G F/Obliston Lecture COMMENTARY

[fiona]

Keith: You are definatley on to something. First, about the representation of the corn: This corn is represented by maize, am I not correct? I have seen, in photos, drawings and carvings, the European representation of corn as a sheaf of grain, very common in ancient Greek, Etruscan work and in Cretan designs. Now, about the pomegranat: You are so right. I have more photos of the columns that I have not put up yet. I should be doing so by this weekend. The top of the columns are Corinthian and are heavily carved with a leaf and floral and possibly a pomegranate design.( I just did not know how to look at it correctly or I would have seen it.) Also, the base of the columns have a crest with stars. You will be very interested in seeing these. I am going to ask you or a favor: Will you please see if you can find any pics of the corn carvings you have seen at Roslin and post them here for comparison? I am sure the architect was quite familair with Roslin. How could he not have been? As for the image of what I feel is a goblet, I feel it is depicting wine. For the oil I imagined a type of ancient lamp. Also remember these images are caked with dirt and worn away by time. If they were properly cleaned much more could be revealed. Thank you for your help. have you viewed the On Genesee Hill thread at Dave 's Windsept Press site or the large amount of research at Clippers Corner? This project has been going on for about a year or more with tremendous results. Those threads are the companion pieces to this research. Once again, I thank you and also you, Dave, for helping me with my photo graphics. Be well.

[keith]

Just as I was scanning through my morning Favorites list, the news broke on WKTV about the fire at the Obilston. Terrible, scary, worried.

[westmoguy]

Pretty lucky it didnt go up in flames. Can't imagine a fire in the elevator shaft not catching the whole place on fire.

Isn't that where the fire at the Kanatenah Apartments atarted?

[fiona]

Hey! I will be off line tomorrow as I will be volunteering to help feed and cloth the evacuees who have gone to the First Pres. church as a place of refuge. After that I will be better able to answer questions. From what I understand there was a shooting in the yard early this morning, but the shooter got away. I believe the fire started after that. A resident told me that someone threw a molotov cocktail down the elevator shaft. I do not know if this is true or not. I went down there this afternoon and again tonight. I took many photos which I will post in a new thread, to keep the info ongoing and seperated. it is less confusing that way. The front entrances have been boarded up and ticketed. Many many of the windows in the back are blown out. There is no electricity. The building was evacuated by our wonderful and brave firemen and I applaud them for this. I am at a loss as to why the fire alrms did not go off. I have been awakened by them many many times and I will tell you, They Are Loud! If indeed someone did disable them and then set the fire, that is attempted murder as well as arson. This is a true heartbreaking situation, but I hope no one drops out of the project because of it. We will all just have more to add next month or next year. I do not feel that it is irrelevant in the face of current conditions to keep up the research dialouge and I hope no one does either. Westmo guy: The fire at the Kan -a tena started on the top floor. They don't know what started it. rumor has it a druggie was cooking meth up there and the mess exploded. True or not, I don't know. At the Olbiston the elevator shaft was bricked in. So the fire was contained. That's what the builders wanted. Not so at the GF or Kan-a-tena, where the elevator shafts were wood with metal ceilings. Stay with me on this one. This is a great thread. Good to dialouge with you, WestMo Guy.

[keith]

Fiona,

At least there was no loss of life from this fire, but it is still a tragedy.

Re: your earlier question concerning Roslin (or Rosslyn) photos. The first ones I saw were those taken by a friend who had visited there. I did find some on the web.
www.rosslynchapel.org.uk/history.php
The third slide shows a maize carving. I had to click on it to enlarge to see much detail.

I have visited the OGH pages although I'm currently a little behind in reading.

[fiona]

I went to the Roslin pages and viewed the information. I copied some of the photos, which I am posting below.

[fiona]

Here is Roslin chapel, Scotland. This is a beautiful window and note the corn (maize) frieze on the arch.

[fiona]

Please go to the lecture pages for views of the tops of columns, such as Keith was speaking of.

[Dave]

Re the 10/7/2010 posts about Noble Hopkins. If I remember correctly, Mr. Hopkins had dinner in the Genesee Flats' small restaurant with his daughter and granddaughter the evening before the fire. The woman and young girl also lived at the G.F., but escaped the blaze.

[fiona]

yes, your right. I'll have to look that one up and post something on it. I have one more face to post, then I am going to move on to more views, photos, of the inside, the roof, ect. I took all these about ten years ago. After that I'll put up the info, pictures, of Mr Latcher, Mr Northrup, Mr Hopkins, ect from the March 7th edition of the saturday Globe. Also post what obits I can find. I know these are already on line at Clipper's , but the resolution is very bad, and all the info is not in one place. I went to Fulton, but couldn't find the page of the newspaper. I couldn't retrieve the images of latcher, ect. But, I will go to OCHS on Monday and photograph them from the originals. That way I can load them onto photobucket. Also want to say something in this section about some of the heroes. I found Mr Rutter's obit on Fulton. Remember him - he was a 200 lb man who rappelled down the balconies on bedsheets. well, the obit said he had a "nervous breakdown" after that and was found dead in his barn 2 years later. As I recall his wife was rather young. She was burned and died the next year. After that I'll go on to the GF info and then tie it all in. Any thoughts? I think following up, as much as I can, on some of the survivors, may be interesting. A good winter project. Mabye this photo essay will turn into a book. BTW: where is Jon these days???

[Dave]

Sounds good. I should get back to some research, soon.

[dicknaegele]

Glad to see new interest in posting to the GF threads. They are my favorite part of the forum, and I have missed having new material to read here for a while. I understand it with the fire at the Olbiston and Fiona's involvement in serving the people that were displaced, but I am looking forward to the resumption of activity here on the forum.

[fiona]

Thanks, Clip, for your support. I went to Albany Saturday in hopes of viewing the State Capital, but got there too late for the tour. On Sunday we took a walking tour of the capital grounds and a driving tour of the neighborhood and downtown Albany. I saw some fantastic architecture and fell in love with all the 19th century row houses. Saw the Church of All
Saints- Episcopalian- and a lot of cobbelstone streets. My first impression was that the downtown area was very vibrant and clean. I wouldn't mind living in downtown Albany if I could do it. I am sure I will go back in the spring. Thanks again, all.

[dicknaegele]

Great pictures Fiona. Love the views from the 7th floor of the Olbiston. The city looks so wonderful from afar. It is too bad that it has taken on such a sorry look when you get up close and down to street level in some parts of town.

Gosh, I remember going to the Globe mill, in the early 70's if I am not mistaken, to buy baby clothes for my oldest son from the outlet store that was there at the time. It was then converted for use as the campus for SUNY Upper Division College where my ex wife studied for her masters. Those old mills were once the life blood of the city. I had great aunts and a grandmother that worked in those mills as well as some of the mills along Broad St back in the 30s and 40's. I also can remember as a child, seeing people with their heads hanging out the windows to take a break from the heat at Dunlop. That was back in the days when the city bus would sail up and over the half way bridge, and we always sat in the back seat so we could fly up in the air off of the seat when the driver went over the bridge.

I really appreciate the history and the memories you bring to mind with your writing and your pictures Fiona. I am happy to see an update and further activity taking place. Glad to have ya back.

[fiona]

Thanks for the support. If I only have one fan I am glad it's you!