I love wandering this city and learning about local heroes.
This statue of Dr. Norman Bethune was unveiled in 2014 surrounded by trees at U of T, where the Gravenhurst, Ont. native completed his medical degree in 1916.
Canadian physician Norman Bethune (BSc Med 1916) was a military surgeon, inventor and humanitarian who greatly advanced medical science and helped improve life in his adopted country of China.
Bethune developed the first mobile blood bank service, which allowed for blood transfusions on battlefields. He also pioneered new surgical techniques and instruments, and was one of Canada’s earliest proponents of universal health care. He is revered in China for training its doctors and paramedics and ministering to wounded soldiers and sick villagers during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The life-size bronze sculpture features him wearing traditional Chinese clothing and a stethoscope.
The piece was created by Toronto sculptor David Pellettier, the artist behind the ferry terminal statue of late NDP leader Jack Layton.
The sculpture is inscribed with words adopted from Bethune’s writings:
“… I am content. I am doing what I want to do. Why shouldn’t I be happy – see what my riches consist of. First I have important work that fully occupies every minute of my time… I am needed."
The Famous 5 are five women, truly pioneers, who in Alberta in the early part of the 20th century shaped the future of the lives of all Canadian women to come. Because of their efforts, on October 18, 1929, the Privy Council declared in the famous " Person's Case of 1929" that women were persons and thus eligible to hold any appointed or elected office.
At the time of their victory, the media dubbed the group the "Alberta Five." Over time, as the case took on a privileged position in Canadian women's history, the group became popularly known as the "Famous 5." They have come to represent an entire generation's political activism, including an earlier, nationwide campaign for women's suffrage.
Each was a true leader in her own right: one a police magistrate, another a legal expert who founded the National Council for Women. Three served as Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta — among the first female elected officials in the entire British Empire. And they did all this before they were even fully defined as persons under Canadian and British law.
Separately, these five women were champions of the rights and welfare of women and children. They worked hard and courageously in the face of the prejudices and resistance of the day. Together, they formed an unstoppable force that changed the world for women in Canada and in all Commonwealth countries.
The Famous Five have been commemorated with individual and group plaques in the foyer and antechamber of Canada's Senate and two identical sculptures by Canadian artist Barbara Paterson. One at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and the other at the Olympic Plaza in Calgary.
Yes, I'm wearing a cowboy hat, because it is the Calgary Stampede and everyone in town is wearing a hat.
Tom the backroads traveller hosts this weekly meme. February 2019 - Mazatlan Mexico I mentioned the Mexican singer Lola Beltran in an earlier post this year. John got a great photo of the statue on the Malecon the other day. María Lucila Beltrán Ruiz (7 March 1932 – 24 March 1996), better known as Lola Beltrán, was a Mexican singer, actress, and television presenter.
Lola Beltrán infused mariachi ballads with such drama, emotion, and style that she came to be known as Lola la Grande, the queen of mariachi. Her regal bearing was enhanced by extravagant costuming and ornate jewels and by the drama with which she clutched her trademark shawl.
Beltrán began singing when she was a young child, and in 1953 she moved with her mother to Mexico City in hopes of breaking into show business. While working as a secretary at a radio station, she performed on one of its weekly talent shows. Within a year she was starring in her own show. For more than 40 years, her popularity did not wane.
Besides performing for a number of Mexico’s presidents and other world leaders, she toured extensively. Beltrán was featured in some 50 musical motion pictures and recorded scores of albums. In many songs, including her signature "Cucurrucucu paloma," which became a classic, her heartfelt expressions of the melancholy despair of love and betrayal left her listeners inspired and moved.
Her "Soy infeliz" was the opening theme for Pedro Almodóvar’s hit motion picture Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988). Source Encyclopedia Britannica
This active mission is in the heart of the town of San Luis Obispo, giving it a very lively and vibrant feeling.
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was founded 1 September 1772 (5th in order) by Saint Junípero Serra. The mission is named for Saint Luis, Bishop of Toulouse. The Native American name for the region was Tishlini. The mission is the halfway point in the chain and is often called the “Prince of Missions.” Because of flaming arrows, the mission was built with tiles; the first roof tiles made in California. In the late 1800’s the mission was remodeled as a parish church; a New England steeple was even added. The steeple was removed and the mission restored in 1934.
We enter from the back. for once there isn't an entrance fee and there is a lovely gift shop. There isn't much parking space so you may have to find a metered spot on a surrounding street.
We then tour the museum which is well done outlining the history of the area.
The museum starts with the Chumash and moves forward in time. The room with the Indian displays has various paintings on the walls representing Indian art and various aspects of Indian life.
Much of the original Mission has been lost to history. Below is a representation of what some of the original items in the church might have looked like. The tabernacle is original and the bells and clapper (used during Lent instead of the bells) date to the early mission era.
Depicts how the dining room in the priest’s quarters might have looked in the 1920s.
There are no original decorations but the pattern on the rear wall is of the type one might have found originally. It was discovered under the wood interior that had been added to the church and then stripped off during the 1934 restoration. The side statues, while not original, are early mission-era art.
The Mission church of San Luis Obispo is unusual in its design in that its combination of belfry and vestibule is found nowhere else in the California missions.
Let's go outside to the garden.
We head out to the front of the church.
In 2005 the Mission put five new bells into service. They are shown here (starting from the left in this picture – note that the bell names are in honor of the first five Missions)…
Carlos (D-Pitch 26.56″ diameter 429 pounds)
Diego (B-Pitch 31.25″ diameter 748 pounds)
Antonio (E-Pitch 23.63″ diameter 297 pounds)
Gabriel (F#-Pitch 21.5″ diameter 224 pounds)
Luis (A-Pitch 19.75″ diameter 158 pounds)
We were lucky enough to be here at noon for the Angelus.
Today, the only bears remaining near Mission San Luis Obispo are the friendly bronze sculptures dabbing their paws in the plaza fountain.
Then look up at the Hannon statue of Saint Serra and the cross that denotes the Mission. (Don’t forget to rub Saint Serra’s toe for luck.)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
