Hand knitting

Hand knitting is a form of knitting, in which the knitted fabric is produced by hand using needles.
Types.
Flat knitting.
Flat knitting uses two straight needles to make generally two-dimensional (flat) pieces. Flat knitting is usually used to knit flat pieces like scarves, blankets, afghans, and the backs, fronts and arms of sweaters (pullovers).
In flat knitting, generally stockinette stitch, the hand-knitter knits from right-to-left on one side of the fabric, turns the work (over), and then purls right-to-left back to the starting position. Usually the smooth side of the fabric is considered the "right side", the one facing outwards for viewing; and the side that faces inwards, towards the body, the ridged side, is known as the "wrong side". Thus, flat knitting involves knitting each row on the right side, then purling each row on the wrong side, etc. If each row is knit (no purls) this creates garter stitch, which has the same appearance on both sides and creates horizontal ridges offset by valleys, rather than a knit and purl side. Patterned stitching, such as cables, can be accomplished with either flat knitting, or in the round, however the technique must follow the desired pattern.
Circular knitting.
Circular knitting (also called "knitting in the round") creates a seamless tube. Knitting is worked in rounds (the equivalent of rows in flat knitting).
Originally, circular knitting was done using a set of four or five double-pointed knitting needles. Circular needles were later invented making this type of knitting easier. A circular needle resembles two short knitting needles connected by a cable of varying length between them. A circular knitting needle with a long cable can be used in place of straight needles to create larger flat-knitted pieces of fabric. Both types of circular knitting are used in creating pieces that are circular or tube-shaped, such as hats, socks, mittens, sleeves, and entire sweaters.
In circular knitting, the hand-knitter generally knits everything from one side, usually the right side. Circular knitting is usually carried out on a single circular needle. In such cases, the knitter can resort to a variety of alternative techniques, such as double-pointed needles, knitting on two circular needles, a Möbius strip-like "magic needle" approach (commonly known as "Magic Loop"), or careful use of slip-stitch knitting or equivalently double knitting to knit the back and front of the tube.
Fabric Finishing.
Felting.
Felting is the hand-knitters' term for fulling, a technique for joining knitted or woven animal-fibres. The finished product is put in hot water and agitated until it starts to shrink. The end result typically has a felt-like appearance but has reduced dimensions. Bags, mittens, vests, socks, slippers and hats are just a few items that can be felted.
Needle felting.
Needle felting is a technique used to add decoration to a knitted or felted piece, where raw roving is applied using a very sharp barbed felting needle by repeatedly piercing the roving and background together. Once washed in hot water, the appliqued decoration is fused with the background. Felted knitting can be cut with scissors without concern about fraying.
Process.
There are many hundreds of different knitting stitches used by knitters. A piece of knitting begins with the process of "casting on", which involves the initial creation of the stitches on the needle. Different methods of casting on are used for different effects: one may be stretchy enough for lace, while another provides a decorative edging. "Provisional" cast-ons are used when the knitting will continue in both directions from the cast-on. There are various methods employed to cast on, such as the "thumb method" (also known as "slingshot" or "long-tail" cast-ons), where the stitches are created by a series of loops that will, when knitted, give a very loose edge ideal for "picking up stitches" and knitting a border; the "double needle method" (also known as "knit-on" or "cable cast-on"), whereby each loop placed on the needle is then "knitted on," which produces a firmer edge ideal on its own as a border; and many more. The number of active stitches remains the same as when cast on unless stitches are added (an increase) or removed (a decrease).
Most Western-style knitters follow either the English style (in which the yarn is held in the right hand) or the Continental style (in which the yarn is held in the left hand).
There are also different ways to insert the needle into the stitch. Knitting through the front of a stitch is called Western knitting. Going through the back of a stitch is called Eastern knitting. A third method, called combination knitting, goes through the front of a knit stitch and the back of a purl stitch.
Once the knitted piece is finished, the remaining live stitches are "cast off". Casting (or "binding") off loops the stitches across each other so they can be removed from the needle without unravelling the item. Although the mechanics are different from casting on, there is a similar variety of methods.
In knitting certain articles of clothing, especially larger ones like sweaters, the final knitted garment will be made of several knitted pieces, with individual sections of the garment knit separately and then sewn together. Seamless knitting, where a whole garment is knit as a single piece, is also possible. Elizabeth Zimmermann is probably the best-known proponent of seamless or circular knitting techniques. Smaller items, such as socks and hats, are usually knit in one piece on double-pointed needles or circular needles. (See "Circular knitting".)
Stitches.
There are well-nigh an infinite number of possible combinations of knitting stitches, the favorites of which have been collected into stitch treasuries. A piece of knitting begins with the process of "casting on" (also known as "binding on"), which involves the initial creation of the stitches on the needle. Different methods of casting on are used for different effects: one may be stretchy enough for lace, while another provides a decorative edging — "Provisional" cast-ons are used when the knitting will continue in both directions from the cast-on. There are various method employed to "cast on," such as the "thumb method" (also known as "slingshot" or "long-tail" cast-ons), where the stitches are created by a series of loops that will, when knitted, give a very loose edge ideal for "picking up stitches" and knitting a border; the "double needle method" (also known as "knit-on" or "cable cast-on"), whereby each loop placed on the needle is then "knitted on," which produces a firmer edge ideal on its own as a border; and many more. The number of active stitches remains the same as when cast on unless stitches are added (an increase) or removed (a decrease).
Most Western-style knitters follow either the English style (in which the yarn is held in the right hand) or the Continental style (in which the yarn is held in the left hand). A third but less common method, called combination knitting, may also be used.
Once the knitted piece is finished, the remaining live stitches are "cast off." Casting (or "binding") off loops the stitches across each other so they can be removed from the needle without unravelling the item. Although the mechanics are different from casting on, there is a similar variety of methods.
In knitting certain articles of clothing, especially larger ones like sweaters, the final knitted garment will be made of several knitted pieces, with individual sections of the garment knit separately and then sewn together. Seamless knitting, where a whole garment is knit as a single piece, is also possible. Elizabeth Zimmermann is probably the best-known proponent of seamless or circular knitting techniques. Smaller items, such as socks and hats, are usually knit in one piece on double-pointed needles or circular needles. (See "Circular knitting".)
Social aspects.
One of the earliest known examples of knitting was finely decorated cotton socks found in Egypt in the end of the first millennium AD. The first knitting trade guild was started in Paris in 1527.
 With the invention of the knitting machine, however, knitting "by hand" became a useful but non-essential craft. Similar to quilting, spinning, and needlepoint, knitting became a social activity.
Hand knitting has gone into and out of fashion many times in the last two centuries, and at the turn of the 21st century it is enjoying a revival. According to the industry group Craft Yarn Council of America, the number of women knitters in the United States age 25–35 increased 150% in the two years between 2002 and 2004. While some may say hand knitting has never really gone away, this latest reincarnation is less about the make do and mend of the 1940s and 50’s and more about making a statement about individuality as well as developing an innate sense of community.
Additionally, many contemporary knitters have an interest in blogging about their knitting, knitting patterns, and techniques, or joining a virtual community focused on knitting, such as the extremely popular Ravelry. There are also a number of popular knitting podcasts, and various other knitting websites. One website, LoveCrafts, allows users to upload pictures of projects and add tags. Other users can comment, encouraging conversation and continuous learning. Contemporary knitting groups may be referred to in the U.S. as a "Stitch 'N Bitch" where a group of knitters get together to work on projects, discuss [knitting patterns], troubleshoot their work and just socialize. In the UK, the term has been "knitting circle" since the early 20th century.
There are now numerous groups that are not only growing individually, but also forming international communities. Communities also exist online, with blogs being very popular, alongside online groups and social networking through mediums such as Yahoo! Groups, where people can share tips and techniques, run competitions, and share their knitting patterns. More people are finding knitting a recreation and enjoying the hobby with their family. Knitting parties also are becoming popular in small and large communities around the U.S. and Canada.
Graffiti.
In the last decade, a practice called knitting graffiti, guerilla knitting, or yarn bombing— the use of knitted or crocheted cloth to modify and beautify one's (usually outdoor) surroundings—emerged in the U.S. and spread worldwide. Magda Sayeg is credited with starting the movement in the US and Knit the City are a prominent group of graffiti knitters in the United Kingdom. Yarn bombers sometimes target existing pieces of graffiti for beautification. For instance, Dave Cole is a contemporary sculpture artist who practiced knitting as graffiti for a large-scale public art installation in Melbourne, Australia for the Big West Arts Festival in 2009. The work was vandalized the night of its completion. A new movie, shot by a Tasmanian filmmaker on a set made almost entirely out of yarn, was partially inspired by "knitted graffiti".
Charity.
Knitting garments for free distribution to others is a common theme in modern history.
Knitters made socks, sweaters, scarves, mittens, gloves, and hats for soldiers in Crimea, the American Civil War, and the Boer Wars; this practice continued in World War I, World War II and the Korean War, and continues for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. In these historical projects, yarn companies often provided knitting patterns approved by the various branches of the armed services; they were distributed by local chapters of the American Red Cross or other organizations. Modern projects usually entail the knitting of hats or helmet liners; the liners provided for soldiers must be of 100% worsted weight wool and be crafted using specific colors.
The Australian charity "Wrap with Love" provides blankets knitted by volunteers to people most in need around the world who have been affected by war. Clothing and afghans are frequently made for children, the elderly, and the economically disadvantaged in various countries. Pine Ridge Indian Reservation accepts donations for the Lakota people in the United States. Prayer shawls, or shawls in which the crafter meditates or says prayers of their faith while knitting with the intent on comforting the recipient, are donated to those experiencing loss or stress. Many knitters today knit and donate "chemo caps," soft caps for cancer patients who lose their hair during chemotherapy. Yarn companies offer free knitting patterns for these caps.
Originally started after the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, Knitters Without Borders is a charity challenge issued by knitting personality Stephanie Pearl-McPhee that encourages knitters to donate to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). Instead of knitting for charity, knitters are encouraged to donate a week’s worth of disposable income, including money that otherwise might have been spent on yarn. Knitted items are occasional offered as prizes to donors. As of September 2011, Knitters Without Borders donors have contributed CAD$1,062,217.
Security blankets can also be made through the Project Linus organization which helps needy children.
There are organizations that help reach other countries in need such as afghans for Afghans. This outreach is described as, "afghans for Afghans is a humanitarian and educational people-to-people project that sends hand-knit and crocheted blankets and sweaters, vests, hats, mittens, and socks to the beleaguered people of Afghanistan."
Penguin sweaters were knitted by volunteers for the rehabilitation of penguins contaminated by exposure to oil slicks. The project is now complete.
Chicken sweaters were also knitted to aid battery hens that had lost their feathers. The organization is not currently accepting donations, but maintains a list of volunteers.
Sweater curse.
Knitting especially large or fine garments such as sweaters can require months of work and, as gifts, may have a strong emotional aspect. The so-called "sweater curse" expresses the experience that a significant other will break up with the knitter immediately after receiving a costly hand-knit gift such as a sweater. A significant minority of knitters claim to have experienced the sweater curse; a recent poll indicated that 15% of active knitters say they have experienced the sweater curse firsthand, and 41% consider it a possibility that should be taken seriously. Although sometimes labeled a "superstition", the sweater curse is not treated in knitting literature as anything paranormal.
Psychological and meditative aspects.
The oral histories of many knitters have been collected, and suggest that hand-knitting is often associated with compassion. "I knit love into every stitch" is a common refrain.
The repetitive aspect of hand-knitting is generally relaxing and can be well-suited for meditational or spiritual practice.
Health benefits.
Studies have shown that knitting, along with other forms of needlework, provide several significant health benefits. These studies have found the rhythmic and repetitive action of knitting can “help prevent and manage stress, pain and depression, which in turn strengthens the body’s immune system”, as well as create a relaxation response in the body which can decrease blood pressure, heart rate, help prevent illness, and have a calming effect. Pain specialists have also found that the brain chemistry is changed when one knits, resulting in an increase in "feel good" hormones (i.e. serotonin and dopamine), and a decrease in stress hormones.
Knitting, along with other leisure activities has been linked to reducing the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Much like physical activity strengthens the body, mental exercise makes the human brain more resilient.
A repository of research into the effect on health of knitting can be found at Stitchlinks, an organisation founded in Bath, England.
Mega knitting.
Increasingly popular Mega knitting is hand knitting using knitting needles greater than or equal to half an inch in diameter.
Mega knitting uses the same stitches and techniques as conventional knitting, except that hooks may be carved into the ends of the needles. The hooked needles greatly enhance control of the work, catching the stitches and preventing them from slipping off.
Mega knitting produces a chunky, bulky fabric or an open lacy weave, depending on the weight and type of yarn used.
The current holder of the Guinness World Record for Knitting with the Largest Knitting Needles is Julia Hopson of Penzance in Cornwall.Julia knitted a square of ten stitches and ten rows in stockinette stitch using knitting needles that were 6.5 centimeters (2½") in diameter and 3.5 meters (11'6") long.
In literature.
Knitting is sometimes featured in literature. Knitting and its techniques may be used as a metaphor; its meditative and spiritual aspects may be emphasized; it may signal various types of domesticity; or it may be used for dramatic irony, as when an apparently harmless knitter proves deadly and implacable. Examples from 19th century novels include Madame Thérèse Defarge in Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities", Anna Makarovna in Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace", various characters in Jane Austen's novels and Miss Ophelia in Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Several characters in Virginia Wolff's novels are knitters. In the first decade of the 21st century, knitting has been a key element in several novels and even murder mysteries.
Knitting materials.
Yarn.
Yarn for hand-knitting is usually sold as balls or skeins (hanks), although it may also be wound on spools or cones. Skeins and balls are generally sold with a "yarn-band", a label that describes the yarn's weight, length, dye lot, fiber content, washing instructions, suggested needle size, likely gauge, etc. It is common practice to save the yarn band for future reference, especially if additional skeins must be purchased. Knitters generally ensure that the yarn for a project comes from a single dye lot. The dye lot specifies a group of skeins that were dyed together and thus have precisely the same color; skeins from different dye-lots, even if very similar in color, are usually slightly different and may produce a visible stripe when knitted into the same project. If a knitter buys insufficient yarn of a single dye lot to complete a project, additional skeins of the same dye lot can sometimes be obtained from other yarn stores or online.
The thickness of the yarn is a significant factor in determining the gauge, i.e., how many stitches and rows are required to cover a given area for a given stitch pattern. Thicker yarns generally require thicker knitting needles, whereas thinner yarns may be knit with thick or thin needles. Hence, thicker yarns generally require fewer stitches, and therefore less time, to knit up a given garment. Patterns and motifs are coarser with thicker yarns; thicker yarns produce bold visual effects, whereas thinner yarns are best for refined patterns. Yarns are grouped by thickness into six categories: superfine, fine, light, medium, bulky and superbulky; quantitatively, thickness is measured by the number of wraps per inch (WPI). The related "weight per unit length" is usually measured in tex or dernier.
In addition to choosing the correct thickness for the gauge, the knitter must also pick the type of yarn fiber. There are currently about fifteen types of yarn fiber, falling into two categories, natural and synthetic. Natural fibers are those that are obtained from a plant or an animal and have different attributes depending on the animal/plant they are harvested from which must be taken into account when considering the uses of a finished knitting object. Example: Wool is well suited to items which will be used to hold in heat, even when damp, such as winter hats and mittens. Linen, however, would be well suited to a light summer sweater when breath ability is a factor. Synthetic fibers are made by forcing a thick solution of polymerized chemicals through spinneret nozzles and hardening the resulting filament in a chemical bath. Natural fibers are generally softer and more comfortable whereas synthetics are durable and easier to dye. Some fibers can be harder to knit with than others for a variety of reasons. Cotton, for example, doesn’t stretch as much as wool, and as such requires the knitter to work harder to maintain gauge.
Before knitting, the knitter will typically transform a hank into a ball where the yarn emerges from the center of the ball; this making the knitting easier by preventing the yarn from becoming easily tangled. This transformation may be done by hand, or with a device known as a ballwinder. When knitting, some knitters enclose their balls in jars to keep them clean and untangled with other yarns; the free yarn passes through a small hole in the jar-lid.
A yarn's usefulness for a knitting project is judged by several factors, such as its "loft" (its ability to trap air), its "resilience" (elasticity under tension), its washability and colorfastness, its "hand" (its feel, particularly softness vs. scratchiness), its durability against abrasion, its resistance to pilling, its "hairiness" (fuzziness), its tendency to twist or untwist, its overall weight and drape, its blocking and felting qualities, its comfort (breathability, moisture absorption, wicking properties) and of course its look, which includes its color, sheen, smoothness and ornamental features. Other factors include allergenicity; speed of drying; resistance to chemicals, moths, and mildew; melting point and flammability; retention of static electricity; and the propensity to become stained and to accept dyes. Different factors may be more significant than others for different knitting projects, so there is no one "best" yarn. The resilience and propensity to (un)twist are general properties that affect the ease of hand-knitting. More resilient yarns are more forgiving of irregularities in tension; highly twisted yarns are sometimes difficult to knit, whereas untwisting yarns can lead to split stitches, in which not all the yarn is knitted into a stitch. A key factor in knitting is "stitch definition", corresponding to how well complicated stitch patterns can be seen when made from a given yarn. Smooth, highly spun yarns are best for showing off stitch patterns; at the other extreme, very fuzzy yarns or eyelash yarns have poor stitch definition, and any complicated stitch pattern would be invisible.
Sometimes unconventional materials are like paper, rope, flexible metal wire, and plastic tubing are used in place of yarn.
Tools.
The process of knitting has three basic tasks: (1) the active (unsecured) stitches must be held so they don't drop; (2) these stitches must be released sometime after they are secured; and (3) new bights of yarn must be passed through the fabric, usually through active stitches, thus securing them. In very simple cases, knitting can be done without tools, using only the fingers to do these tasks; however, hand-knitting is usually carried out using tools such as knitting needles or rigid frames. Depending on their size and shape, the rigid frames are called knitting boards, knitting rings (also called knitting looms) or knitting spools (also known as knitting knobbies, knitting nancies, or corkers). Other tools are used to prepare yarn for knitting, to measure and design knitted garments, or to make knitting easier or more comfortable.
Needles.
There are four basic types of knitting needles (also called "knitting pins"). The first and most common type consists of two slender, straight sticks tapered to a point at one end, and with a knob at the other end to prevent stitches from slipping off. Such needles are usually 10-16 inches long but, due to the compressibility of knitted fabrics, may be used to knit pieces significantly wider. The most important property of needles is their diameter, which ranges from below 2 mm to 25 mm (roughly 1 inch). The diameter affects the size of stitches, which affects the gauge of the knitting and the elasticity of the fabric. Thus, a simple way to change gauge is to use different needles, which is the basis of uneven knitting. Although knitting needle diameter is often measured in millimeters, there are several different size systems, particularly those specific to the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan; a conversion table is given in the knitting needle article. Such knitting needles may be made out of any materials, but the most common materials are metals, wood, bamboo, and plastic. Different materials have different frictions and grip the yarn differently; slick needles such as metallic needles are useful for swift knitting, whereas rougher needles such as bamboo are less prone to dropping stitches. The knitting of new stitches occurs only at the tapered ends, and needles with lighted tips have been sold to allow knitters to knit in the dark.
The second type of knitting needles are straight, double-pointed knitting needles (also called "dpns"). Double-pointed needles are tapered at both ends, which allows them to be knit from either end. Dpns are typically used for circular knitting, especially smaller tube-shaped pieces such as sleeves, collars, and socks; usually one needle is active while the others hold the remaining active stitches. Dpns are somewhat shorter (typically 7 inches) and are usually sold in sets of four or five.
Cable needles are a special case of dpns, although they usually are not straight, but dimpled in the middle. Cable needles are typically very short (a few inches), and are used to hold stitches temporarily while others are being knitted. Cable patterns are made by permuting the order of stitches; although one or two stitches may be held by hand or knit out of order, cables of three or more generally require a cable needle.
The third needle type consists of circular needles, which are long, flexible double-pointed needles. The two tapered ends (typically long) are rigid and straight, allowing for easy knitting; however, the two ends are connected by a flexible strand (usually nylon) that allows the two ends to be brought together. Circular needles are typically 24-60 inches long, and are usually used singly or in pairs; again, the width of the knitted piece may be significantly longer than the length of the circular needle. Special kits are available that allow circular needles of various lengths and diameters to be made as needed; rigid ends of various diameters may be screwed into strands of various lengths. The ability to work from either end of one needle is convenient in several types of knitting, such as slip-stitch versions of double knitting. Circular needles may be used for flat or circular knitting.
The fourth type of needle is a hybrid needle. It is a straight needle with a point on one end and a flexible strand on the other end with a stopper, such as a large lightweight bead, at the end. This type of needle allows a larger project to be worked at one time than a straight needle, while folding up quickly and more compactly for travel.
Mega needles.
The largest aluminum circular knitting needles on record are size US 150 and are nearly 7 feet tall. They are owned by Paradise Fibers and are currently on display in the Paradise Fibers retail showroom.
Ancillary tools.
Various tools have been developed to make hand-knitting easier. Tools for measuring needle diameter and yarn properties have been discussed above, as well as the yarn swift, ballwinder and "yarntainers". Crochet hooks and a darning needle are often useful in binding off or in joining two knitted pieces edge-to-edge. The darning needle is used in duplicate stitch (also known as Swiss darning), while the crochet hook is also essential for repairing dropped stitches and some specialty stitches such as tufting. Other tools such as knitting spools or pom-pom makers are used to prepare specific ornaments. For large or complex knitting patterns, it is sometimes difficult to keep track of which stitch should be knit in a particular way; therefore, several tools have been developed to identify the number of a particular row or stitch, including circular stitch markers, hanging markers, extra yarn and counters. A second potential difficulty is that the knitted piece will slide off the tapered end of the needles when unattended; this is prevented by "point protectors" that cap the tapered ends. Another problem is that too much knitting may lead to hand and wrist troubles; for this, special stress-relieving gloves are available. Finally, there are sundry bags and containers for holding knitting projects, yarns and needles.


Sony Masterworks

Sony Music Masterworks (better known as Sony Masterworks) is a record label, the result of a restructuring of Sony Music's classical music division. Before the acquisition of Bertelsmann's shares in the former Sony BMG, the label was known as Sony BMG Masterworks.
Its formation marked the merger of the Sony Classical and BMG Classics (including RCA Red Seal) product lines. Gilbert Hetherwick was the president of the label from January 2005 through November 2006, displacing Peter Gelb who was the head of Sony Classical before the merger. Hetherwick claimed (as of 2005) the label may reissue between one hundred and two hundred historical recordings per year. Hetherwick left in November 2006, to be replaced by Alex Miller, a former BMG Employee.
The label owns rights to famous recordings originally issued by the Victor Talking Machine Company/RCA Victor dating from the early to mid 20th century, by artists such as Enrico Caruso, Arturo Toscanini, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Leopold Stokowski, Mario Lanza, Fritz Reiner, Artur Rubinstein,
Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, Vladimir Horowitz, Eugene Ormandy and Van Cliburn as well as from more recent performers such as Yo-Yo Ma, and Joshua Bell. It is also responsible for Sony BMG's immense archives of film scores (including "Star Wars", "The Phantom of the Opera", "Memoirs of a Geisha" and many other films). It also maintains the archive of theater soundtracks, via its Masterworks Broadway imprint. It also issues jazz recordings through its Okeh Records imprint. Sony Masterworks also handles the Portrait Records and Flying Buddha Records imprints. In July 2019, Masterworks acquired the soundtrack label Milan Records.
The merged label's name echoes the moniker used by Sony Classical's predecessor, Columbia Masterworks (later CBS Masterworks). The label's name was changed after CBS sold its records division to Sony in the late 1980s. Sony Masterworks has several imprints, used primarily for newer recorded material for its imprints itself and compilations and reissues for its imprints in conjunction with Legacy Recordings.


Right-angle weave

Right-Angle weave stitch, also known as RAW, is an off-loom bead weaving technique. Beads are stitched together with thread only making right angle turns, hence the name. The result is an almost fabric like piece of beadwork. Right-Angle weave can be woven with either one needle or two. With single needle right-angle weave, the thread path moves in a figure-eight pattern. For double needle right-angle weave, the threads cross each other along the center bead of each stitch as they head in opposite directions. RAW can be formed into flat pieces, tubes, or 3 dimensional figures. There are also variations on the basic stich like cubic right angle weave, or CRAW. Seed beads, fire polished beads and crystal beads are common choices in pieces using right-angle weave. Variations of Right Angle Weave also include PRAW. CRAW is usually worked in sets of four but in PRAW sets can be expanded to 5 +.
History.
This stitch is said to have originated somewhere in Africa, but examples can be found in beadwork from many cultures, including Philippines, New Guinea and England.
Use.
Bead artists are known to use right-angle weave stitch to cover forms, such as vases, beads and other objects.


Ride on Vaquero

Ride on Vaquero is a 1941 American Western film directed by Herbert I. Leeds and written by Samuel G. Engel. The film stars Cesar Romero, Mary Beth Hughes, Lynne Roberts, Chris-Pin Martin, Robert Lowery and Ben Carter. The film was released on April 18, 1941, by 20th Century Fox.


Norma discography

This is a list of recordings of Norma, a two-act opera by Vincenzo Bellini with an Italian-language libretto by Felice Romani. It was first performed on 26 December 1831, at La Scala in Milan.
Note: "Cat:" is short for catalogue number by the label company.


Crocheted lace

Crochet lace is an application of the art of crochet. Generally it uses finer threads and more decorative styles of stitching, often with flowing lines or scalloped edges to give interest. Variation of the size of the holes also gives a piece a "lacy" look.
Originally crocheted lace was not regarded as true lace. Crocheting was considered an easy, and less time-consuming, but otherwise clearly inferior surrogate for "true" lace such as bobbin lace, needle lace or netting. The first examples of crocheted lace try to reproduce the products of other lacemaking techniques as faithfully as possible. Over time, the many possibilities and inherent beauty of crocheted lace became more widely appreciated.
Main styles of crocheted lace include filet crochet, Irish crochet and its modern derivatives, pineapple crochet. Freeform crocheted lace also exists, examples of which are pieces striving to imitate reticella lace.


Der Traum ein Leben (opera)

Der Traum ein Leben, Op. 50, is a 1937 opera by Walter Braunfels based on Franz Grillparzer's 1834 .
The opera's scheduled premiere under Bruno Walter in Vienna in 1938 was cancelled by the Nazis.


Melati Suryodarmo

Melati Suryodarmo (born 12 July 1969) is an Indonesian durational performance artist. Her physically demanding performances make use of repetitive motions and often last for many hours, sometimes reaching "a level of factual absurdity". Suryodarmo has performed and exhibited throughout Europe and Asia as well as in North America. Born in Surakarta, she attended Padjadjaran University, graduating with a degree in international relations before moving to Germany. She lived there for 20 years, studying performance art at the Braunschweig University of Art with Butoh choreographer Anzu Furukawa and performance artist Marina Abramović.
Suryodarmo later returned to Indonesia and founded "Undisclosed Territory", an annual festival for performance art. She was the first woman to serve as artistic director for the Jakarta Biennale. Suryodarmo has been called "one of the most famous performance artists to come out of Indonesia."
Early life and education.
Melati Suryodarmo was born on 12 July 1969 in Surakarta, Indonesia. Her mother, a traditional Javanese dancer, died when she was young. Her father, Suprapto "Prapto" Suryodarmo, was a meditative performer and practitioner of Amerta. Melati has been a dancer since she was a child. She learned Tai Chi early on and began learning Sumarah mediation at the age of 11. Suryodarmo attended Padjadjaran University in Bandung. She participated in student demonstrations against the Suharto regime in late 1980s and was part of the underground student association. She graduated with a degree in international relations and politics in 1993. Suryodarmo was involved in theatre and dance performances from 1988 to 1995.
Suryodarmo left Indonesia in 1994, moving to Braunschweig, Germany. She found work retouching photographs and planned to continue her studies in international relations. Following a chance meeting at the city's botanical gardens with Japanese Butoh choreographer Anzu Furukawa, Suryodarmo developed an interest in performance art. She studied sculpture and performance art at the Braunschweig University of Art under Furukawa, who she describes as her "biggest influence in thinking." In addition to learning Butoh from Furukawa, Suryodarmo also learned choreography, costume design and staging. In 1996, she was part of the dance performance "Kashya-kashya Muttiku" with Yuko Negoro at FBZ in Braunschweig.Suryodarmo later took classes from performance artist Marina Abramović. Suryodarmo received a fine arts degree in 2001 and an MFA in performance art in 2002. She later worked as an assistant for Abramović. Suryodarmo performed as a "living installation" alongside her former professor during the 2003 Venice Biennale. Suryodarmo also studied time-based art with Mara Mattuschka.
Art career.
After living in Germany for 20 years, Suryodarmo moved back to Indonesia in 2013. There she has worked towards popularising performance art in the country. Suryodarmo founded the performance art festival "Undisclosed Territory" in 2007 in her hometown of Solo. The annual festival includes workshops for youth featuring local artists. In 2012, she converted her home studio into Studio Plesungan, an art lab for "Undisclosed Territory" and performance art workshops. From 2013 to 2016, Suryodarmo served as guest lecturer at Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Yogyakarta.
In 2017, Suryodarmo was the first woman to have the role of artistic director for the Jakarta Biennale. She had a solo exhibition at Museum Macan in 2020.
Works.
Suryodarmo typically produces one or two new performances every year. Many of Suryodarmo's pieces are physically demanding, durational forms of performance art. Her use of repetitive motions in long performances creates meaning by stripping down movement and actions to their barest essentials. Rather than plan out her emotions for her pieces, Suryodarmo is "planning a platform of action with many considerations of thought." Suryodarmo has said of her work, "I intend to touch the fluid border between the body and its environment through my art works. I aim to create a concentrated level of intensity without the use of narrative structures. ...I love it when a performance reaches a level of factual absurdity." Aside from performance art, she also works in installation, video, and photography. She has performed throughout Europe and Asia as well as in North America.
In a review of Suryodarmo's works, Michelle Antoinette wrote that her performance art is a "vehicle for coming to terms with conflicting aspects of her identity," particularly as a woman within the context of Indonesian culture and cross-culturally as a resident of both Germany and Indonesia. In a review for "ArtAsiaPacific", Eva McGovern-Basa writes that Suryodarmo's long durational pieces often involve repetitive actions that "deal with physical restraint, resistance and transformation as well as the contemplation of carefully selected objects and environments that trigger poetic movement."
"Exergie – Butter Dance".
"Exergie – Butter Dance" is among Suryodarmo's most iconic works. She debuted the 20-minute performance in 2000 at Berlin's Hebbel Theatre. Suryodarmo enters to the sound of ceremonial Indonesian drumming that usually accompanies the Pakarena, a Bugis dance from Makassar, South Sulawesi. Wearing high-heeled shoes and a fitted black dress, she begins dancing, treading on 20 blocks of butter that have been arranged on the floor. As the tempo of the drumming increases and the butter melts, she slips and drops to the ground. After each fall, she stands up and begins to dance again, repeating the entire process. The anticipation of each inevitable fall creates a tension for the audience, generating both sympathy and fascination at her perseverance despite the apparent futility of her actions. The work sprang from an assignment by her teacher Abramović for students to create a piece using only €10. "Exergie – Butter Dance" has had over 20 separate performances. According to Suryodarmo, "the aim of making this work is to get up. You can fail, but you do it anyway. You seldom expose how to get up when you fail."
An edited video of "Exergie – Butter Dance" was uploaded to YouTube as the "Adele Butter Dance" in 2012. In the video, Suryodarmo's 2010 performance at the Lilith Performance Studio is paired with Adele's 2011 song "Someone Like You". By 2014, the video had received over 1 million views, prompting an article about her in "The New York Times". In the article, Rachel Will wrote that the video turned Suryodarmo into "one of the most famous performance artists to come out of Indonesia."
"Why Let the Chicken Run?".
"Why Let the Chicken Run?" is a 15-minute performance where Suryodarmo chases a chicken. The work, first performed in 2001, is a response to Ana Mendieta's 1972 work, "Death of a Chicken". The work symbolises people's "relentless pursuits in life."
"Lullaby for the Ancestors".
In Suryodarmo's 2001 piece "Lullaby for the Ancestors" she repeatedly walks in a circle around a horse while cracking a whip then dunks her head in a bucket of water. The work is based on Jaran Kepang, a traditional Javanese dance where the dancers enter a trance and endure physical trials.
"Alé Lino".
In Suryodarmo's 2003 piece "Alé Lino", she spends three hours leaning into a pole resting on her solar plexus. Inspired by her research into the Bissu, an androgynous gender of the Bugis people, "Alé Lino" is an exploration of the "physicality of emptiness".
"The Black Ball".
Suryodarmo devised the 2005 piece "The Black Ball" for a retrospective on painter Egon Schiele. Inspired by Schiele's 1912 drawing "Organic Movement of a Chair and Jug", she held a black ball while sitting silently on a chair fixed to the museum's wall, high above the floor. During the first four days of the performance, she sat in the chair for eight-hour stretches.
"I Love You".
Suryodarmo's 2007 piece "I Love You" was first performed in Barcelona. For the piece, she carries a 70-pound pane of glass, and repeats the words "I love you" for four hours. She has performed "I Love You" in England, Sweden, and Malaysia.
"I Am a Ghost in My Own House".
In her 2012 work "I Am a Ghost in My Own House", she explores consciousness related to family. In the piece, Suryodarmo silently crushes and grinds charcoal briquettes for 12 hours. The work premiered as a solo exhibition at Bandung's Lawangwangi Creative Space. By destroying a substance capable of creating energy (charcoal), Suryodarmo communicates a sense of loss.
"The Acts of Indecency".
In 2012, Suryodarmo created a photographic series influenced by Egon Schiele called "The Acts of Indecency" in 2012. In the work, she exposes her legs and is dressed in a tutu, wearing torn stockings stuffed with either ping pong balls or nails.
"Dialogue With My Sleepless Tyrant".
In Suryodarmo's two-hour 2013 work "Dialogue With My Sleepless Tyrant", she lies down, sandwiched in the middle of tower of mattresses. Only her head is visible, sticking out from the 18-mattress stack, and her hair hangs down the side. Inspiration for the performance piece came from the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea".
"Transaction of Hollows".
In her piece "Transaction of Hollows", Suryodarmo shoots arrows at gallery walls using a Javanese bow. In one performance, she shot 800 arrows until her fingers began bleeding.
Personal life.
Suryodarmo married her first husband in Indonesia. In 1994, they moved to Braunschweig, Germany. She has a daughter and has lived in Groß Gleidingen, Germany. She is Buddhist.


Luigi Ciavarro

Luigi Ciavarro is an Italian film actor.
He played a member of Angel Eye's gang in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966) alongside Benito Stefanelli, Aldo Sambrell and Romano Puppo, Flagstone deputy alongside Giorgio Trestini in "C'era una volta il West" (1968), both directed by Sergio Leone, and Turone in "Battle of the Amazons" (1973). He worked as the fight choreographer in "Vulcan, Son of Giove" (1962).


Aertex

Aertex was a British clothing company based in Manchester, established in 1888, and also the name of the fabric manufactured by the company. It owned the trademark for Aertex fabric, a lightweight and loosely woven cotton material that is used to make shirts and underwear.
History.
In the late 19th century Lewis Haslam, a Lancashire mill owner and politician, began to link the partnering of holes and warmth and with two medical colleagues, began experimenting with aeration; trapping air within the warp and weft of fabric. The result was a fabric that provided a barrier between the warmth of the skin and the chill of the atmosphere and in 1888 they formed the Aertex Company. During World War II the British Women's Land Army wore Aertex as part of their uniform and all the British and Commonwealth land forces in the Far East and Middle East wore Aertex bush shirts and jackets. These uniforms were designated as Jungle Green for the Far East and Khaki Drill for the Middle East.
In 1959 Aertex, together with Ovaltine, sponsored the 'All New Netball Associations' coaching film. By the 1960s Aertex became a sports and school wear manufacturer in the UK, across a range of sports including tennis, cricket, netball and football. The England football squad all wore Aertex fabric jerseys manufactured by Umbro during the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.


Melbourne Fringe Festival

The Melbourne Fringe Festival is an annual independent arts festival in Melbourne, Australia, usually over three weeks from late September to early October. Held since 1982, the Festival includes a wide variety of art forms, including theatre, comedy, music, performance art, design, film, cabaret, digital art, and circus. Over 300 shows are held at over 100 venues from bars, clubs and independent theatres to high-profile locations.
The festival is open-access and artists produce shows independently. Melbourne Fringe also funds and produces its own free events.
History.
The Fringe Arts Network was formed in 1982, aiming to raise public and government awareness of alternative arts in Melbourne. The Network offered support such as venue advice, shared resources and advocacy.
Fringe Arts Network's inaugural event was a mini-festival, followed in 1983 by a week-long event coinciding with Moomba and presenting 120 artists at some 25 locations across Melbourne.
In 1984, the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds expanded to include Melbourne, and Melbourne's Fringe Arts Network became the Melbourne Piccolo Spoleto Fringe Festival. The Melbourne International Festival of the Arts emerged from the Spoleto Festival as a result, and in 1986, the Fringe Arts Network reclaimed its independence from Spoleto and reoriented itself as Melbourne Fringe.
In 2002, the Melbourne Fringe began a Fringe Hub model which programmed a number of closely located venues and offered artists and audiences a central place to gather and network: the Fringe Club at the North Melbourne Town Hall. In 2006, the Melbourne Fringe Club moved upstairs into the North Melbourne Town Hall's Main Hall, with a free nightly Fringe Club program. The Fringe Hub also grew to the nearby Lithuanian Club.
In 2019, the Fringe Hub moved to the renovated Trades Hall in Carlton. Melbourne Fringe also established a year-round program at its Trades Hall venue.


Caroline Achaintre

Caroline Achaintre (born December 1969) is a mixed media artist living and working in London. Her work draws heavily on Primitivism and Expressionism.
Born in Toulouse and brought up near Nuremberg, Achaintre obtained a scholarship at the Kunsthochschule in Halle, then came to London to study at the Chelsea College of Arts and then at Goldsmiths, University of London before establishing a studio in Homerton, East London.
Much of her earlier work was in textiles, particularly wool, and Primitivist in style, though she has also worked in installation, and also in ink on paper and ceramics. Much of this work draws on traditions of carnival and tribal masks and the potential to both attract and repulse through the materials. She has held a number of residencies and exhibited in a number of locations, including London's Saatchi Gallery, Cell Project Space (London), Birmingham's Eastside Projects, and as part of the eighth British Art Show.


Tulipiere

A tulipiere or tulip-holder is an ornate vessel in which to grow tulips and is usually made of hand-crafted pottery, classically delftware. They are typically constructed to accommodate one bulb per spout with a larger common water reservoir base. They were not designed as vases for a cut bloom, as is sometimes supposed, though they could also be used for this. The boughpot and flower brick were types of vase for this.
History.
While fairly uncommon in modernity, during the 17th century tulipieres were used to grow tulip bulbs indoors and were common pieces of decorative art that could often be found in the houses of European elites. After the advent of large-scale global trade in the 17th century, numerous flower bulbs from Asia such as the tulip, crocus, and hyacinth became luxury items in Europe and these bulbs remained an exotic novelty until the end of the 17th century. Large floor-standing pyramid-shaped tulipieres were particularly ornate and were used as a status symbol to indicate the owner's wealth.


Lucky (von Ziegesar novel)

Lucky is the fifth book in The It Girl series, released in 2007. It was written by a ghostwriter with suggestions from Cecily von Ziegesar. Aimed toward young adults, it is a spin-off from the bestselling "Gossip Girl" series.
Plot summary.
Jenny Humphrey has attended some crazy parties at Waverly Academy, but none as hot as the bash at Miller farm, where the antique red barn went up in flames. "Literally". So when Dean Marymount announces that someone is going to be held responsible and expelled from Waverly, it's every owl for him and herself.
Tensions are rising, rumors are flying, and pretty soon everyone is a suspect. Jenny is worried about her adorable, shaggy-haired new crush, Julian, whose silver engraved Zippo was found at the scene of the crime. Callie is petrified she and Easy both will get kicked out, because they were in the barn together when the blaze began. And Tinsley knows she’ll take the heat for organizing the wild soirée in the first place. Luckily she’s come up with a crafty way to keep from getting in trouble: by blaming Jenny.
Julian and Jenny get "closer than ever" and just when "things can't get any better," Jenny finds out the only reason Julian even met her is because he was hooking up with Tinsley Carmichael which causes Jenny to not trust him.
Easy becomes very suspicious of Callie because of her comments towards Jenny starting the fire. Kara and Brett's relationship goes public and Brett figures out she still loves Jeremiah and Kara and Heath hook up and become a couple.
Shockingly, Tinsley's plan works but it also backfires. Easy finds out that Callie had something to do with the plan to kick Jenny out, and tries to rescue Jenny. Callie and Easy's relationship is over—Easy was put off by Callie's plot to get Jenny out, which he discovered when Tinsley texted Callie-and Jenny still hasn't forgiven Julian for lying to her. Easy supposedly paid off Old Lady Miller, whose barn got burned down, and Jenny is rescued and returned to Waverly. Old Lady Miller said that her cows caused it and not Jenny. Jenny admits into setting the barn on fire (and gets expelled) just because she can't take everyone's accusations, dirty looks, and rumors. However, Jenny is admitted back into Waverly.


Alice Littleman

Alice Littleman (February 8, 1910 – May 26, 2000) was a Kiowa beadwork artist and regalia maker, who during her life time was recognized as one of the leading Kiowa beaders and buckskin dressmakers. Her works are included in the permanent collections of the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Southern Plains Indian Museum, and the Oklahoma Historical Society.
Early life.
Alice Jones was born on February 8, 1910 in the Old Town district of Anadarko, Oklahoma to To-haddle-mah (English name: Anna Konad) and Tommy Jones. She was the second child in a family of three other siblings: Mary Hummingbird (b. 1907), Iva Jones (1912–1914), and Vernon S. Keahbone (b. 1919). They grew up on their maternal grandparents' land in West McKinley Township, Caddo County, Oklahoma, about five miles northwest of Anadarko. Her family was Kiowa and descended of Tohausen III, through her grandfather Konad (White Buffalo). Her grandmother Dome-be-ah-ty, taught Jones the art of tanning buckskin and making dresses, hightop moccasin, and tipis.
Jones's mother, Anna, who was a teacher at the Riverside Indian School and also worked as a foreperson in the Works Progress Administration's Mau-Tame Club, taught Jones beadwork. The club was a beading society established by the Bureau of Indian Affairs' field matron Susie Peters in an effort to preserve the beading practices of the Kiowa and give the tribe a creative outlet for their works. Dome-be-ah-ty had taught Anna beadwork, as it was customary for the knowledge to be passed from mothers and grandmothers to their daughters and granddaughters. Anna was highly skilled and won prizes at the annual Gallup Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial exhibition in Gallup, New Mexico, and at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco, California. Jones attended the rural Washita School, but left school after completing the eighth grade to care for her grandparents.
Career.
In 1927, Susie Peters was taking a group of Kiowa dancers to participate in the Gallup Inter-tribal. Jones' mother suggested that she make a purse and enter it in the event. Her entry won the first prize in the beadwork category, and Jones sent her mother the $50 prize money.
Jones had her only child, Robert "Bobby" Hill (Kiowa-Apache) in 1933, who would become a nationally renowned artist, painting under the name White Buffalo. Later she married Robert Littleman, a Southern Cheyenne beadwork artist from Chickasha, Oklahoma. In 1968, the Indian Arts and Crafts Board commissioned her create a series of experimental works to demonstrate quality beadwork. Four of these, as well as nine other samples of her beading were presented at a solo exhibition at the Southern Plains Indian Museum in 1970. The following year, both she and her son Bobby were invited to participate in the "Contemporary Southern Plains Indian Art" exhibition hosted by the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.
Into her 60s, Littleman tanned her own hides in the time-honored, arduous ten-day process. After removing the meat, she stretched the skin on a rack for three to four days to dry and then scraped the hair from the hide. Treating the leather with a paste of boiled brains and liver, ground and mixed with lard, the hide was left to cure for two to three days in the sun. After soaking the skin overnight, she began scraping the water out of the skin and hand-stretching the leather. The hide was stretched both vertically and horizontally until it was soft, white in color, and dry. If she was unable to finish the stretching in a single day, the wet hide had to be wrapped to prevent it drying out. Completing the preparation, Littleman then hand-dyed the hide and began beading. Following the historical protocols for garment making, her dresses were tied, not sewn. Her beading was done with waxed buckskin strips, as thread was not an Indigenous material, and she used both cut beads with faceted sides to produce sparkle and seed beads with dull finishes.
Her selection of colors and designs were critical to Littleman's beading. Because of their proximity at the Anadarko Indian Agency, beadworkers of the Caddo Nation, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Comanche Nation, Delaware Nation, Fort Sill Apache Tribe, Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (Kiowa Apache), and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes all incorporate geometric shapes into their designs and use similar techniques. Nonethless, designs remained identifiable by tribal heritage and did not homogenize. Typical Kiowa designs used by Littleman included leaf motifs, and she paid particular attention to color placement to ensure that her designs were visible from a distance. She created over 50 buckskin dresses, adorned with fringe tipped with metal cones, medallions set in horizontal rows of beads, and leaf motifs, taking care to balance the elements in the overall composition.
During her lifetime, Littleman was honored as one of the premier Kiowa beaders and dressmakers, with other artists often claiming kinship ties to her. Journalist Suzette Brewer compared her skill to the artistic masters Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Picasso, stating "Alice Littleman is to Southern Plains beadworking what these masters are to painting". Among her over 50 awards and honors, Littleman won the 1979 Best of Class for a beaded buckskin ensemble including a dress, leggings, and purse from the O'odham Tash, an annual festival of the Tohono O'odham held in Casa Grande, Arizona, and a 1989 featured demonstration at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. For the demonstration, JoAllyn Archambault, director of the American Indian Program of the Natural History Museum, commissioned Littleman to bead a pair of men's high-top sneakers with cut beads. In 1991 Littleman and her mother (posthumously) were two of the featured artists at the "Pouches, Pipebags and Purses" exhibition of the Southern Plains Indian Museum and in 1992 she was designated as a Master Artist by the Oklahoma Arts Council.
In her later career, Littleman often gave demonstrations of her craft at museums and universities, and trained her grandnieces in beading and sewing. She also taught the Kiowa language, wanting to preserve the oral use of her native tongue with a vocabulary so difficult that even she did not write it. Her work toured throughout the United States and Europe, and Littleman was the subject of both a British and Japanese documentary. Her work is part of the permanent collections of the Southern Plains Indian Museum and her most treasured honor was having one of her buckskin dresses selected for the collections of the Smithsonian Institution at the National Museum of Natural History. In 1993, Littleman was recognized for her lifetime achievements as the guest of honor of the Twin Eagles Pow wow in Minden, Louisiana.
Death and legacy.
Littleman died on May 26, 2000, at Grady Memorial Hospital in Chickasha, Oklahoma, and was buried the following day in Memory Lane Cemetery of Anadarko. A collection of her papers and photographs are located at the Western History Collection of the University of Oklahoma Libraries. In 2006, another of Littleman's buckskin dresses, which had been made for Keri Jhane Myers (Comanche), was purchased by the Smithsonian for their permanent collections at the National Museum of the American Indian.


Trapp Family Story

 is a 1991 Japanese animated series by Nippon Animation, based on the story of the real-life Austrian singing family the Trapp Family. It is a part of the World Masterpiece Theatre franchise, which adapted classic works of literature into animated TV shows. 40 episodes aired on Fuji TV.
It was based on the 1949 memoir "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers" by Maria von Trapp, which has also inspired the world-famous 1959 musical "The Sound of Music".
While many things were changed from the original story, unlike other adaptations such as "The Sound of Music", the children's names are all correct in this version, though some are shuffled around.
In the Philippines, it was aired under the title "The Trapp Family Singers" and reaired every 4:00 in the afternoon (Philippines Standard Time) starting First day of March 2021 to April 30,2021 on ABS-CBN blocktime channel,A2Z replacing Charlotte of the Young Grass.
Music.
Opening themes.
The opening theme differed depending on the broadcasting. The series first used "Doremi no Uta (Doremi Song)" as the intro theme during earlier broadcasting, however, the DVD and video version of the series uses "Hohoemi no Mahou (Smile Magic)" as the new opening song.


Metal lace

Metal lace describes a type of lace made from metal or metallic threads, such as gold, silver, or copper. The designs can be worked on a textile ground, or the lace can completely be made from metallic threads. It is mainly used as an embellishment for military uniforms, fashionable, ceremonial and theatrical dress, and ecclesiastical textiles.
Gold lace.
Lace made using gold wire has been produced since antiquity, with examples of gold netting found in Egyptian and Assyrian tombs from 1500-1000 BCE. It was mainly produced as an embellishment for religious vestments and high status garments. Metal lace, including gold and silver point de Venise, was produced in Italy until the 15th century, when high taxation and sumptuary laws led to textile threads such as linen replacing the use of metal. To avoid these costs, the production of metal lace moved to France, where a high demand by royalty and the French aristocracy led to Arras, Aurillac and other locations becoming renowned for gold lace production. From the 15th century on, most metal lace was a combination of metal and textile threads, rather than made of pure metal.
"Orris" is another term for gold or silver lace, used especially in the 18th century; the term derived from Arras lace, made in Arras, France.
Gold lace and braiding was a popular option for military uniforms because it resisted tarnish, unlike other metal laces.
Contemporary gold lace usually has a high silver percentage, which can be as high as 90%, with the actual gold content as low as 3%. Much modern gold (and other metal) lace is now manufactured in India. Modern Indian "pure gold lace" is technically made from silver that has been electroplated with gold.
Copper lace.
Lace made from copper wire was widely used in Elizabethan era theatre costuming as a substitute for more expensive gold and silver laces. It was a major import, with several tons of copper thread being imported into England between 1594-1596, and at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, cost between 9 and 16 pennies an ounce. It had a tendency to tarnish, and was less hard-wearing.
Other metals.
A type of die stamped metal "lace" was produced in the 19th and 20th century as a trimming for coffins. Coffin lace became a major industry in Birmingham, where its manufacture in the 1860s could use up to 70 tons of tin per year.


Banko ware

 is a type of Japanese pottery (Stoneware) traditionally from Yokkaichi, Mie. It is therefore also known as Yokkaichi-Banko ware.
It is believed to have originated in the 18th century.
Most products are teacups, teapots, flower vases, and "sake" vessels.


Olga Rapay-Markish

Olga Rapay-Markish (1 August 1929 – 1 February 2012; , , ) was one of the best-known Ukrainian ceramicists of her era. She is especially noted for her large decorative works on buildings throughout Kiev. Previous to her architectural decoration, she worked as a ceramicist at the Kiev Experimental Ceramic Art Factory, where she was known for her delicate figurines as well as her paintings on china and dishware.
Biography.
Olga Peretsіvna Markіsh was born on 1 August 1929 in Kharkiv, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, to Zinaida Joffe and Peretz Markish. Her father was a Soviet Jewish writer and her mother was a translator and interpreter. Her mother had left Peretz, though they were married, while still pregnant with Olga because there were many other women around Peretz. Joffe took Olga to live in the Jewish settlement in Zaporozhye with her grandparents in 1930 and went to work as a nurse and translator for the Red Army. In 1934, after Joffe had remarried , she returned for her daughter. Olga and her sister Maya were then taken to Kiev, where they remained until Tkachenko's arrest. He was arrested in 1937 during the Great Purge and shot. As was the law, her mother was then arrested as the wife of a convicted criminal and sent to a gulag (work camp). Because Olga was not Tkachenko's daughter, she was sent to Moscow to live with her father and his new wife, Esther, with their sons Shimon and David.
During World War II, Peretz evacuated his family to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. A few years after the war's end, around 1947, Olga was taken to Kiev, where she began studying at the Institute of Art History. In 1949, the Soviet Union began a wave of Jewish purges, wherein the NKVD arrested members of the Anti-Fascist Committee, including her father. Peretz was executed in 1952 for the crime of Jewish nationalism and his family was exiled to Kazakhstan to serve a ten-year sentence as enemies of the state. For two years they were shuttled between northern Kazakhstan and Abakan, in the Khakassia region of southern Siberia.
Olga Markish had begun a relationship in the early 1950s with Nikolay Rapay and though she was exiled, he visited her and they became engaged. She gave birth to her daughter Ekaterina while still in exile. In 1955, after the death of Stalin, the family returned to Moscow and were rehabilitated. Rapay went and retrieved Markish and together they returned to Kiev, where she completed her studies in 1956 with a degree from the sculpture department. Her student project "Uzbechka" was acclaimed and accepted for mass production.
Career.
Rapay-Markish began working as a sculptor at the Kiev Experimental Ceramic Art Factory () (KEKHZ). Her work was known for its feminine qualities, which represented images of famous artists and porcelain figurines of women in the Ukrainian national costumes. Replications of her sculptures were then made at the Polonne ceramic factory and the Korosten porcelain factory. She was a gifted painter and, during this period, decorated porcelain dishes, plates, and platters. Some of her most renowned pieces from this period are figurines of famous opera singers and , circus performer Oleg Popov, mime Marcel Marceau, and actor Charlie Chaplin. She worked at the factory for eleven years, and left in 1967 because working in the factory, she had no rights to her own work.
When she left KEKHZ in 1967, Rapay-Markish held her first solo exhibition of her porcelain works. She continued to work with ceramics, but on individual pieces which were not replicated. Her favorite themes were clowns and harlequin figurines. She also became involved in architectural projects, designing and decorating both interiors and façades with massive ceramic works. These large projects are her most well-known works and, because of their visibility in the center of Kiev, she is one of the most recognizable Ukrainian ceramicists. She completed more than ten of these large-scale projects in Kiev. One, which is still standing, is at the National Creative Collectives House, built in the 1970s. Over of handmade porcelain tiles decorate the building with bright depictions like children's drawings of animals, birds, flowers, and trees. Another building, since destroyed, was the Bratislava Hotel's two dining rooms. One, entitled "Slavic", featured ten female figures of different Slavic nations including Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, and others. The other dining room was called "Kiev" and was decorated with statues of Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv, legendary founders of Kiev.
After her 70th birthday at her apartment at 30 Kikvidze Street, Rapay-Markish immigrated to Israel. She continued working on sculpture, but preferred not to exhibit, though her work was featured in a 2004 anniversary exhibition of artists from KEKHZ and a 2007 exhibit of ceramicists, which was hosted by the National Art Museum of Ukraine. She died on 1 February 2012 in Israel. She is buried in Petakh Tikva, Syrkin Str., cemetery Zgula.
Legacy.
Posthumously, a tour of Rapay-Markish's work was presented in 2014, and another with collected museum pieces called "Grace and Fools" toured in 2015. That same year, an annotated catalog of her china works was produced. Her works are held at the Republican Children's Library in Kiev, in the lobbies of the Institute of Physiology and Institute of Botany, and in the collections of the Ministry of Culture, the Union of Artists of Ukraine, as well as in many private collections in Israel, Russia, Switzerland, and Ukraine.; and also in Hungary, at the widow of Shimon Markish. The National Creative Collectives House located at 50–52 Shevchenko Boulevard, features her ceramics on the façades of the building.


De Olijftak

De Olijftak (The Olive Branch), or in full (Confraternity of the Holy Spirit called the Olive Branch) was a chamber of rhetoric that dates back to the early 16th century in Antwerp, when it was a social drama society drawing its membership primarily from merchants and tradesmen. In 1660 it merged with its former rival the Violieren (which was more closely associated with artists and intellectuals), and in 1762 the society was dissolved altogether.
History.
The chamber took part in the "landjuweel" (a rhetoric competition for the whole Duchy of Brabant) at Mechelen in 1515, at Diest in 1521, at Brussels in 1532, at Mechelen in 1535, at Diest in 1541, and the final such competition, at Antwerp in 1561.
The chamber also provided public entertainment at such events as the triumphal entry into Antwerp of Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma. During the 1590s there were no regular public performances, and for much of the decade meetings were prohibited by decree, but after 1600 members and sympathisers of the guild again began to meet weekly for dramatic and rhetorical exercises. During the Twelve Years' Truce, representatives of De Olijftak attended a rhetoric competition hosted in Amsterdam on 7 July 1613 by the Amsterdam chamber "Wit Lavendel" (White lavender), and another hosted in Haarlem by the Wyngaertranken (the Vines) on 18 August 1613. The organisation was overhauled in 1615. In 1618 De Olijftak hosted a "blazoenfeest" in Antwerp: a rhetoric competition in which chambers entered "blazons", or painted and decorated verse rebuses carried in procession, with prizes for best rhyme, best delivery, best painting, best decoration, best procession, and so on. In 1619 the chamber was deeply in debt, having overspent on banquets and performances.
They nevertheless took part in the "blazoenfeest" hosted by the Peoene (Peony) in Mechelen on 3 May 1620. Members of De Olijftak carried off second prize for best rhyming rebus, third prize for best painted rebus, third prize for most triumphant decoration, first prize for best composed verse, third prize for strongest line, first and second place for best recitation, first prize for best song, and second prize for most pieces entered by a single chamber.
For the play put on for the chamber's "feestdag" in 1621, 400 programmes were printed. The chamber was prominent in the civic celebrations of the Habsburg victories in the Battle of White Mountain (1620), the Battle of Stadtlohn (1623) and the Siege of Breda (1625), and for the ceremonies of public mourning for the death of Albert VII, Archduke of Austria in 1621.
The chamber seems to have gone into decline after 1629, and in 1646 their costumes were bought up by the rival Violieren. It may have continued to exist as a dining club with a literary angle, rather than a drama society. In 1660, when the Violieren and the remnants of De Olijftak merged, the new chamber took the name De Olijftak, or "den herstelden De Olijftak" (the repaired Olive Branch).
Organisation.
The leading officers of the chamber were the "hooftman", "prince", senior dean ("opperdeken") and assistant dean ("mededeken"). The "hooftman" (headman) was an honorary president, a non-participating patron, who audited the chamber's accounts and mediated disputes between members. He was elected for a term of three years. The "prince", who chaired the actual running of the organisation, was also elected for three years. The dean and assistant dean, who did the actual work of administering the guild, were elected for terms of two years.
Other officers were the casting directors ("princen van personagiën"), the properties master ("accoustrementmeester"), the "breuckmeesters" who collected members' fees, and the "busmeesters" who organised collections for sick or "decayed" members. The social functions of the chamber, like those of a guild, included attending the funerals of deceased members, providing wedding presents to members who married, and providing support for sick or impoverished members. The guild employed a "facteur" to carry messages, collect or deliver prizes, and convey congratulations, and a "knaap" to do odd jobs, notify members of funerals or of extraordinary meetings, tidy the hall, and act as doorman during performances.
By the 17th-century, the chamber enjoyed the services of semi-professional actors ("personagiën") who did not pay membership fees, were provided with free food and drink at rehearsals and performances, received 6 florins for attending the funerals of guild members, and were exempt from militia duty. They worked under the direction of the "princen van personagiën". The fee-paying members, or , enjoyed not only freedom from militia duty but the full range of social provision that the guild provided. It was also possible to pay entrance fees, rather than membership fees, as a "sympathiser" (or ), without enjoying the full rights of guild membership.
Records.
The accounts for 1615–1629 have been published:


Lyn Peters

Evelyn Anne Peters (c. 1941 – September 10, 2013) was an Argentine-born British-American model, actress and caterer. She is best known for her television work during the 1960s and 1970s, including "Get Smart", "Hogan's Heroes", and "Batman". She also appeared in film roles, including "In Like Flint" in 1967 and "Grave of the Vampire", which was released in 1972. Peters was the widow of American actor Paul Burke, who died in 2009.
Life and career.
Peters was born in Argentina, and raised and educated in London. She worked as a fashion model before moving to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career. She was cast in several notable roles in American television series during the 1960s. In a 1968 "Batman" three-episode arc from the show's third and last season, Peters portrayed Lady Prudence, a royal of the fictional nation of Londinium who was a generation younger than the main villains represented by Rudy Vallee as Lord Marmaduke Ffogg and Glynis Johns as Lady Penelope Peasoup.
She next appeared as on the series "Get Smart" in 1968, in which she played Mrs. Emily Neal, a KAOS agent sent to foil American track and field athletes. (According to "The Hollywood Reporter", Peters' Neal character was a satire of "The Avengers"' Emma Peel, played by Diana Rigg). Her other television work during the 1960s and 1970s included roles on "It Takes a Thief", "Hogan's Heroes", "The Rat Patrol", "Twelve O'Clock High", "Daniel Boone", "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E."
She retired from acting during the 1980s. An alumna of Le Cordon Bleu, Peters established and launched Custom Catering, her own catering company. Her clients included Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra, earning her the nickname "caterer to the stars."
Family.
She married actor Paul Burke in 1979. He died in 2009. Lyn Peters died at her home in Palm Springs, California on September 10, 2013, aged 72, from undisclosed causes. She was survived by three stepchildren, Paula, Paul and Dina. Her son Karl died in 1989.


Mud, Bloody Mud

Mud, Bloody Mud is a 1985 Australian television film based on a popular comic strip, "Bluey and Curley". These comic book characters link documentary footage with puppets playing political figures.
The script was written by Cliff Green for the ABC. Green:
We had a very tight budget, very few actors, and no outside filming - so the whole thing was shot in-studio. The only real people in it - there is a narrator who is an army Medical Officer - he is the battalion M.O.; and there are two soldiers who are actually Bluey and Curly, the cartoon characters. And everybody else is puppets. So the politicians are puppets. And they are full-size - they are actually people but they are like those Sesame Street puppets... It was about the way the Australians were just sidelined by MacArthur, and left to rot in the jungles. And the dialogue was mostly Bluey and Curly jokes. And we got permission to use them from Sun News Pictorial and also from the cartoonist’s widow. And it had a tragic element because it is a story of a war, so to me it had to have a tragic ending. I would never try to do it again - it was a one-off in terms of its concept. I think nowadays, with animation and all that stuff, and computerisation, it wouldn’t be seen to be so unique. And it won an Award. They repeated it; they got a terrific response. They ran it on Anzac Day evening I think - and they got a fantastic response from RSL clubs and Old Diggers. And they ran it again on Armistice, the eleventh of the eleventh. So it was a real sort of “out of the box” piece of work - but great fun.


Brain Damage (film)

Brain Damage is a 1988 American comedy horror film directed by Frank Henenlotter.
Plot.
After suffering a brief illness, Brian experiences a powerful and comforting hallucination. He soon discovers that he has become host to a long, phallic parasite that speaks perfect English and promises to give him a life free from worry. The hallucination was induced by a chemical injected from the parasite's mouth, through the back of Brian's neck and directly into his brain; the parasite offers a steady supply of this chemical if "you'll take me for a walk." While under the influence of the "juice," Brian is incoherent and unaware of the world around him, which allows the parasite to kill people at random and devour their brains. This forms a routine, and as Brian becomes addicted to the juice, he isolates himself from everything and everyone else in his life, which worries his girlfriend, Barbara, and his brother, Mike.
Brian awakens from his stupor long enough to learn about the murders. He is confronted by his neighbor Morris, who claims to own the parasite, called "The Aylmer," which has changed hands hundreds of times across the globe since the Middle Ages. Morris, who fed Aylmer with animal brains, warns Brian that feeding him humans will make him too strong to resist. Horrified, Brian rents a motel room to wean himself off the drug and starve Aylmer, but Aylmer gleefully informs him that his body chemistry has irrevocably changed, and that the pain of withdrawal will be too much for him to bear. Brian soon relents, now consciously attending Aylmer as he hunts for victims.
Returning to his apartment, Brian discovers that Mike and Barbara have begun a relationship; realizing that he cannot control himself or choose Aylmer's targets, Brian tries to warn them away before fleeing to the streets. Barbara follows and confronts him on the subway, where Aylmer kills her. Back at the apartment, Morris and his wife, Martha, hold Brian at gunpoint to steal Aylmer back; Aylmer attacks them. As he feeds on their brains, Brian begs for another injection of juice. Aylmer agrees, which distracts them long enough for Morris to regain consciousness, grabbing and crushing Aylmer during the injection process. This kills Aylmer and forces an overdose, leaving Brian in agony. Screaming and bleeding juice, he runs to his room, puts Morris's gun to his own head and fires.
The police arrive at the apartment building. Joined by Mike, they break down Brian's door—finding Brian, who stares blankly with a large, glowing hole in his forehead, emanating with light and long crackles of electricity.
Release.
"Brain Damage" was distributed theatrically in the United States by Palisades Entertainment and premiered in New York on April 15, 1988 and later released in Los Angeles on May 20, 1988. Synapse Films released it on DVD in 2007.
May 7th, 2017 Arrow Video distributed Brain Damage on blu ray along with a limited blu ray dvd combo pack with slip case and enamel pin of the films villan Alymer.
Reception.
In an interview with "Fangoria", Henenlotter said that the film was initially ignored and disliked. When it was released on home video, it acquired a cult following, and his later films were compared to it.
Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 67% of fifteen surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 6.29/10. Walter Goodman of "The New York Times" called it a "brainless movie" with poor special effects and bad acting. Leonard Klady of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote, "It's a veritable crazy quilt of ideas that manages to engage our attention while our heads continue to dart away from the shocking images on screen."


Cornelius Meister

Cornelius Meister (born 23 February 1980 in Hannover, is a German conductor and pianist. His father, Konrad Meister, was a pianist and professor of piano at the Musikhochschule Hannover. His mother is also a piano teacher. His half-brother, Rudolf Meister, is also a pianist and is Rector of the "Musikhochschule Mannheim".
Meister studied piano and conducting at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover. Besides his father, his teachers in Hannover included Martin Brauss and Eiji Oue. Meister also studied music at the Salzburg Mozarteum, with such teachers as Dennis Russell Davies and Karl Kamper. He was a prize winner at the 1996 Southwest German Chamber Music Competition, a winner of the Radeberger Award and the Audience Award at the 1998 Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and a recipient in 2000 of a prize of the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb.
From 2001 to 2002, Meister was an assistant conductor at the Theater Erfurt. He has also worked as a "Kapellmeister" at the Staatsoper Hannover. In September 2005, he became Generalmusikdirektor of Heidelberg, then the youngest general music director of Germany. In October 2008, he extended his Heidelberg contract through 2012, at which time his Heidelberg tenure concluded. In September 2010, Meister became Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (Vienna RSO), with an initial contract of four years. In February 2015, the orchestra announced the extension of his Vienna RSO contract through to 2018. With the Vienna RSO, he has commercially recorded music of Gottfried von Einem and Béla Bartók.
In April 2016, the Vienna RSO announced that Meister would conclude his tenure with the orchestra in 2018, at the end of his contract. In June 2016, he was named the next "Generalmusikdirektor" (GMD) of the Stuttgart State Opera and of the Stuttgart State Orchestra, effective at the start of the 2018-2019 season, with an initial contract for six seasons.
In September 2009, Meister made his US conducting debut with San Francisco Opera. He continues to perform chamber music in a clarinet-piano duo with Clemens Trautmann.
Married since 2006, Meister and his wife have two sons.


Snuff Puppets

Snuff Puppets is an Australian puppet theatre company that was founded in 1992.
Originating in Canberra as part of Splinters Theatre of Spectacle, Snuff Puppets moved to a dusty warehouse in the industrial working-class suburb of Footscray in Melbourne in 1992, and are now based in the historic Footscray Drill Hall. Snuff Puppets founding members were Pauline Cady, Simon Terrill, and the current artistic director Andy Freer.
The company tour the world with indoor and outdoor shows and roaming acts. Snuff Puppets combines the elements of puppetry, live music, visual and physical theatre. The company refers to its roaming acts as interventions as Snuff Puppets specialize in creating mayhem in the streets, playing with traffic and shoppers.
Subjects that are considered taboo are tackled, with "a vulgar, irreverent, gratuitously violent and a comic sensibility". Realtime Magazine wrote that Snuff Puppets have a "commitment to pushing bad taste to its extreme".
According to its website, Snuff Puppet enjoy a blackly dangerous humour, an incisive political satire, shamelessly handmade visual aesthetic; populist, free, joyous conflagration of art, audience and artist.
In 2015 Snuff Puppet's promotional video for the installation "Everybody" went viral, copies of the video have been reported as being viewed nearly 1 billion times. Its award-winning YouTube channel has several viral videos.
The company takes direct action on political issues with appearances in dozens of political rallies in support for climate justice, world peace, third world debt relief, gay rights, Aboriginal civil rights and asylum seekers.
Snuff Puppets have toured over 25 countries, including; New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, India, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Netherlands, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Romania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Local communities have worked with Snuff Puppets with dozens of large-scale workshops undertaken in Australia, Denmark, England, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Netherlands, Singapore, Thailand, Brazil and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The troupe won the Spirit of the Fringe award from Melbourne Fringe and the Adelaide Fringe 2006 Circus / Physical Theatre Award.
The Victorian State Government and Maribyrnong City Council support Snuff Puppets with annual Arts Funding.


So Close (film)

So Close is a 2002 Hong Kong action film directed by Corey Yuen and starring Shu Qi, Zhao Wei and Karen Mok.
The film's English title is derived from The Carpenters' song "Close to You", which has a prominent role in the film.
Plot.
Lynn and her sister Sue are computer hackers, assassins and espionage specialists who use their late father's secret satellite technology to gain an advantage over their rivals and law enforcement agents. At the beginning of the film, they infiltrate a high security building and assassinate Chow Lui, the chairman of a top company in China.
After their successful mission, a police inspector named Kong Yat-hung is assigned to investigate the case and she manages to track down the assassins. In the meantime, Chow Lui's younger brother Chow Nung, who hired Lynn and Sue to kill his brother so that he can become the chairman, wants to kill the assassins to silence them. The cat-and-mouse chase becomes more complicated as both the police and the thugs are out to get Lynn and Sue.
Sue has always been playing the role of the assistant by staying on the computer and helping to disable the security systems and giving instructions on navigating the area, while Lynn, who is older and more experienced, does all the field work. Sue is jealous and thinks that Lynn refuses to let her participate more actively because she is less adept, but actually Lynn is trying to protect her sister from danger. Their relationship becomes strained when Lynn falls in love with her friend's cousin Yen and wants to give up her job and marry Yen. Sue intends to continue her career as a contract killer so that she can prove that she is as good as her sister.
Kong Yat-hung tracks down Sue in a bakery, where Sue is buying a birthday cake, and this leads to a frantic car chase. When Sue realises that she is being cornered by the police, she calls Lynn at home and asks her sister for help. At the same time, Chow Nung's assassins break into the house and kill Lynn and frame Kong Yat-hung for the murder. Sue escapes from the police and finds out the true identities of her sister's killers from the CCTVs in the house. She rescues Kong Yat-hung from custody and offers to help her clear her name, but Kong must assist her in avenging her sister. Left with no choice, Kong Yat-hung agrees to team up with Sue to hunt down and kill Chow Nung and his henchmen. Over the course of planning the counter-attack, Sue and Kong Yat-hung bond.
Sue and Kong Yat-hung succeed in defeating Chow Nung. Both of them agree that if not due to the nature of their line of work (one a police and the other a criminal), they might have been best friends. With that, they part ways.
Sue visits Lynn's grave, saying thank you for everything that her sister have done, and she can now take care of herself. She promises Lynn that she will tell Yen the whole ordeal, knowing that Yen is “the guy Lynn loves the most”. The film ends with a scene where Yen is still waiting for Lynn at a restaurant which they had promised to meet.
Reception.
"So Close" holds an average rating of 6.7/10 based on 37 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and an average score of 66/100 based on 18 reviews on Metacritic.


8538 Gammelmaja


Come Drink with Me

Come Drink with Me (Chinese: 大醉俠) is a 1966 Hong Kong "wuxia" film directed by King Hu. Set during the Ming Dynasty, it stars Cheng Pei-pei and Yueh Hua as warriors with Chan Hung-lit as the villain, and features action choreography by Han Ying-chieh. It is widely considered one of the best Hong Kong films ever made. The film was selected as the Hong Kong entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 39th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.
Plot.
A general's son is taken hostage and used as leverage to free a bandit leader. The general's other offspring, a girl named Golden Swallow, is sent to rescue the son. When the bandit gang encounter the Golden Swallow in a local inn, the prisoner negotiation escalates to bloodshed and the goons are swiftly defeated.
A local drunk beggar named Fan Da-Pei acts as Golden Swallow's guardian angel, secretly helping her avoid being ambushed at night. That morning Fan Da-Pei, whom we now know only as "Drunken Cat" tips off Golden Swallow to the bandits’ whereabouts by singing openly the description of the traditional Chinese character meaning temple : 廟. They have occupied a Buddhist monastery. In the guise of an worshipper, Golden Swallow penetrates the temple and confronts the man who has taken her brother hostage. During the brawl she is injured by a deadly, poisoned dart. She escapes and is rescued in the woods by Fan who nurses her back to health. While she's convalescing, Golden Swallow learns that Fan is actually a martial arts master and a leader of a Kung Fu society, which he otherwise keeps a secret.
The monastery is led by an evil abbot, Liao Kung, who is also a kung fu master and has allied himself with the bandits. On finding out that the beggar carries a bamboo staff, he realises that the beggar is a former student of the same master. The abbot has in fact killed their master in order to get this same bamboo staff, which was rescued by Fan Da-Pei. Now Liao Kung sees an opportunity to gain control of the staff.
Fan Da-Pei is hesitant to confront Liao Kung for two reasons. First, Liao Kung's kung fu skills are unparalleled, and Fan Da-Pei thinks he has no chance against him, or at the very least, one of them would not survive a confrontation. Second, despite his evil ways, Liao Kung has actually done a good deed for Fan Da-Pei: he persuaded the master to accept Fan Da-Pei into the Green Wand Kung-Fu school when he was a mere homeless orphan, thus giving him a chance in life. For this reason, Fan is reluctant to fight the abbot even though Fan knows about the abbot's criminal deeds.
To release the General's son, Fan stages a prisoner exchange. During the exchange, the government soldiers receive the General's son, but Fan prevents the bandits from releasing their leader. As the government soldiers march the bandit leader back to prison, the bandits attack the procession. Golden Swallow, leading her female warriors, fights off the bandits. The evil abbot forces a showdown with Fan Da-Pei, who defeats and kills him.
Production notes.
Jackie Chan is rumoured to have appeared as one of the child singers near the beginning of the film. Lead actress Cheng Pei-pei denied this in the audio commentary to the Hong Kong DVD release of the film. Still, the film is listed among Chan's acting credits on his official website and autobiography.
Director King Hu told critic Tony Rayns (quoted in Bey Logan's book) that he had deliberately chosen a ballet dancer for the lead female role, "... rather than fighting. I'm very interested in Peking opera and particularly its movement and action effects, although I think it's difficult to express them adequately on stage, where the physical limitations are too great." King Hu was said to recognise that some of the fights are stylised as opposed to realistic but claimed that combat in his movies was "always keyed to the notion of dance." This movie was a great success upon its release in Hong Kong and made a star of Cheng Pei-pei and others.
The original film was followed by a sequel, "Golden Swallow" again with Cheng Pei-pei but with Jimmy Wang as the lead actor.
Re-releases.
In 2003, Intercontinental Video Limited (IVL), through Celestial Pictures, released a digitally restored version of this classic film with a new trailer and interviews, including Cheng Pei-pei.
On 27 May 2008, Dragon Dynasty released their own edition with an improved transfer, the original Mandarin mono soundtrack and exclusive supplements, including a newly recorded audio commentary with Cheng Pei-pei, trailers, and interviews with the cast (Cheng Pei-pei, Yueh Hua) and director King Hu.
Remake rumors.
Producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein announced in April 2007 that they would invest in movies with Asian themes. One of the movies they announced was a remake of "Come Drink with Me", directed by Quentin Tarantino. However, little has been heard of the project since then, and in June 2008, Tarantino announced his next project would be "Inglourious Basterds", leaving the status of the remake undisclosed.


Freehand lace

Freehand lace is bobbin lace worked directly on the fabric of the lace pillow without using a pricked pattern. Very few pins are needed (in most cases, only at the two edges.)
The very early bobbin laces were probably made freehand, as pins were scarce, coarse, and expensive. At first, the laces were purely utilitarian: “seaming” laces (insertions) joining narrow widths of fabric, and toothed or scalloped laces reinforcing the edges (edgings). Many of the later freehand laces were also functional, but some areas produced very wide ornamental laces.
Traces of freehand lace can be found nearly everywhere: they were part of the textiles produced in pre-industrial communities. Production only survived in a few places, often because the lace was sold through handicraft organizations, when it no longer adorned the peasant costume and household textiles.
There are a few areas with a living tradition, like Dalarna and Skåne in Sweden, several areas in Slovakia, Cogne and Pescocostanzo in Italy, and Mikhailov in Russia.
Freehand lace is dense compared to lace made on a pattern. Wide areas without pins can be constructed by using certain techniques: the different parts of the lace must be made in the right order, and a triple half stitch can be used to secure the threads instead of a pin.
In many areas, the laces are made wider by combining two or more patterns lengthwise. The lengths of the repeats are usually quite different.
Many other laces have traits inherited from freehand lace, for example, the patterns and the working of the braids in Milanese lace, and the grounds without pins and the exchange of workers in linen stitch in some of the Flemish laces.
The term 'freehand lace' was first used as the translation of an Italian term in the English edition (1913) of Elisa Ricci's "Antiche Trine Italiane". It is called 'lace without a pattern' in French, 'numeric lace' in Russian, and the Slovaks have named it by the fact that it is produced on a bare pillow. In Swedish, the verb used for composing a poem is also used for making freehand lace.
The basic research on Freehand Lace was made by Bodil Tornehave of Denmark, and published in her book "Danske Frihåndskniplinger" (, Danish Freehand Lace) in 1987.
'Freehand lace' is sometimes confused with 'free lace', which is a modern, artistic form of lace.


Malcolm MacFarlane

Malcolm MacFarlane (Calum MacPhàrlain, 1853–1931) was a Scottish Gaelic scholar and songwriter. He was a Secretary and President of Gaelic Society of Glasgow and an active member of An Comunn Gàidhealach.
Life.
He was born at Kilmun Farm, Dalavich, Loch Awe on 30 November 1853. His father was John MacFarlane, a labourer, and his mother Sarah MacIntyre. He was brought up at Inkerman near Paisley, Renfrewshire and was educated there. He was a 'measurer' by profession — the early name for a quantity surveyor. He was also a member of the Inverness Gaelic Society, the Irish Texts Society, and the Folk Song Society. He was the author of works such as "The Phonetics of Gaelic" and "Songs of the Highlands", Inverness: Logan & Co., 1902. He died unmarried in Greenock on 22 February 1931.


A Gnome Named Gnorm

A Gnome Named Gnorm (also known in some markets as Upworld) is a 1990 fantasy buddy comedy film directed by Stan Winston and written by Pen Densham and John Watson. The film stars Anthony Michael Hall, Jerry Orbach and Claudia Christian, and is about a Los Angeles police detective who teams up with a gnome to solve a murder.
Plot.
Gnorm is just an average gnome (a tunneler) who lives underground, but he wants to impress a lady gnome by doing something heroic. So he takes the lumen, a stone that must be brought to the surface (called Upworld by the gnomes) to be exposed to the sun to recharge it. When he gets to the surface, he witnesses a murder and the killer ends up with the lumen. Detective Casey (Hall), who was working a sting operation with the murdered man, is blamed for botching the sting, and the man's death. Wanting to catch the killer to clear his name, he teams up with Gnorm, whom he accidentally discovers. He is going to need his partner Samantha's (Christian) help, but she thinks he is a nut. See, no one else knows about Gnorm.