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Ōi River

The Ōi River (大井川) is a river in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

Geography
The Ōi River flows from the Akaishi Mountains, the branch of the Japanese Southern Alps which form the border between Shizuoka, Nagano and Yamanashi prefectures. These mountains, with peaks ranging from 2000 to 3000 m, are characterized by heavy rainfall (up to 3000 mm per year) and deep V-shaped valleys. The river follows a generally southern course, with seven wide bends in its central region, before exiting into Suruga Bay in the Philippine Sea.

History
The Ōi River is mentioned in Nara period records as forming the border between Tōtōmi and Suruga Provinces. However, due to shifting of the course of the river over the centuries, by the late Muromachi period, this was not always the case.

During the Edo period, the Tōkaidō developed as the major highway linking Edo with Kyoto, and daimyō from the western domains were forced to travel on a regular basis to Edo to attend to the shōgun in a system known as sankin-kōtai. However, the Tokugawa shogunate prohibited the building of bridges over major rivers as a security measure, and in the case of the Ōi River, even ferryboats were forbidden. As depicted in contemporary ukiyo-e prints by artists such as Hokusai, travelers crossed the river on bearers' shoulders or on horseback. In cases of bad weather or high waters, they were forced to stay several days (or even several weeks) beside the river at post stations such as Shimada-juku or Kanaya-juku.

Because of this, the Ōi River was regarded as the most difficult part of the Tōkaidō. A well-known lyric states:

 * 箱根八里は馬でも越すが、越すに越されぬ大井川
 * Hakone hachiri wa uma demo kosu ga, kosu ni kosarenu Ōigawa
 * Even horses can cross eight ri (=31 km) of Hakone, but the Ōi River is hard to get over in any way.

The river was bridged shortly after the Meiji Restoration, notably by the Hōrai Bridge in 1879 (which was listed as the world's longest wooden pedestrian bridge by the Guinness Book of world records), and by other road and railroad bridges. Today the Tōkaidō Shinkansen express train crosses the river in a few seconds.

Hydroelectric development
The potential of the Ōi River valley for hydroelectric power development was realized by the Meiji government at the start of the 20th century. The Ōi River was characterized by a high volume of flow and a fast current. Its mountainous upper reaches and tributaries were areas of steep valleys and abundant rainfall, and were sparsely populated.

In 1906, a joint venture company, the Anglo-Japanese Hydroelectric Company (日英水力電気) was established with private investors, and began studies and design work on plans to exploit the potential of both the Ōi River and Fuji River in Shizuoka Prefecture, and a small power station was built in 1911. However, the Kiso River and Tenryū River attracted more investment, and the company did not flourish. The British interests were bought out by 1921, and the company was renamed Hayakawa Electric (早川電力), for its plan to divert water from the Ōi River to the Hayakawa River in Yamanashi Prefecture through a system of penstocks, and thus generate electricity. Work on the Tashiro Dam began in 1924 and was completed in 1928. Hayakawa Electric became a subsidiary of Tokyo Electric in 1925 and was renamed Ōigawa Electric before becoming nationalized and merged with other electrical producers into the Japan Electric Generation and Transmission Company (日本発送電株式会社) in 1938. During the early 1930s, Ōigawa Electric had completed a number of dams on tributary branches of the Ōi River, but work was stalled by the Great Depression, and came to a halt during World War II.

After the end of World War II, the American occupation authorities ordered the dissolution of Nippon Hassoden, which was divided into regional power companies. Central Japan came under Chubu Electric Power, which inherited the various dams and projects on the Ōi River (with the exception of Tashiro Dam). In part through foreign aid loans from the United Nations, Chubu Electric pioneered the use of new dam technologies, such as the hollow-core concrete gravity dam concept at the Ōi River, and completed a number of large dams in the 1950s and early 1960s. These dams have altered the once abundant flow of the river, and the lower reaches of the river near its mouth are almost dry.

Tourism
The Ōigawa Railway runs two lines in the Ōi River valley. Originally built to facilitate dam construction, both lines are now primarily run for tourists, and include a popular steam locomotive run into the mountains.

title: Ōi River


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Template talk:Cadillac timeline 1930-1979

This will probably be controversial. But let's take a stab at it. I've tried to put all of Cadillac's dizzying array of names into a matrix of market segments. Some interesting points come up: Thoughts? --SFoskett 14:29, Apr 6, 2005 (UTC)
 * Does the Cadillac SRX really replace the Cadillac Eldorado? The people I know who used to buy Eldos now buy SRXes.  Why not?
 * Does the Cadillac Escalade really replace the Cadillac Fleetwood? Same reasoning.

Great idea, but....
I really liked your time line, but if I might make a suggestion, I believe your classifications are a problem. If you were to classify with more descriptive categories, the chart could be much more informative. For instance, the Eldorado was a luxury coupe, why wouldn't you put it in that category and then show it ending in 2002 and then the category would be an empty slot going forward until Cadillac fields another model in that category. Escalade would be in "large SUV", SRX "crossover SUV", Allante and XLR would go into a "2 seat premium luxury roadster" or something like that. This would provide at a glance, market segments Cadillac abandoned/picked up which is more informative.

Perhaps it might make sense to also allow for the horizontal "categories" to accept multiple lines which would allow for further detail and multiple entries for the years that Cadillac offered multiple models in a particular category or where there were variations in bodystyle and function for a particular model like Coupe Deville and Eldorado both being entered within the "luxury coupe" category, or years when Cadillac offered a particular model in multiple body styles like in the 50s when the deville was offered as a sedan, a coupe and a convertible.

You're also missing the CTS. If I may suggest a category for it, I would classify it as a sport sedan as opposed to "entry level" which would differentiate it from previous "entry level" Cadillacs, which were big "boats" like the rest of Cadillac's line just with less equipment, and the CTS is competing in the "sport sedan" market segment. The old-style "entry level" Cadillacs I would classify as "entry fullsize luxury" or some such.

The Cimarron I would list in an "economy" catagory as its whole reason for being was to satisfy CAFE requirements and the premise that gas prices were going to be $ 3.00 a gallon by the mid-eighties (that would be around $ 6.00+ in 2005 dollars) and besides it was built on an economy car platfrom.

The Seville has been the most expensive sedan in the line up since it's introduction in the 70's, so it probably doesn't belong in a category labeled "value" I'd probably put it in a "premium luxury sedan category" and let it share the slot with the Fleetwood for the years when the Fleetwood was a loaded-up Deville; Or for further differentiation the Seville would be in a "midsize premium luxury" category and the Fleetwood would go into a "fullsize premium luxury" category.

Finally, I think there could be an "ultra luxury sedan" catagory into which the V-16, the Eldorado Brougham, and the upcoming ULS could be placed.

I dont think this would be as unwieldy or large as it sounds, and could be extremely informative with the above modifications.

I'm willing to take a crack at it, but it may be beyond my wiki-ability.

Rawja Apr 11, 2005

 * It was an idea. I went ahead and adopted some of your suggestions, creating new categories for the trucks and roadsters.  But I don't agree about the Seville - it was originally intended as the attainable Cadillac, and it's odd that they switched around the pricing in the 1990s.  In 1996, the Fleetwood was $37k, the DeVille was $36k-$40k, and the Seville was $43k-$47k.  So the cars were priced upside down from their 1970s marketing.  Weird.  How about this:  We move the models from one row to another to show their shifting positioning.  But we'd have to figure out when they swapped spots on the list...  --SFoskett 14:05, Apr 11, 2005 (UTC)

 * I was under the impression that the Seville was always more expensive that the other Cadillacs, But I know for sure it was from 1980 onwards (Allante & XLR Excepted).

I recently moved, so I haven't unpacked my reference materials, but I'm positive about the pricing post-1980. Rawja 3:16 EDT, Apr 11, 2005

 * I'll be darned, you're right. I went back and looked up the pricing, and the Seville was more expensive throughout its whole run.  I guess that's why we do this stuff, right?  Anyway, I broke it out onto its own line and merged the Catera/CTS with the Calais.  Better?  --SFoskett 20:32, Apr 11, 2005 (UTC)

 * I decided to "put my money where my mouth was".... Darn, that chart sure got very complex, very fast. :)
 * I keep thinking there must be a better way to graph it all out....But the added differentiation is helpful.
 * Rawja 6:26 EDT, Apr 11, 2005

Large-size
While this is a very nice timeline, some of the descriptions did need revising. First, there is no such thing as Large-size vs. Full-size. A car is either full-size, or not. For this I put in a rowspan. Also, Value and Entry-level, again the same thing; thus I also put in a rowspan for these two descriptions. Also, the Seville was a full-size sedan during its last generation, but I think that would make the timeline to complex. BTW: The description "Luxury" is not specific enough, all Caddis are luxury cars, the Eldorado was personal lux. Regards,  Signature brendel  02:40, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Splitting the timeline
I don't know the usual resolution of Wikipedia's readers, but this timeline is far too wide. I can split is in two (Early Cadillac vehicles and Modern Cadillac vehicles), but I won't rename every article! Can someone do that with an external tool? -- NaBUru38 03:45, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

Cadillac CTC
I'd do this myself, but it seems rather daunting. Anyway, someone needs to edit in the upcoming CTC. Vegasrebel29 05:41, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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User:Sinatra

Joachim Grzega
www.grzega.de

born on 9 September 1971 in Weißenburg (Germany), raised in Treuchtlingen

Associate Professor at the University of Eichstätt (Germany) and Project Coordinator at Volkshochschule Donauwörth (Germany)

 * 1991-1998 studies at the universities of Eichstätt, Salt Lake City, Paris-Sorbonne, Graz
 * 2000 Dr.phil. (Ph.D.) in Romance, English and German Linguistics
 * 2004 habil.diss. in English and General Linguistics
 * interim professorships at the universities of Münster, Bayreuth, Eichstätt, Erfurt, and Freiburg

Author of over 20 books and several dozen articles

Editor of the Journal for EuroLinguistiX

Founder of the Academy for Socioeconomic Linguistics (ASEcoLi)

Important Internet Publications and Projects

 * EuroLinguistiX (ELiX) - platform with discussion forum, materials, academic journal and project wiki
 * Basic Global English (BGE), a concept for teaching English as a lingua franca to beginners, with school project
 * Onomasiology Online (OnOn)
 * Sprachwissenschaft für die Öffentlichkeit - collection og predominantly student papers for interested laypersons and teachers
 * the didactic model LdL at universities
 * the book English and General Historical Lexicology: Materials for Onomasiology Seminars (with Marion Schöner)
 * my German Wikiversity user page
 * my English Wikiversity user page

Research Interests

 * the connection between language, thought and action
 * eurolinguistics
 * onomasiology
 * public-oriented linguistics/practical linguistics, linguistics for the public
 * intelligible linguistics
 * linguistic economics/socioeconomic linguistics, linguistics and knowledge society (basic article)
 * Austrian German
 * language contacts
 * intercultural communication
 * teaching English as an international language (Basic Global English)
 * didactic issues at university (especially Learning by teaching (LdL) -- cf. my English article)

WP Articles that I've co-authored
Austrian German, Wolfgang Butzkamm (first author), componential analysis (first author), cross-cultural communication, direct method (first author), error analysis, Eurolinguistics (first author), European languages (first author), onomasiology, English as an additional language, English language, English language learning and teaching, Gricean maxims, Edward T. Hall, Dell Hymes, Hans Kurath (first author), Dean Martin, historical pragmatics (first author), homonym, intercultural communication (first author), international auxiliary language, International English, language change, language education, lexical field theory (first author), linguistic atlas, loanword, metaphor, metonymy, Leonard Orban, phatic, semantic change, semasiology, small talk (phatic communication) (first author), sociolinguistics, sociohistorical linguistics (first author), speech act, Standard Average European, teaching English as a foreign language, T-V distinction

WP Articles that I'm trying to improve in a comprehensive way
articles on Intercultural Communication

de:Benutzer:Sinatra simple:User:Sinatra fr:Utilisateur:Sinatra it:Utente:Joachim es:Usuario:Joachim

title: User:Sinatra


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User:Hooloovoo/Lonsdale (brand)

Lonsdale is a clothing brand.

History
Lonsdale receives its name from the eponymous Lord Lonsdale. Lord Lonsdale organised boxing matches in 1909 and was president of the National Sporting Club of Britain. Every boxer who became a champion and defended his title successfully three times received the Lonsdale belt. Bernard Hart, an ex-boxer, visited the Lord in the 1960s and asked for permission to use his name for a clothing brand targeted towards boxers.

Originally founded in London in 1960, Lonsdale produced boxing equipment, before branching out into sports and fashion clothing.

In 1979 Paul Weller of the band The Jam bought some Lonsdale-t-shirts and provided the brand with a good image, as a result of which also non-athletes started wearing the clothing. In the 80s and 90s Lonsdale clothing found favour particularly with Punks, Mods and Skinheads (both left- and right wing). After the turn of the century it became adopted by Dutch "gabbers".

Lonsdale articles have been worn by many famous boxers, including for example Mike Tyson, Henry Cooper, Mohammed Ali, Lennox Lewis.

Right-wing extremists
The brand is sometimes connected to neo-nazis and the far-right because these groups have adopted it for their own. The owners of the Lonsdale brand are not happy with this image, and are trying to change it. Additionally people (but specifically young adults) in the Netherlands wearing this brand of clothing are frequently referenced by the brand (e.g. Lonsdalers), and this could lead to genericide of the brand in the future.

The association is made because of the contiguous letters NSDA in the brand name, which also occur in the acronym NSDAP of the National Socialist German Workers Party. In connection to this in Germany the brand Consdaple surfaced in Germany, in which the full acronym can be found.

In January 2005 two discos in Groningen, Netherlands announced they would refuse entry to persons wearing clothing from the brands Lonsdale and Karl Kani. Koninklijke Horeca Nederland, the Dutch "association for bars, restaurants and hotels", did not object to the ban because no discrimination based on skin color, race or creed had been made, but instead clothing.

Links

 * Official site

Category:Brands

fashion-stub

Lonsdale

title: User:Hooloovoo/Lonsdale (brand)


text:
Talk:Swahili people

My view on this subject has changed since I started this topic.
I've long been wondering: Did the Swahili have another religion before Islam? Gringo300 19:02, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * I'm no expert, but I remember reading at the House of Wonders in Zanzibar that the religion of the Swahili was a unique blend of Islam and traditional African beliefs, a result of the fusion of Arab and African culture. But if the Arabic influence is one of the defining characteristics of the Swahili, I don't think you can really say they had another religion before Islam. — Matt Crypto 15:28, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

 * I've done a good bit of research on the Swahili since the first post and my view of this subject is a lot different now. I've read that the Swahili are mixed Black and Arab. If that is the case, it would make sense that the Swahili would be predominantly Muslim. An important question here is: When did Arabs first become predominantly Muslim? Gringo300 (talk) 02:08, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

only 400,000???
How can it be claimed there are less than 400,000 Swahili people?

As far as I know most people in Zanzibar are Swahili, and there are almost 1 million people. Also most people in Mombasa (1,000,000), Tanga (250,000) and a large share of Dar es Salaam (2,500,000). If you count also sorrounding areas, the number can be in the millions, easyly.

By the way, not all Swahili people are Muslim. I met many Christians in Mombasa and Zanzibar who considered themselves to be Swahili, and became angry if I said I thought all Swahilis were Muslim. And when they were ate war, they would use drums to express their feelings. --81.38.172.141 21:41, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I am not saying the figure is correct, but I think Swahili people as a specific ethnic group is differentiated from people who speak Swahili language. But your concern is bonafide, so I have requested a reference for that figure. --Ezeu 21:55, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I'm not talking about people who speak swahili, but about Swahili people. I tell you most of people in Zanzibar (but some Omanis) and in Mombasa and Tanga (but some recent migrants from inland) are Swahili. Not so vast majority in Dar es Salaam, as having been the countries Capital has brought there many people from inland, but even then, there are MANY MORE Swahilis than 400,000. --81.38.172.141 23:24, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Datum: a 1999 article from Microsoft Encarta Africana has it that "the Swahili people number approximately half a million". — Matt Crypto 18:00, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Error ?
It's true that swahiliphone is different of swahili culture but : This article is article is misnamed or informations are wrong ? fr:Vincnet
 * Swahili is not an ethnic group. It's a conglomerat of people. This peoples have, of course, a close culture
 * Swahili culture began from Somalie to Mozambique inluding Comoros

"related groups" info removed from infobox
For dedicated editors of this page: The "Related Groups" info was removed from all Infobox Ethnic group infoboxes. Comments may be left on the Ethnic groups talk page. Ling.Nut 23:31, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Of course it would have been easier to merely look up the most contiguous populations who share similar languages and culture with the Swahili, a well as common origin. Of course that would be the indigenous Bantu people of Kenya and Tanzania, along with migrant groups who intermarried with the locals and now share a blood and cultural connection; people like the Shirazi..Taharqa 16:24, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes, this can be done and is the case like WaManyema(Manyema) people from Congo. ManyemaKasongoDescendent (talk) 02:38, 9 August 2022 (UTC)

"Future event?
It says that Islam "will become present on the east african coast between 2012A.D. to 1999 A.d.". That just seems out of place and may need a citation to see if it is even a proposed culture theory. Caffeinator1 07:27, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Economy (Slavery)
Is there any particular reason why the section on economy only mentions that "Many slaves sold in Zanzibar ended up in Brazil", when the vast majority of slaves that passed through Zanzibar ended up in the Islamic/Arab world, for obvious reasons (the Arab slave trade went on for much longer on Zanzibar and it was simply easier for Europeans/Americans to transport slaves from West Africa)? I may be paranoid here, but this seems like an example of the "only white people owned slaves" myth to me. Maitreya (talk) 13:12, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

Historical and archaeological records attest to Swahilis being prolific maritime merchants and sailors
The sources cited don't seem to support this statement. The article also mentions, the Swahili "sailed the East African coastline to lands as far away as Arabia...and China. This seems rather bogus to me and the sources again fail to support it. Everything I have read indicates that "Swahili sailing" was an Arab phenomenon, and if the Swahili people sailed at all they didn't leave the coastline. The same problem exists in the article Zanj. It looks like the editor just searched Google Books for sources with "Swahili" and "sailor." Dmcw127 (talk) 01:26, 11 August 2013 (UTC)

Combining "Swahili culture" page with this one?
I'm wondering if it might be a good idea to combine the contents of the Swahili culture page with this one. It seems that all of the categories over there (arts & crafts, music, etc.) would be appropriate additions here, and it might make sense to have all of this information in one central place. Thoughts? Ninafundisha (talk) 22:52, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

 * Same with the Swahili architecture page - possibly merge? Ninafundisha (talk) 00:39, 5 August 2014 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 07:25, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Dispute over whether or not the Swahili coast is in western Kenya
I am involved in a dispute over User:Khysion's insistence that the Swahili coast is in western Kenya instead of along the Indian Ocean coast. There is a lengthy discussion on his talk page, and moderators on the dispute resolution noticeboard have indicated that I need to bring this discussion to the article talk pages as well. I would like the lead paragraphs on both this page and on Ninafundisha (talk) 22:44, 10 September 2017 (UTC)

 * I don't understand you. I just shown you sources and proven my point and all of a sudden you seem emotional of western Kenya? Your map even says so. Eastern Kenya is inhabited by Somali's unless you want to tell me that Somali's don't live in Kenya which everybody obviously knowing that Somali's have their own autonomous region in eastern Kenya. The Indian ocean was always dominated by Somali traders with their longest coastline in Africa and flourishing sea-ports for thousands of years which includes eastern Kenya.

Can anybody else help me out here? Mombasa, Malindi, Lamu, etc. - all are on the Kenyan coast and all are considered part of the Swahili coast. Historically, the western side of Kenya (along Lake Victoria) is not considered part of the Swahili coast. For real. Ninafundisha (talk) 23:25, 10 September 2017 (UTC)
 * This is silly, Kenya has an eastern coastline, in the west it borders Uganda, Lake Victoria, etc, Huldra (talk) 23:30, 10 September 2017 (UTC)
 * I believe the issue here partially resides in what we consider Kenya vs. Somalia, and from looking at the Kenyan coast from an east-west perspective. The Swahili coast begins on the western portion (or south-western) of the Kenyan coast (e.g. - does not extend to the present day Somali border which is on the eastern portion of the coastline). The Kenyan coast itself is on the south-east of modern day Kenya. Saying western Kenya, however, in a modern context and borders is highly misleading.Icewhiz (talk) 15:04, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

 * Thanks for the input Icewhiz; I think I understand what you're saying. I think I'd argue, though, that the Swahili Coast in fact does extend up to nearly the Somalia border - there are numerous sites in the Lamu Archipelago (Lamu, Shanga, Pate, Manda, etc.), for example, that are most definitely considered part of the Swahili Coast. In any case, I'm glad the lead paragraphs for this and the Swahili Coast page got fixed - thanks everyone. Ninafundisha (talk) 15:06, 12 September 2017 (UTC)
 * I think the ingenious people of, say, Lamu would be rather insulted if you took them for being "up-country" folks, AFAIK, they are adamant that they are Swahili. And from, say Kiwayu (still a part of the Lamu Archipelago) you can almost see over to Somalia, i.e., it is about as far north on the Kenyan coast that is is possible to get. Huldra (talk) 20:07, 12 September 2017 (UTC)

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Notable people
All the people in the "Notable People" section are soccer/footballers. Are there no notable Swahili politicians, artists, musicians, non-soccer athletes, etc? 2605:59C8:3024:CB10:D10F:C2A4:FDD:BB0F (talk) 03:19, 19 May 2024 (UTC)

 * Generally "notable people" sections on location/ethnicity articles are pretty unencyclopedic. Perhaps it should simply be removed. Remsense  诉  03:26, 19 May 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Swahili people


text:
Mountain Lake (Virginia)

Mountain Lake is a freshwater lake located in Giles County near Newport, Virginia in the United States. Along with Lake Drummond in the Great Dismal Swamp, it is one of only two natural lakes in Virginia. It was originally known as Salt Pond, as it was where cattle were given salt.

The area is within the Mountain Lake Wilderness Cluster.

Lake
Mountain Lake typically covers about 50 acre, and its level was largely constant at an elevation of 3875 ft during the 19th and 20th centuries. The first known written evidence of the lake was by Christopher Gist of the Ohio Land Surveying Company, in 1751. It subsequently became known as Salt Pond.

Natural lakes are common well to the north, where the Appalachian Range was subject to geologically recent glacial activity. But the basis on which this lake—the only natural one in the southern Appalachians—exists has been the source of much speculation. Recent scientific studies indicate that an unusual combination of natural processes created the lake, which is maintained by a fissure at the bottom that provides an outlet for both sediment and water and prevents the lake from otherwise simply becoming a bog. Replenishment of the water lost depends on rain levels, and apparent washing-out of sediment from the fissured bedrock bottom is causing the unstable lake levels.

The lake is estimated to be about 6,000 years old, and geologists believe it must have been formed by rock slides and damming. Cold underground springs feed the lake and rarely allow the temperature to rise above 70 F on the surface and 46 F 50 ft below the surface. Because of narrow channels and openings in the lake bottom, the level has a history of changing dramatically depending on the water flow through these channels. It is more than 100 ft deep when full.

Since 2002 it has been subject to dry-season level drops of as much as 15 ft. The last such level fluctuations occurred between 1751 and 1804 as historical accounts give widely different accounts of the lake size. From 2008 to 2020, Mountain Lake was nothing more than a reddish-brown pit, only partially filled with water. The lake's water levels had fluctuated dramatically over the previous 20 years. It first dropped in 1999, and returned to its normal levels in 2003. In 2006, it dropped again, and emptied completely for several days, leaving behind dead and rotting fish. From 2008 to 2012, it was mostly empty. However, resort employees noticed that the lake had begun to refill during a wet spring of 2020, and the lake had refilled to about a third full by July 14. During the lake's most recent dry period, researchers had examined the area's geology and concluded that the lake existed on a natural rise-and-fall cycle. During dry periods, accumulated sediment is believed to move through a natural plumbing system consisting of the aforementioned openings in the lake bottom. The lake is now believed to reach its lowest points on a roughly 400-year cycle.

Close to the lake is one of Virginia's few virgin forests, including a rare virgin spruce bog—Mann's Bog—with an unusual array of northern disjunct species. The lake drains into Little Stoney Creek, which passes over a spectacular waterfall known as The Cascades before reaching the New River.

During a severe cold wave in January 1985, Mountain Lake set the statewide record low for Virginia: -30 F.

Mountain Lake Lodge
Salt Pond had been frequented throughout the early part of the 19th century and prior, then in March 1856, Henley Chapman incorporated the Mountain Lake Co. to provide accommodations and entertainment for its visitors. Soon afterward, a wooden hotel and a saw mill were built. Stagecoach travelers from Christiansburg, Virginia and Union, West Virginia were the primary customers in the days before the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad (a predecessor of the Norfolk and Western Railway) was built nearby in the late 1850s.

Following the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain in 1864, during the American Civil War (1861–1865), Union General George Crook marched his troops over to the present day town of Union, WV, via Salt Pond Mountain. Then, in 1869, following the Civil War, the hotel and its properties were sold to General and Mrs. Herman Haupt. Haupt had been head of the United States Military Railroad during the War. During their first year of ownership, though not operating publicly, the Haupts received compensation from some of their guests for the accommodations provided, prompting Giles County to require them to purchase a hotel license. Subsequently, they decided to re-open the hotel to the general public. Due to the resulting popularity of the hotel in this first season, several additions to the hotel were required to meet the increasing demand for more accommodations.

During the days of primary travel by railroad, guests of the resort exited the train at either Pembroke or Eggleston and were met by horse-drawn carriages, which transported them up the dirt Doe Creek Road to the resort. The current primary paved route up the Mountain, SR 700, was built later, over a different route than the old dirt road.

Giles County attorney Gordon Porterfield managed the property briefly before turning it over to his son Gilbert Porterfield, who managed the resort for 25 years. During Gilbert Porterfield's tenure managing the resort, its current reputation for fine cuisine was established. Also during this time, individuals were allowed to build their own cottages. They received a 15-year lease, after which the ownership of the cottages returned to the hotel. During their individual ownership, these guests also received discounts on their meals and maid service. Presently, most of the original cottage names that were established by the original owners/builders over 100 years ago are still in use.

In the 1930s, William Lewis Moody, Jr. of Galveston, Texas bought the hotel. In 1938, Moody replaced the wooden hotel with the current structure, built using stone native to the surrounding land. Moody's daughter, Mrs. Mary Moody Northen, owned the hotel until her death in 1986, following which the trustees of her estate established a foundation known as the Mary Moody Northen Endowment, which presently maintains and operates the resort. The foundation was specifically established according to Mrs. Northen's final wishes to maintain the hotel and surrounding land as she had always known it, without overbuilding and, particularly, without significantly changing the resort or upsetting the delicate ecology of the beautiful surrounding land. For most of its life as a resort, Mountain Lake Hotel was open from late spring through early fall, however, shortly after the establishment of the trust, the resort began operating year-round. Currently, it is open from early May to late November and operated by 1859 Historic Hotels Inc., a hotel management company controlled by the Moody Foundation, an entity separate from the Mary Moody Northen Endowment.

In the early 21st century, the lake levels diminished due to a prolonged drought in Southwest Virginia and the geology that makes up the bottom of the lake. In October 2008, the lake receded to a pond status, and remained mostly or completely dry until refilling in 2020. During this time, the remains of Samuel Ira Felder were discovered in the bottom of the lake. He drowned in July 1921 when he fell overboard while canoeing with friends.

Dirty Dancing
Mountain Lake Hotel was the site for much of the on-location filming of the 1987 hit movie Dirty Dancing which starred Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. The Stone Lodge stood in for "Kellerman's Resort", a fictional mountain retreat in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. Like Kellerman's, the real Mountain Lake Hotel Resort also offers many indoor and outdoor activities for guests such as games like table tennis and billiards, water activities like paddle boating, canoeing, and fishing, and dry activities like mountain biking and hiking.

The other site was the 1927 Lake Lure Inn located in Lake Lure, North Carolina.

Mountain Lake Biological Station
In addition to the Mountain Lake Hotel resort complex, the Mountain Lake Biological Station (MLBS), a field research and teaching station of the Biology Department at the University of Virginia originally established in 1930 is located nearby. The station is also home to the annual Silene Census which occurs in late May/early June and surveys plants in the genus Silene along roadsides surrounding the station, a project that has been ongoing since 1988. MLBS was the summer home of American author Edna Henry Lee Turpin (1867–1952).

Mountain Lake Conservancy
The Mountain Lake Conservancy (formerly known as 'Wilderness Conservancy at Mountain Lake') is a non-profit organization founded to help manage and protect the 2600 acre of Mountain Lake property around Mountain Lake Hotel, and to provide environmental and cultural education for the public. Since 2008, the Conservancy has begun to manage and develop recreational opportunities for hotel guests and the local community.

title: Mountain Lake (Virginia)


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Two of a Kind (1983 film)

Two of a Kind is a 1983 American romantic fantasy crime comedy-drama film directed by John Herzfeld and starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The film reunited Travolta and Newton-John who had appeared together in 1978's Grease. The original musical score was composed by Patrick Williams. Travolta plays a cash-strapped inventor while Newton-John plays the bank teller whom he attempts to rob. They must come to show compassion for one another in order to delay God's judgment upon the Earth. Despite being a critical failure, the film's soundtrack was a commercial success, yielding three hit singles for Newton-John and being certified Platinum.

Plot
Four angels — Charlie (Charles Durning), Earl (Scatman Crothers), Gonzales (Castulo Guerra), and Ruth (Beatrice Straight) — have been in charge of Heaven for the last twenty-five years. They are playing a golf match in Heaven when their game is interrupted by God (voiced by Gene Hackman), who has returned to the office and does not like what he sees down on Earth. God wants to order up another flood and start all over again (despite his promise in the rainbow that he never would again), but the four angels persuade him to reconsider, reasoning that, if a typical Earth man can reform, it would prove that all mankind is capable of it.

God agrees to the scheme, and the typical Earth man selected by the angels is Zack Melon (John Travolta), a failed inventor who, threatened by loan sharks, decides to hold up a bank. Zack points his gun at bank teller Debbie Wylder (Olivia Newton-John), who ostensibly gives him all the money. However, when Zack peers into the sack after the robbery, he sees that Debbie has substituted bank deposit slips for the cash and has kept the money for herself. Zack tracks her down to reclaim his stolen money. While dodging the loan sharks and the evil interventions of the Devil (Oliver Reed), the two come to develop a romantic relationship which is put to the test when they are threatened by a masked thug.

Cast

 * John Travolta as Zack Melon
 * Olivia Newton-John as Debbie Wylder
 * Charles Durning as Charlie
 * Oliver Reed as Beasley/The Devil
 * Beatrice Straight as Ruth
 * Scatman Crothers as Earl
 * Richard Bright as Stuart
 * Toni Kalem as Terri
 * Ernie Hudson as Detective Skaggs
 * Jack Kehoe as Mr. Chotiner
 * Robert Costanzo as Captain Cinzari
 * Castulo Guerra as Gonzales
 * Gene Hackman as God (uncredited)

Filming
The film was originally called Second Chance and was to be directed by Richard Rush.

Principal photography of Two of a Kind took place from May 9 to July 21, 1983, beginning in New York City with two weeks of location shooting and then continuing in California at 20th Century Fox Studios in Century City, MGM Studios in Culver City and The Burbank Studios in Burbank. The heaven scene was shot on MGM's Stage 27.

Director John Herzfeld explained in an interview with Sylvester Stallone that the original cut of the film was considered to be too controversial and included Orson Welles as God. The interview is a special feature on the Blu-ray for Herzfeld's 2 Days in the Valley released by Kino Lorber. Herzfeld said the original cut was never screened for test audiences and upon studio alterations, Gene Hackman was brought in to replace Welles and record new audio for the re-edited film.

Newton-John recorded a song "Twist of Fate" which was played over the end credits. It proved so popular on radio that release of the film was delayed to redo the film's soundtrack.

Reception
Roger Ebert gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "The romance, alas, never really gets airborne, if only because John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John and the plot are followed everywhere by countless unnecessary supporting characters." Janet Maslin of The New York Times asked, "Can it really have been that difficult to find a passable screen vehicle for John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John? Any old romantic fluff should have sufficed, and yet something as horrible as 'Two of a Kind' has been tailor-made for its stars. The results are so disastrous that absolutely no one is shown off to good advantage, with the possible exception of the hairdressers involved." Todd McCarthy of Variety slammed the film as "an embarrassment of the first order ... Aside from the presence of the two stars, confection has all the earmarks of a bargain-basement job."

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote that director John Herzfeld "has placed one of America's favorite fantasy couples in a gimmick-filled story that requires the almost-constant presence of seven of the dullest supporting characters you'll ever meet. That's too bad, because whenever Newton-John and Travolta are on screen together, 'Two of a Kind' flashes with a spark of entertainment, and you want to tell them to get up and go to another film where they can have a long talk or makeout scene together."

Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times said that with "flaccid direction, ugly photography and performances that rely on charm generated a few movies ago (and sealed in plastic), you have reason enough to give 'Two of a Kind' a wide berth." Rita Kempley of The Washington Post wrote, "The acting's not all that bad, but the script is."

FilmInk magazine later wrote the two stars "really shouldn’t have been so snobby about Grease 2 if this is what they did instead."

Two of a Kind was nominated for five Razzie Awards: Worst Actor (Travolta, also for Staying Alive), Worst Actress (Newton-John), Worst Director (Herzfeld), Worst Screenplay, and Worst Picture. The movie was nominated for a Stinkers Bad Movie Award for Worst Picture.

As of November 2022, the film holds a 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews.

Soundtrack
The film was salvaged by a platinum soundtrack which yielded three singles for Newton-John:

 * "Twist of Fate" - No. 5 Pop (her last of 15 Top 10 Pop hits)
 * "Take a Chance" (duet with John Travolta) - No. 3 AC (B-side to "Twist of Fate")
 * "Livin' in Desperate Times" - No. 31 Pop

The album was further bolstered by featuring "Ask the Lonely", a song which the rock group Journey had initially intended for their 1983 album Frontiers but which was only available on the soundtrack album (No. 3 Mainstream Rock ); it was also added to the playlist of a few Pop stations but did not chart there. Additionally included was Patti Austin's "It's Gonna Be Special", which was not a major Pop hit, but peaked at #15 on the R&B charts and #5 on the Dance charts in 1984.

title: Two of a Kind (1983 film)


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Cowburn Tunnel

The Cowburn Tunnel is a railway tunnel at the western end of the Vale of Edale in the Derbyshire Peak District of England. The tunnel is 3702 yd long. It is the deepest railway tunnel in England, at 875 feet (267 m).

Construction
The Midland Railway began work on the Hope Valley line between Sheffield and Manchester in 1888. The tunnel was engineered underneath Colborne, part of a 1700 ft moorland between Kinder Scout and Rushup Edge. The Midland awarded the tunnel contract to J.P. Edwards of Nottingham. Construction work started in October 1888 when a ventilation shaft was sunk in Cartledge Meadow near Edale. Tunnelling also started at the other end near Chapel-en-le-Frith and the breakthrough between the two sections was made on 18 July 1891. The lining out of the tunnel and laying of the rails was completed by March 1893, when the workmen were dispersed.

A single ventilation shaft, accessible via the moorland north-west of Mam Tor, is 791 ft deep, making it one of the deepest railway ventilation shafts in the country. The shaft was constructed in 1894 over the course of two years. Men lived on the rough exposed moorlands to dig the shafts without any modern machinery and were lowered into the shaft using a winch mechanism. 102 men worked eight-hour shifts day and night to excavate, mason and brick the shaft. It was eventually completed on 16 March 1896. Currently the shaft remains open, but protected by a large brick enclosure (pictured).

Maintenance
Repairs to the ventilation shaft were carried out in August to September 2021 by Network Rail, with an investment of around £800,000. The work involved installation of a system of drainage pipes inside the shaft to collect rainwater which seeps through its brickwork from the soil, which had been cascading onto the railway below. The new system diverts water to drains inside the tunnel itself. To avoid disrupting rail traffic, helicopters were used to airlift equipment to build a temporary platform to lower engineers inside the shaft similarly to the original constructors.

Description
Cowburn Tunnel takes the Hope Valley Line west out of Edale valley, to emerge near Chapel Milton, 4 km east of Chinley railway station.

Unusually, the tunnel is not built at a constant gradient: in fact, the summit of the line between Dore and Chinley lies within the tunnel, about a quarter of the way from the eastern end. From the summit, the tunnel falls at 1 in 100 (1%) eastwards and 1 in 150 (0.67%) westwards. Nevertheless, when the headings met, they were no more than 1 in out of line in the vertical direction, and met exactly in the horizontal direction. Only one vertical shaft was used. Although the workings were much drier than they had been for Totley Tunnel, on one occasion the headings filled with water to a depth of 90 ft and work was carried on in a diving bell.

title: Cowburn Tunnel


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Gimborn Castle

Gimborn Castle (Schloss Gimborn) is a former moated castle situated in a remote valley of the upper Leppe in the municipality of Marienheide in the Oberbergischer Kreis of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

History
Gimborn Castle is a castle in the Gimborn district of the municipality of Marienheide in Oberbergischer Kreis in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Districts neighbouring on Gimborn are Boinghausen in the north, Jedinghausen in the east, Erlinghagen in the south, and Unterlichtinghagen in the west.

This former water castle lies in the upper Leppe valley. It was pledged in 1273 from the county of Berg to the county of Mark, and became the Residenz in the county of Gimborn Neustadt of the House of Schwarzenberg in 1631. Since 1874 the castle has belonged to the Barons von Fürstenberg zu Gimborn.

Since 1969 the Castle has served as a conference site and meeting place for the International Police Association. Once a year, the Castle opens its gates to the Schützenfest of the Gimborn Saint Sebastianus Schützenverein.

title: Gimborn Castle


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Hahnodontidae

Hahnodontidae is a family of extinct mammaliaforms from Early Cretaceous deposits in Morocco and the Western United States. Although originally considered to belong to the extinct clade Multituberculata, recent work indicates that hahnodontids belong to the more primitive clade Haramiyida.

Distribution
The genera Hahnodon and Denisodon occur in the Early Cretaceous of Morocco, while the genus Cifelliodon is found in the Barremian-age Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation in Utah.

Phylogeny
Sigogneau-Russell (1991) and Hahn & Hahn (2003) classified hahnodontids as multituberculates, but the cladistic analysis of Cifelliodon recovered them outside Multituberculata as phylogenetically intermediate between Docodonta and crown Mammalia. The gondwanathere Vintana was also recovered as sister to members of Hahnodontidae.

title: Hahnodontidae