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* \u00a0 * \u00a0*<\/p>\n Welcome to the \u201cGeorgia Wasp\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n If you’re from the art show, you’ll probably want to check out The mysterious death of Ashley Wilkes<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n There’s more on that\u00a0post<\/a>\u00a0below, but first note that I\u00a0modeled this<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0blog<\/a>\u00a0on the Carolina Israelite<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n That was a\u00a0personal newspaper<\/a>, done up by\u00a0Harry Golden<\/a>\u00a0back in the 1940s and \u201950s. \u00a0Harry was a \u201ccigar-smoking, bourbon-loving\u00a0raconteur<\/a><\/em>.\u201d \u00a0(That’s another way of saying he told good stories<\/em>.)<\/p>\n Which means if Harry was around today, \u201cthe Carolina Israelite<\/em><\/strong> would be done as a blog.\u201d<\/p>\n For more on the blog-name connection, see \u201cWasp<\/a>\u201d and\/or The blog<\/a>.\u00a0 But what made Harry special was his positive outlook on life<\/a>. \u00a0He got older but didn\u2019t <\/em>turn sour<\/a>, as so many seem to do these days.\u00a0 He\u00a0still got a kick out of life<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n For that and more, he was considered a \u201cvoice of sanity amid the braying of jackals\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Which is now my goal as well.<\/p>\n In the meantime:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Like I said, “if you’re here from the art show,” you’ll probably want to check out\u00a0The mysterious death of Ashley Wilkes<\/a>. \u00a0Which is being interpreted<\/a>:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I just published a collection of posts from this blog.\u00a0 The title comes from the [post<\/a>] I did on September 1, The mysterious death of Ashley Wilkes<\/a>\u00a0… but first an explanation. \u00a0I\u2019m an artist as well as a blogger, and there\u2019s a big art show coming up in December.\u00a0 But aside from showing off my works of art \u2013 mostly oil paintings \u2013 the show also<\/em><\/strong> presents a chance for me to\u00a0get the word out<\/a>\u00a0on my two blogs, including this one.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n See\u00a0Introduction to \u201cAshley Wilkes<\/a>.” \u00a0That’s<\/em><\/strong> another way of saying December 5 has come and gone. \u00a0(Or will<\/em> have come and gone by the time most readers see this.) \u00a0That<\/em> means my church’s December 5 Combination Art Show and Christmas Bazaar<\/em> has come and gone as well.<\/p>\n But getting back to Leslie Howard<\/a>. \u00a0He played Ashley Wilkes<\/a>\u00a0in 1939’s Gone with the Wind<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0Less than four years later his commercial airliner got shot down by eight\u00a0Luftwaffe<\/a><\/i> Junkers Ju 88C6<\/a>\u00a0fighters.<\/p>\n Under\u00a0<\/em>suspicious circumstances<\/a>. \u00a0And<\/em> 500 miles west of Bordeaux<\/a>, over the Bay of Biscay<\/a>, on a flight over supposedly-neutral waters from Lisbon to London.<\/p>\n Some said it was an accident of war. \u00a0Others said it was deliberate. \u00a0That German spies in Lisbon mistook Howard’s companion for Winston Churchill. \u00a0Or that Nazi propaganda chief\u00a0Joseph Goebbels<\/a>\u00a0personally ordered the shoot-down. \u00a0(He called Howard<\/em> “Britain\u2019s most dangerous propagandist.”) \u00a0Yet another theory was that Howard was a British spy.<\/p>\n I wrote over 3,000 words on the mysterious death<\/a>, many of them in footnotes and\/or end-notes. \u00a0So for the full set of answers your best bet is to check the post yourself.<\/p>\n But note also that that post is just one<\/em> of the “collection of posts from this blog.”<\/p>\n Others include\u00a0\u201cJohnny YUMA was a rebel<\/a>,” and\u00a0\u201cWhen adultery was proof of loyalty<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0The first was about\u00a0Nick Adams<\/a> \u2013 who played Johhny Yuma – and how he too died mysteriously. \u00a0(At age 36, a mere seven years after the show ended.) \u00a0The other one led off with a painting of “Nell Gwynn, ‘the Protestant Whore<\/a><\/em>,’ a favorite mistress of Charles II\u2026”<\/p>\n That was pretty much the theme of\u00a0Alice\u2019s Restaurant \u2013 Revisited<\/a>. \u00a0(That people “who ‘wax poetic’ on the Good Old Days <\/em>usually forget what it was like actually living then.”) \u00a0But that post too ended on a positive note, “in the spirit of Harry Golden.”<\/p>\n The positive note was that: “Maybe these days today<\/strong> aren\u2019t so bad after all\u2026”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n So in that spirit of\u00a0\u201caccentuating the positive,” I’ll close this post by noting the oil painting above left, showing my “favorite grand-niece.” \u00a0(Or one of them anyway.)<\/p>\n And of course Ashley Wilkes<\/em>, as shown below:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (\u201cAshley Wilkes,\u201d anti-Nazi agitator<\/a>?)<\/em><\/p>\n The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0www.flickriver.com\/photos<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0added this:<\/em><\/p>\n Following a rare interview with [Conchita] Montenegro shortly before her death, Spanish author Jos\u00e9 Rey-Ximena claims that British actor Leslie Howard<\/a> used her to get close to Spanish dictator\u00a0Franco<\/a> after being given the special mission by Winston Churchill<\/a>. \u00a0She claimed that she used her husband\u2019s influence to secure [the meeting with Franco]. \u201cThanks to him \u2026 Spain was persuaded to stay out of the war<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 (E.A.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Re: “two blogs.” \u00a0My other blog is<\/em>\u00a0DOR Scribe – Expand your horizons – Read the Bible with an open mind<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0Among other things, that blog explores\u00a0the \u201cmystical<\/span> side of Bible reading.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Re: positive outlook on life and\/or \u201caccentuating the positive.\u201d \u00a0Referring to\u00a0\u201cAc-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive,\u201d the\u00a01944 song written by Harold Arlen<\/a>\u00a0with lyrics by Johnny Mercer<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n See also\u00a0<\/em>curveball<\/a><\/em>, defined in part as a \u201cparticularly difficult issue, obstacle, or problem.\u201d \u00a0The point being that life seems to have a habit of \u201cthrowing<\/strong> us curveballs.\u201d \u00a0See also the alternate definition of dinosaur<\/a><\/em>, as<\/em> \u201csomeone who resists change or is old-fashioned.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Re: “favorite great-niece.” \u00a0As with my seven grandchildren, the usual phrase in such circumstances would be “my favorite grandson named Joe,” to fully cover my bases and avoid showing partiality. Most of those grandchildren heard only the “favorite” part, and didn’t catch on to the “Joe” part until their teens. \u00a0(And keeping in mind of course that the “names were changed to protect the innocent<\/a>.”) Accordingly, the “other favorite great-niece” shouldn’t take offense…\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/g\/images\/spaceout.gif\")
\n“If you’re from the art show,” you’ll probably want to find out if Ashley Wilkes<\/a>\u00a0was really a British spy, working with the likes of Conchita Montenegro<\/a>? (She’s<\/span> the one at left…)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n![\"art](\"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/art-show-110-e1449240180690-198x300.jpg\")
<\/a>This annual “Christmasy” event gave me a chance strut\u00a0my stuff<\/a>. \u00a0(In more than one sense of the word.<\/em>) \u00a0Not only did it let me show some progress in my oil paintings – like the one at right – it also gave me the chance to “let the public know” about my blogs.<\/p>\n![\"art](\"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/art-show-112-e1449240346214-198x300.jpg\")
<\/a>So anyway, the main text of\u00a0mysterious death<\/a>\u00a0ended with this: \u00a0“And some<\/em> people think those were better and simpler times\u2026”<\/p>\n![\"Leslie](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/3\/37\/Leslie_Howard_as_Ashley_Wilkes_in_Gone_With_the_Wind_trailer_cropped.jpg\")
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