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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / May 2008More zoo pics - not completely OT
It was a beautiful day today and the 1st of May is a holiday here, so Mum, my niece and I went to the zoo. I took some pics, but they're nowhere near as gorgeous as my other niece's pictures. I did get a nice series of the European wildcat, who was putting on a whole show at the top of a tree. He really seemed to enjoy having an audience. His friend was more stand-offish, but she (I'm assuming their sex here, based on size) looked exactly like a housecat. The 1st of May is the closest we get to a carnival here in Finland, and there are a few pictures from the harbour with balloon seller and a choir that was performing in front of the presidential palace. We took the boat to the zoo, which lies on an island. http://s120.photobucket.com/albums/o185/frankiennikki/Helsinki%20Zoo%20May%20day %202008/  SignatureMarina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki. > It was a beautiful day today and the 1st of May is a holiday here, so Mum, > my niece and I went to the zoo. I took some pics, but they're nowhere near [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > http://s120.photobucket.com/albums/o185/frankiennikki/Helsinki%20Zoo%20May%20day %202008/ I can't believe it's May Day. It's the sixth freezing day in a row here. SignatureTheresa, Stinky and Dante drtmuirATearthlink.net Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh > It was a beautiful day today and the 1st of May is a holiday here, so > Mum, my niece and I went to the zoo. I took some pics, but they're [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > was more stand-offish, but she (I'm assuming their sex here, based on > size) looked exactly like a housecat. > The 1st of May is the closest we get to a carnival here in Finland, and > there are a few pictures from the harbour with balloon seller and a > choir that was performing in front of the presidential palace. We took > the boat to the zoo, which lies on an island. > http://s120.photobucket.com/albums/o185/frankiennikki/Helsinki%20Zoo%20May%20day %202008/ What is it with tigers, anyway? Every time I see a picture of one, it's lying on its back with its feet in the air. I think they're glorified housecats. :) I love the wildcat and lynx pictures, too! And the seals look like giant snails or slugs, don't they? BTW, what's the holiday on May 1? (I assume it's not International Workers' Day. :)) Is it the Pagan May Day? SignatureJoyce To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^ > What is it with tigers, anyway? Every time I see a picture of one, > it's lying on its back with its feet in the air. I think they're > glorified housecats. :) I know. I just wish I'd had a better camera so I could have zoomed in properly. > I love the wildcat and lynx pictures, too! And the seals look like > giant snails or slugs, don't they? They're usually very docile, but this time the one in the middle was harassing the other two. > BTW, what's the holiday on May 1? (I assume it's not International > Workers' Day. :)) Is it the Pagan May Day? Well, yes, it's partially the workers' day, and it's a spring celebration (based on pagan tradition) and also an academic feast. I meant to explain the white caps on everyone's head. It's not a weird captains hat trend sweeping over Finland, but the cap is given to high school graduates when they graduate. My niece who is in one of the pictures will receive hers this spring. In olden days, university students used to wear them from the 1st of May and through the summer. It wasn't that long ago; my parents still wore their caps in the 1940s. Wiki tells it all: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night SignatureMarina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki. >> BTW, what's the holiday on May 1? (I assume it's not International >> Workers' Day. :)) Is it the Pagan May Day? > Well, yes, it's partially the workers' day Interesting. Do you think that's from Soviet influence? I was under the impression, which could be totally wrong, that IWD originated in Soviet Russia. In any case, I know Russia tried to annex Finland, and partially succeeded on a number of occasions, so maybe that's how you ended up with that holiday? (And maybe I'd better stop babbling about something I know almost nothing about, before I make a total fool of myself. :)) > and it's a spring celebration (based on pagan tradition) That doesn't surprise me at all, considering that Yule is also celebrated in Finland. > and also an academic feast. I meant to explain the white caps > on everyone's head. It's not a weird captains hat trend sweeping > over Finland LOL! > but the cap is given to high > school graduates when they graduate. My niece who is in one of the > pictures will receive hers this spring. Congratulations to her! > In olden days, university > students used to wear them from the 1st of May and through the summer. > It wasn't that long ago; my parents still wore their caps in the 1940s. All I can think of is how hot I would be, having to wear a cap all summer. But then I break into a sweat when it goes much over 70 degrees (= 21 C), so I don't have much tolerance for heat. (I don't tolerate very cold temps that well, either - I'm just a wuss on both ends! :)) SignatureJoyce To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^ > > bastXXXette@sonic.net wrote > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > something I know almost nothing about, before I make a total fool of > myself. :)) AFAIK, it's celebrated throughout Europe, not just Eastern Europe. SignatureMarina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki. > AFAIK, it's celebrated throughout Europe, not just Eastern Europe. I guess it's like the US holiday of Labor Day, then? Since ours is in early September, it's usually the last hurrah before fall comes. When I was young, it was also the holiday coming right before the start of school, but now I think many schools (I'm talking about grade school, not college) start before that. SignatureJoyce To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^ Am 02.05.2008 schrieb Marina: > AFAIK, it's celebrated throughout Europe, not just Eastern Europe. Marina, you are right. 1st May is Labor Day in Germany as well. Our labor unions use this day to complain in public:-) Purrs to you from Inge and the catgang SignatureCatManiacs World: http://www.gwsystems.com/inge > Marina, you are right. 1st May is Labor Day in Germany as well. > > Our labor unions use this day to complain in public:-) Here, besides the unions, all the parties, from left to right, use the day to complain in public. :P SignatureMarina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki. >> AFAIK, it's celebrated throughout Europe, not just Eastern Europe. > Marina, you are right. 1st May is Labor Day in Germany as well. > Our labor unions use this day to complain in public:-) In many places things haven't moved on much from Chicago in 1886: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/may2008/turk-m05.shtml (Not very well covered by the media, I heard about it from a very unlikely source - but Turkish May Day commemorations have been marked by repression and outright massacre for a generation, so it's hardly surprising). ==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === <http://www.campin.me.uk> ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts > >> BTW, what's the holiday on May 1? (I assume it's not International > >> Workers' Day. :)) Is it the Pagan May Day? [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > the impression, which could be totally wrong, that IWD originated in > Soviet Russia. Not at all. It was the growing power of the USSR in the mid-20th century that caused the disappearance of IWD in American cities. Until the red scares, there were regular May Day marches and celebrations in New York City-- and I believe, Chicago, at least. When May Day became associated with newsreels of raw military displays in Moscow, and the labor movement here was under constant pressure to prove itself thoroughly red-white-and-blue, instead of just red-- May Day disappeared in the US. SignatureTheresa, Stinky and Dante drtmuirATearthlink.net Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh > <bastXXXette@sonic.net> wrote in message >> Interesting. Do you think that's from Soviet influence? I was under >> the impression, which could be totally wrong, that IWD originated in >> Soviet Russia. > Not at all. It was the growing power of the USSR in the mid-20th century > that caused the disappearance of IWD in American cities. Until the red [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > here was under constant pressure to prove itself thoroughly > red-white-and-blue, instead of just red-- May Day disappeared in the US. Well, yes, there was certainly an anti-Communist backlash in the US, and in other countries as well, that caused the labor movement to tone down its message. But I was thinking of a more direct influence, because the Soviets tried several times to invade and annex Finland, although they never fully succeeded (IIRC). I seem to remember that the Finland-Russia boundary kept moving around as a result of invasions and resistance. However - and I feel a bit sheepish about this - when Marina said it was celebrated all over Europe, I realized that it's just basically the European version of our Labor Day, which is hardly revolutionary. Somehow, I was thinking that Finland had this radical holiday, and I didn't even know that many countries celebrate the same day. Countries that I know are not exactly the workers paradise. As I said, I should just shut up, because I'm now up to my ankles in the foot-devouring department. :) By the way, yesterday was also another unrelated holiday, Yom Ha'Shoah, Holocaust Rememberance Day. It's also the State of Israel's birthday - 60 years this year. SignatureJoyce To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^ Geez and I thought May 1 was to celebrate the first day of spring. Cuba does the military thing but we always called the beginning of spring and had a may pole dance, now am showing my age. >> >> BTW, what's the holiday on May 1? (I assume it's not International >> >> Workers' Day. :)) Is it the Pagan May Day? [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > here was under constant pressure to prove itself thoroughly > red-white-and-blue, instead of just red-- May Day disappeared in the US. > Not at all. It was the growing power of the USSR in the mid-20th century > that caused the disappearance of IWD in American cities. Until the red [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > here was under constant pressure to prove itself thoroughly > red-white-and-blue, instead of just red-- May Day disappeared in the US. I just read somewhere that this date actually originated in the US as a day for celebrating the worker. Don't remember the details, but I think it was workers in Chicago marching for their rights on 1st of May in the late 1800s. OK, Joyce, you can take your foot out of your mouth now. ;) SignatureMarina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki. >> Not at all. It was the growing power of the USSR in the mid-20th century >> that caused the disappearance of IWD in American cities. Until the red [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > think it was workers in Chicago marching for their rights on 1st of May > in the late 1800s. Yup. Chicago: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_Riot ==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === <http://www.campin.me.uk> ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts > > It was a beautiful day today and the 1st of May is a holiday here, so > > Mum, my niece and I went to the zoo. I took some pics, but they're [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > lying on its back with its feet in the air. I think they're glorified > housecats. :) We are lucky here in New York, because of the super tiger habitat in the Bronx Zoo. It's a hillside, and you view from inside a glass enclosure, and the tigers simply don't care, and go about their business-- which looks pretty catlike. They lie around, clean themselves and each other, carry stuff around (like sticks or big rubber balls), and periodically whap each other on the head. Of course, unlike your little masters, they like to go for a dunk in the pool. The resident male, Sasha, is New York Magazine's choice for "Best Zoo Animal," whatever you make of that-- but he is definitely a one-cat show. He is a huge, playful dude, interested in everything, and tries to throw his weight (something like 500 pounds) around his sisters, but defers to his mom! SignatureTheresa, Stinky and Dante drtmuirATearthlink.net Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh > It was a beautiful day today and the 1st of May is a holiday here, so > Mum, my niece and I went to the zoo. I took some pics, but they're [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > http://s120.photobucket.com/albums/o185/frankiennikki/Helsinki%20Zoo%20May%20day %202008/ Great pics! Best wishes, Polonca and Soncek |
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