What do the matches played under the auspices of the FIDE take place on?

FIDE - Chess.com Chess.com 805 Reads 9 Comments  The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or International Chess Federation (not to be confused with the WORLD CHESS FEDERATION) is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world and acts as the governing body of international chess competition. It is usually referred to as FIDE (pronounced /ˈfiːdeɪ/ "fee day" in English), its French acronym. FIDE was founded in Paris, France on July 20, 1924. Its motto is Gens una sumus, meaning "We are one people". Its current president is Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is also president of Kalmykia, an autonomous Republic in Russia. Role FIDE's most visible activity is organizing the World Chess Championship (overall and for women and juniors), regional championships and theChess Olympiad. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the supreme body responsible for the organization of chess and its championships at global and continental levels.[3] FIDE oversees few other tournaments, although other top-level events, almost without exception, respect FIDE rules and regulations. It defines the rules of chess, both for playing individual games (i.e. the board and moves) and for the conduct of international competitions. The international competition rules are the basis for local competitions, although local bodies are allowed to modify these rules to a certain extent. FIDE awards a number of organisational titles, including International Arbiter, which signifies that the recipient is competent and trusted to oversee top-class competitions. FIDE calculates the Elo ratings of players and uses these as the basis on which it awards titles for achievement in competitive play: FIDE Master, International Master, International Grandmaster, and women's versions of those titles. It also awards Master and Grandmaster titles for achievement in problem and study composing and solving, and periodically publishes FIDE Albums of the best problems. Correspondence chess (chess played by post or email) is regulated by the International Correspondence Chess Federation, an independent body that co-operates with FIDE where appropriate. History Foundation and early years (up to 1939) In April 1914, an initiative was taken in St. Petersburg to form an international chess federation. Another attempt was made in July, 1914 during the Mannheim International Chess Tournament, but further efforts temporarily came to an end as a result of the outbreak of World War I during the latter event. In 1920, another attempt to organize an international federation was made at the Gothenburg Tournament.[7] Players also made the first attempt to produce rules for world championship matches - in 1922, world champion Jose Raul Capablancaproposed the "London rules": the first player to win six games outright would win the match; playing sessions would be limited to five hours; the time limit would be 40 moves in 2.5 hours; the champion would be obliged to defend his title within one year of receiving a challenge from a recognized master; the champion would decide the date of the match; the champion was not obliged to accept a challenge for a purse of less than $10,000; 20% of the purse was to paid to the title holder, with the remainder being divided, 60% to the winner of the match, and 40% to the loser; the highest purse bid must be accepted. Alekhine, Bogoljubow, Maróczy, Reti, Rubinstein, Tartakower and Vidmarpromptly signed them.[8] The only match played under those rules was Capablanca vs Alekhine in 1927.[9] In 1922, the Russian master Eugene Znosko-Borovsky, while participating in an international tournament in London, announced that a tournament would be held during the 8th Sports Olympic Games in Paris in 1924 and would be hosted by the French Chess Federation. On 20 July 1924 the participants at the Paris tournament founded FIDE as a kind of players' union.[3][7][10] In its early years, FIDE had little power, and was poorly financed. FIDE's congresses in 1925 and 1926 expressed a desire to become involved in


19th century English theatrical manager and producer Richard D'Oyly Carte was responsible for the building of which London theatre?

Theatres in Victorian London Theatres in Victorian London [ Victorian Web Home —> Authors —> Music, Theatre, and Popular Entertainment —> Theatres ] Much of the following information has been gathered from Frederick and Lise-Lone Marker's in "A Guide to London Theatres, 1750-1880" in The Revels History of Drama in English, Vol. VI: 1750-1880 (1975). They, in turn, consulted H. Barton Baker's History of the London Stage (London, 1904), Allardyce Nicoll's A History of English Drama 1660-1900 (Cambridge, 1966), E. B. Watson's Sheridan to Robertson (Cambridge, Mass., 1926), and The London Stage (Carbondale, Ill., 1962-68). Phyllis Hartnoll's Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre offers more detailed information about many of these nineteenth-century theatres. Additional images and links added by George P. Landow . For supplementary texts, consult the "Reference List" below. Adelphi (Strand) Built in 1806 opposite Adam Street by merchant John Scott (who had made his fortune from a washing-blue) as the Sans Pareil to showcase his daughter's theatrical talents, the theatre was given a new facade and redecorated in 1814. It re-opened on 18 October 1819 as the Adelphi, named after the imposing complex of West London streets built by the brothers Robert (1728-92) and James (1730-94) Adam from 1768. The name "Adelphoi" in Greek simply means "the brothers." Among the celebrated actors who appeared on its stage was the comedian Charles Matthews (1776-1835), whose work was so admired by young Charles Dickens. It had more "tone" than the other minor theatres because its patrons in the main were the salaried clerks of barristers and solicitors. The Adelphi was also noted for melodramas ("Adelphi Screamers") and dramatic adaptations, for example, Pierce Egan's Tom and Jerry, or Life in London, adapted by dramatist T. W. Moncrieff. Its first notable manager was Frederick Yates (1825-42), and its longest-tenured manager Ben Webster (1847-71). The well-known Anglo- Irish dramatist and actor Dion Boucicault performed on its stage in 1860, 1861, 1875, and 1880, while his second wife, Agnes Robertson, appeared on the stage of the Adelphi in 1861, 1875, and 1893. Noted adaptor and Dickensian "pirate" Edward Stirling was acting manager in 1838, and stage director in 1839. The Adelphi has the distinction, according to the research of Philip Bolton, of being the first house to stage an adaptation a work by Charles Dickens , the piece being J. B. Buckstone's "The Christening," a comic burletta (farce) which opened on 13 October 1834, based on "The Bloomsbury Christening," which would eventually be published in the first volume of Sketches by Boz. Indeed, many of Dickens's early works were adapted for the stage of the Adelphi, including The Pickwick Papers as W. L. Rede's The Peregrinations of Pickwick; or, Boz-i-a-na, a three -act burletta first performed on 3 April 1837, Yates's production of Nicholas Nickleby; or, Doings at Do-The-Boys Hall in November-December 1838, and Edward Stirling's two-act burletta The Old Curiosity Shop; or, One Hour from Humphrey's Clock (November-December 1840, January 1841). In 1840, a fresh façade was added, and in 1844 it came under the management of Madame Céleste and comedian Ben Webster, with John Baldwin Buckstone (1802-79) as its principal dramatist. On 28 January 1844, the theatre's lessee, Gladstane, wrote to John M. Kemble, Examiner of Plays in the Lord Chamberlain's offices, for permission to play Edward Stirling's "official" adaptation of Dickens's A Christmas Carol; or, Past, Present, and Future, which opened 5 February. Here, too, on 19 December 1844 Lemon and à Beckett's "official" adaptation of Dickens's The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that rang an Old Year out and a New One In opened. In total, à Beckett staged six of his plays at the Adelphi between 1844 and 1853. Still manager in 1848, Ben Webster made application on 12 December to the Lord Chamberlain's office for the licensing of Mark Lemon's adaptation of Dickens's The Haunted Man, to op


The celebrated 18th century Englishman, Lancelot Brown, was better known by what name?

Home page | Capability Brown Read full news article See all Follow us on Twitter BrownCapability RT @NTCroome : It might be misty out there, but the park is certainly still beautiful for a walk #NTMidlands #winterwalks t.co/kmoxE… BrownCapability RT @BowoodHouse : More dates have been added for our ‘Capability’ Brown themed guided tours for 2017 more info and to book click here: https… BrownCapability RT @ForsterSmiths1 : Morning walkies @NTCroome in the mist. The reflections are perfect today t.co/nmxPNzfDj6 BrownCapability Fascinating article on C18th Spitalfields silk designer’s inspiration from newly imported plants… t.co/x8TFRN7bpG Celebrating the work of Capability Brown with our partners: © Copyright 2017


The name of the Doukhobor religious sect means what?

Doukhobors - The Canadian Encyclopedia Religion & Philosophy Doukhobors Doukhobors are a sect of Russian dissenters, many of whom now live in western Canada. They are known for a radical pacifism which brought them notoriety during the 20th century. Today, their descendants in Canada number approximately 20,000, with one third still active in their culture. Doukhobors are a sect of Russian dissenters, many of whom now live in western Canada. They are known for a radical pacifism which brought them notoriety during the 20th century. Today, their descendants in Canada number approximately 20,000, with one third still active in their culture. Origins and migration Since they arose as a peasant group in southern Russia with orally transmitted teachings and traditions, their origin is obscure. Their doctrines appear to have been at least partially derived from those of a 17th-century renegade preacher Danilo Filipov, who dissented radically from the Orthodox Church . The Doukhobors rejected church liturgy, believing that god dwells in each human being and not in a church; they rejected secular governments; and practiced pacifism . They replaced the Bible with orally transmitted psalms and hymns, which they called the Living Book. These are sung to this day at the molenie (religious gatherings). Group decisions are made collectively at sobranie (community meetings). Doukhobors do not use any religious symbols at these meetings except for the display of bread, salt and water, which represent the elements that sustain life. Some Doukhobors revere their chosen leaders, whom they regard as especially inspired by god, but Doukhobors generally believe that all people are equal because all have god within them. Many of them still live by the slogan coined by one of their leaders, "toil and peaceful life." Most Doukhobors no longer live communally, but many are still vegetarians and all practice pacifism. During the late 18th century, the group was persecuted by the tsars and the Russian Orthodox Church for heresy and pacifism. In 1785, an Orthodox archbishop called them Doukhobors, or "Spirit-Wrestlers." It was intended to mean "Wrestlers against the Holy Spirit," but the group adopted it, interpreting it as "Wrestlers for and with the Spirit." Under Tsar Alexander I persecution lapsed, and in 1802 the Doukhobors were gathered in settlements in the Crimea, which was then a frontier region. Forty years later, under the less sympathetic Nicholas I, they were resettled among the fierce tribesmen of the recently conquered Caucasus. There they overcame initial difficulties and eventually prospered, particularly under their female leader, Lukeriia Kalmikova. Kalmikova died in 1886, and the ensuing struggle for leadership split the sect. Her adopted son Peter Verigin , later called Peter Gospodii (the Lordly), emerged as the majority leader, but he was immediately arrested by the authorities and sent into exile in Siberia. From afar, Verigin was able to exhort his followers to reaffirm their ideals and become even more radical, as the Doukhobors added vegetarianism, communal living and abstinence from alcohol to their other practices. In 1895, they publicly burned their weapons in what is now known as The Burning of Arms, which may have been the first pacifist protest in modern times. Arrival in Canada Persecuted again, many of the Doukhobors were allowed to emigrate to Canada, assisted by novelist Leo Tolstoy and his followers in addition to British and American Quakers and Russian anarchists. More than 7,500 sailed to Canada in 1899 and settled in what was to become Saskatchewan, where they lived as a community. With 500 more Doukhobors, Verigin was allowed to join them there in 1902, making the migration of the Doukhobors the largest single mass migration in Canadian history. Initially, Doukhobors were permitted to register for individual homesteads but not to live communally. They received concessions regarding education and military service. Frank Oliver , who succeeded Clifford Sifton as minister of the interior in 1905, interpreted t


A cravat is worn on which part of the body?

When and why did men start wearing ties? What is the point of them? They are uncomfortable and they dangle in your soup. | Notes and Queries | guardian.co.uk When and why did men start wearing ties? What is the point of them? They are uncomfortable and they dangle in your soup. Justin Rigden, Adelaide Australia Anthropologists would argue that the tie directs a viewer's attention downwards to the wearer's genitals (hence the arrow-like shape). A kind of displaced cod-piece. Elster, London But they are men's chance to have a little color with dark suits and white shirts. Freda Sedgwick, California USA I've heard it argued (predictably enough, given that it's a men-only item of clothing we're talking about here) that it's some kind of male virility thing. Apart from the somewhat phallic shape (if you stretch the imagination a little), a tie also forms a neat arrow - often in a bright colour that contrasts vividly with the typical dark suit / pale shirt combo - pointing directly at a man's genital area. Quite apart from that, it's also the only item of male business attire that you can have any fun with at all. Women get to wear all sorts of lovely, bright colours, but try wearing a lime green suit and black shirt to the office and you'll just end up looking like some dodgy nightclub owner. Alistair, Mexico City, Mexico Isn't the point of ties to hide those terribly unsightly buttons? Susie Turner, London, UK I always assumed the point of ties was to conceal the buttons on a shirt, as they are functional rather than attractive. This belief is supported by the fact that ties are never worn with dress shirts, which generally have their buttons concealed anyway. Aidan Tolhurst, Manchester, UK A tie is uncomfortable only if it is tied too tight or you shirt collar is too small. It keep my neck warm on chilly days, and gives me the opportunity to be dressed somewhat decoratively in my conservative work environment. Simon Kaplan, Chapel Hill, USA The tie was an invention of the victorians. Supposedly it was to protect your shirt from the detritus of everyday. However, historically only two groups of people have anything around their necks, slaves and the hanged. If you had said to a Roman 'here put this around your throat' he would have been highly insulted Richard, Dublin Ireland In the eighteenth century the practice was to wear a neckerchief inside your collar to keep out draughts, and to keep the collar clean. In the nineteenth centurty this practice continued until one bright Oxford Rowing Blue removed the decorative hatband from his straw hat and tied it around his neck, curse him. The Decorative hatband was apparently a sporting prize, much like a cap. Sad to say this action caught on, with results we see today. "Daily the modern man endures this civilised abuse, to place a blade against his throat and his head inside a noose." Fred Cairns, Bourne End UK I'd always understood that the danger posed by a tie was part of its appeal. When a factory worker joined the management class, he could wear his cravat long ... an indication that he no longer worked with machinery, and could dangle with his betters. Phil Cohen, Sydney Australia If the reason for wearing a tie is to add colour to drab, conservative workclothes why not wear colourful, adventurous workclothes. The tie has got to be one of the most pointless articles of clothing ever invented. If we didn't have ties we could shirts without collars and jackets that fasten higher than half way up the body. Also men might eventually be allowed to wear something different to work that the almost obligatory suit. John Wright, Cockermouth England Not really an answer, but Linda Ellerbee (US journalist) is quoted as saying: "If men can run the world, why can't they stop wearing neckties? How intelligent is it to start the day by tying a noose around your neck?" I thought that part of the reason was so that men had a handkerchief near by for when they needed to blow their noses Alex, Melbourne Australia Maybe it is to cover the buttons of a shirt? Steven, Goose Creek USA It's contin


Which film featured the voices of Hugh Grant in his animated feature film debut, Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, and David Tennant?

Aardman Animation's 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits' Casts Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, David Tennant and More - /Film /Film Aardman Animation’s ‘The Pirates! Band of Misfits’ Casts Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, David Tennant and More Posted on Thursday, May 5th, 2011 by Russ Fischer Sony and Aardman Animation have teamed for a new 3D stop-motion animated film, called The Pirates! Band of Misfits, based in part on Gideon Defoe‘s book The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists. (Which is also the film’s title in the UK, I believe.) That isn’t news, but the first still, above, and the announcement of the full cast definitely is. Aardman co-founder and Chicken Run co-director Peter Lord is directing the film, which is animated in the now-classic Aardman clay figure style, and he’s got Hugh Grant making his clay debut as the chap you see above. There are a bunch of other great names on hand to provide voices as well, and you can get the full list after the break. The Pirates! Band of Misfits, in addition to Hugh Grant, will feature: Martin Freeman, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek, Brian Blessed, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen. That’s all via a press release, which also gives up this synopsis booty, complete with a rundown of who’s playing whom: Hugh Grant, starring in his first animated role, is the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain – a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas.  With a rag-tag crew at his side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen), and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award.  It’s a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.  Along the way they battle a diabolical queen (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a haplessly smitten young scientist (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure! Cool Posts From Around the Web:


Which children's book character was named after the London railway station where he was first met?

THE TRAIN NOW DEPARTING - Notes and Extracts on the History of the London and Birmingham Railway. INTRODUCTION   ï¿½There is a great deal more difficulty than would at first be imagined in laying out a railway station; and, perhaps, in every one now in existence, if it had to be entirely built over again, some change would be desirable: there are so many things to be amalgamated, and such various accommodation to be provided, that the business becomes exceedingly complicated.ï¿½ The History of   the Railway Connecting London and Birmingham, Peter Lecount   (1839).   ï¿½Euston Square Depot. South front of the Propylï¿½um, or entrance gateway, with two Pavilions, or Lodges, on each side, for Officesï¿½ by John Cooke Bourne, 1838. The ï¿½Great Gateway to the North,ï¿½ the entrance Portico at Euston Station. ï¿½The Grand Entrance is formed of a majestic Doric   portico, similar to the Propylea of the Greek cities, with antï¿½ and   two lodges on either side, forming offices for booking parcels, &c.   and extending about 300 feet in width, the centre being opposite to   a wide opening into Euston-square.  It was erected by Messrs. Cubitt,   after the designs of Philip Hardwick, Esq., the successful architect   of Goldsmithï¿½s Hall, City Club House, and other first rate edifices.  The proportions of this splendid erection are gigantic, and the   portico may be considered the largest in Europe, if not in the   world.  The diameter of the columns is eight feet six inches; their   height forty-two feet; the intercolumniation twenty-eight feet,   forming the carriage entrance; and the total height, to the apex of   the pediment, seventy two feet. It is built of Bramley Fall stone;   of which, in this erection alone, above 75,000 cubic feet were   consumed.ï¿½ The   London and Birmingham Railway, Roscoe and   Lecount (1839). ï¿½When the Great   Northern Railway was about to build a London terminus, Sir William   Cubitt declared that ï¿½a   good station could be built at Kingï¿½s Cross for less than the cost [ï¿½35,000] of the ornamental archway at Euston Square.ï¿½ï¿½ The History of the London and   North-Western Railway, Wilfred L. Steel (1914). The   Grand Junction Canal, [ 1 ] the   Railwayï¿½s near neighbour for many miles, has changed little since it was opened at   the beginning of the nineteenth century.  Although most of its wharves and docks disappeared with its trade   many years ago ― a change spurred on by the   opening of the London and Birmingham Railway ― the waterway would be immediately recognisable to Jessop and   Barnes, its   engineers, were they to return today, despite what to them would surely be an inconceivable   change in the character of the traffic it now conveys. [ 2 ] Robert Stephenson, however, would find far   less resemblance between the southern section of the West Coast Main   Line (as it now is) and the railway that he built.  Although much of the   civil engineering depicted in John Cooke Bourneï¿½s idyllic scenes   remains, it is festooned with high tension cables and associated paraphernalia, tampered with by   track widening schemes [ 3 ] and   often obscured by modern development.  Another very noticeable change   would be to the size and speed of the rolling stock, made   possible, in part, by the heavy (around 120 lbs per yard) continuous   welded steel rail laid on pre-stressed concrete sleepers in a bed   of crushed granite ballast.  Likewise, colour   light signals have replaced the top-hatted ï¿½policemanï¿½   with their flags and signal lamps, stationed in the open at points along   the line (they can be sometimes be glimpsed in contemporary scenes   by Cooke Bourne   and other artists).  And were he to return, Stephenson could not help   but   notice the remarkable changes that have been made to   the Railwayï¿½s station architecture ― one wonders what he and   Hardwick would make of   todayï¿½s utilitarian but ï¿½sthetically deprived termini.  Almost none of the Railwayï¿½s ori


The Tien Shan, or Tian Shan, mountains lie to the north of which?

Tien Shan | mountains, Asia | Britannica.com Tien Shan Alternative Titles: Celestial Mountains, Tian Shan, T’ien Shan, Tyan Shan Related Topics Lake Ysyk Tien Shan, Chinese (Pinyin) Tian Shan or (Wade-Giles romanization) T’ien Shan, Russian Tyan Shan, great mountain system of Central Asia . Its name is Chinese for “Celestial Mountains.” Stretching about 1,500 miles (2,500 km) from west-southwest to east-northeast, it mainly straddles the border between China and Kyrgyzstan and bisects the ancient territory of Turkistan . It is about 300 miles (500 km) wide in places at its eastern and western extremities but narrows to about 220 miles (350 km) in width at the centre. The Tien Shan mountain range and the Takla Makan Desert. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Rocky streambed in the Kyrgyz Ala Range of the Tien Shan, northern Kyrgyzstan. © David Tomlinson/NHPA The Tien Shan is bounded to the north by the Junggar (Dzungarian) Basin of northwestern China and the southern Kazakhstan plains and to the southeast by the Tarim (Talimu) Basin. To the southwest the Hisor (Gissar) and Alay ranges of Tajikistan extend into part of the Tien Shan, making the Alay, Surkhandarya, and Hisor valleys boundaries of the system, along with the Pamirs to the south. The Tien Shan also includes the Shū-Ile Mountains and the Qarataū Range , which extend far to the northwest into the eastern Kazakhstan lowlands. Within these limits the total area of the Tien Shan is about 386,000 square miles (1,000,000 square km). The tallest peaks in the Tien Shan are a central cluster of mountains forming a knot, from which ridges extend along the boundaries between China, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan; these peaks are Victory Peak (Kyrgyz, Jengish Chokusu; Russian, Pik Pobedy), which at 24,406 feet (7,439 metres) is the highest mountain in the range, and Khan Tängiri Peak (Kyrgyz, Kan-Too Chokusu), which reaches 22,949 feet (6,995 metres) and is the highest point in Kazakhstan. Physical features Physiography The relief is characterized by a combination of mountain ranges and intervening valleys and basins trending generally from east to west. The deepest depression in the eastern Tien Shan is the Turfan (Turpan) Depression , within which is the lowest point in Central Asia—505 feet (154 metres) below sea level. Thus, the differences in elevation in the Tien Shan are extreme, exceeding 4.5 miles (7 km). The eastern extension of the Turfan Depression is the Hami (Qomul) Basin; both basins are bounded to the north by the Bogda Mountains, with elevations of up to 17,864 feet (5,445 metres), and by the eastern extremity of the Tien Shan, the Karlik Mountains, which reach a maximum elevation of 16,158 feet (4,925 metres). Similar Topics Ural Mountains The ranges are of the alpine type, with steep slopes; glaciers occur along their crests. The basins are bounded to the south by the low-rising Qoltag Mountains . West of the Turfan Depression is one of the greatest mountain knots of the eastern Tien Shan: the Eren Habirga Mountains, which reach elevations of 18,200 feet (5,550 metres). The ridge has considerable glacial development, as well as numerous forms of relief that indicate the area was the site of ancient glaciation. Tien Shan mountain range, photograph taken from the International Space Station. NASA West of longitude 84° E, the eastern Tien Shan ridges fork, trending to the southwest and northwest, and enclose the vast depression of the Ili (Kazakh, Ile; Chinese, Yili) River valley in Kazakhstan, which gradually widens and loses elevation as it proceeds westward. It is bounded to the north by the Borohoro Mountains, which have glaciers in the eastern part and are characterized by steeply sloping ridges. This range also gradually descends westward, where at an elevation of 6,801 feet (2,073 metres) lies the great undrained Lake Sayram. The Ili depression is bounded to the south by the highest mountains in the central Tien Shan—the Halik Mountains, reaching heights up to 22,346 feet (6,811 metres), and the isolated Ketpen (Ketmen) Range, which rises to an elevation of


From 2011 to 2019 who are the holders of the William Webb Ellis Cup?

Rugby365 | The Webb Ellis Cup The Webb Ellis Cup Sun, 13 Sep 2015 08:53 The winners of the World Cup on Saturday, 31 October will receive, with glee, the Webb Ellis Cup. Paul Dobson looks at the history of the Cup. That is the name the handsome cup carries - the Webb Ellis Cup. It is a bit of a misnomer. It is named after a clergyman, the Rev. William Ellis, who died in 1872, but was credited with starting the rugby game in 1823. The crediting happened 68 years after Ellis left Rugby School and 23 years after he died. There is no record of his having played the game, certainly not of being its founder. His middle name was Webb, his mother's maiden name, but his older brother was plain Thomas Ellis. There was never an attempt to suggest that Ellis had a double-barrelled name in the way that John Kendall-Carpenter did, the man who chose the trophy and gave it its name. Kendall-Carpenter, the headmaster of an English public (= private) school was the chairman of the committee organising the 1987 World Cup. He and Air Commodore Bob Weighill, also a former England forward, set out to find a trophy. They went to crown jewellers Garrard's of Regent Street, a company which began in 1722.   Kendall-Carpenter explained what he was looking for: "I felt that a Victorian, not a Georgian trophy would be appropriate, made of silver - a masculine metal - rather than gold. The craftsmanship of the period and the beauty of the piece would have to project the past into the present." And so it came to pass: "At Garrard's, I was told by Richard Jarvis, one of their directors, that they had re-acquired, that very day, a piece of silverware, a copy of a Victorian cup which was made in their own workshop in 1906. When they brought the cup from the vaults, I immediately knew I had found what I was looking for. It was heavy, it was compact, it was handsome." The 38-centimetre trophy weighs 4,5 kg, is gilded silver and is supported by two cast scroll handles. On one handle there is a head satyr, on the other there is head of a nymph. On the face of the trophy, the words International Rugby Football Board and below that arch The Webb Ellis Cup are engraved. The Webb Ellis Cup is also referred to (incorrectly) as the "Webb Ellis Trophy" or colloquially as "Bill", a nickname coined by the 1991 World Cup winners, the Wallabies. There are two official Webb Ellis Cups, which are used interchangeably. One cup is a 1906 trophy made by Carrington and Co. of London, which was a Victorian design of a 1740 cup by Paul de Lamerie and the other is a 1986 replica. New Zealand were the first winners and are the current holders. Only four countries have taken possession of it - New Zealand (twice), Australia (twice), South Africa (twice) and England. Winning that trophy has become the aim of national teams so that rugby, instead of annual seasons, now has seasons which last for four years and climax with the final round of the Rugby World Cup. All rugby eyes will be on Twickenham on 31 October 2015 - millions of eyes. By Paul Dobson


"Which musical, based on characters created for single-panel cartoons in ""The New Yorker"" beginning 1938, opened on Broadway in April 2010 after a tryout in Chicago?"

The Addams Family the Musical Songs Lyrics The Addams Family the Musical Songs Lyrics # The Addams Family the Musical Songs Lyrics The Addams Family is a musical with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. The show is based upon the "Addams Family" characters created by cartoonist Charles Addams in his single-panel gag cartoons for The New Yorker beginning 1938, which depict a ghoulish American family with an affinity for all things macabre. While numerous film and television adaptations of Addams' cartoons exist, the stage show does not draw from these portrayals of the characters. After a tryout in Chicago, the show opened on Broadway in April 2010. Broadway production (2010)


On 26 December 2004 Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia, was devastated by what?

The most destructive Tsunamis | Sumatra, Indonesia 2004 Tsunami Sumatra 2004, Andaman Indonesia 2004 Sumatra–Andaman Earthquake and Tsunami Image: 2004 Banda AcehTsunami aerial photo Aerial photo showing flattened houses in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, January 16, 2005, three weeks after a deadly tsunami devastated the island. While Japan may have the longest recorded history of tsunamis, the sheer destruction caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami event mark it as the most devastating of its kind in modern times. Video: 2004 Boing Day Tsunami The earthquake that generated the great Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 7:59 am local time on Sunday, 26 December 2004. It was caused by subduction with an epicentre off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the “Sumatra–Andaman earthquake”. The resulting tsunami is given various names, including the “Boxing Day tsunami”. With a magnitude of Mw 9.1–9.3, it is the third largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. The earthquake had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes. It caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as 1 centimetre (0.4 inches) and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake is estimated to have released the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs. Image: 2004 Sumatra – Tsunami Wave The December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was caused by an earthquake that is thought to have had the energy of 23,000 atomic bombs. Within hours of the earthquake, killer waves radiating from the epicentre slammed into the coastline of 11 Indian Ocean countries, damaging countries from east Africa to Thailand, killing over 230,000 people in fourteen countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters (98 ft) high. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia was the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. Image: 2004 Sumatra – Woman in a tsunami-damaged village in Tamil Nadu, India . Woman in a tsunami-damaged village in Tamil Nadu, India, waving for assistance from a hovering helicopter, Dec. 31, 2004. Despite a lag of up to several hours between the earthquake and the impact of the tsunami, nearly all of the victims were taken completely by surprise because there were no tsunami warning systems in the Indian Ocean to detect tsunamis or to warn the general populace living around the ocean. Video: 2004 Tsunami on the coast of Thailand : The Sea has retreated. Image: 2004 Sumatra – Tourists try to rush to safety before the tsunami hit the Hat Ari Lay Beach Why was the Sumatra tsunami so devastating? The Sumatra-Andaman Islands Earthquake on December 26, 2004, happened in an area with high population densities along the coasts where it struck with maximal force (see red colours in the simulated image below). Yet some areas were more so affected than others. Image: 2004 Sumatra – Wave Amplitude Chart The worst affected areas had two things in common: they have neither experienced hurricanes nor tides. Thus people lived dangerously close to the water and often on ships that would not be seaworthy in areas where tropical cyclones are common. But from scientific observations we know today that tides and hurricanes are able to modify the coast in ways that may reduce tsunami damage. Combined with waves, and particularly those from storms, tides can erode the shoreline out, until a shore profile results that resists tsunamis. On such coasts, a tsunami won't be able to run inland as far as it did in Aceh, the region located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra, where approximately 170,000 Indonesians were killed or went missing in the disaster, and approximately 500,000 were left homeless. That is also the reason why the March 2011 tsunami in Japan caused predictably much damage where the coast had never experienced either substantial tides or s


The Port of Hambantota, for which construction began in January 2008 to provide bunkering, ship repair, ship building and crew change facilities, is in which country?

Port News of the port of Hambantota - vesseltracker.com Port News of the port of Hambantota 34 days ago by arnekiel Japanese vessel detention makes shipping lines avoid Hambantota port The recent detention of a Japanese vessel by striking workers at Hambantota port in south Sri Lanka has given international shipping lines yet another reason to avoid the port. Sri Lankan Ports Minister Arjuna Ranatunga told the media on Monday that following the detention of the Japanese car-carrying vessel causing it a loss of USD 400,000, some ships had to be diverted to Colombo while others just skirted Sri Lanka and went elsewhere. The port, constructed by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa with a Chinese loan of US$ 1.4 billion, has been without business so far because it has no worthwhile hinterland. Unable to pay back the loan, the present Sri Lankan government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had recently given 80 % stake and near total operational control to a Chinese company. www.hellenicshipp... 36 days ago by arnekiel Sri Lanka troops fire warning shots at protesting dock workers keeping Japanese ship in port Sri Lankan naval troops fired warning shots to break up a protest by striking dock workers who have held up a Japanese vessel for four days at the island’s southern international port. Troops entered Hambantota port from the sea Saturday and fired warning shots to disperse the crowd, considering their action an “act of piracy,” navy spokesman Akram Alavi said. The protesters had prevented the Japanese vehicle carrier Hyperion Highway from leaving the port. No casualties were reported. After the navy’s intervention, the Japanese ship sailed Saturday afternoon toward its next destination, Oman, Alavi said. Temporary workers began striking Tuesday, demanding to be made permanent employees of the state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority, which manages the island nation’s ports. The workers fear they may lose their jobs as the government is planning a deal with a Chinese firm — the China Merchants Ports Holding Company — to hand over a 80-percent stake in the loss-making $1.4 billion port. www.hellenicshipp... 40 days ago by arnekiel Strike at Hambantota Port continues A tense situation prevailed at the Hambantota International Sea Port yesterday as the strike launched by a group of employees at the port continued. The employees also staged a satyagraha campaign on Thursday afternoon.Ports and Shipping Deputy Minister Nishantha Mutuhettigama told the Daily News yesterday night that the strike was continuing unabated. However, he denied rumours that the protesters had seized or obstructed a ship which had arrived at the port. Ports Minister Arjuna Ranatunga who arrived at the port yesterday, said the workers were provided jobs at the sea port by the previous regime under the Magampura Varaya project and not through the Sri Lanka Port Authority and as such he was unable to bring the employees under the purview of the Port Authority or to affiliate them with the Port Authority. He said he will not allow any one to lose his job even if a foreign company takes over the Hambantota Sea Port. The minister said if any one loses his job at the sea port he will resign from the post of minister. Ranatunga said the Hambantota sea port was set up without a feasibility report at a colossal sum by a Chinese firm. The minister said if he was the ports minister then, he would have setup this sea port spending half the amount of money spent by the previous regime. He said if protests of this nature continue, it will create an impact on trade and shipping in foreign countries. Source: Daily News Lanka 41 days ago by arnekiel Sri Lanka and China to Develop Southern Port Sri Lanka will take part in a joint venture with China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited to develop a port in its south, where China has also been offered an investment zone. The cabinet approved a plan under which Sri Lanka will lease 80 percent of the Hambantota port to Hong Kong-based China Merchants Port Holdings Company for 99


"The book (and later a 1981 film) called ""Mommie Dearest"" published in 1978 was about which actress who appeared in films and on television from 1925 to 1975?"

Joan Crawford - Biography - IMDb Joan Crawford Biography Showing all 225 items Jump to: Overview  (5) | Mini Bio  (1) | Spouse  (4) | Trade Mark  (4) | Trivia  (101) | Personal Quotes  (79) | Salary  (31) Overview (5) 5' 3" (1.6 m) Mini Bio (1) Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur on March 23, 1905, in San Antonio, Texas, to Anna Belle (Johnson) and Thomas E. LeSueur, a laundry laborer. By the time she was born, her parents had separated, and by the time she was a teenager, she'd had three stepfathers. It wasn't an easy life; Crawford worked a variety of menial jobs. She was a good dancer, though, and -- perhaps seeing dance as her ticket to a career in show business -- she entered several contests, one of which landed her a spot in a chorus line. Before long, she was dancing in big Midwestern and East Coast cities. After almost two years, she packed her bags and moved to Hollywood. Crawford was determined to succeed, and shortly after arriving she got her first bit part, as a showgirl in Pretty Ladies (1925). Three films quickly followed; although the roles weren't much to speak of, she continued toiling. Throughout 1927 and early 1928, she was cast in small parts, but that ended with the role of Diana Medford in Our Dancing Daughters (1928), which elevated her to star status. Crawford had cleared the first big hurdle; now came the second, in the form of talkies. Many stars of the silents saw their careers evaporate, either because their voices weren't particularly pleasant or because their voices, pleasing enough, didn't match the public's expectations (for example, some fans felt that John Gilbert 's tenor didn't quite match his very masculine persona). But Crawford wasn't felled by sound. Her first talkie, Untamed (1929), was a success. As the 1930s progressed, Crawford became one of the biggest stars at MGM. She was in top form in films such as Grand Hotel (1932), Sadie McKee (1934), No More Ladies (1935), and Love on the Run (1936); movie patrons were enthralled, and studio executives were satisfied. By the early 1940s, MGM was no longer giving her plum roles; newcomers had arrived in Hollywood, and the public wanted to see them. Crawford left MGM for rival Warner Bros., and in 1945 she landed the role of a lifetime. Mildred Pierce (1945) gave her an opportunity to show her range as an actress, and her performance as a woman driven to give her daughter everything garnered Crawford her first, and only, Oscar for Best Actress. The following year she appeared with John Garfield in the well-received Humoresque (1946). In 1947, she appeared as Louise Graham in Possessed (1947); again she was nominated for a Best Actress from the Academy, but she lost to Loretta Young in The Farmer's Daughter (1947). Crawford continued to choose her roles carefully, and in 1952 she was nominated for a third time, for her depiction of Myra Hudson in Sudden Fear (1952). This time the coveted Oscar went to Shirley Booth , for Come Back, Little Sheba (1952). Crawford's career slowed after that; she appeared in minor roles until 1962, when she and Bette Davis co-starred in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). Their longstanding rivalry may have helped fuel their phenomenally vitriolic and well-received performances. (Earlier in their careers, Davis said of Crawford, "She's slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie," and Crawford said of Davis, "I don't hate [her] even though the press wants me to. I resent her. I don't see how she built a career out of a set of mannerisms instead of real acting ability. Take away the pop eyes, the cigarette, and those funny clipped words, and what have you got? She's phony, but I guess the public really likes that".) Crawford's final appearance on the silver screen was in a flop called Trog (1970). Turning to vodka more and more, she was hardly seen afterward. On May 10, 1977, Joan died of cancer in New York City. She was 72 years old. She had disinherited her adopted daughter Christina and son Christopher; the former wrote a tell-all book called "Mommie Dearest", published in 1978. The book c


"The film ""Vera Drake"" (2004) by Mike Leigh has as a central focus which field of activity in 1950s Britain?"

THEreelreviewer.Weebly.com - Dir. by Mike Leigh (Born in Salford, Greater Manchester, UK) THEreelreviewer.Weebly.com  Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)  -reviewed on this blog Vera Drake (2004) -reviewed on this blog Cinema16: British Short Films (2003 video) All or Nothing (2002/I) A Sense of History (1992 TV short) Two Mikes Don't Make a Wright (1992 documentary) - (segment "A Sense of History") Life Is Sweet (1990) The Short and Curlies (1987 TV short) Four Days in July (1985 TV movie) Meantime (1984 TV movie) Home Sweet Home (1982 TV movie) The Five Minute Films (1982 TV short) Grown-Ups (1980 TV movie) Who's Who (1979 TV movie) Abigail's Party (1977 TV movie) Kiss of Death (1977 TV movie) Nuts in May (1976 TV movie) Knock for Knock (1976 TV short) The Permissive Society (1975 TV short) Hard Labour (1973 TV movie) Bleak Moments (1971) Play for Today (1970 TV series) The Wednesday Play (1964 TV series) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   VERA DRAKE Lower-class British drama shows how a helpful do-gooder can take the fall for society's greatest 'unspoken' ill, but some of the 'slang' may get 'lost in translation' in America! 3 stars [(2004)UK/Fine Line Features/Rated R] - (2 hrs. 5 min.) Written & directed by Mike Leigh Lead Character/Cast Vera Drake - Imelda Staunton Review: If British director Mike Leigh ("Topsy Turvy") has anything it's a gift for casting, and once again he is able to bring a character actor into the spotlight. This time Leigh has collaborated with longtime supporting actress Imelda Staunton ("Shakespeare in Love") and this film is the result of their six months of rehearsal, research, and unique improvisations which have yielded a fully fleshed out, three-dimensional 'secret' abortionist 'Vera Drake', a character that is so realistic one would expect to find her sourced in a history book. Director Leigh is not merely interested in using his imagination to highlight one character or an aspect of the abortion issue per se, but instead shifts of the focus of the film to all of the people in Vera's life from her poor sick mother to the folks she brings soup and a 'hot cuppa tea'. The kind-hearted Vera would do anything for anyone and though the audience learns later that this includes abortions for girls (and women) who have 'gotten in the family way', it is only a small part of what this film is all about despite what the advance hype seems to indicate. As one would expect, there is also a nod to the middle class folk that employ Vera as a housemaid and use their money and influence to subvert the law and get their abortions in private hospitals. Vera operates outside this world and her service is free (though her partner is secretly skimming the girls for money) and her methods are painless in keeping with a portrait of an angel of mercy. Majority of the film works in this respect until Vera is caught due to an accidental miscarriage and the succeeding arrest, trial, and prosecution are a long labored affair. Here Leigh examines the rule of law and how its strict observance in applied to the poor while those with money are always able to circumvent it. Jim Broadbent ("Moulin Rouge") makes an odd cameo as the man who rules against Vera and sets the sentence to make her an example to other abortionists. Certainly this is the ultimate hypocrisy, since its men that make babies, but women are left to deal with the problems that follow. In those days, with no 'legal' access to abortion and no proper husband any kind of birth outside marriage was immediately scandalized. Leigh leaves these ideas for the viewer to debate, but its his omission of clemency by the all-male court that speaks volumes long after the final credits roll up the screen. Supporting Characters/Cast Stan (Vera's hubby) - Phil Davis Det. Inspector Webster - Peter Wright Frank (Stan's brother) - Adrian Scarborough Joyce (Frank's wife) - Heather Craney Sid (Vera's son) - Daniel Mays Ethel (Vera's daughter) - Alex Kelly Susan - Sally Hawkins Reg (Ethel's beau) - Eddie Marsan Lily (Vera's 'friend') - Ruth Sheen WPC Best - Helen Coker Very Young Woman - Sinead


Whose record album, produced by Phil Spector, was released while he is in jail serving a 19 year sentence for murder?

'Each time I visit, he looks thinner and wispier': Phil Spector's daughter reveals the toll of prison life on her father | Daily Mail Online comments The daughter of disgraced music producer Phil Spector has revealed the toll of prison life on her father. Spector, 73, is serving a prison sentence of 19 years to life for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson. Nicole Audrey Spector, 30, said each time she sees her 'pop' , he looks 'thinner, wispier.' The daughter of disgraced music producer Phil Spector has spoken out about her father's life in jail.  Nicole Audrey Spector, 30, said each time she sees her 'pop' he looks 'thinner, wispier' Before the killing: Nicole poses with her father in 2000- three years before he shot actress Lana Clarkson dead The music producer who worked with famous bands including The Beatles, is currently housed in California State Prison, Corcoran. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share In 2009 he was found guilty of shooting the 40-year-old actress in the mouth in the foyer of his sprawling California mansion. Nicole is one of Spector's five children - she was born when the musician was with his then-girlfriend Janis Zavala. Her twin brother Philip Jr. died of leukaemia, aged ten. Guilty: In 2009 Spector was found guilty of shooting the 40-year-old actress in the mouth in the foyer of his sprawling California mansion Grim: The sprawling California mansion where Spector shot dead the B-movie actress Evidence: The Colt revolver found near Clarkson's body is seen here in an evidence photo presented during the trial Spector was famous for his Wall of Sound production technique, which scored him a slew of hits including The Beatles' Let It Be. He also co-wrote 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' for the Righteous Brothers and produced records for the Ramones. Nicole, who is now a writer, said in an article for The Times insists her father is innocent: 'My father, who I love like a son, didn’t kill anyone. Neither of us is supposed to be here.' She said her visits have become less frequent due to not having a home in California. Changing image: Spector in court in 2005, left, and right with his third wife Rachelle Short in 2007 Sporadic: Over the years Spector, who is famous for his wigs has dramatically altered his appearance 'The last time I visited was nine months ago, a fact that makes me anxious and ashamed. I feel I should be there every weekend. But I don’t have a home in California anymore. I used to be able to stay in my old room in my father’s house, which he still has, but his wife won’t allow it, and I’m not up for the fight anymore.' She is referring to Spector's third Rachelle Short - a model and actress around 40 years his junior. The couple met at a Hollywood restaurant in 2003, shortly after his arrest in the shooting of actress Lana Clarkson. Rachelle went to work as Spector's assistant and was running his business by the time they married in 2006 in the foyer of his mansion, where Clarkson was found dead. Spector's initial trial in 2007 for the murder of Lana Clarkson, who died from a gun shot wound to the head, ended in a deadlocked jury. But a second jury in 2009 found him guilty of second degree murder with a sentence of 19 years in prison. Throughout both hearings Spector's high-priced defence team had claimed that Miss Clarkson killed herself in a fit of despair over her fading film career. Spector had met the struggling actress, 40, at a Hollywood nightclub where she was working as a hostess at the time, and invited her back to his Alhambra mansion. But while Spector strongly maintained his innocence outside the Los Angeles courtroom, he chose not to put his side of the story from the witness box. His chaffeur Adriano de Souza testified he saw Spector clutching a pistol shortly after Miss Clarkson was shot, saying: 'I think I just killed somebody.' Spector, a man obsessed with guns, liked to dine out on the story that he once pulled a pistol on John Lennon in a recording studio. But in the end, his violent past caught up with the man who worked with stars lik


Where would barn doors, fresnels and gobos be found together?

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What is the name for a steak stuffed with oysters?

The Old Foodie: The Truth about Carpetbag Steak. Monday, November 07, 2011 The Truth about Carpetbag Steak. A small comment in an article I read recently stated that ‘Carpetbag Steak’ was an Australian invention, and suggested that indeed it was a national dish. I have lived in this country since the mid 1960’s, and I am here to tell you – as both a consumer and food history enthusiast – that this is a ridiculous myth.  The concept of a steak stuffed with oysters and grilled (or ‘broiled’, if you prefer that term) – did appear on menus of Australian restaurants of the more expensive kind, in decades past, but I cannot remember last time I it listed on any menu, anywhere (which is a surely a sign that it is due for revival.) I hasten to add that the simple combination of beef and oysters is quite old, oysters once upon a time being so cheap that they were a useful way of bulking out expensive meat dishes. The best example of this is the old-fashioned ‘steak and oyster pie’, which only became ‘steak and kidney pie’ in the latter half of the nineteenth century, when oysters became dearer than kidneys. The OED is seriously deficient on the topic of carpetbag steak, giving the first mention in English as late as 1958, in The Times. Even worse – the second supporting quotation, from 1969, also from The Times says ‘Many ‘foreign’ dishes are really British. Like Australian ‘carpetbag steak’—rare fillet stuffed with oysters.’  Many other references suggest the invention of this dish was in the mid-twentieth century, the favoured ‘inventor’ being Louis Diat, whose book Cooking a la Ritz, published in 1941, included the following recipe: Carpet-Bag Steak. Have the butcher cut steak from the sirloin 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick, and then cut through the center to make a pocket. Stuff this pocket with raw oysters, seasoned with salt an pepper. Then sew the edges of pocket together. Broil about fifteen minutes on each side. Serve with any desired potatoes." There are earlier printed recipes for carpet-bag or carpetbagger steak, or for the same dish without the name. A well-known Australian cookery teacher and cook book writer was Amy Shauer. One of her many books, published in 1909 included the following recipe: Steak and Oystr Filling Choose a good tender steak, and have it cut about 2 inches thick. Split it through, and fill in between with raw oysters, lightly seasoned with cayenne and a few drops of lemon juice. Sew up the steak, and grill carefully for 20 minutes to 1/2 an hour. Rubbing the steak over with oiled butter or salad oil prevents the juice escaping, and ensures it coming to table a rich brown outside and tender and juicy inside." The Schauer Cookery Book, (1909) Mis A and Miss M Schauer Published recipes are late records of dishes that have already been in existence for some time. But how long is this in the case of carpetbag steak? There is an intriguing snippet, in a column of small snippets, in the Logansport Pharos [Logansport, Indiana], of Thursday Evening, July 23, 1891 which says ‘“Carpetbag steak,” a rare delicacy now, is slit and stuffed with oysters and broiled. – Hotel Mail.’ This sentence, if I read the nuances correctly, suggests that carpetbag steak had already had its hey-day by the end of 1891. The snippet, and the absence of references in Australia or elsewhere around this date also strongly suggests that the dish is an American invention. Surely there must be other, earlier, references to a dish that was apparently already popular in 1891? See what you can find, my friends, and lets try to put a date and ethnicity on this early ‘Beef and Reef’ dish. Quotation for the Day.


Which artist collaborated with architects Herzog & de Meuron as consultant in building the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics?

Beijing National Stadium | Gallardo Architects Beijing National Stadium Date: August 24, 2015 History Located in the Olympic Green, the stadium cost US$423 million. The design was awarded to a submission from the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron in April 2003, after a bidding process that included 13 final submissions. The design, which originated from the study of Chinese ceramics, implemented steel beams in order to hide supports for the retractable roof; giving the stadium the appearance of a “Bird’s nest”. Leading Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was the artistic consultant on the project. . The retractable roof was later removed from the design after inspiring the stadium’s most recognizable aspect. Ground was broken in December 2003 and the stadium officially opened in June 2008. A shopping mall and a hotel are planned to be constructed to increase use of the stadium, which has had trouble attracting events, football and otherwise, after the Olympics.     Bidding In 2001, before Beijing had been awarded the right to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, the city held a bidding process to select the best arena design. Multiple requirements including the ability for post-Olympics use, a retractable roof, and low maintenance costs, were required of each design. The entry list was narrowed to thirteen final designs. Of the final thirteen, Li Xinggang of China Architecture Design and Research Group (CADG), said after he placed the model of the “nest” proposal at the exhibition hall and saw the rival entries he thought to himself, “We will win this.” The model was approved by as the top design by a professional panel; however, it was later exhibited for the public. Once again, it was selected as the top design. The “nest scheme” design became official in April 2003.     Design and construction Beijing National Stadium was a joint venture among architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron of Herzog & de Meuron, project architect Stefan Marbach, artist Ai Weiwei, and CADG which was lead by chief architect Li Xinggang. During their first meeting in 2003, at Basel, the group decided to do something unlike Herzog and de Meuron had traditionally designed. “China wanted to have something new for this very important stadium,” Li stated. In an effort to design a stadium that was “porous” while also being “a collective building, a public vessel”, the team studied Chinese ceramics. This line of thought brought the team to the “nest scheme”. The stadium consists of two independent structures, standing 50 feet apart: a red concrete seating bowl and the outer steel frame around it. In an attempt to hide steel supports for the retractable roof, required in the bidding process, the team developed the “seemingly random additional steel” to blend the supports into the rest of the stadium. Twenty-four trussed columns encase the inner bowl, each one weighing 1,000 tons. Despite random appearance, each half of the stadium is nearly identical. After a collapse of a roof at the Charles de Gaulle International Airport, Beijing reviewed all major projects. It was decided to eliminate the retractable roof, the original inspiration for the “nest” design, as well as 9,000 seats from the design. The removal of the elements helped to bring the project under the reduced construction budget of $290 million, from an original $500 million. With the removal of the retractable roof, the building was lightened, which helped it stand up to seismic activity; however, the upper section of the roof was altered to protect fans from weather. Due to the stadium’s outward appearance, it was nicknamed “The Bird’s Nest”. The phrase was first used by Herzog & de Meuron, though the pair still believes “there should be many ways of perceiving a building.” The use is a compliment Li explained, “In China, a bird’s nest is very expensive, something you eat on special occasions.” Ground was broken, at the Olympic Green, for Beijing National Stadium on 24 December 2003. At its height, 17,000 construction workers worked on the stadium. In January 2008, The Times reported that 10


"Who, a drummer at the time, made the first known jazz recording using the vibraphone (""Memories of You"") with Louis Armstrong & His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra in 1930 and then concentrated on the vibraphone, joining the Benny Goodman Quintet, and later leading his own big bands?"

Vibraphone V Vibraphone The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the mallet subfamily of the percussion family. It is similar in appearance to the xylophone and marimba , although the vibraphone uses aluminum bars instead of the wooden bars of those instruments. Each bar is paired with a resonator tube having a motor-driven butterfly valve at its upper end, mounted on a common shaft, which produces a tremolo or vibrato effect while spinning. The vibraphone also has a sustain pedal similar to that used on a piano: When the pedal is up, the bars are all damped and the sound of each bar is quite short; with the pedal down, they will sound for several seconds. The most common uses of the vibraphone are within jazz music, where it often plays a featured role, and in the wind ensemble, as a standard component of the percussion section. History The first musical instrument called "vibraphone" was marketed by the Leedy Manufacturing Company in the United States in 1921. However, this instrument differed in significant details from the instrument now called the vibraphone. The Leedy vibraphone achieved a degree of popularity after it was used in the novelty recordings of "Aloha 'Oe" and "Gypsy Love Song" by vaudeville performer Louis Frank Chiha ("Signor Frisco"). This popularity led J. C. Deagan, Inc. in 1927 to ask its Chief Tuner, Henry Schluter, to develop a similar instrument. However, Schluter didn't just copy the Leedy design, he introduced several significant improvements such as making the bars from aluminum instead of steel for a more "mellow" basic tone, adjustments to the dimensions and tuning of the bars to eliminate the dissonant harmonics in the Leedy design (further mellowing the tone), and the introduction of a damper bar controlled by a foot pedal enabling it to be played with more expression. Schluter's design was more popular than the Leedy design, and has become the template for all instruments called vibraphone today. However, when Deagan began marketing Schluter's instrument in 1928, they called it the vibraharp. As its popularity grew other manufacturers began producing instruments based on Schluter's design, marketed under a variety of names, including Leedy, who marketed their new instrument as the vibraphone and abandoned their old design. The name confusion continues, even to the present, but over time vibraphone became significantly more popular than vibraharp. By 1974, the Directory of the D.C. Federation of Musicians listed 39 vibraphone players and 3 vibraharp players. As of 2008, the term vibraharp has disappeared except for anachronistic uses. Often, vibraphone is shortened to "vibes", and the two terms are used interchangeably. The initial purpose of the vibraphone was to add to the large arsenal of percussion sounds used by vaudeville orchestras for novelty effects. This use was quickly overwhelmed in the 1930's by its development as a jazz instrument. As of 2008, it remains primarily, although not exclusively, a jazz instrument. The popularity of the vibraphone as a jazz instrument can primarily be credited to one man, Lionel Hampton . The story, perhaps apocryphal, is that "Hamp", a drummer at the time, was playing at the NBC radio studios, where he discovered a vibraphone that was kept on hand to play the musical motif identifying the NBC network, the "NBC Chimes". After the gig, he spent a considerable amount of time exploring the instrument, and fell in love with it. Later (October 16, 1930), Hampton was recording with Louis Armstrong & His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra, and the studio they were working in happened to have a vibraphone. Hampton showed Armstrong what he could do, and they decided to add vibes to one of the tunes ("Memories of You"), creating the first known jazz recording using the vibraphone. After this, Hampton decided to concentrate on the vibraphone, eventually joining the Benny Goodman Quintet, and later leading his own big bands and achieving great popularity. Manufacturers The first manufacturer


How many sons of Philip IV of France became King?

Philip IV | king of France | Britannica.com king of France Alternative Titles: Philip the Fair, Philippe le Bel Philip IV Armand-Jean du Plessis, cardinal et duc de Richelieu Philip IV, byname Philip The Fair, French Philippe Le Bel (born 1268, Fontainebleau , Fr.—died Nov. 29, 1314, Fontainebleau), king of France from 1285 to 1314 (and of Navarre, as Philip I , from 1284 to 1305, ruling jointly with his wife, Joan I of Navarre). His long struggle with the Roman papacy ended with the transfer of the Curia to Avignon , Fr. (beginning the so-called Babylonian Captivity , 1309–78). He also secured French royal power by wars on barons and neighbours and by restriction of feudal usages. His three sons were successively kings of France: Louis X , Philip V , and Charles IV . Philip IV, detail of the statue from his tomb, 14th century; in the abbey church at Saint-Denis, Fr. Archives Photographiques, Paris Early years. Born at Fontainebleau while his grandfather was still ruling, Philip, the second son of Philip III the Bold and grandson of St. Louis (Louis IX), was not yet three when his mother, Isabella of Aragon , died on her return from the crusade on which Louis IX had perished. The motherless Philip and his three brothers saw little of their father, who, stricken by Isabella’s death, threw himself into campaigning and administrative affairs. His troubled childhood and the series of blows he suffered explain in some measure the conflicting elements in his adult personality. In 1274 his father married Marie de Brabant, a beautiful and cultivated woman, and, with her arrival at court, intrigue began to flourish. In the same year, the two-year-old Joan, heiress of Champagne and Navarre, was welcomed as a refugee. Reared with the royal children, she would, when she was 12, become the bride of Philip the Fair. In 1276 Philip’s older brother, Louis, died, and the shock of this event, which suddenly made Philip heir of the kingdom, was compounded by persistent rumours of poisoning and suspicions that Philip’s stepmother intended to see Isabella’s remaining sons destroyed. Vague allegations were circulated that Louis’s death was linked with certain unspecified “unnatural acts” of his father. These rumours, never satisfactorily put to rest, together with the unexpected change in Philip’s fortunes, apparently served to arouse in him feelings of insecurity and mistrust. Consequently, Philip turned elsewhere in search of a model for his own conduct. He found it in Louis IX , whose memory was increasingly venerated as the number of miracles attributed to him mounted. Reports of Louis’s exacting standards of rulership and his saintly virtues were reinforced by the precepts of the religious advisers who surrounded the adolescent Philip. A more self-confident person might have been able to discriminate realistically among the sometimes artificially exaggerated stories and the utopian ideals. Philip, however, became convinced that it was his God-given duty to attain the lofty goals of his grandfather. Britannica Stories 2017 Rock Hall Inductees Announced When Philip was 16, he was knighted and married to Joan of Navarre . In 1285 he accompanied his father to the south on a campaign to install Philip’s brother Charles on the throne of Aragon. He had no sympathy with the enterprise, however, which was backed by his stepmother and aimed against the King of Aragon, his late mother’s brother. When his father died in October 1285, Philip immediately abandoned the venture. Wars with England and Flanders. In the first years of Philip’s reign the Aragonese affair was settled, and Philip intensified his predecessors’ efforts to reform and rationalize the administration of the realm. He dispatched investigators to inquire into the conduct of royal officials and into infringements upon royal prerogatives . Philip persisted in seeking such reforms, which strengthened the monarchy’s position but angered the nobles, townsmen, and ecclesiastics who had profited from the laxer policies of earlier kings. Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies


Named for its colour, originally called Greek and prized as a paint pigment, is the mixture of compounds of what?

Colour Pigments: Types, History of Fine Art Colours Champs de Ble and Restaurant at Bougival (1905-6) Musee d'Orsay, Paris. By the great colourist Maurice de Vlaminck. See below for an A-Z List of the best-known     artist-colours, lakes and glazes. It includes traditional pigments used     by prehistoric cave painters and artists from Ancient Antiquity, as well     as colours which appeared in palettes of the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo     and Impressionist periods. Since the late-19th century, the majority of     pigments employed by most painters are improved synthetic variants of     older colours. Nowadays, most natural colourants are obsolete, an exception     being the costly Ultramarine, made from the precious Lapis Lazuli.     Modern artificial colours tend to be more lightfast, more permanent, more     intense and considerably cheaper and safer to use. It's amazing how many     of the older pigments (both natural and early synthetic variants) were     highly toxic compounds containing lead, mercury, chrome, arsenic - even     cyanide. Given the workaholic nature of many Old Masters and modern-era     painters, one wonders how many of them were adversely affected by constant     contact with such unhealthy chemical colourants. Alizarin Crimson Alizarin Crimson is the synthetic version of the pigment found in Madder     plants. It was first synthesized in 1868 by the German chemists, Grabe     and Lieberman, as a more lightfast substitute to Rose Madder. Madder lakes,     which were produced in a variety of shades of red, from brownish to purplish     to bluish, made good glazing colours that spread well in oil, and were     also prepared in a form for use in watercolour painting. However, some     painters found that the synthetic variety was less saturated and brilliant     than natural Madder. Moreover, late 20th-century tests revealed that Alizarin     Crimson pigment was much less lightfast than its natural parent. Antimony Vermilion A brightly coloured, lightfast pigment whose reputation suffered in the     mid-19th century as it reacts with lead pigments and turns black. Now     obsolete. Antwerp Blue A variant of Prussian Blue, containing 75 percent extender. Not a reliable     pigment. Now obsolete. Asphaltum Asphaltum comprises a solution of asphalt in oil or turpentine, which     has been employed since Antiquity, if not earlier, as a protective coating.     Rembrandt, for instance, is said to have used Asphaltum successfully in     a number of his paintings. It was later used to give an "Old Master" look to canvases. Unfortunately, in some cases it caused noticeable darkening     and cracking. It persisted as a pigment until the end of the 19th century.     Now obsolete. Atramentum (Atramentum Librarium) An old generic type of term referring to the colour of ink - mainly blacks,     but also reds, greens, and violets which were the traditional colours     used by classical artists and calligraphers. Aureolin Also known as Cobalt Yellow, Aureolin superceded Gamboge, an earlier pigment     which was an Asian yellow gum in used until the 19th century. Aureolin     - an intense medium yellow pigment - was synthesized in 1848 by N.W. Fischer     in Germany, and was employed in oil and watercolour     painting until the late 19th century, when less expensive, and more     lightfast pigments (eg. the Cadmiums) were introduced. Azurite A greenish blue pigment named after the Persian word "lazhward" meaning "blue", it is chemically close to the green colourant     malachite. Azurite was known from Ancient times and became extremely popular     during the Middle Ages and Renaissance era, as Egyptian Blue declined.     Used in oil painting , it performed best     as a water-based pigment and was often employed in Tempera paint under     an oil glaze. Superceded by Prussian blue in the early 18th century,


Part or all of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea are claimed by how many different countries?

Why is the South China Sea contentious? - BBC News BBC News Why is the South China Sea contentious? 12 July 2016 Close share panel Image copyright Getty Images Image caption China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all have competing claims over territory in the South China Sea Rival countries have wrangled over territory in the South China Sea for centuries, but tension has steadily increased in recent years. China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all have competing claims. China has backed its expansive claims with island-building and naval patrols. The US says it does not take sides in territorial disputes, but has sent military ships and planes near disputed islands, calling them "freedom of navigation" operations to ensure access to key shipping and air routes. Both sides have accused each other of "militarising" the South China Sea. There are fears that the area is becoming a flashpoint, with potentially serious global consequences. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Paracels and the Spratlys are two island chains claimed in whole or in part by a number of countries What is the argument about? It is a dispute over territory and sovereignty over ocean areas, and the Paracels and the Spratlys - two island chains claimed in whole or in part by a number of countries. Alongside the fully fledged islands, there are dozens of rocky outcrops, atolls, sandbanks and reefs, such as the Scarborough Shoal. Why are they worth arguing over? Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The sea is a major shipping route and home to fishing grounds that supply the livelihoods of people across the region Although largely uninhabited, the Paracels and the Spratlys may have reserves of natural resources around them. There has been little detailed exploration of the area, so estimates are largely extrapolated from the mineral wealth of neighbouring areas. The sea is also a major shipping route and home to fishing grounds that supply the livelihoods of people across the region. Who claims what? China claims by far the largest portion of territory - an area defined by the "nine-dash line" which stretches hundreds of miles south and east from its most southerly province of Hainan. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A map issued by Beijing shows the two island groups falling entirely within its territory Beijing says its right to the area goes back centuries to when the Paracel and Spratly island chains were regarded as integral parts of the Chinese nation, and in 1947 it issued a map detailing its claims. It showed the two island groups falling entirely within its territory. Those claims are mirrored by Taiwan. However, critics say China has not clarified its claims sufficiently - and that the nine-dash line that appears on Chinese maps encompassing almost the entirety of the South China Sea includes no coordinates. It is also not clear whether China claims only land territory within the nine-dash line, or all the territorial waters within the line as well. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Both the Philippines and China lay claim to the Scarborough Shoal, or Huangyan Island as it is known in China Vietnam hotly disputes China's historical account, saying China had never claimed sovereignty over the islands before the 1940s. Vietnam says it has actively ruled over both the Paracels and the Spratlys since the 17th Century - and has the documents to prove it. The other major claimant in the area is the Philippines, which invokes its geographical proximity to the Spratly Islands as the main basis of its claim for part of the grouping. Both the Philippines and China lay claim to the Scarborough Shoal (known as Huangyan Island in China) - a little more than 100 miles (160km) from the Philippines and 500 miles from China. Malaysia and Brunei also lay claim to territory in the South China Sea that they say falls within their economic exclusion zones, as defined by UNCLOS - the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Brunei does not claim any of the disputed islands, but


In Star Wars, what is the name of Han Solo's spacecraft?

Han Solo | StarWars.com Databank Han Solo Smuggler. Scoundrel. Hero. Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon, was one of the great leaders of the Rebel Alliance. He and his co-pilot Chewbacca came to believe in the cause of galactic freedom, joining Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa in the fight against the Empire. But after the Battle of Endor, Han would face difficult times in a galaxy plagued by chaos and uncertainty. databank "Never tell me the odds!" THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK HISTORY // GALACTIC CIVIL WAR Han Solo, along with his friend Chewbacca , was hired by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker to provide passage to Alderaan . Han boasted that his starship, the Millennium Falcon , could make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs; whether that was true is unknown, but he needed the job. The smuggler was deep in debt to crime lord Jabba the Hutt , who had placed a bounty on his head. In a sit-down standoff at the Mos Eisley cantina , Han blasted Greedo , one of Jabba’s bounty hunters looking to collect a handsome sum for the Corellian. He later had a run in with the gangster himself, convincing Jabba to give him more time -- though it would cost 15% extra. The group departed Tatooine , blasting their way out past Imperial stormtroopers who were searching for Luke’s droids. On the trip, it became clear that Han didn’t believe in the Force, saying, “There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny.” Finally, they arrived at Alderaan -- or where Alderaan should have been. It had been completely blown away by the Empire ’s Death Star , and the Millennium Falcon was soon caught in the space station’s tractor beam. On the Death Star, they rescued Princess Leia Organa -- with whom Han bickered intensely -- but lost Obi-Wan. They escaped to Yavin 4 , location of the hidden Rebel base, and delivered stolen Death Star plans to the Alliance . While the fledgling group was planning an attack on the Imperial outpost, Han collected a reward for rescuing the Princess and planned to leave -- a decision that disappointed his new friends. “I know what I’m doing,” he told Chewbacca. Toward the battle’s end, with Luke about to be blasted by Darth Vader , Han and Chewie returned in the Millennium Falcon. They cleared the TIE fighters off Luke’s tail, and he delivered a precise shot, destroying the dreaded Death Star. Han stuck with the Rebel Alliance, and helped establish its new base on the ice planet Hoth . After Luke didn’t return from a routine sweep of the planet surface, Han headed out alone into the frigid cold to find him. He finally located the young Jedi, but Luke had suffered severe injuries and was close to freezing to death. Desperate to save his friend, Han used Luke’s lightsaber to slice open his tauntaun , and placed Luke inside for warmth. The two were found by the Alliance the next morning, and Luke survived. But old problems lingered; Han was still wanted by Jabba the Hutt and had to pay off his debt. While preparing to leave, he and Leia verbally sparred. His bravado could infuriate her, but it was clear that they meant something to each other. The Empire shortly attacked the base, and Han changed his plans, evacuating Leia on the Millennium Falcon. Pursued through an asteroid field and across the galaxy, they eventually landed at Cloud City -- home of Han’s old friend, Lando Calrissian . While Han believed they were now safe, things were much worse; the Empire, thanks to bounty hunter Boba Fett , had arrived just before they did. Han was tortured by Darth Vader, who used the pilot’s pain to lure Luke into a trap, and was later frozen in carbonite . Before he was lowered into the crude freezing chamber, Leia finally told Han that she loved him. “I know,” he replied. Boba Fett took the frozen Han to Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine, collecting on a long-standing reward for the former smuggler. Jabba the Hutt mounted Han’s carbonite slab to a wall in his palace, calling him his “favorite decoration.” But the ace pilot’s friends hatched a rescue mission, with Leia -- disguised as bounty hunter Boussh -- freein


"Who recited the poem ""The Gift Outright"" at John F Kennedy's inauguration as president of the USA in 1961?"

Robert Frost reads at JFK’s inauguration - Jan 20, 1961 - HISTORY.com Robert Frost reads at JFK’s inauguration Share this: Robert Frost reads at JFK’s inauguration Author Robert Frost reads at JFK’s inauguration URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day, 87-year-old Robert Frost recited his poem “The Gift Outright” at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. Although Frost had written a new poem for the occasion, titled “Dedication,” faint ink in his typewriter made the words difficult to read, so he recited “The Gift Outright” from memory. Frost was born in California in 1874, the son of a journalist who died when Frost was 11. Frost’s mother brought him to Massachusetts, where he graduated as co-valedictorian of his high school class. He attended Dartmouth and Harvard but didn’t complete a degree at either school. Three years after high school, her married his fellow high school valedictorian, Elinor White. Frost tried unsuccessfully to run a New England farm, and the family, which soon included four children, struggled with poverty for two decades. Increasingly depressed, Frost moved his family to England to make a fresh start in 1912. There, he published a poetry collection called A Boy’s Will in 1913, which won praise from English critics and helped him win a U.S. publishing contract for his second book, North of Boston (1914). The American public took a liking to the 40-year-old Frost, who returned to the United States when World War I broke out and bought another farm in New Hampshire. He continued to publish books, and taught and lectured at Amherst, University of Michigan, Harvard, and Dartmouth. He endured personal tragedy when a son committed suicide and a daughter had a mental breakdown. While Frost never graduated from a university, he had collected 44 honorary degrees before he died in 1963. Related Videos


Artists Ma Desheng, Wang Keping, Huang Rui, Li Shuang, Zhong Acheng, Ai Weiwei and Qu Leilei are associated with which avant-garde art group?

Ai Wei Wei @ 798district.com 798district.com >> 798 Artists >> Art >> Ai Wei Wei Ai Wei Wei Ai Weiwei, (born 1957, Beijing) is a leading Chinese artist, curator, architectural designer, cultural and social commentator and activist. Ai is known for the design of the Beijing National Stadium, more commonly known as the "Bird's Nest", the main stadium of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Beginning with the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Ai has emerged as one of China's most influential bloggers and social activists; he is known for his tongue-in-cheek and sometimes vulgar social commentary, and has had frequent run-ins with Chinese authorities. He was particularly focused at exposing an alleged corruption scandal in the construction of Sichuan schools that collapsed during the earthquake. Born in Beijing, his father was Chinese poet Ai Qing, who was denounced during the Cultural Revolution and sent off to a labor camp in Xinjiang with his wife, Gao Ying. Ai Weiwei also spent five years there. Ai Weiwei is married to artist Lu Qing. Ai Weiwei is represented by Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne. Education In 1978, Ai enrolled in the Beijing Film Academy and attended school with Chinese directors Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. In 1978, he was one of the founders of the early avant garde art group the "Stars", together with Ma Desheng, Wang Keping, Huang Rui, Li Shuang, Zhong Acheng and Qu Leilei. In China the group subsequently disbanded in 1983. Yet Ai Weiwei participated in regular Stars group shows, The Stars: Ten Years, 1989 (Hanart Gallery, Hong-Hong and Taipei), and a retrospective exhibition in Beijing in 2007: Origin Point (Today Art Museum, Beijing). Influences From 1981 to 1993, he lived in the United States, mostly in New York, doing performance art and creating conceptual art by altering readymade objects. While in New York, he studied at Parsons School of Design.. In 1987 he took part in the founding of The Chinese United Overseas Artists Association, along with Li Shuang, Qu Leilei, Zhang Hongtu. In 1993, Ai returned to China because his father became ill. Back in Beijing, he helped establish the experimental artists' East Village and published a series of three books about this new generation of artists: Black Cover Book (1994), White Cover Book (1995), and Gray Cover Book (1997). In 2000, he co-curated the notorious art exhibition "Fuck Off" with curator Feng Boyi in Shanghai, China. In 2000, Ai Weiwei moved to Caochangdi where he built a compound of houses and opened his studio REAL/FAKE. In 2006, Ai Weiwei and HHF Architects designed a private residence in Columbia County, New York. According to the New York Times, the house was completed in 2008 and is "extraordinarily refined". Ai was the artistic consultant for design, collaborating with the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron, for the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics, also known as the "Bird's Nest." Although ignored by the Chinese media, he has voiced his anti-Olympics views. He later distanced himself from the project, saying, "I've already forgotten about it. I turn down all the demands to have photographs with it," saying it is part of a "pretend smile" of bad taste. In August 2007 he also accused those choreographing the Olympic opening ceremony, including Steven Spielberg and Zhang Yimou, of failing to live up to their responsibility as artists. Ai said "It's disgusting. I don't like anyone who shamelessly abuses their profession, who makes no moral judgment." While being asked why he participated in the designing of the Bird's Nest, Ai replied "I did it because I love design."


How many different countries does the 4,370 km (2,715 mi) Congo River run through or border?

You must be the change you want to see in the world | Speak Up For The Voiceless - International Animal Rescue Foundation - Environmental News and Media | Page 12 You must be the change you want to see in the world Sudanese Badger Bat – Niumbaha superba Every month there is an estimated twenty species of new flora and fauna located on Planet Earth. However back in 2013 scientists from the University of Bucknell University and Fauna & Flora International located deep in the heart of South Sudan a new bat species commonly named as the Pied Bat or Badger bat. And what a stunningly beautiful bat this is too which oddly does look identical to the markings of our Chinese Panda. The scientific name related to this species of bat was thought to be related to the Glauconycteris superba which for now thankfully is listed as [least concern] on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List identified back in 1939 Dr Haymen whom was the first to discover this particular species of bat. However the new “genera” pictured was discovered in 2013 DeeAnn Reeder, an Associate Professor of Biology at Bucknell. This species of Pied bat (Glauconycteris superba) was bordering endangerment back in the mid 1990’s of which from 1996-2004 was listed as [vulnerable], to date though its population trend or how many Pied bats actually exist is currently unknown. So whats the news on the “Panda bat” as its commonly named? This is a special bat, and not just because of its strikingly beautiful spots and stripes. This is a rare specimen, whose discovery in South Sudan led researchers to identify a new genus of bat. The bat is just the fifth specimen of its kind ever collected. DeeAnn Reeder, an Associate Professor of Biology at Bucknell and first author of the paper announcing the new bat genus, recognized the bat as the same species as a specimen captured in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1939. That specimen was classified as Glauconycteris superba, but after detailed analyses she and her colleagues determined it did not belong in the genus Glauconycteris. It was so unique that they needed to create a new genus for it. Reeder and her colleagues named the new genus Niumbaha , which means “rare” or “unusual” in Zande, the language spoken in Western Equatoria State, where the bat was captured. The bat’s full scientific name is Niumbaha superba, reflecting both the rarity and the magnificence of this creature. “Our discovery of this new genus of bat is an indicator of how diverse the area is and how much work remains,” Reeder said in a press release. So what’s the news on this species of bat? Well firstly we can state that this species of bat (Niumbaha superba) although not the same genera was primarily located by Dr Haymen in 1939 Niumbaha superba oddly is not listed on the International Union for the Conservation of Natures Red List of (threatened species) as this newly discovered genera is listed as [vulnerable] wheres its relative Glauconycteris superba is listed as least concern. The pied (panda bat) is found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana and South Sudan, the genus Niumbaha was identified by Reeder, Helgen, Vodzak, Lunde & Ejotre, in 2013. The species lives in natural habitats, tropical or sub-tropical rain-forests or tropical moist lowland forests. To date we are only aware that the current threats surrounding this species is habitat loss. However this soon could change of which threats from hunters hunting for the bush meat trade could see the species pushed into extinction. Habitat loss or habitat fragmentation is playing quite a pivotal role with regards to many species of bats declining worldwide. However other species of bat that normally roost in caves seem to be less threatened by such habitat human disturbances. Bats make up a quarter of the mammalian diversity on the planet, and they are the only mammal that can fly. The African continent and Madagascar and its associated islands contain about 258 extant species of bats, which comprises about 25% of the global bat diversity. Bats are


"""Four Quartets"", a set of four poems (""Burnt Norton"", ""East Coker"", ""The Dry Salvages"" and ""Little Gidding"") published between 1936 and 1942, were written by whom?"

Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot | Penny's poetry pages Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot 10,209pages on File:FourQuartets.jpg Four Quartets is a set of four poems written by T.S. Eliot that were published individually over a six-year period. The first poem, " Burnt Norton ", was written and published with a collection of his early works following the production of Eliot's play Murder in the Cathedral . After a few years, Eliot composed the other three poems, " East Coker ", " The Dry Salvages ", and " Little Gidding ", which were written during World War II and the air-raids on Great Britain . The poems were not collected until Eliot's New York publisher printed them together in 1943. They were first published as a series in Great Britain in 1944 towards the end of Eliot's poetic career. Four Quartets are four interlinked meditations with the common theme being man's relationship with time, the universe, and the divine. In describing his understanding of the divine within the poems, Eliot blends his Anglo-Catholicsm with mystical, philosphical and poetic works from both Eastern and Western religious and cultural traditions, with references to the Bhagavad-Gita and the Pre-Socratics as well as St. John of the Cross and Julian of Norwich . Although many critics find the Four Quartets to be Eliot's great last work, some of Eliot's contemporary critics, including George Orwell , were dissatisfied with Eliot's overt religiosity. Later critics disagreed with Orwell's claims about the poems and argued instead that the religious themes made the poem stronger. Overall, reviews of the poem within Great Britain were favourable while reviews in the United States were split between those who liked Eliot's later style and others who felt he abandoned positive aspects of his earlier poetry. Contents Edit While working on his play, Murder in the Cathedral, Eliot came up with the idea for a poem that was structured similarly to The Waste Land . [1] The resulting poem, "Burnt Norton", named after a manor house, was published in Eliot's 1936 edition of Collected Poems 1909–1935. [2] Eliot decided to create another poem similar to "Burnt Norton" but with a different location in mind. This second poem, "East Coker", was finished and published by Easter 1940. [3] (Eliot visited East Coker in 1937 and his ashes now repose there at St. Michael's Church.) [3] As Eliot was finishing his second poem, World War II began to disrupt his life and he spent more time lecturing across Great Britain and helping out during the war when he could. It was during this time that Eliot began working on "The Dry Salvages", the third poem, which was put together near the end of 1940. [4] This poem was published in February 1941 and Eliot immediately began to plot out his fourth poem, "Little Gidding". Eliot's health declined and he stayed in Shamley Green to recuperate. His illness and the war disrupted his ability to write and he became dissatisfied with each draft. He believed that the problem with the poem was with himself and that he had started the poem too soon and written it too quickly. By September 1941, he stopped writing and focused on his lecturing. It was not until September 1942 that Eliot finished the last poem and it was finally published. [5] While writing "East Coker" Eliot thought of creating a "quartet" of poems that would reflect the idea of the four elements and, loosely, the four seasons. [6] As the first four parts of The Waste Land has been associated with one of the four classical elements so has each of the constituent poems of Four Quartets: air (BN,) earth (EC,) water (DS,) and fire (LG.) However, there is little support for the poems matching with individual seasons. [7] Eliot described what he meant by "quartet" in a 3 September 1942 letter to John Hayward : ...these poems are all in a particular set form which I have elaborated, and the word "quartet" does seem to me to start people on the right tack for understanding them ("sonata" in any case is too musical). It suggests to me the notion of making a poem by we