The Common Cause

The Common Cause is a lost 1919 American silent comedy film directed and produced by J. Stuart Blackton and distributed by Vitagraph Company of America. It is based on a play, "Getting Together", by Ian Hay, J. Hartley Manners, and Percival Knight.
Plot.
As described in a film magazine, Helene Palmer (Breamer) is estranged from her husband Orrin (Rawlinson) due to the attentions paid to her by a man about town. After the United States enters World War I, she takes up war work and pleads with men from all walks of life on the steps of the New York City public library to enlist. Her husband joins his company and goes abroad, and she induces her male friend to also join the colors. She then goes to France where she ministers to the sick and destitute. The Germans invade the town and she remains behind with those too ill to be moved. A German officer goes to her room and is about to assault her when the American troops arrive, and she is saved by her husband. There is a reconciliation between them. The film has a prologue where actresses representing Britannia, Italy, and the United States answer the call of Belgium and France, and the film ends with an epilogue with a "league of nations" tableau.


Robert Albo

Robert James Albo (May 8, 1932 – February 21, 2011) was an American physician, surgeon and amateur illusionist. He was for 40 years team physician for the Golden State Warriors as well as the Oakland Raiders. At one point he held the largest private magic collection in the world.
Early life and education.
Robert Albo was born in Oakland, California, on May 8, 1932, and grew up in Berkeley, California. He attended Berkeley High School, where he played basketball and helped lead the team to Tournament of Champions title in 1949. After high school, he briefly worked as an animator for Walt Disney before studying pre-med at University of California, Berkeley, where he was captain of the basketball and baseball teams. He was offered a contract with the New York Giants, but declined in order to pursue a career in medicine.
Medical career.
Albo received his medical education at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), graduating in 1959. He remained at UCSF for his internship and residency, and later became a professor of surgery there. His first professional job in sports medicine was with the Oakland Seals hockey team. He became team physician for the Golden State Warriors in the early 1970s, and in 1999 became the Warriors' Director of Medicine. He was also the head team physician for the Oakland Raiders and Oakland Oaks (ABA). He specialised in general, vascular, and oncological surgery.
Magic collection.
Albo was an amateur illusionist, and held a collection of magic apparatus that grew to be the largest in the world. It contained over four thousand pieces and was used to write his well regarded series of books, "Classic Magic With Apparatus". Originally intended to be a trilogy, it eventually grew to 11 volumes. It was followed by further books focused on the magic of Okito and Thayer. In 1992, selected items from the collection were displayed over three of the terminals of San Francisco International Airport. In 1994, Albo agreed to sell the entire collection to David Copperfield, though some items were not transferred to Copperfield until 2010. Albo was a partner in the Palace of Magic shop in San Francisco and Magic Island in Newport Beach, California.


Patricia Pulling

Patricia A. Pulling (June 30, 1948 – September 18, 1997) was an anti-occult campaigner from Richmond, Virginia. She founded Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons (BADD), an advocacy group that was dedicated to the regulation of role-playing games such as "Dungeons & Dragons".
Biography.
Pulling formed B.A.D.D. after her son Irving committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest on June 9, 1982. Irving was active in role-playing games, and she believed his suicide was directly related to the "Dungeons & Dragons" game. The grieving mother first filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her son's high school principal, Robert A. Bracey III, holding him as responsible for what she claimed was a "D&D" curse placed upon her son's character shortly before his death. She also filed suit against TSR, Inc., "D&D"'s publishers. She appeared on an episode of "60 Minutes" which also featured Gary Gygax, creator of "Dungeons & Dragons", and which aired in 1985.
B.A.D.D..
Pulling founded the public advocacy group "Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons" (B.A.D.D.) in 1983 after all of her lawsuits were dismissed and began publishing information circulating her belief that "D&D" encouraged devil worship and suicide. B.A.D.D. described "D&D" as "a fantasy role-playing game which uses demonology, witchcraft, voodoo, murder, rape, blasphemy, suicide, assassination, insanity, sex perversion, homosexuality, prostitution, satanic type rituals, gambling, barbarism, cannibalism, sadism, desecration, demon summoning, necromantics, divination and other teachings."
B.A.D.D. achieved some success in airing its views in the press, both through conservative Christian media properties as well as mainstream outlets. The organization distributed its materials in Australia through conservative advocacy groups affiliated with the Reverend Fred Nile, such as the Australian Federation for Decency. In addition, Pulling obtained a private investigator's license, became a consultant to law enforcement, and was an expert witness in several gaming-related lawsuits, all of which lost in court. She became a director of the National Coalition on TV Violence in 1984.
Pulling co-authored a book, "The Devil's Web: Who Is Stalking Your Children For Satan?" published in August 1989. The book makes no distinction between H. P. Lovecraft's fictional "Necronomicon" and the "Simon Necronomicon", a realization of the book. One portion of the book urges police officers to open interrogations of suspected teenage occultists with the question "Have you read the "Necronomicon", or are you familiar with it?"
As the popularity of "Dungeons & Dragons" and other role-playing games increased, Pulling's views and statements were increasingly called into question. For example, she once told a newspaper reporter that eight percent of the people living in Richmond, Virginia were Satanists. She had arrived at that figure, she explained, by estimating that four percent of adults and four percent of teenagers were involved with Satanism, and added them to get eight percent. When the reporter informed her that mathematically that was four percent, not eight percent, she claimed that it did not matter because even eight percent was a "conservative" figure.
Response.
In 1989, game player and designer Michael A. Stackpole wrote "Game Hysteria and the Truth", which went into all the flaws, misconceptions, inaccuracies, omission of relevant details, and questionable practices (including calling her editing of newspaper accounts illegal, since newspapers are copyrighted material and the owners were not contacted about the use of these articles) regarding Pulling's claims about RPGs in general and "D&D" in particular, concluding: "If the suicide statistics for the 14 years since "D&D"'s introduction show anything at all, gamers kill themselves at a rate that is a fraction of that of their peers." A year later, the main points of "Game Hysteria and the Truth" regarding Pulling were reiterated by Stackpole in "The Pulling Report", a review highly critical of B.A.D.D.'s methods of data collection, analysis and reporting. Stackpole determined that Pulling had misrepresented her credentials, and after the report was published in 1990, Pulling left B.A.D.D.
Aftermath.
By 1991 the American Association of Suicidology, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and Health and Welfare Canada all concluded that there was no causal link between fantasy gaming and suicide.
B.A.D.D. effectively ceased to exist when Pulling died of lung cancer in 1997.


Chion-in

 in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan is the headquarters of the Jōdo-shū (Pure Land Sect) founded by Hōnen (1133–1212), who proclaimed that sentient beings are reborn in Amida Buddha's Western Paradise (Pure Land) by reciting the "nembutsu", Amida Buddha's name.
The vast compounds of Chion-in include the site where Hōnen settled to disseminate his teachings and the site where he died.
History.
The original temple was built in 1234 by Hōnen's disciple, Genchi (1183–1238) in memory of his master and was named Chion-in. While the temple was affiliated more closely in the early years with the Seizan branch of Jodo Shu, its 8th head priest, Nyoichi (1262–1321) was deeply influenced by the priest Ryōkū, a disciple of Ryōchū who was the 3rd head of the Chinzei branch of Jōdo-shū Buddhism, and disciple of Benchō. Later Nyoichi's successor Shunjō (1255–1355) advanced this further by citing a biography where Genchi's disciple Renjaku-bo and Ryōchū agree that there existed no doctrinal differences between them:
By 1450, Chion-in had become fully under control of the Chinzei branch, but had little direct control, due to the outbreak of the Ōnin War. Numerous buildings in the complex were burnt down in 1633, but were entirely rebuilt by the third Tokugawa "shōgun" Iemitsu (1604–1651) with the palatial structures that stand today.
Architecture.
The colossal main gate, the Sanmon, was built in 1619 and is the largest surviving structure of its kind in Japan. It features an Irimoya-zukuri or a Hip and Gabled roof. The purpose of the hip and gable roof is to protect the center point of the temple.
Chion-in has a large and a small guest house in the irimoya roof style called Ohojo and Kohojo that are designated Important Cultural Heritages. Both guest houses were built in 1641.
Chion-in is home to Japan's largest temple bell, which was commissioned in 1633 and weighs 74 tons. It used to require a 25-man team to sound it. But now the temple website says 17 are needed.
There are a few interesting features to note about Chion-in: first, all roof beams are carved with the family crest of the Tokugawa family: three hollyhock leaves. Another feature is the umbrella found stashed in the rafters outside the main temple. One of the architects who helped rebuild the temple placed the umbrella in the rafters to help bring rain (and thereby ward off fire).
An interesting feature inside the temple is the very squeaky boards, an example of a nightingale floor. The wooden boards were built with metal ends that would rub against the metal joints they were attached to, created a piercing noise as people step on them. This was intentionally done so that when the Tokugawa family stayed at the temple, they could detect unwanted intruders at night.
The interior of Chion-in is decorated with black, gold and cinnabar colors throughout. A baldacchino of fine metal work, and red, silk ropes and tassels adorn the area. Lotus plants in pots encased in beaten gold.
The introduction of wood being a fine art and working with contemporary art is drastically changed the way that religious buildings were built and decorated.
The 7 Wonders.
Uguisubari-no-rōka.
The Nightingale Hallway (Buddha's Vow).
This 550m long hallway connects Mieidō and Shūedō. The Nightingale hallway was equipped with flooring that make the sound of the Nightingale when someone walks on them. It acts as a type of security system as the lighter someone tries to walk the more sound it makes. They say that the sound of the nightingale bird is meant to be a reminder to listen to Buddha's teachings.
Shiraki-no-hitsugi.
The Plainwood Coffin (A symbol of Nonattachment to One's Life and Body).
In the Sanmon, the bodies of Gomi Kin'uemon and his wife lie in plain coffins. These people built the gate and carved wooden statues of themselves. After the gate was completed, both Gomi Kin'uemon and his wife committed suicide. People still to this day who visit Chion-in cry for them.
Wasuregasa.
The Forgotten Umbrella (A Symbol of Gratitude).
This umbrella holds many different meanings, it is in Mieidō between the eaves on the southeast section. It is said to be a symbol of gratitude delivered by a white fox, promising to protect Chion-in. Another said it was simply forgotten by master carpenter, Hidari Jingorō. Lasty, it is said to protect Chion-in from fires because it has a connected relationship to water.
Nukesuzume.
The Sparrows that Flew Away (A Symbol of Polishing One's Mind).
The fusuma-e, or a painting on sliding doors, done by Kanō Nobumasa a painting featuring white Chrysanthemum flowers. According to legend sparrows were painted on but the birds look so real that they came to life and flew away.
Sanpō Shōmen Mamuki-no-Neko.
The Cat That Sees in Three Directions (A Symbol of a Parent’s Heart).
Located in Ōhōjō, the large guest house. This painting of a cat represents compassion of the Buddha and the heart of a parent. This cat seems to be looking at you at anywhere you may be look at it.
Ōshakushi.
Large Rice Paddle (A Symbol of the Buddha’s Salvation).
This was a larger than average paddle, meant to serve a lot of people at once. This rice paddle, according to legend, was meant to save all of mankind. "Scoop" and "Save/rescue" are both pronounced Sukuu. This play on words was meant to symbolize Amida's compassion.
Uryūseki.
The Cucumber Rock (A Symbol of Encouragement).
This large rock said to predate Chion-in is in front of the Kuromon. Gozu Tennō, a deity, said that in one night gourds started to grow from this rock.
Location.
Directly to the north of Chion-in (and abutting) is the much smaller temple of Shōren-in. Directly to the south (and abutting) is Maruyama Park, which itself connects to Yasaka Shrine and thence Gion.


Point Clark Lighthouse

Point Clark Lighthouse is located on in a beach community, Point Clark, Ontario, near a point that protrudes into Lake Huron. Built between 1855 and 1859 under the instructions of the Board of Works, Canada West, it is one of the few on the Great Lakes to be made primarily from stone. It is one of the Imperial Towers, a group of six nearly identical towers built by contractor John Brown for the "Province of Canada" (Canadian government) on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, all completed by 1859. The location for the Point Clark lighthouse was selected to warn sailors of the shoals (sandbars) off the Lake Huron coast. It is still functioning as an automated light. A restoration that eventually exceeded $2.3 million started in 2011 and the facility reopened for tourism in June 2015.
The origin of the designation "Imperial" is not certain, but some historians speculate that because the towers were public construction built under the colonial administration while Canada was a self-governing colony of Britain, the name would assure at least some funding from the British Empire's Board of Trade.
Since the lighthouse is on the mainland (not on an island) it can easily reached by bicycle or a vehicle. The original wooden storage building and keeper's house are a Township of Huron-Kinloss museum. The lightkeeper's home and the lighthouse can be toured from mid June to Labour Day for a fee.
The Point Clark tower was formally registered as one of the National Historic Sites of Canada, the only lighthouse on the Great Lakes or Georgian Bay to receive this highest-level designation. It has also been designated under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act. The keeper's cottage is a designated place of historic interest, and has been listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places since 2008.
History.
Before the lighthouse was built, a lantern had been hung on a branch of a pine tree near the beach; this led to the settlement being called Pine Point. Like the nearby Chantry Island Lightstation Tower this one was built at a time when commercial shipping traffic was increasing on the Great Lakes between Canada and the U.S. because of new trade agreements and the opening of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal locks in 1855. Other towers were also built on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay between 1855 and 1859 to act as navigational aids for the ships.
Intended to warn ships about the point and about dangerous shoals in the area, construction started in 1857. The "second order" Fresnel lens was manufactured in Paris and installed by workmen from France. Much of the tower, and the keeper's house, was made of Dolomite limestone, much of it from a quarry about 60 kilometers from Point Clark. The walls are five feet thick at the base but only two feet near the top of the tower.
The light was first illuminated on 1 April 1859. In the early years, it was fueled with spermaceti oil as fuel but in 1860, that changed to colza oil; the latter was less expensive and allowed for the light to burn even on the coldest winter nights. The keeper was required to carry the fuel up the stairs in buckets. Electricity was used since 1863.
The first attempt in automating the light started in 1924. The new system was not considered adequately effective or reliable, so in 1926, it was removed and the original Fresnel lens was again used. The early revolving light mechanism was replaced with an electric motor in 1953. A light keeper was no longer required after 1963 when the light was fully automated. Its light characteristic is a single white flash every ten seconds, emitted at a focal plane height of . The tower is owned by Parks Canada but the site is operated as a tourist attraction by the Township of Huron-Kinloss. The light operates under the control of the Canadian Coast Guard.
Like the other Imperial Towers on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, it is among the few on the Great Lakes made of cut limestone and granite (not brick, wood, metal or concrete), with a functional design that is simple but elegant and pleasing to the eye.
After a $3.7 million reconstruction that lasted four years, the lighthouse and museum reopened for tours in June 2015. An announcement at the reopening ceremony indicated that the Point Clark lighthouse had been designated under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act because of its "significant heritage value".
Lighthouse design.
The tower is tall, made primarily of cut limestone brought from Inverhuron by barge, but a section near the top is made of granite for extra rigidity. There are 114 steps from the bottom to the lantern room. The 12 sided cast iron lantern was first lit on April 1, 1859 and is from the base of the tower.
The light keeper's house, resembling a British stone cottage, is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building, a place of historic interest. The 14 July 1994 summary praises its symmetry, excellent build quality, pleasing appearance and practical design.
The Lightkeepers.
The job of light keeper was an attractive one and positions were often filled on the basis of affiliation with the current political party in power. After WWI and WWII however, preference was given to war veterans. The keeper was required to maintain the property, clean and whitewash the tower as required, and maintain the light. In the years before electricity and automation, he was also required to carry the fuel up the stairs in buckets, and, twice a day, to wind up the clockwork-like mechanism—with weights and pulleys—that enabled the weights to rotate the lens.
The following individuals were responsible for the lighthouse and its property over the years:
In 1875, John Young's salary would have been approximately $400 per annum, based on published data for the salary at the Chantry Island Lightstation that year. (Another report indicates $435 per annum but does not state the year; that amount may have been paid in a later year.)
 On retirement after 20 years, Young's pension was $19.25.
After the light was automated, Elmer MacKenzie was retained as a part-time caretaker for the property (1963-1964) at a salary of $75 per year. Some sources discuss subsequent caretakers Elden Lowry (1964-1967) and Joe Burke. Currently, the light produces a white flash every 10 seconds.


Tostig Godwinson

Tostig Godwinson ( 1023/102825 September 1066) was an Anglo-Saxon Earl of Northumbria and brother of King Harold Godwinson. After being exiled by his brother, Tostig supported the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada's invasion of England, and was killed alongside Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066.
Background.
Tostig was the third son of the Anglo-Saxon nobleman Godwin, Earl of Wessex and Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, the daughter of Danish chieftain Thorgil Sprakling. In 1051, he married Judith of Flanders, the only child of Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders by his second wife, Eleanor of Normandy. The Domesday Book recorded twenty-six vills or townships as being held by Earl Tostig forming the Manor of Hougun which now forms part of the county of Cumbria in north-west England.
Earl of Northumbria.
In the 19th century, the antiquarian Edward Augustus Freeman posited a hypothesis claiming that Edward the Confessor, King of England, was pursuing a policy of "Normanization" of England and, by doing so, was reducing the influence of the House of Godwin. In 1051, Earl Godwin's opposition to Edward's policies had brought England to the brink of civil war. Eventually, the Godwins' opposition convinced Edward to banish them in 1051. Freeman's explanation of the banishment has many critics, as it does not explain fully the relationship between the Godwins and the king.
The banished Godwins Gytha and Tostig, together with Sweyn and Gyrth, sought refuge with the Count of Flanders. They returned to England the following year with armed forces, gaining support and demanding that Edward restore Tostig's earldom. Three years later in 1055, Tostig became the Earl of Northumbria upon the death of Earl Siward. He was on intimate terms with his brother-in-law, Edward the Confessor, and in 1061 he visited Pope Nicholas II at Rome in the company of Ealdred, archbishop of York.
Tostig appears to have governed in Northumbria with some difficulty. He was never popular with the Northumbrian ruling class, a mix of Danish invaders and Anglo-Saxon survivors of the last Norse invasion. Tostig was said to have been heavy-handed with those who resisted his rule, including murdering several members of leading Northumbrian families. In late 1063 or early 1064, Tostig had Gamal son of Orm and Ulf son of Dolfin assassinated when Gamal visited him under safe conduct. The "Vita Edwardi", otherwise sympathetic to Tostig, states that he had 'repressed [the Northumbrians] with the heavy yoke of his rule'.
He was frequently absent from the court of King Edward in the south, and, possibly, showed a lack of leadership against the raiding Scots. Their king was a personal friend of Tostig, and Tostig's unpopularity made it difficult to raise local levies to combat them. He resorted to using a strong force of Danish mercenaries (housecarles) as his main force, an expensive and resented policy (the housecarles' leaders were later slaughtered by rebels).
In addition, it is likely that local biases played a part in his unpopularity. Tostig was from the south of England, a distinctly different culture from the north, which had not had a southern earl in several lifetimes. In 1063, still immersed in the confused local politics of Northumbria, his popularity apparently plummeted. Many of the inhabitants of Northumbria were Danes, who had enjoyed lesser taxation than in other parts of England. Yet, the wars in Wales, of which Tostig's constituents were principal beneficiaries, needed to be paid for. Tostig had been a major commander in these wars attacking in the north while his brother Harold Godwinson marched up from the south.
Deposition by his brother Harold and the thegns of Northumbria.
On 3 October 1065, the thegns of York and the rest of Yorkshire descended on York and occupied the city. They killed Tostig's officials and supporters, then declared Tostig outlawed for his unlawful actions and sent for Morcar, younger brother of Edwin, Earl of Mercia. The northern rebels marched south to press their case with King Edward. They were joined at Northampton by Earl Edwin and his forces. There, they were met by Earl Harold, who had been sent by King Edward to negotiate with them and thus did not bring his forces. After Harold, by then the king's right-hand man, had spoken with the rebels at Northampton, he likely realized that Tostig would not be able to retain Northumbria. When he returned to Oxford, where the royal council was to meet on 28 October, he had probably already made up his mind.
Exile and rebellion.
Harold Godwinson persuaded King Edward the Confessor to agree to the demands of the rebels. Tostig was outlawed a short time later, possibly early in November, because he refused to accept his deposition as commanded by Edward. This led to the fatal confrontation and enmity between the two Godwinsons. At a meeting of the king and his council, Tostig publicly accused Harold of fomenting the rebellion. Harold was keen to unify England in the face of the grave threat from William of Normandy, who had openly declared his intention to take the English throne. It was likely that Harold had exiled his brother to ensure peace and loyalty in the north. Tostig, however, remained unconvinced and plotted vengeance.
Tostig took ship with his family and some loyal thegns and took refuge with his brother-in-law, Baldwin V, Count of Flanders. He even travelled to Normandy and attempted to form an alliance with William, who was related to his wife. Baldwin provided him with a fleet and he landed in the Isle of Wight in May 1066, where he collected money and provisions. He raided the coast as far as Sandwich but was forced to retreat when King Harold called out land and naval forces. He moved north and after an unsuccessful attempt to get his brother Gyrth to join him, he raided Norfolk and Lincolnshire. The Earls Edwin and Morcar defeated him decisively. Deserted by his men, he fled to his sworn brother, King Malcolm III of Scotland. Tostig spent the summer of 1066 in Scotland.
He made contact with King Harald III Hardrada of Norway and persuaded him to invade England. One of the sagas claims that he sailed for Norway, and greatly impressed the Norwegian king and his court, managing to sway a decidedly unenthusiastic Hardrada, who had just concluded a long and inconclusive war with Denmark, into raising a levy to take the throne of England. With Hardrada's aid, Tostig sailed up the Humber and defeated Morcar and Edwin at Gate Fulford.
Battle of Stamford Bridge.
Hardrada's army and Tostig invaded York, taking hostages after a peaceful surrender, and acquiring provisions. King Harold Godwinson raced northward with an English army from London and, on 25 September 1066, surprised his brother Tostig at Stamford Bridge. Hardrada, Tostig and many of their men were killed. The Norwegians and the Flemish mercenaries hired by Tostig were largely without armour and carried only personal weapons. The day was very hot and they had not expected resistance. Moreover, Hardrada's 11,000-man force had been split, with many guarding the Norse ships beached miles away at Riccall.
Aftermath.
After his death at Stamford Bridge, it is believed that Tostig's body was taken to France and then buried at York Minster. Tostig's two sons took refuge in Norway, while his wife Judith married Duke Welf of Bavaria. The victorious Harold, at the head of troops still exhausted by their previous fight with Tostig and Hardrada, would go to confront and suffer defeat at the hands of the Normans at the Battle of Hastings nineteen days later.
Tostig had two sons with Judith:
Portrayal in books and films.
In non-fiction books.
Popular (as opposed to scholarly) non-fiction books that cover Tostig's life and role in history include:
In fiction.
Tostig features in the novels "The Last English King" (2000), by Julian Rathbone (where he is depicted as Edward the Confessor's catamite), "Harold, The Last of the Saxon Kings", by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, "The King's Shadow", by Elizabeth Alder, "The Interim King", by J. Colman McMillan, "Lord of Sunset", by Parke Godwin, "Warriors of the Dragon Gold", by Ray Bryant, "God's Concubine" book 2 of "The Troy Game" series by Sara Douglass, "The Bastard King" by Jean Plaidy, and "The Conqueror's Queen" by Joanna Courtney.
On screen, Tostig was portrayed by actor Frederick Jaeger in the two-part BBC TV play "Conquest" (1966), part of the series "Theatre 625".
Tostig also appeared in the Channel 4 documentary, "1066: The Battle for Middle Earth".
Tostig is one of the main characters in "1066: What Fates Impose" by G K Holloway (2013).


Carl Wilhelm August Groos House (San Antonio)

The Carl Wilhelm August Groos House is located in the Bexar County city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. It was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1977. Designed by Alfred Giles in 1880, the building contractor was John H. Kampmann. Giles used a Victorian Gothic Revival on this limestone home. Groos had immigrated from Germany to Texas in 1848, at which time he and his brothers started a freighting firm. In 1871, he built the Carl W. A. Groos House in New Braunfels. In 1872, he and his family settled in San Antonio. Groos married Hulda Amalie Moureau and became a founding member of the Groos National Bank. In 1880, Groos hired Giles to build his San Antonio home. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Bexar County, Texas as a contributing structure of the King William Historic District . Groos died in 1893. In 1957, the house was purchased by the San Antonio Council of the Girl Scouts of the USA. The Girl Scouts sold the home to Charles Butt. It has been restored and is in private ownership.


NASA Exceptional Administrative Achievement Medal

The NASA Exceptional Administrative Achievement Medal is an award given by NASA to any person in the United States federal service for a significant, specific accomplishment or contribution characterized by unusual initiative or creativity that clearly demonstrates a substantial improvement in administrative support contributing to the mission of NASA, such as:


Billings Estate Museum

The Billings Estate National Historic Site is a heritage museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 2100 Cabot St. in the former home of one of the region's earliest settlers. The oldest wood-framed house in Ottawa was built in 1827-9 by Massachusetts-born Braddish Billings. It became the home for the following four generations of the Billings family. It is Ottawa's oldest surviving house, though the Bytown Museum building is older. Billings had moved to the area in 1812, and was the first settler in Gloucester Township.
Billings became prosperous in the timber trade and built the large home that was named Park Hill. Billings later moved into agriculture, and the house became the centre of a large and prosperous farm providing produce for Bytown, with the farm linked to the town by the Bytown and Prescott Railway.
The estate remained in the Billings family until 1975. Over time the property was slowly sold off to developers, and today the estate retains only a relatively small plot of land. In 1975, the house became the Billings Estate Museum which is today operated by the City of Ottawa. The house is included amongst other architecturally interesting and historically significant buildings in Doors Open Ottawa, held each year in early June.
The estate also includes a historic cemetery that contains graves dating back to 1820.
Billings Estate Artifact Collection - Routhier Community Centre.
The museum's collection includes over 13,000 artifacts. Very few of the artifacts owned by the Billings Estate National Historic Site are on display at any given time. The Billings Estate Artifact Collection storage facility, located at the Routhier Community Centre (172 Guigues Ave.) includes items that have never been on exhibit, and is used by collections staff to preserve artifacts for safe keeping. The storage facility is also open during Doors Open Ottawa, held each year in early June.


Hilda Lund

Hilda Maria Lund (née Lindh, 21 December 18407 October 1911) was a Swedish ballerina at the Royal Swedish Ballet at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm.
Lund was a ballet student in 1849, a second dancer in 1861 and elevated to a premier ballerina in 1866–1888. She performed the leading parts of many of the ballets staged at the royal opera in the 1870s and 1880s and was in 1887 described as "the acknowledged most distinguished female dancer of the royal opera". She was an instructor at the ballet in 1889–1894.
She married her colleague, the ballet master Sigurd Harald Lund, in 1862.


Hu, Egypt

Hu () is the modern name of an Egyptian town on the Nile, which in more ancient times was the capital of the 7th Nome of Upper Egypt.
The nome was referred to as "Sesheshet" (Sistrum). The main city was referred to as Hu(t)-sekhem, which became abbreviated as Hu. This led to the Arabic name Hiw.
In Ptolemaic times the city was called Diospolis Parva (Little Zeus-City) in comparison with Thebes, Egypt, known as Diospolis Magna (Great Zeus-City). It also was called Diospolis Superior (Upper Zeus-City), in comparison with Diospolis Inferior (Lower Zeus-City) in the Nile Delta.
Ancient history.
Hu was the centre of the cult surrounding Bat, a goddess in Egyptian mythology. The sistrum, a sacred instrument associated with her, often shaped to resemble her, and for which the 7th nome was named, remained sacred throughout the history of Ancient Egypt and is seen in its art and hieroglyphs.
The goddess Bat remained the main deity worshiped there until at least the time of the twelfth dynasty as she is mentioned on a shrine belonging to Senusret I. By the time of the New Kingdom during the eighteenth dynasty, the characteristics of Bat were subsumed into those of a similar goddess, Hathor, who then became the main deity worshiped at Hu. Previously they may have been the same deity.
Modern history.
In 1326, Ibn Battuta passed through Hu, where he visited a sharif named Abu Muhammad Abdallah al-Hasani. When he learned of Ibn Battuta's intention to go on the hajj to Mecca by way of Aydhab, the sharif predicted that he would not succeed and would only reach Mecca by way of the road through Syria; he told Ibn Battuta to return to Cairo instead. Ibn Battuta went on to Aydhab anyway, but upon arriving, he found that local Beja tribespeople, in revolt against the Mamluk governor, had driven out the town's garrison and sunk ships in the harbor, preventing anyone from setting sail to Hejaz. Ibn Battuta was left with no choice but to return to Cairo.
The 1885 Census of Egypt recorded Hu as a nahiyah under the district of Dishna in Qena Governorate; at that time, the population of the town was 3,958 (2,011 men and 1,947 women).


Thomas Frost (writer)

Thomas Frost (16 December 1821 – 16 July 1908) was an English radical writer, journalist, printer and Chartist.
Biography.
Early years.
Thomas Frost was born in Croydon in Surrey (now part of Greater London) on 16 December 1821, the son of a tailor who had read William Cobbett's "Political Register" and took part in the agitation to secure the Reform Act 1832. Apprenticed to a printer (his cousin Cornelius Chapman) in Norwood, London, Thomas started his own printing firm in the same town after Chapman's business became bankrupt.
Career.
In 1846 he took over the publication of John Goodwyn Barmby's "Communist Chronicle," a monthly paper which had been discontinued for financial reasons. Frost revived the Chronicle as a weekly publication and reduced the price from 3d. to 1d. with Barmby retaining editorial control. Differences between Barmby and Frost on their aims caused publication to cease. Frost then started a short-lived "Communist Journal." From 1847 to 1848 he was associated with the Fraternal Democrats.
From 1859 Frost was a leader writer for the Liverpool "Albion" weekly newspaper, on foreign politics and social questions. The newspaper maintained a political viewpoint independent of the main political parties until 1872, when a new proprietor, a member of the Conservative Party, recast the paper as a morning daily. Frost's terms of employment were now changed so that he was only paid for articles that were published; he was contracted to provide two articles per week, but many were not published, being politically incompatible. His income falling by one-third he left the "Albion."
Frost subsequently settled in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, and worked as a reporter for the "Barnsley Times" and the "Barnsley Chronicle." He wrote a number of books, mostly by his own admission "potboilers". He estimated his annual income from journalism and other literary undertakings to have been less than £200 per year. He died in 1908.
Frost claimed it was not until he read the poetry of Mary Shelley that he learned of "the connexion between the influence of circumstances in the formation of character and the new organization which Owen desired to give society". Frost became an active Chartist and Owenite and although he believed in revolution he stopped short of taking part in a revolutionary conspiracy to avoid arrest. He above all desired independence and wrote that "the assumption by Mr. Gladstone of the leadership of the Liberal party in the House of Commons seemed to promise the inauguration of a new era".
Magic history.
Frost wrote three books on the history of magic. His "Lives of the Conjurers" (1876) is considered to be the first significant history of magic. M. Thomas Inge described the book as "a full-fledged chronicle of magic and an invaluable reference work".
The magician Harry Houdini wrote that they were the "best books of their kind up to the time of their publication, but they are marked by glaring errors, showing that Frost compiled rather than investigated."
Frost's book "Lives of the Conjurers" is said to contain errors in relation to the magician Wiljalba Frikell. Magic historian Walter B. Gibson noted that "the information offered by Mr. Thomas Frost and his successors, concerning Frikell, is in the main incorrect and unreliable."
Death and legacy.
Thomas Frost died 16 July 1908.


Badge of the Communications Security Establishment

History.
In response to a request from the Chief of CSE, a warrant authorizing the creation of a badge was signed by the Deputy Herald Chancellor of the Canadian Heraldic Authority (at that time, Lieutenant-General James Cyrille Gervais), on January 26, 1994. The CSE badge was granted by the Chief Herald of Canada, under the authority of the Governor General (at that time, Raymon John Hnatyshyn), on July 15, 1994, to mark the 48th anniversary of the organization's founding; it was officially presented to the Chief on October 19, 1994. The badge is registered in the Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada, Vol. II, page 326.
The notice of registration was published in Part I of the Canada Gazette, Vol. 128, No. 49, page 4584, on December 3, 1994.
Description.
The Letters Patent issued by the Canadian Heraldic Authority describes the badge as: "Azure a bezant charged with a maple leaf Gules thereon a key palewise wards upward to the dexter its bow enfiled by two lightning flashes in saltire Or the whole within an annulus Or fimbriated and inscribed NUNTIUM COMPARAT ET CUSTODIT in letter Azure and ensigned by a representation of the Royal Crown".
Significance.
According to information provided by the Canadian Heraldic Authority, use of the Royal Crown was approved by the Queen on or about July 7, 1994. The blue circle represents the world of information and the gold circle and maple leaf symbolize Canada. The lightning flashes denote communications, while the key represents the secure and sensitive nature of the information which CSE provides and protects. The motto is a Latin translation of the phrase "Providing and Protecting Information".
Pennant.
As part of the organization's 50th anniversary, a swallowtail pennant bearing CSE's heraldic badge was introduced. The pennant was first raised by the Chief of CSE on September 6, 1996, during a noon ceremony at the Sir Leonard Tilley Building. Since then, the pennant was flown at each of CSE's buildings, beneath the Canadian flag. It now flies on its own pole next to the Canadian flag, at the new Edward Drake Building.


Kot morski coat of arms

Kot morski (Polish for "Sea Cat") is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several "szlachta" (noble) families under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.


Black Ox Orkestar

Black Ox Orkestar was a quartet of musicians from Montreal, Quebec who played European Jewish folk music. They formed in the summer of 2000 to explore their common Jewish heritage through music, which was entirely acoustic and sung in Yiddish. They played their last show in 2005 and released their final album in 2006.


I Am Bruce Lee

I Am Bruce Lee is a 2012 documentary film directed by Pete McCormack. The film documents the life of Bruce Lee, the famous actor and Martial Artist, featuring interviews with his widow Linda Emery and daughter Shannon Lee. It won a Leo Award in 2012.


New Kalabsha

New Kalabsha is a promontory located near Aswan in Egypt. It houses several important temples, structures, and other remains that have been relocated here from the site of Old Kalabsha ("", "Gate of Kalabsha", , "Talmis") and other sites in Lower Nubia, to avoid the rising waters of Lake Nasser caused by the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The major remains are described below:
Kalabsha Temple.
The Temple of Kalabsha (or Temple of Mandulis) is the major structure in New Kalabsha. The entire Roman Period temple to the sun god Mandulis was relocated here in 1970. It was built by Emperor Augustus and was the largest free-standing temple of Egyptian Nubia. During relocation, the temple was cut into 13,000 blocks.
Gerf Hussein.
The temple of Gerf Hussein (originally known as "Per Ptah", the "House of Ptah") is dedicated to Ramesses II and was built by the Viceroy of Nubia Setau. Originally, it was partially free-standing and partially rock-cut. During the flooding of Lake Nasser, the free-standing section was dismantled and then rebuilt at New Kalabsha. Most of the rock-cut temple was left in place and is now submerged beneath the waters.
Beit el-Wali.
The rock-cut temple of Beit el-Wali was moved from its original location by a Polish archaeological team. It is dedicated to Ramesses II, and the gods of Amun and Anukis (among others). It was originally decorated in bright colors, but these were mostly removed by a "squeeze" taken in the 19th Century (the results of this squeeze are now on display in the British Museum).
Kiosk of Qertassi.
The Kiosk of Qertassi is "a tiny Roman kiosk with four slender papyrus columns inside [and] two Hathor columns at the entrance." It is a small but elegant structure that "is unfinished and not inscribed with the name of the architect, but is probably contemporary with Trajan's Kiosk at Philae."
Dedwen.
Originally located within the outer wall of the temple of Kalabsha, and is dedicated to the Nubian serpent god, Dedwen. It was moved along with the Kalabsha temple to New Kalabsha.


Richard L. Burger

Richard Lewis Burger, Ph.D. (University of California, Berkeley, 1978), is an archaeologist and anthropologist from the United States. He is currently a professor at Yale University and holds the positions of Charles J. MacCurdy Professor in the Anthropology Department, Chair of the Council on Archaeological Studies, and Curator in the Division of Anthropology at the Peabody Museum of Natural History. He has carried out archaeological excavations in the Peruvian Andes since 1975, publishing several books and many articles on Chavin culture, a pre-Hispanic civilization that developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru from 1000 BC to 400 BC. Burger is married to Lucy Salazar, a Peruvian archaeologist and long time collaborator on many researach projects. His former doctoral student Sabine Hyland has become well-known as an Andean anthropologist.
Education.
Burger received his education in the public schools of Great Neck, New York. He went on to get his bachelor's degree in archaeology at Yale College (1972) where he studied under Thomas Patterson and Michael Coe. He received a doctorate in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley (1978) where he studied under John Howland Rowe and Dorothy Menzel.
Career.
Burger began teaching as a faculty member at Yale University in 1981. During his tenure at Yale, he has been Chair of the Anthropology Department (1990-1994), Director of the Peabody Museum of Natural History (1995-2002). He has also taught in Peru at the National University of San Marcos and Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Burger is also an honorary member of the faculties of the University of Cusco and the University of Iquitos. He is co-curator in the Museo Machu Picchu, Casa Concha in Cusco, Peru, and has been president of the Institute of Andean Research in New York since 2006.
Burger's archaeological fieldwork has focused on the northern highlands and central coast of the Peruvian Andes. His research focuses on the emergence and development of early civilizations in the Central Andes and he has illuminated the ways that religious institutions rather than stratified states are involved in the rise of complex societies in the case of the Andes. Burger has carried out field projects in the highlands of the Department of Ancash at the sites of Chavín de Huantar (1975-1976), (1978-1980), as well as in the Lurín Valley just south of Lima at the sites of (1984-1987, 2007-2008, 2017–2019), (1990-1991, 1993-1994), and Manchay Bajo (1998-1999).
Burger helped to pioneer the sourcing of cinnabar in the Andes with geochemist Colin Cooke and did important research on Andean diet using carbon isotopes from Machu Picchu, Chavin de Huantarl and Cardal. Burger located the seven major obsidian sources used in ancient Peru and used this analysis to describe the changing patterns of trade in volcanic glass in the pre-Hispanic Andes. This work on obsidian sourcing was based on a series of archaeological surveys that Burger conducted in the south-central highlands of Department of Huancavelica (1999-2000) and Department of Ayacucho (2003-2006).
With Lucy Salazar, Burger co-curated a block-buster traveling exhibit on MachuPicchu that traveled for two years to seven cities in the United States from 2003-2005. Burger and Salazar played a vital role in Yale University's repatriation and exhibition of Hiram Bingham's Machu Picchu collections in Cuzco at the Museo Machu Picchu, Casa Concha.


Hassum

Hassum (also given as Khashshum, Ḫaššum, Hassu, Hassuwa or Hazuwan) was a Hurrian city-state, located in southern Turkey most probably on the Euphrates river north of Carchemish.
History.
The city was a vassal to Ebla, it was mentioned in the Tablets of Ebla as Hazuwan, and was governed by its own king. it came under the influence of Mari for a short period of time in the 24th century BC, before Irkab-Damu of Ebla regained influence over the area, the city survived the Akkadians conquests in 2240 BC and flourished as a trade center in the first half of the 2nd millennia BC.
In the beginning of 18th century BC, Hassum allied with Yamhad against Yahdun-Lim of Mari, it later helped Yamhad against a kingdom in Zalmakum (a marshy region between the Euphrates and lower Balikh), but then shifted alliance to Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria after he annexed Mari and sent him a 1000 troops to attack Sumu-Epuh of Yamhad. later, Yarim-Lim I of Yamhad brought Hassum under his hegemony, the city remained subjugated to Yamhad until the Hittite conquest.
Hittite Conquest.
In the course of his war against Yamhad, Hattusili I of the Hittites, having destroyed Alalakh and Urshu, headed toward Hassum in his sixth year (around 1644 BC, middle chronology), Yarim-Lim III of Yamhad sent his army under the leadership of General Zukrassi the heavy-armed troops leader accompanied by General Zaludis the commander of the Manda troops, they united with the army of Hashshum, then the battle of Atalur mountain ensued (Atalur is located north of Aleppo not very far from the Amanus, it can be identified with the Kurd-Dagh Mountains), Hattusili destroyed his enemies and moved on to burn and loot Hassum. The citizens rallied their forces three times against the Hittites, but Hattusili sacked the city and seized the statuses of the god Teshub, his wife Hebat and a pair of silver bulls that were the bulls of Teshub, and carried them to Hattusa, where they were kept in the temple of Arinna.
The king of Hassum was captured and humiliated, he was harnessed to one of the wagons used to transport the loots of his city and taken to the Hittite capital. a century later, Hittite king Telipinu (fl. c. 1500 BC) mentions Hassum as his chief enemy and his destruction of the city.


Bernhard Salin

Carl Bernhard Salin (14January 1861, Örebro20October 1931, Stockholm), was a Swedish archaeologist, cultural historian and museum curator.
Bernhard Salin took the matriculation examination at the Public Grammar School in Nyköping 28May 1880 and then became a student at Uppsala University, where he became in 1885 Bachelor in Scandinavian languages, the aesthetics of art and literature, Latin, history, political science and astronomy. He became in 1888 Licentiate of Philosophy in Art History and PhD in aesthetics in 1890. Salin was admitted as assistant at the State Historical Museum in 1889, where he was promoted to second assistant curator in 1902. Salin became curator of the Nordic Museum in 1903 and was director of the Nordic Museum from 1905 to 1913 and from 1905 to 1912.
Salin was originally an art historian, but was interested in prehistoric archaeology, and as an archaeologist he participated including at the excavation in Siretorp in Blekinge in 1915. Salin devoted himself later to the history of religion, especially the development of Norse religion. He was an internationally recognized specialist in animal ornamentation. In 1891, 1892, 1894 and 1895, he carried out over a total of two years of extensive study in central and southern Europe. As a result of the trips he published in 1904 the work "Altgermanische Thierornamentik" containing style analysis and consideration of the various cultural currents during the Migration Period.


Earth Spirit (play)

Earth Spirit (1895) ("Erdgeist") is a play by the German dramatist Frank Wedekind. It forms the first part of his pairing of 'Lulu' plays; the second is "Pandora's Box" (1904), both depicting a society "riven by the demands of lust and greed". In German folklore an "erdgeist" is a gnome, first described in Goethe's "Faust" (1808). Together with "Pandora's Box", Wedekind's play formed the basis for the silent film "Pandora's Box" (1929) starring Louise Brooks and the opera "Lulu" by Alban Berg (1935, premiered posthumously in 1937).
In the original manuscript, dating from 1894, the ‘Lulu’ drama was in five acts and subtitled ‘A Monster Tragedy’. Wedekind subsequently divided the work into two plays: "Earth Spirit" (German: "Erdgeist", first printed 1895) and "Pandora’s Box" (German: "Die Büchse der Pandora", first performed 1904). The premiere of "Earth Spirit" took place in Leipzig on 25 February 1898, in a production by Carl Heine, with Wedekind himself in the role of Dr Schön. Wedekind is known to have taken his inspiration from at least two sources: the pantomime "Lulu" by Félicien Champsaur, which he saw in Paris in the early 1890s, and the sex murders of Jack the Ripper in London in 1888. The Lulu character may also have been partially inspired by the famed dancer/courtesan Lola Montez, also a woman of humble origin who fabricated an exotic identity.
Plot.
In a Prologue, the characters in the drama are introduced by an ‘Animal Tamer’ as if they are creatures in a travelling circus. Lulu herself is described as “the true animal, the wild, beautiful animal” and the “primal form of woman”.
When the action of the play starts, Lulu has been rescued by the rich newspaper publisher Dr Schön from a life on the streets with her alleged father, the petty criminal Schigolch. Dr Schön has taken Lulu under his wing, educated her and made her his lover. Wishing however to make a more socially advantageous match for himself, he has married her off to the medic Dr Goll.
In the first Act Dr Goll has brought Lulu to have her portrait painted by Schwarz. Left alone with him, Lulu seduces the painter. When Dr Goll returns to confront them, he collapses with a fatal heart attack.
In Act Two, Lulu has married the painter Schwarz, who, with Schön’s assistance, has now achieved fame and wealth. She remains Schön’s mistress, however. Wishing to be rid of her ahead of his forthcoming marriage to a society belle, Charlotte von Zarnikow, Schön informs Schwarz about her dissolute past. Schwarz is shocked to the core and “guillotines” himself with his razor.
In Act Three Lulu appears as a dancer in a revue, her new career promoted by Schön’s son Alwa, who is now also infatuated with her. Dr Schön is forced to admit that he is in her thrall. Lulu forces him to break off his engagement to Charlotte.
In Act Four Lulu is now married to Dr Schön but is unfaithful to him with several other people (Schigolch, Alwa, the circus artist Rodrigo Quast and the lesbian Countess Geschwitz). On discovering this, Schön presses a revolver into her hand, urging her to kill herself. Instead, she uses it to shoot Schön, all the while declaring him the only man she has ever loved. She is imprisoned for her crime.
Her escape from prison with the aid of Countess Geschwitz and subsequent career down to her death at the hands of Jack the Ripper in London are the subject of the sequel, Pandora’s Box. It is now customary in theatre performances to run the two plays together, in abridged form, under the title "Lulu".
Reception.
The play has attracted a wide range of interpretations, from those who see it as misogynistic to those who claim Wedekind as a harbinger of women's liberation. Central to these divergent readings is the ambiguous figure of Lulu herself. Arguably, she embodies not so much the "primal form of woman" (a nebulous and subjective concept) as "perceptions" – in particular, male perceptions – of that "primal form". It is significant that we never learn Lulu's true name, only the names imposed on her by a succession of lovers. To Schigolch she is "Lulu", an asexual name suggestive of children's earliest speech. To Schön she is "Mignon", the name of the mysterious girl in Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship who pursues the hero with submissive fidelity. To Schwarz she is Eve, mankind's first mother but also alleged agent (in the biblical narrative) of our undoing. Each man, secure in the patriarchal society to which she is a potential affront, finds in her what he wants to see; her own needs, meanwhile, remain obscured. A key stage prop throughout the play (and its sequel) is Schwarz's portrait of Lulu, which depicts her dressed as Pierrot. By further associating his heroine with this "naïve, comic, yet also pathetic" figure, Wedekind reminds audiences of her "essential vulnerability".
Adaptations.
The play was adapted for film twice, in 1923 by Leopold Jessner, starring Asta Nielsen, and by Walerian Borowczyk for French television in 1980, starring Anne Bennant. It is currently being adapted for comics by John Linton Roberson. The two Lulu plays were combined for the silent film "Pandora's Box" (1929) and for Alban Berg's opera "Lulu" (1937). An Italian version by director Mario Missiroli was made in 1980, starring Stefania Sandrelli.
References.
Notes
Bibliography


Adrian Virginius

Adrian Virginius (30 November 1663 – 8 August 1706) was an Baltic-German clergyman, translator and linguist.
From 1686 to 1694, he worked as a pastor in Puhja, Tartu County. In 1694 he continued its clerical work in Otepää.
He was the editor and publisher of the "Wastne Testament" ('The New Testament'), which was written in South Estonian dialect. This book is the first complete print of the New Testament in Estonian language. At the same time, this is the first book that was completely written in Estonian.


Sumenu

Sumenu or Smenu (Egyptian: "S(w)mnw") was an ancient Egyptian town located in Upper Egypt. It housed the most prominent early-Middle Kingdom sanctuary of the crocodile-god Sobek.
Identification.
Uncertainties about the exact location of the city – tentatively identified with Gebelein or with Rizeiqat, the latter location being suggested by Gaston Maspero – seem to have been resolved thanks to archaeological excavations started in the late 1960s, which finally allowed to identify Sumenu with the modern town of Al-Mahamid Qibly, located between Armant and Gebelein.
It is almost certain that Sumenu has to be identified with Imiotru () and thus also with the Crocodilopolis () which was distinct from the one in the Faiyum and, according to Strabo's "Geographica", was located between Hermonthis (Armant) and Aphroditopolis (Gebelein). It appears most likely that Sumenu was the toponym where the temple stood, while Imiotru/Crocodilopolis referred to the whole city; in later times, the "Sumenu" denomination became obsolete.
History.
Earliest attestations of Sumenu dates back to the 11th Dynasty, and consist in references of a temple of "Sobek, lord of Sumenu", indirectly attesting that such temple was already existing at the time. Jean Yoyotte suggested that the flourishing of the cult of Sobek during the Middle Kingdom was due to the Theban origin of the 12th Dynasty pharaohs rather than their interest in the Faiyum region where Sobek was later associated. In fact, objects referring to Sobek of Sumenu became quite common during the early Middle Kingdom, and was only with Amenemhat III that the cult of Sobek at Sumenu lost its appeal in favor of “Sobek of Shedet”, the Greek "Krokodeilópolis", located northward in the Faiyum.
The temple survived into the New Kingdom, when several pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty ordered works here, then gradually phased out in later times. Soon after 88 BCE, the temple was demolished and its materials reused in the nearby city of el-Tod.


Norfolk News

The Norfolk News was a regional weekly newspaper, published every Saturday, in Exchange Street, Norwich, England.
The publication was founded in January, 1845, and ceased publication in 1961. The area it covered was the whole of Norfolk. Copies of the paper for most of its 116 years are held at the Local History Library in Norwich.
Notable editors of the paper include Edmund Rogers (1848–1870).


Brizendine House

The Brizendine House is a historic home in downtown Austin, Texas, constructed circa 1870. The building is located on 11th Street and is today surrounded by an annex to the Travis County Courthouse and the Blackwell/Thurman Criminal Justice Center.
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It is located at 507 W 11th Street.
Texas Historical Commission Marker Text.
This simple vernacular rough ashlar house represents the life style of the late 19th century working middle-class family in Austin, Texas. The exterior proportions of the structure reflect Victorian influence. Built of limestone about 1870 by John R. Brizendine (1829–1914), an Austin carpenter, machinist, and miller. Brizendine, a native of Kentucky, lived here until his death. Mrs. Elizabeth Gordon bought the home in 1928, and members of her family lived here until 1972. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-1974


Mary Murillo

Mary Murillo was an actress, screenwriter, and businesswoman active during Hollywood's silent era.
Early life.
Mary was the illegitimate daughter of Sarah Mary Peacock (née Sunter). In 1894, her mother married Edward O'Connor, a Roman Catholic Irish commercial traveller, and she was raised as Mary O'Connor. She was the eldest of four sisters (she also had an elder stepsister, Isabel Peacock, who later appeared in American films as Isabel Daintry). She was educated at St. Monica's in Skipton, Yorkshire, and at the Convent of the Sacred Heart School in Roehampton. She adopted the professional name Mary Murillo after being compared in looks to a Murillo painting of the Madonna.
Career.
In 1908, she traveled to America with her stepsister to start a stage career, and in February 1909, she made her debut in the chorus of the Broadway musical comedy "Havana". She toured the United States, finding only small parts until 1913, when she started sending scenarios to film companies. Her first script to be accepted was bought by the husband-and-wife team of Phillips Smalley and Lois Weber. Other commissions followed, and the first film known to be credited to her is 1914's "A Strand of Blond Hair", a Vitagraph comedy short starring John Bunny and Flora Finch.
She wrote five melodramas for Theda Bara during the 1910s popularity of vamp films. She also wrote for Bara's Fox rival, Valeska Suratt. Murillo served as screenwriter for Fox Film from 1916 to 1917, then joining Norma Talmadge Productions in 1919. She returned to the UK in 1923 to work for Stoll Film Studios. She wrote the script for the hit French sound film "Accusée, levez-vous!" (1930). In 1936, she formed the company Opticolor to market in Britain a French motion picture colour system, Francita, developed by her husband, Maurice Velle, son of French film pioneer Gaston Velle, but the business failed after a disastrous demonstration of the system. She later worked for J. Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank's Religious Films Ltd.
A selection of films made by Murillo, Maurice Velle, and Gaston Velle was featured at Il Cinema Ritrovato film festival in Bologna in 2015.
Further reading.
Luke McKernan, 'Searching for Mary Murillo' in Christine Gledhill and Julia Knight (eds.), "Doing Women's Film History: Reframing Cinemas, Past and Future" (Urbana, Chicago and Springfield: University of Illinois Press, 2015),
Christina Petersen, 'Mary Murillo', Women Film Pioneers Project (2017)


Geffen (surname)

Geffen (, lit. "Grapevine") is a Hebrew surname. Notable people with the surname include:


List of Pennsylvania state historical markers in Lancaster County

This is a list of the Pennsylvania state historical markers in Lancaster County.
This is intended to be a complete list of the official state historical markers placed in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC). The locations of the historical markers, as well as the latitude and longitude coordinates as provided by the PHMC's database, are included below when available. There are 81 historical markers located in Lancaster County.


Israel Bar-On

Israel Bar-On (; born January 31, 1989) is an Israeli singer, who won Israel's "Kokhav Nolad" (A Star is Born) song contest in 2008.
Bar-On was born in Beersheba to a religious family. He won the final of "Kokhav Nolad 6" contest on August 26, 2008, with 56% of the votes. For the show's finale, he performed an autobiographical song about his new life without parents and religion.
Bar-On did not serve in the Israel Defense Forces. After winning the contest it was rumored that the show's producers would attempt to arrange his enlistment.


The Country Boy (film)

The Country Boy is a lost 1915 American comedy silent film directed by Frederick A. Thomson based upon a play by Edgar Selwyn. The film stars Marshall Neilan, Florence Dagmar, Dorothy Green, Loyola O'Connor, Mrs. Lewis McCord, and Horace B. Carpenter. The film was released on February 18, 1915, by Paramount Pictures.


Building a Building

Building a Building is a 1933 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Production and released by United Artists. A remake of the 1928 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film "Sky Scrappers", the cartoon depicts Mickey Mouse working at a construction site under the supervision of Peg-Leg Pete while Minnie Mouse is selling box lunches to the workers. It was directed by David Hand, his first directorial assignment at Disney, and features the voices of Walt Disney as Mickey, Marcellite Garner as Minnie, and Billy Bletcher as Pete. It was the 51st Mickey Mouse short film, and the first of that year.
The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 6th Academy Awards, but lost to Disney's own "Three Little Pigs". This was the second Mickey Mouse cartoon nominated for an Oscar.
Plot.
Mickey is operating a steam shovel at a construction site. Minnie appears on a cart pulled by Pluto; she is selling box lunches to the workers.
After he uses the steam shovel to retrieve Minnie's hat (which had blown off and landed by him), Mickey accidentally throws dirt from the steam shovel onto Peg-Leg Pete (whose peg leg is on the left leg rather than the right), the foreman, causing him to get angry and shout, "HEY!!! Don't put dirt on the blueprint! What do you think you're doing?!". Mickey hurriedly brings up a load of bricks in a wheelbarrow. Meanwhile, Pete sees Minnie and flirts with her, though she is not interested. Mickey, distracted by Minnie, accidentally drops the bricks on Pete, who literally shouts out, "Hey, you blankety blank baboon!"
Finally, Mickey himself falls through Pete's blueprint. Pete has had enough and starts to strangle Mickey, but just then it is noon and an anthropomorphic steam whistle sounds for lunch. Mickey settles down to eat a fish sandwich, but it is stolen by Pete. Minnie offers to give him a box lunch for free. As Mickey is eating the lunch, Pete abducts Minnie from above with a crane.
Mickey chases after Pete, and finally wrestles with him high up on the building. Minnie grabs a pan of red-hot rivets and drops them down Pete's pants. This gives the mice enough time to run away as Pete pours water down his pants.
In the process of chasing Mickey and Minnie, Pete has an anvil fall on his head and fires rivets at them with a handheld pneumatic hammer. This turns on him when the hammer falls into his pants and gets attached to his peg leg. The mice escape down a chute riding a wheelbarrow, while Pete falls into a cement mixer and accidentally dismantles a large portion of the building.
Once he hits the ground, Pete proclaims that Mickey is fired. Mickey immediately goes into business with Minnie selling box lunches.
Reception.
Piotr Borowiec said that this cartoon has better animation, stronger story lines, and better gags than the previous ones. Studio art instructor Don Graham taught a class in which students studied live-action films and compared them to Disney cartoons. In the class, the students compared Elmer Elephant and this cartoon. The students said that "Building a Building" was better. Michael Barrier disagreed about their decision, but he said that the students did have a point.
Home media.
The short was released on December 2, 2002 on "".


Zee World

Zee World is an English-Bollywood channel in South Africa which launched on 3 February 2015 and is exclusive to the DStv service. It carries domestic programming from India dubbed from Hindi and Marathi into English. The channel is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises and has offices in Johannesburg.
The network mainly carries a diverse offering of programs from Zee TV's domestic subcontinent networks, usually on a delayed schedule to account for dubbing and other rights conflicts.


The Convict (film)

The Convict is a 1910 American silent short comedy produced by the Thanhouser Company. The film begins with a convict walking down the road, he is spotted and it begins a wild chase with more people becoming involved in the pursuit as it continues. The convict gets in a carriage and leaps away, successfully eluding all the pursuers except for a little girl. The convict then runs to the water and takes a boat from another accomplice and the chase continues in water and on land. The convict gets ashore and escapes, taking a car and flees to town. The police are notified and set a trap, but the convict avoids the growing crowd of pursuers until he arrives at the theater. There "the convict" takes a pose under an advertisement and the pursuers understand it was all an advertising ploy, they purchase tickets and go to see the film. The film was released on September 23, 1910, it was the first part of a split-reel production that included "A Husband's Jealous Wife". The film was met with positive reviews though the film is presumed lost.
Plot.
Though the film is presumed lost, a synopsis survives in "The Moving Picture World" from September 24, 1910. It states: "The convict is discovered stealing along a country road, glancing about for signs of danger. His stripes are discernible on that portion of his breast and on that portion of his trousers' leg not covered by the long coat he wears - which cannot conceal the stripes that tell all; hence his keen watch for passersby. Still, he does not spy a nearby farmer until too late; the cry 'prisoner loose' is raised, and a dozen rustics make after the unfortunate. Convict meets accomplice who is waiting with carriage; jumps in the carriage and the pair drives off. Baffled pursuers come up, sight a wagon, all pile within and resume pursuit. Convict jumps from carriage and drops behind boulder, accomplice driving straight on with the wagon hot after him; when the wagon has passed him by, convict comes from behind boulder, crosses road and disappears on other side - but has been seen crossing the road by a small girl who kept out of sight until the convict had disappeared, but who now rushes off to tell of her discovery. Put back on the trail by the little girl, pursuers follow their quarry to the waterside, where a second accomplice awaits the convict with a rowboat, and into which he jumps and pulls for the other side. Another rowboat sets out in pursuit. One of the pursuers telephones constables on the other side of the water to catch convict when he tries to land."
"Race of the rowboats. Nearing shore the convict finds himself hemmed in - pursuers on water and constables on land. Luckily for him, pursuers in their efforts to grab his boat overturn their own; he gets to shore, where [the] accomplice is caught though [the convict] escapes. Constable and pursuer chase him to town road, where third accomplice awaits with auto; they speed off. An automobile too happens along, allows pursuers to use his auto to chase convict's, and all enter except constable who rushes off to 'phone town police of convict's coming. Receiving the message, chief of police leaves with coppers for town end of road, across which they stretch rope and await convict's auto. As the convict dashes down Main Street new pursuers spring up at every step. Yet when he reaches the opera house he calmly walks into the entrance and, facing his pursuers, takes a dignified stand beside the billboard on which is printed: 'Latest Moving Picture - Today's Feature - STUNG! or The Convict's Escape - A Roaring Comedy Now Showing.'"
Production.
The writer of the scenario is unknown, but it was most likely Lloyd Lonergan. He was an experienced newspaperman employed by "The New York Evening World" while writing scripts for the Thanhouser productions. The plot is a clever advertising scheme employed by a theatre manager to draw patrons and using an elaborate series of events in order to accomplish that effect. Once "the convict" is identified and the chase begins, he receives assistance in prolonging the chase until arriving at the theatre where the crowd purchases tickets for the show. The film director is unknown, but it may have been Barry O'Neil. Film historian Q. David Bowers does not attribute a cameraman for this production, but at least two possible candidates exist. Blair Smith was the first cameraman of the Thanhouser company, but he was soon joined by Carl Louis Gregory who had years of experience as a still and motion picture photographer. The role of the cameraman was uncredited in 1910 productions. The only role in the cast which is known is for Marie Eline as the little girl. The other cast credits are unknown, but many 1910 Thanhouser productions are fragmentary. A surviving film still gives the possibility of identifying two actors.
Release and reception.
The split-reel comedy, approximately 1000 feet long with "A Husband's Jealous Wife" included, was released on September 23, 1910. Advertising for the film was a bit mixed as to whether or not it was a comedy or a drama, stating, "You have no idea as to how marvelously a Thanhouser can twist a story until you see this gripping dra - well, perhaps, it isn't a drama at that - or a comedy even. We hate to tip you off as to WHAT it is. When you see the picture, with its totally unlooked-for climax, you'll know why!" Bowers would later term this as more of the slapstick comedy that Edwin Thanhouser said the company would not produce. The film likely had a wide national release, known advertising theatres include Indiana, and Kansas. The film was also shown in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One theater advertisement may have confused this film with another because it lists this film as a western film.
Reviews for the film were positive and focused on the novel methods used to attract the audience to the theater. "The Moving Picture World" stated, "A burlesque picture which becomes more thrilling as it proceeds. The convict is supposed to have escaped and the way he is chased and surrounded bodes no good for him. But somehow he manages to elude the steadily increasing army of pursuers until they are gathered around him, when he calmly shows a motion picture announcement, and the reason for all this melee, in which the whole countryside took part, becomes apparent." The requirement that the fleeing "convict" be continually assisted as a part of the plot may have been lost on "The New York Dramatic Mirror" reviewer. The reviewer writes, "Perhaps, in real life, things might not happen so luckily for the convict unless the carriage, the boat and the automobile were previously arranged for him. Even then, Fate might conceivably have some disagreeable card up her sleeve. In the film, at any rate, everybody bit nicely. They pursued the escaped convict in increasing crowds until he led them to the theatre he was advertising. There they all obligingly bought tickets to the show and, no doubt, enjoyed it hugely. They did if it was as good as the film is. The least interesting sections of the film are the telephone messages exchanged by agitated police officials; but they set off the livelier adventures of the convict with agreeable contrast." Walton of "The Moving Picture News" identified the set up and assistance to "the convict" and states,"In spite of the Thanhouser folk joining in the racket and the peculiar readiness of carriage and automobile and boat to help the gentleman in a costume, not used in this state for some two years, the audience did not 'catch on.' When the revelation came, at the door of the New Rochelle picture show, the theatre rang with laughter. We were all 'stung' and we enjoyed it."


Rogvolod

Rogvolod (; ; 920978) was the first chronicled prince of Polotsk (945–978). In the "Russian Primary Chronicle", he is known as Рогъволодъ, probably a slavicized version of the Old Norse name "Ragnvald." The name has also been connected with the Russian words "рог" and "володеть," from which the formation of the name may have come. He was a Varangian, unrelated to Vladimir the Great, and was established at Polotsk in the mid-10th century, most likely having come from overseas (i.e., from Scandinavia or the Southern Baltic). According to the "Russian Primary Chronicle", Vladimir the Great sought an alliance with him in 980 by marrying his daughter Rogneda, but she refused, insulting his parentage, and married his brother, Yaropolk. In revenge, Vladimir attacked Rogvolod and his family, killing him and his sons, after which he raped Rogneda, and forcibly took her as his bride.


Crispin Agnew

Sir Crispin Hamlyn Agnew of Lochnaw, 11th Baronet, (born 13 May 1944) is a Scottish advocate, herald and former explorer. He is the chief of the ancient Agnew family, and the eleventh holder of the Agnew baronetcy, created in 1629.
Agnew is the only son of Sir Fulque Agnew and his wife Swanzie Erskine, latterly Professor of Geography at the University of Malawi. He succeeded his father in 1975.
He was educated at Uppingham School and RMA Sandhurst, before being commissioned into the Royal Highland Fusiliers in 1964. He served in Germany, Cyprus, Northern Ireland and the UK. As an active climber and mountaineer and member of the Alpine Club (UK) he was involved with the army's policy of developing adventurous training for soldiers of all ranks. He took part in or led a number of expeditions, including expeditions to Api Himal in 1980, Everest in 1976, Nuptse Himal in 1975, Northern Patagonian Ice Field in 1973, Elephant Island in 1970, and Greenland in 1968 and 1966. He retired as a major in 1981.
Agnew is a Queen's Counsel and was in practice at the Scottish Bar with Westwater Advocates before going non-practising in April 2020. He was ranked by Chambers UK 2018 as a "Star Individual" in Agriculture and Rural Affairs and "Band 1" in Planning and Environment. He specialised in rural property, planning & environmental, and public law. He was made an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Dundee in 2020. He is the author of legal textbooks on agriculture, crofting, land obligations and liquor licensing as well as articles in academic journals. He served as a part-time judge of the Upper Tribunal (formerly Social Security Commissioner) (2000 to 2018) and was part-time legal chairman of the Pension Appeal Tribunal (2002 to 2012). He is a legal convenor of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (2018-).
His heraldic career began in 1978 when he was appointed Slains Pursuivant by Merlin, Earl of Eroll. In 1981, he was appointed Unicorn Pursuivant at the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh. In 1986, he was promoted to Rothesay Herald, a position he currently holds.
In 1980 he married Susan Rachel Strang Steel, a careers adviser and formerly a journalist and broadcaster, the daughter of Jock Wykeham Strang Steel and Lesley Graham. Agnew and his wife have a son and three daughters: Mark, Isabel, Emma and Roseanna. Mark Agnew is the Younger of Lochnaw, and the heir to the chiefship and baronetcy.


Lord and Lady Algy (film)

Lord and Lady Algy is a lost 1919 American silent comedy film directed by Harry Beaumont and starring Tom Moore, Naomi Childers, and Frank Leigh. It is based on a play of the same name by R.C. Carton.
The film's sets were designed by the art director Hugo Ballin.
Plot.
As described in a film magazine, Lord Algy (Moore) is addicted to betting, which causes an estrangement with his wife, Lady Algy (Childers). They part under an informal arrangement, although each continues to admire the other. Lord Algy determines to retrench his fortune by backing a certain horse in a race. Lady Algy, knowing the horse cannot win, makes friends with Jethroe (Stuart) to get a tip on the race, hoping to win enough to recoup her husband's losses. Mrs. Tudway (Ballin), wife of a friend of Lord Algy, plans to run away with another man. Algy learns of the plan and cooperates, allowing the elopers the use of his chambers as a rendezvous, hoping to persuade Mrs. Tudway to stay with her husband. Scandal then connects the names of Lady Algy with Jethroe and of Lord Algy with Mrs. Tudway. Algy's horse loses the race while Lady Algy's wins. Brabazon Tudway (Burress) discovers his wife in Lord Algy's chambers and suspects him of stealing her affections. Lady Algy arrives, grasps the situation at a glance, and diplomatically smooths things over. She tells Lord Algy of her success with the race and they are reunited.


Shaked (surname)

Shaked (, meaning almond) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:


List of works exhibited at the National Treasure Gallery

This is a list of the paintings and works of calligraphy exhibited at the National Treasure Gallery in the Tokyo National Museum.
The National Treasure Gallery is located in Room 2 of the Honkan (Japanese Gallery), and like the name indicates it is dedicated to the display of items designated as National Treasures of Japan.
At least one National Treasure is on exhibit at any given moment, changing approximately every month.


Jerome of Moravia

Jerome of Moravia (or Hieronymus de Moravia) (died after 1271) was a medieval music theorist. He was a Dominican friar. His origin is unknown, but he is believed to have worked in Paris at the Dominican convent on the Rue Saint-Jacques. He most likely came from the Dominican convent in Elgin, Moray, although based on some renderings of his name he may have come from the Dominican community in Moravia.
He is known for only one extant treatise "Tractatus de Musica" which was an encyclopedic treatment of the most important aspects of music in the Middle Ages: "ars musica", mensural polyphony, mathematical treatments of music, and ecclesiastical chant. He copied large chunks of earlier music treatises. These included Boethius' "De institutione musica" and the treatises of Johannes Cotto, Johannes de Garlandia, Franco of Cologne and Petrus de Picardia. The treatise was probably compiled after 1272, and the only extant manuscript was probably copied before 1304. The original owner of this manuscript was Pierre de Limoges, and it was given to the Sorbonne when he died. Anonymous IV was most likely aware of this manuscript when he wrote.
The purpose of the manuscript was to educate mainly Dominican ecclesiastics about chant and polyphony, so that they could perform it and judge it.


Cai Yan

Cai Yan ( 178 – post 206; or 170–215; or died 249), courtesy name Wenji, was a Chinese composer, poet, and writer who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. She was the daughter of Cai Yong. Her courtesy name was originally Zhaoji, but was changed to Wenji during the Jin dynasty to avoid naming taboo because the Chinese character for "zhao" in her courtesy name is the same as that in the name of Sima Zhao, the father of the Jin dynasty's founding emperor, Sima Yan. She spent part of her life as a captive of the Xiongnu until 207, when the warlord Cao Cao, who controlled the Han central government in the final years of the Eastern Han dynasty, paid a heavy ransom to bring her back to Han territory.
Life.
Cai Yan was the daughter of Cai Yong, a famous Eastern Han dynasty scholar from Yu County (), (), which is around present-day Qi County, Kaifeng, Henan. She was married to Wei Zhongdao () in 192 but her husband died shortly after their marriage and they did not have any children. Between 194 and 195, when China entered a period of chaos, the Xiongnu nomads intruded into Han territory, captured Cai, and took her back as a prisoner to the northern lands. During her captivity, she married the Xiongnu chieftain (the "Wise Prince of the Left") and bore him two sons. 12 years later, the Han Chancellor, Cao Cao, paid a heavy ransom in the name of Cai's father for her release. After Cai was freed, she returned to her homeland but left her children behind in Xiongnu territory. The reason Cao Cao wanted her back was that she was the sole surviving member of her clan and he needed her to placate the spirits of her ancestors.
After that, Cai married again, this time to Dong Si (), a local government official from her hometown. However, when Dong Si committed a capital crime later, Cai pleaded with Cao Cao for her husband's acquittal. At the time, Cao Cao was hosting a banquet to entertain guests, who were stirred by Cai's distressed appearance and behaviour. She asked him if he could provide her with yet another husband. He pardoned Dong Si.
Later in her life, she wrote two poems describing her turbulent years.
Legacy.
Like her father, Cai Wenji was an established calligrapher of her time, and her works were often praised along with her father's. Her poems were noted for their sorrowful tone, which paralleled her hard life. The famous guqin piece "Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute" is traditionally attributed to her, although the authorship is a perennial issue for scholarly debate. The other two poems, both named "Poem of Sorrow and Anger" (), were known to be written by her.
The following is an excerpt from the "Poem of Sorrow and Anger" in five-character form ():
In addition to her surviving poems, a volume of "Collective Works of Cai Wenji" was known to have survived until as late as the Sui dynasty but had been lost by the Tang dynasty.
Cai Wenji inherited some 4,000 volumes of ancient books from her father's vast collection. However, they were destroyed in the ravages of war. At Cao Cao's request, Cai recited 400 of them from memory and wrote them on paper.
Literary and artistic tributes.
The stories of Cai reverberate primarily with feelings of sorrow, and inspired later artists to keep portraying her past. Her return to Han territory has been the subject of numerous paintings titled "Cai Wenji Returns to Her Homeland" () by various painters since the Tang dynasty, as well as renderings in traditional Beijing opera.
In popular culture.
Guo Moruo wrote a play on her life in 1959. In 1976, a crater on Mercury was named Ts'ai Wen-Chi after Cai Wenji, citing her as "Chinese poet and composer". In 1994, a crater on Venus was named Caiwenji after Cai Wenji, citing her as "Chinese poet".
Cai Wenji appears as a playable character in Koei's "Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce 2" and "Dynasty Warriors 7" (her debut as a playable character in North American and European ports). She also appears in Koei's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" video game series and in "" as a non-playable character. She is also a playable character in "Warriors Orochi 3" and "Warriors Orochi 4". Her fighting style relies on casting energy balls and shock waves by strumming her harp.


Kerala Natanam

Kerala Natanam (കേരള നടനം) (Kerala Dance) is a new style of dance that is now recognised as a distinct art form evolved from Kathakali, a form of Indian dance-drama. The Indian dancer Guru Gopinath (ഗുരു ഗോപിനാഥ്) a well-trained Kathakali artist and his wife Thankamani Gopinath who was the first student of Mohiniyattam in Kerala Kalamandalam developed a unique structure for teaching and performing classical dance forms of India whose origins are from Kathakali. Solo, duets, dance dramas and traditional folk dances were the material they chose.
Guru Gopinath and Thankamani's dance programs found traditional pieces existing side by side with those modified to present a variety of themes. Their style relied heavily on the "angika abhinaya" (body movements and gestures) and "satvika abhinaya" (facial expressions) from Kathakali. The major stance of Kathakali was changed by Gopinath to a more convenient pose that could rest well with the tribhanga concept.
Another significant deviation was in "aharya abhinaya" (costume mode) where they adopted costumes and facial makeup to suit the role. Thus, in a dance on Jesus Christ, the dancer dressed like Christ. In social dances the artists wore the dress of labourers, peasants, folk, etc. Likewise roles of Srikrishna, king, snake charmer, hunter had the appropriate attire. For the first time Carnatic music compositions used for concerts were rendered into dance forms by Gopinath. Unlike traditional Kathakali and Mohini attam, a variety musical instruments were added to his presentations.
Even though during his lifetime Guru Gopinath did not give a name to his style, after his death the movement to give his style a name gained momentum. In 1993, during the Global Conference on Guru Gopinath and Kerala Nadanam held in Trivandrum, a Sanskrit definition was given to this style by his students: Keraleeya Shaastriya Sargaathmaka Nrittham — "A traditional creative dance style originating from Kerala."
Kerala Nadanam can be performed in three ways: Ekamga Nadanam (solo), Samgha Nadanam (group), Nataka Nadanam (dance drama enacting a story). Male–female pair dancing is a distinct style in Kerala Nadanam. So also he has extended the dance drama to five or six hours long performance called Indian ballets.
Prominent artists.
Guru Chandrasekharan (1916–1998).
Guru Chandrasekharan was a great Indian dancer and choreographer who was born in Trivandrum, Kerala in 1916. His father was NK Nair (Kunju Krishna Kurup), a notable oil painter. While studying at the university, he started practicing dance without informing his parents. He studied Kathakali dance under the guidance of Guru Gopinath. During that period, Gopinath received royal patronage from the Travancore palace and a dance school named Sri Chithrodaya Nartha Kalalayam was established by the government at Poojappura, Travancore. Chandrasekharan was one of the first students. After some time, Chandrasekharan learnt Kathakali under Nedumudi Narayana Kurup who was also a palace kathakali artiste. Later, he organized his own troupe and conducted performances around India. Social themes were rarely used in classical dances at the time. He has directed and choreographed several social themes in dance.
In 1943, on an invitation from the government, he took his troupe to Alexandria, Egypt; the Middle East; and Italy for military entertainment as the Indian Army was engaged in World War II. At the close of the war in 1946, he again tried to go to East Asia, but the tour ended in Ceylon.
He has served as a dance professor at Shantiniketan, West Bengal, as a member of the Kerala University Senate, Board of Director at Kerala Kalamandalam governing body, Advisory Committee member Malayalam Encyclopedia, visiting dance professor of Swathi Thirunal College of Music, and as a founder member of the director board of the Bala Bhavan, Trivandrum.
In the late forties, at the insistence of some of his friends, he composed and presented the 'Voice of Travancore,' a political theme in dance form, which depicted the autocratic rule of the Dewan, Sir CP Ramaswamy Iyer and people's movement of resistance thereon. However, Sir CP was an admirer of Chandrasekharan's art. However, Chandrasekharan received his highest appreciation in the All India Educational Conference held at Trivandrum in 1946.
According to the report:
"The Nataraja Thandava was presented in a remarkable manner by Chandrasekharan. When he presented the Hunter Dance, his joy of being the monarch of all he surveyed in the forest was vividly perceivable. He aroused tragic sentiments to a remarkable extent while he was experiencing suicidal agony as he was bitten by a snake. As he entered 'Ardhanareeswara,' here the body was responding to a double call of vigour and grace. It was perhaps more than what an Uday Shankar could do."
Another composition of his is 'Polinja Deepam' (the light that failed) depicting the sad end of Mahatma Gandhi, which he played in 1948.
In 1949 he joined in the Viswabharathi University (Shantiniketan) as a professor of Kathakali dance. During this time, he composed and portrayed Rabindranath Tagore's famous dance dramas, "Chitrangada", "Chandalika", etc. in cities of North India including New Delhi and Calcutta. In Viswabharathi, he had the opportunity to get acquainted with many dance forms including those from Kandi, Bali, Burma, etc. During this period in Shantiniketan, he got acquainted with Prof. Humayun Kabir, Zakir Hussain (Former President of India) who were then frequent visitors of Shantiniketan. All these great personalities praised Chandrasekharan for his talent in performing art: "Chandrasekharan has great expressiveness and was able to communicate shades of feeling with subtlety and power. His sense of rhythm and dramatic interpretation marks him out as an artist of distinction."
Poet Harindranth Chatopadhyaya wrote to him on 21 February 1952:
"Courage is this that single willed, unaided lone you build and build
Which shows you have the spirits pluck, so from the heart I wish you luck."
SK George, a Gandhian disciple and a former director of Deenabandhu Bhavan, Shantiniketan, said about him:
"Sri Chandrasekharan was one of the best teachers of Art that Shantiniketan has had and did much to rouse interest in its study among students from various parts of the country. He delighted visitors to Shantiniketan from all parts of the world during his stay there, by the finished technique of his art and has received glowing testimonials from many of them, including delegates to the World Pacifist meeting. In Gurudev's dance dramas like 'Chandalika,' 'Chitrangada' and 'Syama' presented in Shantiniketan and outside, he took the leading parts."
After a couple of years, he came back from Viswabharathi and started his own school at Trivandrum in the name Prathibha Nrithakala Kendra. During 1954, he performed "Thilakkunna Mannu" (Simmering Sand) that had a social theme advocating agrarian revolution. It has received wide acclamation from celebrated persons like President Rajendra Prasad and Dr. Radhakrishnan.
Chandrasekharan's creative contributions include such compositions as 'Voice of Travancore,' 'Manishada,' 'Siva Thandavam,' 'Ganesh Nritham,' 'Ardhanareeswara,' 'Surya Nritham,' 'Geethopadesam,' Kalidasa's 'Kumara Sambhavam,' 'Sakunthalam,' Kumaran Asan's 'Chandala Bhikshuki,' Vallathol's 'Magdalana Maria,' 'Guruvum Sishyanum,' Vayalar's 'Ayisha,' Changampuzha's 'Ramanan' and 'Markandeyan,' 'Mohini Rugmangada,' 'Savithri,' 'Dakshayagam,' 'Ekalavyan,' 'Chilappadikaram,' Greek story 'Pygmalion,' Chinese story 'Fisherman's Revenge,' Japanese story 'Esashiyuvo' (Prapidiyan Pathalathil), Bible story 'Salome' and many more. He successfully composed and performed several ballets such as 'Sri Guruvayurappan,' 'Kumara Sambhavam,' 'Sri Ayyappan,' 'Hrishya Sringan' and 'Sri Hanuman.'
He produced another ballet named "Himavante Makkal" (Children of the Himalayas) in 1964 on the background of the India's history, which concluded with the Chinese attack on India in 1962. After seeing it, VV Giri, then governor of Kerala, was so happy that he invited Chandrasekharan to Raj Bhavan and honored him. Here is an extract from his complimentary remarks.
"I am delighted to witness the performance of a dance drama based on National Integration presented by Pratibha Nrithakala Kendra, Trivandrum, and directed by the famous and distinguished dancer Chandrasekharan. This play describes the various periods through which we have passed from Vedic period up to the present day. It is a most thought provoking play and one who attends this show will feel enthused and inspired and would strengthen his spirit of patriotism and love of sacrifice for his country."
In 1965, Chandrasekharan composed an opera which was the first of its kind in Malayalam as well as in any other Indian language. The opera was based on the Mahabharata character Karnan. Chandrasekharan himself played the role of Karna while nearly hundred others took part in it, which was presented in Trivandrum for more than a month. The opera was produced by Kala Nilayam permanent Theatres. Chandrasekharan later started his own permanent stage called Prathibha Opera House and produced another opera entitled 'Bhishmar' on the Mahabharata hero which was an artistic success, but financially a flop, which forced him to withdraw from the scene partly. However, he continued his activities till 1980.
At a public meeting in connection with his Shashtiabdapurthi (60th birthday) at Hassan Marrikar Hall, Trivandrum, under the chairmanship of Prof. Ayappa Panicker, he was conferred the title of 'Guru' by the public of Trivandrum. He was honoured with an award by Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy in 1976. Chandrasekharan has written several articles in periodicals about dances of India. His book on Bharatanatyam titled "Natiya Nirishanam" is a masterpiece: the culmination of a research work done with a Fellowship Award from the Cultural Department, government of India.
Personal life.
Chandrasekharan married Mohanavalli Amma of Kalappurakkal family, Alangad Paravur, daughter of Gopala Panicker, assistant superintendent of police of former Travancore State. His wife took active participation in dance presentations. He died on 5 August 1998 at the age of 82.


Nadja Holm

"Nadja" Kasanesh Holm, (born 10 October 1997) is a Swedish singer and winner of Idol 2020. She was born in Ethiopia and grew up in Roknäs outside of Piteå. On 27 November, 2020, she along with Paulina Pancenkov made it to the final of the TV4 singing competition Idol 2020. Nadja Holm won the final.


National Order of Merit (Guinea)

The National Order of Merit is the pre-eminent state decoration of the Republic of Guinea.


Alma, Israel

Alma () is a religious Jewish moshav in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Merom HaGalil Regional Council. In , it had a population of . It is built on the basaltic plateau north of Safed.
History.
Roman and Crusader periods.
Under the Judaea Province, a Jewish town was situated at this spot. The name Alma is first mentioned in the Crusader period. The Jewish community existed until the 17th century. Benjamin of Tudela (1130–1173) said that during his visit, he found 50 Jewish families living in Alma.
Arab village of Alma.
The nearby site of the Arab Palestinian village of Alma, whose land Alma stands on, was destroyed in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Modern Alma (1949).
Modern Alma was founded on 1 September 1949 by immigrants to Israel from Libya. In 1953, a group of converts to Judaism, known as the Jews of San Nicandro, arrived from Italy. They later abandoned Alma to live in other nearby moshavim. After the Italians left, Cochin Jews arrived from India. By 1968, Alma's inhabitants were mostly from Libya and Tunisia. The economy is based on hillculture (vineyards, deciduous fruit, vegetables) and cattle. In its early years of development, Alma was associated with Hapoel HaMizrachi.
Archaeology.
Near the moshav's cemetery lie the remnants of what has been identified as a synagogue, perhaps dating to the 3rd century, though it has never been systematically excavated or properly researched. Also nearby are several tombs, including those of two prominent Sages (tannaim) of the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, one belonging to Eleazar ben Arach, and one which is traditionally recognized as Eliezer ben Hurcanus' tomb.
Geography.
Alma is located about 600 m above sea level, in an area called Alma Heights, bordered by the Dishon Stream. The Dishon Stream Nature Reserve is located next to the village, as well as the Circassian village Rehaniya.