Ancient Greece Art

Ancient Greece was controlled by men. Women could not even have a citizenship. This fact reflected in the Greek Art. Women are always portrayed with the cloth on, whereas men were always depicted uncovered. The nudity of men was a symbol of their freedom and control.

In Andrew StewArts book Art, Desire and the Body in Ancient Greece, he implies that nudity originated in the athletic facet of Greek life, specifically in the Olympics of the eight century. The story of a runner named Orsippos of Megara who was running a race and his loincloth fell off. Art after this occurrence appears to have picked up on this and from sculptures of this period men stArt to appear naked. The figure of Kouros of Anavysos is one such example of this archaic period. From this point it became popular and very desirable for men to perform athletics in the nude. Andrew StewArt is quoted as saying that, they saw the custom as a concrete manifestation of such desirable manly attributes as cou rage, strength, speed, fitness, and so on, all of which naturally create a handsome body. From this it is evident that the nude male becomes a representation beauty, strength and the perfect body. Artists, from this new concept, wanted to depict the bodies of their figures as idealistic and beautiful. Women did appear, rarely, nude when pArticipating in sporting events or at festivals and as a result of this could not be married. StewArt states that, unmarried SpArtan girls or pathenoi practiced athletics, singing and dancing naked at certain festivals; and pArticipated in some processions naked as well. Women did not have such a heavy following as their bodies were not permitted to be seen in such a manner. A married woman was not to be naked for social, familial and modesty reasons. The only naked figured were those of goddesses. Peplos Kore from 530 BCE is what a typical woman form this period would be wearing. She is modest by wearing this and the belt that gave a figure by being tied at her waist.

The Classical period of the fifth century is the culmination of Greek Art. The male nude is one of the greatest achievements. The Artists have achieved perfection of proportion and muscular anatomy. During this time the polis evolved and it encompassed women as citizens as well. Women also became subject matter for sculpture. The Art was not a copy of exactly what the Artists saw but rather an idealized expression of the idea of the perfect figure. After much, evident, analysis of the human figure Artists like Polykleitos defined and canonized the perfect proportions and shape of the male figure. Doryphoros also known as the Spear Bearer, appears very real, and life like, which is what the Artist strived for. His lack of clothing is central to the composition because it is representative of the default setting of man; nudity. The female counterpArt of this sculpture, by Praxiteles is Aphordite of Knidos from 350BCE. Until this sculpture, the female form had never appeared fully nude. This might be as a result of the new ideas that were circulating the society such as humanism. The statue appears very sensual and elegant. As a result of this new idea of humanism and sensuality, it has been said that this is why the first nude female statue is that of the goddess of love. This all occurred as a result of societal changes within the polis.

Greeks, it appears, did not go about their daily business in the nude, but rather only in certain occasion like athletics and symposiums. In Greek Art, according to John Berger, nudity becomes a form of dress, some feel comfortable and others do not. Like that of Aphordite of Knidos, who appears to be aware of her nudity and seems to be covering her genitals with her hand while reaching for her garment. Male statues until the Classical era were unselfconscious and appeared to be unaware of their nudity. Statues such as that of the Kouros and Doryphoros are comfortable in their clothing (or lack thereof). Women were not to be seen naked, and the only ones that were the ones that would not marry and entertainers, which already implied that they were of a lower class and were not seen as women. Women were supposed to be proper and elegant and were not to reveal themselves to anyone other than their husband of their families. She was under control of the man. With the later Artists portraying women in the nude, it seemed to emancipate them from their identities as the males property.

In Greek life the male body was the norm. The female was seen as the other. They were excluded from society for a long while but wer e accepted after the polis liberalized a little bit. Once this happened they were allowed to take off their peplos and become an equal; if not literally, then just in the form of a sculpture. Even that was a large step in this male oriented society. Polykleitos and Praxitelese defined the proportions and the standard of beauty for the male and female respectively. The Greeks were the only ancient civilization that celebrated the true beauty of man as an image of god and therefore depicted him in the nude. Women would also be accepted and appreciated but, like all good things, it took time.

Mary Anne Winslow is a member of Essay Writing Service counselling depArtment team and a dissertation writing consultant. Contact her to get free counselling on custom essay writing.

Author:: Mary Anne Winslow
Keywords:: greek Art,ancient greece
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The Role of Poseidon In Ancient Greece

Poseidon is one of the more famous of the deities of Ancient Greece. Here is an overview of who he was, what he did and his position the Pantheon.

The Role of Poseidon In Ancient Greece

The many gods and goddesses of the Ancient Greek culture played important roles in every Greek's life. From the family hearth, to the life-giving sun, to the water they bathed in, Greek gods were seen to govern all aspects of daily life. While some regions of the Greek realm were actual cults, which meant they worshiped one god or goddess above all others; others prayed to specific figures at different points in the year or for different strengths. If a mariner was about to go to Sea, it is pretty certain that he would have prayed to Poseidon.

While Poseidon's largest governance was the Sea and ocean, he was also considered the god of horses, and the Earth-Shaker, creator of earthquakes. In Mycenaean culture, Poseidon was seen as the most powerful of all the gods, even abo ve Zeus he was the most frequently written about god in the entire pantheon. At this point, he was associated with Two Queens, Demeter and Persephone, although in later Hellenic Greece he was not at all related to these goddesses. He was also seen in this culture as the Earth Father with Demeter being the Earth Mother.

Poseidon was also a major patron god of several large cities within Greece. In Athens, he was second in line only to Athena, and in Corinth he was the main god of the city. Apollo was a close associate god, and while Poseidon's realm was generally seen to be in the areas of the Earth and bodies of water, he also had another trait that was a bit more sinister. Poseidon was also blamed for causing mental disturbances, such as epilepsy. He shared this ability with both the god Dionysus, and the creatures known as the Maenads.

When sailors embarked on voyages, they prayed heavily to Poseidon. Occasionally, they would even sacrifice horses by drowning (as he was also known as the god of horses). It was said that when Poseidon was in his benevolent aspect, he created both calm Seas and new islands. When the god was displeased or angered, however, he would cause earthquakes and shipwrecks by striking the ground with his trident. Poseidon was often pictured in a chariot being pulled by horses or Sea horses, holding a trident, and associated with dolphins.

While Zeus was known as the originator god in later parts of Greek culture, Poseidon was the first head god of note. His later appearances as the duel god of water and earthquakes meant that he had the ability to affect many people at once, so he garnered many prayers, sacrifices and attention from all of Greece.

Richard Monk is with FactsMonk.com - a site with facts about Greece.

Author:: Richard Monk
Keywords:: Greece, Greeks, Poseidon, Religon, Olympus, Ancient, History, Sea, Oceans
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The Life of Nikola Tesla Intro

It is not my purpose to claim to know all the wonders of the life of this great man who is acknowledged as one of the great inventors of all time. Those who give him that kind of acknowledgement on TV or elsewhere are not telling the whole story. There are secret projects underway that he was involved with. HAARP is just one example; it is an extension of his radio antennae that he spent a fortune trying to develop. These technologies are potentially able to destroy all life on earth; as they are kept by war-mongers and those who might leave earth for a while and then return to take over and start anew. Or maybe it will simply be a case of successful social engineering as the mind control uses get ramped out on space platforms to accentuate the ground carrier thought cloning already done by the likes of Michael Persinger. There was a time when Tesla was hood-winked by the power elite and despite him being a good person he was not politically as wise as we all must become i f things are to really change.

You will hear him describe how he developed his own ESP and Dimensional travel long before he was in New York when another mystery man named Aleister Crowley was opening a portal in the Amalantrah working that some say led to the Babalon working done by Jack Parsons (Jet Propulsion Labs alchemist founding member) and L. Ron Hubbard. These things are also integrated with worm-holes and even more fantastic things but Tesla did not know his father had initiated him into the Orphic or Pythagorean Harmonic octaves very early in his life. I will also have to consider some of the things Tesla said which relate to aliens and other things deemed weird that even he may not have fully understood. Thus I will be taking a speculative journey and you are totally correct to speculate that I am wrong: just as I say Seen Casteel goes too far in saying a secret fraternal order got scientists who knew anti-gravity and went to Mars in the period when Tesla w as born. Tesla gave up his man as a machine ideas and moved towards the great Yogi Vivekananda in later life and I agree with him that this Yogis thoughts are scientific.

HAARP is a furtherance of Tesla's training that included the Lost Chord and direct cognition of the Druids through one of three different sources I can align with he and Von Neumann (all three may apply). There are people who have used lesser technology including Hitler and the tepaphone that the Borgia/De Medici/Rothschilds used to remotely poison (Kill) people.

You might want to look up Frequency Fence, Persinger, and Bearden (cheniere.org) as well. Bearden says they will have to develop a better pulse weapon than they have said they are working with to make SDI work - and Tesla had that too. You will have to look many things up as you proceed through this book. I will give summaries or my thoughts but all knowledge relating to the subject of Tesla can not possibly be contained in one book.

Spirit is beyond the void of space. This realm, beyond the void, is not an empty nothingness; it is the womb of creation. -- Nature goes to the same place to create a galaxy of stars, a cluster of nebulas, a rain forest, a human body, or a thought... That place is Spirit. (1)

The idea of thought coming from Spirit is a little general and not something I agree with unless he means REAL thought rather than regurgitated thought. Deepak Chopra is a great and wonderful human being who escaped the material competitive focused world and the 'expertise' that was his, as a doctor. However we have shown that science is getting dangerously close to finding templates or forms that mirror this kind of philosophy and it can be machine replicated. The church felt science was philosophy and that all things came from this kind of godhead in the 'Dark Ages'; and scientists have justifiably thought any mention of a bridge to religion is fraught with these kinds of intellectual author itarian terrors. Perhaps now we can re-evaluate our belief in godly forces and not involve religious or priestly interpreters who ask us to 'follow' like sheep. To replace one set of interpreters with another form of 'expertise' is not good. Surely there is a balance that harmonizes with purpose and true knowingness. I like the thought expressed by James Watson in his foreword to Discovering the Brain. He said, The brain boggles the mind.. It is also true that a lot of the boggling has been done by those saying they seek God.

Author of Diverse Druids
Columnist for The ES Press Magazine
Guest 'expert' for World-Mysteries.com

Author:: Robert Baird
Keywords:: HAARP, SDI,
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The Holocaust

Even those in a position of power and influence, who could have prevented the seriousness of the discrimination, chose not to. Teachers especially, could have helped prevent the younger generation from developing this type of discrimination in schools, out of schools and in later life. However, both German schools and the Hitler youth discriminated against Jews by teaching lessons that were designed to do this and to teach that Aryans were the superior race. One of the main areas of teaching where discrimination took place was in racial science where students were taught how Jews had a different skull shape/size to Aryans and other races and taught how they could identify a Jew by their physical features; this created a lot of discrimination towards Jews among the young people of Germany.

One o f the events to describe and demonstrate how Jews were discriminated against in Germany is the April Boycott; for one day Germans all over the country were told not to buy from shops and business' owned by Jews. SA men stood by the doors of these shops to discourage anyone from going inside. The SA men would have discouraged business, leading business away from the Jews and back into Aryan owned businesses and shops. This is discriminating against the Jews and while it was probably very beneficial to the Aryans working at the time, the Jews would have lost business, and would be looked at differently by Germans.

In many places in Germ any, there were signs that read 'Jews not welcome here'. These could be put on park benches, outside places of public interest, or even where it means that Jews are not welcome in the village, city or town. This separates Jews from the rest of the population, by discriminating against them, making Germans feel like they are different people to them, so they should be treated differently!

On the 9th November 1938 a very big event occurred which was the result and cause of more discrimination towards Jews. Kristallnacht was a night of violence across Germany and Austria, 91 Jews were murdered, synagogues were burned down, Jews were dragged from their beds sacred objects were desecrated, shop windows were smashed and 20 000 Jewish men were rounded up and sent to concentration camps. Yet in all of this the German police did nothing to stop the attacks such actions were not to be discouraged, so the discrimination grew to a point where it was acceptable to kill a Jew.

Throughout the period 1933 to 1939, many laws were passed by Nazi's to further discriminate against the Jews, and to separate them from Aryans, and the 'normal life in Germany'. This started as restricting their job opportunities, so that Aryans could benefit from an increase in business, for example a law that was passed in early 1933 is that Jews were forced out of jobs in the law, the civil service, dentistry, journalism, teaching and farming. Thus, this means that Jews are being discriminated against to benefit others. Later in 1935 a law was passed to say that Jews were banned from the armed forces, as the war is d rawing nearer, with no Jews allowed to be in the war, more discrimination goes on, in towns and cities where Aryans identify that Jews are doing nothing to help what might be the war effort, even though, they have no choice but to find another, legal, occupation. This discrimination separates Germans from Jews. In early 1935 it was announced that Jews were no longer citizens of Germany, and had lost their right to vote as written down in the Nuremburg laws, 1935 Jews have no vote. This was a big step in discriminating Jews. It had separated Germans and Aryans completely, so now they could not still be equal, they were different, and this meant that their reaction to eachother had changed.

Laws that had a real effects on any Jew at that time that dealt with their daily lives had was a massive disc rimination on them. For example in late 1933 Jews were banned from all sports and athletic clubs, and in late 1935 Jews: were no longer allowed to marry Aryan, nor to have sexual relations with them; who had married Aryans no longer had a valid marriage; were banned from parks, restaurants and swimming pools; and finally it was passed that Jewish leaders were stopped from preaching or speaking publicly. Afar from this sort of discrimination, there is also the fact that Jews were banned from having electrical and optical equipment, bicycles, typewriters, or records and were ordered to hand them over to the authorities. This discrimination meant that many Jewish families went without the opportunities and comforts that Aryans lived with, thus separating them even further, while discrimination becomes easier.

All of these things lead to the ease of what happened after 1939 where Jews were put into Ghetto's, where the Vansee conference took place and where Jews were tra nsported to death camps. The Nazi's had successfully created a place, in Germany, where people supported the ideas of Nazism and didn't object to law passed against them, discriminating or de-humanising them even further.

Jews were discriminated through making them unwelcome, to having laws passed against them, and later, to death, where they were seen as different people who should be treated differently and deserved what they got. Jews were restricted in everything they did, and because of this they became easy to discriminate against.

The article was produced by the member of masterpapers.com. Sharon White has many years of a vast experience in essay writing and custom essays writing consulting. Get free samples of essays and courseworks and buy essays.

Author:: Sharon White
Keywords:: Holocaust, Jew, Aryan, Germany
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A Romantic Tale About an Unromantic Hero

There was once a man who did not understand Society. And when I speak of this man, who regards Society as an unfathomable monster, understand that I am universally speaking of every individual thinker. But there was one particular man, one man among them, who did not understand Society. And what separates him from the other individual thinkers was his unavowed lust for Love, his desire for affection, and his outright honesty in it. He was, in many ways and like other thinkers, a hero. And though his understanding of social Romance may be below par, it cannot be denied that his journey for Love is as Romantic as they become.

Our hero is named Cassidy, and our journey takes us to the bars, pubs, and clubs of America, the raves and hangouts, anywhere there is lurking a girl for our hero's affections. Unlike the other Lovers, looking for a score or a companion, Cassidy was in these clubs and bars because, as he explained to himself many a time, he was human. It wa s his devotion to truth and honesty that made him an unlikely character in this scene. He had no fear, which allowed this truth and honesty to shine forth even in threatening situations. As a career, Cassidy was a janitor. He worked at a mall, cleaning things up, clearing off tables in the food court, picking up garbage. He wasn't bothered by it at all. Making $2.00 above minimum wage per hour, he lived a very restrained lifestyle.

There was one club, Club Down And Out, which was frequented by our friend Cassidy. There were casual contacts here, as well as friends and Lovers made. One man would hit on a woman with, You're fine, I'm fine, why don't we leave this place and do something about it? Cassidy might overhear, and he would be confused. It was completely understood what the man wanted, but the way he presented himself, beneath the shawl of lies, was what confused Cassidy. Sure, it may be true that such pickup lines as, Nice shoes, wanna fuck? among othe rs might be outdated and rarely used. But according to Cassidy, though the pickup lines changed, the attitude was just as antiquated.

Cassidy had heard enough, sometimes being approached by men and women, sometimes seeing men approach women and women approach men, or men approach men and women approach women, and the pickup lines that he had heard were nothing attractive. Some were succesful and some were failures, but they all were full of a superficiality that was completely inhuman in quality to him. The time was to act, and the object of affection was a girl sitting in a booth by herself. She had dreadlocks, thick and natural, which may have been the thing to catch Cassidy's eye. Anything that would separate itself from this unreal reality would be sexy to him. Dreadlocks and a Dead Kennedies shirt. He sat down in the booth next to her. She looked up.

Will you talk to me, because like every human, I long for the physical touch of intimacy, I cherish t he moments of reverence manifested through our acts, I hold kindled affection to be a supreme act of kindness. Will you be one with me, because only my human desires drive me to be with you, one so beautiful and individual as yourself. And you, like me, are only human, so the urge cannot vary greatly between us.

The girl got up from the booth and started to walk away. Cassidy continued talking.

Will you Love me, the way I want to Love you, because your body is the poetry of life, because your face is a gem, because I know that the passion you have is one incomparable. Because, like every human, you are an individual, and I Love you for that.

She was in the crowd, disappeared, out of sight.

Will you give to me that one kiss, that one moment, that one night, so that I can forever remember the smell of your soul, the taste of your body, the lingering desire to forever be in your arms? Will you hold me close so that I only feel your flesh and body he at, so that there is nothing to distract me from the beauty of one so outside of Society's grasp, so that I will know nothing but the pure bliss of yourself?

She had walked ten miles away.

Can I sit here forever, staring into your eyes, not forgetting that there is nobody like you? Will you give me your time, so that I can offer you my body and Love? Will you give me your lust, so I can fufill it and offer you my own? Will you give me the precious pearls of your Mind and body, so that I may give your security in comfort, life in sex, and happiness in existence?

She was in another city.

Will you let me caress your stomach, kiss your neck, nibble your thighs, give to you that one last kiss shared between the angel of loneliness and the daemon of misery? I do not want to be a lost child , looking forever, allowing every flower to pass me by, the indulgence of charity given only to myself, and I do not want to pass by another flower, smelling so sweet in the summer air, just as beautiful as the last one down. To pass one as yourself, to be given to a realm of regrets equally as a realm of mistakes.

She was in another state.

Give me a moment's tenure, and I will give you everything. Emotion like none other, truth inscribed on the long lasting heart of humanity, the tangible pleasures of our reality lighting the candles of our existence. Let me touch your face so that I can show you what I mean. Give to me that one chance of kindness and reverence. Don't let me sink into the dark abyss of nothingness -- I am not a nobody, and I would not want to be passed up. I can give you only what any other human being can give you, Love and desire, fermenting in the barrel of loneliness, given the soft glow and illuminating light of a beautiful and passio nate sight as yourself. And all the Lovers that you've had before, were just as sincere in their sensuality as I am, were just as real in their body as I am, were just as alive as I am here today. Awakened, with lust and vitality, to find something too valuable to give, to find someone too valuable to leave, to discover something deep inside all of us, that makes us all the same, as I desire for your touch in a way that only any other can desire. It is this reason that I ask for you to give me that chance...

...

She turned around from the crowd, and hugged Cassidy. http://www.punkerslut.com

For Life,

Punkerslut (or Andy Carloff) has been writing essays and poetry on social issues which have caught his attention for several years. His website http://www.punkerslut.com provides a complete list of all of these writings. His life experience includes homelessness, squating in New Orleans and LA, dropping out of high school, getting expelled from college for subversive activities, and a myriad of other revolutionary actions.

Author:: Andy Carloff
Keywords:: Romance,Virtue,Romanticism,Romantic,Thoreau,Emerson,Love,Emotion,Society,Thought,Sociology,Mind
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Elvis Presley Lifting Off

He seems to live forever. A network Television movie about his life is scheduled for 2005.Three years ago,in 2002, the month of August was set aside for him. He was everywhere, as if he never died twenty-five years earlier. The old records reappeared as freshly minted CDs, he was seen shaking his hips on TV news clips and one CBS news piece revealed that an astounding forty two percent of the US population consider themselves to be Elvis Presley fans. His short life was looked at anew, re-examined and pontificated upon. Every day was accounted for, except that one day in January 1956 when he shot to stardom. Who could have known what would happen on that day? The biographers could not have been there but a handful of people did see what happened on that unusual and fascinating day. As a college student working as a weekend gofer in the CBS- TV studio, I was one of them. To fill in that gap in the Elvis Presley story, this is what happened on that remarkable day, January 26 , 1956.

The green 1952 slope-backed Pontiac crawled off of Broadway onto West Fifty-Third Street, gasped, then rolled to a stop. Four men slowly emerged, heads shaking, hands gesturing as the freezing wet January wind stole their words. Three of the men got behind the car, the dark leather encased bass fiddle strapped to its roof glistened with frost. Suddenly one of them, wearing a light blue parka broke away, bent his hooded head into the bitter wind and pushed on down the street stopping midway at a black door indented in a red brick wall. He opened the door, entered a small gray vestibule and tapped on a little square window. I was standing next to Charlie Burgess, the paunchy security guard, who turned at the clank-clank-clank on the glass and slid the window open.

What can I do for you, fella? Charlie said, the eyes in his round, gray face squinting beneath an overhang of silver hair.

Ahm on the Show tonight sir..an we got some car trouble outside. A h think we need some help.

O.K., and who are you?

My name is Elvis Presley, siran like Ah said sir, our car broke down on the way over here. Can we can get some help, sir?

And so he had arrived, not only for his first scheduled appearance in New York City, but to appear for the first time on network Television before the entire nation on Stage Show starring Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Prime time. Live. Saturday night. The eight p.m. lead-in to The Honeymooners. But his appearance on network Television would not be his New York debut. That would be something, unscheduled and unexpected And something small, like the spark in the ignition of a Saturn rocket.

Elvis Presley, a wild card, was signed for one appearance on Stage Show for January 28,1956. Although he was gaining some notoriety in three southern states and had connected with a local Louisiana Television show, he did have one try at the county Music big time on the Grand Ole Oprey and was told never to come back. On Stage Show he would be one of three guests that night and he would be the least guest of all. Sarah Vaughan would headline and comedian Gene Sheldon, would be second on the bill.

It would be Elvis first opportunity at the really big time. In a cultural world governed by tastes developed over the decades, the big eastern cities, New York especially, were the epicenters of what was considered to be popular Music. Country Music was held at a distance. Not one radio station in New York played country Music. Elvis, the country boy, just turned twenty one years of age, not only knew this but had to have apprehensions about being in the biggest and most alien of all cities for his chance at the real big time. If he was told never to come back, by Stage Show where else could he go, after the whole country had seen him? He was understandably nervous when he arrived.

His face in the window was a smooth, hairless, oval outline, framed in a tightly drawn b lue hood. The soft skin on the face glowed red from the cold. Checking the show roster, Charlie Burgess nodded Yep, there you are. and opened the inner door. As he did, the three car pushers opened the outer door and squeezed in, shivering and shaking their fingers from the cold. All four shuffled into the warm interior corridor that led to the small dressing room elevator which was my theater of operations. As a gofer I not only got the coffee but I drove the dressing room elevator. .After warming up, Elviss companions, his back- up Musicians and driver, had gone out to bring in the instruments. When they returned, a rumbling of pounding feet and the prattle of voices arose as a crowd of young women in leotards turned the corner from the backstage wing. The June Taylor Dancers just off rehearsal, their feet clicking on the gray tiled floor, swarmed past Elvis and his manager, the short, pudgy, Colonel Parker,whom he had just met, and past the three companions bringing smi les of wonderment and a thaw to their frozen faces. Then Elvis and his back-up team went up to their dressing rooms on the fifth floor, the area they were scheduled to share with ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson, his dummy Danny ODay and actor Jimmy Blaine who did the shows commercials. Used by The Ed Sullivan Show, airing from the same studio on Sundays to house the acrobats, jugglers and animal acts usually booked, it was the floor customarily used for the lesser acts.

When he returned to the backstage, the hooded parka was gone and he was there in all his hair. His pompadour crested backward like a dark wave into currents of hair that flowed across the top of his head then channeled downward on a wild run past both his ears and there was an oil slick to it all. People tried not to notice but in a post-war, military- influenced world of crew cuts and close -cut hairstyles, people did notice. The DA of the grease- minded Happy Days crowd, carefully modeled after a ducks aft er body, was the accepted form of hirsute rebellion. This was hitting the cultural beach with a shock assault. I could feel the bristles of my crewcut standing tall. Surely,I thought, he was defying the gods.

In a few moments Col. Parker, dark suited and hands in his pockets, joined Elvis who was talking to Jimmy Dorsey. Tommy Dorsey, trombone in hand, the overhead lights a glint on his gold-rimmed glasses, and Executive Producer Jack Philbin, lean and fortyish in a dark pinstriped suit, closed in a moment later. Weve got an idea!. Philbin said.

It was a two minute buzz of conversation alive with staccato phrases and clauses:... lets get the studio reactionthe warm-up hes gotta do it, the kids got a wild act lets see how the audience reacts, this is New York, for petessake. maybe tone it down a bit , its national TV..do a test run you mean,hmmm, but no one does the warm-up . Its just not done. Do you mind, Elvis? No sir, dont mindLets do it. Youll do it then? You dont mind? No sir, yes sir, Ill do it.

So he would do the studio warmup, something a featured performer simply did not do because ego always stood in the way. But it was something that would become the highlight of the evening. Like a shooting star on a summer night.It was noted by Charley Burgess that Elvis Presley, used the word sir a lot and had a desire to please. Perhaps the latter trait was why he agreed to do something that other featured performers would never do. Something that was, perhaps, the explosive charge that got him off the launching pad.

Elvis wanted to go up to his dressing room and as he walked toward the elevator his head started to nod. Suddenly, like a plane vibrating with restrained energy before take-off, he stopped walking and started bobbing his head. Then his arms reached out and pumped back and forth and he started slashing the air with his fists leading with his left, whipping in with his right. Then, suddenly, as if hearing the bell, he straightened up, and went to his corner in the far side of the elevator. I watched him with curiosity as we went up in the elevator. We were the same age, the same six feet in height and the same weight but he was definitely different.

The nervous energy was building up and the choke was still on. Upon returning from the dinner break, while riding the elevator again to the sixth floor, he vibrated into round two, crouching and punching the air with a fury, the little elevator car shaking against the shaft. Then, when the little car reached his floor he stopped as quickly as he started, straightened his shoulders and walked off, his head still bobbing.

Elvis was the first to answer the ten- minute show time alert that I customarily called out. Guitar in hand, dressed in a mustard plaid sport jacket that had a second-hand store look and with abundant and oily hair locked in place, his eyes, now, were peering out from a deep, dark ring of eye shadow. My ey es were transfixed as we descended.

Sixteen June Taylor Dancers, wearing black and white harlequin outfits and scheduled to open the show were falling into place behind the closed curtain. Announcer Jack Lescoulie who always did the studio warm-up by telling stories to loosen up the audience was standing in the wing, staring out at the stage. Prop men, stagehands and electricians were clustered around Lescoulie and staring past him at Elvis as he, guitar in hand, was walking out on the stage. He was about to do something scheduled performers had never done before nor would ever think of doing: the studio warm-up, a task usually assigned to a production aid or the announcer, certainly not a billed performer. More, it was to be a test run.

Whats he doing out there? someone said. I cant believe it, another added. I think hes actually going to do the warm-up.

Suddenly there was a loud, sharp strumming of guitar and with equal suddenness Elvis Presley, standing in front of the shimmering gold curtain, catapulted forward. One two three oclock,four oclock rock! Five six seven oclock,eight oclock rock!

The words and the Music swirled around the studio and his body followed. Were gonna rock around the clock tonight! As he plunged into the rhythm a fever picked up backstage. June Taylor Dancers, in their thigh-high black and white outfits, flashed their legs as they twirled in an impromptu lindy hop with stagehands. Prop men and more stagehands gyrated in tempo as the words gave way to wild rhythm. On stage, Elvis, one with the beat, swung his shoulders, spread his legs apart, vibrated his hips with frenzy. Backstage, mouths dropped halfway stopping to laugh incredulously then appreciatively. I felt a wild surge of excitement, and wanted to connect with the Music, to dance, but all the girls were taken. I joined the chorus.

Yeah, yeah!Wow! Holy Cow, I cant believe it. Go, go, go. My God, do you see that! Go man, go.

A nd so it went, his New York debut. A studio warm-up and a test run. It was also lift-off time. Returning backstage he was showered with kudos. The normally taciturn backstage crowd that had worked with the greatest of the great on The Ed Sullivan Show were electric, You were great man!. Wonderful, wonderful. Terrific, just terrific.

Further backstage more kudos but Elvis hadnt smiled through any of them. He had a blank look as though he was afraid to give away his thoughts or feelings. He moved to a corner of the wing, his guitar diagonally across his mustard plaid jacket. Only his eyes moved, shifting laterally to different angles like a visitor to a strange new land.

Then the curtain parted to the blaring rush of the Dorsey Orchestra. The June Taylors stepped off flying into their number. Seconds after their finish, Elvis Presley stepped on stage. He was in full color, his mustard jacket in its greatest glory. But he was not. It wasnt the same. His frenetic ene rgy was held back by the Dorsey Music. It didnt mix. The excitement and beat of the warm-up was lost. But the body language wasnt and that came across on the black and white telecasts across America.

Then the phones started ringing but no kudos from Mr. and Mrs. America that night. Charges of moral turpitude and obscenity filled the wires from parents concerned for their childrens virtue.

But destiny could not be denied. Fate had intervened. He was now off the pad and heading downrange. The reaction backstage was positive. The Producers knew what he could do with the right Music. Elvis was signed for another week then four more after that. I estimated that during those five weeks, Elvis went the full fifteen rounds. I noticed too, that his dressing room assignment gradually descended to the lower floors. When he returned to the studio several months later to do The Ed Sullivan Show and the famous show no pElvis,Elvis show when the cameramen were instructed to s hoot only above the waist, he not only arrived in a fully powered limousine but he moved down to share Ed Sullivans dressing room on the second floor.

He was heading for the stars.

Don Bracken is the Senior Editor of the History Publishing Company and the author of the forthcoming book, Times of the Civil War, a study of the New York Times and the Charleston Mecury's coverage of the American Civil War.He also co-edited the Historyscope Series, a computerized study of the American Civil War that has been widely hailed by educators and Civil War experts.When a college student in New York, he worked for CBS Television in what is now known as The Ed Sullivan Theater on week-ends and was there when Elvis Presley showed up. http://www.historyscope.com

Author:: Don Bracken
Keywords:: Elvis, Presley, rock n' roll, Television,Music,Fifties
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Stagecoach Drivers and Their Whips

Not everyone could manage a stagecoach. The stagecoach driver was held in higher esteem when on the summit of the Sierra than was the millionaire statesman who might be riding beside him.

While most stage drivers were sober, at least while on duty, nearly all were fond of an occasional eye opener. A good driver was the captain of his craft. He was feared by his timid passengers, awed by stable boys, and was the trusty agent of his employer.

The seat next to the driver, weather permitting, was the preferred seat of the men passengers. But this was one seat that was reserved, and it was not gotten by simply being the first to hop on the left front wheel rim and climbing into the box.

If the driver didnt want the person who took the seat there, he would firmly order him down, and then enjoy the passengers discomfiture for the next ten miles.

To sit in the drivers seat, one proceeded very much in the manner of securing an appointment to a high offic e. He went to the source of authorityabove the driver himselfto the superintendent and even to the president of the company.

Charlie Parkhurst was one of the more skillful stagecoach drivers, not only in California, but throughout the west. He was variously called One-eyed or Cockeyed Charlie, because he had lost an eye when kicked by a horse. For 20 years, he drove stagecoach in California. Twice Charlie was held up. The first time, he was forced to throw down his strongbox because he was unarmed. The second time, he was prepared.

When a road agent ordered the stage to stop and commanded Charlie to throw down its strongbox, Parkhurst leveled a shotgun blast into the chest of the outlaw, whipped his horses into a full gallop, and left the bandit in the road.

One-eyed Charlie was known as one of the toughest, roughest, and the most daring of stagecoach drivers. Like most drivers, he was proud of his skill in the extremely difficult job as whip. Proper handling of the horses and the great coaches was an art that required much practice, experience, and not the least, courage.

Whips received high salaries for the times, sometimes as much as $125 a month, plus room and board.

How in the world can you see your way through this dust? one passenger asked Charlie.

Smell it. Fact is, Charlie replied, Ive traveled over these mountains so often I can tell where the road is by the sound of the wheels. When they rattle, Im on hard ground; when they dont rattle I genrlly look over the side to see where shes agoing.

Yet, little was really known about Charlie Parkhurst before or after he came to California. It wasnt until his body was prepared for burial that his true secret was discovered.

Charlotte Charlie Parkhurst was a woman. One doctor claimed that at some point in her life, she had been a mother.

Unknowingly, Parkhurst could claim a national first. After voting on Election Day, November 3, 1868, Charlie was probably the first woman to cast a ballot in any election. It wasnt until 52 years later that the right to vote was guaranteed to women by the nineteenth amendment.

All stagecoach drivers, including Charlie, considered their whips worth their weight in gold. Drivers considered their whips a badge of honor.

Some drivers would as soon be caught without their pants as without their whips. Many of the whips used by the stage drivers were fine works of art, generally ornamented with handcrafted silver ferules girdling a handle made of hickory. Many of these whips are prized museum pieces today.

Whips were never sold, loaned, borrowed, or traded. In his book, Stagecoach Days in Santa Barbara County, Walker A. Tompkins wrote, Whips were considered a part of the driver, who kept the lashes well-oiled and as pliable as a snake in the sun.

Most stagecoach whips had buckskin lashes, usually from 11 to 12 feet in length, attached to a five-f oot hickory shaft. The lashes were 10 feet too short to reach the lead team, which was controlled by reining.

Some rare drivers did carry a six-horse whip with a 22-foot lash, but these were mainly for circus and rodeo appearances, and considered too unwieldy for practical use.

The driver took his whip with him when off duty, and always hung it up. He never rested it in a corner for fear of warping the stock. Neither did he wrap the lash around the handle for fear of curling the thongs.

Stagecoach drivers were scornful of the way they were depicted in the movies. The top-grade stagecoach drivers used cracking of the whip sparingly. These drivers were concerned that the pistol-shot sounds made by the whips would only startle their passengers out of their naps or, worse yet, spook their teams.

Roads had to be built at public expense before stagecoaches were given a route. Some were little more than ox-cart tracks linking the various ranchos. Even the El Camino Real, the storied Kings Highway, was little more than a foot trail.

A tale is told about stage driver Whispering George Cooper. He got his name because of his loud bellow, which was said could be heard for miles, even against a wind, while he pushed his team up a treacherous pass.

At one point, Whispering George needed to repair a broken single tree that had developed a bad split. He scoured the stage for a bit of rope or a scrap of baling wire, to make the repair.

At that moment, a rattlesnake slithering across the road in front of them spooked his team. George killed the snake, which measured five feet or more in length. A passenger commented how much the snake resembled a rope.

By gawd, thats what Ill use it for! exclaimed George. He wrapped the dead snake around the single tree and knotted it into place. It worked, holding the damaged single tree together until it reached a relay station.

The term stagecoach came about in medieval Europe, when public coach travel was the only way one could get from one point to another without walking.

Trips were generally made in easy stages because of bad roads and the lack of overnight lodgings along the way. Hence, the term stage coach.

Alton Pryor has been a writer for magazines, newspapers, and wire services. He worked for United Press International in their Sacramento Bureau, handling both printed press as well as radio news. He traveled the state as a field editor for California Farmer Magazine for 27 years. He is now the author of 10 books, primarily on California and western history. His books can be seen at www.stagecoachPublishing.com Readers can Email him at stagecoach@surewest.net.

Author:: Alton Pryor
Keywords:: article submission, Articles, Writer s, Writing, Publishing, Ezine, Email marketing, Email newsletter, Email
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