#sparkly chandelier sculptures everywhere

[oriyamiryu]

“Nimbus”

You can wear this one! As a hat! Just for fun

[espanadiarywriter]

Don’t Bother Reading this Blog Post

Don’t bother reading this blog post because it can’t possibly convey the craziness of the Fallas festival. I’ve never seen anything like this. Ever. My theory is that the Valencianos heard someone from Texas say “Everything is bigger in Texas.” And they said “F* that! Know what we are going to do? We are going to build building-size monuments in the streets, and we are going to do it ONE WEEK. And then we are going to burn them all down! And we are going to have fireworks! Every day for 19 days! And they are going to be bigger and louder than you’ve ever heard! It’s gonna be great.”

The closest thing to an origin of Fallas that I found was that carpenters burned their scraps each spring. At some point, a local paper turned it into a contest for the most beautiful sculpture before the burning. Today, the fallas monuments are multi-story sculptures that look like they could be plopped into a Disney theme park. Some of the monuments are the size of entire street intersections and extend up to be the same size as the 8 story buildings next to them. Each one has its own theme, with multiple layers of political satire or current events stories woven into them. On the surface, the monuments might look like a woman in a dress, or a pirate, or an Egyptian king, but you have to look closely at the faces. There’s usually another layer when you look at the faces of the characters, and then read the signs put up around the sculpture that explain the meanings. Without the ability to read Valenciano or knowledge of Spanish politics most of the satire was lost on us. But here are a few photos of one small part we could understand. Note the multiple layers including the signage.

The expressions on the characters faces are vivid—curious, laughing, evil, kid’s wide-eyed with wonder, green monsters coming out from under a house and grabbing started people in a bed, or a lifeguard crying about all the plastic in the ocean.

If they just built the monuments and scattered them around the city, you would think the fallas celebration was amazing. But that’s really only part of the celebration. Or as I am saying, “Dayenu.” It would have been enough.

Not only are the falla monuments themselves lit up at night, there’s also elaborate street lights and flags hung across the streets. The quiet neighborhood that we walk through to get to school has been completely transformed. At night, the streets are lit with 30 foot tall white and gold “palm trees” and street lights that look like elaborate chandeliers. They have jammed in temporary pop up bars, sandwich shops, churros stands, and stages and DJ for in-street dance clubs. (Although apparently all the pop-up discos and street bars were not here in the mid-1990s. It was really all about the Fallas themselves with some extra churros trucks; not a street party on every corner.) Actually, in most of the neighborhoods outside of the center, the night life centers around the fallas themselves.

Official fireworks displays happened on every night of Fallas. (Why would you have just one night?) And they were massive and spectacular. But everyone is playing with fireworks, and they are near-constant on all streets at all times during the day and late into the evening. They really take their fireworks seriously here. We took the kids through two neighborhoods to see the monuments on la planta, which was the first day of the school vacation and the day when the fallas were finishing erecting their monuments. The Falla Infantil have to be done by 9:00 am that day, and the big ones have to be done by midnight. (The Fallas Infantil are small and aimed at kids but are no less intricate than the big ones.) The street corners had fallas tents, where the members of the fallas sit and drink and eat. Each falla tent has an area next to it surrounded by barricades where the kids can throw small spinners and not-so-small firecrackers. Kids in Valencia traditionally get a wood box with a red string, they fill it with fireworks, and they walk around carrying the box hanging around their neck. You can’t walk more than a block without getting startled by the BOOMs of fireworks small and not-so-small.

If Fallas was just the monuments, lights, and fireworks, dayenu. But there was more to come.

The phrase of the week was “Oh look, there’s a band...” Do you know the saying:  “life is better with your own sound track”? Well, the Valencianos have their own sound track, and they have bands that follow them around in the streets playing the music. I can’t really tell, but it sounds like a handful of songs are on heavy rotation. During Fallas, we couldn’t go more than a block from our house without hearing a band walking around in the street. Sometimes they were in one of the formal parades, but lots of times they were just hanging out in matching jackets at the mascleta, or just wandering down the street, or getting on a bus, or sitting in one of the areas next to the fallas’ tent. You get the picture. 

If Fallas was just the monuments, lights, fireworks, and bands, dayenu. But I haven’t even described the ever-present, never-ending parades and processions. And the DRESSES!

Of course, there were official parades, with cultural floats and bands (and on the final evening floats spewing fire), but those were totally overshadowed by the parades of people from the fallas. During Fallas, people dressed up in traditional Spanish outfits were parading everywhere, all the time. I bet you think I am exaggerating. I am not exaggerating. Basically, the processions started in the afternoon of the first day, when the fallas started to come to Plaza Ayuntamiento to claim the awards for the Falla Infantil. (Think about the fact that there are almost 600 fallas across town and there are 7 main categories, with ~2-3 subcategories in each. That’s a lot of ribbons to give out—it took hours.) Then the next morning at 9:00 am, Fallas were already parading into the Plaza Ayuntamiento to get prizes for the winning large falla monuments. And then in the afternoon the oferanda started. More on that later, but first you have to have a sense of what I mean when I say “parade.”

Before Fallas started, I thought there would be a number of women and some of the older girls who got dressed up in the really elaborate gowns made of silk in traditional patterns, and a handful of men in the outfits that look almost like a classy pirate. In reality, there were times when I felt I was the only person in Valencia who wasn’t in traditional dress. It is people of all ages—women are dressed in gowns with their hair done up in braids and gold accessories pushing strollers with babies in mini-sized gowns sucking a pacifier.  They are all in traditional dress down to the tiniest babies in arms. (Look, when Nate was one-years-old, I considered it a success if both he and I had clothes on when we left the house. I cannot even imagine getting myself into a gown and my baby into a traditional outfit and then marching many miles to a cathedral or city square.)

If Fallas was just the monuments, lights, fireworks, bands, and dressed up people, dayenu. But I haven’t even described the oferanda, one of the most important parts of Fallas.

After the award parades wrap up, the oferanda starts on the afternoon of the second day. People from each falla in the city dress up in the aforementioned outfits and bring flowers to a massive (50 foot tall) towering wood frame of the Virgin Mary at the central cathedral in town. As the thousands of people arrive bearing flowers, the “dress” of the Virgin Mary forms out of flowers.  

Each falla is led by a flag bearer with their ribbons, followed by the women and girls carrying flower bouquets, men (some of whom are carrying a larger floral display using two poles on either side), and boys, women pushing strollers with tiny falleras and baby pirates, and men carrying babies. It is an amazing sight: young and old together; families holding hands; girls and boys marching with their friends. For this procession, the women had added to their dresses sparkly lace aprons and special lace mantles on their heads. 

And of course, they are followed by their band. For the oferanda, the bands are dressed in dark colored suits and dress skirts and tops emblazoned with the coat of arms of the falla on the jackets. Each Falla arrives and offers their flowers. The larger floral arrangements are placed around the outside of it. A team of flower receivers takes the bouquets and passes it to the team that is building the dress. The falleras cry, probably because it’s a moving religious experience, but also possibly because they have walked miles through the whole city in a massive dress next to their dressed up kids. Who can say for sure.

But none of these descriptions or pictures can possibly give you a sense of scale. The processions were everywhere, at all hours, for THREE days. The celebrating in the streets and shooting off fireworks was constant. Every corner in the city center had a falla with a tent and a large and small monument, and every neighborhood had multiple fallas too. 

And then on the final night, after all the processing, and drinking, and dresses, THEY BURNED ALL THE MONUMENTS DOWN. Of course, it isn’t enough to just set fire to them, but they set the fires with fireworks! The baby monuments went up at 10:00 p.m. And then just before midnight on the final evening, it was one fireworks display after another, at every street corner, followed by a massive plume of smoke engulfing the sculptures. The firemen stood close by and sprayed the surrounding buildings and trees with water to contain the fire, but otherwise the monuments go up in flames unobstructed. And then another brilliant shot of fireworks and flames, and then another, and then another. And then all the corners are on fire throughout the city. Finally, the massive fallas monument at city hall goes up with a dramatic fireworks display and then is engulfed in flames.

In the end, the day after Fallas, by 8:00 am all the streets were swept. The empty beer bottles were picked up. The churros stands and pop-up discos were gone. And all that was left was a faint smell of burning and slightly blackened streets. And if you weren’t here to experience it, you can’t possibly imagine how crazy it really was.

[dazzlegame]

Hottest Trends in Jewellery to Pick for This Festive Season of Fall 2021

It's that time of the year when we all are set for festivities, parties and celebrations again while welcoming the most chilled-out months of the calendar. Before we know it, we'll be switching out our summer dresses and sandals for blazers and boots. However, all of those cold-weather essentials always look so much better with a bit of bling. Agreed! Being an essential accessory of a woman's life, jewellery can never be ignored, even in the winter days.

And with the entire country coming out of the global pandemic, winter will be a time when finally people will come out for small gatherings and weddings. So, that's why the jewellery designers have made it a point to add a lot of razzle and dazzle to the fall outfits, keeping in mind the celebrations ahead. Let's take a quick dive into the jewellery trends of fall that's making all the buzz this season.

Huge Colourful Gems

The whole year was painted like a colourful canvas on stage when most of the shiny statement jewellery that graced the runways abroad featured multi-coloured pieces. And half of the credit of that goes to the bright, sparkly and colourful giant gems added for the extra dazzle effect. Big gemstones made their appearance in various colours and shapes, be it in the form of chandelier earrings or lengthy statement necklaces and pendants. The runways saw glamorous jewellery in gold or silver being studded with vibrant gems of big sizes that made even a simple attire look sophistically appealing. From classic gemstone necklaces to big stone rings, from charm bracelets with giant stones hanging from them to irregular geometric earrings touching the shoulders, everything is included in this trend to add a bling to your winter days.

Heavy Metallic Chokers

The choker trend has been around for the past few years, showcasing a variety of forms on the runways. However, this season looks a little different. Instead of laces, ribbons or tight beaded strands, this time, chokers came in a heavy metal version that sits right at the collarbone. It looks chic with almost everything but can mostly be worn over tube tops and off-shoulder dresses. A stylish heavy metal choker can be the one piece of jewellery you need to finish your party look. Some chokers displayed this season just served a heavy metal vibe but are actually insanely lightweight and comfy to wear. If you wish to buy all the latest designs of such necklaces in 18k gold, browse here online on this site. Fall of 2021 ramps also saw statement chokers with gems or pearls to feature a subtle sparkle take on bold choker styling.

Classy Charms

Chunky chains never left the trending list this year, and to add more emphasis, jewellery designers added heavy charms. Charms were seen making a statement everywhere on the stage with a variety of forms. Be it with gems, pearl, metals or sculptural shapes, charms made sure to add some bling of funkiness here and there. Maybe it's time for you to take out those old charm bracelets of yours and pair them with your daily outfits. Or you can shop heavy versions of the same this season. Not just bracelets, charms were also added to necklaces, earrings, belts and rings to bring back that nostalgic vibe of our old times. Colourful charms hanging on a chunky chain-linked necklace team up with shirts and blazers was the highlight of many shows this season.

Statement Earrings

Earrings have taken many forms for this fall, from mishmash to going solo. But the most energetic of them all sums up to a macro trend called the statement earrings trend. It includes chandelier earrings, heavy metal earrings, sculptural florals inspired by the '80s and heavily decorated ear cuffs. These styles made an appearance in the most vibrant colours and shapes on the runways this season, with earrings touching the shoulders or big enough to fit like a choker. Studded with stones, pearls, gems, chains and metals, chandelier earrings or cuffs were a delight for the eyes to see and are apt to be your party wear earrings for the festivities ahead. So for this winter, you can go experimental and match heavy intricate earrings with your blazers and sweaters for a modern formal-chic look.

[oriyamiryu]

“The Day the Ocean Swallowed the Sun”

This has been knocking around my head since I first thought of that sentence/title… always wanna eat the sun-moon-stars, gender stuff yanno, made the frame back in Fucking January or somth but! Here she is, alive and sun-eaten moon-risen wave-crested and bright

(Theoretically it will sparkly like mad, I just added the sparkly base tonight, so we’ll see tomorrow, fixed the swiggly panel too… it doesn’t wobble in anymore)

[oriyamiryu]

“Mycorrhiza”

I dunno what Kind of mycorrhiza this would really count as? Should we consider it an extomycorrhiza with extraradical mycelial cords? Hmmmm well it glitters! and has a very confused infomercial on mycorrhiza too! Which is my warning that obviously I’m not an expert this is just info I collect for Fun and could’ve misread stuff yanno

Mycorrhiza - the symbiote relationship of a fungus and a plant (slime molds you affectionately) - of the funguses role in the plants rhizosphere (the layer of soil influenced by the waste products of roots and where the most soil associated microorganisms live - the root microbiome)

The bacteria and other microorganisms feed by grazing on the rhizodeposition - the casting off of old plant cells, adds carbon to the soil - and the secretion of proteins and sugars (called root exudates - a mucilaginous secretion of plant specific polysaccharides/long sugar chains, that stick to the tips of roots) While the roots provide the food the soil microorganisms and bacteria perform nutrient cycling (breakdown or reuse/reforming of organic or inorganic matter cyclically so that it can be used again for the production/creation of new biomass in the ecosystem? Water Cycle for example, lake water evaporates, condenses in the atmosphere, and then eventually precipitates back down into the environment again) and produce antibiotics needed by plants - right near their roots, since the soil microorganisms feed on the root exudates and then their own metabolic waste products are cycling or producing something of use to the plant in turn.

Hm hmm anyways Mycorhizza! Mycorhizza! Mycorhizzal Layerrre! So for mycorhizzal association symbiosis or mutualism or sometimes even fun and funky parasitism, the mycorrhiza fungus grows on the host plants roots tissues in either of two ways - intracellularly (taking place/involving the inside of a cell) or extracellularly (taking place/involving the space outside of the cells plasma membrane)

Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) fungus (AMF) is an intracellular version which involves the symbiont fungus getting into the cortical cells (of the cortex - an outer layer of a stem or root in a plant below the epidermis but beyond the vascular water veins) of the roots or vascular plants (so sorry mosses maybe next time bryophytes) to form arbuscules (sites of nutrient exchange in the mycorrhiza relationship) AMF are good at absorbing phosphorus, sulfur, nitrogen, and other stuff from the soil, so good in fact that it’s suspected that AMF eating up said elements and passing it on through the arbuscules to vascular plants is part of how vascular plants became widespread and prevalent enough to colonize most of the earth - the AMF mycorrhiza is the most common type of plant symbiosis out there, present in up to 80% of plants (Wao much fungus amongus plants and fungus are mutual(istic)s, besties even!)

Wikipedia: hyphal growth

Me: HYPHAE!!!! WE LOVE HYPHAE!!!

Let’s talk more about ✨Arbascular mycorrhizal fungus✨since it seems Fun ::3

So AMF comes to be in a nice three step recipe or spore germination (not dependent on host plants presence but can happen at an increased rate in the presence of root exudates - the polysaccharide or long sugars or proteins etc), hyphal growth (which is controlled - gasp! nooo fungus free thyself and spread hyphae everywhere! - by root exudates called strigolactones (chemical compound group created by roots, considered plant hormones - they promote mycorrhiza germination, get the host plant recognized As the host plant by the fungi parasites, and keep plant roots from budding too much into an energy deficient monster of a root system - Wao) and the soil-phosphorus concentration - lower concentration means more hyphal growth plus plant releases hyphal growth encouraging juice) and appressorium formation (appressorium is a special type of cell that is used for infecting host plants…. So this is the bit that worms it’s way into the cortical cells? Neat excuse me this shit can get through Mylar wtf fungus What Violence What Rage tis beautiful)

*points at chemotaxis* they’re in love your honor! (Platonically) - so remember how we said chemical signaling attracts the hyphae to gather to the host (also notably when host puts out come hither for symbiote purposes signals the hyphae grow in denser clusters around the host and when there’s Not they branch more) Anyways chemotaxis is movement of organism in response to chemical stimulus but it’s speculated the AMF fungus may experience host-specific chemotaxis (fig trees fig wasps fig trees fig wasps oh to evolve into codependency - is not my dream but live yours little arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi!)

Appressorium (burrows into your house and home) or infection structures (oh that’s such a Badass term) grows first on the epidermis of the roots (outside skin!!!!) then from there it punctures into the Parenchyma cortex (parenchyma in plants is the softer cell areas, so inside roots tough outside - it’s the nice chewy bits not the outside of the ginger you scrape off with a spoon yah Dig?) Once our Totally Not Invasive haha what’re you talking about it has benefits for the plants Shush Appressorium has gotten into the parenchyma the fungus super branches to form the arbuscule sites of nutrient exchange (the straw may be one hole - wasn’t that the mathematical answer? But it is bidirectional) arbuscule growth can be Paris type (coily! Going through cells to each new one) or Arum type (branched,in the spaces between cells) - which type depends on the host generally… since the host has a degree of control over the hyphal branching and arbuscule formation (the host says you may have Three sites of nutrient exchange and No More!!! Can’t disobey hospitality rules, that doesn’t abide by fae law after all oh dear does that mean mushroom are fae better go teach them how to Trick the host into breaking hospitality rules though that might be a bad idea as well)

OH THEYRE OBLIGATE SYMBIOTES? Nice hey wait that means they’re not super good at Saprotrophic nutrition?? But that’s onna the best sorts of extracellular digestion (phagocytosis is still winning because I’m fond of it) but!!! *oozes and digests decaying and rooting organisms* is such a close contender!!!! Oh well this burrowing stuff is neat too Dependent On Plant For Carbon Nutrition and all

Anyways! Let’s move onto ectomycorrhizal fungus!!! *singing* extracellular symbiote tiiiiime

Ectomycorrhizal (I have to sound that out in my head everytime I type it) fungus or EcM (eckem! May I have your attention) deal with around 10% of plant families (oh woah so AMF are tots winning huh) particularly Woody Plants! Like birches dipterocarps (who? Oh!!!!!!! Rainforest trees that’s ideal I love dipterocarps your branching system is very cool even if the competition is Tight), eucalyptus, oak, pine, rose families (rosaceae?), orchids (did you know some (is it most? All? Gastrodia?) orchids go through a stage of life where essentially their only source of nutrition is from their symbiote fungus? They can’t photosynthesize during this time so it’s the EcM feeding them OwO cool intersectionalism) and… other fungi from Basidiomycota (major subcategory or fungus, uhhh mostly Above ground when mature funguses it seems? Mushrooms, puffballs, stinkhorns, then a lot of living-on-plants fellows liek rusts (on leaves) and smuts (in the cereals) and more - filamentous fungi made up of hyphae with basidia cells (spore sites!) that gen produce four meiospores (haploid spores, meiosisized to quarter genetic information kinda? For remix purposes?)), Ascomycota (the Other big fungi phylum, in Dikarya (fungi subkingdom) sac fungi! Cause of the sac where they form ascospores which can move around on their own! Need for pollinators morels and baking yeast are sac fungi! Fun), and Zygomycota (an ex-phylum that became the phyla Mucuromycota (mostly mycorrhizal fungi and plant decomposers) and Zoopagomycota (often obligate parasites of other zygomycete fungi or animals, like nematodes NOOOO THE WORMS))

Some trees will have up to fifteen species of EcM in a symbiote with them (ahhhh????) also fun the EcM isn’t losing either cause while AMF have 80% of plant life there are only around 240 species but the EcM have approx 7750 species known but its suspected the numbers are closer to 20-25k (Wao!!!!)

Ectomycorrhiza grow in a hyphal sheath or a mantle around the end of the hosts roots and form a Hartig Net (net of inward growing hyphae that grow in between the epidermis and the cortex of the host, the space that acts as the site of nutrient exchange) sometimes despite being extracellular the EcM hyphae will penetrate the hosts cells, in which case it’s an ectendomycorrhiza mycorrhiza…. Outside of the mantle and root the EcM forms ectomycorrhizal extramatrical mycelium (or extraradical mycelium) which are filamentous hyphae that grow outwards into the soil with the ectomycorrhiza as the center point - the filamentous hyphae may be fine and hydrophilic (attracted to water) constantly branching in the soil to search for nutrients, or they may gather into rhizomorphs (or mycelial cords - parallel orientated hyphae, which are hydrophobic and strong for the purpose of transporting nutrients)