Tuesday 31 August 2021

ANDORRA, ELECTIONS WITH UNIVERSAL MALE SUFFRAGE

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Andorra, her country. This little part of Europe has an incredible an amazing history, and The Grandma wants to talk about the Parliamentary elections that were held in Andorra on a day like today in 1933, a very important and confused moment in the history of this little but extraordinary country.

Parliamentary elections were held in Andorra on 31 August 1933, the first held under universal male suffrage.

The extension of the franchise to all men over 21 followed social unrest referred to as the Andorran Revolution. As political parties were not legalized until 1993, all candidates ran as independents.

The elections, called by the co-princes, took place amid the occupation of the country by French gendarmes. The police had arrived after the General Council approved universal male suffrage -until then only the heads of household could vote- forced by the occupation of the Casa de la Vall on 5 April by the Young Andorrans.

The Tribunal de Corts subsequently dismissed the General Council elected in 1932. Faced with the Council's resistance to dissolution, however, the co-princes sent a contingent of gendarmes to Andorra on 19 August and ordered the elections to be held on 31 August.

The interpretation of the results is complicated because there were no formal political parties, instead councillors were linked to groups that could vary in opinion.

The day after the elections, the press reported 14 seats had been won by the Integral Nationalist Group (GNI), conservative supporters of the co-princes; five seats had been won by the Andorran Union (UA), supporters of the deposed General Council, and four had been won by socialists. However, an undated document from the Permanent Delegation French also registered a majority of anti-episcopal councillors unfavourable to the co-princes.

More information: Andorra Revolution, 'Young Andorran' Uprising

The vote is the most powerful non-violent tool we have.

John Lewis

Monday 30 August 2021

TROPICAL CYCLONES, NATURE BECOMES UNSTOPPABLE

Today, The Grandma has been received the wonderful visit of one of her closest friends, Joseph de Ca'th Lon.

Joseph loves Science, and they have been talking about Ida, the tropical cyclone that has devastated some cities and towns in the United States.

A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure centre, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and/or squalls.

Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by different names, including hurricane, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, or simply cyclone.

A hurricane is a tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, and a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean; in the south Pacific or Indian Ocean, comparable storms are referred to simply as tropical cyclones or severe cyclonic storms.

Tropical refers to the geographical origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively over tropical seas.

Cyclone refers to their winds moving in a circle, whirling round their central clear eye, with their winds blowing counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. The opposite direction of circulation is due to the Coriolis effect.

Tropical cyclones typically form over large bodies of relatively warm water. They derive their energy through the evaporation of water from the ocean surface, which ultimately recondenses into clouds and rain when moist air rises and cools to saturation. This energy source differs from that of mid-latitude cyclonic storms, such as North Easters and European wind storms, which are fuelled primarily by horizontal temperature contrasts.

Tropical cyclones are typically between 100 and 2,000 km in diameter. Every year tropical cyclones impact various regions of the globe including the Gulf Coast of North America, Australia, India and Bangladesh.

 More information: National Hurricane Center

The strong rotating winds of a tropical cyclone are a result of the conservation of angular momentum imparted by the Earth's rotation as air flows inwards toward the axis of rotation. As a result, they rarely form within 5° of the equator. 

Tropical cyclones are almost unknown in the South Atlantic due to a consistently strong wind shear and a weak Intertropical Convergence Zone. Conversely, the African easterly jet and areas of atmospheric instability give rise to cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, while cyclones near Australia owe their genesis to the Asian monsoon and Western Pacific Warm Pool.

The primary energy source for these storms is warm ocean waters. These storms are therefore typically strongest when over or near water, and weaken quite rapidly over land. This causes coastal regions to be particularly vulnerable to tropical cyclones, compared to inland regions. Coastal damage may be caused by strong winds and rain, high waves (due to winds), storm surges (due to wind and severe pressure changes), and the potential of spawning tornadoes.

Tropical cyclones draw in air from a large area and concentrate the water content of that air, from atmospheric moisture and moisture evaporated from water, into precipitation over a much smaller area. This replenishing of moisture-bearing air after rain may cause multi-hour or multi-day extremely heavy rain up to 40 kilometres from the coastline, far beyond the amount of water that the local atmosphere holds at any one time. This in turn can lead to river flooding, overland flooding, and a general overwhelming of local water control structures across a large area. 

Although their effects on human populations can be devastating, tropical cyclones may play a role in relieving drought conditions, though this claim is disputed. They also carry heat and energy away from the tropics and transport it towards temperate latitudes, which plays an important role in regulating global climate.

A tropical cyclone is the generic term for a warm-cored, non-frontal synoptic-scale low-pressure system over tropical or subtropical waters around the world.

The systems generally have a well-defined centre, which is surrounded by deep atmospheric convection and a closed wind circulation at the surface.

Historically, tropical cyclones have occurred around the world for thousands of years, with one of the earliest tropical cyclones on record estimated to have occurred in Western Australia in around 6000 BC. However, before satellite imagery became available during the 20th century, many of these systems went undetected unless it impacted land or a ship encountered it by chance.

These days, on average around 80 to 90 named tropical cyclones form each year around the world, over half of which develop hurricane-force winds of 120 km/h or more. 

Around the world, a tropical cyclone is generally deemed to have formed, once mean surface winds in excess of 65 km/h are observed. It is assumed at this stage that a tropical cyclone has become self-sustaining and can continue to intensify without any help from its environment.

Tropical cyclones on either side of the Equator generally have their origins in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, where winds blow from either the northeast or southeast. Within this broad area of low-pressure, air is heated over the warm tropical ocean and rises in discrete parcels, which causes thundery showers to form. These showers dissipate quite quickly, however, they can group together into large clusters of thunderstorms. This creates a flow of warm, moist, rapidly rising air, which starts to rotate cyclonically as it interacts with the rotation of the earth.

More information: National Weather Service

There are several factors required for these thunderstorms to develop further, including sea surface temperatures of around 27 °C and low vertical wind shear surrounding the system.

In addition to tropical cyclones, there are two other classes of cyclones within the spectrum of cyclone types. These kinds of cyclones, known as extratropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones, can be staged a tropical cyclone passes through during its formation or dissipation.

An extratropical cyclone is a storm that derives energy from horizontal temperature differences, which are typical in higher latitudes.

A tropical cyclone can become extratropical as it moves toward higher latitudes if its energy source changes from heat released by condensation to differences in temperature between air masses; although not as frequently, an extratropical cyclone can transform into a subtropical storm, and from there into a tropical cyclone.

From space, extratropical storms have a characteristic comma-shaped cloud pattern. Extratropical cyclones can also be dangerous when their low-pressure centres cause powerful winds and high seas.

A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of a tropical cyclone and some characteristics of an extratropical cyclone. They can form in a wideband of latitudes, from the equator to 50°. Although subtropical storms rarely have hurricane-force winds, they may become tropical in nature as their cores warm.

More information: BBC


Hurricane season brings a humbling reminder that,
despite our technologies,
most of the nature remains unpredictable.

Diane Ackerman

Sunday 29 August 2021

GENE WILDER, THE MAN WHO WANTED TO START A SMILE

Today, The Grandma is relaxing at home. She has decided to watch some films, and she has decided Gene Wilder's comedies, because she wanted to have fun with one of the best comedians of all time, who was died on a day like today in 2016.

Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933-August 29, 2016), known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American actor, writer, and filmmaker.

Wilder is known mainly for his comedic roles, and is remembered for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), his work with Mel Brooks on the films The Producers (1967), Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein (1974), and for his four films with Richard Pryor: Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Another You (1991).

Wilder began his career onboard, and made his screen debut in an episode of the TV series The Play of the Week in 1961. Although his first film role was portraying a hostage in the 1967 motion picture Bonnie and Clyde, Wilder's first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1967 film The Producers, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This was the first in a series of collaborations with writer/director Mel Brooks, including 1974's Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, which Wilder co-wrote, garnering the pair an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Wilder directed and wrote several of his own films, including The Woman in Red (1984). With his third wife, Gilda Radner, he starred in three films, the last two of which he also directed. Her 1989 death from ovarian cancer led to his active involvement in promoting cancer awareness and treatment, helping found the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center in Los Angeles and co-founding Gilda's Club.

After his last acting performance in 2003 -a guest role on Will & Grace for which he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor- Wilder turned his attention to writing. He produced a memoir in 2005, Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art; a collection of stories, What Is This Thing Called Love? (2010); and the novels My French Whore (2007), The Woman Who Wouldn't (2008), and Something to Remember You By (2013).

More information: NPR

Wilder was born Jerome Silberman on June 11, 1933, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Jeanne and William J. Silberman, a manufacturer and salesman of novelty items. His father was a Russian Jewish immigrant, as were his maternal grandparents.

Wilder first became interested in acting at age eight, when his mother was diagnosed with rheumatic fever and the doctor told him to try and make her laugh.

At the age of 11, he saw his sister, who was studying acting, performing onstage, and he was enthralled by the experience. He asked her teacher if he could become his student, and the teacher said that if he were still interested at age 13, he would take Wilder on as a student. The day after Wilder turned 13, he called the teacher, who accepted him; Wilder studied with him for two years.

Wilder was raised Jewish, but he held only the Golden Rule as his philosophy. In a book published in 2005, he stated, I have no other religion. I feel very Jewish and I feel very grateful to be Jewish. But I don't believe in God or anything to do with the Jewish religion.

Wilder studied Communication and Theatre Arts at the University of Iowa, where he was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.

Wilder's first professional acting job was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he played the Second Officer in Herbert Berghof's production of Twelfth Night. He also served as a fencing choreographer.

After three years of study with Berghof and Uta Hagen at the HB Studio, Charles Grodin told Wilder about Lee Strasberg's method acting. Grodin persuaded him to leave the studio and begin studying with Strasberg in his private class. Several months later, Wilder was accepted into the Actors Studio.

In 1963, Wilder was cast in a leading role in Mother Courage and Her Children, a production starring Anne Bancroft, who introduced Wilder to her boyfriend and later husband, Mel Brooks.

In 1971, Wilder auditioned to play Willy Wonka in Mel Stuart's film adaptation of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. After reciting some lines, director Mel Stuart immediately offered him the role. Before Wilder was officially cast for the role, Fred Astaire, Joel Grey, Ron Moody, and Jon Pertwee were all considered. Spike Milligan was Roald Dahl's original choice to play Willy Wonka. Peter Sellers even begged Dahl for the role.

When Woody Allen offered him a role in one segment of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask), Wilder accepted, hoping this would be the hit to put an end to his series of flops. The film was a hit, grossing over $18 million in the United States alone against a $2-million budget.

After Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask), Wilder began working on a script he called Young Frankenstein.

In 1975, Wilder's agent sent him a script for a film called Super Chief. Wilder accepted, but told the film's producers that he thought the only person who could keep the film from being offensive was Richard Pryor. Pryor accepted the role in the film, which had been renamed Silver Streak, the first film to team Wilder and Pryor. They became Hollywood's first successful interracial film comedy duo.

In 1980 Wilder teamed up again with Richard Pryor in Stir Crazy, directed by Sidney Poitier. Pryor was struggling with a severe cocaine addiction, and filming became difficult, but once the film premiered, it became an international success.

More information: Little White Lies

Poitier and Wilder became friends, with the pair working together on a script called Traces -which became 1982's Hanky Panky, the film where Wilder met comedian Gilda Radner. Through the remainder of the decade, Wilder and Radner worked on several projects together. After Hanky Panky, Wilder directed his third film, 1984's The Woman in Red, which starred Wilder, Radner, and Kelly Le Brock. The Woman in Red was not well received by the critics, nor was their next project, 1986's Haunted Honeymoon, which failed to attract audiences. The Woman in Red did win an Academy Award for Best Original Song for Stevie Wonder's song I Just Called to Say I Love You.

After starring as a political cartoonist who falls in love in the 1990 film Funny About Love, Wilder performed in one final film with Pryor, the 1991 feature Another You, in which Pryor's physical deterioration from multiple sclerosis was clearly noticeable.

In 1994, Wilder starred in the NBC sitcom Something Wilder. The show received poor reviews and lasted only one season. He went back to the small screen in 1999, appearing in three television movies, one of which was the NBC adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. The other two, Murder in a Small Town and The Lady in Question were mystery movies for A&E TV that were cowritten by Wilder, in which he played a theatre director turned amateur detective.

Wilder died at the age of 83 on August 29, 2016, at home in Stamford, Connecticut, from complications of Alzheimer's disease. He had been diagnosed 3 years before his death, but kept knowledge of his condition private. According to his family, Wilder died while listening to one of his favourite songs, a rendition of Over the Rainbow sung by Ella Fitzgerald.

More information: The Guardian


Success is a terrible thing and a wonderful thing.
If you can enjoy it, it's wonderful.
If it starts eating away at you,
and they're waiting for more from me,
or what can I do to top this, then you're in trouble.
Just do what you love. That's all I want to do.

Gene Wilder

Saturday 28 August 2021

LEANN RIMES, A NEW GENERATION OF COUNTRY MUSIC

Today, The Grandma is still relaxing at home. She has been listening to some music, and she has chosen LeAnn Rimes's songs. The Grandma loves country music, and LeAnn Rimes, who was born on a day like today in 1982, is one of the most beautiful female country vocalists of all time.

Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and author.

Rimes rose to stardom at age 13 following the release of her version of the Bill Mack song Blue, becoming the youngest country music star since Tanya Tucker in 1972.

Rimes made her breakthrough into country music in 1996 with her debut album, Blue, which reached No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart and was certified multi-platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album's eponymous lead single, Blue, became a Top 10 hit, and Rimes gained national acclaim for her similarity to Patsy Cline's vocal style. When she released her second studio album in 1997, You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs, she moved towards country pop material, which set the trend for a string of albums released into the next decade.

Rimes has won many awards, including two Grammys, three ACMs, a CMA, 12 Billboard Music Awards, and one American Music award. She has a total of 8 Grammy Award nominations.

She has released ten studio albums and three compilation albums and two greatest hits albums, one released in the U.S. and the other released internationally, through her record label of 13 years, Curb Records, and placed over 40 singles on American and international charts since 1996. She has sold over 37 million records worldwide, with 20.8 million album sales in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan. Billboard ranked her 17th artist of the 1990–2000 decade.

Rimes has also written four books: two novels and two children's books. Her hit song How Do I Live was ranked as the most successful song of the 1990s by Billboard magazine.

More information: LeAnn Rimes

Margaret LeAnn Rimes was born in Jackson, Mississippi. She is the only child of Wilbur Rimes and Belinda Butler. The family moved to Garland, Texas, when she was six. She was enrolled in vocal and dance classes, and was performing at local talent shows at the age of five.

Rimes began her career in musical theatre, performing in a Dallas, Texas, production of A Christmas Carol, and almost landing the lead part in the Broadway production of Annie. After appearing on the network television competition show Star Search, where she clearly charmed host Ed McMahon in addition to being a one-week champion, Rimes decided to go into country music. Rimes appeared a number of times on Johnnie High's Country Music Revue in Arlington, Texas, which gained the attention of national talent scouts.

After signing with Curb Records, Rimes re-recorded a new version of Blue for her debut studio album, and as a single. However, Rimes told a BBC radio program in October 2016 that the record company accidentally released the version she had recorded as an 11-year-old.

In 1997, Rimes released a compilation of previously recorded material under the Nor Va Jak label, Unchained Melody: The Early Years. The album mainly consisted of remakes, ranging from Country to pop, including songs originally recorded by The Beatles, Whitney Houston, Bill Monroe, and Dolly Parton.

Rimes released her third album for Curb in May 1998, Sittin' on Top of the World.

Rimes released her fourth studio album for Curb, LeAnn Rimes, in October 1999, a collection of country standards.

In 2000, Rimes made her full crossover into pop music. On March 8, 2000, Rimes contributed to the soundtrack from the 1999 TV film Jesus, called Jesus: Music From & Inspired by the Epic Mini Series. The song, I Need You, would be released as a single from the soundtrack on July 18, 2000.

In mid-October 2001, Curb released a compilation of patriotic and inspirational songs, titled God Bless America, in order to benefit the disaster recovery for the September 11 attacks. It included the title track, which she released as a single, as well as inspirational songs such as The Lord's Prayer and The Sands of Time.

In March 2002, Rimes reissued the I Need You album with nine of the songs originally released on the album, an extended version of the song You Are, the song Light the Fire Within, which she sang at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and four bonus remixes.

Rimes would later that year release her fifth studio album, titled Twisted Angel, which contained more adult material.

The following year, when Rimes turned 21, she released her first children's book, titled Jag, in July, and she also released the Greatest Hits compilation in November.

In 2004, Rimes released her second-greatest hits album, The Best of LeAnn Rimes, internationally in February.

In January 2005, Rimes released her seventh studio album, This Woman, her first album of contemporary country music in many years.

More information: Twitter-LeAnn Rimes

In summer 2006, Rimes released the studio album Whatever We Wanna, which was released exclusively outside the United States and Canada.

In October 2007, Rimes released her ninth studio album, Family. The album was a mix of country, pop, and rock music, and included the duet with Bon Jovi, Til We Ain't Strangers Anymore.

Despite singing new material at several live shows earlier in the year, it was announced, on May 24, 2010, by Rimes via her Twitter account, that her new studio album would be a cover album of country songs, titled Lady & Gentlemen. She also stated that her next studio album is already done and will be released next year. Rimes went back into the studio in March to record fifteen more songs for her new album, Spitfire.

Today Is Christmas, Rimes's most recent holiday album, was released on October 16, 2015, as a full album rather than an EP.

Rimes is scheduled to release a live album titled Rimes: Live at Gruene Hall on April 13, 2019, in honour of Record Store Day.

Since her debut in 1996, Rimes's soprano voice and vocal style have often been compared to and identified with Patsy Cline. Cline showed distinctive emotional expression in most of her material.

Rimes has also used distinctive emotional expression in many of her songs, most notably her first single, Blue, which was sung in the style of Cline. Rimes's vocal similarities to Cline had brought wide interest to the idea that Rimes was the successor to Cline's legacy, and brought her novelty appeal.

Rimes has given credit to artists from various music genres, mainly country and pop. She has stated that Barbra Streisand, Wynonna Judd and Reba McEntire were primary influences on her career. Rimes has also stated that Judy Garland was an influence as well.

More information: Instagram-LeAnn Rimes


 I've worked very hard for everything I have,
and nothing has come easy.

LeAnn Rimes

Friday 27 August 2021

CESÁRIA ÉVORA, THE CAPE VERDEAN QUEEN OF MORNA

Today, The Grandma is listening to some music of Cesária Évora, the Cape Verdean singer-songwriter, who was born on a day like today in 1941.

Cesária Évora (27 August 1941-17 December 2011), more commonly known as Cize, was a Cape Verdean singer-songwriter. She received a Grammy Award in 2004 for her album Voz d'Amor. Nicknamed the Barefoot Diva for performing without shoes, she was known as the Queen of Morna. Évora began singing as a young woman in bars in her hometown of Mindelo.

Cesária Évora was born on 27 August 1941 in Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde.

When she was seven years old her father, Justino da Cruz Évora, who was a part-time musician, died, and at the age of ten she was placed in an orphanage, as her mother Dona Joana could not raise all six children. At the age of 16, she was persuaded by a friend to sing in a sailors' tavern.

She grew up at the house in Mindelo which other singers used from the 1940s to the 1970s, at 35 Rua de Moeda. Other Cape Verdean singers came to the house, including Djô d'Eloy, Bana, Eddy Moreno, Luis Morais and Manuel de Novas (also known as Manuel d'Novas), and it was there she received her musical education.

In the 1960s, she started singing on Portuguese cruise ships stopping at Mindelo and on the local radio. In 1985, at the invitation of Cape Verdean singer Bana, she went to perform in Portugal. In Lisbon she was discovered by the producer José da Silva and invited to record in Paris.

She recorded the track Ausência, composed by Yugoslav musician Goran Bregovic, which was released as the second track of the soundtrack of the film Underground (1995) by Emir Kusturica.

Évora's international success came only in 1988 with the release of her first commercial album La Diva Aux Pieds Nus, recorded in France. Before that album had been released, she recorded her first LP titled Cesária in 1987. This album was later released on CD in 1995 as Audiophile Legends. Her 1992 album Miss Perfumado sold over 300,000 copies worldwide. It included one of her most celebrated songs, Sodade.

More information: Cesária Évora

In 1994, Bau joined her touring band and two years later, he became her musical director up to September 1999.

Her 1995 album Cesária brought her international success and the first Grammy Award nomination.

In 1997, she won the KORA All African Music Awards in three categories, including Best Artist of West Africa, Best Album and Merit of the Jury.

In 2003, her album Voz d'Amor was awarded a Grammy in the World Music category.

In 2006, Évora met with Alberto Zeppieri, an Italian songwriter, journalist and record producer  and agreed to duet with Gianni Morandi, Gigi D'Alessio and Ron. The project, now in its fifth volume, gives visibility and raises funds for the UN World Food Programme, for which Évora was the ambassador from 2003.

Later in 2006, she released her next album Rogamar. It was a success and charted in six European countries including France, Poland and the Netherlands. On her tour in Australia in 2008, she suffered a stroke.

In 2009, she released her final album Nha Sentimento which was recorded in Mindelo and Paris by José da Silva. The album reached number 6 in Poland and number 21 in France.

In 2009, she was made a knightess of the French Legion of Honour by the French Minister of Culture and Communications, Christine Albanel, the first Cape Verdean to become one.

She received her last award at the 2010 Kora All African Music Awards, the Merit of the Jury award for the second time.

In 2010, Évora performed a series of concerts, the last of which was in Lisbon on 8 May. Two days later, after a heart attack, she underwent surgery at a local hospital in Paris.

On the morning of 11 May 2010 she was taken off artificial pulmonary ventilation, and on 16 May she was discharged from the intensive-care unit and transported to a clinic for further treatment. In late September 2011, Évora's agent announced that she was ending her career due to poor health.

On 17 December 2011, aged 70, Évora died in São Vicente, Cape Verde, from respiratory failure and hypertension. A newspaper reported that 36 hours before her death she was still receiving people -and smoking- in her home in Mindelo, popular for always having its doors open.

More information: The Guardian


Oh mar, anô passá tempo corrê
Sol raiá, lua sai
A mi ausente na terra longe
Oh Mar, oh mar.


Oh sea, year spend time run
sun ray, moon comes out
A mi away on earth far away
Oh sea, oh sea.
 
 
Cesária Évora

Thursday 26 August 2021

'LA CHARTE DE LA LANGUE FRANÇAISE', A QUEBECER LAW

Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of Claire Fontaine, one of her closest friends.

Claire is from Quebec, and they have been talking about La charte de la langue française, a law in the province of Quebec that defines French, the language of the majority of the population, as the official language of the provincial government, a law that was adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec on a day like today in 1977.

The Charter of the French Language, in French La charte de la langue française, (the Charter) also known in English as Bill 101 or Law 101, in French Loi 101, is a law in the province of Quebec in Canada defining French, the language of the majority of the population, as the official language of the provincial government.

It is the central legislative piece in Quebec's language policy, and one of the three statutory documents Quebec society bases its cohesion upon, along with the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and the Civil Code of Quebec. The Charter also protects the Indigenous languages of Quebec.

Proposed by Camille Laurin, the Minister of Cultural Development under the first Parti Québécois government of Premier René Lévesque, it was passed by the National Assembly and received royal assent on August 26, 1977.

The Charter's provisions expanded upon the 1974 Official Language Act (Bill 22), which was enacted during the tenure of Premier Robert Bourassa's Liberal government to make French the official language of Quebec. Prior to 1974, Quebec had no official language and was subject only to the requirements on the use of English and French contained in Article 133 of the British North America Act, 1867.

The Charter has been amended more than six times since 1977.

More information: Publications Québec (Française)

The preamble of the Charter states that the National Assembly resolved to make French the language of Government and the Law, as well as the normal and everyday language of work, instruction, communication, commerce and business. It also states that the National Assembly is to pursue this objective in a spirit of fairness and open-mindedness, recognizes the right of the Amerinds and the Inuit of Quebec, the first inhabitants of this land, to preserve and develop their original language and culture.

The Charter consists of six titles and two schedules.

The nine chapters of Title I, pertaining to the status of the French language, declare French the sole official language (chapter I), define the fundamental language rights of persons (chapter II), and define the status of French in the parliament and the courts (chapter III), the civil administration (chapter IV), the semipublic agencies (chapter V), labour relations (VI), commerce and business (VII), and language of instruction (VIII).

The five chapters of Title II, pertain to linguistic officialization, toponymy, and the francization of the civil service and enterprises.

Title III establishes the Office québécois de la langue française (Quebec Office of the French language), defines its mission, powers, and organization.

Title IV establishes the Conseil supérieur de la langue française (Superior Council of the French language).

Title V and VI define penal provisions and sanctions and transitional and miscellaneous provisions.

To achieve the goal of making French the normal and everyday language of work, instruction, communication, commerce and business and ensure the respect of French Quebecers' language rights, the Charter contains a number of key provisions and various regulations.

In the first article of the Charter, French is declared the official language of Quebec.

The French language was previously declared the sole official language of Quebec with the adoption of the Official Language Act in 1974.

More information: Publications Québec (English)

The fundamental French-language rights in Quebec are:

1) The right to have the civil administration, the health services and social services, the public utility enterprises, the professional corporations, the associations of employees and all enterprises doing business in Quebec communicate with the public in French. (article 2)

2) The right to speak French in deliberative assemblies. (article 3)

3) The right of workers to carry on their activities in French. (article 4)

4) The right of consumers to be informed and served in French. (article 5)

5) The right of persons eligible for instruction in Quebec to receive that instruction in French. (article 6)

The language of instruction from kindergarten to secondary school is French.

The instruction language is the language in which the classes are taught. Learning of English as a second language is mandatory for all children attending French school beginning in elementary school.

Articles 87, 88 and 89 provide for the use of Amerindic languages and Inuktitut as the language of instruction. The rate of introduction of French and English as languages of instruction is left to school committees and parents' committees.

At the request of parents, the following may receive instruction in English:

- A child whose father or mother is a Canadian citizen and received elementary instruction in English anywhere in Canada, provided that that instruction constitutes the major part of the elementary instruction he/she received in Canada;

- A child whose father or mother is a Canadian citizen and who has received or is receiving elementary or secondary instruction in English in Canada, and the brothers and sisters of that child, provided that that instruction constitutes the major part of the elementary or secondary instruction received by the child in Canada.

The original 1977 Charter provided for the English instruction not on the basis of a parent having received his instruction in English in Canada, but in Quebec only. This came to be amended following the adoption of the Constitution Act 1982, which defined the educational right of French and English minorities in all provinces under section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

More information: Assemblée Nationale du Québec


Quebec City is the most European of any city in North America;
they speak French all the time.
There is a part of town called Old Quebec
which is really like being in France.
The architecture is just gorgeous, food, shopping.
I'd say Quebec City is the most beautiful city
in North America I've seen.

Sebastian Bach

Wednesday 25 August 2021

CHARLIE R. WATTS, THE DRUMMER BECOMES ETERNAL

Yesterday, The Grandma received some sad news about Charlie Watts, the legendary drummer of the Rolling Stones. She wants to pay homage to this incredible artist, talking about him and his career.

Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941-24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021.

One of the band's core members, Watts, alongside lead vocalist and frontman Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards, were the only members of the band to perform on all of their studio albums. He cited jazz as a major influence on his drumming style.

Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an interest in jazz at a young age, and joined the band Blues Incorporated. He also started playing drums in London's rhythm and blues clubs, where he met future bandmates Jagger, Richards and Brian Jones.

In January 1963, he left Blues Incorporated and joined the Rolling Stones as drummer, while doubling as designer of their record sleeves and tour stages. 

Watts's first public appearance as a permanent member was in February 1963, and he remained with the group until his death 58 years later.

Aside from his career with the Rolling Stones, Watts toured with his own group, the Charlie Watts Quintet, and appeared in London at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with the Charlie Watts Tentet.

More information: Rolling Stones

Charles Robert Watts was born at University College Hospital in Bloomsbury, London, to Charles Richard Watts, a lorry driver for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and his wife Lillian Charlotte. He had a sister, Linda.

As a child, Watts lived in Wembley, at 23 Pilgrims Way. Many of Wembley's houses had been destroyed by Luftwaffe bombs during World War II; Watts and his family lived in a prefab, as did many in the community.

After leaving art school, he worked as a graphic designer for an advertising company called Charlie Daniels Studios, and also played drums occasionally with local bands in coffee shops and clubs.

In mid-1962, Watts first met Brian Jones, Ian "Stu" Stewart, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who also frequented the London rhythm and blues clubs, but it was not until January 1963 that Watts finally agreed to join the Rolling Stones.

Initially, the band could not afford to pay Watts, who had been earning a regular salary from his gigs. His first public appearance as a permanent member was at the Ealing Jazz Club on 2 February 1963.

Besides his work as a musician, Watts contributed graphic art and comic strips to early Rolling Stones records such as the Between the Buttons record sleeve and was responsible for the 1975 tour announcement press conference in New York City. The band surprised the throng of waiting reporters by driving and playing Brown Sugar"on the back of a flatbed truck in the middle of Manhattan traffic.

Watts remembered this was a common way for New Orleans jazz bands to promote upcoming dates. Moreover, with Jagger, he designed the elaborate stages for tours, first contributing to the lotus-shaped design of the 1975 Tour of the Americas, as well as the 1989–1990 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour, the 1997–1998 Bridges to Babylon Tour, the 2002–2003 Licks Tour, and the 2005–2007 A Bigger Bang Tour.

Watts died at a London hospital on 24 August 2021, at the age of 80, with his family around him.

More information: The Guardian


It's been years and years and years I've been playing the drums,
and they're still a challenge.
I still enjoy using drumsticks and a snare drum.

Charlie Watts

Tuesday 24 August 2021

BARTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE, FESTIVITY IN SANTS (BCN)

Today, The Grandma is celebrating Saint Bartholomew (Sant Bartomeu in Catalan), the patron of one of her favourite Barcelona's neighbourhoods, Sants. Due to the COVID19, these days are difficult to celebrate, but The Grandma wants to join to her neighbours in this celebration. 

Bona Festa Major, estimats veïns i estimades veïnes!

Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, according to the New Testament.

He is said to have been martyred for having converted Polymius, King of Armenia, to Christianity. He has also been identified as Nathanael or Nathaniel, who appears in the Gospel of John when introduced to Jesus by Philip, who also became an apostle; John 1:43–51, although many modern commentators reject the identification of Nathanael with Bartholomew.

According to the Synaxarium of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Bartholomew's martyrdom is commemorated on the first day of the Coptic calendar, which currently falls on September 11, corresponding to August 29 in the Julian calendar. Eastern Christianity honours him on June 11 and the Catholic Church honours him on August 24.

Bartholomew the Apostle is remembered in the Church of England with a Festival on 24 August.

The Armenian Apostolic Church honours Saint Bartholomew along with Saint Thaddeus as its patron saints. Bartholomew is English for Bar Talmai comes from the Aramaic בר-תולמי‎ bar-Tolmay native to Hebrew son of Talmai, or farmer, son of the furrows.

More information: Franciscan Media

Bartholomew is listed among the Twelve Apostles of Jesus in the three synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and also appears as one of the witnesses of the Ascension; on each occasion, however, he is named in the company of Philip.

In art, Bartholomew is most commonly depicted with a beard and curly hair at the time of his martyrdom.

According to legends, he was skinned alive and beheaded so is often depicted holding his flayed skin or the curved lensing knife with which he was skinned; thus, he is remembered and approved as the saint of leather makers.

The 6th-century writer in Constantinople, Theodorus Lector, averred that in about 507, the Byzantine emperor Anastasius I Dicorus gave the body of Bartholomew to the city of Daras, in Mesopotamia, which he had recently refunded.

The existence of relics at Lipari, a small island off the coast of Sicily, in the part of Italy controlled from Constantinople, was explained by Gregory of Tours by his body having miraculously washed up there: a large piece of his skin and many bones that were kept in the Cathedral of St Bartholomew the Apostle, Lipari, were translated to Benevento in 838, where they are still kept now in the Basilica San Bartolomeo.

A portion of the relics was given in 983 by Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor, to Rome, where it is conserved at San Bartolomeo all'Isola, which was founded on the temple of Asclepius, an important Roman medical centre. This association with medicine in the course of time caused Bartholomew's name to become associated with medicine and hospitals. Some of Bartholomew's alleged skull was transferred to the Frankfurt Cathedral, while an arm was venerated in Canterbury Cathedral.

Due to the nature of his martyrdom, Bartholomew is the patron saint of tanners, plasterers, tailors, leather workers, bookbinders, farmers, housepainters, butchers, and glove makers.

In works of art the saint has been depicted being skinned by tanners, as in Guido a Siena's reliquary shutters with the Martyrdoms of St. Francis, St. Claire, St. Bartholomew, and St. Catherine of Alexandria. Popular in Florence and other areas in Tuscany, the saint also came to be associated with salt, oil, and cheese merchants.

More information: St Barts Richmond

Sants is a neighbourhood in the southern part of Barcelona. It belongs to the district of Sants-Montjuïc and is bordered by the districts of Eixample to the northeast, Les Corts to the northwest, and by the municipality of l'Hospitalet de Llobregat to the south.

The main artery of the neighbourhood is Carrer de Sants, popularly known as Carretera de Sants, which runs westwards from Plaça Espanya to the neighbouring municipality of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. It is one of the largest commercial streets in Barcelona.

Barcelona Sants railway station, the major railway station in Barcelona, and the Parc de l'Espanya Industrial are both located in Sants.

Sants was the core of an industrial town known as Santa Maria de Sants on the plain bordering Barcelona.

In the spring of 1883, the municipalities of Sants and Barcelona decided by mutual agreement to merge the two respective municipalities.

One year later, the central government annulled the merger due to technical issues. The process was again put in motion the following year when Barcelona's city government sent a request for aggregation to the Diputació Provincial de Barcelona, but this request was not fulfilled for more than two years. 

In March 1889, the Civil Government asked the Deputation to resolve the issue. A commission presided by Rius i Taulet travelled to Madrid to help move along the case. However, once more, the Deputation took no action.

The merger with Barcelona finally took effect in 1897. By then, Sants had a population of 19,105 inhabitants, and the neighbourhood had a strong industrial character, home to some of the most important manufacturers of Catalan textiles, such as Espanya Industrial and Vapor Vell.

In 2014 rioting broke out in Sants and spread to Barcelona and other cities, when local authorities attempted to demolish the Can Vies community centre, a building which had been squatted since 1997.

The most famous feast is the Festa Major, which is celebrated yearly in honour of the patron saint, Bartholomew the Apostle.

During the week-long feast, the traffic is cut off in several parts of the neighbourhood, where multiple popular activities are organized outdoors, such as butifarrades, xocolatades (gatherings where people drink chocolate), concerts, Sardanes, and Habaneres.

The neighbours decorate the streets with allegorical themes. Another feast, the Festa Alternativa, is celebrated simultaneously with great success.

More information: Triple


 Once you begin to believe there is help "out there,"
you will know it to be true.

Saint Bartholomew

Monday 23 August 2021

ZOLTÁN CZIBOR, HUNGARIAN AGE OF GOLD IN FOOTBALL

Today, The Grandma has renewed her F.C. Barcelona's annual pass, and she has been thinking about the evolution of football during the latest decades. She has been remembering great Hungarian players like László Kubala and Zoltán Czibor, who was born on a day like today in 1929.

Zoltán Czibor (23 August 1929-1 September 1997) was a Hungarian footballer who played for several Hungarian clubs, including Ferencváros and Budapest Honvéd, and the Hungary national team before joining FC Barcelona.

Czibor played as a left-winger or striker and was notable for having a powerful shot, good pace and excellent ball control.

During the 1950s, he was part of the Magical Magyars, reaching the World Cup final with them in 1954.

After the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, he moved to Barcelona, where he became a prominent member of the successful FC Barcelona team of the late 1950s.

After three seasons at FC Barcelona, he joined their local rivals Español for the 1961/62 season.

After brief spells at FC Basel, FK Austria Wien and Primo Hamilton FC, he retired as a professional footballer and returned to Hungary.

As a youth Czibor played for Komárom AC and Komárom MÁV and was working as a train engine driver before he was noticed by Sándor Mezei, the coach of the Hungary youth team. He subsequently played for Ferencváros TC where he won his first Hungarian League title in 1949. After a spell with Csepel SC he conscripted into the army team, Honvéd. During his playing career in Hungarian club football, Czibor scored 100 goals in 175 matches.

Czibor made his debut for the senior Hungary team in 1949. He went on to play 43 times for Hungary and scored 17 goals. Together with Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, József Bozsik and Nándor Hidegkuti, he formed the nucleus of the Golden Team that went unbeaten for 32 consecutive games.

More information: Pantheon

In 1953, Czibor joined Honvéd where his teammates included fellow internationals Puskás, Kocsis, and Bozsik. During his time at the club, he won a further two Hungarian Leagues titles in 1954 and 1955. He finished 1955 as top goalscorer in the league after scoring 20 goals.

Czibor initially went to Italy and played a couple of unofficial games for AS Roma before another Hungarian refugee, Ladislao Kubala, persuaded him and Sándor Kocsis to join him at FC Barcelona where he became a vital member of the team.

He subsequently scored on his La Liga debut in a 6–0 win over Valencia CF and as part of a team that also included Ramallets, Evaristo and Luis Suárez, Czibor won a Copa del Generalísimo/La Liga double in 1959 and La Liga/Fairs Cup double in 1960. Although he did not play in the Copa final, he scored twice in the Fairs Cup final as FC Barcelona beat Birmingham City 4–2. FC Barcelona and Czibor also reached the final of the European Cup in 1961, where FC Barcelona lost 3–2 to Portuguese club S.L. Benfica.

After three seasons at FC Barcelona, he joined their local rivals Español for the 1961/62 season. He had brief spells in Switzerland with FC Basel, and in Austria with FK Austria Wien.

He then moved to Canada in 1964 and joined the Hamilton Steelers in the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League.

Czibor finished the 1964 season with Hungária SC Toronto in the National Soccer League. He then played for Toronto City in 1965.

Zoltán Czibor died in Hungary in 1997, aged 68.

More information: F.C. Barcelona


 The most difficult thing in football is to score a goal.

Pep Guardiola

Sunday 22 August 2021

CADILLAC, THE MYTHICAL AMERICAN LUXURY VEHICLES

Today, The Grandma has decided to buy a new car. She has chosen a Cadillac. She loves these cars, whose company was founded on a day like today in 1902.

The Cadillac Motor Car Division is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors Company (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles.

Cadillac's models are distributed in 34 additional markets worldwide. Cadillac's automobiles are at the top of the luxury field within the United States. In 2019, Cadillac sold 390,458 vehicles worldwide, a record for the brand.

Cadillac is among the first automotive brands in the world, 4th in the United States only to fellow Autocar Company (1897) and GM marques Oldsmobile (1897) and Buick (1899). It was named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who founded Detroit, Michigan. The Cadillac crest is based on his coat of arms.

By the time General Motors purchased the company in 1909, Cadillac had already established itself as one of America's premier luxury carmakers. The complete interchangeability of its precision parts had allowed it to lay the foundation for the modern mass production of automobiles. It was at the forefront of technological advances, introducing full electrical systems, the clash less manual transmission and the steel roof. The brand developed three engines, with its V8 setting the standard for the American automotive industry.

More information: Cadillac

Cadillac had the first U.S. car to win the Royal Automobile Club of the United Kingdom's Dewar Trophy by successfully demonstrating the interchangeability of its component parts during a reliability test in 1908; this spawned the firm's slogan Standard of the World. It won the trophy again in 1912 for incorporating electric starting and lighting in a production automobile.

Cadillac was formed from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company. After a dispute between Henry Ford and his investors, Ford left the company along with several of his key partners in March 1902. Ford's financial backers William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen called in engineer Henry M. Leland of Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing Company to appraise the plant and equipment in preparation for liquidating the company's assets.

Instead, Leland persuaded the pair to continue manufacturing automobiles using Leland's proven single-cylinder engine. A new company called the Cadillac Automobile Company was established on 22 August 1902, re-purposing the Henry Ford Company factory at Cass Street and Amsterdam Avenue. It was named after French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, who had founded Detroit in 1701.

Cadillac's first automobiles, the Runabout and Tonneau, were completed in October 1902. They were two-seat horseless carriages powered by a 10 hp (7 kW) single-cylinder engine. They were practically identical to the 1903 Ford Model A. Many sources say the first car rolled out of the factory on 17 October; in the book Henry Leland-Master of Precision, the date is 20 October; another reliable source shows car number three to have been built on 16 October.  
 
Cadillac displayed the new vehicles at the New York Auto Show in January 1903, where the vehicles impressed the crowds enough to gather over 2,000 firm orders.
 
Cadillac's biggest selling point was precision manufacturing, and therefore, reliability; a Cadillac was simply a better-made vehicle than its competitors.

The Cadillac Automobile Company merged with Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing, forming The Cadillac Motor Company in 1905.

From its earliest years, Cadillac aimed for precision engineering and stylish luxury finishes, causing its cars to be ranked among the finest in the United States. Cadillac was the first volume manufacturer of a fully enclosed car, in 1906. Cadillac participated in the 1908 interchangeability test in the United Kingdom, and was awarded the Dewar Trophy for the most important advancement of the year in the automobile industry.

In 1909, Cadillac was purchased by the General Motors (GM) conglomerate. Cadillac became General Motors' prestige division, devoted to the production of large luxury vehicles. The Cadillac line was also GM's default marque for commercial chassis institutional vehicles, such as limousines, ambulances, hearses and funeral home flower cars, the last three of which were custom-built by after market manufacturers. It became positioned at the top of GM's vehicle hierarchy, above Buick, Oldsmobile, Oakland, and later, Chevrolet.

In 1912, Cadillac was the first automobile manufacturer to incorporate an electrical system enabling starting, ignition, and lighting.

More information: Sid Dillon

Pre-World War II Cadillacs were well-built, powerful, mass-produced luxury cars aimed at an upper-class market. In the 1930s, Cadillac added cars with V12 and V16 engines to their range, many of which were fitted with custom coach-built bodies.

In the 1920s and 1930s Cadillac and Buick vehicles were popular with longer-distance passenger service operators, e.g. the Nairn Transport Company in the Middle East (Baghdad-Damascus) and Newmans Coach Lines in New Zealand.

Postwar Cadillac vehicles innovated many of the styling features that came to be synonymous with the late 1940s and 1950s American automobile.

The 1970s saw new extremes in vehicle luxury and dimension.

The 1980s also saw the introduction of new, technology-assisted luxury features.

In 2000, Cadillac introduced a new design philosophy for the 21st century called Art and Science, which it states incorporates sharp, sheer forms and crisp edges -a form vocabulary that expresses bold, high-technology design and invokes the technology used to design it.

More information: Motor Cities


Long as I was riding in a big Cadillac
and dressed nice and had plenty of food,
that's all I cared about.
 
Etta James