Hammock

A hammock is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a woven network of twine or thin rope stretched with ropes between two firm anchor points such as trees or posts. Hammocks were developed by native inhabitants of Central and South America for sleeping. Later, they were used aboard ships by sailors to enable comfort and maximize available space, and by explorers or soldiers travelling in wooded regions and eventually by parents in the 1920s for containing babies just learning to crawl. Today they are popular around the world for relaxation; they are also used as a lightweight bed on camping trips. The hammock is often seen as symbol of summer, leisure, relaxation and simple, easy living.

History

Spanish colonists noted the use of the hammock by Native Americans, particularly in the West Indies, at the time of the Spanish conquest. The word comes from a Taíno culture Arawakan word (Haiti) meaning "fish net". Early hammocks were woven out of bark from a hamack tree, and later this material was replaced by sisal fibers because it was more abundant. One of the reasons that hammocks became popular in Central and South America was their ability to provide safety from disease transmission, insect stings, or animal bites. By suspending their beds above ground, inhabitants were better protected from snakes, biting ants, and other harmful creatures. Hammocks were introduced to Europe by Christopher Columbus when he brought several of them back to Spain from islands in the present day Bahamas.

Hammock (ecology)

Hammock is a term used in the southeastern United States for stands of trees, usually hardwood, that form an ecological island in a contrasting ecosystem. Hammocks grow on elevated areas, often just a few inches high, surrounded by wetlands that are too wet to support them. The term hammock is also applied to stands of hardwood trees growing on slopes between wetlands and drier uplands supporting a mixed or coniferous forest. Types of hammocks found in the United States include tropical hardwood hammocks, temperate hardwood hammocks, and maritime or coastal hammocks. Hammocks are also often classified as hydric (wet soil), mesic (moist soil) or xeric (dry soil). The types are not exclusive, but often grade into each other.

Unlike many ecosystems of the coastal plain of the southeastern United States, hammocks are not tolerant of fire. Hammocks tend to occur in locations where fire is not common, or where there is some protection from fire in neighboring ecosystems. Hammocks have begun developing in historic times in areas where fire has been suppressed through human intervention, or where elevations above wetlands have been created by dredging, mining, road and causeway building, and other human activities. On the other hand, many hammocks have been destroyed by development, as they often occur on higher land in desirable locations, such as barrier islands and other waterfront locations.

Hammock (band)

Hammock is an American two-member ambient/post-rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. Hammock creates atmospheric music by combining live instrumentation, electronic beats and droning guitar.

Biography

Hammock is a collaboration between guitarists Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson that developed out of informal recording sessions between songwriting projects. Byrd and Thompson initially had no intention of releasing their studio efforts. After building up a collection of almost 40 songs, however, they changed their minds.

Hammock have released eight LPs and five EPs since 2005, mostly on their own label, Hammock Music, which is distributed through Redeye, and have garnered favorable reviews from publications such as Pitchfork and AllMusic. Hammock gave their first live performance at a private event at Chuck Dodson's Gallery@404B in Hot Springs, Arkansas on August 3, 2007, to honor Jónsi & Alex, the artistic collaboration between Jón Þór (Jónsi) Birgisson (lead singer and guitarist of Sigur Rós) and Alex Somers (graphic designer and member of the band Parachutes), on the night of their United States premier, which was also their first-ever exhibition outside of Iceland. This performance eventually became the inspiration for Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow (featuring artwork by Riceboy Sleeps), which was recorded live in its entirety, save for a few overdubs.

Velma

Velma is a female given name. Velma may refer to:

People

Fictional characters

Velma Dinkley

Velma Dinkley is a fictional character in the Scooby-Doo franchise. She is prone to losing her glasses. She is usually seen wearing a baggy orange turtleneck, short pleated skirt (or in later episodes an A-line skirt, or sometimes shorts), knee socks, and Mary Janes. She is seen as the brain of the group.

Character description

Throughout her various incarnations, Velma is usually portrayed as a highly intelligent young woman with highly specific interests in science (which in the Scooby and Scrappy Doo series leads her to pursue a career as a NASA research scientist) or merely being very well read on obscure fields, such as Viking writing (as in the third Scooby-Doo series The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries). In Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo, Velma is described by her younger sister Madelyn as being "born with a mystery book in her hand". Consequently, Velma is usually the one to figure out the mystery, sometimes with the help of Fred and Daphne. The Velma character was inspired by the brainy tomboy Zelda Gilroy, as played by Sheila James, from the late 1950s/early 1960s American sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.