Lynsted's extraordinary tales from the Great War

This story begins with a family of harness-makers in Greenstreet, in what became 118 London Road, Lynsted, and ends at sea with an encounter with U-35 in the Mediterranean.Ernest Cecil Kemp was the eldest son and apprentice saddle-maker in the subterranean workshop of his father, William Ernest Kemp. But the life of his father did not appeal to Ernest as much as that of his uncle, Victor, a pensioned-off chief stoker who still lived in Greenstreet. Fresh-faced, five foot seven inches tall and narrow-chested, at 15 years old, he joined the Royal Navy as a boy seaman for training at HMS Ganges in Shotley, Suffolk. It seems navy life suited him  by 1914 his chest measured 40 and a half inches.In that year he was an Ordinary Seaman and was quickly promoted to Able Seaman, ready to travel the world. After training, Ernest moved to Chatham naval base before being posted to the protected cruiser, HMS Essex on its way to the West Indies. His family received several postcards which included views of the American naval bombardment of Vera Cruz and the damaged buildings.

Returning to Chatham in 1915 he was soon to find himself in the thick of it when he was sent to HMS Egremont, the naval base at Valletta, Malta.On January 4 1916, Ernest was assigned to HMS Primula, a mine-sweeping sloop of 1250 Gross Registered Tonnage, a thoroughly modern ship built by Swan Hunter ,carrying two four inch guns.Only two months later, on March 1, steaming south of Cape Matapan, near Cerigo island, HMS Primula came up against the German submarine U-35 commanded by the highly successful and decorated Captain Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere, to this day the most successful submarine commander in history. Two of the four torpedos found their mark with the loss of three ratings and 107 survivors.His inspirational uncle, Victor Edward Kemp, who had been pensioned off in 1907, returned to active duty in 1915 and survived the war to return to live in Greenstreet.This story was shared with the Lynsted with Kingsdown Society by David Aggersberg who researched this family member and has given many more images from his family's experience of the two world wars.

Michael Jackson mimic Keith Preddie hopes to work with children

"People are telling me I should be celebrating but I'm not. My wife, my children and I have been through so much and I don't condone any domestic violence, be that by a man or a woman, so no I am not celebrating."Preddie, who is now living in Stange Road, South Norwood, is currently in discussion over the future of his role at the Family Centre, where he set up the successful "time for dads" programme.He said: "I have no idea what I can do in the future now. It's not like I was a plumber or something, I was working with children and vulnerable people, you can't have a criminal record."It's up to the powers that be whether I get to go back. I'd go back today if I could. My brain is still functioning; I can still do the job I did for nine and a half years, the job I love. I have bills to pay and children to feed, I don't know what I'm going to do."

Preddie, a former Come Dine With Me contestant, pleaded guilty in March to hurling a washing frame and plastic step at his wife before pinning her to the sofa.The row had escalated after Preddie learnt that his now estranged wife had bought his mother a Christmas present when he had been searching for one all day."I'm hoping we can all now move forward," said Preddie. "I haven't seen or spoken to my stepdaughter since I left the home in December. I want to see her very much."If I could see her today I'd give her a massive hug and I'd probably cry, and I'd tell her I loved her and had missed her. I'm in touch with her older sister. I hope with time everyone can move forward."But now, after being given a conditional discharge, ordered to pay 100 compensation to Mrs Preddie, as well as 85 costs and a 15 victim surcharge, the 2010 GMTV Dad Of The Year, hopes to claw back what he can of his old life.

I Don't Want to Do Wrong

The style was more than just rockin' blues, with a solid dose of funk often injected, and a prevailing kind of Memphis soul groove. When the band performed a steamy instrumental built around Alfredson's organ and Zunis' greasy guitar lines to open the second set,The Rupp Report. you couldn't help but think of Booker T. and the MGs, and that type of smooth, turn-on-a-dime soul groove was the sound that characterized Magness' whole show.Longtime fans know the outlines of Magness personal story, of how she was orphaned as a teen, and bounced between foster homes, geting into a fair amount of trouble, before finally landing with foster parents who got her pointed in the right direction. The Detroit native fell in love with the blues after seeing an Otis Rush concert, and has been singing ever since, with some romantic ups and downs, and music business travails diverting her but not stopping her, along the way.

"Stronger For It" is Magness' third album for Alligator Records, the renowned Chicago label, and she is now based in California.  Nearly a decade ago, some of Magness' first musical tours of New England came with New Hampshire guitarist Matt Stubbs in her band, and included a stop at Quincy's late, lamented The Holy Ground club. Since then, she's been featured at the North River Blues Festival at the Marshfield Fair, and made more or less annual swings through New England.One of the early set highlights, as it is on the record, was Magness' cover of Tom Waits' "Make It Rain," which she turned into a smoldering anthem of perseverance, even as, strutting the stage in her slinky red silk dress, she also gave it a good touch of sensuality too. And how much added resonance did Magness' cover of Shelby Lynne's "I'm Alive" carry Friday night, as the band delivered that joyous ballad about overcoming, about just savoring the fact of enduring life's travails? And let's note that Magness is a virtuoso at not overplaying these kinds of songs, not overacting or overselling them, often using pretty subtle touches to get the point across. 

The Rupp Report

Usually, the Rupp Report is not the forum for advertising or promoting any kind of events that are not directly related to its readers. For this Rupp Report, the author made an exception: It's about the famous Abegg Foundation in Riggisberg, at Lake Thun in the Swiss Bernese Oberland.Many readers of the Rupp Report are travelers, and most probably, globetrotters. Some of them travel for weeks at a time. And in some weeks, some of them come to Switzerland for business or leisure. And if these people are not driving their own car, they rent a car at the airport to be flexible for their business trip. And sometimes, these business people sit bored in a hotel room and have some spare time.
And all these people have something in common: they are working with textiles. So here is an idea for a trip outside the beaten path of business.Usually, all these business people are dealing with the most advanced technologies, from fibers to ready-made garments. Rarely, somebody asks about the background or the history of textiles. Many of the these people like to visit museums and galleries. In general, these museums exhibit all kinds of art including sculptures, paintings, antiques, and such. But how many museums exist that exhibit old textiles? Not many, the Rupp Report supposes, and not many people know that textiles were already being produced 5,000 years ago. However, for interested parties, here is a place in Switzerland where one can learn about and see old textiles:In December 1961, Werner and Margaret Abegg founded the Abegg Foundation after long private collection activities. Their interest and commitment from the start was focused on the research and preservation of old textiles.
The foundation consequently had five main tasks:to establish a comprehensive collection of woven textiles, starting with the Abeggs' private collection;to create a museum featuring fine and applied artworks from antiquity through the Baroque period and to present annually changing special exhibitions featuring works from the textile collection's sophisticated and rich resources;to offer a textile conservation and restoration program, and implement and operate a college-level degree program for the training and education of future professionals;to fund a public scientific library with an online catalog with the main focus on applied arts, textile arts and conservation; andto promote a scientific exchange in the textile arts sector through the establishment of a research institute, organization of conferences and publication of relevant materials.Abegg is a very famous family name in the Zurich area. The Abegg family members worked mostly in textiles, and even more in the silk trade, which had its main actors in Zurich. Werner Abegg, a Swiss textile industrialist, was born Dec. 9, 1903, and passed away on July 13, 1984. In 1924, Abegg took the lead over the family-owned textile factory in Northern Italy. His implemented modernizations in the mill were a great success and generated considerable wealth. In 1947, the company was sold, and Abegg moved to New York City for some time.

Insurance seller in Luxor tragedy to remind clients of exclusions

A teachers' union that is a licensed insurance seller will remind clients to read the exclusion clauses when buying travel policies, Critchfield Conference explored Indian Ocean Basin.a senior officer says.The Professional Teachers' Union was responding to criticism in the aftermath of a hot-air balloon accident in Luxor, Egypt, in February that killed nine Hongkongers.Six of the nine had bought travel insurance from the union but were not covered for taking part in aviation activities such as hot-air ballooning.The union came under fire for selling such insurance packages. Relatives of the other three victims, who had bought their policies at tour agency Kuoni Travel, received full compensation.The union said it had told employees to remind clients of the need to read the exclusions thoroughly. "There are about 13 items," vice-president Cheung Man-kwong said. "We will also ask about their itineraries."Insurers had advised the union that getting customers to read the entire list, rather than highlighting specific items, would reduce the chance of conflicts, Cheung said.

People who ran into problems while on holiday tended to blame insurance sellers on their return for failing to remind them of excluded activities, he said."Many people buy travel insurance just for a sense of security," he said. "If they fail to read the list after being reminded to do so, it's their own problem.Michael Wu Siu-ieng, chairman of the Travel Industry Council, said customers would do well to buy from the agencies that organised the tours, or to show itineraries and optional activities to the insurance seller they planned to buy from. "Tour agencies are most familiar with customers' itineraries and can choose the best packages for them," Wu said.

Critchfield Conference explored Indian Ocean Basin

Americans aren't always aware of the importance of the Indian Ocean Basin. No superpowers reside on its shores. It's an Atlantic-Pacific world, their traditional thinking goes, and this is not likely to change soon.Robert D. Kaplan, a man New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman labeled "one of the four most widely read authors in the post-Cold War era,"tells a very different story.Kaplan is the chief geopolitical analyst for Stratfor, a private global intelligence firm, one of Foreign Policy magazine's top 100 global thinkers in 2011 and 2012, and the author of 14 books on foreign affairs and travel including "Monsoon: The Indian Ocean Basin and the Future of American Power."As his impressive resume attests, Kaplan's analysis is one well worth investigating.Every two years the Critchfield Conference offers WM students, faculty, staff and the general public the opportunity to learn more about a topic pertinent to the Middle East. It brings together academic inquiry with professional networking, allowing current students the chance to interact with those working in diverse fields that intersect with Middle Eastern Studies.

The 2013 conference theme was The Indian Ocean Basin: Navigating the 21st Century Marine Silk Road. The two-day campus conference brought together scholars and business leaders from Virginia and around the world to discuss the geopolitics, science, technology, trade, culture and history ofthe Indian Ocean Basin."The Indian Ocean is the centerpiece of the 21st century,"Kaplan told a captivated audience of more than 200 at the School of Education. "If you think of the world in 2025, with nine billion people, seven billion of them will live in either Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, the Middle East or the eastern part of Africa, with the other two to three billion located in Europe and the Americas.

Hong Kong: Asia's new art capital

One of my cellmates, dressed head-to-toe in designer threads, snaps a few pictures with his iPhone, then slips out the door and into the next cell, where another weird work by a local sculptor awaits. It's just another day in the de facto art capital of Asia.For years, high-rollers from mainland China, Southeast Asia, North America and beyond have come to Hong Kong for its glitzy bars and nightclubs, Michelin-starred restaurants and sparkling shopping malls.Artists in tune with global audiences. But if it was culture one was after, well, they had come to the wrong place. How things change."Just 15 years ago, nobody was talking about art in Hong Kong," says William Shung, gallery manager at Pearl Lam Galleries. "But these days art is constantly in the media."The past few years have seen a growing breed of collectors in China. Thanks in part to the absence of import duties, renowned international galleries have flocked to open Hong Kong branches. Katherine Schaefer, director at Simon Lee Gallery, says every significant player in Asia comes for the Hong Kong International Art Fair (also known as ArtHK), launched in 2018. Last year, Art Basel purchased a controlling stake in the fair, which returns under the new moniker in May.

Beijing and Shanghai may be where most Chinese artists choose to live and work, but when it comes to selling their art, that happens in Hong Kong."Hong Kong has made major strides in establishing itself as a global arts hub," says Nick Simunovic, managing director of Gagosian Gallery Asia, citing record-setting auctions, the West Kowloon Cultural District (an in-development cultural project that will feature a museum, theatres and concert halls) and the influx of world-class galleries.The city is now home to outposts from Britain's White Cube and France's Galerie Perrotin, among others. "In general, people here have a higher awareness of art than ever before," Shung says. "They go through the magazines, see what is on and they go to exhibitions."Which is how I landed myself in jail during Detour 2012, an annual multimedia art and design festival that threw open the gates to some of the city's most interesting spaces, including the former Wan Chai Police Station. An eclectic crowd of grannies with kids in tow, couples in matching Elvis Costello specs and young women in designer flats walked around admiring interactive sculptures, perusing handcrafted jewellery and posing for pictures with artists.

Artists in tune with global audiences

The minute her plane landed in Beijing late on Sunday, cellist Zhang Yingying turned on her cell phone to call home. She knew her 8-year-old son would stay awake to welcome his mother home after her longest absence from his young life, even though it was midnight.Zhang's employer, the China National Symphony Orchestra, had just returned from the United States, where it had undertaken its longest tour - 53 days, with 30 dates across 16 states - since it was established in 1956. It was also the longest overseas excursion by a Chinese orchestra."Before joining the CNSO in 2017, I spent seven years in the US, learning the cello and then performing with an orchestra, but I was excited by the tour. I have seldom seen so many standing ovations. The audiences really appreciated our perfor-mances," said the musician.After a concert at the Strathmore Hall, Maryland, Shelly Brown, artistic director of the Strathmore Hall Foundation, told Liao Yanru, deputy director of the CNSO's programming department, that the orchestra had improved dramatically since its 2006 performance at the same venue.

The US cultural critic, Sheila Melvin, described how an elderly woman seated next to her at a concert was unfazed by the prospect of a five-hour round trip. "I'm never going to get to China," said the woman as she stood to applaud. "So if China comes to me, well, that's just great."In June 2017, the CNSO's concert at the Festival of the World's Symphony Orchestras in Moscow impressed an agent from Columbia Artists Management, which quickly offered to present the orchestra in the US.Columbia initially suggested a 43-city tour and had gone as far as booking most of the halls, but the orchestra's management resisted for the sake of "quality"."We cannot let the musicians spend five hours on a bus before playing a concert and then have them sleep at motels on the side of the highway," said director Guan Xia.The orchestra is not alone in its overseas activity. The China Arts and Entertainment Group recently took three dance productions abroad.Qingming Riverside at the Kennedy Center, Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis and the Maryland Theatre in Hagerstown; The Peony Pavilion, which toured in New Zealand and in Australia; and The Silk Road, which played in New York and Massachusetts, were commercial, as opposed to State-backed, performances and won acclaim from the press.