A DAY OUT IN THE ARDENNES.

Could not hold out any longer and went hiking in the Ardennes for the first time this year. Below you see the Ourthe river flowing through a narrow valley near the village of Nadrin, central Ardennes. Not visible on the left is a cragged rock formation, part of a 1,400m long crest of ancient rock, called Le Hérou (the heron), which is what got this place its name but of which I failed to make a decent pic. Throughout the aeons, "Le Hérou" forced the Ourthe river to make a wide detour to the southeast and up northwest again before it could go further, and indeed the river makes a 180° U-turn further downstream.



Today, much of the Ardennes is still covered in dense forests. In foreign press I sometimes read it's being described as a mountain range but that's really exxagerated. Generally, the Ardennes average around 350-500 m (1,148-1,640 ft). Only in the northeast does it rise to over 650 m (2,132 ft) in an desolate plateau called the Hautes Fagnes and covered with boggy moors. It is there that you find Belgium's highest point, the Signal de Botrange (694m). But apart from this very distinctive area - possibly the last one in Belgium where you can still really get lost - much of the region is typified by steep-sided valleys carved by fast-flowing rivers, the most prominent being the Meuse which flows through France, Belgium and The Netherlands before ending in the North Sea. The fact that the Ardennes are nowhere near really high could mean they're old, and you bet they are. They were formed during what geologists call the Hercynian orogeny, which makes the Ardennes as old as, say, the Massif Central and the Vosges in France. The Hercynian (or Variscan) orogeny is a geologic mountain-building era caused by the continental collision in the Late Paleozoicum between the supercontinents Laurasia and Gondwana, which formed the hypercontinent of Pangea. Late Paleozoicum means 250-300 million years old, but in the Ardennes you do find rocks that are even older, easily 500 million years. Interesting to know for North Americans is that "simultaneously" with the Hercynian orogeny in "our" neck of the woods, the Acadian and Alleghenian orogeny took place in the area which would later become the United States, forming the Ouachita and Appalachian Mountains. So that would make the Appalachian Mountains about as old as our Ardennes, although - correct me if I'm wrong - I suspect the Appalachians are higher still.


MFBB.

SATURDAY NIGHT MISHMASH.

The Police contemporaries "UK" were a, you guess it, UK group who disappeared from the scene even a few years earlier than their illustrious countrymen. UK was formed in September 1976 by John Wetton (vocals/bass guitar) and Bill Bruford (drummer). For a short while Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman joined, until he was called back by his label, A&M Records, who did not like Wakeman's side project. Bruford and Wetton then had quite some difficulty to find stable musicians, first unsuccesfully trying to draw in Robert Fripp (from King Crimson), then succeeding to bring in Allan Holdsworth (Soft Machine, Gong) - and losing him after a US tour in 78. Another member was Eddie Jobson, a violinist/keyboardist who had worked with Roxy Music and Frank Zappa. In the meantime, they had released their nameless debut album, but it wasn't until 1979, when Bruford himself had already left, that UK finally scored a first hit. This was Rendez-Vous 6:02, from the album Danger Money. I instantly liked it, or perhaps "like" is not the correct word. I found it interesting at first, began to like it only after. It's some kind of light, ethereal rock - they called it progressive rock back then - and I guess it requires most people a few hears before it ticks. Or does not. Here it is.





In 1980, UK disbanded because Jobson and Wetton could not agree on the line to follow. Either way, during its short and tumultuous existence, UK's distincitive sound was the product of skilled musicians, who blended together a curious mix of jazzy harmonies, electric violins, close harmony vocals, odd time signatures, and a variety of synthesizer sonorities. At any time the band had great potential, yet for some reason its members could never find the chemistry that sticks together a truly successful group. Regular reader Mark may be interested to know that they worked together with Jethro Tull and even performed as their opening act on a US tour.


Fast forward to 2002. Moby. Extreme Ways. Moby is an asshat. So is Matt Damon. Yet I like the music from the former and (most) movies from the latter. As Mark said on a previous thread, you "don't have to agree with a music artist's politics to enjoy their music." Likewise, while I consider Damon an absolute scumbag for his political stance, I have no trouble admitting he was a perfect cast for the great Jason Bourne series.




Interesting to know from the wikipedia entry is that from 1982 to 1985 Moby was in a hardcore punk band called the Vatican Commandos (bwahahahahahaaaaa!!!!), who "released an EP called Hit Squad for God." And reading that he was also in a Joy Division-inspired post-punk group called AWOL, brought back sound memories from the punk age (Joy Division was quite good in my book). Oh yeah. If you liked Extreme Ways, you might also want to listen to Lift me Up. And if you are a sensitive, caring character, like American Muslim, I can counsel Slipping Away. Both songs are from the album Hotel (2005). Just a hint.

Some trivia you can score with. Moby's real name is Richard Melville Hall, and he allegedly got his nickname from his parents because of an ancestral relationship to Moby Dick author Herman Melville, who supposedly was his great-great-great-granduncle!

Good night.


MFBB.

EUROPE FINANCES MOSQUES. MUSLIM WORLD CLOSES CHURCHES. NO PROBLEM FOR OUR TRAITOR POLITICIANS.

A report from the Vlaams Belang website. On March 31, a VB delegation demonstrated against the recognition of yet another mosque by the Ministry of Interior Affairs. Recognition means a.o. that the imams are paid by the Belgian State. In case of financial shortages, the Province will make good the deficit. I am not kidding.

KORTRIJK 31.03.2009 13.07h Around 350 Flemish-nationalists gathered yesterday in Kortrijk to protest the Attakwa mosque's recognition. The mosque's chairman, who has been living in Flanders for 35 years, only speaks arabic and French. The biggest prayer house [in the provinces of East and West Flanders - MFBB] can accomodate 1,500 people and is led by an imam who only speaks arabic. As if that is not enough already, the people of Kortrijk will in addition shortly receive a minaret.

This affair was reason enough for Vlaams Belang to peacefully demonstrate against the increasing islamization of our cities. A short demonstration illustrated our party's demands. Immigrant rioters threw stones and sticks to our demonstrators. They were backed up by MP's Philippe De Coene (Socialist Party) and Bart Caron (ex-Spirit, now Groen!]

It is obvious that in West Flanders too, it's five to twelve. After Kortrijk, Waregem and Ostend will, too, shortly have an official mosque - thus financed with your taxpayer money. All traditional parties AND Lijst Dedecker voted FOR the Ostend mosque. Who stops the madness?

Thus, by beginning to finance mosques on a grand scale, Belgium follows the lead of France, Sweden, The Netherlands etc etc etc. In an age when Christians and people of other religious beliefs in muslim lands are increasingly persecuted, this development is nothing short of insanity. Sometimes, reality even beats fiction. In Tours, France e.g., recently the first stonelaying of the city's mosque took place. Present was, a.o., the Algerian Minister of Religious Affairs, Bouabdallah Ghlamallah. From The Brussels Journal:

Two French websites – Islamisation, administered by Joachim Véliocas, and Bivouac-Id – have posted reports on the laying of the first stone of the new Grand Mosque of Tours. Notable among the dignitaries present were the Algerian Minister of Religion, the Socialist mayor of Tours, Jean Germain, and… the archbishop of Tours, Monsignor Aubertin.

Tours will have its Grand Mosque when the 5 million euros necessary for its financing have been found – in 3 years, at the earliest. A quarter of the sum has already been collected. The land was purchased by the Paris Mosque, subsidized by Algeria. On November 29, 2008, amidst great ceremony, the first stone was laid. In 732, a Muslim army was defeated outside the city of Tours by Charles Martel and the Franks. The Battle of Tours was one of the most decisive battles in history since it stopped the Islamization of Europe (at least for 13 centuries). Adolf Hitler bitterly regretted that the Muslims had not won in Tours.

The Algerian Minister of Religion, Bouabdallah Ghlamallah made a stopover in Tours to attend the laying of the first stone of the Grand Mosque of Tours, before taking off for Saudi Arabia... a land where the practice of Christianity is forbidden, as in Algeria where spreading it is punishable by heavy fines and prison sentences! But Algeria will contribute up to 490,000 euros towards financing the mosque.

Bouabdallah Ghlamallah distinguished himself earlier in the year through his sense of inter-religious dialogue, so dear to the hearts of French bishops. He closed 10 churches, justifying his actions by saying: “I associate evangelization with terrorism.”

On June 24, 2004, Bouabdallah Ghlamallah denounced the evangelization of Kabyles (Berbers) in Algeria during a press conference in Algiers. He repeated that Islam was the “religion of the State and of all Algerians”, then warned that preaching Christianity would result inevitably in a confrontation: “There will be bloodshed.”

In Europe, ministers are tripping over each other to get mosques where hatred of the West is preached, financed. In the muslim world, churches are being closed on a daily basis. Future historians will have a hard time explaining the collective madness ruling from the North Cape to Gibraltar and from Eire to Budapest.

You may have noted that the mayor of Tours, Jean Germain, is a member of the French Parti Socialiste. But, I suspect you suspected that already.



MFBB.