What is Going On?

[Jo UK]

This report says that TWO wolves were killed and three are back at the zoo, which needs to inspect its fences more diligently.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... caped.html

Back in August, a pig escaped!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-23604209

[Jo UK]

A special topic to mark the death of Nelson Mandela.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=626

[ame]

today is the day of Santa Lucia. the English Wikipedia writes:
"Saint Lucia's Day is the church feast day dedicated to Lucia of Syracuse (d.304), also known as Saint Lucy, and is observed on 13 December. St. Lucia’s Day is celebrated most commonly in Italy and in Scandinavia, with each emphasizing a different aspect of the story. It is one of the very few saint days observed in Scandinavia. In traditional celebrations, Saint Lucy comes as a young woman with lights and sweets. In some forms, a procession is headed by one girl wearing a crown of candles (or lights), while others in the procession hold only a single candle each"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucy%27s_Day

nowadays in Finland Lucia and her friends spread light and joy among people during Christmas time and also collect money for different charities. Lucia tradition in Finland is mainly celebrated by the Swedish-speaking people in Finland, but to me it denotes the beginning of true Christmas time and the beginning of the turning point in winter, culminated in the Winter solstice. in Swedish speaking families one of the daughters may play the role of Lucia who serves buns seasoned with saffron to the other family members. in schools or in cities one (preferably a blonde) girl is chosen for the role each year.

here's a video of the Santa Lucia in Turku 2013 Vilma Jaakkola. she was crowned early today morning by the editor in chief Dick Holmström of the newspaper Åbo Underrättelser (the Swedish speaking newspaper in Turku; Turku is a bilingual city).
[youtube]wPdYSgQi2LY#t=22[/youtube]

[iku]

Thanks for the video
I actually turku, but I do not by birth, but I believe that I am in the middle Finnish or more from the east, and I do not see this festival other than that Swedes. It's to be found.

[ame]

Christmas peace was declared in Turku at 12 o'clock noon today. the declaration has its origins in the 14th century and the text of the declaration has its origins in the time of our queen Christina in the early 17th century. the Christmas peace has been declared yearly (excluding the war times) since 1903.

the text is religious which typical of the times when the tradition began. here's a translation which i found in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Peace)

"Tomorrow, God willing, is the graceful celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour;

and thus is declared a peaceful Christmas time to all, by advising devotion and to behave otherwise quietly and peacefully,

because he who breaks this peace and violates the peace of Christmas by any illegal or improper behaviour shall under aggravating circumstances be guilty
and punished according to what the law and statutes prescribe for each and every offence separately.

Finally, a joyous Christmas feast is wished to all inhabitants of the city."

the event begins with a hymn and then the bells of the Turku Catherdral strike 12. after this the declaration is read in both Finnish and in Swedish (which is the second official language in Finland).


then the national anthem of Finland is sung in both Finnish and Swedish. (this song will resonate with Estonian hearts, too, because the music is the same as the national anthem of Estonia Mu isamaa.) then a march Porilaisten marssi is played (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porilaisten_marssi).


the park around the old market place and the catherdal were packed with people as always. we didn't go there today because it rained hard in Turku during this event. to me watching this ceremony on TV or in the park marks the beginning of Christmas so
A Very Merry Christmas to everybody!

Pictures are copyright of YLE web news.

here you can find the broadcast of this event. it will be available for a month in YLE Areena, the program archive of Finnish TV:
http://areena.yle.fi/tv/2088913


in recent years i and my husband have, however listened to this program with mixed feelings though. the lyrics of the hymn Jumala ompi linnamme aren't very peaceful but rather 'smell of brimstone' (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God; http://en.wikipedia.org)/wiki/A_Mighty_Fortress_Is_Our_God) and the march in the end is the honorary march of Finnish Defence Forces. the text of the declaration itself threatens with hard punishesment if someone should misbehave.... this all put together does quite not sound harmonious and peaceful...

[Janne+Ais]

Thank you, ame, very touching. I love to learn about old traditions and ancient customs. Let us save this cultural heritage, but always think about the critical substance, like you do.
I wish you all a peaceful Christmas and a strong angel for each of "our" birds and animals.

[Katinka]

Christmas peace was declared...
...in recent years i and my husband have, however listened to this program with mixed feelings though. the lyrics of the hymn Jumala ompi linnamme aren't very peaceful but rather 'smell of brimstone' (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God) and the march in the end is the honorary march of Finnish Defence Forces...

Aha, a declaration - I like that kind of ceremonial city events. What a wishful content, to consider devotion, to respect silence and peace at that time...
Turku is the oldest town in Finland, isn't it? Or its church?...have read st. like that...

I just come from the main Christmas service, with the traditional play by a row of children from 4 to 9.
As I like to sing church songs in general, I do know "A mighty fortress is our god". And I agree to you - "brimstone" says everything! Much to my regrets the German "song book" still contains a lot of such dark-touched song texts with martial rhythm. Therefor I won't take part on our local monthly "Volkslieder-Singen". Too much songs causing "gastralgia", and it's the "heart" I miss. Better take the example of maertha's favourite here above in the thread, the tradition of Christmas busk in the Dublin main shopping street.

All the best and thanks for another interesting post, ame.

[Sven]

Not sure if that fits at this forum (social corner) but I wasn't able to find any better place.

At the evening of Dec 5th last year I went to capture the "Klausjagen" of Küssnacht, a Swiss village located down the shores of lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstaetter See). This event takes place at the very same day of each year and reflects (yet maintains) ancient cultic origins of the region.

"On December 5, the eve of St. Nicholas' Day, the village of Küssnacht, on the shores of Lake Lucerne, glows in the light of some two hundred enormous, transparent bishops' miters, which have been artfully designed, cut out of cardboard, assembled, and lit by a candle from within. This Iffele, or headdress, is worn by the men and, more recently women as well, who accompany St. Nicholas on his way through the village.

The streets echo with the sound of heavy bells carried by strong men, horn blowing, and especially the peculiar triad rhythm of a brass band accompanying the chant of Mänz, Mänz, Mänz, Bodefridimänz. Clemenz (Mänz) Ulrich tried unsuccessfully in the 1920s to convert the wild chasing of St. Nicholas by village youths into something more civilized. His successors had better luck in 1928, when they founded an association to maintain and preserve the Klausjagen custom.

In its earlier and even in its current form, the custom reflects ancient cultic origins which are barely superseded by the appearance of St. Nicholas in his bishop's robes. The whipcrackers noisily announcing the arrival of the procession, apparently share these same origins."

Source: http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/klau ... gi-sz.html



At 8:15 p.m. the the local energy company switches off all street lights in order to enhance the yellow /reddish shine of the Iffelen (lampions).

The famous drink of the night is (what they call) "coffee". Which is coffee mixed with pear liqueur. Truth is: it's the other way around it is liqueur with a hint of coffee. I learned that it is okay as long as one is able to see through the (full) glass. I think I would not be able to survive more than two

Just for reference here's some short video impression of the 2012s event (copyright holder is probably the youtube user):


Enjoy,
Sven

Edit: the embedded youtube link doesn't show up, so here is the URL: http://youtu.be/e76dQWUOKqY

Edited by Felis silvestris - for adding the YouTube code you just have to add the number/letter code and can leave out the part with http ... up to the /

[macdoum]

Poor North America,both the U.S.A & Canada are having dreadfully cold weather;

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/arct ... ohio-16906

May all the people & animals find shelter.

[Alex10100]

Hello everybody! Please sign this petition:

STOP living animals keychain/lucky charm in China

Why this is important

New fashion jewelry in China, animals living under plastic containing a liquid nutrient and oxygen that allows them to live up to 2 months.

This is cruel and should be condemned by the international community.
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Pe ... e/?crcbHgb

Thank you!

[Katinka]

Dobryy vecher - Добрый вечер, Alex10100!
Thank you for your efforts to share this with us.
The world is going mad - no! the population on the globe is...

You are a forumist on the Boar webcam?
Can you tell us in the forum topic "Seasons" - "Autumn & winter 2013/14" (viewtopic.php?f=30&t=610&start=140) what your winter is doing, in Ukraina?

Spasibo - спасибо!

[Katinka]

from Agatheb2k in "Problems with connections"/ viewtopic.php?f=81&t=606&start=20

Merci beaucoup - thanks, I didn't know of a feeder cam by now...

[spatz]

animal of the year in Germany 2014, the wisent. bird of the year is the green woodpecker

[spatz]

this picture to my last contribution

[Katinka]

RIGA has been chosen to be European Cultural capital town for 2014.

Sveiki - gaidīts!
See you soon this year...

[iku]

Beautiful New Year to all!
Today, I have joined a local bird-union and I am really pleased because they meet the everyday day. Raisins, nuts and dried fruit you need a lot .........

[Katinka]

iku - you'd have got my PM,
Estonia is again a participating country of the yearly "Berlin Green Week" until Jan. 26.
Quotation from a German newspaper:
"Auch in diesem Jahr werden mehr als 400.000 Besucher auf der Grünen Woche erwartet, darunter 100.000 Fachbesucher. Partnerland ist diesmal Estland. Das baltische Land ist seit 1994 Aussteller auf der Grünen Woche und hatte mit einem besonders gelungenen Konzept überzeugt. Estland bietet Spezialitäten aus der Ostsee-Region wie Heringe, Sprotten und Flundern, schwarzes Roggenbrot, Gerstenbier, Kohl und Korn."

Translation follows as an EDIT in this post tomorrow.

[macdoum]

A tracker is to be fitted to the Internationl Space Station to enable us to follow the migration of many species. !;

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... ce-station

Great idea.

[ame]

February 2nd is The Groundhog Day.

this is a humorous festival in USA which i learnt about in a rather sympathetic film (with the same name) which i saw this winter.
Wikipedia tells more:
"According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, then spring will come early; if it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day)


Groundhog Day 2005 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, U.S.
(Picture from Wikipedia; the third man in the backrow holds a groundhog in his hands.)

at the moment it is too early in Pennsylvania still to say whether the groundhog can see its shadow or not (it's early in the morning there).
i think that we could also use this method to predict spring. since there aren't groundhogs around us readily available i think we can use a cat in this prediction because those we can find almost everywhere:
if a cat cannot see its shadow today it will be early spring.

[Felis silvestris]

i think that we could also use this method to predict spring. since there aren't groundhogs around us readily available i think we can use a cat in this prediction because those we can find almost everywhere:
if a cat cannot see its shadow today it will be early spring.

Ame!
What do the Finnish cats say today? German cats say no shadow yet!