John Witherspoon

John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish American Presbyterian minister and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense realism, and while president of the College of New Jersey (1768–1794; now Princeton University), became an influential figure in the development of the United States' national character. Politically active, Witherspoon was a delegate from New Jersey to the Second Continental Congress and a signatory to the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence. He was the only active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration. Later, he signed the Articles of Confederation and supported ratification of the Constitution. In 1789 he was convening moderator of the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.
Early life and ministry in Scotland.
John Witherspoon was born in Beith, North Ayrshire, Scotland, as the eldest child of the Reverend James Alexander Witherspoon and Anne Walker, a descendant of John Welsh of Ayr and John Knox. This latter claim of Knox descent though ancient in origin is long disputed and without primary documentation. He attended the Haddington Grammar School, and obtained a Master of Arts from the University of Edinburgh in 1739. He remained at the university to study divinity. In 1764, he was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in divinity by the University of St. Andrews.
Witherspoon was a staunch Protestant, nationalist, and supporter of republicanism. Consequently, he was opposed to the Roman Catholic Legitimist Jacobite rising of 1745–46. Following the Jacobite victory at the Battle of Falkirk (1746), he was briefly imprisoned at Doune Castle, which had a long-term effect on his health.
He became a Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) minister at Beith, Ayrshire (1745–1758), where he married Elizabeth Montgomery of Craighouse. They had ten children, with five surviving to adulthood.
From 1758 to 1768, he was minister of the Laigh Kirk, Paisley (Low Kirk). Witherspoon became prominent within the Church as an Evangelical opponent of the Moderate Party. During his two pastorates he wrote three well-known works on theology, notably the satire "Ecclesiastical Characteristics" (1753), which opposed the philosophical influence of Francis Hutcheson.
Princeton.
At the urging of Benjamin Rush and Richard Stockton, whom he met in Paisley, Witherspoon finally accepted their renewed invitation (having turned one down in 1766) to become president and head professor of the small Presbyterian College of New Jersey in Princeton. Thus, Witherspoon and his family emigrated to New Jersey in 1768.
At the age of 45, he became the sixth president of the college, later known as Princeton University. Upon his arrival, Witherspoon found the school in debt, with weak instruction, and a library collection which clearly failed to meet student needs. He immediately began fund-raising—locally and back home in Scotland—added three hundred of his own books to the library, and began purchasing scientific equipment including the Rittenhouse orrery, many maps, and a terrestrial globe.
Witherspoon also instituted a number of reforms, including modeling the syllabus and university structure after that used at the University of Edinburgh and other Scottish universities. He also firmed up entrance requirements, which helped the school compete with Harvard and Yale for scholars.
Witherspoon personally taught courses in eloquence or belles lettres, chronology (history), and divinity. However, none was more important than moral philosophy (a required course). An advocate of natural law within a Christian and republican cosmology, Witherspoon considered moral philosophy vital for ministers, lawyers, and those holding positions in government (magistrates). Firm but good-humored in his leadership, Witherspoon was very popular among both faculty and students.
Witherspoon had been a prominent evangelical Presbyterian minister in Scotland before accepting the Princeton position. As the college's primary occupation at the time was training ministers, Witherspoon became a major leader of the early Presbyterian Church in America. He also helped organize Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey.
Nonetheless, Witherspoon transformed a college designed predominantly to train clergymen into a school that would equip the leaders of a new country. Students who later played prominent roles in the new nation's development included James Madison, Aaron Burr, Philip Freneau, William Bradford, and Hugh Henry Brackenridge. From among his students came 37 judges (three of whom became justices of the U.S. Supreme Court); 10 Cabinet officers; 12 members of the Continental Congress, 28 U.S. senators, and 49 United States congressmen.
Revolutionary War.
Long wary of the power of the British Crown, Witherspoon saw the growing centralization of government, progressive ideology of colonial authorities, and establishment of Episcopacy authority as a threat to the Liberties of the colonies. Of particular interest to Witherspoon was the crown's growing interference in the local and colonial affairs which previously had been the prerogatives and rights of the American authorities. When the crown began to give additional authority to its appointed Episcopacy over Church affairs, British authorities hit a nerve in the Presbyterian Scot, who saw such events in the same lens as his Scottish Covenanters. Soon, Witherspoon came to support the Revolution, joining the Committee of Correspondence and Safety in early 1774. His 1776 sermon "The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men" was published in many editions and he was elected to the Continental Congress as part of the New Jersey delegation, appointed Congressional Chaplain by the President of the Continental Congress John Hancock, and in July 1776, voted to adopt the Virginia Resolution for Independence. In answer to an objection that the country was not yet ready for independence, according to tradition he replied that it "was not only ripe for the measure, but in danger of rotting for the want of it." He lost his son Major James during the Battle of Germantown in 1777.
Witherspoon served in Congress from June 1777 until November 1784 and became one of its most influential members and a workhorse of prodigious energy. He served on over 10,000 committees, most notably the sitting committees, the board of peace and the committee on public correspondence or common affairs. He spoke often in concurrence; helped draft the Articles of Confederation; helped organize the executive departments; played a major role in shaping public policy; and drew up the instructions for the peace commissioners. He fought against the flood of paper money, and opposed the issuance of bonds without provision for their amortization. "No business can be done, some say, because money is scarce", he wrote. He also served twice in the New Jersey Legislature, and strongly supported the adoption of the United States Constitution during the New Jersey ratification debates.
In November 1777, American forces neared, Witherspoon closed and evacuated the College of New Jersey. The main building, Nassau Hall, was badly damaged and his papers and personal notes were lost. Witherspoon was responsible for its reconstruction after the war, which caused him great personal and financial difficulty. In 1780 he was elected to a one-year term in the New Jersey Legislative Council representing Somerset County. At the age of 68, he married a 24-year-old widow, with whom he had two more children.
Death and burial.
Witherspoon suffered eye injuries and was blind by 1792. He died in 1794 on his farm Tusculum, just outside Princeton, and is buried along Presidents Row in Princeton Cemetery. An inventory of Witherspoon's possessions taken at his death included "two slaves ... valued at a hundred dollars each".
Family.
Witherspoon and his wife, Elizabeth Montgomery, had a total of 10 children, only five of whom survived to accompany their parents to America. James, the eldest, a young man of great promise, graduated from Princeton in 1770, and joined the American army as an aide to General Francis Nash, with the rank of major. The next youngest son, John, graduated from Princeton in 1779, practiced medicine in South Carolina, and was lost at sea in 1795. David, the youngest son, graduated the same year as his brother, married the widow of Abner Nash, brother of General Francis Nash, and practiced law in New Bern, North Carolina. Anna, the eldest daughter, married Reverend Samuel Smith on June 28, 1775. Reverend Samuel Smith succeeded Dr. Witherspoon as president of Princeton in 1775. Frances, the youngest daughter, married Dr. David Ramsay, a delegate from South Carolina to the Continental Congress, on March 18, 1763.
Philosophy.
According to Herbert Hovenkamp, Witherspoon’s most lasting contribution was the initiation of the Scottish common sense realism, which he had learned by reading Thomas Reid and two of his expounders Dugald Stewart and James Beattie.
Witherspoon revised the moral philosophy curriculum, strengthened the college's commitment to natural philosophy, and positioned Princeton in the larger transatlantic world of the republic of letters. Witherspoon was a proponent of Christian values, his common sense approach to the public morality of civil magistrates was influenced by the ethics of Scottish philosophers Francis Hutcheson and Thomas Reid rather than Jonathan Edwards. In regard to civil magistrates, Witherspoon thus believed moral judgment should be pursued as a science. He held to old concepts from the Roman Republic of virtuous leadership by civil magistrates, but he also regularly recommended that his students read such modern philosophers as Machiavelli, Montesquieu, and David Hume, even though he disapproved of Hume's "infidel" stance on religion.
Virtue, he argued, could be deduced through the development of the moral sense, an ethical compass instilled by God in all human beings and developed through religious education (Reid) or civil sociability (Hutcheson). Witherspoon saw morality as having two distinct components: spiritual and temporal. Civil government owed more to the latter than the former in Witherspoon's Presbyterian doctrine. Thus, public morality owed more to the natural moral laws of the Enlightenment than to revealed Christianity.
In his lectures on moral philosophy at Princeton, required of all juniors and seniors, Witherspoon argued for the revolutionary right of resistance and recommended checks and balances within government. He made a profound impression on his student James Madison, whose suggestions for the United States Constitution followed both Witherspoon's and Hume's ideas. The historian Douglass Adair writes, "The syllabus of Witherspoon's lectures . . . explains the conversion of the young Virginian to the philosophy of the Enlightenment."
Witherspoon accepted the impossibility of maintaining public morality or virtue in the citizenry without an effective religion. In this sense, the temporal principles of morality required a religious component which derived its authority from the spiritual. Therefore, public religion was a vital necessity in maintaining the public morals. However, in this framework, non-Christian societies could have virtue, which, by his definition, could be found in natural law. Witherspoon, in accordance with the Scottish moral sense philosophy, taught that all human beings, Christian or otherwise, could be virtuous, but he was nonetheless committed to Christianity as the only route to personal salvation.
Witherspoon owned slaves and lectured against the abolition of slavery.
Legacy.
Apologist of Reformed Christianity
John Witherspoon is not known for being a particularly insightful, significant, or even consistent Reformed preacher and thinker. However, he was firmly grounded in the Reformed tradition of High to Late Orthodoxy, embedded in the transatlantic Evangelical Awakening of the eighteenth century, and frustrated by the state of religion in the Scottish Kirk. Like Benedict Pictet (1655-1724), Witherspoon held firmly to the tenets of confessional Calvinism. And like Pictet, Witherspoon was eager to show that the truths of supernatural revelation could be squared with reason. His aim as a minister was to defend and rearticulate traditional Scottish Presbyterian theology, without altering or disguising it.


Gwynno James

John Gwynno James (7 September 1912 – 18 February 1967) was a Church in Wales cleric, who served as Archdeacon of Llandaff (until 1964) and subsequently as Dean of Brecon (from 1964).
He earned his education at Keble College, Oxford, and was ordained in 1937. Warden of St Teilo's Hall from 1940 to 1945 he was then a Lecturer at St Michael's College, Llandaff, and after that a Minor Canon at Llandaff Cathedral.
He is also a published author (by the Church in Wales) and a librettist for such classical works as William Mathias' "St. Teilo Masque" (1962) and Alun Hoddinott's "Dives and Lazarus". Mathias dedicated his work, "Aedes Christi", to Gwynno James on James' installation at Brecon.


Ossie Ostrich

Oswald Q. Ostrich, better known simply as Ossie Ostrich, is an Australian television puppet character in the form of an ostrich, not to be confused with the emu, an Australian flightless bird, who appeared firstly on the "Tarax Show", and then opposite Daryl Somers as the co-host on the long-running program "Hey Hey It's Saturday" which started as a Saturday morning cartoon show for children in 1971. In 1984, he also hosted an after-school children's show called "The Ossie Ostrich Video Show", with co-host Jacki MacDonald.
Ossie is described as a good-natured pink ostrich that sported a light blue mohawk hairstyle.
Origins.
Producer Ernie Carroll, an experienced comedy writer who had worked for Graham Kennedy's "In Melbourne Tonight", resurrected a puppet used for an earlier GTV-9 children's program "packed away in a dusty suitcase in the GTV props bay."
Typically, Ossie would provide the comic foil to Somers' straight man. Somers sometimes retaliated by calling Ossie names like 'Fiberglass Head', but he also had more affectionate names, like his 'pink, feathered beakie'. The comic skill of Somers and Carroll was instrumental in leading to the wider appeal of the show and its move to a prime time spot on Saturday evening.
According to "Hey Hey It's Saturday The Book":
"Ossie Ostrich stepped out of the case and, as if under the control of a superior being, walked to the host set and looked directly into the left eye of Daryl Somers. "Well, I never!" said Daryl. "Oh you must have," said Ossie. And a link was formed that could only be broken by money. People who actually witnessed that moment say that a spark of electricity seemed to pass between the two. When asked, Daryl said he was not sure but Ossie distinctly remembers passing something."
Ossie was not a part of "Hey Hey It's Saturday" for the entirety of its 28-year run – he replaced footballer Peter McKenna as co-host after the show's first eight weeks, and his retirement in 1994 was arguably a key factor in the demise of the show – but he was one of the most recognisable puppets in Australia for more than two decades. He did however return briefly for the second Hey Hey reunion's as a special guest.
Over time, Ossie's head had to be replaced due to mishaps. Lipstick marks from over-amorous admirers were very difficult to remove. Other members of Ossie's family were represented using the same puppet with different accessories.
On the "Tarax Show", Ossie's theme song was "Here comes Ossie Ostrich". This was also occasionally heard on "Hey Hey".
Merchandising.
Merchandise included a plush toy version of Ossie and a marionette puppet, as well as comic books. TV Week carried an Ossie Ostrich comic strip for a period, and these were collected in book form.


Drab (color)

Drab is a dull, light-brown color. It originally took its name from a fabric of the same color made of undyed, homespun wool. The word was first used in English in the mid-16th century. It probably originated from the Old French word "drap", which meant cloth. The word gradually came to mean dull, lifeless, or monotonous.
In military uniforms.
Several shades of drab have been used for military uniforms, including the above-mentioned light-brown color. The greenish shades of drab, known as olive drab, were used as the colors of the U.S. Army uniforms and equipment during World War II.


Faust discography

This is a list of recordings of the opera "Faust" (1859) by Charles Gounod, sung in French unless otherwise noted.
References.
Notes
Sources


The Trapp Family

The Trapp Family () is a 1956 West German comedy drama film about the real-life Austrian musical family of that name directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner and starring Ruth Leuwerik, Hans Holt, and Maria Holst. Based on Maria von Trapp's 1949 memoir, "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers", the film is about a novice nun sent to care for the unruly children of a wealthy baron, who falls in love with and marries the young woman. Through her caring influence, the family becomes a famous singing group. When the baron is pressured to join Hitler's navy, the family escapes to the United States where they establish themselves as singers.
"The Trapp Family" became one of the most successful German films of the 1950s, and was the inspiration for the even more fictionalized 1959 Broadway musical "The Sound of Music" and its highly successful 1965 film version. The film had one sequel, "The Trapp Family in America" (1958).
Plot.
At a convent in Austria in the 1930s, a spirited novice named Maria (Ruth Leuwerik) is sent by her mother superior to the estate of a widowed naval hero, Baron von Trapp (Hans Holt), to look after his seven unruly children. The baron is a stern disciplinarian and runs his household like a ship. When Maria arrives, she encourages the children to play games like other youngsters, and teaches them how to sing. When the baron discovers how Maria is ignoring his orders, he sends her back to the convent. Later, when he hears his children singing songs they've learned from Maria, his feelings for her change. Gradually, the baron falls in love with the young woman and proposes marriage.
After obtaining permission to marry from the mother superior back at the convent, Maria becomes the Baroness von Trapp. The family's priest, Dr. Wasner (Josef Meinrad), encourages Maria and the children to sing for charity, and soon they develop a large following. After the Nazis annex Austria, the baron loses his fortune and is summoned to serve in the German navy. Unwilling to live under the Nazi regime, the von Trapp family emigrate to the United States, where they perform their music in the new world. But their troubles are far from over when a naive Maria tells the immigration inspector they want to stay forever, when he asks how long they will be visiting the United States.
Production.
The film is based on Maria von Trapp's memoir, "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers", written in 1948 to help promote her family's singing group following the death of her husband, Captain von Trapp, in 1947. Hollywood producers expressed immediate interest in purchasing the title only, but Maria refused, wanting her entire story to be told. In 1956, German producer Wolfgang Liebeneiner offered her $10,000 (equal to $ today) for the complete rights to her story. Following her lawyer's advice, she asked for a share of the film profits, but was told that German law prohibited a German film company from paying royalties to non-German citizens—Maria was an American citizen by then. She signed away the rights to her story without confirming that such a law existed (it did not). The same agent that misled her offered her a single cash payment if she would accept $9,000, which she did.
Liebeneiner brought in George Hurdalek and Herbert Reinecker to write the screenplay, and Franz Grothe to supervise the soundtrack, which included traditional Austrian folk songs. The movie was filmed on location in Salzburg, Austria, and Murnau am Staffelsee in Bavaria, West Germany.
Release.
"The Trapp Family" was released in West Germany on October 9, 1956, by Gloria Film and became a major success. Two years later, Liebeneiner directed a sequel, "The Trapp Family in America", and the two films soon became the most successful films in West Germany during the post-war years. Their success extended throughout Europe and South America.
Critical response.
In his review of the 1961 United States version for "The New York Times", Howard Thompson gave the film a positive review, calling it "genteel, tuneful and frankly sentimental". According to Thompson, the film "steers an undramatic, but disarming, course", with "friendly" acting and "pretty" cinematography. The central attraction for Thompson, however, is the traditional folk music:
Thompson concludes, "The children will love it. Nobody, certainly, will resent such a happy family, content to love one another and, thank heaven, to sing."
Adaptations.
In 1956, Paramount Pictures purchased the United States film rights, intending to produce an English-language version with Audrey Hepburn as Maria. The studio eventually dropped its option, but one of its directors, Vincent Donehue, proposed the story as a stage musical for Mary Martin. Producers Richard Halliday and Leland Heyward secured the rights and hired playwrights Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, who had won a Pulitzer Prize for "State of the Union". They approached Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein to compose one song for the musical, but the composers felt the two styles—traditional Austrian folk songs and their composition—would not work, and offered to write a new score for the entire production. "The Sound of Music" opened on November 16, 1959, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York City and ran on Broadway for 1,443 performances, winning six Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
In June 1960, 20th Century Fox purchased the film rights to the Broadway musical for $1.25 million (equal to $ today) against 10% of the gross, and at that time, also purchased the rights to the two German films for distribution in the United States. 20th Century Fox combined the two German films, "Die Trapp-Familie" and "Die Trapp-Familie in Amerika", hired Lee Kresel to dub the films in English, and released them as a single 106-minute film titled "The Trapp Family" on April 19, 1961.
References.
Citations
Sources


Circular knitting

Circular knitting or knitting in the round is a form of knitting that creates a seamless tube. Work in the round is begun by casting on stitches as for flat knitting but then joining the ends of that row of stitches to form a circle. Knitting is worked in rounds (the equivalent of the rows in flat knitting), which forms the tube by winding around in a helix.
Originally, circular knitting was done using a set of four or five double-pointed needles. Today, knitters often use instead a circular needle, which resembles a pair of short knitting needles connected by a cable between them. Circular knitting can also be performed by knitting machines: a double-bed machine can be set up to knit on its front bed in one direction and then its back bed on the return, which creates the tube. Specialized knitting machines for sock-knitting use individual latch-hook needles to make each stitch in a round frame.
Many types of sweaters are traditionally knit in the round. Planned openings (arm holes, necks, cardigan fronts) are temporarily knitted with extra stitches, reinforced if necessary. Then the extra stitches are cut to create the opening, and are stitched with a sewing machine to prevent unraveling. This technique is called steeking.
Magic loop technique.
Invented by Sarah Hauschka and first described in Beverly Galeskas’s booklet "The Magic Loop", this technique uses a long circular needle (for instance 40 inches) to knit projects (of any circumference substantially less than the needle length) in the round. The key is pulling a loop of extra cable out between the stitches halfway through the round.
The magic loop technique also allows knitting two-at-a-time projects like pairs of socks or the sleeves of sweaters. This knitting both pieces at once makes it easier to render the two as similar as possible.


Ted Gardner

Ted Gardner is an Australian-born artist manager, entrepreneur and company owner. Gardner began his career in Melbourne in 1977, then relocated to Sydney in 1980 and on to United States from 1982. There he managed Jane's Addiction from 1989 and was co-founder of the original Lollapalooza festival in 1991 with its band members and booking agency.
Biography.
Ted Gardner started as an entrepreneur in 1977 when he partnered with Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans (co-founders of Mushroom Records) to run the Bottom Line club in Richmond, Victoria. In 1980 he moved to Sydney and worked with Chris Plimmer at The Nucleus Agency, home to Midnight Oil and Matt Finish. He went on the road with Matt Finish as their tour manager until the band broke up.
Gardner, with Russell Deppeler, manager of Men at Work, promoted the band in support of the release of their first album, "Business as Usual". In 1982, the band travelled to America and opened for Fleetwood Mac then continued touring for the next 18 months throughout the world and headlining their own US tour. In late 1983 he moved to America and in 1984 became the production manager for Frank Zappa. In the next years he worked as either the tour or production manager for: UFO, Echo & The Bunnymen, New Order, The Sugarcubes, The The, Tangerine Dream, Crowded House and Jane's Addiction.
In 1989 he became the manager of Jane's Addiction, he co-founded Lollapalooza with band members Perry Farrell and Stephen Perkins and the band's booking agents, Marc Geiger and Don Muller in 1991. He started his own management company with his wife, Nikki Brown, in 1992 and together they have managed artists such as Tool, The Verve, HUM, Colin Hay, The Geraldine Fibbers, Rival Schools, The Cramps, Queens Of The Stone Age, Anyone and The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
In 2007 he returned to Australia with Brown and his youngest daughter, he took a year off then started Cross Section Management and Records with Scott Mesiti based on the mid north coast of New South Wales. He handles the production for all Sand Events shows and manages Anton Newcombe and Brian Jonestown Massacre.
In 2010 Ted took up management of Australian rock and roll band Rose Tattoo & Alternative, Heavy, Progressive Rock 2011 ARIA nominated outfit Floating Me. He also managers one of Australia's best drummers Lucius Borich who has many played in and produced such bands as Cog & Juice. He has recently (late 2011) begun managing Melbourne artist Ezekiel Ox, taking the reins for his myriad of creative projects. In 2012 Ted began managing Nathan Cavaleri and Col Hatchman
's Stomp Blues Rock band, Nat Col and the Kings


Bandaya movement

Bandaya movement is a progressive [rebel] literary movement in Kannada started by D. R. Nagaraj and Shudra Shrinivas in 1974. It promoted socially-committed literature and sought to make poetry a weapon against social and economic injustice. "Let poetry be a sword! The dear friend who responds to the pain of people!" ["Khadgavaagali kavya! Janara novige midiva pranamitra!"], was the slogan for the movement coined by D.R. Nagaraj.
Prominent Kannada writers who identified themselves with the movement are Siddalingaiah, Chandrashekhar Patil, Chennanna Valikar, Kalegowda Nagavar, Poornachandra Tejaswi, H.S. Shivaprakash, B.T. Lalitha Naik, Kum. Veerabhadrappa, Baraguru Ramachandrappa, Prahlad Betageri, Allama Prabhu Bettadur, Geetha Nagabhushan, K. S. Bhagwan, Shantarasa, Mallika Ghanti, Shashikala Veeriah Swamy, Banjagere Jayaprakash, Gangadhar Mudaliar, Gudihalli Nagaraj, Ramzan Darga, (late) Sugayya.S. Hiremath, Sukanya Maruti, K. Sharifa, Banu Mustaq, Dr Anupama, Nemichandra, Ki.Ram. Nagaraj, Dr.Rajashekhar Hatagundi, L. Hanumanthaiah, Bolbandeppa, (late) Linganna Satyampet, Satyanand Patrot, Basavaraj Sabarad, Sarjoo Katkar, Anand Zunjarwad, Jambanna Amarachinta, Gavisiddha Bellary, Suryakanth Gunakimath, Kamaraj, L.N. Mukundraj, H.L. Pushpa, R.G. Halli Nagaraj and Satish Kulkarni.
External links.
A brief introduction to the Bandaya movement, its history, aims and objectives. Excerpted from the book "ನಡುಗಾಲದ ಕನ್ನಡನಾಡು (ಏಕೀಕರಣೋತ್ತರ ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ ಕಥನ)" Kanaja archives.


Zidishu

Zidishu (), translated as Bannerman Song or Scion Book, was a popular Chinese folk ballad song during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), mostly composed and performed by Manchu people. It flourished between 1736 and 1850 and began to decline at the end of the 19th century. In the 18th century, it was considered one of the most elegant popular northern, Beijing-based Chinese songs.


Donnie Yen

Donnie Yen Ji-dan (; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong Chinese actor, martial artist, film director, producer, action choreographer, stuntman, and multiple-time world wushu tournament champion.
Yen is one of Hong Kong's top action stars. Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream Asian cinema by choreographing MMA in many of his films since the early 2000s. The first Chinese UFC champion Zhang Weili states that Yen's films introduced her to MMA. Yen has displayed skill in an array of martial arts, being well-versed in Tai Chi, Boxing, Kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu. One of the most popular film stars in Asia of the early 2000s, Yen is consistently one of the highest-paid actors in Asia. Yen earned HK$220 million (US$28.4 million) from four films and six advertisements in 2013.
Yen is credited by many for contributing to the popularisation of Wing Chun in China. He played Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the 2008 film "Ip Man", which was a box office success. This has led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun, leading to hundreds of new Wing Chun schools being opened up in mainland China and other parts of Asia. Ip Chun, the eldest son of Ip Man, even mentioned that he is grateful to Yen for making his family's art popular and allowing his father's legacy to be remembered. He has also gained international recognition for playing Chirrut Îmwe in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" (2016), Xiang in "" (2017) and Commander Tung in "Disney's live action Mulan" (2020).
Early life.
Yen was born in Guangzhou, China. His mother, Bow-sim Mark, is a Fu Style Wudangquan (internal martial arts) and Tai Chi grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen (甄雲龍), was a newspaper editor. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hong Kong and then to the United States, settling in Boston when he was 11. His younger sister, Chris Yen, is also a martial artist and actress, and appeared in the 2007 film "".
At a young age, under the influence of his mother, Yen developed an interest in martial arts and began experimenting with various styles, including t'ai chi and other traditional Chinese martial arts. Yen then started kung fu when he was nine. Yen focused on practising wushu seriously at the age 14 after dropping out of school. His parents were concerned that he was spending too much time in Boston's Combat Zone, so they sent him to Beijing on a 4-year training program with the Beijing Wushu Team. When Yen decided to return to the United States, he made a side-trip to Hong Kong, where he met action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. Yen finally started taekwondo at around the age of sixteen.
Yen also came from a family of musicians. His mother is a soprano, in addition to being a martial arts teacher in Boston, while his father is a violinist. From a young age, he was taught by his parents to play musical instruments, including the piano. He also knows hip-hop dancing and breakdancing.
Career.
Beginnings to the '90s.
Yen's first step into the film industry was in 1984 when he landed his first starring role in the 1984 film "Drunken Tai Chi".
After filming "Drunken Tai Chi" and "Tiger Cage" (1988), Yen made his breakthrough role as General Nap-lan in "Once Upon a Time in China II" (1992), which included a fight scene between his character and Wong Fei-hung (played by Jet Li). Yen had a starring role in the film "Iron Monkey" in 1993. Yen and Li appeared together again in the 2002 film "Hero," where Yen played a spear (or qiang) fighter who fought with Li's character, an unnamed swordsman. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2003 Academy Awards.
In 1995, Yen starred as Chen Zhen in the television series "Fist of Fury" produced by ATV, which is adapted from the 1972 film of the same title that starred Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen. Yen reprised his role as Chen Zhen in the 2010 film "".
In 1997, Yen started the production company Bullet Films, and made his directorial debut in "Legend of the Wolf" (1997) and "Ballistic Kiss" (1998), in which he played the lead character. At age 34, Yen almost went bankrupt. Films produced by his own production company and directed by him were critically acclaimed but did not do well at the box office. Yen was forced to borrow money from loan sharks and his production crew to get by.
2000s: Breakthrough success.
Yen later went back to the United States, where he was invited to choreograph fight scenes in Hollywood films, such as "" (2000) and "Blade II" (2002). His choreography and skills impressed the directors, and they invited him for cameo appearances in both movies.
In 2002, Jet Li was filming the movie "Hero" and insisted to the director that he wanted Yen to play the role of Sky, his adversary, due to Yen's martial arts ability. Li personally invited Yen back from Hollywood to star in the movie, marking the second time the two actors appeared onscreen together since "Once Upon a Time in China II" ten years earlier.
In 2003, Yen played the antagonist against Jackie Chan in "Shanghai Knights."
Yen choreographed most of the fight animation in the 2004 video game "Onimusha 3", which featured actors Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jean Reno. Yen continued to be active in Hong Kong cinema in the 2000s, starring as Chu Zhaonan in Tsui Hark's wuxia epic film "Seven Swords", and as Ma Kwun in Wilson Yip's brutal crime drama film "" in 2005. Both films were featured at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Later that year, Yen co-starred with Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue in Wilson Yip's "Dragon Tiger Gate", an adaptation of Wong Yuk-long's manhua series "Oriental Heroes". Yen also worked as action choreographer in "Stormbreaker", starring Alex Pettyfer. Yen continued to work with Wilson Yip in "Flash Point" (2007), in which he starred as the lead character and served as producer and action choreographer for the film. He won the award for Best Action Choreography at the Golden Horse Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance in "Flash Point".
In 2008, Yen starred in "Ip Man," a semi-biographical account of Ip Man, the Wing Chun master of Bruce Lee. "Ip Man" marked Yen's fourth collaboration with director Wilson Yip, reuniting him with his co-stars in "SPL: Sha Po Lang", Sammo Hung and Simon Yam. "Ip Man" became the biggest box office hit to date featuring Yen in the leading role, grossing HK$25 million in Hong Kong and 100 million yuan in China.
From 2010 to 2015.
In August 2011, while Yen was on a vacation with his family in the United States, he reportedly received an invitation by producer Avi Lerner to star in "The Expendables 2". It was stated that Yen was considering the offer, had many films at hand, and would wait until deciding whether the script appealed to him. Later on, Yen revealed to the Hong Kong media that he had rejected the role.
In 2011, Yen revealed that he was venturing into other genres of movies and had taken up two comedy roles in a row, in "All's Well, Ends Well 2011" and "All's Well, Ends Well 2012", and would be working with Carina Lau in the former and Sandra Ng in the latter. Both films obtained huge critical and box-office success and proved Yen's versatility as an actor.
Yen took a six-month break in the second half of 2011 after the filming of "The Monkey King 3D", explaining that he wanted to spend more time with his family and be with his children more as they grew up.
In 2012, Yen returned to the movie industry and commenced the filming of "Special ID", in which he played the main lead, an undercover cop, and also took on the role of action choreographer. In 2013, it was reported that Donnie Yen would be playing the lead role for "The Iceman Cometh 3D", a sci-fi action film dealing with time travel and which was filmed in 3D. Yen confirmed that MMA would be used in both of the abovementioned films.
In February 2013, the Weinstein Company confirmed that it had purchased the rights to and contacted Yen to play the male lead. In March 2013, Hong Kong magazines surfaced photos of Harvey and Bob Weinstein traveling to Hong Kong to meet with Yen and persuade him to accept the offer. It was reported that Yen was considering the role and quoted as saying, "The first is that my schedule this year is very packed. The second is that the first film is already such a classic. I am afraid of the pressure, that the original cannot be surpassed."
In May 2013, during the annual Cannes Film Festival, the Weinstein Company announced that Yen would play the lead role of Silent Wolf in the "Crouching Tiger" sequel, titled "", alongside leading female action star Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien, and with director Yuen Woo-ping, Yen's mentor. It was revealed that the movie would be filmed in both English and Mandarin to appeal to the international market.
It was also revealed during the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II" press conference that the Weinstein Company had obtained rights to Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai", was planning a remake and was negotiating with Yen, George Clooney and Zhang Ziyi to star in the film. Donnie Yen declined the offer due to scheduling conflicts for the filming of "Ip Man 3".
In late March 2015, "Ip Man 3" was announced. Yen reprised his role as the titular character, Bruce Lee's martial arts master, Ip Man. Retired boxer and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was confirmed to join the cast. Donnie Yen mentioned that he was a big fan of Mike Tyson, watched many of his professional boxing bouts, and was excited to work with him. Mike Tyson stated during a press conference that he was a huge fan of Donnie Yen and has watched the first two "Ip Man" movies more than three times each and was honored to be invited for the final installment of the trilogy.
Principal photography for "Ip Man 3" began on March 25, 2015, and the finished movie was released in December 2015 in parts of Asia and around the world in early 2016 to generally favorable reviews.
From 2016 to 2020.
In 2016, Yen co-starred in the "Star Wars" anthology film "Rogue One" as Chirrut Îmwe, the Zatoichi-like blind transient warrior. On February 12, 2016, it was confirmed that Yen would replace Jet Li in the role of Xiang in the upcoming action film "".
For the promotion of "xXx: Return of Xander Cage", Paramount focused marketing efforts on Donnie Yen in China and most parts of Asia, placing him at the front of the film posters ahead of Vin Diesel, and shared clips and reviews of Yen's performance in the movie on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo. Paramount's efforts worked very well in China. xXx was number one in its opening weekend with $61.9 million, and crossed the $100 million mark in just six days with $22.2m coming from Valentine's Day alone after rave reviews praising Donnie Yen's performance swept through Chinese social media, driving moviegoers to the cinema.
Yen's performance in both "Rogue One" and "xXx: Return of Xander Cage" received extremely positive responses from critics and general audiences. For "Return of Xander Cage", many media sites including Variety, Los Angeles Times, Screen Anarchy and Budomate praised Yen's performance and credited him as the highlight of the movie and stealing every scene he is in. In the case of "Rogue One", other than praises from critics, Yen's performance was also applauded by audiences worldwide. In an official poll on the Star Wars webpage, in which more 40,000 people voted, Yen's character Chirrut Îmwe was voted as audiences' favorite "Rogue One" character.
While Yen was filming "xXx: Return of Xander Cage" in Canada, he received many offers from Hollywood studios and directors. At the same time, Hong Kong director Wong Jing personally flew to Canada to invite Yen to star in his film "Chasing the Dragon", a remake of the award-winning film "To be Number One". Yen eventually accepted the offer and played a non-traditional role of a villain with limited fighting scenes and the opportunity to work alongside Andy Lau.
In September 2017, "Chasing the Dragon" was released with extremely positive reviews from critics, citing Yen's versatility as an actor and his incredible portrayal of the late Ng Sek Ho, the main character of the film. "Chasing the Dragon" was also a huge hit with audiences in most parts of Asia. In Hong Kong, "Chasing the Dragon" is ranked as one of the top 5 Hong Kong films in 2017.
In 2017, Yen received a call from old friend Jet Li and Alibaba CEO Jack Ma about a potential collaboration on a short martial arts film known as "Gong Shou Dao" - to promote a new form of Taiji as an olympic sport in the future. Yen was on holiday with his wife to celebrate their anniversary, but cancelled his plans to take part in the film. Yen declined any salary for this participation for GSD as he stated that "friendship is not measured by money" and that he hopes his participation can help promote Chinese martial arts to worldwide audiences. In return, Jet Li and Jack Ma surprised Yen and his wife Cissy, by helping to celebrate their wedding anniversary on the set. The full GSD 20 minutes short film was released on 11 November - China's Singles' Day, debuting on Youku and Jet Li's official Facebook page, garnering a total of more than 100 million views worldwide. Netizens in China praised Yen's speed and technique in the film, with most audiences (over 190,000) voting Yen as the highlight of the short film.
In late 2017, Yen began filming "Big Brother", a MMA film where Yen plays a high school teacher with unconventional methods and a dark past.
In 2017, a live action film adaption of the video game Sleeping Dogs was announced, with Yen playing the lead character Wei Shen. In February 2018, Yen confirmed the continued production of the film through social media.
In 2019, Yen reprised his role as Ip Man for the final time in "". During the Hong Kong protests of that year, protesters urged a boycott of the film, citing the pro-Beijing stances of Yen, co-star Danny Chan, and producer Raymond Wong. Nonetheless, the film was a box office success, grossing over three times its budget of $52 million and becoming the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time in Malaysia as well as the third-highest-grossing Chinese film in North America in five years.
In March 2020, as part of the press tour for Disney's live action remake of "Mulan", when Yen was asked by reporters whether he was interested in appearing in a superhero movie, Yen revealed that he had been offered a role in Warner Brothers' "Justice League" and "Aquaman" films by Zack Snyder, but turned it down due to conflicting schedules. The role offered was that of Nuidis Vulko, which eventually went to Willem Dafoe.
Martial arts history, style and philosophy.
Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist. He learned Tai Chi from a young age under his mother's tutelage. He then wanted to learn Taekwondo in his teenage years, earning a 6th Dan in the process. At the time, the Beijing Wushu Team had a scout in the United States and invited Yen over to Beijing, China, where he began training at the Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned-actor Jet Li trained; this is where the two of them crossed paths for the first time.
Upon his return to the United States, Yen won gold medals in various wushu competitions.
Yen later went on to discover and seek knowledge on other martial arts styles; he would later obtain black and purple belts from judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, respectively, and went on to study parkour, wrestling, muay Thai, kickboxing and boxing under various trainers. His exposure to mixed martial arts (MMA) was heightened when he went back to the United States from 2000 to 2003. While making his Hollywood debut, he also took time off to learn the various martial arts forms. Yen's progress was evident when he returned to Asia, where he implemented his newfound knowledge of MMA, showcased in films such as "" (2005), "Flash Point" (2007), and "Special ID" (2013).
Near the end of 2007, Yen added a new martial arts system to his arsenal. He was offered the role of Wing Chun grandmaster and mentor of film star Bruce Lee, Ip Man, in a 2008 film named after the grandmaster. He worked hard and studied Wing Chun under Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun, for 9 months before tackling the role. Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, his skills as a martial artist, and his ability to grasp the full concept of Wing Chun much faster than anyone else he has taught.
Yen believes that combining many martial arts together will produce the most effective and harmonious style. Yen has said, "When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart." He believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat.
Yen was a rebel in his youth due to the huge expectations and pressures from his parents, as his mother is the founder of the Chinese Wushu Research Institute in Boston, and his father was a scholar and a musician. Yen joined a Chinatown gang in Boston, MA, in his early years. He was a very curious teenager who sought to exchange martial arts knowledge with people from different martial arts backgrounds, which led to him gaining profound knowledge in practical martial arts and having a reputation as a street brawler.
One reported occasion confirms Yen as being an efficient martial artist. According to news reports by Hong Kong news channels in the late 1990s, Yen was at a nightclub with his then-girlfriend, Joey Meng. Inside the nightclub, Meng was harassed by a troublesome gang that had taken an interest in her. Yen warned them to leave her alone, but they persisted in causing trouble. As Yen and Meng left the club, the gang followed and attacked Yen. Yen beat up eight members of the gang who were later hospitalized.
Malaysian Martial Arts Star Michelle Yeoh has said that Donnie Yen is the fastest martial artist she has worked with. Other martial arts stars such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li have also stated that Yen may be the best fighter in terms of practical combat in the Asian cinematic universe.
World class fighters, such as former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le and former World Boxing Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson, who have worked with Donnie Yen in the films "Bodyguards and Assassins" and "Ip Man 3", respectively, have both claimed that Yen is an incredible martial artist and would do well in authentic combat. While filming "Ip Man 3", crew members were afraid that Tyson, who had been a professional boxer, would forget the choreography and throw real punches to injure Yen. However, it was ultimately Yen who fractured Tyson's finger while using his elbow to block Tyson's punches.
Action choreography.
Donnie Yen was considered one of the premiere action choreographers in the world, having been invited by Hollywood to choreograph blockbusters such as "Blade II", "", and "Shanghai Knights". In Asia, he is the action choreographer for most of his movies and has won multiple awards for his action choreography.
Yen's most famous works include films such as "Flash Point" and "". He has mentioned that the main differences in filmmaking in Asia and Hollywood are with regards to freedom and control. In Asia, the action choreographer takes over the scene during the fight scene. This means that for action scenes filmed in Asia, the choreographer becomes the director and is in full control over camera placements, camera angles, and the relationship between the drama and the action; therefore the main director is not needed at all. While in Hollywood, on the other hand, Yen explains that the action choreographer simply choreographs the actions with the director, who still maintains full control of such settings and camera angles.
Yen's work as a choreographer won him the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Award for Best Action Choreography at the 2008 and 2011 Golden Horse Awards.
Yen was the fight choreographer for the 2010 film "." For this film, Yen mentioned that he included Jeet Kune Do elements as a tribute to Bruce Lee, who played Chen Zhen in the 1972 film "Fist of Fury." Furthermore, he incorporated many MMA elements in the film, coupled with the utilisation of Wing Chun. Yen also stated that the concept behind Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do is similar to that of MMA, hence the incorporation of many forms of martial arts was a necessity in the film.
He won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography four times, being one of the most frequent winners of this coveted award. He has won awards for his choreography in films such as "The Twins Effect", "", "Flash Point", and "Kung Fu Jungle". Although uncredited, Donnie Yen was also action co-choreographer for Hong Kong Film Award winners such as "Ip Man", "Ip Man 2", and "Bodyguards and Assassins".
Bodybuilding and transformation for roles.
In his prime, Donnie stood at 5 feet 8 inches and weighed 165 pounds. Donnie Yen is known to be a very well-built and muscular actor. Within the Hong Kong cinematic industry, Yen is renowned for his physical fitness, strength, and speed achieved through his use of a strict and disciplined fitness regimen to build up strength and fitness.
However, despite his muscular build, Yen has gained tremendous attention for his dedication to his roles and for the lengths to which he goes to achieve the physical build and appearance of the characters he plays. In 2007, Yen lost over 30 pounds to reach the weight of 120 pounds to better portray the slender Ip Man and the techniques of wing chun, which focuses on techniques and not strength. He did so through a very strict regimen of limiting himself to a plain diet consisting mainly of vegetables.
In 2010, still fresh off "Ip Man 2", Yen was cast as Chen Zhen in "", which was originally portrayed by Bruce Lee. He had to regain his muscular physique for the role and took 6 months through a precise and dedicated diet routine. Focusing on high-protein drinks and vitamin and mineral supplements, he managed to hit 165 pounds for the role. He maintained this bulk and physique while filming "The Lost Bladesman", in which he plays Guan Yu, a Chinese general known for his size and spear-fighting abilities.
In 2015, Yen reduced his muscular physique yet again to reprise the role of Ip Man in "Ip Man 3" and for his role as the blind warrior monk Chirrut Îmwe in '. For his role as Xiang in ' opposite Vin Diesel, Yen rebuilt his physique.
Personal life.
Yen met his first wife and Hong Kong advertising executive, Leung Zing-ci (梁靜慈), in 1990. The couple began dating in 1990. After three years of dating, they married secretly in the United States in November 1993. The marriage ended in less than a year. After their divorce was finalized, Leung realized that she was pregnant with their son, Jeff, who was born in 1995.
Yen later married former beauty queen Cissy Wang after three months of dating in 2003. The couple have two children, Jasmine and James.
Yen has stated that he is a big fan of the MMA organization Ultimate Fighting Championship and has watched almost every UFC event available. In various interviews, he has mentioned that he would have loved to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury.
Philanthropic work.
In 2012, Donnie Yen and his wife Cissy Wang co-founded Go.Asia, an online charity platform encouraging people to participate in charity work and serve local communities.
In October 2014, Donnie Yen was invited to be a guest speaker in front of a crowd of 20,000 youths for WE Day Vancouver, where he spoke about the hardships he faced growing up and how he overcame difficulties to become the reigning martial arts star.
In 2015, Yen visited refugee camps in Thailand, bringing donations and gifts for the refugees. Yen is also an ambassador for the international charity Save the Children.
In December 2015, Yen established a charitable fund, Yen's Honour Protection Fund, with the purpose of empowering celebrities to use the law to defend their honor and reputation. Yen said the fund "[seeks] to assist and render help to everyone who needs it, most importantly to heal and repair the hearts and dignities which have been affected." This fund was established after Yen won a lawsuit against Geng Weiguo (AKA Tan Bing), who defamed Yen and hired netizens to threaten Yen's family.
In February 2020, in light of the coronavirus pandemic in China and the rest of the world, Donnie Yen stepped in to donate HK$1 million to frontline medical workers in Wuhan. He also produced and dedicated a short clip to thank all medical workers in China in their fight against the coronavirus; the clip was uploaded on Chinese social media site, Weibo, where Yen has over 11 million followers. He also donated a painting done by himself and his two children, to the frontline medical workers.


Ozploitation

Ozploitation films are exploitation films – a category of low-budget horror, comedy, sexploitation and action films – made in Australia after the introduction of the R rating in 1971. The year also marked the beginnings of the Australian New Wave movement, and the Ozploitation style peaked within the same time frame (early 1970s to late 1980s).
Ozploitation is often considered a smaller wave within the New Wave, covering a wide range of genres from sexploitation, biker films, horror films and even Kung fu.
The origin of the term "Ozploitation" is credited to the documentary "". This 2008 feature explores Ozploitation films made during the Australian New Wave. The film includes interviews with numerous figures involved in Ozploitation, as well as fans of the genre, including American director Quentin Tarantino, who coined the phrase "Aussiesploitation", which director Mark Hartley then shortened to "Ozploitation".
Background.
Australian horror film production trebled from fewer than 20 films in the 1990s to over 60 films between 2000 and 2008. According to one researcher, "global forces and emerging production and distribution models are challenging the 'narrowness' of cultural policy – a narrowness that mandates a particular film culture, circumscribes certain notions of value and limits the variety of films produced domestically. Despite their low-culture status, horror films have been well suited to the Australian film industry's financial limitations, they are a growth strategy for producers, and a training ground for emerging filmmakers".


Simone Young

Simone Margaret Young AM (born 2 March 1961) is an Australian conductor. She has worked with numerous companies in a principal role, including
the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Australia, Hamburg State Opera, Philharmoniker Hamburg, Gulbenkian Orchestra, and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. In 2022 she is due to become the chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Young is also the first female conductor to record the complete "Ring Cycle" of Richard Wagner, and the complete symphonies of Anton Bruckner.
Biography and career.
Young was born in Sydney, of Irish ancestry on her father's side and Croatian ancestry on her mother's side. Young was educated at the Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College in North Sydney. She studied composition, piano and conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Commencing in 1983, Young worked at Opera Australia as a répétiteur under various conductors, including Charles Mackerras, Richard Bonynge, Carlo Felice Cillario and Stuart Challender. Young started her operatic conducting career at the Sydney Opera House in 1985. In 1986 she was the first woman and youngest person to be appointed a resident conductor with Opera Australia. She received an Australia Council grant to study overseas, and was named Young Australian of the Year. In her early years, she was assistant to James Conlon, and Kapellmeister, at the Cologne Opera, and assistant to Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera and the Bayreuth Festival. From 1998 until 2002, Young was principal conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway.
From 2001 to 2003, Young was chief conductor of Opera Australia in Sydney. Her contract was not renewed after 2003, with one given reason being the excessive expense of her programming ideas.
Young made her first conducting appearance at the Hamburg State Opera in 1996. In May 2003, she was named both chief executive of the Hamburg State Opera and chief conductor of the Philharmoniker Hamburg, posts which she assumed in 2005. In 2006, she became Professor of Music and Theatre at the University of Hamburg. Critics of the magazine "Opernwelt" selected her in October 2006 as the "Dirigentin des Jahres" (Conductor of the Year). In December 2011, it was announced that Young would conclude her tenures with both the Hamburg State Opera and the Hamburg Philharmonic after the 2014/2015 season.
Young was the first female conductor at the Vienna State Opera in 1993. She conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra when they performed Elena Kats-Chernin's "Deep Sea Dreaming" at the 2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Sydney. In November 2005, she was the first female conductor to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. Her discography includes all the symphonies of Anton Bruckner and the complete "Ring Cycle" of Richard Wagner; she was the first woman to have recorded either of these cycles. She has also recorded the complete cycle of Brahms' symphonies.
In August 2008, Young appeared as part of the judging panel in the reality TV talent show-themed program "Maestro" on BBC Two.
In December 2012 she was voted "Limelight" magazine's Music Personality of the Year.
In the major operatic anniversary year 2013, Young conducted the entire 'Bayreuth canon' of ten Wagner operas at a festival entitled 'Wagner-Wahn' in Hamburg, along with three rarely performed Giuseppe Verdi operas as a trilogy in September to November – "La battaglia di Legnano", "I due Foscari", "I Lombardi alla prima crociata". In 2018, she returned to the Vienna State Opera to conduct Wagner's "Lohengrin".
In March 2016, Young was appointed a member of the board of the European Academy of Music Theatre.
Young had first guest-conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1996. In December 2019, the Sydney Symphony announced the appointment of Young as its next chief conductor, effective in 2022, with an initial contract of 3 years. Young is the first female conductor to be named chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Personal life.
Young is married to Greg Condon, and has two daughters. She notably made her first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera while she was five months pregnant and conducted at the Vienna State Opera one month prior to giving birth in 1997.
Honours and awards.
Young has received honorary doctorates from the Universities of New South Wales, Sydney and Melbourne. She has been appointed a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres of France. Young was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001. On 26 January 2004, in the Australia Day Honours, Young was named a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) "for service to the arts as a conductor with major opera companies and orchestras in Australia and internationally". She received the Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award in 2011.


Decca Broadway

Decca Broadway Records is an American record label specializing in musical theater recordings founded in 1999 by Decca Records and is a unit of Universal Music Group.
Decca Broadway issued both new original cast albums as well as reissues of classic musical theater performances from the catalogues of record labels Universal Music and predecessor companies acquired over the years including Decca which pioneered the release of original cast albums. Decca Broadway was absorbed into UMG's Verve Records in 2013. Verve Label Group relaunched the Decca Broadway label in 2019.
History.
In 1949, Decca began to re-release the best-selling of these albums on LP and in the late 1950s began offer different versions of electronically enhanced for stereo editions, which sounded thin and hollow.
Some of these versions employed varying combinations of phase shift, comb filters and EQ splits over the two channels - sometimes all at the same time while other more popular versions left the original monaural track alone on the left and put all the fake re-processing on the right. At least with that format, a record buyer could enjoy the original untouched monaural performance simply by switching their balance control all the way to the left.
In the early days of home consoles with 3-channel amplifiers, Decca and other labels responded by releasing still other versions with the untouched monaural program alone in the lateral plane and the processing alone in the vertical plane. This allowed phonograph owners with such a console to raise or lower just the center (mono) channel to their individually desired level.
The label was out of the business of recording new cast albums by the end of the 1950s. Decca was bought by MCA and in the early 1970s many of these titles were re-released on the MCA label, all using the fake stereo masters, a condition which for the most part wasn't even beginning to be rectified until 20 years later until expanded silver, gold and diamond anniversary editions were prepared - some using pristine previously-unheard safety masters of some performances that had become worn out after repeated re-mastering..
MCA released many of their classic shows on CD in the 1990s, going back to original master discs and tapes to generate excellent sounding (and complete) remasters of the originals. When MCA and PolyGram were merged into the new Universal Music Group, a new label, Decca Broadway, was born. The new label's catalogue incorporated other musical theatre albums whose rights were owned by Universal Music.
Decca Broadway has re-mastered and reissued virtually every cast album in the old Decca catalogue including many rare titles that had not been available in almost 50 years. Decca Broadway has also recorded recent hits including: "Wicked", "Monty Python's Spamalot", "Seussical", and "Spring Awakening". "Wicked" in particular has been a big seller for the label and continues to sell well. Although they are being selective about what they record, Decca Broadway plans to continue making cast albums, including Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein" and Andrew Lippa's "The Addams Family: A New Musical". Although some of the slower-selling catalog titles have been deleted, many remain available as downloads.
In 2012, UMG acquired EMI, and thus Decca Broadway took over the rights to EMI's musical theatre catalogue. The following year, the imprint was absorbed into Verve Records.
In 2019, Verve Label Group relaunched the Decca Broadway label.


The Inheritance from New York

The Inheritance from New York (German:Die Erbschaft von New York) is a 1919 German silent film directed by Wolfgang Neff and starring Bruno Eichgrün.


Market Street (San Francisco)

Market Street is a major thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. It begins at The Embarcadero in front of the Ferry Building at the northeastern edge of the city and runs southwest through downtown, passing the Civic Center and the Castro District, to the intersection with Portola Drive in the Twin Peaks neighborhood. Beyond this point, the roadway continues into the southwestern quadrant of San Francisco. Portola Drive extends south to the intersection of St. Francis Boulevard and Sloat Boulevard, where it continues as Junipero Serra Boulevard.
Market Street is the boundary of two street grids. Streets on its southeast side are parallel or perpendicular to Market Street, while those on the northwest are nine degrees off from the cardinal directions.
Market Street is a major transit artery for the city of San Francisco, and has carried in turn horse-drawn streetcars, cable cars, electric streetcars, electric trolleybuses, and diesel buses. Today Muni's buses, trolleybuses, and heritage streetcars (on the F Market line) share the street, while below the street the two-level Market Street subway carries Muni Metro and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). While cable cars no longer operate on Market Street, the surviving cable car lines terminate directly adjacent to the street at its intersections with California Street and Powell Street.
History.
Initial surveying and clearing.
In 1839, the first street grid was laid in the Mexican trading post of Yerba Buena by Jean Jacques Vioget, largely aligned with the cardinal directions, with blocks measuring . Yerba Buena was renamed to San Francisco in 1847 after it was captured by United States troops during the Mexican–American War. Market Street, which cuts across the city for from the waterfront to the hills of Twin Peaks, was laid out originally in an 1847 survey by Jasper O'Farrell, a 26-year-old trained civil engineer who had immigrated there.
Market Street was described at the time as an arrow aimed straight at "Los Pechos de la Chola" (the Breasts of the Maiden), now called Twin Peaks. Property owners forced O'Farrell to retain the earlier Vioget-drawn north-south Yerba Buena street grid rather than conform the roads to the hilly topography; they also forced him to establish the diagonally-offset grid south of Market with larger blocks aligned with Mission Street for Happy Valley. Market was laid out to transition between the two competing street grids, parallel to and one block north of Mission.
O'Farrell first repaired Vioget's original layout of the settlement centered around Portsmouth Square, and then established Market Street as the widest street in town: between property lines. However, the width of Market also aroused the ire of property owners, who felt the new street was excessively wide and potentially encroached on their holdings; they made preparations to lynch O'Farrell. In "Forgotten Pioneers", T.F. Prendergast recounts:
When the engineer had completed his map of Market Street and the southern part of the city, what was regarded as the abnormal width of the proposed street excited part of the populace, and an indignation meeting was held to protest against the plan as wanton disregard for rights of landowners; and the mob, for such it was, decided for lynch law. A friend warned O'Farrell before the crowd had dispersed. He rode with all haste to North Beach, took a boat for Sausalito, and thence put distance behind him on fast horses in relay until he reached his retreat in Sonoma. He found it discreet to remain some time in the country before venturing to return to the city.
At the time, the Market Street right-of-way was blocked by a sixty-foot sand dune where the Palace Hotel is now (at the intersection with New Montgomery), and a hundred yards further west stood a second sandhill nearly ninety feet tall. The dunes were leveled between 1852–54 and 1859–73, first by James Cunningham, who was responsible for levelling the area around Second and Montgomery, and then by David "Steam Paddy" Hewes; Hewes purchased the steam shovel (nicknamed "Steam Paddy" as it was reputed to be able to do the work of a dozen Irishmen) that had been brought to San Francisco by Cunningham during the earlier period.
The sand removed was used to fill Yerba Buena Cove between Portsmouth Square and Happy Valley at First and Mission Street; Mission Bay at Fourth and Townsend; and for the construction of the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad. Over those years, up to of sand were moved per day, clearing approximately of sand dunes, some of which had risen up to above the present-day level of Market Street.
Growth.
Hewes was also granted the right to lay tracks on Market to Beale to carry away the sand he was clearing. The Hewes Steam Paddy line carried of sand per 18-car load, with trains running every half-hour.
The first horsecar-powered railway line to open in San Francisco commenced running down the thoroughfare on July 4, 1860, operating under the Market Street Railroad Company. By 1918 Muni was in direct competition with the United Railroads of San Francisco (the successor company to the Market Street RailRoad Company) down the length of Market Street; the two operators each operated their own pair of rail tracks down that thoroughfare, which came to be known as the 'roar of the four'. The two Union Railroad tracks were on the inside and the two San Francisco Municipal Railway tracks were on the outside.
In 1892 The Owl Drug Company was established at 1128 Market Street and later grew into a leading American drugstore retailer.
Earthquake and fire.
Early in the morning of April 18, 1906, an earthquake lasting less than a minute and subsequent fire left many of the buildings along Market Street in ruins; in some cases, buildings were dynamited to prevent the spread of flames. The burned area extended from Dolores and Franklin east to the waterfront. Within days, prominent citizens and property owners announced plans to rebuild their buildings along Market. United Railroads traffic was temporarily rerouted to Fillmore Street, and repairs to the tracks on Market were underway by April 22.
Willis Polk designed the Path of Gold Street Lamps in 1908 for United Railways’ trolley poles with street lights. The tops were designed in 1916 by sculptor Leo Lentelli and engineer Walter D’Arcy Ryan. The "Winning of the West" bases were designed by sculptor Arthur Putnam and feature three historical subjects: covered wagons, mountain lions, and alternating prospectors and Indians. The City required the highly ornamental poles to permit the much-opposed overhead trolley wires.
"Market Street Redevelopment Plan".
Shortly after voters approved the creation of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District in 1962, the report "What to Do About Market Street" was published by the San Francisco Planning and Urban Renewal Association (SPUR). A group of businessmen and property owners had commissioned SPUR to lead a team of city planners, designers, and real estate experts to form a plan which would "put new life into Market Street as a center of Bay Area business, shopping, and entertainment."
Halprin and Associates, led by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, was responsible for "The Look of Market Street" chapter in "What to Do About Market Street"; Halprin took a walk from the waterfront to Van Ness to develop his ideas, and realized "the five Market Streets should have five distinctive characters", making suggestions for each district.
At the same time, the City Planning department commissioned the architecture firm led by Mario Ciampi to create the "Downtown Plan", which was published in 1963 and recommended that Market be limited to buses and emergency vehicles; it also called for extending the Central Freeway under Van Ness and the downtown area via a new tunnel. The limited-access Market would extend all the way from The Embarcadero to Van Ness.
The San Francisco Municipal Railway streetcars were moved underground as Muni Metro in concert with the development of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in the late 1960s. Construction of the Market Street subway commenced in July 1967. Prolonged disruption to what had traditionally been the social and economic center of the city contributed to the decline of the mid-Market shopping district in later years. On June 4, 1968, voters in San Francisco approved Proposition A, which issued $24.5 million in bonds to pay for the reconstruction and improvement of Market Street to follow the completion of the double-decked subway.
In 1980, Muni's surface operations were partially routed underground with full service changes occurring in 1982. While there were initially no plans to retain the surface tracks, several Historic Trolley Festivals in 1980s had proven popular enough to reinstate operations in the form of the F Market historic streetcar line.
Traffic changes.
On September 29, 2009, traffic-calming efforts took effect for a six-week test in which private automobiles would be restricted in travelling east from Sixth Street towards the Ferry Building. All eastbound traffic will be encouraged to turn right onto 10th Street and then required to do so at 8th Street. Eastbound traffic entering Market from Seventh Street will be required to exit Market at Sixth. These traffic calming efforts are following recent urban planning trends seeking to make streets safer and more pleasant. Drivers failing to comply would face fines.
These changes were later made permanent. Planning efforts are currently underway to ban private automobiles from Market Street altogether between Franklin and Steuart Streets, in order to provide a better environment for transit, cyclists, and pedestrians. On August 11, 2015, the city banned private vehicles from turning onto Market Street between Third and Eighth Streets.
In December 2013, the city launched free wi-fi internet access along Market Street.
Better Market Street.
A project called Better Market Street was started under Gavin Newsom's administration to improve transportation on the corridor for people who walk, use bicycles, or ride public transit. Early efforts included traffic circulations trials in 2009 which disallowed right-turns for automobiles on parts of the street.
With Gavin Newsom stepping down as mayor in 2011, Mayor Ed Lee continued planning for Better Market Street and announced a series of public workshops.
Originally, the street redesign was intended to be implemented around 2013-2014 when Market Street was scheduled to be repaved. By 2013 the project had been delayed twice; first to 2015 and subsequently to 2017. After further delays, the most recent iteration of the project began implementation in 2020 under Mayor London Breed's administration.
The project initially proposed three alternative designs for Market Street: two that would provide transit priority and improved bicycle infrastructure in the form of raised cycle tracks, and one that would separate bicycle infrastructure onto Mission Street instead. In 2018, the project was redesigned with a new alternative that would keep the cycle tracks on Market Street but would implement them as sidewalk-level bicycle lanes.
The project would also reconfigure the transit boarding islands for buses and streetcars with two sets of boarding islands: a set on the inside for rapid service with larger stop spacing, and a set on the outside for local service. If implemented fully, the project is expected to cost at least $500 million and also include repaving the sidewalk and reconstructing sewer and utility lines under the street. In March 2019, a draft environmental impact report (EIR) for the project was released, with a final approval for the EIR expected later in 2019. The full plan was approved by the city in October 2019,
including a short-term implementation plan that would disallow private automobiles on most of Market street and a long-term plan that would include rebuilding much of the street.
The transition to a car-free Market street began on January 29, 2020. Studies released in late February indicated 6-12% travel time savings for transit routes on Market Street after the implementation, with negligible traffic effects on other streets.
Sectors.
"What to Do About Market Street", published in December 1962, organized Market into five distinct districts, from east to west:
In 2013, an updated list of six districts was published by the Better Market Street initiative. The list extends the western boundary to Octavia and largely follows the boundaries laid out in 1962:
Central Market Community Benefit District extends from Fifth to Ninth Streets, and is considered part of either the "Mid Market" or "South of Market" areas.
Festivities.
Market Street parades have long marked global events, such as the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, the Preparedness Day bombing of 1916, the parade of the influenza-masked revelers of the first Armistice Day, the 1934 general strike that paralyzed the ports of the Pacific Coast, and the end of World War II. In the days of the first United Nations conferences, Anthony Eden, Molotov, Stettinius, and Bidault rode up Market Street, waving to the crowds of hopefuls.
On Christmas Eve 1910, opera singer Luisa Tetrazzini (for whom the dish Tetrazzini was named) sang a free outdoor concert to a crowd some estimated at 250,000, following a dispute with Oscar Hammerstein. Another historic Market Street event was the New Year's Eve celebration at the Ferry Building on December 31, 1999. Over 1.2 million people jammed Market Street and nearby streets for the raucous and peaceful turn-of-the-century celebration.
The San Francisco Gay Pride parade runs down Market Street, attracting many people every year.
Victory parades celebrating the San Francisco Giants' World Series titles were held on Market Street in 2010, 2012, and 2014.


Bead embroidery

Bead embroidery is a type of beadwork that uses a needle and thread to stitch beads to a surface of fabric, suede, or leather.
Bead embroidery is an embellishment that does not form an essential part of a textile's structure. In this respect, bead embroidery differs from bead weaving, bead crochet, and bead knitting. Woven, knitted, and crocheted beads may be attached during fabric production, whereas embroidered beads are always added upon finished fabric.
Traditionally, bead embroidery has been used on clothing and decorative textiles. It may be used in jewelry with the addition of structural supports such as bracelet bands. Other clothing accessories such as belt buckles and handbags can be embroidered with beads, and household items such as pillows or boxes may be embellished with bead embroidery. When used with hard surfaces, bead patterns are measured and planned with seam allowances and attached after embroidery by means of glue or epoxy.
History.
Long before the last major ice age, people were making beads from seashells, seeds, and any other materials they could find. In 2500 BC, the tombs of Ur in Iraq have constructions of beadwork from lapis lazuli beads. The beads were sewn into the base that created a crown. when archeologists excavated Neolithic burial mounds in Europe they found drawings of crude bone needles. Drawings and paintings from Egyptian places also show richly embroidered clothes. Deep into Humans history evidence of bead embroidery has been found.
More recently in human history, native american beadwork has its origins in the arrival of European colonizers. Traditional patters of the Native Americans already existed, but with the arrival of Europeans, seed beads began to be used and traded. the beads got smaller and smaller. with the violence of Europeans colonizing America, beading became a way for Native Americans to hold on to their cultural identity. Native Americans used multiple techniques and still continue the tradition to today. Peyote stitch was taught to Native Americans by the Europeans. Loom beading was the last technique to be invented. Bead Embroidery was first used by the Native Americans of the Great Lakes region. Native American bead embroidery is also known as applique beadwork. it was first developed by tribes and refined by Europeans.
Technique.
Three basic methods may be used to embroider with beads: individual beads may be sewn directly onto fabric, or several beads may be run through a needle before running through the backing, or else a line of threaded beads may be laid upon a fabric and secured with couching stitches.
Many people use a needle and thread to stitch beads to the fabric, usually a fine needle with a small eye to facilitate easier passage through the small holes in many seed beads, a second technique uses a fine hook to chain stitch thread to the fabric, in Europe this technique is known as Tambour or Luneville embroidery, and is commonly used to bead haute couture garments. In India the work is called Zari or Moochi Aari, or just Aari and is used on garments and furnishings. A hallmark of Tambour or Luneville embroidery is that the beads are attached on the underside of the fabric and the chain is formed on the top side of the fabric. Whereas in Zari and Aari work the beads are attached to the top side of the fabric where the chain stitch is formed. In Zari/Aari work the thread is hooked through each bead as the stitches are formed.
The Tambour/Aari beading methods appear more difficult to master for those more used to working with a threaded needle but do have an advantage in speed over stitching beads with a needle, increased speed is possible as the thread is used from the spool so is continuous, there is no need to fasten of, cut new thread, thread the needle, and fasten on, secondly With Tambour/Luneville work the beads are strung direct on the thread before stitching begins, so no time is lost placing each bead on the needle. There are multiple YouTube videos examples demonstrating Arri/Zari stitching, and numerous books which instruct on Tambour or Luneville work.
Most beading onto fabric is worked with the fabric stretched tightly over a frame, this holds the fabric tight and provides a flat surface to work the embroidery on, beads can add significant weight so some support is important. Using a frame means the embroiderer has both hands free for working. In Tambour or Luneville work the frame is often supported between two tables, above a table or on trestle supports and used when seated on a chair. In Aari or Zari work the frame is often closer to the ground, and used while seated on the ground.
Lesage is acclaimed in the fashion world for the beaded embroideries worked for many well known fashion designers.


Robert King (conductor)

Robert King (born 27 June 1960 in Wombourne) is an English conductor, harpsichordist, editor and author. His career has concentrated on period performance of classical music, in particular from the baroque and early modern periods. In 2007, he was convicted of fourteen charges of indecent assault, some against minors, and jailed. Following his release, he resumed his musical career.
Career.
As a youth, he was a member of the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge. He read music at St John's College, Cambridge and in 1980, while still a student, founded the period instrument orchestra The King's Consort. As conductor and artistic director of The King's Consort, King has made more than 100 recordings, mostly for Hyperion Records.
He has worked as a conductor with orchestras in Europe and North America, including the Seattle, Houston, New World, Oregon, Detroit, Atlanta, Minnesota, WDR and NDR Symphony Orchestras, the Bergen Philharmonic, the Munich Radio Orchestra, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Danish National Radio Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, the Orchestra della RAI Torino, Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi di Milano, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, Orquesta Ciudad de Barcelona, Real Filharmonia de Galicia, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla and the Orquesta e Coro Ciudad de Madrid. As a choral conductor, King has worked with the Nederlands Kamerkoor, Orfeo Catala, Orfeón Donostiarra, Swiss Radio Choir and the BBC Singers. Operatic work has included Handel "Ottone" in Japan and the UK, Handel "Ezio" in Paris, Purcell "The Indian Queen" in the UK and Germany, Purcell "The Fairy Queen" in Spain and Britain and Gluck "Armide" for Buxton Festival. He has written and presented for the BBC, been artistic director of music festivals in Sweden, Germany, and the UK, and contributed to the scores of a number of Hollywood films including "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Shrek 2", "Flushed Away", and "The Da Vinci Code".
Besides his work in the field of baroque music, King has conducted a wide spread of classical and early romantic works, symphonic and choral, with a particular focus on the music of Mozart, Haydn and Mendelssohn, and a continuing specialisation in early twentieth century English composers, notably the works of Vaughan Williams, Stanford and Parry.
Following a custodial sentence in 2007 for the sexual abuse of minors, King made a return to the podium in 2009. Having recorded mostly for Hyperion Records prior to his conviction, since 2013 he has recorded for his own label, Vivat, whose debut recording, "I Was Glad", reached number 1 in the UK Specialist Classical Albums Chart and was a finalist in the 2013 Gramophone Awards.
A published author and editor of many scores, principally of baroque music, King wrote a monograph, ‘Henry Purcell - "A Greater Musical Genius England Never had"‘ (London: Thames & Hudson) published in 1995, coinciding with the 300th anniversary of the composer's death in 1695. In 2010 and 2011, two volumes of English church music edited by King were published by Oxford University Press, joining nearly 100 other works he has edited from the Baroque and Classical eras.
He was formerly with the agency HarrisonParrott.
Indecent assault convictions.
In 2007, King was convicted of fourteen charges of indecent assault for the sexual assault of five boys, three under the age of sixteen, between 1982 and 1995; he was acquitted on another charge. King received a custodial sentence of 3 years 9 months and was placed on the sex offenders' register for life. During the case, King denied the abuse, describing the boys as "absolute liars".
Following his sentence, King was not prohibited from working with children. In 2013, commenting after criticism for his taking part in a charity fundraising concert, King stated that he had 'accepted my sentence, and have paid my debt to society'.
Personal life.
At the time of his conviction, King was married, with a young child.
Discography.
Founded in 1980 by Robert King, the period instrument orchestra and choir The King's Consort has made more than 100 recordings under King's direction, winning many international awards and selling more than 1,500,000 copies.


Princess lace

Princess lace is a tape lace. It is made of straight machine-made lace tapes also called princess lace. The lacemaker bends and folds these into the shape of flowers and leaves, and sews them into position.
History.
Princess lace was introduced at the end of the 19th century in Belgium. The most famous cities for princess lace were Aalst, Ninove, Geraardsbergen, Dendermonde and Liedekerke. It is reputed to be called Princess lace because the Belgium Royal Family used it.
Princess lace was mostly a home industry. In 1993, there were still 15 lace merchants who asked lacemakers to make princess lace.


Tunisian crochet

Tunisian crochet or Afghan crochet is a type of crochet that uses an elongated hook, often with a stopper on the handle end, called an Afghan hook. It is sometimes considered to be a mixture of crocheting and knitting. As such, some techniques used in knitting are also applicable in Tunisian crochet. One example is the intarsia method.
The work is begun with the traditional crochet starting chain, a series of slip stitches. Once the chain is completed, the first row is worked by inserting the hook back into the previous link of the chain, and a loop from the free end of the yarn is grabbed with the hook and pulled back through the link. Unlike traditional crochet, however, this new loop is not then pulled through the initial loop. Both remain on the hook and then the process is repeated, working from right to left, until each link in the chain has been worked. At the end, there will be as many loops on the hook as there are stitches required. This process is called casting on and is similar to knitting. This is the first of two parts for creating a row.
The work is never turned. Once the correct number of loops is obtained, the process is reversed with each loop being worked off from the hook by pulling a fresh loop of yarn through each stitch, working from left to right, called the reverse or backward pass. It is both parts of the process which form a completed row. The tension of the yarn is much looser than in standard crochet or knitting.
Tunisian crochet can also be worked in the round, as when making a seamless cap. To work in the round a double-ended crochet hook and two balls of yarn are used. The first hook and ball of yarn are used to add loops (casting on). When the process is reversed (as described above), the loops are worked off using the second hook and second ball of yarn. When using a flexible cable to connect the two ends of the double-ended crochet hook, a single ball of yarn is sufficient.
There are a variety of stitches that can be created depending on how and where the hook is inserted and how the working yarn is held. Tunisian stitches include variations on knit, purl, post stitch, and entrelac, to name a few.
The fabric created by Tunisian crochet is slightly less elastic than normal crochet and substantially thicker, particularly the knit stitch. This makes it most suitable for blankets and winter knits, but unsuitable for finer items like babywear and socks. The fabric also has a tendency to curl, and usually needs to be shaped by wetting or steaming the fabric (known as blocking) upon completion. It is slightly faster to create fabric by Tunisian than normal crochet, and approximately twice the speed of knitting.
Naming History.
Tunisian crochet has gone by many names including Afghan crochet, tricot stitch, Scotch knitting, Princess Frederick William stitch, Princess Royal Crochet stitch, and shepherd's knitting. There is no verifiable history of Tunisian crochet in the country of Tunisia and it is unclear why it is commonly called "Tunisian crochet," however, it is believed the term originated in France.