Mohanatarangini

Mohanatarangini (River of delight) is the first work of Kanakadasa (1509–1609), a prominent literary figure in Kannada literature whose works are mostly in the "Sangatya" (composition meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument), "Shatpadi" (Six line poems) and "Shataka" (hundred verse) metres. It has been estimated that he may have been around 35 years of age when he wrote this work.
This work, which is the biggest of Kanakadasa's compositions, contains 42 chapters with 2800 verses in the "Sangatya" metre. It contains various "pauranika" stories about "suras", "asuras" and Krishna which the author narrates to his wife. The work has been inspired by mythological stories from the Bhagavata, the Mahabharata and various other puranas.
It is believed that Kanakadasa wrote this work when he lost his beloved wife. He seems to recount his personal experiences in fond remembrance of his wife. There is a close relationship between music and "Sangatya" poems in his work. This is a "Sringara Rasa" based book spanning over three generations. It is a story of Manmatha (the god of love), his parents Krishna and Rukmini, Pradumya (Rukmini's son), Rathi (Manmatha's wife), Aniruddha and Ushe. This story ends in defeat of demon Banasura and marriage of Ushe and Aniruddha using a presentation similar to "sukumara" style (a style of poetics elaborated by Kuntaka, a Sanskrit grammarian in his "Vakroktijivita").
Plot.
In the prosperous city of Dwarakapura, during Krishna’s rule, Krishna's wife Rukmini pines for a child. Krishna blesses her saying that she will give birth to a child who is destined to be burnt to ashes by Shiva. Following this, Rukmini gives birth to Manmatha (God of love).
One day, Manmatha, while fleeing from the demon Tarakasura, comes to Shiva who is deep in meditation. Manmatha breaks Shiva's meditation, and this infuriates Shiva who turns him into ashes. A forlorn Rathi (Manmatha's lover) wanders for many years and eventually comes to Shambasura's kingdom and joins the kitchen as a maid.
Meanwhile, Manmatha reincarnates as Rukmini's son Pradyumna. Shambasura, fearing that Pradyumna is destined to kill him, kidnaps the ten-day-old Pradyumna and casts him away into the sea, where he is swallowed by a fish. The fish is later caught by a fisherman who presents it to Shambasura. The fish is taken to the kitchen where Rathi cuts it open to find Pradyumna. Shambasura gives Rathi permission to take care of the boy without realising that the boy is actually Pradyumna. The child grows into a handsome young man and becomes an expert in all arts.
Later, in a fight with Shambasura, Pradyumna emerges victorious and returns to Dwaraka along with Rathi. Rathi then recounts to Pradyumna that he was actually Manmatha in his previous birth. Pradyumna then weds Rathi and a child is born to them, and they name him Aniruddha.
Shombithapura is ruled by Banasura (a demon), a great Shiva devotee and daughter is Ushe. Aniruddha falls in love with Ushe and wishes to marry her, but this results in a war between Krishna and Banasura. In the ensuing battle, Krishna cuts the thousand shoulders of Banasura at which point Shiva intervenes and proclaims to Banasura that He (Hara) and Krishna (Hari) are one and the same. Banasura gives up the fight and Aniruddha marries his daughter Ushe.
Highlights.
The work uses a simple Kannada style and describes the romances of the three pairs that appear in the story. The romances of Krishna and his consort Rukmini is treated in first four "Sandhis", the Kama and Rathi romance in next twelve "sandhis" and that of Anirudha and Ushe in final 26 "Sandhis". Though a "kavya" written in the classical style, with the conventional eighteen descriptions, the work delves into aspects of eroticism in its treatment of the romances.
The book also contains some historical accounts which has helped scholars in reconstructing chronologies of Kannada literature and history. For instance, in an attempt to enumerate ancient India, Kanakadasa names the "Hoysana" (Hoysala) and "Cauta" countries; with "Cauta" probably referring to the territory of the Jaina dynasty of that name on the western coast. The author also heaps praise on contemporary "kavIshvaras" (poets) who were engaged in translating many of the Vaishnava "puraNas" into Kannada.
The descriptions of Dwaravati(Dwaraka) that the work provides are in ways very similar to those of Vijayanagara under Krishnadevaraya as seen in the accounts of Portuguese travelers. The descriptions of market places with colourful stalls and demarcated lanes teeming with craftsmen, clients, merchants; royal garden parties and glorious descriptions of the palace are all reminiscent of Vijayanagara under Krishnadevaraya. A drinking bout of men and women of the working classes is particularly vivid. In some places, it appears as though Kanakadasa has described scenes almost as they happened.
Further, Kanakadasa, in spite of being Hari devotee has not used his work to condemn Shiva. He shows equal respect to both Shiva and Vishnu in this secular work.
References.
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The Long Christmas Ride Home

The Long Christmas Ride Home is a one-act play written by Paula Vogel. It dramatises a road trip by two parents and their three young children to visit grandparents for Christmas dinner, and the emotional turmoil that they undergo. A significant element of the production schema is a Western contemporary employment of "bunraku".
Production history.
The play, under the direction of Oskar Eustis, premiered at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island on May 16, 2003 as a co-production between Trinity Repertory Company and the Long Wharf Theatre. The play featured "shamisen" player Sumie Kaneko and puppets by Basil Twist.
The play opened off-Broadway in November 2003 at the Vineyard Theatre, directed by Mark Brokaw. The cast featured Will McCormack (Stephen), Catherine Kellner (Rebecca), Enid Graham (Claire), Mark Blum (Father) and Randy Graff (Mother). The Japanesque set was designed by Neil Patel, with costumes by Jess Goldstein and puppetry by Basil Twist This production received 2004 Lucille Lortel Award nominations for: Outstanding Play, Outstanding Director, Outstanding Sound Design, (David Van Tieghem), and won the 2004 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Featured Actor, Will McCormack.
The play was presented at the Long Wharf Theatre (New Haven, Connecticut) in January and February 2004, directed by Oskar Eustis with the cast that featured Chelsea Altman, Angela Brazil, Timothy Crowe, Julio Monge, Anne Scurria and Stephen Thorne.
It has subsequently appeared throughout the United States in both university, regional, and Off-Broadway productions. Notable productions include those at the Studio Theatre (Washington, D.C.). Many of these productions have honored Vogel's assertion that the play, while partly about Christmas, is not meant as a seasonal "Christmas play" (unlike, for example, adaptations of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"). Therefore, like the world and New York City premieres, many productions are presented during what Vogel terms "the before and aftermath" of the holiday season (e.g., October, January).
Characterization.
While the characters of the mother, father, and children (in adulthood) are portrayed by human performers, the children (in youth) are portrayed by puppeteers and initially voiced by narrators. Vogel bases the presence of puppets on what she claims is "one Westerner's misunderstanding of bunraku," the centuries-old form of Japanese puppetry. (Vogel does, however, write that other styles of puppets would be acceptable, so long as the children-puppets do not become "cute or coy.") Vogel indicates the play's flexibility in regard to the use and number of puppeteers. Some productions, including the world premiere, utilize three-person bunraku teams to manipulate the puppets: an "omozukai" controls the right hand of the puppet, a "hidarizukai" controls the left hand of the puppet, and an "ashizukai" controls the feet. Other productions, sometimes responding to the economic considerations of hiring additional performers, have used a single puppeteer for each child puppet (though this makes it impossible to use traditional bunraku puppets). Regardless of the type of puppeteering arrangement employed, the chief (or in some cases, sole) puppeteer will later assume the role of the child as an adult.
Both the 2003 world premiere at the Trinity Repertory Company and subsequent 2004 production at the Long Wharf Theatre featured bunraku puppets created by Basil Twist, a New York-based puppeteer.
The traditional bunraku function of the Japanese "tayū" (or chanter), who, among other narrative tasks, performs a puppet character's utterances, is fulfilled by the Man or Woman narrator at the beginning of the journey and then by a puppeteer (one per child character) in the latter part of the journey. In so doing, Vogel is able to continue the traditional "tayū"'s fluctuation between first-person and second-person address.
The Man and Woman, who begin the play as omniscient narrators, soon assume the roles of the mother and father during the journey. These two performers initially speak all stage dialogue, including the lines of the children and some stage directions. Gradually, the three actors who begin the play as the chief puppeteers of the three children begin to speak the children's lines, relegating the Man and Woman to roles as the parents and occasional narrators. The human actors speaking the children's lines during the opening automobile journey abandon the puppets in the latter portion of the play to fully embody the adult characters during lengthy monologues.
Music and sound.
Acknowledging the continual presence of music in traditional bunraku, Vogel has indicated her preference that "music and sound effects run under the entire play." Many productions make great use of traditional Japanese music by shamisen players, though Vogel states that aural effects as varied as a boom box, Western Christmas carols "tuned to the tonal scales of bunraku," wooden clappers, or Hawaiian guitars are acceptable. The music for the Off-Broadway premiere production in 2003 was performed live by Luke Notary.
Scenic design.
Vogel intends the work to be played on a "simple, elegant, bare" set: stools, benches, and simple chairs. Such minimalism will, she hopes, "allow the action [to] flow as much as possible." Real stage properties (e.g., an actual umbrella) should be used only "when absolutely necessary." Most major productions have adopted Vogel's suggested scenic design.
Reception.
Productions of "The Long Christmas Ride Home" have been generally well received by most reviewers. The "New York Times", though bemoaning a "lag" in action as the adult children monologues appear in the latter portion of the play, nonetheless determined the work "is as pure as mathematics in its translation of the prosaic into the abstract. At its most touching, the play collapses time and space into moments of disarming, and affecting, beauty."
The "CurtainUp" reviewer wrote: "...In deconstructing one family's image of American as apple pie togetherness on the ultimate family holiday, Vogel returns to the central prop d [sic] of "How I Learned to Drive" and the painful memories of her brother's death from AIDS explored in "The Baltimore Waltz". It is also the outgrowth of her interest in fostering experimental theatrical techniques and acknowledging the roots of that experimental spirit. "
Critics have compared the work to fellow Pulitzer Prize-winner Thorton Wilder's own automobile journey one-act play, "The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden". Vogel confirms this association as purposeful, labeling her own Christmas work an "homage" to Wilder's "great gift to the American theatre [of] presentational, rather than representational theatre."


Bobbin lace

Bobbin lace is a lace textile made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread, which are wound on bobbins to manage them. As the work progresses, the weaving is held in place with pins set in a lace pillow, the placement of the pins usually determined by a pattern or pricking pinned on the pillow.
Bobbin lace is also known as pillow lace, because it was worked on a pillow, and bone lace, because early bobbins were made of bone or ivory.
Bobbin lace is one of the two major categories of handmade laces, the other being needle lace, derived from earlier cutwork and reticella.
Origin.
A will of 1493 by the Milanese Sforza family mentions lace created with twelve bobbins. There are two books that represent the early known pattern descriptions for bobbin lace, "Le Pompe" from Venice and "Nüw Modelbuch" from Zürich.
Bobbin lace evolved from passementerie or braid-making in 16th-century Italy. Genoa was famous for its braids, hence it is not surprising to find bobbin lace developed in the city. It traveled along with the Spanish troops through Europe. Coarse "passements" of gold and silver-wrapped threads or colored silks gradually became finer, and later bleached linen yarn was used to make both braids and edgings.
The making of bobbin lace was easier to learn than the elaborate cutwork of the 16th century, and the tools and materials for making linen bobbin lace were inexpensive. There was a ready market for bobbin lace of all qualities, and women throughout Europe soon took up the craft which earned a better income than spinning, sewing, weaving or other home-based textile arts. Bobbin lace-making was established in charity schools, almshouses, and convents.
In the 17th century, the textile centers of Flanders and Normandy eclipsed Italy as the premiere sources for fine bobbin lace, but until the coming of mechanization hand-lacemaking continued to be practiced throughout Europe, suffering only in those periods of simplicity when lace itself fell out of fashion.
Some skilled lace makers work to re-create older lace patterns based on the period portraiture and extant lace samples. On paintings that have sufficient detail, entire pieces can be reconstructed by lacemakers who understand the early structural techniques and details.
Structure.
Bobbin lace may be made with coarse or fine threads. Traditionally it was made with linen, silk, wool, or, later, cotton threads, or with precious metals. Today it is made with a variety of natural and synthetic fibers and with wire and other filaments.
Elements of bobbin lace may include toile or "toilé" (clothwork), "réseau" (the net-like ground of continuous lace), fillings of part laces, tapes, gimp, picots, tallies, ribs and rolls. Not all styles of bobbin lace include all these elements.
Traditional types.
Many styles of lace were made in the heyday of lacemaking (approximately the 16th–18th centuries) before machine-made lace became available.
Contemporary laces.
The advent of machine-made lace at first pushed lace-makers into more complicated designs beyond the capabilities of early machines, then simpler designs so they could compete on price, and finally pushed them out of business almost entirely.
The resurgence of lace-making is a recent phenomenon and is mostly done as a hobby. Lacemaking groups still meet in regions as varied as Devonshire, England and Orange County, California. In the European towns where lace was once a major industry, especially in Belgium, England, Spain (Camariñas and Almagro), northern and centre Portugal, France and Slovenia lacemakers still demonstrate the craft and sell their wares, though their customer base has shifted from the wealthy nobility to the curious tourist.
Still new types of lace are being developed such as the 3D Rosalibre and a colored version of Milanese lace by borrowing rolls from Duchesse lace to store various shades and colors. Other artists are giving grounds a major role by distorting and varying stitches, pin distances and thread sizes or colours. The variations are explored by experimentation and mathematics and algorithms. The lace maintaining its shape without stiffening is no longer a requirement. Inspiring journals, guilds and foundations show that old techniques with a new twist can challenge young people to create works that can definitely classify as art.
A Dutch design graduate in 2006 discovered bobbin lace was a technique to make a fancy fence. The first fences became museum pieces. The fences are now produced in Bangalore by concrete rebar plaiters.
Tools.
The major tools to make bobbin lace are a pillow, bobbins, pins and prickings. The part laces also require a crochet hook, very fine types of lace require very fine hooks. There are different types of pillows and bobbins linked to areas, eras and type of lace.
Bobbins.
Bobbins, which are traditionally made of wood or bone, are used to hold the thread. They come in different shapes, often associated with certain types of lace. The parts of a bobbin are the neck, which is where the thread is wound, a head, where thread is hitched to keep it from coming unwound, and the shank, which is used as a handle. Bobbins from England may also have a beaded spangle at the end of the shank, which makes the bobbin heavier and helps with tensioning the thread. Bobbins are usually 3 1/2 - 4 inches long, though they may be shorter or longer. Bobbins are wound and used in pairs.
There are many types of bobbins, including:
Types of pillow.
The pillows must be firm, or otherwise the pins will wobble. The pillows were traditionally stuffed with straw, but nowadays polystyrene (styrofoam) is generally used.
An early type of pillow can be seen in The Lace-Maker by Caspar Netscher. The pillow has a wooden frame, and is slightly sloping. The lace-maker rests it on her lap.
The bolster or cylindrical pillow was much cheaper to make as it is just a fabric bag stuffed with straw. It was used in Bedfordshire lace. It needs a stand as it does not have a flat bottom. Usually the bolster had the pattern pinned round the cylinder, so by turning the pillow, the lace could be as long as was needed. However, Maltese lacemakers used the pillow the other way. They had a long thin pillow, which they rested against something. Then they worked the lace down the length of the pillow.
This problem (of the lace needing to be longer than the pillow) is solved in a different way by the roller pillow, which has a small roller, for working the lace, set into a larger area, where the bobbins are laid. This means that the pattern can be pinned round the roller, but the pillow has a flat bottom.
The cheapest modern pillow is domed and made of polystyrene (styrofoam). It is often called a cookie pillow, because of its shape. Another modern pillow is a block pillow, with a frame which holds covered polystyrene blocks. The blocks can be moved around as the lace progresses, to keep the lace being worked on at the centre of the pillow.
Lacemaking organizations.
Lacemaking is considered a folk art with technique and materials varying widely across the globe. Most lacemakers belong to regional guilds within their country of origin. Guilds can be devoted to one kind of lace, often that which developed locally, or may include makers of all kinds. In the United States, most guilds are organized within chapters of the International Organization of Lace, which also includes Canadian lace guilds. Internationally, the "Organisation Internationale de la Dentelle au Fuseau et à l'Aiguille" (International Bobbin and Needle Lace Organization) is the primary governing and networking body for lacemakers. OIDFA organizes annual global congresses, regional fairs, and local gatherings to promote the appreciation and knowledge of lacemaking.


Sarah Mary Taylor

Sarah Mary Taylor (August 12, 1916 – 2000) was an African American quiltmaker from Mississippi.
Life.
Sarah Mary Taylor was born on August 12, 1916 in Anding, Mississippi. She learned quilting from her mother Pearlie Posey when she was young. She lived on plantations in the Mississippi Delta and worked as a housekeeper, cook, and field hand. Late in her life, Taylor was forced to retire from arduous labor due to her failing health. She then earned income through quilting, using the skirts of dresses to create pieced quilts. After her aunt Pecolia Warner's quilts gained recognition from University of Mississippi professors in the late 1970s, Taylor received widespread attention for her appliquéd quilts.
Both Taylor and her mother created quilt and pillow designs that employed red "Vodun" doll-like figures. Her "Mermaid" quilt (earlier known as "Rabbit") is evocative of the mojo hand, featuring blue hands adjacent to red squares and vodou figures. According to art historian Maude Southwell Wahlman, Taylor "has made numerous quilts that play on the symbolic connotations and aesthetic qualities of the hand image." Wahlman writes that Taylor's "Cross" quilt may represent a continuation of the Kongo cosmogram, a Kongo religious symbol. Taylor's quilts also employ incongruous and clashing color combinations. She was commissioned to make a hand quilt for the film "The Color Purple". Both this quilt and an appliquéd word quilt of hers form part of the Ella King Torrey Collection of African American Quilts.
Taylor married five times and had one child, Willie, who preceded her in death. She died July 10, 2000.
Taylor's quilts have been displayed in Naperville, Illinois, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, among other American cities. Marilyn Nelson wrote the poem "The Century Quilt" for her.


Wild Seed (novel)

Wild Seed is a science fiction novel by American writer Octavia Butler. Although published in 1980 as the fourth book of the "Patternist" series, it is the earliest book in the chronology of the Patternist world. The other books in the series are, in order within the Patternist chronology: "Mind of My Mind" (1977), "Clay's Ark" (1984), "Survivor" (1978), and "Patternmaster" (1976).
Plot.
"Wild Seed" is the story of two immortal Africans named Doro and Anyanwu. Doro is a spirit who can inhabit other people's bodies, killing anyone and anything in his path, while Anyanwu is a woman with healing powers who can transform herself into any human or animal. When they meet, Doro senses Anyanwu's abilities and wants to add her to one of his seed villages in the New World, where he breeds super humans. Doro convinces Anyanwu to travel with him to America by telling her he will give her children she will never have to watch die. Although Doro plans to impregnate her himself, he also wants to share her with his son Isaac. Isaac has very strong telekinetic powers and is one of Doro's most successful seeds. By partnering Anyanwu and Isaac together, Doro hopes to obtain children with very special abilities.
Doro discovers that when Anyanwu transforms into an animal, he cannot sense or kill her. Feeling threatened by her shape-shifting ability, he wonders whether he holds enough control over her. Anyanwu witnesses Doro's barbaric ways and plain disregard for his people, which frightens her. When they arrive at the seed village, Doro tells Anyanwu that she is to marry Isaac, and bear his children and the children of whomever else Doro chooses. Anyanwu eventually agrees once Isaac convinces her that she could be the only one to get through to Doro.
Fifty years later, Doro returns to the seed village. His relationship with Anyanwu has deteriorated, and one of the only things keeping him from killing her is her successful marriage to Isaac. He has come home because he senses that Anyanwu's daughter, Nweke, is fully coming into her powers. During her transition, Nweke attacks Anyanwu. Trying to protect Anyanwu, Isaac accidentally kills Nweke and suffers a heart attack. Anyanwu realizes she is too weak to heal Isaac and he dies. Afraid that Doro will kill her now that Isaac is not there to protect her, Anyanwu transforms into an animal and runs away.
After a century, Doro finally tracks Anyanwu down to a Louisiana plantation. To his surprise, Anyanwu has created her own colony, which in many ways is more successful than Doro's. She protects her people until Doro's arrival, at which point he forces his breeding program on her community. One man he brings to mate with one of Anyanwu's daughters ruins the harmony of the colony, resulting in several deaths. Anyanwu becomes tired of Doro's control, since his immortality makes him the only permanent thing in her life. She decides to commit suicide. Her decision causes Doro to have a change of heart. In desperation, he agrees to compromise as long as she continues to live. From that point on, Doro no longer kills as carelessly to remain immortal, and does not choose his kills from the people that he should be protecting. He also stops using Anyanwu to breed; from now on she helps him in his quest to try to find more promising seeds, but is more of an ally and partner than his slave.
Characters.
Anyanwu.
Anyanwu is the Wild Seed's black female protagonist that is born in an Igbo (or Ibo as Doro says) village in Africa with genetic mutations that endow her with immortality and physical strength. She also possesses a preternatural ability to heal the sick and injured, including herself. Anyanwu is a "shape-shifter," someone who is capable of altering her cells to create a new identity such as a different body, sex, age, or even species− metamorphoses she calls upon when needed to assure her survival. She is viewed as a sort of mythical being living at the outskirts of a village of her people (including her many children) when Doro comes to her. She is only a few hundred years old compared to the few thousands Doro is at the time when they marry. Although she has the ability to do harm, Anyanwu is a highly moral woman with a strong sense of humanity. Important to Anyanwu are family and community, autonomy and companionship, love and freedom, all of which are threatened when she meets Doro.
Doro.
Doro is the story's antagonist. He too is a mutant, born near Egypt, in Kush during the reign of the Pharaohs. As he approaches puberty, Doro learns quite accidentally that he is a "body snatcher," meaning that his life is extended by killing the nearest person to him and subsuming his/her physical body. His immortality, therefore, is fueled by cruelty, and a desire for power and control. Long ago he became singularly fixated on breeding superhumans to form a psionic society that will provide him with the human bodies he needs, as well as sexual partners. Doro's qualities are god-like, inducing members of his society to simultaneously fear and revere him. However, there is no one on earth that can satisfy his need for companionship, until he meets Anyanwu.
Isaac.
Isaac is Doro's favorite son. Isaac is physically human in all respects, but possesses an unmatchable telekinetic ability that Doro foremost desires for his constructed society. Doro successfully schemes to mate his son Isaac with his wife Anyanwu as the progenitors of a new lineage of superhumans. Isaac is very keen on the pairing as he likes Anyanwu a great deal and found her attractive, but she viewed the match as near-incestuous because she was at the time married to Doro, his father. The couple later formed a loving and enduring bond and raised a family together. As Doro's most trusted and respected son, Isaac developed a great rapport with the other inhabitants of Wheatley, one of Doro's seed villages, and was seen as a stand in leader while Doro was away.
Thomas.
Thomas is a sickly, drunken, angry, sullen psionic who lives a hermit's life in the woods. Doro orders Anyanwu to breed with him in order to teach her a lesson about obedience, as well as to produce a highly gifted child.
Nweke.
Ruth Nweke is Anyanwu and Thomas's daughter, and is raised in the household of Anyanwu and Isaac. Nweke is a promising psionic whose powers are so sensitive that they pose a danger. Her transition into psionic adulthood is intense and painful, and its outcome is a setback for Doro's eugenics program.
Stephen.
Stephen Ifeyinwa is Anyanwu's son who lives with her in the South on a plantation. She adores him; he is not a product of Doro's breeding program.
Themes.
Power struggles.
"Wild Seed" comments on the dynamics of power through the conflict between its protagonists, Doro and Anyanwu. Doro and Anyanwu are both immortals with supernatural abilities, but represent very different worldviews. As a parasitical entity, Doro is a breeder, master, killer, and consumer of lives while, by being grounded in her body, Anyanwu is a nurturing "earth" mother, healer, and protector of life.
Seemingly destined to become linked as implied by their names (Doro means "east" and Anyanwu means "sun"), they engage in a clash of wills that lasts over a century. Some critics read their struggle as that between "masculine" and "feminine" perspectives with Doro as the patriarch who controls and dominates his people and Anyanwu as the matriarch who nurtures and protects her own. Others see their relationship as resembling that of master and slave. Doro's first assessment of Anyanwu, for example, is as valuable "wild seed", whose genes will enhance his breeding experiments and so decides to "tame and breed her." This master/slave dynamic becomes complicated once Anyanwu refuses to be submissive to Doro's requests and protects his people against him. Toward the end of the novel, Doro realizes he cannot bend Anyanwu's will and, admitting her worth, he relents some of his absolute power in order to reconcile with her.
Eugenics.
 In spite of its classification as fantasy fiction, "Wild Seed" has been considered as a major exponent of Butler's interest in eugenics as a means to further human evolution. Butler herself characterized the novel as "more science fiction than most people realize" because Anyanwu's shapeshifting and healing powers make her a medical expert.
Maria Aline Ferreira goes further, describing both Doro and Anyanwu as "protogenetic engineers" whose deep understanding of how the human body functions help them remake themselves and transform others.
For Andrew Schapper, "Wild Seed" is an entry point to the "ethics of controlled evolution" that permeate Butler's novels, most obviously in the Xenogenesis trilogy. As an early novel on the subject, "Wild Seed" betrays Butler's anxiety that eugenic manipulation and selective breeding could lead to an unethical abuse of power and thus she counters it with a "Judeo-Christian ethical approach to the sanctity of human life" represented by the character of Anyanwu.
Gerry Canavan argues that "Wild Seed" challenges conventional fantasies of race by having Doro's eugenics project supersede that of Europe's by millennia. In this "alternate history," "America itself--now transformed into a blip between the secret history of Doro's experiments and the brutal aftermath of their horrible success--becomes retold here as an African story, in an Africanist recentering of history that serves as a strongly anti-colonialist provocation, even if the results are mostly anti-utopian." Still, while Doro's eugenic project turns out a "superpowered blackness" that negates notions of white supremacy, his exploitation of his people as mere genetic experiments echoes the breeding methods of New World slave owners, thus replicating the actual history of racial slavery practiced by the Western world.
Anyanwu as strong black female protagonist.
As Butler scholar Ruth Salvaggio explains, "Wild Seed" was published at a time where strong black female protagonists were virtually nonexistent outside of Butler's novels. By creating the powerful character of Anyanwu, Butler's portrayal superseded stereotypes of women in the science fiction genre. Lisbeth Gant-Britton describes Anyanwu as "a prime example of the kind of heroines Butler depicts. Strong-willed, physically capable, and usually endowed with some extra mental or emotional ability...they nonetheless must often endure brutally harsh conditions as they attempt to exercise some degree of agency."
Anyanwu's story is also an important contribution to women's literature in that it illustrates how women of color have survived both gender and racial oppression. As Elyce Rae Helford explains, "[b]y setting her novel in a realistic Africa and America of the past, [Butler] shows her readers the strength, the struggles, and the survival of black women through the slave years of United States history."
Like many of Butler's strong female African-American characters, Anyanwu is put in conflict with a male character, Doro, who is just as powerful as her. Butler uses this type of mis-match to display how differently males and females demonstrate their power and values. Since Anyanwu's way, J. Andrew Deman notes, "is the way of the healer" rather than of the killer, she does not need violence to demonstrate her true strength or power. As Gant-Britton states, Anyanwu's true power is shown many times during the story but it is definitely displayed when she threatens to commit suicide if Doro does not stop using her to create new species, making Doro submissive "to her will in the name of love," if only for a moment.
"Wild Seed" as alternative feminist narrative.
Though published in 1980, "Wild Seed" diverts from the typical Second Wave "future utopia" narrative that had dominated the feminist science fiction of the 1960s and 1970s. As L. Timmel Duchamp argues, "Wild Seed" as well as "Kindred" provided an alternative to the "white bourgeois narrative, premised on the notion of sovereign individualism" that feminist writers had been using as the prototype for their liberation stories. By not following the "all-or-nothing struggle" of Western fiction, "Wild Seed" better represented the hard compromises that real women must accept to live in a patriarchal, oppressive society.
Control.
Doro's character plays an important role in the novel because he has total control over all of the other characters. Part of the reason that Doro has so much control is because he determines whether one lives or dies. Doro has the gift and curse of being able to take on the body of anyone he desires. This is a gift because it facilitates his immortality, but it is a curse because when a host body gets old, he must discard and replace it in order to live; for Doro to survive, he must kill. This causes the other characters to be very wary around Doro because they know that he can end their lives at any moment. Doro’s control also derives from his maleness. Being a man in a male-dominated society makes it much easier for him to control women, even Anyanwu. Anyanwu is physically strong enough to fight Doro, but there are times where she does not retaliate against his physical abuse. Doro uses sex to draw women close to him and to create an emotional bond that makes it hard for them to leave.
Anyanwu as a representation of cyborg identity.
Scholars view the shapeshifting Anyanwu as a fictional representation of Donna Haraway's "cyborg" identity as defined in her 1985 essay "A Cyborg Manifesto". Specifically, Anyanwu embodies Haraway's "lived social and bodily realities in which people are not afraid of their joint kinship with animals and machines, not afraid of permanently partial identities and contradictory standpoints" as her shapeshifting abilities compete with Doro's genetic engineering. Anyanwu's hybridity, her capability to represent multiple simultaneous identities, allows her to survive, to have agency, and to remain true to herself and her history in the midst of excruciating oppression and change.
Stacy Alaimo further argues that Butler uses the "utterly embodied" Anyanwu not just to counteract Doro's "horrific Cartesian subjectivity" but to actually transgress the dichotomy between mind and body, as Anyanwu is capable of "reading" other bodies with her own. As such, she illustrates Haraway's concept of "situated knowledge", wherein the subject (knower) does not distance itself from the object (known) and thus offers an alternative way of experiencing the world. Anyanwu's body, then, is a "liminal space" that blurs traditional divisions of the world into "nature" and "culture".
For Gerry Canavan, Anyanwu's obvious pleasure and joy in cannibalizing the Other into the Self (especially animals, and particularly, dolphins) presents us with an alternative to the cycle of violence and desire for power offered by the superhuman Patternists (and, by metaphoric extension, human history). Hers is a communion with Otherness that allows for an expansion of consciousness rather than the mere repetition of patterns of domination.
Afrocentrism/Afrofuturism.
At the time of its publication, "Wild Seed" was considered groundbreaking, as no other African viewpoint—nor African protagonist—existed in the science fiction genre. Butler's novel is minimalistic in its West African backdrop, but nevertheless manages to convey the rich ethos of Onitsha culture through its Igbo heroine, Anyanwu. In particular, "Wild Seed" is concerned with African kinship networks.
In addition to its Afrocentric point of view, "Wild Seed" has also been classified as an Afrofuturistic text. As Elcye Rae Helford contends, the novel is part of Butler's larger project to "depict the survival of African-American culture throughout history and into the future." Indeed, as the origin story of the Patternist series, which follows the exploits of a race of genetically-mutated black superhumans who eventually rule Earth in the 27th century, "Wild Seed" revises our sense of human history as directed by white supremacy.
Commentary on New World slavery.
"Wild Seed" represents and comments on the history of plantation slavery in the United States. Scenes in the novel depict the capture and sale of Africans; the character of European slave traders; the Middle Passage; and plantation life in the Americas. Doro also resembles a slave master because his program of forced reproduction aims to produce individuals who are exceptional at the cost of degrading the humanity of its participants.
Additionally, the relation between the novel's two main characters, Anyanwu and Doro, may be said to comment on aspects of the slave trade. Anyanwu is coerced out of her home and transported to the Americas to breed offspring on Doro's behalf. Thus, Doro has been interpreted as symbolizing the control exercised over place and sexuality in the slave trade and Anyanwu as symbolizing the colonized and dominated native populations. Anyanwu's conflicts with Doro also illustrate the emotional and psychological consequences of slavery and the possibilities of slave agency in Anyanwu's resistance to Doro's control.
Animality.
In "Wild Seed", Butler portrays the distinction between animal and human as fluid. Anywanwu possesses the magical ability to transform into any animal she wishes, after she has tasted its flesh. Her entrance to the animal realm offers an escape from the violence and domination implicit in human social and sexual relations. For instance, after adopting a dolphin's form, the narrator observes, "She could remember being bullied as a female animal, being pursued by persistent males, but only in her true woman-shape could she remember being seriously hurt by males--men...Swimming with [the dolphins] was like being with another people. A friendly people. No slavers with brands and chains here. No Doro with gentle, terrible threats to her children, to her."
Patriarchy and Western modernity.
In their initial encounter, Butler does the work of historicizing the past of both Doro and Anyanwu. Butler does this not as a medium to change the tides of history, but to ultimately work through the ways in which Western modernity employs racialization, as well as patriarchy, to build and maintain colonial projects.
The "history" of Doro's reproductive colonies in which he calls "seed villages", embodies the rationales of Western modernity. Doro also poses these "seed villages" as alternatives to Western modernity, more specifically slavery and colonization. As we see, the moment Anyanwu agrees to Doro's continuation of his colonial project, she agrees to a patriarchal system of governance that controls not only her capacity to reproduce, but also whomever Doro chooses. This control of women's reproduction is not dissimilar from the very same patriarchal governances of reproduction in slavery and colonization. After her agreement, Doro and Anyanwu's relationship is described in a master-slave/, colonizer/colonized dialectic. In this instance, colonization is linked to patriarchal desires, particularly those of control over reproduction.
Further it is the pleasure that Doro receives from breeding that reinscribes his role as a colonizer/master:
"...In the beginning he had gone after them for exactly the same reason wolves went for rabbits. In the beginning, he had bred them for exactly the same reason people bred rabbits...He was building a people who could die, did not know what enemies loneliness and boredom could be."
By describing the monstrosities of Doro's colonial project as stemming from "natural" desires and human propensities, Octavia Butler, in "Wild Seed", does the work of creating continuities between the patriarchal projects of the West and Doro's creation of "seed villages". Butler invokes the same pathos used to describe some of most infamous of colonizers/masters (i.e. Christopher Columbus) to rationalize Doro's actions. It is the patriarchal desire in this moment that blurs the distinction between Western modernity and Doro's project.
Post-colonialism and neo-colonialism.
"Wild Seed" subverts several characteristics of postcolonialism. Postcolonialism suggests that the world has entered a period in which colonization is no longer a reality. It also suggests that colonization ended within the same time frame for both the colonized and the colonizers. Doro is the embodiment of a colonizer. When Doro arrives to a seed village at the beginning of the novel he acknowledges that, "Slavers had been to it before him. With their guns and their greed, they had undone in a few hours the work of a thousand years." Doro has colonized the world with his seed villages thousands of years before Europeans could do the same. Moreover, Doro still operates seed villages and still selectively breeds his people well into the 1800s. Therefore, "Wild Seed" illustrates that colonialism is an ongoing process that does not have a set beginning or ending.
Postcolonialist theory also suggests that anti-colonial and Third World nationalist movements do not exist in the post-colonial era. Anyanwu is the metaphorical Third World in Butler's novel. She does not speak English when she first meets Doro, she maintains the traditions of her homeland, and she has no knowledge of advanced technology. Doro feels the need to civilize her when he brings her to the new world. He gets her to dress in new world styles and gets her to learn English and new world customs. Additionally, Doro uses her to breed children with supernatural powers. In the first half of the novel, Anyanwu is only useful to Doro because she can shape-shift and because her body can adapt to any poison and illness she subjects it to. In this way, Doro is exploiting her for her resources while forcing to act in a Western or "civilized" manner.
A characteristic of Neocolonialism is that Colonial powers continue to exploit the resources of their colonized counterpart for economic or political interests. "Wild Seed" exhibits neocolonialism in the relationship between Doro and Anyanwu and the relationship between Doro and his descendants. Doro uses Anyanwu's children in order to continue his exploitation of her supernatural abilities. He notes that "Her children would hold her even if her husband did not." Anyanwu does not want to endanger her children by attempting to escape or kill Doro. Even after she tries to start a new life on a plantation, he breeds with her to pass on her supernatural abilities to his children. He has a vested interest in her powers, and he refuses to let her go. Anyanwu's children face the same struggle when attempting to escape Doro. Doro threatens them with death in order to keep them under his control. He purposely creates villages for his people so that if they decide to leave they will be left with nothing. They rely on Doro for kinship and protection. In return, Doro uses them for his own gains.
Revision of origin stories.
Scholars have noted that "Wild Seed" revisits a variety of myths. While most see Doro and Anyanwu's creation of a new race as an Afrocentric revision of the Judeo-Christian story of Genesis, Elizabeth A. Lynn and Andrew Schapper focus on the novel's Promethean overtones, with Lynn comparing it to Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein". Finally, John R. Pfeiffer sees in Doro's " voracious... appetite for existence" a reference to the Faust myth and to vampire legends.
Backgrounds.
In an interview with Larry McCaffery and Jim McMenanin, Butler acknowledged that writing "Wild Seed" helped lighten her mood after finishing the grim fantasy that was her slave narrative "Kindred". She became interested in writing a novel about the Igbo (or Ibo) people of Nigeria after reading the works of Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe. "Wild Seed" involved a substantial amount of research because Butler had assumed that the Igbo were one people with one language, only to find that they communicated in five dialects.
Among the sources Butler consulted for the African background of her novel were "The Ibo Word List", Richard N. Henderson's "The King in Every Man" and Iris Andreski's "Old Wives Tales". A mention in Henderson's book to the Onitsha legend of Atagbusi, who was believed to be able to transform herself into large animals, became the basis for the character of Anyanwu. As Butler told McCaffery and McMenanin,
"Atagbusi was a shape-shifter who had spent her whole life helping her people, and when she died, a market gate was dedicated to her and later became a symbol of protection. I thought to myself, "This woman's description is perfect—who said she had to die?"
In an interview with Rosalie G. Harrison, Butler revealed that making Anyanwu a healer came to her after witnessing a friend dying of cancer.
The character of Doro, Butler revealed in a later interview with Randall Kenan, came from her own fantasies as an adolescent "to live forever and breed people." And while she had already named him, she later discovered that his name in Nubian meant "the direction from which the sun comes" which worked well with her heroine's Igbo name, Anyanwu, which means "the sun".
Butler scholar Sandra Y. Govan notes that Butler's choice of an authentic African setting and characters was an unprecedented innovation in science fiction. She traces Butler's West African backgrounds for "Wild Seed" to Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" and Aye Armah's "2000 Seasons", noting how the novel makes use of West African kinship networks to counteract the displacement of Africans during the Middle Passage and their dispersal once arrived in the New World.
Reception.
"Wild Seed" received many positive reviews, especially for its style, with the "Washington Post"s Elizabeth A. Lynn praising Butler's writing as "spare and sure, and even in moments of great tension she never loses control over her pacing or over her sense of story." In his survey of Butler's work, critic Burton Raffel singles out "Wild Seed" as an example of Butler's "major fictive talent", calling the book's prose "precise and tautly cadence," "forceful because it is focused" and "fictively superbly effective because it is in each and every detail true to the character's lives." In his 2001 book "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy", famed science-fiction writer Orson Scott Card used passages from "Wild Seed"'s opening paragraphs to illustrate principles of good fiction writing (e.g. how to properly name characters, how to keep the reader intrigued) as well as of good speculative writing (how abeyance, implication, and literalism may work together to produce fantastical realities that are nevertheless believable).
Several reviewers also praised Butler's expertise at conflating fantasy and realism, with "Analog"'s Tom Easton declaring that "Butler's story, for all that it is fiction, rings true as only the best novels can." Noting that "the story itself is eerily fascinating, and well-wrought," Michael Bishop pinpointed that Butler's greatest achievement was her creation of two immortal characters that are nevertheless completely believable as humans, making "Wild Seed" "one of the oddest love stories you are ever likely to read." Lynn also remarked that "[Butler's] use of history as a backdrop to the struggles of her immortal protagonists provides a texture of realism that an imagined future, no matter how plausible, would have difficulty achieving." John Pfeiffer called it "probably Butler's best novel...a combination of Butler's brilliant fable and real history" and described Doro and Anyanwu as both "epic and authentic, engaging the reader's awe or admiration or sympathy."


Complete garment knitting

Complete garment knitting is a next-generation form of fully fashioned knitting that adds the capability of making a 3-dimensional full garment. Unlike other fully fashioned knitting, where the shaped pieces must still be sewn together, finished complete knitted garments do not have seams. The knitting machines' computerized instructions direct movement of hundreds of needles to construct and connect several tubular knitted forms to create a complete garment in a single production step.
The complete garment system's advantages lie in 1) a further reduction in materials beyond even fully fashioned production by eliminating seam allowances and 2) faster time to market by eliminating the need for sewing any components. These factors increases cost-effectiveness (especially important when using high-performance materials such as aramids for composites). One might also argue that cutting down on wasted by-product selvage makes complete garment better for the environment.
Two companies manufacture complete garment knitting machines: Shima Seiki and Stoll.
Examples of structures that are most often made with the complete garment technique are clothing (sportswear to sweaters) or technical textiles (car seat covers which also incorporate additional structural elements such as metal and plastic fasteners, composite preforms). The machines can produce a variety of topologies that were more difficult or impossible to create with knitting machines before, including: connected tubes, circles, open cuboids, and even spheres (for helmet shells and other preforms).
Complete garment knitting requires two needle beds for three-dimensional structures (such as clothing). As is the case with all fully fashioned knitting, machines require individual single needle selection (through electronic control) and presser feet (to hold down formed loops).
Note: Aspects of complete garment knitting such as changing the fabric width or diameter and connecting two sides of the structure together are also possible with a single needle bed for two-dimensional or 'flat' structures—and are achieved by:


Spring Breakers

Spring Breakers is a 2012 American crime film written and directed by Harmony Korine and starring James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine. Gomez, Hudgens, Benson, and Korine portray four college-aged girls on their spring break in Florida where they meet an eccentric local drug dealer (Franco) who helps them in a time of desperation, and their eventual descent into a world of drugs, crime, and violence.
Writer/director Korine had devised the concept for "Spring Breakers" over several years prior to production, with fleeting ideas about the plot and what should transpire. His initial desire was to create a "sensory film" that was more about feeling than action and placed little importance on narrative or plot, the idea for which came later. Once Korine developed the backbone of the story, which takes place around the American spring break period, he traveled to Florida to write the screenplay. Production began in 2012, on an estimated budget of $5 million, making it Korine's second most expensive film to date. The film is also one of Korine's first theatrical works to receive a wide release.
"Spring Breakers" was released on March 22, 2013 in the United States by A24 and grossed $31 million worldwide, making it a resounding success considering the small budget. It received generally positive reviews from film critics, with some calling it a potential cult classic. The film was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. Critics and scholars have read deeper meaning in the film's plot, commenting on its reflection of modern-day superficiality and the younger generation's self-destructive obsession with highly stylised, disposable pop culture media and sensory ephemera. It ranks in BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century. A sequel, under the name of "Spring Breakers: The Second Coming", was announced in 2014 for an undated release. Jonas Åkerlund was attached to direct with Irvine Welsh penning the script, without the involvement of Korine or the original cast.
Plot.
College students Brit, Candy, and Cotty often spend their time partying while their friend Faith attends a religious youth group. As their classmates head to spring break, they are stuck behind due to a lack of money. Desperate to make the trip, Brit and Candy, after getting high on cocaine, don ski masks and rob a local restaurant using hammers and realistic-looking squirt guns. They are assisted by Cotty, who drives (and later burns) the getaway car stolen from one of their professors. Cotty, Candy, and Brit divulge the details of their crime to a horrified Faith, who keeps quiet about it.
In St. Petersburg, Florida, the girls attend wild beach parties fueled by alcohol, drugs, and sex. After a particularly wild party, all four are arrested for using narcotics. They spend the night in a holding cell, but are bailed out by Alien, a rapper, drug hustler, and arms dealer. Alien charms Cotty, Candy, and Brit with his money and "bad boy" swagger, but Faith is extremely uncomfortable. Alien takes the girls to a local club frequented by gang members, where Faith becomes even more uneasy with his lifestyle. Alien attempts to seduce Faith and convince her to stay with him, using equal parts menace, threats, and tenderness, but Faith leaves, begging the others to come with her. They refuse, and she makes the trip home alone.
Alien takes the remaining girls to a strip club owned by his rival and childhood best friend, Big Arch, who warns Alien to stop selling drugs in his territory. Alien then takes the girls to his mansion, where he flaunts his drug money and cache of weapons, describing his life as the "American Dream". Brit and Candy grab two of his guns and threaten to kill him. Turned on, Alien fellates the gun and declares that he has fallen in love with the girls, claiming that they are his soulmates.
Alien arms the girls with pink ski masks and shotguns, taking them to his pool where the girls ask him to play something inspiring on the piano so they sing Britney Spears' "Everytime," while a montage plays of them performing several armed robberies. While in Alien's car they are approached by Big Arch and another member of his gang who threaten them and execute a drive-by shooting, wounding Cotty in the process. Alien promises to retaliate, but a traumatized Cotty comes to her senses and chooses to follow in Faith's footsteps, returning home. Brit and Candy stay behind and have three-way sex with Alien in his pool. The three of them decide to take revenge on Big Arch. In a flashforward, the two girls call home, promising to work harder and become better people.
Back in the present, the three travel in a motorboat to Big Arch's mansion. After they dock at the pier, Alien is shot and killed by one of Big Arch's guards. Brit and Candy carry on, killing Big Arch's gang before finally confronting and killing Big Arch himself. During the assault and its aftermath, the camera pans over the dead bodies of Big Arch's gang while the girls speak in a voice-over, first heard earlier in the film, describing the beach's beauty and musing that they have discovered who they truly are. Brit and Candy, silent and wearing pensive, ambiguous expressions, drive home in Big Arch's Lamborghini. A final flashback shows the two girls kissing Alien's dead body before departing.
Cast.
Additionally, Heather Morris, Ash Lendzion, and Emma Holzer appear as Faith's friends Bess, Forest and Heather. Jeff Jarrett portrays a youth pastor and Russell Stuart appears as a DJ.
Production.
According to Harmony Korine, he wrote the film partially to make up for his own spring breaks, as he had been fully devoted to skateboarding, and therefore missed out on what he saw as opportunities for hedonistic pursuits. Korine has referred to the film as a "beach noir". The original lineup of lead actresses was announced as Emma Roberts, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens. Director Korine had purposely collected a group of well-known young actresses with a similar reputation to Roberts in Hollywood. Ashley Benson was ultimately cast instead after Roberts dropped out due to her being uncomfortable with the film’s explicit sexuality. The film was shot in March and April 2012 in and around St. Petersburg, Florida. The exterior shots and some interior shots of the college where Gomez and Benson attend were filmed at New College of Florida, while the dormitory and classroom shots were filmed at Ringling College of Art and Design. Skrillex produced the film's score.
Korine announced in 2013 he planned to "remix" the film's unused footage and alternate takes into an entirely new cut.
Release.
A three-minute preview of "Spring Breakers" was released at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in May 2012. The entire film premiered at the 69th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2012. The film was released in New York and Los Angeles on March 15, 2013. The film was released nationwide on March 22, 2013. The film had a limited release in the U.K. on April 5, 2013. The movie was also released in France on March 6, 2013 and was scheduled to be released in Australia in early March, however was pushed back to a release date of May 4.
Home media.
"Spring Breakers" was released digitally on June 25, 2013, and on DVD and Blu-ray on July 9, 2013.
Controversies.
Riff Raff.
On February 15, 2012, Korine contacted rapper Riff Raff about appearing in an upcoming film of Korine's which would later turn out to be "Spring Breakers". Once the trailer was released there was speculation that the character Alien was based on Riff Raff. According to Franco, Alien is based on the underground rap artist Dangeruss, who has a cameo in the film. "Of course Harmony and I looked at some of Riff Raff's videos as inspiration, but he was one of a number of people we looked at. I would say the biggest influence on the role was this local, Florida rapper named Dangeruss. He's fairly unknown, but he was down there in the place, living the life, and he became the biggest model for me, and he's in the movie." After much back-and-forth between both camps about the issue, Riff Raff announced in July 2013 that he was suing the creators of "Spring Breakers" for $10 million for "sampling" his life without his permission or a proper producer credit. However, a September, 2013 search by "LA Weekly" for court documents resulted in no findings.
Portrayal of women.
"Spring Breakers" has generated debate and controversy among critics, with some regarding the film as sexist due to its objectification of women, while others viewed the film as a feminist or female-empowerment film. In regard to the former perspective, "The Guardian" suggests that the film "reinforces rape culture" and "turns young women into sex objects," while other reviewers state that it "pushes booze-and-bikini hedonism to the extreme," as the "camera glides up, down, and around these women's bodies like a giant tongue". According to "Rolling Stone", the film presents "a kind of girl-power camaraderie that could almost be called feminist," a result of the director's intent to "do the most radical work, but put it out in the most commercial way (...) to infiltrate the mainstream". In his review of the film, Richard Roeper wrote "Korine's camera is nearly an intrusive weapon as he lingers over the soft, limber bodies of Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, and his wife, Rachel Korine... I think that's sort of the point. When a pre-med student on spring break loses her top, drinks to the point of passing out, and grabs a willing lugnut by the ears for six hours of anonymous fun, is she setting the woman's movement back 40 years, or taking charge of her life like any man would do at that age?"
Reception.
Box office.
"Spring Breakers" grossed $14,124,284 in North America and $17,600,000 in other countries for a worldwide total of $31,724,284. In North America, the film opened to #6 in its first weekend with $4,858,944, behind "The Croods", "Admission", "The Call", "Oz the Great and Powerful", and "Olympus Has Fallen".
Critical response.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 67% based on 195 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""Spring Breakers" blends stinging social commentary with bikini cheesecake and a bravura James Franco performance." At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating from film critics, it received a rating score of 63 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Xan Brooks of "The Guardian" said the film is Korine's "most fully realised, purely satisfying feature film since "Gummo"." Emma Seligman of "The Huffington Post" described the film as ""Scarface" meets Britney Spears." Oliver Lyttlelton of "IndieWire" gave the film a B, stating that the film would be a future cult favorite for "midnight moviegoers".
Guy Lodge of "Variety" gave it a negative review saying, "this attractively fizzy pic may be a shock to the system for fans of teen queens Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, but remains pretty toothless titillation by its writer-helmer's standards." David Rooney of "The Hollywood Reporter" noted that James Franco gives one of his more bizarre performances in his unpredictable career, saying "he's a cross between Bo Derek in "10" and Richard Kiel in "Moonraker"." Andrew Schenker of "Slant Magazine" gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. Jamie Dunn of "The Skinny" gave it 4 out of 5 stars, saying: "If Michael Mann was to take a lot of hallucinogenics and shoot a Girls Gone Wild video, it might look something like this." Richard Roeper gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, praising the character of Alien and the film's sense of humor.
Accolades.
"Spring Breakers" has since appeared on various retrospective "best of" lists, including one honouring the best films of the 21st century. In 2016, British film magazine "Little White Lies" placed the film at number 40 on their list of the "50 best films of the decade (so far)". In August of that same year, BBC Magazine conducted a poll on the 21st century's 100 greatest films so far, with "Spring Breakers" ranking at number 74.
In France, the magazine "Les Cahiers du cinema" featured "Spring Breakers" on their March 2013's cover, and placed it second on their December 2013 Top Ten chart.
Top ten lists.
"Spring Breakers" was listed on many critics' top ten lists for 2013.
Oscar campaign for James Franco.
A24 Films began a campaign in September 2013 in support of a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Franco's performance. This was preceded by the "Hollywood.com" website that produced a "For your consideration" poster in support of a nomination for Franco in March 2013. On December 2, 2013, A24 published a YouTube video titled "James Franco - Consider this Sh*t" and also released print advertisements following the "Consider this Sh*t [sic]" theme. Originally, Internet chatter considered the campaign a joke, but A24 has since made it clear that the campaign was indeed serious. Franco won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor (tied with Jared Leto for "Dallas Buyers Club"), National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor, and San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor, while the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association nominated him for its Best Supporting Actor award.
Music.
The film score to "Spring Breakers" was composed by Cliff Martinez and Skrillex, marking the first scoring assignment for the latter. Skrillex was contacted after Korine sent music supervisor Randall Poster links to the electronica artist's music on YouTube. "I'm accustomed to being the oldest person at a gig," said Poster, "but when I went to see Skrillex at Roseland this year, it was dramatic. There were a lot of kids that looked like they were 15 years old. But I loved it. I truly loved it."
Magneto Dayo released the song "Spring Breakers", featuring Sage Odessa, which references the film and real life spring break experiences.
Soundtrack.
Spring Breakers (Music From the Motion Picture) is a soundtrack album for the film of the same name. It was released on March 19, 2013 by Big Beat Records and Warner Music.
Undated sequel.
A sequel, under the name of "Spring Breakers: The Second Coming", was announced on May 6, 2014. Although the storyline will have connections with the previous film, it will include a new cast in addition to the original. Directed by Jonas Åkerlund, "The Second Coming", which Irvine Welsh has been attached to script, will focus on a set of Spring Breakers coming into conflict with Christian extremists.
Upon the announcement, Franco released a statement saying that the sequel was "not being done with Harmony Korine or my consent" and that the producers were "capitalizing on that innovative film to make money on a weak sequel" and attempting to "make money off someone else's creativity".


Good in Bed

Good In Bed is the debut novel of Jennifer Weiner. It tells the story of an overweight Jewish female journalist, her love and work life and her emotional abuse issues with her father. The novel was a "New York Times" Best Seller and is currently being adapted into a film produced by and starring Mindy Kaling for HBO Max. Aspects of the plot were inspired by Weiner's own life.
Plot summary.
Candace (Cannie) Shapiro is a smart, sarcastic, and successful entertainment journalist living in Philadelphia. Although she has a small group of close friends, including her best friend Samantha, her overbearing but caring mother, and her rat terrier, Nifkin, she has a day to day struggle with her weight, a recent breakup with her boyfriend of three years, and the relationship issues left on her when her father left her as a child.
One day, she reads a magazine article written by her ex-boyfriend, Bruce, telling his opinions on "loving a larger woman," simply naming the woman as "C." Outraged and humiliated, Cannie approaches Bruce hoping to get some answers, but only makes things worse when she loses her temper and causes him to say it's over between them for good.
However, a few weeks later when Cannie learns that Bruce's father had died, she attends the funeral to give her condolences and maybe make things better between her and Bruce. Things don't go exactly as planned, but Cannie and Bruce end up having sex. Cannie thinks this may be the start of them getting back together, but is hurt when Bruce says they should no longer see each other, as he is seeing someone else.
Trying to forget about Bruce, Cannie decides to fix up her life a little bit by attending a weight-loss program, making her job a little more pleasurable, and trying to get the screenplay she wrote into the hands of a Hollywood producer. While in New York for an interview with celebrity Maxi Rider, she becomes close friends with Maxi. Cannie decides to give her the screenplay.
Later at her weight-loss program, Cannie meets with the program's doctor, Dr. K, to discuss her role in the program. Dr. K, however, breaks the news to her that she is not allowed to participate in the program. Cannie is crushed at first, until Dr. K tells her she is not allowed to participate because she is pregnant.
Cannie considers the news and realizes Bruce had gotten her pregnant the day of his father's funeral. She debates abortion and whether she should tell Bruce or not. She ultimately decides to keep the baby and writes a note to Bruce telling him she was pregnant and if he wants a part in his child's life, they should talk. Bruce never responds to the letter and Cannie decides she will raise her child as a single mother.
A few months go by and Cannie, knowing she's going to be a mother and having fallen in love with her baby, is a little happier with her life. She is on good terms with all her friends including Maxi, her mother, even Dr. K (whom she now knows as Peter), who are all supportive of her choice to be a single mom. Things get even better when Maxi tells Cannie she read her screenplay and some producers in Hollywood want to produce it, but she must fly to Hollywood and help with the movie. Cannie agrees and packs her bags for Hollywood.
In Hollywood, Cannie is living the dream staying with Maxi in her L.A. house, attending exclusive parties, and even talking to her celebrity crush. She even considers moving from Philadelphia, but decides against the idea. After a few weeks in California, Cannie returns home.
After getting off her flight, Cannie walks through the airport and spots Bruce and whom she assumes is Bruce's new girlfriend. She briefly talks to Bruce and is rude to his girlfriend. After walking away, she goes to the bathroom but is followed by Bruce's girlfriend. They get into a bit of an argument and Cannie slips on some water and falls, hitting her pregnant belly on the side of the sink.
Cannie wakes up in the hospital confused, until her friends tell her that she'll be fine, but will never be able to have children again, due to her injury requiring her to have a hysterectomy. Her new daughter, Joy, was born prematurely but will be okay as long as she stays in the hospital for a few more weeks.
Cannie soon falls into a deep depression after the incident and slowly pushes her friends and family away. She starts taking long walks through the city and starts eating very little, causing her to lose weight. During one walk through the city, she becomes lost, but finds herself at Peter's office. Peter, aware of her mental state, takes her to his place, lets her shower, and cooks her a warm meal. Cannie realizes how she's been acting, and Peter tells her how much he cares for her.
When Joy is brought home from the hospital, Cannie decides to move into her mother's home but starts becoming more like herself every day. Peter and Cannie start dating, and Cannie seems at peace with her life again. She eventually moves back into her apartment, and Peter tells her he wants to move in with her. As one last change in her life, Cannie decides to go to the magazine Bruce worked for and introduce herself as "C." She is immediately offered a job as writing the "Loving a Larger Woman" column.
Publication.
Weiner initially had difficulty find an agent. As a former journalist, she was unfamiliar with how the publishing world operated, and she made errors when submitting her work. Once she found an agent with whom she could easily collaborate, she said the book was quickly published.
Reception.
"Entertainment Weekly" rated it "A" and wrote, "Dealing with her prickly ex, a newly out mother, and some really unexpected news along the way, Cannie emerges as one of the most engaging, realistic female characters in years." "Publishers Weekly" wrote, "Weiner's witty, original, fast-moving debut features a lovable heroine, a solid cast, snappy dialogue and a poignant take on life's priorities."
Film adaptation.
The book was optioned in 2002 by HBO for screen adaptation. In 2020, it was announced Mindy Kaling would produce, with Jessica Kumai Scott under their Kaling International banner, and star in. Howard Klein of 3 Arts Entertainment, and Jake Weiner and Chris Bender of Good Fear Content would also serve as producers. Elizabeth Sarnoff will write the script.


Rebecca Prichard

Rebecca Prichard (born 1971) is English author and playwright, and one of the major contributors to the In-yer-face theatre movement.
Biography.
Prichard studied drama at Exeter University and in 1994, went on to her playwriting debut in 1994 in the Royal Court Young Writer's festival. In 1998 she was presented with the Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright. Her play "Essex Girls" is regarded by playwright Mark Ravenhill as one of the best post-Top Girls all female plays.


Wayang golek

Wayang golek (Sundanese: ) is one of the traditional Sundanese puppet arts from West Java, Indonesia. in contrast to the wayang art on other Javanese islands that use leather in the production of wayang, wayang golek is a wayang art made of wood. Wayang Golek is very popular in West Java, especially in the Pasundan land area. Today, "wayang golek" has become an important part of Sundanese culture in West Java.
On November 7, 2003, UNESCO designated "Wayang" the flat leather shadow puppet ("wayang kulit"), the flat wooden puppet ("wayang klitik"), and the three-dimensional wooden puppet ("wayang golek") theatre, as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. In return for the acknowledgment, UNESCO required Indonesians to preserve the tradition.
History.
According to some sources, the history of the Wayang Golek began in the 17th century. Initially, the Wayang Golek art emerged and was born in the north coast of the island of Java especially in Cirebon, the Wayang Golek used is the Wayang Golek Cepak in the form of a "papak" or flat head. According to legend, Sunan Suci used this Wayang Golek to spread of Islam in the community. At that time, the Wayang Golek performance still used Javanese in its dialogue. The Wayang Golek art began to develop in West Java during the expansion of the mataram sultanate.
Wayang Golek began to develop with Sundanese as a dialogue. In addition to being a medium for spreading religion, Wayang Golek serves to complement thanksgiving or ruwatan events. At that time the puppet show was still without using sindhen as an accompanist. Wayang Golek began using the accompaniment of sinden in the 1920s. Until now the Wayang Golek continues to develop as entertainment for the community, especially in Sundanese land.
In this Wayang Golek show, as with other wayang shows, plays and stories are played by a puppeteer. The difference is the language in the dialogue that is brought is Sundanese language. The standard and the wayang Golek are also the same as wayang kulit, for example in the Ramayana and Mahabarata stories. But the difference is in the character of the clown, the naming and form of the clown have their own version, namely the Sundanese version.
In addition to the Ramayana and mahabarata stories, there are also stories and carangan stories. In this wayangan story, the mastermind makes his own story line which is usually taken from folklore or daily life. in the story carangan usually contains moral messages, criticism, humor and others - others. In the story carangan is not only used to develop the story, but also to measure the quality of the mastermind in making the story. In this puppet show besides accompanied by sinden also accompanied by Sundanese gamelan such as saron, peking, celery, bonang, kenong, gong, rebab, kempul xylophone, drums and culant drums.
In its development, Wayang Golek remains one of the traditional arts of the pride of the people of West Java. Proven Wayang Golek still colors various events such as ruwatan, thanksgiving and other large events. In addition, some artists continue to develop it with a number of additional creations to make it look attractive and stay sustainable without eliminating the grip in it.


Furoshiki

 are traditional Japanese wrapping cloths traditionally used to wrap and/or to transport goods. Unlike tenugui, greater consideration is placed on the aesthetics of "furoshiki", which may feature hemmed edges, thicker and more expensive materials, and hand-painted designs. While they come in a variety of sizes, they are typically square. Traditional materials include silk or cotton, but modern furoshiki are available in synthetic materials like rayon, nylon, or polyester.
History.
The first furoshiki cloths were "tsutsumi" ("wrapping"), used during the Nara period as protection for precious temple objects. By the Heian period, cloths called "hiratsusumi" (平裹 or 平包), meaning "flat wrap," were used to wrap clothes. During the Muromachi period is when these cloths came to be known as "furoshiki", literally "bath spread" ("furo" (風呂), or "bath," and "shiki" (敷), "spread"), said to have come about after high-ranking visitors to bathhouses packed their belongings in cloth decorated with their family crest. They became popular in the Edo period with increased access to bathhouses by the general public; moreover, cloths with family crests grew in demand as common people gained the right to have family crests during the Meiji period.
Modern "furoshiki" may derive from fabrics of various thicknesses and price points, including silk, "chirimen", cotton, rayon, and nylon. Cloth is typically square, and while sizes vary, the most common are 45 x 45 centimeters (17 x 17 inches) and 70 x 70 centimeters (28 x 28 inches).
"Furoshiki" usage declined in the post-war period, in large part due the proliferation of paper and plastic bags available to shoppers. In recent years, however, it has seen a renewed interest as environmental protection has become a greater concern. In 2006, Japanese Minister of the Environment, Yuriko Koike, showcased a specially-designed "furoshiki" cloth to promote environmental awareness. In 2020, "The Observer" reported a growing interest in "furoshiki" in the UK, in part as a response to its perceived greater environmental sustainability compared to traditional single-use wrapping paper.


Survivor (Octavia Butler novel)

Survivor is a science fiction novel by American writer Octavia E. Butler. First published in 1978 as part of Butler's "Patternist series", "Survivor" is the only one of Butler's early novels not to be reprinted after its initial editions. Butler expressed dislike for the work, referring to it as "my Star Trek novel."
Plot introduction.
"Survivor" follows the early contact between the Missionaries, a group of human colonists fleeing a plague on Earth, and the Kohn, intelligent natives of the planet on which the Missionaries have arrived. In particular, the novel focuses on Alanna, the adopted daughter of the Missionaries' leader, as she attempts to prevent the Missionaries' destruction or assimilation at the hands of a dominant local culture. During the course of the novel, Alanna's experiences assimilating and negotiating with the Kohn draw upon her earlier, similar experience joining the Missionaries themselves, and Alanna's ability to interact with the various cultures becomes the key to their survival.
Plot summary.
Although set within the broader plot of the Patternist series, the entire plot of "Survivor" is largely separated from the events of the other books in the series.
Butler begins the novel in medias res, during the "rescue" of the main character, Alanna, from the "Tehkohn," a group of extraterrestrials. Although the main narrative follows Alanna's perspective after the rescue, Butler also inserts a series of flashbacks, some of them from the perspective of other characters. Through this literary device, the readers learn about Alanna's past gradually, even as they follow the efforts of the other characters to discover that past as well.
Eventually, the narrative reveals Alanna's background. The novel is set in the indeterminate future, sometime after the events that Butler would later describe in her novel "Clay's Ark" and before the events of "Patternmaster". At the time of "Survivor", humanity is threatened by the "Clayark plague," an extraterrestrial disease that has destroyed half of the Earth's population, either by killing them or by mutating them and their children into the bestial "Clayarks." Humanity survives in an embattled state, supported somewhat by the "Patternists," a group of mutant humans previously living in secret. (The development of the Patternists is described in more detail in "Wild Seed" and "Mind of My Mind", and a later stage of their conflict against the Clayarks is described in "Patternmaster".)
Prior to the main events of the novel, Alanna's parents died saving her from a Clayark attack. After several years living as a feral child, Alanna was captured by a group of Missionaries, a Christian religious sect dedicated to maintaining humanity as God's chosen form in the face of Clayark and Patternist competition. Although some of the Missionaries distrusted Alanna, either because of her wild upbringing or because of her African American and Asian ancestry, she adapted quickly, and became the foster daughter of the group's leader, Jules Verrick, and his wife Niela. Some time later, the Missionaries receive an opportunity to flee Earth on a Patternist starship as part of a program to seed humanity on other planets in order to preserve the species from the Clayark plague.
After arrival on the planet, the Missionaries encountered the Kohn, intelligent inhabitants of the planet. Although the Kohn had fur, camouflage abilities, and claws, they were broadly humanoid, and the local tribe—the Garkohn—assisted the Missionaries in developing their settlement. Shortly thereafter, the settlement was raided by the Tehkohn, a rival group of Kohn, and several Garkohn and Missionaries were captured, including Alanna.
Eventually, the story reveals that just as Alanna once altered her behavior to fit in among the Missionaries and "survive," she also was successful in joining the Tehkohn, ultimately marrying their leader, Diut, and bearing a child. Through her experiences with the Tehkohn, Alanna has learned that the Garkohn have addicted the Missionaries to a plant under their control and intend to assimilate the physically weaker Missionaries and use their technology against the Tehkohn.
Aware that she will lose the humans' trust if they realize she is in a relationship with a native, Alanna plays a dangerous game, but is ultimately largely successful, leading the Missionaries to trust (reluctantly) the Tehkohn long enough to escape the influence of both native nations with the Tehkohn's help. At that point, Alanna reveals her relationship to the other humans, is disowned by her father, and returns to live with the Tehkohn.
Characters.
Alanna.
Alanna serves as the novel's lead character, as well as the narrator for most of the novel. Within the novel, Alanna reveals her past in stages, both to the other characters, and, through her woven narrative, to the reader. Orphaned during an attack by the bestial Clayarks, Alanna lived for several years as a feral child, before being found by the "Missionaries" — a Christian group dedicated to preserving humanity in the face of the Clayark threat. A social chameleon, Alanna is able to adapt to the Missionaries' social norms, becomes a member of their group, and is adopted by Jules Verrick, the leader of the Missionaries.
Later, after Verrick's group leaves Earth and encounters the extraterrestrial "Kohn," Alanna is captured by the "Tehkohn," one of two rival Kohn tribes. Again, she is able to adapt, and becomes a member of the Tehkohn, ultimately marrying Diut, the Tehkohn's leader or Hao. After her return to the Missionaries, Alanna uses her membership in both groups and her ability to function as a social chameleon to free the Missionaries from the control of the two Kohn tribes. However, her father is ultimately unable to accept her relationship with Diut and Alanna returns to the Tehkohn, her new people.
According to Butler, Alanna was her first attempt at writing "a character as big as I am . . . not necessarily fat, but she's very tall and androgynous-looking."
Diut.
Diut is a Tehkohn "Hao". The Kohn have a natural hierarchy that is based on shades of blue. The darker the shade of blue of their fur, the higher their rank or status within the community. A "Hao" is a Kohn with a very dark shade of blue. The Kohn use their colors to communicate many different things. This dark shade garners obedience from all Kohn, Tehkohn and Garkohn.
As a result, Diut has been literally born to lead, and is not accustomed to having his instructions refused. Alanna's strangeness and her willingness to disagree with him initially lead to conflict, but by the time of Alanna's "rescue," have led the two into an apparently stable romantic relationship.
At the beginning of "Survivor," Diut has already realized that the Garkohn hope to assimilate the Missionaries into their tribe, addicting the Missionaries to a local drug and using the Missionaries' technology to gain an advantage over the Tehkohn. Because of his love for Alanna, Diut agrees to assist the Missionaries in escaping to an area where they will be free to set up their own society, rather than capturing them or killing them to prevent the Garkohn from using them.
Jules Verrick.
Jules Verrick is the leader of the Missionaries. Formerly a slave to the telepathic branch of humanity known as the "Patternists," Jules has the strength of will to protect the Missionaries from and the sensitivity to adopt Alanna, notwithstanding other Missionaries' concerns about the cross-racial adoption. Although Jules does not realize the threat presented by the Missionaries' Garkohn allies at the beginning of the novel, he is strong-willed and flexible enough to defeat the physical addiction that the Garkohn have forced upon him and to ally with Diut and the Tehkohn once he recognized the threat. Despite this flexibility and his apparent love for Alanna, Jules is unable to accept Alanna's relationship with Diut, who he continues to perceive as a "non-human." As a result, he and Alanna separate at the end of the novel, with uncertain prospects for any reunion.
Major themes.
As with many of Butler's other works, several writers have considered the themes of race in "Survivor". Within the novel, Butler deliberately delays revealing Alanna's ethnic background, revealing her African-American and Asian ancestry only in a flashback after the character has been established. (Butler uses a similar technique with her protagonists in "Dawn" and "Parable of the Sower".)
Numerous writers have analyzed "Survivor" as a metaphor for race, particularly for the experiences of African Americans during the time period in which the novel was written and published, and as a metaphor for racial relations. Alanna, herself a combination of her African American and Asian parents, is placed in a position of having to negotiate with and integrate into three groups: the predominantly white Missionaries, and two groups of Kohn, Canaan natives who are literally "people of color" - who determine their social status and hierarchies primarily through the color of their fur.
Like many of Butler's works, "Survivor" also contains a strong theme of assimilation. At the beginning of the novel, Alanna has joined the Missionary community and learned to live as a member of that community without losing the skills and traits that she learned from her parents or from her feral youth. Later, this same ability to assimilate while maintaining her own identity allows Alanna to become a full member of the Tehkohn, and to use this membership to assist the Missionaries in evading their own (forced) assimilation into Garkohn society.
Allusions/references to other works.
"Survivor" contains numerous references that ground it within Butler's "Patternist series" of novels. Although Alanna never describes meeting either the mutated Clayarks or their main opponents, the "Patternist" psychics, the events in "Survivor" describe an earlier stage of the same conflict described in Butler's earlier novel, Patternmaster.
Literary significance and criticism.
Butler called "Survivor" the least favorite of her works, criticizing its premise as an offensive science fiction cliché:


Heroic Age (literary theory)

In 20th century studies of oral poetry and traditional literature, the Heroic Age was postulated as a stage in the development of human societies likely to give rise to legends about heroic deeds. According to some theorists, oral epic poetry would be created at the same period, and would be transmitted, by singers who displayed less creativity, through later periods. Scholars who adopted the theory of a Heroic Age include:
A widely shared view was that each society would pass through a Heroic Age only once. This apparently explains why, in the Chadwicks' world survey of oral and traditional poetry, "The Growth of Literature", medieval European epics such as the French "Chansons de geste" and the Spanish "Cantar de Mio Cid" are omitted: those societies are taken to have passed through a Heroic Age earlier.
Bryan Hainsworth has suggested that in the various so-called Heroic Ages named by modern scholars "what is described is a by-product ... of the tendency of heroic poetry to congeal into cycles, often ... around a signal event" (1993, p. 40).
Historicity of the Ages.
Oral tales have been formed into classic literature centuries later, so that the historicity of the events is left to uncertainty. The Greek Heroic Age as described in the "Iliad" is dated to historic events in 1460 to 1103 BC according to the chronology of Saint Jerome.
The Germanic Heroic Age as reflected in the Nibelungen can be dated to the 5th century picking up scenes from the foundation of Germanic kingdoms in Western Europe near the end of the first phase of the Völkerwanderung. The literature characters may refer to the historic Brunhilda (543–613) and Gundobad (480–516).
The Tamils of South India have an extensive literature describing their Heroic Age (the Sangam period). The Sangam poems share common themes with their Greek and German counterparts, such as glory, victory, fate and honour. The Sangam age is dated to between the 3rd century B.C.E and 2nd century C.E. However, the events described have been transmitted orally from an earlier period. This is evidenced by the oral nature of the poems which (like the Iliad and Odyssey) use epithets and other metrical devices common in oral poetry.


De Morgan Foundation

The De Morgan Foundation is a charity registered with The Charity Commission For England And Wales, Registered Charity No. 310004.
The charitable objects of the Foundation are to safeguard, maintain and make available to the public the De Morgan Collection of paintings, ceramics, and other works of art made by Evelyn De Morgan and by William De Morgan and his associates, and other works of art in the collection, and to promote the appreciation of art and education in art and allied subjects.
Governance.
The sole Trustee of the charity The De Morgan Foundation is The De Morgan Trustee Company Limited, Company Number: 06914254. The Foundation is managed by the Board of Directors of the Trustee Company.
The De Morgan Collection is owned by the De Morgan Foundation which enables public access to the works through a programme of loans and exhibitions as well as providing an online catalogue of works.
William and Evelyn De Morgan.
The collection comprises work by the late 19th and early 20th century ceramicist William De Morgan and his artist wife Evelyn De Morgan. They were both highly regarded in their fields and William De Morgan was a potter of the Arts & Crafts Movement, credited with the rediscovery of the art of lustre. His work was influenced by the Islamic tiles he saw at the South Kensington Museum.
History.
The collection was formed by Evelyn De Morgan’s sister, Mrs. Wilhelmina Stirling, a supporter of the ideals of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, who also wrote several books under the name A.M.W. Stirling. She inherited some pieces from her sister and brother-in-law and actively sought out other works to add to her collection, which she displayed at her home, Old Battersea House.
Upon her death in 1965 she bequeathed her substantial art collection to be looked after in Trust. In the years following her death parts of the collection were displayed at a number of locations including Cardiff Castle, Cragside in Northumberland and Knightshayes Court in Devon, all of which have interiors from the years when the De Morgans were active. From 2002 until 28 June 2014, it was housed at the De Morgan Centre in the Victorian era Longstaff Reading Room of the former Wandsworth Library at West Hill in Wandsworth, in south west London, which dates from 1887.
The De Morgan Collection.
The De Morgan collection comprises 58 oil paintings by Evelyn De Morgan, ranging in style from classicism, Pre-Raphaelite and Symbolism, and in scale from the domestic and intimate to extremely large canvases. Evelyn De Morgan was also a prolific draughtswoman and the collection contains over eight hundred drawings which vary from compositional sketches and life drawings to highly finished pastel studies for her oil paintings. It includes a few watercolours and unframed works by Evelyn, and some works on paper and canvas by William De Morgan.
The collection also comprises over 700 ceramics by William De Morgan, including 50 tile panels and 420 individual tiles, and 260 plates, chargers, vases, bottles, and bowls, etc. It also includes examples painted by De Morgan's top three decorators, Joe Juster and Charles and Fred Passenger, and several pieces of De Morgan's "moonlight" colour way, which are exceedingly rare.
In addition, the collection includes a small archive of material, including a collection of letters, drawings, plays, personal effects and family documents relating to William and Evelyn De Morgan. The vast majority of the archive, however, pertains to Mrs Stirling herself and includes acquisition details for the collection, her research for various books, photographs and ephemera dating from the 18th century to 1965.
Both William (1839-1917) and Evelyn (1855-1919) De Morgan were artists when they married in 1887, and in addition to their art they became involved in many of the leading issues of the day including the suffrage movement, prison reform, pacifism, and spiritualism.
The De Morgan Collection was previously on display at the De Morgan Centre until it closed in June 2014. The De Morgan Foundation has since entered into a number of long term collaborations with other institutions, and artworks from the De Morgan Collection are presently on display at Cannon Hall in Barnsley in the exhibition 'A Family of Artists', in the Malthouse Gallery at Wightwick Manor in Wolverhampton in the exhibition 'A Better More Beautiful World', at the Watts Gallery in Compton, and at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
Further reading.
Stirling, A. M. W. (1922). "William De Morgan and His Wife". New York: Henry Holt and Company. .


Starship (album)

The Starship album contains the songs from the musical of the same name produced by StarKid Productions, with music and lyrics by Darren Criss, and book by Matt Lang, Nick Lang, Brian Holden, and Joe Walker. It was recorded by the musical's cast and was released digitally on April 30, 2011 through iTunes and Amazon.com. The album debuted at No. 134 on "Billboard" 200 and No. 1 for Top Cast Albums. The album also reached No. 4 on iTunes.