Jörg Haider (26 January 1950 – 11 October, 2008) was an Austrian politician who was often called to be off right-populism ("rechtspopulist"). He was born in Bad Goisern, Upper Austria, and died in Köttmannsdorf near Klagenfurt, Carinthia, Austria.

At the age of 29 he became the youngest member of the Austrian parliament and in 1989 the Governor of Carinthia for the first time.

Haider lead the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) to great success so that in 1999 the party reached the second most votes with 27% behind the SPÖ with 33% and could form a coalition with the Austrian People's Party ÖVP (having for the first time only the third most votes) making Wolfgang Schüssel Chancellor of Austria.

Haider passed his leading position to other party members so that a coalition could take place and returned to Carinthia to work as Governor again.

In 2004 Haider was re-elected as Governor of Carinthia. One year later the leading members of the FPÖ as well as there party members in the government together with Jörg Haider (as their new head) founded a new Party, the BZÖ. In 2006 the BZÖ party reached the 4% (that time lead under P. Westenthaler) in the Austrian elections and so became part of the Parliament with 7 representatives. For the snap elections in September 2008 he was voted unanimity in his party for the leading position and ran as candidate again for the elections like back in the nineties. Surprisingly the party gained 10.7% and therefore could rise its seats 3 times now having 21 representatives under the lead of Jörg Haider. However Haider promised before the votes toke place too remain Governor as he would have only changed as of becoming Chancellor. There were possibilities to build a government with Jörg Haider as chancellor (Haider already achieved to form a coalition where the ÖVP under Schüssel with the 3rd most votes got the Chancellor) or at least the BZÖ represented in the government. For this a coalition of BZÖ with FPÖ and ÖVP was necessary, however Haider never got into this position.

On 11 October 2008, Haider died in a traffic accident near the town of Klagenfurt. He was returning home after an event that had taken place earlier. Many people living in Carinthia in reaction to his death, left public offerings as flowers, candles, cards and personal messages, Austrian singer and intendant Harald Serafin called the tragic death even an "Austro-Lady-Diana-Story".

References

1950 births
2008 deaths
Austrian Roman Catholics
Governors of Austrian States
People from Upper Austria
Road accident deaths

Jörg Haider


Nature is a scientific journal.  It was first published on 4 November 1869. It is the world's most cited  scientific journal.  That means that, when scientists write formal reports of their experiments, they list all the earlier studies that they read in their reference section.  They list studies from Nature in their reference sections more than studies from any other journal. It is also the longest continuously published scientific weekly.

Most scientific journals are now specific to just one kind of science, for example only biochemistry or only mining science. Nature is one of the few journals which still publish original research articles across the whole range of science. Important new advances and original scientific research is published as articles or letters in Nature. Nature also prints surveys and reviews of important research fields.

Research scientists are the primary audience for the journal, but ordinary people read it as well. Because of this, articles are written and edited to make them understandable to scientists in other fields and any educated person.

In the first pages of each issue are editorials, news and feature articles on issues of general interest to scientist. Topics include current affairs, science funding, business, scientific ethics and research breakthroughs. There are also sections on books and arts. Because of limits on the length of articles, often the printed text is a summary of the work in question. Details may be put in supplementary material on the journal's website.

Nature has spun off a series of more specialised journals which publish longer, more technical articles which would be unsuitable for Nature's wider readership.

References

Science and technology magazines
American weekly magazines
Journals

Nature (journal)


The Ceratopsia are the horned dinosaurs of the order Ornithischia. Triceratops is the best-known, and one of the largest. They are a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs. They thrived in what is now North America and Asia, during the Cretaceous period.

Ancestral forms of this group lived earlier, in the Jurassic. Early members, such as Psittacosaurus, were small and bipedal.

Later members, including Centrosaurus and Triceratops, became very large quadrupeds. They developed elaborate facial horns and a neck frill. The frill served mainly to protect the vulnerable neck from bipedal predators like Tyrannosaurus, who attacked from above.

The frill was no doubt also used in display, thermoregulation, the attachment of large neck and chewing muscles or some combination of those.

Ceratopsians ranged in size from 1 meter (3 ft) and 23 kilograms (50 lb) to over 9 meters (30 ft) and 5,400 kg (12,000 lb).

Triceratops is by far the best-known ceratopsian to the general public.

References

Ceratopsia


Jacques Boyvin (c. 1649 – 30 June 1706) was a French Baroque composer and organist.

He was probably born in Paris, and studied there. One of his first jobs was that of organist of the Parisian church des Quinze-Vingts, and in 1674 he was appointed titular organist of the Rouen Cathedral, where Jean Titelouze served as organist some 40 years earlier. Other jobs included playing the organ of Rouen's Saint Herbland Church and supervising the rebuilding of the giant four-manual Clicquot cathedral organ. Boyvin was also an organ teacher: François d'Agincourt was one of his pupils and succeeded him as organist of the Rouen Cathedral. Like Titelouze, Boyvin remained the organist of the cathedral until his death on 30 June 1706.

Boyvin published two collections of organ works, in 1689 and in 1700, both featuring pieces spanning all church modes. The books contain 16 suites, no less than 120 individual pieces total. The second book contains the Traité abrégé de l'accompagnement, a treatise on accompaniment. The pieces are liturgical in nature and exhibit a brilliant style which makes use of forms and discoveries by Nicolas Lebègue and Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers.

See also
French organ school

References

External links
Recordings of several pieces composed by Boyvin

1640s births
1706 deaths
French classical organists
French male organists
French Baroque composers
French male classical composers
17th-century male musicians
Male classical organists

Jacques Boyvin


Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an American soprano. She is particularly associated with Verdi roles, notably in the operas Il trovatore and Aida. She was one of the first black singers to enjoy an international career in opera.

Life and career

Price was born in Laurel, Mississippi. She studied at Central State College, Wilberforce, Ohio, and with Florence Kimball at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She began her professional career in 1952, when she appeared as Bess in George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess on Broadway, followed by an international tour. She made her recital debut in New York City in 1954, and appeared in a television production of Tosca for NBC in 1955.

Her actual operatic debut took place in San Francisco in 1957, as Mme Lidoine in Poulenc's Le dialogue des carmélites, followed by her first Aida. The role of Aida would quickly become her signature role and the vehicle for her debuts in 1958 at the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House in London and at La Scala in Milan both in 1960. She also appeared at the Salzburg Festival as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Leonora in Il trovatore.

She made her debut at the Lyric Chicago Opera in 1959, and at the Metropolitan Opera in 1961, as Leonora in Il trovatore. She was to sing at the Met for twenty-four consecutive seasons. Amongst her greatest roles are the female lead in operas such as Verdi's Ernani, Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, Mozart's Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte, Puccini's Manon Lescaut, Madame Butterfly, La fanciulla del West, Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, etc.

She created the role of Cleopatra in Samuel Barber's Anthony and Cleopatra for the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center in 1966.

Leontyne Price was one of the outstanding lyric-dramatic sopranos of her generation, she had a rich, warm and luscious voice enhanced by a fine stage presence. She retired from the stage in 1985.

Sources
 The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia,  edited by David Hamilton, Simon and Schuster, 1987.
 The Complete Dictionary of Opera & Operetta, James Anderson, Wings Books, 1993.

Sopranos
Kennedy Center honorees
American opera singers
Singers from Mississippi
1927 births
Living people

Leontyne Price


Lembrassa was a British lingerie and swimwear retailer founded in 2008 by Laura Cohen specifically to cater to women with larger breasts (D – J cup size).

The debate over the "size zero" image and catwalk models has heated up recently with the announcement by Lynne Featherstone, the equalities minister, that she will convene a series of discussions in Autumn 2010 with the fashion industry, to discuss how to promote body confidence among young people.  This has received much press coverage (e.g. Fashion industry faces airbrushing clampdown) and re-opened the debate about the treatment of "real women" and the hero worship of "size zero" catwalk models.

Lembrassa founder, Laura Cohen, encountered the "real women" versus "size zero" issues before they became a popular movement and determined to do something about it.  She started the company because in her own words "I was fed up with the treatment I was getting when trying to buy larger cup size lingerie in store or even online. I felt frustrated with the high street retailers who were continually being 'out of stock' of my size."

As well as founding Lembrassa, Laura has written a number of published articles on the issues facing larger-busted women including guidance on getting the right size bra when 80% of women have got it wrong.

Lembrassa also follows its founder's belief in open marketplaces by having a single worldwide website and a single set of pricing.  Customers from all over the world can purchase at the same sterling price.  This approach is underlined by another of the founder's articles "The world is you local shop".

Lembrassa has attracted media interest for the difficulties small businesses face in getting start-up support "Lembrassa aims for perfect fit" and for its attention to customer service "Frustration at Shop Ranges".

References

Clothing retailers of the United Kingdom
Lingerie brands
Clothing companies established in 2008
Retail companies established in 2008

Lembrassa


Screen printing is a printing technique. It uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil has open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials. The ink or paint can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp image onto a material.

A fill blade or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing ink through the mesh openings.

Printmaking
History of printing

Screen printing


The Llandow air disaster was an aircraft accident in Wales in 1950. At that time it was the world's worst air disaster, with a total of 80 fatalities. The aircraft, an Avro Tudor V, had been privately hired to fly rugby union enthusiasts to and from an international game in Ireland. On the return flight the aircraft stalled and crashed on its approach to land.

Course of events

On 12 March 1950, an Avro 689 Tudor V, Star Girl, owned by Airflight Limited and being operated under the "Fairflight" name, took off from Dublin Airport in Ireland, on a private passenger flight to Llandow aerodrome in South Wales. The aircraft had 78 passengers and 5 crew on the manifest. The flight had been chartered privately for a trip to Belfast to watch the Welsh rugby union team compete against the Irish in the Five Nations Championship at the Ravenhill Stadium. The aircraft had been initially booked for 72 passengers, but the plane had been stripped to accommodate another six.

The weather conditions were clear, and no incident was reported after the outbound journey aboard the same aircraft.

Eyewitnesses (including a Mr Russell) state that at 3:05 pm the Avro Tudor was approaching runway 28 of Llandow aerodrome at an abnormally low altitude with the undercarriage down. The pilot attempted to correct the descent by increasing the power of the engines and brought the plane up. The aircraft rose steeply to 100 m (300 ft) attaining a nose-up attitude of 35 degrees to the vertical, and then the aircraft stalled.

Star Girl plummeted towards the ground with the right wingtip hitting the ground first, followed in turn by the plane's nose and left wing, which separated from the fuselage when it made contact. The plane turned clockwise and finally came to a rest near a field beside Park Farm close to the small hamlet of Sigingstone (or Sigginstone). There was no explosion on impact or ground fire.

Two passengers who were sitting in additional seats bolted in at the back of the tail section walked away unaided, and a third man, who was in the lavatory and knocked unconscious at the time of the crash, survived but was in the hospital for four months. Eight more survivors of the initial impact died later in hospitals of their injuries, bringing the final death toll to 80, 75 passengers and all five crew.

The March 13, 1950, edition of the New York Times reported thus:
"London, 12 March—Eighty men and women were killed in Wales today in an aeroplane crash, the worst disaster in the history of aviation. Three men survived. The death toll eclipsed the previous record for airplanes, set last Nov. 2, when a fighter plane rammed an airliner near the National Airport in Washington, causing the deaths of fifty-five persons. It also exceeded the toll of seventy-three dead in the loss of the United States Navy dirigible Akron off Barnegat, N.J., on 4 April 1933. The eighty persons lost in Wales went to their destruction in a type of aircraft – the British Avro Tudor – that had already caused fifty-four fatalities and had been banned from passenger service on Britain's publicly owned international airlines."

Fatalities

The death toll of 80 exceeded the previous aviation fatality record, which was the 73 lives lost on the US Navy dirigible Akron in 1933. This in turn would be surpassed on 20 December 1952, when 87 people died when a US Air Force Douglas C-124 Globemaster II crashed near Moses Lake, Washington. As far as civilian aviation-related deaths, the Avro disaster resulted in the highest loss of lives until 128 died in the 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision. The Tudor's single death toll for a civilian aircraft was the highest on record until 1958, when a KLM Super Constellation went down off Ireland, claiming 99 lives.

Investigation
After a court of enquiry chaired by William McNair KC the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced that the probable cause of the accident was the loading of the aircraft, which had moved the centre of gravity considerably aft of where it should have been, thus reducing the effectiveness of the elevators.

Memorial
Amongst those who died were three members of Abercarn Rugby Football Club. Llanharan RFC lost six members of their playing team. Both clubs remember the victims with symbolism on their club badges.
On 25 March in the final game of the 1950 Championship against France at the Cardiff Arms Park, the crowd stood in silence while five buglers sounded a Last Post tribute to the memory of the supporters who had died in the plane crash.

See also
 1950 in aviation
 List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft

Notes

External links
 South Wales Police, Official Report
 South Wales Police Museum – crash narrative and photographs of the aftermath
 The 1950 Welsh Triple Crown & Llandow Air Disaster via rugbyrelics.com   (archive)
 "After the Game", TIME, 20 March 1950 – brief article includes eyewitness descriptions and survivor names
 Sigingstone Memorial – plaque dedicated in 1990 on 40th anniversary of the air disaster
 Contemporary account in Life magazine (pages 42 & 43) via books.google.com

Aviation accidents and incidents in Wales
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1950
1950 disasters in the United Kingdom
1950 in Wales
Accidents and incidents involving the Avro Tudor
History of the Vale of Glamorgan
March 1950 events in the United Kingdom

Llandow air disaster


A katana is a Japanese long sword used by samurai warriors. It is the most important sword of the three swords worn by samurai: katana, wakizashi, and tanto. The katana was popular from 1400 A.D. until 1876, when the samurai were abolished as a social class.

In Japanese, "katana" means a long sword and it represents a blade, which is a little curved, with a single edge and a very sharp point.

Types
There are several types of katanas:
 Artwork/old katana - nihonto
 Sharpened katana - shinsaku, shinken
 Modern katana designed for the training of iaido and iaijutsu - iaito
 Decorative, ceremonial katanas.

Forging and polishing
A traditional katana is made of a type of high carbon steel called tamahagane, which is made by smelting a type of Japanese iron ore, called iron sand, in a large furnace called a tatara.

This steel is sent to a smith who breaks it down to small pieces and layers the steel according to carbon content, they smelt this in their forge and repeatedly fold the steel in order to homogenise it. The most important part of the forging is the tempering, when the sword is quench-hardened. In ancient times it was said that the soul of the sword was put into the katana at this point. The sword is sometimes given a rough polish by the smith and then sent to a professional polisher for polishing (usually to a mirror finish). After polishing, the sword to be fitted.

Today katanas are mainly made of carbon steel of different quality. But there are some swords made of zinc and aluminum alloys, which are able to resist some external forces and are only used for decoration or non-tameshigiri practice. To determine the quality of a katana it is enough to check its resistance (how much it bends when it is hit), elasticity (the ability of katana to return to its original shape), and the endurance of the blade after striking (how long it lasts).

Wearing and use
Generally, katana is designed for cutting, but it was widely used for stabbing too. This depended mainly on the length of the tang (the handle). The katana could be easily used for cutting if it was made for using with both hands. It was used for stabbing when the katana was made for using with one hand.

As a rule, katana was worn under the belt on the left side of a right-handed man. The sword was in its sheath or scabbard (the cover), with its blade facing up. That way the sword could be drawn and cut the opponent in one movement. Alternatively, the scabbard might be held freely in the left hand: in action the sword would be drawn and the scabbard thrown down. This allows for free movement in battle.

To pull the katana a few inches out of its scabbard was an aggressive move signalling willingness to fight.

Katana and Japanese tradition
The Katana was very important in Japanese society. This sword was thought to be the "soul" of its master. Only a samurai was allowed to have a katana. A simple man with a katana sword could be killed at once. But in some case a emperor and shogun would carried one for show.

There was a tradition of wearing, taking care and taking the katana out of its scabbard. Samurai kept their katana on a special stand for swords, called katana-kake. This stand was used for both katana and wakizashi. The blade had to have its point up, just as when wearing the sword; the handle (called the tang) had to be turned to the let. This made katana available for handling any time it was needed.

The art of handling a katana was developed in martial arts like kenjutsu and iaijutsu. Today, this art is practiced in iaido and kendo martial arts. The last one is the art of dueling with bamboo or wooden sword. Old schools of handling katana swords still exist. The most famous are: Kashima Shin-ryu, Kashima Shinto-ryu, Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu.

The most appreciated technique of handling a katana is a school called Nitto Ryu. This school taught how to use both a katana and a wakizashi during a fight. The most famous samurai who improved this art was Miyamoto Musashi.

References

Other websites

 Impressive Performance of Katana vs. Machine Gun!  - An amazing video of how hard and sharp an original katana can be.

Japanese swords

Katana


The Boulton and Paul P.41 Phoenix, a single-engined two seat parasol monoplane, was aimed at the amateur private flyer and intended to cost less than the successful de Havilland Moth. Despite positive responses from its target purchasers, no orders were forthcoming and only one was built.

Design and development

Boulton & Paul made two ventures into the light aircraft market, the first in 1919 with the P.9, then ten years later with the P.41 Phoenix. Realising that the de Havilland Moth and its competitors like the Blackburn B-2 controlled much of the two seat market, they set out to design a machine which was not in direct competition but lower in both capital and running costs.   Their strategy was to build an all wood aerodynamic prototype first (their last ever wood-framed aircraft and the first since the P.9), then to transfer the flying surfaces etc. to a metal fuselage.

The wood-framed Phoenix I was a small parasol-winged monoplane.  The foldable wing had a constant chord and square ends in standard Boulton & Paul fashion. It was mounted on a pair of substantial streamlined struts from the lower fuselage longerons to the front wing spar. These main struts each carried a pair of short, slimmer members from near the wing to the front and rear spars. Further complicated strutting joined the upper fuselage to the wing centre section: a pair diverged gently from ahead of the forward cockpit to the front spar, another strut joined that spar on the starboard side to the port upper longeron between the cockpits and yet another joined the rear spar to the fuselage in the opposite direction behind the rear cockpit. The aircraft was normally flown from the rear cockpit at the trailing edge of the wing, with a cut-out to improve visibility. The forward cockpit was under the wing.

The nose-mounted opposed twin-cylinder ABC Scorpion was air-cooled with exposed cylinder heads. It produced . Behind it, the fuselage was of simple square cross section, flat on sides and top with a curved underside. The main wheels were mounted rubber-sprung main legs attached to the upper fuselage and on axles linked to the lower fuselage. On the ground, with its legs compressed the Phoenix sat with its belly close to the ground. The empennage was unusual in two ways. Both rudder and tailplane were all moving, with no fixed surfaces, and all three surfaces were interchangeable to lower the costs of spare stocks. Nineteen years later, Boulton Paul used the same cost-saving design approach with the Balliol. The elevators were mounted at the extreme end of the fuselage, the rudder with its trailing edge level with the elevators' hinge.

The sole Phoenix 1, registered G-AAIT was exhibited at the International Aeronautical Exhibition at Olympia in July 1929, for sale at £375. It flew for the first time on 11 July 1929, with C.A. Rea, Boulton & Paul's first full-time test pilot at the controls.  It was then tested by many different pilots, many quite recently qualified and the sort of people Boulton & Paul saw as likely buyers. The Phoenix was well received, judged to be easy to handle in the air and on the ground and to land. There were a few criticisms: lateral control was rather sluggish; the upward and forward view was blocked by the parasol wing. Most of all, the testers were not convinced that the ABC engine would be reliable enough to fly cross country with confidence.

Boulton & Paul were encouraged by the responses to go ahead with a production version, the Phoenix II. This used the same flight surfaces but had a spot-welded steel fuselage frame.  When covered this had much the same shape as the earlier wooden one apart from the nose, where a  uncowled nine-cylinder Salmson radial replaced the ABC. There were changes to the minor struts, including those at the centre section, with the struts ahead of the cockpits gone; but the most obvious alteration was to the undercarriage. The main wheels were now on wing-mounted vertical legs, each on a stub axle that had a pair of vee struts to the lower fuselage; the revised aircraft sat higher above the ground. The Phoenix II, still registered as G-AAIT, made its first flight on 12 June 1930, and this was followed by another period of amateur testing. Despite its low price the Phoenix failed to attract buyers aiming below the Moth, and no further machines were built. G-AAIT remained in use as Rea's personal hack until the end of 1935.

Specifications (Phoenix II)

References

Notes

Bibliography

Phoenix
1920s British sport aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Parasol-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1929

Boulton Paul Phoenix


The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; French: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation  to fight against drugs in sport. It was set up by the International Olympic Committee and is based in Canada.

WADA promotes, coordinates and monitors the fight against drugs in sports. The agency does scientific research, educates, and has anti-doping capability. It monitors the World Anti-Doping Code. This is enforced by the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport. The Council of Europe Anti-Doping Convention and the United States Anti-Doping Agency have similar aims, and work with WADA.
International sports organizations
Doping in sport

World Anti-Doping Agency


Civil War was a large comic book story created by Marvel Comics. The story was the main focus of a seven issue series that started in May 2006 and ended in February 2007. It involved every major Marvel character and a large number of minor ones. Nearly every main Marvel title during this time dealt with this story.

The story was about the United States dealing with an accident during a superhero battle that caused 613 deaths. To prevent this from happening again, the government created the Superhero Registration Act (SRA). This was a law that forced all people with superhuman powers to identify them self to the government. Many superheroes believed this was a good thing and that it would save lives. Others believed it was bad. They felt that if the government knew who they were, they would be in danger of others finding out. They believed that the SRA took away many of their freedoms. This caused the superheros to split into two groups. Those supporting the SRA were led by Iron Man. Those against it were led by Captain America.

Many people have compared the story of Civil War to that of the United States after 9/11 and the Patriot Act.

Marvel Comics

Civil War (comics)


A land mine (called a "mine" when a naval mine is clearly not what is meant) is an explosive weapon that is put on the ground or just underneath the ground so that it explodes when a person or vehicle goes by. They are called "mines" because people who put them there often dig a tunnel under the ground (like miners who dig for coal etc.). Many people can be killed by mines, including civilians. Sometimes mines can lie in the ground and kill and injure people years after a war has ended.

There are different types of land mines. Big anti-vehicle mines are against vehicles. Smaller infantry mines are used against foot soldiers.

Explosives

Land mine


Mothballs are small balls of chemical pesticide and deodorant.They are used when clothing and other articles susceptible to damage from mold or moth larvae are stored. Older mothballs were made primarily of naphthalene. Because naphthalene can catch fire easily, modern mothballs use 1,4-dichlorobenzene instead. Both of these ingredients have a strong, pungent smell often associated strongly with mothballs. Camphor, an insect repellent, can also be used in mothballs.

Their use when clothing is stored out-of-season led to the colloquial usage of the terms mothballed and put into mothballs to refer to anything which is put into storage or whose operation is suspended. Some claim that the use of the word in this sense derives from naval usage. When warships were laid up, the open ends of their gun barrels and other openings were covered in white material to prevent the entry of water. These white circles suggested mothballs.

Insecticides

Mothball


Abu Taher (died 1021), better known by his regnal name Shams Al-Dawla ("Sun Of The State"), was the Buyid ruler of Hamadan from 997 to 1021. He was the son of Fakhr al-Dawla.

Biography
Fakhr al-Dawla died in 997; his elder son Abu Taleb Rostam ("Majd al-Dawla") took power in the bulk of his father's possessions in Jibal. Abu Taher himself gained the governorships of Hamadan and Kirmanshah, and was hence known as Shams al-Dawla. Since both sons were still minors their mother, the "Sayyida", assumed the regency.

Both sons originally took the title of Shâhanshâh, implying that they were subordinate to no one. They abandoned the title, however, when they accepted their cousin Baha' al-Dawla's authority by 1009 or 1010 at the latest.

In 1006 or 1007, Majd al-Dawla tried to throw of the Sayyida's regency. However, she gained the support of the Kurdish ruler Badr ibn Hasanwaih and Shams al-Dawla. Their forces laid siege to Ray and fought several battles with Majd al-Dawla's forces. When Ray was finally taken, Majd al-Dawla was imprisoned for a year, and Shams al-Dawla ruled in the city during that time. When the Sayyida released Majd al-Dawla, Shams al-Dawla returned to Hamadan.

Around 1013, following the death of the Badr ibn Hasanwaih, Shams al-Dawla occupied part of the former ruler's territory. Sometime in the later part of his reign, he tried to replace Majd al-Dawla as the ruler of Ray, but the Sayyida foiled his plans. In 1015, Shams al-Dawla called upon the prominent Persian scholar Avicenna in order to treat him. During Avicenna's stay at Shams al-Dawla's court, the latter became his vizier. Shams al-Dawla later died in 1021 and was succeeded by his son Sama' al-Dawla.

References

1021 deaths
Buyid emirs
10th-century monarchs in the Middle East
11th-century monarchs in the Middle East
Year of birth unknown
10th-century Iranian people
11th-century Iranian people

Shams al-Dawla


CowParade is one of the largest public art events of the world. First it began in Chicago and New York. This was in 1999 and 2000. The Cow Parade runs many cities of the United States up to the year 2001. In 2002 it moved to Europe, in London. This Parade has covered a lot of countries through all the five continents. In 2008 they moved to the fourth Latin-American country, Costa Rica. The Cow Parade has been in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, also.

This public art event is about painting cows with some cultural messages. It doesn't need to be a professional sculpture. You can find urban and crazy sculptures too. This exhibition is taking place on the principal parks and boulevards of San José, Costa Rica.
The principal purpose of this event is to auction each cow and then the proceeds go to charity.

In San José there are a total of one hundred twenty cows, each one with their topic. There is an amazing level of creativity from the national sculptors who painted and sculpted the cows. They are a lot of beautiful cows made of several material including the rice and beans of the traditional breakfast. Some of the cows have the message of doesn't forget the traditional customs. Also, some cows have a message to make a country with more love, generosity and with more solidarity.

Some cows also encourage people to take care of Costa Rican nature and all the biodiversity that this small country has. The principal message is just to create a better planet for the future.

Other websites

 The official (US) Cowparade website
 CowParade Rio de Janeiro 2007 - pictures
 Cow Parade Europe

Sculpture
Festivals

CowParade


The House of Farnese was a noble family from Italy. They owned fine art collections within their many palaces throughout Rome. Two of their members became Popes. The famous Elisabetta Farnese was a member of the family and she had great political influence over her husband, Philip V of Spain. The family were also the rulers of the small Italian Duchy of Parma. The family's art collection was only rivalled by that of the Medici.

Papal families

House of Farnese


The Kentucky Headhunters are an American country rock and Southern rock band originating in the state of Kentucky. The band's members are Doug Phelps (vocals, bass guitar), Greg Martin (vocals, lead guitar), and brothers Richard Young (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Fred Young (vocals, drums). It was founded in 1968 as Itchy Brother, which consisted of the Young brothers and Martin, along with Anthony Kenney on bass guitar and vocals. Itchy Brother performed until 1982, with James Harrison replacing Martin from 1973 to 1976. The Youngs and Martin began performing as The Kentucky Headhunters in 1986, adding brothers Ricky Lee Phelps (lead vocals, harmonica) and Doug Phelps (bass guitar, vocals) to the membership.

With the release of its 1989 debut album Pickin' on Nashville via Mercury Records, the band charted four consecutive Top 40 country singles. A second album for Mercury, Electric Barnyard, did not do as well commercially, and the Phelps brothers left after its release to form Brother Phelps. Kenney re-joined and Mark S. Orr took over on lead vocals for 1993's Rave On!! and a compilation album entitled The Best of The Kentucky Headhunters: Still Pickin' before the band exited Mercury. Orr left and Doug Phelps rejoined in 1996 as lead vocalist for the album Stompin' Grounds. He also led on the Audium Entertainment albums Songs from the Grass String Ranch and Soul, as well as Big Boss Man and a second compilation, Flying Under the Radar, on CBuJ Entertainment. After Kenney's departure, Doug once again became the band's bass guitarist by the release of Dixie Lullabies, in 2011.

The Kentucky Headhunters has released ten studio albums, three compilations, and twenty-three singles. It's highest-peaking single is a cover of the Don Gibson song "Oh Lonesome Me,"  which the band took to number eight on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in 1990. In addition, the band has won three Country Music Association awards, an Academy of Country Music award, and a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, won in 1990 for Pickin' on Nashville.

History

1968–1982: Early years as Itchy Brother
Richard Young, his younger brother Fred, and their cousins Anthony Kenney and Greg Martin began performing music in the Youngs' and Kenney's hometown of Glasgow, Kentucky, in the 1960s. They founded a band called Itchy Brother, named after Fred's favorite cartoon character, from King Leonardo and His Short Subjects. The original lineup consisted of Richard Young on rhythm guitar, Fred Young on drums, Kenney on bass guitar, and Martin on lead guitar. Itchy Brother achieved regional success in Kentucky in the 1970s, including at least one single, "Shotgun Effie," which they wrote about the Youngs' grandmother, Effie. It was released in 1973 on the King Fargo label. That same year, Greg Martin left the group to play in another band in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. In the meantime, guitarist James Harrison took his place. Martin returned to the group in 1976.

Itchy Brother was almost signed to Swan Song Records, an independent label founded by the band Led Zeppelin, in 1980. The label closed after Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham died, and Itchy Brother never recorded a full album on Swan Song. Itchy Brother broke up in 1982. After their disbanding, Richard started writing songs for Acuff-Rose Music, and Fred became a backing musician for country singer Sylvia, who at the time was recording on RCA Records. Martin played bass guitar and sang backing vocals for Ronnie McDowell, then a recording artist for Curb Records, and Kenney stopped performing, although he continued to write songs with the Young brothers.

1986–1988: Reunion with new name
When Martin attempted to reunite Itchy Brother in 1985, the Young brothers joined him, but Kenney declined. Martin invited Missouri Bootheel native Doug Phelps, also a member of McDowell's band, to replace Kenney, and Doug brought his older brother Ricky Lee to sing lead vocals. The band decided to name themselves The Headhunters, taking the name from the term "headchopper," which blues musician Muddy Waters used to indicate that he had supplanted another band in a gig. After discovering that other bands existed with that name, the band added "Kentucky" to its name and thus became The Kentucky Headhunters. The Kentucky Headhunters began performing together the following year, playing twice monthly on the 90-minute Chitlin' Show, a radio program on WLOC in Munfordville, Kentucky.

1989–1990: Debut album and early success
The Kentucky Headhunters borrowed $4,500 to record a demo album, which included seven original songs, plus covers of Bill Monroe's "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine," Henson Cargill's "Skip a Rope", and Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me." Originally intended to be sold at the band's live shows, the demo tape came to the attention of the Nashville music community. Although Martin said that the band had not seriously considered signing a record deal, the band pursued one through the suggestion of its manager, Mitchell Fox. Harold Shedd, a record producer who was then the head of Mercury Records, helped sign The Kentucky Headhunters to the label in 1989.

Mercury released the demo in 1989 as The Kentucky Headhunters' debut album, Pickin' on Nashville. The album produced four singles, all of which reached top 40 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart. The first of these, the "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine" cover, peaked at number 25 in December 1989. After it came "Dumas Walker."  According to Doug, Mercury Records was initially reluctant to release the song as a single: "[The label] thought it was too regional, and that no one outside the area would get it, but what they didn't see, was the reaction we got to it every night that we played it in front of a crowd, and it didn't matter where we were playing either." The single peaked at number 15 on the Billboard chart.

Following "Dumas Walker" was "Oh Lonesome Me", which peaked at number eight; this was the band's only Top Ten hit. Finishing off the single releases was the number 23 "Rock 'n' Roll Angel", which Richard wrote. Pickin' on Nashville also earned the band a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, Best New Vocal Group award from the Academy of Country Music (ACM), and Album of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year awards from the Country Music Association (CMA). In addition, it earned a double-platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping two million copies in the United States. William Ruhlmann of Allmusic gave the album a four-and-a-half star rating out of five, saying that the band was "all the better" for having a sound closer to rock than country. After the success of their debut album, The Kentucky Headhunters began touring with Hank Williams, Jr. and Delbert McClinton.

1991–1992: Second album and departure of the Phelps brothers
In 1991, the band released their second album, Electric Barnyard. Although the album earned a gold certification from the RIAA and a second CMA award for Vocal Group of the Year, its singles received little airplay compared to the band's previous releases, with none of the four singles reaching the top 40 on the U.S. country charts. The album's first single was a cover of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," which was released on the 155th anniversary of Davy Crockett's death; the single shipped to radio with promotional coonskin caps. It spent eleven weeks on the charts and peaked at 49. "With Body and Soul" was the next single released, peaking at number 30 on the Canadian RPM country charts but reaching number 56 in the United States. The third and fourth singles were the original composition "It's Chitlin' Time" and a rendition of Waylon Jennings's "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line," at numbers 63 and 60 respectively. Norman Greenbaum's 1969 single "Spirit in the Sky" was covered on this album as well.

This album was met with mixed reception from critics. Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly gave it an A rating, saying that it "skillfully blends raw wit, the working-class energy of sweat-stained factory workers jamming between shifts, and musical styles as diverse as the corny Tennessee Ernie Ford and the creamy Eric Clapton." Allmusic critic Brian Mansfield, who gave it three-and-a-half stars, called the band a "top-notch Southern rock band with a sense of humor," and said that the covers on Electric Barnyard were highlights, while the originals were "adequate, offbeat filler." Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times called the band "ZZ Top lite" and said that most of the songs on the album had a "party-hearty sound."

Later in 1991, The Kentucky Headhunters performed with Roy Rogers on the song "That's How the West Was Swung" from his Tribute album, and covered Canned Heat's "Let's Work Together" for the soundtrack to the film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. In addition, Martin played lead guitar for Canadian synthpop band Men Without Hats on its 1991 album Sideways and filled in for Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Ed King on that band's 1992 tour, as King was injured at the time.

Ricky Lee and Doug departed in June 1992 due to creative differences. According to Richard, Ricky Lee's tenure as lead vocalist was "a bad time" for the band given his opposition to Richard's opinions, although Richard was still surprised to hear of the brothers' departure, and said, "I tried everything I could to get them to stay." Ricky Lee, meanwhile, said that he "was a country singer more than anything" and wanted to eliminate most of the band's hard rock sounds. He and Doug then founded Brother Phelps, which had a more mainstream country sound than The Kentucky Headhunters did. Brother Phelps released two albums for Asylum Records and charted in the country top 40 with "Let Go" and "Were You Really Livin' ," which peaked at number 6 and 28 respectively.

1992–1994: New line-up and lack of success
Kenney rejoined in 1992 as bass guitarist, and Charlotte, Michigan, native Mark S. Orr took over on lead vocals. The first album to feature Orr and Kenney, the more blues rock-oriented Rave On!!, was released in 1993. Although the band drew attention by touring with then-labelmate Billy Ray Cyrus, Rave On!! sold poorly and failed to produce a successful single among its three releases: "Honky Tonk Walkin' ," "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Dixie Fried," the latter two being covers of Bill Monroe and Carl Perkins, respectively. The album also included a cover of The Lovin' Spoonful's "My Gal". "Honky Tonk Walkin'" and "Dixie Fried" respectively reached numbers 54 and 71 on the country charts, while the "Blue Moon of Kentucky" cover did not chart.

Mansfield gave a two-star rating for Allmusic, where he wrote that the band had "devolved into a redneck boogie group." Nash's review for Entertainment Weekly gave it a C− grade, and called it "warmed-over blues" that lacked the "outrageousness, wit, and brilliance that distinguished their earlier albums." Steve Morse of The Boston Globe called it an "irresistible car-stereo album," and Rolling Stone critic John Swenson said that the album was more rock-oriented than its predecessors, also saying that it "sounds like a hell of a blueprint for a summer concert tour."

The Orr-led lineup also recorded That'll Work, a collaborative album with Chuck Berry's pianist, Johnnie Johnson. It was released later in 1993 via Nonesuch Records, and it comprised twelve songs which Johnson and the band wrote over the course of four days. The album featured Johnson on piano, as well as lead vocals on the title track and one other song; Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie also played harmonica and saxophone, and sang backing vocals. Thom Owens of Allmusic wrote of this album that "They certainly can work a heavy, bluesy groove with dexterity, but they lack the gonzo charm they had on their debut, Pickin' on Nashville  — there simply isn't the sense of careening fun, nor is there the reckless fusions that resulted in such an invigorating listen." One year later, Mercury released a greatest hits package, The Best of The Kentucky Headhunters: Still Pickin'. It reprised singles and other songs from the band's first three albums, as well as "Let's Work Together" and a cover of The Beatles' "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," which The Kentucky Headhunters had previously recorded on the 1994 tribute album Shared Vision: The Songs of the Beatles. After Still Pickin''', The Kentucky Headhunters left Mercury.

1995–2002: Reunion with Doug Phelps
Orr left The Kentucky Headhunters in August 1995 because he "was wantin' to do somethin' else," according to Richard. Richard then called Doug and invited him to rejoin the band. As a result, Brother Phelps disbanded and Ricky Lee pursued a solo career. In 1997, The Kentucky Headhunters signed to BNA Records to release its fourth non-collaborative studio album, Stompin' Grounds, with Doug on lead vocals. This album was also an unsuccessful venture, failing to enter the country albums charts and producing only a number 70-peaking cover of Marty Robbins' "Singing the Blues". In order to promote the album, Richard suggested that the label send free copies to smaller-market radio stations, where the band's fanbase was still strong. He also considered the album's original songs as the strongest that the band had ever written. Brian Wahlert of Country Standard Time magazine wrote that it "may be the band's best album ever;" Thom Owens gave the album two-and-a-half stars in his Allmusic review, where he wrote that the band "show[ed] a lack of imagination" and "sound[ed] considerably less energetic and exciting" than on the first two albums.Songs from the Grass String Ranch, the band's next album, was completed almost 18 months before its release. The band had consulted with 38 different independent labels before signing to Audium Entertainment, a branch of Koch Records (now MNRK Music Group), which released the album in 2000. Three months before its release, Richard suffered a heart attack, from which he soon recovered. Because the "Singing the Blues" cover had been unsuccessful, the group decided to record entirely original songs for Songs from the Grass String Ranch. All five members co-wrote all of the songs, with assistance from Verlon Dale Grissom on four of them. In addition, this album featured the Youngs on lead vocals for the first time: Fred on "Dry-Land Fish" and Richard on "Louisianna CoCo." The title track was inspired by a nickname given to the Youngs' family farm. "Too Much to Lose" was the album's first single, peaking at number 66 on Billboard country chart. Richard considered this song an unusual single release because it was the band's first ballad. Neither of the next two singles, "Louisianna CoCo" and "Love That Woman," appeared on the music charts. Giving it three stars out of five, Al Campbell of Allmusic said that it was "crowd-pleasing" but "nothing out of the ordinary." An uncredited review in The Ledger, which gave the album two-and-a-half stars out of four, said that the up-tempo songs were "nothing very original[…]but lots of fun" but added that its ballads were "mushy and earnest."

2003–2006: Soul and Big Boss ManSoul followed in 2003, also on Audium. This album also featured Johnnie Johnson, as well as guest appearances by organist Reese Wynans (of Double Trouble), saxophone player Jim Horn, and a local musician named Robbie Bartlett, who sang guest vocals on "Everyday People." It included the non-charting single "Lonely Nights" and a tribute song to Carl Perkins entitled "Last Night I Met Carl Perkins", as well as two covers: "I Still Wanna Be Your Man," originally recorded by Eddie Hinton, and "Have You Ever Loved a Woman?," a blues standard made famous by Eric Clapton. This album received generally favorable reviews. Mark Deming gave a three-star rating for Allmusic, saying that the album's more rhythm and blues and soul-influenced sound worked well due to the blues influences present in Southern rock, although he added that the album retained the "big guitar bombast" of the band's previous works. Matt Bjorke of About.com considered its sound a departure from the earlier albums, but added "it's not hard to see that the band fully enjoys what they are doing" and highlighted the presence of a horn section and Hammond B-3 organ on some tracks. Ray Waddell of Billboard magazine considered Wynans' and Johnson's contributions "perfect fits", and noted that the album was "laid back" until the second half. His review also mentions the extended drum solo and "stone blues coda" of the closing track "What You See Is What You Get."

In 2005, following the closure of Audium, the band signed to the CBuJ Entertainment label. Its first release for the label was Big Boss Man, an album composed entirely of cover songs. This album was led off by its title track, a cover of the Jimmy Reed blues standard. Also released from it were renditions of Roger Miller's "Chug-a-Lug" and Hank Williams' "Take These Chains from My Heart". The project was financed by Sony/ATV Music Publishing as a means of making extra money from older songs in the publishing company's catalog. Richard helped select the songs for this album, which included three other Hank Williams covers, as well as Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," The Beatles' "I'm Down," and Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight," among others. Despite saying that the album was "obviously aimed at longtime fans," Greg Prato of Allmusic gave it three-and-a-half stars, with his review making note of the "beefed-up" Patsy Cline and Hank Williams covers. Ray Waddell of Billboard called the album "loose and rowdy," saying that the band "injected soul" into the Dylan cover and recorded an "intoxicating" version of "Chug-a-Lug," although he said that the "Hey Good Lookin'" cover was "heavy-handed." Robert Woolridge gave a mostly-favorable review for Country Standard Time, citing "Chug-a-Lug" and "So Sad to See Good Love Go Bad" (originally by The Everly Brothers) as the most country-sounding. He also described three of the Hank Williams covers positively, but said that Phelps did not have a suitable vocal range for "I'm Down" and that his voice was monotonous on "Walkin' After Midnight."

2007–2021: Flying Under the Radar, Dixie Lullabies, Meet Me in Bluesland, and On Safari
One year later, CBuJ Entertainment released the compilation Flying Under the Radar, which comprised selections from Songs from the Grass String Ranch, Soul and Big Boss Man, as well as two new songs and a remix of "Chug-a-Lug." Kenney left the band around 2008 to take a job as the technical director of a theatre in Glasgow, Kentucky, and Doug has since taken over on bass guitar. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Pickin' on Nashville, the band released a live album entitled Authorized Bootleg: Live – Agara Ballroom – Cleveland, Ohio. It was followed in October 2011 by Dixie Lullabies on the Red Dirt label, which the band recorded at the Practice House after touring with Jamey Johnson. William Ruhlmann gave this album a positive review, comparing the sound to The Rolling Stones and ZZ Top.

In April 2015, the band released another collaborative album with Johnson entitled Meet Me in Bluesland, via Alligator Records. It was originally recorded in 2003 during the sessions for Soul. On Safari came in 2016. This album features several songs that the band had written years prior, including "Crazy Jim". Shortly before the album's release, Richard and Fred's father, James Howard, died at age 93. Also included are "Governor's Cup", the band's first ever instrumental track, and a cover of Alice Cooper's "Caught in a Dream".

2021-present: That's a Fact Jack!
On September 25, 2021, the band announced through their official Facebook page that a new album titled That's a Fact Jack! would be released on October 22 through Practice House Records. The first single from the album was "How Could I", followed by "Susannah" and the title track. Also included on the album is a re-recording of "Shotgun Effie". Following this album's release, the band made their debut on the Grand Ole Opry on December 2, 2021. They also supported the album with a tour which began in Corinth, Mississippi that same month. According to Richard, the band was previously offered a chance to play the Grand Ole Opry in 1990 through the recommendation of bluegrass singer Bill Monroe, but Roy Acuff rejected the band due to their long hair.

Work with other artists
The band's members have also participated in several projects involving other artists. Richard Young co-produced some tracks on Flynnville Train's self-titled debut album, which was released on September 11, 2007, by Show Dog Nashville, a label owned by Toby Keith (now part of Show Dog-Universal Music). This album includes the song "Truck Stop in the Sky," which Richard and Fred co-wrote with two of Flynnville Train's members, brothers Brent Flynn and David Flynn. Also in 2007, Greg Martin released a gospel rock album called The Mighty Jeremiahs as a side project. The album features Jimmy Hall and Jeff Beck, plus appearances by members of The Kentucky Headhunters, Phil Keaggy, Darrell Mansfield (for whom Martin has previously played), and others. Martin also played for Hall on his 2007 album Build Your Own Fire, a tribute album to Eddie Hinton. In 2009, Martin began a side project called Rufus Huff with Chris Hardesty, Dean Smith, and Jarrod England. This side project released an album via Zoho Music in April 2009.

Richard, along with Stan Webb and former MCA Nashville Records artist Marty Brown, wrote Tracy Byrd's 1998 single "I'm from the Country." Brown and the band also recorded the song's demo version. Richard's son, John Fred Young, plays drums in the rock band Black Stone Cherry. The band practices at the same farm house where The Kentucky Headhunters once rehearsed.

Musical styles
The band's sound is influenced by country music, rockabilly, blues, Southern rock, and heavy metal, and has been described as "guitar-heavy, rambunctious music." Lead singer Doug Phelps' voice has been described as "alternately suggest[ing] Count Basie's storied blues shouter Jimmy Rushing and the laid-back cool of Eagle Glenn Frey." The band's combination of styles is most notable in its cover song choices on early albums. All three Mercury albums contain a Bill Monroe cover, and other covers on these albums include Waylon Jennings, Carl Perkins, Norman Greenbaum and The Lovin' Spoonful. Soul showcased the band's blues and R&B influences through its use of Hammond organ and a horn section. The band's original compositions, such as "Dumas Walker" and the title track to Songs from the Grass String Ranch, often develop a regional theme.

At its peak in the early 1990s, The Kentucky Headhunters were considered a dark horse in country music, due to the significant mainstream attention that the band received despite their rougher sound and the members' rural Southern image. In 1991, Entertainment Weekly critic Alanna Nash wrote that although the band did not sell as many albums as contemporaries George Strait or Garth Brooks, "they may just end up redefining country for the '90s" given the diverse range of influences and styles. Billboard critic Ray Waddell called the band "arguably the most consistent and durable Southern rock outfit on the planet."

Band members
Greg Martin (born March 31, 1954) – lead guitar, vocals (1968–1973, 1976–1982, 1986–present)
Doug Phelps (born December 15, 1960) – bass guitar, lead and background vocals (1986–1992, 1995–present)
Fred Young (born July 8, 1958) – drums, vocals (1968–1982, 1986–present)
Richard Young (born January 27, 1955) – rhythm guitar, lead and background vocals (1968–1982, 1986–present)

Former members
James Harrison (born February 2, 1959) - lead guitar (1973–1976)
Anthony Kenney (born July 14, 1956) – bass guitar, harmonica, background vocals (1968–1982, 1992–2008)
Mark S. Orr (born April 22, 1957) – lead vocals (1992–1995)
Ricky Lee Phelps (born January 17, 1953) – lead vocals (1986–1992)

Notes

Discography

Studio albums
 Pickin' on Nashville (1989)
 Electric Barnyard (1991)
 Rave On!! (1993)
 That'll Work  (1993)
 Stompin' Grounds (1997)
 Songs from the Grass String Ranch (2000)
 Soul (2003)
 Big Boss Man (2005)
 Dixie Lullabies (2011)
 Meet Me in Bluesland  (2015)
 On Safari (2016)
 That's a Fact Jack! (2021)

Awards and nominations
 Grammy Awards

|-
|1991
|Pickin' on Nashville|rowspan=3| Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
|1992
|Electric Barnyard|
|-
|1993
|"Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line"
|
|}

 American Music Awards

|-
|1991
|rowspan=2| The Kentucky Headhunters
|Favorite Country New Artist
|
|-
|1992
|Favorite Country Band/Duo/Group
|
|}

 TNN/Music City News Country Awards

|-
|1991
|The Kentucky Headhunters
|Vocal Group of the Year
|
|}

 Academy of Country Music Awards

|-
|1990
|rowspan=3| The Kentucky Headhunters
|Top New Vocal Group or Duet
|
|-
|1991
|rowspan=2| Top Vocal Group of the Year
|
|-
|1992
|
|}

 Country Music Association Awards

|-
|rowspan=4| 1990
|The Kentucky Headhunters
|Horizon Award
|
|-
|"Dumas Walker"
|Video of the Year
|
|-
|Pickin' on Nashville''
|Album of the Year
|
|-
|rowspan=2| The Kentucky Headhunters
|rowspan=2| Vocal Group of the Year
|
|-
|1991
|
|}

See also

References

External links

 Honorary Kentucky Headhunter

 Greg Martin Interview NAMM Oral History Library (2021)

Musical groups established in 1968
Musical groups reestablished in 1986
American country rock groups
BNA Records artists
MNRK Music Group artists
Grammy Award winners
Mercury Records artists
Rock music groups from Kentucky
American southern rock musical groups
Country music groups from Kentucky
1968 establishments in Kentucky
Edmonton, Kentucky

The Kentucky Headhunters


In Economics, a public good is a kind of common good. Public goods have two main properties:
It is not possible to prevent someone from consuming the good.
If a person consumes the good, this does not reduce the availabililty of the good to others.
Examples for public goods are fresh air, knowledge, street lighting, or a fireworks display.

Public goods are an example of market failure: If all actors maximize their gain, this does not produce an efficient solution.

It is obvious that because the goods are non-excludable, it means that a producer sees no benefit in producing or providing the good on the market, this is because it is impossible to make a profit from it as people who have not paid for the good. For this reason, the government may intervene to provide it. There are relatively few examples of purely public goods, however some examples are:
Flood Control
Public water supplies
Street lighting
Lighthouse protection
National Defence Services
Parks and other public recreational areas

The reason that the government feels the need to provide these goods is because the Marginal Social Benefit is greater than the Marginal Private Benefit, and so because there are positive externalities in consumption, it will always be under consumed in the market mechanism,

References

Goods

Public good


Beau Sia (, born 1976) is an American slam poet.

Life and career
Sia was born in Ohio. He is of Chinese-Filipino descent. Raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Sia discovered spoken word poetry on MTV as a teenager.  When not participating in his high school's swim team, he spent time at Oklahoma City's only open mic night.

In 1995, Sia moved to New York City, where he attended the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts dramatic writing program. He has said that moving to New York City made him conscious of his identity as an Asian American, something that he denied often in Oklahoma City. His cultural identity became a common theme in his poems.

Sia began performing at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, eventually earning himself a place on the 1996 Nuyorican National Poetry Slam team. That same year, he was filmed for the documentary SlamNation. The film followed Sia and his Nuyorican teammates (Saul Williams, Jessica Care Moore and muMs da Schemer) as they competed at the 1996 National Poetry Slam. The team went on to place third in the nation, and have a lasting impact on how people view slam poetry. In the book Words In Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam, author Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz wrote of Sia's impact, noting

Sia's relationship with the Poetry Slam community continued. He eventually earned two National Poetry Slam Championships in 1997 and 2000 while competing on the NYC-Urbana national poetry slam team. He also reached second place in the Individual Poetry Slam competition in 2001.

Inspired to mischief by a reading A Night Without Armor – a book of poems by the folksinger Jewel – Sia composed a parody entitled A Night Without Armor II:  The Revenge.  It was reviewed for Entertainment Weekly by Alexandra Jacobs, who noted, "[Sia's] deadpan parodies of such Jewel gems as 'God Exists Quietly' ('inside my underwear/why don't you come over/and say hello')…have quickly won a following."

Sia then began touring around Europe and the United States. He also appeared in films and published a wide range of his works in book and compact disc form. He also released an album on Mouth Almighty Records, a spoken-word imprint of Mercury/PolyGram Records that was active during the 1990s.

Style and examples
Sia's style is humorous and satirical. His word choice is said to be deceptively simple.

Works
 Sia, Beau. A Night Without Armor II: the Revenge. New York: Mouth Almighty Books, 1998.
 Sia, Beau. Attack! Attack! Go! Compact disc released in 1998 by Mouth Almighty/Mercury/PolyGram Records.
 Sia, Beau. The Undisputed Greatest Writer Of All Time. Long Beach: Write Bloody Publishing, 2012.
 Sia, Beau. WHITE POWER. Los Angeles: Not A Cult, 2017.

Inclusion in anthologies
 Cabico, Regie and Todd Swift, eds. Poetry Nation: The North American Anthology of Fusion Poetry. Vehicle Press, 1998.
 Colby, Todd, ed. Heights of the Marvelous : A New York Anthology'. St. Martin's Griffin, 2000. (On the Amazon.com listing for this book, "Seau Bia" posts a review that is nothing but a plea for attention to Beau Sia.)
 Glazner, Gary Mex, ed. Poetry Slam: The Competitive Art of Performance Poetry. San Francisco: Manic D Press, 2000.
 von Ziegesar, Cecily, ed. Slam. New York: Alloy Books, 2000. (This book also includes quotes by Sia on what poetry is, the writing process, etc.)
 Sanchez, Sonia; Medina, Tony; and Rivera, Lois Reyes, eds. Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam. Three Rivers Press, 2001.
 Katz, Daniel R., ed. Why Freedom Matters: The Spirit of the Declaration of Independence in Prose, Poetry, and Song from 1776 to the Present . Workman Publishing Company, 2003.
 Glazner, Gary Mex. How to Make a Living as a Poet. (Interview) Soft Skull Press, 2005.
 Brown, Derrick C. The Last American Valentine: Illustrated poems to seduce and destroy Write Bloody Publishing, 2008.
 Eleveld, Mark, ed. "The Spoken Word Revolution Redux". Sourcebooks MediaFusion, 2007

Film and television
Sia's appearances on television were on Def Poetry; he later appeared in the Broadway version, Def Poetry Jam.

He appeared in Slam in 1998 as Jimmy Huang. The same year, he participated in the documentary SlamNation as himself. Later appearances include The Manchurian Candidate (2004) as a late-night comedian on television andHitch (2005) as Duane Reade Clerk.

Sia portrays the protagonist in the music video for Wolf Like Me by the band TV on the Radio.

Sia portrays a minor character, Cicero, in Jeremy Saulnier's directorial debut, Murder Party (2007).

Sia plays Norman Sklear, a wedding czar emcee in Rachel Getting Married (2008).

In 2015, Sia appeared in yet another Jonathan Demme film, Ricki and the Flash, followed by a recurring role on the web series Pretty Dudes alongside such actors as Dion Basco and Yoshi Sudarso.

Video games
Sia, in collaboration with former Gearbox Software writer Anthony Burch, created the narrative for the exploration video game Failsafe.

References

Bibliography
 Glazner, Gary Mex, ed. Poetry Slam: The Competitive Art of Performance Poetry. San Francisco: Manic D Press, 2000.
 Sia, Beau. A Night Without Armor II: the Revenge. New York: Mouth Almighty Books, 1998.
 von Ziegesar, Cecily, ed. Slam. New York: Alloy Books, 2000.

Online
 Audio of "8 Year Old Reject" and "What I Did Last Summer" on Salon.com
 Audio of "Howl," "Money," "Gym" and "G.I. Joe Freestyle" on Indiefeed Performance Poetry Channel
 Mouth Almighty interview
 The Angry Poet: Beau Sia
 Article on Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam by the New York Daily News Preview for "The Drums Inside Your Chest" Poetry concert film featuring Beau Sia

External links

 Article regarding Beau in Slam'' at ColorLines Magazine
 Interview by the Philadelphia City Paper
 PlanetAUTHORity interview
 Scene Missing Magazine Interviews Beau Sia
 Is There A Future For Spoken Word? @ dropmagazine.com

1976 births
American male poets
American satirists
Living people
Tisch School of the Arts alumni
Writers from Oklahoma City
Slam poets
Mercury Records artists
Place of birth missing (living people)
American spoken word poets
American poets
American writers of Chinese descent
American people of Chinese descent
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Beau Sia


The Nutcracker is a classical ballet in two acts. It is based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's 1816 fairy tale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. It tells the story of a little girl who goes to the Land of Sweets on Christmas Eve. Ivan Vsevolozhsky and Marius Petipa adapted Hoffmann's story for the ballet. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote the music. Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov designed the dances. The Nutcracker was first performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 18 December 1892 to a modest success and rarely seen the next years.

In 1940, Walt Disney used some of the Nutcracker music in his animated movie Fantasia, which led to an interest in the ballet. Interest grew when George Balanchine's The Nutcracker was televised in the late 1950s. The ballet has been performed in many different places since then. Before the first performance, Tchaikovsky took some numbers from the ballet to form the Nutcracker Suite. This work was a great success on the concert stage, and is still played today.

Origin

The origin of The Nutcracker has its roots in the great success of The Sleeping Beauty ballet. This ballet was staged at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1890. It was the work of the director of the Imperial Theatres in St. Petersburg, Ivan Vsevolozhsky; the composer, Tchaikovsky; and the choreographer, Marius Petipa. Vsevolozsky thought another ballet based on a children's story would be just as successful as The Sleeping  Beauty.

He picked Hoffmann's 1816 fairy tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" as the subject for the new ballet. This story was loved by Russians. He wrote an adaptation of Hoffmann's story based on the Alexandre Dumas translation. He dropped much of the original. Petipa adapted Vsevolozsky's story to the requirements of ballet. Vsevolozsky then pressured Tchaikovsky into writing the music for the ballet. Tchaikovsky did not like the adaptation of Hoffmann's story, but he agreed to write the music.

Petipa designed the dances. He gave Tchaikovsky special directions about how the music was to be written. For example, he wanted a great crescendo of 48 bars as the Christmas tree rose higher and higher in Act 1. He wrote that the music for the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" should sound like drops of water splashing in a fountain.

In March 1892 the music was almost complete. Tchaikovsky took the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", the "Waltz of the Flowers", and other numbers from the ballet to form the 20-minute Nutcracker Suite. It was first played for the Russian Musical Society. The organization's members loved it. Nutcracker Suite is still played today.

Tchaikovsky completed the music for the ballet in April 1892. Rehearsals started in September 1892. Petipa fell ill and his assistant Lev Ivanov completed the dances. The ballet was first performed on 18 December 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Tchaikovsky's one-act opera Iolanta was played before the curtain rose on The Nutcracker. The run ended in 1893 after eleven performances.

Later
In 1919, choreographer Alexander Gorsky staged a production. He cut out the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, and gave their dances to Clara and the Nutcracker Prince. They were now played by adults instead of children. A shortened version of the ballet was first performed outside Russia in Budapest's Royal Opera House in 1927.

In 1934, Vasili Vainonen, choreographer of the Kirov Ballet, staged a version of the work which was also influenced by the criticisms of the original production. He also cast adult dancers in the roles of Clara and the Prince, as Gorsky had. The Vainonen version influenced several later productions. Knowledge of the choreography spread because many dancers went to the west after the Russian Revolution.

The first complete performance outside Russia took place in England in 1934. It was staged by Nicholas Sergeyev at the Vic-Wells Ballet. It used a version of Petipa's original choreography. Annual performances of the ballet have been staged there since 1952.

Plot

The ballet takes place in Germany in the early 19th century. The curtain rises on a Christmas Eve party in the Silberhaus home. Guests arrive. The children get their presents, then dance about the room.

The door opens. A strange little man named Drosselmeyer comes into the room. He is a toy-maker. He is also Clara Silberhaus's godfather. He has four dancing dolls for the children and a special surprise for Clara. It is a nutcracker. She loves it, but her brother Fritz accidentally breaks it. She places the Nutcracker in her doll bed to get well.

The party ends and everyone leaves. Clara and her family go to bed. Clara creeps back to the room. She needs to be certain her Nutcracker is resting quietly. All of a sudden, mice start running about the room. The dolls, the tin soldiers, and all the other playthings come to life to fight the mice.

The Christmas tree rises higher and higher. The Nutcracker jumps out of the doll bed to fight the Mouse King. When the Nutcracker is in danger, Clara saves his life by throwing her slipper at the Mouse King. The Mouse King runs out of the room with all the other mice.

The Nutcracker becomes a human prince. Clara and the Nutcracker Prince set off through the snowy woods for the magical Land of Sweets. The beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy rules this land. She welcomes the two children then orders her subjects to dance for them. Dances about Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate are presented. Many other dances are presented. The ballet ends with everyone dancing a waltz.

Structure
 Overture
Act I: Tableau 1
No.1 Scene (The Christmas Tree)
No.2 March
No.3 Children's Galop and Dance of the Parents
No.4 Dance Scene (Arrival of Drosselmeyer)
No.5 Scene and Grandfather Dance
No.6 Scene (Clara and the Nutcracker)
No.7 Scene (The Battle)

Act I: Tableau 2
No.8 Scene (A Pine Forest in Winter)
No.9 Waltz of the SnowflakesAct II: Tableau 3No.10 Scene (The Kingdom of Sweets)
No.11 Scene (Clara and Nutcracker Prince)
No.12 Divertissement:
a.Chocolate (Spanish Dance)
b.Coffee (Arabian Dance)
c.Tea (Chinese Dance)
d.Trepak (Russian Dance)
e.Dance of the Reed-Pipes
f. Mother Gigogne and the Clowns
No.13 Waltz of the Flowers
No.14 Pas de Deux (Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince Coqueluche)
No.15 Final Waltz and Apotheosis

 Reception

Criticism of the ballet was mixed. A portion thought of it to be a noble composition, with exemplary themes and emotion, however many thought otherwise. Russian balletomanes liked expert adult dancers and the large cast of children was critically attacked. One person complained that the ballet was "produced with children for children." Even the adult dancers came under fire. One person, for example, thought the dancer playing the doll in Act 1 was "nice" while another person thought she was "insipid".

One critic complained that the ballet was in bad taste because characters in Act 2 looked like food from a pastry shop.  Another complained that Ivanov's "Waltz of the Snowflakes" was taken from ballets by Petipa. Tchaikovsky however thought that the staging was very beautiful, so much so that his eyes grew tired looking at it.

Some people were surprised that Tchaikovsky had anything to do with the ballet. They thought The Nutcracker was foolish. They were embarrassed that the great composer had had a hand in it. On the first night however, Czar Alexander III called Tchaikovsky before him in the royal box to congratulate him on the music.

The newspapers were divided on the ballet's value. The St. Petersburg Gazette wrote "this ballet is the most tedious thing ever seen ... a long way from what ballet music should be." The St. Petersburg News-sheet wrote, "It is hard to say which number is the greatest, for everything from start to finish is beautiful." The New Age wrote that Tchaikovsky's orchestral writing was the work of genius. A ballet lover thought The Nutcracker was the greatest of the three ballets Tchaikovsky had written.

 Post-Premier
The ballet's initial run ended in January 1893. When the Russian Revolution broke out in 1917, many ballet dancers were put out of work. They went to Europe. They talked to their new friends in Europe about The Nutcracker. Some selections were performed here and there.

In 1940 Walt Disney used some of the music in his movie Fantasia. In 1944 the Nutcracker was staged at the San Francisco Ballet by William Christensen, the 'very first full-length' on Christmas Eve.

Christensen (1902-2001) was called the grandfather of American Ballet. He was born in Brigham City, Utah. He had established the San Francisco Ballet in 1938. Later he founded the ballet department to the University of Utah in 1951, the first of its kind, and Ballet West in 1963.

Christensen's creation had its 75th Anniversary during the 2019-2020 season. In 1954 George Balanchine staged The Nutcracker in New York City. People liked it. When it was aired on television in 1957 and 1958, the ballet became more famous than ever. Balanchine's television Nutcracker had enough fun in it for people who had not seen a ballet, and enough dancing in it to please the ballet lovers who watched it. In the 1960s small ballet companies started producing The Nutcracker because it could make money and, in doing so, keep the company in business.

 Modern times

Today, The Nutcracker has been staged and seen by many people all over the world. Jennifer Fisher points out that it is "the most popular and most often [staged] ballet in the world." In North America, it is a yearly event in many places. Parents and children take part in staging the ballet and dancing in it. Trained ballerinas dance side by side with children who are only learning to dance. Parents work on costumes and sets. Local celebrities take small walk-on parts.

There have been many adaptations of the ballet over the years. In the United States, for example, there are hula, tap dance, reggae, wheelchair, dance-along, ice, and drag versions. In Canada, there have been hockey adaptations. Products such as Nutcracker dolls, soaps, foods, and clothing are sold in theatres before the show.

Ballet lovers question the present day dumbing-down (oversimplification) of The Nutcracker to make it accessible to the masses. The reasons the ballet was originally disliked in Russia (the many child dancers, the uneven story) seem to be the reasons the ballet has become such a great success in North America. Americans like seeing their children on stage and the story is very much like the rags-to-riches stories Americans love. Some people though complain about the stereotypes of children in Act 1 (boys are naughty, girls are nice) and also about the stereotypes of Arabians and the Chinese in Act 2.

 Music
 Instrumentation

Tchaikovsky wrote The Nutcracker for an orchestra of strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. To this orchestra he added a celesta for the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" in Act 2 and children's instrumentsdrums, trumpets, cymbals, bird calls, whistles, and a rattlefor the Christmas party in Act 1. The instruments were specially ordered and tuned to Tchaikovsky's orders. The rattle is heard in the orchestra pit when Fritz cracks nuts in Act 1, and the other instruments are heard when the boys make a lot of noise while Clara comforts the broken Nutcracker.

Tchaikovsky hoped that the children would play the instruments on the stage, but they had difficulty keeping together with the orchestra. Because of the difficulty the children had, Tchaikovsky made the decision that they could play freely. He did not ask them to keep with the written music. After the first night, Tchaikovsky sent his thanks and baskets of sweets to the children of the Imperial Ballet School.

 Sugar Plum Fairy
The Sugar Plum Fairy''' is a character in The Nutcracker.  The Sugar Plum Fairy only dances in Act 2 of the ballet. Clara falls asleep, and the second act could be seen as Clara's dream. Roland John Wiley however, thinks that the second act is a reality shaped by Drosselmeyer. The Sugar Plum Fairy is the ruler of the Land of Sweets. She welcomes the Nutcracker Prince and his love Clara to her land and orders the festivities. The character is danced by a prima ballerina (principal dancer), though she has little dancing to do. She is joined by a male dancer for a pas de deux near the end of the ballet. Her number in this pas de deux is called "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy".

 Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

The "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" is one of the most famous numbers in The Nutcracker. It was written for the celesta.  This instrument was new at the time the dance was written. It looks like a small piano, but it sounds like bells. Tchaikovsky discovered the celesta in Paris in 1891 while making a journey to the United States. His publisher purchased one and promised to keep the purchase a secret. Tchaikovsky did not want Rimsky-Korsakov or Glazunov to "get wind of it and ... use it for unusual (different, strange) effects before me."  Petipa wanted the Sugar Plum Fairy's music to sound like drops of water splashing in a fountain. Tchaikovsky thought the celesta was the instrument to do this. The original steps for the dance are unknown.  Antonietta Dell'Era was the first to dance the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The character has very little dancing to do so Dell'Era put a gavotte by Alphonse Czibulka into the ballet. She then had something more to do.

 Critical opinion

In his biography about Tchaikovsky John Warrack points out that the ballet's greatest weakness is its story. It did not permit Tchaikovsky to musically develop the ballet in the manner of Swan Lake or The Sleeping Beauty. What few symphonic passages exist in the ballet (mostly in Act 1) are not the best Tchaikovsky wrote. Warrack thinks that the "essential nature" of the ballet is found in the separate numbers. Tchaikovsky knew this when he put together the Nutcracker Suite to promote the complete ballet. Because the story was so weak and did not permit symphonic development, Tchaikovsky indulged his taste for "prettiness" in the separate numbers. This is what makes The Nutcracker, according to Warrack, an "entertainment of genius".

In the biography Tchaikovsky, writer David Brown points out that Tchaikovsky was not happy with The Nutcracker and complained to his friends about the difficulty of setting the tale to music. Brown asks why Tchaikovsky would ever let himself be persuaded to accept the story as the subject for a ballet. He points out that Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty were "dramatically meaty and deeply serious" while The Nutcracker was "trite ... [and] pointless." The ballet has no true climax he writes. He then asks, "What was it all about anyway? The Nutcracker is meaningless in the profoundest sense." He decides that the ballet is the "most inconsequential" of all the composer's mature works for theatre, and "its dramatic structure the least satisfactory." While Brown never gives his approval to The Nutcracker'', he thinks Tchaikovsky did a remarkable job despite the "appalling limitations of the subject."

Notes

References

Further reading

Other websites

 The Nutcracker ballet

Compositions by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Ballets by Marius Petipa
Ballets by Lev Ivanov
Ballets first performed by the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet

The Nutcracker


Dark adaptor goggles, also called red adaptation goggles, are used in the field of meteorology and astronomy for adapting the eyes to the dark prior to an observation at night. They also aid with the identification of clouds during bright sunshine or glare from snow. The goggles are made with red-tinted plastic lenses. Such goggles or glasses are often used by pilots and weather observers to preserve their natural night vision.

To help with the identification of clouds during the day, the goggles should be put on just before the observer goes outside. This will ensure the eyes are not affected by the glare from the sun or snow. For use at night, the observer should put the goggles on about ten minutes prior to going outside. Once the observer is outside and away from major sources of light, the goggles may be removed and the observer's vision should be adapted to the dark. Although the goggles are designed to be worn indoors, some people find walking around inside, especially up and down stairs, to be difficult.

At no time should the goggles be used to help test visibility.

Concept
Dark adaptor goggles were invented by Wilhelm Trendelenburg in 1916.
The concept is based on the work by Antoine Béclère on dark adaptation of the eye, where it is noted that fluoroscopy relies on the use of the retinal rods of the eye.
Since retinal rods have limited sensitivity to long wavelengths of light, such as red light, while retinal cones do not, the goggles enabled the physicians to adapt their eyes in preparation for the fluoroscopic procedure while still being able to perform other work. Prior to the invention of these goggles, physicians were required to sit in the darkened room where the procedure would be performed for extended periods to adapt their eyes to the low lighting conditions.

See also
 Purkinje effect

References

 Environment CanadaAtmospheric Environment Services, Manual of Surface Weather Observations (MANOBS), 7th Edition, January 1977.

Meteorological instrumentation and equipment
Goggles

Dark adaptor goggles


Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound. It has the chemical formula KNO3. It contains potassium and nitrate ions. It is often called saltpeter.

Properties
Potassium nitrate is a colorless solid. It dissolves in water. It is a common source of the nitrate ion. Potassium nitrate is a strong oxidizer. It decomposes to potassium nitrite and oxygen when heated. Its pH is almost neutral. It burns with a lilac flame.

Production
It can be made by reacting ammonium nitrate with potassium hydroxide. It can also be made by reacting potassium chloride with ammonium nitrate. It might be made by reacting potassium hydroxide or potassium carbonate with nitric acid.

Occurrence
Saltpeter is a mineral form of potassium nitrate. It is only found in very dry areas. It is one of the few minerals that have nitrogen in them.

Uses
Potassium nitrate is used in explosives. Oxygen from the air is the most common chemical that is used for oxidation, which is how most fires and explosions happen. Some explosions will use up oxygen so quickly, though, that there is not enough to finish the reaction, and the explosion is not very strong. Potassium nitrate replaces the need for oxygen and takes up much less space, which lets the explosion be stronger and faster. It is a main ingredient of gunpowder.

Potassium nitrate is also used in rocket fuel for the same reason as in explosives, except that the goal is to let the fuel burn longer, not faster. Potassium nitrate is used as a fertilizer, to help plants grow faster and grow in more places where it might be hard for them to grow otherwise. It can also be used to decay tree stumps.

Safety
Potassium nitrate is a poison and will cause permanent injury when improperly handled. It also can start fires and explosions easily.

Related pages
Potassium permanganate

Potassium compounds
Nitrogen compounds

Potassium nitrate


Olathe Air Force Station is a former United States Air Force radar station that was located in Gardner, Kansas. It was located next to Naval Air Station Olathe, now the grounds of New Century AirCenter.

History
In 1950 the United States Air Force Air Defense Command selected Olathe NAS as a site for one of twenty-eight radar stations built as part of the second segment of the permanent ADC general radar surveillance network for the United States. Prompted by the start of the Korean War, on July 11, 1950, the Secretary of the Air Force asked the Secretary of Defense for approval to expedite construction of the second segment of the permanent network.  Olathe was to provide defense radar coverage of the Kansas City area.

Receiving the Defense Secretary's approval on July 21, the Air Force directed the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction of a radar station on the western part of the ground station, about a mile from the runway and ramp/hangars being used by the Navy. Additional housing units were also constructed at Olathe to accommodate the Air Force personnel.  The Federalized Utah Air National Guard 130th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned to the site on 1 June 1951 at the facilities of the 2472d Air Force Reserve Training Command, and initially the station functioned as a Ground control intercept (GCI) and warning station.  As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes.   It was relieved from active duty and returned to control  of the State of Utah on 1 February 1953.

The Ground Air Transmitting Receiving (GATR) Site for communications was located at , approximately 0.4 miles north from the main site.  Normally the GATR site was connected by a pair of buried telephone cables, with a backup connection of dual telephone cables overhead.  The Coordinate Data Transmitting Set (CDTS) (AN/FST-2) at the main site converted each radar return into a digital word which was transmitted by the GATR via microwave to the Control Center.

The national guardsmen were replaced by the  738th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (AC&W) was activated at was designated by ADC as Olathe Air Force Station, being designated P-72.  The squadron began operations in using AN/CPS-4 and AN/FPS-3 radars. The AN/CPS-4 soon was replaced by an AN/FPS-4 set that in turn was superseded by a pair of AN/FPS-6A sets in 1958. In 1958 this site also replaced the AN/FPS-3 set with an AN/FPS-20 search radar.

Olathe AFS used these radars in conjunction with the Nike missile Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP)  KC-65DC (1959–1969).

In 1958, the United States Army established an Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) KC-65DC with the Air Force radar station at Olathe for Nike missile command-and-control functions as part of the Kansas City Defense Area.  The site was equipped with the AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE solid-state computer system.  The Army radars were fully integrated with the Air Force network, and both Army and Air Force personnel operated the radars.

In addition to the main facility, Olathe AFS operated the AN/FPS-14 Gap Filler site:
 Garland, KS (P-72A)

In late 1959 this station was also performing air-traffic-control duties for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  In the early 1960s the search radar was upgraded and redesignated as an AN/FPS-66.  During late January 1961 Olathe AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, feeding data to DC-22 at Sioux City AFS, Iowa.  After joining, the squadron was re-designated as the 793d Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 February 1962.

The radar squadron provided information 24/7 the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile.  On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-72.  Over the years, the equipment at the station was upgraded or modified to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the information gathered by the radars.

In September 1968 the Air Force inactivated the 738th Radar Squadron due to budget reductions and a general phase-down of Air Defense Command.  The Army inactivated the Nike-Hercules AADCP in 1969

See also
 United States general surveillance radar stations

References

 Information for Olathe AFS, KS

Installations of the United States Air Force in Kansas
Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites
Aerospace Defense Command military installations
1951 establishments in Kansas
Military installations established in 1951
1968 disestablishments in Kansas
Military installations closed in 1968

Olathe Air Force Station


Martin Potter (born 4 October 1944) is a British actor.

After the National Youth Theatre and repertory theatre in Guildford and Hampstead, Potter received his first role in British television at the age of 23 in the television drama The Bonegrinder (1968) written by Dennis Potter. In the same year he had another small part alongside Brian Cox in the futuristic drama The Year of the Sex Olympics.

One year later Potter's career took off with a much larger role. The Italian director Federico Fellini chose him for the main role of Encolpius in his film Satyricon. Terence Stamp, Fellini's original choice for the main role, was not available, and Fellini was looking for someone of a similar appearance.

After this star role, Potter's career tended back to smaller roles again: mostly B-films and television productions like the film adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's Olive. Among his more well-known parts are the history film Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) and the film The Big Sleep (with Robert Mitchum as private detective Philip Marlowe). He also appeared in horror films, including Craze with Jack Palance, and television series such as Doctor Who. In 1975 he achieved some popularity with the title part of Robin Hood in a TV mini-series The Legend of Robin Hood. In 1985 he again took a part in a production concerning Ancient Rome: the American mini-series A.D. in which he portrayed the Roman politician and opponent of Nero, Gaius Calpurnius Piso.

Filmography

External links

1944 births
English male film actors
English male television actors
Living people
Male actors from Nottingham
National Youth Theatre members

Martin Potter (actor)


Leonard George Wolf (October 29, 1925 – March 28, 1970) was a one-term Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district. He was elected in 1958 and defeated in 1960 when seeking re-election.

Early life and education
Born on a farm in Dane County, Wisconsin, near Mazomanie, Wolf attended the public schools of Mazomanie, Wisconsin.
He served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946, in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II.
He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in agricultural economics in 1949 and moved to Elkader, Iowa, the same year.

Career
In Elkader, he worked as a retail feed dealer from 1952 to 1958, while delivering public speeches and lectures.

Wolf tried and failed to win election to the U.S. House in 1956, running against longtime incumbent Republican Henry O. Talle. His chances were aided by a drop in farm prices but hurt by the presence of a popular president at the top of the Republican ticket. Wolf lost, but received a higher percentage of the votes than any of Talle's previous opponents.

Congress
In the mid-term elections two years later, the prices farmers received for their products had increased, but not enough to counterbalance an even greater increase in costs, leading to an anti-Republican mood among the farmers and farm communities that served as the Republicans' traditional base in Iowa. That year, the parties' candidates in the district were the same as in 1956 and the election again was close, but the outcome was different; Wolf unseated Talle.

However, in 1960, as part of good year for Republicans in Iowa, Wolf was unseated by Republican James E. Bromwell. Wolf's congressional service began January 3, 1959, and ended January 3, 1961.

Later career
After leaving Congress, Wolf was active in efforts to prevent starvation and malnutrition.  In 1961 was appointed special assistant to the director of the International Cooperation Administration's Mission in Brazil, where he served until 1965. He coordinated the child feeding program for Latin America (in 1966) and in India following a drought (in 1967). In 1968, he was appointed executive director of the American Freedom From Hunger Foundation.

Death and burial
Wolf died March 28, 1970, in Washington, D.C. He was interred in St. Barnabas Cemetery, Mazomanie, Wisconsin.

References

Sources

1925 births
1970 deaths
People from Mazomanie, Wisconsin
People from Elkader, Iowa
University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumni
United States Navy personnel of World War II
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa
20th-century American politicians

Leonard G. Wolf


Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Courtenay (; late 1217 – October 1273), was the last Latin Emperor ruling from Constantinople.

Biography
Baldwin II was born in Constantinople (the only Latin emperor to be born there), a younger son of Yolanda of Flanders, sister of the first two emperors, Baldwin I and Henry of Flanders. Her husband, Peter of Courtenay, was third emperor of the Latin Empire, and had been followed by his son Robert of Courtenay, on whose death in 1228 the succession passed to Baldwin, then an 11-year-old boy.

The barons chose John of Brienne as emperor-regent for life. Baldwin was also to marry Marie of Brienne, daughter of John and his third wife Berenguela of Leon, and on John's death to enjoy the full imperial sovereignty. The marriage contract was carried out in 1234. Since the death of Baldwin's uncle Emperor Henry in 1216, the Latin Empire had declined and the Byzantine (Nicene) power advanced; and the hopes that John of Brienne might restore it were disappointed.

The realm Baldwin governed was little more than the city of Constantinople. He adopted the Byzantine title of porphyrogenetos. His financial situation was desperate, and his life was chiefly occupied in begging at European courts. He went to the West in 1236, visited Rome, France and Flanders, trying to raise money and men to recover the lost territory of his realm. In 1237, with the support of the King of France and the Countess of Flanders, he chased his sister Margaret from power to become the next Count of Namur. But Baldwin was practically never present, and after the invasion and conquest of Namur by Henry V, Count of Luxembourg in 1256, he sold the rights on the county to his cousin Guy, Count of Flanders.

In around March 1238, Baldwin II's regency council pawned the Crown of Thorns to the Venetian Podestà of Constantinople for 13,134 hyperpera from a "consortium of creditors". His efforts met with success, and in 1240 he returned to Constantinople (through Germany and Hungary) at the head of a considerable army. Circumstances hindered him from accomplishing anything with this help, and in 1245 he traveled again to the West, first to Italy and then to France, where he spent two years. The empress Marie and Philip of Toucy governed during his absence. He was happy to be able to get money from King Louis IX in exchange for relics. In 1249 he was with King Louis at Damietta.

The extremity of his financial straits reduced him soon afterwards to handing over his only son, Philip, to Venetian merchants as a pledge for loans of money. Philip was later redeemed by Alfonso X of Castile. The rest of his reign was spent by Baldwin in mendicant tours in western Europe.

On the night of 24 July 1261, a group of soldiers under Alexios Strategopoulos managed to enter Constantinople through a secret passageway and captured the city. Baldwin was asleep in the Blachernae Palace when the noise of the fighting awoke him; upon seeing the Byzantine troops advance upon him, he fled in such haste that he left his crown and sceptre behind him. Baldwin made his way to the harbor where he boarded a Venetian galley to Negropont. From there he proceeded to Athens, thence to Apulia, finally to France. As titular emperor, his role was still the same, to beg help from the western powers. In 1267 he went to Italy; his hopes were centred on Charles of Anjou. Charles seriously entertained the idea of conquering Constantinople, though his efforts were destroyed during the Sicilian Vespers, an event perhaps engineered by Michael VIII Palaeologus of Constantinople. To this intent, he signed the Treaty of Viterbo with Baldwin (May 1267). During the next year Baldwin and his son Philip lived on pensions from Charles. In October 1273 Philip married Beatrice, daughter of Charles, at Foggia. A few days later Baldwin died in Naples. Under Baldwin II, Constantinople's population had fallen to a mere 35,000 inhabitants.

Ancestors

References

Sources

 Harris, Jonathan, Byzantium and the Crusades, Bloomsbury, 2nd ed., 2014.

1217 births
1273 deaths
13th-century Latin Emperors of Constantinople
Christians of the Crusades
Capetian House of Courtenay
Margraves of Namur
Medieval child monarchs
13th-century monarchs in Europe
Nicaean–Latin wars

Baldwin II, Latin Emperor