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lostaff · 7 months

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Un messaggio da parte di alcune persone trans dello staff di Tumblr e Automattic

Vogliamo che le persone trans e le persone LGBTQ+ in generale si sentano benvenute su Tumblr, anche perché noi persone trans di Tumblr e Automattic vogliamo che questo sia uno spazio in cui noi stessi ci sentiamo inclusi. Vogliamo che questa piattaforma ci sostenga e si batta per la nostra sicurezza. Tumblr è reso più luminoso e vivace dalla vostra presenza e le persone LGBTQ+ che aiutano a gestirlo lottano continuamente per questo, per voi, internamente.

Qualche giorno fa, Matt Mullenweg (CEO di Automattic, la società madre di Tumblr) ha risposto alla domanda di un utente circa la sospensione di un account, e la sua risposta ha colpito negativamente la comunità LGBTQ+ di Tumblr. Riteniamo che la risposta di Matt a questa richiesta, così come i suoi commenti, siano ingiustificati e dannosi. Lo staff di Tumblr non commenta le decisioni di moderazione per una serie di motivi, tra cui la privacy delle persone coinvolte e l’impossibilità di moderare migliaia di segnalazioni al giorno. Questa politica ha un aspetto negativo: rende molto facile il diffondersi di voci e informazioni errate sulle azioni intraprese dal nostro team di Trust & Safety. Per questo motivo, vogliamo chiarire alcuni aspetti della situazione:

La verità riguardo la sospensione di predstrogen non è stata comunicata in modo accurato e ha dato l’impressione che stessimo cercando modi per vietare la presenza di persone trans femminili sulla nostra piattaforma. Non è così: il commento di esempio condiviso nel post linkato sopra non soddisfa la nostra definizione di minaccia realistica di violenza e non è stato il fattore decisivo per la sospensione dell'account.

Matt non ha riconosciuto il danno alla community generato da questa sospensione. Matt non parla a nome delle persone LGBTQ+ che contribuiscono alla gestione di Tumblr o di Automattic e noi non siamo stati consultati quando è stata redatta una risposta a questi eventi.

L'anno scorso, le etichette “contenuti per adulti” e “temi sessuali” sono state erroneamente applicate ai post di alcuni utenti. La responsabilità è stata attribuita a un team esterno incaricato di applicare le etichette della community ai post, che ha mostrato una tendenza generale di etichettare in modo erroneo contenuti trans. Quando il nostro team di Trust & Safety ha rilevato il problema, grazie soprattutto alle segnalazioni della community, abbiamo impedito al team esterno di applicare le etichette della community. Allo stesso tempo, abbiamo potenziato la supervisione per garantire che questa situazione non si verificasse di nuovo. Nel post dello staff dedicato a questo argomento, il nostro staff LGBTQ+ ha fatto pressione per chiedere maggiore trasparenza, ma è stato scavalcato dalla dirigenza. Il licenziamento di un collaboratore menzionato nella risposta alla richiesta originale era dovuto a un fatto non correlato, che è stato erroneamente attribuito a questo caso. Siamo spiacenti per l’errore di etichettatura e per l’impatto negativo che ha avuto sulla comunità trans di Tumblr.

Le tempistiche della transizione non sono un tema contrario alle linee guida della community e non sono state prese in considerazione dal team di moderazione al momento di discutere le sospensioni e i successivi appelli. Non prendiamo provvedimenti contro i contenuti che riguardano la transizione o i corpi trans, a meno che non siano in violazione delle Linee guida della community.

Comprendiamo e condividiamo il sentimento di frustrazione che le persone trans provano su Tumblr quando si imbattono in contenuti transfobici e interagiscono con utenti bigotti. Le politiche di Tumblr e di Automattic sono pensate per garantire la libertà di parola e di espressione. Proibiamo le molestie come definito nelle nostre Linee guida della community, ma sappiamo che questa politica non è in grado di proteggere gli utenti dai tanti discorsi dannosi spesso utilizzati contro le persone LGBTQ+ e altre persone che subiscono emarginazione.

In futuro, Tumblr adotterà queste misure:

Daremo priorità alle funzioni anti-molestie che consentiranno agli utenti di proteggersi più efficacemente dalle molestie.

Creeremo più strumenti interni per noi dello Staff per identificare e mitigare in modo proattivo i casi di molestie.

Esamineremo i tag utilizzati spesso dalla comunità trans e che sono bloccati, e ci impegneremo per renderli disponibili la prossima settimana.

Siamo dispiaciuti per come si sono svolte le cose e ci stiamo impegnando attivamente per far sentire la nostra voce ed evitare che una situazione simile possa ripetersi in futuro. Sappiamo bene che affrontare situazioni del genere come utente di Tumblr è difficile, soprattutto per coloro che fanno parte di una comunità già spesso presa di mira e soggetta a molestie. Sappiamo che ci vorrà del tempo per riconquistare la vostra fiducia e faremo del nostro meglio affinché accada.

Apprezziamo lo spazio che ci è stato concesso per esprimere le nostre preoccupazioni e il nostro dissenso e siamo grati che il solido impegno di Matt (e di Automattic) per la libertà di espressione lo abbia reso possibile.

Continueremo a lottare per rendere Tumblr un posto sicuro per tutti noi.

- Questa dichiarazione è stata redatta da diverse persone trans che lavorano per Tumblr e Automattic.

#annuncio #personetrans #dirittitrans

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ross-nekochan · 1 month

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Ieri è stato il mio primo giorno in smartworking in questa azienda. Fortunatamente tutto è andato bene e siamo riusciti a connetterci alla intranet aziendale come previsto. Meno piacevole è stato il controllo assillante dei superiori: dal 2 Agosto per adeguarci al resto del mondo, hanno cambiato il sistema telefonico - non più il normale telefono, ma un software che guida chi telefona a chiamare il dipartimento giusto e fa girare le chiamate inbound automaticamente. Peccato che non funziona per niente come una telefonata normale e tu non hai nemmeno il diritto di accettare la telefonata; ad un certo punto senti "tu-tu" e sei direttamente al telefono con qualcuno dall'altra parte. A parte questo, ieri poiché tutto l'ufficio era in smart e poiché si vede che qualche chiamata è andata persa per qualche motivo (riescono a controllare pure questo), ci hanno buttato tutti in un gruppo su Teams e ogni volta che qualcuno si metteva "off" per troppo tempo, veniva taggato e ripreso chiedendosi di rimettersi in "disponibile". Alla fine si è capito che si cambiava lo stato dal semplice "off" a tipo "in pausa pranzo" o "in pausa" non venivi taggato e che il problema maggiore era mettersi su "off" (che non è off ma non so come tradurlo - è tipo "in preparazione").

A proposito di questo, non avete idea di quante lamentele ci sono stata e ci sono (ancora) su sto nuovo sistema di gestione delle telefonate. Tutti hanno l'idea dei giapponesi che non si lamentano mai, sono sempre composti ecc... o cazz. Questi si lamentano h24 su delle stronzate colossali, tipo ieri la mia tutor fa:"Quindi a pranzo devi mettere 'in pausa pranzo', quando vai al bagno 'in pausa'... che palle ogni volta dover mettere uno stato diverso".... aoh?!?!? Ma veramente fai?!? Vabbè che ancora non l'ho inquadrata lei come tipo e non so se e quanto sia 'falsa'... so solo che nun fa nu cazz ed è quella che lavora di meno di tutti. Ieri fa pure:"Grazie a Rossella e a Mochizuki le mail non aperte si sono ridotte tantissimo"... e grazie o cazz e tu che cazz e combinat? Boh, però a quanto pare fa pure gli straordinari quindi non so e non capisco (non ancora, almeno).

Alla fine il tifone di grado 7 di ieri non è stata poi chissà che cosa pericolosamente sensazionale: solo pioggia, pioggia, pioggia tutto il giorno e vento abbastanza forte. Come sempre in questo paese: tanto rumore per nulla. Ma capisco che è meglio prevenire che curare.

Alla fine tra le feste e il tifone questa settimana mi sono svegliata alle 6:40 solo giovedì ed è stata praticamente una settimana intera di dormite bellissime e rigeneranti. Come farò dal prossimo lunedì a vivere di nuovo con i soliti ritmi, non lo so. A cui aggiungiamo pure il caldo assassino che sta facendo (temperature percepite fino a 44°C e umidità sempre su 70/80%) - in pratica ci si scioglie, letteralmente.

Ultimamente sono veramente in dubbio se trasferirmi oppure no. Più che altro perché, dopo che il periodo di prova sarà finito, potendo utilizzare lo smarworking ogni tanto e l'orario flessibile non so se il tutto potrà diventare più vivibile. Ci penserò ancora, anche perché sta cosa delle spese iniziali esorbitanti prima di entrare in una casa nuova non mi vanno troppo giù (cioè in Europa sta cosa non mi pare si faccia manco per il cazzo... non parliamo delle spese per arredarla perché già solo per letto frigorifero lavatrice fornelli e microonde chissà quanto se ne va).

Detto ciò ho ricominciato a leggere un po'. Ridendo e scherzando, sono passati mesi su mesi dall'ultima volta e questa cosa mi mette una depressione assurda, oltre alla rabbia, perché fino a che sono arrivata qui un anno fa avevo preso la bella abitudine di leggere qualche pagina prima di dormire e invece adesso non faccio che perdere ore del mio tempo su quella piattaforma del demonio che è IG. Già il lavoro che occupa tutte le mie giornate mi fa sentire 'spenta' intellettualmente, se perdo quel poco di tempo che mi rimane col telefono in mano, la cosa non può che peggiorare. Ma il fatto è che per me la lettura è un momento molto intimo e non riesco per esempio a leggere nel treno come fanno alcuni giapponesi, mi da proprio fastidio essere circondata dalle persone mentre leggo, preferisco ascoltare musica o non fare niente. Invece loro non riescono proprio a stare sui mezzi senza fare niente per cui il 90% di loro si schiaffa letteralmente il telefono in faccia e guardano di tutto: la TV, gli anime, i drama oppure giocano ai giochi di ruolo, ai pokèmon... se li osservi sembrano tutti una massa di lotobotizzati. Non sanno vivere senza telefono e mi domando quanto sia il loro "screen time", io quando arrivo fino a 5h mi bestemmio e quando quelle poche volte nel weekend sono arrivata a 8h mi è venuto il mal di testa.

Tutto sto preambolo perché volevo dire che sto leggendo Byung-Chul Han e che le sue citazioni di Foucault e Heidegger mi sta facendo troppo venire in mente i tempi dell'università quando i loro concetti erano all'ordine del giorno... che bello che era dover usare il cervello tutti i giorni e studiare cose nuove.

Ci dicono dall'infanzia che quando saremo grandi e avremo un lavoro, saremo liberi di fare quello che vogliamo. Col cazzo, è l'esatto contrario: sarai forzato a chiuderti in uno spazio a spendere il tuo tempo facendo cavolate come fossi schiavo del nulla, anzi schiavo dei soldi che ti vengono addebitati e che ti fanno credere di essere libero.

Anche se mi sembrava insopportabile, avrei dovuto sfruttare di più il mio periodo di disoccupazione... ci si lamenta che si esce di casa sempre più tardi ma fossi io incoraggerei a non lasciare casa finché non muore chi ti mantiene, altroché. Prima o poi morirà chiunque e rimarrai solo, quindi dovrai lavorare per forza quindi perché non sfruttare chi ti ha messo al mondo fino alla fine? E se non gli sta bene mandateli a fanculo. Nessuno ha chiesto a nessuno di mettere al mondo altra gente e se pensavano di farlo perché così 'durante la vecchiaia non rimaniamo da soli' la prossima volta si fanno due conti in tasca prima di pensare a sfornare badanti a gratis. Certe volte più che ai sugardaddy penso che fare la badante a qualche coppia di vecchietti (non troppo burberi) possa essere una valida alternativa a sta vita d'ufficio di merda... e non sto scherzando.

#chissà che fine farò nella vita #perché io così fino alla pensione non ce la faccio #già lo so #pensieri #pensieri diurni #lavoro #my life in tokyo

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mezzopieno-news · 6 months

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LE BARRIERE CORALLINE DEL MONDO SONO PIÙ ESTESE DEL PREVISTO

Un nuovo studio ha rivelato che la superficie sottomarina ricoperta da barriere coralline è grande il doppio rispetto alle stime precedenti e corrisponde a un’area di 348.000 chilometri quadrati nelle acque poco profonde degli oceani.

Le mappe degli ecosistemi marini mettono in evidenza molte attività scientifiche e di conservazione ma, fino a tempi recenti, nessuna carta ad alta risoluzione delle barriere mondiali era disponibile per l’esame della comunità scientifica. Oggi grazie ai rilevamenti satellitari, un team di ricercatori dell’Università del Queensland in Australia ha analizzato 1,5 milioni di campioni di addestramento per implementare oltre 100 bilioni di pixel di immagini, ottenendo così una mappatura dettagliata delle barriere coralline di tutto il mondo.

Le barriere coralline ospitano un quarto della vita sottomarina mondiale e contribuiscono al sostentamento di milioni di persone, soprattutto nelle aree tropicali. Sebbene siano sistemi fragili, minacciati da inquinamento, sovrapesca e sviluppo costiero, esse rappresentano una protezione delle coste da erosione e tempeste, contribuendo a mitigare gli effetti del cambiamento climatico. Perciò una delle domande di maggiore interesse che la comunità scientifica si pone è quanti coralli siano effettivamente presenti sotto la superficie del mare. Le mappe realizzate dall’Università del Queensland, liberamente accessibili tramite l’Atlante Allen Coral e il motore di ricerca Google Earth, vengono ora utilizzate da migliaia di ricercatori per migliorare la gestione e la conservazione sugli ecosistemi corallini mondiali.

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Fonte: Science Direct; foto di VisaVietnam

VERIFICATO ALLA FONTE | Guarda il protocollo di Fact checking delle notizie di Mezzopieno

BUONE NOTIZIE CAMBIANO IL MONDO | Firma la petizione per avere più informazione positiva in giornali e telegiornali

Se trovi utile il nostro lavoro e credi nel principio del giornalismo costruttivo non-profit | sostieni Mezzopieno

#mezzopieno #tgbuonenotizie #buonenotizie #buonenotiziedalmondo

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turuin · 5 months

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Mi aspettavo un primo maggio tremendo con lo startup di gestione delle caldaie commerciali in UK e tutto il team da remoto, e invece è stata una giornata tranquillissima. Per contrappasso, domani sarà una guerra? Chi lo sa. Come sempre, arriva quest'ora e smetto di connettere: divento amorfo, scarico tutto, esisto solo nei cinque sensi primari e in nessun altro modo. Fino a quando non vince il sonno.

Non manca molto al dover aggiornare, ancora una volta, la mia età nella bio di Tumblr. Piccola voce nel deserto con la quale butto fuori cose che non posso dire facilmente o convenientemente fuori da qui. Ogni tanto penso: magari dovrei smettere per un po'. Però qui mi sento sempre così tanto a casa che mi riesce davvero difficile.

Dice: non ti senti a casa stando a casa tua? Forse. Forse mi sento a casa ovunque, è questo il problema, o da nessuna parte, che poi è lo stesso, no? Quindi. Tra un po' si aggiorna l'età. Forse nel vecchio blog avevo scritto: basta, arrivato a xyz anni chiudo il tumblr e arrivederci, non ricordo più se fosse 40 o 45, nel primo caso avrei già perso la scommessa; mi è capitato di perdere delle scommesse? Hai voglia, ma io mi diverto pure se perdo. Perdere non è mai stato un problema mio, a me frega poco, è per gli altri che mi dispiace, quelli che "ci credevano", che poi non è vero, non ci credevano affatto.

Ogni tanto devo fare fuori un po' di parole così, buttandole qui, chiedo scusa e faccio penitenza.

#personal

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cant-get-no-worse · 1 year

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So, I'm a relatively new FCB fan and I've been doing some research about why the club had a downfall. What I understood was that everything went to shit since Neymar left. Plus he didn't even have any legit reason to leave apart from more money being offered by PSG. People say he left because he was in "Messi's shadow" but that's not true. All I saw was love and appreciation for him by the fans and his fellow players. Especially Messi. He treated him with so much love and respect. Even now, after going through so much shit at PSG, Neymar doesn't seem to want to leave that club. In my opinion, he is one reason why Barcelona went downhill. The club spent so much money on his replacements which all ended in failure. I think if he hadn't left at that time, Barcelona would be in a relatively better place right now. Maybe I'm wrong but that's what I interpreted. Please correct me if I'm getting it wrong or if I missed some important thing amidst all of this. I have nothing against Neymar, he's a wonderful player, but I can't help but put a little blame on him.

Hii ! I love ranting about this stuff, so warning: long ass ramble, I'm putting it beneath.

I think it's fairly common for people to assume Neymar's departure in 2017 was the thing that started FCB "downfall" (which is a pretty dramatic term in of itself), because it's such a public move that made everyone talk. It's a transfer whose consequences on the market value of players and the way we appreciate those is still underappreciated; genuinely, that Neymar saga is mad, it changed everything (to me, for the worse). But the decline of FCB, the institution, began way earlier than 2017. 2017 is kind of, the first most visible consequence of every prior stuff.

Everything was a mess by 2006/2008, for the team & institutionally wise. It got better from 2008 - 2012, under Pep Guardiola (coach) & Laporta/Rosell (presidents, although both not v good men) & which is now commonly referred to as the "golden age" of FCB's recent History. Then, from 2012 on, everything kind of started to decline. It's not very visible since we won the treble in 2014-2015 (KING SHIT VISCA BARÇA VISCA CATALUNYA etc. etc.) , but already behind the scenes it was rocky as hell. Political stuff, power struggles within the board, etc. Even that 2014-2015 "golden" season was a mess, what with the breach of the Transfer Regulations (we couldn't sign players until 2016), firing of our sporting director, firing of medical/staff members, lies about state of finances, restriction of said finances, Messi/Enrique/Chelsea conflict, etc. That 2014-2015 team winning the Treble effectively masked to posterity & the general public how fucked up the club's politics were at that time. But on the long run, that bad gestion did end up affecting that team that arguably should've gone on to win way more in 2016 - 2017, what with the bunch of talents we had in hands.

Then there was the Neymar stuff in 2017, Iniesta leaving in 2018. Of course, by then the mess that was the cub began to reflect on our style of play; by 2017/2018 already we weren't playing as good as we had. There were moments of brilliance of course, games to remember, iconic ones, but still. It was already falling, there were ovious issues, weaknesses, boring times, some alarming performances. I think that 2018-2019 UCL campaign symbolizes everything that had changed since that 2015 UCL ; we didn't have a team, we had one guy, surrounded by too unstable performances from players around. As football proves times and times again, you can have the current best player in the world, if he's alone, you'll never win shit. You'll win games, not competitions. That's the beauty of the sport, you need a team, or you'll go nowhere. Ultimately that "downfall" confirmed itself by more harsh and evident results, with the 2019-2022 period being rock bottom. Jesus Christ that period.

As for that Neymar stuff: it's so real complicated. And not as black/white as it appears. As a FCB supporter, when he left, I despised his guts for a bunch of years, genuinely. Many still do, just look at the comments under the rumors of his comeback; large portion of culers don't want him there, because we really saw it as a treason. A guy who left for money and some more fame. I guess you can say the fact that most culers still haven't swallowed that pill six years later is a testament to how much we loved him.

First, let me state that it's fucking tragic, for him as for the club. He left at his prime and, arguably, wasted it at PSG (tell anyone from 2015 that Neymar Jr doesn't have a single Ballon d'Or to his name and they'll rightfully laugh at your face) ; while Barca drowned as well, failing to find a proper replacement (FCB players were upset with the board at that failure), as you said. Had he stayed, as Pep said, and had the club managed itself better (but that in itself prompts the argument of: could they really? After all the decline started in 2014?) we could've won at least one, if not two UCLs. Honestly, now that we can take a few steps back and reflect, it seems none of the parties (except PSG, who propelled itself forward on the European scene) benefited from that move. But in truth, there can be a million reasons he left. We don't know if it was a personnal initiative or one of his family. We don't know how the Remontada and the aftermath really affected this decision. We don't know if he's the one that wanted to step out of « Messi's shadow » or if his father/agent pushed him to. We don't know if it's because Barcelona rendered public some elements of his contract, effectively breaking the trust his side had towards the club. This mess is a mix of money, ego, power, ambition, personnal relationships, psychological stuff in the brain of a 25 years old and his surroundings, Barcelona being Messi's club (whether you want it or not, it has been true since 2009. Barcelona and Messi were (still remain) synonymous, and that in itself paused a problem later on), PR/image manipulation/communication, and background stuff we'll probably never know of/or much later. The guy even pushed to comeback to Barcelona a mere year or two later. The whole Messi part is a theater play in of itself, between a starstruck kid who went on to play with his idol, who became friends and formed the most successfull Trident of the decade with him, who upon each occasion praises him and rambles about their friendship/love for each other, yet leaves. I mean, the guy reportedly told others he was leaving the club on Messi's wedding, without telling Leo - if that doesn't indicates you how fucked up/messy it was in his own head, Jesus. And yet the friendship Neymar had with other FCB players showed through the very summer he left, what with them posting a pic together following the legal actions of FCB against him. So yeah.

I think part of why he stayed at PSG after they retained him from going back to Barcelona is because he's, like every great player, a winner, he wants to get everything, he genuinely wants to give Paris what he came to do, but also cause, in the long run, he's trapped himself there. The more time passed the more it became that kind of need: he wanted/needed his move to mean something, he wanted that UCL so he could feel like he didn't waste so much time and talent and prime there. All in all, it's a bit tragic, I could ramble about it for hours but I'm gonna cut it short now cause that's not your ask lmfao.

Conclusion to the essay: Neymar's transfer to PSG didn't start anything, rather was the consequence and the accelerator of a decline that began years prior in the institution's background. Hope it helped bring some elements to the table, anon! ❤️

#fc barcelona #neymar #ciene blabbers about #anon ask

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adarkrainbow · 8 months

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Another fairytale park... Mirapolis (1)

We have been talking about Disney a lot - and of course, with Disney comes Disneyland. I have made reblogs aboutt the Efteling park (and maybe more posts shall come in the future). But today, I want to invite you to an amusement park that doesn't exist anymore, and yet remains a part of France's history, and a part of the history of French folklore and fairytales. This is... the defunct amusement park Mirapolis.

Mirapolis was opened on the 20th of May 1987, in the city-group of Cergy-Pontoise (more specifically it belonged to the town of Courdimanches. It was a complicated situation as Cergy-Pontoise was one of the "new cities" built in the 60s/70s by sticking various existing small towns together as a way to deal with the population boom in the Ile-de-France region/Parisian area... Its the convoluted ways of French territory delimitation). It lasted for only five seasons, closing on the 20th of October 1991. The name of the park was explained as such by its creator, Anne Fourcade: "mira" is meant to evoke mirrors, the infinite, the eternal, while "polis" reminds of "the greatness of cities and of ancient kingdoms". It is thus meant to bring in people's minds ideas of adventure, of fabulous, and of future... Too bad the park didn't live up to its name and was a big failure.

The project of Mirapolis is tied to the arrival in Europe of Disney - more precisely, the appearance of the Euro Disney Resort (current "Disneyland Paris"). The Walt Disney Company was on our ground, the Americans against the Europeans, and Europe had to fight back. [Another complicated thing: Euro Disney Resort only offically opened in 1992, but the project existed and had been going on - though secretly - since 1976, and in december of 1985 it had been publically announced that France would be the country welcoming the first European Disney park.] Mirapolis was an attempt to create a counterpart to this American implantation: it was to be the greatest, largest and first French amusement park.

And large and great it was! Too great probably... Mirapolis was agreed to be an excessive project, truly bigger than life - a lot of resources were given to the project, and they didn't hesitate to consume every last drop of it and even more. The park was 55 hectars in terms of size - something unheard of in France until this point. Created by the collaboration of Anne Fourcade (architect and the creator of the park) and of Ghaith Pharaon (a wealthy businessman), the park's main problems were an ever-growing debt and a series of constantly changing owner and staff. The park was first owned by the Paris-Parc society - until the society went bankrupt. It then became the ownership of the Cergy-Parc society, and the original gestion and maintenance team was replaced by staff coming from the Club Med (the most famous French holiday-club/vacation-company ever), but THEN they were replaced by a group of carnies (carnies who funnily originally were against the project and had loudly expressed their opposition... but they still were hired and ran the park until it went bankrupt, and their presence made the park half-funfair). Because while the first year was a good year that met its mark (500 millions of francs invested, no loss), the second year started going flawly (700 millions of francs invested, 85 millions of loss), and then the third went bad (140 millions of loss) - and so on and so on until the park clearly wasn't profitable in any way anymore.

Now, why would this park be interesting for this blog? Because its themes was "French legends and French fairytales" - it was an amusement park entirely centered around French folklore! Again, since Mirapolis was about counter-attacking the "American invasion", it makes sense the park would be focused on glorifying the local heritage and culture, and proving that you could do a fully French park instead of having Disneyified verson of Perrault and Grimm's fairytales. A very admirable project... that unfortunately failed. Why? There's a big debate as to what was the exact cause (or causes, in plural) of this park's downfall - we'll get into this another time. But all in all, beyond being an amusement park trivia, and the background of current urbex explorations, the story of Mirapolis is one of the chapters of the massive wave and passion for amusement parks in France in the 80s-90s. Plus, the park still technically "lives on" as a lot of its attractions and elements are currently in use by other European amusement parks... But I'll get into the more historical details later.

For now let's focus on...

WHAT THE PARK LOOKED LIKE

The park was organized in eight zones, whose names were only fixed by the second year of the park's run. Each zone was a mix of rides and food-sources. When the park opened in 1987, there were only 20 attractions in total - but when the park closed, it had a fifty or so or them.

1 ) "La Grand'Place" (The Main Square/The Great Plaza)

This area was called "Le palais des merveilles", "The Palace of Wonders", during the park's first year. While it was renamed the "Grand'Place", the name "Palace of Wonders" was kept for the theater in the area - a building for theater plays, special-effects shows and other ballets that could welcome up to 800 people and have different shows playing simultaneously. In 1987, René-Louis Baron (a famous name of musical experiments in the 70s and 80s) created there a show based on La Fontaine's fables, called "Partir à point", with costumes by Yves Brunier. It was also within the Palace of Wonders theater that the first episodes of the "Juste Prix" (the French "The Price is Right") were recorded, between 1987 and 1988. In the second year, "Le Palais des Merveilles" became "Le Château des Visions" (The Castle of Visions), and became the first and only permanent 3D movie-theater of France - sponsored by Fujifilm, and decorated on the outside to look like a medieval castle.

Other buildings of the area included "Le théâtre de verdure" (The Greenery Theater), an open-air theater of 900 places ; and "La Navette aux milles sensations", a small-sized moving movie-theater that was carried across the area. Finally when the carnies arrived in 1989, they prepared a karting course there. The Grand'Place area was also where "La Grande Parade" (The Great Parade) was organized, a big parade with roughly 200 characters/costumes - among which many were the characters of La Fontaine's Fables.

2 ) Le jardin de la Belle Epoque (The garden of the Belle Epoque)

[For those of you not in the know, "La Belle Epoque", "The Beautiful Era", is the nickname of the era of French history located between the end of the 19th century and the First World War]

Located north-west of the park, The Garden of La Belle Epoque was originally called "Les Impressionnistes", in homage to the titular artistic movement/group. The three main attractions of the area were Le Ruisseau fleuri, les Tacots-Chapeaux and Le Manège de chevaux de bois. Le Ruisseau fleuri (The Flowery Stream) was a boat-travel in a canal surrounded by animated scenes based on impressionist paintings (it was renamed Rivière fleurie, Flowery river, in 1988). Le Manège de chevaux de bois (The wooden-horse carousel) was, as the title says, a carousel of fifty-four wooden horses - and it was renowned for being the first traditonal carousel created in France since 80 years... It was later moved to the "Land of Legends" when the carnies arrived. The third ride was the Tacots chapeaux (Hat-cars), little cars you could drive around which wore eyeglasses, mustaches and hats. There was also a fair-organ/band-organ playing music for the guests.

In 1988 new attractions were added - but clearly designed with a medieval theme, which clashed with the Belle Epoque one (for example there was "The Knights' Poney-Club", which was a medieval-theme poney-ride). Among the novelties there was a small maquette of the Port of Deauville, a faithful miniature reproduction in which children could drive around mechanical boats.

3 ) Le domaine du Moyen-Âge (The Middle-Ages domain/area)

North of the park, the Middle-Ages domain used to be called "Gargantua the giant", because its main attraction was the huge statue of Gargantua - it was a "scenic route in height". Basically you could climb inside the giant and look at the park from within him - this statue was considered to be part of the "duck architecture" (l'architecture canard) where buildings were made to look like objects or people (for example you could have a building looking like a giant picnic basket).

This area also contained a miniature train station where the park's train, the Mirapolis Express, went. In 1988 they created there "Le Chapiteau de l'épée magic" (The tent of the magic sword), where there was a laser show of medieval theme ; but it was moved to the Legend Land in 1989. Meanwhile, the same year, this medieval area was invested by most of the funfair and carnival-attractions and stands, brought by the carnies: there was a UFO ride (called... UFO) for 48 people ; La Pieuvre (an octopus-ride) ; La Chenille (a Music Express), a Buggy ride ; and "Godbille", a children carousel.

4 ) Le royaume de l'illusion (The Kingdom of Illusions)

Its original title was "The Castle of Spells" - because the titular castle was the main ride of the area. There was also a restaurant called "Les Sortilèges" (Spells, The Spells), and a building called "La tour de Léonard de Vinci" (Leonardo da Vinci's Tower). Within this tower, which was meant to recreate Leonardo's workshop, there was an animatronic show created by Pascal Pinteau: the show was about a painting of king François Ier suddenly coming to life and presenting to the audience Leonardo da Vinci, while making parallels between his inventions and modern day's technology. (There was also a "futuristic character" named Alpha apparently?). The special effects were overseen by Jacques Renoir (the great-grandchild of the painter Auguste Renoir), Leonardo da Vinci was voiced by Jean Topart, and Roger Carel made the voice of the other characters of the show. The animatronic of Leonardo da Vinci was renowned for being very complex and advanced - it was moved by three hundred different motors, which allowed for things such as the animatronic's eybrows to move to mimick emotions.

To the back of the Castle of Spells, there was a rollercoaster named "Le Dragon des sortilèges" (The Dragon of Spells) ; and north to the castle there was Le Labyrinthe - a two-hectar maze inspired by an actual labyrinth of the Middle-Ages. In 1988 a hot-air balloon ride was added.

Now you know how it goes: in 1989, as the park became half-carnival/funfair, a lot of carnival rides were added in the area: Le Grand Huit (Galaxi-type rollercoaster), "Télé Combat Avion" (a plane-themed ride), a ghost train "Geisterburg/Train Fantôme", a "Tagada" (a sort of horizontal platform with a bench all around it facing the inside, and the platform jumped and turned around) - and "Les Cygnes Blanc", a water-ride in swan-shaped boats (once Mirapolis was closed, it moved to the parc Saint-Paul, renowned the Pédalos cygnes).

5 ) La terre de l'aventure (Adventure Land)

West of the park, it was originally called after its main attraction, "La descente des rapides" - going down the rapids of a river on 14 meters-logs (the ride was another spnsorship of Fujifilm). There was a lot of boats-and-water based rides: there was a "tow boat ride" called "La Rivière des Castors" - Beaver River. It took the guests on a water-ride onto thriteen boats, with the shores decorated by beaver figures. There was also a "balancing boat" ride, called "Le bateau pirate" (The Pirates' ship).

When the Club Med took over Mirapolis in 1988, a lot of attractions were added - twelve hot-air balloons ; an inflating castle (La Montagne molle), a gravitron-ride (Le Galion) and a "Bateau pirate junior".

But the most striking part of this area was the Nesquik sponsorized area. It was originally just one specific ride, the "Quick Cup" (also called "La Chocolatière de Groquik"), your usual spinning-cup ride, but with Groquik on the sides of all the cups. However in 1988, the "Groquik area" expended with three more children-rides: Le Mille-Pattes, Le Chemin des tortures (a kiddie train" shaped like turtles), and the Mini-dragons (a plane-jet-ride shaped like dragons - it survived the closure of Mirapolis by becoming the "Manège dragon" of the Parc Saint-Paul before being retired for good in 2009). If you are confused by my mention of "Groquik" let me explain: before Nesquik brought over in France its chocolate-colored bunny as a mascot, France had its own Nesquik mascot called "Groquik". Created in 1978, it was a big, jolly, large yellow hippopotamus with a straw hat (he also doubled as the Greek Nesquik mascot as "Kouikaras") ; but he got officially retired in 1990 because Nesquik realized having a big, fat mascot for their products could mean their products made children fat or obese... So he was replaced by the fit, trim and athletic Nesquik bunny.

6 ) Le Pays des Légendes (Legend Land/ Legend Country)

Its original name was "La ville d'Ys", "The Town of Ys" - once again, because it was the title of the main ride, The City of Ys. [When the name Land of Legends was brought, the attraction became "Voyage sous la mer", "Travel under the sea"]. It was an omnimover scenic-ride that went fourteen meters down below the earth, and made the guests explore the legendary city of Ys - this fabulous lost city of Bretagne supposed to have sunk below the waves. The SFP society designed the monsters and animatronics encountered during this ride, from gigantic invertebrate to a ten-heads hydra. And of course, Dahut was there too - princess, witch and mermaid all at once!

There was an area called "La forêt de Brocéliande" (Broceliand forest), which contained a replica of the Round Table, and a "potager des fées" (The fairies' vegetable garden). There was a lake, and on its shore a tent - a large circus tent that actually welcomed the shows of Annie Fratellini (one of the most famous female clowns). Annie Fratellini also had there a "circus school", that presented to the guests the story of clowns from the 18th to the 20th centuries. In 1988, due to the lack of food-areas, this tent was transformed into a restaurant - it was called le "Camp du Drap d'Or" (The Field of Gold Cloth), in homage to the historical event of the same name. But in 1990, it became once again a clown-area that doubled as "Le Musée des Arts forains", a museum dedicated to funfairs and the art of carnivals.

From the second year of the park onward, there was also a Viking-theme area prepared: a Viking village built near the lake's shores, with a drakkar within the lake's water ; and a "Viking Farm" with farm animals in it. (Plus a Palace of Mirrors/Mirror maze was added there, for some reasons).

7 ) Le paradis des comptines gourmandes

(This one is a mouthful to translate... "The paradise of tasty nursery rhymes" ; "The heaven of sweet-toothed nursery rhymes")

Originally called "Le domaine des enfants" (Children's domain, Children's area), the main building of this zone was "Le Palais de Dame Tartine" - inspired by the French nursery rhyme "Dame Tartine" (Lady Toast, with her "palace of fresh butter"). The Palace itself was divided into several unities, the two most important being a two-hundred places theater ; and a "Gallery of Automatons".

The theater could be reached by going through the sleeve of a gigantic reproduction of Mister Gimblette (Dame Tartine's husband in the nursery rhyme, here crowned with a "galette des rois", the typical dish of the Epiphany). The main show of this theater was a show depicting the four seasons, and partially created by the SFP - it also had René Clermont voicing an owl who told not just the cycle of seasons but also how the world was created ; there were also other automaton-animals, as well as an enormous luminous tree of 450 kilos, made with ten thousand optic fibers. It was due to this tree that the area was sometimes called "Le théâtre de l'Arbre Lumière" (The Theater of the Light-Tree).

As for the Gallery of Automatons, it was also called la "Balade des contes" (A walk through fairytales) - going all around the Theater, this gallery was filled with animatronic animals that activated themselves when a guest came nearby, and these animatronics sang the various legends and folktales of France. Other areas within Dame Tartine's palace included a gigantic kaleidoscope, a pool of plastic balls, and another theater of 500 places.

Outside of the palace, there was also a Music-Express ride called "Caravelles", and "Le Petit Train des comptines" (The Small train of nursery rhymes) - a children ride with two little trains, whose wagons were shaped like rabbits and elephants, and which rode through a vegetable garden with giant vegetables. After the closure of Mirapolis, the Caravelles ride was moved to the Jacquou Parc (Dordogne) and renamed Gabarots.

There was also a later inclusion of a "robot" shaped area added later, during the "funfairification" of the park.

8 ) Le sommet de la grande frousse (The top of great fear / The summit of big fright)

This was actually one of the first areas of the park, just west of the entrance. In fact, during the first year of the park it was called the "Entry zone" and grouped together with the park's entrance - before the entrance and this area were divided. Its main attraction was a roller-coaster called "the Miralooping", famed for being the French roller-coasters with the most loopings at the time. Some newspapers and advertisement also called this roller-coaster the "biggest roller-coaster of France", able to rival the biggest roller-coasters of Europe (though this was apparently not certain and put to doubt?).

There was also a troika-ride called "Le Tourbillon", and most importantly a train station called the "Mirapolis Express", with three trains leaving it to go around the park (with the second train station being located at the foot of the Gargantua statue). There was also a bike-shaped ride opened in 1990 called "Les Vélos drôles" (The funny bikes).

(This picture is not of the Mirapolis park, it is the Saint Paul park - but the white swans you can see were originally those of Mirapolis)

And before leaving you for now, I will share another weird trivia about this weird park. The official logo and symbol of the park was this:

But on all the merch the park sold (such as official Mirapolis clothes), a different logo and symbol was used, and it looked like this:

The idea was that the three faces would embody the three emotions guests were supposed to go through: surprise, joy and wonder.

#mirapolis #amusement park #defunct amusement park #urbex #french things #french history #french amusement park #french folklore #french fairytales #gargantua #clowns

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