fallslikesnow

Rockall ( Scottish Gaelic : Rocabarraigh ) The name Rocabarraigh is also used in Gaelic folklore for a mythical rock which is supposed to appear three times, the last being at the end of the world. "Nuair a thig Rocabarra ris, is dual gun tèid an Saoghal a sgrios". (When Rocabarra returns, the world will likely come to be destroyed/ruined) Wikimapia

From the Guardian,  Saturday 1 January 2011 Full article here .  On 15 September 1955, three marines and a civilian scientist from the Royal Navy's new survey ship HMS Vidal were winched from a helicopter on to a tiny, pyramid-shaped outcrop of granite sticking out of the Atlantic Ocean 240 miles west of the Orkneys. It was the height of the cold war and their secret mission was to annex the uninhabitable islet of Rockall and claim it as the last land grab of the British Empire. Witnessed only by a few gannets and sooty fulmars, Sergeant Brian Peel, Lieutenant Commander Desmond Scott, Corporal Anthony Fraser and the naturalist James Fisher mixed buckets of cement and erected a flagpole made from old propeller shafts. Then they bolted a brass plaque commemorating the event to the rock, raised the union flag – standing back carefully in case they fell into the sea – and saluted. "In the name of Her Majesty Queen Eliz...

I've just had another short story published - this time in M-Brane SF #29 You can buy an electronic copy here . Here's a snippet of 'The Cone' to whet your appetite : It's a forgotten war. Spiraling burns, strange cancers, shrunken hard torsos like fragments of bleached rock. I've heard it's like that over there – whining assholes complaining about the changes pulling out cost. Pulling out always costs -- people hanging from helicopters or eyes of garnets. You choose. We all remember the Stone Field. Impossibly high horizon, low, stained denim sky. It's a work of art that place. Chunks of dirty sandstone scattered across a striated limestone pavement. The sandstone draws the eye, something about the delicately coloured lichen painted across the russet and gray rock. The lichens are gray and gray-pink and gray-blue and so on. A world of very pale grayed out pastels. Some lichen are like paint spills, others are little sharp florets. Look ...

All the sciences of the world, O Son are comprehended in this my hidden Wisdom; and this, and the learning of the Art, consists in these wonderful hidden elements which it doth discover and complete. It behoves him, therefore, who would be introduced to this hidden Wisdom, to free himself from the hidden usurpations of vice ; and to be just, and good, and of a sound reason, ready at hand to help mankind, of a serene countenance, diligent to save, and be himself a patient guardian of the arcane secrets of philosophy. And this know that except thou understandest how to mortify and induce generation, to vivify the Spirit, and introduce Light, until they fight with each other and grow white and freed from their defilements, rising as it were from blackness and darkness, thou knowest nothing nor canst perform anything; but if thou knowest this, thou wilt be of a great dignity so that even kings themselves shall reverence thee. These secrets, Son, it behoves thee to conceal fr...

This is a large rock, of a conical or sugarloaf shape, the summit or upper part of which is perfectly white, from the  quantity of birds' dung, with which it is covered. Though it had been seen many times, its true situation was unknown till the year 1810, when it was ascertained by Mr. T. Harvey, master of the Endi/?nicn frigate. Together with the bank on which it stands, it was examined by Captain Vidal, R.N., in 1831, and again, in August, 1862, by the officers of H.M.S. Porcupine, when surveying the bank of deep soundings West of Ireland, and during which survey the Porcupine Bank was discovered. This solitary rock, the summit of a submarine mountain, emerges from the ocean in lat. 57° 36' 20" N., long. 13° 41' 30" W., 225 miles N. 53° W., true, from Tory Island, off the North coast of Ireland. It rises to an elevation of 70 ft. above the sea, is about 250 ft. in circumference at its base, and is composed of a coarse granite. The summit, sharp-pointe...

Franco-Nevada Afaho (Subika) - Franco closed this deal during the heart of the '08 crash from Newmont, paying $58 million for a 2% NSR on Newmont's Ghana property. The royalty becomes payable after 1.2m ounces have been produced, which will be towards the very end of 2011, start of 2012. While over 50% of total production have been within that which falls on Franco's royalty or approx. 250k annually (with the potential to optimize operations in the years ahead). Annual attr production will amount to about 5k ounces annually. Clash Of The Titans: Royal Gold vs. Franco-Nevada

According to the latest report from OCHA, 18 percent of the West Bank has been designated as a "firing zone," a 2009 report notes that much of the land also "overlaps with that which falls under the jurisdiction of Israeli [settlement] regional councils." Ma'an News Agency

Còsimo di Giovanni degli Mèdici (27 September 1389 – 1 August 1464) was the first of the Medici political dynasty, de facto rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance ; also known as "Cosimo 'the Elder'" ("il Vecchio") and "Cosimo Pater Patriae ". Wikipedia  Cosmo The Elder, b. 1389, d. 1 Aug., 1464, the founder of their power and so-called "Padre della Patria", was the son of Giovanni di Averardo de' Medici, the richest banker in Italy. He obtained the virtual lordship of Florence in 1434 by the overthrow and expulsion of the leaders of the oligarchical faction of the Albizzi. While maintaining republican forms and institutions, he held the government by banishing his opponents and concentrating the chief magistracies in the hands of his own adherents. His foreign -policy, which became traditional with the Medici throughout the fifteenth century until the French invasion of 1494, aimed at establish...

Mt. Hutt gets considerably more snow than Coronet Peak (94-inch season average) or the Remarkables (134 inches) and probably similar snow to that which falls at Cardrona or in Treble Cone’s Saddle Basin.  The Canterbury areas have a reputation for a deeper snowpack and a longer spring season than the Southern Lakes areas. New Zealand Skiing: Counting On Canterbury

The Son then asks, Father, which of these is more worthy than the other; whether is it the heaven or the earth? Hermes replies, Both need the help one of the other; for the precepts demand a medium. But, saith the Son, if thou shalt say that a wise man governs all mankind? But ordinary men, replies Hermes, are better for them, because every nature delights in society of its own kind, and so we find it to be in the life of Wisdom where equals are conjoined. But what, rejoins the Son, is the mean betwixt them ? To whom Hermes replies, In everything In nature there are three from two: the beginning, the middle, and the end. First the needful water, then the oily tincture , and lastly, the faeces, or earth, which remains below But the Dragon inhabits in all these, and his houses are the darkness and blackness that is in them and by them he ascends into the air, from his rising, which is their heaven. But whilst the fume remains in them, they are not immortal. Take away, therefore, the...

Rig Data: GSF Monitor Rig Name: GSF Monitor Rig Manager: Transocean Ltd. Rig Owner: Transocean Ltd. Competitive Rig: Yes Rig Type: Jackup Jackup Type: Independent Leg Cantilever Rig Design: Friede & Goldman L-780 MOD V Rated Water Depth: 350 ft Drilling Depth: 30,000 ft

The Water Corporation says the rain is unlikely to have a significant impact on the state's dams. The corporation's Phil Kneebone says dam levels remain around 23 per cent. "The catchments are still bone dry and the only water that will actually find it's way into the dams will be that which falls straight out of the sky onto them," he said.

On 29 January 1393, at the behest of the king, a grand party was organized to celebrate the wedding of one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting at the Hotel de Saint Pol. At the suggestion of a Norman Squire, Huguet de Guisay, the King and four other lords [ 5 ] dressed up as wild men and danced about chained to one another. They were "in costumes of linen cloth sewn onto their bodies and soaked in resinous wax or pitch to hold a covering of frazzled hemp, so that they appeared shaggy & hairy from head to foot". [ 6 ] At the suggestion of one of the "wild men," Yvain de Foix, the king commanded – in view of the obvious danger of fire – that the torch-bearers were to stand at the side of the room. Nonetheless, the King's brother, Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans , who had arrived late, approached with a lighted torch in order to discover the identity of the masqueraders, and he accidentally set one of them on fire. Alternatively, it may h...

At the moment there is some chaos going on in TNA.  From the strange Sting / Ken Anderson angle involving the old school Sting look and interviews with the Disco Inferno to Mick Foley and “The network” against Hulk, Bischoff and the rest of Immortal, the strange incidents between Velvet Sky, Angelina Love and Winter and of course that which falls in between.  There is no doubt in my mind that if TNA chooses to turn up the head, put the emphasis heavily on their wrestling and allow the promos, backstage antics and storylines play in the background and work more toward amping up their matches rather than appearing more important then they could certainly cash in on the overabundance of incredible performers they have working for them.

First developed in 1938, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for years had a poor reputation with many negative depictions in popular culture. However, the procedure has improved significantly since its initial use and is safe and effective. People who undergo ECT do not feel any pain or discomfort during the procedure. ECT is usually considered only after a patient's illness has not improved after other treatment options, such as antidepressant medication or psychotherapy, are tried. It is most often used to treat severe, treatment-resistant depression, but occasionally it is used to treat other mental disorders, such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Before ECT is administered, a person is sedated with general anesthesia and given a medication called a muscle relaxant to prevent movement during the procedure. An anesthesiologist monitors breathing, heart rate and blood pressure during the entire procedure, which is conducted by a trained physician. Electrodes are ...

The Scott installation comprises two separate platforms each supported by steel jackets interconnected by two separate bridges. The two platforms are the drilling and process platform DP, and the utilities and quarters platform UQ. The DP platform comprises an eight-leg jacket supporting an integrated deck housing process train, gas treatment, flare boom, drilling facilities and derrick. The UQ platform comprises a four-leg jacket supporting an integrated deck housing utilities, living quarters, lifeboats, helideck, power generation and exhaust structure.

The sensory homunculus is the familiar textbook caricature of a human being spread out improbably over the surface of the brain. It depicts how much space the brain allocates to our different body parts when it comes to feeling out the world around us. Its wildly uneven proportions are generally thought to arise in response to the activity of sensory neurons feeding information to the brain

Orpheus, look back into The crawling darkness at the DVD Player I trail on its power cable And the cable parts, gnawed by rats, and it Falls behind into the dark, It's a DVD player, it's been there For at least a year, in the open shed Rain, heat, bugs, rats have had their way with it And now it has been taken back from the Underworld. Redemption has been made And I, as the place I Will not go, the place I stored all the stuff From before, from that which is Underworld