Groovy Folks

A plethora of provocative persons.

[groovyfolks]

The English king, Henry III, gave London its first zoo in 1235. It was housed in the Tower of London and contained lions, snakes, elephants, a rhinoceros, an ostrich and a polar bear who is said to have swam in the Thames. The ostrich supposedly died after being fed a variety of silverware. Eventually the zoo began to charge for entry. The fee could be paid with money or with lion food like cats or dogs.

source: Jenkins, S. (2011) A Short History of England (London: Profile Books Ltd.) p. 59.

[groovyfolks]

A beautifully animated documentary about the life of Sophie Blanchard can be seen here:http://www.fantasticflightsmovie.com/Home.html.

A very informative podcast about Sophie and balloonomania can be found at missedinhistory.com.

[groovyfolks]

Sophie Blanchard is buried in the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Her tombstone was paid for by the French public and bears a sculpture of a burning balloon and the inscription ‘Victime de son Art et de son Intrepidite’ (victim of her art and intrepidity).

[groovyfolks]

On the sixth of July, 1819, Sophie Blanchard died in a ballooning accident. Her balloon ignited while she was performing the ‘Bengal fire demonstration’. It seems that hydrogen filled balloons and slow burning pyrotechnic displays do not go well together.  

[groovyfolks]

As Napoleon's chief air minister of ballooning, Sophie Blanchard helped to plan an aerial invasion of England in hot air balloons. She later deemed the plan impossible - go figure. 

[groovyfolks]

The invention of gas powered balloons in the mid 18th century spawned a phenomenon called balloonomania. People were obsessed with balloons. They decorated furniture and ceramics as well as inspiring the puffy sleeves and skirts of the day. 

[groovyfolks]

Sophie Blanchard was the first female professional balloonist. Her performances included elaborate fireworks displays as well as impressive feats of travel like crossing the alps. She often flew and night and occasionally slept in her balloon. Once, she almost froze to death after ascending too high to avoid a hailstorm. Another time, she almost drowned when her balloon feel into a swamp near Naples.

[groovyfolks]

Sophie Blanchard

Date of Birth: 1778 

Date of Death: 6th of July 1819 

Profession: Professional Balloonist

Marie Madeleine-Sophie Armant was born in Trois-Canons, France. She married famous balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard and began to travel around the world with him as he made money with his balloon displays. To attract larger crowds, he had Sophie join him for several flights and in 1805 she made her first solo flight, making her the first woman to pilot her own balloon. She really enjoyed flying and it was said that she was more comfortable in the air than on the ground.

In 1809 her husband had a heart attack while in flight and fell to his death. In order to pay off his debts, Sophie took over the ballooning business and became very famous. Napoleon Bonaparte made her 'Aeronaught of Official Festivals’ and ‘Chief Air Minister of Ballooning’. Later, Louis XVIII named her ‘Official Aeronaught of the Restoration. In 1819, she died in a ballooning accident in Paris. 

source: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/sophie-blanchard-the-high-flying-frenchwoman-who-revealed-the-thrill-and-danger-of-ballooning-89106237/?no-ist

[fishiecakes-blog]

[plosiveattack]

And this of course is Aragorn’s sword Anduril, Flame of the West, re-forged from the shards of Narsil, given to me by Viggo Mortensen. Now, this has nothing to do with the metaphor - I just want to remind everyone that I have this.

[groovyfolks]

Colbert is an enormous Lord of the Rings fan and is said to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject. *swoon*

[bglass-deactivated20110727]

[groovyfolks]

Colbert did a brief stint in a revival of Sondhiem's musical 'Company' alongside Neil Patrick Harris.

[sayorkunau]

[groovyfolks]

Colbert and his writing staff have been nominated for over 35 awards. He's won 5 emmys, 2 peabodys and many maaany more.

[groovyfolks]

I don't accept the status quo. I do accept Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.

Stephen Colbert

[bastardcoatedbastards-blog-deac]

[groovyfolks]

In 2005 the American Dialect Society declared 'truthiness' (a word coined by Colbert) word of the year.

[spaceninja42]

HE’S COMING TO MY BERMUDA COUNTRY YEEEESSS

[groovyfolks]

In 2011, Colbert joined the crew of the Spirit of Juno in Charleston-Bermuda race. They came second.

[neeeeeeeks-blog]

Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us.

Stephen Colbert

[conanofallon-deactivated2020010]

[groovyfolks]

conanofallon:

Stephen Colbert hosts an hour long show dedicated to Radiohead