Himalayas

The Himalayas or Himalaya (/ˌhɪməˈleɪ.ə/ or /hɪˈmɑːləjə/; Sanskrit: हिमालय, from Sanskrit hima (snow) + ālaya (dwelling), literally meaning "abode of snow") is a mountain range in the Indian subcontinent which separates the Indo-Gangetic Plain from the Tibetan Plateau. This range is home to nine of the ten highest peaks on Earth, including the highest above sea level, Mount Everest. The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia. Many Himalayan peaks are sacred in both Buddhism and Hinduism.

The Himalayas are bordered on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain, on the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, and on the east by the Indian states of Sikkim, the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. The Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Himalayas form together the "Hindu Kush Himalayan Region" (HKH). The western anchor of the Himalayas—Nanga Parbat—lies just south of the northernmost bend of the Indus River, while the eastern anchor—Namcha Barwa—is situated just west of the great bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo River. The Himalayas span five countries: India, Nepal, Bhutan, China (Tibet), and Pakistan, with the first three countries having sovereignty over most of the range.

Music Express

A Music Express is an amusement ride based on the original Caterpillar rides of Germany. Several near-identical ride designs are also produced by other companies; Musik Express by Italian company Bertazzon and US Majestic Rides, Himalaya by American company Wisdom Rides, German company Mack, and French company Reverchon, and Silver Streak by Wisdom Rides. This ride is a modern adaption of the famous Harry Traver Caterpillar rides.

Design and operation

The ride features twenty 3-passenger cars connected in a circle. These cars rotate on a track with alternating sloped and flat sections. Rotation is possible in both a backward and forward direction, as the ride is manually operated. The ride is powered by 4 DC motors, and can reach a maximum speed of 12 revolutions per minute. (Certain older models have a hydraulic tire/rim drive and they have a tendency to go faster).

The riders in each car are restrained by a single solid lap bar that is locked across the body of the car, making the ride unsuitable for young children or people of short stature. The bar must be manually locked or unlocked, and only locks in one position. Lights and music are also controlled by the operator, which (as the name suggests) contribute heavily to the ride experience. After a certain amount of rotations or minutes, the ride operator will be alerted by the control box that the speed is going to increase, usually by a light on the box. At that time the operator will speak on a microphone asking the riders if they would like to go faster. Sometimes the ride operator can do this earlier than the alert light to built suspense. After a minute or two of faster speed, the ride will then slow down, and the operator can then ask the riders if they would like to go backwards. The speed up element is then repeated again only done in reverse. The Most parks and carnivals require all riders to be at least 42 inches or even taller, depending on circumstances and ride design.

Himalaya (book)

Himalaya is the book that Michael Palin wrote to accompany the BBC television documentary series Himalaya with Michael Palin.

This book, like the other books that Michael Palin wrote following each of his seven trips for the BBC, consists both of his text and of many photographs to illustrate the trip. All of the pictures in this book were taken by Basil Pao, the stills photographer who was part of the team who did the trip (Pao also produced a book, Inside Himalaya, containing many more of his pictures).

The book contains eight chapters: Pakistan, India, Nepal, Tibet, Yunnan (China), Nagaland and Assam(India), Bhutan, and Bangladesh. The book is presented in a diary format; Palin starts each section of the book with a heading such as "Day Forty One: Srinagar". Not all days are mentioned, a result of the trip as a whole being broken up into shorter trips (a fact that is not mentioned in the series).

Palin makes several treks up into the mountains, including one trek up to Everest Base Camp at 17,500 feet (5,300 meters). Not bad, considering that Palin was 60 years old at the time. Other encounters and experiences that are related by Michael Palin include finding out that the Dalai Lama not only knew who he was, but was a fan of Palin's TV programmes.

Atwood

Atwood may refer to:

Places

People

Atwood, Placentia, California

Coordinates: 33°51′57″N 117°49′51″W / 33.86589°N 117.83091°W / 33.86589; -117.83091 Atwood is a small neighborhood in Placentia, California. It was named for W. J. Atwood, an oil company executive, and was formerly an unincorporated town within Orange County. Its unofficial boundaries are defined roughly as the area of Placentia in the square formed by Orangethorpe Ave., Van Buren St., Lakeview Rd. and Miraloma Ave. There is a post office in Atwood with a ZIP code of 92811. However, this ZIP code is only used for PO boxes. All non-PO box addresses in Atwood are listed as "Placentia" by the United States Postal Service (with the exception of the post office itself: 1679 E. Orangethorpe Ave. Atwood, CA 92811). In 1938, floodwaters inundated a good part of Atwood, where 43 of the 50 deaths in Orange County occurred because of this flood. This catastrophe led to the construction from 1938 to 1941 of the Prado Dam upstream near Corona.

There is a small business area of the community along Orangethorpe Ave. that includes the post office and restaurants, markets, a bar and other stores that cater to the area's predominant Hispanic population. The Parque de Los Ninos city park can be found in the area along with a portion of a busy line of the BNSF Railway that runs parallel to Orangethorpe Ave. In April 2002, that line was the site of a crash between a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train.

Atwood (crater)

Atwood is a small lunar impact crater that is located on the Mare Fecunditatis, to the northwest of the prominent crater Langrenus. It forms a triple-crater formation with Naonobu attached to the north rim and Bilharz near the west rim. All three were satellite craters of Langrenus before being renamed by the IAU. (Atwood was formerly designated Langrenus K).

Atwood lies near the edge of the outer ramparts of Langrenus, and the ejecta forms low ridges attached to the south rim of Atwood. Within the crater interior is a low central peak that joins a ridge line to the north rim of the crater.

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