Tag Archives: Europe

Asterix

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Asterix

“These Romans are crazy!!”

  • Asterix books are also known as the ‘Adventures of Asterix’, Astèrix and Astèrix le Gaulois.
  • Asterix is French comic series that has been translated into 100 languages, and the English translation has been very popular.
  • Asterix was authored by French writer René Goscinny, and illustrated by Albert Uderzo, a French comic book artist and script writer.
  • Asterix was first published as a serial in the first issue of the Pilote comics magazine on the 29 October 1959, and became instantly popular.
  • Thirty-four Asterix comic books have been produced by Goscinny and/or Uderzo, and 12 films have been made from the comics, and in October 2013, the 35th book will be released with a new author and illustrator, Didier Conrad and Jean-Yves Ferri.

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  • The Asterix comics are based on the history of the Gauls, and is generally set in 50 BC in a Gaulish (French) village in Armorica (Brittany), that is trying to hold out against the invading Romans.
  • Uderzo continued to produce Asterix books after Goscinny died in 1977, but they have not been as popular as the Goscinny ones.
  • The main characters in the Asterix books are Asterix, the hero; Obelix, Asterix’s friend; and Dogmatix, Obelix’s dog, and there have been approximately 400 other characters throughout the series.
  • Asterix comics uses lots of puns, caricatures and other humour, as well as the phrase “These Romans are crazy!”.
  • Asterix comic book characters have their Gaul names end in ‘ix’, like Asterix, ‘us’ for the Roman’s names, eg. Pseudonymus , and towns that end in ‘um’, like Aquarium.
Bibliography:
Asterix, 2013, Wikipedia, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix>

Tower Bridge

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Tower Bridge

Bridge of two towers.

  • The Tower Bridge is located in London, England and provides a major crossing of the River Thames.
  • The Tower Bridge is a suspension and bascule (meaning see-saw and balance) drawbridge and on average, it opens 1000 times a year, with 24 hours notice being required in writing if you wish to pass under the bridge with a vessel of 9.1 m (30 ft) or greater in height.
  • Originally the Tower Bridge was a greenish- blue colour, and at some stage it was painted brown, then in 1977 its new colour scheme became white, red and blue to celebrate Queen Elizebeth II’s Silver Jubilee Year.
  • The Tower Bridge is 244 meters (800 feet) in length, and the two towers, which are 65 meters (213 feet) high, are connected by two horizontal pedestrian walkways which were closed from 1910-1982 due to lack of use, and now house part of an ongoing exhibition about the bridge and its history and construction.
  • The motorway A100 Tower Bridge Road travels along the Tower Bridge, and on average, over 40,000 people cross the Tower Bridge daily.

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Tower Bridge
Image courtesy of Vichaya Kaitying-Angsulee/ Free Digital Photos
  • Construction on the Tower Bridge commenced in 1886, and continued for 8 years with 432 workers and only 10 fatalities, and was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales on 30th June, 1894.
  • Over 63,500 tonnes (70,000 tons) of concrete were used for the supports, or the piers, for the towers, and over 10,000 tonnes (11,ooo tons) of steel were used to make the steel frames of the Tower Bridge.
  • At the time, the cost of the Tower Bridge construction was £1,184,000 which is now equivalent to nearly US$152 million (£100 million).
  • The Tower Bridge has used an electric and oil driven hydraulic system to raise the bascules since 1976, although it originally used two steam powered engines, with an extra one added in World War II, for backup.
  • A number of accidents and incidents have occurred in association with the Tower Bridge, which have included planes and road vehicles, and includes a near miss for a bus carrying 20 passengers, when the bascules were opening one evening in 1952.
Bibliography:
Tower Bridge, 2013, Wikipedia,  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Bridge>

Mona Lisa

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Mona Lisa

She smiles well…

  • The Mona Lisa is a portrait of a woman, believed to be Lisa Gherardini, and the painting was probably commissioned by her husband, Francesco del Giocondo, a cloth merchant.
  • The Mona Lisa is also known as ‘La Gioconda’, a reference to her married name, or ‘La Joconde’, meaning ‘the happy one’.
  • The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, an Italian artist, and was painted between 1503 and 1506.
  • The Mona Lisa is an oil painting on a poplar wood panel, and has the dimensions of 77 cm by 53 cm (30 inches by 21 inches), and is the most famous painting in the world.
  • It is believed that the person who commissioned the Mona Lisa was never given the painting, and remained in da Vinci’s possession until his death, and eventually was obtained by the French king, King Francis I.

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Mona Lisa
Image courtesy of Edwin/Flickr
  • The Mona Lisa was stolen on the 21 August 1911 by an Italian Louvre employee, Vincenzo Peruggia, and was missing for two years, and eventually turned up in Italy, where Peruggia had taken it.
  • The fame of the Mona Lisa painting was partly fueled by its theft in 1911, as the media reported it across the world.
  • The Mona Lisa has had acid, rocks, paint and a cup thrown at it, but it is still in good condition due to the restoration, touch-ups and cleaning it has had.
  • The Mona Lisa has been located at the Louvre (Musée du Louvre) in Paris since 1797, and approximately 6 million people visit it every year, even though most of the visitors only get to see it in a crowded room and choose to look at it for approximately 15 seconds.
  • The Mona Lisa is not insured as it is considered priceless, and it has a current estimated value of almost US$760 million, based on an insurance assessment in the early 1960s, valued then at $100 million.
Bibliography:
Mona Lisa, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa

Julie Andrews

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Julie Andrews

She is a legend.

  • Julie Andrews’ full name is Dame Julie Elizabeth Andrews.
  • Julie Andrews is an actress, singer, director, dancer and author.
  • Julie Andrews was born on the 1 October, 1935, in Surrey, England.
  • Julie Andrews was named a dame, by Queen Elizabeth II, in 2000, for services to the performing arts.
  • Julie Andrews’ voice was damaged in 1997 due to a throat operation, and she never regained her incredible four octave singing voice, and as a result, she has participated in very few singing performances ever since.

 

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Julie Andrews
Image courtesy of A Currell/Flickr

 

  • Julie Andrews married Tony Walton, and later Blake Edwards, and had five children, two of them orphans adopted from Vietnam, and two of them step children from Edwards’ previous marriage.
  • Julie Andrews started performing on stage with her parents in 1945, and within two years she was singing solo.
  • Julie Andrews is best known for her work as an actress in the musical Disney film ‘Mary Poppins’ (1964), portraying the main character, Mary Poppins; and as Maria von Trapp, in the 20th Century Fox film, the ‘Sound of Music’ (1965).
  • Julie Andrews has won over 25 awards, and been nominated for many, including 16 for Best Actress.
  • Julie Andrews has written many children’s books, some of which have become  New York Times bestsellers.
Bibliography:
Julie Andrews, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Andrews>

Parthenon

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Parthenon

Ancient structure from ancient times.

  • The Parthenon is a temple located in the Acropolis of Athens, above the city of Athens, in Greece.
  • The people of the city of Athens believed that the Greek goddess Athena, was the city’s patron, and so they built the Parthenon and dedicated to her.
  • The Parthenon was built in 447BC and completed in 438BC, while decoration was finished in 432BC.
  • In the 5th or 6th century AD, the Parthenon was turned into a church and dedicated to the Virgin Mary and later became a mosque, after Athens was invaded by Turkey in the 15th century.
  • The Parthenon is 13.72 metres (45 feet) in height, and was built with 81 Doric style columns and 4 Ionic columns, a total of 85 columns, made from white marble.

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Parthenon
Image courtesy of Jack Guilliams/Flickr
  • The word ‘Parthenon’ in Greek actually means ‘place of the virgin’ or ‘unmarried women’s apartments’.
  • In 1687 part of the Parthenon was destroyed by an explosion in the temple.
  • Originally, there were life-size marble sculptures in the Parthenon, many of which are now exhibited in museums.
  • Since 1975, the Parthenon has undergone various stages of reconstruction and restoration, directed by the Greek government.
  • The building of the Parthenon was supervised by the sculptor, Phidias, and the architects were Iktinos and Kallikrates.
Bibliography:
Parthenon, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon>

Rugby League

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Rugby League

Remember, pass backwards and run fowards.

  • Rugby league is a ball contact sport, that involves passing and kicking an oval shaped ball.
  • Rugby league is a two team game; 13 players on each side.
  • In rugby league, players score by landing the ball on the goal line, and this is called a ‘try’.
  • Rugby league is most popular in Australia, New Zealand, England, Tonga, France and Papua New Guinea.
  • Rugby league’s proper name is ‘rugby league football’ although it is also known as ‘league’, ‘rugby’, ‘footy’, ‘The Greatest Game of All’ and ‘NRL’ (in Australia) which stands for ‘National Rugby League’.

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Rugby League
Image courtesy of Nottingham Trent University/Flickr
  • Rugby league is played on a grassy rectangular field 68 x 116 metres (223 x 380 ft), and requires a high level of fitness due to the amount of running needed to play the game, and strength, to tackle and pull down an opponent.
  • Rugby league is the national sport of Papua New Guinea.
  • Rugby league was first played in England in 1895, and was originally called Northern Rugby Football Union, after it broke away from the Rugby Football Union, and changed some of its rules.
  • Rugby league is often said to be the most rough team sport, and many injuries occur in rugby league, due to the tackling of opponents who are trying to run with, or pass the ball.
  • In rugby league it is common to have a ‘scrum’, a formation of up to six people from each team, arms interlocked and heads down, pushing against each other to get the ball (that is passed in from underneath), through to their own side.
Bibliography:
Rugby league, 2013, Wikipedia, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_league>
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