I've been out in Sherwood Forest looking for novel benches for World Book Day.
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| http://www.nansengroup.net |
I found some well-known bench novels which I can't wait to tuck into.
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Of course there are literally stacks of book benches around.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/120479937@N08/ |
But I don't want to get chained down in a lot of chat.
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| Sitting on History by Bill Woodrow, my photo |
It would be no fiction to say that my previous attempts at stories for World Book Day have been a disaster.
When I presented stacks of book benches, my friends and neighbours started a forum that was not really about book benches.
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You know how cats can be disruptive when you're trying to read.
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Malcolm McCrow @www.mccrow.org.uk
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My cat knows her literature though. She was a high flyer at Moscow University.
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When I set out to save our public library benches everyone had their own ideas about what they liked. This is Lady Brassica with one of her Young Male Readers. He knows just what women want.
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| http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/a-stack-of-book-benches-for-world-book.html |
When I invited blog contributors to tell me their favourite book benches, my cat, of course, had strong views on this.
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| www.etsy.com/shop/beanforest |
And then, trying to be international, I made the mistake of inviting some matryoshkas over to talk about Russian language books.
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His Excellency, one of my husbands: I'm not keen on Russian dolls. They're so full of themselves.
My best imaginary friend Miggy: Suffice to say, it was more War than Peace.
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| www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns |
World Book Day is a great thing because so many of us love to read.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_ellis/7237391078/ |
Tamsin, my cute little neighbour: I don't read but a book fell on my head once.
His Excellency: You had no one but your shelf to blame.
Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly: I say, this is a jolly nice looking gel! Is this that Anna what's-her-name?
His Excellency: Could be. I'm getting a whiff of vinaigre de toilette.
No. The woman in the painting is not Anna Karenina. She's French.
His Excellency: This makes a change. Even when they're reading, most people on French benches seem to be kissing.
I'm ignoring your comments because this is a quiet read and I don't want any interruptions. I just want people. On benches. Reading.
Tamsin, my cute little neighbour: Ohhhhh, I love pink! These dresses are soooo pretty.
In all ages of art it is not unusual to see paintings of people reading on benches.
Lord Brassica: It looks like this chap has had some bad news. He'd better drown his sorrows in that pitcher of mead.
It's a nice spring day today and Lord Brassica's butler Unwin is out on a bench reading the newspaper which he ironed earlier this morning.
Benches and readers go together, well, like sisters sharing a book.
Miggy: I think this is my sister Nora and me on a bench in my mum's garden.
I doubt it. This painting is from the 19th century.
Miggy: My mum used to read to us, mostly the Little Bench on the Prairie stories.
His Excellency: You must have been a late starter. I was reading a translation of Homer when I was four. Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, deerit nihil
There are just too many opinions about. So this time we're just going to have a quiet read on benches all over the world. We'll start with France, where une femme in a rather odd hat lisant sur un banc.
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| By Henri Bouchet-Doumenq - Own work, CC BY-SA 3., |
Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly: I say, this is a jolly nice looking gel! Is this that Anna what's-her-name?
His Excellency: Could be. I'm getting a whiff of vinaigre de toilette.
No. The woman in the painting is not Anna Karenina. She's French.
His Excellency: This makes a change. Even when they're reading, most people on French benches seem to be kissing.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/cityskylinesouvenir/4239147998/ |
I'm ignoring your comments because this is a quiet read and I don't want any interruptions. I just want people. On benches. Reading.
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| By Fondazione Cariplo, CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Tamsin, my cute little neighbour: Ohhhhh, I love pink! These dresses are soooo pretty.
In all ages of art it is not unusual to see paintings of people reading on benches.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14598216330/ |
Lord Brassica: It looks like this chap has had some bad news. He'd better drown his sorrows in that pitcher of mead.
It's a nice spring day today and Lord Brassica's butler Unwin is out on a bench reading the newspaper which he ironed earlier this morning.
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Benches and readers go together, well, like sisters sharing a book.
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| https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Minna_Heeren |
Miggy: I think this is my sister Nora and me on a bench in my mum's garden.
I doubt it. This painting is from the 19th century.
Miggy: My mum used to read to us, mostly the Little Bench on the Prairie stories.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/49730818@N04/4688618005 |
His Excellency: You must have been a late starter. I was reading a translation of Homer when I was four. Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, deerit nihil
If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need.
His Excellency: And now I am reading a mystery novel in Braille. It's not going to end well.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/traceydw/14495391788 |
His Excellency: And now I am reading a mystery novel in Braille. It's not going to end well.
How do you know?
His Excellency: I can feel it.
Tamsin: I don't read very well but I like to read to my dog in the garden.
Tamsin: Also my cat. But I don't think he likes it.
Mungo, my imaginary husband: How do you know?
Back to the subject please. People. Reading.
Tamsin: Do children count as people?
Yes. And it's very exciting when children discover the magic of letters.
Root, son of Lord Brassica: I got all the way to the letter A and I never discovered any magic.
Miggy: You probably just needed to give it a wee bit longer, Root.
Root: A good teacher could help me I think.
Miggy: I'll go down to the park and see if I can find you a woman reading.
Root: Not my type though. Looks like a bit of a libraryboots. The type who would tell you off for standing on benches.
If we could get back to writers and writing now, please. Or books. Or anything remotely to do with literature.
My cat: I'm a big fan of Tolstoy. He sat on his bench and wrote the world's best love stories.
His Excellency: It has to be said that Russian literature is a little gloomy though. It didn't end well for Anna Karenina, did it?
My cat: Or Konstantin.
His Excellency: Lensky came to a bad end.
And Pushkin come to think of it.
His Excellency: Fighting a duel is a bad way to die.
Ivan Denisovich had a terrible life in the Gulag, as did Anna Akhmatova.
My cat: Maybe better to stick with cats then.
Lord Brassica: What have ruddy cats got to do with it?
My cat: Cats get into everything on the internet. Or кошка as they say in Russian.
That's enough of this showing off and bickering. You guys are worse than a bunch of trolls.
Mungo: I just need to find my reading glasses bench.
Tamsin: Oh, this is adorable! I can't wait til I get old and have to wear glasses.
Lord Brassica: Cripes and double cripes, I don't see what any of this has to do with books.
Miggy: Hey, Root, you're in luck! I found a woman reading in the park.
What part of QUIET don't you people understand?
Miggy: Calm down, Seashell. You're shouting. It doesn't do to be shouting around books.
Ok. We'll start again. In a nice quiet, respectful way.
A little birdie tells me we should start with art.
His Excellency: Pairs of young women reading are popular subjects for artists. They're easy on the eye and they can be posed in very attractive ways which suggests an intimacy with the viewer and with each other.
Tamsin: I like the pink dress best. Where's the button to Fave it?
Lord Brassica: Oh, I say! These are very attractive young ladies. Their tops are nicely revealing.
His Excellency: Will you be revealing anything about World Book Day, Seashell, or is this just one of those listy things?
It's people reading. I'll say no more.
Miggy: I grew up in a very literary household. My teddy subscribed to The Financial Times.
Tamsin: lol. This is succccchhhhh an adorable teddy!
I said PEOPLE reading.
Otherwise we get into that thing with cute animal pictures.
Tamsin: Wow! This is news to me. I didn't know frogs could read.
His Excellency: Fake news, Tamsin. Fake news.
Tamsin: I know cats can read though. I've seen my cat reading.
Mungo: What about reading a computer screen?
Miggy: I find myself strangely attracted to men working on computers.
Mungo: Is there any man you don't find yourself attracted to, Migs?
Miggy: Well, I don't much care for those men Lady Brassica gets from Young Male Readers dot com.
Tamsin: I don't read very well but I like to read to my dog in the garden.
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| By Hadonos Czech Republic- Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Tamsin: Also my cat. But I don't think he likes it.
Mungo, my imaginary husband: How do you know?
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/ledgard/sets/1574189 |
Back to the subject please. People. Reading.
Tamsin: Do children count as people?
Yes. And it's very exciting when children discover the magic of letters.
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Magic_of_Letters |
Root, son of Lord Brassica: I got all the way to the letter A and I never discovered any magic.
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| http://www.levelsofdiscovery.com |
Miggy: You probably just needed to give it a wee bit longer, Root.
Root: A good teacher could help me I think.
Miggy: I'll go down to the park and see if I can find you a woman reading.
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| my photo, Nesselwang, Germany |
Root: Not my type though. Looks like a bit of a libraryboots. The type who would tell you off for standing on benches.
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| my photo, Enkhuizen, Netherlands |
If we could get back to writers and writing now, please. Or books. Or anything remotely to do with literature.
My cat: I'm a big fan of Tolstoy. He sat on his bench and wrote the world's best love stories.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/tschaff/336845534/in/photolist |
His Excellency: It has to be said that Russian literature is a little gloomy though. It didn't end well for Anna Karenina, did it?
Miggy: Or Lara.
My cat: Or Konstantin.
His Excellency: Lensky came to a bad end.
And Pushkin come to think of it.
His Excellency: Fighting a duel is a bad way to die.
Ivan Denisovich had a terrible life in the Gulag, as did Anna Akhmatova.
My cat: Maybe better to stick with cats then.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/dashananda/286682555/in/photolist |
Lord Brassica: What have ruddy cats got to do with it?
My cat: Cats get into everything on the internet. Or кошка as they say in Russian.
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That's enough of this showing off and bickering. You guys are worse than a bunch of trolls.
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| photo by Kelly Riley |
Mungo: I just need to find my reading glasses bench.
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| https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Benches_in_Kiev?uselang=en-gb#/media/File:Kfp_wiki_002.jpg |
Tamsin: Oh, this is adorable! I can't wait til I get old and have to wear glasses.
Lord Brassica: Cripes and double cripes, I don't see what any of this has to do with books.
Miggy: Hey, Root, you're in luck! I found a woman reading in the park.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/alidarmoxie/404053770/ |
What part of QUIET don't you people understand?
Miggy: Calm down, Seashell. You're shouting. It doesn't do to be shouting around books.
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| www.etsy.com/shop/dexmex |
Ok. We'll start again. In a nice quiet, respectful way.
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A little birdie tells me we should start with art.
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| https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RoeckenhausArt |
His Excellency: Pairs of young women reading are popular subjects for artists. They're easy on the eye and they can be posed in very attractive ways which suggests an intimacy with the viewer and with each other.
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| https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17422453 |
Tamsin: I like the pink dress best. Where's the button to Fave it?
Lord Brassica: Oh, I say! These are very attractive young ladies. Their tops are nicely revealing.
His Excellency: Will you be revealing anything about World Book Day, Seashell, or is this just one of those listy things?
It's people reading. I'll say no more.
Miggy: I grew up in a very literary household. My teddy subscribed to The Financial Times.
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| source unknown |
Tamsin: lol. This is succccchhhhh an adorable teddy!
I said PEOPLE reading.
Otherwise we get into that thing with cute animal pictures.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/29673072@N03/3784376606/ |
Tamsin: Wow! This is news to me. I didn't know frogs could read.
His Excellency: Fake news, Tamsin. Fake news.
Tamsin: I know cats can read though. I've seen my cat reading.
Mungo: What about reading a computer screen?
Miggy: I find myself strangely attracted to men working on computers.
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| my photo |
Mungo: Is there any man you don't find yourself attracted to, Migs?
Miggy: Well, I don't much care for those men Lady Brassica gets from Young Male Readers dot com.
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Miggy: And I don't always like their books either.
His Excellency: Personally, I tend to fancy an intelligent-looking woman with a thoughtful expression.
Miggy: This sort of thing?
His Excellency: Heavens no. Not my cup of tea at all.
Miggy: What about this one?
Tamsin: I've seen her on Instagram.
His Excellency: Deep in thought. A philosopher I think, rather like myself. An intelligent woman of substance and beauty. Can I contact her through Facebook?
Absolutely not. She pre-dates social media.
Mungo: I'm losing the will to live here. I thought we were talking about children reading?
You're right, Mungo. There are some lovely sculptures of children reading on benches. Here's a child reading in the library in Shelburne, Ontario.
Lord Brassica: Why is this child barefoot in a library?
Well, there are different kinds of libraries these days. You have to know what you're looking for.
His Excellency: Personally, I tend to fancy an intelligent-looking woman with a thoughtful expression.
Miggy: This sort of thing?
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His Excellency: Heavens no. Not my cup of tea at all.
Miggy: What about this one?
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| https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vittorio_Matteo_Corcos |
Tamsin: I've seen her on Instagram.
His Excellency: Deep in thought. A philosopher I think, rather like myself. An intelligent woman of substance and beauty. Can I contact her through Facebook?
Absolutely not. She pre-dates social media.
Mungo: I'm losing the will to live here. I thought we were talking about children reading?
You're right, Mungo. There are some lovely sculptures of children reading on benches. Here's a child reading in the library in Shelburne, Ontario.
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| http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMW7C |
Lord Brassica: Why is this child barefoot in a library?
Well, there are different kinds of libraries these days. You have to know what you're looking for.
His Excellency: I occasionally enjoy science fiction.
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| Sign Appreciation Society, Facebook |
Tamsin: I like those little outdoor libraries.
They're just boxes of books really.
Lord Brassica: People should be properly shod if they're in a public place.
Lord Brassica: This is an outrage. This young man is old enough to keep his shoes on and sit up properly. What is the world coming to?
The important thing is that young people enjoy reading.
This child in St. Helier is captivated by her book.
Tamsin: I don't believe in holding children captive.
We're moving on now because I want to show people reading on benches.
What better place to read than on a bench along the river?
My husband Mungo: I don't see a river.
You don't need to. The title of the picture is Riverside, so we know it's a river. And something like a park.
Miggy: Lots of people like to read on benches in parks.
Yes, this couple come to the park every day with their books and newspapers.
Mungo: That's so they don't have to speak to each other.
Not true. Sharing something you've read is a lovely thing.
His Excellency: This woman seems unduly excited. I don't think it's something she's read.
Miggy: A lot of women are attracted to men reading newspapers, especially when they're smartly dressed.
Mungo: What? The newspapers?
His Excellency: This chap is very businesslike. He looks like he wouldn't care to be interrupted by women throwing themselves at him.
Reading is, after all, a solitary pursuit.
His Excellency: And men take their papers very seriously.
Mungo: Never come between a man and his Daily News.
His Excellency: Or his Jakarta Bisnis.
His Excellency: But if that woman in green that we saw earlier cares to have a conversation with me I will happily stop my reading.
Miggy: So you could be tempted?
His Excellency: Absolutely. In the right circumstances. By the woman in green.
Lord Brassica: By jove, what sort of week-kneed ninny prefers a book to a woman?
Some men can't be persuaded away from their books.
Or their newspapers.
Lord Brassica: By jove, I'd be tempted by any of these three jolly lasses.
Root: I know these three. Saw them down at the Dustpan and ipod on Friday night.
Tamsin: They're all called Grace. They're on Snapchat.
Could we stop the chat, please, and just look at the quiet reading.
Miggy: I hate it when I'm reading and someone next to me tries to read over my shoulder. I feel like saying get your own thing to read.
It's really nice to share something you've read though. A poem for instance. Imagine it's a summer's evening and you're with your best friend by the lake . .
Lord Brassica: Tally ho! These women can swim in my lake anytime.
I think you're missing the point here, Lord B. This is about BOOKS. And READING.
Lord Brassica: Fair enough. I read a book once. Well, I read part of it all the way through. It was yellow I think.
Mungo: I don't get this thing about sharing books. I tried to run a reading group and I was the only one interested.
His Excellency: Maybe there was something about Principles of Quantum Physics that wasn't a catchy enough title.
I'm getting fed up here. This was supposed to be a quiet read for World Book Day. Instead, it's turning into another one of those forums where people feel they have a right to an opinion.
Miggy: Speaking of which, I'm just checking Twitter and there's some breaking news.
Mungo: Is it fake news or real news?
Miggy: Doesn't matter. It's still news.
His Excellency: Hold on. I'll get my tablet out.
Tamsin: OMG! Root has found himself a teacher. He's going to learn to read!
Lord Brassica: Blimey, I could do with a few lessons myself.
His Excellency: And me. I don't think I'm quite up to scratch with my Latin.
Mungo: I wonder if this woman would like to be in my book group?
Right. That's it. I give up.
This isn't even about books. The only thing I've achieved here is that we have seen people reading on benches in quite a few countries - France, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Canada, Belgium, England, Netherlands, Malawi and the USA.
Though my rebellious friends and family stopped me, I've tried everything to have a nice quiet read for World Book Day. Now I'm going to find myself a sunny bench.
And a good book. Then I'm going to retire to a bench and enjoy the rest of World Book Day.
Credits
I hope this story has convinced you that here on Paradise Island we are literate and extremely learned folk. We pay careful attention to our grammar and punctuation benches. We always celebrate World Book Day with stacks of book benches and last year we tried to save our library benches. For more about the book-reading citizens of Fribble and Drizzly, see who's who in Fribble-under-Par. See how we celebrate National Poetry Day benches at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/poetry-please-benches-for-national.html And of course, Russian Language Day benches are something you shouldn't miss.
The French woman reading on a bench is a painting called Femme lisant sur un banc by Henri Bouchet-Doumenq, who painted lots of women on benches and elsewhere. This is the own work of Henri Bouchet-Doumenq, available on CC BY-SA 3.0. I saw it at https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18975351
I have two husbands. One is Mungo, my imaginary husband, who features in lots of Benchsite stories. Mungo and I were married at an imaginary wedding in Las Vegas many years ago. My other husband is His Excellency, who has a reputation for destruction, even when he means well. He's a philosopher and, to say the least, not a very practical person. He blames this on his schooling, which focused mostly on woodwork. Mungo, on the other hand, keeps a good workbench. Read about both of them at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html And should you be further interested, you can read about the chaos in our household on Valentine's Day.
Quiet Interruption is a lovely shot of a young couple on a bench in 2009. They aren't in France though, they're in Hamilton. The photographer says: I have very strong ideas and am very easy-going. Je suis seventeen and winter born et like slipping French into my sentences and revisiting my childhood through Disney movies. https://www.flickr.com/photos/cityskylinesouvenir/4239147998/
The two girls in pink, entitled Le Confidenze, is a painting by Fabbi Fabio, created 1900 This file by Artgate Fondazione Cariplo was uploaded as part of the Share Your Knowledge project developed within WikiAfrica. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php? By Fondazione Cariplo, CC BY-SA 3.0 If you like pink, we've got Fifty Shades of Pink benches and some grey ones too at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/50-shades-of-grey-and-pink-valentine.html
The painting of dark figures in a room is Flemish, as you might imagine, and it is entitled Interior With Figures. It was painted by Niers The Younger, a Flemish painter, who lived from 1610-1690. It comes from the illustrated catalogue of the private collection of valuable paintings by the old
masters and early English artists formed by the late Leon Hirsch of New York Year in 1914. I saw it at https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43959808 and at https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14598216330/
The two pretty girls in white are Zwei singende junge Mädchen auf einer Parkbank - two girls in the park - painted in 1873 by German artist Minna Heeren (1823-1898) The photograph is in the public domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Minna_Heeren_Singende_M%C3%A4dchen_auf_der_Parkbank.jpg White is such a romantic colour. Why not have a look at our romantic white benches at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/romantic-white-benches.html
The sculpture of a woman on a bench reading to a child is at the entrance to the Taylor Public Library in Taylor, Texas. The statue was donated by the Taylor Women's Study Club and was photographed for the library's Flickr site in 2007. https://www.flickr.com/photos/49730818@N04/4688618005
The white statue of the girl and the dog is by Hadonos, who lives in Most in the Czech Republic. I found it on Wikimedia at https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21936652
and it is Hadonos's own work, available under Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 3.0, Aug 2012. Here on Benchsite we love dogs and there are some doggone good canine benches at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html
Prefer cats? There are some purr-fect benches for World Cats Day. And our feline benches with cats playing the piano are the cat's meow.
Root is the son of Lord and Lady Brassica of Drizzly. Whilst Lady B is gorgeous and Lord B is wealthy and personable, Root has none of these qualities. In fact, he has no qualities whatsoever, he's simply a toff-about-town.
The children's Level of Discovery benches come in all sorts of colours and themes. The Alphabet Soup bench is one of my favourites. It is available from http://www.levelsofdiscovery.com If you fancy some nice alphabet benches, we've got an A to Z of Dutch benches and a whole alphabet of dance benches too.
The clever eyeglass bench in Kiev, Ukraine, was photographed by Naranek Kosh. I saw it on Wikimedia where its title is
Очки для чтения» I think the artist might be Сергей Данчинов https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Benches_in_Kiev?uselang=en-gb#/media/File:Kfp_wiki_002.jpg
In 2007 Alidar Moxie was reading on a bench outside her Second Life store. While Alidar looks very Right Now, moxie is an Old Hollywood word for female characters full of spirit, character, chutzpah. Think Bette Davis and Barbara Stanwyk and Katherine Hepburn. https://www.flickr.com/photos/alidarmoxie/404053770/
Michael Dexter Design/DexMex is proud to be rated as one of Etsy's top art sellers, specializing in unique wedding and engagement gifts, and a wide variety of vintage-inspired designs and framed art prints. Michael's eclectic style is a fusion of vintage art and modern design and he loves mixing traditional and nostalgic images with a new contemporary edge. One of his works is the brilliant and scary Shhhing librarian. www.etsy.com/shop/dexmex
In an exquisite oil painting called Beim Gebet by the German artist Ernst Oppler (1867-1929) a woman seems to be reading to an older woman from a prayer book. The painting was created in 1900 and is in the private collection of Ketterer Kunst at http://www.kettererkunst.de/kunst/kd/details.php?
obnr=113002123&anummer=412 It is in the public domain and available at
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30723451
Kordula Röckenhaus is a graphic designer and artist in Bielefeld, Germany. At her shop, RöckenhausArt, she sells original artworks, giclee prints, greeting cards and postcards, such as the delightful one of the man reading a newspaper with a little red bird by his side.
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RoeckenhausArt
The two girls in pink and gold dresses sharing a book are subjects of a 19th century oil painting entitled Poesie Schwelgen. Its author is anonymous and it was put on Wikimedia by Düsseldorfer Auktionshaus. The painting is in the public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17422453
The teddy is reading a newspaper which is definitely not The New York Times. It looks like it might be Italian. I regret that I am unable to find the source of this image. I've had it around for a very long time.
The reading frog was on a bench in Atlanta in 2009. The photographer is very green. No, really, that's his name. He likes to take photos of Anime figures that his wife collects. https://www.flickr.com/photos/29673072@N03/3784376606/
Tom Campbell was a journalist on The Tribune newspaper in Lewiston, Idaho. His statue is now on a bench outside the Tribune offices in the pretty old town square of the town. I photographed it when I was there in 2016.
Lady Brassica has long held a subscription to Young Male Readers.com. Each evening a young man from the agency takes the ferry and arrives at Paradise Island where Lady B's chauffeur picks him up and delivers him to Drizzly Manor. Lady B then spends several hours being read to, though the choice of books are sometimes dubious.
Miggy was on a bench reading a book called Eat Yourself Slim. I'll say no more.
The dreamy woman in green who has captured His Excellency's imagination is Elena Vecchi, painted in oil in 1896 by Italian painter Vittorio Matteo Corcos (1859-1933). She's in the Galeria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome and I wouldn't be surprised if he goes there soon.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vittorio_Matteo_Corcos_-_Dreams_-_1896.jpg?uselang=en-gb
The bronze boy reading is a Sit-by-Me statue inside the Shelburne Carnegie Public Library in Shelburne, Ontario in Canada. The artist is Mary Squirell and the work commemorates Patrick Heaslip (1987-2005) http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMW7C_Young_boy_in_prone_position_while_reading__Shelburne_Ontario_CA
The guy reading face down is Benny, the prone reader. He was photographed in 2007 at the Hancock County Library in St Louis. The photographer is Social_Stratification, who has a website in the Deep South called Social Stratification in the Deep South
https://www.flickr.com/photos/south_2007/524274862
The very cheerful girl in dungarees is an old image from clipart.
The magic of letters was photographed in Livingstonia in Malawi around 1895. It is part of the collection of the International Mission Photography Archive (1860-1960) and it is in the public domain in Europe and the USA because it was registered with the US copyright office before January 1923. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Magic_of_Letters,_Livingstonia%22_Malawi,_ca.1895_(imp-cswc-GB-237-CSWC47-LS3-1-038).jpg
The statue of a child reading on a bench is called Captivated. It's in the public library in St. Helier in Jersey. That's in the Channel Islands, where Meredith the cat helped me find all the best benches in St. Helier. How well did Meredith do? Well, let's just say it was a catastrophe.
The barefoot woman is reading on a bench in Riverside Park along the Hudson River in New York City. She was photographed by Ed Yourdon in 2008. Ed has many candid shots of his city, many featuring people on benches. By Ed Yourdon at http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/2549450619/, CC BY-SA 2.0. I found the photo at https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9831875
My Dutch isn't very good but I think the elderly couple on a bench are Simon and Tiny Carmiggelt, who lives in the town of Rheden in The Netherlands. Simon (1913-1987) was a writer who wrote a humourous and melancholy daily column in Het Parool. Funded by the generosity of the community, the bronze sculpture is by artist Wim Kuyl and it was unveiled in 1990 by Tiny, after Simon died. Sadly, the statue was stolen in January 2012 and found a few days later cut into pieces. The photograph of the statue is by user Neozoon, CC BY-SA 3.0 at Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18178730
Wally Gobetz is a prolific photographer of interesting artistic and historical works and he is very thorough in photographing the brilliant sculptures of Seward Johnson at the Grounds For Sculpture, a 42-acre sculpture park and museum located in Hamilton Square, New Jersey. The grounds feature over 270 large scale contemporary sculptures and Wally has photographed many of them. A Retrospective of Seward Johnson's work presents an overview of the New Jersey sculptor's 50-year career through a lifetime collection of over 150 of his works. Two of these appear in the story. The man with a newspaper is called Waiting (1989) https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/15283928024/ The man and woman together are Sharing the Headlines (1994) https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/15912340221/
The woman reading a book while relaxing on a wooden bench beneath a linden tree is close to the Saint Johannes church in Voelkendorf, Villach,
Carinthia, Austria. The photographer is Johann Jaritz, who has licensed it under Creative Commons 3.0 at https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?
curid=5164712 You can get high on our alpine benches from Austria, Germany and Switzerland at
Eddie Cantor is the man sitting on a bench reading a newspaper in about 1919. The headline seems to be news about Senate ratification of treaties at end of World War I. Eddie Cantor (1892 - 1964)was an American comedian, singer, actor, songwriter. This image is from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ggbain.36121 and is in the Public Domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2820559
The beautiful cottage with a man reading his newspaper is an intriguing work by Danish painter Hans Andersen Brendekilde (1857-1942). You may notice that the other man is missing a leg. The painting was created in 1912 and is one of many paintings featuring rural life in Denmark. Several even show this same cottage. The works of H.A. Brendekilde are available on Wikimedia at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:H._A._Brendekilde_-_Mens_du_l%C3%A6ser_avisen_nyheder_(1912).jpg?uselang=en-gb
Seika lives in Jakarta. Most of her shots are unsuspecting bystanders, like the man in red reading paper in Jakarta in 2012. Seika says photography is her time-passing activity and she truly believes she'd die of boredom without her camera. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nseika/7982750083/
The photo with Mark Twain reading a book was taken at Walter's Ferry on the Snake River in Idaho many years ago. Pat McDonald from Boise photographed his cousin Gerhard from Germany, who appears to be trying to persuade Twain to put down his book. If it's Huckleberry Finn, no wonder he wants to keep reading. Cleo's Ferry Museum is a sculpture park in Melba, Idaho, and from all accounts, it's a gem of a place. http://www.yelp.com/biz/cleos-ferry-museum-melba
Companion 5 is the name of the clownish person sitting next to a man with a newspaper in Bratislava in 2014. The photographer is Vratislav Darmek. I don't know any more than that. https://www.flickr.com/photos/vratislavdarmek/14549185493/
Summer Evening Beside the Lake is an 1897 painting by Fujishima Takeji (1867-1943) from the Geidai Museum in Japan. It's now in the University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts, photographed by http://www.asahi.com/articles/photo/AS20150715002500.html
For World Book Day in 2013 Mungo started a book group. The only other members were our cats, Rosie and Melissa. Mungo chose the book, A History of Calculus, which, judging from the picture I took of both cats sleeping, was not enough to hold their attention. Then again, holding a cat's attention is not always that easy, especially when you're in a sunroom on a warm afternoon.
Doug Zwick photographed the man with a computer, who is seeing Bad News. He's on the McGill campus in Montreal and the statue commemorates the passing of Steve Jobs. The laptop screen reads Steve Jobs est mort 1955 - 2011. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dczwick/9982246005/
Root's incredibly glamorous reading teacher is The Diva, who appeared at The Rouge opening party in 2008. Looks like the Rouge might be a nightclub or perhaps even some other kind of place Lord B might like to frequent. The photo is by Jessyka Richard, who has flickred her second life at https://www.flickr.com/photos/jessykarichard/2655226640
Kathy Thomas's Leatherarts work is hand-tooled and hand-painted. She emphasises that her pieces are not just to look at - they're for wearing, carrying or putting to good use. She has a wide range of colourful and exciting purses, key fobs, wallets, notebooks, belts and will accept commissions. The purse with Woman Reclining on a Bench is a replica of the painting by Carl Olaf Larsson. Her shop is at www.etsy.com/shop/leatherarts There are issues about sleeping on benches though; see what lengths people will go to stop people sleeping on benches.
If Russia doesn't do it for you and Ireland doesn't tickle the cockles of your heart there are plenty of benches from other countries here on Benchsite. Japan, for example. And a whole fiesta of benches from Mexico. There's a whole alphabet of Dutch benches and a bench from each of the countries of Europe. Every summer Miggy and Mungo and I go on a mission to find benches so see how weate our way through found the tasty benches of Italy. We got high on benches in the Alps but Greece was a mission impossible. And then there are the benches of St. Helier, and the benches of Las Vegas, where Mungo and I gambled on love
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/south_2007/524274862 |
Lord Brassica: This is an outrage. This young man is old enough to keep his shoes on and sit up properly. What is the world coming to?
The important thing is that young people enjoy reading.
This child in St. Helier is captivated by her book.
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Tamsin: I don't believe in holding children captive.
We're moving on now because I want to show people reading on benches.
What better place to read than on a bench along the river?
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/2549450619/ |
My husband Mungo: I don't see a river.
You don't need to. The title of the picture is Riverside, so we know it's a river. And something like a park.
Miggy: Lots of people like to read on benches in parks.
Yes, this couple come to the park every day with their books and newspapers.
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| Neozoon - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Mungo: That's so they don't have to speak to each other.
Not true. Sharing something you've read is a lovely thing.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/15912340221/ |
His Excellency: This woman seems unduly excited. I don't think it's something she's read.
Miggy: A lot of women are attracted to men reading newspapers, especially when they're smartly dressed.
Mungo: What? The newspapers?
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/15283928024/ |
His Excellency: This chap is very businesslike. He looks like he wouldn't care to be interrupted by women throwing themselves at him.
Reading is, after all, a solitary pursuit.
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| By Johann Jaritz - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 |
His Excellency: And men take their papers very seriously.
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| https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:H._A._Brendekilde |
Mungo: Never come between a man and his Daily News.
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| https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2820559 |
His Excellency: Or his Jakarta Bisnis.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/nseika/7982750083/ |
His Excellency: But if that woman in green that we saw earlier cares to have a conversation with me I will happily stop my reading.
Miggy: So you could be tempted?
His Excellency: Absolutely. In the right circumstances. By the woman in green.
Lord Brassica: By jove, what sort of week-kneed ninny prefers a book to a woman?
Some men can't be persuaded away from their books.
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| http://www.yelp.com/biz/cleos-ferry-museum-melba |
Or their newspapers.
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enrico_Tarenghi |
Lord Brassica: By jove, I'd be tempted by any of these three jolly lasses.
Root: I know these three. Saw them down at the Dustpan and ipod on Friday night.
Tamsin: They're all called Grace. They're on Snapchat.
Could we stop the chat, please, and just look at the quiet reading.
Miggy: I hate it when I'm reading and someone next to me tries to read over my shoulder. I feel like saying get your own thing to read.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/vratislavdarmek/14549185493/ |
It's really nice to share something you've read though. A poem for instance. Imagine it's a summer's evening and you're with your best friend by the lake . .
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| http://www.asahi.com/articles/photo/AS20150715002500.html |
Lord Brassica: Tally ho! These women can swim in my lake anytime.
I think you're missing the point here, Lord B. This is about BOOKS. And READING.
Lord Brassica: Fair enough. I read a book once. Well, I read part of it all the way through. It was yellow I think.
Mungo: I don't get this thing about sharing books. I tried to run a reading group and I was the only one interested.
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His Excellency: Maybe there was something about Principles of Quantum Physics that wasn't a catchy enough title.
I'm getting fed up here. This was supposed to be a quiet read for World Book Day. Instead, it's turning into another one of those forums where people feel they have a right to an opinion.
Miggy: Speaking of which, I'm just checking Twitter and there's some breaking news.
Mungo: Is it fake news or real news?
Miggy: Doesn't matter. It's still news.
His Excellency: Hold on. I'll get my tablet out.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/dczwick/9982246005/ |
Tamsin: OMG! Root has found himself a teacher. He's going to learn to read!
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/jessykarichard/2655226640 |
Lord Brassica: Blimey, I could do with a few lessons myself.
His Excellency: And me. I don't think I'm quite up to scratch with my Latin.
Mungo: I wonder if this woman would like to be in my book group?
Right. That's it. I give up.
This isn't even about books. The only thing I've achieved here is that we have seen people reading on benches in quite a few countries - France, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Canada, Belgium, England, Netherlands, Malawi and the USA.
Though my rebellious friends and family stopped me, I've tried everything to have a nice quiet read for World Book Day. Now I'm going to find myself a sunny bench.
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And a good book. Then I'm going to retire to a bench and enjoy the rest of World Book Day.
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| www.etsy.com/shop/leatherarts |
Credits
I hope this story has convinced you that here on Paradise Island we are literate and extremely learned folk. We pay careful attention to our grammar and punctuation benches. We always celebrate World Book Day with stacks of book benches and last year we tried to save our library benches. For more about the book-reading citizens of Fribble and Drizzly, see who's who in Fribble-under-Par. See how we celebrate National Poetry Day benches at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/poetry-please-benches-for-national.html And of course, Russian Language Day benches are something you shouldn't miss.
The Robin Hood doubled-closed book bench is from the Nansen Group Inc. in Calgary, Alberta. They are a team of professional designers who specialise in high quality contemporary library furniture for public libraries, college, universities and the heathcare industry. They have a range of book benches, including Treasure Island, the Wizard of Oz, and my favourite childhood book, Charlotte's Web. Their website is at http://www.nansengroup.net
The women sitting on stacks on books in the street were photographed at the Spui book market in Amsterdam in 2014. I'd be surprised if any of these books were about benches. Hans Stellingwerf photographs Straatmoments in the streets for his website at TrekEarth and his Flickr photostream at HS Fotografie. https://www.flickr.com/photos/120479937@N08/ Hans would like to make it clear that if he is following someone, it's for streetphotography only.
Sitting on History is by Bill Woodrow, 1995 at www.billwoodrow.com I photographed this bench at Cass Sculpture Park in 2009.
The A Cat is a Cat book bench is from Bob Dodson, the Art Shaman, who creates digital art, woodwork, bowl turning, ceramics and all kinds of objects from mixed media. He has a Cat Gallery and reports that his cats have recently learned to type, which could create havoc on his website at http://www.artshaman.com A Cat is a Cat appeared in the World Book Day post back in April 2013.
The cat running along the back of the bench outside the Broughty Ferry Library was photographed by Malcolm McCrow as part of his photographic collection of Broughty Ferry in Scotland. Broughty looks like a brilliant place. Broughty Ferry and other British places can be seen at www.mccrow.org.uk
The beautiful grey cat is not my own cat. He's Gurzuf, photographed by Dasha Gaian way back in 2006. A gorgeous grey cat, Dasha called him The Bench King. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dashananda/286682555/in/photolist
If you like cats, here on Benchsite there are plenty of purrfect feline benches for World Cats Day, as well as more than a few cats playing pianos. But cats are not our only animal benches. In fact, we have a whole Ark of animal benches. See which ones Noah saved. If dogs are your thing, you’d be barking not to have a look at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html Maybe you prefer deer? Or pigs? We've got farm animals too. The Cream of Bovine Benches. How about some Baaaaaad Sheep Benches? There are sunny bunny benches for Easter and poultry benches which are no spring chickens. We've had horse benches for The Year of the Horse and goat benches for, yep, The Year of the Goat. We've got Great British Birds and even creepy crawlie insect benches for National Insect Week. And monkeys? Of course we have monkeys; Eddie has made sure of that. It's not just The Year of the Monkey. Oh no, we've had plenty of Eddie's monkey business.
The man with a heart head is Working Man, located at The Cube, a 25-storey building in the city centre of Birmingham UK. The Cube houses a mix of offices, shops, restaurants and apartments and inside the building’s central courtyard atrium is an exclusive portfolio of art pieces by contemporary artist, Temper, whose work is dedicated to and influenced by ‘The Lovely People’ of the city he loves. Each of Temper’s pieces immortalises a real person who has inspired others and demonstrates a source of pride for the city. Working Man was photographed by Barry O'Neil in 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_ellis/7237391078/
The beautiful grey cat is not my own cat. He's Gurzuf, photographed by Dasha Gaian way back in 2006. A gorgeous grey cat, Dasha called him The Bench King. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dashananda/286682555/in/photolist
If you like cats, here on Benchsite there are plenty of purrfect feline benches for World Cats Day, as well as more than a few cats playing pianos. But cats are not our only animal benches. In fact, we have a whole Ark of animal benches. See which ones Noah saved. If dogs are your thing, you’d be barking not to have a look at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html Maybe you prefer deer? Or pigs? We've got farm animals too. The Cream of Bovine Benches. How about some Baaaaaad Sheep Benches? There are sunny bunny benches for Easter and poultry benches which are no spring chickens. We've had horse benches for The Year of the Horse and goat benches for, yep, The Year of the Goat. We've got Great British Birds and even creepy crawlie insect benches for National Insect Week. And monkeys? Of course we have monkeys; Eddie has made sure of that. It's not just The Year of the Monkey. Oh no, we've had plenty of Eddie's monkey business.
The man with a heart head is Working Man, located at The Cube, a 25-storey building in the city centre of Birmingham UK. The Cube houses a mix of offices, shops, restaurants and apartments and inside the building’s central courtyard atrium is an exclusive portfolio of art pieces by contemporary artist, Temper, whose work is dedicated to and influenced by ‘The Lovely People’ of the city he loves. Each of Temper’s pieces immortalises a real person who has inspired others and demonstrates a source of pride for the city. Working Man was photographed by Barry O'Neil in 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_ellis/7237391078/
The French woman reading on a bench is a painting called Femme lisant sur un banc by Henri Bouchet-Doumenq, who painted lots of women on benches and elsewhere. This is the own work of Henri Bouchet-Doumenq, available on CC BY-SA 3.0. I saw it at https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18975351
I have two husbands. One is Mungo, my imaginary husband, who features in lots of Benchsite stories. Mungo and I were married at an imaginary wedding in Las Vegas many years ago. My other husband is His Excellency, who has a reputation for destruction, even when he means well. He's a philosopher and, to say the least, not a very practical person. He blames this on his schooling, which focused mostly on woodwork. Mungo, on the other hand, keeps a good workbench. Read about both of them at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html And should you be further interested, you can read about the chaos in our household on Valentine's Day.
Quiet Interruption is a lovely shot of a young couple on a bench in 2009. They aren't in France though, they're in Hamilton. The photographer says: I have very strong ideas and am very easy-going. Je suis seventeen and winter born et like slipping French into my sentences and revisiting my childhood through Disney movies. https://www.flickr.com/photos/cityskylinesouvenir/4239147998/
The two girls in pink, entitled Le Confidenze, is a painting by Fabbi Fabio, created 1900 This file by Artgate Fondazione Cariplo was uploaded as part of the Share Your Knowledge project developed within WikiAfrica. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php? By Fondazione Cariplo, CC BY-SA 3.0 If you like pink, we've got Fifty Shades of Pink benches and some grey ones too at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/50-shades-of-grey-and-pink-valentine.html
Tamsin is a sweet local girl who works here in Fribble-under-Par in the Not Quite Good Enough pharmacy. She has a French fiance, Garcon Orange, and a baby named Isambard Kevin, whose paternal origins are unknown. And she has a rather odd perspective on life, as shown in the post she helped me with about big and small benches. If you think size doesn't matter, you ought to see it.
Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, is a gentleman farmer here on Paradise Island
Lady Jessica Brassica is married to Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly She's a fashionista and former model with Studio Joop from Overbearing in Holland County Offhand in Ireland
The painting of dark figures in a room is Flemish, as you might imagine, and it is entitled Interior With Figures. It was painted by Niers The Younger, a Flemish painter, who lived from 1610-1690. It comes from the illustrated catalogue of the private collection of valuable paintings by the old
masters and early English artists formed by the late Leon Hirsch of New York Year in 1914. I saw it at https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43959808 and at https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14598216330/
The two pretty girls in white are Zwei singende junge Mädchen auf einer Parkbank - two girls in the park - painted in 1873 by German artist Minna Heeren (1823-1898) The photograph is in the public domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Minna_Heeren_Singende_M%C3%A4dchen_auf_der_Parkbank.jpg White is such a romantic colour. Why not have a look at our romantic white benches at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/romantic-white-benches.html
The sculpture of a woman on a bench reading to a child is at the entrance to the Taylor Public Library in Taylor, Texas. The statue was donated by the Taylor Women's Study Club and was photographed for the library's Flickr site in 2007. https://www.flickr.com/photos/49730818@N04/4688618005
The white statue of the girl and the dog is by Hadonos, who lives in Most in the Czech Republic. I found it on Wikimedia at https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21936652
and it is Hadonos's own work, available under Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 3.0, Aug 2012. Here on Benchsite we love dogs and there are some doggone good canine benches at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html
Prefer cats? There are some purr-fect benches for World Cats Day. And our feline benches with cats playing the piano are the cat's meow.
Root is the son of Lord and Lady Brassica of Drizzly. Whilst Lady B is gorgeous and Lord B is wealthy and personable, Root has none of these qualities. In fact, he has no qualities whatsoever, he's simply a toff-about-town.
The children's Level of Discovery benches come in all sorts of colours and themes. The Alphabet Soup bench is one of my favourites. It is available from http://www.levelsofdiscovery.com If you fancy some nice alphabet benches, we've got an A to Z of Dutch benches and a whole alphabet of dance benches too.
Matryoshka dolls are like Marmite - either you love them or hate them. I love them and purchased rather too many on a trip to Russia and Ukraine a long time ago. I also love matryoshka jokes because, well, they are so full of themselves. Inside every Russian doll there's another Russian doll screaming to get out is a joke from Phil Mann at Battle Acts, Edinburgh Fringe. For all things literarily Russian see https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2019/05/benches-for-russian-language-day.html
My favourite books were written by dead Russians. No, really, they were. Anna Karenina, War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, Doctor Zhivago - what's not to like? That's why I was so pleased to find this button at Beanforest, an etsy shop with an assortment of silliness in Michigan USA. Buttons, magnets, gifts - very silly indeed. www.etsy.com/shop/beanforest
Tschaff is a clockmaker in Chicago, a guy who doesn't know a lot about anything, and a little about almost everything. He knows a good painting when he sees one. Leo Tolstoy in His Study, an oil on canvas, was painted in 1891 by Ilya Repin (1844-1930). Repin was one of the most famous artists of his time, known for his realism.
Tolstoy is Count Leo Nikolayevich (1828-1910) a Russian writer, aesthetic philosopher, moralist and mystic. He read law and oriental languages, but began his literary career after joining the army in 1851. After serving in the Crimean War he published Tales of Army Life and Sketches of Sevastopol. His novel War and Peace (1863-1869) is considered by some to be the greatest novel ever written. His second great work, Anna Karenina (1874-1876), carries the seeds of Tolstoy's personal crisis between the claims of the creative novelist and the moralizing propagator of his own ethical code.
Tolstoy is just two of many unique dolls designed by Debbie Ritter at Uneek Doll Designs. Characters from history, fiction, politics and all walks of life are made by Debbie in a variety of materials including wood, wire, clay and paint. They have appeared on Benchsite many times before. In this story Leo Tolstoy wears a blue peasant shirt with belted sash and gray linen trousers. He stands a mere 4 1/2 inches tall (about 11.4 centimeters). Debbie's collection includes other Russian-speaking figures such as Anna Akhmatova, and Fyodor Dostoevsky.
www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesignsThe clever eyeglass bench in Kiev, Ukraine, was photographed by Naranek Kosh. I saw it on Wikimedia where its title is
Очки для чтения» I think the artist might be Сергей Данчинов https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Benches_in_Kiev?uselang=en-gb#/media/File:Kfp_wiki_002.jpg
In an exquisite oil painting called Beim Gebet by the German artist Ernst Oppler (1867-1929) a woman seems to be reading to an older woman from a prayer book. The painting was created in 1900 and is in the private collection of Ketterer Kunst at http://www.kettererkunst.de/kunst/kd/details.php?
obnr=113002123&anummer=412 It is in the public domain and available at
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30723451
Kordula Röckenhaus is a graphic designer and artist in Bielefeld, Germany. At her shop, RöckenhausArt, she sells original artworks, giclee prints, greeting cards and postcards, such as the delightful one of the man reading a newspaper with a little red bird by his side.
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RoeckenhausArt
The two girls in pink and gold dresses sharing a book are subjects of a 19th century oil painting entitled Poesie Schwelgen. Its author is anonymous and it was put on Wikimedia by Düsseldorfer Auktionshaus. The painting is in the public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17422453
The teddy is reading a newspaper which is definitely not The New York Times. It looks like it might be Italian. I regret that I am unable to find the source of this image. I've had it around for a very long time.
The reading frog was on a bench in Atlanta in 2009. The photographer is very green. No, really, that's his name. He likes to take photos of Anime figures that his wife collects. https://www.flickr.com/photos/29673072@N03/3784376606/
Lady Brassica has long held a subscription to Young Male Readers.com. Each evening a young man from the agency takes the ferry and arrives at Paradise Island where Lady B's chauffeur picks him up and delivers him to Drizzly Manor. Lady B then spends several hours being read to, though the choice of books are sometimes dubious.
Miggy was on a bench reading a book called Eat Yourself Slim. I'll say no more.
The dreamy woman in green who has captured His Excellency's imagination is Elena Vecchi, painted in oil in 1896 by Italian painter Vittorio Matteo Corcos (1859-1933). She's in the Galeria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome and I wouldn't be surprised if he goes there soon.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vittorio_Matteo_Corcos_-_Dreams_-_1896.jpg?uselang=en-gb
The bronze boy reading is a Sit-by-Me statue inside the Shelburne Carnegie Public Library in Shelburne, Ontario in Canada. The artist is Mary Squirell and the work commemorates Patrick Heaslip (1987-2005) http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMW7C_Young_boy_in_prone_position_while_reading__Shelburne_Ontario_CA
The guy reading face down is Benny, the prone reader. He was photographed in 2007 at the Hancock County Library in St Louis. The photographer is Social_Stratification, who has a website in the Deep South called Social Stratification in the Deep South
https://www.flickr.com/photos/south_2007/524274862
The very cheerful girl in dungarees is an old image from clipart.
The magic of letters was photographed in Livingstonia in Malawi around 1895. It is part of the collection of the International Mission Photography Archive (1860-1960) and it is in the public domain in Europe and the USA because it was registered with the US copyright office before January 1923. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Magic_of_Letters,_Livingstonia%22_Malawi,_ca.1895_(imp-cswc-GB-237-CSWC47-LS3-1-038).jpg
The statue of a child reading on a bench is called Captivated. It's in the public library in St. Helier in Jersey. That's in the Channel Islands, where Meredith the cat helped me find all the best benches in St. Helier. How well did Meredith do? Well, let's just say it was a catastrophe.
The barefoot woman is reading on a bench in Riverside Park along the Hudson River in New York City. She was photographed by Ed Yourdon in 2008. Ed has many candid shots of his city, many featuring people on benches. By Ed Yourdon at http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/2549450619/, CC BY-SA 2.0. I found the photo at https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9831875
My Dutch isn't very good but I think the elderly couple on a bench are Simon and Tiny Carmiggelt, who lives in the town of Rheden in The Netherlands. Simon (1913-1987) was a writer who wrote a humourous and melancholy daily column in Het Parool. Funded by the generosity of the community, the bronze sculpture is by artist Wim Kuyl and it was unveiled in 1990 by Tiny, after Simon died. Sadly, the statue was stolen in January 2012 and found a few days later cut into pieces. The photograph of the statue is by user Neozoon, CC BY-SA 3.0 at Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18178730
Wally Gobetz is a prolific photographer of interesting artistic and historical works and he is very thorough in photographing the brilliant sculptures of Seward Johnson at the Grounds For Sculpture, a 42-acre sculpture park and museum located in Hamilton Square, New Jersey. The grounds feature over 270 large scale contemporary sculptures and Wally has photographed many of them. A Retrospective of Seward Johnson's work presents an overview of the New Jersey sculptor's 50-year career through a lifetime collection of over 150 of his works. Two of these appear in the story. The man with a newspaper is called Waiting (1989) https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/15283928024/ The man and woman together are Sharing the Headlines (1994) https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/15912340221/
The woman reading a book while relaxing on a wooden bench beneath a linden tree is close to the Saint Johannes church in Voelkendorf, Villach,
Carinthia, Austria. The photographer is Johann Jaritz, who has licensed it under Creative Commons 3.0 at https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?
curid=5164712 You can get high on our alpine benches from Austria, Germany and Switzerland at
Eddie Cantor is the man sitting on a bench reading a newspaper in about 1919. The headline seems to be news about Senate ratification of treaties at end of World War I. Eddie Cantor (1892 - 1964)was an American comedian, singer, actor, songwriter. This image is from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ggbain.36121 and is in the Public Domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2820559
The beautiful cottage with a man reading his newspaper is an intriguing work by Danish painter Hans Andersen Brendekilde (1857-1942). You may notice that the other man is missing a leg. The painting was created in 1912 and is one of many paintings featuring rural life in Denmark. Several even show this same cottage. The works of H.A. Brendekilde are available on Wikimedia at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:H._A._Brendekilde_-_Mens_du_l%C3%A6ser_avisen_nyheder_(1912).jpg?uselang=en-gb
Seika lives in Jakarta. Most of her shots are unsuspecting bystanders, like the man in red reading paper in Jakarta in 2012. Seika says photography is her time-passing activity and she truly believes she'd die of boredom without her camera. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nseika/7982750083/
The photo with Mark Twain reading a book was taken at Walter's Ferry on the Snake River in Idaho many years ago. Pat McDonald from Boise photographed his cousin Gerhard from Germany, who appears to be trying to persuade Twain to put down his book. If it's Huckleberry Finn, no wonder he wants to keep reading. Cleo's Ferry Museum is a sculpture park in Melba, Idaho, and from all accounts, it's a gem of a place. http://www.yelp.com/biz/cleos-ferry-museum-melba
The three girls trying to attract the attention of a man on a bench are The Three Graces, a painting by Italian genre painter Enrico Tarenghi (1848–1938). It is in the public domain.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enrico_Tarenghi_Le_tre_Grazie.jpg
Speaking of Italian art and Italian food: we have some tasty Italian benches here on Benchsite.
Speaking of Italian art and Italian food: we have some tasty Italian benches here on Benchsite.
Companion 5 is the name of the clownish person sitting next to a man with a newspaper in Bratislava in 2014. The photographer is Vratislav Darmek. I don't know any more than that. https://www.flickr.com/photos/vratislavdarmek/14549185493/
Summer Evening Beside the Lake is an 1897 painting by Fujishima Takeji (1867-1943) from the Geidai Museum in Japan. It's now in the University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts, photographed by http://www.asahi.com/articles/photo/AS20150715002500.html
For World Book Day in 2013 Mungo started a book group. The only other members were our cats, Rosie and Melissa. Mungo chose the book, A History of Calculus, which, judging from the picture I took of both cats sleeping, was not enough to hold their attention. Then again, holding a cat's attention is not always that easy, especially when you're in a sunroom on a warm afternoon.
Doug Zwick photographed the man with a computer, who is seeing Bad News. He's on the McGill campus in Montreal and the statue commemorates the passing of Steve Jobs. The laptop screen reads Steve Jobs est mort 1955 - 2011. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dczwick/9982246005/
Root's incredibly glamorous reading teacher is The Diva, who appeared at The Rouge opening party in 2008. Looks like the Rouge might be a nightclub or perhaps even some other kind of place Lord B might like to frequent. The photo is by Jessyka Richard, who has flickred her second life at https://www.flickr.com/photos/jessykarichard/2655226640
The sunny garden bench at the end of the story is known as The Bench of Reconciliation or as they say in Russian, Русский: скамья примирения на ВГ
Leppimise pink Venemaal may be the creator but don't quote me on that. It was photographed in September 2015 by Zirman and made available on a Creative Commons license on Wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
Kathy Thomas's Leatherarts work is hand-tooled and hand-painted. She emphasises that her pieces are not just to look at - they're for wearing, carrying or putting to good use. She has a wide range of colourful and exciting purses, key fobs, wallets, notebooks, belts and will accept commissions. The purse with Woman Reclining on a Bench is a replica of the painting by Carl Olaf Larsson. Her shop is at www.etsy.com/shop/leatherarts There are issues about sleeping on benches though; see what lengths people will go to stop people sleeping on benches.
If Russia doesn't do it for you and Ireland doesn't tickle the cockles of your heart there are plenty of benches from other countries here on Benchsite. Japan, for example. And a whole fiesta of benches from Mexico. There's a whole alphabet of Dutch benches and a bench from each of the countries of Europe. Every summer Miggy and Mungo and I go on a mission to find benches so see how we
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