Neat story, but the introduction text "closest neighbor is the International Space Station" really annoyed the pedant in me. ISS only gets as far south as Patagonia. Vostok station is only 350 miles away, and Dumont D'Urville, which is roughly due north at the Antarctic Circle, is 680 miles away, is still quite a ways south of ISS.
The staged Jeep video shows the driver passed 3 empty parking spots before the parked car even moved. There's also a spot almost immediately to the left. All that work to not walk 5 parking spots further, to say nothing of possibly ruining the other car's transmission if that were done for real, makes me wonder who Jeep is marketing this towards.
The population decrease for small towns like Övertorneå is a big problem. With fewer people, it's more expensive to provide everything from social services to fresh baked bread. Last month, the maternity ward in Sollefteå was shut down, to save on costs. The nearest ward is 100km/60 miles away. Last week, one women gave birth in the car while trying to make that trip. About 10 years ago a town in Norway made some "love nests" in woodland trail to encourage couples. It's not that the fertility rate is low. To the contrary, Sweden and Norway have some of the highest rates in Europe. The problem is that the cities have more economic and social opportunities.
I visited the Dallas Dhu distillery, now a museum, about 10 years ago. It's one of the stops on the Whisky Trail. While it hasn't made whisky since 1983, it has the advantage that you can get up close to everything. Some of the machines still smelled of whisky! And at the end, there was a free shot. Even without the shot, I enjoyed the visit.
We've done a couple trips by Amtrak; Durham-Philadelphia and San Diego-Albuquerque. It's nice to not have to worry about traffic. Both routes had wifi; when we pulled into Rocky Mount, NC I pulled it up on Wikipedia and learned Thelonious Monk was born there. Half of the San Diego/LA route was right by the sea at sunset - gorgeous! LA to ABQ was overnight in a sleeper. I slept lightly because of the rocking but my wife had no problems. She also adored the observation car. We decided on trains because it was cheaper than renting a car one-way and staying in a motel. Would do it again. Just remember that it isn't all that fast, US long-distance trains are often delayed, and unlike European trains, all luggage (except a single carry-on each) is checked and goes in the baggage car.
Criticism is great. That's why I'm free to criticize what I believe is the misdirected nature of your criticism. I have a very different view of the point of the short documentary, based on the Kickstarter video, the Haitian machete fencing organization web site, and the essay from the film festival site describing the movie.
I feel no need to rebut irrelevant commentary. Speaking of rebuttals, you "criticiz[ed] the style because it is an inefficient and risky way to quickly kill someone", without demonstration that killing someone efficiently was the goal of this style. You also mention "as little risk as possible". Why is that relevant? I can easily point to the German academic dueling scar tradition as an example of a semi-ritualized fighting style where the goal was neither to kill nor avoid injury. Scars showed courage and the ability to take a blow, and a goal of the victor was to come out with a scar. Speaking of which, this film shows an example of ritualized scaring of one of the students by the teacher, though not as part of fighting.
I think you consider this only as a fighting style. My point is that the people involved seem to regard this more an expression of Haitian and Caribbean history and culture than a fighting style. As a loose analogy, it's like folk dancing. Each area has its own style, some are more interesting than others, and a few become internationally known. But you're not going to convince most Norwegians Tinikling is better than halling, because even if there is an objective reason like better health benefits, it's the subjective ties to Norwegian heritage which are important.
How do you know that Haitian Machete Fencing is not also constrained by rules? The description at https://www.haitianfencing.org/ says it's in part derived from saber, brought in by the French slavers. One of the development coordinators is an instructor of Historical European Martial Arts. I think my analogy to foil fencing stands. In any case, it's a nearly dead practice, as that film states. The point isn't that somehow an innovative fighting style, as you oddly think I feel, but that it's a connection to Haitian past and culture. "Professor Avril often expressed to us his hope that our project will increase the prestige of Haitian machete fencing as an art form, both at home and abroad, and give the younger generation a reason to retain this piece of their cultural heritage into the future."
That was the point of the film. Not some argument about its superior fighting style, unique approach, or historical primacy, which is what you seem to think it's about. Think of it as an heirloom. You don't go into someone's house and tell them that their bauble, handed down for 5 generations, isn't as nice or as good as your bauble, because that's not really the point. I'm certain that in your hypothetical match-up the Haitian style practitioner would lose. Then again, winning such a fight doesn't appear to be the goal for the Haitian style practitioners describe in this movie, the organization which trains people in this style, or the filmmakers.
I think you have misread the comment about flyers. Your Filipino ancestors didn't hand fliers, but a web search shows that modern practitioners certainly do. Neither was Avril talking about his Haitian ancestors. He was talking about his generation, and saying that even 10 years ago people in Haiti weren't promoting it with flyers or training sessions open to the public. It's certainly not the national sport and martial art of Haiti.
DannyJr: Isn't that like criticizing foil fencing because it only targets the torso, when real combat is not so limited? In any case, http://www.vibe.com/2016/09/alfred-avril-machete-master-from-haiti/ quotes Avril "This is not traditionally an art form that you share publicly. It has a history rooted in the revolution. Through the years it’s become something you pass on from father to son, or to members of your immediate community. You don’t hand out flyers to train people in machete fencing." That's rather different reason to exist than Filipino Blade Fighting styles.
Also, Zeon? NatGeo didn't speak to Avril. That was Third Horizon Media film, partially Kickstarted. The web site is http://www.papamachete.com/ . The NatGeo at the end is because "The Short Film Showcase spotlights exceptional short videos created by filmmakers from around the web and selected by National Geographic editors."
This reminds me of when my sister, from Miami, moved to Mass. for college. She had never lived through the cold or snow of a northern winter, nor its short grey days. She didn't even know what most of the trees were. When she needed a reminder of home, she visited the school's tropical greenhouse.
I used to live in NM, but had not heard of "greaser". Oh, my. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greaser_(derogatory) says it "was a derogatory term for a Mexican in what is now the U.S. Southwest in the 19th century." California's "Greaser Act" was a racist anti-Mexican law. This map is no longer that humorous.
In the 90s I read that Shamrock, TX had a piece of the Blarney Stone, mounted in a pedestal. So I went and kissed it, because that was easier than going to Ireland. I see now that it's one of several towns which claim to have a piece of stone from that castle. I wonder if any of them are really from there.
The FEBO fast-food chain in the Netherlands has had automats for decades. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOppaHSnXQg . Including selling burgers. In all the debate about how raising minimum wage will end up causing fast food restaurants to switch to automation, I haven't heard discussion about why they got rid of automation in the first place, or why McD's in countries like Denmark, where counter staff get $20/hour, hasn't yet switched there to more automation.
I feel no need to rebut irrelevant commentary. Speaking of rebuttals, you "criticiz[ed] the style because it is an inefficient and risky way to quickly kill someone", without demonstration that killing someone efficiently was the goal of this style. You also mention "as little risk as possible". Why is that relevant? I can easily point to the German academic dueling scar tradition as an example of a semi-ritualized fighting style where the goal was neither to kill nor avoid injury. Scars showed courage and the ability to take a blow, and a goal of the victor was to come out with a scar. Speaking of which, this film shows an example of ritualized scaring of one of the students by the teacher, though not as part of fighting.
I think you consider this only as a fighting style. My point is that the people involved seem to regard this more an expression of Haitian and Caribbean history and culture than a fighting style. As a loose analogy, it's like folk dancing. Each area has its own style, some are more interesting than others, and a few become internationally known. But you're not going to convince most Norwegians Tinikling is better than halling, because even if there is an objective reason like better health benefits, it's the subjective ties to Norwegian heritage which are important.
That was the point of the film. Not some argument about its superior fighting style, unique approach, or historical primacy, which is what you seem to think it's about. Think of it as an heirloom. You don't go into someone's house and tell them that their bauble, handed down for 5 generations, isn't as nice or as good as your bauble, because that's not really the point. I'm certain that in your hypothetical match-up the Haitian style practitioner would lose. Then again, winning such a fight doesn't appear to be the goal for the Haitian style practitioners describe in this movie, the organization which trains people in this style, or the filmmakers.
I think you have misread the comment about flyers. Your Filipino ancestors didn't hand fliers, but a web search shows that modern practitioners certainly do. Neither was Avril talking about his Haitian ancestors. He was talking about his generation, and saying that even 10 years ago people in Haiti weren't promoting it with flyers or training sessions open to the public. It's certainly not the national sport and martial art of Haiti.
Also, Zeon? NatGeo didn't speak to Avril. That was Third Horizon Media film, partially Kickstarted. The web site is http://www.papamachete.com/ . The NatGeo at the end is because "The Short Film Showcase spotlights exceptional short videos created by filmmakers from around the web and selected by National Geographic editors."
I used to live in NM, but had not heard of "greaser". Oh, my. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greaser_(derogatory) says it "was a derogatory term for a Mexican in what is now the U.S. Southwest in the 19th century." California's "Greaser Act" was a racist anti-Mexican law. This map is no longer that humorous.