Special Moebius WOOT for the first to find Wally, a young visitor from the EU.

Another day, another load of casks. I must be getting fitter cos I don't feel as if I've been beaten up as I normally do. However, they don't need me until next week or perhaps not even then.

{s i g h}

keep to the Fen Causeway

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice.

Storm adds to chaos at troubled Italy steel plant - Yahoo! News UK

BARI, Italy (Reuters) - A violent storm hit a troubled ILVA steel plant in southern Italy on Wednesday, injuring around 20 workers, leaving one missing and adding to disruption at the huge site, which is already caught up in a widening pollution scandal.

The tornado rolled off the sea and hit the port city of Taranto, bringing down a chimney stack and damaging a warehouse and lighthouse at the factory's docks, the company said in a statement.

Divers were searching for a worker who was unaccounted for after a dockside crane collapsed. Three others on the crane were rescued.

Europe's largest steel plant had already stopped production and faces the threat of permanent closure after magistrates this week seized semi-finished material and steel in a corruption investigation linked to the environmental scandal.

The particle-laden fumes and airborne waste pumped out by the plant are blamed for abnormally high levels of cancer and respiratory diseases in the region. The company denies that its operations are responsible.

Environment Minister Corrado Clini insisted on Wednesday that the government would save the plant, saying its closure would have devastating effects on the wider economy.

"Risking industrial production in the steel sector means creating a domino effect in economic and social terms," he told parliament in a speech. "Closing ILVA at Taranto would be to do a big favour to international competitors, which produce under environmental rules that are worse than the ones we are imposing."

so bizarre, this steel plant is the centre of news right now, the tornado bypassed the town and hit the plant directly.

super-polluting, magistrates ordered it closed, and now the workers are occupying it.

very interesting collision of interests, and a good example of how hard it is to re-engineer a plant to be a good neighbour to residential areas, (or anywhere else).

It's a fine line between homage, parody, and consumer opportunism. Jess Walter

I just discovered that, in between slaughtering lambs, the Albanians also celebrated their 100th anniversary of independence by reviving an opera by Vivaldi about their national hero Skanderberg. Here's what they have to say about it, together with Google's "English":

18-20-21 Nentor, ora 19:00 Si pjesë e trashëgimisë historike muzikore e artit europian, frymëzuar nga personalitete të rëndësishme të kombit shqiptar, në këtë 100- vjetor të parë të pavarësisë së tij, do te shfaqet, në Teatrin tonë Kombëtar të Operas dhe Baletit, si premierë botërore, projekti i restaurimit artistik të veprës "Scanderbeg" nga Antonio Vivaldi. Në vitin 1718, ne Teatrin della Pergola të Firence-s, do të hapej stina artistike me veprën Scanderbeg, shkruar nga muzikanti i famshëm venecian. Pas gati dyqind e pesëdhjetë vitesh pas vdekjes së tij, Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu ishte kthyer në legjendë. Subjekti, i trajtuar në përputhje me stilin barok, duke u fokusuar në tregime kalorësish rreth historive të dashurisë së protagonistëve, gjithsesi bazohet në fakte historike. Qyteti i Krujës (Croia, në vepër) i cili ka qenë aq i rëndësishëm në procesin e bashkimit të principatave të kohës, përbën sfondin e gjithë historisë. Personazhet e veprës - natyrisht, Skënderbeu, dhe me të Doneca, Amurat, Ormondo, Aronitz - janë kopje të figurave historike.		November 18-20-21, 19:00 As part of the historical heritage of European art music, inspired by important personalities of the Albanian nation in the 100 - its first annual Independence, will appear in our National Theatre of Opera and Ballet, the world premiere, project Artistic restoration work "Scanderbeg" by Antonio Vivaldi. In 1718, we della Pergola Florence's Theatre, will open the season with artistic work Scanderbeg written by famous Venetian musician. After nearly two hundred and fifty years after his death, Scanderbeg was turned into legend. Subject, treated in accordance with the baroque style, focusing on riders stories about love stories of the protagonists, however, is based on historical facts. Kruja city (Croia, in deed) which has been so important in the process of unification of the principalities of the time, is the background of history. The characters - obviously, Skënderbeu and Doneca Amur Ormondo Aronitz - are copies of historical figures.
Vepra e Vivaldi, e konsideruar e humbur, kthet në dritë, në formën e fragmenteve muzikore, siç ndodh shpesh në gërmimet arkeologjike, pas një hulumtimi të gjatë në arkivat dhe bibliotekat e ndryshme italiane dhe evropiane. Janë këto pjesë të cilat përbëjnë zemrën e këtij edicioni të ri të veprës "Scanderbeg". Përfundimi i partiturës i është besuar kompozitorit Francesco Venerucci, i njohur tashmë nga teatri dhe publiku i Tiranës, i cili ka integruar kopjen ekzistuese me pjesë të tjera të Vivaldit dhe pjesërisht me pjesë muzikore shkruara enkas nga vetë ai. Krijimi, i cili qëndron midis pjesës origjinale baroke dhe gjuhës bashkëkohore, ka dhënë mundësinë e shmangies së një Vivaldi të "rremë". Libreti origjinal i Antonio Salvi-t, (ky po,ka mbërritur në ditët tona i tëri), ka qenë gjithashtu objekt i një trajtimi silistikor, besuar muzikologut dhe studiuesit të njohur Quirino Principe. Teksti është rishkruar për t'u përputhur me partiturën e re. Të dy këta bashkëautorë i përkasin të njëjtit vend të krijuesve origjinalë të partiturës dhe libretit, u është besuar detyra e ringjalljes së veprës, me qëllim që "Scanderbeg", në njëqind vjetorin e pavarësisë së Shqipërisë, të mund të rikthehej në vendin e tij, duke sjellë me vete imazhin që Italia ka pasur gjithmonë për këtë hero.		Works of Vivaldi, considered lost, can become the light in the form of musical fragments, as often happens in archaeological excavations, after a long research in the archives and libraries of various Italian and European. It is these parts that make up the heart of this new edition of the work "Scanderbeg". Complete partiturës entrusted composer Francesco Venerucci, already known from the theater and the audience of Tirana, which has integrated with other existing copy of Vivaldi and partly specially written musical parts himself. Creation, which lies between the original part Baroque and contemporary language, has given me the opportunity to avoid a Vivaldi "false". Original booklet Antonio Salvi, (this is, has arrived at our days hooked), has also been the subject of a treatment silistikor, believe muzikologut and renowned scholars Quirino Principe. The text was rewritten to comply with the new score. Both co-belonging to the same place the original creators of music and booklet, has been entrusted with the task of reviving the work, in order to "Scanderbeg" centenary of the independence of Albania, could return to his country, bringing the image that Italy has always had for this hero.

It's a co-production with Italy and is supposed to show up in Northern Italy, it which case I might go and find out more (the only dates I currently have are for Cosenza which is much too far away)

We's folks in northern CA have this stuff called "weather". Fantastic system. Solar powered, and for the next 10 days will be providing us with purified drinking water at essentially NO COST! Furthermore, to get around any temporary storage problem, the water deposited in the higher elevations gets locked up as snow/ice until the spring. The reason I'm mentioning this is that I was just watching the BBC and some dude was reporting on the God awful amount of water that is utilized in fracking, not to mention the contamination of aquifers. So we crafty Cal-e-forn-e-ans will go into the "purified water" biz. As the rest of you squander your water away, we have this wonderful solar-powered water provider that literally rains down Liquid Gold!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wp4O7v5320

Old enough to lose another friend. Here's a vid about a great cartoon, border breaking, artist.

HERE

Spain Rodriguez had a great effect on amurka.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin