All About the Place

Unusual Sports

2006-08-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

Created: 25th August 2000
Unusual Sports
bbc.co.uk

A sequence of unusual sports including mud wrestling and underwater football

Sport plays a big part in many people's lives and the two single biggest events in the world are both sporting occasions - the soccer World Cup Finals and the Olympic Games. However, there's another side to this sporting life of ours - a rather daft side. This entry takes a look at the odd pursuits and weird endeavours that provide a sort of platform upon which we humans can demonstrate, once again, our essential eccentricity. Stupidity, even. Welcome to the rather disturbing world of unusual sports.

Man versus Horse

In Wales there's a famous race called the Man Versus Horse Marathon. A cross country course is laid out, and human competitors pit their stamina against that of a posse of chosen horses. The course is 22 miles long with many natural obstacles to overcome. The steep slopes are a great test of the endurance of both man and beast, and the tricky forestry, which a man may dart through but which a horse can only travel around, is equally difficult terrain.

The ultimate aim is to run the course and beat the first horse. This was recently done for the first time by a marine who had been training especially for the event. He won a large cash prize - a prize that's been getting bigger every year.

Office Depot Jousting

Equipment: Two office chairs, two garden hoes, two binders, people, and an endless number of halls to play in.

Players: Two for each team, one to sit in the chair and joust, and one to push the chair around if the other guy decides to run, or hold it still if players are stationary. A referee.

History: The telling of the history of this amusing office 'sport' is best left to of one our 'experienced' Researchers:

Well, my friend was in Office Depot (an office supply store) and he discovered, while riding around in a very expensive, brand new office chair, that the ladders used to reach merchandise high up had, for some unknown purpose, ordinary garden hoes hanging off of them. He then grabbed said hoe as he was whooshing past one and discovered it was weighted just right to stab at things. He then thought, 'Wouldn't it be fun to get a bunch of guys together and practice this'. After a round or two, and many painful bruises, he discovered a shield was needed. Hence the binder.

Rules: Games last as long as you can manage to play before you get kicked out of the store. This can be a pretty long time if you're smart and stick to the back half of the store. The winner is the guy who takes the most hits with the fewest bruises. In some cases there are boundaries, ranging from one aisle to an entire store. Penalties ensue for one guy just turning tail and running away. This is considered cowardly and, for some reason, cowering in a corner attracts more attention than fighting bravely with your hoe. The ref is mostly there to call the start and to inform individuals when the group as a whole has been kicked out.

That's about all - so now go forth into the world and annoy as many managers as you can.

Canoe Jousting

While this is not a well-known sport, it is a fun thing to do. Apparently. Two canoes race up river to a designated point. Once that point is reached by both canoes, the jousting then begins. The object is to submerse the opponent's canoe by whatever means possible, without the use of tools (ie paddles). While poles were used in the initial inception of the sport, they were proven too dangerous to use among friends. There is usually a judge on the river bank to decide when a canoe is submersed. While the judge is not always necessary, there have been some difficult calls. Scheduling of this event is usually difficult unless the participants have been drinking for the better part of the morning or the afternoon. There are no formal leagues as yet, but the popularity of the sport is growing.

Ditch Snorkelling

Ditch snorkelling takes place in the Fenlands of East Anglia. People don wet suits and snorkels and swim up courses laid out among the drainage ditches that the Fens are famous for. As these ditches are very muddy, a mask is worn to protect the eyes and therefore competitors have little chance of seeing even their hands in front of their faces.

In the West Midlands of England, ditch snorkelling is known as 'bog snorkelling1'. The two sports are very similar; bog snorkelling involves wearing a mask and flippers, and competitors attempt to make progress, at full speed, through a peat bog. Exactly why anyone would want to do such a thing, is not immediately transparent.

Wife Carrying

As well as throwing gum boots like the Australians (what weird, weird people there are in this world), the Finns have the great honour of holding the annual Wife Carrying World Championships. What you do is simply grab a hold of your significant other, and carry her (or him) to the finish line faster than the other competitors. Cool.

The games are hosted in the small town of Sonkajärvi in upper Savo, in the eastern part of Finland. The rules say nothing at all about the weight of the wife, only that she can be yours as well as somebody else's. Also, the winning record time for 1999 was apparently included in the Guinness Book of Records.

The Wife Carrying World Championships website explains the rules further and has an official entry form. The site also says that this year's World Champions were a couple from Estonia and that the Estonians actually swept the board, leaving no medals at all for the poor Finns. Oh dear.

Also, the originators of the sauna wouldn't make do without the annual Sauna World Championships. 'Competitors' have to try and stay in a steaming hot room longer than anyone else without passing out.

Todd River Regatta

Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia is sited on the banks of the Todd River. Each year a regatta is held on the river. You may not think this is so strange. The thing is, the river bed is dry. Like many rivers in central Australia, it only flows when there has been torrential rain. The rest of the time the water actually flows beneath the sands. Groups get together and make 'boats' which they then race down the river bed.

Nutters.

Tuna Throwing

In Port Lincoln, South Australia, there is an annual competition of tuna throwing. Dean Lukin, the Olympic Gold medalist weight lifter, is a also a champion tuna thrower. He grew up on tuna boats and did some of his Olympic training while on the boats hefting around fully-grown tuna fish. Incidentally, a tuna fish can weigh in excess of 50kg - nearly as much as an adult human.

Picnic Races

These sports have long been the bane of large picnics in the USA, such as those for corporations or large clubs. They are played by both children and adults and both groups are entertaining to watch. The children are entertaining because of their general lack of co-ordination, and the adults are entertaining because of their gradual inebriation... and subsequent lack of co-ordination.

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Wheelbarrow Race: Two players to each team. One player gets on all fours and the other player takes up that person's legs. Thus you have one person pedalling along the ground with his hands and another player carrying his feet directly behind him. The winners are the team that reach the finish line first, ie that team that falls over the fewest times.
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Three-legged Race: Two players to a team again. They stand side-by-side and tie their adjoining legs together. The winners are, again, the team that falls over the fewest times or manages to drag their fallen partner through the grass the fastest.
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Potato Sack Race: This is an individual event. Players step into an old burlap potato sack and pull up the sides with their hands. Racers hop to the finish line, and, of course, fall over.

Hurling

No, American readers, this is not what you think. This is not a barfing competition. Or a technicolour-yawn competition. This is a very popular game played in Ireland. It can best be described as sort of like field hockey, and on first glance, it appears to be a sport bereft of any rules. It is, in fact, a tough, physical game, which requires a lot of skill to play properly and is regarded as one of the fastest field games in the world. Here are the basics:

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Two teams, 15 men on each team. Each player has a hurley, which is an ash stick with a wide, flat end - sort of like a hockey stick, only lighter and wider at the end.
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Small ball, known as a sliotar (pronounced slitter), about the same size as a hockey ball.
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Goals are 'H' shaped. If you hit the ball above the crossbar, you score 1 point. If you hit the ball below the crossbar, you score a goal, which is the equivalent of 3 points.
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The game lasts for 70 minutes, 35 minutes each side. Players can hit the ball on the ground, or rise the ball by lifting it into their hand using the hurley. The player may also hit the ball in mid-air with the hurley. It is possible for a player to run with the ball balanced on the end of his hurley - a technique known as a 'solo run'.
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Tackling is done in a number of ways. A player can shoulder charge his opponent, or he can clash hurleys with his opponent in order to get the opponent's ball. Punching and kicking is forbidden.
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Fouls are rewarded with a 'free' or a penalty, just like soccer. The player rises the ball and hits the ball in mid air, either towards another team player, or towards the goal.

Hurling is played all over Ireland, but it is most popular in the southern counties of Munster and Leinster. The main teams are Cork, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Offaly, Limerick, Clare and Galway. The principal game of the hurling championship is played in Dublin in mid-September. It is known as the All Ireland Final. Attendances can reach over 70,000 people for this game. The governing body is the Irish Gaelic Athletic Association, or the GAA. They are also responsible for Gaelic Football, which can best be described as soccer without any rules.

Cheese Chasing

Cheese chasing is an event whereby members of an English village called Brockworth in Gloucestershire, send a good-sized cheese down a steep hill whereupon all the cheese-chasing contestants chase after it. The local council has at times banned the event due to too many people getting injured. They usually get really drunk, build up a good head of steam and then tear down the hill after the tumbling cheese. The cheese always seems to win.

Goat Racing

The village of Falmouth2 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, holds goat races every year. This year's poster for the event reads something like:

The 21st annual Falmouth Goat Races will be held on Saturday, 23 Sept from 9am - 5pm in Governor Stable Park in Conoy Township.

The annual event raises money for the Falmouth Civic Association which uses the funds to pay for a citizen of the year banquet, a community Easter egg hunt, and a New Year's Eve celebration. Recent races brought in more than $5,000.

The event also has a lot of carnival attractions such as greasy food and games for the wee ones. They even have a tobacco-spitting contest in which participants spit a long line of chewing tobacco juice at a target on a hot stovetop. Closest to the target is the winner, though they also have a spitting for distance category. And for the kids, they give them Tootsie Rolls and let them spit the gooey chocolate juice for distance and accuracy just like the grown ups with their tobacco juice. Also, the event features some fun games like putting little kids on sheep's backs and seeing how long they can stay aboard.

The legend of the races is traced back to some long-time village residents sitting around the Village Store, idly chatting. It seems that John Devaney was a little down on his luck at the horse race track. Seeing as they all had goats as family pets, Glen Hipple remarked that John might as well bet on goats. Now goat racers from miles around come to the tiny village in the shadow of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station to try their luck. There are even goat rentals for those who want to get in on the action at the last minute.

All in all, it's fun for the whole family - like a redneck Olympics.

Haxey Hood

Haxey Hood is a strange game played out on 6 January each year on a field between the towns of Haxey and Westwoodside in North Lincolnshire, England. Each team tries to get the hood (usually a piece of rolled canvas or leather) to their own pub. What happens is a huge ruck and scrimmage with however many people have bothered to turn up to play for either side. The game doesn't really have any rules - although women and children don't usually play - or a time limit.

Underwater Rugby

The game of underwater rugby is played in a swimming pool of approximately 4m depth. Two teams of 11 players aim to make a goal by getting the weighted ball in the opposing team's basket. Each basket is at the bottom of the pool. This is quite an exciting game as normal gravitational rules do not apply to any of the manoeuvres or tactics you might instinctively seek to employ.

Underwater rugby. Whatever next?

1 'Bog' snorkelling might well have originated in mid-Wales and then migrated across the English border into the West Midlands.
2 Falmouth is pronounced 'foul-mouth' in the local dialect. Cue Beavis and Butthead-style sniggering.

Royal Ascot Racecourse

2006-06-03T07:33:00.000-07:00

Ascot Racecourse is a racecourse, located in the village of Ascot in the English county of Berkshire used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is closely associated with the British Royal Family and is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 31 annual Group 1 races. The site belongs to the Crown Estate.

Ascot Racecourse was founded in 1711 by Queen Anne. Its first race, "Her Majesty's Plate," with a purse of 100 guineas, was held on August 11, 1711. Seven horses competed, each carrying a weight of 12 stones (76 kg). This first race comprised three separate four-mile (6437 m) heats.

In 1813, Parliament passed an act to ensure that the grounds would remain a public racecourse. In 1913, Parliament passed an act creating the Ascot Authority, an entity that manages the racecourse to this day. From its creation until 1945, the only racing that took place at Ascot was the Royal Meeting, a four-day event. Since that date, more fixtures have been introduced to the grounds, notably the Steeplechase and hurdles in 1965.

Royal Ascot

The centrepiece of Ascot’s year, Royal Ascot is one of the world’s most famous race meetings, steeped in history dating back to 1711. The royal family who arrive each day in a horse drawn carriage attend the meeting. It is a major event in the British social calendar, and press coverage of the attendees and what they are wearing often exceeds coverage of the actual racing. Attendees must wear a morning suit in the royal enclosure, and most people outside of this section choose to wear one any way. The royal enclosure is very exclusive, with people having to be invited to gain admittance, and thus very difficult for aspirant nouveaus.

Over 300,000 people make the annual visit to Berkshire during Royal Ascot week, making this is Europe’s best-attended race meeting. Many of the visitors know nothing about racing, and are there purely for the social side and to drink large quantities of champagne. This leads to a split amongst racing fans, some of whom are glad to see racing in the spotlight, and getting more attention, while others do not like the meeting despite the quality of racing.

Although there are no enormous races at the Royal meeting there are many very good ones, and it is the best flat meeting in the world, with a total of sixteen Group races on offer, with at least one Group One event on each of the five days. The Ascot Gold Cup is on Ladies' Day on the Thursday. There is over £3,000,000 of prize money on offer.
From Wikipedia~The free encyclopaedia

Wimbledon Tennis

2006-06-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

The Championships, Wimbledon, commonly referred to as simply "Wimbledon", is the oldest and arguably most prestigious event in the sport of tennis. Held every June or July (starts 6 weeks before the first Monday in August), the tournament is the third Grand Slam event played each year, preceded by the Australian Open and the French Open, and followed by the U.S. Open. The tournament (which is the only one of the Grand Slam events played on grass) lasts for two weeks, subject to extensions for rain. Separate tournaments are simultaneously held for Gentlemen's Singles, Ladies' Singles, Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Youth tournaments — Boys' Singles, Girls' Singles, Boys' Doubles and Girls' Doubles — are also held. Additionally, special invitational tournaments are held: the 35 and over Gentlemen's Doubles, 45 and over Gentlemen's Doubles, 35 and over Ladies' Doubles and wheelchair doubles.

History

The Championships were first played under the control of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in 1877 at a ground near Worple Road, Wimbledon; the only event held was Gentlemen's Singles. In 1884, the All England Club added Ladies' Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles. Ladies' Doubles and Mixed Doubles were added in 1913. The Championships moved to their present location, at a ground near Church Road, in 1922. As with the other three Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players until the advent of the open era in tennis in 1968. Britons are very proud of the tournament but it is a source of national anguish and humour — no British man has won the singles event at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, and no British woman since Virginia Wade in 1977.
Complete Wimbledon article from Wikipedia

Bowls

2006-06-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

Bowls (also known as Lawn Bowls or Lawn Bowling) is a precision sport where the goal is to roll slightly radially asymmetrical balls (called bowls) closer to a smaller white ball (the "jack" or "kitty") than one's opponent is able to do. It is related to bocce and pétanque. This game is most popular in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and in other UK territories.

The game

Bowls is usually played on a large, rectangular, precisely levelled and manicured grass or synthetic surface known as a bowling green which is divided into parallel playing strips called rinks. An indoor variation on carpet is also played. In the simplest competition, singles, one of the two opponents begins a segment of the competition (in bowling parlance, an "end"), by placing the mat and rolling the jack to the other end of the green as a target. Once it has come to rest, the players take turns to roll their bowls from the mat towards the jack and thereby build up the "head". A bowl is allowed to curve outside the rink boundary on it's path, but must come to rest within the rink boundary to remain in play. Bowls reaching the ditch are dead and removed from play, except in the event when one has "touched" the jack on its way. "Touchers" are marked with chalk and remain alive in play even though they are in the ditch. Similarly if the jack is knocked into the ditch it is still alive unless it is out of bounds to the side resulting in a "dead" end which is replayed. After each competitor has delivered all of their bowls (four each in singles), the distance of the closest bowls to the jack is determined (the jack may have been displaced) and points are awarded for each bowl which a competitor has closer than the opponent's nearest to the jack. For instance, if a competitor has bowled two bowls closer to the jack than their competitor's nearest, they are awarded two points. The exercise is then repeated for the next end, a game of bowls typically being of twenty one ends.
Read the complete article from wikipedia.org

The FIFA World Cup

2006-05-15T04:40:00.000-07:00

The FIFA World Cup (often called the Football World Cup, Soccer World Cup or simply the World Cup) is the most important competition in international football, and the world's most representative team sport event. Organised by Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's governing body, the World Cup is contested by the men's national football teams of FIFA member nations. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930 (except in 1942 and 1946 due to World War II), however, it is more of an ongoing event as the qualifying rounds of the competition take place over the three years preceding the final rounds.

The final tournament phase (often called the "Finals") involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period in a previously nominated host nation, with these games making it the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world. In the 17 tournaments held, only seven nations have ever won the World Cup Finals. Brazil is the current holder, as well as the most successful World Cup team, having won the tournament five times, while Germany and Italy follow with three titles each. The next football World Cup Finals will be held in Germany between June 9 and July 9, 2006.

Previous international competitions

The first international football match was played in 1872 between England and Scotland, although at this stage the sport was rarely played outside Great Britain. As football began to increase in popularity, it was held as a demonstration sport (with no medals awarded) at the 1900, 1904 and 1906 Summer Olympics before football became an official competition at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Organised by England's Football Association, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. The England national amateur football team won the event in both 1908 and 1912.

With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The competition is often described as The First World Cup, and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland. The first tournament was won by West Auckland, an amateur side from north-east England that was invited after the Football Association refused to be associated with the competition. West Auckland returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, and were given the trophy to keep forever, as per the rules of the competition.

In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for organizing the event. This led the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition, at the 1924 Summer Olympics. Uruguay won the tournament, before winning the gold medal again in 1928, with another South American team, Argentina, taking silver. On 28 May 1928, FIFA made the decision to stage their own international tournament. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and due to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country.

The first official World Cup

The 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football as part of the programme due to the low popularity of football in the United States. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games. FIFA president Jules Rimet thus set about organizing the inaugural World Cup tournament to be held in Uruguay in 1930. The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. Indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total 13 nations took part — seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America.

The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and the USA, who beat Mexico 4-1 and Belgium 3-0, respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France. Four days later, the first World Cup hat-trick was achieved by Bert Patenaude of the USA in the Americans' 3-0 win against Paraguay. In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and became the first nation to win a World Cup.

Growth

The issues facing the early World Cup tournaments were the difficulties of intercontinental travel, and war. Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 and 1938 tournaments, with Brazil the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath.

The 1950 World Cup was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against a foreign influence to football,but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation. The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups

In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams qualified for each finals tournament (except in a few cases where teams withdrew after qualifying). Most were from Europe and Latin America, with a very small minority from Africa, Asia and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and Latin American teams (with the notable exception of North Korea, who reached the 1966 quarterfinals).

The finals were expanded to 24 teams in 1982, then 32 in 1998, allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. In recent years, these comparatively new participants have enjoyed more success, with Cameroon reaching the quarter-finals in 1990, and South Korea, Senegal and USA all reaching the elimination rounds in 2002. 197 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 edition, and all but three of the 207 FIFA member nations have previously entered the competition, with recent new members Comoros and East Timor not yet having the chance to do so, and Bhutan the only other current member never to have entered.

An equivalent tournament for women's football, the FIFA Women's World Cup, was first held in 1991. It is similar to the men's tournament in format, but so far has not generated the same level of interest.

Football World Cup Trophy

From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the Cup winner. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde but was renamed in 1946 in honour of the FIFA president who organized the first tournament. In 1970, Brazil's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the trophy permanently. However, the trophy was stolen in 1983, and has never been recovered.

After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. This is not awarded to the winning nation permanently, irrespective of how many World Cups they win. Argentina, Germany (as West Germany) and Brazil have all won the second trophy twice. It will not be retired until the name plaque has been entirely filled with the names of winning nations in 2038.

FIFA World Cup qualification

Since the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament. They are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, Europe), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams, but also subject to lobbying from the confederations.

The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament, and last over a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations. Usually, one or two places are awarded to winners of Intercontinental Play-offs. For example, the winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed team from the South American zone entered a play-off to decide which team would qualify for the 2006 World Cup . From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations have received an automatic berth in the finals. This right also used to be granted to the defending champion, but from the 2006 finals onwards, this entitlement has been withdrawn, requiring the champions to qualify as well .

Final tournament

The current finals tournament features 32 national teams competing over a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages, a group stage and a knockout stage.

In the first stage (the group stage), teams are drawn into eight groups of four. Eight teams are seeded at the draw, and assigned a group. The other teams are drawn at random. Since 1998, constraints have applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation. Each group plays a round-robin tournament, guaranteeing that every qualifying nation will play at least three matches. The last round of matches of each group are held simultaneously to prevent collusion between nations. Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (prior to this, winners only received two points). The top two teams from each group advance to the second stage (the knockout stage).

The knockout stage is a single-elimination round in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner, if necessary. In the Round of 16, the winner of each group plays against the runner-up from another group. This is followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final. The losing semi-finalists contest a third place match.

FIFA World Cup hosts

Early World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA's congress. The choice of location was highly controversial, given the three week boat journey between South America and Europe, the two centres of strength in football at the time. The decision to hold the first cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing. The next two world cups were both held in Europe. The decision to hold the second of these, the 1938 FIFA World Cup in France was controversial, as the American countries had been led to understand that the World Cup would rotate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the tournament. After World War Two, to avoid any future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternation between South/North America and Europe, which continued until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The system evolved so that the host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA's executive committee. This is done under a single transferable vote system. The decision is currently made six years in advance of the tournament.

Media coverage

The World Cup was first televised in 1954, and is now the most widely-viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games. The cumulative audience of the World Cup 2002 event — summing over all matches — is estimated to be 28.8 billion. 1.1 billion individuals have watched the final match of this tournament. The draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, has been watched by 300 million viewers.

Each Football World Cup usually has its own mascot. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot. Mascots for the forthcoming World Cup 2006 are Goleo, a lion, and Pille, a football.
Full Article @ Wikipedia.org

Fishing

2006-05-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

Fishing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fishing is the activity of hunting for fish. By extension, the term fishing is also applied to hunting for other aquatic animals such as various types of shellfish as well as squid, octopus, turtles, frogs and some edible marine invertebrates. The term fishing is usually not applied to the hunting of aquatic mammals such as whales. Fishing is an ancient and worldwide practice with many techniques and traditions, and it has been transformed by modern technological developments. An organized fishing effort, typically centred around a particular commercially valuable species, is known as a fishery.

Fishing in antiquity
Origins

Fishing is a very ancient practice that dates back at least to the Mesolithic period which began about 10,000 years ago. We know from archaeological features such as shell middens, discarded fish bones and cave paintings that sea foods were important and consumed in significant quantities. During this time, most people lived a hunter-gather lifestyle and were, of necessity, constantly on the move. However, where there are a few early examples of permanent settlements (though not necessarily permanently occupied) such as those at Lepenski Vir, they are almost always associated with fishing as a major source of food.

The Neolithic culture and technology spread worldwide between about 8,000 and 4,000 years ago. With the new technologies of farming and pottery came the basic forms of most fishing methods known today.

Fishing may even pre-date the development of modern humans. There is a controversial proposal called the aquatic ape hypothesis which proposes that the ancestors of modern humans went through one or more periods of time living in a semi-aquatic setting and that they gathered most of their food from shallow coastal or other waters before their descendants returned to a more land-based existence.

Ancient representations

The ancient river Nile was full of fish; fresh and dried fish were a staple food for much of the population. The Egyptians invented various implements and methods for fishing and these are clearly illustrated in tomb scenes, drawings, and papyrus documents. Simple reed boats served for fishing. Woven nets, weir baskets made from willow branches, harpoons and hook and line (the hooks having a length of between eight millimetres and eighteen centimetres) were all being used. By the 12th dynasty, metal hooks with barbs were being used. As is fairly common today, the fish were clubbed to death after capture. Nile perch, catfish and eels were among the most important fish. Some representations hint at fishing being pursued as a pastime.

Fishing scenes are rarely represented in ancient Greek culture, a reflection of the low social status of fishing. There is a wine cup, dating from 510–500 BC, that shows a boy crouched on a rock with a fishing-rod in his right hand and a basket in his left. In the water below, a rounded object of the same material with an opening on the top. This has been identified as a fish-cage used for keeping live fish, or as a fish-trap. It is clearly not a net. This object is currently in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Pictorial evidence of Roman fishing comes from mosaics which show fishing from boats with rod and line as well as nets. Various species such as conger, lobster, sea urchin, octopus and cuttlefish are illustrated. In a parody of fishing, a type of gladiator called retiarius was armed with a trident and a casting-net. He would fight against the murmillo, who carried a short sword and a helmet with the image of a fish on the front.

The Greco-Roman sea god Neptune is depicted as wielding a fishing trident.

Ancient literature

There are numerous references to fishing in ancient literature; in most cases, however, the descriptions of nets and fishing-gear do not go into detail, and the equipment is described in general terms. An early example from the Bible in Job 41:7: Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?.

The Greek historian Polybius ((ca 203 BC-120 BC), in his Histories, describes hunting for swordfish by using a harpoon with a barbed and detachable head.

Oppian of Corycus, a Greek author wrote a major treatise on sea fishing, the Halieulica or Halieutika, composed between 177 and 180. This is the earliest such work to have survived intact to the modern day. Oppian describes various means of fishing including the use of nets cast from boats, scoop nets held open by a hoop, spears and tridents, and various traps "which work while their masters sleep". Oppian’s description of fishing with a "motionless" net is also very interesting:

The fishers set up very light nets of buoyant flax and wheel in a circle round about while they violently strike the surface of the sea with their oars and make a din with sweeping blow of poles. At the flashing of the swift oars and the noise the fish bound in terror and rush into the bosom of the net which stands at rest, thinking it to be a shelter: foolish fishes which, frightened by a noise, enter the gates of doom. Then the fishers on either side hasten with the ropes to draw the net ashore.

From ancient representations and literature it is clear that fishing boats were typically small, lacking a mast or sail, and were only used close to the shore.

In traditional Chinese history, history begins with three semi-mystical and legendary individuals who taught the Chinese the arts of civilization around 2800-2600 BC: of these Fu Hsi was reputed to be the inventor of writing, hunting, trapping, and fishing.

Golf

2006-05-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

The History of Golf
Read complete article @ wikipedia.org

The origin of golf is open to debate among Chinese, French and Scotish. Golf is widely believed to be a Scottish invention, as the game was mentioned in two 15th-century laws prohibiting the playing of the game of "gowf". Some scholars, however, suggest that this refers to another game which is much akin to shinty or hurling, or to modern field hockey. They point out that a game of putting a small ball in a hole in the ground using golf clubs was played in 17th-century Netherlands. The term golf is believed to have originated from a Germanic word for "club".

The oldest playing golf course in the world is The Old Links at Musselburgh. Evidence has shown that golf was played on Musselburgh Links in 1672 although Mary Queen of Scots reputedly played there in 1567.

Golf courses have not always had eighteen holes. The St Andrews Links occupy a narrow strip of land along the sea. As early as the 15th century, golfers at St. Andrews established a customary route through the undulating terrain, playing to holes whose locations were dictated by topography. The course that emerged featured eleven holes, laid out end to end from the clubhouse to the far end of the property. One played the holes out, turned around, and played the holes in, for a total of 22 holes. In 1764, several of the holes were deemed too short, and were therefore combined. The number was thereby reduced from 11 to nine, so that a complete round of the links comprised 18 holes.

The major changes in equipment since the 19th century have been better mowers, especially for the greens, better golf ball designs, using rubber and man-made materials since about 1900, and the introduction of the metal shaft beginning in the 1930s. Also in the 1930s the wooden golf tee was invented. In the 1970s the use of metal to replace wood heads began, and shafts made of graphite composite materials were introduced in the 1980s.

In January 2006, debate provoked again over who invented golf again. Recent evidence unearthed by Prof. Ling Hongling of Lanzhou University, China suggests that a game similar to modern-day golf was played in China since Southern Tang Dynasty, 500 years before golf was first mentioned in Scotland.

Dongxuan Records (Chinese:東軒錄) from the Song Dynasty describe a game called chuiwan (捶丸) and also include drawings. It was played with 10 clubs including a cuanbang, pubang, and shaobang, which are comparable to a driver, two-wood, and three-wood. Clubs were inlaid with jade and gold, suggesting golf was for the wealthy. Chinese archive includes references to a Southern Tang Dynasty official who asked his daughter to dig holes as a target. Lin suggested golf was exported to Europe and then Scotland by Mongolian travellers in the late Middle Ages.

Spokeman for Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, one of the oldest Scotland golf organization, said "Stick and ball games have been around for many centuries, but golf as we know it today, played over 18 holes, clearly originated in Scotland."

Antiques

2006-04-25T05:01:00.000-07:00

Antiques
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Antiques (Latin antiquus, old) are objects which have reached an age which makes them a witness of a previous era in human society.

Antiques are usually objects which show some degree of craftsmanship, or a certain attention to design such as a desk or the early automobile. In a consumer society, an antique is above all an object whose atypical construction and age give it a market value superior to similar objects of recent manufacture. Any historical museum makes a considerable use of antiques in order to illustrate historical events and give them a practical context.

Just about any object can become an antique if it survives long enough, but snob appeal or social acceptance only can ensure that it is actually worth something in the market place.

The term "antique" is used as an insult in some instances, usually to depreciate the usefulness of an object or a procedure. Those who reject the trappings of a consumer society reject the markets which inflate the monetary value of antique objects, regardless of their usefulness or aesthetic qualities.

Antiques are bought at antique stores, or passed down as an estate. Some valuable antiques can be bought from antique dealers and auction services or purchased online through websites and online auctions.
Contents

Definition of Antique

The definition of antique varies from source to source, product to product and year to year. But, there are some time tested definitions of antique for you to consider.

* An item which is at least 75 years old and is collected or desirable due to rarity, condition, utility, or some other unique feature. Cars for example are considered antiques in the U.S. if they are older than 25 years.
* antique (noun) - Any piece of furniture or decorative object or the like produced in a former period and valuable because of its beauty or rarity.

Using this definition will help you begin to understand the differences between genuine antique pieces, vintage items and collectible objects.

The term is sometimes conventionally restricted to the remains of ancient art, such as sculptures, gems, medals, seals, &c. In a most limited sense it applies only to Greek and Roman art, and includes neither the artistic remains of other ancient nations nor any product of classical art of a later date than the fall of the western empire.

Antiquing

Antiquing is the act of shopping, identifying, negotiating, or bargaining for antiques. Items can be bought for personal use, gifts, and in the case of brokers and dealers, profit. Antiquing is performed at garage sales, estate sales, resort towns, antiques districts, collectives, and international auction houses.

Poetry

2006-04-21T17:21:00.000-07:00

Poetry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Poetry (from Ancient Greek: ποιέω/ποιῶ (poiéo/poió) = I create) is traditionally a written art form (although there is also an ancient and modern poetry which relies mainly upon oral or pictorial representations) in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. The increased emphasis on the aesthetics of language and the deliberate use of features such as repetition, meter and rhyme, are what are commonly used to distinguish poetry from prose, but debates over such distinctions still persist, while the issue is confounded by such forms as prose poetry and poetic prose. Some modernists (such as the Surrealists) approach this problem of definition by defining poetry not as a literary genre within a set of genres, but as the very manifestation of human imagination, the substance from which all creative acts derive.

Poetry often uses extremely condensed forms to convey an emotion or an idea to the reader or listener, as well as using devices such as assonance, alliteration and repetition to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Furthermore, poems often make heavy use of imagery, word association, and musical qualities. Because of its reliance on "accidental" features of language and connotational meaning, poetry is notoriously difficult to translate. Similarly, poetry's use of nuance and symbolism can make it difficult to interpret a poem or can leave a poem open to multiple interpretations.

It is difficult to define poetry definitively, especially when one considers that poetry encompasses forms as different as epic narratives and haiku. Needless to say, many poets have given their own definitions. Carl Sandburg said that "poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits." Robert Frost once said "Poetry is the first thing lost in translation."

Nature of poetry

Poetry can be differentiated from prose, which is language meant to convey meaning in a less condensed way by using more logical or narrative structures. This does not imply poetry is illogical. Poetry is often created from the desire to escape the logical, as well as expressing feelings and other expressions in a tight, condensed manner. English Romantic poet John Keats termed this escape from logic Negative Capability.

Prose poetry combines the characteristics of poetry with the superficial appearance of prose. Other forms include narrative poetry and dramatic poetry, used to tell stories and so resemble novels and plays.

The Greek verb ποιέω [poiéō (= I make or create)], gave rise to three words: ποιητής [poiētḗs (= the one who creates)], ποίησις [poíēsis (= the act of creation)] and ποίημα [poíēma (= the thing created)]. From these we get three English words: poet (the creator), poesy (the creation) and poem (the created). A poet is therefore one who creates and poetry is what the poet creates. The underlying concept of the poet as creator is not uncommon. For example, in Anglo-Saxon a poet is a scop (shaper or maker) and in Scots makar.

Painting

2006-04-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

Painting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oil painting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oil painting is done on surfaces with pigment ground into a medium of oil — especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Other oils occasionally used include poppyseed oil, walnut oil, and safflower oil. These oils give various properties to the oil paint, such as less yellowing or different drying times. The oil dries by oxidation, not evaporation, and is usually dry to the touch in a day to two weeks. It is generally dry enough to be varnished in six months to a year. Art conservators do not consider an oil painting completely dry until it is 60 to 80 years old.

Oil paint was probably developed for decorative or functional purposes in the High Middle Ages. Surfaces like shields — both those used in tournaments and those hung as decorations — were more durable when painted in oil-based media than when painted in the traditional tempera paints.

Many Renaissance sources credit northern European painters of the 15th century with the "invention" of painting with oil media on wood panel — Jan van Eyck is often mentioned as the "inventor". The popularity of oil grew in 16th century Venice, where a water-durable medium was essential.

Recent advances in chemistry have produced modern water miscible oil paints that can be used with and cleaned up with water. These are still "real" oil-paints in every sense of the meaning. Small alterations in the molecular structure of the oil creates this water miscible property.

A still-newer type of paint, heat-set oils, remain liquid until heated to 265–280 °F (130–138 °C) for about 15 minutes. Since the paint never dries otherwise, cleanup is not needed (except when one wants to use a different color and the same brush). Although not technically true oils (the medium is an unidentified "non-drying synthetic oily liquid, imbedded with a heat sensitive curing agent"), the paintings resemble oil paintings and are usually shown as oil paintings.

Process of oil painting

The process of oil painting varies from artist to artist, but often includes certain steps. First, the artist prepares the surface. Although surfaces like linoleum, wooden panel, pressed wood, and cardboard have been used, the most common surface is canvas. Traditional artists' canvas is made from linen, but the less expensive cotton fabric has gained popularity. The artist first prepares a wooden frame called a “stretcher" or a "strainer." The canvas is then pulled across the wooden frame and tacked or stapled tightly to it. The next step is for the artist to apply a ground to isolate the canvas from the acidic qualities of the paint. Traditionally, the canvas was coated with a layer of rabbit skin glue and primed with subsequent layers of finely ground chalk and rabbit skin glue. Later the process was changed to a priming of rabbit skin glue with subsquent layers of whiting (gypsum, chalk, barium oxide, titianium(IV) dioxide) mixed with linseed oil. Modern gessos are made of titianium dioxide with an acrylic binder. The artist might apply several layers of gesso, sanding each smooth after it has dried.

Next the artist might sketch an outline of their subject prior to applying pigment to the surface. “Pigment” may be any number of natural substances with color, such as sulfur for yellow or cobalt for blue. The pigment is mixed with oil, usually linseed oil but other oils may be used as well. The various oils dry differently creating assorted effects. Traditionally, an artist mixed his or her own paints for each project, but in the late 1800’s paint in tubes became available. Artists then could mix standard colors easily to create subtle variations of hue.

The artist most often uses a brush to apply the paint. Brushes are made from a variety of fibers to create different effects. For example, brushes made with hog’s bristle might be used for bolder strokes. Brushes made from miniver, which is squirrel fur, might be used for finer details. Sizes of brushes also create different effects. For example, a "round" is a pointed brush used for detail work. "Bright" brushes are used to apply broad swaths of color. The artist might also apply paint with a palette knife, which is a flat, metal blade. A palette knife may also be used to remove paint from the canvas when necessary. Some artists even paint with their fingers.

Most artists paint in layers. The first coat or "underpainting" is laid down first, painted normally with turpentine thinned paint. This layer helps to "tone" the canvas, and cover the white of the gesso. Many artists use this layer to sketch out the composition. After this layer dries, one way the artist might then begin is by painting a "mozaic" of color swatches, working from darkest to lightest. The borders of the colors are blended together when the "mozaic" is completed. This layer is then left to dry before applying details. After it is dry, the artist will apply "glazes" to the painting, sometimes using a process of "Fat over Lean" which means more oil/paint ratio than the previous layer. A classical work might take weeks or even months to layer the paint properly. Artists in later periods such as the impressionist era often blended the wet paint on the canvas without following this layering method. This method is called "Alla Prima." When the image is finished and dried for up to a year, an artist would seal the work with a layer of varnish typically made from damar gum crystals dissolved in turpentine.

Watercolor painting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Watercolor is a painting technique using paint made of colorants suspended or dissolved in water. Although the grounds used in watercolor painting vary, the most common is paper. Others include papyrus, bark papers, plastics, leather, fabric, wood, and canvas.

History of watercolor painting

Watercolor painting began with the invention of paper in China shortly after 100 AD. In the 12th century the conquering Moors introduced papermaking to Spain and the technology spread to Italy decades later. Some of the oldest paper manufactures include Fabriano, Italy, opened in 1276, and Arches, France, opened in 1492.

The forerunner of watercolor painting in Europe was buon fresco painting — wall-painting using pigments in a water medium on wet plaster. One well-known example of buon fresco is the Sistine Chapel, begun in 1508 and completed in 1514.

The earliest known use of European watercolor painting is by Italian Renaissance painter Raffaello Santi (1483-1520), who painted full-scale cartoons as precursors for tapestry designs.

In Germany, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) painted watercolors in the 15th century. The first school of watercolor painting in Europe was led by Hans Bol (1534-1593) and was much influenced by Dürer's creations.

Other famous artists have used watercolor painting to supplement their work with oil paint, including van Dyck (1599-1641), Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), and John Constable (1776-1837).

In 18th century Britain, Paul Sandby (1725–1809) was called the father of British watercolor.

Watercolor paint

The broader term for water-based painting media is watermedia. The term watercolor most often to refers to traditional transparent watercolor or gouache (an opaque form of the same paint).

Watercolor paint is made of finely-ground pigment or dye mixed with gum arabic for body, and glycerin or honey for viscosity and to bond the colorant to the painting surface. Unpigmented filler is added to gouache to lend opacity to the paint. Oil of clove is used to prevent mold.

Techniques

Traditionally, watercolor paint is applied with brushes, but it may be applied with other implements in experimental approaches or mixed with other materials (usually acrylic or collage).

The paint is thinned before application to allow for lighter areas within the painting. This transparency provides watercolor its characteristics of brightness, sparkle, freshness, and clarity of color since light has passed through the film of paint and is reflected back to the viewer through the film.

According to a tradition, dating from at least the early 20th century, the white of the paper is the only white used in transparent watercolor. Opaque paint is seldom used for whites or to overpaint.

Watercolor techniques have the reputation of being quite demanding, although they are actually no more demanding than those used with other media. Maintaining a high quality of value differences and color clarity are typically the most difficult properties to achieve and maintain.

The medium is effective in portraiture, figurative art, photorealism, and abstract work, both objective and non-objective. (Kandinsky produced the first non-objective abstract paintings in transparent watercolor around 1913).

Watercolor proponents prize it as a studio medium for its lack of odor and ease of cleanup, and also as a plein air medium for its portability and quick drying.

Fingerpainting originated in China with watercolor paints.

Football Crazy

2006-04-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

Football
Read the full article @ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article deals with the history and development of the different sports around the world known as "football".

Football is the name given to a number of different, but related, team sports. The most popular of these worldwide is Association football, which is known as soccer in several countries. The English language word football is also applied to Rugby football (Rugby union and Rugby league), American football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football and Canadian football.

Some of the many different codes of football.

While it is widely believed that the word football, or "foot ball", originated in reference to the action of a foot kicking a ball, there is a rival explanation, which has it that football originally referred to a variety of games in medieval Europe, which were played on foot.[1] These games were usually played by peasants, as opposed to the horse-riding sports often played by aristocrats. While there is no conclusive evidence for this explanation, the word football has always implied a variety of games played on foot, not just those that involved kicking a ball. In some cases, the word football has been applied to games which have specifically outlawed kicking the ball. (See football (word) for more details.)

All football games involve scoring points with a spherical or ellipsoidal ball (itself called a football), by moving the ball into, onto, or over a goal area or line defended by the opposing team. Many of the modern games have their origins in England, but many peoples around the world have played games which involved kicking and/or carrying a ball since ancient times.

The object of all football games is to advance the ball by kicking, running with, or passing and catching, either to the opponent's end of the field where points or goals can be scored by, depending on the game, putting the ball across the goal line between posts and under a crossbar, putting the ball between upright posts (and possibly over a crossbar), or advancing the ball across the opponent's goal line while maintaining possession of the ball.

In all football games, the winning team is the one that has the most points or goals when a specified length of time has elapsed.

History

Throughout the history of mankind the urge to kick at stones and other such objects is thought to have led to many early activities involving kicking and/or running with a ball. Football-like games predate recorded history in all parts of the world, though the earliest forms of football are not known.

Ancient games

Documented evidence of what is possibly the oldest organized activity resembling football can be found in a Chinese military manual written during the Han Dynasty in about 2nd century BC.

It describes a practice known as tsu chu (Traditional Chinese:蹴鞠 or 蹴踘 ; Pinyin: cù jū) which involved kicking a leather ball through a hole in a piece of silk cloth strung between two 30 foot poles. It was not a game as such but more of a spectacle for the amusement of the Emperor and it may have been performed as long as 3000 years ago.

Another Asian ball-kicking game, which may have been influenced by tsu chu, is kemari. This is known to have been played within the Japanese imperial court in Kyoto from about 600AD. In kemari several individuals stand in a circle and kick a ball to each other, trying not to let the ball drop to the ground (much like keepie uppie). The game survived through many years but appears to have died out sometime before the mid 19th century. In 1903 in a bid to restore ancient traditions the game was revived and it can now be seen played for the benefit of tourists at a number of festivals.

The Greeks and Romans are known to have played many ball games some of which involved the use of the feet. The Roman writer Cicero describes the case of a man who was killed whilst having a shave when a ball was kicked into a barbers shop. The Roman game of Harpastu is believed to have been adapted from a team game known as "επισκυρος" (episkyros) or pheninda that is mentioned by Greek playwright, Antiphanes (388-311BC) and later referred to by Clement of Alexandria. The game appears to have vaguely resembled rugby.

There are a number of less well-documented references to prehistoric, ancient or traditional ball games, played by indigenous peoples all around the world. For example, William Strachey of the Jamestown settlement is the first to record a game played by the Native Americans called Pahsaheman, in 1610. In Victoria, Australia, Indigenous Australians played a game called Marn Grook. An 1878 book by Robert Brough-Smyth, The Aborigines of Victoria, quotes a man called Richard Thomas as saying, in about 1841, that he had witnessed Aboriginal people playing the game: "Mr Thomas describes how the foremost player will drop kick a ball made from the skin of a possum and how other players leap into the air in order to catch it." It is widely believed that Marn Grook had an influence on the development of Australian Rules Football (see below). In northern Canada and/or Alaska, the Inuit (Eskimos) played a game on ice called Aqsaqtuk. Each match began with two teams facing each other in parallel lines, before attempting to kick the ball through each other team's line and then at a goal. The ancient Aztec game of ollamalitzli also involved kicking a ball, but it generally had more similarities to basketball.

These games and others may well far back into antiquity and have influenced football over the centuries. However, the route towards the development of modern football games appears to lie in Western Europe and particularly England.

Auto Racing

2006-04-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

History of Auto Racing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The start

Auto racing began almost immediately after the construction of the first successful petrol-fuelled autos. In 1894, the first contest was organized by Paris magazine Le Petit Journal, a reliability test to determine best performance.

A year later the first real race was staged in France, from Paris to Bordeaux. First over the line was Émile Levassor but he was disqualified because his car was not a required four-seater.

An international competition began with the Gordon Bennett Cup in auto racing.

The first auto race in the United States, over a 54.36 mile (87.48 km) course, took place in Chicago, Illinois on November 2, 1895, Frank Duryea winning in 10 h and 23 min, beating three petrol-fuelled cars and two electric. The first trophy awarded was the Vanderbilt Cup.

City to city racing

With auto construction and racing dominated by France, the French automobile club ACF staged a number of major international races, usually from or to Paris, connecting with another major city in Europe or France.

These very successful races ended in 1903 when Marcel Renault was involved in a fatal accident near Angouleme in the Paris-Madrid race. Eight fatalities caused the French government to stop the race in Bordeaux and ban open-road racing.

1910-1950

The 1930s saw the radical differentiation of racing vehicles from high-priced road cars, with Delage, Auto Union, Mercedes-Benz, Delahaye and Bugatti constructing streamlined vehicles with engines producing up to 450 kW(612HP) with the aid of multiple superchargers. From 1928-1930 and again in 1934-1936, the maximum weight permitted was 750 kg(1654Lbs), a rule diametrically opposed to current racing regulations. Extensive use of aluminium alloys was required to achieve light weight, and in the case of the Mercedes, the paint was removed to satisfy the weight limitation, producing the famous Silver Arrows.

See: Grand Prix motor racing

There are many categories of auto racing.

Single-seater racing

Main article: Open wheel racing

A modern Formula One car: Michael Schumacher's Ferrari at the 2005 United States Grand Prix.
Enlarge
A modern Formula One car: Michael Schumacher's Ferrari at the 2005 United States Grand Prix.

Single-seater (open-wheel) racing is perhaps the most well-known form of motorsport, with cars designed specifically for high-speed racing. The wheels are not covered, and the cars often have aerofoil wings front and rear to produce downforce and enhance adhesion to the track.

Single-seater races are held on specially designed closed circuits or street circuits closed for the event. Many single-seater races in North America are held on "oval" circuits and the Indy Racing League races mostly on ovals.

The best-known variety of single-seater racing is the Formula One World Championship, which involves an annual championship featuring major international car and engine manufacturers in an ongoing battle of technology and driver skill. Formula One is, by any measure, the most expensive sport in the world, with some teams spending in excess of 200 million US dollars per year. Formula One is widely considered to be the pinnacle of motorsports, and a seat in a Formula One car is undoubtedly the peak of any driver's racing career. In North America, the cars used in the National Championship (currently Champcars and the Indy Racing League) have traditionally been similar to F1 cars but with more restrictions on technology aimed at helping to control costs.

Other single-seater racing series are GP2 (formerly known as Formula 3000 and Formula Two), Formula Nippon, Formula Renault 3.5 (also known as the World Series by Renault, succession series of World Series by Nissan), Formula Three, Formula Atlantic, and A1 Grand Prix.

There are other categories of single-seater racing, including kart racing, which employs a small, low-cost machine on small tracks. Many of today's top drivers started their careers in karts.

Rallying

Main article: Rallying

Rallying, or rally racing, involves highly modified production cars on (closed) public roads or off-road areas run on a point-to-point format where participants and their co-drivers “rally” to a set of points, leaving in regular intervals from start points. A rally is typically conducted over a number of stages of any terrain, which entrants are often allowed to scout beforehand. The co-driver uses the "pacenotes" to help the driver complete each stage as fast as possible, reading the detailed shorthand aloud over an in-car intercom system. Competition is based on lowest total elasped time over the course of an event.

The top series is the World Rally Championship (WRC), but there also regional championships and many countries have their own national championships. Some famous rallies include the Monte Carlo Rally and Rally Argentina. Another famous event (actually best described as a "rally raid") is the Paris-Dakar Rally. There are also many smaller, club level, categories of rallies which are popular with amateurs, making up the "grass roots" of motorsports.

Ice Racing

Main article: Ice Racing

Touring car racing

Main article: Touring car racing

Touring car racing is a style of road racing that is run with production derived race cars. It often features exciting, full-contact racing due to the small speed differentials and large grids.

The V8 Supercars originally from Australia, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters originally from Germany, and the World Touring Car Championship held with 2 non-European races (previously the European Touring Car Championship) are the major touring car championships conducted worldwide.

The Sports Car Club of America's SPEED World Challenge Touring Car and GT championships are dominant in North America while the venerable British Touring Car Championship continues in Great Britain. America's historic Trans-Am Series is undergoing a period of transition, but is still the longest-running road racing series in the U.S. The National Auto Sport Association also provides a venue for amateurs to compete in home-built factory derived vehicles on various local circuits.

Stock car racing

One of the most famous NASCAR tracks was the old Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California.
Enlarge
One of the most famous NASCAR tracks was the old Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California.

Main article: Stock car racing

Stock car racing is the American variant of touring car racing. Usually conducted on ovals, the cars look like production cars but are in fact purpose-built racing machines which are all very similar in specifications. Early stock cars were much closer to production vehicles; the car to be raced was often driven from track to track.

The main stock car racing series is NASCAR and among the most famous races in the series are the Daytona 500 and Allstate 400 at The Brickyard. NASCAR also runs the Busch Series (a junior stock car league) and the Craftsman Truck Series (pickup trucks).

NASCAR also runs the Featherlite series of "modified" cars which are heavily modified from stock form. With powerful engines, large tires, and light bodies. NASCAR's oldest series is considered by many to be its most exciting.

There are also other stock car series like IROC in the United States and CASCAR in Canada.

British Stock car racing is a form of Short Oval Racing This takes place on shale or tarmac tracks in either clockwise or anti-clockwise direction depending on the class, some of which allow contact.

Races are organised by local promoters and all drivers are registered with BRISCA and have their own race number.

What classes exist depends on the promoters, so events in Scotland at Cowdenbeath can be very different from an event at Wimbledon Stadium in London.

Formula Cars

* F1 - Cars built to Specification normally utilising 5,6 or 7 Litre V8 engines
* F2 - Specification built cars similar to F1 with 2 Litre Engines

These are the two main National forms of British Stock Car Racing, there are World Championships organised by the governing body

There are also local variants raced in some smaller tracks, they are usually similar to F2 Stock Cars.

F1's race (in the UK) at the following venues:

Belle Vue Stadium (Manchester), Owlerton Stadium (Sheffield), Skegness Stadium, Buxton, Hednesford, Birmingham, Northampton, Coventry, Kings Lynn, Ipswich, Cowdenbeath, Knockhill.

They also race in Holland.

Hot Rods

* Local Variations on the concept of fibreglass cars that look like production models Non Contact

Production Models

* Modified Road cars, classes range from Non-Contact 2 Litre Hot Rods to Contact Banger Racing.

Contact Classes can be identified by the inclusion of external side impact bars and large bumpers at either end made out of square section steel.

Drag racing

Main article: Drag racing

In drag racing, the objective is to complete a certain distance, traditionally 1/4 mile, (400 m), in the shortest possible time. The vehicles range from the everyday car to the purpose-built dragster. Speeds and elapsed time differ from class to class. A street car can cover the 1/4 mile (400 m) in 15 s whereas a top fuel dragster can cover the same distance in 4.5 s and reach 330 mph (530 km/h). Drag racing was organised as a sport by Wally Parks in the early 1950s through the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) which is the largest sanctioning motor sports body in the world. The NHRA was formed to prevent people from street racing. Illegal street racing is not drag racing.

Launching its run to 330 mph (530 km/h), a top fuel dragster will accelerate at 4.5 g (44 m/s2), and when braking and parachutes are deployed, the driver experiences deceleration of 4 g (39 m/s2), more than space shuttle occupants. A single top fuel car can be heard over eight miles (13 km) away and can generate a reading of 1.5 to 2 on the Richter scale. (NHRA Mile High Nationals 2001, and 2002 testing from the National Seismology Center.)

Drag racing is often head-to-head where two cars battle each other, the winner proceeding to the next round. Professional classes are all first to the finish line wins. Sportsman racing is handicapped (slower car getting a head start) using an index, and cars running faster than their index "break out" and lose.

Drag racing is mostly popular in the United States.

Sports car racing

Main article: Sports car racing

In sports car racing, production versions of sports cars and purpose-built prototype cars compete with each other on closed circuits. The races are usually conducted over long distances, at least 1000 km, and cars are driven by teams of two or three drivers (and sometimes more in the US), switching every now and then. Due to the performance difference between production based sports cars and sports racing prototypes, one race usually involves many racing classes. In the US the American Le Mans Series was organized in 1999, featuring GT, GTS, and two prototype classes. Another series based on Le Mans began in 2004, the Le Mans Endurance Series, which included four 1000 km races at tracks in Europe. A competing body, Grand-Am, which began in 2000, sanctions its own set of endurance series, the Rolex Sports Car Series and the Grand-Am Cup. Grand-Am events typically feature many more cars and much closer competition than American Le Mans.

Famous sports car races include the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Offroad racing

Main article: Offroad racing

In offroad racing, various classes of specially modified vehicles, including cars, compete in races through off-road environments. In North America these races often take place in the desert, such as the famous Baja 1000. In Europe, "offroad" refers to events such as autocross or rallycross, while desert races and rally-raids such as the Paris-Dakar, Master Rallye or European "bajas" are called Cross-Country Rallies.

Hillclimbing

Main article: Hillclimbing

Kart racing

Main article: Kart Racing

Although often seen as the entry point for serious racers into the sport, kart racing, or karting, can be an economic way to try your luck at motorsport and is also a fully fledged international sport in its own right. World-famous F1-drivers like Michael and Ralf Schumacher and most of the typical starting grid of a modern Grand Prix took up the sport at around the age of eight, with some testing from age three. Several former motorcycle champions have also taken up the sport, notably Wayne Rainey, who was paralysed in a racing accident and now races a hand-controlled kart. As one of the cheapest ways to go racing, karting is seeing its popularity grow worldwide.

Go-karts, or just "karts" - seem very distant from normal road cars, with dimunitive frames and wheels, but a small engine combined with very light weight make for a quick machine. The tracks are also on a much smaller scale, making kart racing more accessible to the people.

Legend car racing

Main article: Legend car racing

Other categories

* Autocrossing
* Autograss
* Demolition Derby
* Dirt speedway racing
* Dirt track racing
* Drifting
* Grand Prix Truck Racing
* Road racing
* Short track motor racing
* Slalom
* Solo
* Street racing
* Rallycross
* Folkrace

Canoeing

2006-04-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

Canoeing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canoeing is the activity of paddling a canoe or kayak for the purpose of recreation, sport, or transportation. It usually refers exclusively to using a paddle to propel a canoe or kayak with only human muscle power. A kayak is propelled using a paddle with two blades where the paddler sits with their legs infront of them, whereas canoes are propelled using single- or double-bladed paddles where the paddler is kneeling or sitting on a raised seat. Kayaks are usually closed-decked boats with a spraydeck, while canoes are usually open boats. There are also open kayaks and closed canoes. Although somewhat confusing, the term canoeing is generally used as a generic term for both forms, though the term "paddle sports" is also used. In the United States and Canada, however, 'canoeing' usually refers only to canoes, as opposed to both canoes and kayaks. Paddling a kayak is also referred to as kayaking.

Open canoes may be 'poled' (punted), sailed, 'lined and tracked' (using ropes)or even 'gunnel-bobbed'.

In modern canoe sport, both canoes and kayaks may be closed-decked. Other than by the minimum competition specifications (typically length and width (beam))and seating arrangement it is difficult to differentiate most competition canoes from the equivalent competition kayaks. The most common difference is that competition kayaks are always seated, and competition canoes are generally kneeling. Exceptions include Canoe Marathon (in both European and American competitive forms) and sprint (high kneeling position). Whilst traditional 'canadian' canoes are seated, whitewater rodeo and surf variants increasingly employ the use of 'saddles' to give greater boat control under extreme conditions.

Skiing

2006-04-12T15:37:00.000-07:00

Skiing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Skiing is the activity of gliding over snow using skis (originally wooden planks, now usually made from fiberglass or related composites) strapped to the feet with ski bindings. Originally used primarily for transportation, skiing evolved into a popular recreational and competitive activity during the 20th century.

Although skiing probably evolved gradually from snowshoeing, Norwegian Sondre Norheim is often called the "father of modern skiing". In the 19th century, Sondre Norheim invented bindings that enabled the skier to do turns while skiing down hills. This form of skiing was called Slalom (sla låm, Norwegian dialect expression for a difficult track) by Norheim and his contemporaries. This form of skiing is now referred to as Telemark or Telemark skiing. Skiing originally was a practical activity that resembled today's Nordic, or cross-country, style.

The invention of firmer bindings to attach the skier's feet to the ski, likely by Austrian Matthias Zdarsky, enabled the skier to turn more effectively and led to the development of Alpine, or Downhill, skiing.

Shortly thereafter, in the early 20th century, Austrian Hannes Schneider pioneered the idea of rotating the body to help steer the skis. Soon this Arlberg technique, named for his home region, spread around the world and helped make skiing a popular recreational activity.

Surfing

2006-04-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

Surfing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Surfing (Hawaiian: he‘e nalu, "wave-sliding") is an increasingly popular recreational activity in which individuals paddle into a waves, jump to their feet, and are propelled across the water by the force of the wave. Surfing can be done on various pieces of equipment, including surfboards, bodyboards, wave skis, kneeboards and surf mats. Most modern surfboards are made of polyurethane foam (with one or more wooden strips or "stringers"), fiberglass cloth, and polyester resin. An emerging surf technology is an epoxy surfboard, which are stronger and lighter than traditional fiberglass. The sport has spread to most places where waves of sufficient size and shape appear, including Brazil, Costa Rica, France, Ireland, México, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, and many island states including Barbados in the Caribbean and Tahiti in the Pacific. Long Island is also a very popular spot for surfing.

Equipment used in surfing includes a leash (to keep a surfer's board from washing to shore after a 'wipeout', and to prevent it from hitting other surfers), surf wax and/or traction pads (to keep a surfers feet from slipping off the deck of the board), and "fins" (also known as "skegs") which can either be permanently attached ("glassed-on") or interchangeable. In warmer climates swimsuits, surf trunks or boardshorts are worn; in cold water surfers can opt to wear wetsuits, titties, hoods, and gloves to protect them against lower water temperatures.

Surfing's appeal probably derives from an unusual confluence of elements: adrenaline, skill, and high paced maneuvering are set against a naturally unpredictable backdrop—an organic environment that is, by turns, graceful and serene, violent and formidable.

Surfing involves eyeing a rideable wave on the horizon and matching its speed by paddling. A common problem for beginners is not being able to catch the wave in the first place. Once the wave has started to push the surfer forward, the surfer must then jump to his or her feet and ride down the face of the wave. This involves a difficult process where everything happens simultaneously.

Surfers' skills are tested not only in their ability to control their board in challenging conditions, but by their ability to execute various maneuvers such as turning and carving. Some of the common turns have become recognizable tricks such as the 'cutback' (turning back toward the breaking part of the wave), the 'floater' (riding on the top of the breaking curl of the wave), and 'off the lip' (banking off the top of the wave). A newer addition to surfing has been the progressiong of the "air" where a surfer is able to propel himself off the wave and reenter. The ultimate thing in surfing is "tuberiding." This is the holy grail of surfing, where the surfer maneuvers into a position where the wave curls over the top of them, forming a "tube" (or "barrel"), with the rider inside the cylindrical portion of the wave. This is most easily done in hollow, powerful waves. The sensetion it produces is like nothing in this world and is constantly sought for the rest of a surfer's life.

Competitive surfing is a comparison sport. Riders, competing in pairs or small groups, are allocated a certain amount of time to ride waves and display their prowess and mastery of the craft. Competitors are then judged according to how competently the wave is ridden, including the level of difficulty, as well as frequency, of maneuvers. There is a professional surfing world surfing championship series held annually at surf beaches around the world.

Although competitive surfing has become an extremely popular and lucrative activity, both for its participants and its sponsors, the sport does not have its origins as a competitive pursuit. It is common to hear debate rage between purists of the sport, who still maintain the ideal of 'soul surfing', and surfers who engage in the competitive and, consequently, commercial side of the activity.

A non-competitive adventure activity involving riding the biggest waves possible (known as "rhino hunting") is also popular with some surfers. A practice popularised in the 1990s has seen big wave surfing revolutionised, as surfers use jetskis to tow them out to a position where they can catch previously unrideable waves (See also: tow-in surfing). These waves were previously unrideable due to the speed at which they travel. Some waves reach speeds of over 60 km/h; jetskis enable surfers to reach the speed of the wave thereby making them rideable. Jetskis not only allow surfers to ride these waves but allow them to survive 'wipeouts'. In many instances surfers would not survive the battering of the 'sets' (groups of waves together) without drowning. This spectacular activity is extremely popular with television crews, but because such waves rarely occur in heavily populated regions, and usually only a very long way out to sea on outer reefs, few spectators see such events directly.

Backpacking (wilderness)

2006-04-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

Articles on Backpacking

Backpacking Tibet

Backpacking in Croatia

Bob's Backpacking Bits

The Backpacker Articles

Pro Tips & Tricks

Backpacking (wilderness)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Backpacking (also tramping or trekking in some countries) is the complete combination of hiking and camping. A backpacker hikes into an area with the intent of exiting at a later date, so he or she carries supplies and equipment to satisfy sleeping and eating needs.

A backpacker packs all of his or her gear into a backpack and hikes to an inspirational location. This gear must include food, water, and shelter, or the means to obtain them, but very little else, and often in a more compact and simpler form than one would use for stationary camping. Many backpacking trips last just a weekend (one or two nights), but long-distance expeditions may last weeks or months, sometimes aided by planned food and supply drops.

Backpacking camps are more spartan than ordinary camps. In areas that experience a regular traffic of backpackers, a hike-in camp might have a fire ring and a small wooden bulletin board with a map and some warning or information signs. Many hike-in camps are no more than level patches of ground without scrub or underbrush. In truly desolate areas, established camps do not exist at all, and travelers pitch their tents wherever they please.

In some places, backpackers have access to lodging that are more substantial than a tent. In the more remote parts of Great Britain, bothies exist to provide simple (free) accommodation for backpackers. Another example is the High Sierra Camps in Yosemite National Park. Mountain huts provide similar accommodation in other countries, so being a member of a mountain hut organization is advantageous (perhaps required) to make use of their facilities.

Most backpackers purposely try to avoid impacting on the land through which they travel. This includes following established trails as much as possible, not removing anything, and not leaving trash in the backcountry. The Leave No Trace movement offers a set of guidelines for low-impact backpacking ("Leave nothing but footprints. Take nothing but photos.").

Why people backpack

People are drawn to backpacking primarily for recreation, to explore places that they consider beautiful and fascinating, many of which cannot be accessed in any other way. A backpacker can travel deeper into remote areas, away from people and their effects, than a day-hiker. However, backpacking presents more advantages besides distance of travel. Many weekend trips cover routes that could be hiked in a single day, but people choose to backpack them anyway, for the experience of staying overnight.

These possibilities come with disadvantages. The weight of a pack, laden with supplies and gear, forces backpackers to travel more slowly than day-hikers would, and it can become a nuisance and a distraction from enjoying the scenery. In addition, camp chores (such as pitching camp, breaking camp, and cooking) can easily consume several hours every day.

Backpackers face many risks, including adverse weather, difficult terrain, treacherous river crossings, and hungry or unpredictable animals. They are subject to illnesses, which run the gamut from simple dehydration to heat exhaustion, hypothermia, altitude sickness, and physical injury. The remoteness of backpacking locations exacerbates any mishap. However, these hazards do not deter backpackers. Some simply accept danger as a risk that they must endure if they want to backpack. For others, however, danger enhances the allure of the wilderness.

Equipment

All backpackers seek to minimize the weight and bulk of gear carried. A lighter pack causes less injury and soreness, and allows the backpacker to travel longer distances. Every piece of equipment is evaluated for a balance of utility versus weight. Significant reductions in weight can usually be achieved with little sacrifice in equipment utility, though very lightweight equipment is often more costly.

A large industry has developed to provide lightweight gear and food for backpackers. The gear includes the backpacks themselves, as well as ordinary camping equipment modified to reduce the weight, by either reducing the size, reducing the durability, or using lighter materials such as special plastics, alloys of aluminium, and titanium, or making them consumable such as sleeping bags made of processed paper which can be burned. Designers of portable stoves and tents have been particularly ingenious. Homemade gear is common too, such as the beverage can stove.

Some backpackers use lighter and more compact gear than do others. The most radical measures taken in this regard are sometimes called ultralight backpacking.

Due to the emphasis on weight reduction, a practical joke common in some circles is to secretly pack a small but relatively heavy luxury item, such as a soft drink, into another backpacker's pack. Then, once the group stops for a rest, the perpetrator retrieves the item, thanks the bearer for carrying it, and consumes it.

Water

Water is usually obtained from lakes and streams. Drinking and cooking water may need treatment with a filter or purifier to protect against bacteria and protozoa (see Potability of backcountry water). If water is unavailable, or if the only water available is utterly filthy, backpackers may carry large amounts of water for long distances. Since a hiker needs three or four litres every day—and much more under especially hot or dry conditions—a water supply for more than a few days is prohibitively heavy. In areas with many water sources, one litre or less is enough to sustain a backpacker between refills.

Water may be stored in bottles or in soft, collapsible hydration packs (bladders). Some backpackers store water in ordinary plastic beverage bottles, while others use special Lexan bottles or metal canteens. For accessibility they may be carried by a shoulder strap or attached to the outside of a pack. Bladders are typically made of plastic, rubber, and/or fabric. They are light, easily stored and collapsible. They may be equipped with drinking hoses for easy access while hiking. In spite of this convenience, bladders are more prone to leaking than bottles, particularly at the hose connections. Hoses also allow the hiker to lose track of the water supply in the bladder and to deplete it prematurely.

Food

Some backpackers enjoy cooking elaborate meals with fresh ingredients, particularly on short trips, and others carry the gear and take the time to catch fish or hunt small game for food. However, especially for long expeditions, most backpackers' food criteria are roughly the same: high energy content (particularly protein), with long shelf life and low mass and volume.

Ordinary household foods used on backpacking trips include cheese, bread, sausage, fruit, peanut butter, and pasta. Popular snack foods include trail mix, easily prepared at home; convenient and nutritious energy bars; and chocolate and other forms of candy, which provide quick energy and flavor. Canned food is rarely used, except for meats or small delicacies. Metal cans and their contents are usually heavy, and, like all trash, the empties must be carried back out.

For dinners, many hikers use specially manufactured, pre-cooked food that can be eaten hot. It is often sold in large, stiff bags that double as eating vessels. One common variety of special backpacking food is freeze-dried food, which can be quickly reconstituted by adding hot water. Another kind of special backpacking food is UHT-packaged without dehydration, and can be reheated with a special, water-activated chemical heater. This technology originated with the U.S. military's Meal Ready-to-Eat ("MRE"), but is now produced separately for the commercial market. The small chemical heater obviates the need for a portable stove and fuel, but the meals and packacking weigh so much that, for more than a few meals, there is no weight advantage.

Skills and safety

Main article: Hazards of outdoor activities

* Survival skills are handy for peace of mind: In case the weather, terrain or environment is more challenging than prepared for, or for dealing with shortcomings in
* Navigation and orienteering are useful to find the trailhead, then find and follow a route to a desired sequence of destinations, and then an exit. In case of disorientation, orienteering skills are important to determine where you are and formulate a route to somewhere more desirable. At their most basic, navigation skills allow you to choose the correct sequence of trails to follow.
* First Aid: effectively dealing with minor injuries (splinters, punctures, sprains) is considered by many a fundamental backcountry skill. More subtle, but maybe even more important, is recognizing and promptly treating hypothermia, heat stroke, dehydration and hypoxia, as these are rarely encountered in daily life.
* Leave No Trace is the backpacker's version of the golden rule: To have beautiful and pristine places to enjoy, help make them. At a minimum, don't make them worse.
* Distress signaling is a skill of last resort.

See also

* List of long-distance trails
* Scouting
* Ten essentials: minimum gear to carry in case an emergency develops.
* Hazards of outdoor activities

Related activities

* Hiking may or may not use backpacks.
* Canoe camping is similar to backpacking, but uses canoes or other boats for transportation.
* Ski touring and snowshoeing are alternative forms of hiking (overnight or otherwise) that can be engaged in when the ground is buried deeply in snow.
* In animal packing ("horse packing", "mule packing", etc.), the hikers use pack animals (usually horses, mules or llamas) to carry their equipment, and sometimes they will even ride the animals. Porters are sometimes hired for the same purpose.
* Backpacking (travel) focuses on cultural attractions, rather than natural ones, though it may also include wilderness side trips.
* Adventure tourism is travel in a region or environment that is, for one reason or another, highly unpredictable or hazardous.
* Thru-hiking is traversing a long-distance trail in a single, continuous journey by starting at one end of the trail with a backpack and hiking essentially unaided to the other end.

External links

* backpacking.net (specializing in lightweight backpacking)
* CampRecipes.com
* thebackpacker.com Backpacking and hiking information
* Trailspace.com Owner reviews of backpacking gear.
* BackpackGearTest.org Backpacking gear review.
* BearCamel.com Stories and Tales about trail adventures.

Arts and crafts

2006-03-30T14:28:00.000-08:00

Arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with one's own hands and skill. These can be sub-divided into handicrafts or "traditional crafts" (doing things the old way) and the rest. Some crafts have been practised for centuries, while others are modern inventions, or popularisations of crafts which were originally practiced in a very small geographic area.

Additionally, this term refers to the Arts and Crafts movement which was a social revolution veiled in a design movement of the late 19th and early 20th century, whose proponents included William Morris and Edwin Lutyens. They believed that medieval craftsmen achieved a joy and fulfillment in the excellence of their work, which they strove to emulate.

These activities are called crafts because originally many of them were professions under the guild system. Adolescents were apprenticed to a master-craftsman, and they refined their skills over a period of years in exchange for low wages. By the time their training was complete, they were well-equipped to set up in trade for themselves, earning their living with the skill that could be traded directly within the community, often for goods and services. The Industrial Revolution and the increasing mechanisation of production processes gradually reduced or eliminated many of the roles professional craftspeople played, and today 'crafts' are most commonly seen as a form of hobby or art.

Most crafts require a combination of skill, speed, and patience, but they can also be learnt on a more basic level by virtually anyone. Many community centres and schools run evening or day classes and workshops offering to teach basic craft skills in a short period of time. Many of these crafts become extremely popular for brief periods of time (a few months, or a few years), spreading rapidly among the crafting population as everyone emulates the first examples.

The term craft also refers to the products of artistic production or creation that require a high degree of tacit knowledge, are highly technical, require specialized equipment and/or facilities to produce, involve manual labour or a blue-collar work ethic, are accessible to the general public and are constructed from materials with histories that exceed the boundaries of western art history, such as ceramics, glass, textiles, metal and wood. These products are produced within a specific community of practice and while they differ from the products produced within the communities of art and design, the boundaries of such often overlap resulting in hybrid objects. Additionally, as the interpretation and validation of art is frequently a matter of context, an audience may perceive crafted objects as art objects when these objects are viewed within an art context, such as in a museum or in a position of prominence in one’s home.

source: Wikipedia

Car Boot Sales

2006-03-29T04:17:00.000-08:00

Car boot sales are a mainly British form of market in which private individuals come together to sell their unwanted items. In US terms, a car boot sale would be considered somewhere between a garage sale and a swap meet. Though garage sales are not unknown in the UK, car boot sales are much more popular.
Car boot sales are often held in the grounds of schools and other community buildings, or in grassy fields or carparks. Usually they take place on weekend mornings. Sellers pay a nominal fee for their pitch, and arrive with their goods in the boot (trunk) of their car. Usually the items are then unpacked onto folding trestle tables, a blanket or tarpaulin, or simply the ground. Entry to the general public is usually free, but there may be an optional donation box for a charity at the entrance. Advertised opening times are often not strictly adhered to, and in many cases the nature of the venue itself makes it impossible to prevent keen bargain hunters from wandering in as soon as the first stallholders arrive.
To a large extent car boot sales are used to sell unwanted household goods, ranging from old books, records, videos, toys, stamps, coins, through to radios, ornaments, tools, clocks, furniture, kitchenware, and clothes. However, a number of commercial sellers often make their appearance selling vegetables, or new goods such as tools, toys, batteries,ornaments and fittings, paper, pens and stationery. Almost everything is sold at knock down prices ranging from 10p to 50p for books, through to several pounds for the most expensive items.
Anyone can turn up at a car boot sale to sell their items, whether a first timer, a regular, or a seasoned professional. To secure the best pitches, it is best to turn up very early, e.g. from 5AM. Often amateurs will bring a car load of junk to sell when they move home, or clear out the home of a deceased relative.
No guarantees are given in a car boot sale and if something does not work, you can't take it back. The rule is caveat emptor - buyer beware.
The fun of a car boot sale is that you never know what you will find of use in someone else's junk. Mostly it is junk that can be found, but occaisionally stories have made the papers of antiques or paintings being bought for a few pounds in a car boot sale and then sold in auction for thousands. Film collector Gordon Hendry, for example, purchased two episodes of the televison series Doctor Who on 16 mm film at a sale in the early 1980s, paying £8 each. He later found that they were the only known surviving copies of these episodes (see Doctor Who missing episodes).
It is not unknown for stolen goods to be sold at car boot sales.

source:Wikipedia.org

Recreation and Quality Time

2006-03-29T04:14:00.000-08:00

Recreation is the employment of time in a non-profitable way, in many ways also a therapeutic refreshment of one's body or mind. While leisure is more likely a form of entertainment or rest, recreation is active and participatory, but in a refreshing and diverting manner. As people in the world's wealthier regions lead increasingly sedentary life styles, the need for recreation has grown. The rise of so called active vacations exemplify this.
Recreation, play, and fun are not the preserve of humans; nearly all creatures indulge in this to some extent. Play is essential for the development of skills, the most basic of which are motor skills in young creatures.
The choice of hours for recreation is for employees restricted by the requirements of, and agreements with, the employer (working time), and for students restricted by school hours. For people with their own business it is also restricted by the requirements of the work, such as the opening hours of the business based on wishes of customers, laws, and customs.
The weekend is typically a time for recreation, perhaps (in Judeo-Christian and Muslim cultures) because the Sabbath falls on the weekend and the Sabbath is "the day of rest." Holidays are also a common time for recreation.
Traditionally music and dance serve as recreation in many cultures, as do sports, hobbies, games (playing) and tourism. Watching TV and listening to music are common forms of recreation, or rather leisure.
For many, the most valued recreation is spontaneous and original.
Many activities may be considered recreational: One of the most popular today is
Sudoku (Japanese: 数独, sūdoku), also known as Number Place, is a logic-based placement puzzle. The aim of the puzzle is to enter a numerical digit from 1 through 9 in each cell of a 9×9 grid made up of 3×3 subgrids (called "regions"), starting with various digits given in some cells (the "givens"). Each row, column, and region must contain only one instance of each numeral. Completing the puzzle requires patience and logical ability. Although first published in a U.S. puzzle magazine in 1979, Sudoku initially caught on in Japan in 1986 and attained international popularity in 2005.

Quality time is the time someone spends with the people they love and respect, especially with those towards whom they feel some sort of obligation. Activities pursued are never work-related but are expected by the people getting together to be productive in a non-economical sense. Ideally, quality time is experienced as joyful by everybody present.
It is most often used in the context of one's immediate family; i.e. spouse and/or children. The connotation is that the amount of time is limited, but that this is compensated by more intense use of it.

source:Wikipedia.org

Pastimes (Hobbies)

2006-03-29T04:11:00.000-08:00

Pastimes (Hobbies)
Origin of term
In the Middle Ages, falconry was a very popular pastime (what today might be called a hobby), and of all the different birds used for it, the Eurasian Hobby was perhaps the most popular. It is said that the modern use of hobby to indicate a pastime followed from this.
An alternative explanation is that the usage grew from another recreational animal called hobby: which was a type of small ambling or pacing horse.
A hobby-horse was a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like the real hobby. From this came the expression "to ride one's hobby-horse", meaning "to follow a favourite pastime", and in turn, hobby in the modern sense of recreation.
Purposes
Hobbies are practised for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include collecting, making, tinkering, sports and adult education. Engaging in a hobby can lead to acquiring substantial skill, knowledge, and experience. However, personal fulfillment is the aim.
What are hobbies for some people are professions for others: a game tester may enjoy cooking as a hobby, while a professional chef might enjoy playing (and helping to debug) computer games. Generally speaking, the person who does something for fun, not remuneration, is called an amateur (or hobbyist), as distinct from a professional.
An important determinant of what is considered a hobby, as distinct from a profession (beyond the lack of remuneration), is probably how easy it is to make a living at the activity. Almost no one can make a living at cigarette card or stamp collecting, but many people find it enjoyable; so it is commonly regarded as a hobby.
Amateur astronomers often make meaningful contributions to the professionals. It is not entirely uncommon for a hobbyist to be the first to discover a celestial body or event.
In the UK, the pejorative noun anorak (similar to the Japanese "otaku", meaning a geek or enthusiast) is often applied to people who obsessively pursue a particular hobby.
Development of hobbies into other ventures
Whilst some hobbies strike many people as trivial or boring, hobbyists have found something compelling and entertaining about them (see geek). Much early scientific research was, in effect, a hobby of the wealthy; more recently, Linux began as a student's hobby. A hobby may not be as trivial as it appears at a point in time when it has relatively few followers. Thus a British conservationist recalls that when seen wearing field glasses at a London station in the 1930s he was asked if he was going to the (horse) races. The anecdote indicates that at the time an interest in wildlife was not widely perceived as a credible hobby. Practitioners of that hobby went on to become the germs of the conservation movement that flourished in Britain from 1965 onwards and became a global political movement within a generation. Conversely, the hobby of aircraft spotting probably originated as part of a serious activity designed to detect arriving waves of enemy aircraft entering English airspace during World War II. In peacetime it clearly has no such practical or social purpose.
Pursuit of a hobby may have calming or helpful therapeutic side effects. In some cases, however, (for example in collecting) the line between a hobby and an obsession can become blurred. There is more than one documented case of violence over things as simple as coin collecting.

source:Wikipedia.org

Genes

2006-03-29T04:06:00.000-08:00

Genes are the units of heredity in living organisms. They are encoded in the organism's genetic material (usually DNA or RNA), and control the physical development and behavior of the organism. During reproduction, the genetic material is passed on from the parent(s) to the offspring. Genetic material can also be passed between un-related individuals (e.g. via transfection, or on viruses). Genes encode the information necessary to construct the chemicals (proteins etc.) needed for the organism to function.
The word "gene" was coined in 1909 by Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen for the fundamental physical and functional unit of heredity. The word gene was derived from De Vries' term pangen, itself a derivative of the word pangenesis which Darwin (1868) had coined. The word pangenesis may be made from the Greek word genos ("origin").
The term "gene" is shared by many disciplines, including classical genetics, molecular genetics, evolutionary biology and population genetics. Because each discipline models the biology of life differently, the usage of the word gene varies between disciplines. It may refer to either material or conceptual entities.
Following the discovery that DNA is the genetic material, and with the growth of biotechnology and the project to sequence the human genome, the common usage of the word "gene" has increasingly reflected its meaning in molecular biology, namely the segments of DNA which cells transcribe into RNA and translate, at least in part, into proteins. The Sequence Ontology project defines a gene as: "A locatable region of genomic sequence, corresponding to a unit of inheritance, which is associated with regulatory regions, transcribed regions and/or other functional sequence regions".
In common speech, "gene" is often used to refer to the hereditary cause of a trait, disease or condition—as in "the gene for obesity." Speaking more precisely, a biologist might refer to an allele or a mutation that has been implicated in or is associated with obesity. This is because biologists know that many factors other than genes decide whether a person is obese or not: eating habits, exercise, prenatal environment, upbringing, culture and the availability of food, for example.
Moreover, it is very unlikely that variations within a single gene—or single genetic locus—fully determine one's genetic predisposition for obesity. These aspects of inheritance—the interplay between genes and environment, the influence of many genes—appear to be the norm with regard to many and perhaps most ("complex" or "multi-factoral") traits. The term phenotype refers to the characteristics that result from this interplay.

source:Wikipedia.org