Alma Mahler

 

Alma Mahler – The Very Same Sadness Draft 001

Alma Mahler was very well known in her day. Her father was Emil Schindler the famous Viennese artist; and Alma Mahler's first husband was the well known composer and opera director Gustav Mahler. Alma Mahler's life was made up of highs and lows, interesting people, adventures, and stories of all different shades. And, I discovered the following anecdote whilst reading Alma Mahler's autobiography.

It was July 1919. Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel were at the Prater, Vienna's famous funfair. And, Alma Mahler had been there before with her friend, the Austrian artist Oskar Kokoshka. And, they had seen something uncanny. An attraction with a very sad aura.

On this unhappy stand were life sized mobile puppets. And, all with miserable cynical looks on their faces. And, these mobile puppets were moving from left to right, right to left. Sometimes slow, sometimes fast. Stopping and starting. Unpredictable. And, winning a prize wasn't easy. With only 3 wooden balls, one had to knock off the hats of the puppets. 3 hard wooden balls and lots of impossible fun. Not many prizes were won.

It was, however, the owner's son who had caught Alma Mahler's attention. Waiting until it was safe to do so, this little boy would run around collecting the balls between the still moving puppets. And, this little boy, just like the puppets, was not happy at all.

And, the sight of this little working boy touched the feelings of Oskar Kokoshka. He was moved. And, Oskar Kokoshka would not have been surprised if this little boy were to grow up to murder and kill. Violence day after day was this little boy's fate.

And now, all these years later, Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel were looking for this very same stand. They asked for directions. They were told to follow the crowd. Everyone else was going there, too. Something had happened. Something to see.

Alma Mahler was shocked. She couldn't believe it. The little boy who had since become a young man was being taken away. Arrested. He had just killed his father. One hit on the back of the head with a hoe. The father's death had been instant. And, Alma Mahler caught a glimpse of the young man's expression. The very same sadness she and Oskar Kokoshka had seen years before.

Alma Mahler thought of Oskar Kokoshka. He had known. But, how had he known? Alma Mahler said nothing for the rest of the evening.

Alma Mahler was born in Vienna in 1879. She died in New York in 1964.

Alma Mahler – The Very Same Sadness

A Top Secret Christmas Pulli

 

The idea arrived just as summer was ending. It was brilliant. A pullover. Brigitte would knit a pullover for Hannes. A happy Christmas pulli just fit for her husband. And so, with just over 3 months till Christmas, this top secret pulli began to take shape.

And, keeping this secret a secret was no problem at all. This pulli for Hannes became a lunch time and coffee break project. An office production. And, it worked. Brigitte finished her knitting 10 days before Christmas. Perfect. All that was left was the wrapping it up in fine Christmas paper and the taking it home to put under the tree. And, taking it home was no problem at all. Brigitte had 4 hands not 2!

Every day after school, Kiara, Brigitte's daughter would come to the office. Then, just after 5, they would go home together. Mother and daughter. And, the day before Christmas was no different at all. That is to say, the shopping was all that was different. There was more.

And, there was more because it was Christmas. Brigitte had been Christmas shopping. All very last minute and all very heavy. And so, two heavy bags for Brigitte to carry and one light one for Kiara. Pullovers don't weigh very much and Kiara was still only 10.

Brigitte and Kiara were happy as they walked home from the station. Christmas had finally come. They talked about things that still had to be done. The tree, the decorations, the Christmas bakery, the presents, and so on and so on. And Hannes, of course, would be thrilled with his pulli. 

The pulli! 

Where was the pulli?

Kiara went white in the face. She felt sick. She was speechless. She could neither laugh nor could she cry. Kiara and her mother just stared at each other. The pulli was still on the train. 

Forgotten! 

There was nothing they could do.

Anger was out of the question. Things happen. Very quickly, Brigtte knitted a new mini version of Hannes's pulli and put it on the tree. The message was clear. Next year. And, Hannes was happy. He understood. And, Brigitte was happy that Hannes was happy, and Kiara was happy as well. And, together, they all had a very happy Christmas.

And, the pulli? It arrived the following Christmas as the label had promised. But, the pulli was not on its own. It arrived with a scarf. A scarf Kiara had knitted. All's well that ends well. 

A very happy Christmas to you!

The Alabama

 

The Alabama 

British companies did very good business during the American Civil War. They legally delivered arms to both sides. The North and the South. Shipping, however, was different. There were two kinds of ships. Armed and unarmed. And, British companies were allowed to deliver both armed and unarmed ships to the North, but, only unarmed ships to the Confederate States of the South. The rules were strictly controlled. However, rules were made to be broken. Where there's a will there's a way.

Ships for the Confederate South left Britain unarmed. Then, after being armed along the way in foreign ports, arrived fully armed in the South.

The North didn't like this. These fully armed ships were dangerous. And, the Alabama was one of these ships.

Whilst nearing completion in a Birkenhead ship yard in Britain, the Alabama caught the eye of US authorities. The US authorities claimed the Alabama had been more fitted out than allowed and asked the British government to impound the ship. But, it was Friday. The British government was closed until Monday. However, the representative of the confederate states, Mr. James Bulloch was working. He had spies in the British government and had discovered the plans to impound the Alabama. Mr. Bulloch went into action.

The next day, The Alabama left port for sea trials. On board were the mayor and mayoress of Birkenhead, members of the Birkenhead council, and a small group of VIPs. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best. This was a festive occasion. But, the sea trials were shorter than expected. The Alabama put into Holyhead, a port in North Wales not far from Birkenhead. There was no time to lose. The guests were hurriedly put ashore and the Alabama sped back out to sea. Then, after evading the USS Tuscarra which had been sent to intercept her, set course for mid Atlantic. The Alabama was fitted out with heavy guns on the Azores.

Then she sailed into war.

In the course of her action packed life, The Alabama captured and destroyed 10 Union ships in Mid-Atlantic. She sank the USS Hatteras in an amazingly brief 13 minute encounter. And, on a round the world jaunt, captured 84 merchant ships. The Alabama then met her match.

In a spectacular sea fight, the Alabama was defeated and sunk just off the French coast near Cherbourg. The captain and crew were rescued by cheering spectators. But, this story had an expensive end.

The damages caused by the Alabama were enormous. In the end, the British had to pay more than 15 million dollars in compensation. An enormous price for weekend closing. But, the Alabama was not the only British built ship to cause damage. 15 million dollars was a high price to pay, but, in the long term, British ship building made very much money.

It's all how you see it. In those days, ship building provided many good jobs and made very much money. British war ships, after all, were the best in the world.

The Alabama. A ship built in Britain. A ship with a story.

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