You know, the only thing I find wierd about this thread is that the subject miraculously changed. But I'm frum Canada. The nice, cold country of Canada. :cool: :D

Originally posted by Glirdan:

Welcome to the 'Downs, Glirdan! Once you've been here awhile, you'll notice that subjects can miraculously change quite often ;) :D.

Why thank you Estel for the welome, and I see what you mean by the posts changing a lot. But that's what makes it funner, hey? :p :)

Oh, I disagree Glirdan, from where I'm standing, it's a balmy 7 degrees! The sun is shining, the birds are singing/dying of starvation(just kidding, we put out feeders) and out on the open water one sees sailors practicing for upcoming competitions. Plus, we all know when spring is really truly hear, it's when my Chem teacher, reedy Mr. Black starts coming to school on his practical red and white scooter. That, my good Glirdan is my Canada...oh yes, and welcome to this multi-national site of peace, happiness and Love...ing Tolkien.

Well, Ainaserkewn, exactly where are you standing in Canada (which province) beacuse where I'm standing, it's about -12 celcius, so I can't exactly say the same thing, can I?

Glirdy ;)

Sorry Lalwendë, I've been gone for a short while and only just got around to reading this thread again.

It's more likely that the 'Mexican Day of the Dead' has Aztec origins. The Inca civilization was based in South America in what is now Peru, and I don't believe their culture ever spread as far as mexico (close maybe...but I don't think so). The Aztec civilization however was centerd in the modernday Mexico City, and their culture spread through most of Mexico down into Northern South America. The Axtec civilization is also famous for being almost preoccupied with death, most notably their ritual human sacrifices.
Researching it quickly it seems that the Day of the Dead is a Christanized version of the Aztec celebration of " Miccailhuitontli" (little feast of the dead) which was a month long celebration overseen by their goddess Mictecacihuatl (lady of the dead). After the Aztecs were conquered by the spanish this holiday combined with All Saints Day to become the Day of the Dead.

Just incase you're still interested...

There seem to be a lot of Canadians around.... has Fordim been on a recruitment drive? :p

You're right, Mith. I have noticed quite a few Canadians lately.

But you can't expect Fordy to convert many more though. I mean- three or four more would mean that 50% of Canadians would be Barrow-Downs members. :p

Meow... If I were being really cynical (perish the thought) , I might wonder if he compelled his students to join as a course requirement ......

Mith, phantom, are you guys making fun of Canadians? Because if you are, I'll be really upset :( . But you're probably right, 50% of Canadians are probably on this site!!!! Unless your were saying that half the members on this site are Canadians? I don't know, but there are lots of other nationalities, which is a great way to meet new people. Don't you think?

Glirdy :smokin:

Could we do a count to figure it out? Like percentages of all the most popular countries? I think that'd be a great feature for the site...to show how multi-cultural we are and such.

You know, the numbers of Canadians have been growing. I remember a few years back when there was a Canadian thread and there were only like 3 people who posted and then it was gone...I should go find that thread.

Ooo, that would be interesting. I wonder who we have more of, Canadians or U.S.?

make a poll...

Recent traffic statistics by Country/domain

1. com (Commercial) 69%
2. net (Network) 24%
3. edu (Educational) 2%
4. uk (United Kingdom) 1%
5. fr (France) 1%
6. au (Australia) 1%
7. de (Germany) 1%
8. nl (Netherlands) 1%
9. ca (Canada) 1%
10. fi (Finland) .5%

I don't know exactly what this means. It certainly doesn't answer the Candad/USA question.

Phah! As if Fordy were the only Canuck here who might bring in a few out of the Great White North.

I'm kind of confused by your numbers there Mr. Wight...

You know, I get people interested all the time, good people too that I know. They go "Hey this is an awesome website, I'm going to join." They do and they never come back, it's very depressing. But I guess some people would rather play internet games then expand their minds and be a complete nerd at the same time. Plus I think that the forum thing is daunting for a lot of people, which amazes me because I love forums, especially good ones.

With 69% coming from dot com addresses then it looks like a lot of us log in at work. :eek: or should it be ;) ?

Putting on my sugary-sweet nice head this morning, I'd venture to say that perhaps Canadians are proportionally more inclined towards discussing Tolkienian matters. Or perhaps there is less to do with their spare time so Canadians are more likely to go online. ;)

Well, with a national population density that is typically less than two people per square kilometer, one gets a hankering for human conversation after a while. Besides, the polar bears around here are all of the Winged-Balrog theory. And it is obvious which side of THAT fence I sit on.

Canada, eh! (we don't actually ever say that)
 

I'm personnaly very happy Canada has a small population. You have more room to breath.

Well it certainly wasn't my intention, I have Canadian cousins and friends, my father served in WW2 with the "Vandoos" and nearly emigrated. I do have a bit of a history of duelling with Fordim though (but he started it!!!!!) so if there is any fun being made, it is specific not generic. :rolleyes:

I know, hey Wilwa? We might have a small population, but we are the second biggest country in the world. I just wish that we'd get more imagrants, because they either all go back to their homeland, or move to the U.S., so that doesn't help increase or population. But oh well, I just hope nobody gets offended by this post.

Glirdy

Well, you probably don't want more of my family, Glirdan, my great uncle was sent to Canada for being a Radical (and generally driving his mother nuts), and the others ..... well hmm you don't want to know....

That's funny Mith!! I just think it's cool to have different cultures in one place because I don't really know to many people from people all over the world. I guess being on this site is one way to do that, hey?

Glirdy

I am from Curitiba, located in south Brazil, bred by the Haradrim that still live here...

Well that's good to know Mith and I'd never met anybody (if you can actually say that seeing as we've never seen each other face to face) from Brazil Mumak! Is it nice there?

Glirdy

Well Glirdan we do know an imagrant, he was in my math class don't know if you know him or not but he and his family just became Canadians afew months ago. I've noticed there are alot of British people (Britans?) on this site. That's really cool.

Well Glirdan ... as of Friday .. I have yet another Canadian cousin.... be afraid... be very afraid....

Laugh out loud Mith and yes I know who you're talking about Wilwa. I'm telling you, he's one samrt kid, skipping grade 8 like that. Wish I was as smart as he is. That would be nice, but oh well can't have everything in life.

Glirdy

P.S. Don't worry Mith, I'll be afraid, VERY afraid!!!! :D

you've probaly all forgot that i'm Canadian too...

Im Canadian From Saint John New Brunswick...

No we haven't Gil-Galad. Why would you think that? We'd never forget that. ( :eek: i'm scared, what if he finds out we all forgot he's from Canada!? Just kidding) It's nice to know that other people here are from Canada.

Glirdy

No Glirdan that is not who I'm talking about. I'm talking about F.H.

Really Gil? I did forget that, what part of Canada? I noticed on your website that you and my father have the same first name, except he spells it with 2 "n"s.

I've been to St.John Faramir, its beautiful there.

Really? It's not the same person? Oh well, guess I guessed wrong. Tell me tomorow who your thinking of. Anyway, again nice to see new people joining this thread.

Glirdy

Good Ol' Cowtown AB...

Is that an actual town Gil?

A rebirth of the age old question "Where are you all from?"
 

Let's start this thread over. Starting now, if you post in this thread, tell us where you are from and any details of your location that relate to Tolkien, Middle-earth, Hobbits, etc. Remember our chat vs discussion guidelines. Thanks!

I'm from South County, RI, which is smalltown and agricultural, like the Southfarthing, but colder at the moment. There are very few streetlights in our part of town, which means you can see those nice elvish stars at night (and all the planes that that will land at PVD... Look! Eagles!) ...There is not much pollution at all. About a mile away there are trails in the woods (I think of that as Woody End.). About six miles away there is a state park with many more trails (Chetwood, and the Road to Rivendell.)

I also live in the woods: primarily oak woods, which are very acid. But here and there are beech groves, which are very lovely and delightful, and which act a bit like mallorns in that they keep their faded-golden leaves through the winter (at least, they try) and their trunks are a lovely silver-grey. I have three little groupings of them on our lot which I have named Lorien, Fangorn, and The Old Forest. They are only about fifty feet across, so it's just wishful thinking on my part. But the names have stuck. My husband can be heard saying such things as "I put the ladder out by Fangorn Forest."

:D

Down the road a ways there's a black dog I've nicknamed Naz.

(edit)
Almost forgot-- there's a certain beech tree in my backyard (the closest, actually it's two side by side) and when I see
"the elven stars as jewels white
amid their branching hair"

... well, you guessed it. I sing Sam's Song.

New York
 

I'm from Westchester, New York, a county right outside of New York City. The town I live in is very small and I actually live on top of a small mountain just outside the town. I'm really on the border of two towns to be more precise. I'm technically in one town, but our mail is brought by the other, so our street address is the latter.

I'm sorry I'm not saying the town names. I'm just rather protective of my personal information, especially lately, and these are pretty small towns, but they can be searched easily online I've found.

I live pretty near to Indian Point Nuclear Power Facility - much to my disappointment, really. The sirens wouldn't do my family much good if anything were to happen. Other than the unnatural warmth from the nuclear power facility in the water, there isn't really pollution - air, light or otherwise - near to me. My house is technically built on old swampland that used to belong to a large farm, and there is sparse woods surrounding my house.

It's in an ideal location in that I can just hop a train to the city and be at Grand Central in about 45 minutes on an Express, but I'm far enough away that city traffic doesn't affect me at all. Well, actually since my school is between my house and the city, I do get caught in rush hour traffic both ways when I'm driving to school.

I drive on an Underhill Ave. when I'm coming home from school and, in fact, most other places - a fact which I think is pretty interesting. I always make Underhill jokes when I'm on it, much to many people's chagrin. I do wish my area looked more Tolkien-like, but there are some beautiful woods in some areas not too far away. They aren't quite Fangorn or Mirkwood, but they are beautiful. We also have some very, very gorgeous mountains here and there that are just covered in leafy green trees during the spring and summer. Then they turn beautiful colors in the fall.

So, while my area isn't quite so Tolkienesque, I still love it.

Wilwarin are you thinking of saint john new brunswick or st johns newfoundland? lol because i dont find saint john beautiful...except of course for my little section of the city,im in a forest, with a mountain I named mout doom (dont ask) lol well i can see the whole city from the top and on clear days nova scotia comes into view.

I'm from the DFW area in Texas. (Although I'm dwelling at the moment in College Station, same state...) If you look at a geographic map (as opposed to political) of the U.S., you'll see that the eastern half of the country is green. The western half, for the most part, is tan or brown. The diving line between green and brown runs through the middle of the DFW Metroplex. East of Dallas, the land is forested, at times heavily - pine trees! West of Fort Worth, the land is treeless, rolling, grassy hills. I've seen these hills black and charred from the grassfires we deal with all too often in the warm months (i.e. most of the year).

My home, in the city but close to more rural areas, is between Fort Worth and Dallas. I couldn't get more on the line! The local manifestations are scrubby post oak trees, interspersed with the unbiquitous tall grass, only green in March, when there's plenty of rain.

Doesn't sound very inviting, does it? And yet I love it. I've traveled so much through Texas; it's so varied, so hard to describe in terms of one place. If anything, I'd say it resembles Eregion more than anything. I get the idea of windswept open lands with vegetation varying from scrub to tall trees. We haven't many tall trees in my part of Texas, nothing like 80-foot Georgia pines; but I love our pecan trees. They are beautiful trees, and some of the biggest that grow here. (They don't grow in College Station voluntarily... grr.)

The thing that knocks out Eregion as a possibility is the overall climate. Being drier than coastal areas, our summer highs routinely top 100 (Fahrenheit). We starting taking notice when we set streaks of consecutive 100+ days; the record is 113. A few summers ago we went well over a month at 100+, and if I recall correctly we went more than two months without any measurable precipitation. Those were records, and not the ordinary. But our winters are probably, to most of you, very warm as well. Getting down in the teens is very cold to us - it happens about once a winter - and single-digits are quite unusual. The winter after I was born was very cold: it didn't just get into the teens for one night, it stayed there for some time. That was so cold it killed many, many plants and shrubs. My grandparents had to replace the entire hedge around their yard. So temperature-wise, we belong south of Mordor - perhaps even in Umbar!

I won't start into the College Station climate. Suffice it to say that, in my opinion, the city is built on the soggy Brazos River flood plain, afflicted with Gulf of Mexico humidty, and vegetated by 20-foot 'trees.' I have grown to like live oaks, though. (Here's a picture of one famous one on my campus.) Live oaks have dark green, glossy, oval-shaped leaves, similar to holly without the spines. They're called 'live' because they don't lose them all winter. Instead, they drop them in the spring, just in time for the new leaves. The live oak leaves are falling right now. :)

Helen, I love beech trees! I've only ever seen them in Ukraine, nearly two years ago. I wonder if there's any way to grow them here. :(