Friday, March 4, 2016

Betty MacDonald and a very exciting time

Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter team and Martine, Lisa, Greta, Mats, Pieter and other members are very busy at the current time.

Do you know the reason why?

They are working very hard on Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter March.

New Betty MacDonald info, essays and stories are waiting for you.

We already mentioned new photos for example of Betty MacDonald's unique grandmother Gammy.

March will be very exciting because of several Betty MacDonald fan club contests.

The most important one is Betty MacDonald fan club birthday card contest.

Send a birthday with your thoughts of Betty MacDonald and her books to us and might be our Betty MacDonald fan club contest winner.

Deadline: March 15, 2016

You can win a first edition of Betty MacDonald's golden egg with a very cute dedication for one of her fans.

Very rare and really a wonderful copy!

Don't miss it, please.

We are going to celebrate 70th anniversary of Betty MacDonald's golden The Egg and I in Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter March.

We asked in which languages The Egg and I has been translated?

That's your chance. Don't miss it, please.

You can win our new Betty MacDonald documentary.

The Egg and I belongs to the most successful books ever.

First published by the J. B. Lippincott Company on October 3, 1945, The Egg and I received laudatory reviews and soon appeared on the best-seller list.

The book was a blockbuster success as a novel, being reprinted on a nearly monthly basis for the next two years.

On September 12, 1946, the specially-bound one-millionth copy of the book was presented to MacDonald by Washington Governor Monrad Wallgren at a luncheon in Seattle.

Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter March includes the names of our former Betty MacDonald fan club contest winners, the correct answers and many more info.

Anita, I'm one of your many fans.

Many greetings to Eartha Kitt II. You are a dream team. Thank you so much for sharing the photo of you and Eartha in your living-room. It's so cute.

I admire your Betty MacDonald Fan Club story about Betty MacDonald, Robert Heskett, Donald MacDonald, Darsie Bard, Sydney Bard, Gammy, Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde R. Jensen, Sydney Cleveland Bard, Mary Alice Bard, Dorothea Darsie Bard Goldsmith, Alison Bard Burnett, Jerry Keil, Joan MacDonald Keil, Madge Baldwin, Don Woodfin, Perry Woodfin, Mike Gordon, Ma and Pa Kettle, Nancy and Plum, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Ma and Pa Kettle and many others.
It's the best Betty MacDonald fan club story ever beside Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and his magical Betty MacDonald Interviews.

Björn: I have a surprise. My parents visited the Northwest in the sixties. Both are huge Betty MacDonald Fans and they went to Vashon of course and they met ........
Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde Reynolds Jensen, Cleve Bard and Mary Alice Bard. We have many photos of the family and my father filmed them with his camera. So you can see and hear the Bard family. I'm going to present this at the next Betty MacDonald Fan Club Meeting.

Mary Bard Jensen is very funny, indeed but you'll enjoy Clyde Jensen, Cleve and Mary Alice Bard as well. A wonderful family!

Björn, we can't wait to see the Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde R. Jensen, Cleve Bard and Mary Alice Bard interviews filmed by your father. Did Mary Bard Jensen share any info about the story of Sandra, which Betty MacDonald mentioned in her book Anybody can do anything?

We would like to learn more about Mary Bard's book published in the thirties. We know so much more about it after reading Anita's Top Betty MacDonald Fan Club story. Anita also tells the exciting story of Dorita Hess. Betty MacDonald describes this rather strange lady in Anybody can do anything. Did Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde R. Jensen, Cleve Bard and Mary Alice Bard mention her in the interviews?

Björn, excuse my many questions, please but it's so great to have the opportunity to see all the members of the Bard family. I'm overwhelmed. It's such a great feeling.
I hope we'll be able to see these interviews and the filmed Betty MacDonald interview at the next Betty MacDonald Fan Club meeting.

Jens: Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and Betty MacDonald interviews have fans in 40 countries. I bet there will be many more fans in the future.
Isn' t this amazing? Wolfgang Hampel and Alison Bard Burnett are born humorists. Both delight their fans from all over the world.

I'd love to have a Wolfgang Hampel CD and DVD with his very funny poems and stories. What about a book? We adore Wolfgang Hampel's high humor and wit in Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and his wonderful Betty MacDonald interviews.

Jens, it doesn't amaze me at all.

As you wrote Alison Bard Burnett and Wolfgang Hampel are born humorists. I heard many more Alison Bard Burnett interviews by Wolfgang Hampel will be published in the future. Come on, please. Do it! This couple is so funny. I can listen to them a million times without getting tired. Pure Bard and Hampel magic.

Wonderful story tellers, world painters, great entertainers. Alison Bard Burnett and Wolfgang Hampel share it with Betty MacDonald Fans from all over the world.

By the way I don't like poems so much but Wolfgang Hampel's satirical poems are as witty and charming as his Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and Betty MacDonald Interviews. Wolfgang Hampel's very funny stories about everyday life make us laugh aloud.

I heard one of the next Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter stories are about our beloved Betty MacDonald fan club honor members.

My family and I are crazy about Mr. Tigerli - our unique trouble shooter!

Our unique Betty MacDonald fan club honor members are outstanding artists and writers.

Let's go to the bookstore and enjoy a new breakfast with Brad and Nick.

I'm crazy about Jamie-Lee and her outstanding song 'Ghost'.

What about moving to very beautiful Vashon Island?

Yours,

David

Vita Magica

Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

we share a very special gift by beloved and very popular Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honor member Letizia Mancino.

We know you'll enjoy it as much as we do.

Thanks a Million, dear Letizia Mancino.

You are an outstanding writer and artist.

We are so proud and happy to have you with us.

Letizia writes: One should not underestimate Wolfgang Hampel’s talent in speedily mobilizing Betty MacDonald’s friends.

We agree. Thank you so much dear Wolfgang Hampel for doing this. You founded Betty MacDonald Fan Club with four members.

Now we have members in 40 countries around the world. A dream came true.

Mary Holmes did an excellent job in translating this great story.

Thank you so much dear Mary Holmes.

We are really very grateful.

All the best to Letizia, Wolfgang and Mary and to all Betty MacDonald Fan Club fans from all over the world!

Lenard

Following in Betty’s footsteps in Seattle:

or some small talk with Betty

Copyright 2011/2015 by Letizia Mancino
All rights reserved
translated by Mary Holmes

We were going to Canada in the summer. “When we are in Edmonton”, I said to Christoph Cremer, “let’s make a quick trip to Seattle”. And that’s how it happened. At Edmonton Airport we climbed into a plane and two hours later we landed in the city where Betty had lived. I was so happy to be in Seattle at last and to be able to trace Betty’s tracks!

Wolfgang Hampel had told Betty’s friends about our arrival.
They were happy to plan a small marathon through the town and it’s surroundings with us. We only had a few days free. One should not underestimate Wolfgang’s talent in speedily mobilizing Betty’s friends, even though it was holiday time. E-mails flew backwards and forwards between Heidelberg and Seattle, and soon a well prepared itinerary was ready for us. Shortly before my departure Wolfgang handed me several parcels, presents for Betty MacDonald's friends. I rushed to pack the heavy gifts in my luggage but because of the extra weight had to throw out a pair of pajamas!

After we had landed we took a taxi to the Hotel in downtown Seattle. I was so curious to see everything. I turned my head in all directions like one of the hungry hens from Betty’s farm searching for food! Fortunately it was quite a short journey otherwise I would have lost my head like a loose screw!
Our hotel room was on the 22nd floor and looked directly out onto the 16-lane highway. There might have been even more than 16 but it made me too giddy to count! It was like a glimpse of hell! “And is this Seattle?” I asked myself. I was horrified! The cars racing by were enough to drive one mad. The traffic roared by day and night.
We immediately contacted Betty MacDonald's friends and let them know we had arrived and they confirmed the times when we should see them.

On the next morning I planned my first excursion tracing Betty’s tracks. I spread out the map of Seattle. “Oh dear” I realized “the Olympic Peninsula is much too far away for me to get there.”
Betty nodded to me! “Very difficult, Letizia, without a car.”

“But I so much wanted to see your chicken farm”

“My chickens are no longer there and you can admire the mountains from a distance”

But I wanted to go there. I left the hotel and walked to the waterfront where the State Ferry terminal is. Mamma mia, the streets in Seattle are so steep! I couldn’t prevent my feet from running down the hill. Why hadn’t I asked for brakes to be fixed on my shoes? I looked at the drivers. How incredibly good they must be to accelerate away from the red traffic lights. The people were walking uphill towards me as briskly as agile salmon. Good heavens, these Americans! I tried to keep my balance. The force of gravity is relentless. I grasped hold of objects where I could and staggered down.
In Canada a friend had warned me that in Seattle I would see a lot of people with crutches.

Betty laughed. “ It’s not surprising, Letizia, walking salmon don’t fall directly into the soft mouth of a bear!”
“ Betty, stop making these gruesome remarks. We are not in Firlands!”

I went further. Like a small deranged ant at the foot of a palace monster I came to a tunnel. The noise was unbearable. On the motorway, “The Alaskan Way Viaduct”, cars, busses and trucks were driving at the speed of light right over my head. They puffed out their poisonous gas into the open balconies and cultivated terraces of the luxurious sky- scrapers without a thought in the world. America! You are crazy!
“Betty, are all people in Seattle deaf? Or is it perhaps a privilege for wealthy people to be able to enjoy having cars so near to their eyes and noses to save them from boredom?”

“When the fog democratically allows everything to disappear into nothing, it makes a bit of a change, Letizia”

“ Your irony is incorrigible, Betty, but tell me, Seattle is meant to be a beautiful city, But where?”
I had at last reached the State Ferry terminal.

“No Madam, the ferry for Vashon Island doesn’t start from here,” one of the men in the ticket office tells me. ”Take a buss and go to the ferry terminal in West Seattle.”
Betty explained to me “The island lies in Puget Sound and not in Elliott Bay! It is opposite the airport. You must have seen it when you were landing!”
“Betty, when I am landing I shut my eyes and pray!”

It’s time for lunch. The weather is beautiful and warm. Who said to me that it always rains here?
“Sure to be some envious man who wanted to frighten you away from coming to Seattle. The city is really beautiful, you’ll see. Stay by the waterfront, choose the best restaurant with a view of Elliott Bay and enjoy it.”
“Thank you Betty!”
I find a table on the terrace of “Elliott’s Oyster House”. The view of the island is wonderful. It lies quietly in the sun like a green fleecy cushion on the blue water.
Betty plays with my words:
“Vashon Island is a big cushion, even bigger than Bainbridge which you see in front of your eyes, Letizia. The islands look similar. They have well kept houses and beautiful gardens”.

I relax during this introduction, “Bainbridge” you are Vashon Island, and order a mineral water.

“At one time the hotel belonging to the parents of Monica Sone stood on the waterfront.”
“Oh, of your friend Kimi!” Unfortunately I forget to ask Betty exactly where it was.

My mind wanders and I think of my mountain hike back to the hotel! “Why is there no donkey for tourists?” Betty laughs:

“I’m sure you can walk back to the hotel. “Letizia can do everything.””

“Yes, Betty, I am my own donkey!”
But I don’t remember that San Francisco is so steep. It doesn’t matter, I sit and wait. The waiter comes and brings me the menu. I almost fall off my chair!
“ What, you have geoduck on the menu! I have to try it” (I confess I hate the look of geoduck meat. Betty’s recipe with the pieces made me feel quite sick – I must try Betty’s favourite dish!)
“Proof that you love me!” said Betty enthusiastically “ Isn’t the way to the heart through the stomach?”

I order the geoduck. The waiter looks at me. He would have liked to recommend oysters.
“Geoduck no good for you!”
Had he perhaps read my deepest thoughts? Fate! Then no geoduck. “No good for me.”
“Neither geoduck nor tuberculosis in Seattle” whispered Betty in my ear!
“Oh Betty, my best friend, you take such good care of me!”

I order salmon with salad.

“Which salmon? Those that swim in water or those that run through Seattle?”

“Betty, I believe you want me to have a taste of your black humour.”

“Enjoy it then, Letizia.”
During lunch we talked about tuberculosis, and that quite spoilt our appetite.
“Have you read my book “The Plague and I”?”

“Oh Betty, I’ve started to read it twice but both times I felt so sad I had to stop again!”

“But why?” asked Betty “Nearly everybody has tuberculosis! I recovered very quickly and put on 20 pounds! There was no talk of me wasting away! What did you think of my jokes in the book?”

“Those would have been a good reason for choosing another sanitorium. I would have been afraid of becoming a victim of your humour! You would have certainly given me a nickname! You always thought up such amusing names!” Betty laughed.

“You’re right. I would have called you “Roman nose”. I would have said to Urbi and Orbi “ Early this morning “Roman nose” was brought here. She speaks broken English, doesn’t eat geoduck but she does love cats.”

“Oh Betty, I would have felt so ashamed to cough. To cough in your presence, how embarrassing! You would have talked about how I coughed, how many coughs!”

“It depends on that “how”, Letizia!”

“Please, leave Goethe quotations out of it. You have certainly learnt from the Indians how to differentiate between noises. It’s incredible how you can distinguish between so many sorts of cough! At least 10!”

“So few?”

”And also your descriptions of the patients and the nurses were pitiless. An artistic revenge! The smallest pimple on their face didn’t escape your notice! Amazing.”

“ I was also pitiless to myself. Don’t forget my irony against myself!”

Betty was silent. She was thinking about Kimi, the “Princess” from Japan! No, she had only written good things about her best friend, Monica Sone, in her book “The Plague and I”. A deep friendship had started in the hospital. The pearl that developed from the illness.
“Isn’t it wonderful, Betty, that an unknown seed can make its way into a mollusk in the sea and develop into a beautiful jewel?” Betty is paying attention.

“Betty, the friendship between you and Monica reminds me of Goethe’s poem “Gingo-Biloba”. You must know it?” Betty nods and I begin to recite it:

The leaf of this Eastern tree
Which has been entrusted to my garden
Offers a feast of secret significance,
For the edification of the initiate.

Is it one living thing.
That has become divided within itself?
Are these two who have chosen each other,
So that we know them as one?

The friendship with Monica is like the wonderful gingo-biloba leaf, the tree from the east. Betty was touched. There was a deep feeling of trust between us.
“Our friendship never broke up, partly because she was in distress, endangered by the deadly illness. We understood and supplemented each other. We were like one lung with two lobes, one from the east and one from the west!”
“A beautiful picture, Betty. You were like two red gingo-biloba leaves!”

Betty was sad and said ” Monica, although Japanese, before she really knew me felt she was also an American. But she was interned in America, Letizia, during the second world war. Isn’t that terrible?”

“Betty, I never knew her personally. I have only seen her on a video, but what dignity in her face, and she speaks and moves so gracefully!”

“Fate could not change her”

“Yes, Betty, like the gingo-biloba tree in Hiroshima. It was the only tree that blossomed again after the atom bomb!”

The bill came and I paid at once. In America one is urged away from the table when one has finished eating. If one wants to go on chatting one has to order something else.
“That’s why all those people gossiping at the tables are so fat!” Betty remarks. “Haven’t you seen how many massively obese people walk around in the streets of America. Like dustbins that have never been emptied!” With this typically unsentimental remark Betty ended our conversation.

Ciao! I so enjoyed the talk; the humour, the irony and the empathy. I waved to her and now I too felt like moving! I take a lovely walk along the waterfront.

Now I am back in Heidelberg and when I think about how Betty’s “Princessin” left this world on September 5th and that in August I was speaking about her with Betty in Seattle I feel very sad. The readers who knew her well (we feel that every author and hero of a book is nearer to us than our fleeting neighbours next door) yes we, who thought of her as immortal, cannot believe that even she would die after 92 years. How unforeseen and unexpected that her death should come four days after her birthday on September 1th. On September 5th I was on my way to Turkey, once again in seventh heaven, looking back on the unforgettable days in Seattle. I was flying from west to east towards the rising sun.

Refugee crisis: European leaders demand urgent support for Greece

Athens asks EU for €480m in emergency funds as Brussels prepares for two key summits and aid agencies condemn ‘unconscionable’ response to influx

EU countries need to ‘wake up’ over refugee crisis, says UNHCR – video

Jon Henley in London, Jennifer Rankin in Brussels, Helena Smith in Thessaloniki, and Peter Walker in Calais

Tuesday 1 March 2016 18.32 GMT Last modified on Wednesday 2 March 2016 01.25 GMT

Aid agencies and NGOs have said Europe’s “unconscionable” response to the refugee crisis is courting humanitarian disaster, as Brussels scrambled to prepare emergency summits and desperate scenes unfolded across the continent, from Greece’s border with Macedonia to a makeshift camp outside Calais.
With the EU entering what many see as a make-or-break phase in tackling the crisis, the bloc’s most senior leaders called for urgent action to support Greece as at least 8,500 refugees and migrants remained trapped without permanent shelter on the country’s closed northern border with Macedonia.
Frontex, the EU’s border control agency, said 30 times as many migrants entered Europe in January and February as in the same two months of last year, and the UN’s refugee agency announced that 131,724 people had crossed the Mediterranean – the vast majority of them reaching Greece – so far in 2016, almost as many as made the journey in the first six months of 2015.
The UNHCR said the continent stood “on the cusp of a largely self-induced humanitarian crisis”, with governments “not working together despite agreements … and country after country imposing new border restrictions”.
In a scathing statement, Human Rights Watch condemned the EU’s “utter failure to respond collectively and compassionately to refugee flows”.
Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, said Europe must deal decisively with “the difficult situation” in Greece, while the European council president, Donald Tusk, demanded support for Athens. Readiness to stand by Greece was “a test of our Europeanness”, Tusk said.
“The number of migrants arriving in Greece is on the rise not because they want to make Greece their home, but because they are hoping they will move on from Greece to other European countries,” he said as he embarked on a round of shuttle diplomacy before an emergency meeting with Turkey on Monday and a summit of EU leaders on 18 March.
Facing an average of 2,000-3,000 new refugee arrivals from Turkey each day, Greece said on Tuesday that the influx threatened to overwhelm its already overstretched resources and asked the EU for €480m (£375m) in emergency funds to help it shelter up to 100,000 refugees if needed.
“We cannot bear the strain of all the refugees coming here,” said Olga Gerovassili, a spokeswoman for the Greek government. “These are temporary measures, there needs to be a permanent solution on where refugees will be relocated.”
In a fresh blow to free movement in the EU, Belgium announced it had turned back more than 600 migrants at the French border since the government had reinstated border controls owing to fears about the destruction of parts of the Calais camp, which houses up to 3,500 refugees and migrants eager to reach Britain and mostly unwilling to move into alternative accommodation elsewhere in France.
Greece was now home to at least 24,000 refugees and migrants needing accommodation, nearly one-third of them blocked on the border with Macedonia, said UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards. The Idomeni crossing remained closed on Tuesday after hundreds of migrants tried to force their way through on Monday, prompting police to fire stun grenades and teargas.
Charities at the border estimated that at least 2,000 more people had arrived in Idomeni on Tuesday. “They are coming by foot and as far as they can by bus and by taxi,” said Caroline Haga, of the International Red Cross Federation. “They are determined to leave. They absolutely do not want to stay in Greece.”
Syrians stranded at the frontier for the past week painted a picture of desperation. Amer Alabboush, 24, a chemical engineer from Homs, who reached Greece via Lesbos with three of his friends last week, said conditions at impromptu tent cities now spread out around the area had deteriorated dramatically.
“For the past week I have been sleeping outdoors because there are no tents available and I can tell you I am not the only one,” he said. “The situation is very bad, very difficult and it is getting worse. Me and my friends have been here for exactly seven days. Every day we have one sandwich. Nothing else. We are hungry.”

Betty MacDonald, Wolfgang Hampel and The Egg and us

Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.

Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

great Betty MacDonald fan club news!

We got another mail from our Betty MacDonald fan club fan who is going to share some very interesting photos of Betty MacDonald's wonderful grandmother Gammy.

More news are coming soon.

March will be a very exciting month for Betty MacDonald fan club fans because of several contests and birthday activities.

In 1996 Betty MacDonald's family had been interviewed by journalist and author Wolfgang Hampel .

The family members shared very interesting details regarding fascinating life and work of Betty MacDonald.

Especially Betty's youngest sister Alison Bard Burnett had a perfect memory and shared golden Bard memories.

She got the same talent as her famous sister Betty MacDonald.

Betty MacDonald Interviews published 2009 on CD/DVD by Betty MacDonald Fan Club incl. the biography of Betty MacDonald written by Wolfgang Hampel - The Kettles' Million Dollar Egg, The Egg and Betty, The Tragic End Of Robert Heskett, Betty MacDonald in Hollywood, BettyMacDonald's Illness and other biographical stories.

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel's outstanding Betty MacDonald fan club items and interviews are included in

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

THE EGG AND US:

CONTEXTUALIZATION AND HISTORICIZATION

OF BETTY MACDONALD’S WORKS

SAMANTHA HOEKSTRA

A Thesis submitted to the

Department of History

in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

Degree Awarded:

Spring 2014

Wolfgang Hampel's new project Vita Magica is fascinating because he is going to include Betty MacDonald, other members of the Bard family and Betty MacDonald fan club honor members.

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli and our 'Italian Betty MacDonald' - Betty MacDonald fan club honor member author and artist Letizia Mancino belong to the most popular Betty MacDonald fan club teams in our history.

Their many devoted fans are waiting for a new Mr. Tigerli adventure.

Letizia Mancino's magical Betty MacDonald Gallery is a special gift for our Betty MacDonald fan club fans.

Don't miss Brad Craft's 'More friends', please.

I'm rereading Onions in the Stew and I'd like to live on Betty MacDonald's very beautiful Vashon Island.

Wishing you a great Saturday,

Mats

Don't miss this very special book, please.

Vita Magica

Jamie-Lee Kriewitz to represent Germany

"Unser Lied für Stockholm" took place in Cologne tonight, and televoting decided the winner out of 10 acts

Published 25 Feb at 22:18

Written by

Marco Brey

Cologne, Germany, the German TV public has chosen which song will represent the country in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest: It's Ghost by Jamie-Lee Kriewitz , a young singer with her very own colourful style - and a strong voice! Unser Lied für Stockholm featured 10 acts, both famous and new, presenting a huge variety of styles from Gregorian chant all the way to a modern version of German Schlager.

17-year old Jamie-Lee Kriewitz will represent Germany in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. The young singer, who had previously won The Voice of Germany 2015, will enter the stage in Stockholm with her first big hit Ghost. The song already reached the first place in the German iTunes Download charts and the 11th rank in the German music charts. Jamie-Lee is famous for her manga style, which was well visible in her outfit tonight. In the super-final, Jamie-Lee Kriewitz had won against third-placed Avantasia and second-placed Alex Diehl. These three acts had first topped the ranking in the first round of voting among the 10 candidate acts. 1.89 million votes were cast by televoting, SMS voting and the official Eurovision app. You can watch Jamie-Lee's winning performance of Ghost below!

Watch video on YouTube

Topics 2016 news national selection Germany Unser Lied für Stockholm Jamie-Lee Kriewitz

News

Hollande and Merkel stand together on migration ahead of EU-Turkey summit

04/03 12:28 CET

The French and German leaders presented a united front over Europe’s migration crisis on Friday, ahead of an emergency EU summit with Turkey on Monday aimed at stemming the flow.
Hosting Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris, France’s President Francois Hollande also briefed journalists on a telephone link-up with the Kremlin over Syria’s fragile truce, amid claims that President Assad and his allies have continued to bombard moderate opposition groups.
“We restated that this truce is an opportunity to accelerate discussions and open a process of political transition,” Hollande said of the phone call which also included Britain’s David Cameron and Italy’s premier Matteo Renzi.
“The Russians, through the voice of Vladimir Putin, accepted this principle of negotiations on the basis of UN resolutions.”
On migration, the leaders backed moves to restore Europe’s severely tested Schengen open border area
But Chancellor Merkel stressed the need to protect Europe’s external borders – something she said Germany and France agreed on. She said this was necessary to guarantee freedom of travel within Europe and to move away, step by step, from border controls.
Last year over 1.2 million people, mainly Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis, made initial applications for asylum in the EU – a record figure more than double that of the previous year.
The figures were released on Friday by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Recent border restrictions imposed by several countries have left thousands of migrants and refugees trapped in Greece, prompting warnings of an imminent humanitarian crisis.

Betty MacDonald and some very important birthdays

Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

we got a message from a Betty MacDonald fan who wanted to share some photos of Betty MacDonald's unique grandmother Gammy.

We recently had some troubles with our emails.

It would be very nice if this Betty MacDonald fan could send us a message again.

Thanks a million in advance.

Several Betty MacDonald fan club fans seem to have some troubles regarding the names of two very important personalities who are going to celebrate their birthdays during this month.

Most of them only mention one personality but there are two of them.

Think it over, please.

Tell us the names please and you could be our next winner.

You can win our new Betty MacDonald documentary.

We hope Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli will be back soon with new adventures.

Weekend is near!

Wishing you a very nice Friday,

Ole

Don't miss this very special book, please.

Vita Magica

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD

Betty MacDonald fan club items

Betty MacDonald fan club items - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I

Betty MacDonald fan club groups

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund

Betty MacDonald Fan Club proudly presents:

The amazing, very witty, charming, intelligent story written by our brilliant Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honor Member - artist and writer Letizia Mancino.

WHEN YOU DREAM, DREAM BIG

Copyright 2011/2016 by Letizia Mancino
All rights reserved
Translated by D. Tsiaprakas

Betty, I love you! Your books „Anybody can do anything“ and „Onions in the Stew“ are really outstanding! I take them into my hand, and at a stone's throw I am right away in America ! Columbus and the egg: The great discovery!

Your bestseller „The Egg and I“ the greatest discovery. And you and I! I know America: It's true what you are writing: That's America: Absolutely right! No, even to the least detail! The landscape and the passion: Do you know the country where pistols blossom? Brava, Betty, you are describing the Americans vividly, genuinely, insufferably, brushed upon paper. If I like to read your works? To read doesn't even express it! I can even hear and see everything: Nature, culture, subculture.

America has almost remained unchanged! O those cool Americans! Calculating, stockmarket, Wall Street, the financial crisis (even back in 1930), the gamblers, the bankruptcy of companies! The swarming of dodgers and cheaters. People left without money. Dispair und hunger! A terrible „Worst Case“ (when I knew but little English I thought it is sausage with cheese).

Still how impressive is the ability to adaptone self of the Americans: They know how to enjoy life, acrobats of survival! In the twinkle of an eye they achieved to adapt themselves and effect the work of pioneers: In the morning you are a cleaningwoman, in the evening a brothel woman! No problem!

„The insufficient, here it's becoming an event; The indescribable, here it's done;“ Mary Bard Jensen, your sister, was the treasure trove of procuring work: My word, what a power woman with unlimited imagination! She has recommended you everywhere: Betty can do everything, also write novels! Go ahead, sister, hurry up! The editor wants to see your manuscripts! Up to that point you had not written a single line! Wow! And if still everything goes wrong? No problem: When you dream, dream big!

Just look, you have become famous.The Egg and I You know that, Betty? I'll slip into „The Egg and I“ and come and be your guest! I want to get to know your chickens. I hate chickens! I'm a chickens slave from North America! O Betty, without these damned animals, no chance of you becoming famous! „The Egg and I“ you would never have written! How many readers you have made happy!

Your book is so amusing! Your witty fine (almost nasty) remarks about your family members and roundabout neighbours made me laugh so much! You have been born into a special family: Comfort was not desired: I can't but be amazed: What did your father say to your mother? After tomorrow I am going to work elsewhere: Thousands of miles away...He sent her a telegram: LEAVING FOR TWO YEARS ON THURSDAY FOR MEXICO CITY STOP GET READY IF YOU WANT TO COME ALONG – That was on Monday. Mother wired back: SHALL BE READY, and so she was.That's America! Improvisation, change, adventure. You show no weakness: Let's go! Your descriptions, Betty, about the tremendous happenings in nature have deeply frightened me.

Continent America, I'm terrified by you! I feel so small and threatened like a tiny fly before an enormous flyswatter! Your novel is very many-sided! The reader may use it even as a cook book! „The Egg and I“ starts straight away with a recipe: „Next to the wisdom that lamb meat doesn't taste good unless it has been roasted with garlic“. Do you enjoy the American food?

O Betty, it's too fatty for me and I hate garlic! (Betty is presently cooking lunch for Bob. She's continually talking to „STOVE“: STOVE is Bob's rival; in the beginning I thought it was being himself). She turns round and says: Well, so no garlic for you. No lamb either, Betty. I don't eat any meat! I'd actually prefer only fried eggs. Betty, let me make them myself. Then you try it!

Blow! „STOVE“ out of order! I don't succeed in turning it on! Damned! It's got more of a mind of its own than „STOVE“ of my friend, Hilde Domin! Bob's coming! He must eat directly! „Men eat anything, the swines! Says your grandmother Gammy“. Is it true? Do you like my chickens? Bob asked me without introducing himself. Yes, Bob (rude) I love them! I'm vegetarian. Do you want to clean the henhouse with me tomorrow? A, you're always getting up so early at four o'clock! Bob, that's not a job for me! He looked at me disdainfully! A Roman cissy! You need a reeducation at once! Help, Bob's attacking me! I rather change the novel immediately and move to the „Island“!

Refugees

'Don't come to Europe,' EU's Donald Tusk warns refugees

European Council president tells "economic migrants" to not risk their lives as crowds swell on Greece-Macedonia border.

03 Mar 2016 15:54 GMT | Refugees, Europe, Greece, European Union

The European Council president has warned refugees against coming to Europe for economic benefit as thousands of people remained trapped at the Greece-Macedonia border after being blocked from continuing their journey.
"I want to appeal to all potential illegal economic migrants, wherever you are from: Do not come to Europe," Donald Tusk said in Athens on Thursday after meeting Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
"Do not risk your lives and your money. It is all for nothing. Greece, or any other European country, will no longer be a transit country."
Greece is the first transit point for refugees seeking to make the journey north to more prosperous EU states.
The vast majority of the people arriving in Greece are those fleeing war and political repression in countries such as Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
But EU politicians have sought to crack down on those they say are motivated by financial betterment.

Tusk was on a trip through Balkan states to try to drum up support for cohesion on how to deal with hundreds of thousands of refugees - a crisis that threatens to tear the bloc apart - ahead of an emergency EU-Turkey summit on the ongoing crisis on Monday.
His comments came as a bottleneck of refugees had formed at Idomeni, near the Greek border with Macedonia, after Skopje severely curbed the number of people allowed to cross into its territory.

Thousands continue to enter Greece every day but are finding their route north blocked by Macedonian security forces, who are conducting vigorous checks on the refugees who manage to reach their checkpoints.
At least 10,000 people, including women and children, are stuck outside the crossing at Idomeni with little access to basic provisions.
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Idomeni, said the situation at the border was getting "worse by the day.
"This is a makeshift camp. The transit camp is already at full capacity so people are setting up their tents wherever they can.
"They're going to the woods to set up fires when the temperatures fall dramatically ... people are frustrated with each day that passes, they're getting more and more tired.
"There's a very very long queue in front of the [Greek] police desk made up of people waiting for hours on end to get the right stamp."

Fair share

The number of refugees flowing into Europe has soared in the first two months of 2016 amid tighter borders and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, prompting warnings from agencies and rights groups of a "looming humanitarian crisis".
On Tuesday, the UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR, said that 131,724 people made the journey across the Mediterranean during January and February, with 122,637 refugees landing in Greece.

READ MORE: Crisis looms as a new wave of refugees reaches Europe

After his meeting with Tusk, Tsipras lashed out at fellow EU leaders for not taking their fair share of refugees and forcing Athens to deal with the huge numbers waiting to cross through.
The Greek leader called for sanctions on EU states that refuse to accept refugees.
"At Monday's summit, Greece will demand that burden-sharing be equitable among all countries in the bloc, and sanctions for those that do not," Tsipras said.
"We ask that unilateral actions stop in Europe," he added, in a view echoed by Tusk.
Tusk later travelled to Turkey, which has taken more Syrian refugees than any other country, and is the departure point for the majority trying to reach the EU.

'A lot of people are scared': Hispanics voice fear as Trump sweeps to Super Tuesday victory

By Matt Williams: News Editor, ITV News Washington

Like many people across the state of Georgia, the diners at La Jalisco Mexican restaurant in Valdosta sat and watched as Donald Trump took the stage in neighboring Florida to make his victory speech.
Nearly half a million Georgians returned Trump as their clear Republican winner, with almost 40 per cent of the overall vote - but there's no victory party at La Jalisco. Hispanic residents watch the vote

Hispanic residents watch the vote Credit: ITV News

Trump's words towards Mexico and Hispanics were familiar. "Mexico is killing us on the border"; "We're going to have a wall".
And on allowing up to 11 million undocumented Hispanic immigrants to stay?
"At this moment, absolutely not, we either have a country or we don't, we have borders or we don’t, and at this moment we don't," he said.
A year ago, it felt as if these were threats which could be dismissed from a celebrity candidate, unlikely to lead a serious candidacy for the Presidency.
But tonight, with Trump amassing a sizeable lead across the US, it all feels different - and all the more scary.

Carlos Vega, 33: 'A lot of people are scared'

Carlos Vega, aged 33, owns La Jalisco restaurant. He was born here and would have right to remain - though many of his friends and customers would be under threat should Trump take the Presidency and carry out his threat.

At the beginning, we thought he's a joke and he's not going to make it far - but he's showing that he can and that maybe money can buy the Presidency.

It is going to be a real threat to my friends and a real threat to me, my business will be under threat, it's frightening.
It used to be in the US there was a freedom where you felt welcome and where if you had a dream you could accomplish it if you worked hard but that's definitely changing.
Now it's becoming that you're not welcome here, and if you are here you're going to get kicked out.
I'm worried, sad and angry sometimes - a lot of people are scared.

– Carlos Vega, business owner

Juanita Calvillo, 24, is a student in Valdosta. Born in California, she feels as American as any of her friends - but Trump's policies and rhetoric have changed things recently.

A lot has changed. I get different looks. I feel like people don't care if I am a US citizen. Trump's having people believe things about Hispanics that aren't true so of course I feel discriminated [against].

I have neighbors who have voted for him and I feel the difference in how they see me. One day it was a friendship, I still speak to them, I still see them the same way - but I don't feel they see me the same way, and I feel like Trump has a lot to do with that.
This is supposed to be the United States of America, colour should not matter. Of course he's changing the face of America, everything the country stands for he's turning it the opposite. I pray that America does get better, and not with his slogan: 'Make America Great Again'.
I'm going to pray for that, but making America great will have nothing to do with Trump winning. I feel not so much angry, but more disappointed. Sad, it's saddening, a little sickening as well to be honest.

– Juanita Calvillo, student

Radolfo Castanada, 29: 'He's creating divisions in communities'

Rodolfo Castanada Credit: ITV News

Rodolfo Castanada, 29, works as a personal trainer an hour outside of Valdosta. Twenty years ago, he crossed the border with his mother during the middle of the night when he was just nine years old.
He is an undocumented worker, and should Trump see his plan through once reaching the White House, he's aware he could be rounded up and deported.

We don't come here to steal anybody's jobs, we work hard every day. What he says hurts, he does put a lot of fear in a lot of us.

I have people saying you should leave, you should go back to your own country. I say to them what wrong am I doing? It hurts. He's creating divisions in communities.
I have a neighbour who lives across the road from me, he's a Trump supporter. I've known him forever, he's a nice guy, we've helped him out, he's helped us out. But now he has his Trump sign outside his house it's different, he doesn't really talk to us anymore.

– Rodolfo Castanada, undocumented worker

Glorian Rivera, 26: 'I'd have to leave the country'

Gloriana Rivera Credit: ITV News

Gloriana Rivera, 26, is Rodolfo's girlfriend. She realizes she could be one of millions of Hispanics facing the prospect of having a loved-one deported from the country.
Trump's victories tonight makes that a little more real for her.

It's scary, I'm in shock. It's starting to feel like this is becoming a reality. I remember thinking this Is never going to happen, this is all for show and he's not going to make it very far and here he is and I'm looking at what could possibly be my next President and it's scary.

If he became President, I feel like I'd have to leave the country because the person I love and the person I want to be with wouldn't be able to be here and it's not fair because he has just as much of a right it be here as I do, he's worked just as hard I have to be a citizen of the US.
I feel scared about the future because I don't know what's coming next, I don't know what tomorrow's going to look like.

– Gloriana Rivera, resident

Last updated Wed 2 Mar 2016

US Election 2016: Trump and Clinton push ahead on Super Tuesday

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Betty MacDonald and very important personalities

Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

Betty MacDonald fan club team with Martine, Pieter, Mary and other members are working on Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter March.

Two very important personalities are going to celebrate their birthdays during this month.

Tell us the names please and you'll be our next winner.

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are going to share very interesting info on ' Betty MacDonald and the movie The Egg and I '.

Betty MacDonald fan club exhibition will be fascinating with the international book editions and letters by Betty MacDonald.

A Betty MacDonald fan club fan told me that Betty MacDonald wasn't crazy about the movie The Egg and I.

Is this true and what do you think of the The Egg and I movie and the Ma and Pa Kettle sequels?

I tried to answer the Betty MacDonald and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Contest question.

I'm very sorry but I don't know the names of any of Betty MacDonald's and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle birthday guests although I could read that every Betty MacDonald - and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle fan knows this photo.

Betty MacDonald fan club fans are especially fond of egg cookbooks and of celebrity recipes. The Favorite Egg Recipes of Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray was published in a booklet form by the National Egg Board as an advertising compliment to their movie, "The Egg and I."

In 1947, Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray stared in "The Egg and I." The movie was based on Betty MacDonald's book of the same name. It was a wildly popular account of her life as a young bride on a chicken farm. When I say The Egg and I was a popular book, I mean that in less than a year it sold a million copies! The film rights were quickly sold and in 1947 the book became a movie with Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray.

In addition to Colbert and MacMurray, the film co-stared Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride as Ma and Pa Kettle. (The co-stars have nothing to do with egg recipes, but I am a huge fan of Ma and Pa Kettle) Main was nominated for an Academy Award for best Supporting Actress but she lost to Celeste Holm in "Gentleman's Agreement." (It is so hard to win for comedy!) After all the publicity, practically everyone involved with the book was sued. According to the folks down on the farm, old Mrs. MacDonald portrayed them negatively and they wanted monetary gains for being made to look foolish! And they did indeed get paid, but enough about them.

The Favorite Egg Recipes of Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray features introductions by the two stars, a recipe from each bearing their names, and a handful of additional egg recipes. What do they say about the egg?

According to Colbert:

"The egg is really one of the greatest boons to womankind, ranking with the sewing machine, the electric washer, the permanent wave and the right to vote."

According to MacMurray:

"The egg, for my money, is the best friend of any man ever trapped in the kitchen."

I love eggs as much as the next person, but I am not sure I would equate them with voting rights. What a difference seventy years makes. Well we are still eating eggs, still voting, and still drinking. Of course, today we are drinking alcohol. In 1947 such drinking, especially endorsed by the family friendly National Egg Board, was frowned upon. Here is an eggy julep for you, in the truest sense of a sweet, flavored drink, as opposed to the kind that most often feature a good shot of bourbon.

Egg and I Julep
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups orange juice, strained
1/3 cup lemon juice, strained
Crushed ice, club soda
Blend eggs, sugar and salt. Add fruit juices. Shake or beat until sugar is dissolved. pour over finely cracked ice to fill tall glasses 1/2 full. Add club soda slowly. Stir. Serve promptly.

Feel free to add a big ol' glug of bourbon

I can't wait to see the new Betty MacDonald documentary.

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is working on a new surprise for us in his paradise.

Mr. Tigerli I promise you I'll come to visit you some day.

Have a nice Thursday,

Ulla

Don't miss this very special book, please.

Vita Magica

Refugees

'Don't come to Europe,' EU's Donald Tusk warns refugees

European Council president tells "economic migrants" to not risk their lives as crowds swell on Greece-Macedonia border.

03 Mar 2016 15:54 GMT | Refugees, Europe, Greece, European Union

Tusk is touring the region, trying to find a common strategy to resolve the refugee crisis [Ronald Zak/AP]

Fair share

READ MORE: Crisis looms as a new wave of refugees reaches Europe

Friday, March 4, 2016

Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter team and Martine, Lisa, Greta, Mats, Pieter and other members are very busy at the current time.

Do you know the reason why?

They are working very hard on Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter March.

New Betty MacDonald info, essays and stories are waiting for you.

We already mentioned new photos for example of Betty MacDonald's unique grandmother Gammy.

March will be very exciting because of several Betty MacDonald fan club contests.

The most important one is Betty MacDonald fan club birthday card contest.

Send a birthday with your thoughts of Betty MacDonald and her books to us and might be our Betty MacDonald fan club contest winner.

Deadline: March 15, 2016

You can win a first edition of Betty MacDonald's golden egg with a very cute dedication for one of her fans.

Very rare and really a wonderful copy!

Don't miss it, please.

We are going to celebrate 70th anniversary of Betty MacDonald's golden The Egg and I in Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter March.

We asked in which languages The Egg and I has been translated?

That's your chance. Don't miss it, please.

You can win our new Betty MacDonald documentary.

The Egg and I belongs to the most successful books ever.

Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter March includes the names of our former Betty MacDonald fan club contest winners, the correct answers and many more info.

Anita, I'm one of your many fans.

I'd love to have a Wolfgang Hampel CD and DVD with his very funny poems and stories. What about a book? We adore Wolfgang Hampel's high humor and wit in Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and his wonderful Betty MacDonald interviews.Jens, it doesn't amaze me at all.

Wonderful story tellers, world painters, great entertainers. Alison Bard Burnett and Wolfgang Hampel share it with Betty MacDonald Fans from all over the world.

My family and I are crazy about Mr. Tigerli - our unique trouble shooter!

Our unique Betty MacDonald fan club honor members are outstanding artists and writers.

Let's go to the bookstore and enjoy a new breakfast with Brad and Nick.

What about moving to very beautiful Vashon Island?

Yours, David

Refugee crisis: European leaders demand urgent support for Greece

"Unser Lied für Stockholm" took place in Cologne tonight, and televoting decided the winner out of 10 acts

Fair share

'A lot of people are scared': Hispanics voice fear as Trump sweeps to Super Tuesday victory

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Fair share

Followers

Blog Archive

About Me

I'd love to have a Wolfgang Hampel CD and DVD with his very funny poems and stories. What about a book? We adore Wolfgang Hampel's high humor and wit in Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and his wonderful Betty MacDonald interviews.

Jens, it doesn't amaze me at all.

Yours,

David