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San Fernando, Cebu

San Fernando, officially the Municipality of San Fernando (Lungsod sa San Fernando; ), is a second-class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 72,224 people.

San Fernando is bordered to the north by the City of Naga, to the west is the town of Pinamungajan, to the east is the Cebu Strait, and to the south is the city of Carcar. It is 29 km from Cebu City.

San Fernando lies within Metro Cebu.

History
The town was established in 1858 following the separation of the barrios of Magsico, Cabatbatan, Balungag, Sangat, Panadtaran, and Pitalo from Naga, with an initial population of nearly 3,000 people. The town was initially named San Isidro Labrador before changing to San Fernando in honor of a well-liked priest, Father Fernando Sanchez and his namesake saint.

Barangays
San Fernando is politically subdivided into 21 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Infrastructure
San Fernando is home to the PHIVOLCS Visayas Cluster Monitoring Center for Earthquake and Tsunami located in Purok 11-Santan, Barangay North Poblacion.

Economy
In July 2024, Secretary Alfredo Pascual and Mayor Mytha Ann B. Canoy graced Taiheiyo Cement Philippines, Inc.'s inauguration of a PHP12.8 billion (US$220) production line in San Fernando. It has a capacity of 3 Mt annually, or 6000 tons per day of cement clinker and features advanced cement kiln renewal technology.

Education
The public schools in the town of San Fernando are administered by one school district under the Schools Division of Cebu Province.

Elementary schools:
 * Balud Elementary School — Balud
 * Balungag Elementary School — Balungag
 * Basak Elementary School — Basak
 * Bolocboloc Elementary School — Sitio Bolocboloc, Sangat
 * Greenhills Elementary School — Greenhills
 * Liburon Elementary School — Liburon
 * Magsico Elementary School — Magsico
 * Pitalo Elementary School — Pitalo
 * San Fernando North Central Elementary School — North Poblacion
 * South Poblacion Elementary School — South Poblacion
 * San Isidro Elementary School — San Isidro
 * Sangat Elementary School — Sangat
 * Tañañas Elementary School — Tañañas
 * Tubod Elementary School — Tubod

High schools:
 * Balud National High School — Balud
 * Balungag National High School — Balungag
 * Greenhills National High School — Greenhills
 * Magsico National High School — Magsico
 * Pitalo National High School — Pitalo
 * Sangat National High School — Sangat
 * San Fernando National High School — South Poblacion
 * San Fernando Open & Night High School — North Poblacion
 * South Poblacion National High School - Math & Science School — South Poblacion
 * Tubod National High School — Tubod

Integrated schools:
 * Bugho Integrated School — Bugho
 * Cabatbatan Integrated School — Cabatbatan
 * Ciriaco V. Paradela Integrated School — Tinubdan
 * Ilaya Integrated School — Ilaya
 * Lantawan Integrated School — Lantawan
 * Panadtaran Integrated School — Panadtaran
 * Tabionan Integrated School — Tabionan
 * Tonggo Integrated School — Tonggo

Notable personalities

 * Beatrice Gomez
 * Jessica Villarubin

title: San Fernando, Cebu


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San Francisco, Cebu

San Francisco, officially the Municipality of San Francisco (Lungsod sa San Francisco; ), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 59,236 people.

It is one of the municipalities that comprise the Camotes Islands.

San Francisco is bordered to the north by the Province of Leyte in the Camotes Sea, to the west is the Camotes Sea Facing Catmon, to the east is the island of Poro with town of Poro and to the south is the Camotes Sea.

Protohistory
Carl Guthe, director of the University of Michigan Anthropological Museum, during his 1923-25 collecting trip and explorations of archaeological sites in the Philippines, conducted an archeological dig in a cave site on Tulang. Located on the southeastern coast of the island, the cave measures about 12 by. Guthe reported it to contain bone fragments and teeth of about 60 individuals. Associated grave goods included earthenware pottery, shell bracelets, bronze and iron artefacts (iron tang, bronze chisel, iron blade), glass and stone beads, hammerstone and pestle. Filed teeth were also recovered from this site.

21st century
Just before Typhoon Yolanda struck in November 2013, the mayor of San Francisco ordered the evacuation of all the residents (approximately 1,000) to the main island. This was credited with saving their lives as all houses on the island (about 500) were completely destroyed.

Geography
San Francisco consists primarily of Pacijan (also known as Pajican ) and Tulang (area less than 1 km2, just north of Pacijan) islands, which are part of the Camotes Islands (which also include Poro and Ponson islands). They are located east of the main island of Cebu, south and west of Leyte and north of Bohol.

Pacijan (Pajican) Island
is about 14.75 km long and 8.5 km wide. A 1400 m causeway crosses the mangrove swamp to connect Pacijan and Poro islands. It was constructed during the Spanish era, to bridge the islands for easier trading and attending services in Poro church.

Tulang
Tulang island (known locally as Tulang Diot) is a five-minute boat ride from Tulang Dako on the main island of Pacijan. Both Tulang Diot and Tulang Dako are part of Esperanza barangay. The islet is almost entirely covered with coconut palms and measures about 1.6 by: the residential area is confined to a small triangle at the southern end. Total area is less than 1 km2 or 40 ha, of which only 3.5 ha (350/40%) is inhabited.

Barangays
San Francisco is politically subdivided into 15 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Language
The town is home to the Porohanon language, one of the most endangered languages in the Visayas. The language is only used in the Poro islands. The language is classified as distinct from Sebwano (Bisaya) by the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino and is vital to the culture and arts of the Porohanon people.

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

title: San Francisco, Cebu


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San Remigio, Cebu

San Remigio, officially called the Municipality of San Remigio (Lungsod sa San Remigio; ), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 65,744 people.

San Remigio is bordered to the north by Medellin, to the west is Tañon Strait then Bantayan Island, to the east is the City of Bogo and the town of Tabogon, and to the south is Tabuelan. It is 108 km from Cebu City.

San Remigio celebrates its annual fiesta on 15 and 16 May in honor of their patron saints, St. Isidore the Farmer and St. John Nepomucene. The parish, which was founded in 1864, celebrated its 150th anniversary in May 2014.

History
San Remigio was formerly known as "Kanghagas", a kind of tree that grew in abundance in the area. When the Spanish conquistadores arrived, they identified a town site by clearing the kanghagas trees. At the time, Kanghagas was part of barangay Punta.

Initially, the chapel of ease (visita) of Kanghagas was within the jurisdiction of Bantayan. In 1850, the town of Bogo established a parish and took over civil governance of the three barrios of Kanghagas, Lambusan, and Victoria (formerly Maarat). Later, barangay Kanghagas was renamed Isabel after the queen of Spain, but was eventually changed in 1863 to its new and permanent name, San Remigio. The name San Remigio can be found in Florence, Italy called Church of San Remigio, a church building that was built in the 1100s and later rebuilt in the 1300s. In 1864, San Remigio and other barrios established their own parish, San Juan Nepomuceno Parish.

Barangays
San Remigio is politically subdivided into 27 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Tourism
San Remigio has the longest shoreline of any municipality in Cebu. There are several beach resorts, as well as public beaches with long stretches of white sand and warm ocean. Beach Resorts in San Remigio include Casa Del Mar Beach Resort, Elegant Beach Resort, San Remigio Beach Club, and Hagnaya Beach Resort.

One significant destination in San Remigio is the Replica de Capelinha de Fatima located in Barangay Tacup, 13 kilometers drive from the Poblacion. The first replica in Asia and only in the Philippines.

Today, San Remigio has become a swimming and diving destination. There are a few marine sanctuaries, with new dive sites being developed. A PADI dive shop in San Remigio Beach Club caters to beginner and experienced divers who want to enjoy San Remigio's marine life.

The port of Hagnaya offers a frequent ferry service to Santa Fe and Bantayan Island as well as Masbate (particularly Cawayan and Placer).

Education
The town of San Remigio has many public and private elementary and secondary schools. University / College

Secondary Schools
 * Cebu Technological University – San Remigio Extension Campus

Integrated Schools
 * Argawanon Integrated National High School
 * Dapdap National High School
 * Jose Martinez Memorial (Gawaygaway) National High School
 * Lambusan National High School
 * Libaong National High School
 * Luyang National High School
 * San Miguel National High School
 * San Remigio National High School

Private Schools
 * Argawanon
 * Anapog
 * Batad
 * Busogon
 * Calambua
 * Kinawahan
 * Tambongon

 * Living Hope Baptist Christian School
 * San Remigio Learning Center

Churches
There are many churches that hold services throughout the week and weekends

 * The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - Sunday service at 9am
 * San Juan Nepomuceno Catholic Church (daily mass)
 * Bible Baptist Church
 * Living Hope Baptist Church
 * Iglesia Ni Cristo
 * Seventh Day Adventist
 * Northwest House of Hope Fellowship
 * Cebu Madinah Mosque
 * Al Hajja Safia Mosque
 * Mano Baptist Church
 * Punta Baptist Church

Notable events
Archaeological excavation in 2012 by archaeologist Jojo Bersales and his team. With permission from the archdiocese of Cebu and other authorities, his team conducted an excavation and unearthed a burial site that is believed to date back in the 1500s. Alongside human skeletons were carinated pots. These pots with flat designs and rounded base were a sign of the iron era. They were mainly intended for burial rituals and not for cooking as evidenced by their fragile design and quality. Each burial site with human remains had a carinated pot next to it. Back in the day, people believed that spirits travel through the ocean to their final resting place. These pots were filled with food for use on their travel. The archaeologists also noted that bodies were buried with their feet pointing to the ocean, affirming that ancient people believed that the final resting place was on the other side of the ocean.

title: San Remigio, Cebu


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Santa Fe, Cebu

Santa Fe, officially the Municipality of Santa Fe (Lungsod sa Santa Fe; ), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 34,471 people.

The municipality's territory occupies the southeastern portion of Bantayan Island (marching with the municipality of Bantayan), together with the islands of Guintacan (or Kinatarkan), Hilantagaan and Hilantagaan Diot (or Silion). Because the island's airport and principal ferry port are both located within the municipality, Santa Fe is considered the gateway to Bantayan and its islands.

Geography
Santa Fe is bordered to the north by the town of Bantayan, to the west also by Bantayan, to the east is the town of Medellin and to the south is the Tañon Strait

Barangays
Santa Fe is politically subdivided into 10 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Religion
The two predominant religions in the municipality are the Roman Catholic Church and the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church).

Economy
Although there is some small-scale industry, the municipality's principal source of income is fishing and agriculture, and from holidaymakers who come in large numbers, most notably during Holy Week, to enjoy the particularly fine white sand and uncrowded beaches.

Transport
Bantayan Airport, serving the whole Bantayan Island, is located in Santa Fe. Air Juan operates scheduled flights between Mactan Airport three days a week. The town can also be reached by ferry from Hagnaya Wharf in San Remigio, Cebu.

title: Santa Fe, Cebu


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Santander, Cebu

Santander, officially the Municipality of Santander (Lungsod sa Santander; ), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 18,527 people.

Santander is the southernmost municipality of Cebu province 133 km south of Cebu City. It serves as one of the sea ports connecting to the province of Negros Oriental with its passenger ferries making way to Sibulan in just 20 minutes.

Santander is bordered to the north by the towns of Oslob and Samboan, to the west is Tañon Strait, to the east is the Cebu Strait, and to the south is the province of Negros Oriental in Negros Island.

Roll-on roll-off (roro) barges of the Maayo Shipping Lines also carry motorcycles, cars, buses, and trucks between the ports of Liloan (in Santander) and Sibulan (in Negros Oriental) with trips taking about 30 minutes, and between Liloan and Larena (in Siquijor) in about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

History
Santander used to be under the Kingdom of Sialo, under the Rajahnate of Cebu.

Santander was originally called Tañong, but as the Spaniards came, it was renamed Santander after a city on the northern (Atlantic) coast of Spain.

The town was established in 1867 and the parish in 1897, It became a municipality during the American occupation in 1918.

Santander is known for its annual Tostado Festival celebrated on the third Sunday of April. Street dancers from different districts dance to moves inspired by the making of tostados.

Geography
Santander's terrain is dominated by a backdrop of rugged ranges which raise from a flat narrow coastal plain. Strongly sloping to sleepy sloping contours are scattered throughout the municipality.

Barangays
Santander is politically subdivided into 10 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate
The climate of Santander is classified as Af ('Tropical monsoon'). All 12 months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm rainfall per month. Based on temperature, the warmest months of the year are March through October; the winter monsoon brings cooler air from November to February. May is the warmest month, and January, the coolest.

Demographics

The death rate is 3.06 per 1000 people, or 0.306%.

Language
Most of the Tañonganons (people living in Santander) speak Cebuano. In schools, Tagalog and English languages are taught and used as a major instruction in all subjects.

Economy
Santander is the smallest town in Cebu. The majority of the people depend on the sea for livelihood – fishermen who continually explore the vast Palawan and East Philippine seas in search for rich fishing grounds. The method of fishing used is the destructive muro-ami technique, which has been banned on several occasions due to its negative effects on marine life.

In the 1990s, there were four wholesale enterprises, one superstore and few Sari-sari stores. There was also an improvised market composed mostly of talipapas (fish markets). These were located along Jose Rizal Street beside the Municipal building. By the year 2001, the business establishments began to grow and develop. Many larger businesses have been established in Santander such as LGC Marketing. The major agricultural produce in Santander is corn, copra, and root crops (cassava and sweet potato). Most people, particularly those living in mountain barangays, plant corn as a source of income.

Santander's municipal income classification is fourth class.

Transportation
Several buses and vans-for-hire travel to and from Santander at 20-minute intervals. The ride from Cebu South Bus Terminal in Cebu City is three to four hours.

A wharf in Barangay Talisay takes passengers via fastcrafts or barges to Tampi, San Jose, Negros Oriental. There are also two ports in Barangay Liloan, one for fastcrafts and another for pumpboats to Sibulan, Negros Oriental.

Tourism

Santander's popularity as a tourist destination has increased in the past few years, since it serves as the hub for some world-renowned dive spots like Apo Island, Balicasag, Pescador Island, Sumilon and Siquijor. This is also reflected in the growth of Santander in the tourism industry. Six years ago there were only two resorts, still open today. Today there are eleven.

Sports
Basketball is the most popular sport in Santander. This game is usually played in the afternoons where school time is over and also for the adults whose work hours is done (specially construction works). During summer, a lot of basketball competitions between different barangays. This was done in order that youths avoid vices and illegal drugs. Volleyball is also played in summer competitions but it is more usually participated in by women. Other sports such as baseball and football are also played in Santander.

Education
The public schools in the town of Santander are administered by one school district under the Schools Division of Cebu Province.

Elementary schools:
 * Bunlan Elementary School — Bunlan
 * Cabutongan Elementary School — Cabutongan
 * Kandamiang Elementary School — Candamiang
 * Liloan Elementary School — Liloan
 * Liptong Elementary School — Liptong
 * Looc Elementary School — Looc
 * Pasil Elementary School — Pasil
 * Santander Central Elementary School — N. Bacalso Avenue, Poblacion
 * Talisay Elementary School — Talisay

High schools:
 * Santander National High School — Poblacion
 * Willy B. Wenceslao Memorial National High School — Poblacion

Private schools:
 * Lyceum of Cebu - Santander Campus — Looc

title: Santander, Cebu


text:
Sibonga

Sibonga, officially the Municipality of Sibonga (Lungsod sa Sibonga; ), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 53,424 people.

Sibonga is bordered to the north by the city of Carcar, to the west are the towns of Barili and Dumanjug, to the east is the Cebu Strait, and to the south is the town of Argao. It is 50 km from Cebu City.

History
The town fiesta is every August 10 every year, this celebrates the feast of Saint Philomena & October 11 Our Lady of the Pillar. Sibonga has 2 patron saints: Saint Philomena and Our Lady of the Pillar. One of the highlights of the fiesta is the Bonga Festival which features cultural dancing and the town's local produce. It is a home of many historical houses built in the Spanish era. Tulay or wharf is a common place where people of Sibonga and visitors spend time to relax - sightseeing, camping and merely having a siesta time. The Catholic Church is one of the most beautiful Churches in Cebu. It has a beautiful Tan Tinoy Park (named after a former barrio captain Tinoy) in front of the Sibonga Municipal Office. The escuela (school) houses during the Spanish era are still standing adjacent to the Catholic Church. There is Tubig Mainit (hot water) spring in Barangay Can-aga.

Barangays
Sibonga is politically subdivided into 25 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Economy

Sibonga has begun developing the town to become more industrial while still preserving its natural bounty. Sibonga is abundant in root crops, corn, rice, coconuts among others. The public market is held every Saturday in Poblacion. Each barangay has its own agora or marketplace with its own specific days of function. For example, in Barangay Papan, people from neighboring barangays convene in every Thursday for trade.

Sibonga now has Sibonga Community College which offers 4-year courses to its inhabitants.

Pastores de Sibonga
Pastores de Sibonga is a short Christmas play that narrates the nativity as performed in Magcagong. The play depicts the shepherds' adoration of the child Jesus. Pastores de Sibonga dates back to the 1920s.

Pastores de Sibonga is performed by at least four dancers. The female dancer wears a red blouse or shirt paired with a long white skirt. The male dancer wears a red shirt paired with black pants. Accessories include a round hat decorated with cut-outs of the sun, moon and stars in yellow, red, green, and other brightly colored papers together with a yellow sash placed across the body. It is performed using red fans and white handkerchiefs. An oval-shaped native fan is used and held by the right hand during the performance. The white square handkerchief is held by the left hand folded into a triangular shape.

The accompaniment music is a rondalla: an ensemble of stringed instruments (guitar, bandurria, and banjo), played with the plectrum. The lyrics tell of the pre-nativity, nativity, and post-nativity settings. It expresses happiness, joy, and worship, and offers praises and gifts for Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Education
The public schools in the town of Sibonga are administered by one school district under the Schools Division of Cebu Province.

Elementary schools:

 * Abugon Elementary School — Abugon
 * Bae Elementary School — Bae
 * Bahay-Bagacay Elementary School — Bahay
 * Banlot Elementary School — Banlot
 * Basak Elementary School — Basak
 * Cagay Elementary School — Cagay
 * Can-aga Elementary School — Can-aga
 * Candaguit Elementary School — Candaguit
 * Cantolaroy Elementary School — Cantolaroy
 * Cansantic Elementary School — Sitio Cansantic, Bato
 * Guimbangcoan Elementary School — Guimbangco-an
 * Lamacan Elementary School — Lamacan
 * Libo Elementary School — Libo
 * Lindogon Elementary School — Lindogon
 * Magcagong Elementary School — Magcagong
 * Manatad Elementary School — Manatad
 * Mangyan Elementary School — Mangyan
 * Papan Elementary School — Papan
 * Sabang Elementary School — Sabang
 * Sayao Elementary School — Sayao
 * Sibonga Central Elementary School — R. Bacaltos Street, Poblacion
 * Simala Elementary School — Simala
 * Tubod Elementary School — Tubod

High schools:
 * Julian Enad Memorial National High School — Lamacan
 * Manatad National High School — Manatad
 * Mangyan National High School — Mangyan
 * Sibonga National High School — N. Bacalso Avenue, Poblacion
 * Teodoro dela Vega Memorial National High School — Papan

Notable personalities

 * Gloria Sevilla – actress
 * Amapola Cabase – singer, musician, actress

title: Sibonga


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Sogod, Cebu

Sogod, officially the Municipality of Sogod (Lungsod sa Sogod; ), is a 2nd class municipality located in the northeastern part of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 39,447 people.

It is 60 km north of Cebu City and is bordered on the north by the town of Borbon, to the west by the towns of Tuburan and Tabuelan, on the east by the Camotes Sea, and on the south by the town of Catmon.

Barangays
Sogod is politically subdivided into 18 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks (otherwise known as sitios).

The municipality has 6 coastal barangays and 12 upland barangays. Out of the 18 barangays in the municipality, the coastal barangays with the inclusion of Barangay Ibabao are considered to be urbanized and 11 are rural.

Tourism

 * St. James the Great Parish
 * Bagatayam Falls
 * Binaliw Cold Spring
 * Sacaan Sea Breeze Resort
 * El Mar Resort
 * Northsky Beach Resort
 * North Coast Beach Resort
 * Paseo de Porferio
 * Northern Aire Restaurant

Handicrafts
Sogod is known for its quality craftsmanship in making handwoven furniture, handcrafted with passion and love by our Sogoranon weavers, collectively known as 'Weavers of Hope'. Their products are found in Barangay Liki, Sogod, Cebu.

Literary Prominence
Sogod is home to several known Cebuano writers such as Santiago Pepito, Benjamin Montejo, Oliver Flores, Ma. Vera Naome Flores and Vincent Isles. Much of the municipality's profile and characteristics are often depicted in their respective narratives.

title: Sogod, Cebu


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Tabogon

Tabogon, officially the Municipality of Tabogon (Lungsod sa Tabogon; ), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 41,432 people.

Tabogon is bordered on the north by the city of Bogo, to the west by the town of San Remigio, on the east by the Camotes Sea, and on the south by the town of Borbon.

Tabogon may come from the archaic Visayan word tabog, which means "busy", in reference to the bustling farm fields that dotted this place during the olden times; hence tabogon would mean a busy place of work.

Barangays
Tabogon is politically subdivided into 25 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

title: Tabogon


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Tabuelan

Tabuelan, officially the Municipality of Tabuelan (Lungsod sa Tabuelan; ), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 28,907 people.

Tabuelan is bordered to the north by the town of San Remigio, to the west is the Tañon Strait, to the east are the towns of Borbon and Sogod, and to the south is the town of Tuburan. It is 94 km from Cebu City.

History
The Municipality of Tabuelan used to be a barangay of Tuburan until the 1950s and it was also Tuburan's largest Barangay at the time. In fact, all of its constituent barangays were once barrio of then Barangay Tabuelan. In 1953, Tabuelan was separated via a Philippine Law from its mother municipality of Tuburan, on the grounds that Barangay Tabuelan is far from the administrative center of Tuburan (Poblacion Tuburan) and hence, it was not able to properly maintain and address the needs of the people in that barangay. Tuburan opposed such partition but when the law was upheld, it humbly gave way and followed the mandate of the law to avoid economic repercussions. Hence, being formally established as a full-fledged Municipality in 1953, makes Tabuelan, the newest and youngest municipality in Cebu Island.

Barangays
Tabuelan is politically subdivided into 12 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Transportation
V-Hire, Ceres Liner and Mini Buses are among the PUVs going to the town. They mostly bypass here for their Main Routes are either San Remigio or Tuburan.

title: Tabuelan


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Tuburan, Cebu

Tuburan, officially the Municipality of Tuburan (Lungsod sa Tuburan; ), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 68,167 people.

Tuburan was the hometown of the revolutionary leader Arcadio Maxilom. And is also known for its crystal-clear springs, beaches, creeks, rivers, caves and natural attractions.

Industrial and domestic products include decorative apparel and fashion accessories made of seashells and coconut shells, wood and other indigenous products. Tubod Festival is held every 13th of June in honor of the parish patron, Saint Anthony of Padua.

Foundation
Tuburan was founded in the 1851 by Don Mariano Montebon who came from the town of Sogod. The townsite was first located at Daan Lungsod which is just across the Adela River, north of the present poblacion. Tuburan got its name from the prevalence of springs, which are the sources of potable water for household use of the early settlers. "Tuburan" evolved from the Cebuano word Tubod, meaning "spring".

Philippine revolution
General Arcadio Maxilom y Molero was a hero of the Philippine Revolution. He was born in Tuburan where his family were members of the local gentry, or principalía. He worked as a public school teacher but later joined the Katipunan, whose activities in Cebu were led by León Kilat.

After Kilat's execution, Maxilom continued the revolution in Cebu as second in command. The Katipunan regrouped in the then impenetrable, mountainous central part of Cebu island which now part of the central highlands. On 16 December 1898, Maxilom wrote a letter to the Spanish authorities in Cebu, demanding the latter to surrender. The Spaniards quickly responded, weary after incessant fighting and on the impending defeat of the Spanish forces by the Americans overseas, on Christmas Eve of the same year, the Spaniards had left, leaving behind only three Catholic clerics.

Their newfound liberty short lived, when the Treaty of Paris took effect on December 10, 1898, Spain had to sell the fate of their former subjects to the United States for twenty million dollars.

Maxilom is best remembered for stubbornly refusing to surrender to the American occupying forces even as his fellow revolutionaries in Manila and Cebu were starting to capitulate or collaborate with the new colonial power. He finally surrendered on 27 October 1901. Virtually forgotten after the revolution, Maxilom died in his hometown of Tuburan, after a long period of time with paralysis. Decades later, the then, Mango Avenue of Cebu City, the second most historic road of the city was renamed after the late general.

Tuburan as Cebu's largest municipality
Tuburan is still the largest municipality in Cebu. But before the 1950s, Tuburan had a much larger land area, even bigger than Cebu City's. The municipality's land area was reduced in size when its former barangay, Tabuelan, was separated from Tuburan to form its own municipality in 1953.

Geography
Tuburan is bordered to the north by the town of Tabuelan, to the west is the Tañon Strait, to the east are the towns of Carmen, Catmon and Sogod, and to the south is the town of Asturias. It is 82 km from Cebu City.

Tuburan is the largest municipality in Cebu in terms of land area. It also has the most number of barangays for a municipality in Cebu. And it is also the only municipality in Cebu to have numerous barangays with very small population count. Most of these barangays are located in the mountains. The barangay with the lowest population count is Barangay Kanlunsing with 210 people as of 2016, though the barangay with the lowest recorded population count on Cebu Island is located in the nearby municipality of Catmon, which is the Barangay of Amancion, with 190 people in 2016.

Barangays
Tuburan is politically subdivided into 54 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate
The city has a tropical savanna climate (Koppen: Aw), narrowly missing a tropical monsoon climate (Koppen:Am), due to the month of February having less than 60mm of rain.

Economy
There is a 2000 ha coffee farm which has the capacity to produce 4.3 e6kg, which if when roasted can be sold at the (2017) prevailing price of 600 $/kg, and the farm could earn ₱2 billion annually. This farm is located within the mountain barangay of Kabangkalan.

In addition, the coffee farm is gaining ground as a tourist attraction in an ecotourism niche.

Tourism
Among the scenic spots are:
 * Scenic spots
 * Springs of:
 * Molobolo Spring · Mantawihan · Little Baguio · Blue Hole Spring, San Juan

 * Marmol cliff and cave
 * Lantawan Lookout
 * White beaches of:
 * Friendship · Daan Lungsod · Apalan

 * Eco-tourism
 * Adela River Eco Tourism Adventure · Molobolo Nature Spring

Transportation
Ceres Liner and Corominas Bros. are among the bus companies going to the town. But riding a V-Hire is the quickest way of going to the town. There are three ways of getting to the town:
 * V-Hire - Via Transcentral Highway (Balamban) - 80 km
 * Ceres Liner - Via Lugo (Tabuelan) - 100 km
 * Ceres Liner, Corominas Bros. - Via Toledo City - 110 km

Education
The public schools in the town of Tuburan are administered by two school districts under the Schools Division of Cebu Province.

Elementary schools

 * Amatugan Elementary School — Amatugan
 * Antipolo Elementary School — Antipolo
 * Apalan Elementary School — Apalan
 * Bagasawe Elementary School — Bagasawe
 * Bakyawan Elementary School — Bakyawan
 * Bangkito Elementary School — Bangkito
 * Bulwang Elementary School — Bulwang
 * Caridad Elementary School — Caridad
 * Carmelo Elementary School — Carmelo
 * Colonia Central Elementary School — Colonia
 * Cogon Elementary School — Cogon
 * Daanlungsod Elementary School — Daan Lungsod
 * Fortaliza Elementary School — Fortaliza
 * Gaang Elementary School — Gaang
 * Gimama-a Elementary School — Gimama-a
 * Jagbuaya Elementary School — Jagbuaya
 * Kabangkalan Elementary School — Kabangkalan
 * Kabkaban Elementary School — Kabkaban
 * Kagbao Elementary School — Kagba-o
 * Kalangahan Elementary School — Kalangahan
 * Kalunsing Elementary School — Kanlunsing
 * Kamansi Elementary School — Kamansi
 * Kampoot Elementary School — Kampoot
 * Kan-an Elementary School — Kan-an
 * Kansi Elementary School — Kansi
 * Kaorasan Primary School — Kaorasan
 * Libo Elementary School — Libo
 * Lusong Elementary School — Lusong
 * Macupa Elementary School — Macupa
 * Mag-agta Elementary School — Sitio Mag-agta, Lusong
 * Mag-alwa Elementary School — Mag-alwa
 * Mag-antoy Elementary School — Mag-antoy
 * Mag-atubang Elementary School — Mag-atubang
 * Maghan-ay Elementary School — Maghan-ay
 * Mangga Elementary School — Mangga
 * Marmol Elementary School — Marmol
 * Matnog Elementary School — Sitio Matnog, Putat
 * Molobolo Elementary School — Molobolo
 * Montealegre Elementary School — Montealegre
 * Putat Elementary School — Putat
 * Sandayong Elementary School — Sandayong
 * San Juan Elementary School — San Juan
 * Siotes Elementary School — Siotes
 * Sto. Niño Elementary School — Sto. Niño
 * Tominjao Elementary School — Tominjao
 * Tomugpa Primary School — Tomugpa
 * Tuburan Central Elementary School — C. Parilla Street, Barangay VII

High schools

 * Ireneo V. Diamante National High School — Kabangkalan
 * Kalangahan National High School — Kalangahan
 * Kansi National High School — Kansi
 * Lusong National High School — Lusong
 * Montealegre National High School — Montealegre
 * Putat National High School — Putat
 * Saint Anthony Academy — Poblacion
 * Tuburan National High School — Barangay VII
 * Vicente Cabahug National High School (formerly Colonia NHS) — Colonia

Integrated schools:
 * Paulo Gallarde Sr. Integrated School — Alegria
 * Sumon Integrated School — Sumon

title: Tuburan, Cebu


text:
Tudela, Cebu

Tudela, officially the Municipality of Tudela (Lungsod sa Tudela; ), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 11,304 people, making it the least populated municipality in the province.

Tudela is 8 km east of the town center of Poro. Along with the town of Poro, Tudela is located on Poro Island. The town celebrates the fiesta of parish patron Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception each 8 December.

The town center comprises two barangays: Northern and Southern Poblacion. The nearly symmetrical arrangement of the streets allows pedestrians to navigate easily while viewing old houses (early 1900s) standing side by side with new ones.

Tudela is bordered to the north by the Province of Leyte in the Camotes Sea, to the west is the town of Poro, to the east is the island of Ponson with town of Pilar and the Province of Leyte, and to the south is the Camotes Sea

Barangays
Tudela is politically subdivided into 11 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Demographics
Local dialect is Cebuano. Waray is also spoken due to its proximity to Leyte.

The town is home to the Porohanon language, one of the most endangered languages in the Visayas. The language is only used in the Poro islands. The language is classified as distinct from Cebuano (Bisaya) by the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino and is vital to the culture and arts of the Porohanon people.

Transportation
Tudela may be reached by boat through Poro port. A boat (called Jomalia) typically takes 2 hours from Danao pier. A fast craft (called Ocean Jet) takes 2 hours from Pier 1, Cebu City. Motorcycles, tricycles and jeepneys are available for ground transportation on arrival.

title: Tudela, Cebu


text: Talk:List of Microsoft software

title: Talk:List of Microsoft software


text: User talk:80.58.1.111

title: User talk:80.58.1.111


text:
Stefan Dečanski

Stefan Uroš III (Стефан Урош III, ), known as Stefan of Dečani (Стефан Дечански, ; c. 1276 – 11 November 1331), was King of Serbia from 6 January 1322 to 8 September 1331. Dečanski was the son of King Stefan Milutin. He defeated two other contenders to the Serbian throne. Stefan is known as Dečanski after the great monastery of Visoki Dečani he built.

Early life
Stefan Uroš III was the son of King Stefan Uroš II Milutin and his first wife Jelena, a Serbian noblewoman. He was born before his father took the throne in 1282. While still a youth, he was sent by his father as a hostage with his entourage to Nogai Khan of the Golden Horde, to maintain the peace between the Serbs and Tatars. He stayed at Nogai's court until the Khan's death in 1299. By 1309, King Milutin appointed his son Stefan (future Dečanski) as governor of Zeta, where he remained until 1314.

Exile and return
In 1314, Dečanski quarreled with his father, who sent him to Constantinople to be blinded. Dečanski was never totally blinded and was likely not blinded at all. In Constantinople, Dečanski was at the court of Andronikos II Palaiologos, indicating good relations between the states. Dečanski wrote a letter to Danilo, who was Bishop of Hum, asking him to intervene with his father. Danilo wrote to Serbian Archbishop Nikodim, who spoke with Milutin and persuaded him to recall his son. In 1320, Dečanski was permitted to return to Serbia and was given the appanage of Budimlje, while his half-brother Stefan Konstantin, held Zeta.

Reign

Milutin became ill and died on 29 October 1321, leaving no formal instruction regarding his inheritance. Konstantin was crowned King in Zeta, but civil war broke out immediately as both Dečanski and his cousin, Stefan Vladislav II, claimed the throne. Dečanski revealed that his eyesight was still intact, claiming a miracle, and the populace rallied behind him believing the restoration of his sight to be a sign from God. On 6 January 1322, the archbishop of Serbia, Nicodemus, crowned Dečanski King and his son, Stefan Dušan, the young king. Dečanski later granted Zeta to Dušan as a fief, indicating his intention for Dušan to be his heir. According to one account, Dečanski offered to split the realm with Konstantin, who refused. Dečanski then invaded Zeta, and Konstantin was defeated and killed.

In the meantime, Vladislav II had been released from prison upon Milutin's death and recovered the throne of Syrmia, which his father had established in northern Serbia. Vladislav also claimed the throne of Serbia upon Milutin's death and mobilized local support from Rudnik, a former possession of Vladislav's father. Also supported by Hungarians, Bulgarians, and Bosnians, Vladislav consolidated control over Syrmia and prepared for battle with Dečanski.

In 1323, war broke out between Dečanski and Vladislav. In autumn, Vladislav still held Rudnik, but by the end of 1323, the market of Rudnik was held by officials of Dečanski, and Vladislav seems to have fled further north. Some of Vladislav's supporters from Rudnik, led by Ragusan merchant Menčet, took refuge in the nearby Ostrovica fortress, where they resisted Dečanski's troops. Dečanski sent envoys to Dubrovnik (Ragusa), to protest the support of Vladislav. Dubrovnik rejected Dečanski's complaint, claiming Ostrovica was held by Serbs. Dečanski was not satisfied, and in 1324 he rounded up all the Ragusan merchants he could find, confiscated their property, and held them captive. By year's end, Rudnik was restored to Dečanski, who released the merchants and returned their property. Vladislav was defeated in battle in late 1324, and fled to Hungary, that was holding Belgrade since 1319. Tensions between Dubrovnik and Serbia continued: in August 1325 Vojvoda Vojin plundered Dubrovnik, resulting in a brief trade ban. On 25 March 1326 Dečanski reaffirmed privileges previously granted to Ragusa by Milutin.

Tensions began again, later in 1326, when Dubrovnik and Stephen II, Ban of Bosnia took actions against the Branivojevići. As a result, by the end of the same year, Serbia lost the region of Hum to Bosnia.

Dečanski generally maintained an alliance with Andronikos II, aside from occasional disruptions. He avoided taking a position in the Byzantine civil war between Andronikos II and Andronikos III Palaiologos. Nevertheless, as Andronikos III gained control, he developed an alliance with Tsar Michael Asen III of Bulgaria. Michael Asen III divorced Dečanski's sister Anna and married the Byzantine princess Theodora Palaiologina instead. The allies intended to join forces for a major invasion of Serbia in 1330. In the most significant event of Dečanski's reign, he defeated and killed Michael Asen III in the Battle of Velbazhd (1330). Prince Stefan Dušan also contributed to the victory.

Hearing of Michael's defeat, Andronikos III retreated. Dečanski's subsequent conquests pushed the Serbian border south into Byzantine Macedonia. Some of his courtiers, however, were discontented with his policies and conspired to dethrone him in favour of Stefan Dušan. In 1331, Dušan came from Skadar to Nerodimlje to overthrow Dečanski, who fled to Petrič. On 21 August 1331 Dušan captured Petrič after a siege and imprisoned his father in Zvečan Fortress, where he died on 11 November 1331.

Family
With his first wife, whose name is not known, Dečanski had no issue.

By his second wife, Theodora of Bulgaria, Stefan Dečanski had:
 * Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, who overthrew him and took royal title, and
 * Dušica (or Dušman), who died before 1318.

By his third wife, Maria Palaiologina, daughter of John Palaiologos, Dečanski had:
 * Simeon, later tried to usurp imperial title from his nephew, and ruled as independent ruler in Thessaly,
 * Jelena, who married Mladen III Šubić, and
 * Teodora, who married Dejan.

Legacy
Dečanski is seen as a noble character in epic poetry, and the Serbian Orthodox Church had him canonized. his feast day is 11 November (old style), thus being 24 November (new style). His remains are venerated at the church of the Visoki Dečani monastery, which he built, in the region of Metohija.

title: Stefan Dečanski


text:
Hebbal, Bangalore

Hebbala, is a neighbourhood in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, which was once indicative of the north endpoint of the city. Though originally famous for Hebbala Lake, it is now better known for the serpentine maze of flyovers that network the Outer Ring Road and Airport Road on NH 44. The flyover spans a length of 5.23 km over all the loops combined. The flyover was built by Gammon India. The lake area in Hebbala is well-known for its picnic spots, a well-maintained park, boating facilities and for the bird watching opportunities.

Hebbala used to be the end of the municipal corporation limits. One can still see the milestone between the Baptist hospital and checkpost. Bengaluru has now grown quite a bit towards north, beyond these marks. L&T factory, which was established in the 1970s, is also close to Hebbala. GKVK University and Manyata Tech Park with a number of office buildings and commercial enterprises makes Hebbala an attractive investment spot.

History
Historians have suggested that the vicinity of Hebbala Lake to the area has made Hebbala possibly one of the oldest inhabited areas in Bengaluru. An inscription stone dating back to 750 AD was found near Maaramma temple in Hebbala which describes what may be the first-named Bengalurean, Kittayya. The stone describes an attack by Rashtrakuta raiders against whom he defended Perbolal, a name that morphed into Hebbala over the years. Historian B N Sundar Rao in his seminal work ‘Bengaluru Itihasa’, has also theorized that Kempegowda borrowed the name Bengaluru from a hamlet to the northwest of Hebbala Lake.

Roads
All arterial roads and road networks leading to the Kempegowda International Airport intersect at Hebbala. Further, BIAL has its office on the National Highway (NH 44) exit of the Hebbala flyover in Gayathri Lake Front. Due to short-sightedness of the governing authorities, the Hebbala Flyover has become a bottle-neck for traffic flow from the city centre towards North and the same when traveling from North to city centre. Traffic is crawling be it any time of the day. This is because almost 6 lanes coming from each side, jostle to fit in the two lane Hebbala bridge bringing the traffic to a stand still.

Buses
The area is well connected by BMTC buses. From Hebbala, you can get the city bus for almost all places in Bengaluru. Hebbala is also a common point if you are traveling to/from the airport. Hebbala also has a small railway station.

title: Hebbal, Bangalore


text:
User:Coach Z Ale

 * Location: United States
 * Occupation: Web Application Development
 * Disposition: Differently Lame

title: User:Coach Z Ale


text:
File:The The - Soul Mining CD album cover.jpg

The The - Soul Mining. Original UK CD album cover. Illustration and design by Andy Dog Johnson.

Fair use rationale in Soul Mining

 * No free equivalent is available or could be created that would adequately give the same information.
 * The image does not replace the original market role of the original copyrighted media.
 * The image is low resolution.
 * The image has previously been published.
 * The image meets general Wikipedia content requirements.
 * The image contributes significantly to the article by identifying the subject of the article.

Original UK release album cover - album covers are fair use. Picture scanned by me Ian Dunster from original UK CD album.


text:
Urup

Urup (得撫島; Уру́п, ウルㇷ゚) is an uninhabited volcanic island in the Kuril Islands chain in the south of the Sea of Okhotsk, northwest Pacific Ocean. Its name is derived from the Ainu language word for salmon trout.

Geography and climate
Urup is essentially rectangular in shape, with a long axis of 120 kilometers (75 miles) and a narrow axis of about 20 kilometers (12 miles). It is the fourth largest of the Kuril Islands, with an area of 1,430 km2. The highest point is Gora Ivao at 1426 m. A number of tiny islets and rocks are scattered around the coast of Urup.

The strait between Urup and Iturup is known as the Vries Strait, after Dutch explorer Maarten Gerritsz Vries, the first recorded European to explore the area. The strait between Urup and Simushir is known as Bussol Strait, after the French word for "compass", which was the name of one of French naval officer La Pérouse's vessels. This French mariner explored the area of the Kuril Islands in 1787.

Urup consists of four major groups of active or dormant stratovolcanos:
 * Kolokol Group (Группа Колокола; 得撫富士), with a height of 1328 m has erupted as recently as 1973.
 * Rudakov (Рудаков; 台場山), with a height of 524 m has a 700 m, funnel-like crater containing a 300 m lake
 * Tri Sestry (Три Сестры; 硫黄山), with a height of 998 m has flanks cut by deep ravines and has numerous hot springs.
 * Ivao Group (Группа Ивао; 白妙山), with a height of 1426 m is the highest point on the island. The southeast-most cone bisects a glacial valley, forming a lake.

Despite its temperate latitude, the cold Oyashio Current and powerful Aleutian Low combine to give Urup a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc), that is close to a polar climate (Köppen ET) with mild, foggy summers and cold, snowy winters. In reality the climate resembles the subpolar oceanic climate of the Aleutian Islands much more than the hypercontinental climate of Siberia proper or Manchuria, but the February mean of −6.0 C is well below the limit of "oceanic" climates. Urup, like all the Kuril islands, experiences extremely strong seasonal lag, with the highest temperatures in August and September, the lowest in February and temperatures typically in fact warmer at the autumn equinox than at the summer solstice.

Fauna
In the spring and summer crested auklet, tufted puffin, and pigeon guillemot nest on the island; there is also a colony of black-legged kittiwake.

Prehistory
The first attested inhabitants of Urup are the Ainu, the indigenous people of the Kurils, southern Sakhalin, and Hokkaido.

Age of Exploration
The Castricum under Maarten Gerritsz Vries was the first recorded European vessel to reach this part of the Kurils, arriving in 1643 while exploring Hokkaido and the surrounding area for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Vries's garbled account of the islands during an era when longitude was difficult to calculate was the origin of the large phantom island Company Land (Companies Landt; Terre de la Compagnie) that subsequently appeared on European maps at various positions northeast of Honshu. Named in reference to the VOC, it was considered by Vries to be the northwesternmost projection of North America and its appearance on the maps of the respected cartographers Jan Janssonius, Nicolas Sanson, and Guillaume Delisle spread it through other European maps for another century before more accurate surveys became generally accepted. The original location of Vries's landing is sometimes specifically located on Urup.

Urup is first clearly shown on an official Japanese map of 1644, identifying it as part of the territories of the Matsumae clan, a feudal domain of Edo Japan.

18th century
The Matsumae clan holdings were officially confirmed by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1715 and administration of the island came under the Matsumae domain’s regional office location on Kunashir from 1756. Meanwhile, three voyages of Vitus Bering's lieutenant Martin Spanberg in 1738, 1739, and 1742 pointedly failed to find any evidence of Rica de Oro, Rica de Plata, Staten Island, or Company Land in any of the areas claimed for them.

Russian fur traders appeared in the late 18th century, hunting sea otter and seizing foreign ships in the area. There were clashes between the Russians and the Ainu in 1772, and the Russians left for a time, but soon returned. G.F. Muller’s Voyages & Découvertes faites par les Russes (Amsterdam, 1766) contained a list and description of the Kuril Islands, including Urup whose people were said to trade with the Japanese but were not under their control. A small Russian presence was established on Urup by the fur trader Ivan Chernyi in 1768, acting on instructions from the governor of Siberia. During the 1770s it was the base for attempts to establish trade with the Japanese on Yezo (Hokkaido) which came to an end when it was destroyed by a tsunami in June 1780.

19th century
During the decade following 1795, a party of 40 Russian men and women under Zvezdochetov established a colony they called "Slavorossiia" on Urup. In 1801, the Japanese government officially claimed control of the island, incorporating it into Ezo Province (now Hokkaidō Prefecture). This led to a series of clashes with Imperial Russia over Urup and the other Kurils, and sovereignty initially passed to Russia under the terms of the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855. The same year, in an effort to find the Russian fleet in the Pacific Ocean during the Crimean War, a French-British naval force reached the port of Hakodate (open to British ships as a result of the Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty of 1854), and sailing further north, landed on Urup, taking official possession of the island as "l'Isle de l'Alliance" and nominating a local Aleut inhabitant as provisional governor. The Treaty of Paris restituted the island to Russian control.

Three whaleships have been wrecked near or on the island: one in 1853 and two in 1855. On the night of 27–28 April 1853, the ship Susan (349 tons), of Nantucket, was stove by ice and sank in Bussol Strait while attempting to enter the Sea of Okhotsk. Two men were lost, one drowning and the other perishing on the ice. The remaining twenty-five crew members crowded into two whaleboats and reached Urup on the afternoon of 29 April. Here they spent eight days before being rescued by the barque Black Warrior, of New London. On 14 May 1855, the ships King Fisher (425 tons), and Enterprise (291 tons), both of New Bedford, were wrecked on a reef on the northeast end of the island while attempting to pass through Bussol Strait into the Sea of Okhotsk. All hands were saved.

Under the Treaty of Saint Petersburg of 1875, sovereignty passed to the Empire of Japan along with the rest of the Kuril islands. The island was formerly administered as part of Uruppu District of Nemuro Subprefecture of Hokkaido. The remaining local (mainly Aleut) inhabitants were transferred to Kamchatka, according to their will, and replaced by Japanese colonists.

Annexion of Urup by Great Britain
For enthusiasts intrigued by unconventional historical occurrences, it is noteworthy that Great Britain and France once held territorial interests in the region. In 1855, during the Crimean War (1853-56), both nations took the remarkable step of annexing Urup, one of the largest Kuril islands, as part of their aggressive policy against Russian settlements. This strategy involved attacking Russians wherever they could be found, and the Pacific Ocean served as a prominent theatre for these operations.

At the onset of the war, both sides were eager to secure their positions regarding Japan, leading to agreements with the Anglo-Japanese Convention of 14 October 1854. This agreement allowed British ships access to the ports of Nagasaki and Hakodate on Hokkaido for repairs, fresh water, provisions, and other supplies. This strategic advantage enabled the allies to use these ports as bases for launching attacks on Russian settlements in the northwest Pacific. This was particularly advantageous, given that their next nearest base was in Hong Kong.

Simultaneously, the Russians sought rights in Japanese ports for their own ships and aimed to delineate the frontier between the two nations in the Kurils. The Treaty of Shimoda, signed on 7 February 1855, achieved this by establishing the boundary between the Japanese island of Iturup and the Russian island of Urup.

Rear-Admiral Sir J. Stirling, the naval Commander-in-Chief on the China Station, negotiated these agreements and became aware of the Treaty of Shimoda's conclusion. To avoid any embarrassing situations, he gathered intelligence on its provisions to plan operations on Russian settlements in the Kurils. Consequently, an attack on Urup was initiated, aiming to reduce a reported Russian settlement and establish a naval base more firmly under allied control than those accessible in Japan.

The island of Urup, at that time, was inhabited by Ainu, with a few Russian and Aleut residents working for the Russian-American company. This company, responsible for the Russian territory of Alaska and fur trading activities in the Kurils and Pacific coast of Siberia, shared a common interest with the Hudson's Bay Company. A meeting in London led both companies to persuade their respective governments to agree to a neutrality pact concerning their North American settlements, resulting in the British refraining from attacking Alaska during the Crimean War.

Allied naval operations in the Pacific during the Crimean War were characterized by inglorious and often farcical episodes, with the formal annexation of Urup standing out as a particularly curious incident. The main Russian settlement on the island was Tavano, where an Anglo-French force arrived in late August 1855, led by HMS Pique and the French Sybille. The decision to assign Captain F. W. E. Nicolson to this mission was potentially unfortunate, considering his role in the previous year's Franco-British assault on Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka.

Upon reaching Urup on 26 August, the ships were delayed in making port due to thick fog and changeable winds. Nicolson, finding the harbor too small, anchored just outside and described the village as consisting of wooden houses and storehouses used by Russians, along with huts occupied by natives. Despite the absence of Russians, local residents assured Nicolson of their departure before the allies' arrival, deduced from cemetery crosses indicating prior Russian presence.

Nicolson, energetic and thorough, initiated a hydrographic survey, ordered topographic observations, and named prominent points. The central event during their stay at Urup was the annexation on 2 September 1855. Details of the proceedings, preserved in Nicolson's dispatch, highlighted the allies' declaration of Russia being deprived of its rights and the solemn possession-taking of Urup, an island ceded by Japan to the Russian Emperor in the last treaty between the two nations.

The annexation ceremony involved presentations of arms, hoisting flags, and salutes, with storehouses burnt and the battery destroyed afterward. The allies left Urup the next day due to fog, concluding their operations in the Pacific during the 1855 season. The Treaty of Paris in 1856 restored all occupied territories to the Russians, ending Urup's brief period as part of the British and French colonial empires.

Reflecting on this historical episode, it is conceivable that Stirling's insistence on actual annexation was unnecessary, given the overwhelming allied sea power. However, he might have sought concrete accomplishments to deflect blame for failures in other 1855 operations. While the annexation was met with criticism in the Admiralty, Parliament, and the press, detailed reconnaissance and the removal of Russian presence were sensible operations in preparation for possible plans in 1856. Stirling's instruction to take possession might have been misinterpreted by the headstrong Nicolson, leading to a ceremony that, while Gilbertian and possibly morale-boosting, achieved little beyond providing entertainment for locals (Stephan, cit. opt.).

20th century
During World War II, all civilian inhabitants of the island were relocated to the Japanese home islands, and towards the end of the war, the Imperial Japanese Army stationed approximately 6,000 troops on Urup, including the IJA 129th Independent Mixed Brigade, 5th Independent Tank Company, 23rd Independent AA Company, 80th Airfield Battalion and 6th Disembarkation Unit. During the Invasion of the Kuril Islands by the Soviet Union after the end of World War II, Japanese forces on Urup surrendered without resistance.

In 1952, upon signing the Treaty of San Francisco, Japan renounced its claim to the island. Soviet Border Troops occupied the former Japanese military facilities. As early as the 1950s, a P-14 radar "Tall King" VHF air defense radar existed on the far northeastern tip of Urup Island. The troops were withdrawn upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the co-located airfield was turned into a bombing range.

21st century
The island is now uninhabited and is administered as part of the Sakhalin Oblast of the Russian Federation.

title: Urup


text:
User talk:Stevhunt1983

Hi. Great pictures. Did you take them - if not could you say where you got them from. Thanks. Secretlondon 11:44, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I got them from http://www.digital-hartlepool.com

The problem is we can't use them. The web site (http://www.digital-hartlepool.com/media/media.htm) says "Please note that these images are copyrighted, and may not be used in print or online without permission." We'll have to delete them I'm afraid. Secretlondon 12:05, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Well they were good while they lasted and I know now that I cannot used pirated pictures as I have now deleted them.

Ok. If you live locally you could take one yourself. Secretlondon 12:11, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:Stevhunt1983


text:
USS Sara Thompson

USS Sara Thompson (SP-3148/AO-8) was a tanker in the United States Navy. She was purchased at the start of World War I by the U.S. Navy and served as a tanker supporting American troops in Europe. Post-war she operated in the Pacific Ocean, supporting Navy operations in the Guam, China, and the Philippines. Because of her age and deteriorating condition, she spent her final days in the US Navy as a receiving hulk in the Philippines.

Built in England as Gut Heil
Sara Thompson was built during 1888 by William Armstrong, Mitchell and Co., Newcastle, England, as the German merchant tanker Gut Heil, and was sold to a United States firm in 1912, retaining her original name. Accidentally lost on the Mississippi River during 1914, Gut Heil was raised during 1917 and repaired.

Acquired by the U.S. Navy
She was purchased on 8 August 1918 for United States Naval service from J. W. Thompson of New York, and renamed Sara Thompson on 7 September 1918 at the request of her former owner. Sara Thompson was commissioned on 17 September 1918 at New Orleans, Louisiana.

World War I service
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS), Sara Thompson transported fuel oil from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Port Arthur, Texas, and Hoboken, New Jersey, to Boston, Massachusetts and Bermuda into February 1919.

Arriving on 4 March 1919 at Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, she was detached from NOTS on the same day and assigned to the Train, Atlantic Fleet. Sara Thompson remained at Ponta Delgada as station tanker until 7 September 1919 when she sailed for the Philippine Islands. Calling at Gibraltar, Suez, and Colombo, the tanker arrived in Manila Bay on 9 November 1919 for permanent assignment as fuel storage ship at the Cavite Navy Yard.

Post-war service

Sara Thompson steamed to Apra Harbor, Guam, during April 1920 to refuel units of Destroyer Division 13, before returning to Cavite on 7 May 1920. She was classified AO-8 as an oiler on 17 July 1920. She steamed northward to Chefoo, China, twice during 1920, operating with ships of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet before returning to Manila Bay on 12 October. Sara Thompson continued local operations with Cavite-based destroyer forces into November 1921.

Inspection of her deteriorating engines led to Sara Thompson being placed in reduced commission "in ordinary" on 8 December 1921 for duty only as a floating storage vessel for fuel and diesel oil. She remained in service into the 1930s, being designated the receiving ship at Cavite on 6 January 1930 with her commanding officer also commanding the Receiving Station ashore.

Final decommissioning
Sara Thompson was decommissioned on 21 July 1933 and struck from the Navy list on 12 December 1933. Her hulk was sold on 9 August 1934 to Alberto Barrette of Manila. Renamed Sarangani. The vessel was used by the US Navy as a bunker ship (storage hulk).

World War II
She was scuttled in 1942 to prevent capture by the Japanese. The ship was renamed Sanraku Maru on 6 May 1942. On 30 September 1942, the hulk was refloated. Repairs were completed in December 1942. The ship was registered with the Imperial Japanese Navy as an auxiliary oiler on 1 January 1943. Conversion to an oiler began 19 January 1943 and finished 3 February 1943. Sanraku Maru was operated by Osaka Shosen Kaisho. The ship was sunk by USS Trout (SS-202) near Cape Lovieanne, Borneo in the Celebes Sea on 15 June 1943.

title: USS Sara Thompson


text:
Woking railway station

Woking railway station is a major stop in Woking, England, on the South West Main Line used by many commuters. It is 24 mi down the line from London Waterloo. The station is managed by South Western Railway, who operate all trains serving it.

History
The London and Southampton Railway (L&SR) was authorised on 25 July 1834 and construction began in October of that year. The line was built in stages, and the first section, between the London terminus at Nine Elms and "Woking Common", was opened to passengers on 21 May 1838. Woking Common station was built with two platforms linked by a footbridge and a small freight yard was also provided. When it opened, it was surrounded by open heath and was 2 km from what is now the village of Old Woking. Nevertheless, it quickly became the railhead for west Surrey and the main entrance was positioned on the south side of the tracks for the convenience of those travelling by stagecoach from Guildford. Construction of Woking town centre, to the north of the station, did not begin until the mid-1860s.

Woking Common became a through station on 24 September 1838, with the opening of the next section of the line as far as Winchfield. The station was given its current name of "Woking" in around 1843. The Guildford Junction Railway (GJR) opened on 5 May 1845, having been authorised less than a year earlier, on 10 May 1844. The GJR was always operated by the LSWR, and was absorbed by that company on 4 August 1845.

The track through Woking station was quadrupled in 1904 and electrified in 1937. The station was rebuilt by the Southern Railway in the Art Deco "Odeon" style in 1936–37. The signal box, which was constructed as part of the rebuilding programme, is a Grade II listed building.

Accidents and incidents
Three trains were involved in a collision just east of the station on 23 December 1955. A Portsmouth line electric train came to a stand at signals near the Maybury Hill Road bridge. The following steam-hauled Waterloo-Basingstoke train overran the Maybury distant signal and collided with the rear of the electric train, demolishing the guards compartment and deflecting the rear bogie so that it was foul of the up-line. An up Bournemouth steam-hauled train had just left the station and came into sidelong collision with the bogie and came to a stand. Out of around 1000 passengers and crew on the three trains only 21 were injured, including the guard of the electric train, and there were no fatalities. The Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation report concluded the crash was due to human error on the part of the driver of the Basingstoke train. The Basingstoke train locomotive, SR N15X class 32327 Trevithick, was damaged beyond economic repair and scrapped at Eastleigh Works.

Passenger
Many South Western Railway services call at Woking, including:
 * the Alton Line calling at stations to Alton
 * the Portsmouth Direct Line to Guildford and stations to Portsmouth
 * the South West Main Line to Winchester, Southampton, Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth
 * the West of England Main Line to Andover, Salisbury and Exeter
 * The station is a terminus of the Waterloo to Woking stopping service

Fast trains from Woking take approximately 26 minutes to reach London Waterloo (some stop at Clapham Junction). Trains from the Alton Line take roughly 35 minutes, and the stopping service 50 minutes, to Waterloo.

A half-hourly RailAir bus service runs between the south side of the station and Heathrow Airport, a journey of about 50 minutes.

As of December 2022, the off-peak Monday to Saturday services are as follows:

 * 12 tph to London Waterloo (2 of these are stopping services, 2 of such stop only at Clapham Junction, 4 of which are semi fast and the remaining 4 are non-stop)
 * 2 tph to Alton (semi-fast)
 * 1 tph to Weymouth via Bournemouth (fast)
 * 1 tph to Haslemere via Godalming (stopping)
 * 2 tph to Basingstoke (stopping)
 * 2 tph to Portsmouth Harbour via Guildford (1 fast, 1 stopping)
 * 1 tph to Portsmouth Harbour via Eastleigh (stopping)
 * 1 tph to Exeter St Davids via Salisbury

Platform layout
Woking Station has six platforms, two of which are bay platforms.
 * Platform 1 – Semi-fast London-bound services.
 * Platform 2 – Fast London-bound services. Part of a single island with 3 and 4 below.
 * Platform 3 – East-facing bay for stopping service to and from London Waterloo. At the end of platforms 2 and 4.
 * Platform 4 – Trains to Exeter St Davids, Portsmouth Harbour (via Basingstoke), Salisbury and Weymouth.
 * Platform 5 – Portsmouth Direct Line services, Alton line and Basingstoke stopping services.
 * Platform 6 – West-facing bay platform, used by the first train of the day to Portsmouth Harbour via Eastleigh, and often used to stable trains in the event of a train failure.

Freight
Woking still retains two sets of sidings, each to the west of the station. The down side yard, between the station and Woking junction, is now a Network Rail permanent way maintenance depot and aggregates stone depot operated by Day Aggregates. The up side sidings are used to stable specialist track maintenance machines and out of service passenger trains.

In popular culture

 * The station was destroyed in H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds.
 * Woking Station can be seen at the beginning of the 1995 music video for 'You Do Something To Me' by Paul Weller.
 * In the television adaptation of the Philip K. Dick story "The Commuter" for the series Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams, railway worker Ed Jacobson (played by Timothy Spall) works at Woking station, and discovers a non-existent destination on the Alton line.
 * Seated Man, created in 2011 by the artist, Sean Henry, was installed on platform 1 in August 2017.

title: Woking railway station


text:
Template talk:SouthAfrica-geo-stub

Stub templates are meant to be unobtrusive. So no boxes. Grutness...  wha?  11:46, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

title: Template talk:SouthAfrica-geo-stub


text:
Soul Mining

Soul Mining is the debut studio album by the English post-punk and synth-pop band the The (the 1981 album Burning Blue Soul was originally released by the band's frontman Matt Johnson as a solo album, but later reissues credited it to the The). After a bidding war between major record labels which resulted in the group signing a recording contract with CBS Records, Johnson began recording the album in New York City, but the initial recording sessions were aborted after the album's first two singles and Johnson returned to London where he wrote and recorded the rest of the record. Musically, Soul Mining is a post-punk and synth-pop album with influences of the early 1980s New York club scene, while Johnson's lyrics focus on relationship insecurities and social alienation, with imagery derived from dreams.

Soul Mining was released in the United Kingdom on 21 October 1983 on Some Bizzare Records/Epic Records and included versions of the singles "Uncertain Smile", "Perfect", and "This Is the Day". Although the album received positive reviews, its initial sales were modest, reaching number 27 in the UK and charting in a number of other countries, but in 2019 the album was certified gold in the UK. Soul Mining was reissued in June 2014 as a two-disc 30th anniversary deluxe version on vinyl, attracting retrospective reviews which universally praised the record, with critics describing it as both Johnson's best work and one of the best albums of the 1980s.

Background and initial New York recording sessions
Following the release of Burning Blue Soul (1981) Johnson had started work on a follow-up, provisionally titled The Pornography of Despair. Although Burning Blue Soul had been released on the 4AD record label, the The had also released a one-off single, "Cold Spell Ahead", in 1981 on the Some Bizarre label run by Stevo, and major record labels were expressing interest in Some Bizarre's acts following the worldwide success of synth-pop duo Soft Cell.

Johnson and Stevo decided that the best way to achieve commercial success was to record a new version of "Cold Spell Ahead". Stevo verbally agreed a singles deal with London Records, and in May 1982 the label sent Johnson to New York to record the new version of the song, now retitled "Uncertain Smile", with Soft Cell's producer Mike Thorne at Media Sound studios. The song followed Johnson's original demo, with a Roland TR-808 providing the drumbeat and Johnson and Thorne playing guitars, bass and synthesizers. While in New York, Johnson visited Manny's Music store on West 48th Street, and was fascinated by a toy xylimba that he saw there. He bought the instrument and returned to the studio with it, using it to create an intro for "Uncertain Smile". On the recommendation of a friend Thorne also brought in Crispin Cioe of the Uptown Horns to play flute and alto saxophone on the record.

When Stevo took the finished song back to London he reneged on his verbal agreement with London Records and initiated a bidding war, eventually won by CBS Records, and the The were signed to CBS's Epic imprint. The single became the The's first release on Epic, released in October 1982 and reaching number 68 on the UK Singles Chart. Thorne was unhappy at the underhand way in which the deal had been conducted.

Johnson and Stevo returned to New York in October 1982 to record a second song with Thorne. The track was "Perfect", which was a reworked version of a song written for The Pornography of Despair and originally titled "Screw Up Your Feelings". Johnson wanted a harmonica on the record, and Thorne suggested his friend David Johansen of the New York Dolls. However, the second session at Mediasound did not go as smoothly as the first one had. In the intervening period Johnson had gone from being unemployed to receiving a rumoured £80,000 advance from CBS. With his new-found wealth Johnson was keen to experience what New York had to offer, disappearing from the studio to explore the Lower East Side and take drugs, which left him in an unfit state to record. Johnson and Stevo also decided to make a road trip to Detroit, with Johnson saying that he had felt compelled to visit the city during the recording of "Perfect" because he felt he was being inauthentic singing the song's lyrics about down-and-outs unless he had experienced it personally, and that "although I hadn't lived there, I knew that I'd seen more than virtually any of the other bands in the charts so I had no reason to feel bad about it".

The relationship between Thorne and the visitors deteriorated as a result of Johnson and Stevo's actions, and disagreements over the songs' production. Thorne wanted to use his new Synclavier unit, but Johnson preferred the sounds of his far cheaper Omnichord. Eventually a mutual decision was made to abandon the recordings, and Johnson returned to London in November.

The original New York-produced 7" single versions of "Uncertain Smile" and "Perfect" were included on the The's greatest hits album 45 RPM: The Singles of The The in 2002, while the two 12" versions were included on the second disc of the 30th anniversary reissue of Soul Mining in 2014.

Composition and themes
Having returned to London with only two songs, CBS asked Johnson if he had any other material that could be used. In response, Johnson began to re-record his unfinished album The Pornography of Despair, but he was not happy with the new versions of the songs, feeling that they lacked impact. He abandoned the album entirely, and decided to write a new album from scratch instead, with "The Sinking Feeling" being the only song retained from The Pornography of Despair.

The rest of the songs for Soul Mining were written during 1983, either in Johnson's bedsit in Highbury or in the flat of his girlfriend Fiona Skinner, in Braithwaite House in Finsbury. Johnson's preferred method of writing was lying on the floor with a pencil and notepad, spending hours writing and rewriting the songs, and his demos were recorded using a guitar, drum machine, synthesizers and a Portastudio that Johnson had bought. Although Johnson had learnt how to create tape loops and overdub tracks during his job as a tape operator at De Woolf studios when he was a teenager, he did not have a sequencer, so he would play the lines for each instrument over and over – for the longer tracks like "I've Been Waiting for Tomorrow (All of My Life)" and "Giant", this could mean playing for up to ten minutes at a time.

In an interview with Melody Maker in May 1983, five months before the album's release, Johnson shared fragments of the lyrics that he was working on, and said that many of them were based on mental images and states of mind. He explained one image, "I'm floating into harbour in a soggy cardboard box", saying, "I've always had this weird thing about the sea, incredibly deep and cold". He also quoted another lyric in progress: "The sun is high and I've been out on the verandah sitting in life's proverbial rocking chair, blanket over my knees", and then explained that "I've always had these images on my mind, very strange dreams. The idea of a clear blue sky, a massive sky in the desert with this little American hut, a verandah, a guy in a rocking chair watching planes flying across the sky, philosophising about his past life". However, he stated that another line, "I'm in the corner of an overgrown garden, head between my knees, trying not too breathe too loudly" (an early version of the opening lines from "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow") was based on a real incident from his childhood, when he had broken into a house – when the police arrived, he had fled into the garden and hidden in a chicken hut.

In interviews for the 2014 reissue Johnson stated that some of the earlier songs such as "Uncertain Smile" and "The Twilight Hour" had the theme of "unrequited love", although as he had fallen in love with Skinner while writing the album, the later songs explored other themes. "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)" was about the cognitive dissonance and confusion created by media propaganda. He rejected his reputation for writing depressing lyrics, saying that they were "supposed to be uplifting, but thoughtful. A poignant reflection."

Recording
Following their return to London from New York, Stevo recommended that Johnson should contact Thorne's former engineer Paul Hardiman to act as his new producer. Hardiman's first job for Johnson was to remix "Perfect" for release as a single, keeping only Johansen's harmonica from the original New York recording. The remix was done on Christmas Eve 1982, which Hardiman recalled had caused some friction with his wife. The remixed version of "Perfect" was released as a single on 11 February 1983, reaching number 79 in the UK.

While the songs for the album were being written, Johnson and Hardiman set about looking for a recording studio in London. Although the only two studios credited in the liner notes for Soul Mining are Advision and Sarm, Johnson has since stated in several interviews that the majority of the album was recorded at the Garden studio in Shoreditch, east London.

Throughout May 1983 the The held a weekly residence of concerts at the Marquee Club in central London, featuring many of Johnson's musician friends from the British post-punk scene. Johnson used these concerts to decide which musicians he wanted to contribute to the forthcoming the The album. These included Orange Juice drummer Zeke Manyika, do-it-yourself synthesizer pioneer Thomas Leer, and the experimental Australian musician JG Thirlwell, credited on the album as one of his early aliases "Frank Want", and who would go on to achieve some degree of recognition recording under the name Foetus.

"Uncertain Smile" was re-recorded for the album, keeping the xylimba intro but replacing Crispin Cioe's saxophone solo with a lengthy piano solo by Jools Holland. The idea to include a piano solo resulted from the Garden studio having a Yamaha C3 baby grand piano, and it was suggested to Johnson that Holland would be a good choice to play it. Johnson recalled that Holland had turned up on a hot summer's day in full motorbike leathers, listened to a couple of minutes of the song as a run-through, and then played his solo in one take, with a second drop-in afterwards. In his 2007 autobiography Barefaced Lies and Boogie-Woogie Boasts Holland recounted that when he first listened to the track he had expected to hear his contribution used as an instrumental break in the middle of the song, only to discover that Johnson had edited together the two solos and used them as the song's outro instead.

Artwork
As with many of the The's early albums and singles, the original cover artwork was created by Matt Johnson's brother Andrew, aka "Andy Dog". The UK album cover featured a painting of one of the wives of Fela Kuti smoking a joint, adapted from a photograph Andy had seen in The Face. Johnson liked the painting, feeling that its colours and African connections fitted with Soul Mining's musical style, and insisted on using it for the album cover, despite Andy's reservations about its suitability. Andy had made a second painting featuring Johnson's head in profile and apparently screaming while being attacked by hammers, which was used for the cover of the US release. In a 2014 interview with Electronic Sound Johnson stated that his brother had been correct, and it would have been better to have used the second painting for the cover of the album in all territories. The 2002 remastered CD reissue replaced the original cover art with an early photograph of Matt Johnson.

Graphic designer Fiona Skinner, who had become Johnson's girlfriend in 1982, created the bespoke typeface used on Soul Mining. The album and the single "This Is the Day" marked the first appearance of the band's logo, which also used Skinner's font, and which would be used on the majority of the The's subsequent releases.

Release and promotion
"This Is the Day" was released ahead of the album as a single on 2 September 1983, but like the previous singles, it performed poorly in the UK, peaking at number 71.

Soul Mining was released on 21 October 1983. The album was released with several different track listings, depending on the format and the territory. In the UK and Europe the album had seven tracks and ended with "Giant", as Johnson had intended. Early pressings of the original UK vinyl album included a free 12" single of an extended remix of "Perfect", with "Fruit of the Heart" and "Soup of Mixed Emotions" as the B-sides (catalogue number XPR 1250). However, in the US a record company executive decided that seven songs was not enough for a full album, and a re-recorded version of "Perfect" was added to the US version of Soul Mining, as well as some versions of the Canadian release, much to Johnson's annoyance. This extra track was also included on the album when it was first released on CD in June 1987, in both the UK and the US. In Australia and New Zealand, the album contained nine tracks, with "Fruit of the Heart" closing side one and "Perfect" at the end of side two. It was not until the The's early albums were remastered and reissued in 2002 that Johnson finally succeeded in having Soul Mining reissued without "Perfect", as originally intended.

The US cassette version also included extended mixes of "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)" and "This Is the Day" added on to the end of each side of the cassette. The UK cassette version contained the original seven-track album on side one, and "Perfect" and five other extra tracks on side two, which had originally been recorded for The Pornography of Despair. "Three Orange Kisses from Kazan" and "Waitin' for the Upturn" were released as B-sides on the "Uncertain Smile" single, "Mental Healing Process" was on the B-side of "This Is the Day", and a version of "The Nature of Virtue" appeared on the B-side of "Perfect". "Fruit of the Heart" was an instrumental track. To date these five songs have never appeared anywhere on CD.

The 2014 2-LP "30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition" box set of Soul Mining includes an authentic vinyl reproduction of the 1983 release, with audio remastered in 2013 (overseen by Matt Johnson at Abbey Road Studios), and is expanded with a second vinyl containing alternate versions, 12"'s and remixes, intended to complete a "purist album experience".

Critical reception
The album was well received on its release. Don Watson of NME said, "In days when the pop song has been reduced to the reiteration of catch-phrases, Matt Johnson flexes a rare literary flair. More importantly he has the command of music's immense possibilities to carry them through without self-indulgence. Ignore this LP if you must, but you'll be ignoring one of the year's rare heart-stopping moments." In Melody Maker Steve Sutherland said, "As you return to Soul Mining again and again, there will be times when you discover it was the last thing you really wanted to do. It will sound mawkish, almost absurd, like a voice crying wolf over and over ... Then again, there'll be times when it will sound obscenely close to the bone, as if [Johnson] were invading and defiling your most private thoughts and emotions ... In other words, you'll use Soul Mining as a barometer to your day and if that's the principal function of great pop, then surely Soul Mining is great pop." Dave Henderson of Sounds called the album "a classic slice of everyman's everyday music, ready made for the radio, the dancefloor and those thoughtful interludes late at night". In Record Mirror Jim Reid wrote that Johnson was "not always able to find a soundtrack to complement his lyrical angst" but that "if Soul Mining is not the complete Matt Johnson it is an intriguing first taste". In the US, Kurt Loder of Rolling Stone praised Johnson's "sense of structure and his unerring ear for sonic definition" and highlighted "Uncertain Smile" and the "entirely gorgeous piano solo by the exceptionally talented Holland", but had reservations about the "obsessively self-absorbed lyrics... Youthful angst and anomie are fine in their place, but not all over the place." However, Loder concluded, "Johnson creates pop music with an agreeably individual stamp: In the current sea of synth-pop sludge, Soul Mining stands out".

The release of the 30th anniversary deluxe edition in 2014 received universal praise from music critics. Michael Bonner of Uncut described the record as a "masterpiece" and said, "Released in the interzone between post-punk and synth pop, and reflecting both, Soul Mining thrums with ideas, tension and dread. Johnson's enduring lyrical concerns – social alienation, political disillusionment and troubles of the heart – are all present and correct, but unlike the industrial/psychedelic adventuring of Burning Blue Soul, they are here given a glossier sheen... Certainly, for an album of heavy themes, Soul Mining is musically surprisingly light." He concluded, "Soul Mining is arguably Johnson's defining work: ambitious, strange, exciting. And, 30-odd years on, remarkably fresh." In Q Peter Paphides described the album as being "like one long distress signal from someone being held against their will inside a Sartre novel". He stated, "The years might not have been quite so kind to Soul Mining were it not for the inspired guest performances that Johnson teased out of his collaborators", singling out Holland's piano solo as "a high point on an album full of them". Alexis Petridis of The Guardian also noted Holland's "genuinely astonishing performance" and said, "The lyrics contained the occasional hint of histrionic gaucheness – 'the cancer of love has eaten out my heart' seems a pretty melodramatic way to say you got dumped – but more often they're strikingly precocious: 'Uncertain Smiles brilliant drawing of a confused relationship, 'The Twilight Hours painfully accurate depiction of self-obsession... More striking still is the ease with which Johnson marshals a kaleidoscopic array of musical influences into something coherent and unique. Quite aside from Holland's boogie-woogie piano, over the course of Soul Mining's seven tracks, you variously hear folk fiddles and accordion, the popping basslines of contemporary funk, punishing industrial beats, electronics derived from New York's then current club music... But Soul Mining never sounds disjointed, never feels like an exercise in smart-alec showboating: Johnson's songwriting holds its disparate elements tightly together." He concluded, "Soul Mining is a brilliant and very idiosyncratic album. Maybe that's why it's never really cited as an influence these days: you can't hope to mimic something this personal and unique."

Legacy and accolades
Melody Maker placed Soul Mining at number three in its critics' list of the best albums of 1983 and the NME placed it at number 25 in its own list the same year. In 1989 Record Mirror and Sounds both included the album in their critics' lists of the albums of the decade, Record Mirror ranking it at number eight and Sounds ranking it at number 24.

Reviewing the remastered reissue in 2002, PopMatters said, "It may not make the list of best records of the '80s, but it's damn close, and would definitely stir some intense debate over its inclusion." A supplement entitled "80 from the 80s" in the August 2007 issue of Mojo included Soul Mining as one of only four albums from 1983 to make its list of the 80 best albums of that decade, and three months later in November 2007 The Guardian included Soul Mining in its list of 1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die, where it stated that Johnson's "artful pop ... hides an underlying menace at odds with the chart-toppers of the time".

The album was also included in the books 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and Fear of Music: The Greatest 261 Albums Since Punk and Disco by journalist Garry Mulholland, who described it as "a hidden masterpiece".

Track listing
All tracks written by Matt Johnson.

Vinyl LP
Side one
 * 1) "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)" – 5:45
 * 2) "This Is the Day" – 5:01
 * 3) "The Sinking Feeling" – 3:44
 * 4) "Uncertain Smile" – 6:52
 * 5) "Fruit of the Heart" (Australia and New Zealand releases only) – 1:57

Side two
 * 1) "The Twilight Hour" – 5:58
 * 2) "Soul Mining" – 4:50
 * 3) "Giant" – 9:36
 * 4) "Perfect" (Australia, New Zealand, Canada and US releases) – 5:36

UK and Europe cassette
Side one
 * 1) "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)" – 5:45
 * 2) "This Is the Day" – 5:01
 * 3) "The Sinking Feeling" – 3:44
 * 4) "Uncertain Smile" – 6:52
 * 5) "The Twilight Hour" – 5:58
 * 6) "Soul Mining" – 4:50
 * 7) "Giant" – 9:36

Side two
 * 1) "Perfect" – 5:36
 * 2) "Three Orange Kisses from Kazan" – 4:27
 * 3) "The Nature of Virtue" – 5:50
 * 4) "Mental Healing Process" – 3:45
 * 5) "Waitin' for the Upturn" – 4:30
 * 6) "Fruit of the Heart" – 1:57

US and Canada cassette
Side one
 * 1) "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)" – 5:45
 * 2) "This Is the Day" – 5:01
 * 3) "The Sinking Feeling" – 3:44
 * 4) "Uncertain Smile" – 6:52
 * 5) "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)" [Special Mix] – 7:36

Side two
 * 1) "The Twilight Hour" – 5:58
 * 2) "Soul Mining" – 4:50
 * 3) "Giant" – 9:36
 * 4) "Perfect" – 5:36
 * 5) "This Is the Day" [12" Version] – 5:22

CD

 * 1) "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)" – 5:45
 * 2) "This Is the Day" – 5:01
 * 3) "The Sinking Feeling" – 3:44
 * 4) "Uncertain Smile" – 6:52
 * 5) "The Twilight Hour" – 5:58
 * 6) "Soul Mining" – 4:50
 * 7) "Giant" – 9:36
 * 8) "Perfect" (1987 release only) – 5:36
 * The original 1987 CD release of Soul Mining added "Perfect" at the end of the album after "Giant". The 2002 remastered reissue removed the track, thus leaving the album's track listing as Matt Johnson originally intended.

2-LP 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Disc one

Track listing as the original UK vinyl version.

Disc two – "Recollected"

Side one
 * 1) "Uncertain Smile" (New York 12" Version) – 10:00
 * 2) "Perfect" (New York 12" Version) – 9:01

Side two
 * 1) "This Is the Day" (12" Version) – 5:26
 * 2) "Fruit of the Heart" – 1:54
 * 3) "Perfect" (London 12" Version) – 5:41
 * 4) "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)" (12" Mix) – 7:39

 * Note: On all versions of the album, the track "Giant" is stylised in all caps.

Personnel

 * Matt Johnson – vocals, synthesisers, percussion, instruments on all tracks, chant on "Giant"
 * Harry Beckett – trumpet on "Perfect"
 * Paul Boyle – fiddle on "This Is the Day"
 * Andy Duncan – drums on "This Is the Day", "Uncertain Smile", "Soul Mining" and "Perfect"
 * Paul Hardiman – chant on "Giant"
 * Camelle G. Hinds – bass guitar on "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)", "Uncertain Smile", "The Twilight Hour", "Giant" and "Perfect"
 * Jools Holland – piano on "Uncertain Smile"
 * David Johansen – harmonica on "Perfect"
 * Keith Laws – melodica on "Three Orange Kisses from Kazan"
 * Thomas Leer – synthesisers on "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)", "The Twilight Hour" and "Giant"

 * Martin McCarrick – cello on "The Twilight Hour"
 * Zeke Manyika – drums on "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)", "The Twilight Hour" and "Giant", chant on "Giant"
 * Jeremy Meek – bass guitar on "The Sinking Feeling"
 * Steve James Sherlock – flute and saxophone on "Three Orange Kisses from Kazan" and "Waitin' for the Upturn"
 * Anne Stephenson – violin on "The Twilight Hour"
 * Frank Want – sticks on "Giant"
 * Wix – accordion on "This Is the Day"

Artwork
 * Andy Johnson – artwork
 * Fiona Skinner – typography

title: Soul Mining


text:
Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo

Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo (8 August 1736 – August 1776) was an artist and son of the more famous Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. In 1750, he travelled to Würzburg with his father and brother, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, where he worked alongside them on the decorative fresco cycle in the Würzburg Residence. A number of drawings have been attributed to him from these apprentice years.

title: Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo


text:
Danao, Cebu

Danao, officially the City of Danao (Dakbayan sa Danao; Dakbanwa sang Danao; Lungsod ng Danao), is a 3rd class component city in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 156,321 people.

Danao is within the Metro Cebu area.

Etymology
According to the most popular legend, the town derived its name from the word danawan, which means pond in English when Captain del Rosario established the town as a municipio.

History
The origin of the name Danao lacks concrete historical records, though two legendary accounts exist regarding its establishment as a municipio. The most popular legend dates back to 1844, involving a Spanish captain named Manuel Anecito del Rosario. Commissioned by early Spanish authorities in Cebu province, del Rosario's mission was to establish municipios from Compostela to Borbon.

While traveling north on horseback, Captain del Rosario encountered natives in Cotcot, tending to their carabaos in a pond. Unfamiliar with the area, he asked the locals (in Spanish) the name of the place. Misunderstanding his question, the natives thought he referred to the pond and replied danawan, meaning pond. Due to the captain's limited understanding of the local dialect and defective hearing, he interpreted the response as "Danao." Consequently, the place was named Danao, and Captain del Rosario established it as a municipio.

Captain del Rosario stayed in Danao for several years, overseeing the construction of essential infrastructure, including the presidencia (town hall), the Roman Catholic Church completed in 1847, the convento, and town streets such as Calle Lapulapu, Calle Rizal, and Calle Marcelo del Pilar. Some of the Spanish-era culverts in these streets still exist today.

Following the establishment of Danao, del Rosario continued to the north, helping to organize the towns of Carmen, Catmon, and Borbon. In 1860, he returned to Danao, adopting the surname Gonzales and settling permanently in the town he favored most.

Efforts to document Danao’s pre-war and post-liberation history were unsuccessful, as many records were presumed lost or destroyed during World War II.

Establishment
Danao was officially established as a city on June 7, 1961, by virtue of Republic Act No. 3028. Each year, a Charter Day Celebration takes place from June 1-7, featuring various activities such as traditional games and customs enjoyed by Danawanons across generations.

Contemporary
In 2005, the definition of Metro Cebu was expanded, including Danao City as the northern boundary and Carcar City as the southern boundary.

Geography
Danao is in the Metro Cebu area and is 33 km from Cebu City. It is bordered on the north by Carmen, on the west by Asturias, on the south by Compostela and to the east by the Camotes Sea.

Barangays
Danao is politically subdivided into 42 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Railways
The Cebu railway ran from Danao south to Argao. During World War II, the bridges, tracks and Central Station were bombed so extensively that the railway never recovered, and it closed in 1942. After that, whatever was left after the war was dug up to become the Cebu North Road.

Now a new light railway is to be built in Cebu.

Sugar
The old system of milling sugar cane used to produce sugar, called "intosan". Although the railway was originally to move coal, it was soon used too to move sugar cane to the docks.

Gun industry
Danao City was well known for its gun industry. The industry started around 1905–06. When World War II came, the Danao gunsmiths went underground, joined the guerrilla movement or were inducted into the United States Army Forces in the Far East. Their main task was to re-chamber the Japanese Arisaka rifles to fit the US .30 caliber round or to keep the original Japanese rifle in good service.

The industry went on, still underground. In the 1960s, the term paltik was given to the homemade (and illegal) guns. In the early 1990s the industry was legalized by the government, with the creation of two organizations of local gunsmiths. The organization now left with proper permit is Workers League of Danao Multi-purpose Cooperative (World MPC), in Dungguan, Danao City.

World MPC was incorporated in October 1994 with twenty-five initial members. In November 1996 it was given license to manufacture handguns from caliber .22 to .45 by the Philippine National Police (PNP). The organization had been a potent group in working for the legalization of gun-making industry in the country with the aim to upgrade the technology and skills of gun makers, to provide job security and additional revenue for the government. The gun-making industry in Danao was pioneered using brass or copper as materials. The Chairman of World MPC was in charge of the compliance of the requirements of the Firearms Explosives Security Service Agency and Guards Supervisory Section (FESSAGES) until his death in 2010 after which World MPC itself was then shutdown for non-compliance of FESSAGES policies.

Holiday industry

Tourism in the area is still in its infancy. All along the eastern seaboard of Cebu there are family-owned resorts.

In 2017, Danao hosted the Xterra Off-road Triathlon. This was held at the Coco Palms resort.

Mitsumi
Mitsumi is one of the largest employers in northern Cebu.

Metro Cebu Expressway
Work for the ₱50 billion, 74 km Metro Cebu Expressway, started in 2018. It will connect Naga City in the south to Danao City in the north.

title: Danao, Cebu


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