Carlisle Castle Celebrates 1000th Birthday

by Sean McLachlan on


One of England’s most besieged castles has turned the ripe old age of 1000 this year.

A new exhibition at Carlisle Castle in Carlisle, England, tells its thousand-year history. Well, approximately a thousand years, since nobody actually knows when the first castle was built here. Like with many great English castles, it got its start with a Roman fort. This fell to ruins and was replaced in the late 11th century by a Norman fort built by William II, son of the famous William the Conqueror, known to his detractors as “Billy the Bastard.”

Carlisle Castle is located on the English side of the Scottish border by an important river and town. This made it of vital strategic importance. The Scots took it several times, only to have it taken back by the English again and again in a series of bloody conflicts that only ended when Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Scottish uprising lost at Culloden in 1745 and the bodies of my ancestors were tumbled into a mass grave.

(It’s a bit freaky to know there’s a mass grave with my name on it, but I don’t hold a grudge. Why should I?)

I got to visit Carlisle Castle when I hiked the Hadrian’s Wall Path. What remains of the castle is very well preserved and shows a series of changes over the years, not the least of which was when Henry VIII adapted the place for use by artillery. While artillery meant the death of most castles, Carlisle hung on because of its thick walls, earthworks, and the large number of artillery emplacements it had to defend itself. After 1745, however, it lost its purpose. There was never another serious rebellion in Scotland. The castle became the headquarters of the King’s Own Royal Border Regiment, which has recently moved out and been replaced by the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.

The oldest part of the castle, the Captain’s Tower, probably built around 1180, has opened for the first time in 25 years. There’s also a regimental museum on the grounds and some fascinating renaissance graffiti in the Keep, including a crude drawing of a mermaid.
Carlisle itself it worth a day or two of exploration, with its windy medieval streets, museums, old pubs and the most awesome indie bookshop in England.

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10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Tahiti

by Jessica Festa on

Located in the South Pacific, Tahiti is thought of by many as a prime vacation destination. But what do you actually know about these islands? To test your Tahitian knowledge, here are 10 things you probably didn’t know.

1. The official languages of the country are both Tahitian and French. However, English is also widely spoken on most of the islands.

2. What is commonly known as “Tahiti” or “The Islands of Tahiti” is officially categorized as an Overseas Country of France, with its own government overseeing all international decisions on behalf of French Polynesia.

3. There are 118 islands and atolls spread out over five archipelagos.

4. Most Polynesians believe the mythical island of Hawaiki, today known as Raiatea, rose from the bottom of the ocean and was the beginning of all life on Earth.

5. The over-water bungalow was invented in the islands of Tahiti 45 years ago.

6. On Fakarava, there is a church called Jean de la Croix made completely of coral.

7. The Islands of Tahiti is the only country in the world to have a winery, Vin du Tahiti, on a coral atoll.

8. The word “tattoo” originated in French Polynesia. The legend of Tohu, the god of tattoo, talks about painting all the fish in the ocean and showing their vibrant colors and designs. In Polynesian culture, tattoos are thought to be signs of beauty, and were ceremoniously applied to the body as a celebration of adolescence in earlier times.

9. Mount Temehani on the island of Raiatea is home to the Tiare Apetahi flower. This flower will not grow anywhere else in the world, despite botanists having tried to replant it for centuries.

10. The Tahitian alphabet contains only 13 letters.

For a more visual idea of Tahiti’s lesser-known side, check out the gallery below.

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Stonehenge Replicas Pop Up Everywhere!

by Sean McLachlan on


Is this Stonehenge? No, it’s Snowhenge! It’s a 1/3-scale replica built at the MacKay Jaycees Family Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. While it certainly wasn’t as hard to build as the original megalithic stone circle in England, it still involved working 1000 cubic feet of packed snow to make a circle more than six feet tall and thirty feet in diameter. The builders did such an accurate job that they preserved the original monument’s astronomical alignments.

Stonehenge is endlessly fascinating and has inspired people all over the world to create replicas. The most realistic looking is Foamhenge at Natural Bridge, Virginia. The “stones” are made out of painted styrofoam that have been sculpted in the exact shapes of the real Stonehenge.

There’s also the Maryhill Stonehenge, a full-sized concrete recreation of what Stonehenge used to look like in its heyday rather than the ruins we have now. Located in Maryhill, Washington, it was built as a monument to the dead of World War I. In Rolla, Missouri, students at the Missouri University of Science and Technology used water jets to sculpt a Stonehenge out of some 160 tons of granite. It was named one of the year’s Ten Outstanding Engineering Achievements by the National Society of Professional Engineers in 1985. Then there’s Carhenge, near Alliance, Nebraska, which is made out of, well. . .you know.

%Gallery-153665%Americans aren’t the only people making new Stonehenges. Despite having the original, the British have built numerous replicas. Even as far back as the early 19th century, gentlemen with too much money and not enough to do were building Stonehenges on their country estates. Contemporary British Artist Jeremy Deller has put a modern twist on an old tradition with his inflatable bouncy Stonehenge in honor of the 2012 Olympics. And then there’s Stonehenge Aotearoa in New Zealand, which has similar astronomical alignments to Stonehenge (solstices, equinoxes, etc.) but aligned for the Southern hemisphere.

For all the latest on Stonehenge replicas, check out Clonehenge, a blog dedicated to them. They have info about Citrus-henge, Woolhenge, and my personal favorite: Spamhenge! If you make your own replica, send them a photo and they’ll post it online with a rating of one to ten druids. And yes, they know the druids didn’t build Stonehenge.

This isn’t just a quirky blog, but a serious research project. Well, maybe not serious, but pretty meticulous in any case. They’ve documented 72 large permanent Stonehenge replicas from all over the world in addition to the ones made with cake, jelly, glass and medicine bottles.

[Photo courtesy MichiganArchaeologist]

10 Earth Day Celebrations That Matter

by Chris Owen on

Earth Day is a day when events are held worldwide to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth’s natural environment, coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network and celebrated in more than 175 countries. Around the United States, there is probably an Earth Day event close to you. Growing out of the first Earth Day, Earth Day Network works with over 22,000 partners in 192 countries to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement. More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year making it the largest civic observance in the world.

Here are some of the more notable celebrations around the United States.

Earth Day on the National Mall
The centerpiece of Earth Day in the United States will be a rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Tens of thousands of environmentally conscious people from all walks of life and all parts of the country will be joined by civic leaders and celebrities for this special event to galvanize the environmental movement.

Annual Earth Day Silent Auction
On Earth Day, April 22, 2012, the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust will be holding our annual silent auction with over 40 items from REI, Caribou Coffee, NVRPA and many more contributors.

Battery Recycling
Arizona has a celebration event featuring recycling drop off for old batteries. Do your part and keep batteries out of the landfill by bringing them into one of their locations for recycling.

Free Rides on MMT City bus service
In Colorado Springs, Colorado recognition of Earth Day gets FREE rides on Mountain Metropolitan Transit fixed-route city buses on Friday, April 20, 2012. Take this opportunity to try out alternative transportation.

Prairie Village Earth Fair

The Prairie Village Kansas Earth Fair will be held at 75th and Mission Road and will feature vendors, demonstrations, new technology and home improvement designed to lead us to a greener world. Local entertainment and food trucks will be on hand to round out the day’s events.

EarthWalk 2012
Celebrate Earth Day weekend in Kansas City, Missouri, and help build a greener KC! Choose from a 2.5- or 3.5-mile route along Brush Creek and the Plaza to support Bridging The Gap and environmental education and action programs in Kansas City. Make an even greater difference and join with family, friends and co-workers to form a team!

Clean Up Your Corner Washington, D.C.
Clean Up Your Corner is a grassroots event asking everyone around the world to donate one hour of their time on Earth Day 2012 (April 22) cleaning up their area of the world. This can be accomplished through simply picking up and properly disposing of trash on the street or recycling/repurposing tossed items that can be recycled or repurposed.

AWAKEN Celebration, Earth Day Hawaii

“AWAKEN your heart, your mind, don’t let it slip by you.” These are lyrics from JES, asking us to step up, pay attention and be the change in the World around us. We have only one Earth, that we all share, “with one moon circling” over us all.

Eco Art + Design Depot

In celebration of Earth Day, Benevolent Media and SCRAP DC present an afternoon of eco-conscious art and design, featuring a pop-up marketplace of local vendors and interactive workshops led by teaching artists dedicated to inspiring “creative reuse” and environmentally sustainable behavior.

Alexandria Earth Day 2012

Mark your calendar for Alexandria Earth Day 2012! This year’s celebration will be held at Ben Brenman Park (4800 Brenman Park Dr., Alexandria, VA) on Saturday, April 21, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

There is a lot going on with other cities before and after Earth Day. Still, much remains to be done and “there is still the need for volunteers to come together at least once a year to clean up their communities, usually around Earth Day, bagging trash tossed in parks, along streets and into rivers,” says NorthJersey.com. “Some people haven’t gotten the message.”




[Flickr photo by Cayusa]

Five Things You Can Do On Earth Day To Save Natural Resources

by Laurel Miller on

Earth Day is upon us, and even if you’re not planning to celebrate our planet’s making it through another year (what global warming?), there are still some simple measures you can take to show your gratitude. Love your Mother, you know?

Whether you’re on the road or at home, the following are smart rules to implement every day of the year:

  • Do laundry at night, after peak electricity usage hours and only wash full loads.
  • Use a travel mug when you purchase your morning coffee and carry a reusble water bottle.
  • Stash reusable shopping bags in your car, purse or backpack and desk.
  • Turn the tap off while brushing your teeth, washing your face, doing dishes or shaving.
  • Switch to e-tickets, e-pay, and other paperless forms of commerce; add your name to no junk mail and catalog lists.

[Photo credit: Flickr user kevin dooley]