Monday, December 31, 2007

Diversified Communications Tower
Diversified Communications Tower is a guyed mast for TV transmission in Floyd Dale, South Carolina, USA at 34°22'3.0" N and 79°19'48.0" W. Diversified Communications Tower was built in 1981 and is 609.6 meters high. It is one of the tallest structures in the United States. The Diversified Communications Tower broadcasts the signal of local ABC affiliate WPDE; the tower is named after WPDE's previous owner.

Friday, December 28, 2007


Quebec Senior Football League operated in the 1950's and 1960's and ceased operations after the 1966 season. It was a league for players that were both junior and a bit older than juniors, and included the Verdun Shamcats and the Chateauguay Ramblers. It was followed by the strictly junior Quebec Juvenile Football League.
Major: National Football League Semi-pro: Empire Football LeagueMid Continental Football LeagueMinor League Football AssociationNorth American Football LeagueSouthern States Football LeagueUnited States Football AllianceQuebec Senior Football League Defunct major: All-America Football ConferenceAmerican Football LeagueNFL EuropaUnited States Football LeagueWorld Football LeagueXFL Defunct minor/semi-pro:Atlantic Coast Football LeagueContinental Football LeagueHawaii Football LeagueRegional Football LeagueSpring Football LeagueUnited Football LeagueQuebec Senior Football League Folded or merged before any games were played: Professional Spring Football League Planned: All American Football League (Spring 2008) • United Football League (Fall 2008) Major: Canadian Football League Minor/Semi-pro: Alberta Football LeagueMaritime Football LeagueCanadian Junior Football LeagueQuebec Junior Football LeagueQuebec Bantam Football League Defunct: Quebec Juvenile Football LeagueQuebec Senior Football League Major: Arena Football League Minor: af2American Indoor Football AssociationAmerican Professional Football LeagueContinental Indoor Football LeagueIntense Football LeagueUnited Indoor Football Defunct: Eastern Indoor Football LeagueIndoor Football LeagueIndoor Professional Football LeagueNational Indoor Football LeagueProfessional Indoor Football LeagueWorld Indoor Football League Folded or merged before any games were played: North American Indoor Football LeagueWorld Indoor Football LeagueXtreme Football LeagueNorth American Indoor Football League

Thursday, December 27, 2007


Coordinates: 54°34′26″N 1°14′00″W / 54.574, -1.2334
Middlesbrough (IPA pronunciation: ['mɪdəlzb(ə)ɹə] (received pronunciation)) is a large town in North East England, and is the largest and most populous settlement within the borough of Middlesbrough. It is the first town in the world to owe its existence to a railway. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, in 1968 the town became the centre of the county borough of Teesside, which was absorbed by the non-metropolitan county of Cleveland in 1974. In 1996 Cleveland was abolished, and the Middlesbrough borough became a unitary authority, within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire.
Middlesbrough is different from the other districts on Teesside, as the borough is almost entirely urbanised, thus making it the largest town in terms of area and population, but the smallest district. However, what is locally regarded as Middlesbrough also includes a wider area, including South Bank and Eston, in the neighbouring borough of Redcar and Cleveland.
Middlesbrough is situated on the south bank of the River Tees, a few miles from the edge of the North York Moors National Park.
Teesport lies 8 miles to the West, near Darlington. North East of Middlesbrough, the Tees estuary with its colony of breeding seals, has extensive sandy beaches in both directions. Some 7000 salmon and 13,000 sea trout migrated upstream through the estuary in 2000.

Geography and administration
Middlesbrough was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1853. It extended its boundaries in 1866 and 1887, and became a county borough under the Local Government Act 1888. A Middlesbrough Rural District was formed in 1894, covering a rural area to the south of the town. It was abolished in 1932, partly going to the county borough; but mostly going to the Stokesley Rural District.

Civic history
The following is a table of the different districts and suburbs in the Middlesbrough area.

Divisions and suburbs

History
Although often thought of as a settlement with no early history, the name Middlesbrough can trace its roots back a long way. Mydilsburgh is the earliest recorded form of the name. The element '-burgh', from Old English burh, meaning 'fort' denotes an ancient fort or settlement of pre-Anglian origin (this being the term on which Middlesbrough Football Club's ardently chanted nickname, 'The Boro', plays). Maturing into brough gave this extension individuality in a country more customarily associated with the alternative borough in its town names.
It is solely by retrospective conjecture that the first element of the name, Mydil, has come to be identified as a development of the Old English middel (subsequently morphing into middle and supposedly a tribute to the settlement's position between the great Christian centres of Durham and Whitby). The burgh, though, may have included a monastic cell and was probably situated on the elevated land where the Victorian church of St Hilda's (demolished in 1969) was later built.

Etymology
In 686 a monastic cell was consecrated by St Cuthbert at the request of St Hilda Abbess of Whitby and in 1119 Robert Bruce granted and confirmed the church of St Hilda of Middleburg to Whitby. Up until its closure on the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1537, the church was maintained by 12 Benedictine monks, many of whom became vicars or rectors of various places in Cleveland. The importance of the early church at "Middleburg", later known as Middlesbrough Priory, is indicated by the fact that in 1452 it possessed four altars.
After the Angles the area became home to Viking settlers and it is argued by some that 'old' Cleveland has the highest density of Scandinavian parish names in Britain. Names of Viking origin are abundant in the area - for example, Thornaby, Ormesby, Stainsby, Lackenby, Maltby, Normanby, Tollesby, Ingleby (Barwick) and Lazenby which were once separate villages that belonged to Vikings called Thormad, Orm, Steinn, Hlakkande, Malti and Toll, but now form suburbs of Middlesbrough. Lazenby was the village belonging to a Leysingr - a freeman; Normanby, a Norseman's village and Danby (in neighbouring North Yorkshire), a Dane's village. The name Mydilsburgh is the earliest recorded form of Middlesbrough's name and dates to Anglian times (400 to 1000 A.D.), whilst many of the aforementioned villages appear in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Early history
In 1801 Middlesbrough was a hamlet consisting of a population of just 25 people across four farmhouses, but during the latter half of the 19th century experienced a growth unparalleled in England. Development first began with the purchase of the farm in 1829 by a group of Quaker businessmen, headed by Joseph Pease the Darlington industrialist, who saw the possibilities of Middlesbrough as a port for North East coal. Four initial streets, leading into the Market Square, were duly laid out. Their cause was facilitated by an 1830 extension of the Stockton and Darlington railway to the site that all-but erased any existing logistical woes threatening to act as the last block to the more indefinite development of the town.
All that remained to be partaken was the visit of one William Ewart Gladstone to the town, who was, once under the roof of the original (1846) Town Hall promptly, and famously to dub it 'an infant Hercules' in 'England's enterprise.'
At the very moment when early fortunes showed signs of giving way to decline, did another great leap forward take place, with the discovery of ironstone in the Eston Hills in 1850. In 1841, Henry Bolckow (pronounced Belko), who had come to England in 1827, had formed a partnership with John Vaughan of Worcester, and started an iron-foundry and rolling mill at Middlesbrough. It was Vaughan who discovered the ironstone deposits. Pig-iron production rose tenfold between 1851 and 1856. Bolckow became mayor in 1853 and Middlesbrough's first Member of Parliament (MP).
The rapid growth of the town saw the prophetic words (probably spoken by Pease), 'Yarm was, Stockton is, Middlesbrough will be' come true. Indeed, the motto chosen by the first body of town councillors was in fact 'Erimus'; Latin for 'We shall be'. (See also the Pearson family grave at Crambe, which uses the motto "ERIMUS".)
The population of Middlesbrough, as county borough, peaked at almost 160,000 in the late 1960s but has been in decline since the early 1980s. From 2001 to 2004, the recorded population jumped significantly, from 134,000 to 142,000, then to 147,000 in 2005, with 2006 estimates stating approximately 150,000, suggesting the population is increasing rather than decreasing as estimated by Tees Valley Partnership.
The Bell brothers opened their great ironworks on the banks of the Tees in 1853. Steel production began at Port Clarence in 1889 and an amalgamation with Dorman Long followed. After rock salt was discovered under the site in 1874, the salt-extraction industry on Teesside was founded. By now Bell Brothers had become a vast concern employing some 6,000 people. Isaac Lowthian Bell's own eminence in the field of applied science, where he published many weighty papers, and as an entrepreneur whose knowledge of blast furnaces was unrivalled, led to universal recognition. He was the first president of the Iron and Steel Institute, and the first recipient of the Bessemer Gold Medal in 1874. Bell was Lord Mayor of Newcastle in 1854-1855, and again in 1862-1863. He served as MP for Hartlepool in 1875-1880.
For many years in the 19th century Teesside set the world price for iron and steel. The Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932) was designed and built by Dorman Long of Middlesbrough, and has MADE IN MIDDLESBROUGH stamped on the side. The company was also responsible for the earlier New Tyne Bridge across the river at Newcastle.
Via a 1907 Act of Parliament the Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company also built the great Transporter Bridge (1911) which spans the Tees itself between Middlesbrough and Port Clarence. At 850 feet long and 225 feet high, is one of the largest of its type in the world, and one of only two left in working order in Britain (the other being in Newport). The bridge remains in daily use and it is worth noting, that contrary to what is suggested by the plot of popular BBC drama/comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, the bridge was not at any point dismantled and removed to Arizona. It is, indeed, a Grade II* listed building.
The great steelworks, chemical plants, shipbuilding and offshore fabrication yards that followed the original Middlesbrough ironworks, have in the recent past contributed to Britain's prosperity in no small measure and still do to this day.
Middlesbrough had the distinction of being the first major British town and industrial target to be bombed during the Second World War when the Luftwaffe visited the town on the 25 May 1940. Most notably in 1942 a lone Dornier 217 picked its way through the barrage balloons and dropped a stick of bombs onto the railway station. It is a local tale that one or two fish and chip shops also came a cropper to the raids.
It is also alleged that Middlesbrough was the second target on the Soviet Union's list of UK nuclear targets during the Cold War, due to the mix of heavy industrialisation, a nuclear power plant, a major port, and a skilled workforce.

Post-industrial history

Main article: The Green Howards Green Howards

Tees Newport Bridge
Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge
Riverside Stadium
Centre North East
Spectra Txt (Text Tower) Landmarks
Middlesbrough's contemporary townscape is largely workaday, it being no longer a heavy industrial town, though there are areas around which still support chemical, fertiliser and iron and steel production.

Present day
Located in the suburb and former village of Acklam and by some distance Middlesbrough's oldest domestic building is Acklam Hall of c.1680-3. Built by Sir William Hustler, it is also Middlesbrough's sole Grade I listed building. The Restoration mansion, accessible through an avenue of trees off Acklam Road, has seen progressive updates through the centuries, such that it makes for a captivating document of varying trends in English architecture.
Built on extensive grounds by the Pennyman family now under the jurisdiction of the National Trust, Ormesby Hall, a Palladian mansion actually technically located within the neighbouring borough of Redcar and Cleveland, but within one of the town's seven conservation areas, was largely built around 1740, although an older wing dating from around 1599, still exists.
Not to be ignored either are a clutch of interesting churches, for example at Acklam, Marton and Stainton (c.12th century), or the modern St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral at Coulby Newham, replacing in the 1980s the previous structure on Sussex Street that was left gutted at the mercy of arsonists in 2000.
But a modest tally of pre-1900 buildings remain in the town's centre, however; the priory, farmhouse and any other elements of the town's pre-industrial landscape (such as the Restoration Newport House and its associated Hustler Granary, which submitted to demolition in the 1930s by virtue of its vicinity to the then-recently opened Tees Newport Bridge, and the locally famous "White Cottages" on St Barnabas Road in Linthorpe) have long since been banished to history. Indeed, incorporation of the town itself did not occur until 1853. Even so, the urban centre remains home to a variety of architecture such as the (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art) and 'Spectra-txt'. Many believe that there is a beauty to be found in the surrounding landscape of industry along the River Tees from Billingham to Wilton. The terraced Victorian streets surrounding the town centre are characterful elements of Middlesbrough's social and historical identity, and the vast streets surrounding Parliament Road and Abingdon Road a reminder of the area's wealth and rapid growth during industrialisation.
The Town Hall, built between 1883 and 1887 is a Grade II Listed Building, and a very imposing structure. Of comparable grandeur alongside these municipal buildings is the erstwhile Empire Palace of Varieties of 1897, the finest surviving theatre edifice designed by Ernest Runtz in the UK. The first artist to star there in its guise as a Music Hall was Lillie Langtry. Later it became an early nightclub (1950s), then a bingo-hall and is now once again a night club in the form of 'The Theatre'. It has recently, as of 2005, had the missing ornate glass and steel over-canopy to the front entrance fully restored. Further afield in Linthorpe, can be found the Little Theatre (now Middlesbrough Theatre), the first new theatre built in England after the Second World War.
The town can also boast this country's only public sculpture by the celebrated modern American artist Claes Oldenburg, the "Bottle O' Notes" of 1993, which relates to Captain James Cook. Based alongside it today in the town's Central Gardens is the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA), the successor to previous art galleries on Linthorpe Road and Gilkes Street. Recently refurbished is the Carnegie library dating from 1912. The Dorman Long office on Zetland Road, constructed between 1881 and 1891, is the only commercial building ever designed by Philip Webb, the great architect who worked for Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell.
The town's centre has been undergoing a modernising makeover in recent years, including the addition of 'Spectra-txt,' a 10 metre high interactive tower of metal and fibre-optics inspired by Blade Runner (whose own industrial scenery was inspired by that of Teesside, by virtue in part of the experiences of its director, the South Shields-born Ridley Scott, a former art college student up the coast in nearby industrialised West Hartlepool). 'Spectra-txt' allows the public to send an SMS (text) message via mobiles phones to change the colours of the lights. Texting various codes, such as 'Chromapop' produce a display of changing colour lights.

Architecture
There is a large and comprehensive shopping district made up of several separate shopping centres, which include 'The Mall Cleveland' renamed in 2005 from 'Cleveland Shopping Centre,' which has undergone a major refurbishment. 'Dundas Street Shopping' renamed in 2005 from 'Dundas Shopping Arcade,' 'Hill Street Shopping Centre' and 'Captain Cook Square.' Linthorpe Road is home to several independent and national fashion shops. One of these, Psyche, regularly claims accolades over the likes of the Selfridges, Harvey Nichols & Liberty stores in London. A recent four-part BBC documentary was made about the store, which highlighted how seriously Teessiders take fashion.

Retail and commerce
Long-awaited flagship art gallery project, the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art opened its doors in January 2007 and currently holds the second largest collection of Picassos in the United Kingdom. It also holds works of art from Andy Warhol, Henri Matisse and Damien Hirst among others. Its considerable arts and crafts collections span from 1900 to the present day. Surrounding it is the town's overhauled Victoria Square and Central Gardens, in tandem producing "the largest civic space in Europe".1
Middlesbrough can boast two major recreational park spaces in Albert Park and Stewart Park, Marton. The former, originally touted as 'The People's Park' was donated to the town by Bolckow in 1866. It was formally opened by Prince Arthur, youngest son of the monarch, on 11 August 1868 and comprises a 30 hectare (70 acre) site accessible from Linthorpe Road. The park underwent a considerable period of restoration from 2001 to 2004, during which a number of the Park's most vaunted landmarks, including a fountain, bandstand and sundial saw either restoration or revival. Alongside these two parks are two of the town's premier cultural attractions, the century-old Dorman Memorial Museum and the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum respectively. Close to the Captain Cook Museum is a granite urn marking the supposed spot of the famous explorer's birthplace.
Newham Grange Leisure farm in Coulby Newham, one of the most southerly districts of the town, has operated continuously in this spot since the 17th century. Now a burgeoning tourist attraction, the chance to view its various cattle, pigs, sheep and other perennial farm animals is complimented by exhibitions of the farming history of the area.
Back in the 'Old Town' or St Hilda's, is the Transporter Bridge Visitor Centre, opened in 2000 and offering its own exhibitions charting the high-octane past of the heart of the surrounding industrial powerhouse, as well as that of the singular structure it commemorates.

Culture and leisure
Middlesbrough has been a university town since 1992. The University of Teesside has more than 20,000 students, and a history dating back to 1930 as Constantine Technical College. It is internationally recognised as a leading institute for computer animation and games design and along with ARC at Stockton-on-Tees, Cineworld cinema in Middlesbrough, and the Riverside Stadium, hosts the annual Animex International Festival of Animation. The university also houses Teesside Business School as well as other specialised Schools of Arts & Media, Computing & Mathematics, Health & Social Care, Science & Technology and Social Sciences & Law.
The University is not alone in providing further and higher education in the town. There are also a number of modern schools and sixth forms, the largest of which is Middlesbrough College with 16,000 students, which covers the four campuses of Acklam, Kirby, Marton and Longlands, including the one-time Acklam Hall. Others include St. David's School in Acklam, and Macmillan Academy on Stockton Road, which was recently declared the best state school in England.

Education
During university term time, Middlesbrough is busy throughout the week with student nights taking place throughout the bars and clubs. During the holidays, the town is predominantly busy from Thursday to Sunday. The most popular venue is the Empire in the centre of town. A range of events are played here which include music from dance and hip-hop.
The Crown, Basement, Blue, Cornerhouse, and Barracuda are also popular. It also has a Cineworld cinema at Middlesbrough Leisure Park and a Showcase Cinema located in the Middlesbrough part of Teesside Park.

Nightlife
Middlesbrough uses combined installations of CCTV cameras and loudspeakers to reprimand their citizens when they're committing infringements (throwing cigarette butts on the ground, littering etc.) in public.

Crime
Middlesbrough and the surrounding area has two Members of Parliament (MPs): Ashok Kumar and Sir Stuart Bell. Middlesbrough has been a traditionally safe Labour seat, largely due to its industrial, working class history. The Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland seat is also Labour but incorporates surrounding towns including Guisborough and Saltburn and is a more marginal seat and a Conservative target (having held the Langbaurgh predecessor seat until 1997).
Middlesbrough was selected to have a directly elected Mayor as head of the council. The current Mayor is Ray Mallon (independent), a former senior, and somewhat controversial, figure in the local police force. Mallon was re-elected for a second term in office in the May 2007 Local and Mayoral Elections.

Politics
As part of its £1.5 billion investment programme, Tees Valley Regeneration has started work on reclaiming Middlesbrough Docklands with the £500 million Middlehaven scheme to bring new business and homes to a 250 acre (1 km²) area.
The first phase around the former docklands has already begun and is visible from the Riverside Stadium. The master plan drawn up by Will Alsop in 2004, includes proposals for the relocation of Middlesbrough College, the building of a virtual reality centre by Teesside University (part of the DigitalCity development), in addition to numerous offices, hotels, bars, restaurants and leisure attractions. Tees Valley Regeneration now has a shortlist of five developers seeking to build at Middlehaven, the list includes some of the most prestigious and groundbreaking names in development and regeneration, and a decision on the chosen developer is due to be made in the next few months.
The Stockton-Middlesbrough Initiative is a 20 year vision for regenerating the urban core of the Tees Valley, the main focus being the area of 30 km² along the banks of the River Tees between the two centres of Stockton and Middlesbrough. The master plan has been drawn up by environmental design specialists Gillespies, the eventual aim being to create a distinctive high-quality city of over 360,000 citizens at the heart of the Tees Valley, by connecting both Middlesbrough and Stockton along the Tees corridor. The project will include not only the existing developments at Middlehaven and North Shore Stockton, but many others over a 15-20 year period.
Middlesbrough has also recently announced plans to build a 120-metre tower on the site of the old Odeon Cinema (more recently Jumping Jaks nightclub) which collapsed, whilst being demolished by the same company that demolished the Cleveland Scientific Institute overnight, in July 2006. The site is in Central Middlesbrough at the eastern end of Newport Road and will be the tallest building in the North East, surpassing the existing record already held by Middlesbrough's own Centre North East building. The new development will be the first of such skyscrapers proposed in Middlesbrough with two more visioned for Middlehaven. The second one on the Middlehaven site is the most unlikely but still being considered and could see either an American or Dubai based company to build a skyscraper 250-300 metres in height, showing Middlesbrough is progressing into the future and is a growing centre for commerce and development. The idea for such skyscrapers is the result of limited land area in Middlesbrough. Instead of building outwards and subsequently having to apply for boundary extension, it makes sense to build up. It sees Middlesbrough a participant in the Skyscraper Boom currently hitting the United Kingdom which the United States experienced in the early 1900s.
Middlesbrough, along with other towns and cities in the UK, will be granted a licence to build a new large casino. Manchester won the bid to host the 'Super Casino'.

Sport
Middlesbrough has been featured in many television programmes such as The Fast Show, Steel River Blues, Spender and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
Tyne Tees Television used to broadcast its news for the South regions from its studios located in at the base of Corporation House (now Walkabout bar), before moving to its new premises in Billingham.

Television and filmography
The world famous explorer, navigator, and map maker Captain James Cook was born in Marton, which is now a suburb in the south-east of Middlesbrough.
Other famous people from the town include:
Other eminent sons and daughters of Middlesbrough and its environs include Martin Narey, chief executive of Barnardo's, E. W. Hornung, the creator of the gentleman-crook Raffles (who was fluent in three Yorkshire dialects, and Naomi Jacob novelist. Florence Easton, the Wagnerian soprano at the New York Met and Cyril Smith, the concert pianist, were also natives. The famous M.P. Ellen Wilkinson wrote a novel Clash (1929) which paints a very positive picture of 'Shireport' (Middlesbrough). Florence Olliffe Bell's classic study At The Works(1907) gives a striking picture of the area at the turn of the century. She also edited the letters of her step-daughter Gertrude Bell which have been continuously in print since 1927. Pat Barker's debut novel Union Street was set on the thoroughfare of the same name in the town, its central theme of prostitution still associated with the area around it to this day. Ford Madox Ford was billeted in Eston during WWI and his great novel sequence Parade's End is partly set in Busby Hall, Carlton-in-Cleveland.
Adrian 'Six Medals' Warburton, air photographer, was played by Alec Guinness in 'Malta Story'.

Sports

  • Rugby union player Rory Underwood
    Footballers Don Revie, Wilf Mannion and Brian Clough
    Current Middlesbrough and England national football players Stewart Downing and Jonathan Woodgate
    Olympic swimmer Jack Hatfield and Commonwealth Games swimmer Alyson Jones
    British long jump record holding athlete Chris Tomlinson
    Jacqueline (Jackie) Smith of South Bank, World Champion Free Fall Parachutist and Guinness Book of Records entrant as the first person in the World to achieve a perfect 10 successive direct hits in Zagreb Yugoslavia (as was) - landing on a 10cm electronic disk in the centre of a sandpit from an aeroplane half a mile high.
    The Arts

    • Comedians Dave Morris, Bob Mortimer, Roy Chubby Brown and Kevin Connelly
      Musicians Chris Rea, Paul Rodgers, and Vin Garbutt
      Actors Wendy Richard, Thelma Barlow, Christopher Quinten, Liz Dawn aka Vera Duckworth, Elizabeth Carling, Jerry Desmonde and Jamie Parker
      Author Richard Milward
      Visual artists Mackenzie Thorpe and Robert Nixon
      Other Entertainers:

      • Magician Paul Daniels
        TV Presenter Kirsten O'Brien
        X Factor Contestants and third place runners up Journey South Notable residents
        The Bottle of Notes sculpture by Claes Oldenburg
        Teesside Crown Court, Middlesbrough
        Old Town Hall
        40,000 Years of Modern Art, at Middlehaven by Benedict Carpenter

        Middlesbrough Twin Towns

        Middlesbrough Music Live
        List of bands/musicians from North East England
        A66 road
        Middlesbrough Football Club
        mima

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Jello
jello can refer to different things:
Jell-O
A colloquial way of saying Hello
Jello Biafra
Green Jello, the comedy heavy metal band (sued and later changed name to Green Jellÿ)
The Jell-O Belt, a colloquial geographical term in American English that references a clichéd Mormon overfondness for Jell-O.
Jello, a military slang term for a plan or operation that is not solidified, where details are uncertain, and/or not yet known, at present. See also 'indecisive.'

Tuesday, December 25, 2007


Edgar Degas (19 July 183427 September 1917), born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (IPA /ilɛʀ ʒɛʁmɛ̃ ɛdɡɑʀ dəɡɑ/), was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist.

Edgar Degas Biography
Degas was born in Paris, France, the eldest of five children of Célestine Musson De Gas and Augustin De Gas, a banker. The family was moderately wealthy. At age eleven, Degas (as a young man he abandoned the more pretentious spelling of the family name)

Artistic career
Degas is often identified as an Impressionist, an understandable but insufficient description. Impressionism originated in the 1860s and 1870s and grew, in part, from the realism of such painters as Courbet and Corot. The Impressionists painted the realities of the world around them using bright, "dazzling" colors, concentrating primarily on the effects of light, and hoping to infuse their scenes with immediacy.
Technically, Degas differs from the Impressionists in that, as art historian Frederick Hartt says, he "never adopted the Impressionist color fleck",

Artistic style
During his life, public reception of Degas' work ranged from admiration to contempt. As a promising artist in the conventional mode, and in the several years following 1860, Degas had a number of paintings accepted in the Salon. These works received praise from Pierre Puvis de Chavannes and the critic, Castagnary.

Reputation

History of painting
Western painting Notes



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Benedek, Nelly S. "Chronology of the Artist's Life." Degas. 2004. 21 May 2004 <http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Degas/html/indexl.html>.
Benedek, Nelly S. "Degas's Artistic Style." Degas. 2004. 21 March 2004 <http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Degas/html/index1.html>.
Bowness, Alan. ed. (1965) "Edgar Degas." The Book of Art Volume 7. New York: Grolier Incorporated :41.
Brettell, Richard R.; McCullagh, Suzanne Folds (1984). Degas in The Art Institute of Chicago. New York: The Art Institute of Chicago and Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0-86559-058-3
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Dorra, Henri. Art in Perspective New York: Harcourt Brace Jocanovich, Inc.:208
Dumas, Ann (1988). Degas's Mlle. Fiocre in Context. Brooklyn: The Brooklyn Musem. ISBN 0-87273-116-2
"Edgar Degas, 1834-1917." The Book of Art Volume III (1976). New York: Grolier Incorporated:4.
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Guillaud, Jaqueline; Guillaud, Maurice (editors) (1985). Degas: Form and Space. New York: Rizzoli. ISBN 0-8478-5407-8
Hartt, Frederick (1976). "Degas" Art Volume 2. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc.: 365.
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Mannering, Douglas (1994). The Life and Works of Degas. Great Britain: Parragon Book Service Limited.
Muehlig, Linda D. (1979). Degas and the Dance, April 5-May 27, 1979. Northampton, Mass.: Smith College Museum of Art.
Peugeot, Catherine, Sellier, Marie (2001). A Trip to the Orsay Museum. Paris: ADAGP: 39.
Roskill, Mark W. (1983). "Edgar Degas." Collier's Encyclopedia.
Thomson, Richard (1988). Degas: The Nudes. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd.
Tinterow, Gary (1988). Degas. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and National Gallery of Canada.
Turner, J. (2000). From Monet to Cézanne: late 19th-century French artists. Grove Art. New York: St Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-22971-2

Monday, December 24, 2007

Life

Works

Suite for 4 trombones - 1953
Continuum Sextet for Percussion Instruments - 1966
Swinging Music for clarinet, trombone, cello or double bass, and piano - 1970
Fantasmagoria for piano and percussion - 1971
Arrangements for 1-4 recorders - 1975-1976 Chamber Music

Three Melodies from Kurpie for 6 sopranos, 6 tenors, and chamber orchestra - 1949
Symphony No. 1 - 1952
Symphony No. 2 , "Symphony of Song" for soprano, baritone, choir, and orchestra - 1953
Concerto for trombone and orchestra - 1953
Sonatina for trombone and orchestra - 1954
Sinfonietta per due orchestre d'archi - 1956
Heart of the Night, song cycle for baritone and orchestra - 1956
Eyes of the Air, song cycle for soprano and orchestra - 1957
Musica concertante - 1958
Episodes for strings and 3 groups of percussion - 1959
Segmenti - 1961
Symphonic Frescoes - 1964
Niobe, music to extracts from a poem by Konstanty I. Gałczyński for 2 reciters (man and woman), mixed choir, and orchestra - 1966
Forte e piano, music for two pianos and orchestra - 1967
Poems, to words by Tadeusz Różewicz for soprano and chamber orchestra - 1969
Dramatic Story - 1970
Fantasia elegiaca for organ and orchestra - 1972
Impromptu fantasque for orchestra - 1973
Concerto alla cadenza per flauto a becco e orchestra - 1974
Ad libitum for symphony orchestra - 1973-1977
Pianophonie - 1976-1978 Kazimierz Serocki Solo instruments

Heart of the Night, song cycle for baritone and piano - 1956
Eyes of the Air, song cycle for soprano and piano - 1957

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Florida Board of GovernorsFlorida Board of Governors
The Florida Board of Governors was created in 2003 to serve as the statewide governing body for the State University System of Florida, which includes all public universities in the state of Florida and also New College of Florida. Its predecessor, the Florida Board of Regents, was abolished by an act of the Florida state legislature that was signed into law by Governor Jeb Bush on July 1, 2001. Bob Graham, a United States Senator from Florida, objected to the abolition of the statewide body, and responded by leading a ballot initiative to restore it. This initiative succeeded in creating what is now called the Florida Board of Governors. The Board of Governors is now ensconced in the Florida Constitution, and therefore can not be abolished without another constitutional amendment.
The Florida Board of Governors has seventeen members, including fourteen members appointed by the governor, the Florida Commissioner of Education, the Chair of the Advisory Council of Faculty Senates, and the President of the Florida Student Association.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Apache Forrest
Apache Forrest is a web-publishing framework based on Apache Cocoon.
It is an XML publishing framework that allows multiple types of data-files as input, such as various popular word processing and spreadsheet files, as well as two wiki dialects. Plugins are available to support additional formats, both for input as well as output (such as PDF).
Forrest is not a content management system, it lacks full workflow and admin functions of a CMS. It's primary use is in integrating and aggregating content from various sources and presenting them in a unified format for human consumption.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Ngati Mamoe
Kāi Mamoe, or Ngāti Mamoe, is an historic Māori iwi. Originally from the Heretaunga (Napier) area they moved to the South Island in the 1500s — which at that time was occupied by the Waitaha.
Ngāti Mamoe were largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Ngāi Tahu who migrated south a century later. While today there is no distinct Ngati Mamoe organisation, many Ngai Tahu have Ngati Mamoe links in their whakapapa and, especially in the far south of the island, "...southern Maori still think of themselves as Ngai Tahu-Ngati Mamoe, a synthesis of the two tribal groups..."

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Stone of Destiny
Stone of Destiny may refer to:
Stone of Scone, formerly the coronation stone of the monarchs of Scotland

  • Stone of Destiny (film), a 2008 film directed by Charles Martin Smith
    Lia Fáil, a monolithic stone in Ireland

Wednesday, December 19, 2007


For the ancient Italic peoples, see Sabellians.
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In Christianity, Sabellianism (also known as modalism, modalistic monarchianism, or modal monarchism) is the nontrinitarian belief that the Heavenly Father, Resurrected Son and Holy Spirit are different modes or aspects of one God (for us only), rather than three distinct persons (in Himself). God was said to have three "faces" or "masks" (Grk. prosopa). The question is: "is God's threeness a matter of our falsely seeing it to be so (Sabellianism/modalism), or a matter of God's own essence revealed as three-in-one (orthodox trinitarianism)?" Modalists note that the only number ascribed to God in the Holy Bible is One and that there is no inherent threeness ascribed to God explicitly in scripture. The number three is never mentioned in relation to God in scripture, which of course is the number that is central to the word Trinity. The only possible exception to this is the Comma Johanneum, a disputed text passage in First John known primarily from the King James Version and some versions of the Textus Receptus but not included in modern critical texts. It has been attributed to Sabellius, [1]
Oneness Pentecostalism teaches that the Father (a spirit) is united with Jesus (a man) as the Son of God. However, Oneness Pentecostalism differs significantly by rejecting sequential modalism and by the full acceptance of the begotten humanity of the Son, not eternally begotten, who was the man Jesus and was born, crucified, and risen, and not the deity. This directly opposes Patripassianism and the pre-existence of the Son, which Sabellianism does not. Oneness Pentecostalism can be compared to Sabellianism as both are Nontrinitarian, but they do not correctly identify each other.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Millie Jackson Early Life
Her career is said to have begun on a dare to enter a 1964 Harlem nightclub talent contest, which she won. Her voice is frequently compared to that of her inspiration, Gladys Knight.
Though she first recorded for MGM records, she soon left and began her long association with Spring Records. Her first single to chart was 1971's deceptively titled "A Child of God (It's Hard to Believe)," which reached number 22 on the R&B charts. In 1972, Jackson had her first R&B Top Ten single with "Ask Me What You Want", which also reached the pop charts, which was followed up by "My Man, A Sweet Man" which reached #7 R&B. The following year she had her third Top Ten single and biggest hit with "Hurts So Good," which made # 3 on the R&B charts and #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. The single was featured in the blaxploitation film Cleopatra Jones.
In 1974 she released the album "Caught Up", which introduced her unique and innovative rap style of racy, raunchy language. The featured release was "If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want to Be Right)", for which she received two Grammy nominations. On that album, the follow-up "Still Caught Up," and others, she was backed by the renowned Muscle Shoals rhythm section.
Over the next ten years, Jackson had a string of successful albums and numerous R&B Top 100 singles on the Top Black Singles chart for Spring Records, the biggest being her 1977 version of Merle Haggard's country hit "If You're Not Back In Love By Monday". That hit single was followed by many more, including her version of the Boney M song, the Disco single, "Never Change Lovers In The Middle of The Night." This single peaked at #33 on the Top Black Singles chart in 1979. In 1986, she signed with Jive Records and had further Top Ten hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks chart with "Hot! Wild! Unrestricted! Crazy Love" and "Love Is a Dangerous Game".
In 1991, she wrote, produced and starred in the successful touring play "Young Man, Older Woman", based on her album of the same title.
In 2000 her voice featured in "Am I Wrong" by Etienne de Crécy, sampled from her performance in "If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want To Be Right)".
Jackson now runs her own record label, Weird Wreckuds. After a lengthy hiatus from recording, she released her fifteenth album, "Not For Church Folk" in 2002, which marked a return to her "tell it like it is" lyrical style and Urban contemporary sound. The album features the hit singles "Butt-A-Cize" (a dance song) and "Leave Me Alone" (a ballad). The album also features a collaboration with rapptress Da Brat on the edgy song "In My Life."
For the past several years Jackson has had her own radio show in Dallas, Texas. Broadcasting via remote from her home in Atlanta, Jackson can be found working in afternoon drive time from 3-6 pm on KKDA 730 AM.
In 2007, 1977 album Feelin' Bitchy was reissued with positive reviews.

Career

Albums

"A Child of God (It's Hard to Believe)"
"Ask Me What You Want"
"My Man, A Sweet Man"
"Breakaway"
"Hurts So Good"
"I Miss You Baby
"How Do You Feel In The Morning"
"I'm Through Trying To Prove My Love To You"
"If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want to Be Right)"
"Leftovers"
"Loving Arms"
"The Rap"
"Bad Risk"
"Feel Like Making Love"
"There You Are"
"I Can't Say Goodbye"
"If You're Not Back My Monday"
"A Love of Your Own"
"All The Way Lover"
"Sweet Music Man"
"Keep The Home Fire Burin'"
"Never Change Loves In The Middle of The Night"
"We Got To Hit It Off"
"A Moment's Pleasure"
"Despair"
"Do You Wanna Make Love" feat. Isaac Hayes
"This Is It (Part I)
"You Never Cross My Mind"
"I Can't Stop Loving You"
"Special Occasion"
"I Feel Like Walkin' In The Rain"
"Hot! Wild! Unrestricted! Crazy Love"
"Act of War" feat. Elton John
"It's A Thang"
"An Imitation of Love"
"Something You Can Feel"
"Young Man, Older Woman"
"Living With A Stranger"
"Taking My Life Back"
"Love Quake"
"Check in the Mail"
"Chocolate Brown Eyes"
"Breaking Up Somebody's Home"
"Did You Think I Wouldn't Cry"
"Butt-A-Cize"
"Leave Me Alone"

Monday, December 17, 2007

Roman departure from Britain
The Roman departure from Britain was completed by 410. The archaeological records of the final decades of Roman rule show undeniable signs of decay. Urban and villa life had grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the fourth century, pottery shards are not present in levels dating past 400, and coins minted past 402 are rare. So when Constantine III was declared Emperor by his troops in 407, and crossed the channel with the remaining units of the British garrison, effectively Roman Britain ended. The inhabitants were forced to look to their own defences and government -- a fact made clear in a rescript the emperor Flavius Augustus Honorius sent them in 410.

Roman departure from Britain Constantine III, Roman usurper

Roman Britain

Sunday, December 16, 2007

CoenocoryphaCoenocorypha
see text
Coenocorypha is a genus of tiny birds, also known as the New Zealand snipes, which are found in the Outlying Islands of New Zealand. There are currently two widely accepted extant species, two extinct species and several subspecies, but the taxonomy of the genus is currently under debate and these subspecies have been raised to full species by some authors. One as yet undescribed species or subspecies was discovered off Campbell Island as recently as 1997. The genus once ranged from Fiji and New Caledonia, across New Zealand and down into New Zealand's sub-Antarctic islands, but predation by introduced species has drastically declined their range.

Taxonomy and range
The Coenocorypha snipes resemble Gallinago snipes, although they much smaller, stockier and have shorter bills. Overall they have long bills and short necks, wings and tails. They measure between 19-24 cm long, with wingspans of between 28-35 cm, and weigh between 75-120 g. The smallest species is the Chatham Island Snipe. Their plumage is overall brown, most species have a dark eye stripe. The scapulars on the wings are mottled with some species having white tips.

Morphology

Behaviour
The Coenocorypha snipes are carnivorous, feeding on invertebrates found by probiing in the soil and in compacted vegetation. Smaller prey is swallowed with the bill still probed, as the mandibles are flexible and the prey can be manipulated in the soil. Larger prey items are removed from the soil for easier manipulating and swallowing. The most common prey items taken include earthworms, amphipods, beetle adults and larvae and the pupae of other insects.

Threats and conservation

Chatham Island Snipe Coenocorypha pusilla. Chatham Islands.
Auckland Island Snipe Coenocorypha (aucklandica) aucklandica. Auckland Islands.
North Island Snipe Coenocorypha (aucklandica) barrierensis
Snares Island Snipe Coenocorypha (aucklandica) huegeli. Snares Islands.
South Island Snipe Coenocorypha (aucklandica) iredalei
Antipodes Island Snipe Coenocorypha (aucklandica) meinertzhagenae. Antipodes Islands.
Forbes' Snipe Coenocorypha chathamica
Campbell Island Snipe Coenocorypha sp.
Viti Levu Snipe Coenocorypha miratropica
New Caledonia Snipe Coenocorypha sp.
Norfolk Island Snipe Coenocorypha sp.