Create an art piece? Build a snowball fortress? You can do all of this in the coolness of snow. But, how about creating a massive labyrinth? Poland’s popular Snowlandia Zakopane Park just constructed something out of snow that would have the seven-year-old version of you wreathing in excitement, a massive labyrinth.
In the battle of deer vs. decoration deer, we have a winner. In British Columbia, the Chmelyk family has set out their “Rudolph the Red Nosed White-Tail” decoration for the last five holiday seasons. But “every year a buck in the area attacks him or hits and knocks him over and breaks him,” Arlene Chmelyk told CBC News. This year the battle royale was caught on video.
If you see your brother standing by the road
With a heavy load from the seeds he sowed
And if you see your sister falling by the way
Just stop and say, “You’re going the wrong way
“You’ve got to try a little kindness
Yes, show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
Don’t walk around the down and out
Lend a helping hand instead of doubt
And the kindness that you show every day
Will help someone along their way
You got to try a little kindness
Yes, show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
You got to try a little kindness
Yes, show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
The document “List of Speeches and Visits Made by Heads of State and Dignitaries” gives the length of speech or speech times for many statements made from 1945-1976.
The longest timed speech listed in the above document was made by Fidel Castro of Cuba at the 872nd plenary meeting of the General Assembly on 26 September 1960. The time listed is 269 minutes.
Other long speeches:
In addition, we have this note:
On 23 January 1957 V. K. Krishna Menon delivered an unprecedented eight-hour speech defending India’s stand on Kashmir. To date, the speech is the longest ever delivered in the United Nations Security Council, covering five hours of the 762nd meeting on 23 January, and two hours and forty-eight minutes on the 24th, reportedly concluding with Menon’s collapse on the Security Council floor. During the filibuster, Nehru moved swiftly and successfully to consolidate Indian power in Kashmir. Menon’s passionate defence of Indian sovereignty in Kashmir enlarged his base of support in India, and led to the Indian press temporarily dubbing him the “Hero of Kashmir”.
Speaking one day after Bush addressed the same session of the General Assembly, Chávez announced, “The devil came here yesterday, and it smells of sulfur still today, this table that I am now standing in front of.” At that point, Chávez made the sign of the cross, positioned his hands as if praying, and looked briefly upwards as if invocation of God. He continued “Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the President of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world.” Chávez also said that President Bush “…came [to the General Assembly] to share his nostrums to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world.” Chávez began his talk by recommending Noam Chomsky’s Hegemony or Survival: “It’s an excellent book to help us understand what has been happening in the world throughout the 20th century, and what’s happening now, and the greatest threat looming over our planet.” Citing Chomsky’s book, Chávez explained, “…the American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we cannot allow them to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated.”
The Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure in Central and Eastern Alpine folklore who, during the Christmas season, scares children who have misbehaved. Assisting Saint Nicholas, the pair visit children on the night of the 5th December, with Saint Nicholas rewarding the well-behaved children with modest gifts such as oranges, dried fruit, walnuts and chocolate, whilst the badly behaved ones only receive punishment from Krampus with birch rods.
The origin of the figure is unclear; some folklorists and anthropologists have postulated it as having pre-Christian origins. In traditional parades and in such events as the Krampuslauf (English: Krampus run), young men participate dressed as Krampus and attempt to scare the audience with their antics. Such events occur annually in most Alpine towns. Krampus is featured on holiday greeting cards called Krampuskarten.
Since 1984, the character has become better known globally, having been portrayed in Hollywood horror films. Almost unknown before this time, Krampus has begun to become part of American popular culture.
The Saint Nicholas festival we are describing incorporates cultural elements widely distributed in Europe, in some cases going back to pre-Christian times. Nicholas himself became popular in Germany around the eleventh century. The feast dedicated to this patron of children is only one winter occasion in which children are the objects of special attention, others being Martinmas, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, and New Year’s Day. Masked devils acting boisterously and making nuisances of themselves are known in Germany since at least the sixteenth century while animal masked devils combining dreadful-comic (schauriglustig) antics appeared in Medieval church plays. A large literature, much of it by European folklorists, bears on these subjects. … Austrians in the community we studied are quite aware of “heathen” elements being blended with Christian elements in the Saint Nicholas customs and in other traditional winter ceremonies. They believe Krampus derives from a pagan supernatural who was assimilated to the Christian devil.
The Krampus figures persisted, and by the 17th century Krampus had been incorporated into Christian winter celebrations by pairing Krampus with St. Nicholas.
Although Krampus appears in many variations, most share some common physical characteristics. He is hairy, usually brown or black, and has the cloven hooves and horns of a goat. His long, pointed tongue lolls out, and he has fangs.
Krampus carries chains, thought to symbolize the binding of the Devil by the Christian Church. He thrashes the chains for dramatic effect. The chains are sometimes accompanied with bells of various sizes. Of more pagan origins are the Ruten, bundles of birch branches that Krampus carries and with which he occasionally swats children. The Ruten may have had significance in pre-Christian pagan initiation rites. The birch branches are replaced with a whip in some representations. Sometimes Krampus appears with a sack or a basket strapped to his back; this is to cart off evil children for drowning, eating, or transport to Hell. Some of the older versions make mention of naughty children being put in the bag and taken away.
The character of Krampus has been imported and modified for various North American media, including print (e.g. Krampus: The Devil of Christmas, a collection of vintage postcards by Monte Beauchamp in 2004; Krampus: The Yule Lord, a 2012 novel by Gerald Brom, television – both live action (“A Krampus Carol”, a 2012 episode of The League) and animation (“A Very Venture Christmas”, a 2004 episode of The Venture Bros., “Minstrel Krampus”, a 2013 episode of American Dad!)–video games (CarnEvil, a 1998 arcade game, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, a 2014 video game), and film (Krampus, a 2015 Christmas comedy horror movie from Universal Pictures).
Wörthersee Stadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Klagenfurt, Austria. It is the home ground of Austria Klagenfurt. The stadium is situated within the Sportpark Klagenfurt campus of several other sports venues. Its name refers to the nearby Wörthersee lake.
The stadium was the site of Klaus Littmann’s For Forest–The Unending Attraction of Nature, Austria’s largest public art installation which took place from 8 September to 27 October 2019. The exhibition, inspired by Max Peintner’s pencil drawing The Unending Attraction of Nature from the 1970s and landscaped by architect Enzo Enea, was a 300-tree Central European forest occupying an entire football pitch. The project was a warning that nature in general and specifically forests might be confined to specially designated spaces if humanity continued to take it for granted. Partly funded by sponsors who each contributed €5,000, it was open to the public free of charge daily from 10am to 10pm CET. Austria Klagenfurt home matches were temporarily played at the adjacent Karawankenblick Stadion. The trees were replanted in locations near the campus following the exhibition’s conclusion.
Some animals can be trained to do the most absurd things. While other animals are totally submissive to their powerful instincts. The dog in this video is doing something that a dog just shouldn’t be doing.
The MarkoZen Blog 