French Rivers

What pieces of the distant past drift before your mind's eye when you think of ancient Mesopotamia? Perhaps it's the fabled hanging gardens of Babylon. Or is it entire populations paralyzed by fear before a ruthless invader? Maybe it's priests making sacrifices to the gods who rule over and protect their city.

The Norwegian saxophonist Trygve Seim grew up in the provincial coastal city of Trondheim. It was calm and quiet, there were no crowds and he could hike in the wooded hills, with their trails and camp-sites. He really liked it there. Just released, Seim's first album as a leader - Different Rivers - sounds organized and clean, cold and uncrowded like that. … Different Rivers is melancholy, lonely, hypnotizing music - harder to escape from than to listen to. Like a fireplace in an ice palace, you get hooked on it; it's almost physical. … Seim's version of the ECM sound presents a wind-instrument chamber ensemble, a sort of slow-floating, pianissimo little-big band with occasional understated kicks. The shadow of Gil Evans hovers. The hornblowers finesse their personal, breathy, nonsymphonic textures from behind the beat.

Rivers have acted as cradles for civilization and agents of disaster; a river may be a barrier or a highway, it can support trade and sediment, culture and conflict. This Very Short Introduction is a celebration of rivers in all their diversity. Geographer Nick Middleton covers a wide and eclectic range of river-based themes, from physical geography to mythology, to industrial history and literary criticism. Offering a truly global look at rivers, with examples from all continents, including Egypt, India, and Bangladesh, Middleton considers the role that rivers have played in human history from settlements and trade to warfare, and also looks at the human impact upon rivers by the construction of dams and cutting of channels.

Streamer fishing on rivers in the UK has never had a following. There is little written material, no books or patterns. Totally different to the UK reservoir fishing scene! A curious point, if you consider that streamer fishing on rivers is practised everywhere else in the world. Contrary to what many people think, streamer fishing is not a chuck and chance it technique, it has its own particular skills, equal to any other fly fishing discipline and importantly, it attracts big, predatory fish. It'll help you improve your 'underwater brain' increasing your ability to spot likely holding zones or lies, instead of relying on tell-tale rise forms.