Unusual Sports

Created: 25th August 2000
Unusual Sports
bbc.co.uk

A sequence of unusual sports including mud wrestling and underwater football

Sport plays a big part in many people's lives and the two single biggest events in the world are both sporting occasions - the soccer World Cup Finals and the Olympic Games. However, there's another side to this sporting life of ours - a rather daft side. This entry takes a look at the odd pursuits and weird endeavours that provide a sort of platform upon which we humans can demonstrate, once again, our essential eccentricity. Stupidity, even. Welcome to the rather disturbing world of unusual sports.

Man versus Horse

In Wales there's a famous race called the Man Versus Horse Marathon. A cross country course is laid out, and human competitors pit their stamina against that of a posse of chosen horses. The course is 22 miles long with many natural obstacles to overcome. The steep slopes are a great test of the endurance of both man and beast, and the tricky forestry, which a man may dart through but which a horse can only travel around, is equally difficult terrain.

The ultimate aim is to run the course and beat the first horse. This was recently done for the first time by a marine who had been training especially for the event. He won a large cash prize - a prize that's been getting bigger every year.

Office Depot Jousting

Equipment: Two office chairs, two garden hoes, two binders, people, and an endless number of halls to play in.

Players: Two for each team, one to sit in the chair and joust, and one to push the chair around if the other guy decides to run, or hold it still if players are stationary. A referee.

History: The telling of the history of this amusing office 'sport' is best left to of one our 'experienced' Researchers:

Well, my friend was in Office Depot (an office supply store) and he discovered, while riding around in a very expensive, brand new office chair, that the ladders used to reach merchandise high up had, for some unknown purpose, ordinary garden hoes hanging off of them. He then grabbed said hoe as he was whooshing past one and discovered it was weighted just right to stab at things. He then thought, 'Wouldn't it be fun to get a bunch of guys together and practice this'. After a round or two, and many painful bruises, he discovered a shield was needed. Hence the binder.

Rules: Games last as long as you can manage to play before you get kicked out of the store. This can be a pretty long time if you're smart and stick to the back half of the store. The winner is the guy who takes the most hits with the fewest bruises. In some cases there are boundaries, ranging from one aisle to an entire store. Penalties ensue for one guy just turning tail and running away. This is considered cowardly and, for some reason, cowering in a corner attracts more attention than fighting bravely with your hoe. The ref is mostly there to call the start and to inform individuals when the group as a whole has been kicked out.

That's about all - so now go forth into the world and annoy as many managers as you can.

Canoe Jousting

While this is not a well-known sport, it is a fun thing to do. Apparently. Two canoes race up river to a designated point. Once that point is reached by both canoes, the jousting then begins. The object is to submerse the opponent's canoe by whatever means possible, without the use of tools (ie paddles). While poles were used in the initial inception of the sport, they were proven too dangerous to use among friends. There is usually a judge on the river bank to decide when a canoe is submersed. While the judge is not always necessary, there have been some difficult calls. Scheduling of this event is usually difficult unless the participants have been drinking for the better part of the morning or the afternoon. There are no formal leagues as yet, but the popularity of the sport is growing.

Ditch Snorkelling

Ditch snorkelling takes place in the Fenlands of East Anglia. People don wet suits and snorkels and swim up courses laid out among the drainage ditches that the Fens are famous for. As these ditches are very muddy, a mask is worn to protect the eyes and therefore competitors have little chance of seeing even their hands in front of their faces.

In the West Midlands of England, ditch snorkelling is known as 'bog snorkelling1'. The two sports are very similar; bog snorkelling involves wearing a mask and flippers, and competitors attempt to make progress, at full speed, through a peat bog. Exactly why anyone would want to do such a thing, is not immediately transparent.

Wife Carrying

As well as throwing gum boots like the Australians (what weird, weird people there are in this world), the Finns have the great honour of holding the annual Wife Carrying World Championships. What you do is simply grab a hold of your significant other, and carry her (or him) to the finish line faster than the other competitors. Cool.

The games are hosted in the small town of Sonkajärvi in upper Savo, in the eastern part of Finland. The rules say nothing at all about the weight of the wife, only that she can be yours as well as somebody else's. Also, the winning record time for 1999 was apparently included in the Guinness Book of Records.

The Wife Carrying World Championships website explains the rules further and has an official entry form. The site also says that this year's World Champions were a couple from Estonia and that the Estonians actually swept the board, leaving no medals at all for the poor Finns. Oh dear.

Also, the originators of the sauna wouldn't make do without the annual Sauna World Championships. 'Competitors' have to try and stay in a steaming hot room longer than anyone else without passing out.

Todd River Regatta

Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia is sited on the banks of the Todd River. Each year a regatta is held on the river. You may not think this is so strange. The thing is, the river bed is dry. Like many rivers in central Australia, it only flows when there has been torrential rain. The rest of the time the water actually flows beneath the sands. Groups get together and make 'boats' which they then race down the river bed.

Nutters.

Tuna Throwing

In Port Lincoln, South Australia, there is an annual competition of tuna throwing. Dean Lukin, the Olympic Gold medalist weight lifter, is a also a champion tuna thrower. He grew up on tuna boats and did some of his Olympic training while on the boats hefting around fully-grown tuna fish. Incidentally, a tuna fish can weigh in excess of 50kg - nearly as much as an adult human.

Picnic Races

These sports have long been the bane of large picnics in the USA, such as those for corporations or large clubs. They are played by both children and adults and both groups are entertaining to watch. The children are entertaining because of their general lack of co-ordination, and the adults are entertaining because of their gradual inebriation... and subsequent lack of co-ordination.

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Wheelbarrow Race: Two players to each team. One player gets on all fours and the other player takes up that person's legs. Thus you have one person pedalling along the ground with his hands and another player carrying his feet directly behind him. The winners are the team that reach the finish line first, ie that team that falls over the fewest times.
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Three-legged Race: Two players to a team again. They stand side-by-side and tie their adjoining legs together. The winners are, again, the team that falls over the fewest times or manages to drag their fallen partner through the grass the fastest.
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Potato Sack Race: This is an individual event. Players step into an old burlap potato sack and pull up the sides with their hands. Racers hop to the finish line, and, of course, fall over.

Hurling

No, American readers, this is not what you think. This is not a barfing competition. Or a technicolour-yawn competition. This is a very popular game played in Ireland. It can best be described as sort of like field hockey, and on first glance, it appears to be a sport bereft of any rules. It is, in fact, a tough, physical game, which requires a lot of skill to play properly and is regarded as one of the fastest field games in the world. Here are the basics:

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Two teams, 15 men on each team. Each player has a hurley, which is an ash stick with a wide, flat end - sort of like a hockey stick, only lighter and wider at the end.
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Small ball, known as a sliotar (pronounced slitter), about the same size as a hockey ball.
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Goals are 'H' shaped. If you hit the ball above the crossbar, you score 1 point. If you hit the ball below the crossbar, you score a goal, which is the equivalent of 3 points.
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The game lasts for 70 minutes, 35 minutes each side. Players can hit the ball on the ground, or rise the ball by lifting it into their hand using the hurley. The player may also hit the ball in mid-air with the hurley. It is possible for a player to run with the ball balanced on the end of his hurley - a technique known as a 'solo run'.
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Tackling is done in a number of ways. A player can shoulder charge his opponent, or he can clash hurleys with his opponent in order to get the opponent's ball. Punching and kicking is forbidden.
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Fouls are rewarded with a 'free' or a penalty, just like soccer. The player rises the ball and hits the ball in mid air, either towards another team player, or towards the goal.

Hurling is played all over Ireland, but it is most popular in the southern counties of Munster and Leinster. The main teams are Cork, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Offaly, Limerick, Clare and Galway. The principal game of the hurling championship is played in Dublin in mid-September. It is known as the All Ireland Final. Attendances can reach over 70,000 people for this game. The governing body is the Irish Gaelic Athletic Association, or the GAA. They are also responsible for Gaelic Football, which can best be described as soccer without any rules.

Cheese Chasing

Cheese chasing is an event whereby members of an English village called Brockworth in Gloucestershire, send a good-sized cheese down a steep hill whereupon all the cheese-chasing contestants chase after it. The local council has at times banned the event due to too many people getting injured. They usually get really drunk, build up a good head of steam and then tear down the hill after the tumbling cheese. The cheese always seems to win.

Goat Racing

The village of Falmouth2 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, holds goat races every year. This year's poster for the event reads something like:

The 21st annual Falmouth Goat Races will be held on Saturday, 23 Sept from 9am - 5pm in Governor Stable Park in Conoy Township.

The annual event raises money for the Falmouth Civic Association which uses the funds to pay for a citizen of the year banquet, a community Easter egg hunt, and a New Year's Eve celebration. Recent races brought in more than $5,000.

The event also has a lot of carnival attractions such as greasy food and games for the wee ones. They even have a tobacco-spitting contest in which participants spit a long line of chewing tobacco juice at a target on a hot stovetop. Closest to the target is the winner, though they also have a spitting for distance category. And for the kids, they give them Tootsie Rolls and let them spit the gooey chocolate juice for distance and accuracy just like the grown ups with their tobacco juice. Also, the event features some fun games like putting little kids on sheep's backs and seeing how long they can stay aboard.

The legend of the races is traced back to some long-time village residents sitting around the Village Store, idly chatting. It seems that John Devaney was a little down on his luck at the horse race track. Seeing as they all had goats as family pets, Glen Hipple remarked that John might as well bet on goats. Now goat racers from miles around come to the tiny village in the shadow of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station to try their luck. There are even goat rentals for those who want to get in on the action at the last minute.

All in all, it's fun for the whole family - like a redneck Olympics.

Haxey Hood

Haxey Hood is a strange game played out on 6 January each year on a field between the towns of Haxey and Westwoodside in North Lincolnshire, England. Each team tries to get the hood (usually a piece of rolled canvas or leather) to their own pub. What happens is a huge ruck and scrimmage with however many people have bothered to turn up to play for either side. The game doesn't really have any rules - although women and children don't usually play - or a time limit.

Underwater Rugby

The game of underwater rugby is played in a swimming pool of approximately 4m depth. Two teams of 11 players aim to make a goal by getting the weighted ball in the opposing team's basket. Each basket is at the bottom of the pool. This is quite an exciting game as normal gravitational rules do not apply to any of the manoeuvres or tactics you might instinctively seek to employ.

Underwater rugby. Whatever next?

1 'Bog' snorkelling might well have originated in mid-Wales and then migrated across the English border into the West Midlands.
2 Falmouth is pronounced 'foul-mouth' in the local dialect. Cue Beavis and Butthead-style sniggering.

Royal Ascot Racecourse

Ascot Racecourse is a racecourse, located in the village of Ascot in the English county of Berkshire used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is closely associated with the British Royal Family and is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 31 annual Group 1 races. The site belongs to the Crown Estate.

Ascot Racecourse was founded in 1711 by Queen Anne. Its first race, "Her Majesty's Plate," with a purse of 100 guineas, was held on August 11, 1711. Seven horses competed, each carrying a weight of 12 stones (76 kg). This first race comprised three separate four-mile (6437 m) heats.

In 1813, Parliament passed an act to ensure that the grounds would remain a public racecourse. In 1913, Parliament passed an act creating the Ascot Authority, an entity that manages the racecourse to this day. From its creation until 1945, the only racing that took place at Ascot was the Royal Meeting, a four-day event. Since that date, more fixtures have been introduced to the grounds, notably the Steeplechase and hurdles in 1965.

Royal Ascot

The centrepiece of Ascot’s year, Royal Ascot is one of the world’s most famous race meetings, steeped in history dating back to 1711. The royal family who arrive each day in a horse drawn carriage attend the meeting. It is a major event in the British social calendar, and press coverage of the attendees and what they are wearing often exceeds coverage of the actual racing. Attendees must wear a morning suit in the royal enclosure, and most people outside of this section choose to wear one any way. The royal enclosure is very exclusive, with people having to be invited to gain admittance, and thus very difficult for aspirant nouveaus.

Over 300,000 people make the annual visit to Berkshire during Royal Ascot week, making this is Europe’s best-attended race meeting. Many of the visitors know nothing about racing, and are there purely for the social side and to drink large quantities of champagne. This leads to a split amongst racing fans, some of whom are glad to see racing in the spotlight, and getting more attention, while others do not like the meeting despite the quality of racing.

Although there are no enormous races at the Royal meeting there are many very good ones, and it is the best flat meeting in the world, with a total of sixteen Group races on offer, with at least one Group One event on each of the five days. The Ascot Gold Cup is on Ladies' Day on the Thursday. There is over £3,000,000 of prize money on offer.
From Wikipedia~The free encyclopaedia

Wimbledon Tennis

The Championships, Wimbledon, commonly referred to as simply "Wimbledon", is the oldest and arguably most prestigious event in the sport of tennis. Held every June or July (starts 6 weeks before the first Monday in August), the tournament is the third Grand Slam event played each year, preceded by the Australian Open and the French Open, and followed by the U.S. Open. The tournament (which is the only one of the Grand Slam events played on grass) lasts for two weeks, subject to extensions for rain. Separate tournaments are simultaneously held for Gentlemen's Singles, Ladies' Singles, Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Youth tournaments — Boys' Singles, Girls' Singles, Boys' Doubles and Girls' Doubles — are also held. Additionally, special invitational tournaments are held: the 35 and over Gentlemen's Doubles, 45 and over Gentlemen's Doubles, 35 and over Ladies' Doubles and wheelchair doubles.

History

The Championships were first played under the control of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in 1877 at a ground near Worple Road, Wimbledon; the only event held was Gentlemen's Singles. In 1884, the All England Club added Ladies' Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles. Ladies' Doubles and Mixed Doubles were added in 1913. The Championships moved to their present location, at a ground near Church Road, in 1922. As with the other three Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players until the advent of the open era in tennis in 1968. Britons are very proud of the tournament but it is a source of national anguish and humour — no British man has won the singles event at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, and no British woman since Virginia Wade in 1977.
Complete Wimbledon article from Wikipedia

Bowls

Bowls (also known as Lawn Bowls or Lawn Bowling) is a precision sport where the goal is to roll slightly radially asymmetrical balls (called bowls) closer to a smaller white ball (the "jack" or "kitty") than one's opponent is able to do. It is related to bocce and pétanque. This game is most popular in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and in other UK territories.

The game

Bowls is usually played on a large, rectangular, precisely levelled and manicured grass or synthetic surface known as a bowling green which is divided into parallel playing strips called rinks. An indoor variation on carpet is also played. In the simplest competition, singles, one of the two opponents begins a segment of the competition (in bowling parlance, an "end"), by placing the mat and rolling the jack to the other end of the green as a target. Once it has come to rest, the players take turns to roll their bowls from the mat towards the jack and thereby build up the "head". A bowl is allowed to curve outside the rink boundary on it's path, but must come to rest within the rink boundary to remain in play. Bowls reaching the ditch are dead and removed from play, except in the event when one has "touched" the jack on its way. "Touchers" are marked with chalk and remain alive in play even though they are in the ditch. Similarly if the jack is knocked into the ditch it is still alive unless it is out of bounds to the side resulting in a "dead" end which is replayed. After each competitor has delivered all of their bowls (four each in singles), the distance of the closest bowls to the jack is determined (the jack may have been displaced) and points are awarded for each bowl which a competitor has closer than the opponent's nearest to the jack. For instance, if a competitor has bowled two bowls closer to the jack than their competitor's nearest, they are awarded two points. The exercise is then repeated for the next end, a game of bowls typically being of twenty one ends.
Read the complete article from wikipedia.org

The FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup (often called the Football World Cup, Soccer World Cup or simply the World Cup) is the most important competition in international football, and the world's most representative team sport event. Organised by Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's governing body, the World Cup is contested by the men's national football teams of FIFA member nations. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930 (except in 1942 and 1946 due to World War II), however, it is more of an ongoing event as the qualifying rounds of the competition take place over the three years preceding the final rounds.

The final tournament phase (often called the "Finals") involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period in a previously nominated host nation, with these games making it the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world. In the 17 tournaments held, only seven nations have ever won the World Cup Finals. Brazil is the current holder, as well as the most successful World Cup team, having won the tournament five times, while Germany and Italy follow with three titles each. The next football World Cup Finals will be held in Germany between June 9 and July 9, 2006.

Previous international competitions

The first international football match was played in 1872 between England and Scotland, although at this stage the sport was rarely played outside Great Britain. As football began to increase in popularity, it was held as a demonstration sport (with no medals awarded) at the 1900, 1904 and 1906 Summer Olympics before football became an official competition at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Organised by England's Football Association, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. The England national amateur football team won the event in both 1908 and 1912.

With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The competition is often described as The First World Cup, and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland. The first tournament was won by West Auckland, an amateur side from north-east England that was invited after the Football Association refused to be associated with the competition. West Auckland returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, and were given the trophy to keep forever, as per the rules of the competition.

In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for organizing the event. This led the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition, at the 1924 Summer Olympics. Uruguay won the tournament, before winning the gold medal again in 1928, with another South American team, Argentina, taking silver. On 28 May 1928, FIFA made the decision to stage their own international tournament. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and due to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country.

The first official World Cup

The 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football as part of the programme due to the low popularity of football in the United States. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games. FIFA president Jules Rimet thus set about organizing the inaugural World Cup tournament to be held in Uruguay in 1930. The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. Indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total 13 nations took part — seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America.

The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and the USA, who beat Mexico 4-1 and Belgium 3-0, respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France. Four days later, the first World Cup hat-trick was achieved by Bert Patenaude of the USA in the Americans' 3-0 win against Paraguay. In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and became the first nation to win a World Cup.

Growth

The issues facing the early World Cup tournaments were the difficulties of intercontinental travel, and war. Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 and 1938 tournaments, with Brazil the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath.

The 1950 World Cup was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against a foreign influence to football,but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation. The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups

In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams qualified for each finals tournament (except in a few cases where teams withdrew after qualifying). Most were from Europe and Latin America, with a very small minority from Africa, Asia and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and Latin American teams (with the notable exception of North Korea, who reached the 1966 quarterfinals).

The finals were expanded to 24 teams in 1982, then 32 in 1998, allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. In recent years, these comparatively new participants have enjoyed more success, with Cameroon reaching the quarter-finals in 1990, and South Korea, Senegal and USA all reaching the elimination rounds in 2002. 197 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 edition, and all but three of the 207 FIFA member nations have previously entered the competition, with recent new members Comoros and East Timor not yet having the chance to do so, and Bhutan the only other current member never to have entered.

An equivalent tournament for women's football, the FIFA Women's World Cup, was first held in 1991. It is similar to the men's tournament in format, but so far has not generated the same level of interest.

Football World Cup Trophy

From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the Cup winner. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde but was renamed in 1946 in honour of the FIFA president who organized the first tournament. In 1970, Brazil's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the trophy permanently. However, the trophy was stolen in 1983, and has never been recovered.

After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. This is not awarded to the winning nation permanently, irrespective of how many World Cups they win. Argentina, Germany (as West Germany) and Brazil have all won the second trophy twice. It will not be retired until the name plaque has been entirely filled with the names of winning nations in 2038.

FIFA World Cup qualification

Since the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament. They are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, Europe), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams, but also subject to lobbying from the confederations.

The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament, and last over a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations. Usually, one or two places are awarded to winners of Intercontinental Play-offs. For example, the winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed team from the South American zone entered a play-off to decide which team would qualify for the 2006 World Cup . From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations have received an automatic berth in the finals. This right also used to be granted to the defending champion, but from the 2006 finals onwards, this entitlement has been withdrawn, requiring the champions to qualify as well .

Final tournament

The current finals tournament features 32 national teams competing over a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages, a group stage and a knockout stage.

In the first stage (the group stage), teams are drawn into eight groups of four. Eight teams are seeded at the draw, and assigned a group. The other teams are drawn at random. Since 1998, constraints have applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation. Each group plays a round-robin tournament, guaranteeing that every qualifying nation will play at least three matches. The last round of matches of each group are held simultaneously to prevent collusion between nations. Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (prior to this, winners only received two points). The top two teams from each group advance to the second stage (the knockout stage).

The knockout stage is a single-elimination round in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner, if necessary. In the Round of 16, the winner of each group plays against the runner-up from another group. This is followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final. The losing semi-finalists contest a third place match.

FIFA World Cup hosts

Early World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA's congress. The choice of location was highly controversial, given the three week boat journey between South America and Europe, the two centres of strength in football at the time. The decision to hold the first cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing. The next two world cups were both held in Europe. The decision to hold the second of these, the 1938 FIFA World Cup in France was controversial, as the American countries had been led to understand that the World Cup would rotate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the tournament. After World War Two, to avoid any future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternation between South/North America and Europe, which continued until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The system evolved so that the host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA's executive committee. This is done under a single transferable vote system. The decision is currently made six years in advance of the tournament.

Media coverage

The World Cup was first televised in 1954, and is now the most widely-viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games. The cumulative audience of the World Cup 2002 event — summing over all matches — is estimated to be 28.8 billion. 1.1 billion individuals have watched the final match of this tournament. The draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, has been watched by 300 million viewers.

Each Football World Cup usually has its own mascot. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot. Mascots for the forthcoming World Cup 2006 are Goleo, a lion, and Pille, a football.
Full Article @ Wikipedia.org

Fishing

Fishing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fishing is the activity of hunting for fish. By extension, the term fishing is also applied to hunting for other aquatic animals such as various types of shellfish as well as squid, octopus, turtles, frogs and some edible marine invertebrates. The term fishing is usually not applied to the hunting of aquatic mammals such as whales. Fishing is an ancient and worldwide practice with many techniques and traditions, and it has been transformed by modern technological developments. An organized fishing effort, typically centred around a particular commercially valuable species, is known as a fishery.

Fishing in antiquity
Origins

Fishing is a very ancient practice that dates back at least to the Mesolithic period which began about 10,000 years ago. We know from archaeological features such as shell middens, discarded fish bones and cave paintings that sea foods were important and consumed in significant quantities. During this time, most people lived a hunter-gather lifestyle and were, of necessity, constantly on the move. However, where there are a few early examples of permanent settlements (though not necessarily permanently occupied) such as those at Lepenski Vir, they are almost always associated with fishing as a major source of food.

The Neolithic culture and technology spread worldwide between about 8,000 and 4,000 years ago. With the new technologies of farming and pottery came the basic forms of most fishing methods known today.

Fishing may even pre-date the development of modern humans. There is a controversial proposal called the aquatic ape hypothesis which proposes that the ancestors of modern humans went through one or more periods of time living in a semi-aquatic setting and that they gathered most of their food from shallow coastal or other waters before their descendants returned to a more land-based existence.

Ancient representations

The ancient river Nile was full of fish; fresh and dried fish were a staple food for much of the population. The Egyptians invented various implements and methods for fishing and these are clearly illustrated in tomb scenes, drawings, and papyrus documents. Simple reed boats served for fishing. Woven nets, weir baskets made from willow branches, harpoons and hook and line (the hooks having a length of between eight millimetres and eighteen centimetres) were all being used. By the 12th dynasty, metal hooks with barbs were being used. As is fairly common today, the fish were clubbed to death after capture. Nile perch, catfish and eels were among the most important fish. Some representations hint at fishing being pursued as a pastime.

Fishing scenes are rarely represented in ancient Greek culture, a reflection of the low social status of fishing. There is a wine cup, dating from 510–500 BC, that shows a boy crouched on a rock with a fishing-rod in his right hand and a basket in his left. In the water below, a rounded object of the same material with an opening on the top. This has been identified as a fish-cage used for keeping live fish, or as a fish-trap. It is clearly not a net. This object is currently in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Pictorial evidence of Roman fishing comes from mosaics which show fishing from boats with rod and line as well as nets. Various species such as conger, lobster, sea urchin, octopus and cuttlefish are illustrated. In a parody of fishing, a type of gladiator called retiarius was armed with a trident and a casting-net. He would fight against the murmillo, who carried a short sword and a helmet with the image of a fish on the front.

The Greco-Roman sea god Neptune is depicted as wielding a fishing trident.

Ancient literature

There are numerous references to fishing in ancient literature; in most cases, however, the descriptions of nets and fishing-gear do not go into detail, and the equipment is described in general terms. An early example from the Bible in Job 41:7: Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?.

The Greek historian Polybius ((ca 203 BC-120 BC), in his Histories, describes hunting for swordfish by using a harpoon with a barbed and detachable head.

Oppian of Corycus, a Greek author wrote a major treatise on sea fishing, the Halieulica or Halieutika, composed between 177 and 180. This is the earliest such work to have survived intact to the modern day. Oppian describes various means of fishing including the use of nets cast from boats, scoop nets held open by a hoop, spears and tridents, and various traps "which work while their masters sleep". Oppian’s description of fishing with a "motionless" net is also very interesting:

The fishers set up very light nets of buoyant flax and wheel in a circle round about while they violently strike the surface of the sea with their oars and make a din with sweeping blow of poles. At the flashing of the swift oars and the noise the fish bound in terror and rush into the bosom of the net which stands at rest, thinking it to be a shelter: foolish fishes which, frightened by a noise, enter the gates of doom. Then the fishers on either side hasten with the ropes to draw the net ashore.

From ancient representations and literature it is clear that fishing boats were typically small, lacking a mast or sail, and were only used close to the shore.

In traditional Chinese history, history begins with three semi-mystical and legendary individuals who taught the Chinese the arts of civilization around 2800-2600 BC: of these Fu Hsi was reputed to be the inventor of writing, hunting, trapping, and fishing.

Golf

The History of Golf
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The origin of golf is open to debate among Chinese, French and Scotish. Golf is widely believed to be a Scottish invention, as the game was mentioned in two 15th-century laws prohibiting the playing of the game of "gowf". Some scholars, however, suggest that this refers to another game which is much akin to shinty or hurling, or to modern field hockey. They point out that a game of putting a small ball in a hole in the ground using golf clubs was played in 17th-century Netherlands. The term golf is believed to have originated from a Germanic word for "club".

The oldest playing golf course in the world is The Old Links at Musselburgh. Evidence has shown that golf was played on Musselburgh Links in 1672 although Mary Queen of Scots reputedly played there in 1567.

Golf courses have not always had eighteen holes. The St Andrews Links occupy a narrow strip of land along the sea. As early as the 15th century, golfers at St. Andrews established a customary route through the undulating terrain, playing to holes whose locations were dictated by topography. The course that emerged featured eleven holes, laid out end to end from the clubhouse to the far end of the property. One played the holes out, turned around, and played the holes in, for a total of 22 holes. In 1764, several of the holes were deemed too short, and were therefore combined. The number was thereby reduced from 11 to nine, so that a complete round of the links comprised 18 holes.

The major changes in equipment since the 19th century have been better mowers, especially for the greens, better golf ball designs, using rubber and man-made materials since about 1900, and the introduction of the metal shaft beginning in the 1930s. Also in the 1930s the wooden golf tee was invented. In the 1970s the use of metal to replace wood heads began, and shafts made of graphite composite materials were introduced in the 1980s.

In January 2006, debate provoked again over who invented golf again. Recent evidence unearthed by Prof. Ling Hongling of Lanzhou University, China suggests that a game similar to modern-day golf was played in China since Southern Tang Dynasty, 500 years before golf was first mentioned in Scotland.

Dongxuan Records (Chinese:東軒錄) from the Song Dynasty describe a game called chuiwan (捶丸) and also include drawings. It was played with 10 clubs including a cuanbang, pubang, and shaobang, which are comparable to a driver, two-wood, and three-wood. Clubs were inlaid with jade and gold, suggesting golf was for the wealthy. Chinese archive includes references to a Southern Tang Dynasty official who asked his daughter to dig holes as a target. Lin suggested golf was exported to Europe and then Scotland by Mongolian travellers in the late Middle Ages.

Spokeman for Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, one of the oldest Scotland golf organization, said "Stick and ball games have been around for many centuries, but golf as we know it today, played over 18 holes, clearly originated in Scotland."

Antiques

Antiques
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Antiques (Latin antiquus, old) are objects which have reached an age which makes them a witness of a previous era in human society.

Antiques are usually objects which show some degree of craftsmanship, or a certain attention to design such as a desk or the early automobile. In a consumer society, an antique is above all an object whose atypical construction and age give it a market value superior to similar objects of recent manufacture. Any historical museum makes a considerable use of antiques in order to illustrate historical events and give them a practical context.

Just about any object can become an antique if it survives long enough, but snob appeal or social acceptance only can ensure that it is actually worth something in the market place.

The term "antique" is used as an insult in some instances, usually to depreciate the usefulness of an object or a procedure. Those who reject the trappings of a consumer society reject the markets which inflate the monetary value of antique objects, regardless of their usefulness or aesthetic qualities.

Antiques are bought at antique stores, or passed down as an estate. Some valuable antiques can be bought from antique dealers and auction services or purchased online through websites and online auctions.
Contents

Definition of Antique

The definition of antique varies from source to source, product to product and year to year. But, there are some time tested definitions of antique for you to consider.

* An item which is at least 75 years old and is collected or desirable due to rarity, condition, utility, or some other unique feature. Cars for example are considered antiques in the U.S. if they are older than 25 years.
* antique (noun) - Any piece of furniture or decorative object or the like produced in a former period and valuable because of its beauty or rarity.

Using this definition will help you begin to understand the differences between genuine antique pieces, vintage items and collectible objects.

The term is sometimes conventionally restricted to the remains of ancient art, such as sculptures, gems, medals, seals, &c. In a most limited sense it applies only to Greek and Roman art, and includes neither the artistic remains of other ancient nations nor any product of classical art of a later date than the fall of the western empire.

Antiquing

Antiquing is the act of shopping, identifying, negotiating, or bargaining for antiques. Items can be bought for personal use, gifts, and in the case of brokers and dealers, profit. Antiquing is performed at garage sales, estate sales, resort towns, antiques districts, collectives, and international auction houses.

Poetry

Poetry
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Poetry (from Ancient Greek: ποιέω/ποιῶ (poiéo/poió) = I create) is traditionally a written art form (although there is also an ancient and modern poetry which relies mainly upon oral or pictorial representations) in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. The increased emphasis on the aesthetics of language and the deliberate use of features such as repetition, meter and rhyme, are what are commonly used to distinguish poetry from prose, but debates over such distinctions still persist, while the issue is confounded by such forms as prose poetry and poetic prose. Some modernists (such as the Surrealists) approach this problem of definition by defining poetry not as a literary genre within a set of genres, but as the very manifestation of human imagination, the substance from which all creative acts derive.

Poetry often uses extremely condensed forms to convey an emotion or an idea to the reader or listener, as well as using devices such as assonance, alliteration and repetition to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Furthermore, poems often make heavy use of imagery, word association, and musical qualities. Because of its reliance on "accidental" features of language and connotational meaning, poetry is notoriously difficult to translate. Similarly, poetry's use of nuance and symbolism can make it difficult to interpret a poem or can leave a poem open to multiple interpretations.

It is difficult to define poetry definitively, especially when one considers that poetry encompasses forms as different as epic narratives and haiku. Needless to say, many poets have given their own definitions. Carl Sandburg said that "poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits." Robert Frost once said "Poetry is the first thing lost in translation."

Nature of poetry

Poetry can be differentiated from prose, which is language meant to convey meaning in a less condensed way by using more logical or narrative structures. This does not imply poetry is illogical. Poetry is often created from the desire to escape the logical, as well as expressing feelings and other expressions in a tight, condensed manner. English Romantic poet John Keats termed this escape from logic Negative Capability.

Prose poetry combines the characteristics of poetry with the superficial appearance of prose. Other forms include narrative poetry and dramatic poetry, used to tell stories and so resemble novels and plays.

The Greek verb ποιέω [poiéō (= I make or create)], gave rise to three words: ποιητής [poiētḗs (= the one who creates)], ποίησις [poíēsis (= the act of creation)] and ποίημα [poíēma (= the thing created)]. From these we get three English words: poet (the creator), poesy (the creation) and poem (the created). A poet is therefore one who creates and poetry is what the poet creates. The underlying concept of the poet as creator is not uncommon. For example, in Anglo-Saxon a poet is a scop (shaper or maker) and in Scots makar.

Painting

Painting
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Oil painting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oil painting is done on surfaces with pigment ground into a medium of oil — especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Other oils occasionally used include poppyseed oil, walnut oil, and safflower oil. These oils give various properties to the oil paint, such as less yellowing or different drying times. The oil dries by oxidation, not evaporation, and is usually dry to the touch in a day to two weeks. It is generally dry enough to be varnished in six months to a year. Art conservators do not consider an oil painting completely dry until it is 60 to 80 years old.

Oil paint was probably developed for decorative or functional purposes in the High Middle Ages. Surfaces like shields — both those used in tournaments and those hung as decorations — were more durable when painted in oil-based media than when painted in the traditional tempera paints.

Many Renaissance sources credit northern European painters of the 15th century with the "invention" of painting with oil media on wood panel — Jan van Eyck is often mentioned as the "inventor". The popularity of oil grew in 16th century Venice, where a water-durable medium was essential.

Recent advances in chemistry have produced modern water miscible oil paints that can be used with and cleaned up with water. These are still "real" oil-paints in every sense of the meaning. Small alterations in the molecular structure of the oil creates this water miscible property.

A still-newer type of paint, heat-set oils, remain liquid until heated to 265–280 °F (130–138 °C) for about 15 minutes. Since the paint never dries otherwise, cleanup is not needed (except when one wants to use a different color and the same brush). Although not technically true oils (the medium is an unidentified "non-drying synthetic oily liquid, imbedded with a heat sensitive curing agent"), the paintings resemble oil paintings and are usually shown as oil paintings.

Process of oil painting

The process of oil painting varies from artist to artist, but often includes certain steps. First, the artist prepares the surface. Although surfaces like linoleum, wooden panel, pressed wood, and cardboard have been used, the most common surface is canvas. Traditional artists' canvas is made from linen, but the less expensive cotton fabric has gained popularity. The artist first prepares a wooden frame called a “stretcher" or a "strainer." The canvas is then pulled across the wooden frame and tacked or stapled tightly to it. The next step is for the artist to apply a ground to isolate the canvas from the acidic qualities of the paint. Traditionally, the canvas was coated with a layer of rabbit skin glue and primed with subsequent layers of finely ground chalk and rabbit skin glue. Later the process was changed to a priming of rabbit skin glue with subsquent layers of whiting (gypsum, chalk, barium oxide, titianium(IV) dioxide) mixed with linseed oil. Modern gessos are made of titianium dioxide with an acrylic binder. The artist might apply several layers of gesso, sanding each smooth after it has dried.


Next the artist might sketch an outline of their subject prior to applying pigment to the surface. “Pigment” may be any number of natural substances with color, such as sulfur for yellow or cobalt for blue. The pigment is mixed with oil, usually linseed oil but other oils may be used as well. The various oils dry differently creating assorted effects. Traditionally, an artist mixed his or her own paints for each project, but in the late 1800’s paint in tubes became available. Artists then could mix standard colors easily to create subtle variations of hue.


The artist most often uses a brush to apply the paint. Brushes are made from a variety of fibers to create different effects. For example, brushes made with hog’s bristle might be used for bolder strokes. Brushes made from miniver, which is squirrel fur, might be used for finer details. Sizes of brushes also create different effects. For example, a "round" is a pointed brush used for detail work. "Bright" brushes are used to apply broad swaths of color. The artist might also apply paint with a palette knife, which is a flat, metal blade. A palette knife may also be used to remove paint from the canvas when necessary. Some artists even paint with their fingers.

Most artists paint in layers. The first coat or "underpainting" is laid down first, painted normally with turpentine thinned paint. This layer helps to "tone" the canvas, and cover the white of the gesso. Many artists use this layer to sketch out the composition. After this layer dries, one way the artist might then begin is by painting a "mozaic" of color swatches, working from darkest to lightest. The borders of the colors are blended together when the "mozaic" is completed. This layer is then left to dry before applying details. After it is dry, the artist will apply "glazes" to the painting, sometimes using a process of "Fat over Lean" which means more oil/paint ratio than the previous layer. A classical work might take weeks or even months to layer the paint properly. Artists in later periods such as the impressionist era often blended the wet paint on the canvas without following this layering method. This method is called "Alla Prima." When the image is finished and dried for up to a year, an artist would seal the work with a layer of varnish typically made from damar gum crystals dissolved in turpentine.

Watercolor painting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Watercolor is a painting technique using paint made of colorants suspended or dissolved in water. Although the grounds used in watercolor painting vary, the most common is paper. Others include papyrus, bark papers, plastics, leather, fabric, wood, and canvas.

History of watercolor painting

Watercolor painting began with the invention of paper in China shortly after 100 AD. In the 12th century the conquering Moors introduced papermaking to Spain and the technology spread to Italy decades later. Some of the oldest paper manufactures include Fabriano, Italy, opened in 1276, and Arches, France, opened in 1492.

The forerunner of watercolor painting in Europe was buon fresco painting — wall-painting using pigments in a water medium on wet plaster. One well-known example of buon fresco is the Sistine Chapel, begun in 1508 and completed in 1514.

The earliest known use of European watercolor painting is by Italian Renaissance painter Raffaello Santi (1483-1520), who painted full-scale cartoons as precursors for tapestry designs.

In Germany, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) painted watercolors in the 15th century. The first school of watercolor painting in Europe was led by Hans Bol (1534-1593) and was much influenced by Dürer's creations.

Other famous artists have used watercolor painting to supplement their work with oil paint, including van Dyck (1599-1641), Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), and John Constable (1776-1837).

In 18th century Britain, Paul Sandby (1725–1809) was called the father of British watercolor.

Watercolor paint

The broader term for water-based painting media is watermedia. The term watercolor most often to refers to traditional transparent watercolor or gouache (an opaque form of the same paint).

Watercolor paint is made of finely-ground pigment or dye mixed with gum arabic for body, and glycerin or honey for viscosity and to bond the colorant to the painting surface. Unpigmented filler is added to gouache to lend opacity to the paint. Oil of clove is used to prevent mold.

Techniques

Traditionally, watercolor paint is applied with brushes, but it may be applied with other implements in experimental approaches or mixed with other materials (usually acrylic or collage).

The paint is thinned before application to allow for lighter areas within the painting. This transparency provides watercolor its characteristics of brightness, sparkle, freshness, and clarity of color since light has passed through the film of paint and is reflected back to the viewer through the film.

According to a tradition, dating from at least the early 20th century, the white of the paper is the only white used in transparent watercolor. Opaque paint is seldom used for whites or to overpaint.

Watercolor techniques have the reputation of being quite demanding, although they are actually no more demanding than those used with other media. Maintaining a high quality of value differences and color clarity are typically the most difficult properties to achieve and maintain.

The medium is effective in portraiture, figurative art, photorealism, and abstract work, both objective and non-objective. (Kandinsky produced the first non-objective abstract paintings in transparent watercolor around 1913).

Watercolor proponents prize it as a studio medium for its lack of odor and ease of cleanup, and also as a plein air medium for its portability and quick drying.

Fingerpainting originated in China with watercolor paints.