Castlerigg Stone Circle (alternatively Keswick Carles, or Carles) is situated on a prominent hill to the east of Keswick, in the Lake District National Park, North West England. It is one of around 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany, constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that lasted from approximately 3,200 BC to 2500 BC, during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages.

Various archaeologists have mentioned the beauty and romance of Castlerigg and its surrounding landscape. In his study of the stone circles of Cumbria, archaeologist John Waterhouse commented that the site was "one of the most visually impressive prehistoric monuments in Britain."

Every year, thousands of tourists travel to the site, making it the most visited stone circle in Cumbria. This plateau forms the raised centre of a natural amphitheatre created by the surrounding fells and from within the circle it is possible to see some of the highest peaks in Cumbria: Helvellyn, Skiddaw, Grasmoor and Blencathra.

Description
The stones are glacial erratic boulders composed of volcanic rock from the Borrowdale Volcanic Group. Both andesitic lavas and tuffs (volcanic ashes) are represented. Castle Rigg sits on a deposit of glacial till, and it is likely that the boulders were originally part of this deposit. The stones are set in a flattened circle, measuring 32.6 m (107 ft) at its widest and 29.5 m (97 ft) at its narrowest. The heaviest stone has been estimated to weigh around 16 tons and the tallest stone measures approximately 2.3m high. There is a 3.3m wide gap in its northern edge, which may have been an entrance. Within the circle, abutting its eastern quadrant, is a roughly rectangular setting of a further 10 stones. The circle was probably constructed around 3200 BC (Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age), making it one of the earliest stone circles in Britain and possibly in Europe. It is important to archaeoastronomers who have noted that the sunrise during the September equinox (Autumn equinox) appears over the top of Threlkeld Knott, a hill 3.5 km to the east. Some stones in the circle have been aligned with the midwinter sunrise and various lunar positions.

There is a tradition that it is impossible to count the number of stones within Castlerigg; every attempt will result in a different answer. This tradition, however, may not be far from the truth. Due to erosion of the soil around the stones, caused by the large number of visitors to the monument, several smaller stones have 'appeared' next to some of the larger stones. Because these stones are so small, they are likely to have been packing stones used to support the larger stones when the circle was constructed and would originally have been buried. Differences in opinion as to the exact number of stones within Castlerigg are usually down to whether the observer counts these small packing stones, or not; some count 38 and others, 42. The 'official' number of stones, as represented on the National Trust information board at the monument, is 40.

In the early 20th century, a single outlying stone was erected by a farmer approximately 90m to the south west of Castlerigg. This stone has many linear 'scars' along its side from being repeatedly struck by a plough, suggesting that it was once buried below the surface and also why the farmer dug it up. It is not possible to say whether this stone was originally part of the circle, or just a naturally deposited boulder.

Archaeological speculation

The original motives behind the construction of Castlerigg, its subsequent uses, and how these may have changed over time are not known. Current thinking has linked Castlerigg with the Neolithic Langdale axe industry in the nearby Langdale fells: the circle may have been a meeting place where these axes were traded or exchanged. Ritually deposited stone axes have been found all over Britain, suggesting that their uses went far beyond their practical capabilities. Exchange or trading of stone axes may not have been possible without first taking part in a ritual or ceremony.

Antiquarian study of Castlerigg

Two of Britain's earliest antiquarians, John Aubrey (1626–97) and William Camden (1551–1623), visited Cumbria with an interest in studying the area's megalithic monuments. Both described Long Meg and Her Daughters, another large stone circle to the northeast of Penrith, and recounted local legend and folklore associated with this monument, but neither writers mentions a visit to Castlerigg or the area around Keswick. John Aubrey was also the first writer to erroneously connect Neolithic and Bronze Age megalithic monuments with the Iron Age Druids.

It was not until the early 18th century that Castlerigg came to the attention of the wider public, when William Stukeley (1687–1765) visited the site, in 1725.

Stukeley's account of his visit to Castlerigg is brief and was published in his Itinerarium Curiosum in 1776, 11 years after his death. Stukeley's visit is important, as it is the earliest written record of the stone circle at Castlerigg:

…for a mile before we came to Keswick, on an eminence in the middle of a great concavity of those rude hills, and not far from the banks of the river Greata, I observed another Celtic work, very intire: it is 100 foot in diameter, and consists of forty stones, some very large. At the east end of it is a grave, made of such other stones, in number about ten: this is placed in the very east point of the circle, and within it: there is not a stone wanting, though some are removed a little out of their first station: they call it the Carsles, and, corruptly I suppose, Castle-rig. There seemed to be another larger circle in the next pasture toward the town.
(Stukeley 1969 Vol. II, 48).

Stukeley could be describing the circle as it stands today, as it has changed little in the three centuries since his visit. The rectangular enclosure within the circle, that Stukeley took to be a grave, still consists of 10 stones. It is not clear, however, why Stukeley believed the circle was not missing a single stone. Today there are several large gaps in the circle, suggesting that a number of stones may have indeed been either moved into a different position (possibly after the stone had fallen or been removed completely). Of course, there is no certainty today as to the original appearance of the circle, or how much it may have changed in the preceding millennia, prior to Stukeley's visit. It is believed, however, that the circle survives today in a relatively intact state, changed certainly, but not so far from its original design.

Stukeley's observation of a second circle in the next field is a great revelation that places the stones at Castlerigg in a whole new light; that he fails to deliver a description demonstrates well the frustration felt by modern researchers when dealing with the works of antiquarians. This account could easily be dismissed today as pure fancy or it could be thought that he had mistakenly described a natural feature, as there is no evidence of it today, either above ground or in the observations of later scholars.

The 19th century

The apparently unspoilt and seemingly timeless landscape setting of Castlerigg stone circle provided inspiration for the poets, painters and writers of the 19th-century Romantic movement. In John Keats' Hyperion, the passage "Scarce images of life, one here, one there,/Lay vast and edgeways; like a dismal cirque/Of Druid stones, upon a forlorn moor…" is alleged to have been inspired by his visit to the stones; a visit, it seems, with which he was less than impressed. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in 1799, visited Castlerigg with fellow poet William Wordsworth and wrote of it, that a mile and a half from Keswick stands "…a Druidical circle [where] the mountains stand one behind the other, in orderly array as if evoked by and attentive to the assembly of white-vested wizards".

An early description of Castlerigg stone circle can be found in the 1843 book The Wonders of the World in Nature, Art and Mind, by Robert Sears. In the passage quoted below, Sears also quotes an earlier description of the circle by Ann Radcliffe (Mrs. Radcliffe).

The Druidical Circle, represented in the accompanying plate, is to be found on the summit of a bold and commanding eminence called Castle-Rigg, about a mile and a half on the old road, leading from Keswick, over the hills to Penrith,—a situation so wild, vast, and beautiful, that one cannot, perhaps, find better terms to convey an idea of it than by adopting the language of a celebrated female writer, (Mrs. Radclifle,) who, travelling over the same ground years ago, thus described the scene: "Whether our judgment," she says, " was influenced by the authority of a Druid's choice, or that the place itself commanded the opinion, we thought this situation the most severely grand of any hitherto passed. There is, perhaps, not a single object in the scene that interrupts the solemn tone of feeling impressed by its general character of profound solitude, greatness, and awful wildness. Castle-Rigg is the centre point of three valleys that dart immediately under it from the eye, and whose mountains form part of an amphitheatre, which is completed by those of Borrowdale on the west, and by the precipices of Skiddaw and Saddleback, close on the north. The hue which pervades all these mountains is that of dark heath or rock; they are thrown into every form and direction that fancy would suggest, and are at that distance which allows all their grandeur to prevail. Such seclusion and sublimity were indeed well suited to the dark and wild mysteries of the Druids."

Sears then continues his description:

The one here represented is of the first, or simple class, and consists, at present, of about forty stones of different sizes, all, or most of them, of dark granite,— the highest about seven feet, several about four, and others considerably less; the few fir-trees in the centre are, of course, of very modern growth. The form may, with more propriety, be called an oval, being thirty-five yards in one direction, and thirty-three yards in another, in which respect it assimilates exactly to that of Rollrich; but what distinguishes this from all other Druidical remains of a similar nature, is the rectangular enclosure on the eastward side of the circle, including a space of about eight feet by four. The object of this is a matter of conjecture;—by some it is supposed to have been a sort of Holy of Holies where the Druids met, separated from the vulgar, to perform their rites, their divinations, or sit in council to determine controversies; others consider it to have been for the purposes of burial; probably it might have been intended for both.

The later 19th century saw an increase in research into Castlerigg stone circle. C W Dymond visited the circle in 1878 and 1881, from which visits he produced the first accurate plan of the stones. He marked the position of one of the internal cairns, showing that it was clearly visible at that time, but missed the other two cairns observed by Benjamin Williams in 1856 showing that these two features have never been clearly defined.

The only known archaeological excavation at Castlerigg was carried out by W K Dover in 1882, one year before the site was scheduled. His excavation targeted the internal rectangular enclosure at the eastern side of the circle and his account of his excavation is brief and hidden within details of a day trip to the circle on 5 October 1882, by members of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, which was published in 1883:

Prior to the visit of the Society some excavations had been made under the superintendence of Mr. W Kinsey Dover, with the view of finding whether the subsoil would disclose anything that might lead to some conclusion as to the age or object of the circle. The following is Mr. Dover's report: Length of inclosure within the Keswick stone circle, 22 feet, east and west; breadth, 11 feet, north and south. Length opened out, 18 feet to 19 feet; breadth, 3 feet 3 inches, with two cross cuts of about 2 feet. Depth of dark superficial soil to where the yellow undisturbed soil appears, 14 inches, with the exception of a small portion at the west end where the black soil mixed with stones continued to a depth of 3 feet. Near the bottom here, I found what I think to be a few small pieces of burned wood or charcoal, also some dark unctuous sort of earth, a sample of both I brought away. (Dover 1883, 505).

What subsequently happened to the samples of 'burned wood or charcoal' and the 'dark unctuous sort of earth' is unknown, other than they are now likely to be lost or, if not, too contaminated to be worth modern scientific analysis. Nevertheless, Dover's excavation is the only one to have been carried out at Castlerigg. It is, however, believed by some, based on the dimensions given by Dover, that if any stratigraphy exists within the rectangular enclosure it would not have been completely destroyed and the potential to create a relative sequence between the circle and the enclosure should still be possible. It is unlikely that further excavation around the stones would be permitted today as it is neither threatened by farming or development and erosion of the ground surface by the many visitors to the site is kept in check and is not sufficient to affect the integrity of the stones.

Recent research

Much of our knowledge and understanding of Castlerigg stone circle has been passed down to us by the work of 18th-century antiquarians and 19th-century amateurs. Considering that the stone circles of Cumbria in general are of such antiquity, being among the earliest stone circles in the whole of Europe, it is surprising that so little work has been carried out here under modern conditions, and that none of the stone circles of Cumbria have so far been scientifically dated.

Since the 1960s, the names Aubrey Burl and Alexander Thom have become synonymous with stone circles and both men have contributed significantly to the literature on this subject, whilst taking opposing sides regarding their purpose and significance. The works of Burl strongly support the idea that any geometry within the circle, or astronomical alignments, are either purely coincidental or symbolic in nature. Thom, on the other hand, is a proponent of the circle builders being adept astronomers and mathematicians and suggests that these skills can be seen in all stone circles, everywhere. While neither Burl's nor Thom's works deal with Castlerigg exclusively, they do attempt to place all the stone circles of Britain in context to each other and to explain their purpose.

English Heritage subjected the scheduled area and the field to its immediate west to a geophysical survey in 1985 in order to improve our understanding of the stone circle and to provide a better interpretation for visitors. A full report of the findings from 1985 has still to be published.

In 2004, Margarita Díaz-Andreu, of the Department of Archaeology at Durham University, commissioned a survey of the stones at Castlerigg in response to claims that a "spiral carving" had been discovered there. A laser-scanning survey was used to record three-dimensional images of the stones. Only graffiti from more recent times was discovered and no trace of the alleged spiral was found.

Pagan connections
Castlerigg has no discernible solar alignments. Nevertheless, it remains a popular site to visit during solstice celebrations.  In recent years this has seen damage caused to the site, and illegal pits, from fires or cremation deposits, are often visible within the centre of the circle.

There remains no link between the on-site archaeology at Castlerigg, and the modern New-Age religious movements that appropriate it.

Conservation history
Castlerigg stone circle was one of the monuments included in the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882, which included a 'Schedule' of 68 sites in Great Britain and Ireland. It thus became one of the first scheduled ancient monuments. The following year the stone circle was 'taken in to state care'. Under the 1882 act a deed of guardianship could be entered into by a landowner, in which the monument, but not the land it stands on, becomes the property of the state. As one of the first such sites to enter into such an agreement it occupies a small place in the history of archaeological conservation. In 1913, Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, one of the founders of the National Trust, was among the prime organisers of a public subscription which bought the field in which the stone circle stands, which he then donated to the National Trust. Responsibility for the stone circle remains with English Heritage, the successor body to the Ministry of Works, whilst ownership of the site is retained by the National Trust.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

Academic Books

Further reading
Burl, A (2005) A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany. London: Yale University.
Díaz-Andreu, M. Brooke, C. Rainsbury, M. and Rosser, N. (2006) 'The Spiral that Vanished: The Application of Non-Contact Recording Techniques to an Elusive Rock Art Motif at Castlerigg Stone Circle in Cumbria', The Journal of Archaeological Science 33, 1580-1587.
Dover, W. K. (1883) in 'Excursions and Proceedings: Thursday and Friday, October 5th and 6th' TCWAAS VI, 505.
Dyer, J, Discovering Prehistoric England, Shire, 2001
Fraser, D. Howard-Davis, C. Winchester, V. and David, A. (nd) Castlerigg Stone Circle Documentary and Field Survey. Unpublished draft paper.
Hodgson, J and Brennand, M (eds.) (2004) North West Region Archaeological Research Framework Prehistoric Resource Assessment Draft, November 2004.
Michell, J (1982) Megalithomania: Artists, Antiquarians, and Archaeologists at the Old Stone Monuments. London: Thames and Hudson.
Stukeley, W (1969 [1776]) Itinerarium Curiosum: or, An Account of the Antiquities, and Remarkable Curiosities in Nature or Art, Observed in Travels through Great Britain, Vol. I. Farnborough: Gregg International Publishers Limited.
Thom, A. Thom, A. S. and Burl, A. (1980) Megalithic Rings: Plans and Data for 229 Monuments in Britain, BAR British Series 81. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.
Trinks, I, Díaz-Andreu, M, Hobbs, R and Sharpe, K E (2005) 'Digital Rock Art Recording: Visualising Petroglyphs Using 3D Laser Scanner Data', Rock Art Research 22 (2), 131-139.
Wood, JE, Sun Moon and Standing Stones, Oxford, 1980

External links

Information for visitors to Castlerigg Stone Circle, English Heritage
Castlerigg - mysteriousbritain.co.uk
Many pictures of Castlerigg Stone Circle - the Modern Antiquarian
Castlerigg - stonepages.com
Lake District Walks - Castlerigg Stone Circle

Buildings and structures completed in the 4th millennium BC
English Heritage sites in Cumbria
Stone circles in Cumbria
Scheduled monuments in Cumbria
Keswick, Cumbria
Bronze Age sites in Cumbria
Autumn equinox

Castlerigg stone circle


Víctor Emilio Dreke Cruz (born 10 March 1937, in Sagua La Grande) is a Cuban Communist Party leader of African descent, and a former commander in the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Following involvement in various student protests in Sagua la Grande 1952-54, Dreke joined the 26th of July Movement in 1955, soon after it was formed. In 1957 he helped form the student-based March 13 unit of the Directorio Revolucionario Estudantil in the Escambray Mountains in Las Villas Province. In October 1958 he came under the command of Che Guevara in a unification of the guerrillas of the 26th of July Movement and the Revolutionary Directorate. Dreke took part in armed actions against the government forces of the Fulgencio Batista regime, such as at Placetas, Báez, Manicaragua, and Santa Clara.

After the victory of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, Dreke was assigned in turn; a prosecutor for revolutionary tribunals; chief of police in Sagua la Grande; a company leader of the Western Tactical Force; head of a squadron of the Revolutionary Rural Police. He then became a Rebel Army platoon leader in the first actions in the Escambray. In 1960 he was chief of the Rebel army squadron in Cruces, and was also head of a militia training school in Hatillo.

On 17 April 1961, the first day of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, he assumed command of two companies of the 117th Battalion, taking part in a clash with paratroops of Brigade 2506. On 19 April, he was wounded and briefly captured after driving towards Girón in a jeep ahead of his tanks. In 1962 he was promoted to the rank of comandante. When the Lucha Contra Bandidos (LCB) special units were created that year he became head of LCB operations in the Escambray. Notably in March of 1962, he interrogated Mario Lanza Flores (known as Tondique, an Afro-Cuban campesino rebel) upon the rebel's capture. Dreke also served as second in command to Raúl Menéndez Tomassevich, head of the LCB within the Central Army, until January 1965, when the final cleanup operation was almost finished.

In April 1965, Comandante Dreke served as second in command to Che Guevara in the Cuban military training mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to help train rebel fighters originally organised by supporters of former prime minister Patrice Lumumba (murdered in 1961). Guevara wrote about Dreke in his report to Fidel Castro: "He was... one of the pillars on which I relied. The only reason I am not recommending that he be promoted is that he already holds the highest rank."

The mission ended in November 1965. He then headed a military unit in Cuba preparing internationalist volunteers. In 1966 he headed the Cuban military mission to Guinea-Bissau/Cape Verde, where he served alongside Amílcar Cabral. He then performed a similar function in the Republic of Guinea. He returned to Guinea-Bissau in 1986, heading the Cuban military mission until 1989.

From 1965 to 1975, Dreke served on the central committee of the Cuban Communist Party. In 1969 he headed the political directorate of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. In 1972, he graduated from the Maximo Gomez Military Academy with a degree in politics. In 1973, he was appointed chief of the newly formed Ejército Juvenil del Trabajo (EJT, or Youth Army of Labor) in Oriente province, working on volunteer agricultural projects. In 1981 he graduated from the University of Santiago de Cuba with a degree in law.

In 1990, General Dreke retired from active military service. He then acted as representative in Africa for Cuban corporations ANTEX and UNECA in trade and construction projects.

He is currently vice president of the Cuba-Africa Friendship Association and a member of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution.

Notes

Bibliography
Dreke, Victor. 2002. From Escambray to the Congo: In the Whirlwind of the Cuban Revolution. Pathfinder.
Gleijeses, Piero. 2002. Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington and Africa, 1959-1976.

Cuban communists
Cuban soldiers
1937 births
Living people
Cuban revolutionaries
People of the Congo Crisis

Víctor Dreke


A Storyteller in Zion (1993) is a collection of short stories and articles by Orson Scott Card.  Card is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).  Unlike much of his work, which is often science fiction, fantasy or similar fiction genres, A Storyteller in Zion is a collection of works which are of LDS themes.

For a number of years, Card worked as an editor for the official LDS magazine The Ensign and while in that position penned a number of articles for the periodical (and he also wrote some for the Church's young adult magazine, The New Era).  The stories are a mixture of fiction and non-fiction.

"Zion" in the title refers to the Church's use of the word to refer to the Lord's people or to the Church itself.

See also

List of works by Orson Scott Card

External links
Page on the book from Card's website

1993 books
Books by Orson Scott Card
LDS non-fiction

A Storyteller in Zion


Mahfuzur Rahman Khan,  aka, Mahfoozur Rahman Khan (10 May 1949 – 6 December 2019), was a Bangladeshi cinematographer having received the Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Cinematography a record breaking ten times during his career. Though he was also a film director, actor and producer, he was most famously remembered for working behind the camera in films directed by Humayun Ahmed and other legendary film makers including Shibli Sadik and Alamgir Kumkum.

Family

Khan was born 10 May 1949 to the renowned family of Hakim Habib Ur Rahman Road in Old Dhaka. He was the eldest of six brothers and three sisters. From a young age Mahfouz was drawn to photography, very much inspired by the photographs his father took with his 120 film box camera. Before he was sent to boarding school at Dhaka Residential Model College, Mahfouz inherited his father's camera. Back then, it would take a week for photos to come back from the developers and there was much anticipation. When his friends saw his photographs he would receive many compliments and much praise from them.

He was husband to Dr Nirafat Alam Shipra who made major contributions in her field of working with deaf children in education. She died from cancer in 2001.

Career

After passing his matric his wish was to study Photography abroad, but was advised to work for six months to a year first to gain experience. Taking this advice he began working as an assistant film director in 1966. Although his eye for calculating frames and imagining shots in his mind was invaluable to this role, his heart was really set on being a cinematographer. Whilst on set, two of the camera assistants sensed his desire and so in the evenings they would teach Mahfouz the fine art of loading a film camera. This meant splitting 1000 film reels into three parts (300, 300, and 400) in a completely dark room, measuring by hand and the imagination. He loved this process, his favourite part was hearing the click sound of the shutter after loading the film. In 1972 he started his professional work as a cinematographer for the movie Kaccher Gore.

His teacher was renowned cinematographer Abdul Latif Bachchu. From the outset he was fortunate to work with very experienced talented cinematographers like Shadon Roy, Baby Islam, Abdul Salam, Abzal Chowdury, Arun Roy, Rafiqul Bari Chowdhury who he recounted would pick up his phone call at 3AM if he needed help and Abdus Samad who gave him precious advice on shooting in black and white.

In 1985 Mahfouz received his first national award for Obhijan. He soon became known simply by his first name and many would affectionately say 'when Mahfuz ur Rahman is the cameraman on a film then you don't need direction'. He would receive nine more national awards after this.

Four of these were films directed by acclaimed writer and director Humayun Ahmed. He spoke highly of working with Ahmed: 'when he would describe his stories to me the images would come alive before my eyes'.

Later he also became involved in producing films and played an important role in nurturing the next generation of cinematographers. He noted how proud he was of A.R. Jahangir, Z.H.Mintu, Mubjibul Haque Buhiya and Assad Uzzaman Majnu to name a few. The belief he shared with newcomers was 'if you do your work with love, you will only progress..' with his life being a testament to that.

Mahfouz Ur Rahman worked as a cinematographer for over 40 years, working on over 200 films. Amidst such a prolific and phenomenal career he would say 'I am learning everyday, I am not satisfied. In my life, my best work is yet to be done…. I want to make something that after I die, I will live on through it'.

Acting

His acting debut was in Alamgir Kumkum's Liberation War film: Amar Jonmobhumi (1973). He also played lead roles in the films: Jalader Darbar, Dabi (1978), Alo Chhaya and Cholo Ghor Badhi. However, as cinematography was his main interest, he pursued it as his career. To him it was 'the most joyful work in the world' and came much more easily to him than acting.

Awards

He won the Bangladesh National Film award for Best Cinematography a record ten times for the films Obhijan (1984), Sohojatri (1987), Poka Makorer Ghor Bosoti (1996), Srabon Megher Din (1999), Dui Duari (2000), Hajar Bachhor Dhore (2005), Amar Ache Jol (2008), Ghetuputra Komola (2012) and Padma Patar Jol (2015).
 Cultural Reporters' Association Award (2003)
 Bangladesh Cholochitra Sangbadik Samity (eight times)
 Meril Protom Alo award

Death
Mahfuzur Rahman Khan died on 6 December 2019 at the age of 70. He had been suffering from diabetes and lung disease for a long time. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death. In a condolence message she prayed for the eternal peace of his departed soul and conveyed profound sympathy to the bereaved family. His colleague, Mushfiqur Rahman Gulzar, general secretary of Bangladesh Film Director's Association said 'he never misbehaved with anyone. He also helped many upcoming cinematographers.

References

External links

1949 births
2019 deaths
Bangladeshi cinematographers
Best Cinematographer National Film Award (Bangladesh) winners
Place of birth missing

Mahfuzur Rahman Khan


Abel Anthony James Gower (1836 in Livorno, Italy – 1899?) was a British consul at two posts in Japan during the Bakumatsu period: Nagasaki and Hakodate. He was also an amateur photographer.

After experience in China, Gower worked in the British legation at Tōzen-ji, Edo (later Tokyo), as part of the staff of Rutherford Alcock. In 1863 he was involved in the bombardment of Kagoshima. In 1866 he became consul in Hakodate (in Ezo, later Hokkaidō); he had previously been consul in Nagasaki (in Kyūshū).

For many years it was believed that either Gower or Walter B. Woodbury was commissioned by the London firm Negretti and Zambra to photograph China and Japan between 1857 and 1860. It is now known that Pierre Rossier was the photographer in question. The Leiden University photograph collection includes a portrait of Gower, signed "P. Rossier", and in 1859 Rossier and Gower shared passage on  from Nagasaki to Edo.

Notes

References
 Bennett, Terry. Bennett, Terry. 'The Search for Rossier: Early Photographer of China and Japan' . Accessed 12 September 2006; cited above as "Bennett". Originally appeared in The PhotoHistorian-Journal of the Historical Group of  the Royal Photographic Society, December 2004.
Bakumatsu-ishin jinmei-jiten (, A biographical dictionary of the Bakumatsu and Meiji revitalization). Tokyo: Shinjinbutsujūraisha, 1994.
Nagasaki Foreign Settlement Research Group. "British Consulate ." People, places and scenes from the Nagasaki foreign settlement, 1859–1941.

See also
British Japan Consular Service
Genealogy of Abel Gower by Matteo Giunti

1899 deaths
British diplomats in East Asia
British expatriates in Japan
Year of birth missing
British expatriates in China

Abel Gower


Gerome Kamrowski (January 29, 1914 – March 27, 2004) was an American artist and pioneer in the Surrealist and Abstract Expressionist Movements in the United States.

Early life and education
Gerome Kamrowski was born in Warren, Minnesota, on January 19, 1914. In 1932 he enrolled in the Saint Paul School of Art (now Minnesota Museum of American Art - MMAA), where he studied with Leroy Turner, and Cameron Booth.  Both Turner and Booth had been students of Hans Hofmann, and were also associated with the Abstraction-Création group in Paris. It was from these peers that Kamrowski was introduced to a "kind of expressionist cubism."  In 1933 Kamrowski was awarded a scholarship to the Art Students League, where he would study in New York under Hans Hofmann.  Unfortunately immigration problems had prevented Hofmann from assuming his post.  Nevertheless, Kamrowski decided to remain in New York for a short time, to attend classes taught by George Grosz. After a few weeks, he returned to St. Paul, and found a position in the mural painting division of the Minnesota FAP/WPA (Works Progress Administration). In 1936 he contributed "Synthetic Cubist Style" frescoes in the Northrup Auditorium of the University of Minnesota.

In 1937 Kamrowski went to Chicago to study under László Moholy-Nagy and Alexander Archipenko at the New Bauhaus (now Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design). There he was exposed to new and interesting ideas regarding the role of nature in art and the "geometric basis of natural form".

New York years
In 1938 Kamrowski received a Guggenheim fellowship to attend Hans Hofmann's summer school in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He then relocated  to New York where he met William Baziotes. Together they shared a fascination in Surrealist automatic writing, and both artists explored its possibilities in their paintings. Kamrowski was particularly drawn to Surrealism's fundamental appeal of intuition over intellect. He was interested seeking a process that "binds all things together...a kind of cosmic rhythm".

Throughout the late 1930s and early 1940s while living in New York, Kamrowski became an integral part of the emerging surrealists. In 1942, the artist Roberto Matta attempted to form a group of artists to investigate new applications for Surrealist methods. He invited Kamrowski, along with William Baziotes, Jackson Pollock, Peter Busa, and Robert Motherwell to join. Like Kamrowski, the others were more interested in process than in subject matter—the foundation of Matta's art—and the group soon dissolved. But no matter how short lived the collaboration was, this group was the kernel of the open-ended movement that was referred to as abstract surrealism and would over time prove to be the beginnings of abstract expressionism.

It was during this time, the winter of 1939/1940, that an amazing collaboration was made.  Kamrowski and two of his contemporaries, William Baziotes and Jackson Pollock, came together and began to paint.  The description of this historic event is described as follows in "Pollock" by Ellen G. Landau: "For a number of years, Kamrowski had been involved with Surrealist image-coaxing techniques. In a letter to B.H. Friedman, Kamrowski recalled that one day he, Pollock, and Baziotes were fooling around' with quart-cans of lacquer paint. Baziotes asked if he could use some 'to show Pollock how the paint could be spun around.' He then looked around the room for something to work on, and a canvas that Kamrowski had 'been pouring paint on and was not going well' was handy, so Baziotes began to throw and drip' white paint on it. He next gave the dripping palette knife to Jackson, who with his intense concentration' started flipping the paint with abandon. ' According to Kamrowski, after all had a chance to play, Baziotes identified the spiral forms he had created as 'birds' nests, ' but Pollock refused to interpret his spots."  This painting was a pivotal work, showing the transition from, and fusion of, Surrealism to Action Painting and Abstract Expressionism.

In 1947, Kamrowski was invited to the Surrealist Exhibition in Paris by Surrealist leader André Breton. Breton said of him, "Of all the young painters whose evolution I have been able to follow in New York during the last years of the war, Gerome Kamrowski is the one who has impressed me far the most by reason of the "quality" and sustained character of his research. Among all the newcomers there, he was the only one...tunnelling in a new direction..."

Michigan years
In the 1940s Kamrowski relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan in order to teach at the University of Michigan School of Art. It was a career that would span thirty-eight years, and would encourage countless others to push their artistic boundaries. Professor Jon Rush, at the University's School of Art and Design, stated: "As a teacher, Professor Kamrowski admonished his students to experiment and push the boundaries of their art. He urged them to be unafraid of failure and consider it a natural part of the creative process," and says "Above all, he stressed the importance of finding one's own path and that it would take hard work and dedication to achieve that. He was a natural teacher who related well to students because he himself never stopped being one."

Teaching became a second passion. Over the years, Kamrowski's energy and drive never faltered, and his style continued to evolve dynamically from the abstract intellectual exercises of the past to colorful 3-D pieces often made of glass, cement, and random found objects. He worked every day and exhibited steadily in Michigan and elsewhere. He once said, "Michigan has been good to me, don't misunderstand me, but on the other hand I have a certain amount of contempt for it."

He cited architects Antoni Gaudi and Simon Rodia as inspirations.

Work
Kamrowski created 2 Venetian glass mosaics for the Joe Louis Arena Station of the Detroit People Mover elevated train. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art,Metropolitan Museum of Art,Whitney Museum,Minneapolis Institute of Art,Smithsonian American Art Museum,The Phillips Collection,Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University,Israel Museum,Los Angeles County Museum of Art,Weisman Art Museum,Detroit Institute of Arts,Weatherspoon Art Museum,Worcester Art Museum,Flint Institute of Arts, and University of Michigan Museum of Art.

Personal life
His first wife was Maryanna Fargione, with whom he had a son, Felix. His second wife was Edith Dines and his third wife was Mary Jane Dodman. He died at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan on March 27, 2004.  He was 90 years old.

References

External links
 Complete Kamrowski Estate Exhibition History
 2004 exhibition at University of Michigan Museum of Art
 Encyclopedia of World Biography: Gerome Kamrowski
 Askart.com
 Keith Sheridan Inc. Masterworks of American Printmaking, 1900-1950

1914 births
2004 deaths
Artists from Ann Arbor, Michigan
University of Michigan faculty
Illinois Institute of Technology alumni
American surrealist artists
People from Warren, Minnesota
Federal Art Project artists
Painters from Minnesota
Painters from Michigan
American male painters
20th-century American painters
20th-century American male artists

Gerome Kamrowski


Szolnok Castle was an important military fort for many centuries due to its prime location at the confluence of the Tisza and Zagyva rivers, in the middle of the Great Hungarian Plain. The area was the crossroads of several trade routes, including salt and lumber, as well as being a key route for armies passing between Buda and Transylvania. Against the advancing Ottoman forces in the 16th century, Szolnok and Eger were the only two forts protecting the heart of Hungary and Upper Hungary.

Beginning in the time of the Árpád dynasty (9th to 13th centuries) there was an earthwork fort at Szolnok. After the 1526 Battle of Mohács this was expanded to a Pfostenschlitzmauer, and later a stone fortress in the face of Szolnok's key position against the Ottomans. In the 17th century the fort continued to be expanded and improved, but after the Rákóczi Uprising the fort fell into disuse. It was dismantled and the stones were used in several buildings in Szolnok. Today only traces of the fort remain.

Construction of the castle

The decision to upgrade the palisade fort to one of stone was based on Szolnok's geographical importance, and its place in the border castle system. After the Ottoman armies captured Temesvár and occupied the Danube-Tisza-Mureş area, only two forces of any significance stood between them and the rest of Hungary: Szolnok, and Eger to the north. Beginning in June 1552, Hungarian, Transylvanian, and Viennese agents all began reporting that the Ottoman army was on the move out of Temesvár towards Szolnok and Eger. The task of capturing the two was given to Ali Pasha of Buda. After the fall of other minor fortifications on the Puszta, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent ordered Pashas Ahmed, Ali, and Mohamed to lead their armies against the castles.

It was in light of this Turkish danger that in 1550-51 Ferdinand I ordered the Szolnok earthworks to be improved with a new town wall (partially planned by István Dobó), the castle to be fortified, and Lőrinc Nyáry put in command. General Nicolaus Salm planned the works and supervised the workforce, which was made up mostly of local peasants and some soldiers under orders. Although they were using some stone, for the most part the walls were built up as clay packed between upright beams. In the etchings a typical four-sided fort with a spacious inner courtyard can be seen, protected by rounded cannon towers at each corner and a wide surrounding moat. The final completion of the bastions was possible only after the Turks left, many years later.

Further works began in summer of 1552 and progressed rapidly. In order to surround the castle, a new branch of the Zagyva river was dug. This new branch is the one that remains today, at the point where the Zagyva flows into the Tisza river. The original course of the Zagyva has today been filled in, but a small part of it remains as the lake in front of the Szolnok MÁV Hospital.

Ottoman siege of 1552

Under the command of Lőrinc Nyáry the fort contained 1400 soldiers, mostly Spanish, German, Czech, with a small number of Hungarians. The castle was armed with 24 cannons, 3000 muskets, 800 weights of gunpowder, and was well-stocked with food and supplies.

On September 2, 1552, Pasha Ahmed Ali besieged the castle with his army of 40,000. Although it was the German mercenaries who first entertained thoughts of escape, it was the Hungarian boatmen who deserted first. On the night of September 3rd the Hungarian and Spanish horsemen swam across the Tisza, then the boatmen returned for the foot soldiers. On the night of September 4th the mercenaries deserted, leaving the castle to its fate. After they departed the front gate was left open until morning, leading to the easy overpowering and capture of Lőrinc Nyáry and the fifty remaining brave men.

István Mekcsey, one of the defenders of the Siege of Eger, wrote the following to his sister four days before the Turkish advance forces reached Eger: "I can't write more... but to say that every day now we feel we are awaiting a great punishment since the traitors gave up Szolnok."

Ahmed and Mohamed left a garrison of 2000 soldiers in Szolnok while they marched against Eger. The castle remained in Turkish hands until 1685.

Ottoman age
The Ottoman occupation of Szolnok lasted from 1552 to 1685. In 1553 they established the sanjak of Szolnok, and in the following years built a mosque, baths, and a minaret; during the course of later battles these were destroyed, mostly deliberately. Of the minaret the base remained, and this was made into a stylized fountain which remains today. In 1562 they constructed the first permanent bridge spanning the Tisza. The remains of the so-called Szolnok Turkish Bridge (Hungarian: szolnoki török kori híd) again came to light in August 2003 after a summer of drought. The only Turkish codex made in Hungary was copied in Szolnok; it describes the campaigns of Suleiman in Hungary. Pottery and tools from the Turkish era can be seen today in Szolnok's Damjanich János Museum.

After the Ottoman occupation

In 1685 Szolnok was liberated from the Ottomans by the Habsburg armies under the control of Generals Sigbert Heister and Mercz; during the liberation both the city and the castle were significantly damaged. Due to the castle's strategic importance it was rebuilt by commander Antonio Caraffa. At this time the remaining wooden parts of the castle were finished with stone, and other changes were made to the facade. In a survey sketch from the Vienna War Archives (Kriegsarchiv des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs), it can be seen that by 1778 the once-rounded towers had been replaced with polygonal towers.

It is also worth noting that by this time the Szolnok Turkish Bridge was destroyed, so a new bridge was made across the Tisza, but connecting the two banks at the town itself, which meant the other side of the Zagyva, which in essence was the model for construction of all later bridges. At this time the walls around the city, the wooden-spined towers and the most of the city wall was destroyed, and the city's former moat filled in. The former moat is remembered today in the "Tófenék utca" ("Bottom-of-the-Lake Street") street name, which can be found in the center of Szolnok, where the northwest part of the moat used to lie.

In 1697 Imre Thököly burned down the castle. The events of the Rákóczi Uprising in 1703, and 1706 reached Szolnok and the city was again razed to the ground. In 1706 Ferenc Deák, one of Rákóczi's leaders, burned the castle so that Imperial forces couldn't use it, so Imperial  General Rabutin had the stones all taken away. In 1710 forces loyal to Rákóczi took over the castle, but on October 10 they abandoned it to the advancing army of Imperial General Jacob Joseph Cusani. After the Uprising, the castle finally fell to pieces and the stones were carted away.

The planned demolition of the castle took place between 1799 and 1811.

Related pages
Szolnok
Siege of Eger
Ottoman wars in Europe
Ottoman–Habsburg wars

Sources
Sources in Hungarian:

Former castles in Hungary
Forts in Hungary
Conflicts in 1552
Battles of the Ottoman–Hungarian Wars
Buildings and structures in Szolnok
16th century in Hungary
1552 in the Ottoman Empire
1552 in the Habsburg monarchy

Szolnok Castle


Tadanobu Asano is a Japanese actor, musician, painter. He  was born in Kanagawa on November 27 in 1973. At the age of 16, he played a role in the Japanese famous TV show Kinpachi Sensei in 1988. It was the start of his career as an actor. He is also active on social media and has 255,000 followers on Instagram.

Movies and awards
His film debut was Bataashi Kingyo in 1990. And then, he acted in various roles and appeared in many movies, and thus he has built his career as an actor. His performance is highly appreciated by people not only in Japan but also in overseas countries. He received film awards, for example, the Upstream Prize for Best Actor at the 2003 Venice Film Festival for his role in Last Life in the Universe and the award for Best Actor at the 36th Moscow International Film Festival for his role in My Man in 2014. He has also appeared in Hollywood's movies. His first appearance in Hollywood's movie was a marvel movie "Thor" in 2011. In addition to that, he acted on Battleship in 2012, Silence that was directed by Martin Scorsese in 2015, Midway in 2019.

Music and painting
In addition to work as an actor, Asano is also known as a musician. He is a band member of SODA!, which formed in 2013, and he is the vocalist. He paints pictures and posts it frequently on instagram and twitter. In 2018, he held a solo exhibition that introduced 700 of his paintings. And also, he published three books of his paintings "error" in 1999, "BUNCH" in 2003 and "Everlasting Fountain" in 2018. He draws with acrylic paints, crayons and pencils, and draws on the papers and even on the back of the envelopes. His paintings are drawn in many different ways. These look like scribble art, comic books, abstract art and so on.

Fashion
He often posts his outfits on Instagram and WEAR, which is an app that people can watch and post fashion photography. His outfits in photos are almost all casual style, but he coordinates many patterns and colors well-balanced. Moreover, he has his own fashion brand. He is creating clothes that he wants to wear. He changed his brand name to "TADANOBU ASANO" from "JEAN DIADEM."

Japanese actors
1973 births

Tadanobu Asano


Tingalpa is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Tingalpa had a population of 8,290 people.

Geography
The suburb is bounded to the west by Bulimba Creek, a tribuary of the Brisbane River.

The suburb has some older style homes built in the post war period – weatherboard and chamferboard post war cottages in particular. Most of the new estates are made up of typically low set and high set brick and tile homes. Previously the land that is now being developed into residential zones was devoted to small farmlets and semi-industrial developments.

The recent developments, which occurred in the last five years, are increasing the population and the median house prices of the suburb.

History
Tingalpa Creek was surveyed in 1841 and named Tingulpa. The origin of Tingalpa's name is uncertain.  It may be derived from an Aboriginal expression referring to a fat kangaroo, or named after Tingalpa Creek, which lies  east, or be derived from the Turrubal words tangul (meaning 'plant for stupefying fish') and pa (meaning 'place').

In 1863, a township site was surveyed on the west side of Tingalpa Creek, where Old Cleveland Road crossed the creek. It was never built on and was known as Old Tingalpa. In 1943, this location was formally abolished. In 1860s a new site was settled called New Tingalpa, away to the north-west.

In 1867, a post office was opened.

In 1867, a local architect, Richard Suter designed the Gothic Anglican Christ Church, which was built in 1868. The church and burial ground located on 1341 Wynnum Road, east of Bulimba Creek ().

The Royal Mail Hotel was licensed in 1870. It was a stopping place for Cobb & Co stagecoaches. The Tingalpa Hotel now occupies the site at 1564 Wynnum Road ().On 1 August 1870, the Board of Education received a letter from Mr. W. Wood, a local farmer in the Tingalpa Shire about the necessity of having a school for the district. Funds were raised by the community to buy the original 2 acres and also to build a temporary school located at 1546 Wynnum Road. On 1 August 1873, the Tingalpa school was opened. Bernard McGouran was the first head teacher. The school started with 50 pupils on the roll, by June 1874 there were 99 students. The primary reason for enrolling in the early years was to learn to speak English, as the most commonly use language was the local Aboriginal dialect. In 1923, a new school was built.

Tingalpa Cemetery had its first burial in 1875. In 1913 it was renamed Hemmant Cemetery. Lawn cemeteries were added from 1952. In 2001 a crematorium opened at the cemetery. Despite the name change, as at 2020, it is within the boundaries of Tingalpa and not Hemmant ().

In 1880, a local government division was established for the Tingalpa area. The boundaries of this area were "south-east from the intersection of the Pacific Highway and the Mount Gravatt-Capalaba Road, crossing the Tingalpa Creek and ending at Redland Bay." The headquarters of the local government were located at Mount Cotton.The Wynnum and Manly Road are where the above facilities are roughly located. In 1919, the diggers's war memorial was erected, making this location more prominent. In 1925, the west part of the Shire of Tingalpa become part of the Greater City of Brisbane. In 1949 the rest of the shire was joined with the Shire of Cleveland, becoming Shire of Redland (now City of Redland). In the 1949 Queensland Post Office Directory there were eight poultry farms and there are fewer dairymen. There was also two motor garages and the Pacific Cafe on Wynnum Road.

In 2011, one of the first Masters Home Improvement retail outlets in Queensland opened in Tingalpa and was located at the intersection of Wynnym Road and New Cleveland Road up until its closure in December 2016.

Demographics
The  recorded 8,539 residents in Tingalpa, of whom 50.5% were female and 49.5% were male. The median age of the population was 35; 2 years younger than the Australian average. 72.1% of people living in Tingalpa were born in Australia, with the next most common countries of birth being New Zealand (6.9%), England (3.8%), the Philippines (1.4%), Fiji (0.9%), and India (0.8%). 84.5% of people spoke English as their first language, while the other most common responses were Hindi (1%), Greek (0.9%), Tagalog (0.7%), Cantonese (0.7%), and Spanish (0.6%).

In the , Tingalpa had a population of 8,290 people.

Population growth
By 1980 the population of Tingalpa had nearly tripled from 1400 people in 1954.

Heritage listings
Tingalpa has a number of heritage-listed sites:

 Hemmant Cemetery, 500 Hemmant-Tingalpa Road ()
 Tingalpa War Memorial, Manly Road ()
 Richmond Bridge, Wynnum Road ()
 Christ Church and cemetery, 1341 Wynnum Road ()

Education
Tingalpa State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 1546 Wynnum Road (). In 2015, the school had an enrolment of 328 children with 26 teachers (22 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 432 students with 38 teachers (31 full-time equivalent) and 19 non-teaching staff (13 full-time equivalent).

There are no secondary schools in Tingalpa. The nearest government secondary school is Brisbane Bayside State College in neighbouring Wynnum West to the north-east.

Facilities
Hemmant Cemetery and Crematorium is 500 Hemmant Tingalpa Road (). Although the cemetery is within the suburb of Tingalpa, the access is from the neighbouring suburb of Hemmant.

Amenities
Tingalpa Uniting Church is at 61 Belmont Road ().

Wynnum District Horse & Pony Club is at 50 Bognor Street ().

Tingalpa features a large amount of parks and bushland, including:

 Carmichael Park in the north of the suburb ()

 Kianawah Park in the south of the suburb ()

 Meadowlands Picnic Ground Park () in the south-west of the suburb, part of the Minnippi Parklands

Kianawah Park is the oldest park in the suburb and has extensive facilities.

Moreton Bay Sports Club is also located at Carmichael Park next to the creek. The venue hosts cricket and Brisbane Premier League matches with 2001 and 2010 grand final winners, and 2011 League Champions Wolves FC. Kianawah Park is the oldest park in the suburb and has extensive facilities.

Tingalpa has bike paths going through their parks and these are part of the extensive bike paths that are throughout Brisbane.

Retail
Tingalpa has two small local shopping centres: Twin Parks Shopping Centre located on Wynnum Road, Tingalpa - and one located on Belmont Road, Belmont. There are two large shopping centres within a 10-minute drive; Wynnum Plaza has Kmart, Coles, Woolworths, Dan Murphys, Fitness First and 59 Specialty stores whilst Carindale Shopping Centre features Myer, David Jones and a large selection of specialty shops.
Both the Twin Parks and the Belmont shopping centres are only basic centres.

Transport
Also nearby is the Murarrie railway station that runs west to the city and east to Manly and the bay. There are also several bus routes from Tingalpa to neighbouring suburbs.

References

External links

 Government listing of Tingalpa parks
Bike paths in Tingalpa map 6
Bike paths in Tingalpa map 9

Suburbs of the City of Brisbane

Tingalpa, Queensland


Avraham Shifrin (; Yiddish: שיפרין אברהם; Russian: Авраам Исаакович Шифрин, Avraam Shifrin; October 8, 1923 – 1998) was a Soviet-born human rights activist, Zionist, author, lawyer, and Israeli politician who spent a decade in Soviet prisons for allegedly spying for the US and Israel. Avraham Shifrin was one of the world's top authorities on the Soviet system of prisons and slave labor camps. Shifrin's testimonies before Internal Security Subcommittee of the Senate and other congressional committee (House Banking and Currency Committee, 1973), provided the world with the major listing of Soviet slave labor camps.

Biography
Avraham Shifrin was born on October 8, 1923, in Minsk, USSR (modern Belarus) into a Jewish family. His father, Isaak Shifrin, was arrested in 1937, sentenced under false charges to ten years of corrective labor in Kolyma. During World War II, Avraham Shifrin fought in Shtrafbat, Soviet penal battalion, where he was drafted as a son of the Enemy of the people (Russian language: сын врага народа, "syn vraga naroda"). He participated in the Battle of Königsberg and was awarded the Medal "For the Capture of Königsberg". As a lawyer, in 1949–1953, he worked for the Soviet Ministry of Defense and at the same time actively participated in the Zionist movement. In 1953, he was falsely accused in spying for the U.S. and Israel, and sentenced to death. Later, the death sentence was changed to 25 in the Gulag, five years of exile to remote regions, and five years of revocation of civil rights. However, in 1963, Shifrin was released from prison, and in 1970 was allowed to emigrate to Israel. Shifrin testified before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in 1973 that American prisoners of war were being held in Soviet prison camps. According to Arnold Beizer, a Hartford lawyer, the testimony was corroborated by Russian President Boris Yeltsin in 1992, who said American soldiers had been transferred to Russian labor camps.

Russian Gulag on Wrangell Island
According to Avraham Shifrin's research, massive Russian Gulag concentration camp has been found on the Russian Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean (71° North, 179° West). The camps on Wrangell were revealed in the 1982 book "The First Guidebook to Prisons and Concentration Camps of the Soviet Union," by Avraham Shifrin (Bantam Books).  His research institute interviewed hundreds of escapees from Soviet gulags.  In his 1973 testimony before the U. S. Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, Shifrin described three concentration camps with thousands of prisoners, and in one camp was an atomic reactor used in radiation experiments on live prisoners. American prisoners of war may have been on Wrangell. The Russians are reputed to have taken American and other military prisoners from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War to Siberian slave labor camps.  Even the famed World War II hero Raoul Wallenberg (who was declared an honorary U. S. citizen along with Winston Churchill) was seen in a camp on Wrangell Island in 1962, according to testimony of imprisoned Soviet SMERSH officer Efim Moshinskiy in Shifrin's book

Korean Air Lines Flight 007 alternative theory
Avraham Shifrin claimed that according to the investigation of his Research Centre for Prisons, Psychprisons and Forced Labor Concentration Camps of the USSR, KAL 007 landed on water north of Moneron Island, and the passengers successfully disembarked on emergency floats. The Soviets collected them and subsequently sent them to camps with the children "separated from their parents and safely hidden in the orphan houses of one of the Soviet Middle Asian republics". According to Michel Brun this theory is not entirely preposterous. In his book he analyses the first news, communicated by CIA and South Korean government: that KAL 007 landed in Sakalin and all passengers are safe. In his careful searches, he discovered the source of this first information. It was published in a Japanese newspaper: Mainichi Shinboun September 1, 1983. According to him, this observation came from Wakkanai radars. So, he considers that another aircraft, probably military, landed at Sakhalin during the "Sakhalin battle" and that its passengers, American and/or South Korean, were jailed in the Soviet Union.

Personal life
Avraham Shifrin was married to the Israeli politician Eleonora Shifrin. After his emigration to Israel, he resided in Zichron Ya'akov and resided last years of his life in Jerusalem. He died on 1998 and was buried at the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery.

Bibliography
The fourth dimension ("Четвертое измерение",  Frankfurt/Main, Posev, 1973, 452 p.)
USSR Labor Camps. Hearings Before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of by Avrrham Shifrin. (Published by Living Sacrifice Book Co. Paperback, 1983, 282 p. )
Human Cost of Communism (delivered during a panel of the 7th Annual Conference of the World Anti-Communist League, April 8–11, 1974, Washington, D.C. Case Studies on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Volume Two: A World Survey, edited by Willem Adriaan Veenhoven. 1975- Political Science.)
The First Guidebook to Prisons and Concentration Camps of the Soviet Union by Avraham Shifrin. (Published by Bantam Books, Paperback, 1982, 400 p. Language: English, )

References

External links
 Шифрин Авраам Исаакович Воспоминания о ГУЛАГе и их авторы
 Четвертое измерение Франкфурт/Майн : Посев, 1973. – 452 с.

1923 births
1998 deaths
Soviet emigrants to Israel
Jewish Israeli politicians
Writers from Minsk
Soviet dissidents
Soviet human rights activists
Zionists
Jewish Gulag detainees
20th-century Israeli politicians
Soviet military personnel of World War II
Soviet Jews in the military
Soviet prisoners sentenced to death
Burials at the Mount of Olives
Military personnel from Minsk
Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
Prisoners sentenced to death by the Soviet Union

Avraham Shifrin


Momčilo "Momo" Kapor (; 8 April 1937 – 3 March 2010) was a Serbian novelist and painter.

He authored several screenplays, over forty novels, short stories, travel and autobiographic books and essays. He was introduced to the literary circles as the author of radio, TV and theater drama at the beginning of the sixties. His books have been translated to twenty languages. The shorts stories collection Kinoteka at three and novels The Green Felt of Montenegro and The Last Flight to Sarajevo were published in French by L'Age d'homme in Lausanne while The Mastery of Šlomović was published by Xenie in Vevey.

His paintings were exhibited in New York, Boston, Geneva, Frankfurt, London and other cities. He was also known as an illustrator, illustrating his own and numerous books by other authors. He was a regular member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska.

Early life
Kapor was born in 1937 in Sarajevo, Drina Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. His father, Gojko Kapor, was a bank clerk, and his mother, Bojana was a housewife. In 1941, during World War II, a bomb fell on the home in which Kapor, his grandmother, and his mother were taking refuge. Kapor's mother used her body as a shield and, although she was killed, Kapor was able to survive. He reflected back on that day, remembering that even the little cat, which he held in his arms, died. Kapor knew very little about his mother since not much was said in his family. Immediately following World War II, Kapor moved with his family to Belgrade, Serbia where he remained for most of his life.

Education
As a young man, Kapor studied painting at the Academy of Art in Belgrade under the guidance of Professor Nedeljko Gvozdenović. Although Kapor graduated with a degree in painting, he had grown fond of writing as a young boy. Therefore, while studying art he also occupied his time with news writing. Kapor would write news articles and interviews and then accompany his writing with his own representative portrait or illustration. It is through this method that Kapor was able to combine his two greatest passions he had in life, painting and writing.

Literary works
Kapor is one of the most popular Serbian writers, whose literary phenomenon has spread over three decades. Kapor easily attracted the attention of the public by writing his constant reflections on the reality of the current time. The generations of people from former Yugoslavia were connected through Kapor's writings which have become best sellers in Zagreb's publisher "Znanje" and its famous library "Hit".

Kapor also wrote many documentary films, television shows, and novels. His novels, "Una" and "The Book of Complaints" were made into films. These films have been translated into many languages including: French, German, Polish, Czech, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Slovenian, and Swedish. His most famous works include, "Ada", "Zoe", "From Seven to Three", and "The Chronicle of a Lost City".

Artwork
Kapor has exhibited many of his paintings across various countries such as in the United States, Germany, and France. The reason he preferred to showcase his artwork in foreign countries rather than in Belgrade was that he did not enjoy the "art climate" set in Belgrade. He felt that many great artists in Belgrade were forgotten, whereas in other countries, a new emerging artist does not "erase" those who came before him/her.

Death
After having two surgeries, Kapor died from throat cancer on 3 March 2010.

Works

Foliranti, 1975
Provincijalac, 1976
Ada, 1977
Lanjski snegovi, 1977
Hej, nisam ti to pričala, 1978
Zoe, 1978
Beleške jedne Ane (hronika u 26 glava), 1978
Skitam i pričam: putopisni dnevnik, 1979
101 priča, 1980
Una: ljubavni roman, 1981
Onda, 1982
Sentimentalno vaspitanje, 1983
Knjiga žalbi, 1984
011-Istok-Zapad, 1990
Halo, Beograd, 1990
Dama skitnica i off priče, 1992
Zelena čoja Montenegra, 1992
Blokada 011, 1992
100 nedelja blokade, 1994
Lero – kralj leptira, 1995
Poslednji let za Sarajevo, 1995
Hronika izgubljenog grada, 1996
Od sedam do tri, 1996
Smrt ne boli: priče iz poslednjeg rata, 1997
Najbolje godine i druge priče, 1997
Ivana, 2001
Od istog pisca, 2001
Legenda o Taboru, 2002
Sanja, 2003
Čuvar adrese
Dosije Šlomović
Konte
Lep dan za umiranje
Ljubavne priče
Samac
Uspomene jednog crtača
Eldorado
Putopis kroz biografiju

References

External links

1937 births
2010 deaths
Writers from Sarajevo
Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Artists from Sarajevo
Serbian painters
Writers who illustrated their own writing
Members of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republika Srpska
Deaths from cancer in Serbia
Deaths from throat cancer
Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery

Momo Kapor


"A Toz" is a humorous French novelty rap song by the duo Farid & Oussama featuring Aymane Serhani. The song is bilingual in French and North African Arabic dialect. Farid & Oussama is a comics duo with a number of releases online and is made up of Farid Ben Salah and Oussama El Fatmi.

The track "A Toz" gained huge popularity online and was released as a single in February 2015 on Juston Records / Musicast reaching number 12 on SNEP, the French Official Singles Chart and reaching the Top 20 on Ultratop Wallonia, the Official French Belgian (Wallonia) Music Charts.

Track listing
"A Toz" (Farid & Oussama feat. Aymane Serhani) - 2:58

Charts

References

2015 singles
2014 songs

A Toz


Charles Drouhet (January 22, 1879–January 8, 1940) was a Romanian literary historian.

Born in Bârlad, his parents were Pierre Drouhet and his wife Natalia (née Olivari), high school teachers. His paternal grandfather Charles was a physician at Blaye, a French town near Bordeaux. His father was born in France and emigrated to Romania; in 1869, he became a French teacher at Bârlad's Gheorghe Roșca Codreanu High School. His mother, the daughter of the local girls' boarding school director who herself later became teacher and director there, married Drouhet in 1867.

Drouhet completed primary school in 1889, went to Codreanu for the 1889-1890 year and subsequently entered Saint Sava National College in Bucharest, graduating in 1896. He attended the University of Bucharest, earning a degree in modern philology in 1900. In 1909, he took a doctorate in literature from the Sorbonne. His first position was as a substitute Romanian teacher at Codreanu in 1900; the following year, he became a substitute at the local normal school. Drouhet became a teacher at Dimitrie Cantemir High School in Bucharest in 1904. He was hired as a substitute professor at the French department of Iași University's literature faculty in 1909, rising to full professor the following year. In 1915, he succeeded the deceased Pompiliu Eliade as professor of French language and literature in Bucharest, holding the post until his death.

Drouhet first published in 1906: a linguistic study in Romania magazine and another about Leconte de Lisle in Convorbiri Literare. His work also appeared in Viața Românească, Viața Nouă, Revue d'histoire littéraire de la France, Le correspondent, La Minerve française and Mercure de France. Alone or in collaboration, he authored several fine French textbooks for high schoolers.

He was particularly noted as a literary historian, devoting ample study to French literature. Drouhet's university courses were published as: Istoria poeziei franceze în sec. al XIX-lea, 1915; Istoria teatrului clasic francez, 1916; Comentarii din clasicii francezi din sec. al XVII-lea, 1919-1920; Curs de literatură franceză. Secolul al XVIII-lea, 1919-1920; Villon Montaigne, 1923-1924; Începuturile romantismului francez, 1927-1928; Literatura franceză în secolul al XVIII-lea, 1934; Poezia lirică în Evul Mediu și comentarii din Charles d'Orléans și François Villon, 1934; Literatura franceză. Boileau și Voltaire, critici literari, 1934-1935; Literatura franceză. Preromantismul francez (1761- 1820), 1934-1935; Literatura franceză. Romantismul, 1937; Literatura franceză. Umanismul. Renașterea și Rabelais, 1937; Literatura franceză. La Chanson de Roland. Poezia lirică medievală. Trubadurii. François Villon, 1937- 1938; Literatura franceză. teatrul romantic, romanul romantic, ivirea spiritului realist în epoca romantică, Bucharest, 1937-1938; Literatura franceză. Poezia franceză în sec. al XVI-lea. Clément Marot. La défense et illustration. Ronsard, poet liric și epic, 1938-1939. He was equally interested in cultural relations between France and Romania.

His doctoral thesis, which dealt with François Maynard, won the Bordin Prize of the Académie française in 1910. His 1924 Vasile Alecsandri și scriitorii francezi remains a model of comparative research, well documented and nuanced, especially attentive to the particularities of the author studied. For his merits as a professor, Drouhet was awarded the Order of the Crown in 1911 and 1922, and he was inducted into the Legion of Honour in 1922.

Notes

1879 births
1940 deaths
People from Bârlad
Romanian people of French descent
Saint Sava National College alumni
University of Bucharest alumni
Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
Romanian literary historians
Romanian schoolteachers
Romanian textbook writers
Comparative literature academics
Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Romania)
Recipients of the Legion of Honour

Charles Drouhet


In the fictional universes of Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy, Nurgle is one of the four major Chaos gods.  Like his brother gods, Nurgle grew from a single survivalist emotion: in his case, the emotion was despair. Nurgle is the Chaos god of disease, decay, despair and destruction.  Even though the nature of his influence, he begins to like his victims, caring for them in a jovial manner close to a loving grandfather; so he is commonly called Grandfather Nurgle or Papa Nurgle. He is also called the Lord of Decay, Master of Plague and Pestilence and Lord of All.  He is shown as a huge, bloated humanoid, with boils and sores, his body completely rotten from disease.  He is usually with an enveloping cloud of buzzing flies.

Other websites
 Nurgle information and message boards

Video game characters

Nurgle


Irene Skliva  (Irini Skliva; Greek: Ειρήνη Σκλήβα; born 4 April 1978, in Athens, Greece) is a Greek model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss World 1996 in India.

Miss World
After winning the title of "Miss Hellas" at the Miss Star Hellas pageant, she represented Greece in Bangalore, India during the highly regarded Miss World pageant in 1996 and was selected as Miss World 1996.

As an 18-year-old woman, she could not quite believe it was real: "I had the feeling it was just another rehearsal - in the rehearsals, in one rehearsal, they'd used me as the mock winner".

Life after Miss World
After completing her year as Miss World, Skliva returned to Greece where she pursued a career in television and modeling, her face appearing on the covers of numerous Greek magazines such as Diva and LipStick. She has participated in some of the world's largest fashion shows in Athens, Milan and Munich. She is represented by Ace Models Agency.

Personal life
She got married in September 2002 and had her first daughter, in July 2003.

During the 2004 Summer Olympics, Skliva (like numerous other celebrities) left her signature on The Olive: The Tree of Athens, a sculptured olive tree located in the Water Plaza fun park which visitors flooded during the games, that represented the homecoming of the Olympics.

External links
Ace Models Management

1978 births
Models from Athens
Greek female models
Living people
Miss World winners
Miss World 1996 delegates
Greek beauty pageant winners

Irene Skliva


Des Champ (9 July 1928 – 7 June 2006 in London, England) was a musician, bandleader, producer, and arranger.

In a musical career lasting over 35 years, Des gained notoriety in the British music business for his ground-breaking production and arrangement work in collaboration with partner Roger Easterby. Des first achieved chart success with Vanity Fare, whose "Hitchin' a Ride" sold a million copies in the US alone, but his most notable pop achievement was with glam-rock band Chicory Tip, whose "Son of My Father" featured a Moog synthesizer (a relatively obscure instrument at the time). "Son of My Father" went on to top the UK pop music charts for three weeks in early 1972 and was a seminal influence on 1980s synthesizer bands like ABC. Later in his career, Des worked as musical director for Shirley Bassey, 5000 Volts, and Tony Monopoly, before finally taking a regular day job with the Orchestration Department at BBC Radio Two.

He died of cancer on 7 June 2006 in London.

Discography

External links

 Shirley and Johnny website
 The Bedside Bond Album

1928 births
English record producers
English music arrangers
English songwriters
English musicians
Musicians from London
2006 deaths
20th-century British businesspeople

Des Champ


Chachoda district is one of the 55 districts of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Chachoura Vidhan Sabha constituency is one of the 230 Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) constituencies of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. This constituency came into existence in 1951, as one of the 79 Vidhan Sabha constituencies of the erstwhile Madhya Bharat state.

Incumbent MLA from Chachoura is Lakshman Singh from the party Indian National Congress.

Members of Legislative Assembly
As a constituency of Madhya Bharat state:
 1951: Dwarkadas Ramnarayan, Hindu Mahasabha

As a constituency of Madhya Pradesh state:
 1957: Sagar Singh Sisodia, Indian National Congress
 1962: Prabhu Lal Meena, Independent
 1967: Sagar Singh Sisodia, Swatantra Party
 1972: Krishna Vallabh Gupta, Bharatiya Jana Sangh
 1977: Krishna Vallabh Gupta, Janata Party
 1980: Devendra Singh, Indian National Congress (I)
 1985: Devendra Singh, Indian National Congress
 1990: Ram Bahadur Singh Parihar, Bharatiya Janata Party
 1993: Shivnarayan Meena, Indian National Congress
 1994: Digvijay Singh, Indian National Congress in Bye-Election as Chief Minister MP
 1998: Shivnarayan Meena, Indian National Congress
 2003: Shivnarayan Meena, Indian National Congress
 2008: Shivnarayan Meena, Indian National Congress
 2013: Mamta Meena, Bhartiya Janata Party defeated Shivnarayan Meena by 35,000 Votes.(Breaking Digvijay Singh record as CM)
 2019: Lakshman Singh, Indian National Congress

Districts of Madhya Pradesh

Chachoda district


The Datsun 810 is a mid-size car that was sold in North America by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Datsun between February 1977 and 1981. Datsun based the first generation—sold for model years 1977 to 1980—on the four-cylinder Datsun Bluebird (810), but with a longer engine bay to accommodate larger straight-six engines. These original 810s were available as a sedan and station wagon initially, with a hardtop coupe introduced in January 1979 for the 1979 model year.

Second generation models were sold between 1980 and 1981 for the 1981 model year only. Derived from the Datsun Bluebird (910), both sedan and wagon body types were offered. These second generation cars were renamed in 1981 for the 1982 model year as Datsun Maxima.

810
Cars introduced in 1977

Datsun 810


Cencrastus was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a lecturer in the English Department, with the express intention of perpetuating the devolution debate. It was published three times a year. Its founders were Christine Bold, John Burns, Bill Findlay, Sheila G. Hearn, Glen Murray and Raymond J. Ross. Editors included Glen Murray (1981–1982), Sheila G. Hearn (1982–1984), Geoff Parker (1984–1986) and Cairns Craig (1987). Raymond Ross was publisher and editor of the magazine for nearly 20 years (1987–2006). Latterly the magazine was published with the help of a grant from the Scottish Arts Council. It ceased publication in 2006.

Contributors included Christopher Harvie, Duncan Macmillan, Stephen Maxwell, Brian Holton, Craig Beveridge, Ronald Turnbull, Colin McArthur, Randall Stevenson, Glenda Norquay, Jim Gilchrist, Freddie Anderson and Fred Johnston

Cencrastus is one of the cultural and political magazines researched by the Scottish Magazines Network.

References

 Records deposited in National Library of Scotland GB233/Acc.11509, Acc.10396 and Acc.12644

1979 establishments in Scotland
2006 disestablishments in Scotland
Triannual magazines published in the United Kingdom
Defunct political magazines published in the United Kingdom
Defunct magazines published in Scotland
Magazines established in 1979
Magazines disestablished in 2006
Politics of Scotland
Political magazines published in Scotland

Cencrastus


Raymond Wendell Beachey (24 October 1915 – 10 July 2010) was a Canadian educator, historian and academic best known for his work at Makerere University in Uganda in the 1950s and 1960s. In this capacity he tutored many important African leaders including Benedicto Kiwanuka, Yusuf Lule and Mwai Kibaki, but was concerned that Uganda was not ready for independence at the time it was granted and saw the dictatorial regimes of Idi Amin and Milton Obote as the result of the haste with which the British withdrew from the country. He was also an historian of East Africa and published several important works on the subject.

Life

Beachey was born in the town of Trout Creek, Ontario, and worked at logging camps to pay for his education before obtaining a job in finance in Ottawa and subsequently joining the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War.  After the war he married Ursula Molloy and returned to Canada, taking a degree at Queen's University in Ontario followed by a PhD in Imperial History at the University of Edinburgh.

On graduation, Beachey took a position lecturing at Makerere University in Kampala, where many of his students would later become government ministers in Uganda and Kenya. Among his colleagues at this time were V. S. Naipaul and Paul Theroux, the latter describing him as "the gentle Canadian". Beachey found his African students to be more dedicated than those he had taught in Canada, but following Ugandan independence in 1962 he became increasingly concerned that the country was unprepared for self-government and left in 1968. The murder of his former student Benedicto Kiwanuka and the ensuing brutal reigns of Idi Amin and Milton Obote strengthened his opinion - on one occasion a former colleague who had suffered torture at the hands of Obote's men begged him to work towards a return of British rule in the country.

After leaving Africa, Beachey held positions at King's College London and the University of Waterloo in Canada before retiring in Hampshire in 1978. He lived there for the rest of his life, dying in July 2010. As well as his university work, Beachey was an important historian of East Africa, publishing numerous reference works on the region. He was also a collector of Persian carpets and travelled extensively in the Middle East.

Works
The British West Indies Sugar Industry in the Late 19th Century, 1957
The Slave Trade of Eastern Africa, 1976
The Warrior Mullah, 1990
A History of East Africa, 1592-1902, 1995

Notes

1915 births
Queen's University at Kingston alumni
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Historians from Ontario
Canadian male non-fiction writers
2010 deaths
Academics of King's College London
Academic staff of the University of Waterloo
Canadian military personnel of World War II
Canadian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Canadian expatriates
Expatriates in Uganda

Ray Beachey


The Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn (German: Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, WKO) is a renowned German Chamber Orchestra, located in Heilbronn, Baden Württemberg, Germany.

The orchestra was founded in 1960 by Jörg Faerber and has performed with artists such as Martha Argerich, Alfred Brendel, Rudolf Buchbinder, Maurice André, James Galway, Hilary Hahn, Gidon Kremer, Sabine Meyer, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Thomas Quasthoff and Tabea Zimmermann. The WKO has recorded more than 500 classical works for the labels Deutsche Grammophon (DGG) and Teldec.

The orchestra is regularly heard at major festivals like Salzburg Festival, Vienna Music Summer, Lucerne Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Schwetzingen Festival and Ludwigsburg Festival.

 was artistic director of the orchestra from 2002 to 2018, when he was succeeded by Case Scaglione.

References

External links

Musical groups established in 1960
Chamber orchestras
German orchestras
1960 establishments in West Germany
Musical groups from Baden-Württemberg

Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn


Baraha is a word processing application for creating documents in Indian languages. It was developed by Sheshadrivasu Chandrasekharan with an intention to provide a software to enable and encourage Indians use their native languages on the computers. Baraha was first released in Kannada in 1998 and later on in other Indian languages. Baraha can be effectively used for creating documents, sending emails and publishing web pages.  Baraha uses a transliteration scheme, which allows the user to write any Indian language in Latin text and later convert it to the respective language. Baraha package consists of Baraha,  BarahaPad, BarahaIME and FontConvert programs. This package includes TrueType fonts for various Indian languages. The latest full version of the software is not free anymore. The full-featured software requires a registration key, which currently costs $49.95 or 3745.

Languages supported
Baraha 10.0 supports Kannada, Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Gujarati, Gurumukhi, Bengali, Assamese and Oriya scripts. The following table shows the languages supported.

References

External links

PDF on Baraha at Technology Development for Indian Languages
Baraha and its creator

Freeware
Word processors
Windows word processors
Windows-only freeware
Devanagari
Konkani

Baraha


Sidney Simien (April 9, 1938 – February 25, 1998), known professionally as Rockin' Sidney, was an American R&B, zydeco, and soul musician who began recording in the late 1950s and continued performing until his death. He is best known for his 1985 single "My Toot-Toot", which reached top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and earned him a Grammy Award.

Biography
Sidney Simien was born on April 9, 1938, in Lebeau, Louisiana. He was born into a Creole French-speaking family and was a descendant of Antoine—of Marseille, France—and Marie Simien (who was a free woman of color and a plantation owner). Sidney himself was born in the tiny farming community of Lebeau, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. Sidney took up the guitar at an early age. He started his musical career at age 14 or 15 playing harmonica and guitar. His first gig was as backup for his uncle Frank Simien. By Sidney's late teens, he was leading his own band as Sidney Simien and His All Stars, which included several members of his family. In 1957, at the age of 18, he recorded his first side, "Make Me Understand," on the short-lived Carl label. "No Good Woman" became a small hit in Louisiana in 1962, while the flip side, "You Ain't Nothing But Fine" brought him his first national attention as a songwriter. The Fabulous Thunderbirds recorded the song on their debut album. After that, Sidney recorded "She's My Morning Coffee" / "Calling You" on the Jin label.

Although his real success came from zydeco, Sidney did not start out playing the accordion or Cajun music. Heavily influenced by local musicians such as Slim Harpo and Cookie and his Cupcakes, Sidney made R&B-styled recordings briefly on the Louisiana record label, Fame, during the late 1950s. He was often backed by George Lewis on harmonica and Katie Webster on piano. Floyd Soileau's Jin Records label released nine Rockin' Sidney singles between 1957–1964. Sidney also recorded on Rod Records. In 1963 his single "No Good Woman" on the Ville Platte label sold well in South Louisiana and East Texas and was well received by music critics, but just missed the national Top 100.

In 1965, he and his band The Dukes signed with Eddie Shuler's Louisiana-based Goldband Records. He took to wearing a turban and was known as "Count Rockin' Sidney". During this period he cut well over a dozen R&B, soul, and blues singles such as "Something Working Baby" and "Soul Christmas", without much success. Between the mid-1960s and the late 1970s, Sidney cut well over 50 singles for the Louisiana-based Goldband label, working in a variety of contemporary blues, soul and R&B modes; none proved successful.

Zydeco
In the late 1970s Sidney was performing solo organ gigs at Lake Charles hotels and lounges when he recognized zydeco's growing popularity. Floyd Soileau takes partial credit, saying "I suppose it was the mid-'70s when I suggested that he pick up the accordion and start doing zydeco which was then making a comeback." Sidney quickly added the instrument to his repertoire and made that traditional folk music of Louisiana his focus. Zydeco was long familiar to him, from his Creole heritage. His Clifton Chenier and Buckwheat Zydeco parodies became one of his performance highlights. For Chenier, Sidney dressed up as the zydeco monarch, complete with a crown, cape and gold tooth. The Buckwheat bit was done with a ventriloquist dummy. His first zydeco album, Give Me a Good Time Woman was released in 1982 on the Maison de Soul label.

"He already knew keyboards and that was half the battle," said Soileau. In the late 1970s, Sidney was recording for a new label, Bally Hoo, and started his own publishing company, Sid Sim Publishing. His zydeco talents were immediately recognized and he had another hit with "Louisiana Creole Man." He also signed a lease agreement with Floyd Soileau to distribute his recordings on Soileau's Maison de Soul Records label, giving Soileau's Flat Town Music Company a share of the profits. By the early 1980s, Sidney had recorded two successful albums for Maison de Soul, Give Me A Good Time Woman and Boogie, Blues 'N' Zydeco.

"My Toot Toot"

His big moment came in 1984 when "My Toot Toot" made him internationally known. Sidney wrote the song, and released it on the Maison de Soul Records label in Ville Platte, Louisiana.  In October 1984, he included the tune on his third album, My Zydeco Shoes Got the Zydeco Blues. He recorded the entire album at his home studio in Lake Charles, and played all the instruments himself. In January 1985, "My Toot Toot" was released as a single in Louisiana and Texas, and became his first true regional hit. Thanks to Cleon Floyd, manager of R&B singer (and uncle to) King Floyd, it became a huge New Orleans hit. Floyd first heard the crowd's reaction to the song at a bill headlined by Solomon Burke. Cleon was also the president of the Orleans Street Jocks Association and took 20 copies of the record back to the city; he quickly had to order more. By Mardi Gras, it was a jukebox and record hop smash.

Huey Meaux got the original leased to Epic Records (a division of Columbia Records), who released it nationally, and for a brief moment Rockin' Sidney made musical history. Epic managed to get Rockin' Sidney into the country Top 40 where it stayed for 18 weeks. Later that year, "My Toot Toot" was certified platinum and won a Grammy Award. "My Toot Toot" became a national and international million-selling phenomenon.

Sidney was featured in People magazine, Rolling Stone, Billboard and Music City News and appeared on numerous national TV shows, including Nashville Now, Church Street Station, Hee Haw, Austin City Limits, John Fogerty's Showtime Special, New Country and Charlie Daniels Jam. He was also a guest celebrity on You Can Be a Star. "My Toot Toot" was played in the motion pictures Hard Luck, One Good Cop, and The Big Easy.

"My Toot Toot" has been covered by many artists including Fats Domino, Rosie Ledet, Jean Knight, Terrance Simien, Doug Kershaw, Denise LaSalle, Jimmy C. Newman and John Fogerty. A Spanish version by La Sonora Dinamita titled "Mi Cucu" sold over a million copies in Mexico, Central America, and South America. A German beer company licensed it to use in their radio and television commercials. The German cover version Mein Tuut Tuut by Leinemann reached no. 15 on the German charts in 1985.  Over 20 years after "My Toot Toot" debuted, it continued to draw royalties from commercial use in Europe, and cover versions in several languages by dozens of musicians.

Later years
Sidney used royalties from "My Toot Toot" to purchase radio station KAOK in Lake Charles. He also bought Festival City, a  entertainment complex in Lake Charles, and started a record label, ZBC Records. After the success of "My Toot Toot," Sidney toured the United States and Europe and continued to record, characteristically playing all parts. Although nothing before or after ever matched the career-defining success of "My Toot Toot," several of his songs such as "If It's Good for the Gander," "My Zydeco Shoes," "Jalapeño Lena", and "Ann Cayenne" have become zydeco staples and are played regularly by other bands.

After a long bout with throat cancer, Rockin' Sidney Simien succumbed to the disease in 1998, leaving his legacy to his wife, three sons, and four grandchildren. He was funeralized at his hometown church, Immaculate Conception in Lebeau, and buried in the church cemetery.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

1938 births
1998 deaths
Louisiana Creole people
People from St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
Epic Records artists
Musicians from Louisiana
Zydeco musicians
Grammy Award winners
Swamp blues musicians
Deaths from esophageal cancer
Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
20th-century American musicians
African-American Catholics
20th-century African-American musicians
Cajun accordionists
Country musicians from Louisiana
African-American country musicians
Maison de Soul Records artists

Rockin' Sidney


Wii Party is a party video game for the Nintendo Wii games console. It was released in Japan on July 8, 2010, in North America on October 3, 2010, in Australia on October 7, 2010, and in Europe on October 8, 2010. Wii Party received mixed to positive reviews from critics and sold 9.35 million copies worldwide as of September 2021. A sequel, Wii Party U, was released for the Wii U on October 25, 2013. It takes elements from the Mario Party series, which is another video game series that is made by Nintendo. It has over 80 mini-games, like Spin-Off, and House Party.

Minigames
Board Game Island

In the beginning, the players play a mini-game to set an order. The winner gets a normal dice plus a gold dice, the 2nd place
gets a silver dice, the 3rd place is playing with the bronze dice and the last one does not get anything, they use a normal dice only.  The gold dice has the numbers 1 – 6, the silver dice has the numbers 1 – 3, the bronze dice has the numbers 1 – 2 while the normal dice has the numbers 1 – 6. After the mini-game, the winner starts first. Then it is the turn of the second place. Place 3 plays as third one and the loser as last one. The objective of the game is to reach the mountaintop first. On the way to the goal, there are many happening spaces which makes it harder or easier to win. After each player rolled the dice(s) a mini-game appears.

Globe Trot

The players go on a journey around the world. But in contrast to the other game the player has to take card to move. He can go
1,2 or 3 spaces. Each player gets 10 coins in the beginning, an Easter egg from the Mario Party series.The object is to reach special points on the globe (as example: Buy a fan in Japan or eat a Hamburger in the USA.)The visiting of a point costs 10 coins. With any visiting the player collects photos. The player who has the most at the end wins.

Bingo

A game that makes always fun while playing. As a parody to the famous gambling Bingo. Each player chooses a card with Mii's faces on it. Then the game begins. A huge bingo machine drops balls in every round. The balls show Mii's faces. If a player has 3 faces in a row a voice calls 'Bingo!' and the player wins. So called Minigame balls make the players play a minigame. The winner can choose which face we wants to choose.

Mii of a Kind

The players swap their Miis against Miis in the middle. The player who has two rows with 3 same Miis in it wins. It is a parody of the card game Thirty-one.

Spin Off

Players spin a wheel and get medals. Players play many minigames to earn medals. The player who has the most amount of medals wins. The maximum amount of medals that can be in the bank is 99999.

References

Wii games
2010 video games
Party video games

Wii Party


China is the world's largest and earliest silk producer. The vast majority of Chinese silk originates from the mulberry silkworms (Bombyx mori). During the larval stage of its life cycle, the insects feed on the leaves of mulberry trees. Non-mulberry silkworm cocoon production in China primarily focuses on wild silk from the Chinese Tussah moth (Antheraea spp.). This moth typically feeds on trees (e.g. oaks) and its larvae spin coarser, flatter, yellower filament than the mulberry silkworms.

History
Following World War II, the redevelopment of the silk industry was one of the few economic successes of China's Nationalist government under Chiang Kai-shek.

In 2005, China accounted for 74 percent of the global raw silk production and 90 percent of the world export market.

Industrial plans

Local governments have and are continuing to introduce new facilities that are expected to bring in latest high-end silk manufacturing machinery that will elevate both the quality and the quantity of the silk being produced in China. It is estimated that it will render significant revenue increases as its new facilities bring increased production and distribution capabilities.

There are a number of material preferential benefits. These government incentives include such as land policy exemptions, tax breaks, project prioritization (priority in review and approval of applications), and Energy discounts (upon approval, company can receive discounts of fees related to water, electric, gas, etc.).Chinese silk, today also is sold the most in China only.

Geography
Different from the East coast of China, the silk industry has more emphasis on silk reprocessing, Western parts is more focused on raw silk production due to its natural weather and soil conditions, mostly in Chongqing and Yunnan areas. Also as the land cost and manpower cost is increasing on the east coast, business is shifting to the west. With the government's preferential policies, Chongqing's silk industry has seen some significant developments. It is thought that silk was exported along the Silk Road routes by 400BC or so.

Foreign investment
Foreign investment has helped develop the silk industry. Foreign investment has optimized the structure of local silk companies, and brought in new technology.

See also
 China Western Development
 History of silk
 Sericulture
 Chinese ornamental gold silk

References

Industry in China
Silk

Silk industry in China


Stage 2 of the Cambrian is the unnamed upper stage of the Terreneuvian Series. It lies atop the Fortunian and below Stage 3 of the Cambrian. It is commonly referred to as the Tommotian, after the Cambrian stratigraphy of Siberia. Neither the upper nor lower boundary has yet been defined by the International Commission on Stratigraphy.
The preferred definitions for the lower boundary are the first appearance of the molluscs Watsonella crosbyi or Aldanella attleborensis around  million years ago. The proposed upper boundary might be the first appearance of trilobites around  million years ago.

Possible candidates for a GSSP include the first appearance of Watsonella crosbyi in the Zhujiaqing Formation (朱家庆组) in Yunnan, China or the Pestrotsvet Formation near the Aldan River on the Siberian Platform.

References

Cambrian geochronology
Geological ages
Terreneuvian

Cambrian Stage 2


The list shown below shows the national football teams of the Soviet Union and the CIS all-time international record against opposing nations. The stats are composed of FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Football Championship and Summer Olympics matches, as well as numerous international friendly tournaments and matches.

All-time records

Results

Soviet Union national football team all-time record