Wednesday, May 8
May. 9th, 2024 01:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
The sun is out today, and while it's pretty muddy in places, the grass is GREEN now, and the trees are unfurling.
I was able to let everyone out into their bigger pastures for a while, which they seemed to enjoy.
Then I went to see River, and we had a lesson.
I asked R if we could film our barrel pattern (once at the shoulder/Liberty, once ridden with just the neck rope) for the online show next week.
Normally I would film it in next week's lesson, right as the entries open, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be driving home to see family next Wednesday maybe, and won't be able to film.
It went well enough, I thought. I had to run the pattern on the ground with River several times, so it got a little tiring.
After all that, we brainstormed a bit about what I could do for the next Liberty Freestyle, and I'm glad we did. It helped me to clarify some nebulous thoughts, and I had been procrastinating on this.
I wanted to use some elements of the Freestyle I did last summer, but change it a bit to include some different things we can do now. I can re-use some of it because this Freestyle is for a different organization and they won't recognize it.
Now I have to put it all together with music, not sure if I'll just use the same song and general theme or not. I don't have a lot of time to come up with an entirely new concept.
R's daughter L was around when I was finishing up, and we chatted for a while.
I came home and chatted with my Sweetie, and we watched a VERY FUNNY, absolutely bonkers, campy yet "mod" movie from the era of Italian spy movies that were done in the style of James Bond back in the '60's.
I really didn't follow the plot very well, but in the end it doesn't matter. I loved the sets, the clothes, the bits of humor here and there, and the humor that is only because of the general ridiculousness of it all.
It's more or less "The Spy Who Shagged Me" but they were trying to be serious. Mostly.
Look! I found it on YouTube for anyone who would like to watch it! There is sex implied, but nothing graphic and no nudity. There's a bit of violence but not at all graphic, and more implied than anything.
https://youtu.be/9BpC0NatYqU?si=WguTBs_pr8tTrysl
Sierra Leone is a Presidential Republic with coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. It's capital city is Freetown: "The city of Freetown was founded on March 11, 1792 by 1,196 African Americans under the guidance of abolitionist Lieutenant John Clarkson on March 11, 1792, and the city became a settlement for free and freed African American, Afro-Caribbean and Liberated African slaves. Their descendants are known as the Creole people. Before the arrival of Europeans, the local Temne and Loko people were living in villages on the land near the area that later became known as Freetown."
Though about three quarters of the people are Muslim, with most of the rest being Christian, Sierra Leone is a secular government that has strong values in freedom of religion and thought, separation of church and state, and freedom of conscience (for one to act according to their moral values).
Historically the region was inhabited by the Mande people, the general difficult jungle terrain and TseTse flies helping to keep out other tribes and empires. Islam was introduced in the 18th century.
Portuguese traders arrived mid 1400's, bringing Christianity, then Dutch traders, British, and France, mostly interested in buying slaves from the regional leaders as well as ivory.
Then, the area was used for resettlement:"In the late 18th century, African Americans who had fought for the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War were resettled in Sierra Leone, forming a unique community named Black Loyalists. This resettlement scheme was partly motivated by social issues in London, with the Sierra Leone Resettlement Scheme offering a new beginning for the Black Poor, though it was fraught with challenges."
Many American slaves were offered emancipation if they would serve in the war against America, and their names recorded in the Book of Negroes, and many of these people were resettled in Sierra Leone.
The same deal was offered to many former slaves/loyalists who made it to Canada, and lived in Birchtown, Nova Scotia. They felt that Sierra Leone might be better than Canada with it's harsh winters.
Many of these people who were taken to the "Province of Freedom", or Freetown, settlement died of disease and warfare with the natural inhabitants (the Temne people).
It is important to note that these people were still not REALLY free or self-governing, as Freetown was still a British colony who really needed to boost the population of their colonies, and needed these "colonists" as a labor force for forestry and other products for trade, since there wasn't much else for employment.
https://alex-jones.medium.com/how-did-colonisation-spread-from-freetowns-coast-to-all-of-sierra-leone-85ed3698a30d
The freed people of Freetown did experience more freedom than they would have on North American or British soil, and did participate in the government of their colony and voted and held office. There was though, the threat of possibly being re-enslaved, as the slave trade was only KIND OF abolished, as you could still use slaves IN AFRICA, just not ship them outside of Africa. Some loophole, as Europeans still used slaves on plantations, but also the Africans themselves could have personal slaves.
There is so much, this is an over simplification.
Sierra Leone gained independence in 1960, but not necessarily peace or harmony. This region was also stricken by the Ebola virus in 2014. For all that talk about Freetown being free, homosexuality is still illegal with jail sentences, and police brutality is a problem.
It is a tropical climate with a rainy season and a dry season, has mangrove swamps near the coast, some mountainous region, USED to have lots of forest but was greatly deforested, and grasslands where most of the agriculture happens (most agriculture is for subsistence, and often uses "slash and burn").
Sierra Leone has a lot of diamonds, and we've all heard of the Blood Diamond controversy where the diamonds were used to fund civil war during the '60's and 70's. Today they are still the most important export, though it is attempting to be managed more ethically, but is still often used for money laundering and so on.
Life expectancy is low, not much infrastructure for health care, and lots of diseases like HIV/AIDS and Ebola and so on. There is not much infrastructure for clean drinking water, either.
As is often baffling for me, this place does have lots of tourism for it's...umm...nice beaches I guess.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leone#Health
https://youtu.be/ff4V8L_VAwQ?si=HUGsKS2je3RLSG8D
The sun is out today, and while it's pretty muddy in places, the grass is GREEN now, and the trees are unfurling.
I was able to let everyone out into their bigger pastures for a while, which they seemed to enjoy.
Then I went to see River, and we had a lesson.
I asked R if we could film our barrel pattern (once at the shoulder/Liberty, once ridden with just the neck rope) for the online show next week.
Normally I would film it in next week's lesson, right as the entries open, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be driving home to see family next Wednesday maybe, and won't be able to film.
It went well enough, I thought. I had to run the pattern on the ground with River several times, so it got a little tiring.
After all that, we brainstormed a bit about what I could do for the next Liberty Freestyle, and I'm glad we did. It helped me to clarify some nebulous thoughts, and I had been procrastinating on this.
I wanted to use some elements of the Freestyle I did last summer, but change it a bit to include some different things we can do now. I can re-use some of it because this Freestyle is for a different organization and they won't recognize it.
Now I have to put it all together with music, not sure if I'll just use the same song and general theme or not. I don't have a lot of time to come up with an entirely new concept.
R's daughter L was around when I was finishing up, and we chatted for a while.
I came home and chatted with my Sweetie, and we watched a VERY FUNNY, absolutely bonkers, campy yet "mod" movie from the era of Italian spy movies that were done in the style of James Bond back in the '60's.
I really didn't follow the plot very well, but in the end it doesn't matter. I loved the sets, the clothes, the bits of humor here and there, and the humor that is only because of the general ridiculousness of it all.
It's more or less "The Spy Who Shagged Me" but they were trying to be serious. Mostly.
Look! I found it on YouTube for anyone who would like to watch it! There is sex implied, but nothing graphic and no nudity. There's a bit of violence but not at all graphic, and more implied than anything.
https://youtu.be/9BpC0NatYqU?si=WguTBs_pr8tTrysl
Sierra Leone is a Presidential Republic with coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. It's capital city is Freetown: "The city of Freetown was founded on March 11, 1792 by 1,196 African Americans under the guidance of abolitionist Lieutenant John Clarkson on March 11, 1792, and the city became a settlement for free and freed African American, Afro-Caribbean and Liberated African slaves. Their descendants are known as the Creole people. Before the arrival of Europeans, the local Temne and Loko people were living in villages on the land near the area that later became known as Freetown."
Though about three quarters of the people are Muslim, with most of the rest being Christian, Sierra Leone is a secular government that has strong values in freedom of religion and thought, separation of church and state, and freedom of conscience (for one to act according to their moral values).
Historically the region was inhabited by the Mande people, the general difficult jungle terrain and TseTse flies helping to keep out other tribes and empires. Islam was introduced in the 18th century.
Portuguese traders arrived mid 1400's, bringing Christianity, then Dutch traders, British, and France, mostly interested in buying slaves from the regional leaders as well as ivory.
Then, the area was used for resettlement:"In the late 18th century, African Americans who had fought for the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War were resettled in Sierra Leone, forming a unique community named Black Loyalists. This resettlement scheme was partly motivated by social issues in London, with the Sierra Leone Resettlement Scheme offering a new beginning for the Black Poor, though it was fraught with challenges."
Many American slaves were offered emancipation if they would serve in the war against America, and their names recorded in the Book of Negroes, and many of these people were resettled in Sierra Leone.
The same deal was offered to many former slaves/loyalists who made it to Canada, and lived in Birchtown, Nova Scotia. They felt that Sierra Leone might be better than Canada with it's harsh winters.
Many of these people who were taken to the "Province of Freedom", or Freetown, settlement died of disease and warfare with the natural inhabitants (the Temne people).
It is important to note that these people were still not REALLY free or self-governing, as Freetown was still a British colony who really needed to boost the population of their colonies, and needed these "colonists" as a labor force for forestry and other products for trade, since there wasn't much else for employment.
https://alex-jones.medium.com/how-did-colonisation-spread-from-freetowns-coast-to-all-of-sierra-leone-85ed3698a30d
The freed people of Freetown did experience more freedom than they would have on North American or British soil, and did participate in the government of their colony and voted and held office. There was though, the threat of possibly being re-enslaved, as the slave trade was only KIND OF abolished, as you could still use slaves IN AFRICA, just not ship them outside of Africa. Some loophole, as Europeans still used slaves on plantations, but also the Africans themselves could have personal slaves.
There is so much, this is an over simplification.
Sierra Leone gained independence in 1960, but not necessarily peace or harmony. This region was also stricken by the Ebola virus in 2014. For all that talk about Freetown being free, homosexuality is still illegal with jail sentences, and police brutality is a problem.
It is a tropical climate with a rainy season and a dry season, has mangrove swamps near the coast, some mountainous region, USED to have lots of forest but was greatly deforested, and grasslands where most of the agriculture happens (most agriculture is for subsistence, and often uses "slash and burn").
Sierra Leone has a lot of diamonds, and we've all heard of the Blood Diamond controversy where the diamonds were used to fund civil war during the '60's and 70's. Today they are still the most important export, though it is attempting to be managed more ethically, but is still often used for money laundering and so on.
Life expectancy is low, not much infrastructure for health care, and lots of diseases like HIV/AIDS and Ebola and so on. There is not much infrastructure for clean drinking water, either.
As is often baffling for me, this place does have lots of tourism for it's...umm...nice beaches I guess.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leone#Health
https://youtu.be/ff4V8L_VAwQ?si=HUGsKS2je3RLSG8D
no subject
Date: 2024-05-09 09:49 pm (UTC)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Party_(1968_film)
no subject
Date: 2024-05-09 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-10 05:43 am (UTC)