Stand Watie's life

The idea for this post came from Never Yet Melted's  post Stand Watie was the last Confederate General to Surrender, 160 Years Ago Today. Watie was a Cherokee who supported the Confederacy and raised to the rank of Brigadier General.  

Prior to the war he had been active in Cherokee political affairs. He was one of the signers of the contested treaty that relocated the Cherokee from Georgia to the Indian Territories. This led to a lot of conflict within the Cherokee Nation, with several of his brothers and friends being assassinated in the fighting.

Watie was a slave holder, and when the Civil War broke out, he raised a regiment of troops to support the Confederacy. He fought well at the battle of Pea Ridge, although the Union troops prevailed. He also later captured supplies which led him to eventually be promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. When Lee surrendered, he held out as long as possible before he laid down his arms.

After the war he increasingly stepped away from Cherokee Tribal politics and retired to his destroyed plantation to farm for the rest of his life.  

  

Carl Randall

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Carl Randall is a contemporary English figurative painter. He lived in Japan for 10 years where his first main body of work, Japan Portraits, was created. Later he was to return to London, England where he continued where he created his London Portraits series.

The images are taken from his website Carl Randall where there are many more examples of his work. You can also buy signed, limited editions of his works at that site.

Carl Randall

Rivers of Babylon

Get ready for a diasporic weekend with Barefoot Truth and Naia Kete.

 

Dress for success

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For anyone of a rational disposition, fashion is often nearly impossible to fathom. Throughout many periods of history – perhaps most – it can seem as if the whole impulse of fashion has been to look maximally ridiculous. If one could be maximally uncomfortable as well,
the triumph was all the greater.
― Bill Bryson ―

And, after all, what is a fashion? From the artistic point of view, it is usually a form of ugliness so intolerable that we
have to alter it every six months.
― Oscar Wilde ―

Once upon a time You dressed so fine
― Bob Dylan ―

  

Noodles in art and Father's Day

Happy Father's Day
(click any image to enlarge)

On this Father's Day our thoughts naturally turn to noodles. Well, actually they don't, but I need to segway into this post so that claim will have to suffice. Thus, noodles it is. Spaghetti, ramen, udon... noodles, noodles, noodles. And, since I'm trying to pawn this off as a Father's Day post, here is a quote for you to seal the deal:

I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren't trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom. ― Umberto Eco

Lada

Get ready for a clunkerized weekend with Ozoda.

 

Nigerian dishes

These videos are from Kitwanda "Kiki" Cyrus' YouTube channel. She's originally from Nigeria but has immigrated to Texas. Many of her recipes are fusion dishes mixing Nigerian and American influences. It is all very tasty looking. She is also a photographer, so her videos are nicely presented.