Rossy Mendoza

María del Rosario Mendoza (stage name, Rossy Mendoza; June 6, 1950) is a Mexican vedette, actress, dancer and singer. During the 1970s–1980s, she was one of the highest grossing artists in the Mexican sex comedies film genre.
Biography.
Rossy Mendoza was born in Vícam, one of eight Yaqui villages in southern Sonora, Mexico. She began her career in the mid-1960s. She began her artistic activity when she was still a teenager, and little by little she became a place in the entertainment world acting in the main cabarets of the Mexican province. She also appeared in famous Mexican magazines such as "Cinelandia", "Cine mundial" and "Siempre", among others. In the late 1960s her body became athletic and voluptuous, contrasting with the thinness it was in her early years, and undergoes an aesthetic operation of her nose that greatly increased her beauty.
The year 1964 marks her debut in the Teatro Lírico of Mexico City, in which she alternated with prominent figures such as Tin Tan, El Santo and Sergio Corona among others.
In 1968 she entered the cast of the famous cabaret El Capri, where she worked alongside figures such as Yolanda "Tongolele" Montes and Argentine vedette Zulma Faiad. The television called her and participates in several programs like "Sabadito Alegre", with Paco Malgesto, in which she remained by several months. In 1970 she worked with the comedian Adalberto Martínez "Resortes" the Tenorio Comico in the Blanquita Theater. From there followed many seasons in the mentioned enclosure, accompanied by great orchestras besides a ballet of 18 dancers. Alternated with singers like Celia Cruz, Enrique Guzmán, Mike Laure, Sonia Lopez and Dámaso Pérez Prado, among others. At that time, she was hired by the Vallejo Family to perform in "La Caravan Corona", where she acted from 1971 to 1982. The "Caravana Corona" of the Vallejo Family consisted of groups of stars of the show that traveled throughout Mexico and in which she acted with Great figures like Los Polivoces (Eduardo Manzano and Enrique Cuenca), Juan Gabriel, Amalia Mendoza, Los Rebeldes del Rock and others. In 1971 she began a successful season at the "El Clóset" Night Center, where she shared credits with the First vedette Olga Breeskin. She also ventured into the fotonovelas of the time and recorded some records.
By the end of the 1970s she was already a big star of cabarets and nightclubs, becoming Supervedette or Primera Vedette. She heads the show Cabaret Terraza Casino, accompanied by the orchestra of Hector Halal. Other places where he worked were El Cadillac, El Rondinella, El Clóset, Las Galaxias, El Can Can and El Quid, among others
Represented by her artistic agent, Mrs. Lonka Becker, made her film debut in 1970 with the actor Gaspar Henaine "Capulina" in the film "Capulina contra los vampiros". In 1971 she participated in the film "El siverguenza" along with Mauricio Garcés. In her cinematographic career she participates in more than 52 films with stars such as Vicente Fernández, Andrés García, Jorge Rivero, Julio Alemán, Mario Almada, Ana Luisa Peluffo and Isela Vega, among others.
In the theater of comedy she acts in several theatrical plays, in which she was directed by Óscar Ortiz de Pinedo, Rafael Banquells, Jose Diaz Morales and others. Her first stage play was with the comedians Emilio Brillas and Polo Ortín. She makes a tour in Mexico with the play "Elena para los miercoles", with Jorge Ortiz de Pinedo. Another of her more outstanding stage plays was "La locura del sexo" with Andrés García.
In the television, she incursed in the telenovelas in 1979, in "Yara", with Angélica María. She also participated in the celebrated TV show "Variedades de medianoche", with Manuel Valdés.
In the decade of the 1990s, her appearances are sporadic. In 1993 she returns to the Blanquita Theater, to alternate with the Sonora Matancera. At the end of the decade she was diagnosed with cancer. In 1999, Mendoza participated in the theater show "Las inolvidables de la noche", with also vedettes Amira Cruzat, Wanda Seux, Grace Renat and Malú Reyes.
She was also a model of renowned photographers like Nadine Markova and Paulina Lavista and the famous painter José Luis Cuevas. In addition to Cuevas, other painters have shaped their beauty Ricardo Garcia Mora, Juan Buitimea (painter belonging to the Yaqui tribe), among others.
In 2016, Rossy along with the vedettes Olga Breeskin, Lyn May, Wanda Seux and Princesa Yamal, is one of the protagonists of the documentary "Beauties of the Night" by the filmmaker María José Cuevas.
Master Dámaso Pérez Prado composed the Mambo "The Waist of Rossy" in honor of her slim figure.


Chicago Fringe Festival

Chicago Fringe Festival is an annual performing arts festival showcasing traditional and non-traditional performances. CFF aims to provide a space for artists to produce shows that would not otherwise be seen and a festival that is accessible to everyone.
History.
All Fringe Festivals trace their roots to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe which began in 1947.
After producing shows at the New York International Fringe Festival and Minnesota Fringe Festival, Executive Producer Sarah Mikayla Brown (previously Managing Director of Tantalus Theatre Group) wanted to bring that kind of "glorious chaos" to Chicago. Chicago Fringe Festival was founded on December 30, 2008.
The inaugural festival attracted 156 applicants. A total of 46 groups (23 local and 23 non-local) performed in eight non-traditional venues in Pilsen in September, 2010. After three years in Pilsen, CFF moved to Jefferson Park for the 2013 festival.


Rinaldo discography

This is a discography of George Frideric Handel's opera "Rinaldo", which premiered on 24 February 1711 at the Queen's Theatre in London.


Kurofune (opera)

Kurofune ( "kurofune", an Edo-period term meaning "black ships") is a 1940 Japanese-language western-style opera by Kosaku Yamada, which is regarded as the first Japanese opera. It is based on the Black Ships story of Tōjin Okichi and a geisha "caught up in the turmoil that swept Japan in the waning years of the Tokugawa shogunate".


Pimlico Opera

Pimlico Opera is an opera company and registered charity founded in 1987 by Wasfi Kani.
The company aims to use participation in opera to advance personal developmentparticularly with younger people and to engender a sense of community.
The most recent production from Pimlico Opera was "Sweet Charity" staged in HMP Bronzefield in November 2018. Olivier award-nominated actress Laura Pitt-Pulford played the leading role of Charity Hope Valentine.
History.
Though its focus today is solely in prisons and primary schools, Pimlico Opera was known for 19 years (1990-2008) as an Arts Council-funded small-scale touring company. In those years, repertoire included the Da Ponte trilogy, Cenerentola, Falstaff, Pagliacci, Turn of the Screw, Rigoletto, Gianni Schicchi and the company travelled from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Padstow in Cornwall.
Pimlico Opera staged the European première of Shostakovich's musical comedy "Cheryomushki" at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith on 20 October 1994. A translation was commissioned David Pountney and composer Gerard McBurney to create a reduced orchestration. A documentary was made by the BBC "Another Bite of the Cherry".
In prison.
Pimlico Opera has been staging productions in prisons since 1991. In 1993, BBC Wales filmed the three month process involved in putting on a show inside a prison. This was made into a documentary called "Guys, Dolls and D-Wing" that was aired on BBC2.
Prison projects since 1991:
1991: HMP Wormwood Scrubs ""
1992: HMP Wandsworth "West Side Story"
1993: HMP Wandsworth "Guys & Dolls"
1995: HMP Wandsworth "West Side Story"
1996: Mountjoy Prison Dublin " West Side Story"
1997: HMP Bullingdon, Oxfordshire "West Side Story"
1999: HMP Downview " Threepenny opera".
2001: HMP Winchester "Threepenny Opera"
2002: HMP Winchester "West Side Story"
2003: HMP Wormwood Scrubs "Guys & Dolls"
2004 HMP Ashwell, Leicestershire "Assassins"
2005: HMP Coldingley, Surrey "Assassins"
2006: HMP Bronzefield Middlesex "Chicago"
2007: HMP Wandsworth "Les Miserables"
2008: HMP Kingston "" (Project cancelled)
2009: HMP Wandsworth "West Side Story"
2010: HMP Wandsworth "Carmen - The Musical"
2011: HMP Send, Surrey "Sugar"
2012: HMP Erlestoke, Wiltshire "Les Miserables"
2013: HMP Erlestoke, Wiltshire "West Side Story"
2014: HMP Bronzefield "Sister Act"
2015: HMP ISIS "Our House"
2017: HMP High Down "Les Miserables"
2018: HMP Bronzefield "Sweet Charity"
In primary schools.
Every week of the school year, Pimlico Opera gives 2,000 primary children a half hour singing class. Schools are selected in which there is little or no music provision, with KS2 results below the national average and a high percentage of free school meals.
The project takes place in Hampshire, Surrey, Durham, Newcastle, and Nottingham.


Seychour Rugs

A subtype of the Kuba rug, antique Seychour (also known as Seichur and Zeychour) rugs are made in the small town of Yukhari-Zeykhur in Azerbaijan in the Northeast Caucasus. Prized for the detailed precision of their drawing and design as well as for their saturated colors, antique Seychour rugs popularly display designs such as cabbage rose and the Seychour cross. Differing from other Caucasian rugs, antique Seychour rugs do not share the same symmetry in their borders; they do however, share a similar flat-woven structure. In these particular rugs, one half of the knot is hidden.


Bead weaving

Bead weaving (or beadweaving) using seed beads can be done either on a loom or using one of a number of off-loom stitches.
On-loom beadweaving.
When weaving on a loom, the beads are locked in between the warp threads by the weft threads. The most common bead weaving technique requires two passes of the weft thread. First, an entire row of beads is strung on the weft thread. Then the beads are pressed in between the warp threads. The needle is passed back through the beads above the warp threads to lock the beads into place. Heddle looms were popular near the beginning of the 20th century. They allowed weaving of beads by raising every other thread and inserting strung beads in the shed, the space between the lowered and raised threads. There are still a few Heddle Bead Looms being manufactured today. The most difficult part of loomwork is finishing off the warp threads.
Although loomed pieces are typically rectangular, it is possible to increase and decrease to produce angular or curvy shapes. Fringe can also be added during weaving or before the piece is removed from the loom.
Bead looms vary in size and are typically made of wood or metal. Usually, a comb or spring is used to hold the warp threads a bead-width apart. Some looms have roller bars that allow the weaver to produce pieces that are longer than the loom. Most looms are meant to sit on a table, but some have floor stands or are meant to sit in the lap.
Off-loom beadweaving.
Off-loom beadweaving is a family of beadwork techniques in which seed beads are woven together into a flat fabric, a tubular rope, or a three-dimensional object such as a ball, clasp, box, or a piece of jewelry. All off-loom techniques can be accomplished using a single needle and thread (no warp threads), but some have two-needle variations.
Different stitches produce pieces with distinct textures, shapes, and patterns. There are many different off-loom bead stitches, including new stitches (distinct thread paths) published only in 2015:
Spiral Bead Weaving Stitches


April in Paris (song)

"April in Paris" is a popular song composed by Vernon Duke with lyrics by Yip Harburg in 1932 for the Broadway musical "Walk a Little Faster". The original 1933 hit was performed by Freddy Martin, and the 1952 remake (inspired by the movie of the same name) was by the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, whose version made the Cashbox Top 50. Composer Alec Wilder writes, "There are no two ways about it: this is a perfect theater song. If that sounds too reverent, then I'll reduce the praise to 'perfectly wonderful,' or else say that if it's not perfect, show me why it isn't."
Recordings.
Count Basie version.
Count Basie's 1955 recording on the album of the same name is the most famous, and that particular performance was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The arrangement was by Wild Bill Davis. On this recording, trumpeter Thad Jones played his famous "Pop Goes the Weasel" solo, trombonist Benny Powell performed his much noted bridge, and Basie directs the band to play the shout chorus "one more time" and then "one more once."
A revised arrangement of the song, played by the Count Basie Orchestra in a cameo appearance, is also featured in the 1974 film "Blazing Saddles". Basie's recording is also featured in the video game "Grand Theft Auto IV", on the fictional jazz radio station JNR 108.5.
Other versions.
Freddy Martin and Henry King had the earliest hits of this song, at the very end of 1933.
It has been performed by many artists, including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Billy Eckstine, Bill Evans, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Frank Sinatra, Mary Kaye Trio, Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Erroll Garner, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Benny Goodman, Dinah Shore, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Joni James, Blossom Dearie, Tony Bennett, Doris Day, Alex Chilton, Wynton Marsalis, Andy Williams, Michel Legrand, and Dawn Upshaw.


7470 Jabberwock


Belle (Patrick Fiori, Daniel Lavoie and Garou song)

"Belle" is a 1997 song performed by the Francophone singers Patrick Fiori, Daniel Lavoie and Garou, from the musical "Notre-Dame de Paris". Released as a single in 1998, it was a hit in France and Belgium, topping the charts for many months. To date, the song is one of the best-selling singles of all time in these countries.
Background and writing.
As for the songs from the musical, the text was written by Luc Plamondon, who had also written the musical "Starmania" in 1978, and the music composed by Richard Cocciante. The musical arrangements were made by Richard Cocciante, Jannick Top and Serge Perathoner who also worked on the musical direction.
"Belle" is a romantic song in which the three singers, who respectively portrayed Quasimodo (Garou), Frollo (Daniel Lavoie) and Phoebus (Patrick Fiori), reveal in turn their love for the gypsy Esmeralda, before singing together the last verse.
The theme of the song is based in Victor Hugo's novel "Notre Dame de Paris". In chapter VI of the Eighth book "Trois coeurs d'homme faits différemment" (Three men's hearts made differently), Phoebus, Frollo et Quasimodo watch Esmeralda who is sentenced to death. Phoebus is with his fiancée and though he pales when seeing Esmeralda proving he has feelings for her, he stays with his Fleur-de-Lys. Frollo is trying once again to propose Esmeralda a salvation, but in return he wants her to become his woman. And finally Quasimodo selflessly saves Esmeralda from death, only because of his enormous love for her.
Other recording.
Since its debut, it has been professionally played in Belgium, Canada, China, France, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States, and has been translated into seven languages (English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Korean, Flemish and Polish). The song has thus been officially adapted in these six languages, but several covers have been made in various languages.
The English-language version of the song, recorded by Steve Balsamo, Garou and Daniel Lavoie, is available on "Notre Dame de Paris - Version anglaise".
Chart performance and records.
The song was charted on the French Singles Chart for 60 weeks, which is to date the second single with most total weeks in the Top 100 (the number one is "U-Turn (Lili)", by AaRON, with 61 weeks), and the first one in the top 50, with 49 weeks. It entered the chart at #96 on 9 May 1998, and climbed slowly, reaching number one in its 18th week, which is one of the slowest climbs to first place. It was also the first trio to reach #1 on this chart. It had huge weekly sales when the musical was performed, from 12 September 1998. It stayed at the top for 18 consecutive weeks, which was at the time the record of the most weeks at #1 (this record was beaten in 2000 by Lou Bega's "Mambo no. 5 (a Little Bit of...)", with 20 weeks). After that, the song managed to drop slowly, totaling 31 weeks in the top ten. <br>
Certified Diamond disc by the SNEP, it was the best-selling single of 1998, of the 1990s, and the third one of all time in France (behind Tino Rossi's "Petit Papa Noël" and JJ Lionel's "La Danse des Canards"), with about 2,221,000 copies sold.
In Belgium (Wallonia), the single debuted at #24 on the Ultratop 40 Singles Chart, on 6 June 1998. It topped the chart for only six weeks, from 19 September to 24 October, but remained in the top ten for 30 consecutive weeks. It fell off the chart (Top 40) after 44 weeks. It is the best-selling single of the year and the most successful song from 1995 in that country.
In 1999, the song was awarded 'Song of the year' at the Victoires de la Musique.
Covers.
Dadju, Gims, Slimane cover.
On April 5, 2021, a cover version was released by trio Dadju - Gims - Slimane on Play Two - Sony Music Entertainment reaching number 45 on SNEP, the official French Singles Chart. A music video was also released in which they play a scene from the musical Notre-Dame de Paris in a modern setting.


Portugal Tem Talento

Portugal Tem Talento was the second Portuguese version of the "Got Talent" series and spiritual successor to the older version "Aqui Há Talento" (aired on RTP1 in 2007). It debuted on SIC on January 30, 2011. Singers, dancers, comedians, variety acts, and other performers are competing for the prize of €100,000. It is hosted by Bárbara Guimarães. The judges are Diogo Quintela, Conceição Lino and Ricardo Pais.


John Soares

John Soares (born June 22, 1981) is an American film director, actor, editor, and fight choreographer. He is best known for his martial arts fight choreography in "Sockbaby", "Go Sukashi!", and "The Danger Element".
Early life.
Soares was born in Turlock, California and grew up in the Central Valley working on his family's almond farm in the agricultural community of Hughson, California.
In 1999, Soares enrolled in film classes at Modesto Junior College where he met his future filmmaking partners Ben Beames and Justin Spurlock.
Career.
In 2001, Soares founded Westhavenbrook Productions with partners Ben Beames and Justin Spurlock.
Soares co-directed "Sockbaby" (2004) with Doug TenNapel starring Soares, Cody Spurlock, Uriel Padilla, Justin Spurlock, Jon Heder, Doug Jones, Rob Schrab, Kate Freund, and Isaac C. Singleton Jr.
Soares also produced a series of humorous shorts called "The Vacuum Consortium", where he plays a mad scientist from another planet bent on world domination. One episode, "Reunion", featured a video call with musician and internet personality Doctor Steel.
Soares was featured in the "Movie Kung Fu" episode of "Indy Mogul’s Backyard FX" hosted by Erik Beck.
Soares and TenNapel, in association with Watanabe Entertainment and Dentsu Inc., started production on "Go Sukashi!" (2009-2011) a digital series that parodies the 1970’s Super Sentai Japanese television series based on a character created by Shoko Nakagawa (who introduces each episode) starring Soares, Justin Spurlock, and Brooke Brodack.
Soares worked as a motion picture editor for Dreamworks Animation from 2014 to 2017, on the animated series Little Big Awesome and the second season of Niko and the Sword of Light at Titmouse, Inc. Shortly after entering the Motion Picture Editors Guild, he was hired by Warner Brothers Animation to edit another Animated series, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. The show was canceled a couple of months later and John began editing Looney Tunes Cartoons.
Soares directed "The Danger Element" (2017) starring Soares, Doug Jones, Cassie Meder, Kevan Hewett, Joshua Krebs, Justin Spurlock, and Ben Page. (In 2014 Soares also married his co-star, Cassie Meder.) He is now working on a sequel to "The Danger Element" entitled "Jitni: Book of Lies".
Personal life.
Soares is Roman Catholic. Soares is of Portuguese descent.


Maltese lace

Maltese lace () is a style of bobbin lace made in Malta. It is a guipure style of lace. It is worked as a continuous width on a tall, thin, upright lace pillow. Bigger pieces are made of two or more parts sewn together.
The Lace Pillow in Malta is known as "Trajbu" (pronounced as "try-boo"), while the Bobbins are called "Ċombini" (pronounced as "chom-beany"); this type of lace making is very popular on the island of Gozo.
History.
Lace made in Malta was originally needle lace, from the 16th to the 19th century, when the economic depression in the islands nearly led to the extinction of lacemaking there. But in the mid 1800s, Lady Hamilton Chichester sent lacemakers from Genoa to Malta. They used the old needle lace patterns and turned them into bobbin lace, which was quicker. It was not long after its introduction that the Maltese lace developed its own style from Genoese lace.
Maltese lace was shown at The Great Exhibition of 1851 and it became popular in Britain. The style was copied by lacemakers in the English Midlands, and it was one of the sources for Bedfordshire lace.
Lace is still made in Malta today. To ensure the survival of the craft, lace making is taught in Government trade schools for girls, while private bodies such as the Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce also hold special evening classes.
Characteristics of Maltese lace.
Maltese lace usually has the following characteristics which are useful for identification:


Peoene

The Peoene (Peony), also known as the Sint-Jansgilde (Guild of St John), was a chamber of rhetoric dating back to the 15th century in Mechelen.
History.
The oldest mention of the Peoene is in a city accounts book from 1472. The guild took part in "landjuweel" competitions in Leuven (1478), Antwerp (1496), Herentals (1510), Leuven (1518), Diest (1521), Brussels (1532), Antwerp (1561), and Brussels (1562). The guild hosted such competitions in Mechelen in 1515 and 1535.
Activities were suspended in 1585, in the midst of the Habsburg reconquest of the Spanish Netherlands. An application to recommence activities in 1593 was rejected, but in 1617 the chamber received a charter from the Archdukes Albert and Isabella.
A rhetoric competition drawing participants from across the Low Countries was hosted by the Peoene in Mechelen on 3 May 1620. Plays written by the guild's dean, the silversmith Jan Thieullier, and factor, Hendrik Faydherbe, were performed to entertain the participants. The entertainments, together with the entries to the competition, were published by Henry Jaye, printer to the city, in a luxury volume entitled "De schadt-kiste der philosophen ende poeten".
The guild was suppressed in 1795, during the French occupation, but was refounded in 1858.


B-Movie Film Festival

The Scare-A-Con Film Festival (formerly the B-Movie Film Festival) is an annual film festival held in Syracuse, United States.
The festival was founded in 1999 by local filmmaker Ron Bonk to promote the art of B-movie making. It was canceled in its third year due to the effects of the September 11 attacks. It then existed primarily online or as a much smaller event for several years (during which it was profiled by "The Wall Street Journal") and only restarted as a live event at the Palace Theatre in 2005.
Many of the films entered are made on minimal budgets. Screenings can feature full-length films, documentaries, and shorts. Various genres are included, and selected films are usually reviewed for possible distribution. The festival defines a B-movie as "a production whose entertainment and artistic value exceeds the limitations of its budget." The festival's "Killer B" or "Tor" awards are sought after and prominently displayed by the winners. One film maker described being nominated for a B-Movie Film Festival award "like heaven to the world of independent filmmaking". It averages a B in reviews.
Awards.
"Killer B" awards are given out in Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Foreign Film and other categories. A B-Movie is defined as "a low-budget film which provides a level of entertainment and/or artistic value which rivals or surpasses big-budget mainstream pictures." Feature films, documentaries and short subjects are open for consideration.
1999.
Razor Blade Smile won awards for Best B-Movie, Best Actress (Eileen Daly), Best Cinematography (Jim Solan), Best Director (Jake West), and Best Special Effects. Other awards were Best Actor to Scott McCord (Motel), Best Supporting Actress to Verda Bridges (Color-Blinded), and Best Supporting Actor to Robert Margolis (Criminals).
2000.
Hosted by B-movie star Roxanne Michaels. "I Woke Up Early the Day I Died" a 'dialogue-free comedy' based on an unproduced Ed Wood screenplay, won Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Set Design, Best Director (Aris Iliopolous), Best Actor (Billy Zane), and Best Star Cameo (Christina Ricci). Other awards were Best Actress to Karin Viard for "The New Eve", Best Screenplay, for "Pep Squad", by Steve Balderson, and Best Documentary for "Memories of the Soil".
2001.
The ceremony was scheduled for September at the Westcott Movie Theater, Syracuse, New York, but canceled due to the September 11 attacks. The awards had been voted on before the attacks, and were announced October 31, 2001. Best B-Movie and Best Director were both tied between "Lethal Force (film)|Lethal Force", a martial arts film directed by Alvin Ecarma and "Scrapbook", a thriller directed by Eric Stanze. "Scrapbook" won Best Screenplay and Best B-Movie Villain, both for Tommy Biondo, who died before the awards vere voted on. "Lethal Force" won Best Cinematography and Best Action Sequence. Neil Maffin won Best Actor for "A Moment in Time" and Lorri Bagley won Best Actress for "Peroxide Passion". Mike Legge won Best Supporting Actor for "Curtains" and Paulina Gálvez won named Best Supporting Actress for "Tatawo", which also won Best Foreign Film Award (Spain). "Aliens of the Sea" won Best Documentary, "Third World Cop" Best Musical Score, "Beware" Best Editing, "Cremains" Best Set Design, "Biohazardous" Best Make-up, "Creatures of the Mist" Best Special Effects, "Bucky McSnead" Best Short Subject and "Ornaments" Best Animated Short.
2002.
Held October 5-October 6 at the Planet 505 Club in Syracuse, New York. "Jane White Is Sick & Twisted" won Best B-Movie, Best Director (David Michael Latt), and Best B-Movie Hollywood Appearance/Cameo (Colin Mochrie). The winner of Best Actor was Michael Emanuel for "Lucky", Best Actress Andrea Ajemian for "Rutland, USA", Best Supporting Actor Graeme Anning for "P.O.V", Best Supporting Actress Lara Clancy for "Summer Rain". "Hunting Humans" won Best Editing and Best Action Sequences. Best Writer was Stephen Sustarsic for "Lucky". There was a Special Achievement Winner: Young Man Kang for "1st Testament CIA Vengeance"
2004.
"Prison-a-Go-Go", a parody of women in prison films, won Best B-Movie, Best Director (Barak Epstein), Best Actress (Rhonda Shear), and Best Set Design. "The Passage" won Best Actor (Greg Dow), and Best Screenplay Award for Daniel Casey-Vanhout. "Ambition Withdraw" won Best Documentary and Best Music Score, and "Head Hunter" won Best Make-up and Special Effects.
"The Last Round" won Best B-Movie Short, and "Beer Muscles" won the B-Movie Merit Award.
2005.
Held April 8-April 14 at the Palace Movie Theater, in Syracuse, New York. "Land of College Prophets", a fantasy comedy, won Best Picture, Best Actor (Thomas Edward Seymour), Best Cinematography, and Best Make-up Effects. Best Director was shared by four people, Thomas Edward Seymour, Mike Aransky and Phil Guerette jointly for "Land of College Prophets", and Elza Kephart for "Graveyard Alive", which also won for Best Editing. "And I Lived" won for Best Supporting Actor (Josue Rivera), and Best Music Score (Matt Tyson and Gary Judge). Maggie Ross won Best Actress for "Rock and Roll Eulogy", and Debbie Rochon won Best Supporting Actress for "Scream of the Decapitated". Michael Legge won Best Screenplay for "Democrazy". Phil Hall received a Special Achievement Award for his work supporting independent film as a publicist and film writer.
2006.
The 2006 guest of honor was B-movie star Michael Berryman. Drama "Big Fish in Middlesex", won "Tor" Awards for Best B-Movie, Best B-Movie Writer (Jonathan Straiton), Best Supporting Actor (Michael Wingfield) and Best Music Score. Science fiction film "Borrowing Time", won Best Director (Webster Crowell), Best Editing, Best Set Design, and Best Digital / Special Effects. Jackie Parker (actress)|Jackie Parker won Best Actress for "Both". Ray Wise won Best Actor for "Cyxork 7". "Ellektra" won "Best Foreign B-Movie" (Belgium), Best Supporting Actress (Axelle Red). "Flyaway" won Best Animated Short, "Pawns of Paradise" won Best Documentary, "Bon Appetit" won Best Short, "The Last Eve" won Best Cinematography, "Big Foot" won Best Make-Up.


GeekSpeak

GeekSpeak is a podcast with two to four hosts who focus on technology and technology news of the week. Though originally a radio tech call-in program, which first aired in 1998 on KUSP, GeekSpeak has been a weekly podcast since 2004.
The program's slogan is ""Bridging the gap between geeks and the rest of humanity"."
History.
GeekSpeak was created and originally broadcast on KUSP by Chris Neklason of Cruzio, Steve Schaefer of Guenther Computer, and board operator Ray Price from KUSP. Shortly there after Mark Hanford of Cruzio joined the program.
Currently, the host/producer is Lyle Troxell, who took over in September 2000.
In April 2016, citing financial difficulties, KUSP stopped broadcasting GeekSpeak with its final broadcast on May 5, 2016.
GeekSpeak episodes have been distributed as an archive on the internet since 2001. The podcast went live prior to March 5, 2005 with its first episode December 3, 2004.


Myron Michailidis

Myron Michailidis () is a Greek conductor, since 2018 Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of both the Erfurt Opera & the in Germany. He is regarded today as one of the most important Greek conductors.
Michailidis is also, since 2019, the first Artistic Director of the new Cultural and Conference Center of Crete (CCCC) in Heraklion, Greece.
Previously, between 2011 and 2017, Michailidis held the position of Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Greek National Opera (GNO) (, "Ethnikí Lyrikí Skiní") in Athens, Greece, of which he made one of the great European opera houses. From 2004 to 2011 he was the General Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra (TSSO), while from 1999 to 2004 he served as Permanent Conductor at the Opera of Eastern Saxony in Germany.
The repertoire of Myron Michailidis, which consists of a catalog that exceeds 250 symphonic works and 40 operas, ranges from Baroque to Contemporary music and includes Symphonic as well as Choral works alongside operas. He is a great proponent of the music of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, as well as of the operas of Verdi, Puccini, Gounod and Wagner.
Michailidis has conducted the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the , the Braunschweig State Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Rome Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Opera Symphony Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Bucharest National Opera, the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Radio Orchestra of Romania, the Οdessa Philharmonic Orchestra, the , the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, the Μexico State Orchestra, as well as all Greek symphony orchestras, including the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, the Athens State Orchestra, the Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra ERT, and the Greek National Opera Orchestra.
He has collaborated with leading artists, including Aldo Ciccolini, Paul Badura-Skoda, Cyprien Katsaris, Ivo Pogorelić, Lars Vogt, Fazil Say, Barry Douglas, Martino Tirimo, Dimitris Sgouros, Salvatore Accardo, Vadim Repin, Shlomo Mintz, Diana Tishchenko, Mischa Maisky, Theodore Kerkezos, Paata Burchuladze, June Anderson, Cheryl Studer, and several others. About his close collaboration with Myron Michailidis and the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, the legendary pianist Aldo Ciccolini was declaring in May 2006:
Also more recently, following a concert conducted by Michailidis in Erfurt in September 2018, Cyprien Katsaris, who played Shostakovich's piano concerto No. 2, declared:
Education.
Myron Michailidis was born in Heraklion, on the island of Crete in Greece. He studied piano with in Athens. He continued his musical studies at the Berlin University of the Arts "(Hochschule/Universität der Künste, UdK)" in Berlin, where he studied conducting with Hans-Martin Rabenstein. He also participated in Master Classes by Miltiades Caridis and Sir Simon Rattle. He holds as well a degree from the Faculty of Law (Department of Law and Economic Sciences) of the University of Athens.
Career.
Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra (2004-2011).
During his tenure as General Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra (TSSO) between 2004 and 2011, Myron Michailidis radically renewed the orchestra's programming and penetrated the international discography. He also conducted numerous concerts at the Orchestra's residence, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall and took it to various venues in Greece and abroad, such as the Smetana Hall and Rudolfinum in Prague (2009), the Teatro Verdi in Florence (2009), the Konzerthaus in Berlin (2010) etc. In December 2007, during the celebration events of the "Cultural Year of Greece" in China, he took the Orchestra on tour in Beijing, host of the 2008 Olympic Games, and conducted a historical performance at the Forbidden City Concert Hall.
Greek National Opera (2011–2017).
In 2011, Myron Michailidis was appointed Artistic Director of the Greek National Opera (GNO) in Athens. Over his emblematic six-year tenure, and in the middle of the Greek economic debt crisis, Michailidis remarkably managed to increase both his profile and that of the Opera company, achievements which were both nationally and internationally acclaimed.
Economically, Michailidis successfully restored a balanced budget for the institution, the accumulated debt of €17 million he inherited in 2011 being nearly fully recovered as soon as in 2014. This notable result, achieved during the Greek economic crisis, has been obtained through specific spending cuts (but without dismissal of personnel) and by a substantial policy of public awareness, which significantly raised general and media interest for Lyric Art and increased both tickets sales and filling rates.
Michailidis indeed opened the doors of the Opera to a genuinely new audience and developed a large array of innovative artistic, cultural, societal and educational activities (which were all presented by the Maestro during his emblematic TEDxAcademy2014 talk), such as open rehearsals, musical promenades in the streets of Athens, dance in city squares, open-air free concerts and opera galas in unconventional venues (such as the port of Piraeus for a "waltz of the ferry boats", the Athens International Airport, the metro stations, the popular , or the esplanades of the Athens National Archaeological Museum or of the New Acropolis Museum, etc.). Other initiatives included the programs "Suitcase Opera" (operas in miniature form performed in Greek peripheral cities) and "Opera Bus" (double-decker bus on which the singers of the Opera company performed to passers-by in the streets of Athens), the establishment of a "GNO Children’s Chorus" (of about 80 members, which sung for US president Barack Obama at the occasion of his official visit to Athens in 2016) and of a "Young Artists Program", and a participation to the EU outreach program "Interactive Opera for Primary Schools", which concerned 45,000 pupils in 147 schools in Greek regions.
In parallel, Michailidis developed a framework for international co-productions with large lyrical theaters such as the Royal Opera House of Covent Garden in London, the Welsh National Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Arena di Verona Festival, the Teatro La Fenice in Venice"." He also deepened and extended GNO's relations with other European theaters as a member of the European Forum of Lyrical Theaters, Opera Europa.
Artistically, Michailidis conducted many opera performances within the walls of GNO's historic building (Olympia Theater, 700 seats), in the open-air antic Herodes Atticus Theater (under the Acropolis, 5,000 seats) during the annual summer's Athens Festival and in the two halls of the Megaro Mousikis (Athens Concert Hall, 2,000 & 1,750 seats), with a majority of representations sold out. He conducted "Les contes d'Hoffmann" (2001), "L'elisir d'amore" (2002), "Fedora" (2002), "Tosca" (2004 & 2012), "Il Trovatore" (2005), "L'italiana in Algeri" (2006), "La Traviata" (2010), "Die Zauberflöte" (2010 & 2011), "Faust" (2012), "I vespri siciliani" (2013), "Madama Butterfly" (2013), "Macbeth" (2014), "Otello" (2014), "La Bohème" (2015), "Tristan und Isolde" (2015), "Aida" (2016) and "Lohengrin" (2017). GNO's repertoire was significantly increased and proposed 35 new opera and operetta titles, as well as 11 new ballets.
Michailidis also continued to champion the production of rare works and of contemporary music. Notably, he produced stage performances of contemporary works composed by 6 Greek modern composers, and in 2014, the creation in world's premiere of the contemporary Opera "The Murderess" ("Η Φόνισσα", based on the famous novel by Alexandros Papadiamantis) written by Giorgos Koumendakis, GNO's "composer in residence". Michailidis also conducted the GNO Orchestra & Choir in two novel productions of Richard Wagner's Operas: "Tristan und Isolde" (2015, staged by ) and "Lohengrin" (2017, staged by Anthony McDonald), which were both heard for the first time in Greek history, in their integral, original and scenic versions. One of Michailidis most successful long-term achievement was certainly the relocation of the GNO in 2017 from its former venue, the historic Olympia Theater located in the center of Athens, to its newly built headquarters in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), a state-of-the-art performing arts center designed by famous architect Renzo Piano, which includes new facilities for the National Library of Greece (NLG) and for the Greek National Opera (GNO) (new 1,400-seat Opera Hall), located in a 210,000 m² park nearby Athens center, in Palaio Faliro, on the Athens riviera. Notably, in 2014, before the move, Michailidis conducted a strikingly poetic live performance of the GNO orchestra on the construction site of the SNFCC, during which 10 tower cranes literally “danced” to the music of Gustav Holst's "The Planets", with Renato Zanella's unique choreography.
Theater Erfurt & Erfurt Philharmonic Orchestra (2018-).
After completing two mandates at the GNO, and a few months only before GNO's final installation in the SNFCC, the Greek Ministry of Culture announced to the general surprise in February 2017 that Michailidis contract will not be extend beyond that season, provoking a great shock in public opinion. Following his invitation at the Opera House of Shanghai to conduct Donizetti's "La Fille du régiment" (for its first presentation on Chinese soil) and at the Theater Erfurt to conduct the rare "Giulietta e Romeo" of Riccardo Zandonai, it was announced, late 2017, that Michailidis was chosen by the direction of the Theater Erfurt and by the members the to become their new Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) for the next two seasons.
For his 2018/19 season debut, Michailidis conducted a new production of Bizet's "Carmen" at the 2018 Erfurt summer's open-air festival, (which takes place on the Cathedral Square, seating up to 2,000 spectators). For the following seasons, he will conduct Lehár's "Die Lustige Witwe" (2019), Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" (2019), Verdi's "Aida" (2019) & "Nabucco" (2020) and Wagner's "Lohengrin" (2020), as well as a series of symphonic works of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Mahler, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Kabalevsky, Berlioz, Massenet, Debussy, Dutilleux, Skalkottas and Theodorakis. Michailidis is conducting the Philharmonisches Orchester Erfurt either in the new Opera House of the Erfurt Theater (Großes Haus, 840 seats) or in several other Thuringian venues, such as the historic "Festsaal" of the Wartburg castle.
Cultural and Conference Center of Crete (2019-).
In February 2019, Myron Michailidis has been appointed as the first Artistic Director of the newly built Cultural and Conference Center of Crete (CCCC), in Heraklion, Greece, a position he holds in parallel to his current position of Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) at the Theater Erfurt. For its historical inaugural concert, Michailidis has conducted the Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra ERT in works of Markopoulos, Theodorakis, Rossini, Massenet and Tchaikovsky, all inspired by the Cretan or Mediterranean tradition.
Recordings.
Michailidis has recorded for EMI Classics and repeatedly for Naxos, as well as for numerous Greek labels and for the Greek National Radio:


Hofgarten (Munich)

The Hofgarten (Court Garden) is a garden in the center of Munich, Germany, located between the Residenz and the Englischer Garten.
History.
The garden was built in 1613–1617 by Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria in the style of Italian Renaissance garden. In the center of the garden is a pavilion for the goddess Diana, built-in 1615 by Heinrich Schön the elder. A path leads from each of the eight arches. On the roof of the [[Dianatempel_(Munich)|Diana pavilion],] is the replica of a sculpture of [[Bavaria statue|Bavaria]] by [[Hubert Gerhard]], created in 1623. The original is in the Kaisersaal of the Residenz.
Facing the Hofgarten on the east side is the [[Bayerische Staatskanzlei|Bavarian Staatskanzlei]] ("State Chancellery"), housed in the former Army Museum, with the addition of glass wings left and right of the original building. The repurposed building was completed in 1993. A few steps more eastwards the [[Hofgartenkaserne]] was located from 1801 to 1899.
In front of the Staatskanzlei, the [[Kriegerdenkmal im Hofgarten (Munich)|Kriegerdenkmal]] ("war memorial") is located, built for commemoration of the Munich people, killed in action in World War I.
In the north east corner, a square black granite memorial stands to the [[White Rose]] group, whose members were executed for a non violent campaign against Hitler's regime.
[[Image:Hofgarten München im Frühling.jpg|thumb|The Hofgarten is a very popular spot, shown here on the first sunny weekend in spring]]
The south side towards the Residenz includes flowers in a design by [[Carl Effner]] from 1853, with [[Arcade (architecture)|arcades]] to the west and the north, including many wall paintings related to the [[history of Bavaria]]. To the west, the Hofgartentor ("Court Garden Gate") leads towards the [[Theatinerkirche (München)|Theatinerkirche]]. Built in 1816, it is the first work in Munich by [[Leo von Klenze]].
The garden was destroyed during World War II, and was rebuilt with a partial redesign which compromised between the [[landscape garden]] character it had acquired in the nineteenth century and the original formal design of the seventeenth century.
Nowadays the garden is open to the public, and is very popular with both residents and tourists alike. The nearest [[Munich U-Bahn]] station is [[Odeonsplatz (Munich U-Bahn)|Odeonsplatz]], located directly west of the garden.
External links.
[[Category:Urban public parks]]
[[Category:Gardens in Bavaria]]
[[Category:Parks in Germany]]
[[Category:Busking venues]]
[[Category:Parks and open spaces in Munich]]
[[Category:Renaissance architecture in Munich]]


Freedom Quilting Bee

The Freedom Quilting Bee was a quilting cooperative based in Rehobeth, Alabama, that operated from 1966 until 2012. Originally begun by African American women as a way to generate income, some of the Bee's quilts were displayed in the Smithsonian Institution.
History.
The Freedom Quilting Bee was a quilting cooperative with members located throughout the Black Belt of Alabama. Black women created the cooperative in 1966 as a way to generate income for their families. The women began selling their quilts at the suggestion of Father Francis X. Walter, a priest who was returning to the area as part of the Selma Inter-religious Project. He received a seven hundred dollar grant and traveled through the Black Belt looking for quilts to present at an auction.
After the first auction in New York City, the quilts gained critical acclaim and popularity, prompting the craftswomen to organize an official quilting cooperative. The Freedom Quilting Bee, as an alternative economic organization, is part of a history of collective economic work of Black Americans. These alternative economics were used raise the socioeconomic status of poor Black communities. During the late 1960s and 1970s the cooperative changed its operations to increase profits through a more mass market model. New Yorker Stanley Selengut was hired as the industrial development consultant. Working for just travel expenses, he brought their quilts to New York City and helped the cooperative make deals with Bloomingdales and Sears.
Membership in the Freedom Quilting Bee dwindled in the 1990s and the community space they used was damaged by weather. In 2012, a year after the last original board member died, the Bee officially closed. Commonly confused with the Quilters of Gee's Bend, the Freedom Quilting Bee was a separate organization with a similar mission and overlapping membership.
Members.
Influential members of the Freedom Quilting Bee include Willie "Ma Willie" Abrams and her daughter, Estelle Witherspoon. Both women come from the town of Rehoboth, Alabama, a town north of Gee's Bend and a hub for the Bee. Abrams, a talented quilter, produced many of the quilts sold, and was instrumental to the Bee in its formative years. Witherspoon, an influential political leader in Rehoboth, worked as the head manager of the organization for over twenty years.
Critical acclaim.
After the first auction in New York City the Bee quilts were picked up by "Vogue" and Bloomingdale's. When the art world began to take notice of the quilts they ended up in an exhibition in the Smithsonian. A "New York Times" review called the quilts "some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced." The quilts have been compared to 20th century abstract styles which are much different than the common orderly American quilting styles.
Quilts.
The Bee quilts were stitched from scraps of cloth using patterns reflective of the history of Black quilting in the area. The craft was usually learned from a mother or grandmother. Some of the scraps of cloth even came from old denim clothes that were too old to continue wearing in the cotton fields.


Hayavadana

Hayavadana ("meaning: Horse face") is a 1971 Indian Kannada language two-act play written by Girish Karnad. The plot is based on Kathasaritsagara and Thomas Mann's retelling of Transposed Heads. Its twin play is "Nagamandala" (1988). Hayavadana presents the story of two friends "Devdutta" and "Kaplia"; and their love interest "Padmini".
Plot.
Act - I.
The play opens with worship to Lord Ganesha. Bhagwata comes to the stage. He is a character in the Play and also is the narrator of the play. He seeks blessings from Lord Ganesha for the successful performance of the play. Through his narration, he takes the audience to a place, called as Dharampur and introduces the audience to the king Dharmsheel. Then he puts up some rhetorical questions on incompleteness of man and God; and also on the perfection of a man. During his narration, he introduces two characters who are mutual friends. The first one is Devdutta. He is a sharp minded and highly intellectual person. He has defeated poets and Pandits with his knowledge. He is a son of Brahmin. The second one is Kapila. He is a muscular man. He has a great physical strength and he is a son of Lohar (Black Smith). Both Devdutta and Kapila are in contrast as the former lacks power and strength, the latter lacks knowledge and intellectual. According to the playwright, the head of Devdutta (knowledge) and the body of Kapila (physical strength) accomplish a complete man. The narrator compares their pair to the pair of Ram-Laxman, Luv-Kush and Krishna-Balram. All these are the pairs of great brothers in Hindu mythology.
A character, Actor-1 appears on the stage shouting and running towards Bhagwata. He tells Bhagwata that he has just seen a strange creature that looks like a horse (by face) but speaks like a man. That creature has the head of a horse and the rest of the body of a man. Without paying any heed to his talks, Bhagwata asks him to get ready for the play. But he runs away from the stage and soon after he comes back shouting again. Now a strange creature appears on the stage. As earlier described by the Actor-1, the creature has the head of a horse and the body of a man. For a moment, Bhagwata thinks that someone is wearing the mask of horse. He tries to remove the mask but realizes that it is truly half a man and a half horse. Now the creature starts to introduce itself before Bhagwata, Actor-1 and the audience.
The creature introduces himself as Hayavadana and starts to narrate his story. He tells that once upon a time, a princess had to choose a groom for her marriage. So many Princes approached from far and wide. But the princess fell in love with a horse of an Arabian Prince. She became desperate to marry that horse. Eventually her parents allowed her to do so. She was married to the horse. After 15 years of their marriage, the horse transformed into a celestial being. Now the princess rejected him as her husband. That celestial being cursed her to be a Mare (female horse) and she became so. The princess give birth to Hayavadana. Now Hayavadana wants to get rid of this cursed life. Bhagwata asks him to go to goddess Kali temple in chitrkut. He also asks the Actor-1 to accompany him on the way. They leave.
Now Bhagwata moves ahead with the story of the play. Devdutta and Kapila appear on the stage. Devdutta tells Kapil that he wants to marry a woman, namely Padmini. With utmost desire to marry Padmini, he pledges to sacrifice his arms to Goddess Kali and his head to Rudra. Kapila goes to Padmini and presents the Proposal to marry Devdutta. Devdatta and Padmini Marry. By the time, Devdutta realizes that Padmini is attracted towards Kapila and vice versa. Now Padmini is pregnant. Devdutta knowingly tries to put off the program of visiting Ujjain. He tells Kapila that Padmini is ill. But Padmini gives her consent before Kapila. They all three e leave for Ujjain. Padmini repeatedly praises Kapila's physical strength before Devdutta. Devdutta feels jealous but he does not blame Padmini. Kapila and Padmini go to Rudra Temple but Devdutta denies to accompany them. Devdutta knows that Kapila has such a physical strength and beauty that any woman can get attracted towards him. Devdutta goes to goddess Kali temple where he reminds himself of his pledge to sacrifice his head to the Goddess Kali. He Wishes for the Wellness of Kapila and Padmini. He beheads himself with a sword and dies.
Meanwhile, Kapila and Padmini come out of the temple. Kapila gets worried on finding Devdutta nowhere. He leaves Padmini and starts searching for his friend. Finally he reaches in the same Temple and feels shocked to see his friend dead. He feels himself responsible for all this. Kapila takes the same sword and beheads himself. Soon Padmini reaches there and she has no clue how they got died. She considers herself responsible for the dual between the two friends and their deaths. She provokes the Goddess Kali and also tries to kill herself. The Goddess Kali appears and stops her. The Goddess asks her to place the heads with their respective body so that the Goddess will re-join them with her magical powers and bring them back to life. The Goddess also appreciates the two friends. Padmini follows the command in a hurry. The Goddess disappears. Padmini, being thankful to goddess kali, gets a bit relaxed. But soon she realizes her mistake. She has mistakenly placed the heads with irrespective body. So now Devdutta's head is joined with Kapila's body and vice versa. Soon they regain their senses. For a moment, the two friends are confused. Both make a claim for Padmini. The man with Devdutta's head, makes a plea that head is the master of the body. So he has the right over Padmini. The man with Kapila's head makes a plea that Padmini has remained with Devdutta's body. So he has the right over Padmini. Meanwhile Bhagwata, the narrator, comes on the stage. All the characters become statues for a moment and the narrator addresses the audience. He asks them to think of a solution to this problem. Act 1 ends.
Act - II.
The act begins as the narrator repeats the same question- " What is the solution? ". He also talks about the story of "′Vikramaditya and Betaal′" where the king Vikrama replies to Betaal that the mind (head) is the master of the body. It is head that gives recognition to an individual. Bhagwata tells that they all three go to a hermit seeking solution for this problem. The words of hermit are heard on the stage that Devdutta's head is the Swami (husband) of Padmini. Devdutta and Padmini accept this in delight. Kapila, being disappointed, leaves for the forest. The time passes. Devdutta brings some dolls. These dolls also play the role of narrator. He starts losing his physical strength and as a result they are losing mutual interest. A child is born. Devduta goes to buy new dolls from the fair in Ujjain. Bhagwata again appears on the stage and tells that Kapila has regained his physical strength. Padmini meets him in the forest and also tell him that it is Kapila's son as it is born from Kapila's body. But Kapila does not accept it. Being a little reluctant, they get ready to fulfill their physical desires.
In search of his wife, Devdutta reaches there in the forest. Finding them together, he finds himself the similar situation as he was before. To put an Ultimate end to this problem, Devdutta takes out the sword and challenges Kapila for a dual. Both gets killed. Padmini finds herself lonely. Bhagwata comes there and she hands him over the child and the same dolls. She asks him to hand it over to Devdutta's Brahmin father Vidyasagar after five years. She leaves the stage by declaring that she is going to perform Sati. Bhagwata decides to end the play with his speech. A loud shout is heard on the stage. Actor-1 comes and claims that he has heard Hayavadana chanting National Anthem and patriotic songs. Then Actor-2 appears with Devdutta's son of age 5 now. The boy has two dolls. Hayavadana comes there. Bhagwata and Actor-2 are talking lightly and creating fun. They all starts laughing. That boy too starts laughing and the dolls slip out of his hand. Bhagwata says that the boy hasn't expressed any emotions of happiness, anger, sorrow in past 5 years. Today he is smiling just because of Hayavadana.
Now Hayavadana tells his story. when he was trying to behead himself in the temple, the goddess Kali appeared. Hayavadana tells his desire. The goddess Kali without listening to him fully, gives him blessings. Hayavadana becomes a complete Horse instead of becoming a complete man. Yet he is satisfied. He still has ability to speak like a man. He wants to lose this voice. He is singing national Anthem as he believes that people who sing national anthem, lose their voice early. Meanwhile he sobs. The boy starts singing a tragic song which was chanted by his mother, Padmini. Hayavadana tries to laugh and his voice completely changes into a horse'. Now Hayavadana is a complete horse.
Bhagwata asks the Actor to go Brahmin Vidyasagar and informs him that his grandson is coming to him riding on a great horse. Bhagwata thanks Lord Ganesha for the successful performance of the play.


Kelch Gothic Revival silver service

The Kelch Gothic Revival silver service, created in 1900, was one of the finest silver services made by Peter Carl Fabergé. The silverware was commissioned by Alexander and Barbara Kelch (Russian:Кельх, Kelkh). Peter Carl Fabergé considered it the most important silver masterpiece made in his workshop; it was also the most expensive.
Kelch’s silverware is assumed to have been melted down circa 1918, following the October Revolution. For the next 100 years experts of Fabergé had claimed that the tableware was completely destroyed. In 2017, it appeared that items from the service had survived, having been discovered in Poland.
History.
The idea for designing the service in the neo-Gothic style was conceived in 1898 along with the rebuilding of the Kelch mansion in Saint Petersburg. The service was intended to complement Barbara Kelch’s Gothic scheme for the new dining room.
The tableware was designed in 1900 by the distinguished Russian architect Fedor Shekhtel who cooperated with Fabergé. The tableware was made in 1900 in a Moscow branch of Fabergé's company. Alexander Kelch paid the astounding sum of 125,000 rubles for the tableware. The price Alexander Kelch paid for the tableware makes it the most expensive Fabergé work that was ever made.
Parts of the Kelch’s tableware were presented on the charity exhibition of Fabergé works organized in 1902 in Saint Petersburg in Baron Paul von Dervies' mansion. This was the one and only exhibition of Fabergé works organized in the period of his activity. The exhibition presented Fabergé works belonging to Empresses Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna and family members of the House of Romanov and representatives of the aristocracy. The Kelch’s silver service was the only work shown at this exhibition which didn't belong to the aristocrats, but to the family of rich industrialists.
Until 1905 Kelch’s silver tableware was in the Kelch mansion in Saint Petersburg. In that year, as a result of Alexander and Barbara separation, the tableware was transported to the Bazanov’s palace in Moscow. After the October Revolution in 1918 the Kelch’s silver service was confiscated and melted down. For 100 years, until 2017 it was considered as completely destroyed, as no parts of the service were in any Fabergé collection. In January 2017 some pieces of cutlery appearing to come from the neo-Gothic Kelch service surfaced in the art market in Poland.
Description.
The Aleksander and Barbara Kelch's representative tableware was made in the neo-Gothic style. The style of silver service referred to the style and the décor of the dining room in Kelch mansion in Saint Petersburg. The decoration and ornaments used by Fabergé are coming from the English and German Gothic style.
Motifs of the tableware are stylized Gothic architecture, plant ornaments, dragons, griffins, lizards, snakes and other Gothic creatures, heraldic lilly, crown-topped shield with a monogram in the form of the letter 'K'.
The tableware consisted of many dishes and objects, including: a surtout de table, two seven-lamp candlesticks, two high tureens, soup tureens with lids, platters, bowls, plates, sauce boats, trays, cabarets, cutlery, salt cellars and others.
The medieval dragons were the main motif decorating the tableware, therefore the Kelch’s tableware sometimes is being called the "Fabergé dragon tableware". Crown-topped shield with a monogram in the form of the letter 'K' is also an important motif decorating the objects belonging to the Kelch’s tableware. The pieces were marked with the Fabergé hallmark and the court jeweler hallmark.


Boxology

A boxology is a representation of an organized structure as a graph of labeled nodes ("boxes") and connections between them (as lines or arrows). The concept is useful because many problems in systems design are reducible to modular "black boxes" and connections or flow channels between them. The term is somewhat tongue-in-cheek and refers to the generic nature of diagrams containing labelled nodes and (sometimes directed) paths between them.
The archetypical example of a boxology is a corporate "org chart", which describes lines of control through the corporation. Other boxologies include programming flow charts, system-level circuit diagrams for designing large complex circuits, and even economic models. Feynman diagrams are useful because they reduce the complicated mathematics of quantum mechanics to a simple boxology of particle interactions.
Depending on application, the boxes are optional; for example, the global carbon cycle is modeled as a boxology, but many figures explaining the model include only labels and directed connections.


Porgy and Bess discography

Porgy and Bess, the opera by George Gershwin, has been recorded by a variety of artists since it was completed in 1935, including renditions by jazz instrumentalists and vocalists, in addition to operatic treatments.


Where We Belong (novel)

Where We Belong is a 2012 New York Times bestselling chick-lit novel by Emily Giffin. The novel was released by St. Martin's Press on July 24, 2012. "Where We Belong" has been optioned to become a film, with Giffin serving as producer. The book is narrated partly through the perspective of Kirby Rose, and is Giffin's first novel with a teenager as a main character.
Synopsis.
Marian always thought that she was living the life she wanted, with no true regrets. When Kirby Rose, the child she gave up eighteen years ago, appears on her doorstep Marian is forced to re-examine her life, her family, and a past romance that threatens to overwhelm her.
Reception.
Reception for "Where We Belong" has been mixed to positive, with the "Chicago Sun-Times" calling it an easy read while criticizing the book's predictability. The "Seattle Times" and "Vancouver Sun" both overall praised the novel, with the "Vancouver Sun" calling Giffin a "gifted storyteller".


Zone diagram

A zone diagram is a certain geometric object which a variation on the notion of Voronoi diagram. It was introduced by Tetsuo Asano, Jiri Matousek, and Takeshi Tokuyama in 2007.
Formally, it is a fixed point of a certain function. Its existence or uniqueness are not clear in advance and have been established only in specific cases. Its computation is not obvious either.
A particular but informative case.
Consider a group of formula_1 different points formula_2 in the Euclidean plane. Each point is called a site. When we speak about the Voronoi diagram induced by these sites, we associate to the site formula_3 the set formula_4 of all points in the plane whose distance to the given site formula_3 is not greater to their distance to any other site formula_6. The collection formula_7 of these regions is the Voronoi diagram associated with these sites, and it induces a decomposition of the plane into regions: the Voronoi regions (Voronoi cells).
In a zone diagram the region associated with the site formula_8 is defined a little bit differently: instead of associating it the set of all points whose distance to formula_8 is not greater than their distance to the other sites, we associate to formula_8 the set formula_11 of all points in the plane whose distance to formula_8 is not greater than their distance to any other region. Formally,
Here formula_14 denotes the euclidean distance between the points formula_15 and formula_16 and formula_17 is the distance between the point formula_18 and the set formula_19. In addition, formula_20 since we consider the plane. The tuple formula_7 is the zone diagram associated with the sites.
The problem with this definition is that it seems circular: in order to know formula_11 we should know formula_23 for each index formula_24 but each such formula_23 is defined in terms of formula_4. On a second thought, we see that actually the tuple formula_7 is a solution of the following system of equations:
Rigorously, a zone diagram is any solution of this system, if such a solution exists. This definition can be extended without essentially any change to higher dimensions, to sites which are not necessarily points, to infinitely many sites, etc.
Interpretation.
In some settings, such as the one described above, a zone diagram can be interpreted as a certain equilibrium between mutually hostile kingdoms. In a discrete setting it can be interpreted as a stable configuration in a certain combinatorial game.
Formal definition.
Let formula_29 be a metric space and let formula_30 be a set of at least 2 elements (indices), possibly infinite. Given a tuple formula_31 of nonempty subsets of formula_32, called the sites, a zone diagram with respect to this tuple is a tuple formula_33 of subsets of formula_32 such that for all formula_35 the following equation is satisfied:
Zone diagram as a fixed point.
The system of equations which defines the zone diagram can be represented as a fixed point of a function defined on a product space. Indeed, for each index formula_37 let formula_38 be the set of all nonempty subsets of formula_39.
Let
and let formula_41 be the function defined by formula_42, where formula_43 and
Then formula_45 is a zone diagram if and only if it is a fixed point of Dom, that is, formula_46. Viewing zone diagrams as fixed points is useful since in some settings known tools or approaches from fixed point theory can be used for investigating them and
deriving relevant properties (existence, etc.).
Existence and uniqueness.
Following the pioneering work of Asano et al. (existence and uniqueness of the zone diagram in the euclidean plane with respect to finitely many point sites), several existence or existence and uniqueness results have been published. As of 2012, the most general results which have been published are:
Computation.
More information is needed.
Related objects and possible applications.
In addition to Voronoi diagrams, zone diagrams are closely related to other geometric objects such as double zone diagrams, trisectors, k-sectors, mollified zone diagrams and as a result may be used for solving problems related to robot motion and VLSI design.


Canto livre

Canto livre is a kind of music with roots in Alentejo music, predominantly inspired by political messages, in particular from left-wing thinkers. It was very common after the 1974 carnation revolution in Portugal since the country had liberated from an almost 40-year right-wing dictatorship. Currently, it is not heard much, although the term "canto livre" can also mean a gathering of singers which perform freely without charging for their show.
External links.
Book on canto livre


Pecolia Warner

Pecolia Warner (March 9, 1901 – March 1983) was an American quiltmaker.
Early life.
Pecolia Leola Deborah Jackson was born in a log house near Bentonia, Mississippi, and raised in Yazoo City, the ninth of eleven children. She learned to make quilts from her mother Katie (a trained teacher) and other older women in her community. "It's a gift from God to be able to do this," she explained. "That's my gift, that's my talent. Making quilts, that's my calling."
Career.
Warner worked various jobs as a domestic servant in Chicago, Illinois and New Orleans, Louisiana before retiring home to Mississippi in 1968. She quilted in the evenings when she worked full-time.
Warner used color with personal meanings attached: red, for example, meant anger or violence to Warner, and she considered it a color to use carefully. Her compositions have been linked to West African art, and to the "improvisational aesthetic" of jazz.
In 1977, director William R. Ferris featured Warner in the documentary film "Four Women Artists," produced by the Center for Southern Folklore, as one of the four Mississippi women in the title, along with writer Eudora Welty, painter Theora Hamblett, and embroiderer Ethel Wright Mohamed. In 1983, she was honored with a Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award.
Personal life and legacy.
Warner was married five times, with Sam Warner as her last husband. Warner died in March 1983, age 82. Her quilts continue to be displayed in museums, usually in group shows about African-American folk art. Her niece Sarah Mary Taylor also made quilts that were favored by art collectors.
A song by Louisiana folksinger Kevin Gordon, titled "Pecolia's Star," is about Warner's quilts. Poet Sandra McPherson included a poem named "Holy Woman: Pecolia Warner" in her collection, "The God of Indeterminacy: Poems".


Tokanabe

Tokanabe was mold-pressed pottery, made in Japan for the US market in the 1920s and 30s. It was distributed by the Sears Company in their catalogs between 1929 and 1930.
No information is available on specific potters, painters, or manufacturers.
Characteristics.
Tokanabe ware was typically black with a stippled texture and hand-painted raised relief designs. Some pieces were also produced in brown, gold or orange. It was stamped "Nippon" until 1921, when the US Congress passed legislation requiring all products manufactured in Japan for export to the United States to be marked "Made in Japan."
Range.
Products ranged from incense burners to bowls and vases, including standing and wall vases.


Ensemble (musical theatre)

In musical theatre, the ensemble or chorus are the on-stage performers other than the featured players. Ensemble members typically do not play named characters and have few or no spoken lines or solo parts; rather, they sing and dance in unison. An ensemble member may play multiple roles through the course of a show.
Origin.
The modern musical chorus descends from the chorus line, associated with early 20th century theatrical revues such as "Ziegfeld Follies". The chorus line was typically composed of women (dubbed "chorus girls" or "chorines") performing synchronized dances in a line.
Composition.
In the 2018-2019 season, ensemble sizes for Broadway productions ranged from 9 (for "Hadestown") to 55 (for "The Lion King"). Ensemble sizes on Broadway have generally decreased over time, possibly due to cost-cutting. Many modern musicals feature no ensemble at all, such as "Girl from the North Country" and "Six".
Within the ensemble there exist certain specialized roles. The "dance captain" is an ensemble member who leads routine dance rehearsals once the show has opened and teaches choreography to new ensemble members. An ensemble member may also understudy a principal role, meaning that they play that role when the regular actor is unable to. A "swing" is a performer who is prepared to step in in a number of ensemble roles (known as "tracks").
Recognition.
Major theatre awards such as the Tony Awards and Olivier Awards do not recognize ensemble members. In 2018, Actors' Equity, the main union representing theatre performers in the United States, announced a campaign urging the Tony Awards to create two new awards for best ensemble (defined as the entire cast of a production), and best chorus. Similar awards exist in some regional theatre award ceremonies, such as the Jeff Awards in Chicago.


West German Art Pottery

West German Art Pottery is essentially a term describing the time period of 1949-1990 and became the early way to describe the pottery because the country of origin, with numbers denoting the shape and size, was often the only "mark" on the base. Even though company names are now better known, and many items are attributed to specific makers, the more generic term "West German pottery" remains in common use. "Fat Lava" is a popular term that strictly refers to a fairly small subcategory of glazes but is all too often improperly used as a synonym for West German pottery. West Germany began in 1949: World War II ended in 1945, the next 4 years were the "zone" era with the country into the "US Zone", "Russian/Soviet Zone", "British Zone", and "French Zone", and it was 1949 when the East/West division replaced the zones.
The work of the main producers in the style concentrated on single decorative items such as vases, jugs and bowls, rather than sets of tableware. There were a relatively large numbers of basic shapes in the plain clay body, and these were heavily decorated, typically with a great variety of glaze effects in more than one colour, many using thick contoured glazes. The bodies sometimes carried moulded patterning or incised decoration (as in the 'Vetter' bowl) but glaze colours usually had the impression of being placed by flowing or brushing, rather than more precise painting. Figurative decoration is not very common, and typically plant-based when it occurs.
A common style of base mark was "W. Germany", xxx shape number / or - xx height in cm. The name of the manufacturer was often carried on an adhesive sticker prominently attached to the body of the piece, which is now usually lost.
History.
After the defeat of Nazi Germany, it took a few years to rebuild the German pottery industry. During its heyday from the 1950s until the 1970s, over 100 pottery and porcelain companies and studio potters were actively producing art pottery in West Germany. Scheurich, Carstens, Bay, ES, and Dümler & Breiden were the most prolific producers, and while production began slowing in the early 1970s, a wide variety of art pottery was produced well in the 1980s.
"West German Art Pottery" is well known for its great variety of forms and expressive colors. The pottery began getting attention in the mid 1990s, and interest has been growing ever since. Horst Makus published several books in the late 90s and after, but those are in German and limited to the period up to about 1962.
In 2006 Graham Cooley organised the exhibition "Fat Lava: West German Ceramics of the 60s & 70s" at the King’s Lynn Arts Centre from his vast collection. This exhibition popularized the phrase "fat lava" but was not the origin as some believe. The term was in use by eBay sellers years before and may have originated as a mistranslation by computer programs. Mark Hill published "Fat Lava", which is an expanded catalog for Graham Cooley's exhibition and collection. The book has since been revised multiple times.
Kevin Graham has produced a variety of cds, and Graham and Henrik Aaroe co-produced "German Ceramic 1960-1990" in 2016. However, published work remains scarce and limited in scope. There are also a variety of essays and videos on the Gin-For's Odditiques site. However, a great deal remains undocumented, and some of the early research had significant errors. Attributions continue to be corrected, so information should be checked to make sure it is up to date.
Fat Lava.
The terms "Fat Lava" and "West German Art Pottery" are often used interchangeably, but technically have a different meaning. "Fat Lava" refers specifically to a type of thick glazes that gives the object a thick lava-like look. This type of glaze was commonly used in this period by German pottery manufacturers. The term Fat Lava itself though is of a much more recent date. It has been suggested that the term Fat Lava first emerged with an exhibition curated by Dr. Graham Cooley during the King's Lynn Arts Festival in 2006, but the term was actually being used by sellers in Germany at least a decade earlier and may actually be due to a slightly faulty computer translation that came up with "fat" when the more accurate term would be "thick". The precise origin is likely to remain uncertain, but it definitely predates the Fat Lava exhibition and related catalog.


Forodrim


Rape and revenge film

Rape and revenge films are a subgenre of exploitation film that was particularly popular in the 1970s.
Explanation of the subgenre.
Rape and revenge films generally follow the same three-act structure:
In Gaspar Noé's 2002 film "Irréversible", the structure was reversed, with the first act depicting the revenge before tracing back the events which led to that point. Roger Ebert argues that, by using this structure as well as a false revenge, "Irréversible" cannot be classified as an exploitation film, as no exploitation of the subject matter takes place.
The genre has attracted critical attention. Much of this critical attention comes from feminist critics examining the complex politics involved in the genre and its impact on cinema more generally. More recently, a broad analysis of the rape-revenge genre and concept was published in "Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study", by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. The book argues against a simplistic notion of the term "rape-revenge" and suggests a film-specific approach in order to avoid generalizing films which may "diverge not over the treatment of sexual assault as much as they do in regard to the morality of the revenge act."
In addition to American and French films, rape/revenge films have been made in Japan (e.g., Takashi Ishii's "Freeze Me"), Finland, Russia ("The Voroshilov Sharpshooter"), Argentina (e.g., "I'll Never Die Alone"; [2008]; original title: "No Moriré Sola"), and Norway (e.g., "The Whore" [2009]; original title: "Hora").


The von Trapps

The von Trapps (formerly The von Trapp Children) was a musical group made up of Sofia, Melanie, Amanda, and August (formerly Justin) von Trapp, descendants of the original Trapp Family Singers. They are the grandchildren of Werner von Trapp, who was portrayed as Kurt in "The Sound of Music", and the great-grandchildren of Georg Ritter von Trapp and his first wife Agathe Whitehead, and the step-great-grandchildren of Maria von Trapp, Georg's second wife.
History.
The von Trapp Children began their singing career after performing in the play "The Sound of Music" in 1997. They subsequently toured the United States and other countries. They frequently performed with the band Pink Martini and their collaboration album "Dream a Little Dream" was released in March 2014.
The von Trapp Children appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show", "The View", "Jack Hanna's Into the Wild", "The Today Show", and "19 Kids and Counting". In 2016 The von Trapps announced that after 15 years of performing together, their final show as a group would be in their hometown of Portland early May.
Awards.
In 2006, the von Trapp Children were given the Special Award for Outstanding Young Family Singing Group at the 27th annual Young Artist Awards.


Illinois Shakespeare Festival

The Illinois Shakespeare Festival (ISF) is held in Bloomington, Illinois, United States at Ewing Theatre and in Normal, Illinois, United States at the Center for Performing Arts Theatre at Illinois State University. The Festival began in 1978 and will celebrate its 43nd season in the summer of 2021. The Festival usually presents three pieces by "The Bard" as a revolving rep, though occasionally the third piece is from a playwright.
The Festival is produced by the School of Theatre and Dance and the College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University. Performances take place at Ewing Cultural Center on Ewing Theatre, a re-creation Globe Stage complete with open air amphitheater. The Festival markets itself as "theatre under the stars!" Before each nightly performance (except Mondays), the Festival presents a free pre-show entertainment, including live jazz, an abbreviated version of the play to come, or other fun performances. The Ewing Grounds serve as picnicking spots for the audience. The Festival runs from the later part of June through the middle of August. In 2008, The Festival began a fourth show aimed towards younger audiences (Theatre for Young Audiences) which is usually performed on Wednesday and Saturday mornings at 10am.
Production History.
Unless otherwise noted, the plays are written by William Shakespeare.
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Such publications as the "Chicago Tribune" and the "Chicago Sun-Times" have given the Festival positive reviews.


Power Balladz

Power Balladz is a live comedy performance featuring a mixture of comedy, trivia, and iconic rock n' roll songs from the 70s, 80s & 90s for which it is also named. Created by Mike Todaro and Dan Nycklemoe with Peter Rothstein, Power Balladz began its initial theatrical run at the LAB Theatre in Minneapolis and then made its New York debut on August 5, 2010 with an opening night of August 19, 2010. The comedy's musical blend includes songs by Journey, Queen, Scorpions, Poison, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, Styx, Heart, and more.
Creation.
The Power Balladz were originally written and performed in 2002 at the Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis, Power Balladz predates the show to which it is most commonly compared to today, Rock of Ages. The first-ever production of Power Balladz originally featured creators Dan Nycklemoe and Mike Todaro playing the leads.
Synopsis.
Lacking a true narrative, the production resembles a comical lecture on the rise and fall of the Power Ballad as a musical form, and uses key songs to illustrate points about the art form's style, structure, lyrical content, and more. Guiding the audience through the experience are two self-professed rock aficionados Dieter and Scott. Throughout the show, Dieter and Scott poll the audience for answers to trivia questions, fire off a T-shirt cannon, and lead a live band in recreating the iconic musical hits the show celebrates. In what could be construed as the one true instance of plot in the show, the high school sweetheart of Dieter appears midway through and joins the cast for the remainder of the show, with Dieter attempting to muster up the courage he never had way back when.
Critical reception.
After a critically successful reception Off Broadway in 2010 Power Balladz was slightly modified.
Power Balladz Sing-A-Long will begin touring in the fall of 2012.


Rug hooking

Rug hooking is both an art and a craft where rugs are made by pulling loops of yarn or fabric through a stiff woven base such as burlap, linen, or rug warp. The loops are pulled through the backing material by using a crochet-type hook mounted in a handle (usually wood) for leverage. In contrast latch-hooking uses a hinged hook to form a knotted pile from short, pre-cut pieces of yarn.
Wool strips ranging in size from 3/32 to 10/32 of an inch (2 to 8 mm) in width are often used to create hooked rugs or wall hangings. These precision strips are usually cut using a mechanical cloth slitter; however, the strips can also be hand-cut or torn. When using the hand-torn technique the rugs are usually done in a primitive motif.
Designs for the rugs are often commercially produced and can be as complex as flowers or animals to as simple as geometrics. Rug-hooking has been popular in North America for at least the past 200 years.
History of rug hooking.
The author William Winthrop Kent believed that the earliest forebears of hooked rugs were the floor mats made in Yorkshire, England, during the early part of the 19th century. Workers in weaving mills were allowed to collect thrums, pieces of yarn that ran 9 inches (23 cm) long. These by-products were useless to the mill, and the weavers took them home and pulled the thrums through a backing. The origins of the word thrum are ancient, as Mr. Kent pointed out a reference in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor. However, in the publication "Rag Rug Making" by Jenni Stuart-Anderson, , Stuart-Anderson states that the most recent research indicates "...the technique of hooking woolen loops through a base fabric was used by the Vikings, whose families probably brought it to Scotland." To add to this there are sound examples at the Folk Museum in Guernsey, Channel Islands, that early rag rugs made in the same manner were produced off the coast of France as well.
Rug hooking as we know it today may have developed in North America, specifically along the Eastern Seaboard in New England in the United States, the Canadian Maritimes, and Newfoundland and Labrador. In its earliest years, rug hooking was a craft of poverty. The vogue for floor coverings in the United States came about after 1830 when factories produced machine-made carpets for the rich. Poor women began looking through their scrap bags for materials to employ in creating their own home-made floor coverings. Women employed whatever materials they had available. Girls from wealthy families were sent to school to learn embroidery and quilting; fashioning floor rugs and mats was never part of the curriculum. Another sign that hooking was the pastime of the poor is the fact that popular ladies magazines in the 19th century never wrote about rug hooking. It was considered a "country" craft in the days when the word country, used in this context, was derogatory. Today rug hooking or mat making as it is sometimes referred to has been labeled in Canada as a fine art.
Since hooking was a craft of poverty, rug makers put to use whatever materials were available. Antique hooked rugs were created on burlap after 1850 because burlap was readily available as grain and feed bags. Fiber and fabric that was no longer suitable for clothing was often incorporated into rugs. In the United States, yarn was not a fiber of choice if one did not have access to thrums. Yarn was too precious, and had to be saved for knitting and weaving. Instead the tradition of using scraps of fabric evolved. Yarns, fabrics, and other materials have always been used for hooked rugs in the Canadian Maritimes. The well-known Cheticamp hooked rugs used finely spun yarns and the highly collectible Grenfell mats were meticulously hooked with recycled jerseys. Everything from cotton T-shirts to silk and nylon stockings were cut and used.
The Grenfell Mission had set standards for hooking with silk stockings as early as 1916. Pearl McGown, working at first under the tutelage of Caroline Saunders in the 1930s, has been credited with saving the craft from disappearing in the United States. McGown popularized guidelines for fine shading with wool using various dye methods, and formalized the study of rug hooking. In 1950, after an especially informative week of rug hooking with 15 other rug hooking teachers, McGown was approached to organize teachers' workshop to further the study of the art, exchange ideas, and pass on techniques. In 1951, hooked rug teachers came together for the first of what became an annual McGown Teacher Workshop. These workshops exclusively used McGown's own patterns, in recognition of the work and time McGown spent each year on maintaining the program. This tradition lives on through the Pearl K. McGown Teacher Certification and Workshop Program, now sponsored by Honey Bee Hive Rug Hooking Patterns & Supplies. Many well-known hooked rug designers and teachers have passed through the McGown certification program, including Joan Moshimer, Jane Olson, Gene Shephard, Eric Sandberg, Jane Nevins, Gail Dufresne, and Michelle Miccarelli.
Rug-hooking tools.
In the 1930s the handicraft of rug hooking spread to Denmark, where it flourished. In 1939, Ernst Thomsen of Hjørring invented a handheld tool which sped up the hooking process making it possible to create large carpets in a reasonable length of time. Due to this faster process, rug hookers were less likely to run into physical problems with their arms, hands and shoulders. The tool was initially marketed in 1949 under the name Aladdin Carpet Needle. A decade later, the name was changed to the Danella Rug Hooking Tool.
Rug hooking today.
In more recent decades hookers have followed quilters in exploring new materials and new techniques. This experimentation, combined with knowledge and respect for the past, will allow rug hooking to evolve and grow in the 21st century. Rug hooking today has evolved into two genres, which primarily fall into groups based upon the width of the wool strip employed to create a rug: fine hooking and primitive hooking.
Fine hooking, in general, uses strips of wool measuring 1/32 to 5/32 of an inch wide. Designs of the fine-cut hooking genre use more fine shading accomplished by overdyeing wool in graduated color swatches. Primitive (or wide-cut) hooking uses wool strips measuring 6/32 up to 1/2-inch wide. The wide-cut hooking accomplishes shading and highlights using textures in wool, such as plaids, checks, herringbones, etc. Wide-cut designs are generally less detailed and mimic the naivety of rug hookers of the past. There are many well-known designers of commercial rug patterns and each exhibit their own distinct style and techniques. Some designers specialize in animals or whimsical subjects, others use specific and identifiable dyeing techniques, while others adapt antique rugs for today's rug hookers or employ various tools to achieve their chosen subject matter within their designs. In addition to the many commercially available patterns, many rug hookers are creating their own design patterns. Today's great Modern Folk Rug Hookers include; Norma Batastini, NJ; Cheryl Bollenbach, CO; Maggie Bonanomi, MO; Barbara Carroll, PA; Gail Dufresne, NJ;Carla Fortney, CA; Sally Van Nuys OH; Jayne Hester, NY; Cynthia Norwood, TX; Deanne Fitzpatrick, NS; Cindi Gay, Pemberville, OH; etc.
There are many people like Magdalena Briner who made creative and original rugs.
ATHA, The Association of Traditional Hooking Artists, was formed by a group of women who felt the rules of the McGown Workshops (I.e. only original designs, McGown Patterns, CHARCO & PRIMCO DESIGNS are allowed at the workshop rug show), too restrictive and chose to form an alternative. In recent years, ATHA's leadership reflects the importance of bringing together the most interested and dedicated people to encourage and support advanced creative efforts. Attempts to create an ATHA teacher training program were met with tepid enthusiasm. The McGown Program allows for instructors to form a solid basis to move on to creating at the level that is seen consistently in the pages of the newly revamped ATHA Newsletter.
There are countless annual exhibitions around the world displaying rug hooking. A forthcoming one is "Hooked Between Two Islands" The History of the Hooked Rug Between Newfoundland and Guernsey. The exhibition is scheduled for 2011 at the Guernsey Folk and Costume Museum, Guernsey, Channel Islands sponsored by The National Trust of Guernsey and the Canadian Portrait Academy. A permanent collection of hooked rugs by Patty Yoder is currently installed at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont.
There is a rug show held annually at Sauder Village in Archbold, Ohio that displays hundreds of rugs for one week in August each year. In 2016 there are 825 rugs on display, including a special exhibition to honor Pearl McGown.
In the 1980s, Canadian artist Nancy Edell, discovered rug-hooking after moving to Nova Scotia, located on Canada's east coast. She introduced traditional rug-hooking into her surrealist, feminist art practice, using the medium to explore ideas of feminist utopia, and the gendering of space. She became one of many female artists (see Miriam Shapiro, Joyce Wieland) at the time to use what had been considered "feminine arts" to explore and deconstruct the male dominated hierarchy of fine art.
Latch hooking.
A latch hook is both the tool and the textile art of latch hooking. Latch hooking differs from traditional rug hooking and locker hooking by the physical knotting of the yarn to canvas. Latch hook was invented in the nineteenth century with the latch needle, in the twentieth century the latch needle underwent numerous variations including the hand tool used by artisans and crafters to produce latch hook rugs. While rug hooking uses a base fabric of burlap or hessian, latch hooking uses specially woven rug canvas. Rug canvases range from 3.3 holes per inch (hpi) to 5 hpi. The pattern may be stencilled onto the canvas or worked from a chart similar to a needlepoint pattern. Latch hook yarns may be bought pre-cut (usually 2.5 inch lengths) or in skeins and cut to the desired length.
In his book "The Hooked Rug," published in 1930, American writer William Winthrop Kent describes a form of rugmaking "A canvas is used like cross-stitch canvas only coarser, which has every third mesh a large one. It is held on the knee or on a table. The pieces of wool yarn are cut exactly the same length by a gauge. The hook used has a catch or latch on it and is inserted in one hole and out the next in the next row, as follows: The wool is held in the left hand and above the canvas, then doubled and the double end is slipped over the hook, the catch being up or open. The hook is then drawn out through the canvas toward the worker, the cut ends being kept in the left hand. The catch by this action drops down and secures the wool. The tool is next pushed forward through the wool loop and catches the two ends held in the left hand, then the loop is held in the left hand and has the two ends pulled through it with the hook. To pull out hook and draw tight the two cut ends finishes the knot. This is really a pile fabric and is known as a Turkey Rug but sprang from the hooking process as the earlier hook used was of the crochet hook form."
During the 1930s, latch-hooked wool rugs became popular and written guidelines helped standardise the craft. The heyday of latch-hooking with yarn in Britain was just after the second World War and dominated by several companies based near the textile mills in the north of England. Latch hooking was one of the activities available to convalescing soldiers, hospital patients and care home residents. Women's Institutes got discounts on bulk-buys and made rugs for sale. In the 1970s and 1980s, synthetic yarns and wool/synthetic blends became popular, but rug-making was entering a decline due to the availability of cheap imported rugs and to decreasing leisure time. In Britain, the best-known latch-hook company was Readicut (their rug kits were marketed through Shillcraft in North America). Patons and Baldwin invented the rotary "Patwin" wool cutter, but Readicut went a stage further and sold their yarn in pre-cut bundles.
Latch hook tool.
The latch hook tool traces its origin to the invention of the latch needle. Invented in 1847, the latch needle was part of a knitting machine that wrapped yarn around the latch and pushed through a canvas before pulling it through and knotting the yarn to the canvas. In the 1920s, the tool was created by combining the hand hook with the latch. Latch hooks are available in different sizes. You can have a regular sized latch hook that's suitable for use with interlock rug canvas and a finer latch hook which can be used for Sudan canvas. Modern crafters also use rug gauge tools to cut yarn and fabric strips to equal lengths.
Other uses.
The latch hook can be used a replacement for the yarn needle in crochet, but this is niche usage. The latch hook tool can also be used in the care and maintenance of dreadlocks, with the tool being used to tighten the hair after showering or swimming.