Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jun 17, 2019 19:28:59 GMT -8
Lithgow's freakout is supreme. That's a really fine remake of that classic episode.
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Post by kungfuzu on Jun 17, 2019 19:33:55 GMT -8
Lithgow is a fine actor. I occasionally saw him in "Third Rock from the Sun" and he plays "strange" very well.
I have to say, your posting of the Twilight Zone clip made me laugh out loud.
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Post by timothylane on Jun 17, 2019 21:13:13 GMT -8
I liked the gremlin grabbing the gun and wagging his finger at him in the remake.
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Post by timothylane on Jul 2, 2019 6:10:30 GMT -8
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Post by timothylane on Jul 2, 2019 9:37:32 GMT -8
That residence sure seems to have a lot of windows. Does one have to climb stairs to reach it? I used to be able to do that sort of thing when I was young (we went to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa by stair back in 1961). Of course, now I can't even walk.
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Post by kungfuzu on Jul 2, 2019 9:47:15 GMT -8
I don't recall. I never went in it. I was walking by it with a business colleague who lived near the tower and he told me a few things about it as we went by. I believe it had a lift of some sort.
The windows would give the occupants a beautiful view as well as good lighting. There are many cloudy days during the typical year in that area. And one wouldn't have the problem of peeping Toms at that height.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jul 2, 2019 9:55:48 GMT -8
That ancient tower (one wonders who built it and for what purpose) reminds me of the real-life monument mentioned in "The Pale Horse": Wayland's Smithy. It's located in and around Uffington as is the Uffington White Horse.  Apparently no one knows if it was built for a chieftain or a priest. But apparently it was stuffed with treasure at some point and rumor is that there is still more to be found.   |
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Post by kungfuzu on Jul 2, 2019 10:30:35 GMT -8
That is a very cool place. I would like to visit there. One of my dreams is to fly rent a car in the U.K. and take a 6 week vacation driving around the place. One could see places like Wayland's Smithy which would be difficult to visit if one just stuck to the trains.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jul 2, 2019 12:06:10 GMT -8
Reading this one (so far a bit mediocre, but better than many) novel set in the countryside of England, it definitely inspires me to want to go on walkabout there.
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Post by timothylane on Jul 2, 2019 16:04:27 GMT -8
The Mouse Tower? That would be in or very near Bingen, and is where Archbishop Hatto of Mainz legendarily got his comeuppance for grossly maltreating the peasants there.
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Post by timothylane on Jul 3, 2019 9:30:21 GMT -8
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jul 3, 2019 10:23:30 GMT -8
I'm intrigued by the Mouse Tower. It's difficult to get a sense of scale. Is it a 3-foot high model or a 100 foot tower? Whatever the case may be, it looks like it came loose and washed down shore from Disneyland Europe.  This next one provides a better sense of scale ( original):  Here's an intriguing different angle. It's as if that other castle is watching over it. ( Original)  |
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Post by timothylane on Jul 3, 2019 11:52:57 GMT -8
The Mouse Tower was used to collect tolls from ships traveling up or down the Rhine. There was a chain between the two castles, which presumably is where the shipping lane was. In fact, wikipedia suggests that it was originally the Toll Tower and that the association with mice (and thus the story of the dire, if well-deserved, fate of Archbishop Hatto II) came from the similar of the words.
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Post by kungfuzu on Jul 3, 2019 12:11:39 GMT -8
This is possible. I was not familiar with the German word Maut until the last year or so. I was reading a German newspaper and some article mentioned the word Mautstrasse or of imposing a Maut of some roads. I looked it up and it meant toll. I always used the word Zoll in such cases as that is a customs' duty. But Maut is probably a more ancient word and specific for fees charged for movement over a particular road, river or area.
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Post by timothylane on Jul 3, 2019 13:06:07 GMT -8
Yes, I was surprised that they used Maut, since I had assumed the Zollverein basically meant "toll union".
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Post by kungfuzu on Jul 3, 2019 13:11:15 GMT -8
I guess that "customs union" would be the term today. But it is interesting to note that the Zollverein was, to a significant degree, agreed on in order to eliminate the "tolls" which various German principalities would charge for goods to be transported through their borders to other principalities.
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Post by timothylane on Jul 3, 2019 13:58:27 GMT -8
In English, we basically use "toll" and "customs" (at least this particular meaning) synonymously. I guess German is different, even though the cognate would be Zoll = toll. Then again, in German wo means where and wer means who (as you know, of course). Cognates can be tricky.
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Post by timothylane on Jul 3, 2019 20:00:32 GMT -8
I found it listed in wikipedia as the Niederwaldenkmal (I think I got that right), constructed after the Franco-Prussian War in honor of German unification. The Kaiser then was Wilhelm I. (As Professor Mork once observed, "All the Prussian rulers were named Frederick or William or both." That was true from 1640, when Frederick William the Great Elector -- I had a very nice biography of him by Ferdinand Schevill, which I also reviewed for my German History course -- succeeded George William, to the fall of the monarchy in 1918.)
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Post by kungfuzu on Jul 3, 2019 20:13:43 GMT -8
That means the low/er forest monument.
I have a photo of the plaque celebrating the dedication of the monument by the Kaiser. I don't think many would want to see it, but I can post it and translate if anyone would like me to.
I have also added a few more photos to the same post. With them, we have finished with the middle Rhine unless anyone would like more photos.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jul 3, 2019 21:15:09 GMT -8
That’s one Germanic big-ass monument. Monumental, even.
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