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=== Painting ===
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Busch biographer Joseph Kraus divided his work into three periods. He points out, however, that this classification is a simplification, as some works by their nature can be of a later or earlier period. All three periods show Busch's obsession with German middle class life. His peasants are devoid of sensitivity and village life is marked by a vivid lack of sentiment.
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German "Moritzian" -inspired stories include Lies und Lene; die Schwestern von Max und Moritz (Hulda Levetzow, F. Maddalena, 1896), Schlumperfritz und Schlamperfranz (1922), Sigismund und Waldemar, des Max und Moritz Zwillingspaar (Walther Günther, 1932) and Mac und Mufti (Thomas Ahlers, Volker Dehs, 1987). These are shaped by observations of the First and Second World Wars, while the original is a moral story. In 1958 the Christian Democratic Union used the Max and Moritz characters for a campaign in North Rhine-Westphalia, the same year that the East German satirical magazine Eulenspiegel used them to caricature black labour. In 1969 Max and Moritz "participated" in late 1960s student activism.
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Crown Fountain is an interactive work of public art and video sculpture featured in Chicago's Millennium Park, which is located in the Loop community area. Designed by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa and executed by Krueck and Sexton Architects, it opened in July 2004. The fountain is composed of a black granite reflecting pool placed between a pair of glass brick towers. The towers are 50 feet (15.2 m) tall, and they use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to display digital videos on their inward faces. Construction and design of the Crown Fountain cost $ 17 million. The water operates from May to October, intermittently cascading down the two towers and spouting through a nozzle on each tower's front face.
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Prior to Crown Fountain, Plensa's dominant theme had been dualism, which he had expanded to artworks in which the viewers are outside, and the visible subjects of the art are inside containers and hollow spaces. In the 1990s, he completed several outdoor sculptures in which he explored the use of light (The Star of David ( 1998) at Stockholm's Raoul Wallenberg Square, Bridge of Light (1998) in Jerusalem ), and LED technology, video, and computer design (Gläserne Seele & Mr. Net in Brandenburg ( 1999 – 2000) ). In his public art, Plensa challenged himself to involve the viewer with his art, which led to his conception of the Crown Fountain. His objective was to create a socially relevant, interactive fountain for the 21st century. Since water is the focus of a fountain, and since Chicago, and especially Millennium Park, is so greatly affected by the nearby waterfront, Plensa sought to create an eternal water work to complement the local natural inspirations. Because of the colder winters common to the climate of Chicago, Plensa created a fountain that would remain vibrant when the water was inactive in the wintertime, so the fountain is an experience of light themes and the use of video technology.
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To achieve the effect in which water appears to be flowing from subjects'mouths, each video has a segment where the subject's lips are puckered, which is then timed to correspond to the spouting water, reminiscent of gargoyle fountains. Each face is cropped so that no hair and usually no ears are visible. Since there is no tripod designed for cameras turned on their sides, an adjustable barber / dentist's chair was used to minimize the need for the movement of the state-of-the-art camera during filming. Nonetheless, in some case, digital manipulation was necessary to properly simulate puckering in the exact proper location on the video. Many of the faces had to be stretched in order to get the mouths properly positioned. Additionally, each video was color-corrected for brightness, contrast and color saturation. Both the playback equipment and the final videos had to be further adjusted to account for sunlight during viewing.
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The structure for the blocks was a challenge. At first, the design team had considered switching to plastic blocks, until the team found Circle Redmont Inc., a prefabricated glass panel company in Melbourne, Florida which specializes in structural glass panel systems. Circle Redmont came up with the plan of turning grates on their sides to be used as building elements. The individual grids are 5 feet (1.5 m) tall and either 16 feet (4.9 m) or 23 feet (7.0 m) wide with cell capacity of an average of 250 blocks. Each tower is composed of 44 grids stacked and welded. The combination of the refraction of the glass and the thinness of the metal make the grid virtually invisible.
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In November 2006, Crown Fountain became the focus of a public controversy when the city added surveillance cameras atop each tower. Purchased through a $ 52 million Department of Homeland Security grant to the Chicago area, the cameras were part of a surveillance system augmenting eight other cameras covering all of Millennium Park. The city said the cameras, similar to those used throughout the city at high-crime areas and traffic intersections, were intended to remain on the towers for several months until permanent, less intrusive replacements were secured. City officials had consulted the architects who collaborated with Plensa on the tower designs, but Plensa himself had not been notified. Public reaction was negative, as bloggers and the artistic community decried the cameras on the towers as inappropriate and a blight. The city said that the cameras were largely for security reasons, but also partly to help park officials monitor burnt-out lights. The Chicago Tribune quickly published an article concerning the cameras as well as the public reaction, and the cameras were removed the next day. Plensa supported their removal.
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Crown Fountain, Trevi Fountain, and Buckingham Fountain, as well as natural water features such as Old Faithful, are examples of the ability of water to attract people and hold their attention. Crown Fountain has more interactivity than other Chicago fountains, such as Buckingham Fountain and Lorado Taft's Fountain of the Great Lakes and Fountain of Time (all but the last are in Grant Park). These other Chicago fountains are traditional in that they discourage viewer touching; Buckingham Fountain is surrounded by a fence, and Taft's fountains are surrounded by moats. In contrast, Crown Fountain provides an open invitation to play in the fountain's water.
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Since its completion in 1940, the Canning Dam has contributed to a wide range of environmental and ecological problems in surrounding regions, problems include more common algal blooms, habitat loss and sedimentation. Despite these issues, Canning Dam and the adjacent parks and forests provide a variety of recreational activities for the public such as bushwalking, historic walks and picnic facilities.
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The Canning reservoir is also used to store water from the newly completed Kwinana Desalination Plant. Treated water can be pumped from the plant to the reservoir through the new Forrestdale Pumping Station.
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Since 1975 long-term average rainfalls at the dam wall have decreased by 20 percent and streamflow into the catchment by approximately 60 percent — the average annual inflow between 1948 and 1974 was 52 gigalitres (1.8 × 109 cu ft) which had reduced to 22 gigalitres (780,000,000 cu ft) between 1975 and 2004.
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Generally construction work proceeded smoothly and from an engineering point of view there were few setbacks. However, one did occur in the early stages of construction. In March 1934 there was a violent storm bringing 130 mm (5.12 in) of rain in less than two days. As a result, the river rose rapidly which flooded the dam foundation workings. Pumps had to be installed and work resumed three days later.
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An innovative drilling and blasting technique called Penetrating Cone Fracture (PCF) was used in the remedial works process. PCF was chosen over conventional drilling and / or blasting techniques due to the reduced risk of damage to the existing structure from vibration, as well as lower noxious fume and dust levels.
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== Vintage years ==
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A 35th anniversary Midge reproduction doll was sold in 1998 for collectors, made to look like the vintage Midge dolls. She had red hair, was dressed in her original orange and lime two-piece swimming suit, and came with a reproduction of the Senior Prom outfit from 1964 – 1965 as well as a reproduction of the box the Midge dolls originally came in. Earlier in 1993, for Midge's 30th anniversary, a Midge reproduction doll was also produced, but she did not possess a reproduction of her original swimsuit or the original box. Like the later version, she came in a reproduction of the Senior Prom outfit.
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The lyrics of "Growing Again", which describes Violent J growing into a giant, were inspired by Bruce's weight gain; Bruce also says that the song reflects the feeling of being able to "rap about anything we want [...] I feel we have the right for some songs to be softer and not about killing or Dark Carnival." "The Tower" describes a war veteran and expert marksman climbing a college tower and shooting people with an arsenal of weapons, a reference to Charles Whitman's 1966 murder spree.
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Shaggy 2 Dope — vocals, scratching
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Razor Ray — guitar, soloist, vocals, background vocals
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For at least a portion of its life, a star shines due to thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core, releasing energy that traverses the star's interior and then radiates into outer space. Almost all naturally occurring elements heavier than helium are created by stellar nucleosynthesis during the star's lifetime, and for some stars by supernova nucleosynthesis when it explodes. Near the end of its life, a star can also contain degenerate matter. Astronomers can determine the mass, age, metallicity (chemical composition), and many other properties of a star by observing its motion through space, its luminosity, and spectrum respectively. The total mass of a star is the main factor that determines its evolution and eventual fate. Other characteristics of a star, including diameter and temperature, change over its life, while the star's environment affects its rotation and movement. A plot of the temperature of many stars against their luminosities produces a plot known as a Hertzsprung – Russell diagram (H – R diagram). Plotting a particular star on that diagram allows the age and evolutionary state of that star to be determined.
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The first star catalogue in Greek astronomy was created by Aristillus in approximately 300 BC, with the help of Timocharis. The star catalog of Hipparchus (2nd century BC) included 1020 stars, and was used to assemble Ptolemy's star catalogue. Hipparchus is known for the discovery of the first recorded nova (new star). Many of the constellations and star names in use today derive from Greek astronomy.
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Important theoretical work on the physical structure of stars occurred during the first decades of the twentieth century. In 1913, the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram was developed, propelling the astrophysical study of stars. Successful models were developed to explain the interiors of stars and stellar evolution. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin first proposed that stars were made primarily of hydrogen and helium in her 1925 PhD thesis. The spectra of stars were further understood through advances in quantum physics. This allowed the chemical composition of the stellar atmosphere to be determined.
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The only internationally recognized authority for naming celestial bodies is the International Astronomical Union (IAU). A number of private companies sell names of stars, which the British Library calls an unregulated commercial enterprise. The IAU has disassociated itself from this commercial practice, and these names are neither recognized by the IAU nor used by them. One such star-naming company is the International Star Registry, which, during the 1980s, was accused of deceptive practice for making it appear that the assigned name was official. This now-discontinued ISR practice was informally labeled a scam and a fraud, and the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs issued a violation against ISR for engaging in a deceptive trade practice.
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=== Star formation ===
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=== Main sequence ===
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The core contracts and the temperature and pressure rises enough to fuse carbon (see Carbon burning process). This process continues, with the successive stages being fueled by neon (see neon burning process), oxygen (see oxygen burning process), and silicon (see silicon burning process). Near the end of the star's life, fusion continues along a series of onion-layer shells within a massive star. Each shell fuses a different element, with the outermost shell fusing hydrogen; the next shell fusing helium, and so forth.
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The blown-off outer layers of dying stars include heavy elements, which may be recycled during the formation of new stars. These heavy elements allow the formation of rocky planets. The outflow from supernovae and the stellar wind of large stars play an important part in shaping the interstellar medium.
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In addition to isolated stars, a multi-star system can consist of two or more gravitationally bound stars that orbit each other. The simplest and most common multi-star system is a binary star, but systems of three or more stars are also found. For reasons of orbital stability, such multi-star systems are often organized into hierarchical sets of binary stars. Larger groups called star clusters also exist. These range from loose stellar associations with only a few stars, up to enormous globular clusters with hundreds of thousands of stars. Such systems orbit our Milky Way galaxy.
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Almost everything about a star is determined by its initial mass, including such characteristics as luminosity, size, evolution, lifespan, and its eventual fate.
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Stars range in size from neutron stars, which vary anywhere from 20 to 40 km (25 mi) in diameter, to supergiants like Betelgeuse in the Orion constellation, which has a diameter approximately 1,070 times that of the Sun — about 1,490,171,880 km (925,949,878 mi). Betelgeuse, however, has a much lower density than the Sun.
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=== Magnetic field ===
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The first stars to form after the Big Bang may have been larger, up to 300 M ☉, due to the complete absence of elements heavier than lithium in their composition. This generation of supermassive population III stars is likely to have existed in the very early universe (i.e., they are observed to have a high redshift), and may have started the production of chemical elements heavier than hydrogen that are needed for the later formation of planets and life. In June 2015, astronomers reported evidence for Population III stars in the Cosmos Redshift 7 galaxy at z = 6.60.
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The luminosity of a star is the amount of light and other forms of radiant energy it radiates per unit of time. It has units of power. The luminosity of a star is determined by its radius and surface temperature. Many stars do not radiate uniformly across their entire surface. The rapidly rotating star Vega, for example, has a higher energy flux (power per unit area) at its poles than along its equator.
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The current stellar classification system originated in the early 20th century, when stars were classified from A to Q based on the strength of the hydrogen line. It thought that the hydrogen line strength was a simple linear function of temperature. Rather, it was more complicated; it strengthened with increasing temperature, it peaked near 9000 K, and then declined at greater temperatures. When the classifications were reordered by temperature, it more closely resembled the modern scheme.
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Variable stars have periodic or random changes in luminosity because of intrinsic or extrinsic properties. Of the intrinsically variable stars, the primary types can be subdivided into three principal groups.
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The interior of a stable star is in a state of hydrostatic equilibrium: the forces on any small volume almost exactly counterbalance each other. The balanced forces are inward gravitational force and an outward force due to the pressure gradient within the star. The pressure gradient is established by the temperature gradient of the plasma; the outer part of the star is cooler than the core. The temperature at the core of a main sequence or giant star is at least on the order of 107 K. The resulting temperature and pressure at the hydrogen-burning core of a main sequence star are sufficient for nuclear fusion to occur and for sufficient energy to be produced to prevent further collapse of the star.
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21H + 22H → 23He + 2γ (2 x 5.5 MeV)
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4He + 8 * Be + 67 keV → 12 * C
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= Perry the Platypus =
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Perry is the docile pet platypus of the blended Flynn-Fletcher family, who adopted him because his unfocused gaze made it seem as if he were looking at both Phineas and Ferb at the same time, as shown in the 2011 movie, Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension. Unbeknownst to them, Perry lives a double life as a crime-fighting spy working for the "Organization Without a Cool Acronym" / The OWCA, going by the codename "Agent P." He reports to his superior, Major Monogram, via telecast in his large, high-tech, underground hideout. Every day, he engages in battles with the evil scientist Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, who tries using inventions to take over the tri-state area. Perry is always able to foil Doofenshmirtz's plans and in doing so accidentally leads to the destruction of whatever form of contraption his owners, Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher, are building in order to make summer better. Phineas and Ferb are aware that something happens to get rid of their scheme for the day, but do not know that Perry is the cause behind it and are largely dismissive of it. Their sister, Candace, also does not know that Perry is behind the destruction and is driven to near insanity trying to figure it out. Throughout the series, Perry is aware of Phineas and Ferb's inventions, but is largely uninterested in them, save whenever he notices that their latest invention may help him thwart Doofenshmirtz.
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When portrayed as a secret agent, Povenmire starts with a similar bread loaf square design, but draws it standing up vertically and places a fedora on the top of his head, which is combined with the square torso. In contrast to his mindless and wild-eyed expression as a pet, the secret agent version of Perry is detailed with eyes "full of steely blue resolve." Povenmire proceeds by drawing his arms, which bear hands that are open and prepared for fighting or any danger. His legs are bent, as well prepared for an act of danger or action needed. Povenmire finishes the design by adding his beaver tail and color.
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== Reception ==
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In addition to the main television series, Perry has appeared in several pieces of Phineas and Ferb merchandise. To date, he has appeared in all Phineas and Ferb novelizations, published by Disney Press. The character has been adapted into a 20 inch plush toy, released by The Walt Disney Company. The plush has a button on its hand that allows it to emit Perry's signature chattering noise. Certain t-shirts based on the series released by both Disney and the online retail website Zazzle also display Perry and the phrase "Hey, where's Perry?" which most characters like Phineas, Isabella, Stacy, Irving, Ferb, and Lawrence utter when Perry goes to Major Monogram in his secret lair in almost every episode. There also is a T-Shirt with Perry's face. Perry appears in the Nintendo DS video game based on the series, simply titled Phineas and Ferb, where a mini-game involves Perry stopping Doofenshmirtz's latest evil scheme. As of 1 April 2014, Perry is also a playable character in the video game Disney Infinity.
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The classification of the Amylostereaceae is not completely resolved. The next closest relatives might be – depending on the research – either Echinodontium tinctorium and most other species of the genus Echinodontium, or Artomyces pyxidatus. Most of the previous DNA analysis results suggest a narrow relation to Echinodontium, but several results of studies partially contradict this conclusion. Only the classification to the Russulales is regarded as correct. Some authors have suggested that Amylostereum should be placed in the family Echinodontiaceae.
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Amylostereaceae usually infest only dead or cut down conifer wood. Three species – A. areolatum, A. laevigatum and A. chailletii – may also establish a symbiosis with wood wasps (Siricidae), which beside freshly logged trees also infest living trees and infect them with fungi. Symbioses have been recorded with several species: Sirex noctilio, S. juvencus, S. nitobei, S. cyaneus, S. edwarsii, S. nitidus, and, in Japan, Urocerus antennatus and Xoanon matsumurae. Wasps of the genera Sirex and Urocerus store oidia (the hypha of fungi split up to spores) in special abdominal organs. The wood wasps infect trees by splashing a phytotoxic secretion below the bark and at the same time injecting fungal spores into the hole. The secretion weakens the tree and temporarily diminishes its immune system, whereby the fungus can spread along the xylem. The infection with Amylostereaceae fulfill two functions for the wasps: it provides the larvae food, because the white rot softens the wood; at the same time, the mycelia of the fungi serves as food for the larvae. After the larvae pupate, it absorbs the mycelia of the Amylostereaceae into its body to oviposit together with its eggs. The fungus benefits from the symbiosis as it spreads faster and more effectively than through airborne spores and furthermore does not need to develop fruit bodies. A. ferreum is the only Amylosterum species that has not been associated with any woodwasps.
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The Amylostereaceae are white rot pathogens. They disintegrate the lignin of the host wood, whereby the infested wood parts become less stable and take a fibrous structure. The wood bleaches as fungal enzymes break down and remove the brown-pigmented lignin. The distribution in wood takes place mainly along the transport channels in the xylem. If the wood is crosscut, the red rot is vertically positioned, on which bleached, infested areas contrast with intact wood. Symptoms of infestion by the symbiotic partner — wood wasps — include circular exit holes in the crust and acute stress through dryness, common in hanging, falling or tanning needles.
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= Charles-Valentin Alkan =
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Throughout the early years of the July Monarchy, Alkan continued to teach and play at public concerts and in eminent social circles. He became a friend of many who were active in the world of the arts in Paris, including Franz Liszt (who had been based there since 1827), George Sand, and Victor Hugo. It is not clear exactly when he first met Frédéric Chopin, who arrived in Paris in September 1831. In 1832 Alkan took the solo role in his first Concerto da camera for piano and strings at the Conservatoire. In the same year, aged 19, he was elected to the influential Société Académique des Enfants d 'Apollon (Society of the Children of Apollo), whose members included Luigi Cherubini, Fromental Halévy, the conductor François Habeneck, and Liszt, who had been elected in 1824 at the age of twelve. Between 1833 and 1836 Alkan participated at many of the Society's concerts. Alkan twice competed unsuccessfully for the Prix de Rome, in 1832 and again in 1834; the cantatas which he wrote for the competition, Hermann et Ketty and L 'Entrée en loge, have remained unpublished and unperformed.
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=== Reappearance (1873 – 1888) ===
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According to his death certificate, Alkan died in Paris on 29 March 1888 at the age of 74. Alkan was buried on 1 April (Easter Sunday) in the Jewish section of Montmartre Cemetery, Paris, not far from the tomb of his contemporary Fromental Halévy; his sister Céleste was later buried in the same tomb.
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Alkan's aversion to socialising and publicity, especially following 1850, appeared to be self-willed. Liszt is reported to have commented to the Danish pianist Frits Hartvigson that "Alkan possessed the finest technique he had ever known, but preferred the life of a recluse." Stephanie McCallum has suggested that Alkan may have suffered from Asperger syndrome, schizophrenia or obsessive – compulsive disorder.
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The inventory of Alkan's apartment made after his death indicates over 75 volumes in Hebrew or related to Judaism, left to his brother Napoléon (as well as 36 volumes of music manuscript). These are all lost. Bequests in his will to the Conservatoire to found prizes for composition of cantatas on Old Testament themes and for performance on the pedal-piano, and to a Jewish charity for the training of apprentices, were refused by the beneficiaries.
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Alkan's attachment to the music of his predecessors is demonstrated throughout his career, from his arrangements for keyboard of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony (1838), and of the minuet of Mozart's 40th Symphony (1844), through the sets Souvenirs des concerts du Conservatoire (1847 and 1861) and the set Souvenirs de musique de chambre (1862), which include transcriptions of music by Mozart, Beethoven, J. S. Bach, Haydn, Gluck, and others. In this context should be mentioned Alkan's extensive cadenza for Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto (1860), which includes quotes from the finale of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. Alkan's transcriptions, together with original music of Bach, Beethoven, Handel, Mendelssohn, Couperin and Rameau, were frequently played during the series of Petits Concerts given by Alkan at Erard.
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Moreover, in terms of structure, Alkan in his compositions sticks to traditional musical forms, although he often took them to extremes, as he did with piano technique. The study Op. 39, no. 8 (the first movement of the Concerto for solo piano) takes almost half an hour in performance. Describing this "gigantic" piece, Ronald Smith comments that it convinces for the same reasons as does the music of the classical masters; "the underlying unity of its principal themes, and a key structure that is basically simple and sound."
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Alkan's earliest works indicate, according to Smith, that in his early teens he "was a formidable musician but as yet ... industrious rather than ... creative". Only with his 12 Caprices (Opp.12 – 13 and 15 – 16, 1837) did his compositions begin to attract serious critical attention. The op. 15 set, Souvenirs: Trois morceaux dans le genre pathétique, dedicated to Liszt, contains Le vent (The Wind), which was at one time the only piece by the composer to figure regularly in recitals. These works, however, did not meet with the approval of Robert Schumann, who wrote: "One is startled by such false, such unnatural art ... the last [piece, titled Morte (Death), is] a crabbed waste, overgrown with brush and weeds ... nothing is to be found but black on black". Ronald Smith, however, finds in this latter work, which cites the Dies Irae theme also used by Berlioz, Liszt and others, foreshadowings of Maurice Ravel, Modest Mussorgsky and Charles Ives. Schumann did, however, respond positively to the pieces of Les mois (originally part published as Op. 8 in 1838, later published as a complete set in 1840 as Op. 74): "[Here] we find such an excellent jest on operatic music in no. 6 [L'Opéra] that a better one could scarcely be imagined ... The composer ... well understands the rarer effects of his instrument." Alkan's technical mastery of the keyboard was asserted by the publication in 1838 of the Trois grandes études (originally without opus number, later republished as Op. 76), the first for the left hand alone, the second for the right hand alone, the third for both hands; and all of great difficulty, described by Smith as "a peak of pianistic transcendentalism". This is perhaps the earliest example of writing for a single hand as "an entity in its own right, capable of covering all registers of the piano, of rendering itself as accompanied soloist or polyphonist."
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== Reception and legacy ==
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This list comprises a selection of some premiere and other recordings by musicians who have become closely associated with Alkan's works. A comprehensive discography is available at the Alkan Society website.
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11 Pièces dans le style religieux, et une transcription du Messie de Hændel, Op. 72 – played by Kevin Bowyer (organ). Recorded 2005. Toccata TOCC 0031 (2007)
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Unriddling Alkan by David Conway
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Alkan Piano Trio-Discussion of work and soundbites
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"Allegro Barbaro", Op. 35, No. 5 on YouTube, played by Jack Gibbons
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= Business School (The Office) =
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Meanwhile, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) discovers a bat in the ceiling, and accidentally lets it loose into the office, sending the employees scurrying for cover. Stanley immediately goes home. As many of the employees hide, Dwight enlists the help of Creed (Creed Bratton) to expel the bat. Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) exploits Dwight's paranoia, and pretends that he is turning into a vampire. Dwight eventually catches the bat with a garbage bag after it lands on Meredith's head.
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== Reception ==
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A road bearing the M-81 designation has existed since at least July 1, 1919, when the state initially numbered its trunkline highways. Since that time, it has been extended, rerouted or shortened several times. These changes resulted in essentially the modern highway routing by 1926; the highway was fully paved in the 1940s. A change made in 1929 was reversed in 1933, and an extension through downtown Saginaw in the 1960s was overturned in the 1970s. The last change was the construction of a pair of roundabouts at the I-75 / US 23 interchange in 2006.
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== History ==
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== Taxonomy and systematics ==
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Subspecies
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Several terrestrial starlings, including those in the genus Sturnus, have adaptations of the skull and muscles that help with feeding by probing. This adaptation is most strongly developed in the common starling (along with the spotless and white-cheeked starlings), where the protractor muscles responsible for opening the jaw are enlarged and the skull is narrow, allowing the eye to be moved forward to peer down the length of the bill. This technique involves inserting the bill into the ground and opening it as a way of searching for hidden food items. Common starlings have the physical traits that enable them to use this feeding technique, which has undoubtedly helped the species spread far and wide.
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The common starling is largely insectivorous and feeds on both pest and other arthropods. The food range includes spiders, crane flies, moths, mayflies, dragonflies, damsel flies, grasshoppers, earwigs, lacewings, caddisflies, flies, beetles, sawflies, bees, wasps and ants. Both adults and larvae are consumed and common starlings will also feed on earthworms, snails, small amphibians and lizards. While the consumption of invertebrates is necessary for successful breeding, common starlings are omnivorous and can also eat grains, seeds, fruits, nectar and food waste if the opportunity arises. The Sturnidae differ from most birds in that they cannot easily metabolise foods containing high levels of sucrose, although they can cope with other fruits such as grapes and cherries. The isolated Azores subspecies of the common starling eats the eggs of the endangered roseate tern. Measures are being introduced to reduce common starling populations by culling before the terns return to their breeding colonies in spring.
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Common starlings are both monogamous and polygamous; although broods are generally brought up by one male and one female, occasionally the pair may have an extra helper. Pairs may be part of a colony, in which case several other nests may occupy the same or nearby trees. Males may mate with a second female while the first is still on the nest. The reproductive success of the bird is poorer in the second nest than it is in the primary nest and is better when the male remains monogamous.
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== Predators and parasites ==
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McGregor was married to Jessie, and the couple had a daughter and a son, also named Jessie and William. A teetotaller, McGregor was a supporter of the Temperance movement, and was active in the local branch of the Liberal Party until his membership lapsed in 1882 due to the increasing amount of time he devoted to football. He was involved in the early attempts to establish a baseball league in the United Kingdom, and served as the honorary treasurer of the Baseball Association of Great Britain and Ireland. Despite his commitment to sport, he held desperately on to his drapery business throughout his life.
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== Founder of the Football League ==
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I am, yours very truly, William McGregor (Aston Villa F.C.)
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Between 1888 and 1894 McGregor also served as chairman of The Football Association (the FA), English football's overall governing body, which had existed since 1863. He became known as a football celebrity, writing a weekly column for the Birmingham Gazette and endorsing products such as footballs, and a type of football boot which the manufacturer billed as the "McGregor lace-to-toe boot". Though he held many different administrative posts in his lifetime, McGregor never played the sport competitively; his only on-pitch involvement was occasional goalkeeping during Aston Villa practices in the 1870s.
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Buenos Aires is located in the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen climate classification: Cfa). Due to the maritime influences from the adjoining Atlantic Ocean, its climate is temperate with extreme temperatures (both hot and cold) being rare. Thus, cold air coming directly from the south are moderated by the Atlantic Ocean and warmer than winds from the southwest (which are not moderated by it).
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Summers are hot and humid. On average, mornings and afternoons are hot whereas temperatures drop considerably at night. The average high is 29.1°C (84.4°F) while the average low is 19.3°C (66.7°F). With a mean precipitation of 384.8 mm (15.15 in), it is the rainiest season. This is due to hot temperatures and high insolation that lead to the development of a low pressure system called the Chaco Low situated over northern Argentina that interacts with the South Atlantic High to generate a pressure gradient that brings moist easterly winds to the region, favouring precipitation, which mostly occurs in the form of convective thunderstorms. The Chaco Low also interacts with the South Atlantic high to bring warm and tropical air from the north which is the strongest in summer when the Chaco Low is at its strongest due to higher insolation.
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=== Temperature ===
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== Statistics ==
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The approach quickly caught on in Chicago. In 1889 the Tacoma Building replaced the bolted metal design with a stronger, riveted approach, and Chicago's Chamber of Commerce Building introduced interior light courts to the structural design of skyscrapers. In the 1890 Rand McNally Building the last remaining technical issues were resolved, resulting in the first entirely self-supporting, steel-framed skyscraper. Some buildings, such as The Rookery and the Monadnock Building, combined elements of both the newer and older styles, but generally Chicago rapidly adopted steel structures as a flexible and effective way to produce a range of tall buildings. Specialist professional structural engineers began to establish practices in Chicago specialising in the steel frames need for the new skyscraper.
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Skyscrapers were also primarily commercial buildings, and economics as well as aesthetics had to play an important part in their design. The architectural writer Barr Ferree noted in 1893 that "current American architecture is not a matter of art, but of business. A building must pay, or there will be no investor ready with the money to meet its cost. This is at once the curse and the glory of American architecture." George Hill echoed the theme, condemning unnecessary features on the basis that "every cubic foot that is used for purely ornamental purposes beyond that needed to express its use and to make it harmonize with others of its class, is a waste".
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Chicago was not alone in having concerns over the growth of the skyscraper. In Boston, the Fiske and the Ames Buildings were built in the late 1880s, 183 feet (56 m) and 190 feet (58 m) tall respectively, but protests by local civic campaigners and the real estate industry resulted in the city passing a law to limit new buildings to a maximum of 123 feet (37 m), effectively banning the construction of skyscrapers. The cities of Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. similarly introduced height controls to limit skyscraper construction.
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The early years of the 20th century saw a range of technically sophisticated, architecturally confident skyscrapers built in New York; academics Sarah Landau and Carl Condit term this "the first great age" of skyscraper building. Some were relatively conservative buildings in a classical style, such as the Mutual Life, Atlantic Mutual and Broad Exchange Buildings, all designed by Clinton and Russell. Others broke new ground, including the Flatiron Building which opened in 1903 near Madison Square. The Chicago firm of Daniel Hudsdon Burnham designed the 307 feet (94 m) high, 21 story structure; the unusually shaped, narrow building needed particularly strong wind bracing, while the facade was richly textured and incorporated stylistic features more common in Chicago. A critical and popular success, the Flatiron was likened to the Parthenon of Ancient Greece and became, for a time, a New York icon.
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Tenants and rental income were essential to the financial success of any skyscraper, as even the largest skyscrapers and those founded by prominent companies rented out much of their office space. Owners could charge significantly more for office space close to the main windows, making it most efficient to build skyscrapers with as much premium office space as possible, even if this cost slightly more to construct in the first instance. As a result, a standard pattern for office units in both New York and Chicago emerged, with either a single rectangular office adjoining an exterior wall, or a "T" shaped design, with a reception room giving way to two windowed offices, separated by glass partitions. Skyscrapers usually took on large numbers of relatively small companies as their tenants. A skyscraper such as the Woolworth Tower had around 600 different tenants in 1913, for example, while a typical tenant might rent four or five office units in a skyscraper.
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=== Reform in New York ===
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The technology used in constructing skyscrapers continued to develop. Time was increasingly a factor in the projects, and architects and their specialist teams developed faster ways to design and construct the buildings to minimise the interest payments during the build and hasten the arrival of rental income. By 1930 skyscrapers were being erected in just 12 months by teams of workers totalling 5,000 men, with four floors being assembled in a typical week. Building skyscraper towers involved some adaption of engineering techniques, as effectively two different buildings were being designed – the base and the tower – which needed to be efficiently linked using elevators and other service facilities. Most new offices settled around a standard size, 9 feet (2.7 m) wide by 20 to 30 ft (6.1 to 9.1 m) deep, depending on the height of the ceiling, with multiple small windows considered better than a few larger ones. The output of electric lighting continued to improve, although this began to give off excessive heat within the offices. Air conditioning was first installed in a few skyscrapers during the 1930s.
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=== Chicago's towers ===
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=== Skyscraper mania and social commentary ===
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The Duke of Edinburgh-class cruiser was a class of two armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. They were the first British armoured cruisers designed to work with the battlefleet rather than protect merchant shipping. After commissioning, they were assigned to the Atlantic, Channel and Home Fleets until 1913 when they were transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet. After the start of World War I in August 1914, the sister ships participated in the pursuit of the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser SMS Breslau. After the German ships reached their refuge in Ottoman Turkey, the ships were ordered to the Red Sea for convoy escort duties. They captured three German merchant ships before they returned to home at the end of the year.
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The cruisers were powered by two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which produced a total of 23,000 indicated horsepower (17,150 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 23 knots (43 km / h; 26 mph). The engines were powered by 20 Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers and six cylindrical boilers. The ships carried a maximum of 2,150 long tons (2,180 t) of coal and an additional 600 long tons (610 t) of fuel oil that was sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. At full capacity, they could steam for 8,130 nautical miles (15,060 km; 9,360 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km / h; 12 mph).
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The funnels proved to be too short in service and they were raised about 6 feet (1.8 m) four years after completion to keep the superstructure free of smoke in a following wind. In March 1916, both ships had all their six-inch guns removed, the embrasures plated over, and six of the guns were remounted on the upper deck. In May 1917, two more were added to Duke of Edinburgh on the forecastle. The ship's foremast was converted to a tripod mast to support the weight of the fire-control director probably added in 1917.
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The two sisters rejoined the 1st Cruiser Squadron in December 1914, which had transferred to the Grand Fleet and participated in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. Black Prince became separated from the fleet when darkness fell and was sunk with all hands by German battleships later that night. Duke of Edinburgh was not damaged during the battle and was the only ship of her squadron to survive. After Jutland Duke of Edinburgh was ordered to reinforce the patrols north of the Shetland Islands against German blockade runners and commerce raiders. She was eventually transferred to the Atlantic in August 1917 for convoy escort duties. The ship was sold for scrap in 1920.
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== Biography ==
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In the 2004 – 05 season, Nash led the Suns to the Western Conference Finals and was named the league's MVP. He was named MVP again in the 2005 – 06 season and was runner-up for a third consecutive MVP to Nowitzki in 2006 – 07. Named by ESPN in 2006 as the ninth greatest point guard of all time, Nash led the league in assists and free-throw percentage at various points in his career. He is also ranked as one of the top players in NBA league history in three-point shooting, free-throw shooting, total assists, and assists per game.
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== High school career ==
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In the 1995 – 96 season, Nash began attracting the attention of the national media and professional scouts. He had spent the summer before that honing his skills, playing with the Canadian national team and working out with the likes of established NBA players Jason Kidd and Gary Payton. Santa Clara again captured the WCC title, and for the second consecutive year, Nash was named Conference Player of the Year, the first Bronco to do so since Kurt Rambis. He scored 28 points in leading the No. 10 seed Broncos to a first round upset win over No. 7 seed Maryland, but then the Broncos were eliminated by Kansas. Nash's performances ensured that he earned an honourable mention All-America as a senior by The Associated Press and the USBWA. He also finished his career as Santa Clara's all-time leader in career assists (510), free-throw percentage (.862), and made and attempted three-pointers (263 – 656). He remains third on the school's all-time scoring list (1,689), and holds Santa Clara's single-season free-throw percentage record (.894). In September 2006, Nash had his jersey (# 11) retired, becoming the first Santa Clara student-athlete to receive that honour.
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=== Phoenix Suns (1996 – 98) ===
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In the 2000 – 01 season, Nash averaged 15.6 points and 7.3 assists per game in a breakout season. With Nash directing the team's offense, Nowitzki and Finley playing at their best, and the acquisition of All-Star Juwan Howard complementing the high-scoring trio, the Mavericks earned a playoff berth for the first time in more than a decade. Dallas lost in the Western Conference Semifinals four games to one to the San Antonio Spurs, but it marked the beginning of a memorable run for Nash and the Mavericks. In the 2001 – 02 season, Nash posted career-highs of 17.9 points and 7.7 assists per game and earned a spot in the NBA All-Star Game and on the All-NBA Third Team. He was now an All-Star, increasingly appearing in television commercials and, with Finley and Nowitzki, a part of the Dallas Mavericks "Big Three." Dallas earned another trip to the playoffs but lost again in the Semifinals to the Sacramento Kings four games to one.
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