In human computer interaction, the gulf of execution is the gap between a user's goal for action and the means to execute that goal. Usability has as one of its primary goals to reduce this gap by removing roadblocks and steps that cause extra thinking and actions that distract the user's attention from the task intended, thereby preventing the flow of his or her work, and decreasing the chance of successful completion of the task. Similarly, there is a gulf of evaluation that applies to the gap between an external stimulus and the time a person understands what it means. Both phrases are first mentioned in Donald Norman's 1986 book User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-computer Interaction.

Example
This can be illustrated through the discussion of a VCR problem. Let us imagine that a user would like to record a television show. They see the solution to this problem as simply pressing the Record button. However, in reality, to record a show on a VCR, several actions must be taken:

 Press the record button.
 Specify time of recording, usually involving several steps to change the hour and minute settings.
 Select channel to record on - either by entering the channel's number or selecting it with up/down buttons.
 Save the recording settings, perhaps by pressing an "OK" or "menu" or "enter" button.

The difference between the user's perceived execution actions and the required actions is the gulf of execution.

Example of Gulf of Execution:

An example of gulf of execution is, if a user wants to save a document in a word processing software, but they are unsure how to access the "Save" feature or they cannot find it easily due to unclear labeling or hidden menus, it creates a Gulf of Execution. The user's intention to save the document is not aligned with the system's interface or available actions, causing frustration and making it challenging for the user to complete the task.

Example of Gulf of Evaluation:

An example of the Gulf of Evaluation can be seen in the context of a voice-controlled virtual assistant, such as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Imagine a user giving a command to the virtual assistant to play a specific song from their music library. After issuing the command, the virtual assistant responds by playing a different song or fails to understand the command altogether.

In this scenario, the Gulf of Evaluation is wide because the user may have difficulty understanding why the virtual assistant played the wrong song or why it didn't recognize the command. The user's mental model of the system's response and behavior may not align with the actual outcome, leading to frustration and confusion. The system's feedback, in this case, is not adequately helping the user evaluate whether their desired action was successful or not.

To bridge the Gulf of Evaluation, designers could improve the feedback provided by the virtual assistant. For example, the assistant could respond with a confirmation message, such as "Playing song 'X' from your library" to ensure the user understands what action it will take. If the assistant misinterprets the command, it could provide an informative error message, such as "I'm sorry, I couldn't find the song you requested. Please try again."

By providing clear and meaningful feedback, the Gulf of Evaluation can be narrowed, enabling users to better understand the system's response and assess the success of their actions.

References

External links
A good description of the Gulf of execution on a website

Human–computer interaction

Gulf of execution


The Birth of Venus ( ) is a painting by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli, probably executed in the mid 1480s. It depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, when she had emerged from the sea fully-grown (called Venus Anadyomene and often depicted in art). The painting is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.

Although the two are not a pair, the painting is inevitably discussed with Botticelli's other very large mythological painting, the Primavera, also in the Uffizi.  They are among the most famous paintings in the world, and icons of Italian Renaissance painting; of the two, the Birth is better known than the Primavera.  As depictions of subjects from classical mythology on a very large scale they were virtually unprecedented in Western art since classical antiquity, as was the size and prominence of a nude female figure in the Birth. It used to be thought that they were both commissioned by the same member of the Medici family, but this is now uncertain.

They have been endlessly analysed by art historians, with the main themes being: the emulation of ancient painters and the context of wedding celebrations (generally agreed), the influence of Renaissance Neo-Platonism (somewhat controversial), and the identity of the commissioners (not agreed).  Most art historians agree, however, that the Birth does not require complex analysis to decode its meaning, in the way that the Primavera probably does.  While there are subtleties in the painting, its main meaning is a straightforward, if individual, treatment of a traditional scene from Greek mythology, and its appeal is sensory and very accessible, hence its enormous popularity.

Description and subject

In the centre the newly born goddess Venus stands nude in a giant scallop shell.  The size of the shell is purely imaginary, and is also found in classical depictions of the subject. At the left the wind god Zephyrus blows at her, with the wind shown by lines radiating from his mouth. He is in the air, and carries a young female, who is also blowing, but less forcefully. Both have wings. Vasari was probably correct in identifying her as "Aura", personification of a lighter breeze.  Their joint efforts are blowing Venus towards the shore, and blowing the hair and clothes of the other figures to the right.

At the right a female figure who may be floating slightly above the ground holds out a rich cloak or dress to cover Venus when she reaches the shore, as she is about to do. She is one of the three Horae or Hours, Greek minor goddesses of the seasons and of other divisions of time, and attendants of Venus. The floral decoration of her dress suggests she is the Hora of Spring.

Alternative identifications for the two secondary female figures involve those also found in the Primavera; the nymph held by Zephyr may be Chloris, a flower nymph he married in some versions of her story, and the figure on land may be Flora. Flora is generally the Roman equivalent of the Greek Chloris; in the Primavera Chloris is transformed into the figure of Flora next to her, following Ovid's Fasti, but it is hard to see that such a transformation is envisaged here. However, the roses blown along with the two flying figures would be appropriate for Chloris.

The subject is not strictly the "Birth of Venus", a title given to the painting only in the nineteenth century (though given as the subject by Vasari), but the next scene in her story, where she arrives on land, blown by the wind. The land probably represents either Cythera or Cyprus, both Mediterranean islands regarded by the Greeks as territories of Venus.

Technical
The painting is large, but slightly smaller than the Primavera, and where that is a panel painting, this is on the cheaper support of canvas.  Canvas was increasing in popularity, perhaps especially for secular paintings for country villas, which were decorated more simply, cheaply and cheerfully than those for city palazzi, being designed for pleasure more than ostentatious entertainment.

The painting is on two pieces of canvas, sewn together before starting, with a gesso ground tinted blue.  There are differences to Botticelli's usual technique, working on panel supports, such as the lack of a green first layer under the flesh areas.  There are a number of pentimenti revealed by modern scientific testing.  The Hora originally had "low classical sandals", and the collar on the mantle she holds out is an afterthought.  The hair of Venus and the flying couple was changed.  There is heavy use of gold as a pigment for highlights, on hair, wings, textiles, the shell and the landscape.  This was all apparently applied after the painting was framed.  It was finished with a "cool gray varnish", probably using egg yolk.

As in the Primavera, the green pigment – used for the wings of Zephyr, Zephyr's companion, and the leaves of the orange trees on the land – has darkened considerably with exposure to light over time, somewhat distorting the intended balance of colours.  Parts of some leaves at the top right corner, normally covered by the frame, have been less affected.  The blues of the sea and sky have also lost their brightness.

Style

Although the pose of Venus is classical in some respects, and borrows the position of the hands from the Venus Pudica type in Greco-Roman sculptures (see section below), the overall treatment of the figure, standing off-centre with a curved body of long flowing lines, is in many respects from Gothic art.  Kenneth Clark wrote: "Her differences from antique form are not physiological, but rhythmic and structural. Her whole body follows the curve of a Gothic ivory.  It is entirely without that quality so much prized in classical art, known as aplomb; that is to say, the weight of the body is not distributed evenly either side of a central plumb line. .... She is not standing but floating. ... Her shoulders, for example, instead of forming a sort of architrave to her torso, as in the antique nude, run down into her arms in the same unbroken stream of movement as her floating hair."

Venus' body is anatomically improbable, with elongated neck and torso. Her pose is impossible: although she stands in a classical contrapposto stance, her weight is shifted too far over the left leg for the pose to be held.  The proportions and poses of the winds to the left do not quite make sense, and none of the figures cast shadows.  The painting depicts the world of the imagination rather than being very concerned with realistic depiction.

Ignoring the size and positioning of the wings and limbs of the flying pair on the left, which bother some other critics, Kenneth Clark calls them:

...perhaps the most beautiful example of ecstatic movement in the whole of painting. ... the suspension of our reason is achieved by the intricate rhythms of the drapery which sweep and flow irresistibly around the nude figures.  Their bodies, by an endless intricacy of embrace, sustain the current of movement, which finally flickers down their legs and is dispersed like an electric charge.

Botticelli's art was never fully committed to naturalism; in comparison to his contemporary Domenico Ghirlandaio, Botticelli seldom gave weight and volume to his figures and rarely used a deep perspectival space.  Botticelli never painted landscape backgrounds with great detail or realism, but this is especially the case here. The laurel trees and the grass below them are green with gold highlights, most of the waves regular patterns, and the landscape seems out of scale with the figures.  The clumps of bulrushes in the left foreground are out of place here, as they come from a freshwater species.

Dating and history
It has long been suggested that Botticelli was commissioned to paint the work by the Medici family of Florence, perhaps by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici (1463–1503) a major patron of Botticelli, under the influence of his cousin Lorenzo de' Medici, "il Magnifico".  This was first suggested by Herbert Horne in his monograph of 1908, the first major modern work on Botticelli, and long followed by most writers, but more recently has been widely doubted, though it is still accepted by some. Various interpretations of the painting rely on this origin for its meaning.  Although relations were perhaps always rather tense between the Magnifico and his young cousins and wards, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco and his brother Giovanni di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, it may have been politic to commission a work that glorified the older Lorenzo, as some interpretations have it.  There may be a deliberate ambiguity as to which Lorenzo was intended to be evoked.  In later years hostility between the two branches of the family became overt.

Horne believed that the painting was commissioned soon after the purchase in 1477 of the Villa di Castello, a country house outside Florence, by Lorenzo and Giovanni, to decorate their new house, which they were rebuilding.  This was the year after their father died at the age of 46, leaving the young boys wards of their cousin Lorenzo il Magnifico, of the senior branch of the Medici family and de facto ruler of Florence.  There is no record of the original commission, and the painting is first mentioned by Vasari, who saw it, together with the Primavera, at Castello, some time before the first edition of his Lives in 1550, probably by 1530–40.  In 1550 Vasari was himself painting in the villa, but he very possibly visited it before that.  But in 1975 it emerged that, unlike the Primavera, the Birth is not in the inventory, apparently complete, made in 1499 of the works of art belonging to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco's branch of the family.  Ronald Lightbown concludes that it only came to be owned by the Medici after that.  The inventory was only published in 1975, and made many previous assumptions invalid.

Horne dated the work at some point after the purchase of the villa in 1477 and before Botticelli's departure for Rome to join the painting of the Sistine Chapel in 1481. Recent scholars prefer a date of around 1484–86 on grounds of the work's place in the development of Botticelli's style.  The Primavera is now usually dated earlier, after Botticelli's return from Rome in 1482 and perhaps around the time of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco's wedding in July 1482, but by some still before Botticelli's departure.

Whenever the two paintings were united at Castello, they have remained together ever since. They stayed in Castello until 1815, when they were transferred to the Uffizi.  For some years until 1919 they were kept in the Galleria dell'Accademia, another government museum in Florence.

Interpretations

Although there are ancient and modern texts that are relevant, no single text provides the precise imagery of the painting, which has led scholars to propose many sources and interpretations.   Many art historians who specialize in the Italian Renaissance have found Neoplatonic interpretations, of which two different versions have been articulated by Edgar Wind and Ernst Gombrich, to be the key to understanding the painting. Botticelli represented the Neoplatonic idea of divine love in the form of a nude Venus.

For Plato – and so for the members of the Florentine Platonic Academy – Venus had two aspects:  she was an earthly goddess who
aroused humans to physical love or she was a heavenly goddess who inspired intellectual love in them.  Plato further argued that contemplation of physical beauty allowed the mind to better understand spiritual beauty.  So, looking at Venus, the most beautiful of goddesses, might at first raise a physical response in viewers which then lifted their minds towards the godly.  A Neoplatonic reading of Botticelli's Birth of Venus suggests that 15th-century viewers would have looked at the painting and felt their minds lifted to the realm of divine love.

The composition, with a central nude figure, and one to the side with an arm raised above the head of the first, and winged beings in attendance, would have reminded its Renaissance viewers of the traditional iconography of the Baptism of Christ, marking the start of his ministry on earth.  In a similar way, the scene shows here marks the start of Venus's ministry of love, whether in a simple sense, or the expanded meaning of Renaissance Neoplatonism.

More recently, questions have arisen about Neoplatonism as the dominant intellectual system of late 15th-century Florence, and scholars have indicated that there might be other ways to interpret Botticelli's mythological paintings.  In particular, both Primavera and Birth of Venus have been seen as wedding paintings that suggest appropriate behaviors for brides and grooms.

The laurel trees at right and laurel wreath worn by the Hora are punning references to the name "Lorenzo", though it is uncertain whether Lorenzo il Magnifico, the effective ruler of Florence, or his young cousin Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco is meant.  In the same way the flowers in the air around Zephyr and on the textiles worn and carried by the Hora evoke the name of Florence.

Literary sources

The closest precedent for the scene is generally agreed to be in one of the early ancient Greek Homeric Hymns, published in Florence in 1488 by the Greek refugee Demetrios Chalkokondyles:

Of august gold-wreathed and beautiful
Aphrodite I shall sing to whose domain
belong the battlements of all sea-loved
Cyprus where, blown by the moist breath
of Zephyros, she was carried over the
waves of the resounding sea on soft foam.
The gold-filleted Horae happily welcomed
her and clothed her with heavenly raiment.

This poem was probably already known to Botticelli's Florentine contemporary, and Lorenzo di Medici's court poet, Angelo Poliziano.  The iconography of The Birth of Venus is similar to a description of a relief of the event in Poliziano's poem the Stanze per la giostra, commemorating a Medici joust in 1475, which may also have influenced Botticelli, although there are many differences.  For example, Poliziano talks of multiple Horae and zephyrs.  Older writers, following Horne, posited that "his patron Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco asked him to paint a subject illustrating the lines", and that remains a possibility, though one difficult to maintain so confidently today.  Another poem by Politian speaks of Zephyr causing flowers to bloom, and spreading their scent over the land, which probably explains the roses he blows along with him in the painting.

Ancient art

Having a large standing female nude as the central focus was unprecedented in post-classical Western painting, and certainly drew on the classical sculptures which were coming to light in this period, especially in Rome, where Botticelli had spent 1481–82 working on the walls of the Sistine Chapel.   The pose of Botticelli's Venus follows the Venus Pudica ("Venus of Modesty") type from classical antiquity, where the hands are held to cover the breasts and groin; in classical art this is not associated with the new-born Venus Anadyomene.  What became a famous example of this type is the Venus de' Medici, a marble sculpture that was in a Medici collection in Rome by 1559, which Botticelli may have had opportunity to study (the date it was found is unclear).

The painter and the humanist scholars who probably advised him would have recalled that Pliny the Elder had mentioned a lost masterpiece of the celebrated ancient Greek painter, Apelles, representing Venus Anadyomene (Venus Rising from the Sea). According to Pliny, Alexander the Great offered his mistress, Campaspe, as the model for the nude Venus and later, realizing that Apelles had fallen in love with the girl, gave her to the artist in a gesture of extreme magnanimity. Pliny went on to note that Apelles' painting of Pankaspe as Venus was later "dedicated by Augustus in the shrine of his father Caesar." Pliny also stated that "the lower part of the painting was damaged, and it was impossible to find anyone who could restore it. ... This picture decayed from age and rottenness, and Nero ... substituted for it another painting by the hand of Dorotheus".

Pliny also noted a second painting by Apelles of Venus "superior even to his earlier one," that had been begun by the artist but left unfinished.  The Roman images in various media showing the new-born Venus in a giant shell may well be crude derivative versions of these paintings.  Botticelli could not have seen the frescos unearthed later in Pompeii, but may well have seen small versions of the motif in terracotta or engraved gems.  The "House of Venus" in Pompeii has a life-size fresco of Venus lying in the shell, also seen in other works; in most other images she stands with her hands on her hair, wringing the water from it, with or without a shell.

The two-dimensionality of this painting may be a deliberate attempt to evoke the style of ancient Greek vase painting or frescos on the walls of Etruscan tombs, the only types of ancient painting known to Botticelli.

Charles R. Mack's interpretation

Another interpretation of the Birth of Venus is provided by art historian and author, Charles R. Mack. This interpretation takes much that is generally agreed, but Mack goes on to explain the painting as an allegory extolling the virtues of Lorenzo de' Medici.  This has not been adopted by Renaissance art historians in general, and it remains problematic, since it depends on the painting being commissioned by the Medici, yet the work is not documented in Medici hands until well into the following century.

Mack sees the scene as inspired by both the Homeric Hymn and the ancient paintings.  But something more than a rediscovered Homeric hymn was likely in the mind of the Medici family member who commissioned this painting from Botticelli. Once again, Botticelli, in his version of the Birth of Venus, might be seen as completing the task begun by his ancient predecessor Apelles, even surpassing him. Giving added support to this interpretation of Botticelli as a born-again Apelles is the fact that that very claim was voiced in 1488 by Ugolino Verino in a poem entitled "On Giving Praise to the History of Florence."

While Botticelli might well have been celebrated as a revivified Apelles, his Birth of Venus also testified to the special nature of Florence's chief citizen, Lorenzo de' Medici. Although it now seems that the painting was executed for another member of the Medici family, it likely was intended to celebrate and flatter its head, Lorenzo de' Medici. Tradition associates the image of Venus in Botticelli's painting with the famous beauty Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci, of whom popular legend claims both Lorenzo and his younger brother, Giuliano, were great admirers. Simonetta was possibly born in the Ligurian seaside town of Portovenere ('the port of Venus').  Thus, in Botticelli's interpretation, Pankaspe (the ancient living prototype of Simonetta), the mistress of Alexander the Great (the Laurentian predecessor), becomes the lovely model for the lost Venus executed by the famous Greek painter Apelles (reborn through the recreative talents of Botticelli), which ended up in Rome, installed by Emperor Augustus in the temple dedicated to Florence's supposed founder Julius Caesar.

In the case of Botticelli's Birth of Venus, the suggested references to Lorenzo, supported by other internal indicators such as the stand of laurel bushes at the right, would have been just the sort of thing erudite Florentine humanists would have appreciated.  Accordingly, by overt implication, Lorenzo becomes the new Alexander the Great with an implied link to both Augustus, the first Roman emperor, and even to Florence's legendary founder, Caesar himself.  Lorenzo, furthermore, is not only magnificent but, as was Alexander in Pliny's story, also magnanimous, as well. Ultimately, these readings of the Birth of Venus flatter not only the Medici and Botticelli but all of Florence, home to the worthy successors to some of the greatest figures of antiquity, both in governance and in the arts.

These essentially pagan readings of Botticelli's Birth of Venus should not exclude a more purely Christian one, which may be derived from the Neoplatonic reading of the painting indicated above.  Viewed from a religious standpoint, the nudity of Venus suggests that of Eve before the Fall as well as the pure love of Paradise. Once landed, the goddess of love will don the earthly garb of mortal sin, an act that will lead to the New Eve – the Madonna whose purity is represented by the nude Venus. Once draped in earthly garments she becomes a personification of the Christian Church which offers a spiritual transport back to the pure love of eternal salvation.  In this case the scallop shell upon which this image of Venus/Eve/Madonna/Church stands may be seen in its traditionally symbolic pilgrimage context. Furthermore, the broad expanse of sea serves as a reminder of the Virgin Mary's title stella maris, alluding both to the Madonna's name (Maria/maris) and to the heavenly body (Venus/stella).  The sea brings forth Venus just as the Virgin gives birth to the ultimate symbol of love, Christ.

Rather than choosing one of the many interpretations offered for Botticelli's depiction of the Birth (Arrival?) of Venus it might be better to view it from a variety of perspectives. This layered approach—mythological, political, religious—was intended.

Derivative versions

Botticelli, or more likely his workshop, repeated the figure of Venus in another painting of about 1490.  This life-sized work depicts a similar figure and pose, partially clad in a light blouse, and contrasted against a plain dark background. It is in the Galleria Sabauda in Turin.  There is another such workshop Venus in Berlin, and very likely others were destroyed in the "Bonfire of the Vanities".  Examples seem to have been exported to France and Germany, probably influencing Lucas Cranach the Elder among others.

More than a decade later, Botticelli adapted the figure of Venus for a nude personification of "Truth" in his Calumny of Apelles.  Here one hand is raised, pointing to heaven for justification, and the figure's gaze also looks upwards; the whole effect is very different.

References in popular culture
 Parts of the painting are used for the background of the cover artwork for the 2013 Lady Gaga album, Artpop.
 The music video for the album's lead single, "Applause", also features a reference to the painting, depicting the singer in a blonde wig, wearing nothing but shells. The music video also contains nods to various other famous works of art, including the Andy Warhol painting Marilyn Diptych.
 The painting is recreated in one scene from the 1988 Terry Gilliam film, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
 The painting is used as the background for the cover artwork for the 2020 Cecile Believe album, Made in Heaven.
 The painting is referenced in the title and cover artwork for Venus on the Half-Shell, a science fiction novel by Philip José Farmer.
 Andy Warhol reproduced the image in his series Details of Renaissance paintings (Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, 1482) Portfolio (F & S II.316-319). The portfolio comprises four screenprints in editions of 70, plus proofs, each signed and numbered.

See also
 List of works by Sandro Botticelli
 100 Great Paintings

Notes

References
Clark, Kenneth, The Nude, A Study in Ideal Form, orig. 1949, various edns, page refs from Pelican edn of 1960
Dempsey, Charles, "Botticelli, Sandro", Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 15 May. 2017. subscription required.
"Ettlingers": Leopold Ettlinger with Helen S. Ettlinger, Botticelli, 1976, Thames and Hudson (World of Art),
Hartt, Frederick, History of Italian Renaissance Art, (2nd edn.)1987, Thames & Hudson (US Harry N Abrams),
Hemsoll, David, The Birth of Venus, University of Birmingham, 18 min introductory lecture, refs to mm:ss
Legouix, Susan, Botticelli, 115–118, 2004 (revd edn), Chaucer Press,
Lightbown, Ronald, Sandro Botticelli: Life and Work, 1989, Thames and Hudson
Mack, Charles R. (2002),"Botticelli's Venus: Antique Allusions and Medicean Propaganda," Explorations in Renaissance Culture, 28, 1 (Winter), 2002, 1–31.
Mack, Charles R. (2005), Looking at the Renaissance: Essays toward a Contextual Appreciation, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005
Wind, Edgar, Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance, 1967 edn., Peregrine Books

External links

 University of Birmingham: Dr David Hemsoll, The Birth of Venus – mini-lecture
 ArtSleuth:  The Birth of Venus – That Obscure Object of Desire

1486 paintings
Paintings by Sandro Botticelli in the Uffizi
Venus Anadyomenes
Nude art
Paintings depicting Greek myths
Paintings of Venus
Water in art
Seashells in art

The Birth of Venus


Henry Dighton Thomas (1900-1966) was a geologist and academic at the University of Cambridge and Natural History Museum.

Henry Dighton Thomas was born in London on 31 October 1900. He attended Westminster City School in his youth and with the encouragement of one of his Masters, pursued geology as a favourite subject. He won an Open Scholarship to Emmanuel College, Cambridge where he took his degree in 1923, with a Second Class Pass in Part II of the Natural Sciences Tripos.

Career
Thomas worked as a Supervisor in Geology for many colleges at Cambridge, as well as vacation lecturer, while working toward his M.A. and PhD, which he received in 1928. His study was that of the Upper Carboniferous faunas of Peru, using specimens from the Sedgwick Museum. Thomas was appointed lecturer at Bedford College in 1927–1928.

Thomas was appointed to the Department of Geology of the British Museum (Natural History) in 1928. The specimens in his care included Coelenterata, Polyzoan and Porifera. He worked closely with W.D. Lang, the Keeper of the Museum, and they published the Index of Palaeozoic coral genera in 1940, with Bristol academic Stanley Smith. In all, Thomas would publish 40 papers or reports, most of them related to fossil corals, Polyzoan and sponges. He would act as a mentor to many students of palaeontology, including Dorothy Hill.

Thomas married Anna Birchall Hastings (1902-1977) a bryozoologist at the British Museum in 1941. Although she had to resign work upon her marriage, she continued to work unpaid as a volunteer until 1961. They had one son, James.

During World War II, the collections he helped to manage were moved to Lincolnshire to protect them from the bombing of London which was anticipated.

Thomas became a Fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1949. He received a Murchison Fund award from the Geological Society in 1950.

Thomas became Deputy Keeper of Palaeontology in 1963, and retired in 1965. He continued to volunteer at the Museum until his death in London in 1966.

Henry Dighton Thomas died on 31 August 1966 and was survived by his wife and son.

References

1900 births
1966 deaths
20th-century British geologists
Fellows of the Geological Society of London
Employees of the Natural History Museum, London
Scientists from London
People educated at Westminster City School
Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge

Henry Dighton Thomas


An inchoative verb, sometimes called an "inceptive" verb, shows a process of beginning or becoming. Productive inchoative affixes exist in several languages, including the suffixes present in Latin and Ancient Greek, and consequently some Romance languages. Not all verbs with inchoative suffixes have retained their inceptive meaning. In Italian, for example, present indicative finisco 'I finish' contains the form of the suffix, while present indicative finiamo 'we finish' does not, yet the only difference in meaning is that of person subject; the suffix is now semantically inert.

Latin and Romance Languages
Latin uses the suffix -sc- to show inchoative force. The suffix is normally seen in the present tense stem, and is not present in the third and fourth principal parts.
apiscor, apiscī, aptus sum reach
crescō, crescere, crēvī, crētus come into being, grow up
convalescō, convalescere, convaluī recover, grow strong
discō, discere, didicī learn
īrascor, īrascī, īrātus sum be in a rage
lapidescō, lapidescere become stone
nanciscor, nanciscī, nactus/nanctus sum to meet with, stumble upon
nascor, nasci, natus sum to be begotten, to be generated, to be born, as nascent life
noscō, noscere, nōvī, nōtus get to know
obdormiscō, obdormiscere, obdormīvī, obdormītus sum fall asleep
poscō, poscere, poposcī demand
proficiscor, proficiscī, profectus sum set out
rubescō, rubescere, rubuī to grow red, redden

Romance
In Romance, the inchoative suffixes in Latin became incorporated into the inflections of fourth conjugation verbs (-īre). Catalan, Occitan, Italian, and Romanian have distinctions between "infixed" (infixed with the inchoative suffix -ēscō) and "pure" (non-infixed) verbs, with the number of pure verbs tend to be fewer than the infixed ones, while French has pure verbs but treated as irregular.

Catalan
In Catalan, the 3rd verb category (verbs ending in '-ir') is divided into 2 sub-categories: 'pure' and 'inchoative'. The vast majority of 3rd category verbs are inchoative and are marked by the addition of the affix '-esc-, -eix-', with less than only 15 to 20 of all 3rd category verbs falling into the 'pure' sub-category.

Inchoative verbs are affected in only their first, second, third and third person plural conjugations. This can be seen below in the table below comparing the present indicative conjugations of the pure verb 'dormir' (to sleep) with the inchoative verb 'servir' (to serve):

It is important to note that as nearly all of the 3rd category verbs are inchoative, there is very little, if any, relationship between the inchoative verbs of Catalan and the traditional inceptive meaning and function of inchoative verbs. It is most likely that this verb sub-category is named 'inchoative' because the associated morpheme '-eix-' stems directly from the Latin inchoative morpheme '-sc-', despite its function and usage having disappeared.

Ancient Greek
Greek also uses the inchoative suffix -sk-, although it does not always indicate inchoative meaning. -sk- is added to verb-stems ending in vowels, -isk- to consonant stems.
 "I please" or "appease" (first aorist ἤρεσα (ḗre-s-a) "I appeased")
 "I say" (from , same meaning)
 "I find" (second aorist ηὗρον (hēûr-on) "I found")

Past iterative verb forms in Homer and Herodotus use the same suffix.

Finnish
Finnish inchoatives may be marked with -nt- (which undergoes consonant gradation to -nn- in weak form).
vaalentua "to go paler" < vaalea "pale"
hiljentyä "to go silent" < hiljainen "silent"
An alternative form is vaaleta, hiljetä, etc.

Not all inchoatives are marked like this, however, e.g. kuolla "to die"

The translative case marks "becoming something" on the noun, thus a target state is marked with the translative case (-ksi): lehti vaalenee keltaiseksi "the leaf fades to yellow". The transformation from a state is marked with the elative case (-sta): lehti vaalenee tummanvihreästä keltaiseksi "the leaf fades from dark green to yellow". In eastern Karelian dialects, the exessive case (-nta) specifically refers to inchoative changes.

Armenian
Armenian has a class of inchoative verbs marked with the infix -ան- or -ն-. They belong to the third conjugation, so the full infinitive ending is -անալ or -նալ.
հիւանդանալ "to become ill" < հիւանդ "sick, ill"
նիհարանալ "to get thin" < նիհար "thin, slender"
կարմրանալ "to redden, to blush" < կարմիր "red"
աղքատանալ "to be impoverished" < աղքատ "poor"
ամչնալ "to be shamed, become ashamed" < ամօթ "shame"

In Western Armenian, the penultimate vowel tends to weaken or drop out, so the -անալ suffix is more commonly -նալ, sometimes pronounced -ընալ (հիւանդնալ, նիհարնալ, կարմրընալ).

Inchoatives are considered part of the third conjugation, but they form a special category because the infix drops in the past tense; while regular third conjugation verbs add ց to the present stem, for the inchoatives the ց appears in the place of the dropped ն.
կարդալ "to read" > կարդացաւ "he read" (past of regular third conjugation)
սպիտականալ "to become white" > սպիտակացաւ not *սպիտականացաւ "it became white"

The infix generally retains its inchoative meaning in modern usage, although sometimes the verbs are translated to other languages as simple verbs because the inchoative meaning requires a compound that may be awkward or unnatural in a language that lacks this aspect. (գողանալ - to steal, lit. become thief). This convention does not extend as broadly to the past tenses, where the aorist past has to be translated as an inceptive verb in order to distinguish it from imperfect tenses (e.g., հիւանդանում է may be translated as "he is sick" rather than "he becomes sick," but for հիւանդացաւ, "he became sick" is more precise than "he was sick," which can also be հիւանդ էր, հիւանդանում էր, հիւանդացել է, etc.)

It remains a very productive grammatical feature, and almost any adjective and some nouns can be made inchoative verbs simply by the addition of the suffix -անալ / -նալ.

արագ "quick, fast" > արագանալ "to speed up, become fast"
բարկ "furious" > բարկանալ "to get angry"
կոյր "blind" > կուրանալ, կոյրնալ "to become blind"
անօթի "hungry" > անօթենալ "to become hungry"
տաք "hot" > տաքանալ, տաքնալ "to get hot"
արթուն "awake" > արթնանալ, արթննալ "to wake up, become alert"
քար "rock" > քարանալ "to harden, petrify"
ծանօթ "friend, acquaintance" > ծանօթանալ "to meet, get to know"

There are verbs that have a similar form to the inchoative verbs but are different. The similarity may be derived from the similar sounding but grammatically different verbal ending -ենալ, especially in Western Armenian dialects, where dropping the weak penultimate vowel merges -ենալ and -անալ into -նալ. In other cases, the ն derives from an irregular root that belongs to the third conjugation or was subsumed into the third conjugation because of phonetic similarity. The latter category can be recognized by the irregular past tense forms that drop the ն.
մօտնալ < մօտենալ "to approach, get close to"
ճանչնալ < ճանաչել "to meet, acquaint"
դառնալ "to turn, to become" > դարձայ "I turned"
բանալ "to open" (transitive) > բացի "I opened"
իյնալ "to fall" > ինկայ "I fell" (Eastern Armenian uses derivation ընկանել)
տեսնալ "to see" > տեսայ "I saw" (standard տեսնել < տեսանել)

Germanic languages
The Germanic languages historically formed inchoative verbs with the suffix -n-. Verbs derived with this suffix belonged to the distinct fourth class of weak verbs in Gothic, while in most other Germanic languages they belonged to the second weak class.

The suffix survives in English as -en, and is still somewhat productive although there are other suffixes such as -ify which compete with it. However, verbs with this suffix are now primarily ergatives, and also have a causative sense ("to cause to become") when used transitively. Some examples:
 dark > darken
 white > whiten
 hard > harden
 thick > thicken

Swedish also retains use of the suffix, which is still somewhat productive. Some examples:
 blek "pale" > blekna "to go pale"
 tyst "quiet" > tystna "to fall silent"
 fast "firm, fastened" > fastna "to get stuck"
 hård "hard" > hårdna "to be hardened"
 kall "cold" > kallna "to become cold"
 rutten "rotten" > ruttna "to rot"
Similarly, in the Danish language with, e.g., blegne (to go pale) and gråne (become grey).

See also
Inchoative aspect
Translative case

References

Verb types

Inchoative verb


George Katsutoshi Nakashima ( Nakashima Katsutoshi, May 24, 1905 – June 15, 1990) was an American woodworker, architect, and furniture maker who was one of the leading innovators of 20th century furniture design and a father of the American craft movement. In 1983, he accepted the Order of the Sacred Treasure, an honor bestowed by the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government.

Early life

Nakashima was born in 1905 in Spokane, Washington, to Katsuharu and Suzu Nakashima. He enrolled in the University of Washington program in architecture, graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) in 1929.  In 1931, after earning a master's degree in architecture from M.I.T., Nakashima sold his car and purchased a round-the-world tramp steamship ticket. He spent a year in France working odd jobs to fund an artist's lifestyle. In Paris he was introduced to Bauhaus architect Le Corbusier, the two bonding over their views on the architect's moral obligation to society and the practice as a spiritual activity. He then went on to North Africa and eventually to Japan. While in Japan, Nakashima went to work for Antonin Raymond, an American architect who had collaborated with Frank Lloyd Wright on the Imperial Hotel. While working for Raymond, Nakashima toured Japan extensively, studying the subtleties of Japanese architecture and design. During this period he met Marion Okajima, who would become his wife. While working for Raymond, Nakashima worked as the project architect for the Golconde Dormitory in Puducherry, India, supervising construction from 1937 to 1939 and immersing himself in the spiritual teachings of the Aurobindo sect. In 1964, Gira Sarabhai, invited Nakashima to Ahmedabad.  He spent three weeks in NID's wood workshop, designing chairs, benches, tables, ottomans, lounges, daybeds, shelves and mirror frames. They were kept in production in limited numbers at the institute by referring to the detailed drawings and instructions left by Nakashima, until about 1975, when Sarabhai stepped down.

Woodworking

In 1937, Raymond's company was commissioned to build a dormitory at an ashram in Puducherry, India for which Nakashima was the primary construction consultant. It was here that Nakashima made his first furniture.

In 1940, Nakashima returned to America and began to make furniture and teach woodworking in Seattle. He was interned during the Second World War, like others of Japanese ancestry, being sent to Camp Minidoka in Hunt, Idaho, in March 1942. At the camp he met Gentaro (sometimes spelled Gentauro) Hikogawa, a man trained in traditional Japanese carpentry. Under his tutelage, Nakashima learned to master traditional Japanese hand tools and joinery techniques. Perhaps more significantly, he began to approach woodworking with discipline and patience, striving for perfection in every stage of construction.

Nakashima's signature woodworking design was his large-scale tables made of large wood slabs with smooth tops but unfinished natural edges, consisting of multiple slabs connected with butterfly joints.

Nakashima, along with the Danish furniture maker Tage Frid, Swedish James Krenov, and Americans Wharton Esherick and Art Carpenter, are considered to be among the "first generation" of Studio Furniture makers and are cited as highly influential to the field of contemporary woodworking.

New Hope inspiration
In 1943, Antonin Raymond successfully sponsored Nakashima's release from the camp and invited him to his farm to work as a chicken farmer in New Hope, Pennsylvania. In his studio and workshop at New Hope, Nakashima explored the organic expressiveness of wood and choosing boards with knots and burls and figured grain. He designed furniture lines for Knoll, including the Straight Back Chair (which is still in production), and Widdicomb-Mueller as he continued his private commissions. The studio grew incrementally until Nelson Rockefeller commissioned 200 pieces for his house in Pocantico Hills, New York, in 1973.

Nakashima has named the inspiration in his work to include the Japanese tea ceremony, American Shaker furniture, and the Zen Buddhist ideals of beauty. Nakashima self-identified as a "Hindu Catholic Shaker Japanese American"

Drawing on Japanese designs and shop practices, as well as on American and International Modern styles, Nakashima created a body of work that would make his name synonymous with the best of 20th century American Art furniture.

Legacy

Nakashima's home, studio, and workshop near New Hope, Pennsylvania, was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in August 2008; six years later the property was also designated a National Historic Landmark. In June 2015, the site received a "Keeping It Modern" grant from the Getty Foundation to create a solid conservation plan as a model approach for the preservation of historic properties. One of Nakashima's workshops, located in Takamatsu City, Japan, currently houses a museum and gallery of his works. The Nakashima Foundation for Peace, currently housed in the Minguren Museum in New Hope, had its beginnings in 1984.  In 1984, George Nakashima had the opportunity to purchase the largest and finest walnut log he had ever seen and sought to use the immense planks to their fullest potential. He dreamed then that if Altars for Peace were made for each continent of the world, as centers for meditation, prayer, and activities for peace, the world would be a better place. Over the past decade, his furniture has become ultra-collectible and his legacy of what became known as the "free-edge" aesthetic influential. Today the Nakashima business makes standard wooden furniture and continues to create more peace altars, soon to complete Nakashima's legacy. To do so the company has procured yet another extremely valuable walnut log that almost matches the size and magnificence of the original.

Nakashima's daughter, Mira Nakashima, took over the company from her father after he died in 1990. Mira, who has worked for the family business since 1970, currently produces his iconic designs as well as her own.

See also

Widdicomb Furniture Company, for which Nakashima designed the "Origin Group" collection.
National Institute of Design
Gira Sarabhai

References

 Nakashima, Mira. Nature, Form and Spirit: The Life and Legacy of George Nakashima. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2003.

External links

 George Nakashima's Official Website
 Interview with George Nakashima in Life magazine
 Auction results and statistics from Nakashima
 US-based biggest collector The Exchange Int George Nakashima's A Sacred Relationship with Trees

1905 births
1990 deaths
American woodworkers
American furniture makers
American furniture designers
Japanese-American internees
Artists from Spokane, Washington
University of Washington College of Built Environments alumni
MIT School of Architecture and Planning alumni
20th-century American architects
American artists of Japanese descent
Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure

George Nakashima


No Doubt was an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, they were supported by trombonist and keyboardist Gabrial McNair and trumpeter and keyboardist Stephen Bradley in live performances.

Though their 1992 eponymous debut album failed to make an impact, its ska punk–inspired follow-up The Beacon Street Collection sold over 100,000 copies in 1995, over triple that of its predecessor. The band's diamond-certified album Tragic Kingdom (1995) benefited from the resurgence of third-wave ska in the 1990s, and "Don't Speak", the third single from the album, set a record when it spent 16 weeks at the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. "Just a Girl", co-written by Stefani, was described as "the most popular cut on the CD".

The group's next album, Return of Saturn (2000), did not match the success of their previous album, despite its Top 40 hit single "Simple Kind of Life". However, the album received critical praise and was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 43rd Grammy Awards. Fifteen months later, the band returned with the album Rock Steady (2001), which incorporated reggae and dancehall music into their work. The album was primarily recorded in Jamaica and featured collaborations with Jamaican artists Bounty Killer, Sly and Robbie, and Lady Saw. The album produced two Grammy-winning singles, "Hey Baby" and "Underneath It All". "Hella Good" was also nominated for a Grammy award. On November 22, 2002, No Doubt received the Key to the City of Anaheim, given by the Mayor of Anaheim, Tom Daly, in Disneyland during the band's appearance on (KROQ-FM) where they performed five songs. After a 2004 tour. the band members pursued solo projects, with Stefani releasing two successful solo albums Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2004) and The Sweet Escape (2006), while Tom Dumont released his own solo music project, Invincible Overlord. In 2008, the band resumed working slowly on their sixth and latest effort, titled Push and Shove (2012), and released its lead single "Settle Down". They have sold over 33 million records worldwide.

History

1986–1989: Formation, early years and line-up changes
In 1986, Eric Stefani and John Spence met at a Dairy Queen and talked about getting a group together to play music. Stefani acquired a keyboard and gathered some players together to practice; these included himself (keyboards), his sister Gwen Stefani (backing vocals), John Spence (lead vocals), Jerry McMahon (guitar), Chris Leal (bass), Chris Webb (drums), Gabriel Gonzalez (trumpet), Alan Meade (trumpet), and Tony Meade (saxophone). They practiced in Eric's parents' garage.

Tony Kanal went to one of the band's early shows, and soon joined the band as its bassist. After initially rejecting her advances, he began dating Gwen, but they kept their relationship secret for a year, feeling that it was an unspoken rule that no one in the band date her. Paul Caseley (trombone) also joined the band in 1987. Eric Carpenter (saxophone) joined the horn section soon after. The group performed at an Orange High School backyard graduation party on June 6, 1987, with two other California ska bands. At the party, No Doubt's set included "Total Hate", "Too Much Pressure", "Danger", "Paulina", "Gangsters", and the song "No Doubt". Video clips from the party appeared on VH1's Behind the Music.

In December 1987, Spence died by suicide, several days before the band was to play a gig at The Roxy Theatre for record industry employees. No Doubt disbanded but decided to regroup after several weeks with Alan Meade taking over vocals. When Meade left the band, Gwen replaced him as lead singer, and No Doubt continued to develop a live following in California. In early 1988, Tom Dumont left Rising, a heavy metal band of which he was a member with his sister, stating that local metal bands "were into drinking, wearing Spandex" but that he wanted to focus on music. He joined No Doubt and replaced Jerry McMahon as the band's guitarist. Adrian Young replaced Chris Webb as their drummer the following year. During this time period, No Doubt played gigs at local colleges, Fender's Grand Ballroom, The Whisky, The Roxy, many shows with The Untouchables, Fishbone, and a show with the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Cal State Long Beach. Caseley left No Doubt in July 1989 for the US Navy Band.

1990–1992: Self-titled debut album

Impressed by the presence of stage diving fans at No Doubt's concerts and Gwen's on-stage presence, Tony Ferguson signed the band to a multi-album deal with the newly created Interscope Records in 1990. No Doubt's self-titled debut album was released in 1992, but it featured no radio singles, although a video was made for "Trapped in a Box". Owing to the music world's direct focus on grunge, No Doubt's album was not supported by the record label, and was considered a commercial failure for selling only 30,000 copies. The band embarked on a national tour in support of the album, though Interscope refused to support the tour. The band failed to bring the audiences that it had attracted in southern California, and often found that No Doubt was not even available in the cities where they were playing. Eric Stefani began to withdraw from the group, vacillating between being in and out of the band.

1993–1997: Reorganization and career breakthrough

The band began work on its next album the next year, but Interscope rejected much of its material, and the band was paired with producer Matthew Wilder. Eric did not like to relinquish creative control to someone outside the band and eventually stopped recording and rehearsing. He left No Doubt in 1994 to resume an animation career with the cartoon TV series The Simpsons. Kanal then ended his seven-year relationship with Gwen, saying that he needed "space". Unsure of what to do with the band, Interscope sublicensed the project to Trauma Records in 1993. No Doubt released The Beacon Street Collection, consisting of outtakes from its previous recording sessions, in 1995 on its own label, Beacon Street Records. Mixing 1980s punk rock and some grunge influences into the band's sound, the album contains a rawer sound than No Doubt, and it sold more than three times as many copies as its predecessor. Later that year, Trauma Records released Tragic Kingdom, much of which dealt with the relationship between Tony Kanal and Gwen Stefani.

The release of 1995's Tragic Kingdom and the single "Just a Girl" allowed the group to achieve mainstream commercial success. No Doubt began touring in support of the album late that year, and it grew into a 27-month international tour. In 1996, the second single, "Spiderwebs", was successful, and "Don't Speak", a ballad written by Gwen and Eric Stefani about Gwen and Kanal's break-up, was released as the third single and broke the previous record when it topped the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay for sixteen non-consecutive weeks. No Doubt was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Rock Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards. By the end of the year, half of the songs on Tragic Kingdom had been released as singles, and the album was certified eight times platinum. Later, they were nominated for two more Grammys for Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, both for "Don't Speak". The Recording Industry Association of America certified the album diamond in February 1999, and with worldwide sales of sixteen million. Through the success of Tragic Kingdom, the band's self-titled debut album began again to sell copies, and reached total sales of over a quarter of a million copies.

The album's release fueled a dispute between Trauma and Interscope Records over No Doubt's recording contract. Trauma sued for US$100 million for breach of contract, fraud, and extortion and sought to have its joint venture agreement ended, claiming that Interscope had reneged on its contract after the band had become more successful than expected. No Doubt had previously stated that it had switched to Trauma Records and that the transition was "really great...because now we have the attention and the focus of a small indie label." The case was settled out of court with a $3 million payment.

1998–2003: Continued touring and new albums

The band finished its tour in December 1997 and had several releases during the two-year writing process to make its follow-up to Tragic Kingdom. Live in the Tragic Kingdom, a live long-form video of the band's performance at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, was released and The Beacon Street Collection was re-released while the band was on tour that year. The band recorded "I Throw My Toys Around" with Elvis Costello for The Rugrats Movie, and it contributed to The Clash's tribute album Burning London: The Clash Tribute. Stefani began to make recordings without the band, contributing vocals to tracks for The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Prince, Fishbone, and Familyhood Nextperience, and her boyfriend Gavin Rossdale's band Bush. After some time in-between albums, No Doubt included its song "New" on the soundtrack to the movie Go in 1999. "New", inspired by Gwen's budding relationship with Rossdale, was one of the first songs written after the release of Tragic Kingdom.
In 2000, the band released Return of Saturn, its follow-up to Tragic Kingdom. The album featured a darker tone and was more lyrically advanced than No Doubt's previous work. The main lyrical focus of the new record had shifted from Gwen Stefani's relationship with bassist Tony Kanal to her new relationship with Gavin Rossdale. Return of Saturn was critically acclaimed, but was not as commercially successful as their previous album, and the lead single, "Ex-Girlfriend", failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Also released as singles from the album were the tracks "Simple Kind of Life" and "Bathwater". Lukewarm sales drastically shortened the tour that followed, appearing only in festival settings in L.A., Cincinnati, Nashville, Jacksonville and Miami. On August 10, No Doubt went on VH1 Storytellers and performed a few of their songs, and were joined by friend Alain Johannes (of Eleven) and former member Eric Stefani.

After Return of Saturn, the band returned to recording in January 2001. During this time, it contributed a cover version of Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" for the Zoolander soundtrack and recorded a song with Kelis for her album Wanderland. Stefani made high-profile appearances on Moby's "South Side" and Eve's "Let Me Blow Ya Mind". These appearances lent No Doubt credibility and an opportunity to explore new genres. Highly influenced by Jamaican dancehall music and recorded primarily in Jamaica, the band's 2001 studio album, Rock Steady, produced two hit Grammy-winning singles, "Hey Baby", which featured Bounty Killer, and "Underneath It All", which featured "the first lady of dancehall", Lady Saw. Both singles managed to reach the top five on the Billboard Hot 100. The album also released "Hella Good" and "Running" as singles. In addition, pop-star Prince co-wrote, produced, and performed on "Waiting Room" from Rock Steady. Stefani had previously provided vocals for a song on Prince's Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic album, "So Far, So Pleased". In November 2002, No Doubt made an appearance in the Dawson's Creek episode "Spiderwebs".

In January 2003, No Doubt performed in the Super Bowl XXXVII halftime show.

2003–2008: Greatest Hits and hiatus

2003 was a big year of releases for No Doubt. The album The Singles 1992–2003, a compilation of the band's commercially released singles, was released on November 25, 2003. It included a cover of the song "It's My Life", which had originally been a hit for synthpop group Talk Talk in 1984, and earned No Doubt a Grammy nomination for Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal. Additionally, a special 2-CD 2-DVD box set titled Boom Box was made available, which included the CDs The Singles 1992–2003 and Everything in Time and the DVDs The Videos 1992–2003 and Live in the Tragic Kingdom. Separately, Rock Steady Live, a DVD of the band performing in Long Beach from their Rock Steady tour was released in 2003 as well. The next year, the band was featured in a re-recording of the Toots and the Maytals classic song "Monkey Man". The band also toured with Blink-182 in mid-2004, before embarking on a hiatus.

Lead singer Gwen Stefani began work on her 1980s-inspired new wave and dance-pop side project in 2003, which eventually evolved into the full-fledged solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby., released on November 23, 2004. The album reached multi-platinum status in several countries, including a quintuple platinum certification in Canada and triple platinum in the US.

No Doubt was featured on the album True Love by Toots and the Maytals, which won the Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Reggae Album, and showcased many notable musicians including Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Trey Anastasio, Ben Harper, Bonnie Raitt, Manu Chao, The Roots, Ryan Adams, Keith Richards, Toots Hibbert, Paul Douglas, Jackie Jackson, Ken Boothe, and The Skatalites.

Stefani launched her first solo arena tour in October 2005, which coincided with the news of her pregnancy (her son, Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, was born on May 26, 2006). She released her second solo dance-pop album, The Sweet Escape in December 2006. Tony Kanal helped with the production of the album as well.

In early 2005, Tom Dumont released his own solo music project, Invincible Overlord, with friend and collaborator Ted Matson, and backed up Matt Costa on his 2005 tour. Adrian Young, the band's drummer, did the drums for Bow Wow Wow's 2004 tour and many of the tracks on Unwritten Law's 2005 release Here's to the Mourning, as well as featuring on several shows in 2006 for TheStart. Young also played on Rock Star: Supernova runner-up Dilana's Inside Out album.

In 2008, Tony Kanal collaborated with pop rock artist Pink on the album Funhouse. Kanal co-produced "Sober", co-wrote "Funhouse" and also sang back-up vocals on "Crystal Ball".

2008–2013: Reunion and comeback tour

With Stefani promoting her second solo album, No Doubt began initial work on a new album without her and planned to complete it after Stefani's tour was finished. However, songwriting was slow as Gwen Stefani was, at the time, pregnant with her second child. The album was produced by Mark "Spike" Stent, who helped produce and mix Rock Steady.

No Doubt announced on their official website that they would tour in the summer of 2009 with Paramore, The Sounds, Janelle Monáe, Bedouin Soundclash, Katy Perry, Panic! at the Disco, and Matt Costa, all while finishing their upcoming album, which was set for release in 2010. As a special promotion for the tour, the band was giving away their entire music catalog free as a digital download with purchase of top-tier seating.

The band released another compilation album on November 2 called Icon, in preparation for their upcoming comeback album. Icon featured the same track listing as their previous compilation album The Singles 1992–2003 albeit with new artwork and a low price point.

On June 11, 2012, the band announced on their official website that the new album would be out on September 25, preceded by the first single on July 16. The album was titled Push and Shove and the first single was a song called "Settle Down". The music video for "Settle Down" was directed by Sophie Muller (who has previously directed numerous music videos for No Doubt). "Settle Down" peaked at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the album peaking at #3. On November 3, 2012, the band pulled its music video "Looking Hot" from the Internet after receiving complaints that it was insensitive towards Native Americans.

As of February 1, 2013, the band stated via Twitter that they had "Finished a week of songwriting", implying that they have more new tracks written. As of February 26, 2013, the band officially confirmed through their website that they had indeed begun working on new music as well as plans for an upcoming tour.

2013–2015: Second hiatus and disbandment
In October 2013, Tom Dumont revealed via Twitter that the band was once again on hiatus, but hinted that they would regroup in 2014. No Doubt did reform for sporadic live performances during 2014 and 2015, among others at Global Citizen Earth Day Concert, Rock In Rio USA, Riot Fest, and KAABOO in Del Mar, California, but did not announce a headline tour or release any new music.

Around the release of her solo single "Baby Don't Lie", Gwen Stefani announced that No Doubt were working on a new album. However, during an interview with the Orange County Register in April 2015, Tony Kanal stated that the band was not working on any new material.

In a June 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Stefani expressed uncertainty over the future of No Doubt. "I don't know what's going to happen with No Doubt. When Tony [Kanal] and I are connected creatively, it's magic. But I think we've grown apart as far as what kind of music we want to make. I was really drained and burned out when we recorded [2012's Push and Shove]. And I had a lot of guilt: 'I have to do it.' That's not the right setting to make music. There's some really great writing on that record. But the production felt really conflicted. It was sad how we all waited that long to put something out and it didn't get heard."

In an interview with WSJ Magazine in December 2022, when asked about a reunion, Stefani said "What are the odds of anything? I was just on The Drew Barrymore Show. She was one of my favourite celebrities when I was a little girl, and now I was just on the show with her. Anything can happen. We haven't really talked about doing anything, but it feels like everyone is, right? All the '90s people — Blink-182 did an eight-month tour that sold out in like five minutes." However, when Nic Harcourt interviewed Adrian Young for AKG's Stories Behind The Sessions (published in May 2023) and asked him if the world would see any more No Doubt music, Young replied: "I don't think so. I think [Push And Shove] will remain our last album. And unfortunately, I don't see us touring anymore either. I could be wrong, you never know, things could change. I would love to have that feeling of again, connect with the fans, and it's quite a shame we're not playing live."

Musical style and influences
No Doubt's musical style has been characterized as ska punk, reggae fusion, punk rock, pop-punk, new wave, alternative rock and pop rock.

The band's debut album blended the ska punk, alternative rock and new wave genres. However, the band utilized a punk rock sound in their second album The Beacon Street Collection and their third album Tragic Kingdom, although the latter incorporated pop-punk and alternative rock influences. They later shed their punk rock roots for the following album Return of Saturn, utilizing influences from new wave music and pop rock.

The band completely altered their sound in their next album Rock Steady, incorporating Jamaican music influences from reggae fusion, rocksteady and dance-rock. However the band's comeback album Push and Shove blended pop rock, new wave music and dancehall; the English electronic bands New Order and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) were cited as key influences on the album.

Other appearances
In 2009, No Doubt made an appearance on the television series Gossip Girl, playing a fictional band called "Snowed Out" in the episode "Valley Girls". They performed a cover version of the Adam and the Ants song "Stand and Deliver".

No Doubt played at the Bridge School Benefit organized by Neil Young on October 24 and 25, 2009, at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California.

On December 5, 2010, No Doubt performed a tribute to Paul McCartney at The Kennedy Center Honors, playing a medley of Beatles hits including "Hello, Goodbye", "All My Loving", and "Penny Lane". The band performed for President Barack Obama, Sir Paul McCartney, and Oprah Winfrey.

The band also appeared as guests in the animated show King of the Hill and the sketch comedy program Portlandia. They can also be seen in a scene of the Simpsons episode "Homerpalooza". At the time Eric Stefani was one of the show's animators, and inserted his sister and her bandmates behind Homer in the scene where the crowd riots against him.

Legal action
On November 4, 2009, the Los Angeles Times reported that No Doubt had filed a lawsuit over its portrayal in the music video game Band Hero. The lawsuit alleged that the game had "transformed No Doubt band members into a virtual karaoke circus act", singing dozens of songs the group neither wrote, popularized, nor approved for use in the game. The case was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and cited Activision, the game's distributor, as having exceeded contractual likenesses of the members of No Doubt.

On February 15, 2011, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District affirmed the trial court's denial of Activision's special motion to strike No Doubt's lawsuit as a strategic lawsuit against public participation, after an interlocutory appeal by Activision. The appellate court explained that the dispute arose from No Doubt's discovery, two weeks before Band Hero went on sale, that its band members could be manipulated in the game to perform songs they would never perform in real life. The court then explained: "The band also learned that female lead singer Gwen Stefani's avatar could be made to sing in a male voice, and the male band members' avatars could be manipulated to sing songs in female voices. The individual band member avatars could be made to perform solo, without their band members, as well as with members of other groups." The court then ruled that Activision's First Amendment defense was meritless, No Doubt had a reasonable probability of prevailing on the merits, and that No Doubt was entitled to recover costs and attorney's fees incurred in opposing Activision's appeal.

In 2012, the issue was settled out of court, two weeks before scheduled trial date.

Band members

Classic and final lineup
Gwen Stefani – lead vocals (1987–2004, 2009–2015); backing vocals (1986–1987)
Tony Kanal – bass, occasional backing vocals (1987–2004, 2009–2015); keyboards (2001–2004, 2009–2015); saxophone (2001)
Tom Dumont – guitar, occasional backing vocals (1988–2004, 2009–2015); keyboards (2001–2004, 2009–2015)
Adrian Young – drums (1989–2004, 2009–2015); percussion (1992–2004, 2009–2015)

Touring and session members
Gabrial McNair – trombone, occasional percussion, backing vocals (1993–2004, 2009–2015); keyboards (1995–2004, 2009–2015); occasional  acoustic guitar (2009–2015)
Stephen Bradley – trumpet, occasional percussion, backing vocals (1995–2004, 2009–2015); keyboards (2000–2004, 2009–2015)

Former members
Eric Stefani – keyboards, piano (1986–1994, 1995); backing vocals (1986–1994)
John Spence – lead vocals (1986–1987; his death)
Chris Leal – bass (1986–1987)
Gabriel Gonzalez – trumpet (1986–1990)
Alan Meade – trumpet, backing vocals (1986–1987); co-lead vocals (1988)
Tony Meade – saxophone (1986–1988)
Jerry McMahon – guitar (1986–1988)
Chris Webb – drums (1986–1989)
Paul Caseley – trombone (1987–1989)
Eric Carpenter – saxophone (1988–1994)
Gerard Boisse – saxophone (1994–1995)
Don Hammerstedt – trumpet (1990–1992)
Alex Henderson – trombone (1991–1993)
Phil Jordan – trumpet (1992–1995); backing vocals (1994–1995)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums
 No Doubt (1992)
 The Beacon Street Collection (1995)
 Tragic Kingdom (1995)
 Return of Saturn (2000)
 Rock Steady (2001)
 Push and Shove (2012)

Tours and concerts
 Trapped In a Box Tour (1992)
 Tragic Kingdom World Tour (1997)
 Return Of Saturn Tour (2000)
 Rock Steady Tour (2002)
 Blink-182 / No Doubt Summer Tour 2004 (2004)
 Summer Tour 2009 (2009)
 Seven Night Stand (2012)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

 YouTube channel

Gwen Stefani
Reggae fusion groups
Third-wave ska groups
American ska punk musical groups
American ska musical groups
Alternative rock groups from California
Musical groups from Orange County, California
Musical groups disestablished in 2004
Musical groups reestablished in 2009
Musical groups established in 1986
Musical quartets from California
Interscope Records artists
Reggae rock groups
Grammy Award winners
Articles which contain graphical timelines
1986 establishments in California
Sibling musical groups
Female-fronted musical groups

No Doubt


In condensed matter physics and materials science, an amorphous solid (or non-crystalline solid) is a solid that lacks the long-range order that is characteristic of a crystal. The terms "glass" and "glassy solid" are sometimes used synonymously with amorphous solid; however, these terms refer specifically to amorphous materials that undergo a glass transition. Examples of amorphous solids include glasses, metallic glasses, and certain types of plastics and polymers.

Etymology
The term comes from the Greek a ("without"), and morphé ("shape, form").

Structure

Amorphous materials have an internal structure consisting of interconnected structural blocks that can be similar to the basic structural units found in the corresponding crystalline phase of the same compound. Unlike in crystalline materials, however, no long-range order exists. Amorphous materials therefore cannot be defined by a finite unit cell. Statistical methods, such as the atomic density function and radial distribution function, are more useful in describing the structure of amorphous solids.

Although amorphous materials lack long range order, they exhibit localized order on small length scales. Localized order in amorphous materials can be categorized as short or medium range order. By convention, short range order extends only to the nearest neighbor shell, typically only 1-2 atomic spacings. Medium range order is then defined as the structural organization extending beyond the short range order, usually by 1-2 nm.

Fundamental properties of amorphous solids

Glass transition at high temperatures

The freezing from liquid state to amorphous solid - glass transition - is considered one of the very important and unsolved problems of physics.

Universal low-temperature properties of amorphous solids

At very low temperatures (below 1-10 K), large family of amorphous solids have various similar low-temperature properties.
Although there are various theoretical models, neither glass transition nor low-temperature properties of glassy solids are well understood on the fundamental physics level.

Amorphous solids is an important area of condensed matter physics aiming to understand these substances at high temperatures of glass transition and at low temperatures towards absolute zero. From 1970s, low-temperature properties of amorphous solids were studied experimentally in great detail.

 For all of these substances, specific heat has a (nearly) linear dependence as a function of temperature, and thermal conductivity has nearly quadratic temperature dependence. These properties are conventionally called anomalous being very different from properties of crystalline solids.

On the phenomenological level, many of these properties were described by a collection of tunneling two-level systems.

Nevertheless, the microscopic theory of these properties is still missing after more than 50 years of the research.

Remarkably, a dimensionless quantity of internal friction is nearly universal in these materials.
 This quantity is a dimensionless ratio (up to a numerical constant) of the phonon wavelength to the phonon mean free path. Since the theory of tunneling two-level states (TLSs) does not address the origin of the density of TLSs, this theory cannot explain the universality of internal friction, which in turn is proportional to the density of scattering TLSs. The theoretical significance of this important and unsolved problem was highlighted  by Anthony Leggett.

Nano-structured materials
Amorphous materials will have some degree of short-range order at the atomic-length scale due to the nature of intermolecular chemical bonding. Furthermore, in very small crystals, short-range order encompasses a large fraction of the atoms; nevertheless, relaxation at the surface, along with interfacial effects, distorts the atomic positions and decreases structural order. Even the most advanced structural characterization techniques, such as X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, have difficulty distinguishing amorphous and crystalline structures at short-length scales.

Characterization of amorphous solids

Due to the lack of long-range order, standard crystallographic techniques are often inadequate in determining the structure of amorphous solids. A variety of electron, X-ray, and computation-based techniques have been used to characterize amorphous materials. Multi-modal analysis is very common for amorphous materials.

X-ray and neutron diffraction
Unlike crystalline materials which exhibit strong Bragg diffraction, the diffraction patterns of amorphous materials are characterized by broad and diffuse peaks. As a result, detailed analysis and complementary techniques are required to extract real space structural information from the diffraction patterns of amorphous materials. It is useful to obtain diffraction data from both X-ray and neutron sources as they have different scattering properties and provide complementary data. Pair distribution function analysis can be performed on diffraction data to determine the probability of finding a pair of atoms separated by a certain distance. Another type of analysis that is done with diffraction data of amorphous materials is radial distribution function analysis, which measures the number of atoms found at varying radial distances away from an arbitrary reference atom. From these techniques, the local order of an amorphous material can be elucidated.

X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy
X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy is an atomic scale probe making it useful for studying materials lacking in long range order. Spectra obtained using this method provide information on the oxidation state, coordination number, and species surrounding the atom in question as well as the distances at which they are found.

Atomic electron tomography
The atomic electron tomography technique is performed in transmission electron microscopes capable of reaching sub-Angstrom resolution. A collection of 2D images taken at numerous different tilt angles is acquired from the sample in question, and then used to reconstruct a 3D image. After image acquisition, a significant amount of processing must be done to correct for issues such as drift, noise, and scan distortion. High quality analysis and processing using atomic electron tomography results in a 3D reconstruction of an amorphous material detailing the atomic positions of the different species that are present.

Fluctuation electron microscopy
Fluctuation electron microscopy is another transmission electron microscopy based technique that is sensitive to the medium range order of amorphous materials. Structural fluctuations arising from different forms of medium range order can be detected with this method. Fluctuation electron microscopy experiments can be done in conventional or scanning transmission electron microscope mode.

Computational techniques
Simulation and modeling techniques are often combined with experimental methods to characterize structures of amorphous materials. Commonly used computational techniques include density functional theory, molecular dynamics, and reverse Monte Carlo.

Uses and observations

Amorphous thin films
Amorphous phases are important constituents of thin films. Thin films are solid layers of a few nanometres to tens of micrometres thickness that are deposited onto a substrate. So-called structure zone models were developed to describe the microstructure of thin films as a function of the homologous temperature (Th), which is the ratio of deposition temperature to melting temperature. According to these models, a necessary condition for the occurrence of amorphous phases is that (Th) has to be smaller than 0.3. The deposition temperature must be below 30% of the melting temperature.

Superconductivity

Regarding their applications, amorphous metallic layers played an important role in the discovery of superconductivity in amorphous metals made by Buckel and Hilsch. The superconductivity of amorphous metals, including amorphous metallic thin films, is now understood to be due to phonon-mediated Cooper pairing. The role of structural disorder can be rationalized based on the strong-coupling Eliashberg theory of superconductivity.

Thermal protection
Amorphous solids typically exhibit higher localization of heat carriers compared to crystalline, giving rise to low thermal conductivity. Products for thermal protection, such as thermal barrier coatings and insulation, rely on materials with ultralow thermal conductivity.

Technological uses
Today, optical coatings made from TiO2, SiO2, Ta2O5 etc. (and combinations of these) in most cases consist of amorphous phases of these compounds. Much research is carried out into thin amorphous films as a gas separating membrane layer. The technologically most important thin amorphous film is probably represented by a few nm thin SiO2 layers serving as isolator above the conducting channel of a metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). Also, hydrogenated amorphous silicon (Si:H) is of technical significance for thin-film solar cells.

Pharmaceutical use
In the pharmaceutical industry, some amorphous drugs have been shown to offer higher bioavailability than their crystalline counterparts as a result of the higher solubility of the amorphous phase. However, certain compounds can undergo precipitation in their amorphous form in vivo, and can then decrease mutual bioavailability if administered together.

In soils
Amorphous materials in soil strongly influence bulk density, aggregate stability, plasticity, and water holding capacity of soils. The low bulk density and high void ratios are mostly due to glass shards and other porous minerals not becoming compacted. Andisol soils contain the highest amounts of amorphous materials.

Phase
The occurrence of amorphous phases turned out to be a phenomenon of particular interest for the studying of thin-film growth. The growth of polycrystalline films is often used and preceded by an initial amorphous layer, the thickness of which may amount to only a few nm. The most investigated example is represented by the unoriented molecules of thin polycrystalline silicon films. Wedge-shaped polycrystals were identified by transmission electron microscopy to grow out of the amorphous phase only after the latter has exceeded a certain thickness, the precise value of which depends on deposition temperature, background pressure, and various other process parameters. The phenomenon has been interpreted in the framework of Ostwald's rule of stages that predicts the formation of phases to proceed with increasing condensation time towards increasing stability.

Notes

References

Further reading

Phases of matter
Unsolved problems in physics

Amorphous solid


Takadanobaba (Japanese: 高田馬場 Takada-no-baba) is a neighborhood in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.

History
Originally, the area's name was read Takatanobaba and many Tokyo residents in their 50s or older pronounce it as such.  However, younger Tokyoites and residents who have come from outside Tokyo, use the pronunciation Takadanobaba.  The area is also often referred to simply as "Baba".

The area was previously and officially known as Totsuka (戸塚). In 1636, the shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu built in the area a baba, a ground for horseback riding and horse racing.  Takata was the family name of the mother of Matsudaira Tadateru (the sixth son of Iemitsu's grandfather, the previous shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu) who favored the area as a sightseeing spot. The name stuck to prevent confusion with nearby Totsuka town near Yokohama (now Totsuka-ku, Yokohama).

In 1694, Nakayama Yasubei (later Horibe Yasubei, one of the forty-seven rōnin) took part in a battle (the Takadanobaba Kettō 高田馬場の決闘) there.

Life in Takadanobaba
The neighborhood is a transport hub for commuters traveling in from the west of Tokyo as it is home to three popular train lines: the Seibu Shinjuku Line, the JR Yamanote Line, and the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line. During the morning rush hour, Takadanobaba is one of the hot-points of the Tokyo transport network with all three stations bursting at the seams with local residents, students and commuters.

Like neighboring Waseda, the area is synonymous with students (albeit with a somewhat less salubrious image). In addition to serving students commuting to Waseda University, the area is home to many educational institutions including vocational colleges and preparatory schools. Gakushuin University is nearby, one station stop away in Mejiro.

At night, once commuters have returned to suburbs and local residents are home, the area turns into a bit of a college town. The streets around the station become crowded with large groups of students staggering out of cheap bars and izakaya.

Architecturally, the area around the station is dominated by the monolithic and appropriately named Big Box building. The building houses a sports gym, an arcade, inexpensive clothing stores, a cafe, restaurants, a 100-yen shop, and a bookstore.

The Sendagaya Japanese School together with the New York–style Ben's Cafe (closed May 20, 2011), used English-language book shop The Blue Parrot, Mickey House made famous by the Lonely Planet's Tokyo/Japan guides and, on the way to Waseda, the English pub The Fiddler (which closed on January 31, 2007) have placed Takadanobaba on foreigners' maps of Tokyo.

Astro Boy, a fictional character created by Osamu Tezuka in 1952, was supposedly "born" in Takadanobaba on April 7, 2003. In commemoration to both this and the premiere of the 2003 remake of the Astro Boy Anime TV series, starting in 2003, the JR Yamanote Line platform uses the theme music from the TV series to signal the departure of a train. Also, many lamp posts in the area carry pictures from the TV series, and two large murals depicting Tezuka's works are across the street of JR Takadanobaba station. There are a lots of foreign people and mostly Burmese(Myanmar).

Director J. J. Abrams referenced Takadanobaba as an influence on the naming of planet Takodana in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

See also
Takadanobaba Station

References

Neighborhoods of Tokyo
Shinjuku

Takadanobaba


The buff-breasted flycatcher (Empidonax fulvifrons) is a small insectivorous bird. It is the smallest Empidonax flycatcher, typically ranging from 11.5 to 13 cm (4.5 to 5 in) in size.

Adults have olive gray upper bodies, darker coloration on the wings and tail, conspicuous white eye rings, white wing bars, small bills, and short tails. The breast of this species is distinctive, washed with a strong orange-buff color.

Their preferred breeding habitat is scrub and open woodlands.   They usually make a cup nest in the forks of trees.  Females usually lay two eggs at a time.

The range of the buff-breasted flycatcher extends from extreme southeastern Arizona in the United States through Mexico to southern Honduras.

These birds are partial migrants, retreating from their northern breeding areas in the United States and northern Mexico for the winter.

To feed, they often wait on an open perch of a shrub or low branch of a tree and fly out to catch insects in flight. They also sometimes pick insects from foliage while hovering.

The song is an alternating versed  PIdew, piDEW.  The call is a loud dry pit.

Subspecies
Various subspecies are recognized:
 Empidonax fulvifrons pygmaeus Coues, 1865 (northern buff-breasted flycatcher or fulvous flycatcher)
 Empidonax fulvifrons fulvifrons (Giraud, 1841)
 Empidonax fulvifrons rubicundus Cabanis & Heine, 1859
 Empidonax fulvifrons brodkorbi Phillips, AR, 1966
 Empidonax fulvifrons fusciceps Nelson, 1904
 Empidonax fulvifrons inexpectatus Griscom, 1932

References

 AviBase

buff-breasted flycatcher
Native birds of the Southwestern United States
Birds of Central America
buff-breasted flycatcher
buff-breasted flycatcher

Buff-breasted flycatcher


Thomas Gainsford (died 1624) was an author and news editor.

Gainsford belonged to the Surrey family of Gainsford. He inherited property in Lombard Street in the City of London. He and Edward Stene apparently purchased of the crown Alne manor, Warwickshire, and a cottage in Stutton, Yorkshire, on 27 November 1599 (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1598–1601, p. 347). He is known to have served in Ireland under Richard de Burgh, fourth earl of Clanricarde, as "third officer" of the "earl's regiment" when the Spaniards were dislodged from Kinsale on 24 December 1601. He was also engaged in the war against Tyrone in Ulster. As captain, Gainsford undertook to occupy land in Ulster at the plantation of 1610 (Irish State Papers, 1608–10, p. 367).
Gainsford is reputed to have been the first London periodical news editor.  Ben Jonson, associating the source of these publications with the stationer Thomas Archer's bookshop in Pope's Head Alley between the Exchange and Lombard Street, referred to his work as
'Captaine Pamphlet's horse and foot that sally
Upon the Exchange at Pope's Head Alley
Gainsford became associated with the publications of the news syndicate formed in 1622 by Nathaniel Butter, Thomas Archer, Nicholas Bourne, William Sheffard and Bartholomew Downes and was responsible for taking control of the style, organization and presentation of the news. He helped readers to understand news from many cities, armies and battle scenes that could otherwise have been confusing to those unfamiliar with European  dynasties and armies but concerned by news of catholic advances in the Counter Reformation.  In this way he played a part in educating them about military affairs and the progress of the Thirty Years' War. He also wrote many editorials 'To the Reader', establishing a relationship with readers and addressing them and their anxieties directly.

On 4 September 1624 Chamberlain wrote to Carleton that the deaths of the week in London included "Captain Gainsford, the gazette maker"

Other editors were employed by the London newspapers, including William Watts who is credited with editing The Swedish Intelligencer in the early 1630s, but none achieved the same level of notoriety and interest.

Known works
Gainsford published the following:

 , in verse of six-line stanzas; dedicated to "the truly religious and resolute gentlemen of England". An address from Henry VII to James I figures in the poem. Only two copies are now known, one at Bridgewater House, the other at the British Museum (Collier, Bibliogr. Manual, i. 300–1; Corser, Collectanea, vol. vi.).
 The Historie of Trebizond in foure books, by Thomas Gainsforde, esquier, Lond., 1616, a collection of romantic stories. The books are separately dedicated to the Countess Dowager of Derby, the Countess of Huntingdon, Lady Frances Egerton, and Lady Chandos respectively.
 The Secretaries Studie; or directions for the … judicious inditing of Letters, London, 1616; no copy is in the British Museum.
 The True and Wonderfull History of Perkin Warbeck, London, 1618, dedicated to the Earl of Arundel; reprinted in The Harleian Miscellany, vol. iii.
 The Glory of England, or a true Description of many excellent Prerogatives and remarkable Blessings whereby she triumpheth over all the Nations of the World, London, 1618, dedicated to Buckingham. All "the eminent kingdoms of the earth" are here compared with England to their disadvantage. A curious account of Ireland from the author's own experience concludes book i. Book ii. treats of Russia, and compares London with Paris, Venice, and Constantinople. A revised edition appeared in 1619, and was reissued in 1620.
 The True Exemplary and Remarkable History of the Earl of Tirone, London, 1619, dedicated to the Earl of Clanricarde; of no great value, but interesting as a nearly contemporary record.

Works attributed to Gainsford
Mr. W. C. Hazlitt also conjecturally assigns to Gainsford , London, for Roger Iackson, 1616. An appendix—"an epitome of good manners extracted out of the treatise of M. Iohn della Casa called Galatea"—is signed T. G., together with a Latin motto. This signature resembles those in Gainsford's undoubted books, but the question of authorship is very doubtful. Some hostile remarks on players, ff. 116–18, are interesting. The book was popular; a fourth edition is dated 1668, and a sixth 1689.

The Friers Chronicle, or the True Legend of Priests and Monkes Lives (Lond., for Robert Mylbourne, 1623), has a dedication to the Countess of Devonshire, signed T. G., and has been attributed to Gainsford. But Thomas Goad (1576–1638) is more probably the author.

References

Year of birth missing
1624 deaths
17th-century English writers
17th-century English male writers

Thomas Gainsford


Henry Porter (born ca. 1613) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons  in 1654 and 1656.

Porter was the eldest son of James Porter of Lancaster. He was a major in the service of the commonwealth. In 1654, he was elected Member of Parliament for Lancaster in the First Protectorate Parliament. He was re-elected MP for Lancaster in 1656 to the Second Protectorate Parliament

Porter was given as aged 52 in 1665.

Porter had a son Henry who was also MP for Lancaster.

References

1613 births
Year of death missing
People from Lancaster, Lancashire
English MPs 1654–1655
English MPs 1656–1658

Henry Porter (MP)


The 1922 New York state election was held on November 7, 1922, to elect the governor, the lieutenant governor, the Secretary of State, the state comptroller, the attorney general, the state treasurer, the state engineer and a U.S. Senator, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. Two amendments to the State Constitution were also proposed. During his 1922 reelection bid, Smith notably embraced his position as an opponent of Prohibition.

History
A Socialist state convention met on July 2 at 5, East Sixteenth Street in New York City. They nominated a tentative ticket which would be the basis for a fusion with the Farmer-Labor Party to be effected later. On it were Ex-Alderman Edward F. Cassidy for governor; Theresa B. Wiley, of Schenectady, for lieutenant governor; A. Philip Randolph for secretary of state; James C. Sheahan, a railroad worker of Albany, for comptroller; Morris Berman for treasurer; Hezekiah D. Wilcox for attorney general; Charles P. Steinmetz for state engineer; and John W. Dannes, of Rochester, for U.S. Senator. The official state convention met on September 30 at 7 East Fifteenth Street in New York City; S. John Block was chairman. They nominated the same state ticket which was already proposed in July, with one exception. For U.S. Senator, Mrs. Esther Lefkowitz, of Elmhurst was nominated.

The Republican state convention met on September 28 in Albany, New York. Elihu Root was temporary chairman until the choice of Speaker H. Edmund Machold as permanent chairman. All nominations, except for secretary of state, were unopposed. Governor Nathan L. Miller was re-nominated. William J. Donovan was nominated for lieutenant governor. Secretary of State John J. Lyons was defeated on the first ballot by Samuel J. Joseph, of The Bronx (vote: Joseph 1031, Lyons 158). The incumbents Comptroller William J. Maier, Treasurer N. Monroe Marshall and U.S. Senator William M. Calder were re-nominated. Superintendent of Public Works Charles L. Cadle, of Rochester, was nominated for state engineer; and Erskine C. Rogers, of Hudson Falls, for attorney general.

The Democratic state convention met on September 29 in Syracuse, New York. Mayor of Albany William S. Hackett was permanent chairman. Ex-Governor Al Smith (in office 1919-20) was nominated again for governor, all 734 votes were cast for him, the only candidate. Mayor of Schenectady George R. Lunn was nominated for lieutenant governor; New York City Commissioner of Corrections James A. Hamilton for secretary of state; Ex-Mayor of Troy James W. Fleming for comptroller, Captain George K. Shuler for treasurer; Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York Carl Sherman for attorney general; Dwight B. LaDu for state engineer; and New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Royal S. Copeland for U.S. Senator. All nominations were unopposed.

Result
The whole Democratic ticket was elected.

The incumbents Miller, Maier, Marshall and Calder were defeated.

The Democratic, Republican and Socialist parties maintained automatic ballot access (necessary 15,000 votes for governor), the Farmer-Labor and Prohibition parties lost it; and the Socialist Labor Party did not re-attain it.

Amendments
The amendment proposing to increase the salaries of the judges of the New York Court of Appeals from $10,000 to $17,000 was rejected: 572,502 For and 891,980 Against.
The amendment proposing a change in the procedure relating to special city bills was accepted: 819,628 For and 554,654 Against.

Notes

References

Sources
The tickets: "Aspirants Seeking Office Next Tuesday". The New York Times. November 5, 1922.
Result: "Smith Plurality Fixed at 385,945". The New York Times. December 8, 1922.
Result (Prohibition only): Vote for Prohibition candidates at Prohibitionists.org
 Results, New York Red Book 1923

See also
New York gubernatorial elections
New York state elections

1922

1922 New York state election


A greyhound is a cocktail consisting of grapefruit juice and gin mixed and served over ice. If the rim of the glass has been salted, the drink is instead called a salty dog.

History

A recipe for a similar cocktail with the name "Greyhound" appears in Harper's Magazine in 1945 (volume 191, page 461) thus: "The cocktails were made of vodka, sugar, and canned grapefruit juice a greyhound.  This cocktail was served at Greyhound's popular restaurant chain that was located at bus terminals, called 'Post House'."

Before 1945, vodka was an uncommon spirit and most drinks we think of today as "classic cocktails" and which call for vodka, originally would have contained gin.  As vodka's popularity grew after the war and gin's popularity waned, many of the popular cocktails persisted, albeit with vodka substituted for gin. The most conspicuous of these is the martini which, before 1945, would invariably have been made with gin.

The reason that most cocktails during and just after prohibition were prepared with salted or sugared rims is because the quality of alcoholic beverages was not so appealing. Also, more recently, both the greyhounds and the salty dogs are more often made with vodka not gin. The root cause of this is for taste preferences and to serve a broader market.

Garnish

For the greyhound, twist of lime or lemon.

Variations

Vodka greyhound: uses vodka instead of gin.

Salty dog: has a salted rim on the glass and uses vodka sometimes.

Dalmatian: has black pepper syrup and vodka.

Some similar cocktails use grapefruit soda instead of grapefruit juice, notably the Finnish Lonkero (ready-to-drink mix of grapefruit soda and gin) and the Mexican Paloma (grapefruit soda and tequila).

See also

 List of cocktails

References

Cocktails with vodka
Cocktails with gin
Citrus cocktails
Sour cocktails
Two-ingredient cocktails
Cocktails with grapefruit juice

Greyhound (cocktail)