Big welcoming party today. Just like your trains, our transport is a bit overcrowded.
Big welcoming party today. Just like your trains, our transport is a bit overcrowded.
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Great pics, as always, Tris and much needed in these daft times. Particularly liked the one of Strasbourg – I was there a few years ago and loved the place. Also taken by the one of Montana – wonder why they called it that 🙂
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Thanks, Andi.
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Beautiful picture of Montana.
As it turns out (according to Wiki) Idaho might have been Montana, and Montana might have been Shoshone (or some other suitable Native American name.) And then there was the question of what to do with Dakota Territory:
Before the creation of Montana Territory (1864–1889), various parts of what is now Montana were parts of Oregon Territory (1848–1859), Washington Territory (1853–1863), Idaho Territory (1863–1864), and Dakota Territory (1861–1864). Montana became a United States territory (Montana Territory) on May 26, 1864.
The name Montana was added to a bill by the United States House Committee on Territories, which was chaired at the time by Rep. James Ashley of Ohio, for the territory that would become Idaho Territory. The name was changed by Representatives Henry Wilson (Massachusetts) and Benjamin F. Harding (Oregon), who complained Montana had “no meaning”. When Ashley presented a bill to establish a temporary government in 1864 for a new territory to be carved out of Idaho, he again chose Montana Territory. This time Rep. Samuel Cox, also of Ohio, objected to the name. Cox complained that the name was a misnomer given most of the territory was not mountainous and that a Native American name would be more appropriate than a Spanish one. Other names such as Shoshone were suggested, but it was decided that the Committee on Territories could name it whatever they wanted, so the original name of Montana was adopted.
When elevated to statehood, Dakota Territory was divided in half and named North and South. Maybe because it was too big to govern as a single state, but more likely just to provide two more seats in the Senate. President Benjamin Harrison signed the statehood bills on the same day by shuffling them and signing them in the blind. So no one knows to this day which is #39 and which is #40. North Dakota is always listed as #39 and South Dakota as #40 on an alphabetical basis.
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Ah… I suppose I agree that up there, a Native American name would have been more appropriate… Imagine me agreeing with a Republican 🙂
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On a tangential nomenclature note, I found last night that the address of a local motor cycle dealer is given on several web pages as “Edinburgh, Northern England”.
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Oh…
Edinburgh, Cumbria?
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Tris, like the wee burdie at the Temple of Horus but also intrigued by the hieroglyphs just above him which are, I think, cup; one; (pintail) duck. I wonder if it is a menu choice written in stone – “One duck soup” 🙂
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Lol
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LOL – thnaks for posting needed a good laugh in these dark times!
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LOL
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That last photie of the orang mum – best ever.
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Agreed. But the first pic begs us to coin an appropriate collective noun … suggestions?
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A wheelbarrow of cuteness?
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A tangle of ape-ary ???
If the pic is genuine though, I am forced to wonder how the got so many baby orangs together. I mean great apes don’t exactly go in for big litters, anymore than we do?
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They are all orphans who have been rescued after their mums have been killed or died of hunger. Some compassionate Great Apes of the species Homo Sapians then collect and raise them together and create a jungle school to learn the skills mum would have taught them.
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OMG! It really sucks to be human (see my other comment) 😦
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What a heart breaking but wonderful job that would be. I want to teach at a school like that.
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Orphans, as PP says.
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An applecart of orangs?
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A gathorang?
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Bravo Andimac! I think we have a winner
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I’ve heard of a barrow-load of monkeys, but…
A delight of Orangutans.
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An orangle of orangs, or a barrow, as in the phrase “more fun than a barrow of orangutans”.
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orangle is nice
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I did not know how an apparently happy picture could make me feel more than sad.
This should be on repeat on the nine o’clock news.
I do not thank you for revealing the cruelty of some of our fellow citizens, I commend it. Though I hate it too.
Some people are beyond the pale.
I wish ill on them.
Sorry, this is an emotional post about the latest extinction level event that I do not want to be a part of.
Some humans are shit.
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Looking now at all those happy and sad orangs, I have to wonder, did we really do the right thing when we came down from the trees? Think how the world might be if we hadn’t. Paradise lost??
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I thought so too. She’s really smiling at the wee one.
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I’ve never seen a bad picture of a Heilan Coo….
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Especially one in a reflective moo-d 😉
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No such thing exists!
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I’m with you, Sir.
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Just loved the top picture for cuteness but then remembered each of them was an orphan who had lost their home! And no there never has been a bad pic of the coo. Thailand looked beautiful – if it really was Thailand. They have form on taking a picture of the Scottish beach and pretending it’s Thai. Their treachery would have been discovered earlier if pictures came with temperatures…..
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I think this one is for real 🙂
http://www.phiphi.phuket.com/beaches/phi-phi-leh.htm
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Orangs are a’ right!
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Hephaestus Temple been there on a very hot day
sat in the shade and then went and had nice meal
with a cold lager by the acropolis.
Athens one of my favourite places !
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I’ve not been… but it’s on my list (which is getting longer as my time gets shorter).
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Niko and Tris……I was just looking at some pictures of the newly restored Parthenon, now that most of the scaffolding has been removed. I’m generally not a fan of rebuilding old ruins for the benefit of the modern tourist trade (Eilean Donan,) but the Greeks seem to have done an OK job, given that the politicians were determined to do it. It is however a little jarring to see the bright white of the newly constructed pieces all mixed in with the old weathered original parts.
This article describes what the Greeks did with the Caryatids, when they sawed them away from the Temple of Athena and more or less hid them away (it says) in a museum built for the tourist trade and to serve a largely political purpose for Greek politicians (it implies.)
https://www.jcms-journal.com/articles/10.5334/jcms.130/
BTW, you can visit the “Athens of the South,” (Nashville Tennessee,) and visit a replica of the Parthenon built (of concrete) precisely to full scale, which includes an exact replica of the Athena Parthenos, which the Greeks haven’t even yet reconstructed for the tourists.
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I’m conflicted on the subject of restoration, particularly on the cheap.
The pictures of the museum setting for the statues are really disappointing. They may as well be anywhere. In Rio, or Rome or… erm London?
Leave these sites to deteriorate?
Spend billions to restore them without using concrete and plastics?
Do a cheaper job so at least people can see them, even if they are not authentic?
I dont have an answer though… just questions.
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Tris……I guess I can appreciate the desire to get the Caryatids out of the weather and the Athens city air, into a controlled museum environment……although the setting does look poor. Like you, I do wonder about how fine the replacement reproductions really are. The Italians did the same thing with Michelangelo’s David in Florence in 1873. I thought it was interesting that apparently the museum building is viewed as a way to help pressure the British Museum to send back the marbles. Apparently one of the Caryatids was removed by Elgin and is now in the British Museum.
I think that statue in the Nashville Parthenon is amazing in size and appearance (at least in pictures.) Although the descriptions of the ancient original are apparently sparse, this might be a fairly decent representation of what one of the giant heroic ancient statues in carved panels of ivory and gold would have looked like in general. The local artist seems to have done an OK job of simulating ancient ivory and gold sculpture, and the gilding even looks nicely done. The statue was white for 12 years before it was gilded.
It took a while to find additional information about how it was built, but there is a description of the Nashville statue in the Wiki article “Athena Parthenos.”
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/14603
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena_Parthenos
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Thanks Danny.
I suspect that the Elgin Marbles look even more out of place in London!
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LOL!
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bit off topic as usual
but
Russian Oligarchs and other ne’r do wells
welcome by the Torys no matter how they
made their ill gotten cash I mean who cares
donate to the Torys and invest in the city of
London and its open door time.
As for hard working but people of Colour
its a very different story.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/15/why-the-children-of-windrush-demand-an-immigration-amnesty
growing number of people who were born in the Caribbean and came to the UK as children during the 1950s and 60s have been experiencing severe problems with their immigration status because they have never formally naturalised or applied for a British passport. They are the children of the Windrush generation, who were invited to move to the UK by the British government to help with postwar rebuilding. All are here legally, but with the introduction of tighter immigration rules, they are being asked to prove their status, despite having lived in the UK for about 50 years. For some, the consequences have been catastrophic. Here are some of the people who have told their stories to the Guardian in recent months.
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What kind of scum in the Home Office could possibly be responsible for this outrage.
After the war Britain was desperate for people to help it rebuild. So many young people killed. The invited people to come here. They’ve been treated badly by the people they helped, and now this.
Amber Rudd, resign, you despicable woman.
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Niko,
It is just ridiculous. Once upon a time, getting here was seen as heroic. I’d say that anyone who lives here has the right to stay here. This reminds me of the stupid in America who see DACA as anything other than evil. But that’s half of the US electorate.
Danny, talk me down.
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he is welcome by the Torys
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ6rizux7HcgSboGTTZLzlge98b_NHt5PI5_Lww0icV2hxfNK5g4w
He is not
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/af6fd1db8a4329fcd2fd4145c208d8005907fcda/1818_634_1775_1065/master/1775.jpg?w=620&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=f8d10feffdda429148f437514369111b
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They can buy their citizenship. I think they have to pay a lump sum to the government.
Don’t Osborne and Mandleson frequent yachts owned by these people?
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https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/812366e0a6b2adbac1296f030248da78e08b8c18/0_0_2560_1536/master/2560.jpg?w=860&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=e153a006550d6a44cc3d548bdb143e0e
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Proud to be British… aye right.
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Just btw, ‘The Herald’ has become inaccessable. I have no idea why I would continue to subscribe to a newspaper that doesn’t allow comment, or later comment. It used to be fun, but not so much now. I pay to comment on their ridiculously balalanced media. Now, I can see their ridiculously biased media, and their chum btl.
I, however cannot comment.
The Herald has become a piece of shit.
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They must have got too many comments that they didn’t like.
The BBC used to allow comments on stories on UK, England, and Wales, but not on Scotland. Fair huh?
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No.
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Naw, Douglas, The Herald’s pretty much whit it’s aye been – somethin’ ye use tae wipe the shit aff wi’ – in the cludgie.
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Don’t know who she was, but she is added to my heroine list!
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That twitter account’s pinned tweet is about palm oil killing orangutans. This is my occasional reminder that palm oil is killing orangs and it’s also really bad for human health. AVOID. Or at least only buy sustainable palm oil which promises not to eridicate their homes in the forest.
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Hear hear to that.
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PP,
Will try to make sure I never buy palm oil again!
Thanks for the heads up.
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It’s in a lot of stuff, Douglas.
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