Month: July 2020

The Bends

Decompression sickness is a disorder that often affects scuba divers who ascend from the depths too quickly, causing severe joint and muscle pain, nausea, paralysis, and even death—for no externally obvious reason. Under pressure, respiratory gasses are compressed and dissolved in the body’s tissues. When a person rapidly moves to a lower pressure environment, the dissolved gases expand and form bubbles that cause “the bends.” Workers in what other occupations are susceptible to this sickness? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Caribbean Festival (Feast of Fire)

The annual Caribbean Festival in Santiago de Cuba, also known as the Feast of Fire, is dedicated to preserving and promoting the cultural traditions of the Caribbean. In addition to numerous performances of music and dancing, there are exhibitions of culinary arts, painting, crafts, drama, religious rituals, and poetry. Each year the festival gives special focus to one of the Caribbean countries. The “Serpent Parade” is a high point of the Festival, with throngs of dancing people winding their way through the streets of Santiago de Cuba.

Source: The Free Dictionary

Dust Explosion

Because of its relatively large surface area, dust is more flammable than solid objects. When high concentrations of very fine powders are suspended in air, they have a tendency to violently, unexpectedly combust, even in the absence of a flame. Materials that cause dust explosions include not only coal and sawdust but also flour, sugar, and even powdered milk. Deadly dust explosions have gutted mines and leveled silos and factories. What methods are used in industry to prevent dust explosions?

Source: The Free Dictionary

Calgary Stampede

The 10-day Calgary Stampede is Canada’s largest rodeo event, offering a world-class rodeo competition in saddle bronc and bareback riding, steer wrestling, calf roping, and bull riding, as well as a chuck wagon race that carries a $175,000 prize. Most of the rodeo events are held in the 130-acre Stampede Park in downtown Calgary, but there’s also a Wild West town called Weadickville (named for Guy Weadick, who founded the event in 1912), an Indian Village populated by representatives of five Indian tribes from the nearby Plains, a Frontier Casino, and agricultural and livestock exhibits.

Source: The Free Dictionary

Chapbooks

Chapbooks were small, inexpensive pamphlets popular in Europe and America from the 16th century until the mid-19th century. They contained of a variety of reading material, including folklore, reports of crimes, ballads, and Bible stories, and reveal much about popular culture at the time. Sold by itinerant agents known as “chapmen” for as little as a penny, they were typically unsigned, undated, and flimsy. After they were read, they were often put to use in what other ways?

Source: The Free Dictionary

Beiteddine Festival

The Beiteddine Festival, held in a magnificent 200-year-old palace in this town in the Chouf region of Lebanon, has presented world-class offerings in the arts since 1985. Organizers defied the struggles of Lebanon’s civil war by staging this celebration of human culture. Many performers are Lebanese, but artists from around the world also are invited. The 2001 festival, for example, included a concert by Elton John, a production of Victor Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris, and Turkish folk musician Kudsi Erguner, as well as a performance by the Lebanese singer Fairouz. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Book of Thel

The Book of Thel is an illustrated poem published by English author and illustrator William Blake around 1789. It tells the story of a young woman—Thel—who seeks to understand why all things must die. She poses this question to a lily, a cloud, a worm, and a clod of clay. The clod invites Thel to visit the underworld, where she hears questions even more troubling than her own and flees in terror. The relatively short poem is rife with allegory. What might the character of Thel represent? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary