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Saturday, January 10, 2015

Amazing Sami song in Sweden's Got Talent

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Jon Henrik Fjällgren's sad and beautiful Sami song about the death of a friend, Daniel - Vinnaren av Talang Sverige 2014 / Winner of Sweden's Got Talent

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Amazing Sami song in Sweden's Got Talent

(At one time in the past we used to call these people Laplanders, a term now considered derogatory.)

Published on Mar 7, 2014
*The Sami people, also spelled Sámi or Saami, are the indigenous Finno-Ugric people inhabiting the Arctic area of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are the only indigenous people of Scandinavia recognized and protected under the international conventions of indigenous peoples, and hence the northernmost indigenous people of Europe.
Traditionally, the Sami have pursued a variety of livelihoods, including coastal fishing, fur trapping, and sheep herding. Their best-known means of livelihood is semi-nomadic reindeer herding. Currently about 10% of the Sami are connected to reindeer herding and 2,800 are actively involved in herding on a full-time basis. For traditional, environmental, cultural and political reasons, reindeer herding is legally reserved only for Sami people in certain regions of the Nordic countries.
*A joik, (also spelled yoik), luohti, vuolle, leu'dd, or juoiggus is a traditional Sami form of song. Originally, joik referred to only one of several Sami singing styles, but in English the word is often used to refer to all types of traditional Sami singing. According to music researchers, joik is one of the longest living music traditions in Europe, and is the folk music of the Sami people. Its sound is comparable to the traditional chanting of some Native American cultures.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Abisko National Park in Swedish Lapland offers perhaps some of the best conditions in the world for Northern Lights. The surrounding mountains keep the skies almost clear and the light pollution is next to nothing. No wonder Lonely Planet dubbed Abisko the world’s most illuminating experience of 2015.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

10 of the MOST AMAZING SEA CREATURES ever discovered!



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Published on Dec 10, 2013
Incredible World's opinion of the ten MOST AMAZING SEA CREATURES ever discovered! (With all of the ongoing technological advances, more species are being discovered, all of the time. One of the world's current hot spot for new species discoveries is in the Celebes Sea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

10. RED-LIPPED BATFISH: Found around the Galapagos Islands, this unusual fish is not very good at swimming...it instead uses its unique fins to walk the ocean floor. And it has an ingenious spine-like projection on its back to lure prey, and uses a battering-ram like structure on its head to attack.

9.
CHRISTMAS TREE WORMS: Each worm has two brightly coloured tree-like crowns that protrude from its tubular body. The incredible network of "leaves" radiate from the worms central spine...and are used for respiration and for catching food. Most of the worms body is actually not visible, as they are burrowed down and anchored into coral -- and will quickly retract into their bores when threatened.

8.
GIANT OARFISH: The world's longest bony fish, reaching a recorded length of 36 feet... It is thought likely to be the source of worldwide "sea-serpent" stories. It's organs are concentrated toward the head end of it's body... Possibly allowing it to survive losing large segments of its tail. Inhabiting the mesopelagic layer, it is thought capable of diving as deep as 1000 meters (3,300 ft)."

7.
LEAFY SEADRAGON: A masterfully camouflaged fish, the leafy seadragon is found off the southern coast of Australia. As well as being ingeniously camouflaged, these exquisite creatures employ a subtle means of propulsion...using their two near transparent fins to maintain the illusion of floating seaweed.

6.
FIREFLY SQUID: These amazing creatures are capable of bioluminescence... that means they can produce their own light via an organ in each tentacle called a photo-sphore. During the day they live at depths of several hundred meters, but at night they return to the surface, and in numbers they can produce an incredible sea of blue light. They are also capable of "counter-illumination" which makes it very difficult for a predator to spot them from below.

5.
PINK SEA-THROUGH FANTASIA: This rare translucent animal lives in the Celebes Sea of the western Pacific Ocean. Sometimes mistaken for a jelly-fish, this cleverly mobile sea-cucumber is capable of navigating safely around prey while travelling upwards of 3000 feet form the seabed in search of food.

4.
SARCASTIC FRINGEHEAD: This notoriously ferocious and territorially aggressive fish...is known to wrestle with other fringeheads; pressing their over-sized mouths against each other in an attempt to establish dominance.

3.
BARRELEYE: These fish are named for their huge, telescoping barrel-shaped eyes which are located inside a protective transparent dome of soft tissue. Their acutely light sensitive binocular eyes, which can be directed forward, are generally directed upwards and are capable of detecting the silhouettes of potential food sources from vast distances.

2.
MIMIC OCTOPUS: The mimic octopus is a remarkable species of octopus capable of impersonating an array of other sea animals. Not only can it change skin pattern and color to suit its background, as other cephalopods can, the Mimic octopus can shape shift to an extraordinary degree...Both as a means of tricking unsuspecting prey. And by fooling potential predators -- "by discerning and impersonating the sea creature that will present the greatest threat to its current possible predator."

1.
PEACOCK MANTIS SHRIMP: Forget Mike Tyson or Rocky Marciano, for pound-for-pound power nothing comes close to this shrimpy super-boxer. The 4-6 inch mantis shrimp has the fastest punch in the known universe!”


***THE MUSIC*** -- called "Energetic Psychedelic Electronica" -- is from Ultrasonic: http://www.audiomicro.com/energetic-p...

Label: Oceans

Monday, December 8, 2014

Flying Drone's over Chernobyl (Pripyat)


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Flying Drone's over Chernobyl, Ukraine (Pripyat) (3:00 minutes)


Published on Nov 28, 2014
28 years after the Chernobyl Disaster Danny Cooke gives us a birds eye view above the city of Pripyat, Ukraine
>>

I've always found the nuclear programs suspect. Thank goodness we are quickly moving away from traditional power stations in the world that burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas to generate electricity, and some use nuclear power, but there is an increasing use of cleaner renewable sources such as solar, wind, wave and hydroelectric, and other non-carbon alternatives, many in research and development stages.

Since I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, an area that will also be affected by a now overdue Cascadia Subduction Zone Megaquake, and recently found that the United States nuclear bomb assembly station at the Hanford Site, Hanford, Washington was built upon a geologic fault, where nuclear reactors line the riverbank at the Hanford Site along the Columbia River.

Liquidator (Chernobyl) (Russian: ликвида́торы), or "clean-up workers"
Sarcophagus The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus, or Shelter
Pripyat Named after the nearby Pripyat River

The Animals of Chernobyl, a 5:13 minute YouTube Video | The New York Times https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG-nwQBBfmc
Published on May 6, 2014
Biologist Timothy Mousseau has been studying the lasting effects of radiation on the flora and fauna of Chernobyl, Ukraine. Read the story here: http://nyti.ms/1o2H7Kf


Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective power station is near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (USA) began on Wednesday, March 28, 1979, and ultimately resulted in a partial core meltdown in Unit 2 of the nuclear power plant.




Saturday, December 6, 2014

Memories from the 1950's

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(Forwarded to me by Anne, with thanks.)
The Land That Made Me Me




Published on Nov 13, 2013
Downtown Jonesboro, Arkansas
Downtown Jonesboro, Arkansas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
(This fellow) Growing up in Jonesboro, AR in the 1950's. Note: the narrator for this video is Jack Parnell

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Volcanic landscapes: A gallery curated by ycanadaeditors | 29 photos


Here are some photographs of volcanic landscapes that will make you wonder if they were really taken on Earth. To open curated gallery click on Flickr (photo-sharing website): https://www.flickr.com/photos/100213906@N06/galleries/72157649178975360/

Full Screen (Monitor):  https://www.flickr.com/photos/100213906@N06/galleries/72157649178975360/with/11016763545/lightbox/

Volcanoes change the Earth, long after the lava's gone. While ash and lava can kill, as they break down, they can create incredibly fertile soil, meaning the areas around volcanoes - especially those that are dead or have been dormant for decades - become incredibly bio-diverse.
Volcano 1. Magma chamber 2. Bedrock 3. Conduit...
Volcano 1. Magma chamber 2. Bedrock 3. Conduit (pipe) 4. Base 5. Sill 6. Branch pipe 7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano 8. Flank 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano 10. Throat 11. Parasitic cone 12. Lava flow 13. Vent 14. Crater 15. Ash cloud (Photo credit: Wikipedia)



Sunday, November 30, 2014

Gratitude

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ATTITUDE OF Gratitude (and appreciation)



http://youtu.be/6XUJAlJD5s0
Uploaded on Jan 6, 2008
Gratitude and appreciation bring more into our lives to be grateful for! How cool is that?
Music: Michael Zanabili
http://michaelzanabili.com/
CD: Lava
Song: Part Soul Part Cause
>>>>

20 Mind-Blowing Facts About Gratitude

Being grateful may not always be easy — but it sure is good for you.
'Tis the season for those warm fuzzy feelings: Love, friendship, peace and, of course, gratitude. And turns out, there are a lot of good reasons to feel, and express, thanks — many of which benefit you. 
Below are some things you may not have realized about gratitude, from its health benefits to need-to-know tips to maintaining a positive attitude. We hope they’ll inspire you to say “thank you” to a loved one today!
1. Writing down what you’re grateful for — yes, with a pen and paper — has been linked in research to a multitude of health benefits.
2. Materialistic people may have all the tangible “stuff,” but research shows they’re low in well-being. The reason: They lack gratitude.
3. Writing and delivering a thank you note can actually make you happier.
4. If you’re a manager, saying “thank you” to your employees could actually increase their motivation.
5. For teens, gratitude could mean better behavior in school and higher levels of happiness and hopefulness, according to one study.
6. Gratitude could also have a positive effect on teens’ GPAs.
7. Keeping track of what you’re grateful for could make you feel more optimistic about the week ahead.
8. Having a grateful outlook on life could also help you be a better support to those in need.
9. Being appreciative of the little things your partner does can help your relationship thrive.
10. A good way to increase your feelings of gratitude is to embrace the setbacks you experience in life, according to leading gratitude researcher Robert Emmons, of the University of California, Davis.
11. In addition to keeping a gratitude journal, use visual reminders to help you remember to count your blessings.
12. Gratitude makes you a better team player and could even have effects against athlete burnout.
13. It will help you better manage stress (and even protect you against negative effects of stress).
14. You can turn your mindfulness meditation into an opportunity for gratitude by focusing on what you’re thankful for.
15. Gratitude has positive effects on the brain, including mood neurotransmitters and hormones that are key to social bonding.
16. It helps us go against our natural tendency to let the “bad” outweigh the “good” in our lives.
17. Gratitude can also help us sleep better.
18. Even though a grateful temperament is, to some extent, genetic, we can cultivate gratitude through experience and behavior.
19. If you want to boost your gratitude, think about your life without something — chances are, you’ll then feel more grateful for that thing.
20. Vow to be grateful, as it will increase the likelihood you’ll actually do it.