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Did You Know....

Yellowstone's name is historically credited to the Native Americans who lived in and around the park area. The name is basically derived from the Yellowstone River. The Yellowstone River has high yellow rock cliffs along its banks in the northern area of the present day park.

In 1872 Yellowstone National Park was established making it the world's first national park. It's location is in Wyoming, USA, exactly halfway between the Equator and the North Pole.
The Continental Divide of North America runs diagonally through the south-western part of the park. The divide is a topographic feature that separates Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean water drainages.
The park sits on the Yellowstone Plateau, at an average elevation of 2400 m above sea level and at the plateau you also find Mount Washburn at 3122 m.

The park has one active volcano, 300 active geysers, 290 waterfalls, one of the worlds largest volcanic explosion craters and approximately 2000 earthquakes a year.
The highest waterfall is the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River at 94 m.

Yellowstone has the largest concentration of free-roaming wildlife in the global temperate zone, for example Black Bear, Grizzly Bear, Coyote, Swift Fox, Red Fox, Wolf, Lynx, Bald Eagle, Moose, Bison, Canada Goose and White Pelican.

Old Faithful Geyser is one of the most popular features in the park and erupts every 65 minutes, which lasts from 1,5 minutes up to 5 minutes. It has been measured to 22m deep and a 129 degrees Celsius. When it erupts it expels 14 000 to 35 000 litres of water and reaches heights from 30m to 55m.

There are three canyons located in the park, cut through the Yellowstone Plateau by rivers over the last 640,000 years. For example, the Yellowstone River has carved two colourful canyons, one of them being the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

The Beauty Pool is one of many colourful thermal pools in Yellowstone.

The Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world.

Mammoth Hot Springs features unique hot spring pools, called terraces, where geologic formations have come about from the heat, flowing water and limestone.

Although there is a lot of mud at Yellowstone, Mud Volcano is actually labled wrong. It is not a mud volcano, but rather a mud pot. And a mud pot is a hot spring formed in high-temperature geothermal areas where water is in short supply.

Yellowstone is included on the United Nations World Heritage List.

A few fast facts:
*Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park area is roughly half the size of New Zealand.
*In 2006, the Federal Government budget for maintaining the park was over $30 million.
*5% of Yellowstone Park is covered by water. 80% of the park is mountain forest and approximately 15% grasslands.
*Yellowstone Park is home to two endangered species; the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) and the Whooping Crane (Grus Americana).
*There are estimated to be over 10,000 thermal features/attractions in Yellowstone National Park.
*Lodge Pole Pines make up 80% of the forest in Yellowstone.

Happy Tuesday!

Since my Man recently became the head of security at The Swedish Royal Opera House, I thought I'd publish a blog about the historic building.

The opera company was founded by King Gustav III and its first performance, "Thetis and Phel'e" with Carl Stenborg and Elisabeth Olin, was given on January 18, 1773; this was the first native speaking opera performed in Sweden.

But the first opera house was not opened until 1782 and served for a century before being replaced at the end of the 19th century. Both houses were officially called the "Royal Opera", however the terms "The Gustavian Opera" and "The Oscarian Opera", or the "Old" and "New" Opera are used when distinction is needed.

The original Stockholm Opera House, the work of architect Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz was commissioned by King Gustav III, a strong adherent of the ideal of an enlightened absolutism and as such was a great patron of the arts.

The Swedish Opera company had first been located in Bollhuset, but there was a need to separate the Opera from the theatre and give them separate buildings. Construction began in 1775 and the theatre was inaugurated on 30 September 1782 with a performance of the German composer Johann Gottlieb Naumann 's Cora och Alonzo . It was also the place for public masquerade balls, events inspired from the famous opera-balls in Paris, which was open for everyone wearing a mask at a cheap cost and somewhat ill-reputed.

The Gustavian opera building in 1880:

The building was very imposing with its center Corinthian tetrastyle portico supporting four statues and topped by the royal crown. The four-tiered auditorium was oval in shape, had excellent acoustics and sight lines. The sumptuous foyer contained neoclassic medallions and pilasters.

It was in the foyer of the opera house where the king met his fate: during a masquerade on March 16, 1792, he was shot by Jacob Johan Anckarstr'm, and died 7 days later. (In turn, this event inspired the opera Un Ballo in Maschera by Verdi.)

Following the assassination, the opera house was closed until 1 November 1792, when it was opened again, which by some was considered shocking.

The son of Gustav III, King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, did not like the Opera, possibly because of the murder of his father, and disliked the fact that the scene of his father's murder was used as a place of amusement and leisure, and when a frivolous play was performed for his queen Frederica of Baden in 1806, he decided to close it down. It remained closed until 1809, and when the king was deposed, it took until May 1812, before it was organised enough to be fully opened again.

You can find more information here!

Vakre Hjem & Interi'r has started it's own blog. Oh happy day!

From 28 August to 16 January the famous Chinese Terracotta warriors is visiting Stockholm, in the caverns beneath the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities. This is actually the first time that the 'secret' caverns will be made accessible to the general public. Up until the 1960s, they formed part of the Swedish Navy's headquarters.

The Terracotta Army (??? literally "soldier and horse funerary statues") or Terracotta Warriors and Horses is a collection of 8,099 life-size Chinese terra cotta figures of warriors and horses located near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor ( Chinese: ????). The figures were discovered in 1974 near Xi'an, Shanxi province, China.

The Terracotta Army was buried with the Emperor of Qin ( Qin Shi Huangdi ) in 210 — 209 BC (his reign over Qin was from 247 BC to 221 BC and over unified China from 221 BC to his death in 210 BC ). Their purpose was to help rule another empire with Shi Huangdi in the afterlife. Consequently, they are also sometimes referred to as "Qin's Armies".

The Terracotta Army was discovered in March 1974 by local farmers drilling a water well to the east of Mount Lishan. Mount Lishan is also where the material to make the terracotta warriors originated. In addition to the warriors, an entire man made necropolis for the emperor has been excavated.

The exhibition will consist of several hundred artefacts from six different museums and more than ten different burial sites in Xi'an and its surroundings, including the grave of the first emperor.

Source: flickr

I have a thing for pictures that tell a story, and there are many of them. The stories they tell are appalling and shocking, heartbreaking and sad. They show a world of starvation, war, heartlessness and pure evil. They show the harsh reality so many people live in and though we might not want to see this side of life, I recon it's important to know they're out there.

Although we might not be able to help them it might help us to be more grateful for what we actually have ourselves.

The afghan girl, picture shot by National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry. Sharbat Gula was one of the students in an informal school within the refugee camp; McCurry, rarely given the opportunity to photograph Afghan women, seized the opportunity and captured her image. She was approximately 12 years old at the time. She made it on the cover of National Geographic next year, and her identity was discovered in 1992.

Thisphotograph has become synonymous with The Battle of Gettysburg, which was the most bloody battle of the American Civil War. Photographer Timothy H. O'Sullivan documented and recorded the battlefield, and this picture became a sensation.

For many, this was their first chance to see, first hand, the true extent of the Civil War. However, it was not until 40 years after the battle that the pictures were mass produced, as photo-engraving had not been established. The picture shows dead confederate soldiers on the battlefield.

Alberto Korda took this picture of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, titled 'Guerrillero Heroico' or 'Heroic Guerrilla'. It shows Che, as he was known, at a memorial service for victims of the La Coubre explosion.

Despite being one of the most reproduced images in history, Korda, a lifelong Communist and supporter of the Cuban Revolution, claimed no payment for his picture.

Lawrence Beitler took this iconic photograph on August 7, 1930, showing the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, two young black men accused of raping a white girl. It sold thousands of copies, which Beitler stayed up for 10 days and nights printing them.

It has become iconic over the years as it is one of the best and most recognisable images of lynching which at the time was commonplace, but now serves only as a reminder of the pre-Civil Rights era.

The photo shows a crowd that have turned out to view the lynching, and the audience a mixture of anger and fulfilment. The photo was so popular it has been the inspiration for many poems and songs down the years, 'Strange Fruit' by the Jewish poet Abel Meeropol (later sung by Billie Holiday) being the best example.

Possibly the most talked-about, debated and controversial picture in history, the picture of the moon landing has been seen as a feat of human engineering at its best, and has been speculated as a hoax by contractors of the event.

Those in doubt of the authenticity of the picture have come up with many suggestions as to why and how it might have been faked. However, none of the accusations have been proved correct and the debate continues in some circles.

The American flag installs national pride in the US as the winners of the so-called 'Space Race', and their establishment as the world's one remaining super power.

This photo of a naked and terrified young girl running towards Pulitzer prize-winning photographer Nick Ut has entered popular culture as a symbol of the horror of the Vietnam War. It was taken during the American bombing of the village of Trang Bang, Vietnam.

It is said that this photo ended the war in Vietnam and served as an icon for the peace movement that was prevalent in the 1970s.

Often considered the most iconic photograph in history, 'tank man' or 'the unknown rebel' shows an act of courage and defiance and earned the anonymous man widespread fame.

It took place during the protests at Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989, and has subsequently become a symbol of the end of the Cold War era, and one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century. Four people claim to have took photos of the event, but the most reproduced image, and the most famous was by Jeff Widener.

Kevin Carter's photo shows a heart-breaking scene of a starving child collapsed on the ground, struggling to get to a food center during a famine in the Sudan in 1993. In the background, a vulture stalks the emaciated child. It is a horrific picture that gave people a true look at the dire condition in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Carter was part of a group of four fearless photojournalists known as the "Bang Bang Club" who travelled throughout South Africa capturing the atrocities committed during apartheid.

He won a Pulitzer Prize for this work and came under a lot of scrutiny for spending over 20 minutes setting up the photo instead of helping the child. Three months after taking the photo, he committed suicide.

I have seen this picture several times through the years and it touches my heart more and more each time. It brings tears to my eyes and my heart aches for this little, helpless girl.

This image of a child in Uganda holding hands with a missionary shows big contrast between the two people and serves as a reminder of the difference in wealth between developed and developing countries.

Mike Wells, the photographer, took this picture to show the extent of starvation in Africa. He took it for a magazine, and when they went 5 months without printing it, he decided to enter it into a competition. However, Wells has stated that he is against winning a competition with a picture of a starving boy.

Photographer Eddie Adams took this picture of the execution of Nguy?n Van L'm by Nguy?n Ng?c Loan during the Vietnam War. Adams later apologized in person to General Nguyen and his family for the irreparable damage it did to Loan's honour while he was alive.

Picture from an Einsatzgruppen soldier's personal album, labelled on the back as 'Last Jew of Vinnitsa', it shows a member of Einsatzgruppe D is just about to shoot a Jewish man kneeling before a filled mass grave in Vinnitsa, Ukraine, in 1941. All 28,000 Jews from Vinnitsa and its surrounding areas were massacred at the time.

Today, on July 20, it is exactly 41 years ago, since Neil Armstrong, Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin andMichael Collins with Apollo 11, was the first humans ever to walk on the Moon. They landed in the area 'Sea of Tranquillity'. Armstrong and Aldrinspent 21 hours and 31 minutes on the lunar surface while Collins orbited above in the command ship.

They returned to Earth with 47.5 pounds (21.55 kilograms) of lunar rocks and landed in the Pacific Ocean on July 24.

The lunar module was named Eagle for the national bird of the United States, the bald eagle, which is featured prominently on the mission insignia. The command module was named Columbia for the feminine personification of the United States used traditionally in song and poetry.

After the astronauts planted a U.S. flag on the lunar surface, they spoke with President Richard Nixon through a telephone-radio transmission which Nixon called "the most historic phone call ever made from the White House."

And of course this was when Armstrong uttered the famous words: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind".

Hugs, Bettina.