Help Molly to help Japan, and get goodies in return

There’s a time for words, and there’s a time for action. Looking at the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, now’s the time for the latter.

Fans have proved to be very generous people in the past; the help_haiti auction alone raised close to 115’000 dollars. help_japan has just started, and already there are hundreds, if not thousands of auctions you can bid on. “Payment” if you win an auction will be made in form of a direct donation to a charity (Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, ShelterBox etc.), so whatever you donate, it will go directly to the charity in question.

I’d like to promote the following auction because I can promise you that Sparky and Frank will make sure you’ll get great value for your donation (I’ll personally supervise the packing…)

Just click the link below to have a look at the offer or make a bid:

GET YOUR OWN BOX O’SWITZERLAND
Chocolate, cookies, cards, pictures, souvenirs, fun stuff and just anything you could be interested in.

If you have questions, please have a look at help_japan’s FAQ.

Please spread the word, and thank you in advance for your support. I don’t have the slightest doubt that the people of Japan will rebuild their country in time, but right now, they can do with a little help from their friends.

18th century “lonely hearts” add – of sorts.

I’m currently reading Julie Peakman’s “Lascivious Bodies – a Sexual History of th Eighteenth Century”, which covers far more than sexuality. The reader gains a rather baffling insight into the vices and virtues of the society in 18th century Britain. And it’s amazing how little times have changed. Here’s a contempary complaint about “gangs of young thugs”:

Drinking until drunk, they assaulted wohever crossed their path and terrorized the neighbourhood. At night, they would rampage through the streets, attack the watch and break into people’s homes.

A round of ASBOs, please! Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose…
I’m sure readers of the Daily Fail would find a reason why the behaviour of 18th century ruffians should be blamed on Labour and single mums, though.

But back to the “lonely hearts” of London. The most sought-after courtesans in London could pick-and-choose their gallants, and so it happened ever so often that a gentleman in need of comfort, but not necessarily a wedding ring (or already having one but still seeking for distraction) would place an add in one of the many papers, seeking discreetly for charming company.

Here’s one such example, printed in a London newspaper on 1 March 1754:

If the Lady that was at the last Masquerade, dress’d in a white Domino, trimm’d with the Purple, a Hat of the same, tall and genteel in Person, will be so obliging as to favour the Gentleman who ask’d her to dance, but was refused, with a Line when and where he may have the Pleasure of seeing her, by directing for C.G. at the Cocoa-Tree in Pall-Mall, he intends to propose her something greatly to her Advantage, and hopes it will meet with her Approbation. Note, A Coach and Six, and 7000 l. per Annum, at her Service if she don’t think the Gentleman too old.

Unfortunately, it’s not known if the gentleman in question was successful in his quest…

I’ll review “Lascivious Bodies” in separate parts, as it would be to difficult to squeeze all aspects of the books into one post.