The Ghost of Westminster Abbey (Creepy History 1)

Windows into History

Westminster Abbey, painted by John Varley in 1832.

All October, in the lead-up to Halloween, I will be presenting a ‘Creepy History’ series, featuring extracts from old books that have been largely forgotten.  These will all be non-fiction, as the best scary fiction from the past is still popular and readily available.  The following true story is from the snappily titled Apparitions, or the mystery of ghosts, hobgoblins, and haunted houses developed, being a collection of entertaining stories founded on fact and selected for the purpose of eradicating those ridiculous fears, which the ignorant, the weak, and the superstitious, are but too apt to encourage.  Now there’s book title that trips off the tongue.  The author was Joseph Taylor, and the book was published in 1814.

It has been remarked, that when the royal vault is opened for the interment of any of the royal family, Westminster Abbey is…

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Christian Scott | Stretch Music

Jazz You Too

Christian Scott has become one of those guys we have to pay attention to: his last album Stretch Music confirms it!

You may listen to it on Spotify.

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – Trumpet, Sirenette and Reverse Flugelhorn
Elena Pinderhughes – Flute
Braxton Cook – Alto, Straight Alto
Corey King – Trombone
Cliff Hines – Guitar
Lawrence Fields – Piano, Fender Rhodes
Kris Funn – Bass
Corey Fonville ‒ Drums, SPD-SX pad (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10)
Joe Dyson Jr. – Pan African Drums, SPD-SX (tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Special Guests:
Matthew Stevens – Guitar (tracks 4, 5, 7, 10)
Warren Wolf – Vibes (tracks 3, 7)

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Seattle, WA

The Rollercoaster Train in Spain (Snippets 36)

Windows into History

San Sebastian, Spain (source: spainguides.com)

Charles Marriott (1869-1957) was a writer of fiction who became an art critic for the Times.  In 1908 he wrote A Spanish Holiday, a travel journal detailing his experiences travelling with a friend around Spain.  In the following quote, he is travelling by train from San Sebastian to Bilbao, and finds the journey stunningly picturesque, but somewhat hair-raising!

At last, punctually to the minute, we were off, and for the first half-hour or so the experience was almost terrifying. The narrow-gauge line passing through a mountainous country, we crashed through cuttings and tunnels with a deafening noise which made the train seem to be travelling at a reckless speed, particularly when rounding the most violent curves I have ever seen on any railway. Sometimes the train seemed to be chasing its own tail and very nearly catching it. The gradients, too, were sharp…

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Mundane

DoubleU = W

my fear greater than death –

becoming the picture of mundane

writing the mundane

being only the very epitome

of boring, suburbanality

a string of Taylor Swift poems,

a mall-walking, gray-haired,

broken-down old man

lunching at the closest

cheapest all-you-can-eat buffet

when all I am is no better

than strip mall psychology

or pop culture bullshit

I promise I’ll give it up

not nary a word will

appear anywhere by my hand

once I’ve met this fate

and if I break this promise

someone, please sneak in

and perform the mercy killing

——————————————————

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Welcome to New York City, Grand Central Terminal and the New York City Subway

PenneyVanderbilt

We have an extensive collection of material on railroads and transit in New York City. Much of this material is not published elsewhere on the Internet. If you are interested in Grand Central Terminal, New York City subways, or transportation around New York City, read on and enjoy!

Grand Central Terminal is one of the most significant landmarks in New York City. It is historical, but it is vital to transportation in the city. Some of the stories we have are about the signal towers that control trains entering Grand Central, the buildings that surround Grand Central, the electric engines that go into Grand Central. We have old postcards of Grand Central and the Hotel Commodore.

The New York City Subway System is massive and impressive.

Some of our articles include a look at what has gone wrong with the subways since 1940. We have a report on…

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