The real „FarmVille“

One British farm has done  quite an unusual move: it decided to be owned by 10.000 internet users, who will, just like in a popular on-line game on Facebook, FarmVille, make all the important decisions. 

From May 2011, a large farm near Cambridgeshire in England is in ownership of internet users across the globe, who will vote for every decision, even the smallest one, regarding cows, pigs, sheep and mowing – just like in a mega-popular on-line game on Facebook – FarmVille.

The experiment called "MyFarm" is located on 2,500 acres of Wimpole Estate near Cambridgeshire. Up to 10.000 internet farmers will jointly make decisions which bulls to buy, crop to plant and how often the soil will be irrigated. All they have to do is to pay a one-time fee of £30, and that fee includes even the option to come and visit the farm for themselves. 

“I will put in here whatever the online farmers want to grow”, says Richard Morris, Wimpole's manager. “Farming is always a compromise. There is never a right or a wrong answer. If I choose one thing, my neighbor will be leaning over the fence shaking his head. The online farmers will not be able to choose to grow cannabis or bananas, but undoubtedly there will be some strange decisions, some decisions I would not have made.”

Fiona Reynolds, Director-General of The National Trust, who owns the Wimpole Estate, believes that this whole idea will also have an educational significance. “This is all about reconnecting people to where their food comes from. Our TNS poll showed that only 8% of mothers feel confident talking to their children about where their food comes from. That's really poignant.”

Project’s manager, John Alexander, agrees that FarmVille, a virtual game that, with each month, at least for a few hours, entertains almost 50 million players, was a big inspiration for this venture. “But this is a real farm”, says Alexander, who came up with this idea while working for an advertising agency.

On-line farmers will manage the estate through discussions that will always end with a voting. The winning option will be the one with the most votes. One of the first decisions was, what to grow in the Pond Field. This field covers 21 hectares. Participants, or “bosses”, will receive all necessary information through blogs and video clips. That will be of great importance before any decision because, all major decisions, and even the not-so-important ones, will be delegated to the users of “MyFarm”. In this way, the on-line farmers will not only decide whether to grow a fruit or wheat somewhere, but also and  what kind of wheat. 

“I am making decisions every day”, Richard Morris said. "The first thing I do after getting up is look at the weather out of the window, and that sets the day going”.

Currently, on the Wimpole Estate, there are about 300 lambs. The unusually dry weather for Britain this year has left many fields without enough grass. Because of that, the heard is mostly spending time in the barn. 

Morris also has an idea to develop an application for smartphones, which will allow him to receive instant advices from on-line farmers at any time of day and night.  “For example, if I have wheat in the field, ripe and ready, but rain in the morning means it is damp, do we risk waiting and losing some of the crop, or combining [harvesting] it now and incurring some extra drying costs?”.

Of course, not everyone accepted this idea with equal enthusiasm. And among them are not just farmers. Nicholas Lovell, one of the most famous journalists who write about computer games, says he is not convinced in success of this idea. “There is something in the idea that people like to grow, nurture and beautify things. But Farmville's success is down to the craftsmanship of hooking into basic human psychology: the need to finish things we've started, to return gifts when we're given them and many, many more. A Farmville for which people had to pay £30 to access would have flopped miserably.”

The thing that can comfort Richard Morris is the fact that the Wimpole Estate is located in a rural area, where the signal for mobile phones is rather bad. "I know where I am heading, if things get tough”, Morris was joking.

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The Prince – George Friedrich Handel

Famous German composer George Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) spent many years as a composer and music teacher on the English court.

On one occasion, the Queen asked him what he thought of her son’s progress in learning to play cello, and when will her son become a true virtuoso.

Not knowing what to say about the performance of the future king, Handel said:

“Well, His Majesty is playing like a...prince!”

The Queen understood these words the way it suited her, so she decided that the Prince would perform in one part of Handel’s grand concert.

When Handel saw the future holder of the crown on the podium with a cello in his hands, he immediately disappeared from the concert hall.

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Don't insult me, I’m not the king – British King George V and Princess Victoria

Every day, after breakfast, at exactly half past nine, the British King George V (1865-1936) called his sister, Princess Victoria, on the phone. That was a kind of ritual between them. 

Knowing that it was always him at that time, Princess Victoria often greeted her brother like this:

- Hello, you old fool!

- Excuse me, Your Royal Highness, you are mistaken.  This is the Buckingham Palace operator. His Majesty is not yet on the line. – The operator corrected her regularly. 

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The Best Gay Football Club in the World!

British Stonewall F.C. exists almost twenty years. It is considered as the most successful team in the world in which only gays are allowed to play. The road to success was difficult. The team came together in 1991, by responding to a classified ad in gay magazine.

The British managed to combine two things that sometimes sound incompatible - football and homosexuals. Stonewall F.C. is the most successful football club in the world in which homosexual players play, exclusively, and it exists for almost twenty years.

The road to success was difficult, with insults and discrimination all the way. It all began in 1991, when in certain London’s men gay magazine, an ad was published: "I'm looking for like-minded people with whom I could play football."  Although the author himself did not believe that so many gay men who wanted to play football will answer to his ad, this short article marked the beginning of establishing a football club for those of different sexual orientations. Just a few days after the publication, a dozen young men began to train on the court, in the eastern part of London.

Some of them have, for the first time, ran after the ball, but most of them have already, in the past, played this sport – of course, before the public acknowledgment of their sexual orientation.

- It was difficult in the beginning... We have all been, several times, faced with offensive chants at the expense of homosexuals, which are heard from the football stands and which, unfortunately, are an integral part of fan culture, so, it was extremely difficult for us. We had to, literally, rise above ourselves and gather enormous courage, to be able to play on a football field - recalls Eric Armanazi, the present coach and goalkeeper of Stonewall F.C. 

Their fears were not unjustified. Only two years earlier, near their club, in a garage, Justin Fashanu hung himself – he is, until now, the only professional footballer who, in public, spoke openly about his homosexual orientation. But, the pressure, insults, discrimination and death threats, which, after his public appearances, followed, nonetheless, made him do what he did.

- During training, we often talked about it. Most of us feared for our own lives, although, in fact, we were not famous nor popular - Armanazi says, and adds that, on the start of every game they perceived humiliation of all kinds: and from the audience and from the rival team. Even the referees often judged openly at their expense.

But the courage and persistence have paid off in the end. Ten years ago, Stonewall F.C. started playing in the Middlesex County Premier Division and since then it is playing in the league just below semi-professional clubs.  They have won numerous championships, and this year in Cologne they won, for the third time, the “Gay Games", and thus, they became, the most successful gay football club in the world. Among their sponsors is an English bank Barclays, and of this financial support even a large number of English professional clubs is dreaming.

- Despite success, we are still subjected to prejudice and abuse. Football was, and still is, a typical "male" sport, reserved exclusively for heterosexuals.  The media themselves play important role in this – says Eric, and adds that homophobia is one of the rare types of discrimination in the UK that is still "normal."

Changes

They still curse them, but it is much better situation than 10 years ago.

Coach and goalkeeper of this gay team, Eric Armanazi, says that, when we compare the situation today with the one 10 or 20 years before, the difference is like heaven and earth.

The society has changed, opened, and although there is still much that is wrong, a great progress is been made.  Today, on the stadium, we can still hear the offensive words and insults at the expense of homosexuals, but it is not like before. And, if a player of the opposing team, during a match, offends us with a sentence like: "Get up, faggot!", after the game he apologizes, while before it would have been unthinkable – Armanazi said.

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Now I Know!

When the Italian composer Luigi Arditi (1822-1903), who was famous  opera conductor, once visited England, the kind hosts wanted to show him the sights.

One of Arditi’s friends suggested that they visit the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

       - It would be a shame for you to leave England, and not go to Stratford-upon-Avon where Shakespeare was born - said to him the musician.
       - But, who was this Shakespeare of yours? - Arditi asked the stunned hosts.
       - Have you not heard of "Othello," "Romeo and Juliet" ...
       - Ah, yes! - the musician hit himself on the forehead. - Now I remember! Of course I know him! He is that libretto writer!

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