#the prairies are mostly farms and oil country | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

abookishdreamer · 3 months

Text

Character Intro: Pherusa (Kingdom of Ichor)

Nicknames- The Golly Goddess, Bearer of Fruits by the people of Olympius

Mom by her daughters

Age- 37 (immortal)

Location- Arcadia, Olympius

Personality- She's a bubbly goddess with a carefree aura. She's creative, free-spirited, & close to nature. She's a lesbian and is casually dating.

She has the standard abilities of a goddess except shapeshifting. As the goddess of substance & farm estates her other powers/abilities include karpokinesis (fruit manipulation/generation), juice manipulation, limited photokinesis, being able to telekinetically control farming equipment, limited chlorokinesis (as it pertains to hay & grass), and limited atmokinesis.

Pherusa is the mother of the seasonal goddesses- Thallo (goddess of spring & new growth), Auxo (goddess of summer, vegetation, & plants), and Carpo (goddess of autumn & fruits).

She lives in the state of Arcadia in a french style cottage. There's a few acres of farmland along with a LARGE orchard (meant for fruit production). The interior design of the cottage is very romantic and provençal with a mix of vintage and country furniture pieces, a color palette of cream, beige, tawny, pale blue, & pastel yellow, artwork with pastural or natural themes, natural hardwood flooring, and toile de juoy patterns on wallpaper & curtains.

In addition to the farm animals, she has an animal companion- a female griffin named Honey. Honey is Pherusa's usual mode of transportation when traveling great distances, like visiting her daughters in New Olympus or visiting faraway friends. She mostly gets around in her classic 70's style bright orange VW beetle.

She always starts of her mornings with a session of yoga.

Instead of lotion, she moisturizes her skin with coconut oil.

Pherusa loves her "chickadees." She doesn't play favorites and loves her daughters equally. Pherusa not only makes it a priority to spend time as a family, but also individually- whether it's surfing with Auxo, bike riding with Thallo, or going to the farmer's market with Carpo. They also play music together with Pherusa being a featured artist on The Gypsy Belles' bonus track "Prairie Poets" on their album A Vintage Year.

She can play the acoustic guitar, autoharp, & the dobro!

A typical breakfast for her is belgian style whole grain waffles topped with cottage cheese, sauteed apples, maple syrup, and cinnamon sugar along with a fruit salad parfait & scrambled eggs added with sausage, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. She also likes several slices of lightly toasted white bread topped with butter & different kinds of fruit marmalades. From her own cereal brand her favorites are the summer berries flavor, the vanilla spice flakes, the apple cinnamon o's, and the oatmeal peanut butter.

Pherusa keeps her red hair in a neck length lob. She likes the Glory's Crown citrus and herbal musk shampoo & conditioner as well as the apricot oil hair spray.

Instead of perfume, she prefers to use fruit essential oils (behind her ears, inside her wrists, on her ankles, between her bosom, and on the side of her neck). Her favorite essential oils are the pink grapefruit, passionfruit, cherry, & apple.

Pherusa's closet consists of form hugging dresses, wedges, platform sandals, flowy mini skirts, bright colors, bold patterns, high waisted flare pants, and peasant blouses.

A go-to drink for her is her homemade carrot juice. She also likes coconut water, watermelon juice, citrus infused mineral water, iced tea, peach lemonade, ginger ale, pomegranate tea, lychee-passionfruit boba tea, red sangrias, aperol spritzes, orange soda, appletinis, cherry sazeracs, seabreeze cocktails, and champagne. Usuals from The Roasted Bean include a large iced green tea & an olympian sized fruit punch splash.

Pherusa's favorite makeup products to use is the Olmorfia blush powder in "strawberry crush", the plumping lip glaze in "persimmon" (a bold reddish brown), and the Museology UV liquid eyeliner in "electric shock", a bright neon yellow.

Her ultimate guilty pleasure is a large pizza topped with pineapple, yellow peppers, & jalapeños.

Pherusa's primary source of income comes from her cereal brand Golly Grains, the 2nd most popular after Earthly Harvest. Golly Grains' animated commercials and online ads are quite popular as well as its slogan- "A golly way to start your day!" To help out her daughters, she models for their clothing brand Treis Epochés.

From The Bread Box, she likes the chicken salad sandwich along with a watermelon feta salad.

Some of her favorite frozen treats include pineapple coconut ice cream, mango sorbet, and pomegranate sorbet.

In the pantheon Pherusa has a deep friendship with most of the agricultural deities like Demeter (goddess of the harvest & agriculture) and Eunostos & Promylaia (goddesses of the flour mill). Pherusa is the noná to Krysothemis, the daughter of Karmanor (demi-god of the harvest). Her best friend is his sister Karme (demi-goddess of the harvest). Pherusa loves traveling to Eleusis to see her, looking forward to her delicious corn pudding! She even views Eubouleus (god of the swine & ploughing) as a father figure. Pherusa is also friends with Kéfi (goddess of mirth), Apheleia (goddess of simplicity), Thilasmós (goddess of nursing), Anatole (goddess of sunrise), Damia (goddess of naturalness), Elais (goddess of oil), Nymphe (goddess of self-care), Rhapso (goddess of sewing), Hestia (goddess of the hearth), Philotes (goddess of sex, friendship, & affection), Pan (god of the wild, satyrs, shepherds, & rustic music), Livádi (goddess of meadows), Eváeros (goddess of air & the zodiacs), and Záchari (god of confectionery).

She loves snacking on plaintain chips.

Her and Thilasmós often bond over about the attention and comments they get due to their ample chests.

Pherusa went to New Olympus Fashion Week for the first time last year when Rhapso got her & Eváeros exclusive front-row tickets.

She appeared once in a nude spread for Zeus' mens' magazine. Her photoshoot "broke the internet" for a few minutes when the images made its way on Fatestagram.

Some of her favorite desserts are Záchari's honeyed fig crostatas (dusted on top with an extra helping of powdered sugar), Eváeros' ambrosia salad, Karme's peach bourbon upside-down bundt cake, and the orange lemon pound cake from Hollyhock's Bakery.

As for her love life, Pherusa is enjoying her singledom and meeting new people. Her last serious relationship was with an anthousai named Amaryllis. Pherusa has a few dating apps on her smartphone- also having gone out on more than one date with a maenad named Rhiannon. A couple of months ago Pherusa flew to Cyprus to hang out with Philotes. They had fun at a nightclub, got a bit tipsy, and ended up making out on the dancefloor. Things got steamier when Philotes went down on her in the nightclub's bathroom. Days later, Philotes reached out to her to "clear the air" with them admitting their attraction to each other. Pherusa was taken aback when Philotes offered up the idea to sleep with each other while her husband Priapus (god of fertility, vegetable gardens, livestock, sexuality, & masculinity) watches, without participating. She hasn't given her an answer yet.

Pherusa has a growing collection of Diamond Ave. fruit themed jeweled clutches. She herself was able to get the orange slice one (which costs 4,000 drachmas) while Karme got her the peach shaped one. As a summer solstice gift last year, Rhapso got her the pineapple shaped one!

In her free time she enjoys sunbathing, gardening, swimming, cooking, baking, bike riding, reading, shopping, spending time with her daughters, golf, fishing, and spending time with her friends.

Her favorite meals include chilled peach soup with fresh goat cheese, roasted lamb chops with a cherry glaze, and coconut chicken curry with white rice.

"If you eat today, thank a farmer."

#my oc #my character #oc character #my oc character #oc intro #character intro #oc introduction #character introduction #modern greek gods #modern greek mythology #greek myth retellings #greek goddess #greek goddesses #greek mythology #greek pantheon

1 note · View note

dritaseries · 2 years

Text

Field of dreams

#Field of dreams movie#

#Field of dreams tv#

11, 1956, the Flying Cloud Drive-in Theater was open for business. Based on that support, Eden Prairie’s council reconsidered and gave its approval. But with Pappy Grill on his side, Otto rounded up public support from the mayors of several nearby communities where other drive-in theaters were operating. Early in 1956, the Eden Prairie City Council turned Otto down. Otto and Pappy came to terms for Otto to buy 15 acres overlooking the Minnesota River bluffs along Flying Cloud Drive.īut once again, city hall objected. “Timing is everything,” they say, and Otto’s timing was pretty good. “Pappy Grill”), a farmer and local businessman looking to sell one of his cornfields. Like Bloomington, Eden Prairie was more farms than a city, but that, too, was changing.įor starters, Eden Prairie had its own airport. Looking west, he saw the cornfields of Eden Prairie. The City of Bloomington decided that Otto’s plans didn’t fit with theirs his request for a permit was turned down. The switch from farmland to houses and shops in Bloomington was accelerating, and Otto needed to move quickly.īut then came a bump in the road to opportunity. Seeing the opportunity, Otto looked to open a drive-in theater, but he needed land to build one.

#Field of dreams movie#

For parents with young kids looking for fun on a summer evening, watching a movie from one’s car seemed the perfect answer.

#Field of dreams tv#

It was a success, and Otto was looking to add to it.ĭrive-in movie theaters were up and coming after WWII - getting their start in 1915 in New Mexico when summers get really hot! Not everyone had a TV yet (not with living color, anyway), and even fewer had air conditioning. Drive-in movie theaters are a hot new trendįorsaking his secure letter carrier job, Otto “bet the farm” and, in 1950, built the 430-seat Oxboro Movie Theater at 97th Street and Lyndale Avenue. It is now the location of a waste facility operated by Republic Services. An aerial photo of the drive-in theater’s grounds at 9813 Flying Cloud Drive, directly south of Flying Cloud Airport. With both Otto and the country entering their (respective) 50s, Otto saw opportunity once again. But with WWII in the rearview mirror and the dawning of the “baby boom,” Otto could see the cars coming, and with them, young families, new houses, shopping centers, restaurants and movie theaters. Postal Service in the Bloomington and Richfield area.Īt the time, that area was officially considered “rural” - as in mostly cornfields. Seeking more stability, he quit to become a letter carrier for the U.S. However, economic forces from the Great Depression and the outbreak of World War II were unkind to businesses like Otto’s. Seeing opportunity, Otto and a partner went for it in 1936 together, they opened the East Side Garage, a neighborhood service station in Northeast Minneapolis. More and more families owned a car, and more and more street corners were needed to fill up the gas tank and get an oil change. After his service in World War I, he found steady work with the Soo Line Railroad and then with Minneapolis Schools.īut the automobile was changing life in Minneapolis, and Otto could see it. Born to a German immigrant couple at the dawn of the 20th Century, Kobs grew up in Northeast Minneapolis.

#Field of dreams

0 notes

lovelilijazunde · 4 years

Text

60 follower special

well well well, somehow i went a whole day without registering that I hit 60 followers, and then 61, and thusly should celebrate for it!

I decided to give you: a country I created! There is other stuff for it too, but I didn’t get images of them :(

Warning: it’s long

Enjoy!

FACTS:

Create-A-Country

Note: all English spellings of the places and names have been implemented for the ease of the reader. We fully understand that Americans find it difficult to understand our written language, so we have translated into English as best we could.

Uzplauxvil (oose-PLOW-ville). The citizens are called Uzplauv. It was based off a mixture of the Latvian word for “flourishing”, uzplaukums, and the French word for town, “ville” because some of the first settlers of this area were French and Latvian, as well as English, Scandinavian, and German. The pronunciation is French-based.

Founded in 1790 on what is now the Canada/Minnesota border, it replaces the state of Minnesota and most of Ontario, as well as Wisconsin, half each of Illinois and Indiana, and shavings of Manitoba. It contains all five Great Lakes and the Headwaters of the Mississippi. North to South, it stretches from a point equal to the tip of Kentucky to Hudson Bay. East to West, it stretches from the Easternmost edge of Manitoba to the Western border of Quebec.

Uzplauxvil is landlocked, though there are many lakes contained inside of it, and it adjoins Hudson Bay. It contains a boreal shield in the North, with the Great Lakes-Lawrence forest region in the center, as well as prairie in the Southwest, coniferous forest in the Mideast, tallgrass aspen parkland in the Midwest, and deciduous forest in the Southeast. At the very Northmost stretch, there is a section of Hudson Plain. There are no mountains, only forests and plains.

The weather is cold and snowy in the winter, and warm in the summer. It gets colder the further north you go, and rainier the further East you go. It also rains a lot near the larger bodies of water. Those areas are also prone to thick fog in the fall and spring, as well as early mornings in the summer.

Most people in the Minnesosk region live around lakes, since there are so many of them there. People in Wixing, Bayside, and Dallirt tend to gravitate towards the central Great Lakes, just as Ryokin and Shlavto people tend to gravitate towards Hudson Bay. And of course, in all districts the people also center around the capitals of each district. Other than that, the population is pretty evenly distributed, with plenty of farm settlements and old logging settlements that turned into towns and cities spread across the districts.

In Uzplauxvil, there is a wide variety of work done, but a lot of it is centered around healthy logging and mining processes, as well as a booming trade in fishing. Since Uzplauxvil has so many lakes, and so many of them large, even though they are a landlocked country they still are a lead in quality fishing industry. Uzpluaxvil is very nature-based, and though this is a product mostly of the main religion, Quatrysm, it is truly a part of everyday life in Uzplauxvil. As a result of this, Uzplauxvil is regarded as the most eco-friendly developed country. They revolutionized hydroelectric power, and found a healthy substitute for coal and oil to fuel their wonderful system of elevated train tracks. They are amazingly quiet, as to disturb as little wildlife as possible. Uzplauvs have made many environmental-protection laws as a result of their belief that all creatures are equally important. Uzplauxvil has only one language. It is unique in the way that it is written. To the ear, they are speaking English, perhaps with a slight French accent in the North and West areas. But, written down, it is a mystifying alphabet of 37 letters. However, it a phonetic alphabet, with each letter having a specific sound, so it is simpler in that manner. Uzplauxvil is also unique in their numerical system, with completely different symbols than the traditional. Thus, the signs are completely indecipherable to someone who has not learned the language, and it would seem even more confusing that the inhabitants do not speak in gibberish, and instead in perfectly normal-sounding English. The alphabet is easy enough to learn. The numerical system is quite a bit harder, especially if you start out as a non-Uzplauv. There are definitely some challenges to living in Uzplauv, mostly concerning the nature-based society. Lots of people think that Uzpluaxvil should focus less on the environment and more on technology. Unfortunately, this is in opposition to their eco-friendly approach to life and religion, so thankfully this is not a generally popular idea.

There is one major religion in Uzplauxvil, even though there is freedom of religion. Since it is the religion practiced by the royal family and most government officials, is is naturally the most popular and widespread. The major religion is called Quatrysm, with the practitioners called Quatrysts. It is unique to Uzplauxvil, and is the worship of four goddesses, the Quatrys: the goddess of animals, Nkumn; the goddess of families, Calmangh; the goddess of weather, Shavook; and the goddess of plants (such as harvest or lumber), Korytir. They make up the major four aspects of life. There is also a host of smaller gods and goddesses who serve the Quatrys. They are the gods and goddesses of more everyday things such as apple trees, blacksmithing, and clouds. This belief system influences the people to be more considerate towards nature and the world around us. It has also affected our modern technology, limiting the use of pollutant-creating transport systems and factories. There are four smaller important groups: the such as the Arts: gods and goddesses of the theater, music, writing, and tactile art. The religion has no food restrictions, but you must say a blessing over every meal you are presented with, because something had to die to gift you with the bounty. Many Quatrysts are vegetarians or vegans as a result of this, and, like Europe, they eat far less meats than vegetables as opposed to the U.S.A.

The other religions include the beliefs of the Anishinaabe and Dakota native americans who originally lived in the area, as well as different sects of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.

My country is governed by a Queen, a Council, and a Cabinet.

The Council is made up of elected overall heads of each district. Their job is to address issues in the Queendom and provide laws and solutions to be approved by the Queen. They focus on making sure the needs of each district are met.

The Queen position is hereditary, with the former Queen handpicking the most worthy of her female relatives as the new Queen. The qualities that a good Queen possesses must include a sense of justice, compassion, wisdom, a cool head under stress, common sense, and a sense of equality. She may choose any relative younger than her, including sisters (Marquess), aunts (Baroness), cousins (Duchess), nieces (Earless), daughters (Princess), granddaughters (Queenling), and grandnieces (Lady). These positions pre-Queen are mostly title only. They still have to work to put themselves in positions of power and to become landowners. This is to create a sense of humility and equality with the common people, and to create a system where anyone can advance.

It is possible that if a suitable female candidate cannot be found, that a male would ascend the throne, but it has only happened once, after the reign of Queen Judith the Progressive in 1890. There were fewer girls born into the royal family at this time, and most of them were spoiled and deceitful. Thus, faced with limited female options, Queen Judith appointed her nephew, Earl William, to the throne. He became known as King William the Just, and was a wise and fair ruler.

Any candidate must have passed the Maturity Test before she can ascend the throne, and often she takes it before beginning her training.

Common people are appointed to the Cabinet and Council, and the idea is that any future Queen should rule for the people, not the power and politics. Before becoming the Queen, the Queen Candidate must undergo vigorous training and tutoring by the Queen and the Queen’s advisors. She must be able to run a country as soon as she is crowned, so this training process takes years. Knowing this, the Queen usually begins to train a candidate as soon as possible. If the Queen dies without having handed over her throne, the paperwork would be horrendous, and the Cabinet and Council would have far more than their fair share of work. In the case of an unstable or unfit Queen, the Council and Cabinet will vote to impeach her. The Queen can pose or veto laws, and has the final say in any and all High Court cases, though she is reigned in by the judge and jury.

The Queen may marry whomever she wishes to, though it is traditional to marry an Uzplauv.

The Cabinet is appointed by the Queen and approved by the Council. The Cabinet is made up of the heads of particular parts of the government such as Treasurer, Strategist, Armorer, Judge, Cook, etc., each of them representing their entire profession as well as leading them.

Since Uzplauxvil is split up into several districts, there are smaller Cabinets and Councils within each district. In each district, the council members are made up of the Heads of each town, with the cabinet members being the same positions as the Cabinet members, just at a local level, and deferring to the Cabinet members.

There are no political parties in Uzplauxvil. Every district is focused inwards, so that is as close as they come. This is based on the Uzplauv government looking at what happens to countries with political parties, and strongly discouraging that type of behavior there.

ALPHABET AND NUMERICAL SYSTEM:

NATIONAL ANTHEM:

#follower celebration #60 follower celebration #uzplauxvil #idk if you could tell but there was hecka gay in that government #also i made the idea for this last year so some of it might be outdated-y #long post

1 note · View note

allbeendonebefore · 7 years

Note

What are your favourite head/canon things about Alberta

[cracks knuckles] [stretches fingers]

so i’ll just start with a disclaimer - i use sherry’s/iamp/whatever alberta and i realize ive been getting a lot of followers who are part of rp groups and whatever or people who might be interested in adding some depth to their own ocs so feel free to like… think about these things if you want if you’re thinking of doing an alberta oc?? I guess

so since that mysterious slash implies what are my fave canonical things about AB too I’ll say that there isn’t much- I go with what sherry says on canon rather than IAMP and PC because while there are a lot of things I had influence over in both projos there are a lot of things I would have done differently so we’ll start with the bio

Canon Stuff

literally all the things are accurate sooo its hard lol. Obviously the political situation has changed and the economic situation is its usual rollercoaster (WELL… but thats another time). I gotta say that the ‘alberta beef is the best thing that’s ever happened to me’ is really hitting home right now because i didnt realize how SPOILED i was by AAA beef until I got to Ontario ToT (ngl the pork here is super good and saves me money but the BEEF aAAA)

also my edmonton bias shines through at ‘he hates a part of himself called calgary’ thats by far my second fave B)))

Headcanon Stuff

ok where to start I will try to not make this an essay and i can elaborate more if you’re curious

- a lot of people will wonder about whether a province lives in the capital or the biggest city etc. and I have to say in Bertie’s case it is NEITHER. He’d never willingly live in (d)E(a)dmonton (sorry ed ilu) because Ed represents Government which he Hates and while he would spend a fair bit of time in Calgary he gets claustrophobic/exhausted - he still in my mind represents more of the rural bits of the province than the cities. I think he might move around a little, but he probably lives on a ranch between both cities but within sight of the mountains. I’m sure he has a place to stay in each city, but he’s a country boy at heart and appreciates his space, peace and quiet.

- Particularly space because Where else is he going to keep his 3 trucks + 2 ATVs + horses + 100000 cows + boat + canoe + kayak + all his camping junk + motorbikes + dirtbikes + tractor + other junk that people leave at his place

- that said his ‘birthplace’ is the southern ‘half’ of the province so he tends to kind of hover around there more- as i said he owns a ranch rather than a farm because the Quality Ranch Land is in the south and the Good Farm Land is in the north (and being eaten up by ugly houses ugh)

- still I think he spends a fair amount of time working up north in the Fort Mac area because Why Not make All the money. Even if you’re a rancher boy in the middle of nowhere, everyone in this province has ties to the oil industry one way or another. It wouldn’t make sense for him NOT to work in Oil and Gas because it’s literally the only job in the province lmao.

- His driving playlist consists of: Dean Brody, Corb Lund, Keith Urban, Ian Tyson, and the obligatory Nickelback which he listens to Un-ironically but also to piss off/drown out passengers when they’re annoying him

- He’s easily annoyed. By Everything. And Everyone. He’s the current national scapegoat and he takes it Extremely Personally depending on the context but also he has a relatively affectionate relationship with everyone and usually expresses his affection by pointed jabs.

- like he literally gets along with everyone on a personal level and not just because he buys them drinks- his worst relationships are probably with BC and Ontario and that’s just because he lives to irritate them and they respond with an appropriate amount of salt. He still doesnt mind hanging out with them and bc/ab/on/qc is an unstoppable team. He just gets extremely sensitive when anyone asks to borrow money from him and will give you an earful of ‘i work SO HARD for this money to put FOOD on YOUR TaBLe’

- generally really tight fisted with money………. only when other people are looking. he makes a big deal about how little he spends on essential services and you just look at him like ‘so you’re saying you have the money to get all this crap for this rodeo coming up but you dont have the money to take yourself to the hospital after’ and hes like [coughs up blood anime style] ‘im ok i have whiskey and benadryl at home’ [adjusts his diamond studded hat]

- really big on loyalty and straightforward conversations and has NO patience for any hypocrisy or doublespeak no matter how small. The slightest of things can send him reeling with Betrayal. Also this makes him either tight lipped or TMI, there is no in between.

- like literally reeling he’s very top heavy and you could blow him over with a sneeze, he’s all bark and only some bite. When he’s good he’s Real Good but when he’s bad he’s like a foot in the grave bad

- he’s the baby of the prairie bros but also the one with the brains- and i don’t mean in an academic sense i mean in the ‘so crazy it just might work’ sense.

- literally he’s an idiot he doesnt understand how equalization payments work no matter how many times you explain it to him. He doesn’t understand a lot of things re: the economy but he never shuts up about them.

- the easiest way to piss him off is to threaten his autonomy in any way, he will stop whatever he’s doing to put a boot up yer ass if you Dare suggest something like ‘why don’t you let ontario/canada take care of that for you’ even if he knows the way he’s doing something is garbage he will go out of his way to keep doing it because its ‘my way or the highway’.

- ‘why do you have all those guns’ ‘oh you know hunting deer and stuff’ [really its because he’s terrified a rat is going to sneak into his barn or something] [but he does actually hunt] [and he’s the type of guy to have the ‘trespassers will be shot’ signs]

- I haven’t figured out WHAT truck he drives yet but i am PROUD OF HIM for no longer putting truck nuts on it, THANK GOD that went out of fashion. (That said he does not have the stacks- his truck is lifted and Shiny and also has a handful of Alberta Strong decals/stickers.) Newf probably gave him a sticker of “The Rock” or a nfld flag and he Loves it. On a scale of most to least obnoxious trucks its Mac - Bert - Cal - Ed. It’s probably a white truck.

- i should think about things he loves more, this headcanon list is mostly things that make him angry oops xDD he loves animals a lot, and not just to eat i swear. The bigger and the more horns the better.

- he really loves driving a lot, it’s like a big part of his independence factor. I think sometimes he will just drive aimlessly late at night/early morning when it’s not busy and just go and find somewhere to look at the sky.

- he looooves digging up fossils in his spare time, or just interesting rocks in general. If you say the words animatronic dinosaur he is ALREADY THERE

- he watches a lot of sci fi and really loves star trek. So Much. he’s totally attempted mowing crop circles in his lawn/fields probably multiple times. he’s still waiting for the ufos to come land. Also has a thing for spooky places and cryptids and those weird inexplicable twilight-zone like events that only happen on road trips. did i mention the Giant Roadside Attractions.

- he has this persona of being a traditional/small-and-big-c conservative but he’s actually really into innovation and trying new things, meeting new people, etc. He interacts with so many different people lately that he’s trying to take the time to really re-evaluate himself and move away from the Klein-era “Severely Normal People” image because it doesn’t reflect him. The issue is he’s more likely to vote on economy rather than social issues so his actual progressiveness gets hidden by lack of political representation (and lets be honest he has Always hated politics). He’s got a lot of crap to sort through but he catches people who underestimate him off guard.

- was probably raised methodist/protestant/whatever but is mostly pretty secular, but he has some definite strong holdovers that make him uncomfortable about certain subjects and his first reaction to being uncomfortable is always anger.

- completely oblivious to being hit on or something or really gay situations around him but is that type of person who is like [cant walk too close to another dude because what if it looks gay bro].

- his fave cow is named buttercup

- he has definitely woken up after a night out with friends naked and alone duct taped to an air mattress and floating in the middle of a lake. true story.

- he will macgyver his way out of any situation. doesn’t mind getting down and dirty in the mud when it’s necessary. exactly the type of person to shove his hands in bitumen and squish it around or to pick up a rock and lick it or to shove a thermometer up a cow. When he gets squeamish he does his best to be bullheaded and pretend like Nothing is Wrong until he faints.

- his french is crap but he Tries- the french he knows is backwater northern AB french which he’s too shy to bring up so he feigns ignorance. His german is good and his ukrainian is passable, his spanish is fine, he’s trying to get the hang of some other languages but doesn’t tell anyone he’s practicing because he hates getting made fun of xD

- the hat and boots are Absolutely to make him look taller than he actually is. He doesn’t wear inserts but he does make sure the sole/heel on any boot he buys is Thick. Smol insecure man with a Big hat. Will spend 300 bucks on shoes, but he actually does ride/work so its an investment for him.

- heads to Arizona/Mexico in the winter when he’s not working, otherwise Banff/Jasper are his ‘budget’ vacations lol.

i love this stupid province pls ask if you have any more questions because i love to talk and i feel like i’ve said too much already lol

#pc: alberta #hapo rambles #projectcanada #iamp: alberta #iamp #iammatthewian #Anonymous #pc headcanon

11 notes · View notes

kristablogs · 4 years

Text

Leatherworking tips from a modern-day cowgirl

Why have a boring, flat leather belt when you can have one that looks like weathered wood? (Courtesy of Aprille Tomilinson/)

The iconic American cowboy’s style invokes a feeling of ruggedness and free spirit, so it’s no surprise the functional fashion of the wild, wild West is once again trendy in mainstream fashion. Distressed boot-cut jeans, a cowboy hat, and a pair high-end boots make wearers feel like they’re ready to saddle up and work on a ranch—even if they’ve never ridden a horse or touched a cow. Hand-carved handbags and custom-tooled belts are popular accessories for those who long for a day in the saddle, but they’re also part of the everyday attire for working cowboys and competitive riders like myself who like to bring a bit of the frontier into the corporate office space.

But mass-produced leather products aren’t the same as those handcrafted by an artisan. They’ve got a similar look and feel, but often aren’t made with the same high-quality leather and don’t offer the personalization that defines artisan work. So, when it’s time for me to order a new belt or gear for my horse, I go to a skilled leatherworker.

Aprille Tomlinson is exactly that. And as a trained artist who taught herself the craft after buying a horse, she knows the appeal of teaching oneself a new trade. For anyone considering a foray into leatherworking, she has some wisdom to offer.

Home on the range

Tall and thin with a neat blonde braid that hangs down to her waist, Tomlinson looks like she belongs on a ranch out west—especially when she’s riding her golden palomino. Her favorite outfit is a chocolate-colored felt cowboy hat, a long-sleeved purple button-down shirt with pearl snaps and a western yoke adorning her shoulders. Chocolate-colored leg coverings with ivory accents are her favorite piece of cowgirl gear.

Known as chinks, these protect a rider’s legs from brush and bramble, the weather, and a cow’s pointy horns. They’re a shorter variation of chaps that end mid-calf on most riders and are believed to have evolved from the Spanish vaquero leg covering called armitas. These are her favorite because she made them herself.

Tomlinson fits the part of a working cowgirl, but she wasn’t raised on the open prairie; she was born in West Sand Lake, New York—a town with fewer than 3,000 residents that’s about 40 minutes north of Albany, the state capital. She lives in nearby East Nassau on a 12-acre farm, large enough for a few horses.

An elementary school art teacher by day, Tomlinson earned a bachelor’s degree in art education and a master’s in painting and drawing. About five years ago, she was shopping for new horse gear, called tack, and found herself admiring the decorative carvings on the leather.

“I remember thinking: ‘Why can’t I make this myself?’” she says. “My parents are creative and always building things just by looking at a finished piece. It was just a way of life for me and with my art background, I thought, ‘Why not?’”

Leatherworking: the basics

Her workshop is in a spare bedroom at the back of her 1879 farm house, with various work stations set up around the perimeter of the room. There’s one table for dye work and painting, and one oversized wooden desk topped with a granite slab for drawing, carving, and stamping. A long table covered by a rubber mat fills one wall and serves as the cutting and assembly area. An industrial sewing machine sits in one corner and a large rack that nearly fills one wall of the room stores rolls of leather. She’s also created a staging area near her worktable for photographing her work.

But before you go on a shopping spree to fill a room with tools and materials for leatherworking, Tomlinson says it’s important to understand a few basics of the trade:

Make sure your work area is well-lit. The detail and crispness of the carving is what makes a difference in the final quality and working in a dim area makes it hard to make fine cuts.

Start with an inexpensive kit. Well-made tools are expensive. They are worth the investment as you become more skilled, but starting with a cheap kit will give you a chance to learn how to use the tools.

Set up a workspace with a surface that won’t damage your tools when you cut through the leather. Tomlinson uses <a href="https://ift.tt/32sIz0U" target=_blank>a self-healing cutting mat</a> to protect her blades when cutting leather to size. When tooling, she sets a granite slab on top of the work bench for a solid surface to pound against. A plastic kitchen-style cutting board is best for punching holes.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t have experience with drawing or painting—you can buy ready-made patterns online.

Take your time. Mistakes happen when you rush, and there’s no eraser or undo option.

Leatherworking supplies

Tomlinson says there are eight tools every aspiring leatherworker needs to start:

Utility knife with an interchangeable blade

You’ll use one of these to cut smaller pieces of leather off a hide or to round corners. They’re ideal for leather about 1/16th of an inch thick—5 ounces in leatherworking terms—or less. Leather measurements describe the material’s thickness, and Tomlinson says 1 ounce is equal to about 1/64th of an inch. Other countries measure in millimeters instead of ounces.

Round knife

Also called a head knife, these are used to cut out shapes or trim off pieces of leather.

Swivel knife

Leatherworkers use these to carve designs into leather. Tomilinson says this type of knife tends to feel quite awkward until you get the hang of it. Using one a skill that relies on muscle memory, so you’ll have to train your hand through repetitive work. “Start just using leather scraps and practice creating curved cuts and following lines until you’re comfortable using it,” she says.

Beveler

Simply put, these are used to enhance the edges of a design.

Tomlinson uses a maul to tap the end of a metal stamping tool. Both are pieces of equipment she says every leatherworker should have. (Courtesy of Aprille Tomlinson/)

Maul

Use this tool to tap the top of a beveler or a stamping tool to make impressions in the leather. Mauls come in different weights, ranging from 6 ounces up to 5 pounds, so it’s important to find one you like. Tomlinson prefers a 16-ounce��maul and says anything heavier quickly tires her arm. Some people use mallets, but she feels she has more control with a maul.

Mallet

These are made out of rawhide or plastic, and Tomlinson uses one to punch holes and set rivets.

A set of stamps

When hammered into wet leather, these three-dimensional metal blocks leave an impression in the form of either a letter or a geometric design.

An awl and thread

Together, you’ll use these to stitch two pieces of leather together or to add decorative details.

Material selection

Cow hides are a leatherworker’s canvas. Learning the difference between leather types takes a lot of research, and Tomlinson says the project she’s working on dictates which leather she uses. For beginners, she recommends imported leathers, as they’re inexpensive and good to practice on.

Tomlinson mostly uses American vegetable tan leathers for her custom orders, especially when making horse gear, because it needs to be durable. This type of leather is heavy, stiff, and comes in a natural tan color that leatherworkers can dye to their desired hue. She doesn’t have a tannery nearby so she buys it online by the square foot.

Regardless of the brand, leathers are of varying quality, Tomlinson says. All hides are ranked Grade A, B or C, depending on how damaged they are and how many defects are in the most usable (prime) areas or sections most likely to be trimmed off (non-prime). “I’ve found that I’m able to use Grade B for most of my projects and they are a bit more reasonably priced. You can definitely feel the difference in quality when you get to C leather,” she says.

If you’re looking for softer, more flexible leathers that come pre-dyed in a range of colors, you may want to check out the oil tan and glove tan varieties.

Getting to work

Deciding on a design is the first step to any leatherworking project. When Tomlinson makes an item for a client, she first asks if they have a design in mind. Some prefer a traditional leather pattern such as an oak leaf, acorn, or flowers. Others choose something more personal. Once she has a direction, she draws the design on tracing paper. Wax paper works, too.

“When I first start to draw a design, I always start with the flower and build my vine-type lines off that,” she says. “There is a certain flow that needs to be achieved when designing a pattern and that flow needs to be established ahead of time so you know which way each petal should bend, and which direction each vine should travel.”

Aprille Tomlinson on horseback. (Kelsey Morgan Photography/)

Next, she wets both sides of the leather—a process called casing. If the hide is too wet or too dry, it is difficult to get a good, clean, deep cut. To get the perfect moisture content, Tomlinson uses a spray bottle. You could also use a sponge or dip the hide in water and then let it sit.

“When the natural color starts to come back into the leather, that’s usually about the ideal moisture level you are looking for,” she says.

Once the leather is wet, she transfers the design to it by laying transfer paper with the pattern over the wet leather and tracing the lines with a stylus-type tool. The stylus imprints the design into the wet leather, giving her an outline to carve.

“A drawing can be transferred to leather in a number of different ways,” she says. “If you feel comfortable enough, you can just draw directly on the leather with pencil because it erases quite easily.”

The carving process begins with the swivel knife. Tomlinson tries to go about half the thickness of the leather. The deeper you cut, the more dimension you’ll get in your carving, but you obviously don’t want to cut all the way through the hide.

After she’s finished with the main design, she uses the beveler to add depth and dimension. Holding the beveler in her off-hand, she angles the widest part of the edge where she wants to add shading and taps the tool with a maul. Depending on the project, she might also use a stamping tool to add texture.

“Decorative cuts are like the artist’s signature. Every leatherworker develops their own set and style of decorative cuts, and they are added after all the other carving and is done,” she says. “In general, these marks are shallower than the cuts that are being beveled.”

The finishing touches

For Tomlinson, leathermaking is functional art. Each completed piece is worn—either by horse, human, or dog—rather than hung on a wall for display. Beyond the carving and the stamping, she adds her own flair by using an antique gel or acrylic paints to create accents.

“I like to experiment,” she says. “I once carved a mermaid and watered down some acrylic paint to color her hair and tail.”

Antique gel is a popular finish among leatherworkers. It’s a dark brown goo that gets wiped over a carved design, filling in crevices, creating contrast, and giving the carving a 3D look.

“There are so many items that we use on a daily basis that either already are or could be made from leather,” she says. “I have made sandals, rifle scabbards, belts, chaps, and hand bags. My favorite is when I see my work in action… especially when I am at a horse show and see someone ride by in a pair of chaps I made — it’s exciting.”

0 notes

scootoaster · 4 years

Text

Leatherworking tips from a modern-day cowgirl

Why have a boring, flat leather belt when you can have one that looks like weathered wood? (Courtesy of Aprille Tomilinson/)

Home on the range

Leatherworking: the basics

But before you go on a shopping spree to fill a room with tools and materials for leatherworking, Tomlinson says it’s important to understand a few basics of the trade:

Make sure your work area is well-lit. The detail and crispness of the carving is what makes a difference in the final quality and working in a dim area makes it hard to make fine cuts.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t have experience with drawing or painting—you can buy ready-made patterns online.

Take your time. Mistakes happen when you rush, and there’s no eraser or undo option.

Leatherworking supplies

Tomlinson says there are eight tools every aspiring leatherworker needs to start:

Utility knife with an interchangeable blade

Round knife

Also called a head knife, these are used to cut out shapes or trim off pieces of leather.

Swivel knife

Beveler

Simply put, these are used to enhance the edges of a design.

Tomlinson uses a maul to tap the end of a metal stamping tool. Both are pieces of equipment she says every leatherworker should have. (Courtesy of Aprille Tomlinson/)

Maul

Use this tool to tap the top of a beveler or a stamping tool to make impressions in the leather. Mauls come in different weights, ranging from 6 ounces up to 5 pounds, so it’s important to find one you like. Tomlinson prefers a 16-ounce maul and says anything heavier quickly tires her arm. Some people use mallets, but she feels she has more control with a maul.

Mallet

These are made out of rawhide or plastic, and Tomlinson uses one to punch holes and set rivets.

A set of stamps

When hammered into wet leather, these three-dimensional metal blocks leave an impression in the form of either a letter or a geometric design.

An awl and thread

Together, you’ll use these to stitch two pieces of leather together or to add decorative details.

Material selection

If you’re looking for softer, more flexible leathers that come pre-dyed in a range of colors, you may want to check out the oil tan and glove tan varieties.

Getting to work

Aprille Tomlinson on horseback. (Kelsey Morgan Photography/)

“When the natural color starts to come back into the leather, that’s usually about the ideal moisture level you are looking for,” she says.

The finishing touches

“I like to experiment,” she says. “I once carved a mermaid and watered down some acrylic paint to color her hair and tail.”

Antique gel is a popular finish among leatherworkers. It’s a dark brown goo that gets wiped over a carved design, filling in crevices, creating contrast, and giving the carving a 3D look.

0 notes

melindarowens · 7 years

Text

Virgil: On This Memorial Day, Breitbart Readers Remember and Look to the Future

I. Memorializing the Greatest Generation

Memorial Day is the day in which we remember, with solemn gratitude, all those who gave their lives in military service to our country. Elsewhere here at Breitbart News, others have recollected the fallen; as Abraham Lincoln said in eulogizing those who died at Gettysburg in 1863, “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”

Interestingly, Memorial Day was once known as Decoration Day. After all, it was, and is, the virtuous custom to decorate the graves of the war-dead. And in the name “Decoration Day,” we see something important for the sake of our civic life: the ability of each patriot to offer appropriate honors in his or her own way. That is, with flowers, cards, notes, or perhaps a bit of memorabilia.

Today, such personalized displays of devotion are particularly common at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Mall in Washington, DC. Why? Most likely, because that war is relatively recent; plenty of people alive now still feel a close connection to Vietnam-era warriors.

Yet the passing of the years has meant that other American wars are rapidly receding from our personal memory. For instance, we might point to World War II. During that conflict, from 1941 to 1945, the population of the US was about 133 million. And yet in 2010, less than 5.5 million Americans were over the age of 85; that is, born in 1925 or earlier. Which is to say, the number of Americans today who could have had any adult participation in the war is small—and rapidly getting smaller, as old age takes its toll.

Yes, it’s painful to think that all the heroism of that era is no longer with us, at least not in a personal way. To be sure, there are many museum displays, history books, movies, and TV shows about World War II. And yet still, there’s nothing like the power of a personal reminiscence, as anyone who has ever sat at the knee of a revered elder knows full well. It will indeed, be a sad moment when the last voice from that era is stilled. So the least that each of can do is help to make sure that every one of those vital voices is archived in some form.

Moreover, perhaps on this Memorial Day we can recall more of the voices from World War II, reaching beyond the ranks of the heroes who died in uniform. That is, for the sake of the enlarging the historical record, we can recollect some of the memories about those who served, too, on the homefront, namely, in war production. If their personal risk and sacrifices were less than those who fought in battle, their contributions were nonetheless enormous: As Virgil has argued many times, America’s greatest comparative edge in World War II was its industrial production.

For instance, in a March 17 piece, “Donald Trump, Rosie the Riveter, and the Revival of American Economic Nationalism,” Virgil took note of President Trump’s speech, two days earlier, recalling the B-24 plant at Willow Run, Michigan. That was the plant that built 9,000 bombers that we used to flatten enemy targets.

The B-24 assembly line, 1943, Willow Run Plant. (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

A B-24 flying over a burning oil refinery at Ploesti, Rumania, during Operation Tidal Wave, August 1, 1943. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

And that piece brought forth an outpouring of WW2 memories from Breitbart readers, many of them recording what they had heard, over the years, from fathers, mothers, and other loved ones who lived, worked, and fought in that era. Virgil sifted through all the comments, more than 1800 of them; these left him inspired, informed, amused, and, okay, sometimes bemused.

For starters, Virgil enjoyed the comments specifically about a key theme of the article, which was war production in World War II; these postings were often from descendants of workers and veterans. Let’s take a look:

Reader “MadMen” said simply, “It makes me really miss my grandparents who both worked in those factories.” Meanwhile, reader “NHnative” reported that one family’s inheritance from WW2 includes, to this day, a devotion to sewing:

My grandmother was sewing parachutes . . . She moved on to sewing the uniforms. She’s still sewing daily at age 91 on her 1953 Singer. . . . All the girls in my family are accomplished seamstresses and it all started with those parachutes.

Reader “Last Ride” recalled a father who is, shall we say, particularly close to the B-24 Liberators made at Willow Run, Michigan, and other parts of the country:

My dad started his career in the USAF as a B-24 pilot just as they were being retired from service, and ended his career as a B-52 pilot. He loves the B-24 and moved to Ohio to be near the USAF Wright-Patterson museum to be able to visit one of the last ones around. He told my mom she should feel lucky that the plane could not say “I do” or she would have been replaced, I believe him.

B-24 Liberator bombers of the U.S. 8th Air Force flying towards their targets in occupied Europe on Aug. 12, 1943. (AP Photo)

Meanwhile, the legendary Rosie the Riveter received much attention. Reader “Feet2Fire” reminded fellow commenters that there’s plenty to learn about Rosie from the website Diaryofarosie.

Women Riveting a B-24, 1944, Willow Run Plant (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

Yet reader “53Skylark” raised a point of personal privilege—or, more precisely, Pittsburgh privilege—when he asserted:

The iconic Rosie the Riveter was based on a woman riveter employed by Westinghouse in Pittsburgh. In the original iconic picture she is wearing a Westinghouse employee badge. She did NOT originate at Willow Run. And, all of the steel for the planes, ships, tanks, bullets, etc. was made in Pittsburgh. The former steel capital of the world.

To which reader “Jonsen” replied:

Rosie became a symbol of more than one woman, though. She was a symbol for all women working at home to help the cause.

(As Virgil noted, while the actual Rosie the Riveter worked at Willow Run, the larger story of “Rosie” is complicated: The immortal “We Can Do It!” image does, indeed, come from Pittsburgh. Yet the great artist Norman Rockwell, too, added his own image of Rosie–and his model was from Vermont.)

Norman Rockwell, Rosie the Riveter, Saturday Evening Post

Indeed, Rosie was more than just an individual; she was, and is, an archetype. Reader “TexanForever” recalled:

My mom was a “Rosie the riveter” at the North American plant in Grand Prairie, Texas. While I was in grade school in Dallas she was riveting together P-51’s. Being by nature very modest, she hated wearing slacks, but she did it for the war effort.

Or as reader “Sam Houston” put it:

This hits home to me as my Father and Uncle were WWII Vets. My Step Mom was a Rosie the Riveter on the B-24 Liberator, tail section, at Consolidated Air Force Plant #4 at Carswell Army Airfield in Fort Worth, Texas. She left the dairy farm in Yantis (East Texas) for the War Effort. . . . I am so proud of her and our Greatest Generation!

The actual Rosies, of course, are mostly departed by now, which makes commenters wish all the more to savor their memory. As reader “william couch” recalled, “In the early ’70’s, I worked with 2 Rosies. It was @ the plant in Rosecrans, CA.” And reader “Gary Eaker” offered a strong summary lesson:

Great image. Rosie the Riveter. Americans joining together to do what needs to be done to PROTECT AMERICA. We must join together.

Of course, Rosie will always live on in spirit. Indeed, as reader “Vypurr” explained, she holds up well: “Rosie had more Moxie and balls than any liberal crybaby Beta male today.”

Yes, the Rosies had spunk; reader “backhome1999” recalled this anecdote of female feistiness:

My Mom was one of those women. The story she tells, she was responsible for 1/2 of the airplane to connect everything to the pilot’s area, and she would finish in a few days while her male counterpart doing the same job on the other 1/2 of the airplane took up to 2 weeks finishing his side. She asked for a raise . . . she finally made as much as a man during that time, which was unheard of. But she did her job in 1/2 the time (and they knew it).

Other commenters compared and contrasted two very different women named Rosie, often adding observations about how things have changed, for the worse, since the 40s. One such was reader “Cindy”:

Now instead of Rosie the Riveter, we have the likes of Rosie O’Donnell and Amy Schumer making more for doing worse than nothing than most of us make in a lifetime. Long before the celebs showed their true colors, America made the yuge mistake of placing people who don’t contribute to our society in a meaningful way on a high pedestal so kids would dream of becoming THAT.

And speaking of popular culture, reader “chicodon” added:

Every young person should see this. Glenn Miller was the hottest musical act on the scene for young people in 1942. The entire country was patriotic, including Hollywood. It’s from before my time but it was America. . . . Can you picture ANY act today doing this? Rooting for the military?

Glenn Miller (1904 – 1944) in military uniform. (Photo by D. Hess/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Indeed, the lyrics to the Glenn Miller song “chicodon” links to, “People Like You And Me,” are stirring:

Say, get a load o’ those guys, High in the skies, Wingin’ to victory; Up and at ’em in the fight for People like you and me!

Hey, get a load o’ those gobs, Doin’ their jobs, Keepin’ the sea lanes free; Just to make the future bright for People like you and me!

“Gobs,” we might note, was affectionate slang for “seamen.” At the same time, in that song, the vital work on the homefront was also not forgotten:

We’ll have to roll up our sleeves, Tighten our belts, But through the dark we’ll see The lady with the liberty light for People like you and you and you, And people like me, People like you and me!

Miller, we might recall, joined the US Army during WW2 at the peak of his career—and at age 38. He died on December 15, 1944, when his airplane crashed into the English Channel; he had been preparing the next leg of his famed orchestra’s morale-boosting tour for the troops.

Of course, Miller’s sacrifice was common; many celebrities joined the armed services, and many more pitched in—and more than a few died.

For his part, reader “Euclid” took note of the visual elements of Virgil’s article, for which the author can claim no credit:

LOOK AT THOSE PHOTOS! Black and white American men and women all working together in harmony. . . . Look at us now! The most divided ever among race, gender, class, age, etc!

Men assembling the cockpit of a B-24, 1942, Willow Run Bomber Plant (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

Yes, everyone found a way to pitch in back then; as Trump likes to say, the blood of patriots is all the same color.

Without a doubt, we were mostly inspired by patriotism back then, and yet for some, the production effort was personal. Here’s how reader “Katherine” recalled the war work of her grandfather; please note the family-values kicker at the end:

My grandfather was a tool and die maker for Ford, and was asked to be a foreman at the Pratt and Whitney plant in Highland Park, Michigan, which built the engines for the B-24. He didn’t want to be a foreman, but he did it because one of his three sons who were in the service was a B-24 bomber pilot, and he wanted to be sure his son had good engines to fly.

B-24 Liberator Bombers in Flight, 1943 (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

So it’s little wonder that even today, many remember the good work that was done. For instance, reader “Havegunwilltravel” wrote:

My father was a B-24 pilot in WW 2. He flew from England over Germany and he often told me that it was his airplane that brought him back every time. The B-24 was hard to fly, no pressurization but she was tough not like what we have today, “MADE IN CHINA” crap. I would like to thank all the people who worked at Willow Run who took pride in their work and built one of the greatest airplanes in the world.

Another commenter, reader “Jake Manchester,” added:

I love stories about America’s exceptionalism. Imagine building one B-24 every hour. Now that, my friends, is American exceptionalism.

Yet in those days, as reader “sally forth” recalled, just about everyone was exceptional:

It wasn’t just Rosie, it was everyday citizens with victory gardens, & scrap metal drives. Those that sold war bonds & those that bought war bonds. It was rationing of food & gas. Farmers & entire families produced more food. Every PATRIOTIC American was somehow involved to win the big one & bring the boys home.

And yes, Virgil will say it again, a great commander-in-chief led us to victory. As reader “backhome1999” remembers:

My Mom worked in a factory building planes for the WWII effort, and the photo of FDR reminds me of her story about FDR driving through the plant one day on her way into work and waved at her. She helped build B-17’s, Douglas plant, Long Beach, Calif.

Virgil recognizes that not every Breitbart commenter, including reader “Crazycatkid,” is a fan of Franklin D. Roosevelt. And yet we all might recall that his fellow Americans thought so highly of FDR that they elected him to the White House four times; indeed, each of his presidential victories was a landslide. Moreover, the fact that his image has been on the US dime for the last 70 years tells us something about his enduring popularity; even two Republicans, Nancy and Ronald Reagan, revered him.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on board an American warship, circa 1935. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images

Yet in addition to the warm glow of nostalgia from those days, there’s also the chill pang of loss. Reader “Texan Forever” wrote:

We were a nation united. . . .During this period my favorite cousin, T.J. Morrow, was a left waist gunner on a B-24. In 1943 while over Germany he was killed instantly by flak. The crippled bomber managed to limp to Belgium where the remaining crew bailed out. T.J.’s body went down with the plane and was buried by a Belgian farmer. His remains were later brought back to America.

Indeed, we never forget those who gave all. And if personal memories are now flickering out, well, the rest of us will have to step up our game and keep the remembrance going. As reader “HandsomeRogue” added, “It’s our American history. It’s a legacy our Parents/Grand-Parents lived and we have—largely—failed to share.”

Those who hear the call to remember our history should, of course, visit grave sites and battlefields. Yet in addition, there are other ways to gain perspective. As reader “WTP1776” noted, “Every year they fly the WWII planes right over my house . . . I love hearing the dishes shake in the cupboard . . . they look so swell.”

In fact, learning about the winged marvels that brought victory in WW2 can be fun, as well as informative. As another reader posted:

If you EVER have the opportunity to ride in a WWII warbird and have the money, do it. It’s an experience of a lifetime. Not just for the flight experience itself, but for at least getting a hint first hand what those young kids crewing them must have gone through in combat conditions.

II. The Task Ahead

The point of Virgil’s article was not only to take note of President Trump’s celebration of Rosie and the Greatest Generation, but also to observe that the outlines of an American manufacturing revival—which is to say, a revival of American greatness, including military greatness—can now be seen. And plenty of readers see it, too: Virgil lost track of the number of “MAGAs” scattered through the comments.

Yet some Michiganders had a more immediate reaction. For instance, one Michigan reader wrote, “I have seen President Trump mention us in Michigan more (in a good way) in the past 3 months, than my entire life (since 1960).”

Yet at the same time, there are lessons for all Americans to learn. For example, one reader connected the success of the national effort during WW2 to earlier American team efforts:

This is truly the American way. It has always been our way. It is only a short distance in time and space from the barn-raising in farm country to the factory at Willow Run. From that barn-raising to Willow Run to today we are Americans who work and succeed together.

As reader “Vypurr” observed, “Nationalism is what kept America alive in WWII.” And reader “Tiger Kitten” turned that point into a larger sentiment:

Nationalism is a good thing, it keeps cultures intact, countries strong, and morale high, whereas globalism does nothing but destroy cultures. Without borders you not only have no country, you have no culture, either.

Meanwhile, reader “FLGibsonJr” added valuable historical perspective, linking Trump’s ideas on trade today with the American tradition—as described by Virgil—of Alexander Hamilton and Henry Clay:

America was famous around the world for its Protectionism. In fact it was Protectionist Tariffs that paid for essentially our entire government including all of our military. Furthermore, it was Bismarck who looked at the American System of high tariffs and the British System . . . of free trade and chose the American System of high tariffs and then went about building one of the great economic powers in the world.

“FLGibsonJr” continued by urging a fellow commenter not to be seduced by “globalist corporate propaganda.” The free-trade policies stemming from such propaganda, he added, might enrich companies, but they will be “devastating for countries like the United States.”

Meanwhile, reader “American Worker’s Warrior” put the matter in even starker terms:

We couldn’t win a war like WW2 today, not after the uniparty’s NAFTA decimated our industrial base, and now we have to rely on China and Asia to make the microchips for all our smart missiles and tech.

Others added similarly-minded policy prescriptions, connecting past to present. One such was reader “newsies2”:

The Willow Run Bomber Plant was as example of what our great Country was capable of doing, when the need arose. This plant went up in the space of less than a year, and was capable of producing an airplane that helped win the war. One has to admit that it was a great success. In my thinking, the article, as it mentioned, is about SELF-SUFFICIENCY! . . . Trump is talking about our People working together to be strong and self sufficient once more.

Today, some are already doing their part. For instance, reader “JRG” has a personalized trade policy:

During WW2 my mom worked in a factory making piston rings while my dad was in the Pacific doing what Marines do. I go out of my way to purchase products that are made in the USA even though I know it will cost me more.

Still, many commenters made the point that automation will change the factory of the future and factory employment in the future. And this is undoubtedly true. Indeed, some, such as reader “greg,” went out of their way to make the point, sharply, at Virgil’s expense:

This article is ridiculous. It would have you believe that there is some chance that there will be manufacturing jobs coming back to the US.

To which reader “Jonsen” riposted, “It’s about the can do spirit.” “Jonsen” added, quoting Virgil, “before WWII ‘we had the resources in place.’” And those at-the-ready resources, as Virgil noted, included a quality workforce.

As reader “Kris Johnson” wrote of those we’re-all-in-this-together days:

Tears fill my eyes at the thought of the America of my grandfather. . . .To imagine a time when management was proud to provide good people with good jobs. Good American companies built excellent American products that worked and lasted beyond expectation.

Indeed, as reader “AngelHorseMomMD223” pointed out, even today, labor is still important:

If automation was THE issue in regards to employment, they’d be importing machines, not highly skilled H1B visa workers or unskilled laborers.

Indeed, the issue of trade came up often in the comments. For instance, reader “MechMan” wrote, “We must be careful not to become anti-free trade. Free trade is a good thing.” To which reader “Mbekos” responded, “There is no free trade, none. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Germany, all of them had non-tariff ways to win the trade war with US.” And reader “GSR” added, “Free trade can benefit a company, but too much of it can destroy a nation.”

Meanwhile, reader “GahD of Socialism,” the name notwithstanding, made a powerful point about capitalism: “When a country has a manufacturing-based economy, it thrives.”

Yet at the same time, reader “Franco” added a point that was widely understood in the 40s, and less widely understood today: “Can’t have a manufacturing sector without strong consumption and demand.” That is, people need the money in their pockets to buy the things that are being made; too much concentration of wealth at the top means too little demand for products—and so the economy stalls.

Thus reader “Tyler’s” point on the distribution of wealth, then vs. now, deserves to be taken seriously: “During those years CEO and leadership pay was 80 times the median worker. Now it’s 900 times the median worker.”

In addition, reader “Gregory Brittain” added another good point about the value of widespread prosperity:

In addition to the economic effects, the social effects of good jobs are at least as important. Good jobs leads to more marriage, two-parent families, more children, more stable communities, less crime and more social harmony as a bigger piece of pie is available to all who work for it.

Another reader took note of a line from Virgil’s article, describing corporate culture back then: “A well-paid employee was loyal to a company, and the company, in turn, was loyal to the employee.” Then the reader added a crucial observation about all-too-common corporate practices today:

THIS is what has fallen by the wayside with the infection of the globalist mindset. Billionaires see themselves as countries unto themselves, and have no loyalties to anyone or anything else.

For his part, reader “Lew Ross” was even more blunt:

I wish there was some way to prosecute politicians who purposely hurt American wages [by] assisting globalists in cheap labor and higher profits abroad and south of the border. For almost two decades average household earnings have been stagnant for the working-to-lower-middle-class, and nobody has paid any price for betraying the nation.

Not surprisingly, President Trump figured in many of the comments. Reader “Stella S” posted, “I listened to that speech. It was heartfelt from an American President to American workers.” Or as reader “NYPATRIOT” declared, “Make America Great Again, and the manufacturing powerhouse of the world!” And reader “Buckeye Ken” wrote:

President Trump bringing the globalists to heel is a good thing. Lord knows that he is not opposed to anyone making money, but the overall good of the nation must be considered first.

To be sure, Trump had critics, too, among the commenters. One such was reader “Stever Collette,” who jibed: “ALL of Dishonest Donald’s products are made overseas. His hotels and clubs continue to use foreign workers on temp visas.”

Okay, in American everyone can have his or her own opinion, and more than a few of those opinions seem to end up in the Breitbart comments section.

And reader “ConfidentSpaceman” put all these diverse options into a useful context, saying of this site,“It has become the modern equivalent of the public square.”

And so maybe that’s a good place to stop. WW2 was fought, in part, for freedom, and so those who fought—on the battlefront and on the homefront—would be gratified to know that freedom is still a cherished value.

Finally, Virgil is grateful to the following readers for their nice comments: “aha!,” “Alexa,” “AngelHorseMomMD223,” “Brick Wilson,” “DesertSun59,” “DJTWILLWIN,” “HandsomeRogue,” “Jake Manchester,” “larry king,” “Lizzy,” “MadMen,” “Marianne,” “NHnative,” “NK210,” “Sam Houston,” “Texan Forever,” and “Tiger184.”

And thanks to all the other commenters, too, even those who were not so nice; Virgil learns from all of them.

And more to the point, thanks to those who shared their personal histories, the overall canon of American history has thus been enriched.

Listen to Breitbart’s Rebecca Mansour discuss this article on Breitbart News Daily on SiriusXM:

Source link

source http://capitalisthq.com/virgil-on-this-memorial-day-breitbart-readers-remember-and-look-to-the-future/ from CapitalistHQ http://capitalisthq.blogspot.com/2017/05/virgil-on-this-memorial-day-breitbart.html

0 notes

everettwilkinson · 7 years