As it has been raining practically non-stop since last Friday, photo taking has been difficult. I don’t really want to get my camera too wet. And shooting photos or videos from my balcony can get boring after a while.
So here’s a rainy rose taken at Jardin Catherine Labouré in Paris, last Saturday.
You can get an even better view here
When in Thetford, Norfolk, we visited the Ancient House Museum of Thetford Life, and they had a leaflet about one Duleep Singh, and somehow, I remembered him! The winter before, I had seen a small but really interesting exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, the title of which I couldn’t remember exactly, but I knew it was about people from different parts of the British Empire, who had been in London and how they had been perceived through the eyes of the Londoners of colonial times. Among them, a Maharadjah from Punjab, Duleep Singh who had become one of Queen Victoria’s favourites.
How strange to see him mentioned there at Thetford.
It turned out that he had at some point lived in Thetford and that somewhere in town, there was a statue of him.
Well, if Thomas Payne’s statue was easy for everyone to see, it wasn’t the same for Duleep Singh’s, which it took us time to discover, in the middle of a small island. Exiled there, so to speak.
Back home, I googled his name, trying to find the name of that exhibition had seen, and it was this morning, searching The Times online, that I finally found it.
The National Portrait Gallery has a wonderful website, in which they keep track of former exhibitions, so there it was: Between worlds, voyagers to Britain, 1700-1850
Why did he make such an impression on me, in the course of that exhibition, I don’t know. Maybe that portrait of him by Winterhalter, in which he wore a piece of jewelry that is described in The Times
It was Victoria who commissioned Singh’s portrait from Franz Xavier Winterhalter. It’s a flattering piece, but it hides secrets: one assumes that the exiled ruler must be in full possession of his earthly powers — he’s easy and comfortable in traditional dress. But, look just below his chin and you see the symbol of his subservience, the miniature of Queen Victoria. Then look at the diamonds on his turban and you see jewels that the British confiscated and held in the Tower and returned to Duleep only for the purposes of the portrait.
Such an unusual destiny.
Yes, I am an angry MacBook Pro user! Or should I say Mac user?
Why on earth do I buy a laptop? So that I can take it places with me, right?
Now when you go to different places and read DVDs belonging to different zones, MacBook Pros will only let you change the zone 5 times. Then, it’s locked. I don’t even know if it’s locked into the last zone you’ve ever read, or if it even means that you cannot read DVDs, period!
I happen to go to the UK at least twice a year, take my MacBook Pro with me and cannot read the DVDs I buy or borrow because of that feature. Why does Macintosh do that?
Apparently to please the movie industry, which still think they are in 20th century and that people do not travel. They don’t want you to choose WHERE you buy your DVDs, they want you to buy them in YOUR country.
They want to sell you a product and decide on which machine you are going to use it.
Find this natural?
Well, imagine you buy a washing-machine and on the Instructions, they tell you
Warning! You can only change detergent brand 5 times. By the fifth time, you won’t be able to change any longer!
Would you find this normal? No, you just wouldn’t want that machine brand.
With laptops, you don’t have a choice. They all are all equipped (!!!!) with this feature!
But in this case, and I guess it’s the only compliment that I’ll pay PCs, Windows is better. There ARE fixes and hacks to get rid of the zoning process.
Of course, they are illegal.
But it isn’t illegal for the movie industry to sell you stuff and choose how and where you are going to use it. 😦
So what is left for someone like me?
Only watch French-made DVDs? Get into pirating (which is not exactly my cup of tea)?
Get a PC laptop, viruses and all, and hack it?
Any suggestions?
You can click here for a larger view
You must turn it to ring at the door, I guess.
Am I mistaken or is a hand actually holding the thing that you are supposed to turn?
I photographed this unusual doorbell model in Thetford, while in Norfolk.
While in Norwich, after visiting with Cer!se (why on earth didn’t I take photos? Too early?) for a great breakfast, and roaming Earlham Cemetery, Leo and Elly took me to visit the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, a beautiful museum situated on the grounds of the University of Anglia estate, where works by Henry Moore were displayed
We took a walk in the grounds.
And then went into the Centre. Really a beautiful place. The light and the display of the works of art and artefacts is fantastic
and the students are so lucky to be able to enjoy the centre, which is free, where one can go in, walk around or sit and and read a book
And what’s even more, photography is allowed, as long as you don’t sell the photos 😉
More of my photos here.
Don’t miss the Sainsbury Centre website, which is really a must.
Thanks again to Leo and Elly who took me there.
Blogging in Paris 
