'EL POU DE GLAÇ' OF BEGUES, THE IMPORTANCE OF ICE

Today, The Grandma has returned to Begues, a place she loves a lot.

 

She has had a meeting with her friend Montse, and after eating some delicious loquats and taking some drinks, they have gone to visit el Pou de Glaç, a large circular plan structure excavated in the calcareous subsoil to fill it with snow or ice after the snowfall, in order to dispose of them during the rest of the year. Water is life, and obtaining and keeping it has been a human work since Prehistoric ages.

Begues is a wonderful place where you can discover the past, enjoy the present and plan your future if you like nature, peace and quietness. The town is a place full of kind people who are proud of their history and fight to conserve their heritage.

El Pou de Glaç is a large circular plan structure that does not retain the roof, which was possibly in the shape of a dome.

It measures 13 m in outside diameter (10.95 m inside) and has a preserved depth of 10 m. It is largely excavated in the calcareous subsoil, while the powerful walls are made of ashlars of limestone and sandstone, bound with lime mortar.

At the top there are two hatches, one facing west and one to the east, which would access the interior. At the top of the south face, there is a third opening, small and in the shape of a peat, which may have been used to introduce straw and the bowl with which they covered the ice. In the lower part of the well, on the north façade, there was a sewer that drained the water towards the Riera de Begues. This, however, is not currently visible, as it is possibly covered in rubble.

The location of this well is not free: it is located next to the stream, just at the end of the Pla de Begues, where the stream has already collected much of the water from the tributary torrents. At this point, in addition, there would be natural pelagic that accumulated water, favoured by the clayey and impermeable substrate of the sector. It is shady, a few meters above the stream and very close to the Via Mercadera, the road that connected Barcelona with Vilafranca and Tarragona, passing through Begues. In addition, this is the sector where the plan has lower altitude, and where therefore the thermal investment created by encircling the mountains produces the strongest frosts (-10 to -12º are not exceptional) and frequent (currently 40 to 60 days of frost per year).

More information: El Pou del Glaç de Begues (Catalan Version)

The refrigerator, freezer, snow house, ice well, snow well, well or cava is that construction made by drilling the ground in the mountains where it snows during the winter.

These holes, often rectangular but with an elliptical tendency, are made with the purpose of filling them with snow or ice after the snowfall, in order to dispose of them during the rest of the year. Usually a refrigerator was a circular well.

The upper part was closed with a vaulted roof that had openings to allow the introduction and extraction of snow or ice, although they sometimes had a lower entrance for the extraction operation.

It should be noted that the plant is between 10 and 16 meters long and between 5 and 8 meters wide. The depth is usually between 4 and 8 m. The construction protrudes to the surface approximately one meter and is all dry stone to conserve the snow as long as possible and to avoid that the formation of water by fusion affects the ice, since with the dry stone, the water could to go out.

These snow houses were always covered and included a porch or housing for snowmen, some walls, and driveways. Snowmen's paths are cobbled horseshoe paths.

 

Before there were ice factories, ice storage and distribution became an important business involving a significant part of the rural population. Examples are found throughout the eastern Mediterranean.

The activity of artificial glaciers has been known since Roman times; their great development took place between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, and they have been used until the middle of the twentieth century, when, with the advent of the first refrigerators, they fell into disuse.

Until now, food preservation was carried out thanks to brine, fertilizers, preserves or the use of snow. The latter system was the basis for a job and a profession that survived until about 1931.

In classical antiquity, doctors already prescribed the use of cold for medicinal purposes. This use recovered strongly in the Renaissance.

The most common therapeutic uses of ice have been: lowering the temperature in febrile processes, those caused by the cholera epidemic, as a sedative in cases of cerebral congestion and particularly in meningitis, to stop bleeding and as an anti-inflammatory or in trauma, sprains or fractures.

The progressive establishment of ice factories from 1890 in several cities was leaving aside the network of artificial glaciers and ice production taking advantage of the climate. Until then, it took advantage of a natural resource (renewed annually) sustainably, although depending on the climate, which gave times of ice shortage in front of others of great snowfalls that filled the snow mountains and day labourers.

Until the sixties, in the twentieth century, it was necessary to go and buy ice bars to feed the first domestic refrigerators. With the advent of refrigerators and the production of ice in industrial form, dependence on meteorology is avoided. The ice and snow warehouses, as well as the techniques of collection, storage, extraction and transport, were then obsolete.

More information: Mental Floss

History is not a burden on the memory
but an illumination of the soul.

 

John Dalberg-Acton

LANA DEL REY, MELANCHOLIA & HOLLYWOOD SADCORE

Today, The Grandma is at home relaxing and watching one of her favourite TV series, American Horror Story, and listening to one of her favourite singers whose songs appear on this amazing series, Lana del Rey, the American singer-songwriter who was born on a day like today in 1985.

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its stylized, cinematic quality and exploration of themes of sadness, tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, containing many references to pop culture, particularly 1950s and 1960s Americana.

Raised in upstate New York, Del Rey moved to New York City in 2005 to begin her music career. Following numerous projects, including her self-titled debut studio album, Del Rey's breakthrough came with the viral success of her debut single Video Games in 2011.

She signed with Interscope and Polydor later that year. Her major label debut, Born to Die (2012), was an international success and spawned Summertime Sadness, a top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the singles Blue Jeans and Born to Die, which charted in several overseas territories.

Del Rey released the EP Paradise in 2012. The next year, Del Rey ventured into film, writing and starring in the music short film Tropico; she released Young and Beautiful as the lead single for the romantic drama film The Great Gatsby (2013).

Del Rey released her third album, Ultraviolence (2014), to critical success. It topped charts and spawned the single West Coast. That same year, Del Rey recorded the eponymous theme for the drama film Big Eyes, which earned a Golden Globe nomination. She released the albums Honeymoon in 2015 and Lust for Life in 2017, the latter topping the US Billboard 200. Her sixth album, Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019), received widespread critical acclaim and two Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year.

In 2019, Del Rey released the singles Doin' Time and Don't Call Me Angel, the latter being a collaboration with Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus for the soundtrack of the film Charlie's Angels (2019). Her follow-up releases included the spoken word album and poetry collection, Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass (2020), and her seventh studio album, Chemtrails over the Country Club (2021). Her upcoming eighth studio album, Blue Banisters, is scheduled for release on July 4, 2021.

More information: Lana del Rey

Del Rey was born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant on June 21, 1985 in Manhattan, New York City, to Robert England Grant Jr., a Grey Group copywriter, and Patricia Ann Pat (née Hill), an account executive at Grey Group. She has one younger sister, Caroline, and one younger brother, Charlie. She was raised Roman Catholic and is of Scottish descent. Her ancestors were from Lanarkshire. When she was one year old, the family moved to the up state New York town of Lake Placid. In Lake Placid, her father worked for a furniture company before becoming an entrepreneurial domain investor; her mother worked as a schoolteacher. There, she attended St. Agnes School in her elementary years and began singing in her church choir, where she was the cantor.

In the fall of 2004, at age 19, Grant enrolled at Fordham University in The Bronx where she majored in philosophy, with an emphasis on metaphysics. She has said she chose to study the subject because it bridged the gap between God and science... I was interested in God and how technology could bring us closer to finding out where we came from and why.

Upon her debut release, Del Rey's music was described as Hollywood sadcore by some music critics. It has been repeatedly noted for its cinematic sound and its references to various aspects of pop culture; both critics and Del Rey herself have noted a persistent theme of 1950s and 1960s Americana.

Del Rey has received many awards, including 2 Brit Awards, 2 MTV Europe Music Awards, a Satellite Award and 9 GAFFA Awards. Alongside those accolades, she has also been nominated for 6 Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award.

More information: Instagram-Lana del Rey

I wanted a name I could shape the music towards.
I was going to Miami quite a lot at the time,
speaking a lot of Spanish with my friends from Cuba
-'Lana Del Rey' reminded us of the glamour of the seaside.
It sounded gorgeous coming off the tip of the tongue.

Lana Del Rey

'JAWS', THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS

Today, The Grandma is relaxing at home. She has decided to watch Jaws, the American thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg.

The Grandma loves this film and this director, and she remembers when she assisted to the premiere on a day like today in 1975.

Jaws is a 1975 American thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on Peter Benchley's 1974 novel of the same name.

In the film, a man-eating great white shark attacks beach goers at a summer resort town, prompting police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) to hunt it with the help of a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and a professional shark hunter (Robert Shaw). Murray Hamilton plays the mayor, and Lorraine Gary portrays Brody's wife. The screenplay is credited to Benchley, who wrote the first drafts, and actor-writer Carl Gottlieb, who rewrote the script during principal photography.

Shot mostly on location on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, Jaws was the first major motion picture to be shot on the ocean, and resultantly had a troubled production, going over budget and past schedule.

As the art department's mechanical sharks often malfunctioned, Spielberg decided mostly to suggest the shark's presence, employing an ominous and minimalist theme created by composer John Williams to indicate its impending appearances.

Spielberg and others have compared this suggestive approach to that of director Alfred Hitchcock. Universal Pictures gave the film what was then an exceptionally wide release for a major studio picture, on over 450 screens, accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign with a heavy emphasis on television spots and tie-in merchandise.

Jaws was the prototypical summer blockbuster, regarded as a watershed moment in motion picture history, and it won several awards for its music and editing. It was the highest-grossing film until the release of Star Wars in 1977. Both films were pivotal in establishing the modern Hollywood business model, which pursues high box-office returns from action and adventure films with simple high-concept premises, released during the summer in thousands of theatres and advertised heavily.

More information: Screen Rant

Jaws was followed by three sequels (without the involvement of Spielberg or Benchley) and many imitative thrillers.

In 2001, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

Principal photography began May 2, 1974, on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, selected after consideration was given to eastern Long Island. Brown explained later that the production needed a vacation area that was lower middle class enough so that an appearance of a shark would destroy the tourist business.

Martha's Vineyard was also chosen because the surrounding ocean had a sandy bottom that never dropped below 11 m for 19 km out from shore, which allowed the mechanical sharks to operate while also beyond sight of land.

As Spielberg wanted to film the aquatic sequences relatively close-up to resemble what people see while swimming, cinematographer Bill Butler devised new equipment to facilitate marine and underwater shooting, including a rig to keep the camera stable regardless of tide and a sealed submersible camera box.

Spielberg asked the art department to avoid red in both scenery and wardrobe, so that the blood from the attacks would be the only red element and cause a bigger shock.

John Williams composed the film's score, which earned him an Academy Award and was later ranked the sixth-greatest score by the American Film Institute. The main shark theme, a simple alternating pattern of two notes -variously identified as E and F or F and F sharp- became a classic piece of suspense music, synonymous with approaching danger.

Williams described the theme as grinding away at you, just as a shark would do, instinctual, relentless, unstoppable. The piece was performed by tuba player Tommy Johnson. When asked by Johnson why the melody was written in such a high register and not played by the more appropriate French horn, Williams responded that he wanted it to sound a little more threatening.

When Williams first demonstrated his idea to Spielberg, playing just the two notes on a piano, Spielberg was said to have laughed, thinking that it was a joke. As Williams saw similarities between Jaws and pirate movies, at other points in the score he evoked pirate music, which he called primal, but fun and entertaining. Calling for rapid, percussive string playing, the score contains echoes of La mer by Claude Debussy as well as Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.

More information: Roger Ebert

Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is the most notable artistic antecedent to Jaws. The character of Quint strongly resembles Captain Ahab, the obsessed captain of the Pequod who devotes his life to hunting a sperm whale.

Quint's monologue reveals a similar obsession with sharks; even his boat, the Orca, is named after the only natural enemy of the white shark. In the novel and original screenplay, Quint dies after being dragged under the ocean by a harpoon tied to his leg, similar to the death of Ahab in Melville's novel.

A direct reference to these similarities may be found in Spielberg's draft of the screenplay, which introduces Quint watching the film version of Moby-Dick; his continuous laughter prompts other audience members to get up and leave the theatre.

However, the scene from Moby-Dick could not be licensed from the film's star, Gregory Peck, its copyright holder. Screenwriter Carl Gottlieb also drew comparisons to Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea: Jaws is... a titanic struggle, like Melville or Hemingway.

The underwater scenes shot from the shark's point of view have been compared with passages in two 1950s horror films, Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Monster That Challenged the World.

Gottlieb named two science fiction productions from the same era as influences on how the shark was depicted, or not: The Thing from Another World, which Gottlieb described as a great horror film where you only see the monster in the last reel; and It Came From Outer Space, where the suspense was built up because the creature was always off-camera.

Jaws opened in 409 theatres with a record $7 million weekend and grossed a record $21,116,354 in its first 10 days, recouping its production costs. It grossed $100 million in its first 59 days from 954 play dates.

In just 78 days, it overtook The Godfather as the highest-grossing film at the North American box office, sailing past that picture's earnings of $86 million and became the first film to earn $100 million in US theatrical rentals.

Its initial release ultimately brought in $123.1 million in rentals. Theatrical re-releases in 1976 and Summer 1979 brought its total rentals to $133.4 million.

Jaws received mostly positive reviews upon release.

Jaws won three Academy Awards, those being for Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score, and Best Sound (Robert Hoyt, Roger Heman, Earl Madery, and John Carter). It was also nominated for Best Picture, losing to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Spielberg greatly resented the fact that he was not nominated for Best Director. Along with the Oscar, John Williams's score won the Grammy Award, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and the Golden Globe Award.

To her Academy Award, Verna Fields added the American Cinema Editors' Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature Film. Jaws was chosen Favorite Movie at the People's Choice Awards.

More information: Explore Entertainment

'Jaws' was the first A-list picture that was released
like an exploitation picture.
They made a lot of money with that picture
because they could save a lot of money on advertising.
Instead of having a full-page ad in 'The New York Times'
for one theater, they had it for 100 theaters.

Peter Bogdanovich

ELISENDA DE MONTCADA, THE MONASTERY OF PEDRALBES

Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of one of her closest friends, Claire Fontaine. Together have visited one of their favourite places, the Monastery of Pedralbes, in Barcelona, an incredible place built thanks to Elisenda de Montcada, who died on a day like today in 1364 and who was the fourth and last spouse of Jaume II d'Aragó.

Elisenda is buried in this beautiful monastery and the two friends have visited her tomb and have learnt a little more about Catalan history and culture.

Elisenda de Montcada (c. 1292-19 June 1364) was queen consort of Aragó as the fourth and last spouse of Jaume II d'Aragó. She served as Regent or Queen-Lieutenant of Aragó during the absence of her spouse from 1324 until 1327.

She was a daughter of Pere II Ramon de Montcada and Elisenda de Pinos. She and Jaume II founded the Monastery of Pedralbes, a Franciscan convent of the Poor Clares. After Jaume II's death in 1327, Elisenda lived adjacent to the monastery for the remaining 37 years of her life.

Elisenda de Montcada was believed to have been born in Aitona, the daughter of Pere II Ramon Montcada i d'Abarca, Baron of Aitona, and Elisenda de Pinos. She belonged to the lineage of Montcada, one of the most noble families of Catalonia, close with the monarchy.

Elisenda had three brothers: Ot, heir to Aitona and a godfather of the future Pere IV d'Aragó; Gastó, bishop of Huesca and later of Girona; and Guillem Ramón. Elisenda's great-grandmother was Constança, Lady of Aitona, an illegitimate daughter of Pere II d'Aragó, making her and her husband second cousins once removed.

After Jaume II was a widower by his third wife, Maria of Cyprus, he hurried to contract a new marriage. Just a month after the death of the unhappy queen, he went to obtain a dispensation of consanguinity in the third or fourth grade to arrange new nuptials. The king did not indicate the name of the chosen, but it was Elisenda de Montcada. The monarch seemed very animated with the idea and openly hastened the proceedings that were taken.

Her marriage to Jaume II took place in Tarragona on 25 December 1322. The king endowed the bride with income from Berga, Burriana, Tortosa, Morella, Torroella de Montgri, and Pals, and her brother Ot with the locations of Seròs and Mequinensa. She was 30 and he, who was widowed in 1319/1322, was about 55. She thus became stepmother to Jaume's ten children by his second marriage to Blanca of Anjou; they had no children of their own. She favoured the grandson of Jaume II, the future Pere el Cerimoniós.

They settled in the royal palace in Barcelona and led a relatively quiet life. She intervened in the affairs of state, giving advice as the other queens had done. The queen was described as mature, educated, beautiful, and very pious, and the day to day at the royal court as cordial, despite the rigidity and severity of Jaume himself. From 1324, she acted as regent during his absence from Aragó. The marriage lasted for five years before Jaume died in November 1327.

Jesus Ernest Martinez Ferrando wrote: Elisenda, for her feminine qualities, for her exquisite religiosity, was the best sedative that the monarch could find in the bitterness of his last years; dialogue with the devoted wife sweetened their hours of spiritual and physical ordeal; it can be said that Elisenda helped James II to die well. As death approached -as observed in the mentioned biography- it was established between the two spouses 'a mutual religious delight'.

The new queen chose Barcelona and its Palau Reial Major as her usual residence, even though Tortosa was in the midst of her dowry and its castle was the residence of her predecessors, the queens Blanca of Anjou and Maria of Cyprus, for extended periods. Because they had no children and the king soon became ill, Elisenda devoted her life to her religious practices and the exercise of charity.

Elisenda eventually became interested in the foundation of a monastery of the Order of the Poor Clares around Barcelona. Once she expressed this desire, the king hurried to please her, even though there was already Vilafranca del Penedès, a monastery of Poor Clares founded by Blanca d'Anjou, his second wife. He only placed one condition -that the monastery was to be erected in honour of the mother of God. At first, it was designated to be located at the site of Valldaura, between Cerdanyola and Montcada, but then it was decided on a place called Pedralbes due to the amount of white stone extracted from an existing quarry.

More information: Monestir de Pedralbes

In 1326 work began on the monastery in Pedralbes; the management and construction advanced rapidly. Perhaps Jaume II sensed his death and wanted the mystical enthusiasm of his wife to become a reality as soon as possible.

After a year the basic structure of the monastery was done: they could use the cloister, and the church and housing for the nuns were almost finished as well. On 3 May 1327 fourteen nuns entered the monastery, and they elected the first abbess, Sobirana d'Olzet.

In a will which he wrote just a few months before his death, the king ratified, among other things, donations of income made to his wife. In addition, he left her the gold crown that he had purchased at the time of the wedding and many other jewels, fine fabrics and tablecloths and dishes crafted with gold and silver.

Elisenda was widowed in November 1327. She ordered a small palace to be built next to, but completely separate from, the monastery. She lived there for the remaining 37 years of her life. Although she was never a nun, Elisenda was endowed with broad powers over the internal workings of the monastery.

She participated actively in the decision-making of the religious community and put special emphasis on obtaining several privileges for the monastery. For example, it was under the direct protection of the city of Barcelona through the Consell de Cent, the managing body of the city, which was committed to defend the monastery in the event of danger.

It was also her intention was to have Pedralbes be the most favoured monastery, so it would not face economic difficulty after she died, quite common in the female monasteries. During these years, royal donations nearly drowned the Franciscan spirit of the convent life.

Elisenda managed the construction of the buildings and their ornamentation. Painters, like Ferrer Bassa and the Serra brothers, were contracted to beautify the monastery. Elisenda also promoted the paintings in the chapel of Sant Miquel, which were ordered by the abbess Francesca Saportella, her niece.

Although she stayed at the monastery, she did participate in some official regnal events, such as the transfer of the remains of Saint Eulàlia to the Cathedral in Barcelona, when she accompanied Maria of Navarre, wife of Pere IV d'Aragó, and Constança d'Aragó, wife of Jaume III de Mallorca.

Elisenda's will was issued on 11 April 1364, and she died on 19 July of that year. She bequeathed everything to the monastery as her primary heir, except for some goods destined for institutions, relatives, or acquaintances. She requested that they raze the palace where she lived, which was done immediately. The inventory that was made of her room demonstrates the simplicity in which she lived, despite the jewels and fine fabrics that she gifted.

The tomb of the Queen is a magnificent work of Catalan Gothic that artistically represents the double life of this woman.

The bifrontal tomb is located along a wall that separates the church from the cloister, with unique presentations on each side. From the church, Elisenda is portrayed as a queen wearing her crown, and from the cloister she is dressed as an austere widow or nun.

The Monastery of Pedralbes is Elisenda's most significant legacy. It is a national monument, and is open to the public.

More information: Monestir de Pedralbes, Community of Poor Clares

Our labour here is brief, but the reward is eternal.
Do not be disturbed by the clamour of the world,
which passes like a shadow.
Do not let false delights of a deceptive world deceive you.

St. Clare of Assisi

ALANA DE LA GARZA, IRISH & MEXICAN ROOTS 'FOREVER'

Today, The Grandma has been watching (again) one of her favourite TV series, Forever, an ABC creation that has become a cult series thanks to its unfair cancellation after its unforgettable first season.

Forever tells the story of Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd), an eccentric ME who is immortal and his partner, Jo Martinez, a clever and amazing detective.  

Jo is played by Alana de la Garza, an American actress with an interesting career who was born on a day like today in 1976.

Alana de la Garza (born June 18, 1976) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Connie Rubirosa on the NBC television series Law & Order in its last four seasons through 2010, Law & Order: LA until the show's conclusion in 2011, and in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She also portrayed Marisol Delko-Caine on CSI: Miami.

In 2014 and 2015, she starred as Detective Jo Martinez in the ABC series Forever.

From 2016 to 2017, she starred in Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders as Special Agent Clara Seger.

In 2019, she began starring as SAC Isobel Castille on FBI, a role she also plays on the spin-off series FBI: Most Wanted.

More information: Instagram-Alana De La Garza

De la Garza was born in Columbus, Ohio, to a Mexican-American father and an Irish-American mother. She was raised in El Paso, Texas.

She won the Miss Photogenic title in the Miss El Paso Teen USA local beauty pageant. She became a special-needs teacher and enrolled at the University of Texas at El Paso, studying physical therapy and social work.

After graduation, she landed some small roles while living in Orlando, Florida, then soon after moved to New York City.

In 2001, she was featured in the music video for Brooks & Dunn's song Ain't Nothing 'bout You. Garza also appeared in the music video All or Nothing released by the boy band O-Town in 2001. She obtained the role of Rosa Santos on the soap opera, All My Children, guest-starring roles in JAG, Charmed, Two and a Half Men, and Las Vegas. She stared as Maria in the short-lived television series The Mountain.

In 2006, she starred in Mr. Fix-It co-starring David Boreanaz. She also guest-starred as an evil Kryptonian (named Aethyr in promotional materials) in the Season 5 premiere episode of Smallville and played the recurring role of Marisol Delko Caine on the CBS television series CSI: Miami. She has twice been featured in the Girls of Maxim online gallery.

In 2006, she joined the cast of NBC's Law & Order during the premiere of Season 17, portraying Assistant District Attorney Connie Rubirosa. Her performance as ADA Rubirosa has been widely praised by critics.

In 2007, she earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actress-Television by the Imagen Foundation Awards.

Following in 2008, she was nominated for an ALMA Award as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Television Series. Later that year, she garnered an Impact Award for Outstanding Performance in a Dramatic Television Series by the National Hispanic Media Coalition.

De la Garza played Assistant District Attorney (later DDA) Rubirosa for the final four seasons of Law & Order, a role she also played on the short-lived spin-off Law & Order: LA (2011).

On January 22, 2014 she guest starred in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Connie Rubirosa. Rubirosa, who had recently departed the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, is now a federal prosecutor, heading up a joint task force on underage sex trafficking. Her guest appearance first aired on January 22, 2014. This is, to date, her final appearance in the franchise.

In July 2011, De la Garza was reported to reprise her role as Marisol Delko Caine, on CSI: Miami's season 10 premiere.

In February 2012, she was cast as a lead in the NBC medical drama pilot Do No Harm. She played Dr. Lena Solis, a neurologist.

In June 2012, De La Garza was added to the cast of Are You Here, the feature film debut of Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner.

In 2014–2015 she co-starred as police detective Jo Martinez in the ABC television series Forever.

In September 2015, she began a recurring role as the new head of Homeland Security on Scorpion. She appeared in Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, starring as the female-lead opposite Gary Sinise.

In 2019 she was cast in season two of FBI as Isobel Castille.

De la Garza married her long-time boyfriend, Michael Roberts, a writer, on May 31, 2008, in Orlando, Orange County, Florida. They have a son and a daughter.

Alana is a distant cousin of TV writer-producer René Balcer, sharing a common relative Juan Cortina, a Mexican folk hero known as the Rio Grande Robin Hood.

More information: Twitter-Alana De La Garza

Jo Martinez is a main character and a detective with the New York Police Department.

Detective Jo Martinez is a New York City native and one of the youngest officers of the New York Police Department to make homicide detective.

She has been working as a police officer for at least ten years. Jo's sharp, no-nonsense instincts and her ability to close difficult cases have given her a tough-as-nails reputation on the force, despite also dealing with the untimely loss of her husband.

Working with Dr. Henry Morgan was initially a challenge for Jo, but over time the investigator has come to appreciate Henry's annoyingly creative approach to solving homicides.

Combined with Jo's quick-fire cop instincts, Henry's deductive talents have not only contributed to a successful partnership, but also to a budding friendship. She's very devoted to Henry, she covers him a lot in front of their boss and never says a thing about his suicidal instincts.

It's probable she has doubts about his immortality as he drops a lot of clues on her and in the Pilot, she indeed saw him jumped off the roof.

Jo is from Harlem. Her father Victor Martinez Jr was a criminal, he went to trial and is serving his time in prison. One can only assume he probably killed someone. Jo wanted to be the opposite of her father.

In Dead Men Tell Long Tales, Jo and Isaac Monroe went out on a date.

In Best foot Forward, Jo clearly demonstrated the fact she developed (romantic) feelings for Henry as she skipped a trip to Paris with Isaac to go back to him.

In Twitter's Q&A, Matt Miller mentioned that Jo was going to find out about Henry's immortality at the end of season 2 and would accept him and their romantic relationship would start from there.

More information: IMDb

There's a part of every woman that wants to be
some wild seductress or superhero.

Alana De La Garza

EDDY MERCKX, THE BEST RIDER IN COMPETITIVE CYCLING

Today, The Grandma has ridden some hours to keep her physical condition. She likes cycling, although she dislikes how bicycles are invading some cities with stupid urban designs that put riders and drivers in danger. We must create better cities, more accessible, green places, and we must fight against pollution but with common sense and good policies.

The Grandma wants to talk about one of the greatest cyclists of all time, Eddy Merckx, the Belgian who is considered the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling, and who was born on a day like today in 1945.

Édouard Louis Joseph, better known as Eddy Merckx (17 June 1945), is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is widely seen as the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling.

His victories include an unequalled eleven Grand Tours (five Tours of France, five Tours of Italy, and a Tour of Spain), all five Monuments, three World Championships, the hour record, every major one-day race other than Paris-Tours, and extensive victories on the track.

Born in Meensel-Kiezegem, Brabant, Belgium, he grew up in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre where his parents ran a grocery store. He played several sports, but found his true passion in cycling.

Merckx got his first bicycle at the age of three or four and competed in his first race in 1961. His first victory came at Petit-Enghien in October 1961.

After winning eighty races as an amateur racer, he turned professional on 29 April 1965 when he signed with Solo-Superia. His first major victory came in the Milan-San Remo a year later, after switching to Peugeot-BP-Michelin.

After the 1967 season, Merckx moved to Faema, and won the Giro d'Italia, his first Grand Tour victory. Four times between 1970 and 1974, Merckx completed a Grand Tour double. His final double also coincided with winning the men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships to make him the first rider to accomplish cycling's Triple Crown.

More information: Eddy Merckx

Merckx broke the hour record in October 1972, extending the record by almost 800 meters.

He acquired the nickname The Cannibal, suggested by the daughter of a teammate upon being told by her father of how Merckx would not let anyone else win.

Merckx achieved 525 victories over his eighteen-year career. He is one of only three riders to have won all five Monuments (Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the Giro di Lombardia) and the only one to have won them all twice or more. The other two are fellow Belgians Roger De Vlaeminck and Rik Van Looy.

Merckx was successful on the road and also on the track, as well as in the large stage races and one-day races. 

He is widely thought to be the greatest and most successful rider in the history of cycling. However, Merckx was caught in three separate doping incidents during his career.

Since Merckx's retirement from the sport on 18 May 1978, he has remained active in the cycling world. He began his own bicycle chain, Eddy Merckx Cycles, in 1980 and its bicycles were used by several professional teams in the 1980s and 1990s.

Merckx coached the Belgian national cycling team for eleven years, stopping in 1996. He helped start and organize the Tour of Qatar from its start in 2002 until its final edition in 2016. He also assisted the Tour of Oman in running, before a disagreement with the organizers led him to step away in 2017.

More information: Cycling Weekly

Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx was born in Meensel-Kiezegem, Brabant, Belgium on 17 June 1945 to Jules Merckx and Jenny Pittomvils.

Merckx was the first-born of the family. In September 1946, the family moved to Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, in Brussels, Belgium, in order to take over a grocery store that had been up for lease. In May 1948, Jenny gave birth to twins: a boy, Michel, and a girl, Micheline. As a child, Eddy was hyperactive and was always playing outside.

Eddy was a competitive child and played several sports, including basketball, boxing, football, and table tennis. He even played lawn tennis for the local junior team.

Merckx claimed he knew he wanted to be a cyclist at the age of four, and that his first memory was a crash on his bike when he was the same age.

Merckx began riding a bike at the age of three or four and would ride to school every day, beginning at age eight.

Merckx would imitate his cycling idol Stan Ockers with his friends when they rode bikes together.

Merckx has been regarded by many as the greatest and most successful cyclist of all time.

He rode well in the Grand Tours and in the one-day classics. He was a very good time trialist and climber. In addition, Merckx showed great ability to race on the track. He was known for a racing style that consisted of attacking constantly, which came to be known as la course en tête.

More information: Cyclist

Ride as much or as little,
or as long or as short as you feel.
But ride.

Eddy Merckx

THE UNIVERSITIES TESTS ACT 1871, RELIGIOUS TESTS OUT

Today, The Grandma has been reading about The Universities Tests Act 1871, an Act that abolished religious Tests at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham and that was established on a day like today in 1871.

The Universities Tests Act 1871 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It abolished religious Tests and allowed Roman Catholics, non-conformists and non-Christians to take up professorships, fellowships, studentships and other lay offices at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham. It also forbade religious tests for any degree (other than a degree in divinity).

The Act built upon earlier acts that had limited religious tests in the universities concerned.

The Oxford University Act 1854 had abolished tests for the degree of BA, but not for higher degrees.

The Cambridge University Act 1856 abolished tests for all degrees in Arts, Law, Music and Medicine, but stated that the degree would not enable the holder to become a member of the senate or hold any Office… which has been heretofore always held by a Member of the United Church of England and Ireland unless they made a declaration that they were bona fide a Member of the Church of England (the latter provisions were abolished by the 1871 Act).

The Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral (the governing body of Durham University at that time) changed the university's regulations in 1865 to remove religious tests on degrees (except in theology).

Passed during the course of William Ewart Gladstone's first ministry, the Act was to obtain support from the non-conformists, since these were a major support group for the Liberal Party.

The direct instigation for this legislation was the widely publicized case of Numa Edward Hartog, the first Jewish Senior Wrangler in the history of Cambridge University, who could not accept the fellowship that would otherwise routinely be offered, because he could not subscribe to the required test on account of his religion. His testimony before the House of Lords helped secure passage of the bill, after the Lords had twice blocked similar legislation in 1869 and 1870.

Numa Hartog would have been the first Jew after the passing of this act to be elected a fellow at the University of Cambridge, but he died of smallpox. The first Jew to be elected a fellow was Samuel Alexander at Lincoln College, University of Oxford in 1882.

More information: Legislation Gov UK

 The more I study religions the more
I am convinced that man never worshipped
anything but himself.

Richard Burton