TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Vic … I believe that is the ‘Cisne Branco’ tall ship from Brazil here last month … that right Vic?
… and whilst at sea, another video from Tobi, this one shows the yachts getting ready for departure from Funchal in the TRANSAT :
"my camera was on full zoom as they were quite a way out, so its a bit shakey" said Tobi.
Tobi also has some great photos of the boats and movements FLICKR
And to finish the Transat theme today …
"At 14:02 exactly, the 83 competitors still registered in The Charente-Maritime / Bahia Transat 6.50 set off this Saturday, October the 3rd, in front of the city of Funchal (Madeira – Portugal) for the second and longest stage (3100 miles) heading for Salvador de Bahia (Brazil)". THE FULL STORY
Then another one of the ‘World’s Most Dangerous Airports’ web-pages, much like the others, with Madeira number 6 in this particular assessment. I recommend DONT BOTHER
I have had change the blog comments facility due to a huge spam attack yesterday, so it will not be possible to post any comments once an original post is more than 5 days old (it was previously 10 days). Shouldn’t affect anyone too much, but I had hundreds of spam postings yesterday, so it should help me a lot. Once the spammer has gone away I will reset the comments closing time back to 10 days. If this doesn’t work the blog may have to return to postings from registered users for a temporary period.
Nacional 2 – 0 Guimarães yesterday evening. 2 wins on the trot for our lads after an excellent referee gifted us with two penalties, and the photo of the goal scorer has the lions share of today’s Diário front page.
Today’s main news headline : ’7 Councils Defaulters – The ‘Black List’ of local authorities with payment time to suppliers averaging over 90 days includes Machico, Funchal, Santa Cruz, Porto Moniz, Câmara de Lobos, São Vicente and Ponta do Sol’. On average they were taking 5 months to pay their bills from suppliers during the second quarter of 2009. Machico takes 256 days to pay it’s suppliers, which is actually a vast improvement from the previous quarter (335 days). Next is Funchal at 213 days to pay its bills. Perhaps that’s one reason why suppliers, or more specifically contractors, charge the councils so much for repair and maintenance work, as we were talking about a couple of days ago. You can imagine that any contractor reading this will be working out how much to ‘uplift’ prices based on the council involved and the poor payment record they have, and to some extent you can hardly blame them.
The political story today : ‘PSD Strengthens Majority In Santa Cruz – Survey reveals that the PS runs the risk of losing a seat’. The entry of the independent JPP (Juntos Pelo Povo) into the local elections on Sunday, is looking to cost the PS socialists a place. The PSD social democrats are forecast to get 43.9% of the vote ( 4 – 5 seats), the PS socialists 24.2% (2 – 3 seats), and JPP 8.7% (0 – 1 seats). The JPP is led by an ex-socialist, so I suppose the shift is logical.
‘Rains Increase 300% In The Summer – The precipitation was abnormal when compared with the last 30 years. Also, because of this there were less forest fires’. The Summer was hotter and wetter, with rain "well above the normal levels", according to the Institute of Meteorology, who estimate an increase in the order of 300% compared to the averages from record of the years 1971 – 2000. June was the really different month this year. Temperatures over the comparison period mentioned, in Funchal, were also higher. The average maximum temperature was up 2ºC, and the average minimum temperature was up 1ºC.
More of today’s news stories : Many thanks to Elaine in Garajau :
Lack of musicians threatens Fado in the region. Today is the tenth anniversary of the death of the Fado singer Amália Rodrigues. There is a lack of musicians learning the Portuguese Guitar, which is made out of camphor wood, and the ten or more who can still play it are getting older, so Fado is at risk of dying out. There is a Saturday afternoon course to learn the instrument, with several students but still vacancies. The main venues for hearing Fado singing are ‘Arsenio’s’ and ‘Marcelino, Pão e Vinho’.
Porto Santo has kennels again. The new veterinary area has been opened where there are 37 kennels and a cattery with 16 spaces. The poor state of the old one gave Porto Santo a bad image. Jardim used the opening ceremony to praise the mayor for the opening coinciding with World Animal Day, and gave his usual sermon on modern-day disrespect for life and that pets are important as more people become isolated and live alone.
Already arrests for illegal hunting on Porto Santo. The season has just started and already several arrests, one for a Madeiran businessman with 14 rabbits, more than twice the legal number (6). The police seized their guns and their permits.
Rockfall closes the Vereda do Ladeira. A rockfall Monday morning has temporarily closed this way to pedestrians, but it should be cleared soon. Between Paul do Mar and Prazeres.
"I do not understand the Portuguese of the Continent…." Jardim had another full house when speaking, (according to the Jornal da Madeira). He says he cannot understand how the Portuguese have criticized prime minister Sócrates over the past few years then re-elect him. Jardim says Sócrates has a "financial stranglehold" on the region, the Socialists have done harm to Madeira, and the opposition in Portugal are insufficient.
2000 will fly green flags tomorrow in Câmara de Lobos. Of the 88 Eco-schools, 22 are in this municipality. The students will meet in the Town Square at 10 am to receive awards for environmental education. It is an international project in 45 countries and most of the Portuguese schools involved are primary level.
Homage to fishermen. The Government will erect a monument in homage to the fishermen of Machico but no details yet. There will also be a new health centre, social security centre and residential home for the elderly at Porto da Cruz.
Mandolins reunion in Câmara de Lobos. For the 2009 City of Culture – Câmara de Lobos, a free-entrance meeting on the 24 and 25 October at the Casa da Cultura. The XXIV Regional Meeting of the Tunas and Madeira Mandolin Orchestras.
Farewell to the ‘Black Prince’. Today is the last day the ‘Black Prince’ visits Funchal. She has been coming since 1967 and is under the Fred Olsen cruise lines. There will be a farewell ceremony from the Ports Authority, The Ships Enthusiast’s Club and usual water jets. She is to be a cruise ship under the Venezuelan ‘Hello Cruises’ line, starting in November and renamed ‘Hello Esmeralda’. There are two other Costa cruisers in port today.
Just imagine yourself doing gymnastics in your workplace? Need to burn calories, prevent repetitive strain injuries, relax, and increase productivity? Professor Brown says that gymnastics at work produces benefits and the craze has spread from Japan, USA, through Europe and now to Madeira. 10 minutes at least once a week, preferably twice, especially beneficial to prevent headaches, backache and RSI. He teaches 2.5 minutes of individual stretching, then in pairs, then a few minutes of ballroom dancing and aerobics. He also teaches how to give 10 min. massages to work colleagues.
Santa Cruz City Park. Finally decided, the venue will be Pedra Mole, on a riverbank. The model design will be exhibited in Caniço Shopping Centre for any comments. It will be partially ready in 2 years time but not fully functional for 3-4 years, and is a part public-private investment. In talks with the bus companies about putting it on the tourist route.
In another article, complaints that Santa Cruz council has only fulfilled 44% of planned projects in the last election program, most at the end of their mandate. 29 of the delayed projects are essential.
Cycleway to be extended. The mayor of Funchal, Miguel Albuqueque, says if re-elected, the cycleway on the Estrada Monumental will be extended by 1850 metres between the north of the Lido and Forum. Total investment 4 million Euros.
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