September 2002 © Frank H. Jump
Russian Girl On Hobby Horse – Kings Highway – Midwood, Brooklyn
September, 2002 © Frank H. Jump
Recently, I found my portfolio for my Black & White Photography courses I took at Brooklyn College in preparation for my first Masters in Education and decided to share some of the shots I took in the Summer of 2002 thru the Spring of 2003. This little Russian girl was playing outside of her mother’s shop on Kings Highway and East 7th Street and was happy to have me take her photograph. She must be a teenager by now.
A rose by any other name – Rose of Sharon seed – Hibiscus syriacus – Flatbush, Brooklyn
© Frank H. Jump
© Frank H. Jump
Rose of Sharon is a common name that applies to several different species of flowering plants that are highly valued throughout the world. The name’s colloquial application has been used as an example of the lack of precision of common names, which potentially causes confusion. Rose of Sharon has also become a frequently used catch phrase in lyrics and verse.
Hibiscus syriacus, a deciduous flowering shrub native to east Asia, the plant generally referred to in American English as “Rose of Sharon” and the national flower of South Korea. The specific epithet indicates that the plant was thought to originate from Syria. The flower’s name in Korean is mugunghwa (Korean Hangul: 무궁화, Hanja: 無窮花) meaning ‘immortality’. – Wikipedia
A street by any other name – Gropecunt Lane – London – Brooklyn?
Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn NY © Ephemeral New York
Ephemeral New York posted today “a sweet story” about Love Lane in Brooklyn Heights (see image above). Contemporaneously, my friend Dr. Andrew Irving and I were walking in Brooklyn Heights the other evening after seeing the German film The White Ribbon, and while passing Love Lane, he told me the story about Gropecunt Lane in London.
Magpie Lane in Oxford, once known as Gropecunt Lane - Wikipedia
Gropecunt Lane was a street name found in English towns and cities during the Middle Ages, believed to be a reference to the prostitution centred on those areas; it was normal practice for a medieval street name to reflect the street’s function or the economic activity taking place within it. Gropecunt, the earliest known use of which is in about 1230, appears to have been derived as a compound of the words grope and cunt. Streets with that name were often in the busiest parts of medieval towns and cities, and at least one appears to have been an important thoroughfare.
Although the name was once common throughout England, changes in attitude resulted in its being replaced by more innocuous versions such as Grape Lane. Gropecunt was last recorded as a street name in 1561. – Wikipedia
The Virgin Queen Elizabeth the First’s reign commenced in 1558. I’m sure eradicating “cunt” from street names was on her shortlist.
Wikipedia
The map above is described in a caption in Wikipedia as:
A 1720 map of Bread Street and Cordwainer wards included in a 19th-century edition of John Stow’s Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster. The routes of three extinct streets are highlighted in blue, Puppekirtylane on the left, “Grope Countlane” in the middle, and Bordhawlane on the right. The location is opposite the modern-day Mercers’ Hall. Little Fryday Street [sic] (Pissing Alley) is visible on the left. – Wikipedia
In David Carroll’s interview with comic book author Neil Gaiman @ Tabula-Rasa, Gaiman was quoted as saying:
I’ve been reading my way through a book on London street names — it’s fascinating, especially when you’re in the older parts. Each street name comes with a huge chunk of city, and of history. You discover that Love Lane was originally called Grope Cunt Lane, and you realise what kind of love was for sale in Love Lane. Apparently most major cities had a Love Lane, or a Grope Cunt Lane, or something, and it was always very near the cathedral, which I find interesting. – Tabula-Rasa dot info
The Guardian UK also claims:
Those names survive, but others were so rude they were changed or disappeared altogether. ‘Sherborne Lane, near Cannon Street, was originally Shiteburn Lane, meaning shit house after the public lavatories in it,’ Mills says. The Corporation might also be less than keen on an alley off Cheapside called, er, Gropecunt Lane. – A street by any other name…
…might be easier to sell. By Chris Partridge – Guardian UK
Oh well, it’s “sweet” to know that things weren’t always so quaint.
Jeans Billboard Has Newark Talking About Sex
The billboard for Akoo jeans hovers high at the corner of Market and Washington streets in Newark. - Ed Murray/The Star-Ledger
Sexually suggestive jeans billboard in Newark sends wrong message By Barry Carter/The Star-Ledger
Only one thought comes to mind when looking at the new billboard towering above downtown Newark. Okay, two. Is the young, seductive woman about to have oral sex with the young man 30 feet above a major intersection of the state’s largest city? Or have they just finished? – NJ Star Ledger
Marriage Trial dot com Re-enacts California's Proposition 8 Trials
marriagetrial dot com
Day 1: Chapters 1-4 (January 11th, 2010)
Visit Marriage Trial dot com for further exhibits and resources!
ABOUT THE MARRIAGE TRIAL PROJECT (taken from their website):
In its January 13, 2010 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the public broadcast of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a U.S. District Court case challenging the constitutional validity of California’s Proposition 8.
Working from court transcripts and first-hand accounts from bloggers who are present at the trial, we are re-enacting the trial and posting it here for public viewing.
John Ireland and John Ainsworth are co-producing this project under JIP, LLC a production company based in Hollywood.
For more information: email them, follow them on Twitter or subscribe to their YouTube channel.
Production Costs
“If you support what we are doing, please consider contributing, to help us cover costs. All of the actors, producers and others behind the scenes are volunteering our time and our resources are limited. Your gift will help us to complete our work. Thanks!” – Marriage Trial dot com
MarriageTrial.com profiled on Bill Moyers Journal
They battled it out as legal adversaries in 2000 before the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore. But what’s got these two prominent lawyers – one conservative and one liberal – working together in court now? Theodore Olson, one of the nation’s premier appellate and United States Supreme Court advocates and David Boies, one of the country’s preeminent trial lawyers, argued opposite sides for the fate of the 2000 election but are now teamed up in the fight to overturn California’s Proposition 8 ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage. The unexpected pair discusses why they’ve taken on the hot-button issue – even as some gay rights activists objected – and why they don’t believe that same-sex marriage is a right or left issue. Visit www.PBS.org for more information.
marriagetrial dot com
It’s about time heterosexual lawmakers are standing up for our civil rights! This is a milestone!
Got Jesus? – Cypress Hills & ENY, Brooklyn
Fulton Street & Force Tube Avenue 2003 © Frank H. Jump
Eastern Parkway 2003 © Frank H. Jump
- Pentecostalism – Wikipedia
Former Movie Theatre on St Johns & Eastern Parkway 2003 © Frank H. Jump
Other sightings:
Jesus in a Corn Tortilla
Other postings on the Internet:
- Holy Christian Cornflakes
- Jesus Taco – Harlem
Holy Jalapeño Poppers!
