Though they’re very real, castles are still the stuff of dreams and legends. From the glories of King Arthur in Camelot to the fairy tales of Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and of course Cinderella, a castle always plays a starring role. Then the castles from our legends found homes in Disney parks all over the world.
When on December 12, MV Mutambala, a ferry operating on Lake Tanganyika sank in a storm there was little news coverage. The disaster claimed the lives of up to 150 passengers, mostly women and children. Strong winds and overloading are said to be the cause of the tragedy. It is not uncommon for ships operating on Lake Tanganyika to sink, usually for the same reasons.
Mata Hari spent much of her career falsely claiming that she was raised as an Indian temple dancer. In reality, however, she was born Margaretha Zelle on August 7, 1876, and grew up the daughter of a haberdasher in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden.
In a letter dated October 1866, French composer Georges Bizet (1838 – 1875) went straight to the point of opera: ‘As a musician, I tell you that if you were to suppress adultery, fanaticism, crime, evil, the supernatural, there would no longer be the means for writing one note.’
The expression on the trainee upholsterer’s face darkened as he realised he had been beaten by a rival theatregoer to the last seat in the packed theatre. The son of an upholsterer and waitress, August Kubizek was in love with opera.
In terms of quality, the 1950s was a poor period for West German cinema, still recovering from World War II it was also the time when a number of German actors became known internationally; among them Curt Jürgens, Romy Schneider, Horst Buchholz, Maria Schell, and Hardy Krüger, who has died aged 93.
While a group of ‘artists supported by identity researchers’, argued that Danish museums are overwhelmingly White (to the point that even their walls are symbolically white), the Danish public pushed back at ‘wokeness on steroids’.
The story of the 1956 film The Conqueror is among the most shameful in the history of Hollywood. It is also a lesson for the remaining few who trust their government, legal system and paid scientists to act responsibly with mandated vaccines.
A Portuguese photographer is wowing the internet with his stunning shots of Polish ballerinas. Using the cityscape as a canvas, since 2019 Carlos Alves has been travelling around the country blending street photography with dance.
In a letter dated October 1866, French composer Georges Bizet (1838 – 1875) went straight to the point of opera: ‘As a musician I tell you that if you were to suppress adultery, fanaticism, crime, evil, the supernatural, there would no longer be the means for writing one note.’
Michael Walsh Stories and Books 
Recent Comments