Hello everyone!! This post will be something new...for the first time I am putting a video. It's a short documentary, from You Tube, about dolphins made in Egypt. I love dolphins. They're are wonderful animals. I once read that dolphins can move their eyes independently from each other. That way dolphins are able to see from different angles at the same time which helps them to notice predators. Dolphins also sleep with one eye open, so they are always on alert for predators. Oh yes, authors of documentary made a good thing presenting the video with only natural sounds...I hope you'll enjoy it. Have a wonderful weekend. Bye, bye!!

Hello!! I am back. I decided to continue writing posts in my blog. I know that my favourite reader will say....finally. Basic idea is still the same..to write about all those things that make our planet so nice, so interesting.
Today I am writing about sea...I love sea. Sea, or ocean as some call it, is beautiful. It is amazing for so many of us. But due to global economic activity sea is in danger more than ever.
As to the article published on the 17th of June 2006 in the UK newspapers The Guardian, in 2005 some 85 million tonnes of wild fish were pulled from the global oceans, 100 million sharks and related species were butchered for their fins, some 250,000 turtles became tangled in fishing gear, and 300,000 seabirds, including 100,000 albatrosses, were killed by illegal longline fishing.
Because of global climate changes the water temperature is rising. Projections made public by climate scientists are not optimistic at all. Sea temperature rise of 1.5 degrees until 2050 could destroy 95 per cent of living coral on the Australia's Great Barrier Reef. It is located along northwestern coast of Australia. It is more than 2,300 km long. It includes 2,900 unconnected coral reefs and some 900 islands. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the richest ecosystems on our planet. Among others the Reef is a home of more than 1,500 species of fish and 400 species of corals.
The rise in sea temperature is not the only factor that affect the health of coral reefs. They are also in danger because of constant changes in sea level, elevated storm frequency and intensity, altered ocean circulation, variation in precipitation and land runoff, and increasing ocean acidification.
Because of rise in level of atmospheric carbon dioxide more and more of this gas is absorbed by world oceans. Level of sea water acidity is rising. Because of lower concentration of carbonate ion sea organisms have problems in creation of their shells. That way they easier became food of predators and environmental conditon can threat them more.
Mass extinctions of marine life due to rise of acidtiy of sea water have already happened in the past. The worst of such extinctions was Permian one which happened some 250 million years ago when 95% of all ocean life disappeared.
Dr. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg from the Queensland Centre for Marine Studies thinks that if sea temperature stabilizes until 2100 corals can regenerate between one and five centuries. Well, let's hope for the best.
That's it. Have a wonderful day. Take care.

Greetings

Hello!!! Each day we meet many persons. We greet each other either by spoken greeting or some kind of gesture. There are many differences between cultures and within social system.
Let's start with general greetings. In English those greetings are „hi“, „hello“ or „hey“. Informal greetings are "How do you do?", "What's up?" etc. There are also greetings depending on the time of day…"good morning", "good afternoon", "good evening".
In my Croatia most popular greeting is “bok". It sounds that way but actually it is “Bog” or
God (be with you).
The most common greetings in other langauges and cultures are Marhaba (Arabic), Salut (French), Hola (Spanish), Shalom (Hebrew), Namaste (Hindu), Ni Hao (Mandarin), Oi or Ola (Portugese), Ciao or Salve (Italian) etc.
In a handshake two people grasp their right or not so often left hands. Everything is done with short shake of grasped hands. In some cultures people shake both hands. Some secret societies or organizations often have special kinds of handshake. In recent years some variations of handshake have been created. Good example is “Gimme Five” with an exchange of facing palm slaps.
Cheek kissing is in some situation part of greetings. It is more common in Europe (especially in its southern regions) and Latin America than in North America (exception is Quebec). Depending on culture cheek kissing is acceptable between a man and a woman, a parent and a child, two women…Cheek kissing between two men usually bring association with homosexuality. But it is present in Russia and the Middle East.
Hand kissing is kind of greeting but also a way to show respect. This way of greeting became quite rare and it mainly appears in conservative upper class, diplomatic world or in some religions…Good example for it is kissing the ring of the Pope or cardinals…
Rather special way of greeting is present in New Zealand. It is called Hongi. It is preformed by pressing one's nose to another person at an encounter. Hongi is present among Maori people and among all New Zealanders at public celebrations.
Bowing is the act of lowering the head, or sometimes the entire upper body from the waist, as a social gesture. It is especially present in Asian countries like for example Japan. In Europe it is only preformed by a male in front of a woman.
Bows, called “o-jigi”, “o-rei” or “rei”, are the traditional greeting and way of showing respect in Japan. There are all sort of bows. Different bows are used for apologies and gratitude, to express different emotions, humility, sincerity, remorse, or deference, and in various traditional arts and religious ceremonies. Bows can be generally divided into three main types: informal, formal, and very formal. Informal bows are made at about a fifteen degree angle and more formal bows at about thirty degrees. Very formal bows are deeper. Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention that bows are present in martial arts like Kung Fu, Kendo, Taekwondo and Karate.
Namaste or Namaskar is a greeting of South Asia. A literal translation of namah te is "reverential salutation to your inner." It is commonly accompanied by a slight bow made with the hands pressed together, palms touching, in front of the chest. The bow is a symbolic bow of love and respect.
Let me finish this post with yet another way of greeting…wawing…So, bye, bye dear reader, wherever you are. See you soon…Have a great weekend.

Sunday blues

Hello!!! It seems that I caught a cold. I feel tired...I must admit that of all parts of year this is the worst part of the year. I am listening to some music by Dutch jazz singer Laura Fygi...She has great voice. So, if you have a chance to listen to some of her stuff....go for it...I recommend it.
As I already mentioned in my last post, here in Croatia we have nice names for months of the year...As I saw on the internet some other nations have it too...I am mentioning Japan...
January - mutsuki, affection month
February - (kisaragi or kinusaragi, changing clothes)
March - (yayoi, new life; the beginning of spring)
April - (uzuki, hare month)
May - (satsuki, fast month)
June - (minatsuki or minazuki, month of water)
July - (fumizuki, book month)
August - (hazuki, leaf month)
September - (nagatsuki, long month)
October - (kaminazuki or kan'nazuki, month of the gods), (kamiarizuki, month of the gods – used only in Izumo province, where all the gods are believed to gather in October for an annual meeting at the Izumo Shrine
November - (shimotsuki, frost month)
December - (shiwasu, priests run; it is named so because priests are busy making end of the year prayers and blessings.)
That's all for today. Have a wonderful week. See you soon. Bye!!

Back again

Hello!! It's me again. I had some serious problems with my pc. Problems were caused my that stupid adware software that sometimes get installed on your pc while using the internet. First of those „masterpieces“ did not allow me to use the internet...as kind of punishment for the fact that I erased it. And the second one created true chaos in opening folders on my pc. Luckily, after several hours, I managed to find two programmes that solved my problems.
New month has started. Here in Croatia the name for November is „studeni“. Word „studeni“ means a cold one. In next few posts I'll write about different calendars that exist today or used to exist in the past.
Mayas are members of indigenous nation who live in southeast Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. Mayan civilization reached its highest level around A.D. 300–900. The population of Mayan nation today is over 4 million.
Mayan ritual calendar had 260 days. There were 20 names for days of the week. Let me mention just few examples....Imix (waterlilly), Chikchan (snake), Ix (jaguar), Ok (dog), Men (eagle) etc. Each name had a special symbol. The days were numbered from 1 to 13. After the count of thirteen was reached, the next day was numbered 1 again.
Mayas also followed a vague solar year in which they counted 365 days per year. The 365 day year had months which also had different names like for example Pohp, Wo, Sip, Keh, Mak etc. They had 18 regular months and 1 extra month. This special five-day month was called Wayeb. These days were considered unnamed and unlucky.
One more detail. Mayas also used special glyphs (symbols, characters) for certain time periods. For example „kin“ represented one day, „winal“ is a period of 20 days etc.
That's all for today. See you next time. Have a wonderful weekend. Take care.

This and that

Hello!! Today I'll write about some things that I found interesting in past 24 hours or so. Let me start with a great book. It's called „A House for Mr. Biswas“ by V. S. Naipaul. The book was first published in 1961. It is the tragicomic story of the search for independence and identity of a Brahmin Indian living in Trinidad. Main character Mohun Biswas struggles in variety of jobs, from sign painter to journalist. His dream comes true when he manages to buy a house of his own. Mohun Biswas, was partly modelled after the writer's father.
This not the first book by V. S. Naipaul. He's awarded with the Noble Prize for literature in 2001. I like his style a lot. He's a great storyteller. Reading of his books is a good way for someone to learn about local culture.
Hooliganism is a big problem of our society. Violence is so stupid, so bad. I think that modern media culture glorify violence. That's a sad fact. Two cities in Finland tried to fight hooliganism with music. In Tampere they put some classical music at places known for hooliganism...In Lojhi they used church music.
Because of climate changes draught is a huge problem. Water will soon get value similar to that oil or gold have today. Australian farmer have big water tanks at their fields...In town of Guandaroo (not far from Canberra) group of criminals started to steal water.
Let me end this post with very, very strange drink which is becoming quite popular in China. I hope you won't get sick...To prepare this drink...which is tought to be a very powerful aphrodisiac...you need a frog!!!! First you have to take its skin of....Put the skin in a blender and prepare a juice...Oh my God...how can someone drink this...
Well, that's all for today. See you next time. Bye!!!

Taboo in cuisine

Let me start this week with yet another post about cuisine. Not every food or drink is excepted in all cultures, religions. In Judaism there is set of rules called Kashrut which defines what food can or cannot be eaten. In Islam there are also similar rules called Haram and Halal. Hindus apply the concept of "ahimsa" (non-violence) in their cuisine. For them all meat is considered taboo except mutton, fish and chicken.
Religion is not the only reason why certain food is a taboo in some parts of world. Due to role horses and horse races have in the UK and USA horse meat is rarely eaten there. Dog meat is never consumed in Europe or North America but it is one of dishes in certain Asian countries, like for example Korea.
Some sort of meat can be found unacceptable because of the fact that its aroma or flavor are strange to local society.
The fact that quite many animals are endangered species put them on a list of taboo food.
As to Hinduism, it is a sin to kill a cow, to be involved in its slaughter, and to eat its meat. There are certain doubts whether it is because of religious rules or because of the fact cow still plays a very important role in life of most of Hindus.
Eating of pig’s meat is forbidden among Muslims, Jews, some Christian communities etc. Why? Well, there are several opinions. Some say that climate of Middle East is not suitable for keeping pigs. Quite common is the opinion that pigs are disliked in that areas because it is omnivorous. The other reason is that pigs eat their own feces and the feces of other animals.
Both Judaism and Islam forbid eating of frogs, snakes or crocodiles. Frogs are very popular in France, China etc. Snake meat is often eaten in Thailand and China. Crocodile is offered in some Australian, Thai and Southaftrican restaurants.
Birds are group of animals which is least present as taboo food. Still some birds are typical for certain regions.
I would definitely refuse to taste cat's meat. Still, cat's meat is eaten in parts of China. Some claim that in Guangdong, China there is a dish called "The Dragon and the Tiger”. It consists of cat’s and snake’s meat.
Let’s move to drinks. Alcoholic beverages are taboo in Islam, Sikhism, some Christian communities, Mahayanna Buddhism etc. Drinking blood is a very strong taboo in most countries. It is often connected with vampires. Still blood is used in preparation of certain dishes…Good example is Blood pudding or Black pudding. It is kind of sausage which exists here in my Croatia, the UK etc. The Maasai and Batemi people of Tanzania drink cow's blood mixed with milk. In Kenya, camel blood is drunk.
However it may sound strange coffee and tea are taboos for some communities. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not drink these beverages.
I hope you liked this post. I would appreciate more comments. Do not be shy. Write few words. Have a lovely week. Bye!!