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rthstewart · 4 years ago

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More Narnia Spare Oom AUs

So I’ve like actually written a lot of this. But.... based on this lovely post by @athoughtfox and then @edmundjustking made the serious mistake of asking for me to elaborate and so I did , a little bit here . But... I have opinions about this, OK? And A LOT OF WORDS. REALLY A LOT OF WORDS.

Digory – Professor at Oxford, professor of philosophy and theology, renowned expert on the Oxford Franciscans, the Blessed Duns Scotus, and Gerard Manly Hopkins. Professor Kirke is trying to construct an elaborate theory of environmental stewardship and haecceity based upon his Narnia experience. An excellent theologian and a very bad Christian – he’s not been to church in over 30 years. Ace.

Polly – Amateur zoologist and naturalist --- “maiden” aunt HA! Always accompanied by a dog, a cat, an umbrella and a carpet bag. Drove an ambulance in France for the Red Cross in WW1 in France. Drives an MG. World traveler. Bisexual. Works at the Whipsnade Zoo and has a bad habit of always trying to curtsy in front of Peter.

Peter: Private, youngest member of Ox & Bucks 2d Battalion, D Company, Glider Corps (whose insignia is Bellerophon aboard Pegasus) and sees the first action on D-Day when his Horsa Glider crashes into the Caen Canal bridge (Normandy) (which becomes known as Pegasus Bridge). He’s wounded in hedgerow battles on the march to Paris, sent home to recover and (probably) never sees more action. (Unless he joins Captain America’s Howling Commandos and cleans up Hydra nests in former occupied Europe). Maybe ends up with T-Force, Ox & Bucks 1st Battalion, who are rounding up German scientists and high value targets and “persuading” them to come to England or America.

After he’s demobbed, he enrolls at Oxford and starts an affair with a married woman. He then drops out of Oxford as a dismal failure at the classics curriculum. He comes into some money and finally gets Aslan’s message and begins rebuilding a country for a 3rd time -- he ends up working in construction and literally becomes a rock on which England is rebuilt, as a carpenter and bricklayer. Ultimately he’s elected to Commons as the rep for Oxford-Cowley where his battles with Margaret Thatcher become legendary. Bisexual, married, two children, 6 grandchildren. Knighted in 1992.

Susan: Lying about her age and armed with forged identify papers, Susan begins running a spy through the British Embassy in Washington DC in the summer of 1942 to build support in the American Congress for the British war effort. She leaves school in 1943 and enters SOE training. She is deployed to Bénouville at a woman’s hospital to spy on the Nazi fortification of the Caen Canal which Peter’s Horsa glider crashed into on D-Day. Sometime thereafter, she is eventually able to return to England (and maybe hangs out with/has sex with Peggy Carter for a while in France on the road to Paris). Eventually, she is recruited to MI6/SIS with her partner from Washington and they eventually marry where they built networks of spies throughout the Balkans that are blown and murdered by the Cambridge 5. Her husband may die in Berlin in or around 1950 and/or she remarries. One daughter; one grandchild. COE Deaconess, international election observer, advocate for women’s pentathlon in the Olympics, always keeps wolfhounds and a really large handbag that she keeps a Little Joe crossbow in that she got during the War. Becomes Dame Commander in or around 1980.

Edmund: With forged papers, Edmund passes off as a British army private in Washington DC in 1943, becomes fluent in German and Russian, and is involved in espionage efforts in Greece and the Balkans that preceded Allied operations in the Mediterranean in 1943. He narrowly avoids a honey trap and seduction by a man with the aim of compromising him into becoming a Soviet agent – the Soviets are seeking information on the Venona project. After flirting with the SIS, he decides to not join his sister in espionage. He reads law at Oxford and works the Judges’ Trial at Nuremberg. He becomes a successful barrister and renowned human rights activist, with a particular focus on war crimes (with Lucy) and tirelessly advocates for the Chagoss Islands. Edmund refuses a knighthood for years because he wants Peter to get his first. He finally relents and becomes the Right Honourable Sir Edmund Pevensie but hates being called Sir. Sits on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Bisexual, married, three children, five grandchildren, married to a Holocaust survivor. Always keeps cats.

Lucy: Leaves school in 1943 with forged identity papers to begin agitating for Greek famine relief and more aggressive action to stop the Holocaust and allow more Jews into England. Joins the Red Cross. Eventually becomes involved in smuggling food to the Channel Islands which are under Nazi occupation. After the war, Lucy advocates for families of Chinese men in the Liverpool area after the Chinese merchant sailors are secretly kidnapped and forcibly repatriated back to China. She eventually goes back to school and becomes a doctor. She and Edmund are involved war crimes investigations all over the world. Through NGOs, she operates clinics and advocates for security of the whole person (income, education, home, political stability, healthcare) as universal human rights. Short listed for a Nobel Peace prize twice. Has arrest records in 5 countries for civil disobedience. Bisexual. Marries an American, has three children and four grandchildren.

Eustace: Becomes a world-renowned paleontologist, with a focus on trying to find fossil records that can explain the worldwide mythology of dragons. Discovers a species of flying lizard, Draco Scrubb. Marries Jill, two children.

Jill: A respected artist and cook. She sells art to sporting magazines her mother and father run in the U.S. and Caribbean and also to paleontological and naturalist publications. Also active with her family, in the cause of Jamaican independence and politics thereafter. She purchases a cottage on the Isle of Wright that has portals to a magical place with pink water and blue sand.

#The Chronicles of Narnia #narnia headcanon #everybody lives #narnia au

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peter-horrocks · 4 years ago

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The glacial ice cave at Les Deux Alpes

After another hot summer in the south of France (sorry for those of you who experienced the opposite, I know how you feel I come from Manchester, UK) I was beginning to seriously wilt so it was with some relief that we headed off for ten days in the high French Alps.

The entrance to the ice cave at Les Deux Alpes is just beyond the people along the track

After last year's very successful trip to Les Menuires I doubted that we could repeat similar enjoyment this time round as at some stage it is bound to rain in the mountains and there has been plenty of that in many parts of France this year. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

We spent the first three days at La Foux d’Allos which is just two and a half hours drive north of Grasse where we live. Earlier in the year, we had spent a pleasant week there, just the two of us. This time we met up with my French wife’s sister and husband who had brought two of their grandchildren along with them, all the way from Normandy. They had a trying fifteen-hour journey down spent mainly in traffic jams ending with a rather terrifying last section over the Col d’Allos where the narrow road and huge vertical drops tested their nerves to the limit, though the kids marveled at the scenery. Regular skiers it was the first time they had holidayed in the high mountains in summer.

It was interesting to observe the reaction of the children who are aged seven and nine, the youngest is an absolute live-wire and the elder somewhat reserved and a bit of a bookworm, as La Foux d’Allos is a low-key sort of place and the main attraction is mother nature. Our first days walk directly from the apartment where they stayed (which is owned by a friend of ours, we stayed there previously) was up the valley to the source of the river Verdon which goes on to carve out the Gorge which is one of the most spectacular and visited in France. Up by the source there was hardly anyone, yet the scenery is magnificent and it gets better and better the higher you walk, and we got up high, to 2200 metres. Everyone loved it and the numerous marmots (a sort of groundhog) and circling birds of prey kept us entertained. I was delighted to rediscover the rock with a partial imprint of a giant ammonite fossil which I discovered last time, just off the beaten path.

Lac d’Allos

The following day, early in the morning (to be sure we got one of the limited parking spaces) we drove up to the Lac d’Allos which is the biggest, highest freshwater lake in Europe. A wonderful place for pleasant walking at high altitudes and a superb spot for a picnic in the fresh mountain air. Even after a couple of days of long walks, the kids were still keen to walk out in the evening so they could sit and watch the marmots gamble around grazing as the sun set, it was they who were pestering us adults to go.

Marmot

We took our leave and headed further north another four and a half hours drive to the Oisans valley and the famous ski resort Les Deux Alpes where we stayed in a superb recently built wooden chalet on the edge of the village with the luxurious feature of a hot tub on the big balcony which commanded stunning views of the valley, mountains, and glaciers.

This time we were with my wife’s five grandchildren aged from three to twelve and their parents, like last year. It is amazing how relatively inexpensive such a high-quality chalet is even in peak season. There is demand and there are people who take holidays in the high mountains but its nothing compared to the millions who prefer to pack on to hot crowded beaches and pay through the nose for exorbitant coastal accommodation.

There is still a buzz around Les Deux Alpes in summer as the ski set is replaced by mountain bikers. This activity has exploded with the development of electric bikes which has opened up the sport to less fit people of all ages. And in the resort, there are lifts running to take bikes and riders up very high and dedicated graded tracks to ride down. There are specialized shops for hiring the bikes and all the necessary protective equipment too. All-day long there were hundreds of people setting off nice and fresh or returning covered in a respectable amount of mud, nearly all smiling, chatting, and enjoying themselves.

There were many bars and restaurants open and it was our first experience of presenting our Passe Sanitaire (obtained after our double vaccination jabs), which were duly scanned by the waiter’s mobile phone system when we paid our bill, all very relaxed, easy, and reassuring. None of the bars or restaurants were particularly busy but the atmosphere was pretty cool all the same, out on the terraces in the fresh air overlooking the magnificent mountains, it was nice after so much time at home recently, avoiding people.

The children enjoyed walks around the valley and their treats were the dry toboggan run and the ingenious non-motorized carts which were adapted to be dragged up the mountainside by the Poma lift leaving gravity to provide the speed on the downhill with braking being the drivers main preoccupation. All good fun. An unexpected bonus was the de-stocking of the equipment shops in the resort at the end of August with loads of high-quality gear being sold at half price, we picked up some incredible bargains including walking boots and ski jackets.

Just inside the glacier surrounded by raw ice

The highlight of our stay was a visit to the ice cave at 3400 metres up on the high glacier. I had wanted to visit one since I discovered more about them during my time working in Chamonix where I had the privilege of skiing down the Valley Blanche, but never got round to visiting the ice cave in the Bosson Glacier. I’ve always been fascinated by glaciers, especially the fact that such a huge quantity of ice is constantly on the move, typically 25 cm a day. And my imagination was enhanced by the tale my brother told me of when he discovered the frozen body of a Japanese mountaineer on one of his expeditions up Mount Kilimanjaro from the Kenyan side, the glacier finally gave up its prisoner after 15 years of entrapment, and they were able to reunite the preserved remains of the unfortunate man with his family at last.

The ice cave is hacked out by hand

It costs 25 euros for the lift pass and entry to the ice cave at Les Deux Alpes. A ride up two very long gondola ski lifts then on the highest funicular railway in the world which actually goes through the rock under the glacier via a tunnel, is easily worth the money. We were accompanied by Mathieu and his twin boys aged seven, one of whom has difficulty walking, all of us were well kitted out with puffer jackets and walking boots, which we appreciated as we had to walk a couple of hundred metres across the snow to get to the ice cave entrance and there was a bitter chill wind blowing up there.

The ice sculptures in the cave included this octopus

Inside the ice cave, I was surprised at how long it was, there were vivid explanations of how it is hacked out by hand and there are parts with fabulous ice sculptures of things like sea horses and fish which are beautifully smooth and nicely lit for maximum effect, which had the children enthralled. Clearly not one for the claustrophobic, it did not disappoint as an experience.

The views from the suspended platform were spectacular

And once outside we walked a few hundred metres more in the snow to a suspended viewing platform with awesome views of the surrounding mountains and as we made our way back to the lift we saw the white peak of Mont Blanc the highest mountain in Europe which loomed above all else.

The passes are valid all day and Mathieu immediately insisted that his wife Caroline accompany him back up to the ice cave as he didn’t want her to miss out, his interpretation of how she would feel was correct, she didn’t want to come back down, she loved it so much up there on top of the world. None of us wanted to leave Les Deux Alpes at the end of our stay either.

At the tourist office in Les Deux Alpes, we learned that in August this year the glacier was closed for summer skiing for the first time ever due to the effects of global warming. I can but hope we are not too late to react and modify our way of living in time to both avert pending climate-related disasters and save the magnificent mysterious glaciers all over the world.

#Les deux alpes #glacier #ice cave

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johnvink · 5 years ago

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FRANCE, Villers-sur-Mer (Normandie). 25/07/2020: A bush sculpted into a prehistoric animal adorns the central square of this city where many fossiles were found in nearby cliffs. At the beginning of what looks like the second Covid19 wave, popular holiday destinations in France are accessible to most Europeans. The cities of Deauville and Trouville, a mere 2 hour drive from Paris and only a 4 hour drive from Brussels, as well as the nearby coastal tourist attractions further South, concentrate a wide variety of nationalities. Parisians mingle with German, Dutch, Belgian, British citizens craving for a return of normalcy. They each have slightly different physical distancing rules at home and as a result have a different mindset on how to behave regarding safety measures. The beaches of the Normandy coast are generally very wide and offer a lot of space to the thousands of people enjoying their sacro-saint holidays. The shopping and restaurant areas as well as the landmark destinations like the Mont Saint-Michel tend to be very crowded. September will tell how reasonable it was to indulge in a normal holiday on the Normandy coast. More here: https://mapsbase.photoshelter.com/index/G0000zyc087dTV3I/I0000BdmKvvN5Czc #MAPS #Holidays #Normandy https://www.instagram.com/p/CD0Sza4JCLI/?igshid=ysq9fe7nftdl

#maps #holidays #normandy

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a-dinosaur-a-day · 6 years ago

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Normanniasaurus genceyi

By Scott Reid

Etymology: Reptile from Normannia

First Described By: Le Loeuff et al., 2013

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Bagualosauria, Plateosauria, Massopoda, Sauropodiformes, Anchisauria, Sauropoda, Gravisauria, Eusauropoda, Neosauropoda, Macronaria, Titanosauriformes, Somphospondyli, Titanosauria

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: Between 113 and 107 million years ago, in the Albian age of the Early Cretaceous

Normanniasaurus is known from the Poudingue Ferrugineux Formation of northwestern France

Physical Description: Normanniasaurus was a fairly early titanosaur, the group of Cretaceous period sauropods that make up the greatest diversity of the group. Normanniasaurus itself was a small to medium sized sauropod, probably around 12 meters long. It was interesting in a few ways - notably, it had the ball-and-socket connections between vertebrae, like later titanosaurs, but only at the base of the tail. This would make the tail fairly flexible compared to non-titanosaur sauropods, but not as flexible as later forms. Unlike later titanosaurs, however, it had a very stiff back - more like more basal, non-titanosaur sauropods. The spines of Normanniasaurus also had huge connected holes on the tail. In all, Normanniasaurus showcases a mixture of basal and derived sauropod traits, indicative of its early position in titanosaur evolution.

Diet: As a smaller titanosaur, Normanniasaurus was probably a mid-level browser, though it’s possible it could reach higher levels of vegetation when needed.

By José Carlos Cortés

Behavior: Being still small-ish in size, Normanniasaurus would have probably been more skittish than larger titanosaurs, needing to react quickly in the presence of potential danger, as it couldn’t rely on large size for it (given the presence of larger predators in its area, which is uncertain). It spent most of its day grazing on food, storing it all in a large stomach. As only a few fossils of Normanniasaurus have been found, it’s difficult to tell if it lived in herds, but it seems somewhat likely given its smaller size and need to protect itself. It is unknown whether or not it would have cared for its young.

Ecosystem: The Poudingue Ferrugineux Formation formed along a coastal environment, meaning Normanniasaurus would have interacted with the ocean ecosystem moreso than more inland animals. However, no other dinosaurs have been found from this formation, much less other fossils, so it’s difficult to tell what would have been the predators of Normanniasaurus specifically, or competitors, or just what it would have interacted with at all. There do seem to be other titanosaurs from the general time and place, including Aepisaurus and Macrurosaurus, implying that Normanniasaurus might have been one member of a fairly diverse sauropod-heavy ecosystem.

Other: Normanniasaurus is one of the earliest known titanosaurs, though it’s precise placement in the group is murky. It might be the oldest known Aelosaur, which would also make it the only member of that group known from Europe. Alternatively, it might be more like Malawisaurus, which lived at the same time, but in Africa. If its a basal titanosaur, it’s fairly typical for the group; but if it is an Aeolosaur, it might have lost some titanosaur traits, which would make it a fascinating case in titanosaur evolution.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut

Buffetaut, E. 1984. Une vertèbre de dinosaurien sauropode dans le Crétacé du Cap de la Hève (Normandie). Actes du Muséum d’Histoire naturelle de Rouen 7: 215 - 221.

Le Loeuff, J., S. Suteethorn, E. Buffetaut. 2013. A new sauropod dinosaur from the Albian of Le Havre (Normandy, France). Oryctos 10: 23 - 30.

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sciencespies · 6 years ago

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One of Europe's last wild rivers is in danger of being tamed

https://sciencespies.com/environment/one-of-europes-last-wild-rivers-is-in-danger-of-being-tamed/

One of Europe's last wild rivers is in danger of being tamed

In this June 14, 2019 photo, Jorgji Ilia, 71, stands on the shore of the Vjosa River after collecting water from a small spring in the village of Kanikol, Albania. “There is nothing else better than the river,” the retired schoolteacher says. “The Vjosa gives beauty to our village.” (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Under a broad plane tree near Albania’s border with Greece, Jorgji Ilia fills a battered flask from one of the Vjosa River’s many springs.

“There is nothing else better than the river,” the retired schoolteacher says. “The Vjosa gives beauty to our village.”

The Vjosa is temperamental and fickle, changing from translucent cobalt blue to sludge brown to emerald green, from a steady flow to a raging torrent. Nothing holds it back for more than 270 kilometers (170 miles) in its course through the forest-covered slopes of Greece’s Pindus mountains to Albania’s Adriatic coast.

This is one of Europe’s last wild rivers. But for how long?

Albania’s government has set in motion plans to dam the Vjosa and its tributaries to generate much-needed electricity for one of Europe’s poorest countries, with the intent to build eight dams along the main river.

It’s part of a world hydropower boom, mainly in Southeast Asia, South America, Africa and less developed parts of Europe. In the Balkans alone, about 2,800 projects to tame rivers are underway or planned, says Olsi Nika of EcoAlbania, a nonprofit that opposes the projects.

Some tout hydropower as a reliable, cheap and renewable energy source that helps curb dependence on planet-warming fossil fuels. But some recent studies question hydropower’s value in the fight against global warming. Critics say the benefits of hydropower are overstated—and outweighed by the harm dams can do.

In this June 19, 2019 photo, Jorgji Ilia, 71, a retired schoolteacher, sits with his wife, Vito, 64, inside their home in the village of Kanikol, Albania. “There is nothing else better than the river,” he says. “The Vjosa gives beauty to our village.” (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Rivers are a crucial part of the global water cycle. They act as nature’s arteries, carrying energy and nutrients across vast landscapes, providing water for drinking, food production and industry. They’re a means of transportation for people and goods, and a haven for boaters and anglers. Rivers are home to a diversity of fish—including tiny minnows, trout and salmon—and provide shelter and food for birds and mammals.

But dams interrupt their flow, and the life in and around them. While installing fish ladders and widening tunnels to bypass dams helps some species, it hasn’t worked in places like the Amazon, says Julian Olden, a University of Washington ecologist.

Dams block the natural flow of water and sediment. They also can change the chemistry of the water and cause toxic algae to grow.

In this June 23, 2019 photo, an abandoned bulldozer sits on the banks of the Vjosa River at the construction site of the Kalivac dam in Albania. Some tout hydropower as a reliable, cheap and renewable energy source that helps curb dependence on planet-warming fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. But some critics like EcoAlbania say the benefits of hydropower are overstated—and outweighed by the harm dams can do. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Those who live along the riverbank or rely on the waterway for their livelihood fear dams could kill the Vjosa as they know it. Its fragile ecosystem will be irreversibly altered, and many residents will lose their land and homes.

In the 1990s, an Italian company was awarded a contract to build a dam along the Vjosa in southern Albania. Construction began on the Kalivac dam, but never was completed, plagued with delays and financial woes.

Now, the government has awarded a new contract for the site to a Turkish company. Energy ministry officials rejected multiple interview requests to discuss their hydropower plans.

Many locals oppose the plans. Dozens of residents from the village of Kute joined nonprofits to file what was Albania’s first environmental lawsuit against the construction of a dam in the Pocem gorge, a short distance downriver from Kalivac. They won in 2017, but the government has appealed.

This June 23, 2019 aerial photo shows the construction site of the Kalivac dam on the banks of the Vjosa River in Albania. As pressure to build dams intensifies in less developed countries, the opposite is happening in the U.S. and western Europe, where there’s a movement to tear down dams considered obsolete and environmentally destructive. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

The victory, while significant, was just one battle. A week later, the government issued the Kalivac contract. EcoAlbania plans to fight that project, too.

Ecologically, there is a lot at stake.

A recent study found the Vjosa was incredibly diverse. More than 90 types of aquatic invertebrates were found in the places where dams are planned, plus hundreds of fish, amphibian and reptile species, some endangered and others endemic to the Balkans.

Dams can unravel food chains, but the most well-known problem with building dams is that they block the paths of fish trying to migrate upstream to spawn.

As pressure to build dams intensifies in less developed countries, the opposite is happening in the U.S. and western Europe, where there’s a movement to tear down dams considered obsolete and environmentally destructive.

In this June 18, 2019 photo, a man crosses a bridge over the Langarica River, a tributary to the Vjosa near the city of Permet, Albania. Albania’s government has set in motion plans to dam the Vjosa and its tributaries to generate much-needed electricity for one of Europe’s poorest countries, with the intent to build eight dams along the main river. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

More than 1,600 have been dismantled in the U.S., most within the past 30 years, according to the advocacy group American Rivers. In Europe, the largest-ever removal began this year in France, where two dams are being torn down on Normandy’s Selune River.

With so few wild rivers left around the globe, the Vjosa also is a valuable resource for studying river behavior.

“Science is only at the beginning of understanding how biodiversity in river networks is structured and maintained,” says researcher Gabriel Singer of the Leibniz-Institute in Germany. “The Vjosa is a unique system.”

For Shyqyri Seiti, it’s much more personal.

The 65-year-old boatman has been transporting locals, goods and livestock across the river for about a quarter century. The construction of the Kalivac dam would spell disaster for him. Many of the fields and some of the houses in his nearby village of Ane Vjose would be lost.

In this June 27, 2019 photo, sheep are pastured near the shore of the Vjosa River in Ane Vjosa, Albania. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 28, 2019 photo, Shyqyri Seiti, pulls his fishing net from the Vjosa River near Ane Vjose, Albania. The 65-year-old boatman has been transporting locals, goods and livestock across the river for about a quarter century. The construction of the Kalivac dam would spell disaster for him. Many of the fields and some of the houses in his nearby village of Ane Vjose would be lost. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 20, 2019 photo, people bathe in a thermal spring on the banks of the Langarica River, a tributary to the Vjosa near Permet, Albania. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 15, 2019 photo, Benedikt Baeumler, a German advertising executive kayaking the length of the Vjosa River, checks his map after setting up camp on its bank in Albania. A few days earlier and several miles upriver, the 43-year-old had been ambivalent about the hydropower projects, noting his own country had also dammed its rivers. But what he saw at the Kalivac site changed his mind. “It was really unbelievable what they did to nature, removing entire parts of the mountain,” he said. “I hope this dam is never built.” (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 15, 2019 photo, Jurgen Steinbauer, Benedikt Baumler and Sebastian Baumler, German tourists who are kayaking the length of the Vjosa River, cook a meal as they sit next to a bonfire on the river bank in Albania. After seeing the Kalivac dam construction site, Benedikt Baeumler said, “It was really unbelievable what they did to nature, removing entire parts of the mountain. I hope this dam is never built.” (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this Sunday, June 16, 2019 aerial photo, the sun sets behind the Vjosa River near Tepelene, Albania. Rivers are a crucial part of the global water cycle. They act like nature’s arteries, carrying energy and nutrients across vast landscapes, providing water for drinking, food production and industry. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 15, 2019 photo, Sebastian Bäumler, 41, a German filmmaker kayaking the length of the Vjosa River, is illuminated by a bonfire as he sits next to his kayak on its bank in Albania. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 24, 2019 photo, residents sit on the shore of the Vjosa River next to a spring in the Kelcyre Gorge, Albania. Those who live along the riverbank or rely on the waterway for their livelihood fear dams could kill the Vjosa as they know it. Its fragile ecosystem will be irreversibly altered, and many residents will lose their land and homes. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 19, 2019 photo, Vito Ilia, 64, walks out of a small cow shed outside her home in the village of Kanikol, Albania. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 30, 2019 photo, an old bridge spans the Vjosa River near the border with Greece, in Albania. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 26, 2019 photo, children play outside at dusk in the village of Kute, Albania. The village overlooks the Vjosa River as it snakes its way north to the sea. Residents here joined a lawsuit against the Pocem dam that would flood their fields, some houses and, crucially for many, a cemetery. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 30, 2019 photo, the sky is reflected in the Vjosa River after sunset near the village of Badelonje, Albania. Rivers are a crucial part of the global water cycle. They act like nature’s arteries, carrying energy and nutrients across vast landscapes, providing water for drinking, food production and industry. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 29, 2019 photo, a river rafting guide paddles at dusk on the Vjosa River, Albania. Those who live along the riverbank or rely on the waterway for their livelihood fear dams could kill the Vjosa as they know it. Its fragile ecosystem will be irreversibly altered, and many residents will lose their land and homes. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

This June 20, 2019 photo shows the Langarica hydropower plant, on a tributary to the Vjosa River near Permet, Albania. As pressure to build dams intensifies in less developed countries, the opposite is happening in the U.S. and western Europe, where there’s a movement to tear down dams considered obsolete and environmentally destructive. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 24, 2019 photo, a man jumps into a spring where it meets the Vjosa River in the Kelcyre Gorge, Albania. Albania’s government has set in motion plans to dam the Vjosa and its tributaries to generate much-needed electricity for one of Europe’s poorest countries, with the intent to build eight dams along the main river. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 26, 2019 photo, 13-year-old Eriko, sits in the driver’s seat of a car in the village of Kute, Albania. The village overlooks the Vjosa River as it snakes its way north to the sea. Residents here joined a lawsuit against the Pocem dam that would flood their fields, some houses and, crucially for many, a cemetery. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 26, 2019 photo, residents play dominoes in a small bar in the village of Kute, Albania. Dozens of residents from the village joined nonprofit organizations to file what was Albania’s first environmental lawsuit against the construction of a dam in the Pocem gorge. They won in 2017, but the government has appealed. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 20, 2019 photo, people walk along the Langarica River, a tributary to the Vjosa near Permet, Albania. Albania’s government has set in motion plans to dam the Vjosa and its tributaries to generate much-needed electricity for one of Europe’s poorest countries, with the intent to build eight dams along the main river. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 25, 2019 photo, people raft on the Vjosa River near Permet, Albania. Some tout hydropower as a reliable, cheap and renewable energy source that helps curb dependence on planet-warming fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. But some critics like EcoAlbania say the benefits of hydropower are overstated—and outweighed by the harm dams can do. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this June 22, 2019 photo, Jonuz Jonuzi, 70, rides his horse on the banks of the Vjosa River in the Kelcyre Gorge, Albania. He raised his children here and now watches his grandchildren play in the Vjosa’s waters. Before dawn each day, he crosses a bridge over a narrow gorge to tend to his goats before his son drives them to drink from a local spring, where the water emerges cold and crystal clear. “Everything I have, I have because of the river,” he says. “Albania needs electrical energy. But not by creating one thing and destroying another. Why do such damage that will be irreparable for life, that future generations will blame us for what we’ve done?” (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

“Someone will benefit from the construction of the dam, but it will flood everyone in the area,” he says. “What if they were in our place, how would they feel to lose everything?”

But the mayor, Metat Shehu, insists his community “has no interest” in the matter.

“The Vjosa is polluted. The plants and creatures of Vjosa have vanished,” Shehu says. The biggest issue, he adds, is that villagers are being offered too little to give up their land. He hopes the dam will bring investment to the area.

Jonus Jonuzi, a 70-year-old farmer who grew up along the river, is hopeful the Vjosa will stay wild.

“Albania needs electrical energy. But not by creating one thing and destroying another,” he says. “Why do such damage that will be irreparable for life, that future generations will blame us for what we’ve done?”

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Citation: One of Europe’s last wild rivers is in danger of being tamed (2019, October 22) retrieved 22 October 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-10-europe-wild-rivers-danger.html

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release-info · 6 years ago

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region in central Europe can be traced to Roman commander Julius Caesar, who referred to the unconquered area east of the Rhine as Germania, thus distinguishing it from Gaul (France), which he had conquered. The victory of the Germanic tribes in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (AD 9) prevented annexation by the Roman Empire, although the Roman provinces of Germania Superior and Germania Inferior were established along the Rhine. Following the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Franks conquered the other West Germanic tribes. When the Frankish Empire was divided among Charles the Great’s heirs in 843, the eastern part became East Francia. In 962, Otto I became the first Holy Roman Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the medieval German state. In the Late Middle Ages, the regional dukes, princes, and bishops gained power at the expense of the emperors. Martin Luther led the Protestant Reformation against the Catholic Church after 1517, as the northern states became Protestant, while the southern states remained Catholic. The two parts of the Holy Roman Empire clashed in the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), which was ruinous to the twenty million civilians living in both parts. The Thirty Years’ War brought tremendous destruction to Germany; more than 1/4 of the population and 1/2 of the male population in the German states were killed by the catastrophic war. 1648 marked the effective end of the Holy Roman Empire and the beginning of the modern nation-state system, with Germany divided into numerous independent states, such as Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Austria and other states, which also controlled land outside of the area considered as “Germany”. After the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars from 1803–1815, feudalism fell away and liberalism and nationalism clashed with reaction. The German revolutions of 1848–49 failed. The Industrial Revolution modernized the German economy, led to the rapid growth of cities and to the emergence of the socialist movement in Germany. Prussia, with its capital Berlin, grew in power. German universities became world-class centers for science and humanities, while music and art flourished. The unification of Germany (excluding Austria and the German-speaking areas of Switzerland) was achieved under the leadership of the Chancellor Otto von Bismarck with the formation of the German Empire in 1871 which solved the Kleindeutsche Lösung, the small Germany solution (Germany without Austria), or Großdeutsche Lösung, the greater Germany solution (Germany with Austria), the former prevailing. The new Reichstag, an elected parliament, had only a limited role in the imperial government. Germany joined the other powers in colonial expansion in Africa and the Pacific. By 1900, Germany was the dominant power on the European continent and its rapidly expanding industry had surpassed Britain’s, while provoking it in a naval arms race. Germany led the Central Powers in World War I (1914–1918) against France, Great Britain, Russia and (by 1917) the United States. Defeated and partly occupied, Germany was forced to pay war reparations by the Treaty of Versailles and was stripped of its colonies as well as of home territory to be ceded to Czechoslovakia, Belgium, France and Poland. The German Revolution of 1918–19 put an end to the federal constitutional monarchy, which resulted in the establishment of the Weimar Republic, an unstable parliamentary democracy. In the early 1930s, the worldwide Great Depression hit Germany hard, as unemployment soared and people lost confidence in the government. In January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all political opposition and consolidate its power. Hitler quickly established a totalitarian regime. Beginning in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands, threatening war if they were not met. First came the remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936, the annexing of Austria in the Anschluss and parts of Czechoslovakia with the Munich Agreement in 1938 (although in 1939 Hitler annexed further territory of Czechoslovakia). On 1 September 1939, Germany initiated World War II in Europe with the invasion of Poland. After forming a pact with the Soviet Union in 1939, Hitler and Stalin divided Eastern Europe. After a “Phoney War” in spring 1940, the Germans swept Denmark and Norway, the Low Countries and France, giving Germany control of nearly all of Western Europe. Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the Nazi regime. In Germany, but predominantly in the German-occupied areas, the systematic genocide program known as The Holocaust killed 11 million including Jews, German dissidents, gipsies, disabled people, Poles, Romanies, Soviets (Russian and non-Russian), and others. In 1942, the German invasion of the Soviet Union faltered, and after the United States had entered the war, Britain became the base for massive Anglo-American bombings of German cities. Germany fought the war on multiple fronts through 1942–1944, however following the Allied invasion of Normandy (June 1944), the German Army was pushed back on all fronts until the final collapse in May 1945. Under occupation by the Allies, German territories were split up, Austria was again made a separate country, denazification took place, and the Cold War resulted in the division of the country into democratic West Germany and communist East Germany. Millions of ethnic Germans were deported or fled from Communist areas into West Germany, which experienced rapid economic expansion, and became the dominant economy in Western Europe. West Germany was rearmed in the 1950s under the auspices of NATO, but without access to nuclear weapons. The Franco-German friendship became the basis for the political integration of Western Europe in the European Union. In 1989, the Berlin Wall was destroyed, the Soviet Union collapsed and East Germany was reunited with West Germany in 1990. In 1998–1999, Germany was one of the founding countries of the eurozone. Germany remains one of the economic powerhouses of Europe, contributing about one-quarter of the eurozone’s annual gross domestic product. In the early 2010s, Germany played a critical role in trying to resolve the escalating euro crisis, especially with regard to Greece and other Southern European nations. In the middle of the decade, the country faced the European migrant crisis as the main receiver of asylum seekers from Syria and other troubled regions.discovery of the Homo heidelbergensis mandible in 1907 affirms archaic human presence in Germany by at least 600,000 years ago.[1] The oldest complete set of hunting weapons ever found anywhere in the world was excavated from a coal mine in Schöningen, Lower Saxony. Between 1994 and 1998, eight 380,000-year-old wooden javelins between 1.82 and 2.25 m (5.97 and 7.38 ft) in length were eventually unearthed.[2] In 1856 the fossilized bones of an extinct human species were salvaged from a limestone grotto in the Neander valley near Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia. The archaic nature of the fossils, now known to be around 40,000 years old, was recognized and the characteristics published in the first ever paleoanthropologic species description in 1858 by Hermann Schaaffhausen.[3] The species was named Homo neanderthalensis – Neanderthal man in 1864. The remains of Paleolithic early modern human occupation uncovered and documented in several caves in the Swabian Jura include various mammoth ivory sculptures that rank among the oldest uncontested works of art and several flutes, made of bird bone and mammoth ivory that are confirmed to be the oldest musical instruments ever found. The 40,000-year-old Löwenmensch figurine represents the oldest uncontested figurative work of art and the 35,000-year-old Venus of Hohle Fels has been asserted as the oldest uncontested object of human figurative art ever discovered.[4][5] [6][7] Germanic tribes, 750 BC – 768 AD Middle Ages Early modern Germany death of Frankish king Pepin the Short in 768, his oldest son “Charlemagne” (“Charles the Great”) consolidated his power over and expanded the Kingdom. Charlemagne ended 200 years of Royal Lombard rule with the Siege of Pavia, and in 774 he installed himself as King of the Lombards. Loyal Frankish nobles replaced the old Lombard aristocracy following a rebellion in 776.[46] The next 30 years of his reign were spent ruthlessly strengthening his power in Francia and on the conquest of the Slavs and Pannonian Avars in the east and all tribes, such as the Saxons and the Bavarians.[47][48] On Christmas Day, 800 AD, Charlemagne was crowned Imperator Romanorum (Emperor of the Romans) in Rome by Pope Leo III.[48] Fighting among Charlemagne’s three grandsons over the continuation of the custom of partible inheritance or the introduction of primogeniture caused the Carolingian empire to be partitioned into three parts by the Treaty of Verdun of 843.[49] Louis the German received the Eastern portion of the kingdom, East Francia, all lands east of the Rhine river and to the north of Italy. This encompassed the territories of the German stem duchies – Franks, Saxons, Swabians, and Bavarians – that were united in a federation under the first non-Frankish king Henry the Fowler, who ruled from 919 to 936.[50] The royal court permanently moved in between a series of strongholds, called Kaiserpfalzen, that developed into economic and cultural centers. Aachen Palace played a central role, as the local Palatine Chapel served as the official site for all royal coronation ceremonies during the entire Medieval period until 1531.[48][51] The Holy Roman Empire, maps The division of the Carolingian Empire by the Treaty of Verdun in 843 Territorial evolution of the Holy Roman Empire from 962 to 1806 The Holy Roman Empire at its greatest territorial extent under Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II, 13th century http://bit.ly/2JRE8Gt

#IFTTT #RELEASE（リリース）みんなで作るニュースサイト！

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nomanwalksalone · 8 years ago

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BOOK REVIEW: MADE IN PARIS

by Réginald-Jérôme de Mans

Coincident with the widespread realization in Europe and the United States that almost everything they consume was made elsewhere came a movement to buy domestic production. More recently, as the bourgeoisie of those same areas have found themselves increasingly distanced not only from the means of production but the means of earning a living through the socially accepted credentialing of education, a younger generation has rediscovered the apparent pleasures of buying local and of learning, or at least affecting, a craft. Closeness to the acts of cultivation and creation have acquired resonance even deeper than the economic anxiety and borderline jingoism which had spurred the earlier movements to buy domestic. Now, consuming items made, harvested, roasted or cured locally has become through a sort of substantiation the consuming of a kind of truth we deem lacking in our everyday life.

Books revealing the presence of the locally made can no longer simply be anthropological profiles, like Andrew Lawson’s 1978 survey Handmade in London, which described drawers of wire and industrial artisans along with the custom bootmakers of Mayfair without romanticizing one or the other. Instead, they are now inescapably romantic. Christine Taconnet, the author of Made in Paris: Le guide qui dévoile tout ce qui se fabrique à Paris (The guide that reveals everything that is made in Paris), remarks that the makers now left in Paris include to a large degree small luxury operations making a brand’s most expensive and exclusive pieces – the vestigial workrooms of haute couture labels supported, in general, by perfumes and expensive ready-to-wear made in factories in Italy. Along with those remain a few niche professions – gilders and bookbinders, certain musical instrument makers, and a few random living fossils of other species.

Made in Paris accompanied an exposition of the same name held at the city hall of Paris last fall that featured a number of the book’s subjects. I am not qualified to evaluate all of the different makers it names – from makers of Brie cheese or jambon de Paris (literally, Paris ham and allegedly still made in the courtyard of one building in the Eleventh Arrondissement) to workers in tooled leather (cuir de Cordoue, not to be confused with cordovan leather) to braiders and corders (passementiers), and more. I can with some surprise believe that the most prestigious jewelers in Paris still maintain small workrooms in or near their staggeringly expensive showrooms for the custom orders of the oligarchs and kleptocrats who have taken over more and more of the world’s wealth. In contrast to this acceptance, however, I can apply my own firsthand knowledge and experience, and the information I have gleaned from over a decade of frank discussions with many in the trade, to the entries on men’s clothing and accessories here, and the reader may extrapolate my evaluation of those sections to the rest of the book.

Despite its title, Made in Paris includes makers with Paris showrooms but manufactures elsewhere in Ile-de-France, the region encompassing towns 30 to 50 miles outside of Paris. As you can imagine, that opens up a far broader set of companies than those that actually do manufacture within Paris city limits. It allows Taconnet to list Hermès’ for the facility in Pantin where it makes many of its leathergoods and Louis Vuitton for the Asnières facility where Vuitton’s custom orders – a tiny percentage of its output are made. Prepared as Made in Paris was with the sponsorship of the city of Paris, it’s likely that the addresses it features are those developed by the city of Paris’ own communications department, without the participation of other towns in the area to suggest honorable artisans of their own, like shagreen craftsman Jacques Robin’s living heritage company (entreprise du patrimoine vivant) Cuirs d’Océan, which ought to have qualified as Robin’s based in Moisson and thus just within Ile-de-France.

With respect to menswear, there are unfortunately few good surprises. The tailors Camps de Luca and Cifonelli get mentions, as do Charvet and Lanvin for their custom tailoring and shirtmaking. While both Charvet and Lanvin may still do their custom tailoring on site, to my best knowledge as a formerly incontinent customer Charvet’s shirtmakers only create patterns in Paris – all of the making up of the custom shirts for which it is famous takes place at its Saint-Gautier facility in another part of France, the same that makes its ready-to-wear. As for Lanvin, with whom I also have some history, until some years ago all of its custom shirtmaking was indeed done on site at 15, Faubourg Saint-Honoré, which still stuns me. However, today at least a part of the custom shirt assembly takes place at a subcontractor elsewhere.

It is too bad that along with the major tailors above, Made in Paris doesn’t mention smaller respectable houses like Marc di Fiore, Kenjiro Suzuki or Brahim Bouloujour. The Tenth Arrondissement maker of lovely leather jackets Séraphin deservedly gets a mention, but it’s surprising that Taconnet omits Boivin, the tiemaker in the Paris garment district that really does make ties, pocket squares and silk robes on the top floor of a building in the Second Arrondissement. (While Boivin did at one point make ties and robes for Charvet, by Boivin’s own admission, it has not done so in a long time, nor do its ties in style, weight or construction bear any resemblance to Charvet’s.) Taconnet’s section on the various men’s custom shoemakers in Paris is better populated, but oddly elliptical about John Lobb Paris, which used to make its bespoke shoes in workrooms on the Faubourg Saint-Antoine (one of the Japanese shoe aficionados had a photoblog of his visit there) prior to supposedly moving to rue Mogador. It certainly isn’t made at the rue François 1er address Taconnet suggests customers visit. For a decade, rumors from those in the trade, and customers like the late Philippe Noiret, suggest Lobb has moved its bespoke operation out of town, to Normandy or elsewhere.

In all, Made in Paris’ limitations are those of a book based on a publicity exercise rather than empirical and verified research. Its truths are the same emotional truths today’s seekers reach for ordering “hand-foraged” local berries on a dessert menu, or romancing a bearded urban lumberjack. If you pick it up, it is fun, entertaining, amusing, and deeply flawed, like many another short, exotic dalliance.

#paris #rjman #reginaldjeromedemans #nomanwalksalone #menswear #features

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uk-fossils · 18 days ago

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Fossil Ammonite - ZUGODACTYLITES - Toarcian, Lower Jurassic, Caen, Normandy, France

This listing features a finely preserved fossil ammonite of the genus ZUGODACTYLITES, collected from Toarcian-aged strata near Caen, Normandy, France. Belonging to the Lower Jurassic Period, this fossil exemplifies the classic features of early Jurassic ammonites and represents a sought-after collector's specimen from the famous marine deposits of northern France.

Fossil Type & Species:

Type: Ammonite (Extinct Marine Cephalopod)

Genus: Zugodactylites

A notable genus known for its strong ribbing and compressed whorl profile

Geological Context:

Era: Mesozoic

Period: Jurassic

Epoch: Early Jurassic

Stage: Toarcian (~182 to 174 million years ago)

Location: Caen, Normandy, France

Depositional Environment: Marine shelf setting, deposited in a moderately deep, oxygenated basin where fine sediments helped preserve a rich array of ammonite fauna

Morphological Features:

Strongly ribbed shell with dense radial costae (ribs)

Compressed and involute coiling with narrow umbilicus

Whorls may show tubercles or ventral keels depending on growth stage and species

Aesthetic, symmetric shape ideal for display or research purposes

Scientific Importance:

Zugodactylites is an important genus in Lower Jurassic biostratigraphy, used in correlation of Toarcian ammonite zones across Europe

Valuable for studying evolutionary pathways and faunal turnover following early Jurassic marine events

Taxonomic Classification:

Order: Ammonitida

Superfamily: Hildoceratoidea

Family: Hildoceratidae

Locality Information:

Caen, Normandy, France – a classic fossil site yielding marine fauna from the Lower Jurassic, particularly ammonites preserved in clay and limestone beds

Authenticity & Display:

All of our fossils are 100% Genuine Specimens and come with a Certificate of Authenticity. This is a hand-selected fossil, and the photo shows the exact item you will receive.

Scale cube = 1cm for accurate sizing (see photo)

Suitable for display, academic reference, or gifting to fossil enthusiasts

This is a striking example of Zugodactylites from a key European Jurassic location, ideal for collectors seeking high-quality ammonites from France's renowned fossil beds.

From deep time to your collection — add this beautiful ammonite to your palaeontological treasures today!

#Zugodactylites ammonite fossil #Jurassic ammonite France #Toarcian ammonite Caen #French fossil ammonite for sale #certified Jurassic ammonite #Normandy fossil ammonite #ammonite with ribbing #Lower Jurassic cephalopod #ammonite from Caen Normandy #fossil cephalopod Jurassic France

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breizh-viking · 8 years ago

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