For many years until 1979, Shrewsbury coracle maker Fred Davies became famous among football fans. He would sit in his coracle during Shrewsbury Town FC home matches at Gay Meadow, and get the footballs that landed in the River Severn. Although Davies died in 1994, his legend is still linked to the club.
The Coracle Society is a UK-based organisation, started by its president, Sir Peter Badge in 1990. The society wanted:
There are many Society members across the country who show the coracle at events and/or run coracle building courses. Terry Kenny, the current chairman of the Society, runs several courses each year at the Green Wood Centre. Some of this year's events are listed on the official Coracle Society website.
The Society was present at the 2005 Shrewsbury River Festival, where they had various coracles on the River Severn. There is also an Annual Coracle Regatta held in Ironbridge on the August Bank Holiday Monday every year. It is organised by the Green Wood Centre. Anyone with a coracle can take part in the event. Each year new people come with coracles which they have made on the Bank Holiday weekend at the Green Wood Centre with local coracle maker Terry Kenny.
The third Coracle Challenge, which raises funds in support of Macmillan Cancer Support took place in Shrewsbury on 19 May 2009.
The coracle is an unstable craft. Because it sits "on" the water, rather than "in" it, the vessel can easily be carried by currents and the wind. The Coracle Society has written a guide for safely using coracles.
The oldest instructions for building a coracle are on a 4000-year-old cuneiform clay tablet. This was dictated by the Mesopotamian god Enki to Atra-Hasis on how to build a round "ark". The tablet is about 2,250 years older than than the flood myths, none of which contain such details. The earliest known written evidence of a coracle-type boat (quffa), still in use today, is in the Bible, Exodus 2:3.
The Irish curach (also "currach" or "curragh") is a similar, but larger, vessel still in use today. Curachs were also used in the west of Scotland:
The currachs in the River Spey were very similar to Welsh coracles. Other related craft include:
Richard Johnson (actor)
Richard Johnson (30 July 1927 – 6 June 2015) was a English actor, writer and producer. His career began in 1950. He is known for his role as Grandpa in "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas".
He was born in Upminster, Essex, England. Johnson died on 6 June 2015, at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, London, aged 87.
David Thewlis
David Thewlis (born 20 March 1963) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Remus Lupin in the "Harry Potter movie series", as the Earthworm in "James and the Giant Peach" and as V.M. Varga in the third season of "Fargo".
He also appeared in "Naked" (1993), "Timeline" (2003), "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005), "The Omen" (2006), "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" (2008), "London Boulevard" (2010), "War Horse" (2011), and "Red 2" (2013).
Thewlis was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, England.
Polecat
Polecat is the common name for several medium-sized Mustelids. They do not form a single clade: the name is given to several similar species.
The European polecat is typical, and is the only one native to the British Isles. Ferrets are the domesticated form of European polecats.
In the U.S., the term "polecat" is often applied to skunks, which are only distantly related to the European polecat. The reason is that polecats give off a scent which some people think is offensive.
The simplest version puts them all in a subfamily of the Mustelidae:
Subfamily Mustelinae
There is a more recent version which splits them up even more.
Ginger and Fred
Ginger and Fred is a 1986 movie. It is about a two dancers who imitate Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. The couple is played by Giulietta Masina and Marcello Mastroianni.
This movie was released in early 1986.
Mustelinae
The Mustelinae is a large subfamily of mustelids. Genetic analysis shows it is polyphyletic, so it will probably be split down into proper clades. Until then, it contains:
and various other mustelids.
Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Mastroianni (September 28, 1924 – December 19, 1996) was an Italian movie actor. He played Marcello Rubini in "La Dolce Vita". He also played Ferdinando in "Divorce Italian Style".
Mastroianni was born in Fontana Liri, Italy. He died of pancreatic cancer at 72.
Divorce Italian Style
The movie Divorce Italian Style is a 1961 Italian comedy movie. The movie is about a married Sicilian nobleman who is in love with his cousin. Marcello Mastroianni plays the man.
In 2008, "Divorce Italian Style" became an opera.
La Dolce Vita
La Dolce Vita is a 1960 Italian comedy-drama movie. The movie is divided into many sections. It follows Marcello Rubini, a gossip columnist, across seven days and nights in Rome. Marcello Mastroianni plays the gossip columnist.
This movie got very good critical reviews. It became a classic in later years.
Marriage Italian Style
Marriage Italian Style is a 1964 movie. The movie is about a cynical business man who goes through an on-off relationship. Marcello Mastroianni plays Domenico. Sophia Loren plays Filomena.
This movie was nominated for two Academy Awards. In 1965, Sophia Loren was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. In 1966, the movie was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.
City of Women
City of Women is a 1980 fantasy movie.
Marcello Mastroianni plays Snàporaz.
A man named Snàporaz wakes up during a train ride. He has a brief affair with a woman in the bathroom. But it's cut short when the train stops. The woman gets off. Snàporaz follows her into the woods. He follows her to a Grand Hotel packed with women. He winds up in a conference. But his presence is rejected. He then seeks refuge in an elevator with a woman named Donatella. She offers him her assistance.
Donatella leads Snàporaz into a gym. She forces him to provide roller skates. Snàporaz is yet again insulted by angry women who circle around him in roller skates and practice testicle-kicking on a dummy.
Snàporaz makes his exit down a flight of stairs. He falls down and badly hurts himself. He falls into the domain of a woman tending to the hotel's furnace. The woman tries to rape him. But the rape is stopped by the woman's mother. The mother gives out corporal punishment to the daughter.
The movie was released through New Yorker Films in the United States on April 8, 1981. It got very good reviews from critics. But it didn't make much money at the box office.
The movie was rated R18 in New Zealand for sex scenes.
Albuterol
Albuterol (also called salbutamol outside of the United States) is a type of medicine. It is a bronchodilator. This means it makes the bronchi - the tubes that bring oxygen to the lungs - get wider. This makes it easier for oxygen to get to the lungs. From the lungs, oxygen goes into the blood and travels to the rest of the body. In medicine, albuterol is called a "β2 adrenergic receptor agonist."
Albuterol is a generic medicine. In Canada and the United Kingdom, this generic drug is called salbutamol.
There are many different brand names for albuterol. The most common are Accuneb, ProAir, Proventil, and Ventolin.
Sometimes, diseases like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) make the bronchi get narrower. This makes it harder for oxygen to get to the lungs. This can cause trouble breathing or even respiratory failure, which means the body is not getting enough oxygen to survive.
Every part of the body needs oxygen to live. Without enough oxygen, parts of the body - like the brain - will start to die. Finally, a person's heart can stop if they do not get enough oxygen for a long enough time.