#norman woodland

[iveseenitinmovies]

hamlet goodbye my danish sweetheart edit !!

[spacelazarwolf]

in honor of that anon who said jews have done nothing for the world, here’s a non exhaustive list of things we’ve done for the world:

arts, fashion, and lifestyle:

jeans - levi strauss

modern bras - ida rosenthal

sewing machines - isaac merritt singer

modern film industry - carl laemmle (universal pictures), adolph zukor (paramount pictures), william fox (fox film forporation), louis b. mayer (mgm - metro-goldwyn-mayer), harry, sam, albert, and jack warners (warner bros.), steven spielberg, mel brooks, marx brothers

operetta - jacques offenbach

comic books - stan lee

graphic novels - will eisner

teddy bears - morris and rose michtom

influential musicians - irving berlin, stephen sondheim, benny goodman, george gershwin, paul simon, itzhak perlman, leonard bernstein, bob dylan, leonard cohen

artists - mark rothko

actors - elizabeth taylor, jerry lewis, barbara streisand

comedians - lenny bruce, joan rivers, jerry seinfeld

authors - judy blume, tony kushner, allen ginsberg, walter mosley

culture:

esperanto - ludwik lazar zamenhof

feminism - betty friedan, gloria steinem, ruth bader ginsberg

queer and trans rights - larry kramer, harvey milk, leslie feinberg, abby stein, kate bornstein, frank kameny, judith butler

international women's day - clara zetkin

principles of journalizm, statue of liberty, and pulitzer prize - joseph pulitzer

"the new colossus" - emma lazarus

universal declaration of human rights - rene samuel cassin

holocaust remembrance and human rights activism - elie wiesel

workers rights - louis brandeis, rose schneiderman

public health care, women's rights, and children's rights - lillian wald

racial equity - rabbi abraham joshua heschel, julius rosenwald, andrew goodman, michael schwerner

political theory - hannah arendt

disability rights - judith heumann

black lives matter slogan and movement - alicia garza

#metoo movement - jodi kantor

institute of sexology - magnus hirschfeld

technology:

word processing computers - evelyn berezin

facebook - mark zuckerberg

console video game system - ralph henry baer

cell phones - amos edward joel jr., martin cooper

3d - leonard lipton

telephone - philipp reis

fax machines - arthur korn

microphone - emile berliner

gramophone - emile berliner

television - boris rosing

barcodes - norman joseph woodland and bernard silver

secret communication system, which is the foundation of the technology used for wifi - hedy lamarr

three laws of robotics - isaac asimov

cybernetics - norbert wiener

helicopters - emile berliner

BASIC (programming language) - john george kemeny

google - sergey mikhaylovich brin and larry page

VCR - jerome lemelson

fax machine - jerome lemelson

telegraph - samuel finley breese morse

morse code - samuel finley breese morse

bulletproof glass - edouard benedictus

electric motor and electroplating - boris semyonovich jacobi

nuclear powered submarine - hyman george rickover

the internet - paul baran

icq instant messenger - arik vardi, yair goldfinger,, sefi vigiser, amnon amir

color photography - leopold godowsky and leopold mannes

world's first computer - herman goldstine

modern computer architecture - john von neumann

bittorrent - bram cohen

voip internet telephony - alon cohen

data archiving - phil katz, eugene roshal, abraham lempel, jacob ziv

nemeth code - abraham nemeth

holography - dennis gabor

laser - theodor maiman

instant photo sharing online - philippe kahn

first automobile - siegfried samuel marcus

electrical maglev road - boris petrovich weinberg

drip irrigation - simcha blass

ballpoint pen and automatic gearbox - laszlo biro

photo booth - anatol marco josepho

medicine:

pacemakers and defibrillators - louise robinovitch

defibrillators - bernard lown

anti-plague and anti-cholera vaccines - vladimir aronovich khavkin

polio vaccine - jonas salk

test for diagnosis of syphilis - august paul von wasserman

test for typhoid fever - ferdinand widal

penicillin - ernst boris chain

pregnancy test - barnhard zondek

antiretroviral drug to treat aids and fight rejection in organ transplants - gertrude elion

discovery of hepatitis c virus - harvey alter

chemotherapy - paul ehrlich

discovery of prions - stanley prusiner

psychoanalysis - sigmund freud

rubber condoms - julius fromm

birth control pill - gregory goodwin pincus

asorbic acid (vitamin c) - tadeusz reichstein

blood groups and rh blood factor - karl landsteiner

acyclovir (treatment for infections caused by herpes virus) - gertrude elion

vitamins - caismir funk

technique for measuring blood insulin levils - rosalyn sussman yalow

antigen for hepatitus - baruch samuel blumberg

a bone fusion technique - gavriil abramovich ilizarov

homeopathy - christian friedrich samuel hahnemann

aspirin - arthur ernst eichengrun

science:

theory of relativity - albert einstein

theory of the electromagnetic field - james maxwell

quantum mechanics - max born, gustav ludwig hertz

quantum theory of gravity - matvei bronstein

microbiology - ferdinand julius cohn

neuropsychology - alexander romanovich luria

counters for x-rays and gamma rays - robert hofstadter

genetic engineering - paul berg

discovery of the antiproton - emilio gino segre

discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation - arno allan penzias

discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe - adam riess and saul merlmutter

discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity - roger penrose

discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of the milky way - andrea ghez

modern cosmology and the big bang theory - alexander alexandrovich friedmann

stainless steel - hans goldschmidt

gas powered vehicles

interferometer - albert abraham michelson

discovery of the source of energy production in stars - hans albrecht bethe

proved poincare conjecture - grigori yakovlevich perelman

biochemistry - otto fritz meyerhof

electron-positron collider - bruno touschek

[mybeingthere]

Norval Morrisseau, CM (1932 – 2007), also known as Copper Thunderbird, was an Aboriginal Canadian artist. Known as the "Picasso of the North", Morrisseau created works depicting the legends of his people, the cultural and political tensions between native Canadian and European traditions, his existential struggles, and his deep spirituality and mysticism. His style is characterized by thick black outlines and bright colors. He founded the Woodlands School of Canadian art and was a prominent member of the “Indian Group of Seven”.

An Anishinaabe, he was born March 14, 1931 on the Sand Point Ojibway reserve near Beardmore, Ontario. Some sources quote him as saying that he was born in Fort William, now part of Thunder Bay, Ontario, on the same date in 1931. His full name is Jean-Baptiste Norman Henry Morrisseau, but he signs his work using the Cree syllabics writing ᐅᓵᐚᐱᐦᑯᐱᓀᐦᓯ (Ozaawaabiko-binesi, unpointed: ᐅᓴᐘᐱᑯᐱᓀᓯ, "Copper/Brass [Thunder]Bird"), as his pen-name for his Anishnaabe name ᒥᐢᒁᐱᐦᐠ ᐊᓂᒥᐦᑮ (Miskwaabik Animikii, unpointed: ᒥᐢᑿᐱᐠ ᐊᓂᒥᑭ, "Copper Thunderbird").

In accordance with Anishnaabe tradition, he was raised by his maternal grandparents. His grandfather, Moses Potan Nanakonagos, a shaman, taught him the traditions and legends of his people. His grandmother, Grace Theresa Potan Nanakonagos, was a devout Catholic and from her he learned the tenets of Christianity. The contrast between these two religious traditions became an important factor in his intellectual and artistic development.

At the age of six, he was sent to a Catholic residential school, where students were educated in the European tradition, native culture was repressed, and the use of native language was forbidden. After two years he returned home and started attending a local community school.

At the age of 19, he became very sick. He was taken to a doctor but his health kept deteriorating. Fearing for his life, his mother called a medicine-woman who performed a renaming ceremony: She gave him the new name Copper Thunderbird. According to Anishnaabe tradition, giving a powerful name to a dying person can give them new energy and save their lives. Morrisseau recovered after the ceremony and from then on always signed his works with his new name.

Morrisseau contracted tuberculosis in 1956 and was sent to Fort William Sanatorium to recover. There he met his future wife Harriet Kakegamic with whom he had seven children, Victoria, Michael, Peter, David, Lisa, Eugene, and Christian.

After being invited by Ontario Provincial Police Constable, Robert Sheppard, to meet the artist, the anthropologist Selwyn Dewdney, became an early advocate of Morrisseau's and was very interested in Morrisseau's deep knowledge of native culture and myth. Dewdney was the first to take his art to a wider public.

Jack Pollock, a Toronto art dealer, helped expose Morrisseau's art to a wider audience in the 1960s. The two initially met in 1962 while Pollock was teaching a painting workshop in Beardmore. As Pollock did not drive, Susan Ross whom Morrisseau had met in 1961 and Sheila Burnford drove Pollock to visit Morrisseau at his home to view more of his works. Immediately struck by the genius of Morrisseau's art, he immediately organized an exhibition of his work at his Toronto gallery.

This is a part of the Wikipedia article used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). The full text of the article is here →

[thefisherqueen]

I came across the surname Baskerville in a text completely unrelated to Sherlock Holmes (in a book about wild camping), and it's gives some really interesting insight into the history and present state of UK inherited titles and landownership so thought I would share!

'William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066 and then made himself king. It was like any other invasion of conquest, in any other time or realm. King Harold the Second was dead. Long live the King. Life goes on. But there was a difference. New laws saw all of the land seized by the Crown - a relatively unique development in the history of conquest. Sasxon barons were replaced by the Norman lords and their allies. The Domesday Book - the most definitive land registery document every devised - was produced on William's orders in 1086 to identify the new owners and their land holding and what they might owe, in tax, favour and loyalty, to the king: the sovereign Landlord.

Landownership had worked broadly in the same way ever since our ancestors abandoned the nomadic life, and took up the shovel and plough about 10.000 BC. What the Normans changed in Britain was the communal right of access over the land. That system of non-communal access is still very much in force today amoung the modern-day descendents of the Normans. Which is why William's 1086 census - the Domesday Book (and its modern version, the Land Registry) - remains so important. It serves as a legal document that established ownership by the legal holder of the title.

My research into where I could roll out a sleeping bag today meant looking at landownership. I discovered that very little had changed sinde the Norman invasion. Just 0,6 per cent of the population still owns 50 per cent of the British land, and most of this elite are the descendants of the 11th-century Norman aristocracy.

A report - "Who owns Britain?' - by Country Life magazine in 2010 was said to be the most detailed survey of its kind in over 100 years. The research claimed that just 1200 aristocrats and their families own 20 million of Britain's 60 million acres of land. The top private landowner in Europe was the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, who owned 240.000 acres in England and Scotland. Research by the London School of Economics in 2013 claimed that the Normans who conquered England - with surnames Baskerville, Darcy, Mandeville and Montgomery - still dominate the student rolls for Oxford and Cambridge universities, still make up a large proportion of the elite that holds the prime positions in professions such as medicine, law and politics. They also control a good number of the political agencies, public bodies and charitable organisations that oversee rules regulating land management and access.

But 1066 was about more than Saxon lords losing their holdings. It was how it affected the peasants that mattered most. The common rights over common lands like Sherwood Forest and the Kentish Weald were gone. Those rights included the right to roam over woodlands, marshes, moors and coasts of many common areas; to graze animals, collect wood for fuel, tools and buildings, to eat fruits, to collect water from rivers and streams, to catch fish and generally to do all the things that made it possible to live off the land."

From: Wild camping. Exploring and sleeping in the wilds of the UK and Ireland, by Stephen Neale, page 29

I've been to the UK several times for hiking trips, and I remember being puzzled by the system of access to nature at first. It is quite bewildering to be just walking on a perfecty good path, only to suddenly find it fenced off, with aggressive signs warning walkers to KEEP OUT!!! Why are hikers treated with so much suspicion even in areas famous for its good hiking? And what do you mean by Right of Way? How come there's major roads and motor cross terrains within a national park? (turns out they are largely privately owned). Myself, I've never been shy to climb the occasional wall or fence, and pitch my tent somewhere even on private lands. I consider it my own gentle way of resisting the very idea of private property, which creates so much inequality. I've never yet faced any trouble for it, by the way. Turns out land owners have little desire to actually hike on their lands, especially in rain or cold or darkness, and the people who work for them are usually not payed enough to care about a lonely hiker who is causing no disturbance or damage whatsoever xD

[assortedvillainvault]

"#...though everything in me wants to analyse the intersection of power and species in this film I must grit my teeth and acknowledge it is#Not That Deep and british ecology will have no meaning in a fun little film adaptation from the 50's"

No, please keep talking. This is the shit I live for! Okay, we know the truth is that is makes zero sense, but trying to make sense of it sounds very fun.

My own tuppence worth on the subject is just noting that the film would have taken place only about 100 years after the Norman invasion, which presumably in this Disney animal 'verse means that lions and other non-native predators would have been in every major position of power for all of living memory. It makes me wonder if Marian being a fox could mean she was descended from and Anglo-Saxon noble line that was deposed by the Normans. This could then add to the reading of invasive species (the rich and nobility) harming the entire ecosystem of society by over-exploiting native species.

So we have a story of the trickster non-apex predator who fits into this ecosystem, who belongs there due to having a place in the multi-species (multicultural) society versus the invasive apex predator who is a symbol of royalty, divinely appointed, and yet he is very much not a real part of this community he would nevertheless rule.

As a Brit, it's pretty reflective of how the nobility of the UK still works nigh on 900 years on. It's not anti-immigrant (see the bloody tortoise character, which is definitely a non-native species) but I read it as a condemnation of people with power and status who are so removed from the common people they rule that they may as well be of another species from another continent.

King Richard returning at the end kind of undercuts this reading, though, so I am definitely trying to shove my anti-monarchist views into a narrative not made to accommodate them.

Anyway, please share your thoughts on this, I need someone else to go way too deep into things with!

@the-phony-king-of-england

You are both wonderful, terrible enablers and I adore you.

Honestly Lancre you've pretty much nailed the historical implications I was trying to articulate in my own brain - that of the rich being animals that do not suit the area they're occupying.

Be warned I'm going to expand on this via an ecological wandering ramble below with no clear conclusion, so yay???

This. Gets. LONG.

(Also I'm shaking hands with you tightly, Brit for Brit on monarchial views here)

Aight ok. Basics first.

The Disney 70's (not 50's, my bad) Robin Hood is a loose adaptation of various folktales regarding Robin of Sherwood, who's tales originate at earliest, from the 1100's, and stretch to the 1500's. Robin as a singular figue never likely existed as just one person, and instead is a conglomerate of various daring, altruistic thief figures of semi-dubious origin. Dubious because this is medieval England and there ain't much to do but get piss drunk and swap tales around the pub fireplace, so there's always an element of inaccuracy and exaggeration for entertainment.

The setting of the story takes place in the city of Nottingham, and the surrounding Sherwood Forest. Both of which still obviously exist, though Nottingham is obviously MUCH larger than it was, and the forest has been reduced to mostly pine plantations and scattered ancient remnants of the original woodland.

There's no map for the medieval borders of the forest becuase officials were relying on collective memory and physially walking around the wood occasionally to demark it's location, but guesstimates would move he green area on the left image to encompass Nottigham and widen the forest eastwards a bit too.

The above reduction in size makes me smad, but that's beside the point. Sherwood in all it's medieval 100,000 acres was a royal wood - permissible to hunt in ONLY for the King and his fave besties. This is a point I'll come back to later. There was 1 (ONE) road to london south through it, and that road was prime time for Robin & co. to do as they do best, as we see in the opening scenes of Disney's adaptation.

The disney adaptation uses anthropomorphic animals to depict the typical robin hood story.

This is where my little conservation-masters-equivalent-certificate having bum starts to get it's knickers in a twist.

Like. I get it. On a folklore and symbolism level, the basic animals make sense. Robin is a red fox, a figure in British folklore often associated with cunning, trickery and swiftness - making him a perfect rackish protagonist, an outlaw with a heart of gold. Foxes are known to steal, and adapt very well to both modern urban environments and the medieval woodlands and fields. Brilliant choice, no notes.

John.

...John.

*deep sigh*

I KNOW. Our national animal and symbol for royalty is a lion. I KNOW. John and Richard being lions is a direct tie in to the lion coat of arms of the Duchy of Aquitaine, one of the ruling families to invade as part of the norman invasion. John even speaks french on occasion in the film, and directly refers to it as 'the norman' way! I GET IT.

That we have not had any lions, much less the african lion alive today, living on our island since the last glaciation period is something I'm still bitterly annoyed about, but whatever. It's fine.

That this also implies that Normandy, aka modern France, has a thriving population of lions running about in some fusion of french temperate flats and the kenyan savannah is something I just have to grit my teeth and nod about, but WHATEVER IT'S F I N E -

*Insert aggressive bardcore accordion music here*

Ugh. Moving on.

Ecologically, and story wise, it would make most sense for the denizens of Nottingham to be anthropomorphised as animals native to the region. And for the most part this holds up. We have the rabbit family, the mice, the owls, blacksmith dog, the singing rooster and Lady Cluck the Chicken, who has my WHOLE heart in this film. Friar Tuck is allegedgly a badger...

...which I doubt, but I'll allow it I guess. (I would prefer the black & white be actually depicted, and for the man to have claws. Let him have his claws he deserves them.)

Then...we have Little John.

British ecology is famous as being incredibly lacking in the modern day, due to a combination of land management changes, hunting, climate change and our being an island nation. All our major carnivores are extinct, and have been for a long time.

John is a brown bear.

Brown bears have been extinct in Britian for over 1000 years.

Even at the earliest possible time of the film, brown bears will have been dead for 200 years. John's existence should have been something almost goddamn-messiah like in this film. Last of the giants type stuff. I'd love for Lancrew's above point of large british animals to have been defeated 100 years prior by Norman invading lions (deeeeeeeep sigh) to hold up here and have John be a last descendant of nobility. He's a common man in all the legends, but it would be a great addition to how he schmoozed John at the archery tournament.

Looking at Johns forces now instead...

...what the FUCK is going on.

This, I GUESS, is an easy hand wavy way to visualise bad guys vs good guys. Cute forest critters vs afro-french (DEEP SIGH) mega herbivores & carnivores shows an obvious power inbalance between the local animals and Johns forces, and explains why the townsfolk can't rise up on their own. Rabbits aren't exactly going to do much against halberd weilding plate armoured legions of Rhinoceros.

BUT GOD ALMIGHTY WE COULD HAVE TRIED FOR EUROPEAN FAUNA, AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT???

Easy stuff first. Sir Hiss looks about 1, maybe 1.5 meters long, is green, and has no allusion to venom in the film. I've got him down as a grass snake, our largest species. Excellent. No notes.

The wolves are also easy. Wolves didn't go exinct in England until the 1500's, and alledgedly survived in Scotland until the 1700's. While I personally dislike the depiction of wolves as purely villainous in media, here the Sheriff and his men are the perfect foils to Robin. A larger canine species, moving in packs and hunting him in his own woods (that he's SQUATTING IN, because the woods are owned by John and the crown!), and exempliying the selfishness of the crown by having the Sheriff be dressed in bright colours, with fashionable sleeves while the townsfolk are in rags.

Also aside from the Friar, who is fat in every depsiction of the story, the Sherriff is noticably overweight compared to his men and the pallid, sickly looking townsfolk. The fact his clothes fit him when he's a body type almost no-one else has is a great further subtle show of proof that he's living indulgently and comfortably in his life of active cruelty enforcing John's will, and has no intention of stopping.

His other soldiers....

...ok. Since Lady Cluck - a chicken - is half the size of brown bear little John, there's some leeway for size. The vultures I think could feasably have been ravens, magpies or crows: still a little subtly morbid still, fitting for guards. Or maybe storks or herons, or even seagulls! To keep the silly antics and mean streak.

I- look. The rhino's are the main kind of guard featured. They're big, they're strong, they're imposing to look at and occasionally bumbling.

European Bison were RIGHT THERE.

Pigs and wild boar are depicted as background characters in a couple of scenes. do. Do you have ANY idea how large wild boar can be? Especially 500+years ago?! These things FUCKED. And they actively fucked you up when they wanted to. This wouldn't even be a case of british animals being wiped out in the wars - these things were prevalent all over Europe!

WHERE ARE THE DEER. The penultimate prey species for large cats?????? Not a single goddamn doe or stag have I seen in this film?? Sherwood Forest was a DEER HUNTING FOREST?! Not even as soldiers, Robin should have been able to help anthropo-medieval Bambi away from the wolves at least once.

I am not going to even fucking talk about the crocodile. Madam, in whose climate? We can barely keep 3 species of finger-length lizard alive through our wet, cold, windy climate, howmst the FUCK-

My only course of action is to admit that at some point in this universes timeline: There rose a kingdom of immense power in East Africa that has since, over many generations, colonised northwards and subjugated/wiped out European ecosystems. They reached the british isles around the medieval period, and now thanks to Prince John and Sir Hiss hypnotising King Richard, they are continuing expansion eastward via the crusades.

The vultures are there to eat the carcasses of the conquered nations armies. There. Evil as fuck but also exonomical.

Do Not Speak to Me About The Raccoons.

As far as I'm concerned these are oddly coloured red squirrels.

I hope you enjoyed this absolutely insane spiel of nonsense.

[notwiselybuttoowell]

The Vile clings on to the edge of the Gower peninsula. Its fields are lined up like strips of carpet, together leading to the edge of the cliff that drops into the sea. Each one is tiny, around 1-2 acres. From the sky, they look like airport runways, although this comparison would have seemed nonsensical to those who tended them for most of their existence.

That is because the Vile is special: a working example of how much of Britain would have been farmed during the middle ages. Farmers have most likely been trying to tame this promontory since before the Norman conquest.

The fields have retained their old names, speaking to a long history of struggle against the soil. Stoneyland. Sandyland. Bramble Bush. Mounds of soil known as “baulks” separate one strip from the next. During the summer months, linseed and sweet clover paint the landscape with stripes of bright yellow and cotton-blue, recreating a scene that had occurred here for many of the last thousand summers. On the edge of the promontory were the hay meadows, almost ready to burst with pollen and petals.

The Vile is a rare example of the open-field system: a method of communal agriculture once practised across Europe. Under this system, each farmer attended his own strip of land, with the members of the village coming together more widely to cooperate and plan a healthy harvest. Remnants of such farms survive as shadows and undulations across the countryside today, showing the paths of ox-drawn ploughs as they moved up and down the fields, pushing the soil to the side as they went.

Farming is often seen as inimical to biodiversity, but these thin strips of land tell a more complex story. In the nooks and crannies of medieval farms, like the Vile, a wide range of plants and animals would have found the conditions they needed to survive. Ground-nesting birds could find cover and camouflage in the fields left fallow – something that was done every few years to allow the soil to recover. Baulks offered safe passage to small mammals as they navigated the cultivated land. The naturalist Colin Tubbs, in a survey of Hampshire, found that only a third of the county’s birds were adapted to woodland, with the rest preferring open, marsh, coastal or riverine habitats. Farmers “inherited the flora and fauna of the more ancient habitats, and indeed, in modifying the landscapes from which they derived, they may have increased plant and animal diversity,” he wrote.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Get Off My Land!

This is the message the landowners of Britain have been giving working people throughout the centuries. The mass of the people remain not only excluded from the land but are also excluded from any decision-making about what is done with this land. Our exclusion from any say in what happens to the land is due to the expropriation of that land by an alien and hostile ruling class. First came the Norman barons who were awarded ownership of land that had largely been held in common or by right in return for military service and political support. Some landowners such as the Grosvenor family (present Duke of Westminster) trace their ownership back to this time. William the Conqueror gave their ancestor, Hugh Le Gros Veneur, major land holdings. During the feudal period, much land was also taken by the Church, who used its political, spiritual and economic power to grab larger and larger areas of Britain. Heavy taxation to pay for wars of conquest against the Welsh, Scottish, Irish, French and periodic crusades led to further seizure of land and property. Ownership of the land then allowed the ruling class to begin whittling away at the rights to use the land people had enjoyed for centuries: rights to graze animals, collect wood, gather foods and medicinal plants and so on. This was driven by the desire to make profit, for profit bought safety and status for the political and military elites of the time. The oft-cited example is the enclosure of the common land for sheep grazing, fuelled by the ruling class granting itself economic incentives for the production of wool and waging war to open up markets abroad to wool and other products. Over hundreds of years, the land was taken from the peasants and put firmly in the hands of a land-owning class whose sole aim was to manage the land for the benefit of themselves. The gathering pace of the Industrial Revolution and imperial conquest abroad greatly enriched the landowning classes who now regarded ‘their’ land as an arena to flaunt their ill-gotten wealth. Huge acreages were turned over to hunting and other blood sports. Villages were torn down because they spoiled the view of landscaped estates. Gardens and romantic woodlands were planted where once people had earned a living. The countryside of today, that its owners and their supporters are trying to protect, is entirely an artificial creation, serving the interests of big business, whether in agriculture, tourism or housing. That it is also a battlefield long lost by the working class and in which our history has been deliberately obscured are facts that need to be remembered.

[travelella]

European fallow deer in Montebello, Québec, Canada

Gabriel Tovar

Mass: 100 – 180 lbs (Male, Free range, Adult)

Scientific name: Dama dama

Conservation status: Least Concern

Gestation period: 230 days

Lifespan: between 12 and 16 years 

Class: Mammalia

Diet: Herbivorous. They eat grass, leaves, acorns, sweet chestnuts, young shoots, heather, cereals, bark, herbs, and berries.

Habitat and Range: Widespread across England, Wales, southern Scotland and Ireland. They favor broadleaved woodland, grassland and parkland. Fallow deer were introduced to Britain for hunting by the Normans 1,000 years ago, and were a favorite quarry of medieval huntsmen.

[gailyinthedark]

History of the Kings of Britain, continued...

2. Of the first inhabitants of Britain.

Britain is the most excellent of islands, situated in the Western Sea between France and Ireland. It is eight hundred miles in length, two hundred in width. Whatever suits the use of mortals, it provides in boundless plenty; for it is rich in every kind of metal, and boasts wide open fields and fine hills for farming, in which a variety of fruits arise richly from the soil in their seasons. It has woodlands filled with every kind of wild beast, and in the glades and other feeding-places of the woods these find grasses, while flowers of many colours disburse their honey to the hovering bees. It contains flourishing meadows, too, in lovely spots beneath the airy mountains, where clearest springs feed into bright streams with a gentle sound, inciting sweet sleep in those who lie upon their banks. It is further watered by lakes and rivers full of fish. Along the strait of the southern region (whereby one may sail to France), three noble rivers reach like three arms: these are of course the Severn, the Thames and (not least!) the Humber. Up them goods are brought across the sea from every nation, by passage of said strait.

The island was once adorned with eight and twenty cities. Of these, some are now crumbling into ruins and deserted; others, intact, still contain shrines to the saints, their towers upright in lasting beauty. Devout congregations of men and women there offer praise to God, according to the Christian tradition.

Finally, this island is inhabited by five peoples: the Normans* of course, as well as the Britons, the Saxons, the Picts, and the Scots. The earliest among these were the Britons, who once occupied the island from sea to sea until, thanks to their hubris, divine wrath descended on them and they fell to the Picts and the Saxons. That will suffice as a summary of how these things came about; it will be explained more fully in the following chapters.

*Lewis Thorpe says "Norman-French" here, which makes sense historically. My source says Romani, but I'm suspicious it may be a typo from Normanni.

[jargonautical]

Domesday

MANOR HILL HOTEL and Day Spa sits up past Alfriscombe’s headland, a decorative shell formed gradually over the centuries around the core of the original medieval manor house. For centuries this was the family home of the Vernons, able to trace their noble line back to the Norman conquest and beyond, but a combination of expensive tastes, a series of disastrous investments and a few unlucky runs at cards forced them to sell up and retreat long ago.

It still has the air of a grand house, if you can overlook the Michelin star plaques screwed to the stonework beside the main entrance and the ‘[NO] Vacancies’ sign creaking on its gibbet down by the main road. The sweeping carriage drive still follows the curve of the manor’s boundary wall, taking new arrivals past well-kept gardens and grand views over the bay before dropping them at the front door. The frontage is all late Regency, clean and white in the spring sunshine with row upon row of identically sized sash windows, while newer extensions at the rear house guest bedrooms overlooking the back lawn, neatly clipped evergreens, and beyond that ancient woodland with the crown of Fairy Hill rising up out of the trees in the distance. In short, picturesque as all hell from every possible angle. Little wonder the first Baron Vernon chose this spot to cement his triumphant land grab post-Conquest.

The grand ballroom jutting off the south-east side is a Victorian addition from the family that owned it briefly until their only son was lost in the Great War. One of the bedrooms is still preserved as a shrine to his memory, the life’s work of his grieving parents, even his uniform laid out as if ready for him to return and don it before he heads off to victory. Mainder struggles to remember that family’s name, to his occasional shame. Not Vernon, certainly, and he had nothing to do with their misfortunes, but still. Maybe he’ll drop by the display later and remind himself. It feels like the right thing to do.

The only visible remnant of the medieval hall in these modern times is a wide Gothic arch just inside the front door. The old lord’s motto just manages to assert its presence if not its meaning, shallow scratches in the fragile sandstone barely legible now; HABEMVS TENEMVS, it used to say. A brief smirk ghosts across his face as he passes under the inscription and wipes his muddy feet thoroughly on the logo woven into the doormat. Initially dismayed when the hotel decided to adopt the Vernon coat of arms as part of their branding, between the threat of lawsuits and the enthusiasm of the fancy graphic designer they hired it ended up almost unrecognisable, with details like the lion passant the Vernons were once so peacock-proud of replaced by nothing more than a stylised scribble beneath the shield. The absolute cherry on the cake is knowing that it appears not just on doormats, not just printed on restaurant menus and crockery and the tiny guest soaps in the rooms, it’s even embossed on the luxury quilted toilet paper. Odds are that someone at that very moment is wiping their arse on the Vernon crest, and he couldn’t have devised a more fitting use for it if he’d tried.

This early in the year it’s sparse business, with the Valentine’s Day offers over and done with and the Spring Bank Holiday trade yet to materialise, but those guests who do make the trip tend to be heavily susceptible to impulse buys from the trinkets displayed at the treatment centre desk. He stops to admire, as he always does, the sheer artistry at work in arranging the showcase, each shelf in the display containing precisely the correct number of tempting items, not too crowded and not too sparse, all angled to sparkle just so under the cabinet lights.

Looking more closely though there are a few gaps. “You managed to shift that geode.”, he remarks, reaching into his coat pocket and flipping open his notebook. “Want me to send up another? Anything else you’re out of?”.

He’s left hanging when the young woman at the desk holds up a ‘wait’ finger and darts into the tiny office behind the desk. “All of the rose quartz.”, her voice echoes back to him. “Most of the pendants …”. She reappears with a handwritten list which she pushes across the desk for him to review. “Pretty much all of the fossils. Here you go. We had a big rush on over Valentine’s Day.”.

He raises his eyebrows, scribbling swift notes as he works his way down the extensive list. “No kidding. Who says romance is dead?”.

“Certainly not me!”.

The cheeky smile she shoots at him doesn’t go unnoticed, but he lets her flirting pass without comment. Gratifying as it was when he overheard that the young ladies at the spa reception desk ‘totally would’ even if he is ‘like, really old’, the days are long gone that he’d consider taking them up on it.

Back before the Closing his two chief duties were monitoring the Fold for strays and wanderers, and keeping track of the yasim, the half-bloods seeded year on year by the constant traffic between the two sides. He’d barely had to stir himself on that front in the last two centuries. Maybe there are more green eyes in Alfriscombe than you’d expect in such a small population, a bit more luck on the scratch cards or the horses. Realm blood leaves its mark. But these days there isn’t one that he could pick out of a crowd, the aura about them that says they’re someone he needs to watch over. Certainly there are none of his get. He hasn’t even had a relationship on this side for how long he can’t even remember for precisely that reason, and he’s not about to start now.

Business concluded, he ducks down the corridor in the direction of the events suite. Hotel management chose to decorate this section with a selection of tasteful prints in unfussy dark wood frames showing scenes from the history of Alfriscombe. He stops to admire what’s in his opinion the best of the lot, delicate ink lines and cross-hatching showing a view of the town from, if he remembers correctly, 1857. Yes, that’d be right; the pier hadn’t been built yet, and the old Abbey schoolhouse, one of the only victims of the fire of 1860, is still standing. Memory supplies the scene - the blaze and its aftermath, nobody hurt but the building itself reduced to smoking rubble - handwringing from the diocese and mutterings from the vicar about God’s mysterious ways. In truth God had very little to do with it, but he’s confident She would have approved of the outcome, if not the methods. No more kids being singled out at the teachers’ whim, mysterious discipline delivered behind closed doors strictly one on one leaving boys pale and tearful and resolutely silent. Not in his town. He still counts that as one of his better days’ work.

A couple of steps onward he halts again, head cocked as if listening to an unseen navigator, and apparently on impulse takes a sharp right into Hotel Staff Only territory, a service corridor providing hidden access to the function rooms and the restaurant. As such it’s an unloved, undecorated space designed for actual work to get done, safely out of sight of paying guests. Plush carpet underfoot gives way to easy-to-mop vinyl in dull blue. Utilitarian plastic skirting protects the bare plaster walls from the heavy catering trolleys, inclined to rumble on unchecked if you let go even for a moment. One such appears as he reaches the bend, and he stops close into the wall to let it go rattling past. The tiny young woman struggling to steer the beast nods breathless thanks and carries on her way.

Further down there’s the murmur of voices from an event in progress. More of the staff are in full action mode here, smartly kicking open the kitchen doors to bustle past and around him with water jugs and trays of coffee cups, but they pay him no attention beyond the occasional nod of greeting. They all know him, local kids grown up playing hopscotch or bulldog in the alley behind his shop, and for all his many faults he never could bring himself to be a dick to children. It works out nicely; they have nothing but positive associations with him, and this wouldn’t be the first time he’s taken advantage of that fact to use their domain as a shortcut.

He emerges precisely where he needs to be, the atrium at the centre of the function rooms. They're busy laying it up for the first break, and he drifts aside to keep out of the way, helpfully picking up a discarded lanyard from the floor. A sign propped on the easel by the other door proclaims that today’s series of seminars are on the subject of ‘Alfriscombe: Past, Present and Future’, and are kindly sponsored by the Warrington Institute.

He barely glances at it. There’s news to be had here today, but that isn’t it.

[mushi-shield]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman who authorities say fatally stabbed her partner at their Los Angeles apartment Monday then threw her two children from a moving SUV onto the freeway, killing her infant daughter, was an astrologer who called the impending solar eclipse “the epitome of spiritual warfare” in an online post days earlier.

Los Angeles police believe Danielle Cherakiyah Johnson, 34, posted on X as an astrology influencer and recording artist with the moniker “ Ayoka,” in the days leading up to the violence, which began hours before the eclipse peaked in Southern California, said Lt. Guy Golan.

While detectives have reviewed Johnson’s posts, police are not considering the eclipse to be a precipitating or contributing factor to the slayings “because we just don’t know why she did what she did,” Golan told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

“We’ve taken all the facts we can, but without being able to interview her and without having something more tangible than a post on X, I don’t know how much weight you can give to somebody (saying) there’s an apocalypse and attribute it to one of the most horrific murders we’ve had in LA,” Golan, who is head of the homicide unit investigating the case, said.

Authorities say Johnson and her partner, 29-year-old Jaelen Allen Chaney, had an argument around 3:40 a.m. Monday in their apartment in Woodland Hills, about 25 miles (42 km) northwest of downtown LA. Johnson stabbed Chaney and fled with her kids, an 8-month-old girl and her 9-year-old sister, in a Porsche Cayenne.

Johnson then drove along Interstate 405 in Culver City and threw her daughters out of the moving SUV around 4:30 a.m., police said. The baby was pronounced dead on the road, but the older daughter — who witnessed the stabbing — survived with moderate injuries.

Johnson traveled southwest to Redondo Beach, where a half-hour later she was driving over 100 miles per hour (160 kph) and crashed into a tree. The LAPD is investigating whether the solo crash was an apparent suicide.

The Los Angeles Times first reported on Johnson’s social media activities in connection with the killings.

“Get your protection on and your heart in the right place,” she posted April 4 to more than 105,000 followers on X. “The world is very obviously changing right now and if you ever needed to pick a side, the time to do right in your life is now. Stay strong you got this.”

On April 5, she posted in all caps, “Wake up wake up the apocalypse is here. Everyone who has ears listen. Your time to choose what you believe is now.”

Her social media also included a mix of antisemitic screeds, conspiracy theories about vaccines and warnings about the end of the world alongside astrological predictions and positive affirmations. Also on April 5, she posted the word “LOVE” dozens of times. Her personal website offers a variety of services including “zodiac healing work,” “alcohol balancing system” and an “aura cleanse.”

Johnson’s internet presence and online following dates back years. The Fader, a music magazine, interviewed her in 2016 as an astrology personality.

“She was very standoffish,” said Norman Linder, a Woodland Hills neighbor. He only saw Johnson and her daughters a few times before in the apartment complex.

Another neighbor, Anita Mazer, told the AP that when she saw the family, “I just said ‘hello.’ The baby was really cute,” she said Wednesday. “It’s horrible.”

Golan said there were no calls for police to respond to the couple’s apartment prior to Monday’s killing, when neighbors called 911 after seeing the door open. Johnson did not have a felony criminal record in California and there were no indications of reported domestic violence.

Detectives did not immediately link the Woodland Hills slaying to the daughters, Golan said. He was in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood when he started getting push alerts from news organizations on his cellphone about the infant’s death on the roadway in Culver City. Investigators realized there might be a connection between two missing children from the family’s apartment and the tragedy on the interstate.

“I was like ‘Oh, there’s two young girls who were stranded on the 405 Freeway.’ That is such a random and terrible thing to hear about. And we knew there were two young children,” Golan continued. “We were setting up an Amber Alert.”

Golan said detectives discovered candles and cards inside the apartment, but he was not sure whether they were tarot cards.

“They didn’t look like your standard deck of cards that you would play poker with,” he said.

The solar eclipse’s path of totality stretched from Mazatlán, Mexico, to Newfoundland, Canada, a swath approximately 115 miles (185 kilometers) wide. Revelers were engulfed in darkness at state parks, on city rooftops and in small towns when the moon blocked out the sun, though Southern California only saw a partial eclipse that peaked at 11:12 a.m.

Across the globe, the celestial event spawned fears of the apocalypse and other suspicions rooted in religion and spirituality. But Golan noted that others who posted online about their eclipse-related worries did not commit violence like Johnson.

“How many people wrote about it,” he said, “and didn’t go out and murder somebody?”

[travelloverr]

The Tranquil Oasis: Exploring Cullman Sportsman Lake

A Legacy of Community and Conservation:

The story of Cullman Sportsman Lake is deeply intertwined with the community of Cullman. In the mid-20th century, local residents recognized the need for a recreational space that would cater to their love of the outdoors. The vision was to create a lake that would not only provide fishing and boating opportunities but also serve as a gathering place for families and friends.

Through the collective efforts of the community, the lake was constructed, transforming a natural depression into a vibrant aquatic ecosystem. The dedication and hard work that went into its creation are evident in the lake’s well-maintained facilities and pristine surroundings. It’s a testament to the power of community collaboration and a shared passion for conservation.

The lake’s name itself reflects its purpose: to provide a space for sportsmen and outdoor enthusiasts. Over the years, it has become a cherished landmark, attracting visitors from across the region. Its enduring popularity is a testament to the foresight of those who envisioned its creation and the ongoing commitment to its preservation.

A Diverse Ecosystem:

Cullman Sportsman Lake is more than just a recreational destination; it’s a thriving ecosystem that supports a variety of aquatic and terrestrial life. The lake’s clear waters provide a habitat for numerous fish species, while the surrounding woodlands offer refuge for wildlife.

Aquatic Life:

The lake is renowned for its excellent fishing opportunities. Anglers can expect to catch a variety of fish, including largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, and catfish. The abundance and diversity of fish species make it a popular destination for both novice and experienced anglers.

The lake’s ecosystem is carefully managed to ensure the health and sustainability of its fish populations. Stocking programs and regulations are in place to maintain a balanced ecosystem and provide optimal fishing conditions.

Terrestrial Life:

The surrounding woodlands are home to a variety of wildlife, including deer, squirrels, rabbits, and numerous bird species. Birdwatchers will find plenty to observe, from songbirds to waterfowl. The lake’s tranquil environment provides a sanctuary for these creatures, allowing them to thrive in their natural habitat.

The diverse flora surrounding the lake contributes to the overall health of the ecosystem. Native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers provide food and shelter for wildlife, creating a balanced and vibrant environment.

Popular Park & Lake in USA

Louisville state recreation area campground

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Hydrology and Geology:

The lake’s hydrology is influenced by the local watershed, which collects rainwater and runoff from the surrounding hills. The water is naturally filtered as it flows through the woodlands, contributing to the lake’s clarity and purity.

The geology of the area plays a role in the lake’s formation and characteristics. The underlying bedrock and soil types influence the water’s mineral content and the lake’s overall ecosystem.

Recreational Opportunities Abound:

Cullman Sportsman Lake offers a wide range of recreational activities, making it a popular destination for families, outdoor enthusiasts, and nature lovers.

Fishing:

Fishing is undoubtedly one of the most popular activities at the lake. Anglers can fish from the shoreline or from boats, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere and the thrill of the catch. The lake’s well-stocked waters and diverse fish populations ensure a rewarding fishing experience.

Boating:

Boating is another popular activity at the lake. Visitors can bring their own canoes, kayaks, or small motorboats to explore the lake’s tranquil waters. The calm surface is perfect for leisurely paddles and scenic boat rides.

Picnicking and Relaxation:

The lake’s scenic surroundings make it an ideal spot for picnicking and relaxation. Visitors can enjoy a leisurely meal under the shade of the trees, taking in the beautiful views of the lake and its surroundings. The peaceful atmosphere provides a welcome escape from the stresses of daily life.

Hiking and Nature Trails:

The surrounding woodlands offer opportunities for hiking and nature walks. Trails wind through the forest, providing glimpses of wildlife and scenic views of the lake. These trails are perfect for those seeking a peaceful stroll or a more challenging hike.

Wildlife Observation and Photography:

The lake and its surroundings offer ample opportunities for wildlife observation and photography. Birdwatchers and nature photographers will find plenty to capture, from birds and mammals to scenic landscapes. The tranquil environment provides a perfect setting for capturing the beauty of nature.

Community Events:

Cullman Sportsman Lake is a hub for community events, including fishing tournaments, festivals, and outdoor gatherings. These events bring people together, fostering a sense of community and shared enjoyment of the lake’s natural beauty.

Conservation Efforts and Challenges:

While Cullman Sportsman Lake is a cherished community asset, it faces challenges that require ongoing conservation efforts.

Water Quality:

Maintaining the lake’s water quality is crucial for the health of its ecosystem. Runoff from surrounding areas, pollution, and invasive species can degrade water quality, impacting aquatic life. Regular monitoring and management are essential to ensure the lake’s long-term health.

Habitat Preservation:

Protecting the surrounding woodlands and wetlands is essential for preserving the lake’s ecosystem. Habitat loss due to development and land use changes can impact wildlife populations and degrade the lake’s natural beauty. Conservation efforts should focus on preserving natural habitats and minimizing human impact.

Invasive Species:

Invasive species, such as exotic plants and animals, can disrupt the natural balance of the ecosystem. Controlling and preventing the spread of invasive species is essential for protecting the lake’s biodiversity.

Community Involvement and Stewardship:

The ongoing success of Cullman Sportsman Lake depends on the continued involvement of the community and stakeholders. Educational programs, volunteer initiatives, and partnerships with conservation organizations can help raise awareness and promote stewardship.

Educational Programs:

Educational programs can help raise awareness about the importance of the lake and the need for conservation. These programs can target schools, community groups, and visitors, providing information about the lake’s ecology, history, and challenges.

Volunteer Initiatives:

Partnerships:

Partnerships with conservation organizations, government agencies, and research institutions can provide resources and expertise for conservation efforts. Collaborating with these partners can help develop and implement effective management strategies.

The Future of Cullman Sportsman Lake:

The future of Cullman Sportsman Lake depends on our commitment to conservation and stewardship. By working together, we can ensure that this tranquil oasis remains a vital part of the Cullman community for generations to come.

A Call to Action:

Cullman Sportsman Lake is a reminder of the beauty and importance of natural spaces. It is a place where we can connect with nature, enjoy recreational activities, and appreciate the value of community collaboration. Let us cherish and protect this cherished landmark, ensuring that its tranquil waters and scenic surroundings continue to inspire and sustain us.

In conclusion,

Cullman Sportsman Lake offers a unique blend of recreational opportunities, natural beauty, and community spirit. It is a place where visitors can escape the stresses of modern life and reconnect with the natural world. By understanding and appreciating this tranquil oasis, we can contribute to its preservation and ensure that its charm endures. Continue Reading

Here are some FAQs about Cullman Sportsman Lake

Q: Where is Cullman Sportsman Lake located?

A: It’s located in Cullman County, Alabama.

Q: What are the main activities at Cullman Sportsman Lake?

A: Fishing, boating, picnicking, hiking, and wildlife observation.

Q: What types of fish can you catch at the lake?

A: Largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, and catfish.

Q: Is boating allowed on the lake?

A: Yes, canoes, kayaks, and small motorboats are permitted.

Q: Are there hiking trails around the lake?

A: Yes, there are nature trails through the surrounding woodlands.

Q: Is swimming allowed in the lake?

A: It is best to check local regulations as it can vary.

Q: Are there picnic areas at the lake?

A: Yes, there are designated picnic areas.

Q: What kind of wildlife can be seen at the lake?

A: Deer, squirrels, rabbits, and various bird species.

[knick-nudiex]

A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or one-dimensional (1D), can be scanned by special optical scanners, called barcode readers, of which there are several types.

Later, two-dimensional (2D) variants were developed, using rectangles, dots, hexagons and other patterns, called 2D barcodes or matrix codes, although they do not use bars as such. Both can be read using purpose-built 2D optical scanners, which exist in a few different forms. Matrix codes can also be read by a digital camera connected to a microcomputer running software that takes a photographic image of the barcode and analyzes the image to deconstruct and decode the code. A mobile device with a built-in camera, such as a smartphone, can function as the latter type of barcode reader using specialized application software and is suitable for both 1D and 2D codes.

The barcode was invented by Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver and patented in the US in 1952. The invention was based on Morse code that was extended to thin and thick bars. However, it took over twenty years before this invention became commercially successful. UK magazine Modern Railways December 1962 pages 387–389 record how British Railways had already perfected a barcode-reading system capable of correctly reading rolling stock travelling at 100 mph (160 km/h) with no mistakes. An early use of one type of barcode in an industrial context was sponsored by the Association of American Railroads in the late 1960s. Developed by General Telephone and Electronics (GTE) and called KarTrak ACI (Automatic Car Identification), this scheme involved placing colored stripes in various combinations on steel plates which were affixed to the sides of railroad rolling stock. Two plates were used per car, one on each side, with the arrangement of the colored stripes encoding information such as ownership, type of equipment, and identification number. The plates were read by a trackside scanner located, for instance, at the entrance to a classification yard, while the car was moving past. The project was abandoned after about ten years because the system proved unreliable after long-term use.

[whereareroo]

SANTEE

WF UPDATE (3/3/25).

I’m reporting from Santee, South Carolina. Santee is in the central part of the state. To get here from the shore, we drove inland for 100 miles. Santee is about 100 miles north of the border with Georgia.

There’s not much to tell you about Santee. It’s small, and it’s poor. The population is 1,000. About 39% of the population lives below the poverty line. The median household income is $36,000. Many towns in America are like Santee.

We’re not here to explore Santee. We’re here to explore Lake Marion. She’s the gem of Santee.

Lake Marion was formed in 1941 when they constructed the Santee Dam to flood the area. She’s a big lake. When people think about big lakes in the South, they tend to think about Lake Lanier in Georgia or Lake Norman in North Carolina. At 165 square miles, Lake Marion is bigger than those two lakes combined.

The lake is named after Francis Marion. Born in South Carolina, he was a legendary patriot in the American Revolution. Leading a small band of backwoods soldiers, he was a constant thorn in the side of the British Army. On multiple occasions, the Brits tried to capture Marion. Marion successfully avoided capture by vanishing into the woodlands or the swamps. He became known as the “Swamp Fox.” There’s plenty of swampland near Lake Marion.

We’re spending a few days at Santee State Park. The park includes a small portion of the lake’s 315 mile shoreline. The park is beautiful. Our cabin is on a long pier that juts out into the lake. When we sleep, the water is beneath us.

We are counting this as an “official” vacation. I can’t remember our last low-key vacation. Our activity will be limited to walking the trails near the lake. When we return, we will channel the spirit of Francis Marion and vigorously attack the rest of 2025. Stay tuned.

[writer59january13]

A trunkful of recyclables patiently awaits,

(and cries out long day's journey into night, no...not for Eugene O'Neill), but rather being distributed in their respective bins at Wegmans Under the Elms

Dressed up in our Sunday finery, (which attire frankly looks no different than the clothes we wear on any other occasion, nevertheless we try our level best with steely mettle, we haul gull ass to said location in a concerted effort to be romantic on those singular occasions looking into the eyes of each other and blowing a kiss to the once upon a time fair maiden, who caught mine heart and soul immediately breaking free and clear of reverie, and getting back to the grubby business at hand as we hurriedly distribute reusable materials into their respective bins, so we can commence shopping for food, which dual purpose outing (us old married couple codgers feign being youngbloods in love) subsequently came to be hashtagged "A night on the town," (which title - after doing a Google search unknowingly identical to Rod Stewart's seventh album, released in 1976)

located at 600 Commerce Drive Providence Town Center Collegeville, PA 19426‎. The missus (once upon a time

and in a former incarnation repurposed as a paper shredder, thus I continually remind myself not to put fingers of mine anywhere near her teeth),

nevertheless counts herself as a diehard advocate of recycling, especially pulpy flesh

and goes the extra green mile, or two, or three... to make her contribution to ecological beneficence, and within which eco conscious upbringing our two daughters (now grown and livingsocial on their own) free and clear of birth parents

whose mien mean marred psyches etched indelible opportunistic ugly yelp review.

Because the weather got so darned (please feel free to substitute your favorite expletive) cold, (compard to six months, when I bemoaned the polar opposite weather related lament), we stashed bulging bags of empty metal cans, plastic containers and empty bags, glass bell jars, paper, et cetera in our (actually mine) 2020 white Hyundai Elantra leaving neither little room for a driver, passenger, hitchhiker, nor a corpse to get stuffed in the trunk, which would pose an inconvenient truth

to a hypothetical lifeless body. We promised ourselves (girl scout's honor in my case, and boy scout's honor courtesy the missus) come the first warm day, the above listed materials will fill up the appropriate bins at Wegmans, cause the facility where we reside (Highland Manor Apartments - managed by Crooks and Quade) does not deal with materials that can be repurposed.

Thus the reason without rhyme why the five year old aforementioned automobile strongly resembles the vehicle ideal for junkyard dogs on Sanford and Son's - one of the countless sitcoms - first episode aired January 14th, 1972 produced by Norman Lear, which essentially follows the premise where junk dealer Fred Sanford - a older man of color runs roughshod over his son and partner, Lamont, in a groundbreaking situation comedy. Fred's money making schemes routinely backfire, and he does just about anything to get out of working -- up to and including faking a heart attack. Aside from the father figure character being rude, sarcastic, outspoken, overtly prejudiced, and pretty darn nasty to his friends and family, and other than outstanding belligerent traits, the older man makes for a fine companion.

Additionally, the spouse used to save compostable material in the freezer, (and come the warmer months, when spring announced courtesy twittering songbirds and light buds barely peeking thru the cold earth she will do the same) buzzfeed leftover food - to animals James Herriot would smile on as All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful,

All Things Wise and Wonderful,

plus various and sundry other book titles paying homage to dear animals,

who populate and take refuge within the strip of sum mall woodland barely edible in the first place that got blessedly co-opted courtesy mold.

Actually most times the wife who does patchke (to fuss or mess around in an inefficient or inexpert way) surprisingly enough the I married not quite three decades ago does manage to hit upon a flavorful cause célèbre to be a Michelin success earning the maximum number of stars plus she starred and got showcased on Top Chef Amateurs.

[kayrwt]

Barcode

Understanding Barcodes: The Key to Modern Inventory and Retail Management

Barcodes have become an indispensable part of our daily lives, revolutionizing how products are tracked, managed, and sold globally. From retail stores to warehouses, and healthcare facilities to logistics operations, barcodes simplify product identification, improve inventory accuracy, and enhance operational efficiency. This article dives into the fundamentals of barcodes, their types, uses, and why they remain a critical tool in modern business operations.

What is a Barcode?

A barcode is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable format using a combination of parallel lines, spaces, or dots. Scanners or mobile devices equipped with barcode readers decode this data and convert it into readable information, such as product details, pricing, or inventory levels.

Barcodes primarily consist of two elements:

Black Bars (or Patterns): Represent data.

White Spaces: Separate the black bars for clarity.

Each barcode contains a unique identifier that links to a database, providing details about the product, including its price, stock status, and origin.

History of Barcodes

The concept of barcoding was introduced in the 1940s by Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver. However, it wasn’t until 1974 that the first barcode was scanned on a Wrigley’s gum pack in an Ohio supermarket, marking the beginning of a technological revolution in retail and inventory management.

Types of Barcodes

There are two primary categories of barcodes: 1D (Linear Barcodes) and 2D Barcodes.

1. 1D (Linear) Barcodes:

These are the traditional barcodes with vertical black and white lines. Examples include:

UPC (Universal Product Code): Commonly used in retail stores.

EAN (European Article Number): International retail barcode.

Code 39: Used in manufacturing and military applications.

Code 128: Often found in logistics and shipping.

2. 2D Barcodes:

These barcodes store more data in both horizontal and vertical patterns. Examples include:

QR Codes (Quick Response Codes): Used in marketing, payments, and product information.

DataMatrix Codes: Common in healthcare and electronics.

PDF417: Found in shipping labels and ID cards.

How Do Barcodes Work?

Barcode Creation: A unique identification number is encoded into a barcode format.

Printing: The barcode is printed on labels or product packaging.

Scanning: A barcode scanner reads the black and white patterns.

Decoding: The scanner translates the barcode into digital data.

Database Lookup: The system retrieves product or asset details from the database.

This seamless process ensures accurate and instant information retrieval, reducing manual errors and improving efficiency.

Applications of Barcodes

Barcodes are widely used across various industries:

1. Retail:

Quick and accurate billing at checkout counters.

Improved inventory management and stock tracking.

2. Healthcare:

Tracking patient medications.

Managing medical equipment and supplies.

3. Logistics and Warehousing:

Real-time tracking of shipments.

Efficient warehouse inventory control.

4. Manufacturing:

Monitoring production lines.

Ensuring quality control through traceability.

5. Event Management:

Ticket scanning for concerts, sports events, and conferences.

Benefits of Barcodes

Accuracy: Reduces human errors in data entry.

Speed: Speeds up processes like billing, inventory checks, and shipping.

Cost-Effective: Affordable technology with significant ROI.

Inventory Control: Real-time visibility into stock levels.

Improved Traceability: Enhances product tracking across supply chains.

Data Insights: Provides accurate data for business analysis and forecasting.

Barcode Scanning Technology

Barcode scanners are devices designed to read and decode barcode information. Common types include:

Laser Scanners: Fast and accurate, commonly used in retail.

CCD Scanners (Charge-Coupled Device): Best for short-range scanning.

2D Image Scanners: Can read both 1D and 2D barcodes.

Mobile Scanners: Smartphones with barcode scanner apps for flexible use.

Barcodes vs RFID

While barcodes are widely used, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is emerging as an alternative technology.

Feature

Barcode

RFID

Cost

Low

Higher

Range

Short-range scanning

Long-range reading

Line of Sight

Required

Not required

Data Storage

Limited

Extensive

Both technologies have their advantages, but barcodes remain the preferred choice for cost-sensitive applications.

Challenges with Barcodes

Despite their advantages, barcodes face certain challenges:

Damage or Smudging: Barcodes may become unreadable if damaged.

Limited Data Storage: 1D barcodes can only store minimal information.

Dependency on Line of Sight: Direct scanning is necessary.

The Future of Barcodes

The future of barcoding technology is promising:

Smart Barcodes: Embedded with enhanced data storage.

Integration with IoT (Internet of Things): Enabling smarter inventory systems.

AI Integration: Improving predictive analytics for supply chains.

Blockchain Integration: Ensuring immutable traceability records.

With the rise of e-commerce and digital logistics, barcodes are evolving to meet the demands of modern supply chains.

How to Get a Barcode for Your Business

Register with GS1: GS1 is the global authority for barcode standards.

Obtain a GTIN (Global Trade Item Number): A unique identifier for your product.

Generate the Barcode: Use GS1-approved barcode creation tools.

Print and Apply: Ensure high-quality printing for accurate scanning.

Investing in barcoding systems ensures smooth operations and enhances scalability for businesses of all sizes.

Conclusion

Barcodes are far more than black lines on product packaging—they are a gateway to efficiency, accuracy, and global connectivity. From simplifying retail checkouts to ensuring supply chain transparency, barcodes have proven their value across industries.

As technology continues to advance, barcodes remain a cornerstone of effective product identification and data management, offering unparalleled benefits in a world driven by speed and precision.