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The Pantheon (UK: /ˈpænθiən/, US: /-ɒn/; Latin: Pantheum,[nb 1] from Greek Πάνθειον Pantheion, "[temple] of all the gods") is a former Roman temple, now a Catholic church (Basilica di Santa Maria ad Martyres or Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs), in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). It was rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated about 126 AD. Its date of construction is uncertain, because Hadrian chose not to inscribe the new temple but rather to retain the inscription of Agrippa's older temple, which had burned down.
The building is cylindrical with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43 metres (142 ft).
It is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings, in large part because it has been in continuous use throughout its history and, since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been in use as a church dedicated to "St. Mary and the Martyrs" (Latin: Sancta Maria ad Martyres) but informally known as "Santa Maria Rotonda". The square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda. The Pantheon is a state property, managed by Italy's Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism through the Polo Museale del Lazio; in 2013 it was visited by over 6 million people.
The Pantheon's large circular domed cella, with a conventional temple portico front, was unique in Roman architecture. Nevertheless, it became a standard exemplar when classical styles were revived, and has been copied many times by later architects.
Location: Piazza della Rotonda, Roma 00186
Co-ordinates: 41.898600, 12.476800
Web: http://www.pantheonroma.com/
In the aftermath of the Battle of Actium (31 BC), Marcus Agrippa started an impressive building program: the Pantheon was a part of the complex created by him on his own property in the Campus Martius in 29–19 BC, which included three buildings aligned from south to north: the Baths of Agrippa, the Basilica of Neptune, and the Pantheon. It seems likely that the Pantheon and the Basilica of Neptune were Agrippa's sacra privata, not aedes publicae (public temples). The former would help explain how the building could have so easily lost its original name and purpose (Ziolkowski contends that it was originally the Temple of Mars in Campo) in such a relatively short period of time.
It had long been thought that the current building was built by Agrippa, with later alterations undertaken, and this was in part because of the Latin inscription on the front of the temple which reads:
M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT
or in full, "M[arcus] Agrippa L[ucii] f[ilius] co[n]s[ul] tertium fecit," meaning "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made [this building] when consul for the third time." However, archaeological excavations have shown that the Pantheon of Agrippa had been completely destroyed except for the façade. Lise Hetland argues that the present construction began in 114, under Trajan, four years after it was destroyed by fire for the second time (Oros. 7.12). She reexamined Herbert Bloch's 1959 paper, which is responsible for the commonly maintained Hadrianic date, and maintains that he should not have excluded all of the Trajanic-era bricks from his brick-stamp study. Her argument is particularly interesting in light of Heilmeyer's argument that, based on stylistic evidence, Apollodorus of Damascus, Trajan's architect, was the obvious architect.
Exterior of the Pantheon
The form of Agrippa's Pantheon is debated. As a result of excavations in the late 19th century, archaeologist Rodolfo Lanciani concluded that Agrippa's Pantheon was oriented so that it faced South, in contrast with the current layout that faces North, and that it had a shortened T-shaped plan with the entrance at the base of the "T". This description was widely accepted until the late 20th century. While more recent archaeological diggings have suggested that Agrippa's building might have had a circular form with a triangular porch, and it might have also faced North, much like the later rebuildings, Ziolkowski complains that their conclusions were based entirely on surmise; according to him, they did not find any new datable material, yet they attributed everything they found to the Agrippan phase, failing to account for the fact that Domitian, known for his enthusiasm for building and known to have restored the Pantheon after 80 AD, might well have been responsible for everything they found. Ziolkowski argues that Lanciani's initial assessment is still supported by all of the finds to date, including theirs; furthermore he expresses skepticism because the building they describe, "a single building composed of a huge pronaos and a circular cella of the same diameter, linked by a relatively narrow and very short passage (much thinner than the current intermediate block), has no known parallels in classical architecture and would go against everything we know of Roman design principles in general and of Augustan architecture in particular."
The only passages referring to the decoration of the Agrippan Pantheon written by an eyewitness are in Pliny the Elder's Natural History. From him we know that "the capitals, too, of the pillars, which were placed by M. Agrippa in the Pantheon, are made of Syracusan bronze", that "the Pantheon of Agrippa has been decorated by Diogenes of Athens, and the Caryatides, by him, which form the columns of that temple, are looked upon as masterpieces of excellence: the same, too, with the statues that are placed upon the roof," and that one of Cleopatra's pearls was cut in half so that each half "might serve as pendants for the ears of Venus, in the Pantheon at Rome".
The Augustan Pantheon was destroyed along with other buildings in a huge fire in the year 80 AD. Domitian rebuilt the Pantheon, which was burnt again in 110 AD.
The degree to which the decorative scheme should be credited to Hadrian's architects is uncertain. Finished by Hadrian but not claimed as one of his works, it used the text of the original inscription on the new façade (a common practice in Hadrian's rebuilding projects all over Rome; the only building on which Hadrian put his own name was the Temple to the Deified Trajan). How the building was actually used is not known. The Historia Augusta says that Hadrian dedicated the Pantheon (among other buildings) in the name of the original builder (Hadr. 19.10), but the current inscription could not be a copy of the original; it provides no information as to who Agrippa's foundation was dedicated to, and, in Ziolkowski's opinion, it was highly unlikely that in 25 BC Agrippa would have presented himself as "consul tertium." On coins, the same words, "M. Agrippa L.f cos. tertium", were the ones used to refer to him after his death; consul tertium serving as "a sort of posthumous cognomen ex virtute, a remembrance of the fact that, of all the men of his generation apart from Augustus himself, he was the only one to hold the consulship thrice." Whatever the cause of the alteration of the inscription might have been, the new inscription reflects the fact that there was a change in the building's purpose.
Cassius Dio, a Graeco-Roman senator, consul and author of a comprehensive History of Rome, writing approximately 75 years after the Pantheon's reconstruction, mistakenly attributed the domed building to Agrippa rather than Hadrian. Dio appears to be the only near-contemporaneous writer to mention the Pantheon. Even by the year 200, there was uncertainty about the origin of the building and its purpose:
Agrippa finished the construction of the building called the Pantheon. It has this name, perhaps because it received among the images which decorated it the statues of many gods, including Mars and Venus; but my own opinion of the name is that, because of its vaulted roof, it resembles the heavens.
—Cassius Dio History of Rome 53.27.2
In 202, the building was repaired by the joint emperors Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla (fully Marcus Aurelius Antoninus), for which there is another, smaller inscription on the architrave of the façade, under the aforementioned larger text. This now-barely legible inscription reads:
IMP · CAES · L · SEPTIMIVS · SEVERVS · PIVS · PERTINAX · ARABICVS · ADIABENICVS · PARTHICVS · MAXIMVS · PONTIF · MAX · TRIB · POTEST · X · IMP · XI · COS · III · P · P · PROCOS ET
IMP · CAES · M · AVRELIVS · ANTONINVS · PIVS · FELIX · AVG · TRIB · POTEST · V · COS ·PROCOS · PANTHEVM · VETVSTATE · CORRVPTVM · CVM · OMNI · CVLTV · RESTITVERVNT
In English, this means:
Emp[eror] Caes[ar] L[ucius] Septimius Severus Pius Pertinax, victorious in Arabia, victor of Adiabene, the greatest victor in Parthia, Pontif[ex] Max[imus], 10 times tribune, 11 times proclaimed emperor, three times consul, P[ater] P[atriae], proconsul, and
Emp[eror] Caes[ar] M[arcus] Aurelius Antoninus Pius Felix Aug[ustus], five times tribune, consul, proconsul, have carefully restored the Pantheon ruined by age.
An 1836 view of the Pantheon by Jakob Alt, showing twin bell towers, in place from early 17th to late 19th centuries.
In 609, the Byzantine emperor Phocas gave the building to Pope Boniface IV, who converted it into a Christian church and consecrated it to St. Mary and the Martyrs on 13 May 609: "Another Pope, Boniface, asked the same [Emperor Phocas, in Constantinople] to order that in the old temple called the Pantheon, after the pagan filth was removed, a church should be made, to the holy virgin Mary and all the martyrs, so that the commemoration of the saints would take place henceforth where not gods but demons were formerly worshipped." Twenty-eight cartloads of holy relics of martyrs were said to have been removed from the catacombs and placed in a porphyry basin beneath the high altar. On its consecration, Boniface placed an icon of the Mother of God as 'Panagia Hodegetria' (All Holy Directress) within the new sanctuary.
The building's consecration as a church saved it from the abandonment, destruction, and the worst of the spoliation that befell the majority of ancient Rome's buildings during the early medieval period. However, Paul the Deacon records the spoliation of the building by the Emperor Constans II, who visited Rome in July 663:
Remaining at Rome twelve days he pulled down everything that in ancient times had been made of metal for the ornament of the city, to such an extent that he even stripped off the roof of the church [of the blessed Mary], which at one time was called the Pantheon, and had been founded in honour of all the gods and was now by the consent of the former rulers the place of all the martyrs; and he took away from there the bronze tiles and sent them with all the other ornaments to Constantinople.
Much fine external marble has been removed over the centuries – for example, capitals from some of the pilasters are in the British Museum. Two columns were swallowed up in the medieval buildings that abutted the Pantheon on the east and were lost. In the early 17th century, Urban VIII Barberini tore away the bronze ceiling of the portico, and replaced the medieval campanile with the famous twin towers (often wrongly attributed to Bernini) called "the ass's ears", which were not removed until the late 19th century. The only other loss has been the external sculptures, which adorned the pediment above Agrippa's inscription. The marble interior has largely survived, although with extensive restoration.
Since the Renaissance the Pantheon has been the site of several important burials. Among those buried there are the painters Raphael and Annibale Carracci, the composer Arcangelo Corelli, and the architect Baldassare Peruzzi. In the 15th century, the Pantheon was adorned with paintings: the best-known is the Annunciation by Melozzo da Forlì. Filippo Brunelleschi, among other architects, looked to the Pantheon as inspiration for their works.
Pope Urban VIII (1623 to 1644) ordered the bronze ceiling of the Pantheon's portico melted down. Most of the bronze was used to make bombards for the fortification of Castel Sant'Angelo, with the remaining amount used by the Apostolic Camera for various other works. It is also said that the bronze was used by Bernini in creating his famous baldachin above the high altar of St. Peter's Basilica, but, according to at least one expert, the Pope's accounts state that about 90% of the bronze was used for the cannon, and that the bronze for the baldachin came from Venice. Concerning this, an anonymous contemporary Roman satirist quipped in a pasquinade (a publicly posted poem) that quod non fecerunt barbari fecerunt Barberini ("What the barbarians did not do the Barberinis [Urban VIII's family name] did").
In 1747, the broad frieze below the dome with its false windows was "restored," but bore little resemblance to the original. In the early decades of the 20th century, a piece of the original, as could be reconstructed from Renaissance drawings and paintings, was recreated in one of the panels.[citation needed]
Two kings of Italy are buried in the Pantheon: Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I, as well as Umberto's Queen, Margherita.
The Pantheon is in use as a Catholic church. Masses are celebrated there on Sundays and holy days of obligation. Weddings are also held there from time to time.
Piazza Navona 0.19 miles W
Stadium of Domitian (Piazza Navona Underground) 0.23 miles WNW
Trevi Fountain 0.36 miles ENE
Vicus Caprarius (Trevi Fountain Underground) 0.40 miles ENE
Victor Emmanuel II Monument (Altare della Patria) 0.40 miles SE
Santa Maria in Aracoeli 0.46 miles SE
Capitoline Museums 0.46 miles SE
Trajan's Forum 0.51 miles ESE
Trajan's Market 0.52 miles ESE
Arch of Septimius Severus 0.57 miles SE
Ponte Sant'Angelo 0.58 miles WNW
Spanish Steps 0.60 miles NNE
Imperial Fora 0.60 miles SE
Castel Sant'Angelo 0.60 miles WNW
Roman Forum 0.62 miles SE
Santa Maria in Trastevere 0.72 miles SSW
Capuchin Crypt 0.74 miles NE
Arch of Titus 0.81 miles SE
Piazza del Popolo 0.84 miles N
Museo Leonardo da Vinci (Piazza del Popolo) 0.87 miles N
Information correct as of 16/09/2020
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Once in a while we like to create something that's a little bit different, something with a bit of character. This beautifully rustic style handmade leather pedant has a little hidden secret, a mini, mini Tinderbox complete with Flint & Steel & Tinder. Exclusively designed and made by us at Beaver Bushcraft. It has a slight folk art feel to it due to the hand stitched, hand tooled Oak Leaft detail.
Made by us in our Kent workshop, these quirky Leather Pendants have a mini, but fully functional, Traditional 'Flint & Steel' Tinderbox nestled inside. The Leather Pendants are all hand-dyed in Chestnut Brown and tooled with an Oak leaf design. Easy to wear round the neck, the best thing about them is that the Tinderbox really works, see video below. These Pendant Tinderboxes are a bit different from the normal Tinderbox or Tinder Pouches that we normally sell, since we think that they will make a great gift for someone who's into Traditional 'Flint & Steel' Fire Lighting, but wants something a little bit different, and for anyone who loves making fire the traditional way.
The Traditional 'Flint & Steel' mini round Tinderbox comes with a mini Fire Steel, designd by Beaver Bushcraft, that measures an amzing 40mm x 20mm x 4mm. There is a little hole in the fire steel so that can be threaded on some cord and worn separately or just attach a lanyard to if you wanted to. The contents include 2 pieces of Norfolk Flint, one packed in the tin, one peice comes separtely. The Amadou Piece is carefully cut to fit in the Lid and a 12" piece of Jute is carefully nestled in the bottom of the Tin. The Jute Rope is great for creating a Tinder Bundle once your ember has been achieved.
We have given this Traditional 'Flint & Steel' Tinderbox a 2/5 'Advanced' rating as you do need to know how to use a flint & Steel Striker. The Fire Steel produes a good quaility spark but due to it's size it is a bit fiddly to use if you are new to Flint & Steel. Click here for more information on our Fire Steel ratings.
Want to know more about the history of Tinderboxes? Click Here to check out this short Blogg we wrote that explains a little bit about them and also some information about the Tinders we use.


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Loot boxes are back under UK government scrutiny
The British government has called for new evidence clarifying whether or not video game loot boxes encourage gambling behaviour in children. The recurring investigation could potentially lead to new legislation on how games which feature "surprise mechanics" will be age-rated.
As reported by The Guardian, popular titles such as Electronic Arts' FIFA 20 - a massive seller in the UK - could end up plastered with an "18" certificate, or face forced alteration, if loot box mechanics such as "Ultimate Team" are officially designated a form of gambling. This motion previously carried in Belgium back in 2019, where it is now impossible to purchase Ultimate Team packs with real-world currency in-game.
The government's Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has said it decided to re-evaluate the case partly due to Britain's current lockdown status.
"During the coronavirus pandemic, we have seen more people than ever before turn to video games and immersive technology to keep them entertained and to stay in touch with friends and family," said DMCS' minister Caroline Dinenage. "These innovations can present challenges though as well as opportunities, which is why we are taking the necessary steps to protect users and promote the safe enjoyment of this dynamic industry".
UK government to call for evidence on loot boxes [GamesIndustry.biz]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


It will appear in fall 2014. It's been a long road with this book; I started it in 2005 and finally figured out how to tell the story in Banff two years ago, with some major help from Michael Crummey and Daphne Marlatt. I'm thrilled to be publishing with Freehand Books!


Who says you can't do it all in the entertainment business? Just like musicians have crossed over to starring in movies, actors have also been able to apply their talents in the music world. You may not realize it, but some of your favorite musical acts are actually fronted by people who were actors prior to getting on the mic. Some have tried and failed, while others have successfully transitioned into the music industry and surprisingly have some pretty impressive pipes. Take a look at 10 actors who we're happy crossed over into the music realm.


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January 11, 2022 kaarthick.kanakaraj
Roswell Incident
When unexplained debris fell from the sky onto a New Mexico ranch in 1947, several residents feared an extraterrestrial arrival.
After a summer storm ravaged New Mexico in July 1947, tales of a flying saucer began to circulate. Strange wreckage had been discovered 75 miles outside of Roswell, including bits of unbreakable, paper-thin metal inscribed with lettering like Egyptian hieroglyphics. The discoveries, according to the first investigator on the scene, "are not of this Earth." Roswell, a town of less than 25,000 inhabitants, unexpectedly found itself on the map. The Air Force acknowledged the "flying disc," only to rescind its statement the next day, saying the debris was from a fallen weather balloon. As top-secret military testing continued throughout the skies of New Mexico, conspiracy theories about extraterrestrial landings proliferated. In the years following the catastrophe, several residents-built hotels and museums, establishing a tourism business centred on the occurrence. Decades later, a declassified investigation showed that the "flying disc" was really faulty malware used to spy on Soviet nuclear testing locations. Some, however, remained unconvinced. Today, hundreds of inquisitive visitors visit the lonely desert town of Roswell to explore the crash site for themselves.
Many ranchers welcomed tourists to New Mexico's bleak deserts. Hotels and museums related to the Roswell incident sprung up as cottage companies to feed the flood of tourists.
Because the debris was part of a top-secret operation, most Air Force officers engaged in the Roswell disaster, including the first man on the scene, Major Jesse Marcel, were as perplexed as the general public about the rogue weather balloon cover-up.
During the 1950s, the US military conducted top-secret operations in New Mexico, testing pilot drops using dummies that locals occasionally found and mistaken for aliens.
Saucer craze swept the United States in the weeks following the disaster, as many people reported seeing "speeding objects" soaring across the sky.
The Roswell incident continues to intrigue audiences all around the world. Traveling exhibitions continue to provide other countries with a glimpse of what could have transpired in the New Mexico desert nearly 60 years ago.
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The 1997 Formula One season was the 48th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on 9 March and ended on 26 October after seventeen races.
Three new teams came into Formula One in 1997: Prost, who replaced Ligier; Stewart and Lola, the latter of which only entered the 1997 Australian Grand Prix after the team's dismal performance in the Grand Prix which saw a lack of sponsorship for the next Grand Prix in Brazil. Footwork changed their name to "Arrows" and switched from the Hart engines used the previous year to Yamaha engines. Tyrrell changed their engines as well, swapping the Yamaha engines in preference to the Ford engines. Jordan-Peugeot signed up highly-rated British engineer, Dr. John Davis. He helped the team with its new windtunnel facility at Brackley, the tunnel itself was funded by Ferrari in exchange for Eddie Irvine who moved to Ferrari the previous year.
Williams: The Champion team dismissed the 1996 World Champion Damon Hill and employed Heinz-Harald Frentzen, the German whom the team had wanted to sign for several years.
Minardi ran Italian rising star Jarno Trulli alongside Ukyo Katayama for the 1997 season. The announcement filled the final seat in the 1997 Formula 1 World Championship. The decision was made after Minardi released promising Italian Giancarlo Fisichella from his contract so that he could join Jordan. Having signed Ukyo Katayama, and his Mild Seven sponsorship, for one seat, owner Giancarlo Minardi felt that his team needed a young Italian and Trulli was the obvious choice for Minardi.
Bridgestone entered into F1 and supplied tyres to five teams: Arrows, Prost, Minardi, Stewart and Lola.
The 1997 season began with betting. The current world champion Damon Hill swapped Williams for Arrows, while all anxiously waiting for the performance of the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher in the new season.
And until he was well. Totaled 78 points in the championship and secured second place. However, the FIA punished him for "reckless driving" due to an accident caused by it in the European Grand Prix. So Schumacher dropped to the last position. While Canadian Jacques Villeneuve's Williams, saw his way clear to winning the first world title of his career.


It is really annoying to know that half of your users' emails getting bounced because these sneaky users used some disposable email address to register on your site. Yes, it happens a lot, the only way to stop this from happening again is to block them from ever using those phony emails again. I've taken the list of some disposable email domains from here and converted it into array, it can also be stored in database if you want. We will extract the domain from the user email address and compare it with disposable email domains. This way we can block most disposable email address easily. Just make sure to update your list as you find new disposable email domain.
How would I incorporate this into a registration script?
Maybe you are forcing people to register when they'd really rather try out your site anonymously. I am neither a troll or a spammer, but I will not give a real email to an unknown site. Once I know I like it, and plan to stick around, I'll use a real email (and if I'm buying stuff) real name. But please consider is that the problem is the way sites pester you to register the second you show up, and don't realize they haven't earned your trust yet. For a savvy user, every time we use a real email we create a trail that links all our activity on the Web--and maybe we don't want to leave that breadcrumb on your site just yet. On my Web site I am trying out in an "explore" button which allows people to play with the site's functionality (with a sample set of user data) before giving their info. I'll see how people respond to it--but I'm hoping with this system I won't get many disposable email addresses.
Exactly what I needed and worked perfectly, thank you!!
Hi, introduced and tested! Thanks a million this can also be used to block persistent spam mailers such as yandex.com! Thanks a million.


Are you tired of pedalling with your regular bicycle? Want to get all the benefits of an e-bike by installing an electric bike kit? Yes!
Now you might be questioning yourself what is the electric bike kit? No worries, this article will answer your question.
A few years ago, if you had wanted an electric bike, the only option you had was to visit a manufacturer's shop and cough out hundreds to thousands of dollars. With a limited budget, you would only be left to try other non-electric varieties. Today, it's much easier. With the best electric bike conversion kit, you can upgrade any ordinary bike into an electric one.
If you've been looking for the best kit to convert your regular bike into an ebike, then you must have come across hordes of them. This is where things get complicated; conversion kits come in various types and only the right pick will give you good performance. As a rule of thumb, you should always buy a kit that is compatible with many bikes and has all the essential tools for the job.
To save you the trouble of spending hours on countless websites looking for a reliable, all-inclusive electric bike conversion kit, we have reviewed several options for you. While all the choices in this review deliver the service, AW 26"x1.75" Rear Wheel seems to outshine most of them.
If you are a lover of rear wheel conversion kits, you should try AW 26"x1.75" Rear Wheel Electric Bicycle Kit. The kit is 80% efficient thanks to its 48V/1000W powerful motor. You can easily climb hills and ride at a top speed of over 35mph without the battery failing you.
With the Pedal Assistance System, you should be able to conserve power and get back home from your trip without breaking much sweat. And whether you are cycling in broad daylight or at night, the LCD display helps you easily read your speed, time, gears, mileage, and battery level.
The AW kit has no chains and gears; this means no time is spent on moving parts. Additionally, the absence of such parts provides for a smooth, friction-free motion. The dual mode motor controller is also efficient.
It has a high motor efficiency.
It has an LCD display for easy data reading.
The absence of moving parts contributes to a frictionless motion.
The speedometer has a slight lag and will begin counting distance only after several seconds.
The tube can easily get punctured during installation.
The difference between this kit and its closest brother (AW 26"x1.75" Rear Wheel 48V 1000W Electric Bicycle Motor Kit, reviewed in this article as well) is very small. They all have the same top speed, same motor quality, and even the tire size is similar. Since the AW Rear Wheel Conversion Kit costs a few more dollars and yet they both deliver the same performance, it makes sense to pick the other AW conversion kit.
For avid bicycle riders, nothing could be sweeter than having a ride with a lot of customizable options. The Voilamart 26" Electric Bicycle Conversion Kit provides you with a cheaper way to transform your bike into a powerful electric speedster with a 48V/1000W brushless gearless motor. The maximum speed you can obtain from it is roughly 28 mph (or 45km/h).
The Pedal Assistance System lets you pedal along (with little effort) for exercise or power saving. The kit arrives with all the components you need including the rear wheel, controller bag, motor controller, LCD meter, cable ties, twist throttle, brake handles (one pair), and manual. However, it doesn't come with a battery.
While this kit comes with a manual, try to look for the "SW900" manual online. Most people find videos on YouTube useful when fine-tuning various settings. Its display provides a clear reading of the battery level, riding speed, and pedal assistance settings. You can use any good quality battery on this ebike kit but the recommended type is 48 Volt electrokinetic cell battery (11.6Ah).
It comes with all conversion components.
Its motor generates a lot of power.
It only takes a few minutes to install.
The motor runs quietly and smoothly.
The nylon tire it comes with is not the best quality.
The Voilamart 26" Conversion Kit is worth considering if you are looking for a faster motor and better rear wheel performance. It is a little challenging to install though and the manual is not very helpful.
This Leed 250 Series 10k Electric Bike Kit is one such product and is powered by a reliable, long-lasting lithium ion Samsung battery. It comes with all the necessary components that make up a complete ebike.
With other bikes, installation is as simple as removing the previous tire and popping in the new one. However, this kit needs more than that. You'll need to clip the battery bag on the frame and arrange the cable properly.
Thanks to the 8FUN planetary hub, this kit makes the bike run quietly whether it's engaged or disengaged. The motor comes with a 2-year warranty.
It has a powerful 24V/1000W motor.
The planetary motor hub comes with a 2-year warranty.
It comes with a top quality, lightweight Samsung lithium ion battery.
It takes about 5 minutes to install.
They have a responsive customer service.
It's inelegant to have hanging cables and battery.
There is no cyclometer included; you need to buy your own.
If you are looking to double your pedaling power and make your bike travel for longer distances, this Electric Bike Conversion Kit is the gear to buy. It is easy to install and runs quietly but it does come at a slightly higher cost.
If you are looking for the best ebike conversion kit, look no further than theebikemotor 3000W. It has an extremely powerful motor that works with batteries of varying voltage. With this unit, you can climb hills with little to no pedaling.
The kit arrives with a motorbike grade wheel, throttle, 3.2" TFT display, disc brake, and brake lever. The display shows stats for the speed, distance, time, gear, and battery level. The brake lever safely cuts motor power thus allowing you to conserve your battery. This kit delivers a maximum speed of 72-80 km/h.
This electric bike conversion kit carries a very powerful motor which means faster speeds and short arrival times. However, a 3000W motor drains the battery quickly and you may end up with shorter ranges.
It has an extra-powerful motor.
It has an excellent top speed.
It works with batteries of varying voltages.
The LCD display makes data reading easier.
It comes with a top-quality wheel.
Since it has a bigger motor, you will end up with a shorter range.
If more power and speed are at the top of your list, you should not bypass theebikemotor 3000W Hub Motor ebike kit. With a 3000W motor, it's easy to climb hills and achieve a faster speed to reach your destination quicker. The problem is, bigger motors are power hungry and thus you are likely to get disappointing ranges.
There are two AW conversion kits in this review and this one is a little cheaper and offers the same service as the first one. Some of the things that warrant mentioning are the 48V/1000W brushless hub motor and the dual mode controller.
The kit comes with everything you need for a complete overhaul of your ordinary bike into an ebike. The drive system has zero moving parts and this includes gears and chains. The lack of moving parts provides for a frictionless motion. The maximum speed you can obtain from AW Rear Wheel Motor Kit is 45-48 km/h.
This kit doesn't have an LCD display and none of its parts is secured with a warranty. Nevertheless, the kit is easy to install, works properly, and lasts fairly long.
It runs smoothly thanks to the absence of moving parts.
It comes with a whole wheel with tire, not just the tire frame.
The AW 26"x1.75" Rear Wheel 48V 1000W conversion kit doesn't come with a lot of bells and whistles. It's a good product for those who do not have a lot of dollars to spend on an electric bike or a high-end conversion kit.
Since the difference between this kit and the AW 26"x1.75" Rear Wheel Electric Bicycle LCD Display kit is negligible, it would be better to save those additional dollars and go for AW 26"x1.75" Rear Wheel 48V 1000W.
If you are on the lookout for the best electric bike conversion kit, the first thing to do is to arm yourself with as much information as possible. You must know what to look for, what to avoid, and at times, what to compromise on several almost-similar models.
The best kit should be easy to install, use, and dismantle. Don't buy something that will need you to use a manual and even ask help from professionals just to put it up.
Speed is of the essence; after all, that is one reason you went for an electric conversion kit in the first place. Therefore, the kit you pick must make your bike a little faster to replace other tedious or costly modes of transportation. Speaking of speed, ensure the ebike conversion kit comes with a throttle so you can modify your speed.
You can enjoy a good spin around the neighborhood if your bike runs quietly. If the motor that came with your kit is loud, it wouldn't be prudent to use in residential areas.
Driving experience changes depending on the type of conversion kit used. However, it's all a matter of what works for you. Here are some of the common ebike conversion kits on the market today.
This is the most common kit on the market and is preferred by many people perhaps due to its mid position that helps to keep weight on the low. It's also easier to change a flat tire on this model than on the hub motor ebike.
Both the motor and the battery are attached to the frame with the motor tagging on the bottom bracket. The design is okay for those who use public roads. However, if you hit the off-roads often, the exposed nature of the motor means it can easily get damaged. Another drawback is that mid-drive kits tend to cost a lot.
Front-mounted kits come readily installed on the front wheel and all that remains is to remove the old tire and drop in the new one. Make sure to use the same size tire. Only opt for a front hub kit if the terrain you roll on is level or undulating.
The rear hub kit is almost similar to the front hub kit when it comes to component composition. The only difference is that it's been designed for the rear section of the bike.
Since most of the electrical hard work has been done, all that remains is to remove the old tire and pop in the new one. Rear-mounted drive kits are also as common as mid-drive varieties but are less complicated.
This is a special kind of conversion kit where a roller sits on the back wheel and when the motor powers up, it rolls, giving the wheel a little more push so the bike can go faster.
Frankly, this solution for speed could be a little crude as the tire gets worn at a faster pace. Besides being uncommon, the system somehow is not as efficient as other types of kits.
The motor available on your newly converted ride will determine how fast and how far you can go. For instance, a 48V motor is more efficient than a 24V motor.
There are two types of hub motors: geared and gearless (direct drive). It is the gears that provide leverage and enable smaller motors to achieve more. However, geared motors also produce more noise due to friction.
When choosing a motor for your electric bike, you can get either a brushless or brushed motor. Brushed motors are simple. They don't have a DC supply or battery; instead, they have an armature (or rotor), a commutator, brushes, an axle, and a field magnet.
Brushless motors, on the other hand, has its permanent magnets around the perimeter of the rotor. It requires no power and instead employs control circuitry.
In general, brushed motors are more inexpensive and reliable. They also have a simple two-wire control and can deal with rough terrain reliably. However, the brushes do require regular maintenance.
Brushless motors are quieter and more efficient. It can also last longer but it would cost more than the brushed motor.
The traditional electric bike chain drive motor provides a lot of power for uphill climbing. It is also the preferred motor for riders who want the pedal bike feel of the ebike. It basically improves the efficiency of the ebike and extends its range both on and off-road.
Friction drives on ebikes are much less popular than hub motors. They power the bike through a friction connection on the rear wheel of the bike. While it used to be popular, its efficiency problem is just too much for some riders. It wears out tires much faster and a lot of energy is lost through heat and scraped-off rubber from the tires.
Friction drive electric bicycles also cannot be used when it's rainy or snowing as a little bit of water will reduce the friction between the roller and the tire.
Ordinary braking provides friction that impedes motion resulting in a stoppage. Regenerative braking, on the other hand, provides stopping energy which also happens to extend the battery life. These types of brakes are expensive, though.
The most efficient motors convert 80% of power coming from the battery into mechanical energy that goes to the wheels. But how do you tell if the motor is efficient? You check the maximum speed. Motors that run at a speed of 25mph and above tend to be more efficient than those that run at 24mph and below.
Battery versatility is something you need to pay attention to and a great kit should allow you to try other alternatives in case the one you wanted is out of stock. Always pick lithium-ion batteries over the cheap, old-fashioned lead-acid varieties.
Power depends on three things; watts, voltage, and amp hours. Most motors come in 250W, 500W, 750W, and 1000W. The higher the wattage, the more power a kit generates. With more power, the battery has to be larger for ample storage room.
Ampere per hour (ampere-hour) or simply Ah refers to the duration the battery lasts while on use. The larger this number is, the longer the cycling time. Charging also takes a considerably shorter time. The same concept applies to the voltage; for instance, a unit with 48 volts provides more power and range than that of 36v.
There are other minor but essential components to look out for in the best electric conversion kit. A few of them includes the following.
How would you feel when your bike's juice suddenly runs out on you when you expected it to cruise for a few more miles? Well, with a controller (wrist wear), you can monitor your riding metrics such as speed, power output, and even the battery level status. This should help you plan your cycling and get to your destination before the motor powers down.
Pedelec, also known as pedal assist, is a driving mode where the pedals rotate depending on the power delivered. Although pedaling is mandatory, less effort is applied.
In the throttle-control model, the motor doesn't operate the pedal and hence the bike merely freewheels on the motor's electric power. Pedaling is not necessary but you can do it if you want to save on power especially when climbing hills.
When you buy a conversion kit, you'll realize that very few come with replacement brakes. However, it's important to replace the brakes with an alternative that provides more stopping power, something like disc brakes.
The version of these brakes sport brake levers that look similar to conventional bike brakes although the levers are designed to stop the motor and not the wheels. They do so by safely disconnecting power flow.
Electric is the future and with countless conversion kits available, anyone can now turn their ordinary bikes into electric bikes for a little assist. Buying a kit and upgrading your bike saves you a lot of bucks that you would have otherwise thrown into a high-end electric bike.
Make a point to read as many ebike conversion kit reviews as possible before making a choice. Remember, the best electric bike conversion kit must be compatible with most bikes and simple to install. Make a choice from any of the kits mentioned here and you will end up with an electric bike you will end up using for years.


text:
The Thousand Best
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Join with members of the Church congregation over a two course authentic Indian meal, in the church hall after the morning service. Sign up online, via the notice sheet on either of the two Sundays prior to the lunch or contact Pam Flux. Sign-up deadline is 10am, Tuesday 23rd April. Cost: £3 (Adults), £1.50 (Children).


text:
Q: Making a search function in Laravel 8 I'm trying to make a search function on my web page but it is not working. Can someone please tell me what is the problem of this code?
public function webSearch(Request $request)
{
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        ->orWhere('body', '>', 'LIKE', "%{$request->search}%")->get();

    return view('pages/search');
}

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member > LIKE or excerpt > LIKE or body > LIKE)

A: There should be no > in your query.
change
$articles = Article::where('title', '>', 'LIKE', "%{$request->search}%")

with
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


yes because essentially what SSAA does is take multiple rendering samples per pixel so for example with 2x SSAA, you'd take 2^2 samples for every pixel (representing 2 samples in both axes), so every displayed pixel will be an average of 4 sampled subpixels it also means that it'll (in its most basic form, that is - MSAA is an optimized implementation of SSAA, described above) actually be rendering 2^2 the amount of pixels which obviously very expensive (and then you get to 4x, which is 4^2 = 16 samples and 8x is 8^2 = 64 and whoa!!! suddenly you're rendering your depth and stencil buffers at 15360x8640 instead of 1920x1080) on the other hand, postprocess AA like FXAA / SMAA aren't really AA, it's a bunch of clever assumptions to smoothen / blur out detected edges after the initial rendering process (hence the term post-process). It's very fast because it's a rather efficient calculation done after the rendering process, so at most the amount of processed pixels is equal to your native resolution (so for a rendering resolution of 1920x1080, it'll always be 1920x1080 - it's actually impossible to change this because.... you've rendered your scene already). The only bad part is that it's never going to be true AA - it only seeks to imitate its end result........ It gets very close, though (especially for its great performance gains!): FXAA and SMAA are two postprocess AA techniques, MSAA is, well.... MSAA.


1940 cover to Clifton, Bristol with 4 x KG6 ½d pmk'd Grand Turk A/NO 14 40 d/ring, reverse Cable and Wireless 30 NO 40 handstamp tied by Examiner 4029 label and 5 x uncancelled Jamaica WAR FUND labels, some defective.
1943 reg. cover to Romford, Essex with KG6 6d lightly pmk'd Plymouth */FE 20 43 with censor label A.A./2 (numeral in pencil) under brown tape, Antigua A/FE 24 43 transit, stamp with small blemish.


text:
Ла Алдана има више значења:

 Ла Алдана (Гванахуато), насеље у савезној држави Гванахуато у Мексику
 Ла Алдана, Рамон Ранхел (Гванахуато), насеље у савезној држави Гванахуато у Мексику

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
VirtualArch
Pilot Heritages
The medieval silver mines of Dippoldiswalde, Saxony (DE)
Located 18 km south of present-day Dresden in the eastern Ore Mountains, Dippoldiswalde was founded by the burgraves of Dohna as forest village in the second half of the 12th century. The historical sources about medieval mining are rare and their location within the town fell into oblivion over the centuries. The situation changed when in 2008 the Saxon Upper Mining Authority found old but well preserved wooden finds in discovered mines. Following rescue excavations undertaken by the Archaeological Heritage Office of Saxony in the mines resulted in unearthing of remarkable features and artefacts of the High Middle Ages. The mining complex has been recorded just beneath the current town with an average depth of 8-26 meters, the exact size and depth of the complex however remains unveiled. The finds in Dippoldiswalde introduced completely new preconditions for medieval mining research and presentation and are examples for the importance of medieval mining activities facilitating the economical and political development of the Margraviate of Meissen and later Electoral Saxony between the 11th and 17th centuries. Because of its uniqueness and great importance, Dippoldiswalde silver mines became a part of the UNESCO world heritage nomination of the Ore Mountain Mining Landscape.
THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Despite of the great importance and the fact, that the mines are well preserved, they have to remain filled up and sealed as a matter of public security. Mining complexes extend over large parts of the town; they are endangered by public and private construction works conducted in the city.
PLANNED PROSPECTION / VISUALISATION ACTIVITIES
In the process of visualizing of the pilot site, collected data, such as scanned wooden finds or wire frame models augmented by 3D-models in particular cases and areas, will be used. It is foreseen to create a complete plan work of the medieval mines and transform this data for virtual tours through the mines. One of the planned achievements is also introducing information points in the town of Dippoldiswalde with virtual information about findings and underground mines.
STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT
The mining heritage offers chances for tourism development, cultural participation and regional identity. The outcomes of the visualization of the pilot site will be used for raising the awareness and mediating conflicts occurring between different stakeholders and therefore will contribute to its protection. In the project implementation an active participation of great number of stakeholders from different fields of activities, like tourism, forestry, mining, flood management and agriculture is foreseen. The experiences will be regularly shared with leading authorities for archaeological heritage from other German federal states. The institutions like State Reservoir Administration of Saxony - Works Upper Elbe valley, Saxon Upper Mining Authority, Public enterprise Forest Administration Saxony, Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Saxon State Ministry of the Interior will play a significant role in the project realization.


text:
Americas/Terrorism and Security
Security and the post-Chávez Bolivarian project: A Convenient Revolution for Free-riders?
Annette Idler / March 12, 2013 / 0 / 1.7k
Chavista grafitti in Chuao, a small coastal village near Caracas, taken by the author in August 2012.
With Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez's death last week, the world has lost a flamboyant actor on the international stage. Yet the play seems to go on as usual. Radical change to Venezuela's domestic and international politics is unlikely. Several polls indicate that interim president Nicolás Maduro will win the elections to be held on 14 April and his rhetoric suggests that he will continue Chávez's policies. Even if Henrique Capriles, the opposition candidate, triumphs, he will not change policies overnight.
But while many have speculated about the implications for both advocates and opponents of Chávez's Bolivarian Revolution, few have cared about those at the margins of it: the "free-riders" who do not necessarily endorse Chávez's project, but for whom it has been a convenient platform to pursue their interests. This free-riding exists on the national, regional and international level and could provoke serious security threats for Venezuela and beyond if it continues to be ignored.
On the national level, four 'armed actors' who benefitted from the Bolivarian Revolution might jeopardize security. First, the "colectivos", radical, often armed, left-wing groups that impose order in neighbourhoods such as 23 de Enero in Caracas, might generate violent unrest. In an interview with one of the most radical groups, they told me they were more "chavista" than Chávez, ready to fight the revolutionary struggle with arms in the absence of the former leader. Chávez managed to keep them calm, but neither Maduro nor Capriles is likely to have the same influence.
Second, the role of Venezuelan military officials in organised crime, especially the cocaine trade, is likely to increase. Chávez created ten 'military districts' in December 2010 (the consequence of reforms put in place by Armed Forces Law passed in October 2009), which, as I witnessed in the states of Zulia, Táchira and Apure, led to the proliferation of military checkpoints and the deployment of tanks in border areas. Though the purpose was ostensibly to reduce illicit cross-border activities, these activities are thriving, suggesting the acquiescence – if not connivance – of Venezuelan state forces. With 'Plan Sucre', the strategic axis of Venezuela's socialist Development Plan (2013–19), the country will be militarised further, generating more opportunities for corrupt members of the armed forces to reap benefits from activities such as the smuggling of ammunition, arms and illegal drugs (the involvement of certain Venezuelan military officials in the drug trade has become known as the "Cartel de los Soles"). As opposed to Chávez, who was a military commander as president, the new, civilian Venezuelan president will have difficulties in commanding enough respect to enforce discipline of the military. Rather, with Venezuela being an important cocaine trade transit country, some military officials might well increase their willingness to act as 'facilitators' along drug trafficking routes that feed European and US markets.
Third, the Bolivarian Forces of Liberation (FBL), a left-wing armed group primarily functioning in the Venezuelan states of Apure, Barinas and Zulia might intensify the use of violence (for more information on the various types of violent non-state actors present in the Colombian-Venezuelan borderlands see my recent article in Perspectives on Terrorism). Interviewees in Apure told me that, whilst in the last years the FBL have been exerting social control, they refrained from revenge-inspired violence, not least because Chávez pronounced himself against this (see my recent article in Indiana).[1] Now that this "control figure" is gone, they might change their modus operandi, with the risk that the local population will experience what it suffered five years ago: soaring homicide rates, terror and fear. Neither Maduro, a former bus driver, nor the relatively right-wing Capriles, is likely to be granted as much respect as Chávez the revolutionary.
Fourth, many of the territorial militias – Venezuelan civilians trained under the new Bolivarian military doctrine to defend the nation in case of a war of the "Empire" against Venezuela – have lost their inspiration, which could precipitate violence. Friends of the militias told me that many have joined in order to serve the "Comandante", a goal that, despite the new slogan of "Somos Chavistas Maduros" ("We are mature chavistas" a play on the meaning of Maduro's name) won't be feasible anymore, which may cause frustration among militia members. While the plan of training one million militia members by 2013 seems to have failed, the actual estimated number, 125,000, is still considerable and so is their potential for unrest due to the lack of a respected leader (see for example a recent report by the International Crisis Group).
At the regional level, most analysts (e.g. Silla Vacia [in Spanish]) have reflected on the future of regional organisations such as UNASUR and ALBA that Chávez backed as a counterbalance to the influence of the United States. Yet except from presidential rhetoric and group pictures, they haven't achieved a great deal on the ground, and in the cases in which they have, it was based on a joint effort, rather than Chávez's sole efforts. These organisations will continue "business as usual", and regional leadership in general terms is likely to be expanded further by Brazil. The implications for individual countries suggest continuity as well: Nicaragua and the Petrocaribe states will continue to receive financial aid or oil because these matters are bound to international contracts; thus, at least in the intermediate term, a change is unlikely.
Yet while the world is looking at the left-wing states that have lost their ally, another state feels the absence of Chávez directly: Colombia. Chávez bridged the "trust-gap" between the Colombian government and the FARC in the peace talks that they initiated last year in Havana, Cuba. He was supposed to step in if difficulties in the negotiation process arose and to assist in ensuring the implementation of the future agreement. To be sure, the peace talks have lost an important facilitator, but not the prospects for success. However, in his absence, Venezuela's influence on the FARC fronts along the Colombian-Venezuelan border diminishes. So far, the FARC have mostly kept a low profile on Venezuelan territory which helped avoid bi-national troubles (similar issues have arisen at the Colombian-Ecuadorian border, see my article in St Antony's International Review). With Venezuela being less relevant now for the outcome of the peace talks, the FARC might no longer respect constraints and instead resort to violence against competitors and the local population to ensure their territorial dominion.
At the international level, the Bolivarian project after Chávez is convenient for players who benefitted from Chávez's policies indirectly. After Maduro's expelling of US diplomats, many feared concerns regarding repercussions on Venezuelan-US-relations. However, it is unlikely that the status quo will change in any dramatic way: the US will probably continue to react with tit-for tat responses or simply ignore such moves as it did under the previous Obama administration (see my article in RUSI Newsbrief). Yet other countries might change the tone of their policies. It was expedient for countries such as Iran, Syria or Belarus to have a "spokesperson" in the Western Hemisphere in order to enhance their significance in the international arena. Now that this figure is gone, they might want to strike deeper roots in other Latin American countries such as Nicaragua or Bolivia. The implications of this remain uncertain.
In brief, at least in the short and intermediate term, Venezuela's domestic, regional and international policies are likely to be characterised by continuity in the absence of Chávez. While opponents might try to countervail these dynamics and advocates to foster them, we should not forget about the free-riders on all these three levels. They may find it convenient to transgress or change the rules of the Bolivarian game which could lead to serious security implications for Venezuela and beyond. Hence, no matter who will win in April, unity is the joker that both sides need to play. The current uncertainty that surrounds Venezuela's future should be considered a window of opportunity to move from a personality-focused agenda to a political programme that takes into consideration all Venezuelans: opponents as well as advocates of the Revolution, and, importantly, the free-riders at the margins.
[1] C.f. Idler, Annette (2013) "Espacios Invisibilizados: Actores Violentos No-Estatales en las Zonas Fronterizas de Colombia", Indiana (Berlin: Ibero-American Institute).
Tags:Hugo ChavezVenezuela
Defending the 99%: Still a 'slogan' for our times
What President Uhuru Kenyatta's victory means for Kenya in the next five years
Annette Idler
Dr Annette Idler is Director of Studies at the Changing Character of War Programme, Pembroke College, and Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford. She is also Research Associate at the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding, Graduate Institute Geneva. Her work focuses on the links between conflict, transnational organised crime and security, and the role that violent non-state groups play in these dynamics. She has carried out extensive fieldwork in the war-torn border areas of Colombia and neighboring countries.
Borderland Battles: Violence, Crime and Governance at the Edges of Colombia's War
The 'border effect' is allowing Venezuela's crisis to fuel political violence in Colombia
Maryhen Jiménez Morales
Why Venezuela is Collapsing but President Maduro Still Standing
Will Venezuela transition to democracy this year?


While staying with Mary Majchrowski of Bravo Dog Training, Orso has had a couple of play dates with Brin, a cute little pit bull that belongs to Mary's veterinarian. Mary has been sweet enough to take photos of their play dates and send them to us while we have been on vacation. Below are some of our favorite shots out of the many that Mary sent us of Orso and Brin playing. Enjoy!


Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott breaks history by becoming the first female rapper to be nominated for the prestigious 2019 Songwriters Hall of Fame award. Missy pushed the limits of what it means to influence the culture through the sound of music and innovative visuals.
Songwriters are eligible for induction after writing hit songs for at least 20 years. After becoming a member of Devante Swing's Swing Mob in the early 90s, Missy has been a force in the music game. After departing Swing Mob, she helped formulate the late Aaliyah and Ginuwine's sound along with Timbaland. Missy would also go on to work with Destiny's Child, Whitney Houston and Ciara.


· The moulding measures 38mm wide and 15mm deep.
· Frames come ready to hang in either portrait or landscape while frame sizes of 14x11 inches and smaller are to stand also. Each frame comes with an MDF backing board and is fitted with glass up to and including 20x16 inches, anything larger than this will come with perspex safety glass.
· Please remember when ordering that the frame sizes refer to the glass size, not the overall frame size.
· If you would like further information on the Watson range or any of our other products and services please contact a member of our team who would be delighted to help.


text:
Dr. AJT Johnsingh – Leading the Way
Dr. Asir Jawahar Thomas Johnsingh, popularly known as AJT Johnsingh, is one of India's foremost vertebrate ecologists. He was the first Indian to study a free ranging mammal – his study of dholes in Bandipur forests in the Western Ghats helped unravel the secret life of dholes and highlighted their role as one of the apex predators in tropical Indian forests.
Dr. Johnsingh, along with his students, has worked on a wide array of taxa like dholes, lions, elephants, mountain goats and others, in his career spanning over four decades. His key contributions for tiger science and conservation are manifold. He knew many tiger habitats of the country intimately, and the Sariska debacle involving loss of all tigers from Sariska TR in Rajasthan was exposed partly due to Dr. Johnsingh's effort. His effort was crucial in establishing a few tiger reserves in the country. Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, at the far end of the Western Ghats, is one example.
At the age of 69, Dr. Johnsingh is still an avid trekker, tirelessly scaling precipitous slopes of mountains and forests all across India. His incredible stamina and physique are hallmarks of a great naturalist who has inspired and trained hundreds of naturalists, biologists and serving forest officials. Dr. Johnsingh continues to guide the scientific and conservation community with his sage counsel.
1. Where did you grow up, and how did you get interested in natural history and wildlife?
I grew up in the southern end of Tamil Nadu, not far from the Bay of Bengal, where the sea is separated from my village only by some red sand dunes. Although the place I grew up in is in the rain-shadow area of the Western Ghats, tanks were almost perennial in those days as a result of copious rain. We could swim and fish in them, and climb nearby hills.
At Rajaji National Park, 1994
2. With respect your interest in wildlife, what were the advantages and disadvantages of growing up in a rural area?
We were close to nature. Jungle cats used to raid our chicken-house, there were cobras and saw-scaled pit vipers around, and one could hear grey partridges calling morning and evening, from our house itself. As small-game hunting was allowed in those days, we had the opportunity to go after black-naped hare, teals and ducks in winter, and grey partridges in summer. During holidays, the entire family including my mother and sisters would spend a few days at the foothills of the Western Ghats. So, living in a rural area gave us lots of opportunities to be one with nature, which definitely was an advantage.
3. What was the turning point when you decided you wanted to study wildlife as a profession?
After obtaining my Master's degree in Zoology from Madras Christian College (MCC) in 1968, I was working as a lecturer in Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College, Sivakasi. In the summer of 1971, when I was in Kalakad hills on a trekking trip, I met Mr. J. C. Daniel (from Bombay Natural History Society) and Romulus Whitaker. When Daniel, himself a student of MCC, learnt that like him, I too had studied Zoology there, he encouraged me to take up observations on wildlife and write about them. In the course of time, he helped me do the study on dholes in Sigur Range near Mudumalai WLS for five months in 1973 and 1975, and eventually my PhD work on dholes in Bandipur Tiger Reserve in the late 1970s.
Photographing Nilgiri Tahrs at Eravikulam National Park, 1995
4. What were the difficulties you faced in the pursuit of wildlife as a profession? What were your primary sources of support and inspiration?
I had to leave my permanent job as a lecturer, but WWF-India supported me while doing my field studies. Late Dr. Eisenberg and Dr. John Seidensticker from the Smithsonian Institution, Washington-DC, were of immense support by providing me a post-doctoral fellowship which enabled me to go to the US and get some experience there. Jim Corbett and Dr. George.B.Schaller were a source of inspiration.
5. At what point did your curiosity about that wildlife turn into concern about its future, about its survival?
In recent years, my concern for wildlife has grown significantly. In most states, there is no continuity of thought and action, for strengthening conservation. Our inability to establish the corridor across the Ganges, between the two halves of Rajaji National Park, even after thirty years of realisation that it is an important corridor, is a good example of the above statement. We are helpless against the rapid degradation that is engulfing our wildlife habitats. Many of us are not even aware that this is happening. Some, with ignorance, even say that nature will take care of it.
Eravikulam National Park, 2006
6. In our country of over one billion people, what challenges and opportunities do you see for wildlife conservation?
Our enormous population, which is growing rapidly, poses many threats to our wildlife. For example, unsustainable exploitation of ground water is making our landscapes increasingly arid. Instead of treating our rivers with immense respect like our blood vessels, we treat them like sewage drainages. A small farmer is able to keep his field free from all exotic weeds, but we, with more than one billion people, have allowed weeds to take over our wildlife habitats, drastically reducing their capability to support wildlife. The nation needs to have a common goal to have a noise-free, filth-free, garbage- free and weed-free country, with clean and productive ponds and rivers.
Protected areas like Anamalai Tiger Reserve and Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary have many dead teak trees as a result of debarking by elephants. Such trees can harvested, sold and the money can be deposited with the Foundation in Anamalai Tiger Reserve and used for resettling people in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.
Recent research by Mahseer Trust, United Kingdom, and other mahseer biologists, has found out that mortality in mahseer as a result of catch and release program is negligible. Therefore catch and release program of mahseer can be promoted along river Cauvery to maximize protection to mahseer which now are killed by dynamiting by fish poachers.
Crossing the Kunthipuzha river while on a trek between Mukurthi and Silent Valley National Park, 2009
7. Where do you see people as a threat, and where do you see them as assets, in the task of conserving our wildlife and natural heritage?
India's large population can be a great asset to conservation, if people are motivated to help clean the country of garbage and weeds, raise plantations of forage for livestock, firewood and timber and help in protection of wildlife. They can also help in alleviating the problem of climate change by raising thousands of tree species such as neem, ficus, peepal and jamun wherever possible and by maintaining as many water bodies as possible.
8. From having been India's first wildlife biologist, you have trained dozens of researchers and hundreds of foresters. Can you tell us a bit more about your time as a teacher and what your most rewarding and frustrating moments were?
My rewarding experiences largely come from the time I spent with students and trainee officers, in the field. Since I learnt wildlife largely by myself, I had very little to offer the students, many of whom are exceptionally brilliant, in theory classes. But, I had considerable knowledge to pass on to them with regards to the field situation. This, I would attribute to the knowledge I acquired by spending time, often alone, in the forests of Mudumalai-Bandipur and Rajaji NP. So, most of my students and forest officer trainees remember the time they spent with me in the field. Occasionally, very brilliant students failed to write about their research findings and that was frustrating.
At Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary, Sikkim, 2013
9. What do you see as your biggest legacy? How would you wish to be remembered? As a teacher? As a researcher? As a conservationist? As a student of natural history?
My biggest legacy is some of the brilliant students and dedicated forest officer trainees whose freedom, sadly, is often curtailed by bureaucracy. I may be remembered as one genuinely interested in practical conservation, interested in the welfare of the students and the poor of the land. One example of practical conservation I have in my mind is in the beautiful district of Coorg or Kodagu – people may be legally allowed to hunt prescribed number of wild pigs every year but no one should poach barking deer, sambar and gaur, which will make the enchanting landscape of Coorg immensely richer.
On Chatwapipal Bridge across the Alaknanda River near Rudraprayag
At Uttarey, Sikkim, 2013
10. What advice do you have to a youngster interested in pursuing wildlife as a profession today?
My advice will be that only those students who are exceedingly brilliant and physically fit should take up wildlife as a career. There is no future for mediocre students in wildlife. Be sincere and honest to the core, seek knowledge all the time, and communicate your findings and knowledge by all means to as many as possible.
We would like to acknowledge the help of M.D. Madhusudan, N Lakshminarayan, Kalyan Varma and Divya Mudappa for their valuable contributions to this interview.
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text:
Q: I want to populate my WordPress website with a json file. How can that be done? This is the json format:
{
    "Album": [
        {
            "name": "despacito",
            "lang": "spanish",
            "thumbnail": "some-url",
            "scrn":"some-url",
            "ourl":"some-url",
            "YearOfRelease": 2017
        }
    ]
}

How can this JSON be displayed on a WordPress site. Please do share if there is any tutorial on this or try to help me doing this.

A: Using PHP
Decode the json object using json_decode($obj)
refer : Decoding json in php
{
            "Album": [
                {
                        "name": "despacito",
                        "lang": "spanish",
                        "thumbnail": "some-url",
                        "scrn":"some-url",
                        "ourl":"some-url",
                        "YearOfRelease": 2017
                    }

         ]
         }

to retrieve name, use
$obj->Album->name
OR
foreach($obj-> Album as $value){
  echo $value->name; //change accordingly
}

Sources : json_decode to array


text:
Caroline Dahl  amerikai zongorista, zeneszerző: "boogie-woogie roots music."

Pályakép
Caroline Dahl a boogie-woogie, a blues, a rock 'n roll és a country-swing stílusok őseredeti amerikai zenéjének autodidakta mestere. Kentuckyból, Louisville-ből származik, ahol a Metropolitan Blues All Starsszal játszott.

San Francisco már több mint 30 éve otthona, ahol manapság egyedül játszik a Bay Area környékén, korábban sok évig a Mama's Royal Cafe-ban Mill Valley-ben.

A Globe Recordsnál megjelent CD-je nagyszerű kritikákat kapott a világ minden táján. Részvevője volt különböző fesztiváloknak az Egyesült Államokban, Kanadában, Európában (többek között) a svájci Nemzetközi Boogie Woogie Fesztiválon, a barcelonai Festival de Blues és a Detroiti Motor City Boogie Woogie Fesztiválon.

Lemezek
 2005: No Hats (Globe Records)
 2006: Night House (Globe Records)
 2013: Devil Digit Boogie Woogie (Hexadact Records)
 2021: A 'Boogie Woogie State of Mind' (Hexadact Records)

Iparművészet (hímzés)

https://carolinedahl.com/contemporary-embroidery-art-gallery.htm

Jegyzetek

Források

https://www.carolinedahl.com/
https://musicazon.com/artist/caroline-dahl
https://web.archive.org/web/20100201102219/http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=2345
https://web.archive.org/web/20120729031319/http://www.marinij.com/ci_14022809?IADID=Search-www.marinij.com-www.marinij.com
American roots Music

Amerikai dzsesszzenészek
Utcazenészek
Élő személyek
Kentuckyak


Sidi Saiyyed Mosque Ahmedabad – Ahmedabad, also known as Amdavad is the biggest and former capital of Indian state Gujarat. The city itself lies upon the river Sabarmati.
Visiting this city, you will experience the old and the modern, a bit of chaos and a bit of peacefulness. This city will serve for all of your senses with its diversity, as it is an industrial center, but is also full of historic building and old times the charm in the old part of the town.
Jhulta Minar or also known as the Shaking Minarets is a famous tourist attraction. It's placed among 9 need to see the list of Ahmedabad.
It's a part of a former Muslim mosque Sidi Bashir, which was constructed somewhere along 1452 either by Sidi Bashir, a slave of Sultan Ahmed Shah or by Malik Sarang, a noble in the court of Mahmud Begada, also a Sultan of Gujarat.
The building was destroyed in 1753 in a war between the Marathas and the Khan of Gujarat Sultanate, and only the two minarets and an arched central gateway connecting the minarets remained. Jhulta Minar is constructed in Gothic Muslim style with Rajputana influence.
These minarets are the tallest in Ahmedabad, 34 meters long, and even though the stairs leading to the minaret top suffered a great deal of damage over the time, they are still in use.
A bit of shaking of one minaret results in shaking of the other minaret over the time of few seconds, but the arched connection remains still.
Jhulta Minar is stationed very near to a railway station, and even though the time has left its toll on the building, they are still able to withstand all the fast trains passing by on a daily basis.
These building has been intriguing the world more than 500 years, making many people and scientist wonder what is the architecture behind the minarets.
One Englishman almost had the whole building down, just to try to learn the way minarets are made, and what exactly made the minarets shake whilst their connection seems to stay still.
Jhulta Minar has no entry fee, it takes about one to two hours to soak in all of its beauty. The minarets are open for public visitors from 5:30 AM to 9:00 PM.
This mosque was ranked on the 8th place among the places to visit in Ahmedabad, it has no entry fee, and is open for public from 7:00 AM till 6:00 PM. It takes about two hours to see all the details and beauty of this mosque.
The mosque was built in 1572-73 AD, in the last years of Gujarat Sultanate, and it stands for one of the most popular and beautiful mosques of Ahmedabad. Locally, it's known as Sidi Saiyyid ni Jali.
Which was the constructor of the mosque in the retinue of Bilal Jhajar Khan, a general in an army of the last Sultan Shams-ud-Din Muzaffar Shah III of the Gujarat Sultanate.
The architecture is very detailed, it's completely actuated with ten detailed carved latticework windows on the rear and side arches.
The rear wall of the Sidi Saizzed mosque is filled with square stone pierced panels in geometrical shapes, whilst the two bays flanking the central aisle have reticulated stone slabs carved in the design of intertwined trees and foliage and a palm motif.
This intricate window is an unofficial symbol of the city of Ahmedabad. This is a place of worship for Muslims, one of the most stunning buildings in Ahmedabad and it is surely a place worth visiting for its impressive architecture.
It also has a great religious value. It's in the central part of the city which has great transportation, so you don't have to worry about getting there or from the mosque.
It's also near to the busiest street in the city, so you can also very easily catch a bite or two on your way. With a garden on the side of the mosque and a little pond right in front of it, it will be a nice and calm experience.
Hathisingh Jain Temple is the most famous Jain temple in Ahmedabad. The construction of the temple was originally planned by Shet Hathisinh Kesarisinn, who was a very wealthy merchant in Ahmedabad, but as he died at the age of 49, his wife Shethani Harkunvar completed the construction.
It was built in 1848 AD at an estimated cost of 10 lakh rupees temple itself is dedicated to Dharmanatha, the fifteenth Jain Tirthankar. Hathi Singh Jain Temple was built during a huge famine in Gujarat, and the construction of the temple employed hundreds of skilled artisans.
The architect of the temple was Premchand Salat, the main building has two stories. The beauty of the building lies in the white marble, from which the building is made of.
It is located outside Delhi Gate, and it is spread over a big courtyard, a mandapa surmounted by a large ridged dome, supported by 12 ornate pillars. The courtyard is encircled with a row of pergolas with 52 shrines, each one of them carved in unique and fine carvings.
Every one of the shrines paints a picture of 'Tirthankar', and one of the shrines has a marble replica of the 15th Tirthankar, Dharamnath.
The temple is surrounded by porches from each and every side, and every porch is carefully and intricately carved marble stones. Visiting hours are from 09:00 AM to 05:00 PM every day, including weekends, it has no entrance fees, and it takes about one and a half hour to see all you need.
This temple was ranked seven among the places to see I Ahmedabad. I'm sure a walk through the Hathsingh temple will surely be a delightful experience and it will show you a beautiful, religious, peaceful and cultural side of Ahmedabad.
This museum is ranked among the four places you need to visit while you stay at Ahmedabad. It's open for visitors every weekday from 08:00 AM to 09:00 PM and the entrance fee is 50 INR per person for adults.
When it comes to time, it takes an average of 2 hours to browse throughout the museum. According to their guide there are 104 cars in the museum, and if you want to drive the car for the fixed distance you can pay a fee of 500 INR for four persons, and you will experience the charm of driving a vintage car.
They also charge taking a photo of the cars a fee of 50 INR. Vintage car museum is a huge part of the most important collection of antique vehicles, motorcycles, and cars. It was built by the family of Shri Pranlal Bhogilal over the last century.
It showcases vehicles from the old times when they weren't just a mean of transportation, but when they represented luxury, power and wealth. This museum is located at the outskirts of the city, has a great vintage vehicles collection and also they have few rides for the kids.
So your little ones will also enjoy. They offer a brilliant collection of vintage cars in a sprawling place including the best from Rolls Royce, Bentley, Cadillac, Austin and many more. Everyone who has a love for cars and especially appreciates vintage cars will have a blast in this museum.
And believe us, it's worth the price, you will surely have fun and enjoy. As a part of the museum, they offer you an auditorium, souvenir shop to get some memories for you and a coffee shop if you just want to take a break and soak up all the charm and loveliness you have witnessed.
Shopping in Ahmedabad – Where can you spend all the money?
Even though you probably wouldn't expect much shopping, but actually Ahmedabad is quite a shopping paradise. As Ahmedabad is best known as the Manchester of the East it's associated with textiles and fabrics. Even though it's full of markets and shops there are few of them that are worth your time and energy.
Rani No Hajiro Ahmedabad Cloth Market is opened every day from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM and it's and is located near the historic tombs of Ahmed Shah's Queens. Where you can buy costume jewelry, clothes and apparel good enough for queens themselves. La Darwaza Market, as the name itself, says, this market is located near Lal Darwaza and is open from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
Here, you will witness the bargaining skills of the shoppers from all over the world, and indeed in this market, you can find almost everything you can think of, and it will be very cheap.
Sindhi Market is located at the Revdi Bazar and is open from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM, this market is also very cheap and since it has a diverse assortment, from traditional clothes to modern one, it will satisfy your every need. Manek Chowk.
This market is opened from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM, and this is a market where all Ahmedabad shops and the locals adore this place. It offers designer clothes and well as the cheap ones, besides clothes you can also buy food, vegetables all beside each other.
So, if you are in for the shopping spree, Ahmedabad is the place for you. It's diverse, inexpensive and colorful and if you have good bargaining skills you are sure in for the treat.


text:
<?php declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\Tests\Controller;

use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Test\WebTestCase;

class AboutControllerTest extends WebTestCase
{
    public function testPackagist(): void
    {
        $client = self::createClient();

        $crawler = $client->request('GET', '/about');
        static::assertResponseIsSuccessful();
        static::assertEquals('What is Packagist?', $crawler->filter('h2.title')->first()->text());
    }

    public function testComposerRedirect(): void
    {
        $client = self::createClient();

        $client->request('GET', '/about-composer');
        static::assertResponseRedirects('https://getcomposer.org/', 301);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


It's the most capable small SUV ever, and it's ready to take you on your next great adventure. The 2017 Jeep Renegade looks sharp with its Jeep brand styling and modern accents, and it has all the best features you want in a Jeep along with the comforts and convenience you get from a contemporary street car. Landers Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Norman, Oklahoma is the place to get one. Landers CDJR of Norman customers come in from across the Oklahoma City metro, including Edmond, Moore, Midwest City, Yukon, and Del City. Stop by today, and we'll let you take a 2017 Renegade out for a test drive.
There's no mistaking the 2017 Jeep Renegade for any other brand. It catches your eye with its modern take on the iconic Jeep styling, sporting an ever-recognizable Jeep grille and round headlights. The rugged exterior lets everyone know that this Jeep is capable and ready for anything, and it does it in a more compact, city-friendly package. The inside of every Renegade has a distinctive aesthetic with cloth seats and heavy duty mesh fabric, or available leather-trimmed seating. Folding rear seats and an available height-adjustable cargo floor makes it easy to fit all your equipment without the fuss. Jeep's Uconnect system allows you to keep your eyes on the (off-)road, while keeping you connected to all your favorite music and entertainment. Integrated voice commands now make it possible to send text messages even when your hands are on the wheel. Available heated seats and steering wheel make it possible for you to go on off-roading adventures even in the coldest months.
If it wasn't adventure-ready, it wouldn't be a Jeep. The Jeep Renegade Trailhawk model was awarded the Trail Rated badge because of its ability to perform in off-road conditions as a result of incredible traction, ground clearance, maneuverability, and water fording abilities. Every four-wheel-drive Renegade comes with an available traction control system that allows the driver to specifically tune traction settings according to the road conditions, including settings for snow, sand, mud and rock in the trailhawk. The 2017 Renegade offers two motor options, the 1.4L MultiAir Turbo and the 2.4L Tigershark MultiAir 2. The Tigershark motor uses advanced technology to provide next-level power and torque with reduced emissions. It comes standard on Limited and Trailhawk models and is paired with the available nine-speed automatic transmission. The Renegade is a smaller Jeep, but it can tow up to 2,000 pounds of gear—there's nothing small about that!
The 2017 Renegade doesn't play games when it comes to safety. With more than 70 unique safety features, you can kiss your worries goodbye. In the event of an accident, your Renegade will deploy full-length front and rear side-curtain airbags, along with an inflatable knee bolster airbag on the driver's side and seat-mounted side airbags for front occupants, plus advanced multistage driver and front passenger airbags. Lane keep assist technology makes sure you stay in your lane, and available collision warning will alert you when you're approaching another vehicle too quickly. Active braking will even apply the brakes for you if you're not braking enough or in time. The blind spot monitoring system has your back by keeping an eye on your blind spot at all times. The available rear backup camera system provides you with a wide-angle view of everything that's behind you, and rear park assist helps you get the Renegade into tricky spots without hitting anything.
If you want to know more about the 2017 Jeep Renegade, stop by Landers Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Norman to check out our inventory and take one for a test drive. In the meantime, browse through our online inventory to see what we have on the lot.
Click here to browse our 2017 Jeep Renegade online inventory.


Now that my long stay in Peru is pretty much at an end, I've had a think back through all my experiences of everyday life in the country, and compiled two lists. Tomorrow I'll rant about what I hate about Peru, but, for now, here are a few things I will look back on fondly about the country.
Now this requires a couple of caveats. The weather varies quite a lot depending on where you are in the country. Peru is basically split into three regions: the coastal desert, the eastern rainforest, and the high Andean plateau in between. While the coast is generally plagued by sea fog for most of the year, and the rainforest is hot, humid and, well, rainy, the mountainous centre is generally very sunny, dry and never overwhelmingly hot thanks to the high altitude. Of course, there is also a pretty nasty miserable season at the start of the year, but two months of near incessant rain is probably a price worth paying for ten months of sunshine!
But such things are a reality of life in the developing world, and besides they are exceptions to the overarching rule: that the people of Peru are generally rather honest folk who will treat us foreigners with the same respect they afford their compatriots.
Again, Peru is a step ahead of many developing countries, particularly some of its Latin American neighbours, in that violence and crime are very much under control.
Let me put this in perspective by comparing Peru to a Latin American country at the opposite end of the security scale, Honduras. One tourist I met in Ayacucho had worked there for a couple of years, and she told me how she had once been robbed at gun point, and eventually forced to leave the country after the government was toppled in a coup. Apparently violent crime is a fairly regular occurrence over there, and in other Latin American countries like Colombia and Venezuela. People were warned not to carry valuables, to travel in groups and be very careful at night.
Not so in Peru. I can't think of a single time since I've been here I've felt in real danger, no matter what poverty stricken area. In Ayacucho- itself a city with a violent history- I spent half an hour walking through one of the most deprived areas of the city late at night on my own, and yet I felt safe in the knowledge no one was going to jump out of the shadows and rob me. Of course, you might say that that was a bit naive and careless of me, and as a tall 22 year old male I'm inevitably going to feel a bit more invulnerable than most. But my point is that Peru is a fairly safe place to be if you behave sensibly.
The price of things in Peru varies rather a lot. Some things cost as much or even more than I'm used to in the UK, but generally the cost of living is significantly less, especially in smaller cities. Accommodation costs a fraction of what it does in the UK- I've been paying the equivalent of £50 a month to stay in a hotel room right in the city centre. It didn't have a kitchen, but saying as I could eat at a food stall on the street for about 50p every night I didn't really care!
In the high Andean interior of Peru, pretty much every town or city is going to be set spectacularly amidst the mountains- certainly all the ones I visited were. In Arequipa there are two huge snow capped volcanoes towering over the city. Cusco and the nearby settlements reminded me of Alpine towns, surrounded as they were by green hillsides and rocky peaks. Ayacucho sits nestled inside a bowl, encircled by a high ridge on one side and swooping hills on the other. For Europeans like myself accustomed to living in flat, featureless metropolises, it makes for quite a change.
Think Peru and surely one of the first things to come to mind will be the Incas. They may be long gone by now- brutally wiped out by the Spanish Conquistadors centuries ago- but the spectacular ruins of their former empire remain.
Some would argue that a trip to the country that doesn't take in Machu Picchu is a waste of time. In my controversial opinion I'd suggest it's not necessarily worth the significant hassle and expense of getting there, especially when you factor in the hordes of tourists that will be admiring the site alongside you, and the host of other Inca ruins on offer nearby. That said, it's a pretty awe inspiring place, especially if you can imagine what it must have been like back in its pre conquistador heyday.
You might think my single syllable name might not be too difficult to pronounce, but to the people of Peru it certainly seems to be. Over the months I've been called Grem, Greck, Gram, Grom, Breg, even Schweg. Seriously. Of course, this might not seem like a particularly good thing about life in Peru, but it never fails to amuse me.
One day back in June, I was busy selling pancakes in the street when a huge line containing about 500 people marched past. There were clowns, people on stilts, huge wall sized banners, countless balloons and placards, and even a marching band. But this wasn't a celebration- the somewhat mundane reality was they were merely encouraging people to give blood. Yep, that's how that sort of thing is done in Peru.
If there's one good thing I'd like to bring home from Peru and make popular in the UK, it's churros-fried tubes of dough with caramel in the middle, served warm and sprinkled with sugar. They cost about 15p, and apparently they're popular all over Latin America. By happy coincidence, there were stalls selling them right where I get off the bus home from work in Arequipa. It was like the food Gods were smiling down on me, beckoning me to consumeth many a churro during my Peruvian odyssey. And consumeth I did.
Y'know, because they just look cute.
While the Incas got the ball rolling with their spectacular monuments to the Gods, their demise certainly didn't mark the end of grand building projects in Peru. The Spanish Conquistadors took over where the Incas left off building their own very different places of worship- churches.
Now I don't like spending my time in those houses of indoctrination (don't send me hate mail angry Christians, 'twas just an opinion), but I can certainly see their architectural merit. Particularly in Arequipa, where most of the oldest buildings were built from white volcanic stone, some of the grand old religious buildings were unlike anything I'd ever seen in Europe. The beautiful Plaza de Armas, with its huge cathedral and arcaded buildings, was probably my highlight of urban Peru.
Football is big all over Latin America, and thankfully for me Peru is no exception. Despite being on the other side of the world, I was able to watch more English football here than I could back in England, and I had plenty of opportunities to play too. In fact, no matter how little Spanish you speak, you can always get a conversation started in Peru if you know a bit about football. Just randomly reeling off the names of a few clubs and players would usually suffice for me.
It helps, of course, when one of your favourite old players was once the captain and star player of the Peruvian national team. Literally the first Peruvian person I met after arriving in the country, a man who didn't even like football, mentioned mutual Newcastle and Peru hero Nolberto Solano, which was a great start to my time here!


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