[meteorite-list] Bicentenary of the meteorite of Toulouse

From: MexicoDoug <mexicodoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:19:40 -0400 (EDT)
Message-ID: <8CEE6E7943D0189-3D8-3CF6E_at_webmail-d019.sysops.aol.com>

Dear Renaud; List -

http://info.francetelevisions.fr/video-info/index-fr.php/?id-video=TOUL_1637865_100420120947_F3&ids=TOUL_1637865_100420120947_F3&id-categorie=REPORTAGES_INFO

^^^^That link you provided is a stunning piece on television about the
meteorite and you did a great job; and especially the one fresh crusted
stone looks as if it has fallen last year, uncut, what a glorious
relic! Kudos, the exhibit is very well thought out and built and I'm
sure will be quite popular and raise public awareness of this
historical space gem that graced the space city two centuries ago.

Thanks for the great info and if it is any gauge, Toulouse seemed a bit
isolated, but after all these interesting tidbits, I hope to visit and
combine that with a trip to Zaragoza to see kick some dirt around not
to distant Sena (Spain). I'm thinking 2013 when the Tour passes
through the Pyrenees ;-)

The science comments you made have me wonder, considering the British
were excellent scouts in their regions for relaying scientific and
natural history items back home - one might wonder if any of the
Toulouse meteorite was acquired by them at the time since the war was
now known to be over. I would think it was a pretty exciting event at
the time and during wartime meteorites can get special notice due to
the vigilence of others.

Oh, about everyone's explanations for the battles in the wars,
especially the encyclopedias; the victor writes the history the way
that pleases him do you think? I like to imagine what it is like to be
living there in the moment. For example, When the British troups that
assailed your fair Tolosan soil on April 10, 1814 sailed for America
afterwards, these poor chaps had the distinction of losing a thousands
in Toulouse in a battle that was the last of Napoleon's (except the
"I'll be back" sequel) and logistically the battle was unnecessary
being after the surrender; well then in Chalmette, New Orleans, USA on
January 8, 1815, they did it again. Our best friend once again, Great
Britian signed a peace agreement but this army of British sailors
didn't know, and this time were smashed, (saving beautiful New Orleans
 from British whim). I'm sure they thought Lousiana would have been a
nice addition! ... and from some points of view was a continuation of
the Napoleonic war here - and Lousiana had the strong flavor of
Napoleon then.

It is a nice historical tie I feel which is underrated, that together,
the French, Spanish, British, Americans, can reflect upon today as part
of their heritage of seemingly disparate events. I believe I read
somewhere that in Texas, part of Lousiana territory then, there was an
effort to restore Napoleon to power after his fall?

What a life to be a military sailor then ... to come home and say, I
fought two war around the world and both times it was over, but we
didn't know. But now, the face on the USA $20 bill shows the American
viewpoint of what happened in New Orleans ;-)

I love the "Bat-plane" and its another reason to enjoy a visit to
Toulouse; as for Leotard, hmmmm.... we have a song here which is sweet
and sarcastic about him, now I will have it stuck in my head.

Let me add one final description from the antiquarian biography of
Andrew Jackson, the US general during the Battle of New Orleans,
commenting on how the news spread of the decisive (late) American
victory. This one I had Googled-up for an entirely different reason
some time ago:

http://books.google.com/books?id=BXgEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA116

"The triumphant decision of that day you know. It came upon the
country like a clap of thunder in the clear azure vault of the
firmament, and traveled with electro-magnetic velocity, throughout the
confines of the land."

Kindest wishes
Doug

next opportunity to read about toads ;-)


-----Original Message-----
From: rm31 <rm31 at free.fr>
To: meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>; MexicoDoug
<mexicodoug at aim.com>
Sent: Thu, Apr 12, 2012 11:10 am
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Bicentenary of the meteorite of Toulouse


Hi Doug, Hi List,

Video from tv news (in French) with some shots of the exhibition in the
middle.
I'm the funny guy speaking at the end.

http://info.francetelevisions.fr/video-info/index-fr.php/?id-video=TOUL_1637865_100420120947_F3&ids=TOUL_1637865_100420120947_F3&id-categorie=REPORTAGES_INFO

Some pictures of the stones:

http://meteorites.superforum.fr/t4834p15-exposition-bicentenaire-de-chute-de-la-meteorite-de-toulouse

Thanks again Doug for the interesting points of history you mention!
The paper on the toad rain is page 54-55
(http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2962t/f58).
As for the battle of Toulouse, this was, according to the French wiki, a
defensive victory. The city was shortly occupied the
scott-brit-spanish-portuguese army of Wellington. People were rather
royalists
at this time in the region so it did not cause much trouble. I've read
that the
british officer in command visited the local Academy to discuss about
science
and also the astronomical observatory where he gave some advices on how
to
adjust the instruments.
Btw, do you know that Batman was from the region of Toulouse and that
he first
invented the airplane? Try a web search for "Clement Ader". Same for
Spiderman
alias "Jules Leotard", another interesting guy from here. That's
probably thanks
to these guys that nowadays we make planes and satellites in Toulouse!

List-members, contact me off list before you come to Toulouse so that
we can
arrange an english-spoken visit.

Cheers,
Renaud

Selon MexicoDoug <mexicodoug at aim.com>:

> Hello Renaud, and all the kind listers who have been making all sorts
> of comments on this thread. I hope the extra publicity gets a few
more
> motivated to go to the Toulouse exhibit.
>
> There is another odd tie to Toulouse, here in the USA can relate to.
> Meteorites seemed to be harbingers of a lot of Napoleons doings.
> Precisely two years to the day after the meteoritical fall in
> Napoleonic Toulouse 10 April 1812, the British led a force 10 April
> 1814 in an epic meteoric irradication of Napoleon's empire in a key
> battle there. Then those same high-stepping drum beating Brits that
> did this had management push its luck straight to American shores
> thinking if they could defeat Napoleon, that we would be shoo-fly pie
> and apple pan dowdy. Well, unfortunately for them, our gator eaters
> avenged Napoleon's last stand here and as the oral history relates the
> shameful fate of these would be double conquerers in Napoleon's gift
to
> Thomas Jefferson:
>
> So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round
> We filled his head with cannon balls, and powdered his behind
> And when we touched the powder off the gator lost his mind
> Yeah, they ran through the briars
> And they ran through the brambles
> And they ran through the bushes
> Where the rabbit couldn't go
>
> (and rabbits can slip into the worse raspberry & poison ivy patch!)
>
> And thus Napoleon's defeat was avenged hot Jambalaya style ...
>
> OK, that was a great break during this lull, like the eye of a storm I
> can feel in my bones a whopper of a meteorite fall is nearing on the
> event horizon ...
>
> Couldn't find the article in the 1836 antiquarian journal posted for
> the toadstorm but I got lost looking (page #?) - it was the table of
> contents that opened and I'm a slow reader ;-(
>
> The jungle story via tropical photos was fun, thanks; and the Frog
> festival (which is just a 3-4 hour drive down the highway from here;
> comments on eating frogs; forgive me for assuming that in France all
> would be eating them fried like us, I see butter and garlic is
> preferred by some of our refined listmembers, but in these territories
> thanks to the Cajuns we like them fried and eat them with hush puppies
> and chitlins, which are misbehaved baby dogs and chitenous
aggregations
> for those unfamiliar with other delicious exotics we eat down here
> (besides alligators and iguanas, which are all subnstituted for
chicken
> when tourists without their knowledge since you can't tell the
> difference)
>
> Since I can't go to France, the whole country is invited to Florida
for
> some monster escargot that is a traditional Florida dish, only these
> snails are as big as human heads (we call 'em conch fritters - of
> course fried) and they combine well with Alligator tail steaks.
>
> ...and for anyone who would wonder wtf this has with meteorites, beats
> me but one hypothesis is that everyone interested in meteorites
> expresses a bottled up sense of adventure inside, just waiting to
> explode out. When we look at meteorites, it is to experience through
> the senses first hand the different flavors developed in the Solar
> crockpot. We chase a meteorite fall, whether with boots on the ground
> or a silver pick on eBay; it is that same emotion of seeking out what
> is different, whether it be a kolache, boudin ball, haggis (which I
> understand are little burrowing animals the Scots turn inside out and
> eat raw according to a bonnie Scottish lassie), Cui, and all kinds of
> interesting stuff.
>
> Have a great time in Toulouse to all at the exhibit and thanks for the
> first link!
>
> Kindest wishes
> Doug
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rm31 <rm31 at free.fr>
> To: meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Wed, Apr 11, 2012 10:47 am
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Bicentenary of the meteorite of Toulouse
>
>
> Hi List,
>
> First pictures and links to local tv news here:
>
>
http://meteorites.superforum.fr/t4834p15-exposition-bicentenaire-de-chute-de-la-meteorite-de-toulouse
>
> More to come!
>
> Renaud
>
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Received on Thu 12 Apr 2012 01:19:40 PM PDT