Aquarius is an equatorial constellation of the zodiac, between Capricornus and Pisces. Its name is Latin for "water-carrier" or "cup-carrier", and its old astronomical symbol is  (♒), a representation of water. Aquarius is one of the oldest of the recognized constellations along the zodiac (the Sun's apparent path). It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is found in a region often called the Sea due to its profusion of constellations with watery associations such as Cetus the whale, Pisces the fish, and Eridanus the river.

At apparent magnitude 2.9, Beta Aquarii is the brightest star in the constellation.

History and mythology
Aquarius is identified as  "The Great One" in the Babylonian star catalogues and represents the god Ea himself, who is commonly depicted holding an overflowing vase. The Babylonian star-figure appears on entitlement stones and cylinder seals from the second millennium. It contained the winter solstice in the Early Bronze Age. In Old Babylonian astronomy, Ea was the ruler of the southernmost quarter of the Sun's path, the "Way of Ea", corresponding to the period of 45 days on either side of winter solstice. Aquarius was also associated with the destructive floods that the Babylonians regularly experienced, and thus was negatively connoted. In Ancient Egypt astronomy, Aquarius was associated with the annual flood of the Nile; the banks were said to flood when Aquarius put his jar into the river, beginning spring.

In the Greek tradition, the constellation came to be represented simply as a single vase from which a stream poured down to Piscis Austrinus. The name in the Hindu zodiac is likewise kumbha "water-pitcher".

In Greek mythology, Aquarius is sometimes associated with Deucalion, the son of Prometheus who built a ship with his wife Pyrrha to survive an imminent flood. They sailed for nine days before washing ashore on Mount Parnassus. Aquarius is also sometimes identified with beautiful Ganymede, a youth in Greek mythology and the son of Trojan king Tros, who was taken to Mount Olympus by Zeus to act as cup-carrier to the gods. Neighboring Aquila represents the eagle, under Zeus' command, that snatched the young boy; some versions of the myth indicate that the eagle was in fact Zeus transformed. An alternative version of the tale recounts Ganymede's kidnapping by the goddess of the dawn, Eos, motivated by her affection for young men; Zeus then stole him from Eos and employed him as cup-bearer. Yet another figure associated with the water bearer is Cecrops I, a king of Athens who sacrificed water instead of wine to the gods.

Depictions

In the first century, Ptolemy's Almagest established the common Western depiction of Aquarius. His water jar, an asterism itself, consists of Gamma, Pi, Eta, and Zeta Aquarii; it pours water in a stream of more than 20 stars terminating with Fomalhaut, now assigned solely to Piscis Austrinus. The water bearer's head is represented by 5th magnitude 25 Aquarii while his left shoulder is Beta Aquarii; his right shoulder and forearm are represented by Alpha and Gamma Aquarii respectively.

In Eastern astronomy
In Chinese astronomy, the stream of water flowing from the Water Jar was depicted as the "Army of Yu-Lin" (Yu-lim-kiun or Yulinjun, Hanzi: 羽林君). The name "Yu-lin" means "feathers and forests", referring to the numerous light-footed soldiers from the northern reaches of the empire represented by these faint stars. The constellation's stars were the most numerous of any Chinese constellation, numbering 45, the majority of which were located in modern Aquarius. The celestial army was protected by the wall Leibizhen (垒壁阵), which counted Iota, Lambda, Phi, and Sigma Aquarii among its 12 stars. 88, 89, and 98 Aquarii represent Fou-youe, the axes used as weapons and for hostage executions. Also in Aquarius is Loui-pi-tchin, the ramparts that stretch from 29 and 27 Piscium and 33 and 30 Aquarii through Phi, Lambda, Sigma, and Iota Aquarii to Delta, Gamma, Kappa, and Epsilon Capricorni.

Near the border with Cetus, the axe Fuyue was represented by three stars; its position is disputed and may have instead been located in Sculptor. Tienliecheng also has a disputed position; the 13-star castle replete with ramparts may have possessed Nu and Xi Aquarii but may instead have been located south in Piscis Austrinus. The Water Jar asterism was seen to the ancient Chinese as the tomb, Fenmu. Nearby, the emperors' mausoleum Xiuliang stood, demarcated by Kappa Aquarii and three other collinear stars. Ku ("crying") and Qi ("weeping"), each composed of two stars, were located in the same region.

Three of the Chinese lunar mansions shared their name with constellations. Nu, also the name for the 10th lunar mansion, was a handmaiden represented by Epsilon, Mu, 3, and 4 Aquarii. The 11th lunar mansion shared its name with the constellation Xu ("emptiness"), formed by Beta Aquarii and Alpha Equulei; it represented a bleak place associated with death and funerals. Wei, the rooftop and 12th lunar mansion, was a V-shaped constellation formed by Alpha Aquarii, Theta Pegasi, and Epsilon Pegasi; it shared its name with two other Chinese constellations, in modern-day Scorpius and Aries.

Features

Stars

Despite both its prominent position on the zodiac and its large size, Aquarius has no particularly bright stars, its four brightest stars being less than  However, recent research has shown that there are several stars lying within its borders that possess planetary systems.

The two brightest stars, α Aquarii and β Aquarii, are luminous yellow supergiants, of spectral types G0Ib and G2Ib respectively, that were once hot blue-white B-class main sequence stars 5 to 9 times as massive as the Sun. The two are also moving through space perpendicular to the plane of the Milky Way. Just shading α, β Aquarii is the brightest star in Aquarius with apparent  It also has the proper name of Sadalsuud. Having cooled and swollen to around 50 times the Sun's diameter, it is around 2200 times as luminous as the Sun. It is around 6.4 times as massive as the Sun and around 56 million years old. Sadalsuud is  from Earth. α Aquarii, also known as Sadalmelik, has apparent  It is  distant from Earth, and is around 6.5 times as massive as the Sun, and 3000 times as luminous. It is 53 million years old.

γ Aquarii, also called Sadachbia, is a white main sequence star of spectral type star of spectral type A0V that is between 158 and 315 million years old and is around 2.5 times the Sun's mass (), and double its radius. Its magnitude is 3.85, and it is  away, hence its luminosity is  . The name Sadachbia comes from the Arabic for "lucky stars of the tents", sa'd al-akhbiya.

δ Aquarii, also known as Skat or Scheat is a blue-white spectral type A2 star with apparent magnitude 3.27 and luminosity  .

ε Aquarii, also known as Albali, is a blue-white spectral type A1 star with apparent magnitude 3.77, absolute magnitude 1.2, and a luminosity of  .

ζ Aquarii is a spectral type F2 double star; both stars are white. In combination, they appear to be magnitude 3.6 with luminosity  . The primary has magnitude 4.53 and the secondary's magnitude is 4.31, but both have absolute  The system's orbital period is 760 years; currently the two components are moving farther apart.

θ Aquarii, sometimes called Ancha, is spectral type G8 with apparent magnitude 4.16 and an absolute

κ Aquarii, also called Situla, has an apparent

λ Aquarii, also called Hudoor or Ekchusis, is spectral type M2 with magnitude 3.74 and luminosity  .

ξ Aquarii, also called Bunda, is spectral type A7 with an apparent magnitude 4.69 and an absolute

π Aquarii, also called Seat, is spectral type B0 with apparent magnitude 4.66 and absolute

Planetary systems
Twelve exoplanet systems have been found in Aquarius as of 2013. Gliese 876, one of the nearest stars to Earth at a distance of 15 light-years, was the first red dwarf star to be found to possess a planetary system. It is orbited by four planets, including one terrestrial planet 6.6 times the mass of Earth. The planets vary in orbital period from 2 days to 124 days. 91 Aquarii is an orange giant star orbited by one planet, 91 Aquarii b. The planet's mass is 2.9 times the mass of Jupiter, and its orbital period is 182 days. Gliese 849 is a red dwarf star orbited by the first known long-period Jupiter-like planet, Gliese 849 b. The planet's mass is 0.99 times that of Jupiter and its orbital period is 1,852 days.

There are also less-prominent systems in Aquarius. WASP-6, a type G8 star of magnitude 12.4, is host to one exoplanet, WASP-6 b. The star is 307 parsecs from Earth and has a mass of 0.888 solar masses and a radius of 0.87 solar radii. WASP-6 b was discovered in 2008 by the transit method. It orbits its parent star every 3.36 days at a distance of 0.042 astronomical units (AU). It is 0.503 Jupiter masses but has a proportionally larger radius of 1.224 Jupiter radii. HD 206610, a K0 star located 194 parsecs from Earth, is host to one planet, HD 206610 b. The host star is larger than the Sun; more massive at 1.56 solar masses and larger at 6.1 solar radii. The planet was discovered by the radial velocity method in 2010 and has a mass of 2.2 Jupiter masses. It orbits every 610 days at a distance of 1.68 AU. Much closer to its sun is WASP-47 b, which orbits every 4.15 days only 0.052 AU from its sun, yellow dwarf (G9V) WASP-47. WASP-47 is close in size to the Sun, having a radius of 1.15 solar radii and a mass even closer at 1.08 solar masses. WASP-47 b was discovered in 2011 by the transit method, like WASP-6 b. It is slightly larger than Jupiter with a mass of 1.14 Jupiter masses and a radius of 1.15 Jupiter masses.

There are several more single-planet systems in Aquarius. HD 210277, a magnitude 6.63 yellow star located 21.29 parsecs from Earth, is host to one known planet: HD 210277 b. The 1.23 Jupiter mass planet orbits at nearly the same distance as Earth orbits the Sun1.1 AU, though its orbital period is significantly longer at around 442 days. HD 210277 b was discovered earlier than most of the other planets in Aquarius, detected by the radial velocity method in 1998. The star it orbits resembles the Sun beyond their similar spectral class; it has a radius of 1.1 solar radii and a mass of 1.09 solar masses. HD 212771 b, a larger planet at 2.3 Jupiter masses, orbits host star HD 212771 at a distance of 1.22 AU. The star itself, barely below the threshold of naked-eye visibility at magnitude 7.6, is a G8IV (yellow subgiant) star located 131 parsecs from Earth. Though it has a similar mass to the Sun1.15 solar massesit is significantly less dense with its radius of 5 solar radii. Its lone planet was discovered in 2010 by the radial velocity method, like several other exoplanets in the constellation.

As of 2013, there were only two known multiple-planet systems within the bounds of Aquarius: the Gliese 876 and HD 215152 systems. The former is quite prominent; the latter has only two planets and has a host star farther away at 21.5 parsecs. The HD 215152 system consists of the planets HD 215152 b and HD 215152 c orbiting their K0-type, magnitude 8.13 sun. Both discovered in 2011 by the radial velocity method, the two tiny planets orbit very close to their host star. HD 215152 c is the larger at 0.0097 Jupiter masses (still significantly larger than the Earth, which weighs in at 0.00315 Jupiter masses); its smaller sibling is barely smaller at 0.0087 Jupiter masses. The error in the mass measurements (0.0032 and  respectively) is large enough to make this discrepancy statistically insignificant. HD 215152 c also orbits further from the star than HD 215152 b, 0.0852 AU compared to 0.0652.

On 23 February 2017, NASA announced that ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 in Aquarius has seven Earth-like rocky planets. Of these, as many as four may lie within the system's habitable zone, and may have liquid water on their surfaces. The discovery of the TRAPPIST-1 system is seen by astronomers as a significant step toward finding life beyond Earth.

Deep sky objects

Because of its position away from the galactic plane, the majority of deep-sky objects in Aquarius are galaxies, globular clusters, and planetary nebulae. Aquarius contains three deep sky objects that are in the Messier catalog: the globular clusters Messier 2, Messier 72, and the asterism Messier 73. While M73 was originally catalogued as a sparsely populated open cluster, modern analysis indicates the 6 main stars are not close enough together to fit this definition, reclassifying M73 as an asterism. Two well-known planetary nebulae are also located in Aquarius: the Saturn Nebula (NGC 7009), to the southeast of μ Aquarii; and the famous Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), southwest of δ Aquarii.

M2, also catalogued as NGC 7089, is a rich globular cluster located approximately 37,000 light-years from Earth. At magnitude 6.5, it is viewable in small-aperture instruments, but a 100 mm aperture telescope is needed to resolve any stars. M72, also catalogued as NGC 6981, is a small 9th magnitude globular cluster located approximately 56,000 light-years from Earth. M73, also catalogued as NGC 6994, is an open cluster with highly disputed status.

Aquarius is also home to several planetary nebulae. NGC 7009, also known as the Saturn Nebula, is an 8th magnitude planetary nebula located 3,000 light-years from Earth. It was given its moniker by the 19th century astronomer Lord Rosse for its resemblance to the planet Saturn in a telescope; it has faint protrusions on either side that resemble Saturn's rings. It appears blue-green in a telescope and has a central star of magnitude 11.3. Compared to the Helix Nebula, another planetary nebula in Aquarius, it is quite small. NGC 7293, also known as the Helix Nebula, is the closest planetary nebula to Earth at a distance of 650 light-years. It covers 0.25 square degrees, making it also the largest planetary nebula as seen from Earth. However, because it is so large, it is only viewable as a very faint object, though it has a fairly high integrated magnitude of 6.0.

One of the visible galaxies in Aquarius is NGC 7727, of particular interest for amateur astronomers who wish to discover or observe supernovae. A spiral galaxy (type S), it has an integrated magnitude of 10.7 and is 3 by 3 arcseconds. NGC 7252 is a tangle of stars resulting from the collision of two large galaxies and is known as the Atoms-for-Peace galaxy because of its resemblance to a cartoon atom.

Meteor showers
There are three major meteor showers with radiants in Aquarius: the Eta Aquariids, the Delta Aquariids, and the Iota Aquariids.

The Eta Aquariids are the strongest meteor shower radiating from Aquarius. It peaks between 5 and 6 May with a rate of approximately 35 meteors per hour. Originally discovered by Chinese astronomers in 401, Eta Aquariids can be seen coming from the Water Jar beginning on 21 April and as late as 12 May. The parent body of the shower is Halley's Comet, a periodic comet. Fireballs are common shortly after the peak, approximately between 9 May and 11 May. The normal meteors appear to have yellow trails.

The Delta Aquariids is a double radiant meteor shower that peaks first on 29 July and second on 6 August. The first radiant is located in the south of the constellation, while the second radiant is located in the northern circlet of Pisces asterism. The southern radiant's peak rate is about 20 meteors per hour, while the northern radiant's peak rate is about 10 meteors per hour.

The Iota Aquariids is a fairly weak meteor shower that peaks on 6 August, with a rate of approximately 8 meteors per hour.

Astrology

, the Sun appears in the constellation Aquarius from 16 February to 12 March. In tropical astrology, the Sun is considered to be in the sign Aquarius from 20 January to 19 February, and in sidereal astrology, from 15 February to 14 March.

Aquarius is also associated with the Age of Aquarius, a concept popular in 1960s counterculture and Medieval Alchemy. The date of the start of The Age of Aquarius is a topic of much debate.

Notes

See also
 Aquarius (Chinese astronomy)

References

External links

 The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Aquarius
 The clickable Aquarius
 Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (medieval and early modern images of Aquarius)

Constellations
Equatorial constellations
Constellations listed by Ptolemy

Aquarius (constellation)


Michael Sanderling (born 21 February 1967) is a German conductor and violoncellist.

Biography
Born in East Berlin, Michael Sanderling is the son of the contrabassist Barbara Wagner and the conductor Kurt Sanderling.  He received his first cello lessons at age five in Berlin. At age eleven, he became a student of Matthias Pfaender at the Spezialschule für Musik Berlin. The 17-year-old Sanderling was accepted at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin and studied with Josef Schwab. He took further lessons with William Pleeth, Yo-Yo Ma, Gary Hoffmann and Lynn Harrell. In 1987, he won a 1st prize at the Maria Canals International Music Competition. The same year, after his debut as a soloist, he was engaged as solo cellist of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra where he stayed until 1992.  From 1994 to 2006, he was guest solo cellist at the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (East Berlin).  From 1994 to 1998, he was an academic at his alma mater in Berlin. In 1998, he started teaching at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. Between 2000 and 2003, he was also a professor at Hochschule der Künste Bern. He was a member of the Trio Ex Aequo from 1988 to 1996. Sanderling ended his career as a cello soloist in 2010, to focus on teaching and conducting.

Sanderling made his debut as a conductor with the Kammerorchester Berlin on 25 November 2000.  In 2003, he became principal conductor of the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie, and held the post through 2013.  From 2006 to 2010, Sanderling was principal conductor and artistic director of the Kammerakademie Potsdam.  In 2009, Sony released a CD of works by Dmitri Shostakovich with the Kammerakademie Potsdam and Sanderling.

In 2010, the Dresden Philharmonic appointed Sanderling as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2011–2012 season, with an initial contract of 3 seasons.  In October 2013, the orchestra announced the extension of Sanderling's contract as principal conductor through the 2018–2019 season.  In November 2016, Sanderling announced, via a letter to the mayor of Dresden, his intention to stand down as chief conductor of the orchestra after the end of his contract in 2019, in protest at learning of proposed culture budget reductions via media reports instead of being informed directly from the civic authorities.

In 2010, Sanderling first guest-conducted the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra.  In November 2019, the orchestra announced the appointment of Sanderling as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2021–2022 season.

Selected discography
 Shostakovich: Chamber Symphonies – Kammerakademie Potsdam (2008, Sony Music Entertainment)
 Tchaikovsky: The Seasons / Bartók: Transylvanian Dances & Romanian Folk Dances – Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie (2010, Genuine Classics)
 Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisande / Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien / Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet (suite) – Dresdner Philharmonie (2012, Genuine Classics)
 Dvořák: Cello Concerto – Daniel Müller-Schott, NDR Sinfonieorchester (2014, ORFEO)
 Beethoven: Symphonies – Dresdner Philharmonie (2018, Sony Music Entertainment)
 Shostakovich: Symphonies – Dresdner Philharmonie (2019, Sony Music Entertainment)

References

External links
 Official website of Michael Sanderling

1967 births
Living people
German classical cellists
German male conductors (music)
Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin alumni
German people of Jewish descent
Musicians from Berlin
21st-century German conductors (music)
21st-century German male musicians
Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin
Academic staff of the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts
Prize-winners of the ARD International Music Competition
21st-century cellists

Michael Sanderling


Pomarance is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about  southwest of Florence and about 60 km southeast of Pisa.

Pomarance borders the following municipalities: Casole d'Elsa, Castelnuovo di Val di Cecina, Montecatini Val di Cecina, Monterotondo Marittimo, Monteverdi Marittimo, Radicondoli, Volterra.

Pomarance was the hometown of three painters called Pomarancio after it.

From 1968 to 1992 there was at San Dalmazio the static inverter plant of HVDC Italy–Corsica–Sardinia. Today, there is a solar park.

See also

 San Dalmazio, Pomarance

References

External links

 Official website

Pomarance


Tjerita Sie Po Giok, atawa Peroentoengannja Satoe Anak Piatoe (better known by the short title Sie Po Giok) is a 1911 children's novel from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) written by Tio Ie Soei in vernacular Malay. It tells the story of Sie Po Giok, a young orphan who faces several challenges while living with his uncle in Batavia (now Jakarta). The story, which has been called the only work of children's literature produced by Chinese Malay writers, has been read as promoting traditional gender roles and questioning Chinese identity.

Plot

Eleven-year-old Sie Po Giok has been orphaned for some months and now lives with his uncle, Sie Thian Bie, his uncle's wife, and their seven children at their home in Batavia (now Jakarta). He is sensitive, well-mannered, and polite, yet feels insecure as if he has become a burden to the middle-class family. Moreover, two of Thian Bie's sons—Po Houw and Po Soeij—hate Po Giok. However, Po Giok can usually confide in Thian Bie's eldest daughter, nine-year-old Kim Nio.

One day, as Thian Bie is preparing to leave the city, he tells the children that someone has been stealing fruit from their orchard and that they should keep their eyes open. At night Po Giok sees a neighbourhood boy who sometimes works for them, 17-year-old Ho Kim Tjiang, stealing some guavas. When Po Giok attempts to accost Kim Tjiang, the bigger boy orders him to keep silent or else face Kim Tjiang's wrath; Po Giok promises not to tell anyone. When Thian Bie returns he is extremely distraught, but Po Giok remains silent. Ultimately, however, after several days Po Giok's conscience wins out and he tells his uncle about Kim Tjiang's deeds. Thian Bie then catches the boy and fires him. Kim Tjiang goes home and complains to his mother, who promises that they will have their revenge. Po Giok, meanwhile, is called a coward for not immediately exposing the perpetrator of the crime.

Conflict between Po Giok and Po Houw becomes exacerbated when Po Giok consistently performs better than his cousin at school and, after the two fight, Po Houw is punished by their teacher. When Thian Bie tells the children not to eat some sawo which he is putting aside as a wedding present, Po Houw is severely tempted. When nobody is looking he furtively steals a single fruit and eats it, then slips the skin into a nearby window leading to Po Giok's room. When the sawo skin is found, Po Giok is accused of having stolen it, and no matter how hard he pleads his innocence he is unable to dispel this lie.

The following morning Thian Bie, hungover from a party the night before, forces Po Giok to pray to his parents then takes a stick of rattan and beats the boy "half dead" when he refuses to admit to the theft. Over the following days Po Giok faints and is unable to go to school; he is further alienated from his adoptive family. Ultimately, however, Thian Bie learns that it was in fact Po Houw who had stolen the fruit. As Thian Bie prepares to hit the boy Po Giok insists that Po Houw not be harmed, a plea which Thian Bie heeds; instead, Po Houw is forced to eat separately from the family. Po Houw and Po Soeij slowly warm to their cousin as they see his pure heart.

Po Giok later hears from his teacher that his long-lost uncle, Tjan Haij Boen, wants to take him as a son. When Haij Boen meets with Po Giok and Thian Bie, they agree that Po Giok will join Haij Boen in China in several months, after completing his schooling. However, before this plan can be set into motion Kim Tjiang—long unable to find a job in Batavia owing to his theft—sets fire to the Sie family's home. As Kim Tjiang escapes with some of their valuables, Po Giok rescues Kim Nio from the burning building. They are both severely injured, but survive. At the agreed time, Po Giok goes with Haij Boen to China, where he becomes immensely wealthy over the next twenty years.

Writing

Sie Po Giok was written by Tio Ie Soei, a Batavia-born journalist of Chinese descent. It was his first novel. The story consists of eighteen chapters and has multiple footnotes in which Tio expands on the content, including one towards the end of the novel which tells the reader the ultimate fates of Thian Bie and his children.

Themes

Sim Chee Cheang of the Universiti Malaysia Sabah categorises Sie Po Giok as one of several Chinese Malay works which seemingly aimed to "impart morals according to the teachings of Confucius" by highlighting the "moral decay" of Chinese in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and of using Confucianism to overcome it. She writes that, along with Thio Tjin Boen's Tjerita Oeij Se (1903), Gouw Peng Liang's Lo Fen Koei (1903), Oei Soei Tiong's Njai Alimah (1904), and Hauw San Liang's Pembalesan Kedji (1907), Sie Po Giok actually "looked back to the 'past', questioning and critiquing the Chinese past and identity." These themes, according to Sim, are shown through the main characters' ultimately futile attempt to find happiness by applying traditional beliefs.

Sim also notes a predominant theme of submissiveness amongst the female characters, a reinforcement of traditional gender roles. She writes that Po Giok's aunt is only seen to prepare food or plead for her husband to stop beating Po Giok. Kim Nio, meanwhile, is only able to support Po Giok emotionally, but cannot protect him physically and is unable to stop her father's beatings or brothers' hatred of the orphan.

Release and reception

Sie Po Giok was first printed as a serial in the Chinese-run daily Sin Po, where it was a success. The story was then novelised in 1911 (some sources give 1912) and published by Hoa Siang In Giok, a publishing house owned by Tio's in-laws; a second edition was published by Goan Hong & Co. in 1921. In 2000 the book was reprinted, using the Perfected Spelling System, in the first volume of Kesastraan Melayu Tionghoa dan Kebangsaan Indonesia, an anthology of Chinese Malay literature.

In his history of Chinese Malay literature, Nio Joe Lan wrote that Sie Po Giok was the only book produced by Chinese writers which was fit for children to read. He notes that Tio made the audience explicit in his foreword, which also included a statement directed at female readers. Other works directed at younger readers were educational ones, such as for studying the alphabet.

Notes

Footnotes

References

1911 novels
Malay-language novels
Children's novels
Chinese Malay literature
1911 children's books
Novels first published in serial form
Novels about orphans
Children's books set in Indonesia

Sie Po Giok


Walther Straram (1876-1933) was an English conductor active in France during the early twentieth century.

Life and career
Walther Marrast was born in London in 1876.  He used an anagram of his surname, Straram, professionally. He worked at the Opéra and the Opéra-Comique in Paris before founding his own orchestra, the Orchestre des Concerts Straram, in 1925.  This ensemble was considered by some to be the finest orchestra in France at the time.  Straram's orchestra emphasized contemporary music, contrasting with the traditional repertoire associated with another leading orchestra in Paris: the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire.

Straram premiered Ravel's Boléro as well as two of Messiaen's earliest orchestral works.  In addition the Orchestre des Concerts Straram was conducted by Stravinsky for his first recording of The Rite of Spring in 1929, and also for the world premiere recording of the Symphony of Psalms in 1931.

Notable premieres
 Ravel, Boléro, Orchestra of the Opéra, Théâtre de l'Opéra, Paris, 22 November 1928
 Messiaen, Les offrandes oubliées, Orchestre des Concerts Straram, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris, 19 February 1931
 Messiaen, Hymne au saint-sacrement, Orchestre des Concerts Straram, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris, 23 March 1933

References

English conductors (music)
British male conductors (music)
French conductors (music)
French male conductors (music)
1876 births
1933 deaths
British expatriates in France

Walther Straram


Ensel and Krete is the second novel of the Zamonia series written and illustrated by German author Walter Moers. This novel has not been published in English. It was released in Germany around June 2000.

Background
Ensel and Krete is subtitled 'A Fairy Tale from Zamonia'. It is a play-off of the Grimm's Fairy Tales 'Hansel and Gretel'. The book is written by Optimus Yarnspinner. Its main characters are Ensel and Krete, two Fhernhachenkinders – half dwarves, which are lost in a large forest in which much danger hides.

2000 German novels
Novels by Walter Moers
German fantasy novels

Ensel and Krete


Robert Mallory Berry (28 Jan 1846 – 19 May 1929 (aged 83) was an American naval officer and Arctic explorer.

Biography
Berry began his naval career attending the United States Naval Academy from January 1862 until June 1866.

Search for the Jeannette
In May 1881, Lieutenant Berry became commander of USS Rodgers, a ship built for Arctic navigation. He was part of the second relief effort of the ill-fated Jeannette expedition. The ship left San Francisco in June and arrived at Petropavlovsk 33 days later, where the captain of the Russian corvette Streloch offered "any needed assistance" on behalf of his government in the search for clues of the missing ship.

Lt. Berry took on two Chukchis as hunters and dog drivers at Saint Lawrence Bay, and on 20 August, entered the Arctic Ocean. At Herald Island, Berry found out that the crew of the preceding ship, , had already covered the island without success. Three days later Berry landed with a party at then still little explored Wrangel Island further to the west and was the first to survey the southern coast and part of the interior, proving that Wrangel was an island and not the southern edge of a polar land mass.

Berry left Wrangel Island on 13 September, and moved north and west until stopped by pack ice on the 18th. Returning to Wrangel, the search was continued choosing another course until the 27th. Again blocked by ice, Berry decided to turn south for winter quarters. The first week in October a party was left under Master Charles F. Putnam on Tiapka Island off Cape Serdtse-Kamen with provisions, supplies, and fuel for a year; as well as a boat, dogs, and sleds to explore the coast westward in search of the crews of Jeanette and the missing whalers.

On 8 October 1881 the ship returned to Saint Lawrence Bay in Chukotka, but bad weather prevented the transfer of a large part of her provisions and supplies to the shore. On 30 November, fire broke out in the hold. Through the day, stores were removed to ease the firefighting efforts, but at midnight, the fires still raged and USS Rodgers was abandoned. The burning ship drifted up the bay and early the next day her magazine exploded. A temporary shore camp sheltered the crew until the next day when they moved to the village of Noomamoo,  away. Later divided into four parties, most of the crew wintered there and in three nearby villages. As the crew adjusted to life ashore, Lieutenant Berry set out to inform Putnam's camp of the fire. Meanwhile, Master Putnam had learned of the disaster and had started for Saint Lawrence Bay with supplies for the relief of survivors. After reaching the bay, Putnam returned to his camp but lost his way in a blizzard and drifted out to sea on an ice floe. An unsuccessful, month-long search for him was conducted along the coast.

On 8 February 1882, a party under Lieutenant Berry —who had not yet learned of Putnam's loss—set out on another search along the coast for Jeanettes crew. On 24 March, they arrived at the Russian post at Nishne and learned of the landing of part of Jeanettes crew at the mouth of the Lena River the previous September. Berry and his party then returned home.

Later life
Berry married Mary Augusta Berry —nee Brady (1870-1928) on 9 October 1895; they had no children. He was promoted to the rank of captain on 11 February 1901 and of rear admiral on 29 July 1906. Berry finally retired from active service in the U.S. Navy on 28 January 1908.

Honors
Rear Admiral Berry died in 1929 and was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Berry Point, a headland in Wrangel Island, as well as Berry Peak, the highest point of the island, were named after him.

References

External links
 Robert Mallory Berry – Find a Grave

1846 births
1929 deaths
19th-century American naval officers
United States Naval Academy alumni
American polar explorers
Explorers of the Arctic
Jeannette expedition
United States Navy officers
Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
Wrangel Island

Robert Mallory Berry


Annie Oliv (born October 12, 1987) is a Swedish cellist and beauty pageant titleholder who represented her country and ranked as a top-five finalist in Miss World 2007 held in Sanya, China.

Career
Oliv won Miss World Sweden on September 8, 2007, and was crowned by the host Marie Plosjö. Oliv succeeded last year's winner Cathrin Skoog. She completed her upper secondary high school education and one year at the Royal Ballet School.  She has worked as a personal assistant for the disabled in Gothenburg.

Melodifestivalen 2008
On February 23, 2008, Oliv participated in Melodifestivalen 2008, as she played cello during Mickey Huskic entry in semifinal three. They were eliminated in the first round, ending up seventh.

References

Miss World 2007 delegates
1987 births
Living people
Swedish beauty pageant winners

Annie Oliv


Jožko Šavli (March 22, 1943March 11, 2011) was a Slovene author, self-declared historian and high school teacher in economic sciences from Italy.

Šavli was born in Tolmin, then part of the Kingdom of Italy (now in Slovenia). He obtained a degree in Business Management at the University of Ljubljana in 1967. Then he continued his studies at the Vienna School of International Trade ("Hochschule für Welthandel"), where in 1975 he obtained a doctorate in social and economic sciences  with a thesis on  the economic structure and regional economic  development in the district of Horn in  Lower Austria.
From  1978 he taught business subjects  at the Slovene language Technical School of Commerce in Gorizia, Italy.

Šavli became known in Slovenia in the mid-1980s, when he advanced the Venetic theory, together with the poet Matej Bor. According to the theory, the Slovenes were not descended from the Slavs that settled the region in the 6th century, but that they were descended from a proto-Slavic speaking people known as the Veneti. The theory was rejected in academic circles, but nevertheless gained widespread popularity in Slovenia, as well as some interest abroad.

Already in the early 1980s, Šavli began to publish articles and essays that concerned in particular traditions of the Medieval state of Carantania. In his books, Šavli emphasized the political and cultural continuity between the proto-Slovene state of Carantania and the later Duchy of Carinthia. Šavli claims to have discovered the Black Panther as the coat of arms or symbol of Carantania. This discovery is
disputed by academic historians. Šavli lived and worked in Gorizia, where he died in March 2011.

Essential bibliography

In Slovene

Veneti: naši davni predniki ("Veneti: Our Ancient Forefathers", 1985), together with Matej Bor and Ivan Tomažič;
Slovenska država Karantanija ("The Slovene State of Carantania", 1990);
Slovenska znamenja ("Slovene Symbols", 1994);
Slovenija: podoba evropskega naroda ("Slovenia: the Image of a European Nation", 1995);
Etruščani in Veneti ("Etruscans and Veneti", 1995), together with Ivan Tomažič;
Slovenski svetniki ("Slovene Saints", 1999).

In English
Veneti : First Builders of European Community (1996);
Slovenia : Discovering a European Nation (2003).

References

1943 births
2011 deaths
People from Tolmin
20th-century Slovenian historians
University of Vienna alumni
University of Ljubljana alumni

Jožko Šavli


Nox Illuminata is a series of international music festivals established in Basel, Switzerland, since 2004, and in Sankt Pölten, Austria, since 2009.  It combines traditional European early music with artists and repertoire from other genres and cultures, together with dance, theatre, and visual arts.

Artists who have performed at the festival include the British lutenist Anthony Rooley, the soprano Evelyn Tubb, the Swiss musician Nik Bärtsch with his group Ronin, and the early music ensemble Mediva.  The March 2009 Nox Illuminata was covered by the Swiss radio station Schweizer Radio DRS 2.

From December 2009 a parallel 'Nox Illuminata' festival was held at the Festspielhaus St. Pölten in the town of Sankt Pölten, in Austria.

References

External links
 Festival website
 Swiss radio programme on Nox Illuminata 2008
 Mediva

Early music festivals
Classical music festivals in Switzerland
Music festivals in Switzerland
Music festivals established in 2004

Nox Illuminata


The Guanyin of Nanshan () is a  statue of the bodhisattva Guanyin, sited on the south coast of China's island province Hainan near the Nanshan Temple of Sanya.

The temple and statue are owned and operated by two front groups of the Shanghai State Security Bureau, a branch of the Ministry of State Security, as a way to exert ideological control and influence over the southeast Asian Buddhist community and counter the influence of Indian Buddhism. The temple promotes Chinese government-approved religious practices known as "South China Sea Buddhism." The temple's religious messaging has been managed by the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department since 2018.

The statue has three aspects: one side faces inland and the other two face the South China Sea, to represent blessing and protection by Guanyin of China and the whole world. One aspect depicts Guanyin cradling a sutra in the left hand and gesturing the Vitaraka Mudra with the right; the second with her palms crossed, holding a string of prayer beads; and the third holding a lotus. , this was the 14th tallest statue in the world.

The statue took six years to build and was enshrined on April 24, 2005, with the participation of 108 monks from various Buddhist groups in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Mainland China, and tens of thousands of pilgrims. The delegation also included monks from the Theravada and Vajrayana traditions.

See also

 Guanyin of Mount Xiqiao, Guangdong, China
 Guishan Guanyin, Hunan, China
 List of tallest statues
 Nanshan Temple (Sanya)
 Sendai Daikannon, Japan

References

Outdoor sculptures in China
Colossal Guanyin statues
2005 sculptures
Shanghai State Security Bureau
Tourist attractions in Sanya
Buildings and structures in Sanya
2005 establishments in China
Buildings and structures completed in 2005
United front (China)

Guanyin of Nanshan


Eivind Hiis Hauge (born 15 November 1937) is a Norwegian physicist.

Early life and career
Hauge was born in Bergen, but took his secondary education at Oslo Cathedral School. He then took the siv.ing. degree, graduating from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1962 and took the dr.techn. degree in 1965. He spent the years 1965 to 1967 as a research fellow at Rockefeller University. He was a professor of theoretical physics at the Norwegian Institute of Technology from 1976.

In 2001, having been dean of the Faculty of Information Technology, Mathematics and Electrical Engineering, he ran for election as rector of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the successor of the Institute of Technology. He chose Julie Feilberg as his vice rector candidate, and they edged out the other candidates Kathrine Skretting and Ingvald Strømmen. He assumed the rector chair in 2002. In the summer of 2005 his period ended, and he was succeeded by Torbjørn Digernes.

He has been the chair of Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and the Trondheim Soloists, and a board member of the Nansen Academy. He is a member the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences. In 2006 he was decorated as a Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav.

References

1937 births
Living people
Scientists from Bergen
Norwegian expatriates in the United States
Norwegian physicists
Norwegian Institute of Technology alumni
Academic staff of the Norwegian Institute of Technology
Academic staff of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Rectors of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Members of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences

Eivind Hiis Hauge


King Kong (2005) is an American giant gorilla movie set in 1933. It is a remake of the original King Kong movie of 1933. The remake stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black, and Adrien Brody. The movie is about a giant gorilla and his love for a human woman. The original movie was also remade in 1976 starring Jessica Lange.

References

2005 adventure movies
2000s American adventure movies
American monster movies
American movie remakes
New Zealand adventure movies
German adventure movies
2000s English-language movies
Giant gorilla movies
Jungle movies
Movies about dinosaurs
Movies about filmmaking
Movies set in Asia
Movies set on islands
Movies set in Manhattan
Movies set in the 1930s
Movies directed by Peter Jackson
Movies that won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award

King Kong (2005 movie)


The Eagle Harbor Coast Guard Station Boathouse is a boathouse located at 9282 Marina Road in Eagle Harbor, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

History
The Life-Saving Station at Eagle Harbor was constructed in the period 1910-1912 by the United States Life-Saving Service.  The original station complex included the station building with a hip-roof watch tower at the corner and a two-bay boathouse that probably was located where the present structure is. Other buildings and structures have been added to the complex over the years. In 1915, the  Life-Saving Service was combined with the United States Revenue Cutter Service to create the United States Coast Guard, and the name of the Eagle Harbor Life-Saving Station was changed to the Eagle Harbor Coast Guard Station.  In 1938 the original boathouse was replaced with the current structure. The station remained in service until 1950. In 1954, the station was turned over to the General Services Administration as surplus. Several structures were moved across Eagle Harbor to the grounds of the Eagle Harbor Light.  The 1938 boathouse is the only original structure remaining on site.

The Eagle Harbor Coast Guard Station Boathouse is currently operated by the Keweenaw County Historical Society as the Eagle Harbor Life-Saving Station.

Description
The Eagle Harbor Coast Guard Station Boathouse is a rectangular, one-story structure on a poured concrete foundation measuring 58 feet by 44 feet. The building has a hip roof clad in what may be original cedar shingles, and walls covered with wide exposure wood weatherboard siding. The building has three boat bays facing what was once a nearby former boat slip. There is a chimney on one side and small gabled dormers with round-head double-hung colonial windows in the roof on all the other elevations. There are five roll-up panel doors, two on the north elevation and three on the south elevation, and double-hung six-over-six windows with wooden shutters.

The interior of the building contains one large open space, with concrete flooring gently sloping toward one end. The Keweenaw County Historical Society has filled the interior with displays of Life-Saving Service and Coast Guard artifacts, including rescue boats and equipment of the types used at this station.

References

External links
 Eagle Harbor Life-Saving Station
 Keweenaw County Historical Society

Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
Buildings and structures completed in 1938
United States Coast Guard
Museums in Keweenaw County, Michigan
Maritime museums in Michigan
1912 establishments in Michigan
National Register of Historic Places in Keweenaw County, Michigan


William Orville "Wild Bill" Hickok III (August 23, 1874 – September 4, 1933) was an American football player and industrialist. Inevitably nicknamed "Wild Bill" for the folk hero of the American Old West, and also known as "Hickey," he starred at Yale University in track as well as football and was eventually inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. After his athletic career, he became the president of his family's manufacturing business.

Early years
Hickok was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to William Orville Hickok Jr., and Louisa Harrison Anderson Hickok. The family was prominent in Harrisburg civic life through his grandfather's machinery business, W.O. Hickok Manufacturing Company.

Yale University
Bill played guard at Yale and was twice selected as an All-American. In addition, he set records in the shot put and hammer throw for the track team.

Coaching career

Carlisle
After completing his studies, Hickok returned to Pennsylvania. In 1896 he was asked by another Yale graduate from Harrisburg, Vance McCormick, to coach the football team McCormick had organized at the nearby Carlisle Indian School. The team went 5-5 against a challenging schedule that included the leading Ivy League powers.

For the game against his alma mater, Hickok also served as a referee (a common practice at the time) along with an official provided by the Yale side. In a memorable moment, the Indians appeared to have scored a late touchdown to potentially tie the game when one of their players broke free with a handoff after the team's halfback had dived into the line. However, Hickok blew his whistle to call it back on the grounds that the play was dead prior to the handoff, causing his own team to protest. One newspaper covering the contest would compare his action to that of a corrupt Indian agent.

Hickok Manufacturing Company
Other than serving as an assistant coach at Yale, Hickok spent most of his remaining life in Harrisburg. He married Avis Cochran and eventually served as president of the Hickok Manufacturing Company. After his death in 1933, the position passed to his brother Ross.

Head coaching record

References
 Jenkins, Sally. The Real All Americans: The Team That Changed a Game, a People, a Nation. New York: Doubleday, 2007.
 Benjey, Tom. To correct the error copied from p. 55 of Jenkins that the 1896 record was 6-4 when it was actually 5-5. Jenkins appears to have accepted the erroneous score of the 1896 Carlisle-Brown game on p. 21 of Steckbeck.

External links

 Ross A. Hickok papers index — Pennsylvania State Archives

1874 births
1933 deaths
19th-century players of American football
American football guards
Carlisle Indians football coaches
Yale Bulldogs football players
All-American college football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Sportspeople from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania
Players of American football from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Bill Hickok (American football)


The Population Health Forum is a group based at University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, and composed of academics, citizens, students, and activists from around North America.

Purpose and activities
Activities include development of academic curricula for middle and high schools, advocacy, and maintenance of a population health listserv.

They focus on raising awareness of the population health issue and the social determinants of health. The forum focuses on the role that economic inequality and the gap between rich and poor impact a population's health, using the "Health Olympics" (a ranking of countries in terms of life expectancy) as a model. The group aims to question why the United States ranks 29th in terms of health while spending half the world's healthcare bill; it suggests that economic inequality as well as social stressors and loss of social cohesion are prime factors.

Influences
The ideas of the group are heavily influenced by research into the social determinants of health by social epidemiologists such as Richard G. Wilkinson and Ichiro Kawachi.

See also
 Population health
 Economic inequality
 List of countries by income equality
 Poverty and Cycle of poverty
 Distribution of wealth
 Social determinants of health
 Epidemiology
 Social determinants of health in poverty

Resources
 Kawachi, I and BP Kennedy. The Health of Nations: Why Inequality if Harmful to Your Health. New York: The New Press, 2002.
 Wilkinson, R. Unhealthy Societies: The Affliction of Inequality. London: Routledge, 1996.
 Wilkinson, R. The Impact of Inequality: How to Make Sick Societies Healthier. New York: The New Press, 2005.

Public health organizations
Health education in the United States
Organizations based in Washington (state)

Population Health Forum


Santa Maria di Nazareth is a Renaissance church in the town of Sestri Levante, in the Gulf of Tigullio in the Metropolitan City of Genoa.  Located in the center of the old village of Sestri Levante, adjacent to the town hall, its parish community is part of the Diocese of Chiavari.

History
A chapel at the site, dedicated to Mary, is documented as early as 1368, but by 1604, following the sale of a plot by the local nobleman  Bernardo Bolasco, construction of the present church began. The final consolidation of the isthmus with the headland, known locally as "Island", which led to the expansion of Sestri Levante, and linked the community to the existing church of St. Nicholas, located at top of the island is already home parish, was therefore more suitable for the spiritual needs of the population.

The construction of the church over 12 years was entrusted to the architect Giovanni Battista Carbone. The church inherited the title of co-cathedral of the diocese of Brugnato from the existing church of St. Nicolò. It was the seat of synods, diocesan from 1675 to 1725 and home of the bishops of the diocese from the sixteenth to the 18th century. Elected to the title of Collegiate Church in 1755, it was named a minor basilica on June 22 of 1962. A few years later he switched to the Diocese of Chiavari (1959).

Description
The interior has a three naves separated by square pillars with pilasters which rest on rounded arches. The interior was decorated in the 18th and 19th centuries. The nave has a barrel vault with lunettes, a deep chancel raised and a semicircular apse. The altar (1762) with polychrome marble contains a sculptural group by Francesco Maria Schiaffino depicting the Virgin Mary with cherubs holding up the Holy House of Nazareth.

The previous original facade of the 17th century, remain the two towers on either side that have decorations but also the 19th century, the portal is a marble statue of the Madonna and Child.

Artworks

In the nave the largest frescoes (1893) are the work of the painter Lazzaro De Maestri, in the second altar of the right aisle of the painting The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Castellino Castello, in the presbytery and in the apse are works by Rocco Costa and Giuseppe Galeotti; in the chapel to the left of the nave there is a 12th=century crucifix from the former parish church of St. Nicolò.

In the left aisle where the wooden sculptural group representing the Deposition from the 18th century, a Pentecost by Domenico Fiasella, a Transit of St. Joseph (1654) by Orazio De Ferrari, a Madonna del Carmine and a Saints Lawrence and John the Baptist by Lazzaro Tavarone.

Holidays and observances
The procession of the Holy Christ occurs every 25 years.

See also

 Sestri Levante
 Diocese of Chiavari
 Basilica

References
 Nadia Pazzini Paglieri; Rinangelo Paglieri, Chiese in Liguria, Genova, Sagep Editrice, 1990.

External links

Official page

Basilica churches in Liguria
17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
Renaissance architecture in Liguria
Minor basilicas in Liguria

Basilica di Santa Maria di Nazareth, Sestri Levante


The Philicorda was an electronic organ first produced in the 1960s by Philips. It was Philips' first entry into musical instruments and targeted the home market.

History
The Philicorda came out of the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium in Eindhoven, under Tom Dissevelt and Dick Raaijmakers, who worked on electronic music and electronic musical instruments; it was here that the prototype of the AG7400 organ was produced.

1960s Models
The AG7400 was launched onto the market in 1961, as a four-octave, 49 keys single manual, beginning with tone C version. Unusually for the time, it offered several audio inputs and outputs. The organ also shipped with a volume pedal and offered three settings--organ, organ with bass keys and single-finger chords. The AG7400 did not have an internal speaker.

At the beginning of 1963, its successor, the AG7500, was officially launched as the Philicorda. As well as the AG 7500/00, various other versions were produced amongst others for the English (AG7500/11?) and German (AG7500/22) markets. Located below the AG7500 was a tube amplifier with speakers.

The AG7600, launched soon after, was a soundbar type separate amplifier with loudspeakers and offered a spring reverb effect.

The Philicorda 751 (22GM751 with various country specific suffixes such as 22GM751/22 for Germany) was launched in 1967, some of them had both valves (preamp stage) and transistors, followed by the 22GM752, which was fully transistorized. A later model, the 22GM753, launched at the end of 1967, was designed for the stage and was fully transistorized.

Although Philicordas, from the AG7400 to the 22GM753, had slight differences in sound, the Philicorda's typical warm tone, originally produced using neon bulb based octave
dividers, was consistent over the years.

Single-Finger Chords
Each Philicorda had 17 pre-programmed chords (C - A7 - Dm - Eb - Em - F - D - G - E7 - Am - B - G7 - Cm - B9 - Gm - F7 - C7), although key assignments varied between models.

Licensing
In the US, the Philicorda 753 was distributed by J. C. Penney under the Penncrest name, available in blue or black, as opposed to the previous natural wood finishes.

1970s Models
The GM754 was launched in the early 1970s, with altered chord availability, speaker holes below the chassis and sliders instead of knobs.

The GM760 series were double-manual organs. In the late 1970s, Philips launched the double-manual PhilicordaRhythm series.

In pop music

In the 1960s, the Philicorda was utilized by bands including The Monks.

Singer Chris Montez's 1962 hit single "Let's Dance" features the Philicorda organ prominently.

In recent years, the organ has undergone a revival. Notable users include Nick Power of The Coral and Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake. The Philicorda also features on 19 by Adele.

Electronic organs
Philips

Philicorda


Hot pot is a popular food throughout China, and its popularity is increasing in other countries. Hot pot restaurants can be found in many places in China. Hot pot is a pot of boiling water, often with chili oil inside, where people put in whatever food they like to boil. Food that is cooked often includes thin slices of meat, starches, vegetables, mushrooms, and noodles. Chengdu and Chongqing hot pot are especially well-known throughout China and worldwide. In Japanese, the dish is called shabu-shabu.

Chinese food

Hot pot


Ernest Baird (1930 – September 2003) was a politician in Northern Ireland. Baird was born in County Donegal
in the Irish Free State but moved with his family to Belfast at an early age.

A pharmacist and political unionist, Baird became the deputy leader of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party.  He was elected at the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, and won a seat in the same constituency on the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention.

When William Craig, the leader of Vanguard, proposed forming a coalition government with the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party, Baird led the majority of Vanguard in leaving to form the United Ulster Unionist Movement.

Baird became the leader of the new grouping, which initially pursued a policy of uniting all unionist groups to form a new party.  When this proved impossible, it instead constituted itself as the United Ulster Unionist Party (UUUP), again with Baird as the leader.  He then became a key member of the United Unionist Action Council

Baird stood for the UUUP in Fermanagh and South Tyrone at the 1979 general election, but won only 17% of the vote, taking fourth position in the poll.  At the 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election, he fared even less well, taking only 2,022 first preference votes.

Sometime after this poor performance, the UUUP was dissolved.  Baird then confined his politics to the Orange Order, while building up his "Baird's Chemists" chain that became one of Northern Ireland's leading chemists chain, before being bought over in 2011.

References

Bibliography
Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1973-1982
CAIN Web Service: Abstracts on Organisations - 'U'
"Veteran unionist Baird dies after long illness", Belfast Telegraph

1930 births
2003 deaths
Leaders of political parties in Northern Ireland
Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly 1973–1974
Members of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
United Ulster Unionist Party politicians
Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party politicians

Ernest Baird


Žarko Varajić (; 26 December 1951 – 23 June 2019) was a Montenegrin basketball player and executive. He represented the Yugoslavia national team internationally.

Early career
Growing up in Nikšić, Varajić pursued football in the FK Sutjeska youth system before fully devoting to basketball by switching to the basketball club within the same sports society — KK Sutjeska — and playing for its youth teams.

Playing career
In 1970, eighteen-year-old Varajić joined KK Bosna, a club competing in the second-tier level of Yugoslav basketball. With young players such as Anto Đogić, Rođeni Krvavac, and center Zdravko Čečur on its roster, the club sought a league promotion to the top-tier level Yugoslav First League, a feat that had been eluding them for decades.

During the summer of 1971, the club's head coaching post was taken over by the 24-year-old Bogdan Tanjević, who had just retired from playing. The young squad led by a young rookie head coach, and with the new acquisition of 22-year-old Svetislav Pešić from KK Partizan, the only player on the roster to have previously played top-tier level basketball, managed to gain promotion to the top-tier level Yugoslav First League. Varajić proved to be a formidable tandem with team-mate Mirza Delibašić, a tandem rivaled only by Dražen Dalipagić and Dragan Kićanović in Partizan.

Bosna won the 1979 FIBA European Champions Cup in Grenoble, France where Varajić scored 45 points – the record for the number of points scored in the finals of the FIBA European Champions Cup (later called the EuroLeague) – against the Italian club Emerson Varese by a score of 96–93.

National team career
Varajić was a member of the senior Yugoslav national basketball team. He played with Yugoslavia in 126 games.

Mostly used as backup to Dražen Dalipagić at small forward, Varajić won medals at the following tournaments: silver at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games, gold at the 1977 EuroBasket, and bronze at the 1979 EuroBasket. He furthermore won golds at the 1974 Balkan Championship, 1975 Mediterranean Games, and 1976 Balkan Championship.

Post-playing career
 Marketing Manager for Marketing at the Bosnia University Sports Association.
 Secretary General of the Federation of Organizations for Physical Education of Sarajevo.
 Deputy Federal Minister of Sports.
 Sports Director of men's national teams at the Basketball Federations of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Serbia.
 Member of the Olympic Committee of the Winter Olympic Games, in Sarajevo, in 1984.
 President of the Expert Council of the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia, from 1987 to 1992 (golden years of Yugoslav basketball).
 President of the Programs` Commission of the Yugoslav Olympic Committee, from 1996 to 2000.
 Sports Director of the Yugoslav Olympic Team, at the Olympic Games in Sydney, in 2000.
 President of the Sports` Association, ``Sport for all`` of Serbia, from 2003 to 2006.
 Directly involved in the organization of the EuroBasket in Belgrade, in 2005.
 Director of the basketball tournament EYOF - European Youth Olympic Festival, in 2007.
 Directly involved in the organization of the 2005 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, and 2007 FIBA Under-19 World Cup.
 Director of the basketball tournament at the Summer Universiade, in Belgrade, in 2009.
 Actively worked on the realization of the project "National Awards".

Personal life
Varajić came to Sarajevo at the age of seventeen in 1970 to study and play. He lived there until the break-out of the Bosnian War in early 1992, and since then he lived in Belgrade. He graduated from the University of Physical Education, Academy for Basketball Coaches - Basketball and Academy for Sports Managers Section.

Death
Varajić died on 23 June 2019. He was interred in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens in the Belgrade New Cemetery on 28 June 2019.

Awards and honors as a player

KK Bosna
 3× Yugoslav League Champion: (1978, 1980, 1983)
 2× Yugoslav Cup Winner: (1978, 1984)
 FIBA Korać Cup Runner-up: (1978)
 FIBA European Champions Cup (EuroLeague) Champion: (1979)
 FIBA Intercontinental Cup Runner-up: (1979)
 Super Oscar for the best European player in all European Cups: (1979)
 The highest national honor of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Honored May 25, 1980)
 The highest national honor of the City of Sarajevo (Honored April 6, 1979)
 Three golden pins of SOFKA of Yugoslavia
 Decoration of ``Nemanja``, the first order of FR Yugoslavia
 Decoration of the Yugoslav Flag, the first order

Yugoslav senior national team
 1974 Balkan Championship:
 1975 Mediterranean Games:
 1976 Balkan Championship:
 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games:
 1977 EuroBasket:
 1979 EuroBasket:

See also
 Yugoslav First Federal Basketball League career stats leaders

References

External links
 FIBA Profile

1951 births
2019 deaths
Sportspeople from Nikšić
Serbs of Montenegro
Basketball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics
FIBA EuroBasket-winning players
KK Bosna Royal players
Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Montenegrin expatriate basketball people in Serbia
Olympic basketball players for Yugoslavia
Olympic medalists in basketball
Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia
Serbian basketball executives and administrators
Serbian expatriate basketball people in the United Arab Emirates
Serbian men's basketball players
Small forwards
Yugoslav men's basketball players
Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia
Mediterranean Games medalists in basketball
Competitors at the 1975 Mediterranean Games
Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery

Žarko Varajić


The Club de Berne (CdB) is an intelligence sharing forum between the intelligence services of the 27 states of the European Union (EU), Norway and Switzerland, named after the city of Bern. It is an institution based on voluntary exchange of secrets, experience and views as well as discussing problems. Austria is excluded from the CdB because of its tolerance of espionage that does not target the country itself. The Club has existed since 1971 and has no secretariat and takes no decisions.

The Counter Terrorism Group (CTG) is an offshoot of the Club and shares terrorism intelligence. It provides threat assessments to EU policy makers and provides a form for expert collaboration.  The Group was created after 9/11 to further intelligence sharing cooperation between European intelligence structures. The CTG, like the Club, is outside of the EU's institutions but communicates with them via the participation of the EU Intelligence Analysis Centre (EU INTCEN), a branch of the European External Action Service. Although it is outside the EU, its presidency rotates inline with that of the EU Council presidency and acts as a formal interface between the Club de Berne and the EU.

See also
Joint European Union Intelligence School

References

Bodies of the Common Security and Defence Policy
Counterterrorist organizations

Club de Berne


The Blues is a 2003 documentary film series produced by Martin Scorsese, dedicated to the history of blues music. In each of the seven episodes, a different director explores a stage in the development of the blues. The series originally aired on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) in the United States.

Feel Like Going Home

Director Martin Scorsese pays tribute to the Delta blues, tracing the roots of the music by traveling through the state of Mississippi with the musician Corey Harris and then traveling to West Africa. Willie King, Taj Mahal, Othar Turner and Ali Farka Touré give performances of early Delta blues songs, along with rare archival film of Son House, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker.

The Soul of a Man

Written and directed by Wim Wenders, the film explores the musical careers of blues musicians Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson and J. B. Lenoir.

The Road to Memphis

Directed by Richard Pearce, this episode focuses on the Beale Street music scene, particularly three Memphis blues musicians with different levels of acclaim: B. B. King, Rosco Gordon and Bobby Rush.

Warming by the Devil's Fire

Written and directed by Charles Burnett, this film presents the tale of a young boy traveling to Mississippi to visit relatives. He is caught between the pressures of his religious mother and gospel music, and the eagerness of his blues-loving uncle. The film includes performance by
Big Bill Broonzy
Elizabeth Cotten
Reverend Gary Davis
Ida Cox
Willie Dixon
Jesse Fuller
John Lee Hooker
Lightnin' Hopkins
Son House
Mississippi John Hurt
Vasti Jackson
Bessie Smith
Mamie Smith
Victoria Spivey
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Dinah Washington
Muddy Waters
Sonny Boy Williamson

Godfathers and Sons

Director Marc Levin follows Marshall Chess as he remembers his father's contribution to Chicago blues history as the co-founder of Chess Records and his own production of the controversial album Electric Mud. He organizes a reunion of the musicians that made Electric Mud to record new versions of Muddy Waters's blues standard "Mannish Boy", with contributions by hip hop artists, including Chuck D of Public Enemy, Common & Kyle Jason.

Red, White and Blues

Directed by Mike Figgis, this episode is dedicated to blues culture in Britain and to the effect of the British Invasion on American blues culture. It contains footage from a jam session and interviews with the musicians Jeff Beck, Van Morrison and others.

Piano Blues

Directed by Clint Eastwood, this episode is dedicated to blues music played on the piano. Eastwood, a piano player and accomplished composer, interviews such key figures as Dr. John, Ray Charles, Jay McShann (shown on the DVD cover), and Pinetop Perkins.

References

External links
"The Blues" - official site

Blues films
Documentary films about blues music and musicians
Films directed by Charles Burnett (director)
Films directed by Clint Eastwood
Films directed by Marc Levin
Films directed by Martin Scorsese
Films directed by Mike Figgis
Films directed by Wim Wenders
Films scored by Stephen James Taylor

The Blues (film series)


XMLStarlet is a set of command line utilities (toolkit) to query, transform, validate, and edit XML documents and files using a simple set of shell commands in a way similar to how it is done with UNIX grep, sed, awk, diff, patch, join, etc commands.

This set of command line utilities can be used by those who want to test XPath query or execute commands on the fly as well as deal with many XML documents or for automated XML processing with shell scripts.

To run XMLStarlet utility you can download it from the official site, then simply type '' on the command line with the corresponding commands or queries to execute (see #Examples below).

Features
The toolkit's feature set includes the following options:
 Check or validate XML files (simple well-formedness check, DTD, XSD, RelaxNG)
 Calculate values of XPath expressions on XML files (such as running sums, etc)
 Search XML files for matches to given XPath expressions
 Apply XSLT stylesheets to XML documents (including EXSLT support, and passing parameters to stylesheets)
 Query XML documents (ex. query for value of some elements of attributes, sorting, etc)
 Modify or edit XML documents (ex. delete some elements)
 Format or "beautify" XML documents (as changing indentation, etc)
 Fetch XML documents using http:// or ftp:// URLs
 Browse tree structure of XML documents (in similar way to 'ls' command for directories)
 Include one XML document into another using XInclude
 XML c14n canonicalization
 Escape/unescape special XML characters in input text
 Print directory as XML document
 Convert XML into PYX format (based on ESIS - ISO 8879), and vice versa.

The XMLStarlet command line utility is written in C and uses libxml2 and libxslt. Implementation of extensive choice of options for XMLStarlet utility was only possible because of rich feature set of both libraries: libxml2 and libxslt. XMLStarlet is linked statically to both libxml2 and libxslt, so generally all you need to process XML documents is one executable file.

XMLStarlet is open source free software released under an MIT License which allows free use and distribution for both commercial and non-commercial projects.

Examples

Consider the following XML document 'xmlfile1.xml' example:<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<wikimedia>
  <projects>
    <project name="Wikipedia" launch="2001-01-05">
      <editions>
        <edition language="English">en.wikipedia.org</edition>
        <edition language="German">de.wikipedia.org</edition>
        <edition language="French">fr.wikipedia.org</edition>
        <edition language="Polish">pl.wikipedia.org</edition>
        <edition language="Spanish">es.wikipedia.org</edition>
      </editions>
    </project>
    <project name="Wiktionary" launch="2002-12-12">
      <editions>
        <edition language="English">en.wiktionary.org</edition>
        <edition language="French">fr.wiktionary.org</edition>
        <edition language="Vietnamese">vi.wiktionary.org</edition>
        <edition language="Turkish">tr.wiktionary.org</edition>
        <edition language="Spanish">es.wiktionary.org</edition>
      </editions>
    </project>
    <project name="Wikiversity" launch="2006-10-04">
     <editions>
        <edition language="English">en.wikiversity.org</edition>
     </editions>
    </project>
  </projects>
</wikimedia>

On a command prompt the following five XPath queries are executed on the above XML file 'xmlfile1.xml'.

 Example 1: The XPath expression to select all name attributes for all projects.
$ xmlstarlet sel -t -v "//wikimedia/projects/project/@name" xmlfile1.xml
Wikipedia
Wiktionary
Wikiversity
 Example 2: The XPath expression to select all attributes of the last Wikimedia project.
$ xmlstarlet sel -t -v "/wikimedia/projects/project[last()]/@*" xmlfile1.xml
Wikiversity
2006-10-04
 Example 3: The XPath expression to select addresses of all Wiktionary editions (text of all edition elements that exist under project element with a name attribute of Wiktionary).
$ xmlstarlet sel -t -v "/wikimedia/projects/project[@name='Wiktionary']/editions/edition" xmlfile1.xml
en.wiktionary.org
fr.wiktionary.org
vi.wiktionary.org
tr.wiktionary.org
es.wiktionary.org
 Example4: The XPath expression to select addresses of all Wikimedia Wiktionary editions that have languages different from Turkish and Spanish (all those NOT Turkish and Not Spanish).
$ xmlstarlet sel -t -v "/wikimedia/projects/project[@name='Wiktionary']/editions/edition[@language!='Turkish' and @language!='Spanish']" xmlfile1.xml
en.wiktionary.org
fr.wiktionary.org
vi.wiktionary.org
 Example 5: The XPath expression to select all attributes of editions whose position is greater or equal to 3 in the list of editions.
$ xmlstarlet sel -t -v "/wikimedia/projects/project/editions/edition[position() >= 3]/@*" xmlfile1.xml
French
Polish
Spanish
Vietnamese
Turkish
Spanish
An XML document can be validated against an XSD schema saved in file 'xsdfile.xsd' as follows:
$ xmlstarlet val -e -s xsdfile.xsd xmlfile1.xml
xmlfile1.xml - valid

See also
 XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable.
 XPath (XML Path Language) is a query language for selecting nodes from an XML document.
 XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) is a language for transforming XML documents into other XML documents or other formats such as HTML for web pages, plain text, etc.
 Document type definition (DTD) defines the legal building blocks of an XML document.

Notes

External links

 XML Schema Definition (XSD)
 XML Matters, Intro to PYX

XML software
XSLT processors
XML parsers

XMLStarlet


Palm syrup is made from the sap of a number of edible palms. It is common on the Canary Islands, and on the coasts of South America. It is often called Miel de palma, which translates to palm honey.

Uses

Miel de palma is used to accompany many pastries and desserts, such as pancakes and ice cream. The syrup is widely used in Southeast Asian cooking, in particular in West Bengal, where jhola gur, as it is known, is only obtainable in winter. Its sweetness tempers the flavours of spicy curries, adding its rich, molasses-like flavour to the food. It is also widely used as an ingredient in desserts, or drizzled over prepared foods.

Palm sap is a refreshing drink, and fermented palm syrup is distilled to produce various alcohols such as arrack, a spirit similar to rum.  On La Gomera it is mixed with 'Parra' (similar to grappa) to produce Gomeron.

Palm syrup is also traditionally used on La Gomera for general medicinal purposes.

References

Syrup
Arecaceae

Palm syrup


Vijay Chandru Reddy is an Indian entrepreneur. He is a co-founder and chairman of Strand Life Sciences.

Biography
Chandru received his bachelor's degree from BITS Pilani in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Science from UCLA in Engineering Systems and a PhD from the MIT Operations Research Center in 1982. He started his academic career in teaching and research in 1982. He served professor as Purdue University for 1982-1992. Later in 1992 he joined at the Indian Institute of Science. From 2003 to 2013 he served as Research Affiliate of the Lab for Information and Decision Systems at MIT.

He has co-authored the book Optimization Methods for Logical Inference, published by Wiley Interscience in 1999.  He is also a founder of the Association of Biotech led Enterprises (ABLE) and continues to serve as an executive council member. He is one of the inventors of the Simputer.

Awards
Professor Chandru was elected as a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1996 and of the Indian National Academy of Engineers in 2010. Chandru has received the Dewang Mehta Award for innovation in information technology for the development of the Simputer in 2001. In 2006, Chandru received the President's Medal of INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences). Reddy was named a Technology Pioneer of the World Economic Forum in 2006 for his work with Strand Life Sciences and biotechnology. He received the Biospectrum Biotech Entrepreneur of 2007.

See also
 Bharat Desai
 Gunjan Bagla
 List of Indian entrepreneurs

References

Businesspeople from Bangalore
Living people
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani alumni
UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Purdue University faculty
Year of birth missing (living people)

Vijay Chandru


George Mireku Duker (born 9 May 1975) is a Ghanaian politician. He is serving as a Deputy Minister at Ghana's Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources since 2021, and is the Member of Parliament for Tarkwa-Nsuaem since 2017. He was elected into parliament on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party.

Early life
George Mireku Duker was born on May 9, 1975 in Dompim-Pepesa in the Tarkwa municipality.

Duker graduated with a B.Ed in Accounting from the University of Education-Kumasi Campus (now A.A.M
U.S.T.E.D.) in 2006. Duker hold a B. A. in Law from the University of London. Duker obtained a master's degree in Business Management from the University of Plymouth in 2010.

Early Career
Duker was a teacher from 1998 to 2006 at Marysons College. In 2007, he became a Special Aide at Ghana's Ministry of Local Government before being appointed in 2008 as Municipal Chief Executive for Tarkwa-Nsuaem by President John Kufuor.

Duker was also the Programs Manager of  Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) from 2011 to 2012.

MP in 7th Parliament (2017 - 2021)
In December 2016, Duker stood in the parliamentary elections as a parliamentary candidate of the New Patriotic Party in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Constituency. He polled 42,594  votes representing 62.21% of the total votes cast. His contenders; Seth Kwame Dzokoto of the NDC polled 24,044 representing 35.12%, Eric Asiedu Simpey of the PPP polled 1624 representing 2.37% and Kwakye John Justice of the CPP polled 206 representing 0.30%.

Duker was sworn into the 7th parliament of the Fourth Republic on 7 January 2017. In the 7th parliament, he went on to serve as the Vice Chair on the Select Committee on Mines and Energy during the 7th parliament. In 2018, as Vice Chair of the Select Committee on Mines and Energy, he gave a briefing in the plenary session of parliament on the 2019 budgetary plan to capture the distribution of 60,000 gas stoves in Ghana to ensure implementation of the gas cylinder re-circulation model.

Chair of Mineral Income Investment Fund (2019 - 2021)
In 2019, President Nana Akufo-Addo appointed Duker as first chairperson of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF). The fund manages the equity interest of the Republic of Ghana mining companies to receive minerals royalties and other related income due Ghana from mining operations. As chairperson of the fund, he defended the use of MIIF in creation of Agyapa Royalties,  advocating on the potential of the Agyapa agreement to lead to job creation and infrastructure development.

Re-elected as MP in 8th Parliament (2021 - )
In December 2020, Duker defeated Justice Abbam of the NDC to retain his seat in parliament as MP for Tarkwa-Nsuaem in a close election. Duker polled 31,946 votes with Abbam polling 31,845 votes. The total valid votes cast was 93,938.

In the 8th Parliament, Duker serves on two committees which includes the Public Accounts Standing Committee where he is  Deputy Ranking member on the committee.

In 2023, Duker was announced to chair Tarkwa-based Medeama Soccer Club's finance and sponsorship committee as they headed for the 2023 CAF Champions League.

Deputy Minister in charge of Mines (2021-)
In April 2021, President Nana Akufo Addo nominated Duker for the post of Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources. Duker appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament in June 2021. That same month, Duker was sworn in as one of 39 deputy ministers for the second term of President Nana Akufo-Addo.

References

Ghanaian MPs 2017–2021
Living people
New Patriotic Party politicians
Ghanaian MPs 2021–2025
1975 births

George Mireku Duker


Amsterdam Zuid ("Amsterdam South") is a railway station situated in the borough of Amsterdam-Zuid in Amsterdam, Netherlands. For a number of years, it was named Amsterdam Zuid WTC, in reference to the neighbouring World Trade Center Amsterdam. During 2006, in conjunction with the rapid development of the area surrounding the station, the station was enlarged and the reference to the WTC was formally dropped from the name.

, Amsterdam Zuid also has a metro station served by 3 lines (50, 51, 52) of the Amsterdam Metro, and two tram stops (Station Zuid and Parnassusweg) served by tram lines 5 and 25.

During 1978, Amsterdam Zuid station opened on a strategic rail route commonly known as the Zuidtak and formed the heart of the modern Zuidas business district, which houses several large banks, accounting and legal firms, as well as being the main public transport gateway for the VU University campus located just south of the station. Over time, the station has played an increasingly important role in Amsterdam's transport strategy and passenger numbers have grown extensively since its opening. To cope with its high patronage, Amsterdam Zuid has been extended and additional services put on; it has effectively replaced the older Amsterdam Centraal station as the capital's main station for direct trains.

During the 2010s, as a means of allowing for further development at the station, a large expansion plan was proposed for Amsterdam Zuid. During December 2014, an agreement for this expansion plan, which has been referred to as the Zuidasdok project, was signed by various public bodies, authorising it to proceed. The publicly funded project has an estimated cost of approximately €1.9 billion; this price tag means it shall be one of the biggest infrastructure projects ever performed in the Netherlands to date. Having received political backing, construction commenced in 2019 and is scheduled for completion around 2028.

History
Amsterdam Zuid station is located in the borough of Amsterdam-Zuid in the city Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies on the strategic rail route known as the Zuidtak ("south branch"), which was completed in 1993, and connects Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the west to Weesp, in the east via Duivendrecht. During 1978, the station was opened; over the following decades, Amsterdam Zuid was determined to be the fastest growing station in the Netherlands. As a result, the station was extended during 2006, and has gradually played an increasingly important role in the city's transport strategy. It has replaced the older Amsterdam Centraal station as the capital's main station for direct trains to various destinations located to the north and east of the country.

The station is also on HSL-Zuid, a dedicated high-speed line designed for long distance and international traffic, which was built between 2000 and 2007. In the long-term, it has been anticipated that at some point in the future Amsterdam Zuid will be served by long-distance trains traversing HSL-Zuid.

Since 2006, Utrecht and other cities south of Amsterdam have also been served via Amsterdam Zuid. In that year, the Utrechtboog flyover was completed; as a result of this additional infrastructure, changes at Duivendrecht are no longer necessary for passengers from Schiphol to Utrecht and beyond. These routes from Schiphol therefore bypass the congested lines serving Central Amsterdam, allowing faster connections between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and cities in the north and east of the country (Leeuwarden and Enschede, among others).

The number of train services to handle passenger demands has been progressively increased over time. However, the official long-term projections of future passenger numbers have been reported to be expected to increase to an extent to which the station's current facilities shall be insufficient to properly accommodate the corresponding traffic. While heavy demands would naturally necessitate a further expansion of the station, it lies directly between the south-bound lanes of the A10 motorway ring road and several high-rise office complexes, which leaves no space for conventional surface expansion.

Metro history at Zuid
Amsterdam Zuid is served by Amsterdam Metro lines 50, 51 and 52. Opened in 1997, line 50 runs next to the railway line from Isolatorweg to Gein. Line 51 was opened in 1990 as a hybrid metro/sneltram line; it ran as a metro using the third rail from Centraal Station to Zuid, and then as a sneltram (light-rail) line using pantographs south of Zuid to Poortwachter in Amstelveen sharing the rails with tram line 5. In 2004, line 51 was extended further south to Amstelveen Westwijk. In March 2019, line 51 was redirected to Isolatorweg station, and the light-rail portion south of Zuid station was rebuilt as tram line 25. Line 52 opened in July 2018 and connects Amsterdam North via Centraal station to this station.

Tram history at Zuid
Between 1978 and 1990, the Station Zuid tram stop was Tram line 5's southern terminus, and it was located on Zuidplein, the public square in front of the station. From 1990 to 2008, the tram stop was integrated into the Zuid Metro station. In May 2008, in order to make room for the construction of the north–south line (metro line 52), the tram stop was relocated to Strawinskylaan.

In 2016, the Station Zuid tram stop on Strawinskylaan was redesigned in preparation for the conversion of metro line 51 south of Zuid station from a hybrid metro/sneltram line into tram line 25. The work including adding a turnback track and crossover east of the stop to turn back bidirectional trams. In the summer of 2020, the platforms at the nearby Parnassusweg tram stop were lengthened in order to handled the coupled pairs of trams to be used on tram line 25. The Parnassusweg stop provides an alternative means of accessing the Zuid railway station, and tram line 25 uses this stop to relieve crowding at the Station Zuid tram stop on Strawinskylaan. Line 25 opened officially on 13 December 2020, unofficially 4 days earlier on 9 December. Both tram lines 5 and 25 serve the Station Zuid and Parnassusweg tram stops.

The Station Zuid tram stop on Strawinskylaan is a temporary terminal for line 25. As a terminal, it lacks rest facilities for tram operators and the space to store multiple pairs of coupled trams in case there a breakdown along the line. The existing stop would not be able to handle large crowds of riders. The permanent line 25 stop for Station Zuid will be a new tram station along Arnold Schönberglaan on the south side of the station, which is expected to open in 2028 after the completion of major renovations at the railway station and work to relocate the adjacent A10 motorway (eastbound lanes) underground. However, from 2022 to sometime between 2026 and 2029, the temporary line 25 terminal will be relocated to Eduard van Beinumstraat, a lane between the A10 motorway (westbound lanes) and the 2Amsterdam building complex; it would be close to the Brittenpassage, a new pedestrian tunnel accessing the station. The temporary terminal may need move back to Strawinskylaan when construction on the north-side A10 tunnel starts.

Expansion plans

Following studies into various alternative means to providing greater capacity at Amsterdam Zuid, it was determined that the best likely option would involve the rerouting of the adjacent part of the A10 ring road. During December 2014, an agreement between the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the City of Amsterdam, the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region and the Province of North Holland was signed to cover the proposed expansion work, which is referred to as the Zuidasdok project. The programme is to be jointly executed by Rijkswaterstaat, the City of Amsterdam, ProRail, the Province of North Holland and Amsterdam Region Transport. The project carries an estimated cost of approximately €1.9 billion, which makes it one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the history of the Netherlands so far. It is being publicly funded by a combination of the Dutch State, the City of Amsterdam, Vervoerregio Amsterdam, and the Province of North Holland, along with additional investments that are being made by the Dutch Railways (NS).

During March 2017, a contract to perform the design and construction of the Zuidasdok project was awarded to ZuidPlus, a joint venture between Fluor, Heijmans and Hochtief. The consortium's architectural design team includes Team V Architecture, Zwarts & Jansma Architects and Bosch Slabbers Garden & Landscape Architects. Engineering firm Technolution is to perform system engineering, as well as to provide systems for control and monitoring purposes, including the user interface for the tunnel installation. Rijkswaterstaat has been engaged by ProRail and the municipality of Amsterdam for the purposes of managing the project's procurement. Being sufficiently financed and having received political acceptance, construction activities is anticipated to commence during 2019 and is scheduled for completion in 2028.

Under the Zuidasdok project, the planned approach for redirecting the southern section of the A10 current traversing the site is to build a series of new tunnels to carry the motorway through instead, thereby opening up the surface space required to develop a high-quality and compact intermodal transport terminal around the existing Amsterdam Zuid station. The stated aims of the expansion programme are the improvement of traffic flow within the station, the location's transformation into a modern transport hub for the city, and the stimulation of new urban developments in and around neighbouring districts. Various elements of the local public transport infrastructure are to be redeveloped to better accommodate these aims and the station's overall purpose.

As envisioned, the expanded station shall feature a light and elegant design intended to blend well with its surroundings. Various modifications are to be made as to enable faster transfers between the numerous train, metro, tram and bus services running through the station. The Minerva Passage, which links the northern and southern part of Amsterdam's Southern Axis, will be widened while a new underpass, known as the Britten Passage called after Benjamin Britten, shall also be constructed. The project will also create additional space adjacent to the station to house new bus and tram stops, bicycle parking facilities, and lots for taxis and park & ride facilities to enable quick and comfortable transfers.

All of the existing mainline platforms are to be widened and covered with new roofs. In addition, the dedicated metro platforms currently located east of Minerva Passage are to be repositioned to a central location between the (future) Britten and the Minerva passageways to improve passenger flow distribution across the passages. The new area of station will include the construction of four sets of mainline tracks, as well as additional space being reserved for the future installation of a further two sets of tracks. Upon completion, it shall be served by four separate metro tracks, including the double tracks used by the Noord / Zuid metro line.

Services

Train services
In recent years, Station Zuid has become a major station. In December 2006, the extension of the station, including the new platforms 3 and 4, was opened. Trains are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen.

, the following train services call at this station:
Express services
Intercity: The Hague Central – Leiden – Schiphol – Amsterdam Zuid – Almere – Lelystad – Zwolle – Assen – Groningen
Intercity: The Hague Central – Leiden – Schiphol – Amsterdam Zuid – Almere – Lelystad – Zwolle – Meppel – Steenwijk – Heerenveen – Leeuwarden
Intercity: Schiphol – Amsterdam Zuid – Duivendrecht – Hilversum – Amersfoort – Apeldoorn – Deventer – Almelo – Hengelo – Enschede
Intercity: Schiphol – Amsterdam Zuid – Duivendrecht – Hilversum – Amersfoort – Amersfoort Schothorst
Intercity: Dordrecht – Rotterdam – Schiedam – Delft – The Hague HS – Leiden – Schiphol – Amsterdam Zuid – Duivendrecht – Almere – Lelystad
Intercity: Schiphol – Amsterdam Zuid – Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA – Utrecht – Driebergen-Zeist – Ede Wageningen – Arnhem – Nijmegen
Intercity: Schiphol – Amsterdam Zuid – Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA – Utrecht – 's-Hertogenbosch – Eindhoven – Helmond – Deurne – Horst Sevenum – Blerick – Venlo
Only during evening and on Sundays:
Intercity: Dordrecht – Rotterdam – Schiedam – Delft – The Hague HS – Leiden – Schiphol – Amsterdam Zuid – Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA – Utrecht – 's-Hertogenbosch – Eindhoven – Helmond – Deurne – Horst Sevenum – Blerick – Venlo
Local services
Sprinter: Hoofddorp – Schiphol – Amsterdam Zuid – Duivendrecht – Weesp – Almere – Almere Oostvaarders
Sprinter: Hoofddorp – Schiphol – Amsterdam Zuid – Duivendrecht – Weesp – Naarden Bussum – Hilversum – Utrecht

Metro services
Amsterdam Zuid is served by lines 50, 51 and 52. Line 50 runs next to the railway line from Isolatorweg via Zuid to Gein. Line 51 runs from Centraal Station via Zuid to Isolatorweg. Line 52 connects Amsterdam North via Centraal station to this station.

50 Isolatorweg - Sloterdijk - Lelylaan - Zuid - RAI - Duivendrecht - Bijlmer ArenA - Holendrecht - Gein
51 Central Station - Amstel - RAI - Zuid - Lelylaan - Sloterdijk - Isolatorweg
52 Noord - Noorderpark - Central Station - Rokin - Vijzelgracht - De Pijp - Europaplein - Zuid

Tram service
GVB operates two tram lines to the Zuid station at two tram stops. The Station Zuid tram stop is located on Strawinskylaan on the north side of the station across from Zuidplein, the public square in front of the station. Bus services stop nearby. Located along its namesake street, the Parnassusweg tram stop is located at the western end of the railway station platforms, about  from the station.

5 Westergasfabriek - Elandsgracht - Leidseplein - Museumplein - Station Zuid - A.J. Ernststraat - Amstelveen Stadshart
25 Station Zuid - A.J. Ernststraat - Amstelveen Westwijk

Bus services
Bus services the busstation located at the Strawinskylaan, 200m north of the station.

These are city services, operated by GVB.

15 Station Zuid - Haarlemmermeerstation - Surinameplein - Mercatorplein - Bos en Lommer - Station Sloterdijk
62 Amstelstation - Station RAI - Station Zuid - Station Lelylaan
65 Station Zuid - Rivierenbuurt - Amstelstation - Watergraafsmeer - KNSM Island

These are urban/regional services operated by Connexxion and Transdev.

321 Station Zuid - VU Medical Centre - Muiden - Huizen
341 Station Zuid - VU Medical Centre - Schiphol Airport - Hoofddorp railway station - Hoofddorp Centre - Hoofddorp, Spaarne Gasthuis
346 Station Zuid - VU Medical Centre - Haarlem
348 Station Zuid - VU Medical Centre - Amstelveen - Uithoorn busstation
358 Station Zuid - VU Medical Centre - Amstelveen - Aalsmeer - Kudelstaart

Gallery

References

External links
NS website
Dutch Public Transport journey planner

Zuid
Railway stations opened in 1978
Railway stations on the Zuidtak Ringspoorbaan
Zuid
Tram stops in Amsterdam
Amsterdam-Zuid
Transit centers in the Netherlands
Railway stations in the Netherlands opened in the 1970s

Amsterdam Zuid station


A loincloth is a piece of cloth or leather that covers the gentitals, and sometimes the buttocks. Usually, it is held in place by piece of string or a belt. Loincloths have been used all over the world. A G-string is a modern version of a loincloth.

Bottoms (clothing)

Loincloth


Varketili () is a station of the Tbilisi Metro on the Akhmeteli–Varketili Line. It opened in 1981 and was renovated in 2007 and 2017 and is in progress of yet another renovation in 2023. Varketili is the last station on line 1 and is the nearest to the airport.

2018 Incident
In January 2018, only a few months after the updated station was opened, the roof of the station collapsed due to the vibrations made by the trains' old and loud motors. Vibrations from flat spots on the rails also contributed to the structural deterioration of the roof. 14 people were injured and thankfully there were no deaths.
This was caused by poor build quality by the company Kvarelmsheni LTD. After the incident, some employees of the company were sued.
From that time until December 2022, The ceiling was full of drywall holding accessories. In December 2022, a company known as Mamisoni LTD decided to partner with the Tbilisi Transport Company and renovate the station again. In Summer 2023, the station will be closed for repairs.

Modernization
In February 2023, modernization began for Varketili Station, which was in dire need of repairs after the 2018 tragedy. The new station will have new escalators, replacing the old Soviet ones, and will also have the remains of the old ceiling, which contained asbestos, removed. The station will receive a completely new design, by Georgian company "DODO designs". Along with the visual changes, the station will receive new LED lights, electrical systems, plumbing, and general infrastructure. The entire project is set to cost 13.4 million GEL.

Along with the announcement, the Tbilisi Mayor, Kakha Kaladze, disclosed information regarding the station's rehabilitation:

"We are starting the rehabilitation works of the Varketili metro. Certain works were carried out under the previous Mayor, but we remember what a miserable result happened in the Varketili metro, I mean the collapse of the ceiling. Since then, it has not been possible to carry out these works. There were too many problems with companies taking responsibility. The company that will perform the mentioned works is "Bada Construction", which also carries out the rehabilitation works of Avlabari metro. The total value of the contract is 13.4 million GEL, which includes the complete rehabilitation of the interior and internal infrastructure of the station. Among them, the existing asbestos ceiling will be dismantled and a new ceiling will be installed with modern materials. The company will start work on February 9 and it will be implemented according to all established norms and standards. The term of performance of works was determined for 18 months. The mentioned project should be completed by the summer of next year. We will have to close the metro station for about 2 months, between June and August, for the safe dismantling/installation of the asbestos ceiling in the lower platform and inclined tunnel of the Varketili metro station. During the metro station closure period, we will do our best and try to add transport lines to the Varketili direction, with the appropriate number of buses, in order to help passengers reach their destination as much as possible,"

References

External links
 Varketili station page at Tbilisi Municipal Portal

Tbilisi Metro stations
Railway stations opened in 1981
1981 establishments in Georgia (country)

Varketili (Tbilisi Metro)