Crabs and Beer!

This day in 1631, saw the death of Mumtaz Mahal (lit. ’The Exalted One of the Palace’), empress of the Mughal Empire and the chief consort of the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan. She was the daughter of Abu’l-Hasan Asaf Khan, a wealthy noble who held high office in the Mughal Empire.

Although betrothed to Shah Jahan since 1607, she ultimately became his second wife in 1612. Mumtaz and her husband had 14 children. After their wedding celebrations, Shah Jahan, “finding her in appearance and character elect among all the women of the time”, gave her the title Mumtaz Mahal. During the intervening years between their betrothal and marriage, Shah Jahan had married his first wife, Princess Kandahari Begum in 1610 and in 1617, after marrying Mumtaz, took a third wife, Izz-un-Nissa Begum. By all accounts, Shah Jahan was so taken with Mumtaz that he showed little interest in exercising his polygamous rights with his two other wives, other than dutifully siring a child with each.

Mumtaz had a loving marriage with Shah Jahan. Even during her lifetime, poets would extol her beauty, grace, and compassion. Shah Jahan consulted Mumtaz in both private matters and the affairs of the state, and she served as his close confidant and trusted adviser and because of this, she had enormous political power.

Mumtaz Mahal died from postpartum hemorrhage while giving birth to her 14th child. In the immediate aftermath of his bereavement, the emperor was reportedly inconsolable. Apparently, after her death, he went into secluded mourning for a year. When he appeared again, his hair had turned white, his back was bent, and his face worn.

The Taj Mahal was commissioned by Shah Jahan to be built as a mausoleum for Mumtaz Mahal. It is seen as an embodiment of undying love and marital devotion. English poet Sir Edwin Arnold describes it as “Not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passion of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones.”

the Taj Mahal is the final resting place of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan.

---

Today is the birthday, in 1947, of American singer and keyboardist Gregg Rolie who has been a member of Santana and Journey. He joined Carlos Santana and others to form the Santana Blues Band in 1965. As a co-founding member of Santana, Rolie was part of the band’s first wave of success, including an appearance at Woodstock in 1969 and central roles in several hit albums. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPauXWjY4T8

Today is, of course, Bloomsday, the annual commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce. The day is named after Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of Joyce’s 1922 novel Ulysses, the events of which take place on Thursday, 16 June 1904. Joyce chose to set his novel on this date as it was the date of his first sexual encounter with his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle.

There are a variety of celebrations around the world, many involving readings of parts of Ulysses and often involving drinking. The Georgetown Neighborhood Library, located at 3260 R Street, NW, in Washington, D.C. held a marathon dramatic reading of Ulysses beginning 9 June and concluding on 16 June 2014 (Bloomsday). Twenty-five writers, actors, and scholars read Ulysses aloud in its entirety, a project which took more than 33 hours. The reading concluded with opera singer Laura Baxter performing Molly Bloom’s soliloquy in its entirety, a feat taking 2+1⁄2 hours by itself. The Irish Times, on Capitol Hill used to have readings of the book on Bloomsday.

New York has several events on Bloomsday including formal readings at Symphony Space and informal readings and music at the downtown Ulysses’ Folk House pub. The Irish American Bar Association of New York celebrates Joyce’s contribution to the First Amendment, with an annual keynote speech named after John Quinn, the Irish-American lawyer who defended Joyce’s New York publishers in their obscenity trial in 1922. In 2014, New York celebrated Bloomsday with “Bloomsday on Broadway,” which includes famous actors reading excerpts of the books, and commentators explaining the work between segments. The 2016 celebration includes a juried competition for the Best Dressed Molly and Leopold Bloom, selected from among attendees by a blue-ribbon panel including image strategist Margaret Molloy several design figures.

Since 1994, the Bloomsday Festival has been celebrated in Dublin. The Bloomsday Festival is one-week long and is scheduled on the week of June 16th. The festival involves a range of cultural activities, including Ulysses readings and dramatisations, pub crawls and other events. Enthusiasts often dress in Edwardian costume to celebrate Bloomsday, and retrace Bloom’s route around Dublin via landmarks such as Davy Byrne’s pub. Hard-core devotees have even been known to hold marathon readings of the entire novel, some lasting up to 36 hours. The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre on behalf of the city of Dublin.

Bloomsday performers outside Davy Byrne’s pub, Dublin, Bloomsday 2003

---

Luxury travel…

Today is the birthday, in 1958, of Patrick Waite, Musical Youth, best remembered for their successful 1982 single ‘Pass the Dutchie’, which became a No.1 hit around the world. It was a cover version of two songs: ‘Gimme the Music’ by U Brown, and ‘Pass the Kouchie’ by Mighty Diamonds, which deals with the recreational use of cannabis (kouchie being slang for a cannabis pipe). Waite died on 13th February 1993. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsyUa63NM1E

On this day in the year 1215, King John put his seal on the Magna Carta at Runnymede (near Windsor). First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Stephen Langton, to make peace between the unpopular king and a group of rebel barons who demanded that the King confirm the Charter of Liberties, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift and impartial justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons.

After John’s death, the regency government of his young son, Henry III, reissued the document in 1216, stripped of some of its more radical content, in an unsuccessful bid to build political support for their cause. At the end of the war in 1217, it formed part of the peace treaty agreed at Lambeth, where the document acquired the name “Magna Carta”, to distinguish it from the smaller Charter of the Forest, which was issued at the same time. Short of funds, Henry reissued the charter again in 1225 in exchange for a grant of new taxes. His son, Edward I, repeated the exercise in 1297, this time confirming it as part of England’s statute law.

It influenced the early American colonists in the Thirteen Colonies and the formation of the United States Constitution, which became the supreme law of the land in the new republic of the United States.

King John on a stag hunt

---

Toddler in chief plays with his toys…

Poppin Fresh! Straight out of the oven!!

…not included…

Today is the birthday, in 1843, of Edvard Grieg, a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions brought the music of Norway to fame, as well as helping to develop a national identity, much as Jean Sibelius did in Finland and Bedřich Smetana in Bohemia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lKo6TYDXCQ

Today is the birthday, in 1856, of John Singer Sargent, an American expatriate artist, considered the “leading portrait painter of his generation” for his evocations of Belle Époque and Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings.

Born in Florence to American parents, he was trained there and in Paris before moving to London, living most of his life in Europe. He enjoyed international acclaim as a portrait painter. From the beginning, Sargent’s work is characterized by remarkable technical facility, particularly in his ability to draw with a brush, which in later years inspired admiration as well as criticism for its supposed superficiality. His commissioned works were consistent with the grand manner of portraiture, while his informal studies and landscape paintings displayed a familiarity with Impressionism.

Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, 1893

---

LIFE WITH CATS

---

Yesterday was the birthday, in 1864, of Richard Strauss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szdziw4tI9o

On this day in 1963, In a symbolic attempt to keep his inaugural promise of “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” and stop the desegregation of schools, George Wallace, the governor of Alabama, stood at the door of the auditorium as if to block the way of the two African American students attempting to enter.

In response, Democratic President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 11111, which federalized the Alabama National Guard, and Guard General Henry V. Graham then commanded Wallace to step aside. Wallace spoke further, but eventually moved, and the two students were allowed to register.

The 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education meant that the University of Alabama had to be desegregated. In the years following, hundreds of African-Americans applied for admission, but with one brief exception, all were denied. The university worked with police to find any disqualifying qualities, or when this failed, intimidated the applicants. But, in 1963, three African-Americans—Vivian Malone Jones, Dave McGlathery and James Hood—applied. In early June federal district judge Seybourn H. Lynne ordered that they be admitted, and forbade Governor Wallace from interfering, but did not grant the request that Wallace be barred from the campus.

On June 11, Malone and Hood pre-registered in the morning at the Birmingham courthouse. They selected their courses and filled out all their forms there. They arrived at Foster Auditorium to have their course loads reviewed by advisors and pay their fees. dministration officials also concluded the best optics would be to present the matter as a conflict between state and federal authority, not a racial confrontation between the white governor and the black students.

Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach told Wallace to step aside. However, Wallace interrupted Katzenbach and gave a speech on states’ rights. Katzenbach called President John F. Kennedy who then issued Executive Order 11111, which had already been prepared, authorizing the federalization of the Alabama National Guard under the Insurrection Act of 1807. Four hours later, Guard General Henry Graham commanded Wallace to step aside, saying, “Sir, it is my sad duty to ask you to step aside under the orders of the President of the United States.” Wallace then spoke further, but eventually moved, and Malone and Hood completed their registration.

---

Today is the birthday, in 1949, of Frank Beard, American drummer with ZZ Top, who had the 1984 US No.8 & 1985 UK No.16 single ‘Legs’. Beard is notable as being the only musician in the band without a long beard, an ironic fact considering his last name. The band has had global album sales in excess of 50 million as of 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae829mFAGGE