) it was so dark that you didn't really know that the air was this BAD! I took a picture and was like 'Patrick, Katie, you don't want to see what we're breathing in right now!' ;)

We went to the top of my dorm and looked out over my Theodor Heuss Platz - the hoodlums were out, blowing up everything in sight! The smoke is...it really was that smokey! It'll be interesting to see how many people 20 years from now die of lung cancer :(

We then had hot chocolate and 'Pfannkuchen', i.e. Jelly Doughnuts, i.e. 'Berliners' as everyone else EXCEPT people from Berlin call them ;)

I'm putting this in as a 'Momma pic to know that I am alive and well' - thanks Katie.

The 'warfare' outside died down and Patrick and Katie went home.

I awoke to snow!

Happy New Year everybody! Even with all the junk going on in the world (banks, Israel (what else is new?), etc.) hopefully we can all feel the peace in our hearts that we've been promised in these trying times.

Take care and Happy 2009!