Tag: USA

Mademoiselle Liberté

Published on by Glorialana1 Comment

Hello God!

Thank You for Your Inspiration for Auguste Bartholdi to create the statue “Liberty Enlightening the World” best known as The Statue of Liberty.

A lot of her beautiful daughters, a replicas of the Statue, enlighten the World. Today I am happy to introduce you with the youngest French one, Mademoiselle Liberté. She is the quarter-scale replica of the Statue of Liberty which was installed in 2004 to commemorate the centennial of the passing of Auguste Bartholdi in the northern entrance in Colmar, Alsace, France, the hometown of the sculptor.colmar.jpg

Walking in Colmar, enjoying French air and French coffee, singing French songs, Mademoiselle Liberté has told me a story of creation of her grandmother Madame Liberté, the statue “Liberty Enlightening the World”.

As any masterpiece The Statue of Bartholdi was born with her unique Destiny. Two blissful kisses from Universe blessed her.

liberte.jpg

The first kiss had gifted the East guiding star to the creator.

Auguste Bartholdi, when he was 21 y.o. and still finding his Way traveled in Yemen and Egypt with his friend painter Jean-Léon Gérôme. This eight-month trip was life changing and young Bartholdi had found his Way with the promising guiding Star – power and inspiration in monumental art of Ancient Egypt and colossal sculpture.

At this very time, when The Statue was born on the paper, by the law of Universe synchronicity,  French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps was gripped by a project of pharaonic proportions: the future construction of the Suez Canal. With support from Ferdinand de Lesseps, Bartholdi offered his creation to the Egypytian authorities in 1869, but to no avail.

We all are lucky that Suez Canal was not destined place for Madame Liberté. She had dreams about the United States.

Copy of Statue.jpg

The second kiss was the happy event in 1865.

In a luxurious Parisian restaurant with excellent food and wine from Chateau Margaux  monsieur Edouard de Laboulaye with his liberal friends including Auguste Bartholdi  had enjoyed the dinner. Monsieur de Laboulaye was great admirer of the United States. With cheerful toasts and happy wishes the idea was raised of making a gift from France to celebrate the centenary of American independence which was coming up in 1876!

Bartholdi won over the other participants with a plan for a monumental statue symbolising the freedom. As soon as he arrived in New York harbour, he noticed Bedloe’s Island and was immediately sure that he had found the perfect spot for his statue.

The dream of Madame Liberté had come true. She was going to live in the United States!

Built in Paris and packed into over 200 carefully identified crates Madame Liberté left Rouen on 21 May 1885 on board the frigate Isère.

HighFive.jpg

We are all have our unique Destiny and we are all blissfully kissed by Universe. I am so grateful for this very moment sharing Mademoiselle Liberté’s story of her American grandmother Madame Liberté.

Thank you for your eyes, your happy smile, your happy voice singing French song. You are my Inspiration.

Happy Sunday!

 

Mademoiselle Butterfat

Published on by Glorialana3 Comments

Hello God!

Thank You for the butter I am generously spreading on my bread.  I have a breakfast.

The piece of bread is of course gluten free. And butter… oh, I know about cholesterol which is potentially bad for my health. But I love butter. It smells fantastically and it looks as divine honey. What’s the pleasure and the gift I have at this morning!

Inspiring by butter and cream in my coffee I enjoy creating my opera “Mademoiselle Butterfat”.

Selfi Cow.jpg

My dear friend, her name is Ollie Joy, is a beautiful and gentle cow.

She loves traveling and this is her last selfie

She took in Amsterdam.

I met her in Ventspils, Latvia, we introduced on the Parade of Cows.

Touring Cow.jpg

Ollie enjoys a new places and

Has a dream to visit all countries

She watches about at Discovery channel.

FLying with seagulls.jpg

Ollie was named by her famous grandmother –Elm Farm Ollie,

Grandmother adventures are around the airplane flight

She took on Feb. 18, 1930, to the International Aircraft Exposition at St. Louis.

Sailor cow.jpg

Because she was such an unusually productive dairy cow —

And required three daily milkings —

She was put to work in-flight.

As the story goes, she ate her usual feed and produced 24 quarts of milk!

Sailor Beauty.jpg

She inspired to create lyric opera, “Madame “Butterfat”.

It tells the tale of one Farmer Brown, whose farm was about to go under.

A couple of salesmen offered him money for Elm Farm Ollie

So that they could fly her in a plane and milk her.Glamour Cow.jpg

Farmer Brown loved the cow but had no choice; he sold her.

The men planned to sell the milk with big price and have a lot of money,

but Ollie said that if the men didn’t give the milk to the needy,

“I’ll make the biggest cow pie that you have ever seen

So follow well my orders or I will be obscene.”

Sensibly, they complied.

Ha-ha-ha! What’s the girl!

Happy Cow.jpg

Two girls are talking on the bench.

I love the story of her grandmother –

“Sing we praises of that moo cow,

Airborne once and ever more,

Kindness, courage, butter, cream cheese,

These fine things we can’t ignore.”

We are singing “Bovine Cantata in B flat,”

Please enjoy the opera and love your breakfast creating your own masterpiece, singing and laughing about everything you see! As I love my “Mademoiselle Butterfat”.

Have a beautiful day!

 

 

Denim World

Published on by Glorialana8 Comments

Hello God!

Thank You for my jeans. I really love its and can not imagine my life without a pair of blue jeans. Today is a significant day for blue jeans. On May 20, 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received the first patent for blue jeans. 

Michael Tompsett created a denim maps – we live in Denim World.

united-states-of-denim

I am reading in “Time”: “The world is blue-jean country now,” LIFE proclaimed in its Nov. 24, 1972, issue. At that time, blue jeans were closing in on their 100th birthday, or at least the anniversary of the official patent Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis were granted on May 20, 1873, for copper-riveted jeans. The sturdy cotton trousers had not only become synonymous with American fashion, but they were also a hot second-hand commodity overseas, as Europeans sought to embody what LIFE called “the aura of Wild Western authenticity.”

denim-world-map

When LIFE revisited Davis and Strauss’ invention in the early 1970s, the U.S. was producing 450 million yards of denim annually and American jeans were selling on the Russian black market for $90. LIFE described this “denim takeover” as follows: “The jeans that once encased the scrawny rumps of cowboys and gold miners of the American West have become the standard garb of the world’s youth. They’re the favorite off-duty clothes of fashion models from L.A. to St. Tropez. By buying up bales of fashionably used ones, Britain and the Continent have made millionaire exporters of U.S. ragmen.”

GreatWall_Denim

The biggest irony in blue jeans’ emergence as a worldwide sartorial phenomenon was how far they had come from their original purpose as the laborer’s uniform. “The idea that he might one day be hailed as a world fashion leader,” LIFE wrote, “would surely have given old Levi Strauss a laugh.”

Thank you for wearing a pair of your favorite blue jeans. We are together in our Denim World.

King Sings

Published on by Glorialana18 Comments

Hello God!

Thank You for the 29th of August. Today is Great, today is the Birthday of Michael Jackson!

He is special for me. I remember his first concert in Moscow in 1993. Who says that USSR is totalitarian if Michael Jackson is walking there?

MichaelJacksonin Moscow

Oh, more than that he is marching and conducting the orchestra of the Soviet Union Army in the uniform!

He is missing the press conference devoted to his visit and goes to Moscow’s orphanage with presents for children.

MichaelHeart

“I’m Starting With The Man In
The Mirror
I’m Asking Him To Change
His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change”

King is singing. He has a lot of faces. I do hope that my face is his too because I believe I can make a change. Kadir Nelson‘s painting can help find your own face.

Michael Jackson

We all are responsible for making a change. Happy Birthday, Michael!

You know writing this post was a very emotional. My eyes were fulfilled by tears when I watched the video and I was smiling to see my own eyes in the mirror.

Thank you for a change we are making together now.

Summer Achievement

Published on by Glorialana12 Comments

Hello God!

Thank You for Summer. The days are warm and sunny, our mood is happy and we are cycling along beautiful meadow breathing by honey air. This summer my daughter has learned to cycle on two-wheeled bicycle. It is important achievement for our whole family. We will cycle together in the city of my dream San Francisco!

Cycle

I am happy to share here a beautiful posters by Ian Huebert. “The Golden Spoke” documents city life from the bicyclist’s perspective.

CycleSF

I love the posters. It seems San Francisco loves his cyclists.

CycleFog

 

We are going to visit my mother tonight and I will stay with my daughter there for weekend. We will train our cycling skills and enjoy the last, oh really, the end of summer is near the door, sunny days.

For this weekend I wish you to Enjoy Summer days, Eat a Watermelon and Cycle! I will do the same, I promise.

Have a sweet and cycling weekend!

Angel Samantha

Published on by Glorialana12 Comments

Hello God!

Thank You for today. I am happy to share with you a story about my first American friend. Remembering my Soviet school years is impossible about this story.

As you know my school years (1981 – 1991) were the years of the Cold war between USA and USSR.

If we wish to create a lasting peace, if we want to fight a war against war, we must begin with the children. Mahatma Gandhi’s words mirrors the ambivalent situation Soviet children were in. From the one side we knew about USA as the worst enemy, from the other side we all had had an American friend we adored by whole heart. We loved Samantha Smith.

Time

When Yuri Andropov succeeded Leonid Brezhnev as leader of the Soviet Union in November 1982, the mainstream Western newspapers and magazines ran numerous front-page photographs and negative articles about him. When Samantha Smith viewed the edition of Time magazine, she asked her mother, “If people are so afraid of him, why doesn’t someone write a letter asking whether he wants to have a war or not?”. Her mother replied, “Why don’t you?”

Dear Mr. Andropov,
My name is Samantha Smith. I am ten years old. Congratulations on your new job. I have been worrying about Russia and the United States getting into a nuclear war. Are you going to vote to have a war or not? If you aren’t please tell me how you are going to help to not have a war. This question you do not have to answer, but I would like to know why you want to conquer the world or at least our country. God made the world for us to live together in peace and not to fight.
Sincerely,
Samantha Smith

mynameis

On July 7, 1983, she flew to Moscow with her parents, and spent two weeks as Andropov’s guest. From today’s my point of view I think her visit were unimaginably influential for every Soviet child because she was from a different planet. You see on the cartoon that it seems the Soviet Union was even from different biological spice.

Samantha Smith Arrives In Russia

She is Angel. She had changed our Destiny forever. Because of her the doubts were born. “Why are USA our worst enemy? Samantha in from USA and she is a friend” we were thinking learning English intensively. “Why intensively?” you can ask. The Soviet Ministry of Education created a special linguistic school where foreign language was compulsory from the first grade (6-7 y.o.) after Samantha’s visit.

We were grateful for her gift to open our eyes. America was not our enemy.

USSRstampS.Smith

She died on August 25, 1985. Could you imagine the mourning day devoted to Samantha at the 1st September, 1985, in every Soviet school, in the official Knowledge Day?! We were crying and writing a letter of condolence to Samantha’s mother by whole class. I remember that moment, even now I am writing with tears in my eyes.

In 1985 the Soviet Post  issued a commemorative stamp with her likeness. In 1986, when Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh discovered asteroid 3147, she named it 3147 Samantha. It was the precedent.

The wind of Her angel’s wings has begun creating a new melody of our ways… We all are connected, the butterfly effect works.

Thank you for your being in my life. We are influencing on each other and from this very point we are going to be happier and kinder than we were a moment ago. I am grateful for you change my Way.

Happy Clearness

Published on by Glorialana3 Comments

Hello God!

Thank You for my happy Soviet school years. Perhaps you can catch some satirical notes in my statement, but I am serious I am happy to be educated in the USSR.

My school years cover the period from blooming to crashing the USSR (1981 – 1991). The same period defines the Cold War where USSR and USA were main enemies. My dear friend Sindy from USA has written in comment that she remembers from her childhood: “We were all raised with the threat of nuclear war.”

We were raised with the certain confidence we are the Peace (Makers and Givers) Angels . Of course the word “angel” was forbidden in the USSR due to there were no place for religions. What’s the advantage, I can afford to use the word in describing the Communist’s country now!

Simple

I have met in a different opinions of clever people such as philosophers, sociologists, historians, that Soviet education was extremely politicized. I partly agree, because everything which is “extremely” too black or white.

Black and white was a comfortable conception Soviet propaganda used with great success. We, children, clearly understood who winner was. Additional politicizing was not necessary.

Simply

Myth and Reality

The educational standards were high, even higher than in the modern ex-USSR countries. We were busy reading “War and Peace” by Tolstoy, by the way in the whole volume, and playing the favorite Lenin’s sonata “Appassionata” by Beethoven in musical school.

Did you know that foreign language was compulsory for learning from the 4th grade in Soviet school? German and English were popular due to historical reasons. Italian and French were for future artists and musicians.

Simple3

Be vigilant, people!

You see the posters from my school. We, Soviet children, had no chance to be frightened by our worst enemy USA. We were protected and happy because of this clearness of understanding.

You know to protect citizens is the main aim of every governments. What do we observe today?

Thank you for sharing this moment with me. I am happy to think with you.

Dangerous Dance

Published on by Glorialana2 Comments

Hello God!

Thank You for this possibility to share a funny picture I have just found. I am feeling your smiles and our vibrations are able to brighten the whole Universe now. We do not waste our lives!

The caricature is from satirical Soviet magazine “Krokodil”. It seems people in the USSR loved to laugh on imperialistic trends and fashion.

rock-n-roll

Imitators

We’ll not argue with Darwin

His teaching is without blemish.

He is right:

In the past, people

Evolved from orangutans.

The century progressed

But rock and roll displaced all plans

And in this dance

Human

Is not distinguished from orangutans.

Thank you for your happiness and Good Night! I am going to smile in my dreams because of You.

Blue Joy Jeans

Published on by Glorialana7 Comments

Hello God!

Thank You for my jeans and Your Inspiration to Levi Strauss for creating its. I can not imagine my wardrobe without jeans. You will be surprised but I had bought my first pair of Levis jeans in Prague in the late 90s!!! I was 26 y.o. and I had been abroad at the first time.

JoyJeans

The Serpent Tempter

As you know I was born in USSR and it is odd why simple working robe was forbidden there. Dior and YSL were approved by the Communist Party but jeans were not. I have read that even father of all Soviet Communists Vladimir Lenin (Ulyanov) wore a jeans by Levi Strauss.

JoyJeans1

Mercury is the God of commerce

– If he is God why he could not reach a pair of jeans for himself!

A pair of simple cotton pants were frowned upon by Soviet officials as symbols of decadence and western imperialism, American symbol of freedom! USA were evil and enemy and a blue jeans were a hot item on the black market. A month’s wages (!!!) of average builder of Communism was the price for one pair.

Jeans

– Poor souls all the pants were sat out at job!

In Soviet Union jeans represented a status symbol.JeansCowboy

 – And where you tore off  such a gorgeous patch?!

In every satirical magazines a caricatures about jeans lovers were published. I remember how I with my younger sister were laughing and painting funny additional details to the pic’s heroes.

Helper

 – Oh, my helper is working…

I am happy to share with you my smile and nostalgic memories about my first pair of Levis jeans.

Thank you for your company. I am sure you are in your old blue jeans now. So am I.

My Dolls

Published on by Glorialana18 Comments

Hello God!

Thank You for a friendship we are inspired by. My today’s post was born because of my new friend Sindy. Her blog is fascinating. She asked me whether my Soviet childhood was different from her American one. My childhood was sweet, I even create a poem inspiring by my happy memories. To feel the differences it will be nice to hear your opinion.

I suppose all children with loving father and mother are happy on the both side of our planet. Childhood is the pink period when American democracy or Soviet totalitarianism mean nothing. My Soviet childhood is from 80s. The Soviet Union was blooming in building Communism and my parents were a happy helpers working at the factory. My education was partly a responsibility of the Soviet Union. Kindergarden was for children from 1 y.o. Mother should go to work. All Soviet people should work, as you know, unemployment was solved by the law of Communist Party.

The future builders of Communism should be a harmoniously developed person. By the way I like this idea. Every child studied and learned to play a musical instruments and sports for free. Every child knew the ballet “Swan Lake” by Peter Tchaikovsky and the 2nd Concerto for the piano with orchestra by Sergey Rachmaninov. This classic pieces were main in the TV program when funeral of General Secretary of the Communist Party was in the day. I remember the funerals of Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko. It was funny but child’s playing with a toys with a sounds of a classical masterpiece solved important educational task how to teach to love classical music.

You see a photos of a dolls from USSR soviet children played with. We did not know who Barbie was at all.

We were happy because we knew nothing about Afghanistan, the Cold War, Berlin Wall. We will know the sad truth later…

MyDolls

My dolls house is a pretty home
Where spirit of childhood lives,
Happy spirit of memories
Lullabies and warm milk.

DollDoll1

My dolls ballerinas dance
“Swan Lake” on my soul scene
Theatre Orchestra is perfect for
Harmony opens the skies.

My dolls play the harp and the violin softly at night,
Angelic fingers nimbly moving in the moonlight.

SchoolUniform

My dolls always act for me.
Supporting my happiness and
Keeping the spirit of music
I listen inside my dreams.

PioneerBelGirl

My dolls have a radiant faces,
Reflecting my soul in their eyes.
Childhood is sweetness
Childhood is light…

DollGardener

My dolls garden where
Roses are blooming,
Beautiful gardener protects
The thoughts floating in my head.

Dollove

My dolls house is a pretty home
Full by endless love for me.

Please do not believe in the Soviet evil and Communist demons. There are no black and white colors here. We all are just the Earth people.

Thank you for the peace in your soul we have just created.

Have a peaceful weekend!